R. Salvatore - Echoes of the Fourth Magic

“But Mitchell-” Reinheiser began, desperately grabbing at anything that might save him.

“Mitchell is a fool!” Thalasi interrupted. “ ‘I commanded an army of millions,’ he said. Ha! I, too, lived in the United States before the holocaust, and I remember no General Hollis Mitchell. And I assure you, my memory is excellent.

“I remember you, though,” Thalasi continued. “Your work, at least, and the departure of the Unicorn from Woods Hole.”

The reminders of that other world caught Reinheiser by surprise, but in them he saw a chance and boldly forced himself under control. “Then you know that I, too, mastered an art,” he stated as proudly as he dared. “I was a master of physics and technology. I thought that was why you sent for me, for if we could combine our knowledge-”

Thalasi cut him off with a loud burst of laughter, mocking the physicist’s pitiful attempt to save his life.

“You laugh?” Reinheiser cried, leaping from his seat in anger. He realized that Thalasi would probably kill him then and there for daring to argue, but so frustrated was he by his miscalculations, and so confused by the Black Warlock’s responses and attitude, that at the moment he hardly cared. “You who knew the wonders of the world before the holocaust doubt the power of science?”

“Power?” Thalasi echoed, with such strength in his voice that it made Reinheiser huddle back into his chair. “Destructive, yes,” Thalasi went on. “That has been proven, poignantly so. But do not equate the ability to destroy with power. You confuse the two. A bomb reduces a city to a pit of bubbling tar, and you term that power. What is gained?”

Reinheiser stared at him blankly.

“Annihilation is not power,” Thalasi went on, “but the antithesis of true power.” He clenched a fist and raised his eyes to the ceiling, and Reinheiser shuddered at the sheer evil reflected in those smoldering orbs.

“Control!” Thalasi hissed. “Bending another’s will to do your bidding. Dominating his every move. That, you fool, is power!”

Still terrified, but also intrigued, Reinheiser forced himself to sit straighten Here was the master who held the key to the secrets he desired, and his craving demanded attention even above the threat to his life. “And what of knowledge?” he asked with urgency. “Does knowledge play a part?”

“Yes, yes, of course!” Thalasi replied, suddenly sounding more excited than angry. It wasn’t often that the Black Warlock found a man who could converse with him on such a level, and they were talking about his favorite subject. “Knowledge of the secrets of the universe and of the absolute powers that exist within it is the first necessity.

“The second part,” the Black Warlock went on, his fists clenched and his eyes squinting evilly to accentuate his point, “is desire. Desire to possess, to own… everything. The courage to dare to be a God!” he shouted. “And the unceasing determination to see it through.”

“Do we speak of power, or of evil?” Reinheiser asked.

“They are one,” Thalasi retorted. “Oh, the powers of the universe are absolute, and they are there for those who are good and for those who are neither good nor evil, but their strength becomes limited by the restrictions of the conscience of the first, and the lack of purpose of the second. Only the power of evil runs unleashed and unabated.”

“Surely powers are neutral,” Reinheiser argued. “Evil and good cannot be considerations.”

“Bah! That is where you err,” Thalasi explained. “There are four schools of magic, all working from the same absolute and universal truths. These truths, these powers, run purest in Brielle, the Emerald Witch, mistress of the first magic. But she is limited in calling upon her power because she lacks purpose. Tied to her wood and to her covenant of preserving the natural order, she becomes merely a watchdog, alerting nature to the intrusions of perversion. Outside of this domain, her magic is inaccessible and thus she is nothing better than a servant.

“You yourself have spoken with Ardaz,” the Black Warlock went. “His is the second school, the one that the Colonnae intended for me as well.”

“To adapt the truths of the universe to fit into the development of the race of man,” Reinheiser offered. “For the good of man as defined by the codes of morality put forth by the Colonnae.”

“Excellent!” Thalasi replied, enthused by the surprising understanding of the physicist. “Then you recognize the trap? The restrictions?”

“Of course,” Reinheiser answered confidently. “Though more accessible than the first school, the second is more limited in scope and effect, held in check by a strict code of imposed ethics.”

“Exactly,” the warlock said. “But there is a third school, a practice the Colonnae held in reserve for themselves and for those they serve. They kept it from us because they feared us, feared we would rise above them and no longer serve them. I, Thalasi, have found this secret, and each day my power grows.”

“Control?” Reinheiser asked.

“Control,” Thalasi echoed. “I hold no covenants and serve no codes. The powers cannot resist me. I call upon them at will and force them to do my every bidding. It is the most difficult of the magics, a discipline of unceasing concentration. Every thought and every move, I battle the constants of universal order.” His eyes glowed with lust and pride. “Do you understand the implications of what I say?” he asked Reinheiser, who sat staring in disbelief, stunned by the magnitude of the potential power the warlock was hinting at. “They are relentless foes, yet so am I. And when I win-at those times that I am the stronger-with a word I can pervert the very order of nature and tear a corpse from the arms of death to hold it undead under my control. Or I can steal a spell from the mouth of a wizard to turn it back against him, as I did with Istaahl thirty years ago.”

“Then you were indeed the strength behind Ungden’s rise,” Reinheiser said with a widening smile, for this was the way he had imagined his meeting with Thalasi. “You held the Warders at bay until the coup was completed, knowing that their oath would then bind them to Ungden and secure his position.”

Thalasi nodded his affirmation of Reinheiser’s statement and also in approval of the physicist’s continued show of reasoning ability.

“But why Ungden?” Reinheiser asked. “He hardly seems a fitting leader.”

“He is not the leader,” Thalasi explained. “He is the leader’s pawn. A man easy to please, thus easy to control, and no threat to me. And his feud with the line of Ben-rin is rooted deep in the past. Few in all Calva would have turned against the beloved Overlords of that line, yet miserable Ungden was quite eager to drive a dagger into the heart of Ben-galen.

“Thus Ungden is the smoke covering my fire. The Warders would not serve a wizard, and if I claimed the throne, my true identity would soon be revealed. I am not yet prepared for that day, though the time grows near. That is why I need your map. The slaughter of the helpless mutants will break the honor of the truest Calvans and weaken their resistance to me.”

“But what of my knowledge of technology?” Reinheiser pressed. “Surely that can aid you.”

“Speak not that word!” Thalasi commanded with sudden and renewed anger. “Technology!” he spat with utter contempt. “The fourth school of magic, a curse upon the wise and a bane to all. What is technology but a harness, making the universal powers available to any, with total disregard to their inner strength? A swordsman must discipline his mind for years to properly wield the weapon, yet any child can pick up a gun and kill. No, technology is an unacceptable danger, lacking all controls and promising nothing except eventual and total devastation at the hands of the foolish.” He didn’t have to point out the truth in his premise: Reinheiser had seen the world beyond the bubble of Ynis Aielle.