In his peripheral vision Richard could see the dark shapes of the Glee that had started racing toward the gold circle suddenly stop where they were as they saw power they couldn’t comprehend exploding into existence before them. They didn’t run, maybe because they were waiting for an opening to attack to save their precious device, or maybe because they couldn’t understand what it was they were seeing, or maybe because they were simply paralyzed by fear.
The whole perimeter of the golden circle that he and Vika had uncovered in the sand drew a network of thin Subtractive threads of inky black lightning as well as blindingly bright threads of Additive Magic, all of them flickering as they jumped and raced around the entire perimeter of the gold ring as if it were alive and trying to find a way to escape. But the golden circle prevented any escape. At least for the moment.
Richard closed his eyes again and swiftly raised both arms. Using all the power of his gift he abruptly brought the main trunks of those crackling, flickering discharges of Additive and Subtractive Magic up with his hands feeding them everything he had. Both of those arcing streams of thunderous power slammed together, rocking the mountain.
Instantly, all around the perimeter of the gold circle about waist high, a burst of dark energy powered by Subtractive Magic exploded outward in an ever-expanding ring. As it shot off in all directions, it instantly cut cleanly through the Glee where they stood and the rock towers behind them as well as those all around the mountaintop.
Richard saw what had just happened as if watching from outside his own body. With the threat stopped, he immediately used his gift to pull the Subtractive Magic he had allowed to escape back within the boundary of the gold ring.
The Glee had all been sliced cleanly in two and were dead before they tumbled to the ground. Some of the tops of the rock towers, suddenly separated by a void cut cleanly through them by Subtractive Magic, dropped straight down with a thud and stayed there, as if joining into one again. Others that were out of balance slowly began to tip over until they crashed down. Any of the Glee that had been behind the rock had also been cut in two and killed. No Glee that had come up on the mountain, other than those with Sang who had fled, escaped alive.
Everything had happened in a blinding flash of pure elemental power. What only a second before had been a dangerous threat, was no more. With the threat eliminated, Richard turned his attention back to the procedures for the ignition of the interior perspective of the verification web.
He allowed both kinds of lightning to twist and dance together. Countless threads of the combined power crackled all around them, forming a dome shape over Richard and Vika. The ends of all those thrashing threads grounded on the golden ring, like lightning drawn irresistibly to a tree. It didn’t seem to do any harm to the ring.
That part was unlike any verification-web procedure Richard had ever seen before, or heard of, but he realized that just because he hadn’t seen it before didn’t mean it was wrong, and was no reason to stop.
Within that dome of crackling power, all around Richard and Vika, the constructed spell rapidly built a network of yet more lines, confirming that everything about the spell was unfolding properly and as he had expected. As Richard concentrated on giving those lines the power they needed from his gift, they traced their way through the air, building a three-dimensional series of glowing lines.
Unlike the previous lines, these glowed orange, which was a rather discordant contrast in the red world. The bluish lines from before turned green when the orange lines intersected with them, changing them and adding to their structure. Lines of light raced through the air to support and reinforce geometric shapes. Triangles merged and formed complex angles and shapes of pure white light that lit the remaining towers of rock all around them in their soft glow.
The lines swiftly grew in purpose, creating an intricate web around Richard and Vika. Richard understood those lines and the elements of magic they represented. As they multiplied, the glowing lines continued to build, crisscrossing around the two of them at a dizzying rate. As they did, Vika pressed her back to his as yet more lines shot like arrows through space close in around them.
The lines, Richard knew, were routines of the spell-form, protocols that created the web to confirm what elements made up that spell-form. They were, in essence, a three-dimensional diagram of the constructed spell.
The lines continued to trace their routes with purpose and precision as the dome of crackling lightning overhead protected them. The symbols on the stone flashed in sequence. In the fabric of the web around them made of orange, white, and green lines, in the angles and junctions, Richard could read purpose and procedure, revealing how the spell and the strange power used by the gateway functioned.
Even though it was unlike any constructed spell he had seen before, in the complexity of glowing lines all around them, there was profound beauty of purpose.
Richard now understood how it all fit together and the underlying mechanism for how the gateway worked.
And, he now understood exactly what he had to do to alter the gateway.
75
Richard looked back over his shoulder at Vika. “Are you all right?”
“Peachy,” she said above the crackling noise of the lightning flickering all around them.
Richard smiled. “Good.”
She cast a worried look around the dancing and glimmering dome of power, then gazed back at him. “As far as your crazy ideas go, this one might be the craziest.”
“Well, I have to tell you, I haven’t yet gotten to the crazy part.”
She carefully avoided touching any of the glowing lines as she used her hands on him to twist herself around until she was facing his back. She circled one arm around his waist to make sure she stayed close enough in case he moved. He was glad, at least, that she was taking the danger of the glowing lines seriously.
“What?” she yelled out. “This isn’t the crazy part?”
“No. I just wanted to make sure you are all right because I’m about the do the crazy part. I’m going to need your help to do some of it with me.”
She shook her head. “Sure, why not. I have nothing better to do.”
He gestured around at the complex network of luminous blue, green, orange, and white lines of the verification web. “I’m going to have to extinguish some of these glowing orange lines in order to open up a corridor of sorts that you and I can move through to get to the gateway device.”
“Should I go with you?”
“Yes. Once I clear away enough of the lines, then when I start to move toward the stone, I want you to move with me, like you are my shadow. Can you do that?”
“Of course. But that doesn’t sound like it’s the crazy part.”
“It’s not. When I’m ready and we start to move, keep your arms in close. Be careful not to let any part of you touch the lines, because they will cut a slab of flesh right off you.”
“I understand.”
“I’m going to extinguish some of the lines, but I can’t get rid of them all quite yet or the web will collapse, and I still need it, so it will be a narrow space and we will have to be careful.”
“I understand. But there is something that I think you should know, first.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
She pointed down. “We’re not touching the ground. We’re floating about a foot above it.”
“I know. It’s part of the process. When I extinguish some of the lines, we will settle down to the ground and be able to walk to the stone.”
Once he was sure that she wasn’t going to panic and do something that might get her killed—he realized as soon as he had the thought that Mord-Sith didn’t panic and they didn’t necessarily fear getting killed, as long as it was in service to protect him—he began reaching out and touching his first finger and thumb together at key intersections in the web. Since the lines were in part a creation of his own gift, he knew that as long as he was careful, they wouldn’t harm him the way they would harm Vika.