Everyone got comfortable and waited. Ira, as usual, lacked any patience. “Well? What’s going on?” he asked Ava.
She glared. “I’m thinking about where best to begin.”
Having recovered from our earlier talk, I couldn’t miss the chance to poke at her. I gestured to the dresser. “How about that white robe? If I recall, you swore you’d never wear one.”
Ira seized on the opening. “Yeah, how long did it take for you to cave in?”
“I didn’t cave in, you idiot. It’s a disguise. I had never opened a transfer portal before and knew I needed to get to Tyrus. I figured he had made it back here, but without any experience, I knew I’d be taking a risk trying a portal that would cover that distance. So, I needed access to the Sky Tower. It’s this place in Hol where the High Mages perform their most complicated sorcery. The wards etched in the stone there make it easier to cast a spell. Only a High Mage can get past the guards, which I’m not. Therefore, I needed the robes so people wouldn’t ask questions.”
“The Sky Tower? That’s a pretty dumb name,” said Ira.
“Almost as dumb as Ira, huh?” Ava shot back.
Ira opened his mouth and closed it like he had been ready to agree.
Dekar snorted.
“How does that fit into all this end of the world stuff?” I asked.
“Not much other than providing me a way to get here. But you asked the question.”
“Fair enough. Start when you’re ready.”
She took another swallow of honey, set the spoon down, and cleared her throat.
“News of Damanhur hit Hol hard. Everyone agreed something had to be done about the rogue soldiers who started that mess as Damanhur had reported things to the king,” Ava began. “No one in the army believed the city’s report though. We all knew this wasn’t a bunch of green recruits, but veterans. You wouldn’t have started killing unless someone had been trying to kill you first. The king knew this too at first, but popular opinion began to sway him. The High Mages took the side of the king. Probably for no other reason than to get under General Balak’s skin, who, by the way, was livid. He and the king got into quite the shouting match. Balak didn’t back down until the king threatened to remove him as commander of the army.”
“I never thought Balak would do that,” I said.
Ira grunted in what sounded like disgust. I remembered his story about why he hated the man and wondered if Balak could ever do enough to redeem himself in Ira’s eyes. Probably not. Honestly, after hearing Ira’s story, I doubted Balak could ever do anything to redeem himself in my eyes either.
“Despite the outcry,” continued Ava, “the king ordered Balak to release the next wave of soldiers. Balak did and word is he told them to pass through Damanhur. He was daring the people to try something again.”
“Why?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Probably out of spite. Balak was angry and I guess he figured that since that group was triple the size of the group you left with they’d be safer. He was wrong. Damanhur attacked the second group at the city’s gates. The city took heavy casualties, more than twice of what they gave, but in the end they had the numbers and wiped that second group out completely.”
Ira, Dekar, and I all exchanged curses. More of our brothers had died while just trying to get home.
“Makes me want to go back and kill every last one of the people in that city while they sleep,” said Ira.
“Too late,” said Ava.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Balak lost it. The same night he got word of what happened, he pulled the entire army out of Genesha and marched on Damanhur while refusing all communication with the king and the Council of High Mages.”
“By the gods, he marched on a Turine city?” I asked.
She nodded. “He razed the blasted thing to the ground. Every last man, woman, and child killed. Word is he wouldn’t even allow it to be looted. Said he didn’t want the taint of those spoils in his army.”
Dekar whistled low.
I blinked. “Wow. What happened next?”
Ava took another swallow of honey. “He began slowly taking the army south, following the path that I think he expected you took to get home. It was like he was daring the citizens in other towns to try something similar to Damanhur.”
“What did the king do?” I asked.
“He sent a small team of our best High Mages to take Balak down and regain control of the army. The king had a lot of cleanup to do in the public’s eyes and there would be no satisfying end to Balak except one that involved his death.”
“Considering how much they hated Balak, the High Mages must have loved those orders,” I said.
“They did,” said Ava. “Until they got there. Balak must have anticipated the king using the High Mages and created a bodyguard of those resistant to sorcery. We received word later that they never leave his side. The High Mages didn’t have a chance with their sorcery negated. Only one lived long enough to tell us what happened.”
“The world keeps getting crazier,” said Ira.
I grunted in agreement. “How does all this relate to the artifact?”
“The king, like everyone else in Hol, was worried Balak would just decide to march on the capital and take Turine for himself. Who could stop him? The king wanted him removed immediately, but the forces he still commanded were too small and the High Mages were obviously hesitant to send more of their own against him. I sat in on those meetings. It wasn’t pretty. On top of everything already spinning around, there was a huge undercurrent of what the Geneshans would do once they got word that the Turine army was now under the control of a renegade. They could invade Turine again and we’d be defenseless to stop them if Balak chose not to get involved.”
“So, out of options, the king instructed the High Mages to use the Geneshan artifact,” I said.
Ava nodded. “The plan was to use the power of the artifact to initiate a massive transfer portal from Hol to Balak’s location. They’d bring in the king’s personal guard along with every other mage available. The hope was to hit Balak hard and in all the confusion seize him.”
“And you left?” I asked.
“Snuck away that morning, right before they attempted the transfer portal. I didn’t sign up for that. I felt the power of that artifact. And I sat in on some of the preliminary studies of it. The Geneshans had every right to be scared of using it.”
Dekar grunted. “Obviously.”
“Well, at least the worst of it seems to be over,” said Ira.
“I’m not sure,” said Ava.
“What do you mean?” Dekar asked. “People are getting better. You’re finally up.”
“Yes, but everything we learned about that Geneshan prophecy hinted that using the artifact would be the end of the world. Balls of fire dropping from the sky, earthquakes, and so on. If you can think of something bad, it’s supposed to happen after using this thing.”
Ira stood. “C’mon. I bet most of those stories are just meant to scare little children.”
“Explain the sky then,” Dekar said to his brother. “It doesn’t matter what time it is, day or night, but you can still see these bright colors over in the direction of Hol.”
Ira waved a hand. “Just residual effects from the artifact. We’ve seen stuff like that on the battlefield before.”
“Nothing like this,” said Dekar.
“It’ll fade eventually.” Ira walked to the window, peering out in the direction of Hol. He grunted and then went quiet.
Ira going quiet was never a good thing.
“What?” I asked.
“The sky’s changed.”
“Changed how?” asked Ava, sitting up a bit more.
“Well, it’s pulsing now. Going real bright, reds and oranges getting deeper in color. Then it dims, and it’s like its drawing itself back in.” He shrugged. “I guess the sorcery is fading already.”