Chapter 35

The low clouds at the dawn horizon glowed blood red with the approaching sunrise. A crimson taint touched the former D'ronstaq Manor as the glow brightened, and to those walking along the sandy paths formerly tread by slaves, Trainers, and Overlords, it felt like walking on faintly bloodstained ground. To the two Cohorts who emerged from the west side path, the ones who had helped Verano carry the body of Jothan to his final resting place, it seemed appropriate.

They crossed the clearing, passing the quarters of the Elder of the Holy Order, and stopped before the path leading to the Portal building. The two warriors at the head of the path had lifted their staffs and were about to cross them to bar the way when the Cohorts dropped to their knees, bowed their heads, and began to pray.

Soon another Cohort drifted over from the north path, one who had helped Verano dig the graves of his victims. He passed the gate and stopped beside his brethren, knelt, and prayed.

The warriors exchanged a look. Two more Cohorts arrived and joined the first three, making the total five. Then another emerged from the gardens once tended to by the D'ronstaq slaves. Two more became seven and eight, arriving from the path which led to the Circle, where once a confused and scared fourteen year old girl learned what it really meant to live by the choice she had made.

The sun broke the horizon, its golden rays sweeping away the crimson. The congregation had become twelve, all kneeing in total silence, all praying or meditating, as both warriors and other Cohorts looked on in wonder.

No one would dare approach them and ask what they were doing. Prayer was sacrosanct, and nothing dictated where one could do it. Indeed, the goddess taught that all prayer and homage to the gods should be done in a place significant to the supplicant or to the query which was to be asked.

Rolas and Hurus were among the onlookers, and they feigned curiosity along with the rest as they made a slow retreat. Away from the others, they spoke their own prayer in hopes the gods would see fit to spare the innocent.

Verano reached for a piece of fruit, which fell from his trembling fingers halfway to his plate. He forced a quivering smile and snatched the fruit from the table, tossing it onto his plate.

"Is something wrong, Mage Verano?"

Verano's eyes glazed for a moment as he stared across the table. He managed a tiny croaking chuckle. "Oh, um, not at all, Elder Wurlos. Not at all! Just ... just had a little trouble sleeping last night is all."

The squat form of Holy Elder Wurlos nodded once. "I did note you were looking a bit peaked this morning. I hope you are not falling ill."

"I am quite all right, Elder, but thank you for asking!" Verano said in a voice more exuberant than he had intended. He cleared his throat. "Ah, that is ... I was simply, um, awoken unexpectedly last night and had trouble getting back to sleep."

"Please see the Healer if it persists. It is important we keep our plans on track."

"Of course, Elder, of course. It's just ... recent events have everyone a little distraught."

"Nevertheless, our time for mourning has passed." Wurlos paused to chew a piece of bread. "Even the fool will grieve for the fallen, but it is the wise man who knows when to stop and concern himself with the living. That is why the Holy Order wasted little time in sending me here."

"Ah, yes, understood!" Verano glanced at the door. "Ah ... Elder ... I wonder if I might ask a favor of you."

"What is it?"

"I ... I have an errand to run. O-outside the Manor."

The Elder had picked up his goblet of fruit juice but now slowly lowered it. "Oh?"

Verano swallowed. "A ... a-a parcel, arriving by courier. I wish to receive it privately."

The Elder considered. "And you cannot receive it in the Manor?"

"As I said, it's ... i-it's a private matter. A ... uh ... an old friend has died, and he wished me to have some of his personal effects."

"Ah, of course," said Wurlos.

Verano relaxed, though the lie had put a bad taste in his mouth. And yet he had already violated Inonni death rituals several times over, what was one more such deception?

He knew of the Cohorts praying near the Portal building. He still believed he should be among them to atone for his crimes. He forced himself to believe he could still do some good with what he had learned, but he was adamant on one point: no more death by his hands.

"I will inform the guards at the gate to allow you egress," said the Elder.

Verano's lips twitched into an uneasy smile. "Thank you, Elder, you are most kind and understanding."

Katla's eyes darted over the parchment she clutched in her hands like a lifeline. Behind her, several Mages tended the Portal device, keeping it as quiescent as the prodigious energy it had accumulated would allow. Mage Ganno stood before Katla and rocked on his heels as the Portal from the Guild Hall seethed and churned behind him.

"And will this do it?" Katla demanded. She lifted her head. "Will this finally provide the stability we need?"

"I believe it will, yes, Mage Q'yoona," said Ganno. His smile was weak, the excitement of his discovery tempered by his exhaustion, as he had worked through the night.

"I didn't ask you if you believe it will. I asked you if it will."

Ganno paused. "Well, yes ... if it's correct."

"I need to know whether this is correct or not."

The young Mage scratched his head. "Well, we have to test it, of course."

Katla shook her head. "No, we can't."

"What? I don't understand."

"Didn't you hear what Mage Q'kollan told us?" Katla snapped. "The Inonni are watching us!"

"Yes, I know, but--"

Katla gestured at the Portal device. "If we try to run this thing up for a full test, the Inonni will discover what we're doing. And we'd have to let it quiesce for at least three candlemarks to avoid burning it out before we dare run it up once more for the real thing."

Ganno sighed. "I ... I'm pretty sure this will work. I've checked and rechecked the calculations. I had two others check it this morning before I came over. We all think it will work."

Katla looked down at the parchment again. "I can't find any flaw in the mathematics. All right, we'll go with it."

"You can't do that!" cried an older Mage.

"What choice do I have?" Katla shouted back.

"You are putting a great deal of trust in a bunch of numbers, Mage Q'yoona!"

"A bunch of numbers is what got us this far!"

"And yet," said Mage Q'kollan as he stepped between Katla and the older Mage. "Some of those numbers proved to be wrong and had to be corrected."

Ganno looked put out. "I really am pretty sure the calculations are correct."

Q'kollan paused, then sighed and nodded. "And I will have to put my faith in them as well, as Mage Q'yoona is quite correct. We cannot test it without alerting our adversaries."

Katla headed over to the Portal device and summoned one of the Mages tending it. "How long to implement these adjustments?" she said as she handed him the parchment.

The young Mage's eyes scanned the formulae as one of his peers looked over his shoulder. "A candlemark, maybe two."

"Get on it. As soon as you're done, you're to..." She paused as her voice caught. She swallowed and took a quick, deep breath. " ... you're to start cycling the Portal up to full power. We're going to do it."

The Mages nodded, their expressions a mixture of solemnity and excitement. The one holding the parchment turned to the others. "All right, you heard her, let's get on it!"

Katla wrenched her eyes from the glowing energies of the Portal. She took another deep breath before she turned away and marched back to the remaining members of her team. "It's a go for this morning. I want anyone not essential to the final preparations to head back to the Guild Hall with Ganno, but don't take anything with you."

"Wait, what?" cried one of the younger Mages.

"But I brought my lucky quills, I've had them for ages!" another whined.

"I said leave them!" Katla cried. "If anyone is watching us, and they see us suddenly carrying everything away, they'll think something is up. This way, they'll think we're just ... I don't know, headed back for a meeting or something. Now, please, get going, now."

As the others trudged away, Q'kollan said, "That was good thinking, Mage Q'yoona."

Katla rounded on him. "What are you still doing here? I meant you, too! Get back to the Guild Hall."

Q'kollan glanced at the Mages stepping into the Portal back to the Guild Hall. "I had assumed I would remain in a advisory role a little longer if--"

"You can't advise me any more, Mage Q'kollan, though..." She lowered her voice. " ... I appreciate the gesture."

Q'kollan slowly smiled and clasped Katla's arm. "Good luck to you, and I fully expect to see you back in the Guild Hall by this afternoon safe and sound."

Katla smiled back, but her eyes misted. She fought back tears and clasped his arm in return, then watched as he joined the others. This was her last chance to back down. Once the Portal closed, the next one would not open until summoned with her focusing pearl. It would be a special Portal, adjusted to allow it to operate better in the interference generated after Katla triggered the cascade.

"Now or never," she whispered as the line of Mages was down to the last, Q'kollan himself. Her heart pounded as he paused, looked back at her, and finally stepped through. A breath later, the Portal closed with a resounding boom.

Katla felt her insides unclench. She had made her decision. The agony of the moment had passed. She approached the Mages still working on the device. "All right, let's see how quickly we can get this done..."

The Inonni agent appeared at the perimeter of the camp and was recognized and admitted into the clearing by the warriors patrolling its periphery. Yet when he tried to approach Mage Rellenu, another agent stepped in his path.

"I have urgent news," said the first agent.

"It will wait," said the second. "Can you not see the Honored Mage is busy?"

The first agent looked past the second. Rellenu was facing the direction of the Oceanus Mage camp, his hands raised, holding a brightly glowing pearl.

"He is taking readings of the Oceanus Portal device," explained the second agent. "What news have you?"

"I have witnessed a great many of the Oceanus Mages leaving."

"Their belongings as well?"

"No, only themselves. I did not see any evidence they were breaking camp, but I have never seen so many leave at once."

"Who is left?"

"The young female Mage we believe is coordinating their efforts, plus three of her close associates. Before the others left, they appeared to hold a discussion over a parchment."

"Did you hear what was said or see what was on the parchment?"

The first agent shook his head. "While the Honored Mage was instrumental in negating enough of their anti-approach wards, he has yet been able to completely deactivate many of the anti-spying wards. I hear little more than a soft buzz when I try to listen and attempts to use a distance-viewer are still blurred."

"No matter. That is what these readings are for. Their anti-spying wards are too weak to block Portal energies."

Both agents looked towards Rellenu as the glow in his pearl faded. When the Mage lowered his arms, the agents approached. "Honored Mage, this one brings news," said the second agent.

The Mage listened as the first agent repeated his report. Rellenu started nodding his head halfway through. "Yes, yes, obviously they are up to something," he said, his voice betraying a trace of impatience. "I can sense the Portal energies building up towards something. As to what end I am not yet sure, but it cannot be good, not when the bulk of their Mages have retreated."

The first agent looked thoughtful. "Because they fear a danger?"

"Exactly! Whatever they are doing, it is considered dangerous enough to risk as few lives as possible."

"What is the danger to us?" asked the second agent.

"I still do not know." He put the pearl away, then reached into another pocket and pulled out his Farviewing pearl. "But once I do, you can be sure Elder Iridus will not hesitate to act."

From a concealed position in the underbrush at the edge of the clearing, Jollis lowered the blue pearl from his ear as Rellenu concluded his conversation with the agents. He kept his eyes trained on the Mage and noted which pocket into which he placed the Farviewing pearl.

He was fortunate they had not thought to put their own anti-spying wards this close to their camp. He had picked up every word of the conversation, and he could see almost the entire clearing. He had observed the two warriors patrolling the perimeter and confirmed they were no more than an honor guard. They would be no less trained; he would have to dispatch at least one at the same time he killed Rellenu. Jollis found this plan most distasteful. The warrior was only doing his duty. He was an innocent in this war.

In war, men die. Jollis had learned the former Lord Tarras K'riis had once said this to the current Oceanus Emperor. The Inonni prided themselves on training their warriors to minimize unnecessary death. The idea that Elder Yurton may have been correct, that sacrifices must be made to a greater good, disturbed him. But was Jollis' version of good greater than any other?

Jollis' heart felt heavy, and he doubted it would ever lighten. He wanted to believe he had the tacit approval of the gods, but this did little more than help him remain focused. It did nothing to ease the guilt or the horror.

What would Amanda think? Surely the death and destruction to be wrought by the Oceanus Mages would sicken her. Or had her heart chilled enough to celebrate this blow against the Inonni? And what would she think if she knew Jollis had helped strike the blow? For some reason, that was important to him.

Jollis lay low in the grass and became motionless as a warrior passed. He waited, and did his best to quiesce his disturbing thoughts.

The three young Mages stepped away from the Portal device. "There," one of them said in a voice of both awe and trepidation. "It's done."

Katla had never taken her eyes from the device. She stared at the gold-crimson energies which churned with furious vigor. They had somehow bottled a tempest in a manner which bordered on insanity. Once she applied the trigger, it would breach the continuum and draw raw power from the transdimensional realm. The energy would feed back on itself, like a massive chain reaction. If it did not surge outward towards the other Portals, it would have nowhere else to go.

No one spoke. They remained still and stared as Katla did. Only when the energies remained contained and stable did their tension ease.

"All right," Katla heard herself say, and held out her hands.

One of the Mages placed a control crystal in her right hand. Another placed a device similar to the one Ganno used in her left. Katla's gaze remained fixed on the device, as if the swirl of energy had entranced her.

"Now, get to the spot we arranged," she said. "Summon the Portal. Leave the focus on the ground and step through."

She heard no movement in the moments which followed. Finally, one of them spoke. "Are you sure you don't want at least one of us to remain to--"

"Do not argue with me!" Katla cried. "Go! Now!"

After another moment's hesitation, she heard their retreating footfalls. She waited what seemed like an eternity before she heard the faint crack of thunder which signaled the Portal opening. Only then did she tear her gaze from the device and turn around. The Portal looked so far away, tiny and impotent. She witnessed the last of the three step through, and then it sat, energy coruscating around its periphery, standing perfect and stable as if in mockery of her.

Katla swallowed and turned back to the Portal device. She let go the breath she had been holding as she raised the control crystal and stepped forward. Her arm tingled, and her feet buzzed as the ground thrummed. She gave the crystal a slow twist, and energy surged and spun faster. A low roar rose briefly, shaking the nearby trees, then subsided. Then again. And again.

She glanced down at her left hand and watched the glowing gemstones slide along the strings. The first part had been successful; she had tapped the continuum. More energy was surging inward, but it was heading out just as fast, accumulating in unseen forks along the paths to the other Portals. Three had formed so far. Now a fourth.