‘Yes, I suppose so. The point is, his mind was able to accept lore at the very base level, and that let him read and understand Dordovan, Xeteskian and Julatsan lores with varying degrees of success. It made him brilliant but it also made him arrogant. He lived outside of the College, rarely reported on his work, made only cryptic logs of his research and not all of those logs are in our library. Xetesk has some, others are lost at his house - assuming he wrote anything at all about some of the things we know he was capable of.’ Erienne took a sip of wine. ‘Could I have some water, please?’
‘Certainly.’ The Captain rose and pulled the door open. The sound of a man dragging his feet to attention echoed in the corridor outside. ‘Water and a glass. Now.’ He returned to his seat. ‘An interesting history. Of course, I am aware of his house. I have had men at the ruins on several occasions. So tell me, what is the state of your development of dimensional research, and what do you hope to achieve?’
Erienne opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, pondering her answer. It was all too easy. The Captain was nothing like she had been led to believe. That she would hate him for ever for the kidnap of her children was certain, but his behaviour was confusing. Here she sat in a warm room, where she had been fed with good food and asked gentle questions about her College activities. So far he had asked her nothing he couldn’t have found out by knocking on the College’s front door. There had to be more, it was just a question of when he dealt it to her. She had the uneasy feeling she was being softened up for a heavy blow. She determined to keep her mind sharp.
‘What we know of Septern tells us that he achieved a great deal in terms of dimensional magics. He created a stable, self-sustaining portal for travelling between nominated dimensional spaces and we believe he travelled widely - some of his wilder writings suggest as much.
‘Dordover is nowhere near his level of sophistication in dimension doors. We can’t travel, we can’t see in, all we can do is plot other dimensions and chart land and sea features. To progress more quickly, we need Septern’s lost texts because we believe this magic mixes College lores.’
‘And where do you hope this research will take you?’
‘Into other dimensions. To explore, to chart, to meet other races. The possibilities are endless.’ Erienne was enthused in spite of herself.
‘To conquer, to subvert, to rule, to steal.’ The Captain’s tone was hard but not unpleasant.
‘Is that the basis for your concern?’
He inclined his head. ‘I believe we have no place interfering in other dimensions. We have our own and it is difficult enough to control without linking it to other places and times. I see nightmare scenarios where others might invade to avenge what we have done. No one will be safe anywhere because no one will ever know when or where a door might be opened.’
‘All the more reason to complete our research and understanding, ’ said Erienne.
‘Neither of us is naive enough to believe that Dordover and Xetesk research this magic to benefit the population of Balaia, are we? I would hate to think you were opening doors which you were then powerless to close.’ The Captain scratched an ear. ‘Tell me, is Xetesk further advanced than Dordover?’
Erienne stared at him blankly. ‘If and when the missing elements of Septern’s dimensional texts are recovered, we may be forced to form a research group,’ she said slowly. ‘Until that time, communication remains minimal.’
‘I understand.’
‘It was a stupid question to ask a Dordovan.’
‘Stupidity sometimes elicits the real gems.’
The door opened and a man entered carrying a jug of water and two glasses. He set them on the table and withdrew. Erienne filled a glass and drank it back in one.
‘Anything else?’
‘Oh, a good deal,’ said the Captain. He drained and refilled his wine glass. ‘I have hardly begun, although your information is gratefully received. I should let you get back to your children but think on this. Given that you appear to know all you can about dimensional magics already, I find it disturbing that there has been such a recent surge in interest surrounding Septern’s research.
‘Mastery of dimensional magic wasn’t his only triumph, was it? There was one of even greater notoriety. He created a spell, didn’t he? And I want to know why Xetesk has suddenly put all its muscle behind looking for it.’
Erienne’s face became deathly white.
Chapter 5
The Raven and their charges rode from Taranspike Castle as the sun picked at the dew lying heavily on the grass of yesterday’s battlefield. The rain of the previous night had blown away west across the central flatlands towards the dark line of the Blackthorne Mountains and a gentle breeze blew warmth through the dawn of the early spring day. Baron Pontois, his soldiers, mercenary warriors and mages were gone, disappeared north through the Grethern Forest from which they had come. All that was left of their encampment was flattened brush and a single, wood-picketed mound where the dead were buried.
At the head of the small horseback party were Hirad, Richmond and Ilkar, while much to his bodyguards’ displeasure, Baron Gresse chose to ride flanked by Talan and The Unknown Warrior. Denser and Sirendor Larn rode behind the second trio, leaving Gresse’s quartet of men bringing up the rear.
For the Baron, the ride was clearly a chance to shake off the shackles of an overprotective family and ride free. For The Unknown and Talan, the habit of gleaning information from whatever source came their way was impossible to break.
‘Are you still allied with Blackthorne?’ asked Talan.
Gresse nodded. ‘We have a reciprocal passage arrangement but I wouldn’t call it an alliance. He travels toll-free through this pass to Korina; I have similar rights through his lands to Gyernath.’
The Unknown frowned. ‘Did he take the lands east of Gyernath? I heard he—’
‘Six months ago. He’s all but annexed Gyernath now, though the City Council has applied significant pressure on him to keep his passage levies low. Successfully so far.’
‘So what happened to Lord Arlen?’ asked The Unknown.
‘He works for Blackthorne.’
‘Ah—’ Light dawned.
‘Gods, no, there was no fighting. No more fighting, should I say. Arlen still nominally controls the lands east of Gyernath, though the truth is he’s supported by Blackthorne’s considerable muscle, furnished with metals from the southern mines and taking a rake off the levy on traffic from the south-east, including Korina.’ Gresse chuckled and reached a hand out to pat The Unknown’s thigh. ‘If I were you, I’d cross Arlen off my list of potential employers. Blackthorne has all the finance around Gyernath now.’
‘Anyone else we can strike off?’ Talan asked.
‘Not me,’ said Gresse. ‘Pontois hasn’t finished yet, I’m sure. He’s either already planning another strike on Taranspike or hoping I’ll over-fortify there and leave myself open to him further west.’
‘Well, if you need us, get in early,’ said The Unknown.
‘Very early,’ said Talan.
‘Heard a rumour you lot might be hanging up your leather,’ said Gresse, careful not to catch either man’s eye.
‘Believe it on seeing it,’ advised Talan, raising his eyebrows.
‘So much for a trade of information,’ grumbled Gresse, a smile touching his eyes.
‘You’ll be the first to know if it happens, how’s that?’ said The Unknown.
‘It’ll have to do.’ Gresse fell silent, shaking his head.
Taranspike Pass was sheer grey and no less than four hundred feet high all the way to Korina, its cool slate home to birds and tenacious vegetation. Either side of the walls of the pass, the land was precipitous, falling to black chasms, deep ravines and harsh, lifeless valleys where water ran beneath rock, its sound like the souls of the lost as it poured under the ground. In the pass itself, run-off from the previous night’s rain puddled on the soft earth, making the way muddy. But with the sun lighting the pass throughout the day, that softness would be driven away and the cracks in a trail which varied between a dozen wagons and just three wagons wide were testament to the heat that sun on rock could generate in the hot season.