Magnus turned and found his body stiff and unresponsive. He saw Takka standing in the rain. The Senior President of the Pantathian nation said, We feared you might have been trapped within by some magic, but were uncertain of how to reach you.
Groaning a little as he unfolded his legs, Magnus said, You did the right thing, in waiting. My sense of time becomes lost in there, apparently. If felt as if I were there for minutes, perhaps an hour. As he stood up his head began to throb. I must be careful when next I venture in.
You discovered something?
Im not certain. I see a pattern and I have deduced one possible explanation for its existence, yet I am unwilling to declare that judgment sound. More exploration is called for.
Come, rest. Youre obviously chilled and in need of warmth and food.
You are very kind, said Magnus. Given so many things, your generosity is unexpected.
We are the caretakers of the Sven-gari, and I fear that whatever is moving out there in the darkness, our charges are at risk. I welcome your strength and knowledge in preserving them.
Magnus nodded as if agreeing, but already he was beginning to suspect that before this exploration was over, preserving the Sven-gari was the last thing he and his father would wish.
He followed his host inside to warmth and food.
Magnus enjoyed a hot meal and dried his clothing over a small brazier while he bathed. By the time he had donned his now-warm robe, he was already half-asleep. He lay on the sleeping pallet provided and within moments fell into an exhausted sleep.
After resting through most of the night, in the hours before dawn he began to dream.
He floated through the matrix, again, only this time rather than energy he saw solid objects in bright and muted colours, some flickering between the two states, alight from within one moment, dimmed the next. Lines of silver-white, like endless cords, stretched down the broad expanses that intersected between the structures. A city, he whispered.
An illusion, said a voice from behind him.
He turned to see a figure both strange and familiar, a black-bearded man in a black robe, holding a wooden staff. His feet were clad in sandals and around his waist was a simple whipcord rope.
Macros, he whispered.
In a manner of speaking, said the phantasm.
Magnus had never met his grandfather, for he had died before Magnus was born, but he had encountered a Dasati upon whom the memories of the dead sorcerer had been bestowed. But the Dasati Macros had been ill, in advanced years, and dying.
Before Magnus now stood Macros in his prime, looking no more than perhaps forty years of age, his manner calm and relaxed, yet he could sense hidden power just below the surface.
Im dreaming, said Magnus.
Yes, answered Macros, but like all dreams, there are avenues into thoughts unexplored open to you. Its the perfect state in which you are receptive to contact you otherwise might not recognize; and besides, you are impervious to spying now.
Spying?
The shade of Macros smiled. You have some inkling of those who oppose you, at least in one sense, while in another you have no idea whatsoever what forces are arrayed to destroy you and your father. Time is essential, yet here time is as much an illusion as sight and sound, for we are in the dream.
He stepped forward until he was next to Magnus, then he reached out, gripped him by the elbow and gently but firmly turned him. Walk with me and we shall discover much, but you will only know what you already know.
Magnus allowed himself to be compelled in this fashion, but said, I do not understand.
I am not Macros, as Im sure youve already assumed. I am his image, a memory of him made solid and able to converse.
Whose memory?
Kalkins, whom you also call Ban-ath.
A memory?
A gods memory is a powerful things, as is a gods dream. You are sharing a gods dream and are speaking with a gods memory. Lets move on. Macros pointed and suddenly they were rising to one of the lines of energy. Letting go of Magnuss arm, he said, Grip the line and do not fall too far behind. Even a god has limited control on how lucid a dream may become.
Magnus reached up when Macros, or his illusion, reached up and suddenly he was being propelled along at incalculable speed, yet felt no sensation of movement, just a blurring of all they passed.
Then Macros said, In a moment, I will tell you to let go. Do not hesitate.
A moment passed; then Macros said, Let go, and Magnus complied at once.
They floated before what appeared to be a monstrous fortress, but one created by a demented mind. It sat upon no ground, so a vast wall stretched out before them in all directions. Let us gain some perspective, said Macros, and suddenly the wall shrank to the size of a mere room. In dream, all things are possible; within the matrix, what you saw before approaches the truth.
A moment passed; then Macros said, Let go, and Magnus complied at once.
They floated before what appeared to be a monstrous fortress, but one created by a demented mind. It sat upon no ground, so a vast wall stretched out before them in all directions. Let us gain some perspective, said Macros, and suddenly the wall shrank to the size of a mere room. In dream, all things are possible; within the matrix, what you saw before approaches the truth.
Magnus examined the wall. It was apparently made of some sort of red stone, with four doors set in the middle, a single square of stone separating them. Two large windows with red iron bars were placed at forty-five degree angles to the upper corner on either side, so that each section gave the vague impression of a face, two eyes and a mouth. Continuing along the line from the door through each window, the top of the wall featured a turret, with crenels and merlons.
It looks like four castles smashed together, said Magnus.
It does, doesnt it? Macros chuckled. It is an image created for your mind to understand. There is no real-world analogue that would do justice to what this really is.
What is it called?
Many things. The blazing barrier. The fire wall. The terminus. The final barrier.
What function does it serve?
I cannot tell you, for you do not know, and I know only what you know.
So I was aware of this barrier, yet
Your mind in dream is apprehending what it is youve come to understand by inference and deduction. You have not seen the barrier so you have created an image of it, but it may bear no true resemblance to the reality of the barrier. In the end, you will only know when you have reached the barrier.
There are so many questions, said Magnus. And yet
You cannot frame them, because they are the questions your mind has no answers for. You understood when we first met that I was not your grandfather, and that Kalkin dreamed, and the rest. For more answers within your own mind, you will have to seek out answers in the real world. For more answers from Kalkin, well, you will have to seek him out, and as you know from your fathers tales of the Trickster God, even then you may never get answers you can trust.
Suddenly the image of Macros was gone.
Magnuss eyes opened and it was dawn.
He sat up and stretched, yawning, knowing that after he had braced himself with food and drink he would again confront the mystery of the energy matrix. Perhaps this time he could reach deep enough to reach this final barrier and then, perhaps, beyond it.
Sandreena and Amirantha were breaking fast when a student approached. Pug has returned and asked that you join him when youre finished.
Amirantha looked at Sandreena. You finished?
She was on her feet before he could complete the question and he rose to follow her. I guess youve finished!
They hurried through the now almost completely rebuilt Villa Beata, passing through large gardens freshly replanted. In the matter of a few minutes they were outside Pugs office and Sandreena knocked once, then opened the wooden door.
Sandreena and Amirantha had both marvelled at how Pug had refashioned his office since the destruction of the original villa. His last office had been small and dark, with only one window, while this one had a large wall made up entirely of panes of the finest clear glass he could find, further refined with some very subtle magic. When sunlight blazed in, it was cool thanks to the combination of clever design a duct in the ceiling carried the hot air away and a little more magic.
Pug said, Good morning. I wish I had good news from the Academy, but at best its mixed. What did you and Magnus discover on that island?
Amirantha had taken to wearing less flamboyant clothing since coming to live at Sorcerers Isle, and today was comfortable in a loose-fitting white tunic and dark grey trousers. Sandreena always looked surprisingly delicate for a large, strong woman when not wearing armour. She wore a plain but well made pair of trousers, a loose-fitting blue linen blouse, and a pair of sandals. They took the chairs Pug indicated with a wave of his hand, and Amirantha looked at Sandreena, who nodded, indicating that he should go first.
We found Pantathians, Pug, but unlike any weve met before according to Magnus.
Really? said Pug leaning back in his chair. At this point nothing should surprise me, but say on.
Sandreena continued, They were hospitable and welcoming despite knowing that you and Magnus had destroyed many of their kin. They seem too well, gentle is the only way to describe them, though their warriors were valorous when fighting demons.
Demons?
Let me start at the beginning. Amirantha began, briefly telling of their travels to the Isle of the Snake Men, then in detail after the battle with the demons.
Sandreena punctuated his narrative with details he missed, and Pug asked a few questions along the way, but after half an hour, the sorcerer felt he had been sufficiently briefed. He asked, Did you see any Serpent Priests?
No, said Amirantha. They were mentioned, and I left with the impression they visit their kin from time to time, but as to where they base their operations since you and Magnus destroyed their previous one is a mystery; I didnt feel it politic at this time to ask the one they call Takka.
Pug sighed. Well, the good news is weve identified the threat. The Serpent Priests are back again. But we dont know where they are. He rose. At least we know they arent on that island, which is something.