She turned to a handful of magicians who had come into the room when word had spread she was up and with the Deathpriest. She raised her voice so all could hear. They are physically stronger than us by a significant margin. I judge it to be a quality of their nature magnified by their presence on this world. But I think they have some difficulty with the differences between the two worlds, hence the dome of energy they created in which to reside. But one of their average warriors can overpower all but the most powerful human, be it Tsurani warrior or Kingdom soldier. No time like the present to start planting the idea of Midkemian help, she thought.
She looked down at the Deathpriest and tried to reconcile what she saw with what she had observed while he and his companion had experimented on her. He doesnt look well, that is clear. She leaned over and saw a sheen of moisture on his brow. I think youre right about the fever, Cubai. I think his colour is pale, but that may be the difference in light in the two Her voice trailed off as she saw the creatures eyelids flutter. She stepped back. I think hes waking!
Instantly two magicians began incanting wards while others readied spells of confinement, but the Dasati did not awake or rise. Instead, with a low moan of agony, his body arched and began to convulse. Miranda was hesitant to touch him and that hesitancy prevented her from stopping him from flopping off the pallet onto the floor.
As he thrashed violently now, his skin started to blister. Not quite sure why, Miranda shouted, Stand away!
The magicians drew back. Suddenly a flame engulfed the Deathpriests body and then a huge discharge of heat and light nearly blinded those standing nearby, singeing hair and causing everyone within proximity to fall back.
The stench was that of sulphur and rotting meat being cooked, and many were gagging from the smell. Moving backwards from the site of the immolation, Miranda saw only the faint outline of a body in white ash on the floor.
What just happened? asked Alenca, obviously shaken by the experience.
I dont know, answered Miranda. I think that outside the dome they are unable to deal with the abundance of energy that we take for granted. I think it proved too much for him and well, you saw what happened.
What now? asked the old magician.
We go back to the dome and investigate, answered Miranda, assuming command of the situation without being asked. That incursion is a threat to the Empire.
That alone was reason enough to mobilize the Great Ones of the Empire. Alenca nodded. Not only must we investigate, we must eradicate this dome. He turned to another magician and said, Hochaka, would you be good enough to carry word to the Light of Heaven in the Holy City? The Emperor must be made aware of what is taking place, and convey to him our intentions of providing a fully-detailed report after we finish.
Miranda was amused by the steely tone taken by the old magician: in his youth he must have been an impressive figure. He was the type of man who often surprised others when he took control, a quiet authority figure, effective at gaining attention when other louder voices are demanding it and being ignored.
Miranda followed his lead. Quietly she said, I had to sense my way around inside the dome before I could escape. She paused for effect before saying, I ask that you allow me to guide you in this.
The Great Ones in the room looked taken aback by the request a woman, and an outlander at that, leading them? But others looked to Alenca who quietly said, It is only logical. With those four words he handed the power of the Assembly of Magicians, the single most puissant gathering of magic on two worlds, over to Miranda.
She nodded. Please ask as many of the Assembly as can be here to gather in the Great Hall of Magicians in one hours time. I will tell what I know and suggest what I think should be done.
Magicians quickly left to use their arts to summon as many of the members of the Assembly as they could reach. Miranda knew that whatever else might be true, once word of a threat to the Empire reached even the most distant member, all would return to hear her warning. Only those out of touch or too ill to travel would not be in the Hall when she explained that the Empire of Tsuranuanni, and the entire world of Kelewan, now faced the gravest threat ever known.
Miranda retired to her quarters. She slumped down onto the soft divan. She dared not lie down on the bed as she knew she would quickly fall asleep again. One nights rest and a meal didnt undo the damage the Dasati had wrought on her. She had to stay focused on the task at hand using fear, pain and the need to act quickly as if they were food and drink, for she knew time was working against them.
Whatever processes the Dasati had begun would only become more difficult to interrupt as time went by. A knock at the door announced the arrival of a grey-robed apprentice, one of the few young women now a student of magic. She carried a tray bearing a porcelain pitcher, a cup, and a platter of fruits and breads. Great One, the Great One Alenca thought you might need refreshment.
Thank you, said Miranda, indicating that the girl should put the tray down. As soon as she left, Miranda realized she was starving. She fell to eating and quickly felt energy returning to her aching, damaged body. This was one of those times she wished she had been more disposed to study clerical magic, as her husband had. Pug had called upon those arts several times and Miranda knew he would soon have had her feeling as if she had slept a week and had not endured days of humiliation and torture with an incantation or a draught of some foul-tasting but effective elixir.
Thinking of Pug made her pensive. She couldnt imagine three people better able to withstand the journey into the Dasati realm the second level of reality as Pug called it. Yet she worried. A complicated woman with complex feelings, Miranda loved her husband deeply. Not with the passionate abandon of youth she had outgrown that when Pug was still a child but rather with a deep appreciation of his unique qualities and why they made him perfectly suited for her as a life companion. Her sons had been an unexpected benefit of powerful life-magic, and had proven a blessing she had never anticipated. She might not be the best mother by some peoples judgment, but she enjoyed being one.
Caleb had been a challenge, when it was discovered he possessed no overt talent for the magic arts, especially after Magnus proved to be such a prodigy. She loved both her sons with that special feeling for a first-born she had for Magnus, and that equally special feeling for the baby of the family, amplified by her awareness of how difficult Calebs childhood had been in a community of magic-users. The other childrens pranks had been especially cruel, and Magnus sticking up for his younger brother had been both a blessing and a curse. Still, both children had grown to be men of exceptional qualities, men she looked upon with pride and love.
She sat silently for a moment, then stood up. Those three men Pug, Magnus and Caleb were as much a reason as she needed to destroy the Dasati world if need be, for they were more important to her than any three beings in her long history. She found herself growing angry and knew that if he were here, Pug would be telling her to rein in her fiery temper because it only clouded her judgment.
Miranda stretched, ignoring protesting muscles and aching joints. She would find time later to deal with her own physical discomfort. Right now she had an invasion to deal with.
Miranda stretched, ignoring protesting muscles and aching joints. She would find time later to deal with her own physical discomfort. Right now she had an invasion to deal with.
A knock at the door announced Alencas arrival. They are here, he said.
Miranda nodded. Thank you, old friend. She walked with him to the Great Hall of the Assembly of Magicians.
As she anticipated, nearly every seat was filled and the low murmur of voices fell away as Alenca took his position on the podium.
Brothers and sisters, he began, reminding himself there were now female Great Ones scattered around the room. We are here at the behest of an old friend, Miranda. He stepped aside letting her take his place. No one in the Great Hall needed to be told who Miranda was. Pugs status as one of the Great Ones had been established even before Alenca had been born, and Miranda benefited from this association as well as being a powerful magic-user in her own right.
Kelewan is being invaded, Miranda said without preamble, At this very moment, a dome of black energy is being expanded in a vale in the far north. At first I saw it as a beachhead, much like the rift your forebears used to invade my home world. The reference to the Riftwar was intentional. She knew that every student in this Assembly had been taught the entire tragic history of that ill-fated invasion in which the lives of so many had been spent in a bid of raw political power. The deadly Game of the Council had seen thousands of Midkemian and Tsurani soldiers dead as a ploy on behalf of a political faction in the High Council. Several Black Robes had been party to that murderous plot, to establish the then Warlord and his faction in an unassailable position of power. Only the intervention of Pug, and the rise to power of a remarkable woman, Mara of the Acoma, had changed that deadly game.
Miranda continued. Each of you here knows why the Riftwar was conducted, so I will not lecture you on what you already know. This is not an invasion for political gain, wealth in booty, concessions in victory, or any sort of conventional war.
This is not merely an invasion, but the beginning of a colonization, a process that will end with the complete annihilation of every life form on this world.
That brought a collective intake of breath and murmurings of disbelief. Miranda held up her hands and continued. Those who have studied the Talnoy and the Dasati Deathpriest prisoner, I urge you to disseminate to as many of the other members as to what you know.
She paused, looking around the room, making eye contact with as many members of the Assembly as possible. Then she said, Here is what I know. The Dasati wish to remake your world. They will change it, utterly and completely, to resemble their own. They will seed every square inch of land taken with their own worlds creatures, from the smallest insect to the largest beast.
The water will become poisonous to drink, the air will burn your lungs, and the touch of even the least creature from that world will pull the life out of your body. This is no tale made up to scare children, Great Ones. This is what the Dasati are already doing under that black dome from which I escaped.
One of the younger members shouted, We must act!
Yes, agreed Miranda. Quickly and certainly, but not in haste. I suggest a group of those among us who are most masterful in the arts of light, heat and other aspects of energy, along with those of us who are masters in the arts of living beings and perhaps we need the most powerful of the Lesser Path magicians we can contact, as well must go at once to that valley to weigh and study the threat, and then we must destroy the dome.
When? asked the young magician who had spoken out.
As soon as we can, said Miranda. We must contact the Emperor, and we will need soldiers. The Dasati will not sit idly by, I fear, and let us destroy their dome. We are likely to face beings who are unafraid to die, beings who are able to counter our magic, and we will need strong arms and swords to deal with them.
Alenca said, I suggest you break up in to smaller groups and discuss what has been said and tonight we will reconvene here, after the evening meal. At that time we will discuss Mirandas warning and choose the course of action most appropriate to this threat. He slammed down the heel of his walking stick on the stone floor, emphasizing that the meeting was over.
Miranda turned towards the exit and whispered to Alenca, You asked that youngster to stir things up?
I thought his timing was perfect.
You are a very dangerous man, my old friend.
Now we wait, said Alenca. But I think well have a full agreement tonight, and I cannot see any other course of action than the one you suggest.
As they walked back towards Mirandas quarters, she said, I hope so, and I hope my plan works. Otherwise we must ready the Empire for war against the most belligerent warlord in your history.
Two hundred men stood ready, honour guards from four of the nearest estates in the province, answering the call of the Great Ones of Tsuranuanni without hesitation. They were arrayed in two groups, each under the command of a Great One awaiting orders from Miranda. While peace had reigned throughout the Empire for more than a generation, Tsurani discipline and training remained unchanged. These were tough, determined men ready to die for the honour of their lords houses.
Miranda and a dozen Great Ones walked slowly up the ridge to where she had first caught sight of the Dasati dome. She spoke softly, Everyone ready?
Men nodded and glanced at one another. Not one living Great One of the Empire had seen any sort of conflict: the last Great One to die in combat had done so in the Riftwar, more than a hundred years ago. These were scholarly men, not warriors. But these magicians were those best able to bring incredible power to bear if the need arose.
Slowly the thirteen magic-users, arguably the most powerful practitioners of the arcane arts, moved up the hill. At the rise, Miranda actually stood up on tiptoe to peer over, and then she said, Damn!
Before them was an empty vale, the only evidence of Dasati occupation being a large circle of blackened earth where the sphere had been.
Theyre gone, said one of the younger magicians.
Theyll be back, said Miranda, turning her back. Taking a breath, she said, I suggest you spread the word to every house in the Empire, that every village and farmstead, valley and dell, every isolated nook and cranny be inspected, searched, and searched again. She looked at every face nearby. They will be back, and next time it wont be a small dome. I think next time theyll be coming to stay.
CHAPTER TWO
Gambit
JOMMY FROWNED.
Sitting under a canvas cloth hastily rigged to provide shelter from the pitiless rain, he hugged his knees to his chest, he said, But what I dont understand is why?
Servan, huddled next to the young officer, replied, We dont ask why; we simply follow orders. They sat on a hillside, overlooking a distant cove: a vantage point that prevented anyone from arriving without being noticed. The problem for the moment was that the rain shrouded the area and lowered visibility to the point at which someone was required to sit close by; in this case, that someone was Servan, and Jommy had been selected to sit with him.