But he had to be polite, smile, even praise Great-no, General-Karsus if he hoped to save himself and Aquesita, and Sunbright, if he could locate him. So when the mages bustled away, and other sycophants clamored for Karsus's attention, Candlemas raised his voice. "Gr-General Karsus, I believe I have the ultimate weapon, one to banish Ioulaum from the sky!"
"What's that?" Karsus asked, stifling the mages at hand and raising his swirling golden eyes to Candlemas. "Ultimate weapon? What could that be? You intrigue me, Eadelmas."
Lucke's Love, thought the mage, now he's even forgotten my name. But he bulled on. "I'd need to relate it in secret, General Karsus, Greatest of Any Who Ever Led Us."
The archwizard preened at the flattery, smoothing his tangled, tattered hair with one hand. The other hand fiddled with his belt buckle. "Very well," he decided. "Begone, you lot! Shoo, shoo! Anvilmast and I shall talk privately of wizardly things."
The disgruntled mages dispersed, passing Candlemas with black looks. He ignored them, trotted to Karsus and caught his elbow, talking fast to keep the flighty archwizard's attention. "Time, milord, time! Consider this: if you could reach back in time-the same way you grabbed the fallen star, and the barbarian and myself-you could seize Ioulaum when he's just beginning his magic research! If you dragged him here, you could imprison him! He'd never become a great mage, one they whisper is almost as great as you. He'd never create the flying enclave of Ioulaum, and you'd have won the war without ever leaving this room! You'd be the most famous of this, and every other epoch in the empire! No one would speak of any archwizard without first mentioning Karsus the All Mighty!"
The mad golden eyes lit like lanterns. "Why, it's true! We never thought of that. Of course! Why couldn't it work?" (Candlemas could think of many reasons, including that if the first flying enclave were never created, this one might not be either. But he wasn't pursuing logic…) "Oh, yes! Yes! We'll do it. I'll do it-"
"Sire," interjected Candlemas loudly, giving the archwizard's elbow a small shake. "It wouldn't be mete for you to pursue such a path yourself. For one thing, it might be dangerous, and nothing must endanger the life of Karsus the All High. Rather, sire, I suggest you assign someone-me, perhaps, who's already moved through time once-to perform the task. I'd see you got all the credit, for I live to serve only your greatness. So, if you tell me the secret time travel spell you so cleverly employed…"
Flattery, fast talk, simple, twisted logic, and a conspiratorial tone all worked. Within minutes, Karsus was gabbling about how he'd imagined the fallen star and twitched his fingers to summon it. From there, Candlemas led him to the hypothetical reversal of the spelclass="underline" how to send something or someone back, to that same spot.
Candlemas's brain whirled with spells, cantras, lists of potential materials, and the overall weirdness that was Karsus. The combined spells he'd outlined seemed just too illogical to work. Candlemas had pried and prodded, desperate to grasp every nuance, but Karsus grew bored, wanted to move on to the next subject.
Candlemas mentally shrugged. He'd tried his best to retain it all, but would have to experiment, muddle through. He was about to beg his leave to get started when Karsus caught his elbow.
"I must tell you, dear Carpalmen, that you're a clever fellow, but a mere birdbrain compared to He Who Knows Everything and Tells Naught."
"He Who-?"
"Me!" Karsus beamed. "Because what you've outlined is fine, but I've conceived a true ultimate weapon!"
Candlemas felt faint and cold, as if all his blood had run out his feet. Pockall's Hex, what now? Calm as possible, he asked the source of this ultimate weapon.
"Myself!" Karsus cried and slapped his chest, giggling so hard he almost fell over. "Myself! Us, Great Karsus! I'll turn myself into a weapon! That's the secret project I've been working on. Think, Niselmutt! What's the greatest living thing in all the empire? Me, of course! And what's the most potent magical source in the empire? My super heavy magic! So it's logical-though only I could think of it-to combine them!"
Candlemas couldn't even squeak, so frozen was he.
"I, we, Karsus the One and Only, intend to infuse ourselves with super heavy magic! If I were to eat some while, say, bathing in it, or just-I don't know-pour a ton of it over my head, who knows what power I might attain! With the power of the stars in me, I might become a god!"
At that notion, Karsus fell over laughing, hugging himself and crying hysterically with glee.
But Candlemas wasn't there to pick him up. The pudgy mage was already running through the corridors as fast as his tight boots would allow.
He had to fetch Sita. And Sunbright. And figure out this time travel spell.
And get the hell out of this city!
Back in his tiny workshop, frantic and fumbling, Candlemas burned the sun-blond lock of Sunbright's hair. His hand shook so badly he singed his fingers in the flame, but it would alert the barbarian that he needed help, desperately. Candlemas was going to need all the help he could summon.
And for now, he had to gather supplies, even steal them from other mages. There wasn't a second to lose.
Except that he must send word to Aquesita.
Riding the winds with the residual nature magic, Sunbright and Knucklebones soared toward the floating city.
Her knuckles were white as she clung to Sunbright's baldric and belt. Even though she was barefoot, she squinched her toes in reflex, for there was nothing under them for a mile or more. The ground was a misty yellow-brown patchwork, mountains only soft blue mounds. She'd never been more terrified.
By contrast, Sunbright's face was placid as an angel's. His horsetail stood out behind, his green eyes were bright, and his nose quivered like a hunting hound's as he watched the floating city of Karsus come closer. He even smiled at his accomplishment. Strangely, he wasn't worried. But then, he'd been dead, or near it, and life still seemed unreal to him, as if he still dreamwalked.
"W-we won't be fl-flying often, w-will we?" asked the thief.
Sunbright actually laughed, "I'm afraid not. The nature magic in me is almost spent. This will probably be the last time I ever fly, though shamans fly in their dreams. For this, I thought of how geese move and mimicked them, but I'm not sure exactly how I do it, to tell the truth."
Knucklebones wasn't encouraged, and clung tight as a tick to his iron frame. She wanted to squeeze her eye shut, but didn't dare to for fear of missing something. She bleated, "When we took off in the glider, Candlemas said the city was warded against people shifting in. Will that stop us from flying in?" Most specifically, just when we reach the edge of the city? she worried.
"I don't think so," he told her, "but I'm sure we'll find out." He squinted against the rush of wind. He didn't flap his arms like wings, simply held them stiffly outright, soaring like a hawk. "The city seems busy."
Stiffly, Knucklebones craned to see. In the distance floated another, smaller city, and red and blue gushes of smoke burst from it. Karsus returned hails of arrows, whirling balls of lightning, and misty, sparkling gasses of yellow and orange. As they rose higher, she saw that several buildings had corners and bites knocked from them. Obviously the two cities were at war, though she couldn't guess why. More nobles' foolishness. She wondered if her friends in the lower depths were safe.
Then the upside-down mountain slid past them like a cloud bank. The mountain had mostly been scoured clean by wind and rain, but in clefts and pockets nature hung on, and red pine trees and gorse bushes sprouted. The mountain filled her limited vision, then the edge showed, clean cut as if by a knife, and they looked at high stone walls surrounding ornate gardens. A prosperous neighborhood where nobles preferred to live on an edge rather than the hills. Naturally, this side was turned away from the enemy's fire. The docks were launching pads for magic infused ballistae and spells. Whatever engineers controlled the slow spin of the city must have arrested it during the war. Just was well, for Sunbright could steer to this quiet side.