Robert Newcomb: A March into Darkness

Tristan nodded. “Somehow I will find a way,” he answered.

As he held her, he saw a tear leave Hoskiko’s eye. She weakly reached up to touch his face.

“You are the firstJin’Sai to reach us,” she said softly. “And now that you have, we failed you. There is so much that we had planned to tell you-so much that you and your sister deserve to know.” As Hoskiko coughed again, Tristan could see that she was nearing the end.

“The rebel group you seek is called the League of Whispers,” she said. “That is all I can tell you about them, because only Faxon knew their many secrets. But before I die, there is something else that you should know. It’s about your parents, Nicholas and Morganna. They weren’t…” She gasped. “They weren’t…”

His eyes wide with anticipation, Tristan clutched Hoskiko harder. “They weren’twhat?” he shouted. But then Hoskiko closed her eyes, and her head fell to one side.

He knelt there for too long, mourning the loss of the Envoys and wondering what Hoskiko might have told him about his late parents. Then the rumbling noises started, and they suddenly brought him back to reality. He gently placed Hoskiko’s body on the floor and quickly turned to look out the gaping hole in the wall.

The Borderlands were forming.

Tristan stood aghast as he watched the sky darken. Suddenly the ground shook violently, and Crysenium trembled with it. To his horror, the distant earth was starting to heave itself upward into dozens of volcanic cones. As more cones erupted, they started forming a path toward Crysenium.

The dark cones erupted so quickly that they rose to maturity in a matter of seconds. With their coming, Crysenium shook even more violently, and part of the meeting room ceiling came crashing down.

On reaching their complete heights, all the volcanoes erupted into raging infernos, spewing tons of ash and molten lava into the air. As the lava cascaded down their dark sides and poured across the valley, it immediately vaporized everything it touched. In only moments it would engulf the entire structure.

For the last time, Tristan looked at the other dead Envoys, then back down at Hoskiko. She seemed peaceful, and finally at rest. Leaving the room, he tore down the hallway as fast as he could.

By now Shadow had become nearly mad with fear. Tristan ran across the shattered floor and untied the stallion. He threw himself up into the saddle just as the molten lava touched one of Crysenium’s outside walls.

With a mighty explosion, the crystalline wall burst into flames and crumbled inward, allowing the lava to invade the room. Several columns crashed down, narrowly missing Tristan and Shadow. As lava washed across the shattered floor, Tristan wheeled Shadow around. Praying that it would still work, Tristan called on his Forestallment.

The azure mist blessedly appeared, but he knew it wouldn’t last long. Spurring Shadow for all he was worth, he charged the stallion headlong into it.

The silent, dense fog surrounded him again, and at first he thought that he was safe. But then he felt the searing heat, and he knew. As Shadow galloped beneath him, Tristan turned to look. The lava flow was chasing after them.

All he could see was a huge, blurry wall of glowing red rushing after him, but he knew that it could be nothing else. He did his best to spur Shadow faster, but in the whirling midst of the Forestallment he couldn’t tell if the horse was gaining speed. The heat was becoming more unbearable by the moment, and he suspected that the lava would soon reach them, engulfing them forever.

Suddenly Shadow burst out the other side of the azure pass and into the charred forest. The sudden change in footing surprised the horse and rider and sent them tumbling to the ground.

Tristan launched high over Shadow’s head as the stallion hit the ground and skidded through the dark ash covering the forest floor. Then they went crashing straight into the Minion campsite that lay just beyond. Startled warriors ran and took to the air as Tristan and the neighing horse took down two tents, then barreled through the campfire before coming to a stop. Stunned into speechlessness, the warriors ran to help them.

The Minions lifted Tristan to his feet. He seemed dazed but unhurt. Shadow rolled over and stood shakily. Then Tristan came to his senses, and he suddenly remembered the lava flow.

“Everyone into the air!” he screamed. “One of you must take me aloft!”

One of the warriors immediately took Tristan into his arms, and they all quickly went aloft. When they had reached a height of about ten meters, Tristan told them to hover and turn toward the azure pass. Soon the ground started to shake, and everyone heard a great rumbling sound. When Shadow sensed the returning danger he turned and galloped wildly down the mountainside.

Tristan and the warriors watched in amazement as the azure pass started changing color. As the glowing red lava neared it, the pass morphed from bright azure into green, and then from green into glowing red. With a thunderous rumble, the lava finally reached the face of the pass. Suddenly the pass immediately exploded outward, and was no more.

Amazingly, the lava did not rush into the forest. Instead, it halted its forward advance and started rising up, filling the mountain gap left behind by the destroyed pass. Higher and higher it rose, until, like the pass had once done, it too became lost in the clouds. Then Tristan and the warriors watched as it somehow cooled immediately and turned to dark granite. It was like the pass had never existed.

Tristan ordered the warriors back to the ground. After finding an overturned camp stool he righted it and sat down. As the stunned warriors surrounded him, their commanding officer knelt beside his lord.

“Jin’Sai,”he breathed. “What just happened?”

Tristan took a deep breath and looked back up at the monolithic mountains that still held so many secrets.

“A dream just died,” he answered quietly. “And a new one has been born.”

THE HOUR WAS LATE AS FAEGAN PUSHED HIS CHAIR ONwheels down the Redoubt hallways. Alongside him hovered the Scroll of the Vigors, the Scroll of the Vagaries, and the Tome of the Paragon. There were few acolytes or consuls about at this hour. But those who did cross his path bowed to him reverently as they watched the fabled wizard and the three priceless documents continue on down the halls.

With the threat from Serena and Clarice gone, Faegan hoped that he would have some peaceful time to study the newly acquired Vagaries scroll. Having their indexes would be a marvelous advantage. For the sake of convenience he had decided to place all three documents under lock and key in the same place. Wigg and Shailiha had agreed. After seeing Tristan enter the azure pass, the First Wizard and Shailiha had returned by Minion litter only several hours ago. Because of their sadness, Faegan had kept his meeting with them brief.

Finding the room he wanted, Faegan stopped, as did the three documents floating alongside him. Faegan called the craft and listened as the tumblers in the lock turned over once, then twice more. He opened the door and wheeled himself into the Archives of the Redoubt. The huge library was the single greatest repository of craft books and scrolls ever collected in one place.

The Archives occupied a vast room of Ephyran marble, one of the most beautiful in the entire Redoubt. The square room measured at least two hundred meters on each of its four sides, and was seven stories tall. Each story was surrounded by a railing that overlooked the central area. Each level was lined with books from top to bottom, and a magnificent set of stairs with a brass railing ran up and around to each of the floors, granting access to the thousands of books and scrolls. Several hundred finely carved desks, reading tables, and upholstered chairs lined the main floor. Soft, golden light was supplied by a combination of oil sconces and desk lamps, all enchanted to burn continually and without smoke.