Gorinthians (52 page)

“
Good,” Radroc said
approvingly. “She was feeling a little homicidal the last time we
met. I was not looking forward to meeting her here. How far are the
Elementals from the city?”

“
Less than twenty hours,”
Elder Torrence replied sourly. “They are devastating the forests.”
He seemed almost diffident as he addressed Radroc.

“
That’s not much time,”
Radroc muttered, half to himself. “What kind of defense were you
planning to use against them?”

“
We are trying the
spirit-snare that you discovered last time you were here,” Elder
Torrence answered slowly. “If that doesn’t have an effect, we were
going to try soul-thorn.”

“
Those will
only work on the water and earth elementals,” Radroc commented.
“The fire and wind elementals are unaffected by it because of the
effect fire has on
yar
. There is a way to destroy the fire and wind elementals, but
it takes a lot of people for each one. I will need a few dozen
Guardians for about an hour.”

Elder Torrence nodded in
acquiescence. “That would not have been a pleasant surprise to
learn in the field.”

Radroc began moving toward
the city, talking as he walked. “We will need to prepare some
surprises for Jerard as well. He will probably be somewhere nearby
when the Elementals arrive. If he is with the Elementals, he will
be able to undo anything that we can do to stop the
Elementals.”

Ornico seemed to be having
difficulty following most of the conversation. He had not yet heard
of the Elementals, and Captain Jorbran had never heard of Jerard.
“Who is Jerard?” Ornico asked curiously. He stood a good head
shorter than any of the others in the small group. Ornico had
excelled in all of his
yar
training classes. He had learned to use the
well-honed skills of his
yar
to balance what he lacked in stature. He was more
adept at using his
yar
than many of the Elders.

“
Jerard is the leader of
the Elemental army that is descending on your city,” Radroc
answered, glancing back at him. “He is a very misguided person with
an overdeveloped opinion of his own supremacy in relation to
everyone else. He was also Terrance’s research partner before they
came to this world.”

“
Where did they come from?”
Ornico asked in fascination. “Another planet?”

“
You might call it another
planet,” Radroc replied dryly. “It’s occupying the same space that
we are in right now, though. Terrance doesn’t know that, though. He
thinks he came through what he calls a wormhole.”

“
What is a wormhole?”
Ornico asked. Captain Jorbran smiled to himself. Ornico’s intensive
study as a student had left him with a constant hunger for
knowledge of any kind.

Radroc smiled slightly, “You
remind me of my last student, Ferrich. Each time that I answered a
question, he came up with ten more,” Radroc said wistfully. “To
answer your question, Terrance believed the universe could be
folded, like a piece of cloth. When the folded ends met, you could
theoretically bore a hole through the fabric and connect the two
worlds together.”

“
And you say Terrance was
wrong in believing he arrived on this planet through a wormhole?”
Dedran asked doubtfully.

Radroc glanced at Dedran, a
small smile playing over his round features. “Indeed, I do say he
was wrong.”

Captain Jorbran was slightly
unnerved by the way Radroc seemed to direct his comments and
expressions at each of them as if he knew what they were thinking.
Could the old man read minds?

“
How did they arrive here?”
Ornico asked with a perplexed look. “You said earlier that his
planet was occupying the same space as ours. I thought that was
impossible.”

“
Well, I
wouldn’t say they occupy the same space on the atomic level,”
Radroc explained. “Take, for instance, your ability to sense light
waves. Where Terrance comes from, people cannot use their
yar
to feel anything
around them. The five senses they were born with are all they have.
When they see light, they only see a small part of the light
spectrum. When you see light, you can sense the way it moves in
waves. You can also sense the longer wavelengths your eyes cannot
see. The same thing happens with sound. You can sense the waves
emanating from objects when they move as they create sound waves.
Frequencies make up everything that exists. Frequency is just
another word for a wave. Did you know that your brain operates on a
frequency that is in harmony with the planet that you live
on?”

Ornico shook his head,
waiting for Radroc to continue.

“
Your entire existence is
defined by a certain wave-length. You will notice that a larger
wavelength can exist in the same space as a smaller wavelength
without ever touching each other. Because of this effect, you can
hear more than one tone at the same time, creating harmony. There
are as many other realities right here where we stand as there are
sounds in the sound-wave spectrum. Probably more.”

Captain Jorbran was
fascinated in spite of himself. “How can you move between these
wave-lengths?”

Radroc shook his head
slightly. “People were not meant to move back and forth between
these frequencies. It creates dissonance in the grand symphony of
creation. By taking certain plants and distilling the alkaloids out
of them, you can consume them. For a short time, your own frequency
will change. Usually it will only change enough to send you through
two different realities before pulling you back. It is very similar
to throwing a rock into the air. It launches upwards for several
seconds, and then it falls back to the ground from whence it came.
Terrance did not use a stimulant to travel to another reality. He
accidentally created a device that could open up a wide range of
wavelengths. He did not just travel to a reality that was a
wavelength above or below his own. He jumped through thousands of
wavelengths to end up on a reality that he was never meant to
visit.” Radroc grinned humorously. “It is almost ironic how like a
wormhole their little invention was, though. What they did was
similar to chopping the tail off a worm. As it squirms around
flailing about, it randomly cycles through other realities pulling
unwitting victims into this world, as well as other
worlds.”

“
Have you told Terrance
about this theory of yours?” Dedran asked with a raised
eyebrow.

“
Terrance and I do not talk
to each other,” Radroc replied, his tone as sharp as a knife.
“Terrance is almost as bad as Jerard in my opinion. He did not
learn from his first lesson. He continues inventing new devices
without studying what they will do first. He is not just
endangering this world, but the entire fabric of existence. I have
been hoping he and Jerard would have a duel where both of them end
up destroyed.”

“
Why are you here?” Dedran
asked bluntly. “Why are you trying to help us if you disagree with
Terrance so much?”

“
Because you Avenry are the
last hope of rehabilitating this planet after what Terrance has
done to it,” Radroc answered softly. “If you die, then this planet
dies with you.”

Chapter 29

Morindessa studied the
walled city of Shalilayo from the farmer’s market that surrounded
the Southern section of the wall. Ferrich sat in his saddle next to
her, nervously running his hands through his thick, golden hair. He
wore nondescript grey trousers with an unadorned white shirt. His
sturdy black travel boots almost reached his knees. His unease had
grown the closer they came to Shalilayo. He had grown more
confident as his ability to use his
yar
had increased on the return
journey to Shalilayo. He learned much more quickly than Morindessa
had so long ago. Thistledown and Riah had both spent time teaching
him some of the more complex techniques Li was unfamiliar with. He
had drained Li of every ounce of knowledge that she possessed, only
needing to see her perform a feat once before he was able to do it
himself. Lori had been much slower in learning. Where Ferrich had
already learned the theory behind most of the techniques he
learned, Lori was unfamiliar with the entire concept. She seemed to
be enjoying herself immensely, though. She kept referring to what
they did as something called magic.

Jesha sat in the saddle in
front of Morindessa. She had also joined Lori and Ferrich in the
lessons that Li was giving. Most of the members of their growing
party thought of Jesha as an adult now, overlooking the child-like
appearance that her physical size suggested. Her mind was extremely
quick, and her own knowledge of the Spiritual Realm was not
insignificant. She had grown less shy around the others as well
throughout the journey.

“
So are we just going to
stroll up to the palace and ask for Captain Kerns?” Celdic asked
Thistledown doubtfully. Celdic was still very conscious of his new
clothes, absently fingering the slots in the clothing that hid his
throwing stars. Morindessa and Riah had spent some time showing him
how to use the throwing stars with a fair amount of accuracy. The
eyes and the neck were the primary target with a throwing star;
they would not penetrate armor.

“
More or less,” Thistledown
replied calmly. “We will probably leave Ferrich at an inn until I
clear things up with Captain Kerns.”

Thistledown moved his horse
to the lead and began moving toward the outer city wall. There was
a sense of expectation about Thistledown. He had been extremely
jumpy for the past couple of days, as Jerard remained absent.
Thistledown had been sure Jerard would strike at them while they
were traveling toward Shalilayo. The entire return journey had been
uneventful. The oddly assorted group had kept mostly to themselves,
much to the disappointment of the youths from Chasel Ri’ Aven. They
seemed fascinated by the people outside of their mountain home.
Cha’le seemed to have overcome her dislike of Lori, after Lendel
had taken her outside of camp and spoke with her for over an hour
one evening. When they returned, Cha’le had apologized to Lori for
the way that she had treated her. The whole affair still made
Morindessa’s hackles rise. Women, as she knew them, were not
forgiving or forgetting like that. Perhaps it was something they
learned in Chasel Ri’ Aven.

As they wove their way
through the meandering streets of the farmer’s market, Morindessa
tried to pinpoint where Lochnar was. He had spent most of his time
scouting ahead of them, looking for signs of Jerard. Every once in
a while, she would feel the flash of his resonance as he passed by
close to her. It had been hours since she had last felt his
resonance.

As they neared the gate,
Morindessa caught Ferrich’s eye and nodded. A moment later, she
pushed out with her
yar
, forming a barrier around her that caused the light to bend
and go around her. She felt Ferrich’s
yar
reach out to cloak him as well,
and a moment later, she was unable to see him with her eyes. She
could still feel the familiar presence of his resonance. Riah and
Celdic nudged their horses into a trot until they rode on either
side of the invisible pair. They did not want anyone to bump into
them accidentally.

Riah wore a large cloak with
the hood pulled forward, but even so, she drew many glances. Her
golden hair seemed to glow beneath her hood, and an inner light
suffused her features and gave her face an unnatural radiance.
Morindessa had noticed the change shortly after Lochnar had healed
her. He must have done more than heal her, whether he intended to
or not. With her riding next to Morindessa and Ferrich, no one
would notice the gap between her's and Celdic’s horses. They were
too busy trying to peer beneath her hood to notice anything
else.

Seranova, Lendel, Li and
Jalorm brought up the rear. Jalorm had made his interest in
Seranova plain to her, but she affected not to notice. Seranova
seemed to lose interest in anything outside of her inventions. She
had a permanently distracted look on her face, as if she were lost
in thought. Cha’le had suggested to her that she became lost in
thought so easily because it was unfamiliar territory.
Surprisingly, Seranova had laughed harder than Thistledown. She
seemed to have a higher opinion of women than she did of men.
Remembering the provincial port of Laketown where she and Ferrich
had found her, Morindessa could understand her aversion to
men.

The guards at the wide gates
that surrounded Shalilayo inspected everyone who entered the giant
city much more closely than they usually did. They were obviously
expecting Ferrich to return. They had heard rumors in the last
village that there had been quite a blood bath in the royal family
after the king died. None of the villagers seemed to know who had
survived, though. Morindessa was certain the remaining heir would
want to make sure Ferrich joined the list of the deceased. She was
going to be very firm with anyone trying to harm Ferrich,
though.

“
Who is in your party and
where have you come from?” one of the guards inquired in a brusque
voice.

“
My name is Count Trellnar,
and these are my aids and servants,” Thistledown replied in an
arrogant tone. “We have come from my estates.”