Chapter 24

Rolas wore a distressed look as he watched Jollis bandaging his injured ankle. "Wanderer, you must get that treated," he finally said when Jollis faltered as he tried to place his weight upon it.

"I have treated the worst of it," said Jollis without looking up. "I had a bit of salve remaining from the last time I was similarly injured. The torn tendon is mended. The rest will have to heal naturally."

"But--"

Jollis stood, tested his foot once more, and lifted his head. "The only Healer available is the one who services Verano and Yurton. They cannot be alerted to my activities."

"It would appear Mage Verano already believes there is a danger to him. He now has two warriors standing guard outside his quarters."

"But there has been no movement against me that you can see?"

"None, Wanderer."

Jollis nodded once. "What of the runes?"

"Hurus should be here shortly with news. But ... what are you going to do next?"

Several times during a fitful night's sleep this very question had plagued him. When he had finally awoken before dawn and further slumber eluded him, he had considered summoning a Farview with Kyllos. But where his mentor had given him this assignment in such a clandestine manner, it was unlikely Kyllos wished to speak of it openly.

Jollis uttered a short sigh, and the laced fingers of Rolas flexed and drew tighter in response to his master's uncertainty. "If more evidence points to questionable activities on the part of Mage Verano, I will confront him and give him a chance to explain."

Rolas' eyes widened. "Is that not dangerous?"

"Yes, but it is the right thing to do. The accused is simply that until he is confronted with his alleged crimes and can offer no defense."

"But if he is acting in an inappropriate manner, what are you to do?"

Jollis was spared the necessity of answering when Hurus burst into the quarters. Jollis held up a hand. "Before you speak, pause, regain your calm, and then ask yourself what it would have looked like to a potential enemy were he to see you running to my quarters."

Hurus blinked, then lowered his gaze as he caught his breath. "I beg forgiveness, Wanderer. I was not thinking clearly."

"Obviously. If I sound harsh, it is because we cannot afford any more mistakes." He slid his injured foot forward. "My own was bad enough, and needs to be the last. Now, what news have you?"

"The runes from the pearl have been interpreted."

Rolas gave his compatriot an anxious look.

Jollis drew in a breath and let it go slowly. "And what has been found?"

Hurus shuffled his feet. "I am having trouble believing it and wonder if my friend is in error."

"Stop stalling," Jollis declared. "Tell me."

"He has stated the runes are evidence of energies from ... from a transdimensional Portal."

Rolas uttered a small gasp.

Jollis narrowed his eyes and steeled his face. "And he is sure of this?"

"Yes, Wanderer, he went over it several times before he contacted me. He is ... somewhat in shock about it."

"That is a vast understatement compared to how I feel right now," Rolas muttered.

Jollis stepped forward. "Enough hyperbole."

"With all due respect, Honored Wanderer, it is not," said Rolas. "The Inonni do not soil ourselves with such things. We had abandoned such heinous technology more than a century ago. Anyone who would do such a thing--"

"Mage Verano had already told me he was performing such experimentation."

Both Cohorts stared at him, incredulous.

Jollis nodded. "But only for the purpose of gathering knowledge of the Oceanus technology. There was no intent to open a Portal. Or so the Mage Master told me."

"Then the Mage Master lied, Wanderer," said Hurus in a tense, quavering voice. "As distasteful as it is for me to state. I have been told that the energy readings stored in the pearl represent attempts to fully realize a Portal."

Rolas turned to Hurus. "Did you say 'attempts?'"

"Yes. He chose that word specifically. He said it was as if he were watching journeymen Mages performing experiments to further their own skills."

"But that makes no sense. Why would we need to do such a thing for something we already know how to do?"

"I know. I said this to him. He simply repeated what he had learned from the runes."

"Enough," said Jollis. "We will not debate the implications right now. I want only facts. There will be time for contemplation later. Is there anything else?"

"Jothan is still nowhere to be found," said Hurus.

"Considering what has been discovered outside the Manor, I doubt you will ever find him," said Rolas in a dry voice. He turned to Jollis. "Please forgive me for pressing you on this question, and I will understand if you choose not to answer it, but what will you do if you confirm Mage Verano has indeed done the distasteful acts of which you accuse him?"

"I do not know," said Jollis.

The Cohorts exchanged a look.

"And if I did, it is perhaps best you remain ignorant. After I am gone, you will still need to answer to the Mage Master and the Holy Order."

"I am not sure I could continue here if I knew Mage Verano had committed such unspeakable acts," Rolas said.

"It is the wise man who waits to see what opportunity presents itself," Jollis intoned. "It is the fool who commits himself to a path too early."

Both Cohorts bowed their heads.

Jollis tested his ankle once more before sliding his foot into its boot. "Now, go, please. I wish some time to meditate before I confront Mage Verano. And speak no more of this even amongst yourselves until I allow it."

"Yes, Wanderer, of course," Rolas said. They bowed their heads again and left.

Jollis finished dressing and sat upon the edge of his bed. He was not confident he could reach a proper meditative state. Events were affecting him far more deeply than he would admit, as he could be nothing less than a pillar of strength until it was over. But Rolas' question haunted him. Just what would he do?

Inonni law provided little for dealing with such problems among their own kind, as many such matters were left to common sense. A higher power was always available to intervene, dispense advice, arbitrate, weigh evidence, and offer fair judgment. But the only higher power was the Holy Order. If the Mage Master were indeed committing acts so antithetical to Inonni Enlightenment, his only recourse was Elder Yurton.

The thought filled him with a sense of dread, but not from the simple anxiety of being scrutinized and judged by the Elder. Such things Jollis could set aside. This reached further, as if covering some horrible truth which he did not want to see.

Jollis sighed. Sometimes knowing how his own psyche worked to such a degree was more a bane than a boon.

When Uroddus realized he could hear the debate in the Chamber of Equals while still a full corridor away, he hurried his footsteps.

"And I am telling you this will flat out not work!" shouted Mage Elder Q'toll.

"And we are telling you the numbers say it will work!" came the return volley from a younger voice.

"Feh! You and your blasted numbers!"

"These numbers have proven themselves to work time and time again!" was the reply, this time in Katla's rather agitated voice, followed by a rustle of parchments. "We have predicted the behavior of Portals with these formulae to an accuracy of ninety-nine point nine nine--"

"Argh! Numbers, numbers, numbers! That's all magic is to you impudent know-it-alls!"

"With all due respect, Master Q'toll," said the relatively calm but strained voice of Q'kollan. "She has a point. You may not like it, but facts do not lie."

"No, no, no!" cried another Mage. "They are asking a Portal to behave in a manner that it was never intended to behave."

"It will if you apply the new formula!" shouted another younger voice.

"And just how do you expect to totally reverse the flow of energy inside the matrix? For that is what you are demanding of it. You may as well ask water to flow uphill!"

Uroddus appeared at the entrance and adjusted his spectacles as he called out, "And if I saw such a feat, I would assume a Mage reasonably skilled in transport magic was nearby."

Q'toll turned to him, eyes blazing. "Of course, I would come to expect you to side with them! Really, what more was your installation into the seat of Guild power than simply to elevate the Empiricists to a position far above the station they deserve?"

"That was uncalled for, Master Q'toll," Q'kollan declared.

Uroddus held up a hand. "He is within his right to say what he wishes to me in this room." He turned towards the Mage Elder. "I stand by any and all ranks I have granted since taking office. All, I believe, were merited. And I do not come to support one side over the other, only to see progress made."

Katla marched forward and thrust a sheaf of parchments at him. "And we have made progress, even if some are determined not to recognize it."

"I recognize solid evidence that I can witness with my own eyes," Q'toll retorted. "Not numbers on a ledger or fanciful theories!"

Uroddus looked over the first of the parchments and raised an eyebrow. "I do admit the complexity is taxing my ability to follow the line of equations from one derivation to the other."

"Those first sheets are just the underlying foundation," Katla said. "A sort of a mathematical proof which told us what we want to do is even possible."

"To be fair to both sides," Q'kollan said. "I, too, find what is being proposed to be highly unorthodox. It does appear to fly in the face of what we know of Portal mechanics."

"It can work," Katla said, though in a weaker voice. "But we know it's going to take some effort."

Q'toll threw up his free hand and turned away as he muttered, "A vast understatement if I ever heard one."

"You worded your statement in a way which indicates even you believe there may be the slightest bit of merit to the theory," said Uroddus.

Q'toll rounded on him and thumped his staff against the floor. Uroddus noticed a few more Elders now sporting staffs as well. Q'yros had always lamented how modern Mages never bothered with such accouterments to their detriment. He wondered if their sudden preponderance was a way for the others to honor him. Or, more likely, to show their support for someone whom they would have preferred as Guildmaster over Uroddus.

"Do not test me, Guildmaster," Q'toll growled. "And do not patronize me. It is always safe to say a man would not drown in water if he had gills. Yet we are not about to see a man with gills anytime soon." He turned to Katla. "Any more than what you propose can come true anytime soon, either!"

Uroddus repressed a small sigh as he looked around. He had initially believed the Guild had once more separated into Traditionalist and Empiricist camps. Yet as he looked more closely, he saw more of the younger Traditionalists congregating with Katla and her peers. His attempt to integrate the two camps had only shifted the dividing line; now it lay between generations.

He wondered how Katla and her informal team had come up with such complex equations in such a short period of time until he noticed the redness of Katla's eyes and spied her trying not to yawn. She had not been in bed the night before and had been absent when he had awakened that morning, but he had assumed she had come to bed at least once to rest.

"Then I would suggest the first order of business would be to apply the equations on an actual Portal and see if they will work," Uroddus said.

"Preposterous notion!" shouted Q'toll, and several other Mage Elders nodded or called out "Hear! Hear!" in support. "It is far too dangerous. If they actually achieve a reversal, it could very well blow the Portal apart!"

"In this case, I am forced to agree, Guildmaster," said Q'kollan. "Even the chamber we reserve for teaching apprentices how to manipulate a Portal may not afford enough protection. Some energy may be transported through the continuum a short distance outside the chamber."

"We thought of that as well," Katla said. "We don't intend to use a Portal at the Guild Hall."

Q'toll frowned at her. "And just where do you propose to do it?" He snorted. "I suppose your friends the Rogue Mages will--"

"Expatriates," Uroddus corrected.

"Rogue Mages will provide what you want!"

"No, we don't intend to ask the EXPATRIATES for assistance," Katla shot back. "Not when there is a far better candidate, one which will allow us to do exactly what we intend if we're successful."

"And what would that be?" Uroddus asked.

Katla turned to him. "The Inonni have not usurped every Overlord Portal. We were thinking of using the Portal located at the old D'yoran Manor. It's been abandoned the longest and likely will not be under any sort of observation by the Inonni."

"This is where I must protest, unfortunately," said Q'kollan. "We have no idea what state of repair the Portal is in. From what I understand, Gronnus D'yoran was not doing well financially until the final days leading to the occupation. During his brief spate of wealth, there is no record he had a Mage properly tune his Portal anytime in the near past."

"There is no other one we can use," Katla retorted. "There are only two other Manors which have not been in some way directly occupied by the Inonni. And from what we learned of Overlord Gronnus, it is likely he had frequently visited other Overlords from his Portal, while the other two were more insular. Overlords tended to use each others' Portals as foci for their own Portals, and Gronnus even more so. Repeated transit will have left resonances lingering along those paths which could make our plan possible."

"Please summarize the intended end result," Uroddus said. He lifted the sheaf of parchments. "So I do not have to read through all this on the spot to find out."

Katla sighed and barely suppressed a roll of her eyes. She hated overly simplifying such complex topics.

"Rest assured I will read this in detail later in my office," Uroddus said.

Katla appeared only slightly mollified. "This is a very crude explanation: we want to send a pulse of energy to each of the other Overlord Portals under Inonni control and burn out their central gemstones." She paused. "Collateral damage will take out enough of the remaining mechanism to render it useless."

"She is understating the result," Q'kollan said in a serious voice. "If these equations prove effective, it will likely result in a ... sizable explosion of each of the affected Portal devices, since she will be channeling the immense energies in the transdimensional realm."

Uroddus' eyebrows rose as he found the equation which indicated the power output. "'Sizable' is an understatement as well."

"And before you ask, yes, we thought about how anyone nearby may be caught up in the explosion," Katla said in a subdued voice. "But as Master Q'kollan stated, we're feeding back transdimensional energies into the conventional realm. The amount of power we are dealing with is so huge that we can control it only so much and--"

"And why should it matter?!" an Elder in the back shouted, "Let them die! They are invaders! Conquerors!"

"We have no idea who would be standing around these things when they went up!" Katla cried in a cracked voice. "We could very well take out innocent people."

"Can some work be done without proceeding to the final result?" Uroddus asked. "Let us not debate ethics until we know if it will work."

"Yes, but we have to start now. As in today. We need a Portal powered and targeted at Gronnus' Portal. We believe it has enough of a lingering resonance to be used safely as a focus."

"Then I will order one powered immediately," said Uroddus. He turned towards the grumbling Mage Elders. "And I fully expect some of you will accompany them. I do not want this to be an effort which is wholly one side or the other. I do not even want 'sides, ' if I have not made that abundantly clear by now. Mage Q'kollan, would you coordinate the effort?"

"I will certainly try," Q'kollan said, though his tone was dubious as he looked over to his compatriots.

Jollis approached Mage Verano's quarters, his gait slightly stiff as he fought against the pain still throbbing in his ankle. The warriors which stood on either side of the entrance trained their eyes carefully upon him, as they could spot such subtle clues in a man's stride. Jollis' stiff walk could indeed mean a fight against pain, but could also be evidence of the nervousness which went along with conspiracy.

Though doubt and guilt clouded their eyes as well. This was the Wanderer, after all. He should be above such suspicion.

Jollis stopped when the warriors performed their ritual crossing of the staffs before him. Jollis bowed his head. "I would like to see the Honored Mage Verano."

To his surprise, the warriors lifted their staffs and snapped them to their sides. They turned and stepped back from the door. "Of course, Wanderer. Mage Verano waits within."

Jollis hesitated a moment, and once more stepped back in time. The room looked as it did when he had first met Mage Jothan. A meal graced the table. One extra place had been set, but this was no surprise. Inonni tradition among those dining alone was to set an extra place as a symbol of invitation and friendship to unexpected visitors. Jollis found Verano's adherence to such a tradition to be hypocritical and quite distasteful, and he had to stop his body from tensing in response to his thoughts.

Verano put down the piece of fruit he was eating and dabbed his lips with a napkin. "Please, honored Wanderer, join me for the midday meal."