Chapter 21

The still air lay sodden and warm from the first wave of early summer heat, and moisture clung to the Cohort's face as he crept along the side of the path which wound along the west side of the island. His fingers twitched despite how tightly he had laced them, and he spun his gaze behind him every few steps.

Ahead of him was the S-shaped curve between the trees which lined the shore to the left and the gardens to the right. Just beyond was the dwelling of Elder Yurton. His breath became short as he hastened. He looked behind him once more, letting out a ragged sigh when he saw the path was still clear.

He felt fortunate most of his brethren had been tasked with surveillance on Mage Jothan. He had not wanted to devise fanciful explanations for why he was out after dark. This way he could be about his business and back in his quarters long before the others had returned.

He did not like this. It felt like a betrayal. But the Holy Order trumped all other considerations, even someone he admired. He turned his eyes forward and uttered a yelp rather unbecoming of his station as he shuddered to a stop and flung himself backwards, then stumbled and fell to the ground. He raised an arm when a hand thrust towards him from below the face which had popped out of nowhere.

"Please, let me help you up," said Jollis with a smile.

The Cohort hesitated before he clasped the proffered hand and was hauled to his feet in one swift move.

"I hope I did not startle you," Jollis said.

"Not ... not at all, honored Wanderer," said the Cohort with a bow of his head.

"Ah, then there must be some other explanation as to why your breath is still short. And why you feel obligated to use an additional honorific to my name."

The Cohort paused. "I simply wish to show you respect, and to thank you properly for helping me."

"Then I suppose that is your reason for why you are about this late at night."

"It was your directive, Wanderer, to ensure Mage Jothan was under proper surveillance. I am participating in that venture."

Jollis' smile broadened. "It is little wonder you let a crucial piece of information slip earlier. You are a very bad liar."

The Cohort's eyes widened. "My ... my Wanderer, I would never--"

"The one who lies simply to deceive is most certainly the fool," intoned Jollis. "But he starts on the road to wisdom upon admitting his lie when caught in it."

The Cohort swallowed. "I do not--"

Jollis voice grew less pleasant. "And I suggest you do not compound this lie with another, for you would surely have lost all honor at that point."

The Cohort flexed his fingers and said nothing.

"You were about to visit Elder Yurton, were you not? To tell him of the orders which I had given you and the others."

"What makes you think that?"

"Answering a question with a question is another form of deception. That was the last one I will allow you. Tell me the truth from this point forward or you will tell neither lies nor truths."

The Cohort staggered back a step. "Wanderer, I--!"

"You have one more chance to answer my question. I am usually a very patient man, but there are times when I find it a liability. This is one of them."

The Cohort swallowed and let out a ragged sigh. He bowed his head and lowered his eyes. "Yes, I was about to visit him. Please forgive me, but I am under orders."

"Then I absolve you of blame. But you must tell me why you were so concerned about the Portal energies earlier today."

The Cohort looked stricken. "But I am sworn to secrecy on the matter!"

"By that very statement, you have negated your secrecy oath. A secret is such only when no one knows it exists. And I will remind you once more of my lack of patience this evening."

"W-Wanderer, I am but a servant of the larger path. I cannot--"

"--delay your answers to my questions any further. Decide in this next moment before you speak again which is more important to you, your oath or your continued existence."

The Cohort swallowed. "Elder Yurton authorized some sort of experiment to be carried out on the Overlord Portal. It is Verano, however, who is doing the actual work."

"What kind of experiment?" Jollis demanded.

"I do not have all the details. It involves a careful and controlled cycling of the Portal energies."

"For what purpose?"

"I do not know."

"Verano is supposed to be perfecting the craft of targeting Portals via memories. Does this have anything to do with that?"

"No, Wanderer, I do not believe so."

Jollis considered for a moment, then nodded once.

"That is all I know," the Cohort said.

"Then return to your quarters. I offer an apology for my actions."

The Cohort paused as if confused, then bowed his head and scurried back the way he had come.

Jollis watched the Cohort retreat with a look of disgust, directed not at the Cohort but himself. Had a fellow Cohort resorted to the same technique to obtain information from his fellow, Jollis would have taken the man to task. Jollis' actions had been sheer expediency, and it felt distasteful to have resorted to such crude methods.

Nevertheless, it had revealed a most unfortunate fact which he had already suspected: Yurton was doing something which he did not want the rest of Oceanus to see. Or even his fellow Inonni. It flew against everything for which the Holy Order stood.

Jollis turned his head when he heard a rustling noise somewhere around the curve along the path ahead. He ducked into the trees until passing footsteps against the packed earth had turned into the gardens and faded into the distance.

So Jothan makes his move tonight, Jollis thought with some satisfaction. Then we will see what he is up to.

Jothan stopped at the point of the S-curve hidden from sight from both directions, glanced either way, and hurried into the gardens. He crouched out of sight and mumbled a countdown, passing thirty as he crawled along the ground behind a line of bushes, then twenty when he reached the northern edge of the gardens and plunged into the protection of the trees.

He had gone over in his mind several plans for a frontal assault on the Cohorts at the gate, but all scenarios had ended badly for him. Thus he chose the next best thing: diversion.

He reached the edge of the northern path and ducked down as his countdown reached ten. From behind a boulder he peered at the Cohorts standing at the gate. As his countdown reached five, he turned his head to the left and jockeyed for position to see past the thicker foliage until he spotted the warriors at the head of the path to the Portal building.

Three ... two ... one ... showtime.

A pearl imbued with elemental magic combined with combat magic, hidden among the trees between the west path and the shore, exploded its overloaded spell charge. A ball of crimson flame rocketed towards the night sky, whistling like a firecandle. Shouts of warning were drowned out when the flaming meteor reached the end of its arc and plummeted to the ground with a roar of thunder, landing between Yurton's dwelling and the astonished warriors guarding the Portal.

As flame engulfed the trees, the warriors at Yurton's dwelling dashed inside, then reappeared with the Elder, escorting him away from the fire and away from Jothan's position. The Portal guardians also left their post to join several Cohorts who now attempted to contain the fire until Verano could be summoned.

Jothan turned his attention to the gate. The two Cohorts looked on with concern, hesitated, then finally dashed away to join the makeshift fire brigade.

Jothan emerged from hiding, the flames casting a mottled orange glow upon the ground and the trees. He smirked as he saw the Inonni busy with their little "problem." He dashed across the road and through the gate, then darted into the trees where the road started to curve. He peeked towards the gate, but no shadows moved before the flickering red-orange light of his handiwork.

He took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. The initial rush had worn off, and he could not recall ever feeling this frightened. He sensed the fading residual energies of not just Barranus, but of others as well, all accompanied by the same nauseating staleness and decay. Such energies had never garnered such a reaction in him before, and the implications were too staggering to comprehend.

He emerged from the trees and sensed the energies emanating from almost due west, where a narrow path meandered off the main road. He glanced towards the gate. The glow of his diversionary fire was diminishing more quickly than he had anticipated. He plunged down the path, withdrawing a pearl from his pocket and holding it before him to light the way.

The path had been barely maintained. The foliage had been cleared back only enough to allow passage, the ground covered in spotty underbrush. He came upon what appeared to be a small hut, similar to a slave quarters, except comprised of but a single chamber. Jothan stepped inside, but it was clear it had been unoccupied for some time. He puzzled over its purpose until he remembered the former Overlord once had a personal tradesman. This may have been his quarters.

This was not the target of his search. The energies lie further west, but close. He emerged from the hut and held the pearl before him like a beacon as he continued down the path, peering into the darkness which seemed to close around him as if intent on swallowing him into the void. A breeze rustled the leaves and he shivered, not quite in proportion to the coolness of the air.

Jothan narrowed his eyes and extended the hand which held the glowing pearl, illuminating a small clearing. The moonlight was smothered by the canopies of the trees, only the occasional spots of silver light sliding across the ground. It was enough to tell him the area had been scoured of brush and vegetation.

His temples throbbed with the reverberating energies. He rubbed them and tried and sort out what he was sensing to little avail. Some had faded enough to be indistinguishable from the background magical radiance. He knew only he was sensing more than one, and Barranus was among them.

He advanced, and stumbled when his foot struck the edge of a raised mound. When he recovered, Jothan stood upon dirt looser and softer than the packed earth of the path. A shiver ran down his spine, and he jumped off the mound. He lowered his pearl for a closer look.

The mound was a little longer than a man was tall, and about a fourth as wide. Jothan came upon a second such mound only a few steps from the first. By the third one, he had determined the source of the energy emanations. He fell to his knees as his stomach heaved, but he managed not to vomit, shivering hard until the nausea had passed.

Nevertheless, nothing could lift the pall which had settled over him at the sight of the makeshift graveyard. A sense of disgust rose inside him which threatened to nauseate him once more. The supposedly "enlightened" Inonni had not had the dignity to perform the proper ritual for a fallen Mage, where his lingering energies could be dispersed and freed from the fetters of the lifeless body.

Jothan stared down at the grave he now knew contained Barranus' remains. All the others were filled with his brethren, fellow expatriates who had not known how great a payment would be extracted for the "privilege" of working for the Inonni. But what happened to them? Indiscriminate killing of expatriate Mages who wanted to work for them made little sense.

He straightened up and backed away. A twig snapped on the path behind him. He spun around and with a single gesture let loose a bolt of crimson combat magic. Without a specific target, the energy advanced on a broad front.

The edges of the advancing wall flashed as they struck home, and several dull thuds confirmed their unprepared targets. The remainder suddenly roared back towards him, and Jothan had only just enough time to duck before it shot overhead, its burning light illuminating his back.

Jothan straightened up as soon as it was past and raised his hands before him. In the same instant, a glowing sphere of tightly concentrated combat magic struck his chest and blew him off his feet and across the graveyard. He fell and rolled into the thorny underbrush just past Barranus' grave.

Jothan was nowhere near as accomplished at combat magic. He knew only several basic self-defense moves. Nevertheless, he leapt to his feet, ignoring the pain of the thorns in his arms and legs, and loosed another attack. He ducked out of the way of a counterattack, only to be struck by another arriving on its heels.

Every inch of Jothan's skin felt as if immersed in burning acid, and the scream remained locked in his throat from the shock. He had a fleeting thought about how well-played it had been, the first attack clearly the feint which had forced him into the second one.

The agony stopped all at once, the shock of its absence as jarring as the shock of its appearance. Jothan collapsed to the ground, his nerves still firing randomly all over his body, as if he had fallen into the smoldering embers of a campfire which now sought his skin as fuel to reignite. By the time he had managed to force himself to his knees, a flurry of motion surrounded him, and a staff whacked him across the stomach and then against the back of his head. Jothan fell across Barranus' grave and hovered on the gray brink of unconsciousness for a few breaths before he succumbed and lay limp and still.

The two warriors lowered their staffs and looked up as a third figure approached from the darkness, flanked by four shadows. The figure's eyes glowed with Mage-sight until a pearl ignited in his hand.

Verano turned to the other four warriors with him and ordered, "Guard the path back to the Manor." As they nodded and disappeared back into the darkness, Verano regarded the prone body. "I didn't want to do this, Jothan," he said with a quaver in his voice. "I had thought you would do well just on your own. Now you will have to serve in the same manner as your brethren."

Verano gestured to the warriors. They hauled Jothan from the ground and propped him up between them.

"Secure him, and make sure he cannot use his magic when he awakens," Verano ordered.

"Shall we tell Elder Yurton?" asked one of the warriors.

"Do not concern yourself. I will speak with him as needed." He brought his hands together and laced the fingers to stop them from trembling. "I do the Holy Order's most sacred work, as do you."

The warriors bowed their heads in acknowledgement and started to drag Jothan past Verano.

Verano gestured to stop them. "And make quite sure you are not seen by the Wanderer Jollis."

The warriors exchanged a confused look. "Honored Mage, would the Wanderer not wish to assist in your--"

"Do as I say. As the Holy Order commands through me."

"Yes, Mage Master Verano."

Verano let out a slow sigh as the warriors passed. He turned his gaze towards the graveyard, opened his mouth as if to speak, then swallowed hard and fled.

"Jothan then slipped past the gate once the fire had started, Wanderer," said the first Cohort.

"It was clear to us then he had anticipated the fire and was thus its instigator, despite having slipped from our observation at the crucial moment when he planted the spelled pearl," said the second Cohort.

"It pained us greatly, but we did not assist in putting out the fire. We instead observed from a concealed location. We thought it prudent not to follow him past the gate for fear someone else would spot us and learn of your clandestine surveillance."

"As soon as the fire was under control, Mage Verano led a contingent of warriors out of the Manor."

"Wanderer, I admit I am not privy to the security requirements of the Mage Master or the Holy Order--"

"Indeed, we now realize there is much we are not privy to," the second Cohort said in a slightly sour voice.

"Hush, please, and let me continue," said the first. "Wanderer, it seemed to me he took an inordinate number of warriors with him, at least six. Even if he had somehow known Jothan was responsible for the fire, this was more than was needed in light of Mage Verano's considerable magic skills."

"We were unable to observe the outcome, Wanderer. Before Verano returned, some of his warriors appeared ahead of him and cleared the area about the gate. If we had not left, we would surely have been discovered and questioned."