Tak

The War Wizard - Part 2

     Saturn had set up another scrying mirror in one of his laboratories. It was set up to link with the mirror on the Jules Verne so that it would show everything that happened on the bridge, and a rota was drawn up to make sure there was always someone on duty to keep a watch on the mice and the skydeath detector.

     Saturn himself spent every available minute hovering nearby, peering intently over the shoulder of whoever was on duty. Watching the mice scrabbling busily around in their cages, alert for any sign of ill health. As the hours went by he grew increasingly bad tempered as the shiny clay ball remained stubbornly inert. Night fell, with Thomas keeping watch until midnight and Edward taking over until morning, but it wasn't until nearly noon the next day that it finally happened.

     Tassley had the duty at the critical time, and Saturn had just left her when her excited cries brought him running back. "It just went!" she cried, pointing at the image of shards of clay littering the floor of the bridge, some of them still rolling around as they looked for places to settle. There had been no sound transmitted over the scrying link, but the mice had scampered back into their hutch as if startled by a loud bang.

     "Right!" exclaimed the senior wizard, rubbing his hands excitedly. "Let's bring half the rats back right away."

     He cast a spell through the scrying link, a trick that only the very most powerful wizards could manage, and six of the small rodents vanished to reappear in another cage below Saturn's outstretched hand. He then bent low over them, examining them carefully. "They still seem healthy enough," he mused thoughtfully. "Let's see how they fare over the next few days."

     The mice remaining on the ship sickened and died very quickly, exhibiting all the classic symptoms of skydeath, and by nightfall not one of them was still alive. In contrast, though, the rescued mice suffered only a short period of illness from which they soon recovered, to Saturn's great delight. His triumph and relief were contagious, and the whole research complex spent the next few days floating on a fluffy pink cloud of euphoria, which was only intensified when they repeated the experiment with exactly the same result.

     This time, the rescued mice were brought back one at a time, at one minute intervals after the breaking of the clay canary. They were then watched to see whether they lived or died, to determine how long an exposure they could survive. It was found that none of them survived more than ten minutes of exposure which, assuming humans and mice were equally vulnerable to the phenomenon, gave them a minimum time period for the evacuation of the ship in the event of another disaster like the one that had killed Gunther. At the end of a month of experimentation Saturn declared the clay skydeath detectors a resounding success and began the construction of a more sophisticated, reusable version.

     Thomas also had a triumph to celebrate, although he could only reveal his to Lirenna. One night, while the valley was lit by the dull, ruddy light of the red sun, he took her to the shielded laboratory in the basement of the Yolanda-Whitemay memorial building. It was a specially strengthened room capable of withstanding all the violence that the most powerful war spells could deliver.

     Trembling with excitement, he set up a row of suits of armour in the middle of the room, then reached into a pouch to remove the spell's material component; a lump of cold iron in the shape of a clenched fist that he’d had one of the valley’s blacksmiths make for him. He stood back in the doorway, waving to his wife to stand well back, out of the way. "Okay," he said, quivering eagerly as he prepared to cast the spell. "Watch this!"

     He reached out with one hand, the fist of cold iron sitting in his open palm. He moved his other hand in an intricate pattern of movements and spoke a series of tonguetwisting magical words. The iron fist dissolved into a puff of vapour and Lirenna gasped with delight as the suits of armour were smashed back against the rear stone wall with a crash that shook the whole building. Every one was crushed and ruined out of all recognition, and the wall itself had also suffered some damage, some cracks having opened up between the massive blocks of stone where they'd been moved slightly out of position. If it had been any other room in any other building the wall might have been completely stoved in, even against the pressure of earth and rock behind it.

     "Well, what do you think of that?" asked Thomas, beaming triumphantly.

     "Was that...?" asked Lirenna, her eyes shining with delight.

     "Fist of the Father," replied Thomas, grabbing her and squeezing her tight. "I got it! I figured it out! A spell unknown for three thousand years, and I recovered it, brought it back to life. I did it, Lenny! I did it!"

     Lirenna hugged him back jubilantly. "What other spells can you bring back?" she asked excitedly. "Can you remember any of the spells he used to change living creatures? The vivomancy spells?"

     "Give me a chance," giggled Thomas. "It took me a month to get this one. Don't worry. If I possibly can, I'll give you those spells. You'll get your dwelling trees. It may take me a few years..."

     "If you can puzzle out the potions of longevity..."

     "Ssshh!" hissed Thomas in sudden alarm, glancing around to make sure they were still alone. "Don't mention that unless you're absolutely certain we can't be overheard. Yes, you're right, though. If I can learn how to extend my lifetime we'll have all the time we need to solve the problems. I can only do that if Tak knew it himself, though. We still don't know that he ever extended his own life. Molos Gomm certainly never did. For all we know, Tak may have died young. The next thing I remember about his life might be the way he died."

     Lirenna stiffened in his arms. "Have you remembered anything else yet?" she asked hesitantly.

     "Sketchy details of the next few years of his life, years spent in the service of Khalkedon. I've also remembered quite a lot more about his earlier years, his childhood and apprenticeship to old Gomm. Want to hear about that?"

     "Later, perhaps," said the demi shae, looking up at him with her wide, bright eyes. For now, go on from where you left off. You can fill in the details later."

     "Okay, but not here. Let's go back home. I feel more comfortable there. Easier to speak freely."

     Lirenna nodded and they climbed back up the worn, stone steps to the ground level, their footsteps echoing from the tunnels and passages around them like the ticking of some ancient clock. A clock whose hands were creeping steadily closer to midnight...