The Baldari (Book 3) (70 page)

Nyk nodded.  “More of you survived the purge than planned.  Like an infestation, you wizards were long a problem that have plagued me.  The Hoplani were intended to finish what the war and the Ruins failed to do.  I returned to my own chamber to allow the passing years to finish the matter, but there were problems.  Something happened that corrupted the magic that controlled my chamber and that of the others you found.”

Rigo suspected instinctively that the Rift had affected the ancient Brryn in some way.

“So where have you been?”

“When you destroyed the chamber with my fellow Brryn, you triggered a link that released me from my own chamber located elsewhere, something that should have happened thousands of years ago.  When I realized what had happened, I decided to see how matters progressed.  You did a marvelous job of eliminating the others for me.”

“You have been around all this time?”

“Of course.  Watching and waiting.  Now that the others are gone, I wanted the rest of your kind to come out of hiding.  It would have been too much trouble to try and chase you all down, and like before you would have grown in number while you hid and plotted had you known of my existence.  Now it will be relatively straightforward to finally finish this.”

One of the wizard scholars that Rigo had come to know walked over.  “Rigo, is something wrong?”  He had obviously sensed the conversation was strained in some way.  He looked at Nyk as if trying to place him.

Nyk didn’t even bother to glance in the other’s direction.  He pushed out a hand and the bothersome wizard was flung across the room where he smacked into the wall and crumpled to the ground.

Rigo triggered his most powerful magic, only to find it struck the fuzzy shield around the ancient Brryn and faded away uselessly.  Nyk laughed, obviously amused by Rigo’s failed attempt.  With a wave of his hand, something that Rigo suspected wasn’t necessary but a habit all wizards seemed to fall into, he wrapped the building in a different kind of barrier. Rigo sensed he couldn’t have
Transferred
out if he wanted to. They were all trapped here until Nyk chose to allow them to go.  Rigo knew that wasn’t his plan.

“Now it is time to clean up,” he said, his voice harsher and less conversational.  “First here, starting with you. You are the most worrisome.  Then I’ll find your fellow wizards.  Nycoh and her consort Lyes, and after that Jeen.”  He then named a half dozen others who were the most powerful among them.  “Finally I’ll look into the lesser ones.  Within a short time you will all be gone.”

Nyk looked at the cylinder that held Mitty. 

“Her too,” he said.  “She could be troublesome in a different way.” 

Nyk did something that caused the cylinder to waiver and then disappear.  Mitty dropped to the floor of the workroom, freed from the magic that had held her so long.  She groaned and tried to sit up.

“Your reunion won’t last long,” Nyk said.  “Go say your farewells.”

Rigo was badly conflicted.  He wished to run to Mitty who was finally freed and appeared to be alive, but also wished to confront Nyk who he knew fully intended to kill everyone in the building.  Momentarily paralyzed, he saw that Burke was silently sneaking up from behind, Nyk unaware of his presence.  Nyk either wasn’t paying attention, or was unconcerned about a relatively weak wizard being nearby.  If Rigo couldn’t harm him, what could the others hope to do?

Burke was carrying a pair of objects that Rigo recognized.  They were shielded, which masked their presence.  They had to be or they would have reacted being so close together.  It was a pair of the Ruins rods.  One of the wizards had proposed using the cracked rod that had allowed Rigo to visit the Void to try and locate the remaining rods that were buried in the desert and had triggered the Ruins.  It was believed if all could be found and extracted, the Ruins would collapse and recede.  Thus far over a hundred of the deadly rods had been located.  A small number given the thousands that were believed still buried.  Most of the recovered rods were shielded and stored in the Ruins until a proper means of disposal could be determined, but a pair had been kept here under careful control.  Careful study of the devices was planned, and there were those who even wished to study the Void.  The rods were the only known means of returning there.

Burke’s intention was obvious. There was nothing Rigo could do.  If he tried to stop Burke, he would simply alert Nyk to his presence, which would get him killed.  If he did nothing, Burke was going to trigger the rods which would create a release that would kill everyone nearby including, hopefully, Nyk.  The power of the rods was well known after what they had done to the chamber.  Clearly, Burke had realized who Nyk was and considered his elimination worth any cost.

Rigo glanced briefly at Nyk, and then ran hurriedly toward Mitty.  That is what the ancient wizard would expect, and Rigo knew his and Mitty’s only chance was to get as far from Nyk as possible.  As he knelt down beside Mitty, he raised his strongest shield and wrapped it around the two of them.  Simultaneously, he
Transferred
across the room to the back wall more than eighty paces away, choosing the location of the
Transfer
exit so as to place one of the strong stone support pillars between themselves and Nyk.  He might not be able to
Transfer
out of the building, but he could put some distance between himself and the Brryn.

His actions alerted Nyk that something was amiss, but it was too late.  Burke was already within a half dozen paces, and as he realized the ancient wizard was about to act, Burke lobbed the two rods, one from each hand toward either side of the ancient wizard.  As they passed him, Burke released the shielding around the two rods.  Separated by less than two paces, the interaction between the two ancient devices was instantaneous and intense.  One immediate result of the interaction of the rods was to freeze them in position.  Burke’s timing had been excellent, and one was on either side of Nyk.  The powerful orange flash momentarily hid the immense power that was released.  Burke was vaporized instantly.  Because he was so close to the explosion even Nyk, his shield more powerful than any ever seen, was no match for the magic released by the rods.  For the briefest of moments he was revealed inside the shields, a grimace of intense agony on his face.  His shield glowed orange with the energies they tried to combat.  Then, the shield collapsed, and Nyk flashed and was vaporized as Burke had been.  Finally, the rods themselves succumbed to the ball of magic they had created and vaporized as well

The workroom was blasted by the intense wave of magic.  Several of the wizards working nearby unshielded were caught by the runaway energies.  While their demise was not as dramatic as that of Burke and Nyk, they were lost as well.  Rigo and Mitty were thrown by the force of the fearsome magic, but their separation from the blast, the presence of the support wall, which ended up badly cracked by the magic, and the power of Rigo’s shield was sufficient to save them. When the rods disintegrated and the magic flare died away, they lay together in Rigo’s arms.  Much of the building was damaged by the force of the interaction and would have to be rebuilt yet again.

“What happened?” Mitty asked as she looked at Rigo.  She wondered where he had come from and where she was.  Her last memory was the arrival of Kytra in the mountains where she and Fen had been.

Two Years Later

The past two years had been the most settled and peaceful in recent memory for the Three Kingdoms and Sedfair.  The surprise appearance of Nyk and his timely demise thanks to luck and the sacrifice of Burke, had ended the unrest that had nearly destroyed them.  Rigo saw the appearance of Nyk as lucky indeed, for while he had potentially been a greater threat than all the other Brryn combined, he had freed Mitty, something Rigo didn’t believe would have happened otherwise.

Now they were together again.  Actually they were a family of three, their child having been born nearly a year and a half ago.  It was far too soon to see what characteristics might be expected from the blending of two such gifted parents.  Rigo hoped for a child who was gifted, but who wasn’t burdened with the more obvious characteristics he carried himself.  Others had hopes of the most powerful wizard in recent times.  A second child was on the way, which would bring their family to four.

Not too long ago they had moved into a larger residence, a concession to the expansion that was coming.  The new home was close to the now completed College of Magic, which allowed Rigo to stroll to his office there.  That was especially nice during the current season when the trees were freshly bloomed and the days mellow and warm.  It wasn’t as though Rigo had pressing duties.  He was part-time at the school, an advisor of sorts.  He had no official duties, and chose carefully what matters he allowed himself to become involved in.  At first that had been a privilege that had served him well.  He had needed time to think and sort out all that had taken place.  Now, well now, he was becoming bored, and he wasn’t sure what he wished to do.  Teaching wasn’t something he would be good at.  He lacked the patience.  He had traveled all he wished, besides he wanted to be home with Mitty.  He had come to realize he wished to study and learn, something that had to be a facet of the wisdom and knowledge that Ash’urn had passed to him.  He found himself curious about the kinds of things the elder scholar would have been drawn to.  Unfortunately, they had lost most of the materials that would support such researches.  

For some time he had hoped they might discover the location of the secret chamber that had kept Nyk alive through the centuries.  He believed there would be many items of great interest and usefulness.  Unfortunately, it remained hidden, and could be almost anywhere.  Some thought it must be located near the valley where the other Brryn had been located, but Rigo wondered if it might be as far north as the valley where they had found Kytra and her friends had been south.  He no longer expected it to be discovered at all.

The only materials they had to investigate were those that had been removed from the Outpost before its destruction, and which were now in the vaults of the College.  There were several items of interest, and Rigo had one of the viewing panels in his office now.  He hoped to be able to decipher the symbols that made it work and see what he could make it do.  This one had helped Jeen find him while a prisoner in Sedfair, so he knew it was functional.  There had to be a proper trigger to activate it. 

A light knock on his door interrupted his mental wandering, and he looked up to see one of the novices standing there.  Someone was waiting patiently behind her. 

“You have a visitor, Master Wizard,” the novice said respectfully.

Rigo nodded, indicating she should allow the person to enter.  The man who stepped around the young novice was middle aged, somewhat short, and displayed dull red hair that was distinctive and instantly suggested to Rigo who he might be meeting with.

“You’re from Kal’ran,” Rigo said.  “I’d wager you are one of the Caretakers.”

Quite so,” the man said, his head bobbing eagerly as he agreed with Rigo’s assessment.  “Please, may I sit?  It has been a long journey.”

“I’m sorry.  Please do.  You have come from Kal’ran to see me.”

Again the man nodded.  “I have just spent over three months aboard ship, an experience I hope never to repeat in my life.  I am Jula by the way.”

“The seas were rough I take it?” Rigo asked.

“Not particularly.  But the experience was frightening.  To be so far from land for weeks on end.  I thought we would never sight land again.”

“There must have been something important to bring you all this way then.  But why me?”

“When I was entrusted with this task I was told I must speak with either you, or the Wizard Nycoh.  When I arrived I asked about both of you.  I had hoped you both might be present to hear what I have to say.”

“Nycoh is away,” Rigo said.

Another bobbing of the head. 

“What is this about,” Rigo said finally, hoping to get to the bottom of the matter.  Jula didn’t seem to be in any hurry to explain, but the Caretakers had all been somewhat different in their approach.

“We have made a discovery,” he said slowly.  “It is important that you see what we have found.”

“Can’t you simply tell me what it is?”

A shake of the head.  “I was told it would be best if you saw for yourself.”

“This is in Kal’ran, I assume.”

“Of course,” Jula agreed.  “But that is of no matter.  With your magic, Kal’ran is as close as your own home, is it not?”

Rigo wondered momentarily if Jula wanted to show him as a means of avoiding the long trip back to Kal’ran by ship.  Rigo considered the time.  It was now midmorning.  They could go to Kal’ran, have a look at this discovery, whatever it might be, and he could expect to be home for dinner without any concern.  Mitty had warned him that company was to be expected, so he didn’t want to be late.

“Okay,” Rigo said standing.  “Let’s go have a look.”

Rigo made the more familiar
Bypass
to take them to the shores of the lake where the Repository had once stood.  He had learned that the
Transfer
, that he personally preferred, was unsettling to many.  As they stepped out of the portal, he saw that the village was starting to grow once again, although it was uncomfortably small, reflecting the numbers who had been lost when the Brryn attacked the facility.  Out in the lake, the small island stood bare and exposed after centuries of being hidden behind a powerful illusion.

“We must go out there,” the Caretaker said, pointing to the rocky island.

Moments later they exited a second portal, onto the shores of the land that still showed signs of the burns that had wiped the island clear of all vegetation and structures.

“This way,” Jula said, and led Rigo toward the center of the small piece of real estate.  A short distance away they came to an excavation that cut through the solid stone.  A ramp lead downward at a steep angle.  Torches were spaced conveniently along the walls to provide light.  Jula stepped into the tunnel without hesitation.  Rigo followed, still wondering what this was about.

The tunnel turned and snaked around upon itself as they wound deeper into the ground. After more than four hundred paces, they came to a large, intricately carved door.  It was propped open, and beyond were steps carved in the stone.  Unlike the rough-cut tunnel, the steps were precisely formed and regular, and the way was illuminated by light coming from the walls.  Rigo could sense the magic, but it was a spell he had not encountered before.

What is this?

Rigo followed Jula, his interest tweaked.

“How did you come upon this?” Rigo asked, as Jula led him farther down the stairs.

“We were driven to it.  The new Ormat, the village elder, saw the way in a dream.  He said it must be investigated.  It took nearly a year and a half to dig the tunnel.”

Rigo could imagine.  It looked as though the work had been done by hand, with pick and shovel.

Finally, a sense of greater light shone ahead.  Another doorway appeared that opened into a large waiting room, that Rigo had seen before.  Beyond the front area, he could see the large room with the shelves that contained the thousands of texts and scrolls of the Repository.  Everything was as it had been the last time he had visited.  Nothing was damaged.

“How can this be?” Rigo asked.

“We do not understand,” Jula admitted.  “We only knew that you must learn of it.”

Rigo walked slowly toward the open area where the books were stored.  There was one thing different he noticed immediately.  He hurried toward the closest of the shelves to verify what he sensed.  Once there he reached out and slowly withdrew one of the scrolls.  The barrier that had kept them from the texts before was now gone.  He spun and looked at the wealth of knowledge that was packed in this room.

A broad grin spread across his face.  He could hardly wait to get started.  He would have to inform Nycoh and the other scholars at the College, but he knew he would be spending many days here.  They would have to be careful.  The ancient knowledge had caused untold grief in the past.  It would be essential to ensure that never happened again.

The End