The Baldari (Book 3) (64 page)

Rigo hoped this could be done in such a way it appeared that Tryll had been over confident and that wizards with normal magic had somehow managed to get to her.  Even if the more powerful magic had to be used, they hoped for a situation where it wasn’t obvious that it had been.  If they could penetrate her security and get to her without use of the Brryn magic, except maybe to overcome her personal shields, they might have a chance of making everything happen without alerting their remaining two adversaries to what they had learned.  If they couldn’t make an entry without use of Brryn magic, then the chances were slim of hiding the fact that at least some of the wizards among the rebels had acquired powers the Brryn would rather they hadn’t.  Maintaining the secret had to be a secondary goal, but the longer they could conceal what they had learned, the greater their chances against the other Brryn in follow-on confrontations.

Rigo hoped they could use the undetectable
Transfer
to penetrate the lesser shields unannounced, then both he and Nycoh could confront Tryll.  The lesser shields wouldn’t alert her to the breach, and wouldn’t leave any trace in case the remaining Brryn investigated later.  With both of them available to confront Tryll, they should be able to quickly overpower whatever personal shield she raised using a combination of the Brryn helix beam and the slower moving black cloud.  Both Rigo and Nycoh had seen how effective they were against their own standard shields. A little testing against structures they had shielded using the new magic suggested that approach should work.  Once Tryll’s shield was down, they would render her unconscious, and proceed from there. 

If anything went wrong and it appeared she might be able to create a
Transfer
and escape, they would simply have to do everything they could to kill her.  They couldn’t risk allowing her to get away to inform the others, and while it would mean a loss of the information they sought, they would have at least thinned down the numbers against them.  It wasn’t a perfect plan, and Rigo worried about their lack of familiarity with the new magic, but there wasn’t time nor an easy way to test some things.  If this didn’t work, then they were in serious trouble, but he agreed with Nycoh the risk was worth it.

Daria felt they lacked sufficient intelligence, but agreed there was little means of obtaining what they wished to know.

They agreed to proceed the next evening.

They made their move as the sun was setting into the western sea.  Tryll was on the balcony as usual, and her servant Brock had just poured her another tall glass of wine.  Rigo wanted to make the move before she stood and went inside, which she usually did after the sun was down.  This was as late as they dared be.  When she went inside, she sometimes changed the level of the protective shields.  Not always, but often enough they didn’t want to take a chance.  Besides, when she was inside, they wouldn’t know where she might be, which could lead to mistakes and the chance she would see them and run before they could act.  They could only appear on the balcony or a short distance into the room they had been able to see.  There was some advantage to the balcony since they knew it better, but they would have to hope she hadn’t somehow secured the door if they waited until she went inside.  Overall, it was a better risk to transfer into the room behind her, and either wait until she entered, or make their move while she was seated in her lounge chair focused on the wine and the sinking sun.

Visually Rigo confirmed that the shields had the loose fuzziness of the common variety any wizard could make.  Rigo triggered the transfer that took the five of them across the short distance from where they had watched, into the room of the mansion.  They arrived silently, and as expected, without triggering any concern in their target.  They moved as planned, each with a pre-assigned function, after a quick check to verify that no one else was present.  Daria had a pair of her knives in hand, and Kaler had drawn the short sword he was carrying today.  The weapons weren’t for Tryll, but for Brock should be become a problem, either through his own reactions or because Tryll was able to command him into some kind of defensive action.

Daria still amazed Rigo with how silently she could move.  Kaler was almost as silent, but lacked the simple grace of the
KalaBhoot
.  Unfortunately Brock was positioned between the doorway and the chair where Tryll sat.  There was no way to move around him without alerting both to their presence.  Tryll was clearly shielded, the fuzzy shimmer around her, but again, it was the familiar shield they could easily defeat.  They moved into position as planned, and with a swift movement Kaler struck Brock solidly at the base of the skull with his sword, catching him and pulling him clear as he fell.  That cleared the way for Rigo and Nycoh.

Rigo was to disrupt Tryll’s shield with a burst of the helix magic.  That would clear the way for either Daria or Kaler to knock her unconscious before she could react.  That assumed she was protected by the standard shield.  If she were using her stronger Brryn shield, Rigo would begin the attack and draw her attention while Nycoh unleashed the shield disruption cloud.  Lyes was there, as well, because he wasn’t agreeable to allowing Nycoh to be at risk without being on hand.  Of course, he didn’t have a real role.  His magic wouldn’t be strong enough to influence the outcome, and Daria and Kaler would handle the strong arm stuff.  He did have one of the strange bands like the one they had seen Brock wearing, and which Nycoh had recovered in the chamber.  They had decided they couldn’t take the risk of trying it.  There was no way to be certain they could get it in place, nor did they know how to activate it.  They also wouldn’t know for certain if it was working, and if it wasn’t and they hesitated, Tryll would simply
Transfer
away.  Lyes had insisted on bringing it anyway.

It went wrong almost immediately.  Tryll was fast.  Very fast.  She had heard or sensed the action behind her and had instantly shifted her shield to the far more formidable one the Brryn favored.  Rigo sensed the change as his beam of multicolored energy struck the shield.  Unlike the nearly instantaneous disruption of the shields normal wizards could raise, Tryll’s shield seemed to swell and grow as it resisted the attack.  Nycoh noted the change as well and triggered the release of the cloud.

Tryll understood the situation, and while the cloud was extremely effective once it established initial contact with the shield, before it became attached it could easily be avoided by one who was quick and agile, or, unbeknownst to them, pushed away by something they had never seen before.  Tryll leaped from the chair as she unleashed the white flash that dissipated the deadly cloud.

Rigo focused his full attention on Tryll, and maintained the full strength of his beam upon her shields.  Nycoh, realizing they were in danger of losing their target, triggered her own beam of the interwoven helixes.  Under the dual assault, it should be dangerous for Tryll to risk triggering the
Transfer
.  The shield could fail during the instant the
Transfer
was activated. 

That didn’t mean she was finished.  Tryll triggered her own identical beam, the colors flaring and of an intensity that far out shone what either Rigo or Nycoh had managed.  Rigo felt his own shield collapsing under the powerful incoming magic.  Something told him to focus on the point of incidence, and he felt the shield adapting, weakening in areas where it wasn’t being struck, and fortifying itself where the damage was most intense.  Somehow he held on, but he didn’t know how much more he could take.  They were in trouble. 

Nycoh was stronger than Rigo, and she triggered a series of blasts of the magic that impacted in several locations rather than simply focusing on a single spot.  Tryll shuddered as she was struck.  Unfortunately, she apparently had expected that and was able to recover, as she unleashed a blast of even greater intensity than that she had originally struck Rigo with.  Nycoh either couldn’t adapt or hadn’t discovered the means of adjusting the shield defense, and suddenly her shield simply collapsed, leaving her exposed to any further attack Tryll wanted to unleash.

Rigo extended his own shield to block Nycoh as well, but he knew that would weaken his already stressed barrier.  Tryll knew it too, and she grinned in anticipation of the killing beam she was about to unleash. Nycoh was clearly stunned by the loss of her shield, and wasn’t in a position to recover in time.  Rigo knew they were lost.

Lyes had watched with growing concern as they failed to break the protective barrier around Tryll.  When he saw Nycoh stagger, he knew the situation had turned grave.  Daria and Kaler were waiting, but knew their knives and swords wouldn’t help this situation.  Tryll wouldn’t even be distracted by a feigned attack.  As Tryll focused on the two wizards, Lyes slipped around behind.  He was being ignored, just as were Kaler and Daria.  Whether Tryll could sense they didn’t have the magic to threaten her, or whether it was because they had yet to demonstrate they were a problem, he didn’t know.  Whatever the reason, he found himself in position where he could wrap the band around Tryll’s head if he acted quickly while she was distracted.  They had assumed it would need to be done when there were no barriers, but it was obvious things were going badly, and about to get worse.  Nycoh was in imminent danger, and so Lyes reached forward flung one end around the head so he could grab it.  Almost without thinking he brought the two ends together, and to his surprise, they joined as if they had a will of their own.  A flash of color grew from within the band, and it started to contract, tightening the loop that was much too big to stay in place.

The first indication of the band’s effect came when it touched the shield.  With a sharp pop and a series of forked fingers of bright white light, the band fought the shield that was protecting Tryll from Rigo’s weakening onslaught.  The light display lasted for only moments, then suddenly the band contracted more, tightening against the skull of the Brryn woman.  As it did so, she let out a scream of agony, and cried out in a language they didn’t understand.  A second later she switched languages and spoke again, this time her words easily recognizable.  Perhaps she made the change because that was how she’d spoken to Brock and was appealing for his help.  Perhaps she realized who they were and knew they wouldn’t be able to understand her own speech.

“Take it off,” she demanded.  “Not like that.  It’s not supposed to be used over a shield.”  Then she wailed again, thrashing in Kaler’s arms as she slid to the floor.

Lyes was reaching toward the woman, when Daria shouted out a sharp, “Wait!”

Rigo agreed.  There was no question that the band was working, although just what it was doing wasn’t certain.  It had subdued the woman and brought down her protective barrier.  That much was clear.  It had also saved their lives.  Rigo had no illusions how close the end had been.  They had been over matched, and if Lyes hadn’t acted, they would all probably be dead now.  Tryll was probably being truthful that the band had been applied improperly, but she might be hoping for an opening.  Removing the band for even a second would grant her access to her power, which could mean flight, or her regaining control of the situation.

“Leave it on her,” Rigo commanded.

“It might be killing her,” Lyes said.

“It might,” Rigo agreed.  “But we can’t risk her accessing her magic again.  She would destroy us all.  Her magic is so much more powerful than ours.  The combined assault of Nycoh and myself was only marginally greater than she could command on her own.  She also knows a few tricks we weren’t prepared for.  Daria is right, leave it on.”

“Can we question her like this?” Nycoh asked.  “A Reading is usually performed with the subject awake.”

“Go and get Ashli,” Rigo said.  “We’ll have to see what she thinks.  From what we just experienced, I think Jeen is right.  I believe it would be unwise to attempt
Linking
with her.  Hopefully we can still get something with Ashli’s help.”

Rigo looked at the body on the floor that twitched occasionally, but was now silent.

While they waited for Nycoh to return, Rigo and Lyes examined Brock.  He was still out.  Kaler had struck him pretty hard, and the band he wore was still firmly in place.  All attempts to dislodge it failed.  Since they didn’t know the magic used to release it, they bound Brock’s hands and set him to one side.

“What did you do to her?” Ashli asked when she appeared suddenly with Nycoh and saw the prostrate form of the Brryn on the floor.

Rigo quickly explained what had taken place, emphasizing the strength of the magic they had encountered and the dramatic effect of the band.

“Can you still perform a Reading?  Is it safe to even try?”

“I’ve never tried with an unconscious subject,” Ashli admitted.  “I’m not certain what we can expect.  I can’t see any risk to me due to the band.  A Reading isolates the subject and the inquisitor.  If this doesn’t work, we may need to wake her up somehow.”

Rigo wasn’t certain there would be a safe way to do that, but kept his thoughts to himself.  He’d wait and see what Ashli found.  He knew that whatever she discovered would be viewable by the rest of them later.  Ashli knew what they wanted.  A list had been created earlier, and foremost upon it was the means of unlocking the cylinder that held Mitty captive.  Unfortunately what a Reading revealed was not always under the control of the person performing the Reading.  One had to wander through the mind seeking, never knowing in advance what would be found.  Another potential difficulty was the language barrier, although because Tryll had clearly learned their language, that might be less of a problem.