At the Gates of Darkness Part 15

'Can you be more precise?'

'No,' said his brother, as he started walking down the side of the solid lava flow.

CHAPTER TWELVE - Allies.

SANDREENA GALLOPED FORWARD.

Farson and Kendra urged their lagging mounts to keep up as they started down the final hillside into Durbin. Dust blinded those without shelter as another hot wind blew hard out of the desert. Sandreena had set an unrelenting pace, pushing the poor animals to the limits of their strength, knowing that the three fine warhorses would only be fit for the knackers yard when this ride was over; they would never again be fit for battle.

Still, she judged it a necessary sacrifice, just as she judged Jaliel's loss necessary. Each night she prayed to the G.o.ddess for protection, and hoped that Jaliel had been fortunate enough to become a captive not a corpse. With the G.o.ddess's mercy, he and the other slaves there might be freed if the mystery she had discovered in the Valley of Lost Men could be further unravelled.

Durbin was the most dangerous city on the Bitter Sea by a measure. It was the t.i.tular seat of Imperial Keshian government in the Jal-Pur desert and the Bitter Sea, and was effectively a law unto itself. Occasionally, an Imperial edict would be handed down from the Emperor's Court in Kesh instructing reform, but strength of arms, gold, and power remained the only real means of safe pa.s.sage in the city.

Three ragged riders entering at a gallop would hardly elicit a second glance from the city watch and anyone else studying the party only considered them as potential prey.

Sandreena drew the most attention, for despite the dark circles of fatigue under her eyes, the road dirt, sweat and filthy hair, her face was still beautiful. However, her arms and surcoat warned that whatever profit the slave pens might offer, it would be hard won. Any Knight-Adamant of the Order of the Shield of the Weak would offer far more than she received in a melee. The other knight and the dwarf were equally dismissed as not worth the trouble, and so the three proceeded through the city untroubled.

Sandreena pulled up her mount before a stable near the docks and found the owner. A quick round of haggling got her enough gold to buy a boat. No captain in Durbin would take people to Sorcerer's Isle, no matter what the price, so she knew they were on their own.

A quick stop in an inn for food and they took possession of their craft. The boat was small, less than twenty feet in length, and if they encountered bad weather, they would drown. Even so Sandreena mustered up her meagre sailing skills, said a prayer to the G.o.ddess, and they departed.

Sandreena had one advantage at sea, she knew how to read the stars, and she had no doubt she could find Sorcerer's Isle. She dead reckoned going north by northeast, during their first day, and would adjust that when night fell. Both Farson and Kendra were ignorant of boats and got a swift instruction in what she needed them to do. It would be cramped and uncomfortable and there would be no privacy, but by now they were used to one another.

Little was said. None them had slept for the last two days, they were all exhausted and Sandreena had gleaned all she could from Kendra with questions while they had rested on the road. The new information, added to what she had seen, made Sandreena aware just how far this discovery was beyond her ability to judge. Nothing made any sense, and right now she felt a driving need to bring order from this chaos.

Once aboard, Sandreena had ordered Farson to rest as best he could; Kendra needed no urging to cross his arms, drop chin to chest, and lose himself in sleep. Sandreena knew she must somehow keep awake until nightfall and then wake Farson, and give him two clear guides in the heaven to steer by, only then would she give herself permission to rest. Her main concern now was the marauders that hara.s.sed these sea lanes. By sailing straight for Sorcerer's Isle she hoped to quickly leave the coastal routes behind, with their attendant risk of pirates. Three armed warriors in a city with plenty of defensible positions was one thing. Three armed warriors in a small boat come upon by a full company of armed men at sea was quite another. Sandreena knew that should pirates heave into view, she and her companions would be bound for Durbin and the slave pens.

Sandreena stayed awake by sheer strength of will, and when finally the sun set and the stars rose, she nudged Farson. With a nod of her head she indicated they should let the dwarf sleep, though from what she could see, waking him might prove difficult.

She quickly gave Farson a brief lesson on steering the little craft. With a single boom sail and no jib, it only took her a few minutes to demonstrate the simple task of running abreast a following wind. She made it clear that if something proved too difficult for him, he should wake her at once. He nodded, and she pointed to a star rising directly ahead. 'That will be your point of reference, that large slightly blue star. If you keep the prow pointed directly at it, you'll eventually come north and we'll be sailing west of where we want to be. So in about three hours you'll see three small stars rise at about the same place. They form a tiny triangle, point down. Put the bow of the boat between where they rise until the blue star is over there.' She pointed off to her left. 'Once it's past the highest point in the sky...' She yawned uncontrollably, then blinked. 'If it starts to go down...' She lay down, closing her eyes, and said, 'Steer between the blue star and the three until the blue star starts to sink, then aim straight at the three. You'll zig and zag, but we'll get there. Wake me when the eastern sky starts to brighten. I'll need a quick look at the sky to see...how...far...' She fell asleep.

Fortune, or the G.o.ddess, smiled on them. For three days they had fair winds and Farson didn't sail them too far off course at night. Kendra had proven useful once he had overcome his aversion to sailing; deep water and boats were not something his people found appealing. Still, once he had learned the basic mechanics of sailing the small craft, he seemed almost to enjoy it.

Their food was gone and the water running low when the sharp-eyed dwarf said, 'I see land!'

Sandreena motioned for Farson to take over the tiller, and moved to stand behind the dwarf, putting one hand on the mast, and peering ahead. A few minutes later she saw a smudge on the horizon and said, 'That will be Sorcerer's Isle.' She glanced behind her and saw a storm approaching. 'Just in time, it seems. I think we're going to be getting foul weather soon.'

No one spoke as the smudge in the distance resolved itself into a dark spot, which in turn became a distant island. By the time the sky above them began to darken, they could make out cliffs and a castle on the eastern edge. 'There's a beach to the west of that point,' Sandreena said, and Farson nodded.

Sandreena said, 'Beach landings can be tricky, so plan on getting wet.' She had had them strip off their armour as soon as they had cleared Durbin harbour, so she wasn't worried about either of her companions drowning a hundred yards off sh.o.r.e, then she thought to ask, 'Kendra, do you swim?'

'Not a stroke,' he said. 'Never had much need to learn.'

'I'll try to keep from swamping the boat.'

'That would be appreciated, Sandreena,' said the dwarf calmly.

She took the tiller from Farson and said, 'When I tell you, move to the back.'

She deftly moved the small boat so it pointed straight at the little beach and when she felt the swell rising beneath the hull, she shouted to Farson, 'Take down the sail!'

He did as ordered and Sandreena saw the canvas fall loosely just as a comber broke behind the boat, hurling them towards the beach. 'Back!' she shouted, and they moved a few feet to the rear, tilting the bow up so it wouldn't plant in the sand. 'Get ready to jump and pull us in.' She waited. 'Jump!'

The dwarf and Knight-Adamant leapt over the side into thigh high water for Farson, which was chest high for Kendra, and four powerful arms hauled the boat safely into the sand. Sandreena let out a long sigh of relief. She had trusted in the G.o.ddess to bring them safely here, but she had never been completely free of doubt. 'Get your armour,' she instructed as she picked up her gear.

On the beach they quickly rearmed themselves and when all were ready, Sandreena led them up the small path that ran from the castle until it reached the top of the bluffs, where it split, one path heading into the heart of the island, the other towards the beach.

No one hailed them; there was no sign that their landing had even been observed, yet Sandreena knew Pug was aware she approached, or if he was not home, then whoever he'd left in charge. She was tired to her bones, but energized by at last reaching her goal.

When she entered the courtyard to the ancient looking castle, she found a familiar face. She had met young magician, Jason, on her previous visit to the island. 'Sandreena,' he said with a warm smile. 'I am to see to your needs.'

'These two need food, clean clothing, and rest,' she replied, introducing Farson and Kendra. 'I need to speak to Pug at once.'

He inclined his head and with a wave of his hand summoned another young man who had been standing at the door of the keep. He took Kendra and Farson and led them into the keep while Jason said, 'Are you certain you wouldn't rather rest first, too? If you don't mind me saying so, you look a little in need of it.'

She smiled. 'I look like I need a lot of it, you mean.' She shook her head. 'No, talk now, rest after.'

He turned and said, 'Very well. Follow me, please.' He led her into the keep and then across the main floor where she could see Samantha hard at work over a ma.s.sive kettle of stew. The plump woman smiled, hurried over and threw her arms around Sandreena's neck, almost knocking her over.

Sandreena was so tired she could barely laugh, but she hugged her old friend back and said, 'I take it this means Brandos is still here?'

'Yes,' said Samantha. 'And Amirantha.'

'Good,' said Sandreena, to Samantha's obvious surprise.

'Good?'

'He may be a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, but we need his knowledge. I've got to go. I'll catch up with you later.' They hugged once more and Sandreena found Jason waiting. He led her through a door and up a winding staircase to a tower. 'Through there,' he said.

Sandreena opened the door, expecting to see Pug and perhaps Magnus and Amirantha waiting, but instead the room was now empty. 'What?' she asked.

'Step through that portal,' said Jason from behind.

That's when she noticed the tiny ripple in the air, like a heat shimmer. She nodded and walked into it.

Suddenly she was somewhere else. The room was huge, well furnished, and there were two dozen people sitting around a semi-circle of benches. Facing that semi-circle was a table behind which Pug, Magnus, and Amirantha waited.

'Sandreena,' said Pug, standing to welcome her. 'We had word you were approaching the island.'

She nodded, suddenly wishing she had taken up Jason's offer, for she was filthy, smelled of horse, sea-salt, and sweat, and now stood in the midst of what was obviously a very important meeting. Pug motioned for her to take a seat at the end of the table next to Magnus and she complied.

Pug said, 'That is all that we have for you now. Please go back to your designated tasks, but be ready. The call may come any moment.'

The score or more of people who sat in the semi-circle stood, and several of them winked out of sight instantly. A couple of others vanished moments later, while the others filed out one at a time through another invisible portal. Finally, Sandreena was left alone with Magnus, Pug and Amirantha.

'You have something to tell us?' asked Pug.

Sandreena nodded. 'Creegan has gone to Rillanon, expecting to be named Grand Master of the Order. He left me in charge in Krondor and then left me with this report-'-she looked at Pug with suspicion-'-which I'll warrant you've read.'

'A copy,' said Pug.

'There was no one else I could trust to investigate, so I went myself.'

'What did you find?' asked Pug.

'Very few answers. Many more questions. I'll tell you in detail, but first I need to know, did I just walk into a meeting of the Conclave?'

Pug nodded slowly. 'The end of a meeting.'

'There are more of you than I thought.'

'There are more of us than we want people to know, even our friends in some cases. But it was necessary to call them here.' Pug stood up.

'To brief them?' asked Sandreena, rising as well.

'No, to instruct them,' said Pug. 'Those you saw are the leaders of groups we have hidden all over the world. But we must begin to marshal our resources.'

'Marshal?' asked Sandreena, fatigue making her mind sluggish and uncertain of what she was hearing.

'We're going to war,' Amirantha said. 'And it's going to be the bloodiest, nastiest fight this world has ever seen.'

Sandreena sat back down.

'It should be near here,' said Gulamendis.

'How do you know?' asked Laromendis.

'The author recorded the travel time. I know how long it takes the average human to ride a horse.'

'What if he was on foot?'

Gulamendis threw his brother a withering look. 'He mentions riding. I a.s.sume, given the abandoned stables back at the keep, it means riding horses.'

His brother conceded. 'Go on.'

'I compensated for that, factored in how much this landscape has changed, and how long it would take us to walk the same distance.' He made an encompa.s.sing arc with his hand. 'We should find it somewhere around here.'

'What exactly are we looking for?' asked his brother.

'A portal.' He sounded far less convinced than he had the last time he answered his brother's question.

'You do remember that the one at the fortress was invisible?' asked Laromendis.

The Demon Master pondered it for a moment, then said, 'You're the master of the unseen. Do you have any means to discern invisible things?'

'If I know what I'm looking for, perhaps.'

'A portal?'

Laromendis looked embarra.s.sed as he realized that he should have thought of using his skills in this way. 'It would help if I knew the general area.'

Gulamendis indicated their immediate surroundings with a wave of his hand. 'If I read this book correctly, the portal should be close by. It appears that they built it far enough away from the fortress so that if something dire occurred, they would not endanger their ruler and his court.

'This blasted countryside has been ravaged by those volcanoes, so scorching a few more hectares of land would hardly be a problem.'

'Then where would you logically place it?'

'Somewhere close to an ancient road that once ran below our feet.' He pointed to a non-volcanic hilltop close by. 'That may be the only remaining landmark from before the recent eruptions, but if that's the hill mentioned in this journal...' He looked around. 'We should be close. You would put a portal by the road, someplace flat, a spot easy to observe from a safe distance...' He pointed. 'Like over there.'

Laromendis nodded and walked up an incline and then down a steeper one to a flat area dotted with a few loose rocks. He closed his eyes and extended both hands outward and downward. After a minute he said, 'No. Nothing.'

Gulamendis said, 'Well, we might as well be methodical about this.' He turned and looked for another observable location and pointed, then led his brother to examine it.

They found the portal three hours later. It wasn't invisible. Instead, it had been knocked flat by some geological shudder in past years. It had a large base very similar to those used by the taredhel, with two slender bowed arms sweeping upward. They had to be careful getting it upright again, as there was no means to repair any damage they might inadvertently cause.

Laromendis said, 'Do you think you can make this thing work?'

'I don't know,' answered his brother honestly. 'I can only try.' He consulted the book several times, then said, 'Look for a recess in the base.'

Laromendis did so and said, 'There's a very tightly fitted cover.' He poked and prodded, and eventually the lid slid to the side. A faint humming filled the air. Inside they saw a glowing yellow crystal.

'It's still working?'

'I don't know,' said Laromendis. 'You're the one who read the journal.'

'We've both been through those portals a dozen times.'

'Yes,' said the Conjurer, 'but neither of us has programmed one.'

'I did,' said the Demon Master dryly.

'And almost drowned us both.'

Gulamendis knelt and inspected the base, then the two arching wands of wood that formed the boundary of the portal. 'I feel energy, but it's very faint.'

'Do you see controls?'

'Here, I think,' Gulamendis answered. 'Feel here.' He pointed at a spot on one of the uprights.

Laromendis did and said, 'I feel a depression...wait, there are a series of them.'

'Try turning your hand sidewise.'