The Eynan Page 15

  "And time is the one thing you don't have." A voice spoke from the top of the stairway behind them.

  "Captain, whatever are you doing here? I asked that you wait on the cliff top," Ninian said sharply, more sharply than he probably intended, and he added a swift smile to ease his words.

  "I know. We'd be there now, but for the other ship," Amired replied. His words seemed less threatening as he announced them with his trademark smile.

  "Other ship?" Ninian questioned, his voice calm, though his expression gave away his true feelings. He glanced at Jhond, who suddenly felt very cold.

  "Aye, we spotted it as it came over the horizon. Moving very swiftly, directly on course for these islands." The captain stopped, but it was clear he had more to say.

  "Go on, Captain," Ninian prompted.

  "I can't explain it, but as soon as I saw it, I knew," Amired replied.

  "Knew?" Jhond questioned, but he didn't really need to hear the answer.

  The captain spoke anyway, and from such an overtly practical man the reply was chilling, "That it contained pure evil."

  Chapter 18

  Rhou watched as Gallia walked back through the gardens toward the house. No matter how she tried to act the dutiful happy wife, Rhou knew that was all it was, an act. Personally, he liked Patinus, as did most people who got to know the man. He could charm the birds from the trees, as the old saying goes. Rhou was pretty sure Gallia liked him, too, but she didn't love him. That kiss they had shared earlier had been much more passionate on the part of Patinus. Gallia had given him little more than a tender peck. Patinus was no fool; Rhou guessed he must have been hurting. Rhou could not find it in his heart to blame Gallia for still loving his wayward brother, wherever that rascal had got to, but he also couldn't help but feel for Patinus.

  "Patinus, what do you think about joining me this weekend for a wild boar hunt? My cousin, Periat, is hosting a hunt at his home east of the capital. He's been having problems with increasing raids on his livestock, and as he enjoys nothing so much as a hunt, he's invited quite a few friends. Kill two birds with one stone, he says. Never very original, Periat," he ended, with a grin.

  "Periat...that wouldn't be Minister Periat, would it? I didn't know he was your cousin."

  "Well, if I'm honest, if he weren't my cousin, I'd probably have had to wait another couple of years before I got such a posting at the ministry. Others had more seniority, I admit, but, well, what are families for? Anyway, I'm sure he'd be delighted if you wanted to come along."

  Patinus looked thoughtful for a moment, before he smiled. "Yes, I do enjoy a good hunt, and wild boar can be such a challenge. But what of Gallia?"

  "Of course she could come if you wish. There will be plenty of ladies present, but I thought perhaps she might like some time to herself. Forgive me, but she seems a little..." He didn't know quite how to word his feelings without upsetting Patinus.

  "Upset? Distant?" provided Patinus. "I know. At first, I thought everything was wonderful, but as time passed, she seems to have slipped back into her shell. It's been even worse this week," he confided.

  "I'm afraid that might be my fault." Rhou stopped, realizing what he had been about to let slip. He felt the heat creep up his face as he blushed red right up to his roots.

  "If you were going to say something about your brother, it's all right. I have heard all about it. Or I thought I had. Has something happened?"

  He was a terrible liar and there was no point stopping now, so Rhou answered truthfully, "Only in that Gallia asked me a couple of days ago if I had heard any news about Jhond. She has asked me from time to time, and mostly I have had to answer no. But this time..."

  * * * *

  "This time, you answered yes," Patinus supposed. He was surprised just how jealous he felt talking about this unknown young man. He'd never meant to feel anything for his arranged bride, but she'd crept under his skin. This was strange really because she'd done nothing, nothing at all to cultivate such feelings in him, and the exact opposite actually. Perhaps that was why.

  "Yes, but it wasn't really of any help," Rhou said. "I had our chief warden send out for information and I finally heard something positive a short while ago. Well, positive in that we tracked him to the Port of Tsarn, but then he seems to have disappeared. It's believed he may have taken ship with another man, but to where, no one knows. The ship they hired was a privateer and they didn't even register any cargo or destination."

  "That's peculiar. Most of the traffic from Tsarn is east along the northern coast, almost back in this direction. West only leads to the open ocean and, of course, north only takes you to the empire."

  "Unless they went to Irobi."

  "Ah, of course," Patinus added quickly. "But most of our trade is done through two particular shipping lines. We do very little independent trade. It doesn't pay."

  "I see. Anyway, this news didn't go down too well."

  "If I accompany you and leave Gallia here, as you seem to be suggesting, wouldn't she just brood. Surely it'd be better for her to be in company?"

  Eyebrow rising, Rhou said, "I admit to being a little surprised you accept the situation without more anger."

  "I married her knowing the history, if not the reason for the ending of the relationship. I believe no one but Gallia knows that and she's not speaking."

  "Ah, I did wonder if she'd confided in you," Rhou commented. He was quiet for a few minutes and Patinus could tell he was wondering how much he ought to say. "Look, I know you're her husband and all that, but I've known her a damn sight longer than you have. Gallia is one of those people who has to come out of it on her own. No matter what you say or do, she won't change her mood until she wants to. I've learned from long experience it's just best to let her get on with it."

  "Yes, I know what you mean. You're probably right. If Gallia doesn't object, I would be happy to accompany you to Periat's." He smiled.

  Of course, Rhou didn't know the smile was really for the serendipity that had presented Patinus with this perfect opportunity.

  Thank goodness he doesn't suspect what I'm really hunting for, Patinus thought with a touch of guilt.

  * * * *

  Ninian insisted they take a minute or two to load the chest with as many scrything blocks and crystals as they could squeeze into it on top of what it had always contained. They couldn't possibly take them all, but Ninian refused to leave until the chest was full. Then he led the way as the small party headed back toward the cliff path. It seemed much farther going back than it had coming. An illusion, of course. Excitement had shortened the journey there and trepidation lengthened it now. Or was that fear?

  After what seemed an age, they reached the head of the path as it began its tortuous journey down the cliff face.

  "Damn!" spat the captain, looking into the bay below.

  The others followed his gaze. Aldous had done as Amired ordered him, and in good time. The Horologue was nowhere in view, but the strange ship was just turning the headland into the bay. "I'd hoped we could make it down before the ship got this close. Crazy hope really, with the speed that thing was moving." He glanced over at Ninian. "Not a friend of yours, eh? But not exactly a stranger, either?"

  "Actually, I have no idea at all who that is," Ninian answered in total honesty.

  "But I think you do know why they are here. What they want?" Amired glanced very pointedly at the chest Ninian and Jhond were carrying between them. It looked extremely heavy and yet they were carrying it as if it weighed no more than a feather. Its weight wasn't their concern; its fragility was.

  "Yes, and whatever happens, they must not get it. I'm telling the truth when I say I don't know who that is, but I know what they represent. As do you," Ninian said, in a more serious tone than any of them had ever heard him use.

  "You said it yourself," Jhond reminded the captain.

  "Evil. I know."

  "I can feel it, burning deep down inside," Jhond added. "I've never felt anything like that before, bu
t I know exactly what it's telling me."

  "That's your talent reacting to the balance. Warning you," Ninian said.

  Jhond nodded, never taking his eyes from the ship pulling into the anchorage.

  Ninian turned the captain and Mathias. "You've seen enough to know we're talented."

  "Talented," asked Mathias, looking extremely nervous. "What exactly are you?"

  "As we have already explained to the captain, we are magi."

  "Magi? But that's just a legend. No one believes in that old story," Mathias replied, yet his tone said he didn't need much convincing.

  "Yes, that was the idea. The magi promoted the legend. Where better to hide than in plain sight? At least those few of us who've survived our own myth."

  "Okay, fine, you can explain what that means later. But what can you do now?" Amired queried.

  "Get us down there with this," replied Ninian, indicating the chest, "without being seen, find our ship and get out of here. At least that's what we need to do. Whether we can do it, all of it or any part of it, only time will tell."

  "And how do we start?" Jhond asked.

  "First, we hide the chest. What it contains must not fall into the wrong hands, and I know without a doubt that"--he nodded toward the ship, which was casting its anchor--"would be the wrong hands."

  "But you just said you needed to get down there with the chest. You can't risk just hiding it up here surely?" asked Mathias.

  "Who said anything about hiding it up here?" replied Ninian, with an odd smile. He turned to Jhond, who looked no less puzzled than the others. "Pass me that oval-shaped globe from the chest."

  Jhond opened the chest, felt inside and, after a moment brought out one of the packages, which he unwrapped to reveal the unusual hollow shape covered with gold and silver wire. He closed the chest and then passed the item to Ninian. "What is that, Ninian? You never did explain about it."

  "I didn't know at first. It wasn't 'til you were recovering from your trip through the cylinder that I had time to study the crystals. One of them explained this. It's quite wonderful, I hope."

  "You hope?"

  "Well, I'd intended to study it even further before trying it out, but events have overtaken us. I think I can make it work. I feel something when I touch it. You don't, do you?"

  "Not the way you mean, but I do recognize its power," Jhond replied, with a slight smile. He was thinking how only a few days ago such an acknowledgement would have been impossible. So much had changed in the last few days, not least himself.

  "What are you two saying?" interjected the captain, frustrated by his very ignorance.

  "In a nutshell, each mage has his own center of energy that produces a different level of power and a different range of talents. It is rare any two magi have the same level of power or range of talents. The way we react to artifacts of magistry is an indication of our power and our talents. For example, Jhond was drawn here. I was not. I had an immediate reaction to this artifact. Jhond didn't. I believe he is extremely powerful, but as yet, much of his power is latent." He raised the globe in his hands and smiled, wolfishly. "I hope to use this to help hide the chest and its contents."

  "What does it do?" queried the captain, reaching out to touch the oval-shaped artifact.

  The mage moved it out of reach and, at Amired's startled glance, he explained, "Your touch could disturb its equanimity."

  The captain frowned, clearly not understanding, and Ninian went on to explain, turning the globe around and around in his hands as he spoke. "An artifact like this is like a piano that needs tuning, capable of producing the most perfect music, but only when it's calibrated properly. It has begun to tune itself to my energy, so your touch would disrupt the calibration and its effect would be imperfect. We need that perfection."

  As he'd been explaining, his voice had gradually become deeper and the words spoken slower and slower. As he finished speaking, he pointed the artifact toward the chest, his eyes narrowing as he did so. A faint blue light emanated from the globe, then ebbed and died. Ninian squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and tried again. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. The faint blue light came again, grew deeper in shade and began to flow outward until its light bathed the chest in its glow. As they watched, the chest slowly shrunk in size until it was small enough to fit easily into the smallest pocket.

  "Lords of Light!" blurted out Mathias.

  Amired grinned. "That's remarkable. And extremely useful."

  "I'm not finished yet" Ninian closed his eyes, murmuring, and the wired globe began to shrink until it, too, was small enough to go into Ninian's pocket.

  Jhond was silent, impressed beyond words. As yet, he hadn't been able to affect any physical changes with the talent he had discovered. This was the first real magistry he'd seen. He was at once awed and afraid; awed he could possibly have such power, and frightened such power might overwhelm who he was, who he believed himself to be. Power was said to corrupt; he had always thought that only applied to the weak, to those whose path was already set on evil so that power only allowed them to achieve their goal. Now the thought crept in that perhaps any man was susceptible. He subconsciously shook himself. No, that wasn't true. If true, then every magi who ever lived would have turned to evil; it was a much easier road to follow. But they hadn't. Ninian hadn't, and neither would he.

  He realized Ninian was watching him. Ninian suddenly smiled. Jhond had the unsettling idea Ninian knew exactly what he was thinking.

  Chapter 19

  Suvran watched as the captain ordered his crew to secure the ship and then arranged for the boats to be lowered to take the party ashore. Suvran was impatient to be on his way, but recognized the importance of precaution. He sensed great power at this place, and not just from that tower on the cliff. He knew there were magi here. He didn't know how many, though he thought possibly three based on the amount of power he could sense. He had always been very sensitive to the talent of others, especially over short distances.

  When the two boats were lowered over the side into the water, he instructed the captain on the direction they were to take before he climbed down the netting on the side of the ship into one of the small boats.

  The oarsmen pulled hard to get the boats to shore as soon as they could. He knew they feared him as they did no other man. As they approached the island, Suvran closed his eyes and began to whisper to himself, then he opened his eyes and his hands began to draw sigils in the air. The oarsmen glanced at each other, and against all the odds, they managed to row even harder. Captain Endar, ignoring both his crew and Suvran, scanned the land ahead looking for sign of the enemy.

  Suvran closed his eyes again and concentrated. He sensed his targets were making their way down from the top of a cliff. He frowned. Four men, he thought. He raised his arm, pointed, and Endar turned the rudder of the boat in the direction of the pointed hand. He still couldn't see anyone. Suvran opened his eyes then and smiled. The captain couldn't suppress a shiver, and Suvran guessed Endar felt sorry for the fate of whoever made Suvran smile.

  The oarsmen jumped out as the swell carried the boats toward the shore and pulled them in the last few feet. Captain Endar clambered out, followed immediately by Suvran.

  "What direction?" Endar asked.

  Suvran pointed a short way to the right and up the cliff. "I believe four men are coming down that cliff. They are not to pass. Beware. At least two of them have...power. Stay close, but don't interfere with me."

  Captain Endar left one man with the boats and instructed his crew to back up he and Suvran and let no one pass.

  * * * *

  Ninian watched as the boats were pulled onto the shore below and the men piled out. He counted fourteen men. Most of them looked like sailors; one of them he took to be the captain by his dress. And one man stood out from all the others, although, not because of his size or even his different dress style. No, he stood out because of the aura that surrounded him. At least to Ninian. He called to Jhond walking just
ahead of him. "Do you see him?"

  "The one in front with the black hair?" asked Jhond.

  "Is he the one with talent?" Captain Amired asked.

  "Yes, quite considerable talent, I would hazard. Leave him to me. We are vastly outnumbered, but if I can hold that one, Jhond should help you contain the others."

  "I should?" Apparently, Jhond didn't share Ninian's confidence.

  "Yes! Remember what I've taught you. Believe in yourself. Gather yourself, feel it at your center and direct it with your mind. You can do it and you know that."

  They were past the difficult part of the descent and on the long switchback that had been so difficult to climb, but was swift to traverse down. They were almost running now. They nearly collided with those climbing to meet them. Amired and Mathias were in the lead and they dove past the mage in the lead and took on two each of the sailors. They attacked so swiftly the sailors didn't have time to bring their long knives to bear and it turned into more of a brawl.

  Jhond, right behind them, also moved swiftly into the fray. Almost without realizing it, he called on his talent, feeling it rise through him so when he directed his right arm at the other oncoming sailors, two men were thrown back as if hit by slingshot. They lay unmoving. Jhond moved with confidence toward the others.

  Ninian threw a sigil in the air above the mage, intending to entrap the stranger in a web of energy that would hold him prisoner, but the mage countered it with a simple flick of his wrist that shattered the sigil even as the energy was forming. The mage then wove a sigil of his own, so rapidly Ninian could not read it and when a ball of orange fire shot toward him, Ninian barely had time to dive aside. The rocky hillside behind him exploded in a huge shower of sparks.