The Baldari (Book 3) (21 page)

“Are they?” Nycoh asked.  “You explained that the Citadel was not protected and the centuries that passed wore it away, but perhaps the protective spells on the texts preserved them well enough they might have survived.  It would be worth visiting the location of your old campus and see if anything remains buried somewhere.”

Daim considered Nycoh’s suggestion.  He didn’t think anything would be found, but it was worth a second look.  He’d returned to the location twice since he’d been resurrected, and found nothing had remained.  Of course, he hadn’t attempted to move tons of earth to see what might be buried.

The group spent another glass deciding who should be on the teams that would begin investigating the repository.  Once two research teams had been defined, each made up of five Casters and five wizards, a mixed team drawn from the Guild and the Outpost, they broke to inform those selected of their new task. 

As the others left, Nycoh pulled Fen aside.  “Come with me,” she said.  “Let’s see what is really there.”

S’erom met with the rest of the attack force at the usual gathering place.  The name of the village that had once existed here no longer mattered.  The area had ceased to be a home for any A’ardaugh some time ago.  Everyone who had lived here was gone.  The men had all been killed in one battle or another.  No one knew what happened to the women.  S’erom could guess, but what did it matter?

He would be First once again.  No one told him, but he knew anyway.  So did all of the warriors who were arriving.  It was a position he was used to assuming.  He’d filled it far too often of late.  In truth, he’d been extremely lucky to be alive and in command once again.  He couldn’t remember the same warrior being First more than twice in the early days when he was simply one of the fighters.  He’d survived against the odds.  Maybe that was why he kept being chosen.  This might be the last time, however.  The target this time had been attempted before.  He knew where they were going and that none had succeeded in the earlier attempts.  Why they kept going back and what was important there mystified him.  Of course, the whole matter of this war was something beyond his understanding.  Somehow he suspected his chances of ever seeing his family again were very small.  He wished he could simply refuse to go, but that wasn’t an option.

He didn’t know his Second, beyond which warrior he was. That was fine by him.  Every battle there had been a different Second, mostly because they hadn’t survived.  Only one Second had come back with him, and for some reason they had not been paired for repeat assaults.  Perhaps his former Second was a First now with another force.  The current one was from a village far to the north of his own, and they had never met.  He knew who he was the same way he knew everything else they were about.  It was in his brain.  How it had gotten there was another matter.

The most important difference this time was the Talls.  They would be going with the attacking A’ardaugh to the village by the Great Water.  Today wouldn’t be the first time that S’erom had fought with Talls on his side, but the first time they had supported attacks in the western lands.  He was alive today because the Talls had been part of the last mission he had been on.  They created the
Openings
that took the forces from this location directly to the point of attack.  That was far better than the old way, where the
Opening
left them out in the harsh desert where they then spent days traveling to the point of attack.  Now, because the Talls had joined them, they were able to appear and begin the attack immediately, and when it was deemed over, they could quickly escape back to Tin’skel’ot, the homeland.  The Talls also commanded the fierce powers that could destroy.  The damage a single Tall could call down upon the enemy defied imagination.  He had seen it before, when those powers had been called against his forces.  Now, they had that power on their side to offset the defenders.

Sadly, the number of Talls within the forces was small.  They had had more some weeks ago, but they were not immune to dying, and many had been killed by the forces that opposed them.  Now only three remained, of which only two were able to make the all important
Openings
.  S’erom worried that they might be killed in the coming battle.  That would be very bad for himself and the A’ardaugh that would be part of today’s attack.  Because of the Talls, and the
Openings
they made, S’erom’s men would arrive on foot rather than on the backs of the fierce and nearly tireless U’nydyn.  He actually preferred that, since like most of the A’ardaugh, he disliked the beasts.  However, if the Talls were somehow killed, or otherwise rendered unable to use their magic, there would be no one to make the necessary
Opening
for them to escape, and without the U’nydyn, they would have little chance of making the long journey back to the Great River. 

S’erom took some encouragement by the fact the Old Tall seemed immune to being harmed.  He didn’t know what was different about her, but in the last battle, she had withstood multiple attacks by the enemy Klor’est, the wielders of the sun power.  Though they had clearly targeted her the same as some of the other Talls who had died, their powers had failed to touch her.  She had glowed like the sun, but had remained unharmed.  S’erom had every intention of staying close to her, and when the time came to leave, he believed he would have the greatest chance of returning home.  He had promised his mate he would return, and despite the fear for what was ahead, he had every intention of trying his best to keep his word.

S’erom wished he knew more about the Talls.  He had tried to form a mental link with them in the past, but always to no avail.  They were blank, and unable to communicate.  Once he thought he’d caught a glimmer of awareness in the mind of one, but she had been killed in the last attack.  Most of the time they simply stood, glassy-eyed and docile, until the attacks began.  Unlike the A’ardaugh, who were alert and had their wits about them, the Talls seemed to be controlled and directed in their actions.  Perhaps they were mindless.  S’erom didn’t think so however.  He had seen the Talls who acted against them move and fight like true warriors.  That suggested something had been done to the Talls who were allied with the A’ardaugh.  S’erom suspected the forces that compelled him to engage in battle somehow had a tighter grip upon the Talls.

The force was nearly assembled.  Most of the warriors were arriving through an
Opening
that brought them from villages far to the north.  Most of the males in the nearby villages had been killed, and warriors were being called from ever farther away.  While they were from different tribes, which had often fought against one another in the past, they were united in the current cause.  He could tell which were newcomers by their reaction to the Talls.  He realized that some of them had seen Talls before.  He caught the thoughts that passed between several of the new arrivals.  They had seen Talls on the Great River, moving slowly from the north.  S’erom wondered what this meant.  There had never been Talls in the homeland before.  Even as he had the thought, S’erom could sense something in the back of his mind grabbing onto the information eagerly as well.  Then his attention was forced back to the task at hand.

Preparations were simpler this time.  No food had to be carried to support them.  That would make them far more mobile.  Only a small skin of water was carried by each warrior.  They would arrive at the battle front, engage the enemy, and before the sun set, would either be left for dead, or would be returning here.  Since none rode the U’nydyn, the staging area was more controlled, and more densely packed with warriors.  Only the three Talls rode the beasts.  They had demonstrated they lacked the stamina and endurance of the A’ardaugh warrior, and to ensure they could keep up and be on hand with their magical power and protection, they were assigned the beasts.  S’erom could sense the restlessness in the U’nydyn.  They clearly weren’t comfortable with the smell and closeness of the Talls.  Somehow they were forced to obey.  Unlike the control each A’ardaugh warrior exerted upon the creature he rode, it wasn’t the Talls that controlled them.  Of this S’erom was certain.  The beasts were held in check in some other way. 

Knowing they were about to leave, S’erom made a last check of his equipment.  His razor sharp sword was in its scabbard.  The worn blade had claimed many lives, and had saved him many times.  He hoped it would do the same today.  Some carried the poisoned blow darts, but S’erom wasn’t among them.  The long tubes restricted a warrior’s motion and made him more vulnerable.  S’erom considered the blow darts a fine hunting weapon, but not a wise choice for combat.  Still, a number were so equipped, and the thought ran through his mind that the decision to bring the weapons probably had been something each warrior had made on his own.  S’erom checked the branding belt that was in his pouch.  He had been given a large sack of them the last time he had visited the strange valley to the south.  They were now distributed, and each who had been given one knew instinctively how they were to be used.  They would allow any Talls with the power to be controlled and brought back.  That was one objective of the mission, S’erom realized.  More of the Talls were needed.  Once brought back to the homeland, and taken to the hidden valley, they could be converted to support the A’ardaugh battle.

Then the Talls pushed through the throng of waiting warriors.  The Old Tall was close to S’erom, so he didn’t have to adjust his position.  As S’erom watched, a pair of large
Openings
appeared on either side of the square.  Following the pressure in his mind, he pushed to the front and led his group through the nearest arch.  His Second led the other half of the assembled force through the
Opening
on the far side of the square.

Roin lay open and unprotected before them as they emerged out of nowhere on the side of the hill on the eastern side of the village.  The port city filled the half circle of protected flatlands that bordered the shimmering sea beyond.  Dozens of ships filled the harbor, most of them docked at wharves along the waterfront.  It was just becoming light here.  Roin was far more to the west from the point from which the A’ardaugh had originated, and few in the city were yet up.  Most of the activity was on the docks, where the seabirds squawked and the sailors cursed under heavy loads that were being moved in preparation of weighing anchor.

S’erom was unaware that the delay in attacking Roin was the result of the Old Tall having to seek out the village over the past weeks.  She had been sent on an individual mission into the western lands, moving by magic in her attempt to reach the village.  Since she was no Baldari, her appearance didn’t attract attention, and while she didn’t speak the language, it didn’t matter because she moved swiftly and silently via her magic.  Once she had located the village, and firmly locked this location in her mind, she had returned to the homeland.  There she had escorted the second Tall here, so both would know the place and be able to create the portals for the attacking forces. 

She had been fortunate in her travels to have stumbled across the location of the Army barracks.  Realizing what she had found, she had created an exit point adjacent to the structure.  The first thing she had done upon exiting the
Doorway
with the attacking Baldari behind her, was to unleash her most powerful magic and reduce the structure and everyone inside to ash.  That had two immediate advantages.  Most obvious was the elimination of the military force that would have emerged to defend against the attacking forces.  Less apparent, but even more importantly, the commander of the facility was killed in his sleep.  The commander had one of the signaling devices he was tasked with activating in the event of an attack.  That signal would have alerted the Outpost to the presence of the Baldari, and caused a large force of combat wizards to arrive almost immediately.  Since he was killed before being able to do so, the signal calling in reinforcements was delayed.

A second signaling device was in the hands of the senior wizard in Roin.  The Baldari attack couldn’t have been chosen for a better day.  The daughter of the senior wizard had been Bound the previous day, and the ceremony had been joyous and long.  Wine had flowed freely, and many, including the young woman’s father, had become quite drunk.  Now, as the Baldari flowed into the city, he was still recovering from the over indulgence of the previous evening, and his mind was slow and sluggish.  When the first sound of alarm reached his ears, he was uncertain as to the cause and slow to react.  He didn’t want to take any action that would prove false and therefore embarrassing.  Instead of triggering the alarm as he should have, he attempted to get dressed and personally go and check on the sound of the disturbance.  If it was truly an attack, the commander would have already alerted the Outpost, he reasoned.

Meanwhile, the Baldari had run through the village, unopposed except for the random citizen who realized what was happening and tried to resist.  Those poor individuals had been cut down mercilessly.  The Baldari torched buildings as they moved toward the waterfront, and once there, they burned what ships they could, aided by the magic of the three Talls. 

Several of the local wizards had realized what was happening, and had rallied to try and stop the attacks.  One had gone in search of the senior wizard, wondering why the supporting force from the Outpost had not been called.  A number of the Baldari were killed by the wizards, but two of their number were in turn killed by the Casters who supported the Baldari forces.  S’erom was with the force that reached the southern edge of the harbor, walking upon the sands that sunk into the Great Water.  He could see the shallows that showed beneath the clear water.  The surface was blurred and indistinct.  He felt something urge him forward toward the sunken land ahead, but even as he tried, the waves that rolled in every few moments pushed him back toward land.  Finally, the urge subsided, and he turned back toward the village itself.

The first wizard he captured had somehow been surprised by a pair of A’ardaugh warriors, and the man knelt with a sword to his throat.  The youth’s eyes were wide with fear, and S’erom knew he was unable to reach for his power because of his fear, but that could change at any moment.  A couple of warriors with swords would be no match for this one if he only could regain his composure.  S’erom reached into his pouch and withdrew the Branding Band.  He laid it on the forehead of the wizard his men held at bay, and pressed his forefinger against the glyph that adorned the back of the band.

The young wizard screamed in pain and fear as the band pulsed and burned a series of glyphs into his skin.  S’erom withdrew the band and returned it to his pouch, signaling his men to stand back as he did so.  The dark black glyphs stood out starkly against the pale skin, and S’erom instinctively knew this one was no longer a threat.  The symbols would rob him of his power.  He would no longer be able to call upon his magic, and he could be taken prisoner as easily as any other.  He would be taken back to the assembly point in the homeland, and later to the small hidden valley where he would be turned over to the women who waited there.  S’erom didn’t know what would happen next, but eventually he assumed, this one would become one of the Talls who supported the A’ardaugh.  Once his mind was properly controlled, all sign of the burned in symbols would be removed to allow him access to his magic once again.