Chapter 37

When he first rose from unconsciousness, Jollis believed he was caught in some sort of strange limbo. He did not dare open his eyes for fear of seeing nothing but a void. Only parts of his body seemed to exist: one arm, his hips and rear, one leg and part of the other. He could not tell if his head were still attached to his body, as he could not feel his shoulders or his back.

Sounds came to him, vague and muffled. Something in his mind insisted he was sitting up. He stirred, and suddenly footfalls raced to his side. Then, thickly, as if spoken through mud, he heard a female voice. "You are awake. This is a good sign."

Jollis risked opening his eyes. He squinted at the light, and everything was fuzzy.

"Do not try to move too much, Wanderer," said the pleasant female voice near his ear. "I have numbed much of your body to spare you the pain of recovery."

Jollis let out a slow, relieved breath; he was still with this world. His vision cleared and he tried to turn his head. It responded, though slowly. His eyes fell upon the soft face of an Inonni Healer. "How badly was I injured?" Jollis' voice sounded strange to him, as if echoing in his head rather than projecting into the room.

"You sustained some trauma to your limbs, but I assume you know about those injuries."

Jollis paused, his thoughts flowing like molasses. "Yes, I remember." He managed a tiny smile. "May I assume that is a good sign as well?"

The Healer smiled. "Indeed. The worst of your injuries, however, was your back. You suffered a very severe burn. I need to regenerate the skin of your entire back, shoulders, and part of your neck. This will take some time, perhaps as long as a moon."

Jollis nodded and tilted his head. "My hearing is dulled."

"Yes, that should clear up sooner, perhaps within a quarter to half moon."

Jollis bowed his head. "You do me great honor in treating me, Healer."

"There is one who wishes to speak with you upon your awakening," said the Healer in a more serious voice. "I believe you should be given more time to recover, but I will respect your wishes if you want to see him now."

"If it is Master Kyllos, I will see him, if it will not upset the goddess."

Jollis was pleased he remembered himself enough to give the proper traditional response. Healers were as well-respected as priestesses, as it was believed the Healing Arts flowed from the goddess herself. Thus most Inonni Healers were women, as they connected more strongly with the goddess.

The Healer nodded once. "I believe she will approve. I will summon him at once."

Jollis watched the Healer leave, her robes swishing around her bare feet. He closed his eyes and tried to feel a connection to the gods once more, but nothing came to him. He hoped he was simply weakened from his injuries, or the heavy influence of the goddess exuded a sort of interference. If his environs had been arranged as a proper Inonni Healing Chamber, a tapestry of the goddess would festoon the wall above and behind his head. Yet he tried anyway; he had to know if his actions had met with approval.

He heard soft footsteps approach and opened his eyes to the tired but relieved face of his Master. Kyllos said nothing until he had reached the side of Jollis' bed and paid homage to the visage of the goddess with a short prayer. "It is good to see you on the mend, my Wanderer."

The heartfelt, fatherly voice made Jollis' chest clench, and he paused to gain control of his emotions enough to speak. "If I may ask, Master, how did I get back? How long has it been?"

"It has been only a day. You have an Oceanus Mage to thank for your return. When you had passed out, she discovered the Farviewing pearl on your person and used it to contact me."

"But I had more than one with me."

"Indeed. I can only hope the gods had guided her hand to select the one to me and not Elder Iridus."

"And what of the Oceanus Mage?"

"She has been sent back to her Guild Hall. I daresay she was surprised to be allowed to leave unharmed and unquestioned."

Jollis had to pause to fully understand both the words and the heaviness of Kyllos' tone. He glanced towards the door.

"We may speak freely in here," said Kyllos. "The room is warded for privacy."

Jollis looked at Kyllos' face; it seemed more lined and weary than ever. "Then the former Overlord Portals which were being used by the Holy Order--?"

"All destroyed," said Kyllos in a flat voice.

Jollis remained silent. He closed his eyes and tried again in vain to know the will of the gods. "I have committed a grave crime in allowing it to happen."

"Then I share in the guilt of the same crime, as I did nothing to stop it either."

Jollis drew in a slow, deep breath. "Master, I do not know if what we have done is right."

"Nor do I. Such wisdom, sadly, must wait."

"I sense nothing even from the gods."

Kyllos hesitated. "Perhaps ... perhaps they do not know as well."

Jollis stared at his Master in shock.

Kyllos smiled softly in return. "My Wanderer, one of the things I have learned is that even the gods cannot know the future. They, too, must sometimes wait to see how events play out before they can judge."

"But surely their wisdom can tell if--"

"Jollis, I understand your need for answers," Kyllos said in a firm voice. "But some simply cannot be rushed, and you must not punish yourself in anticipation of what you think they may be."

"But I must have guidance," Jollis said, his tone almost petulant. "I feel once more I am in the dark stumbling around as a blind man."

"And even the blind man can feel his way to the right path."

Jollis said nothing, his mind in turmoil. The future had never seemed so uncertain.

Kyllos uttered a tired sigh. "I wish I could advise you, but, officially, you are not here. No one knows of your presence except myself and the Healer, and she is concerned only with Healing you."

"What is the official word about me?"

"That you are either dead or a fugitive. Some believe you escaped the destruction of the former D'yoran Manor by hiding in the thicker forests to the north. I am encouraging that thinking for now."

Jollis nodded. "I must ask this, Master: did the other Portals explode with as much force as the one which injured me?"

Sadness clouded Kyllos' eyes. "Information from the other Manors is only trickling in at the moment, but that alone makes me suspect the answer is yes."

"I had never experienced anything like it. Words do not suffice. It was as if the sun had touched the surface of Narlass."

Kyllos nodded once before he forced his face and voice to a more businesslike tone. "There is another reason for my visit. I fear I must call upon your help once more."

Jollis smiled. "As long as it is something I can do while sitting upon this bed, as I am told I will be here for some time."

"It is. Our attempt to obtain Gedric V'riis from the Oceanus Fleet in Urisi custody has failed."

"I do not understand. Are the Urisi refusing?"

"No. They simply do not have him anymore. Apparently, he has managed to escape." Kyllos paused. "There is a rumor -- which, officially, the Urisi vehemently deny -- that a slave girl purchased from Oceanus was involved."

Jollis stared, then slowly broke into a wide smile. "My apologies for my reaction, Master."

"I understand. But to return to the point, the Urisi are not very forthcoming in the details of what transpired but instead wish to make restitution in some manner. Naturally, we have expressed our displeasure with this situation."

"I know what you wish of me. You wish me to make contact with Ambassador Norlan and see if I may learn what happened."

"Or, if the gods smile upon us, to where Gedric has made his escape so we may intercept him."

"Yes, I understand. I will make contact as soon as Yonlas can return the pearl to me."

Kyllos hesitated. "There is something you should know."

Jollis' eyebrows rose slightly.

"Originally, Gedric was one of three men who would provide enough memories to allow us to properly target a Portal to former Lord Tarras. One of those is Emperor Duric Z'garon. The second man had since escaped before his memories could be properly read."

Jollis paused for a long moment. "I see."

"But the Holy Order still wishes to use Gedric."

The words felt heavy even through his muffled hearing. "And they will turn him over to Mage Verano, assuming he survived the Portal destruction."

"He has already made contact. He is safe."

Jollis gave a slow, grave nod of his head. "So if this man Gedric is retrieved, I will be condemning him to death at the hands of Mage Verano."

Kyllos said nothing. Jollis took the absence of denial as confirmation to spare his Master from saying words which may haunt him later even spoken in a warded room.

"I will contact Ambassador Norlan," said Jollis in a stiff voice. "And then ... I will take the appropriate action."

"I trust you will, Wanderer," said Kyllos. His eyes shimmered. "I have faith in you as always."

Jollis heart both swelled and ached. He gave Kyllos a bittersweet smile. "I ask that you entrust Yonlas with the knowledge I am here and alive and well. He will not spread this information if you tell him not to."

Kyllos nodded once. "I will do so and have him bring you the Farviewing pearl."

Kyllos turned and headed out of the room without another word. Jollis felt as if the conversation were incomplete, as if his Master had wished to say more. Or Jollis was simply still impatient for answers.

And yet, when he thought of what Amanda had done, he smiled again.

Katla tried and failed to suppress a sigh as yet another crystal was slowly passed over her body by the slim, white-haired Healer of the Oceanus Mage Guild. "I'm fine, Tallia."

"I will be the judge of that if you don't mind," said the cool voice of Tallia G'jossa. Her intense eyes were narrowed and focused on the crystal, which flashed in hues of blue and blue-green.

"Really, I'm much better since I've had a night's sleep."

Tallia completed a sweep of the crystal from head to foot and started back before she spoke again. "Most of the residual Portal energies are gone, it would seem."

"And all the little scrapes and bruises are healed already."

"Yes, you were extremely fortunate in that regard if what I have heard about the explosive force of the Portal devices is at all true."

Katla thought she had seen Tallia glance at her face for a moment as if seeking confirmation. Katla said nothing, and Tallia's gaze returned to the crystal.

Katla maintained the same stony silence through the rest of the examination. She had not wanted to talk about what she had done. The rest of the Guild treated her as a hero, but she could not consider the death of so many people to be grounds for hero worship. Uroddus had spared her that pain; he had given her a low key "good work" and nothing more. For once, she was grateful for an underwhelming emotional response.

She heard footsteps in the corridor and lifted her head. As if in response to her thoughts, Uroddus stood just past the threshold. His eyes betrayed concern, but he dared not step further into the domain of the Healer without permission. "Is she doing well, Healer G'jossa?" he asked after Tallia had withdrawn the crystal.

Tallia turned towards him. "She still has a tiny bit of Portal energy mingling with her biomagical aura. I would prefer to keep her here a little longer, but I fear I would have to physically restrain her to accomplish it."

"You got that right," Katla said as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Tallia's hand fell on her shoulder when she tried to stand.

"You will see me once every morning until I tell you the remaining energies are gone," Tallia said in a crisp voice. "And if you miss an appointment, I will use whatever means possible to drag you here."

Katla sighed and rolled her eyes, but said in a contrite voice, "Yes, I understand."

Tallia lifted her hand. "Make sure that you do. This is nothing to be fooled with. You are fortunate it was Inonni Portal technology which brought you back to the Guild Hall. If you had actually made it through our Portal, the energies in your body may have reacted with those of the Portal and made your journey ... unpleasant."

Katla nodded and tried not to shudder as she rushed past the Healer. While accidents were rare in modern times even with the more "primitive" Oceanus Portal technology, when they did happen, they invariably lead to the death of the one in transit. Or rather, death to the individual parts of the traveler after they arrived at slightly different times.

"It would appear we have the Inonni to thank for Katla's safety in general," Uroddus said.

"I still don't get that," Katla said as she stepped up to him. "Why did Jollis protect me? He nearly died doing it. He was so badly burned he may still have died. And that elderly man I spoke with who wouldn't even tell me his name simply thanked me, then sent me right back through the Portal to just south of the Guild Hall. He seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of me."

"Yes, there has been some thought and much debate on that point. Please, let's go to my office."

Katla fell into step beside the Guildmaster. She avoided the gaze of her fellow Mages in the corridor.

"Some of your peers wished to organize a celebration this evening in your honor," said Uroddus. "I strongly suggested it would be ... inappropriate."

"Thank you," Katla said in a voice barely above a whisper. She glanced at Uroddus' face and could tell he was still worried about her. When she had broken down in tears the night before lamenting over what she had done, Uroddus had told her: "I almost lost you once; I don't want to lose you now because you chose to destroy yourself."