Iapetus turned to pass them, but Pontifex stopped him with a hand on the younger researcher’s shoulder. “If you see Janus …” he began, but Bruenna bumped into him, jarring the harpoon lodged inside his body. Pontifex moaned. “Tell him I have the situation under control here. Now go. Hurry.”
Iapetus trotted down the corridor and out of sight around a curve. Glissa prodded Pontifex again with her sword. “Watch your mouth,” she said. “Who is Janus?”
“Lord Janus is the leader of the Synod, who will-”
Glissa pushed Pontifex forward. “That’s all I need to know,” she said, and fell in behind the vedalken as they made their way on down the corridor. “Sounds like someone I should like to meet.”
“I believe you already have,” said Pontifex, “and the next time you two meet, I don’t think you will be so lucky.”
“Just keep moving,” said Glissa. “How much farther to the Pool chamber?”
“It is just ahead,” said Pontifex. As they continued around the curve a door came into view. Two guards stood to either side of the door. Pontifex broke into a run and screamed, “Guards. Attack the humans!”
“Flare,” said Glissa. She whipped off the cloak and brought up her sword. She ran after Pontifex, using his flowing robes to shield her from the guards. Two harpoons flew past her on either side of the running vedalken. She heard a whoosh of wind from behind her. Glissa thrust her sword down between the vedalken’s legs to trip him and dodged to the side as he fell.
Another harpoon came directly at her, but Glissa rebounded off the wall from its path. The large missile skidded off the wall, gouging out a chunk of the silvery metal before clattering to the floor. Glissa stepped on Pontifex and leaped at the nearest guard. She flew through the air, leading with her sword, and embedded the blade into the chest of the metal creature.
Glissa dropped to the floor and lifted the guard into the air on her sword. It was amazingly light. The guard tried to propel itself sideways with its hover thruster. Glissa was pulled over and began to lose her balance. She adjusted and used the extra momentum to toss the impaled guard at its partner. It smashed into the second guard just as that one unleashed a blast of lightning. The guards crashed to the ground in a pile, and the bolt flew high, scorching the wall above Glissa’s head.
“That was too close,” the elf snapped. She thrust her sword over her head and jumped into the air above the prone guards. As she came down, Glissa swung her sword down through both guards, cutting one in half and taking the head off the one underneath. After she landed, Glissa beheaded the second guard just to be sure, then kicked both heads down the corridor away from Bruenna and Pontifex.
She turned around to find Bruenna holding their hostage to the ground with a wall of wind.
“You looked like you had everything under control,” said Bruenna.
Glissa smiled. “Looks like you were right,” she said. “Let him up. It’s time he opened that door.”
Glissa grabbed Pontifex by the shoulder and pulled him to his feet. She kept one hand on the harpoon shaft hidden under his robe in case he tried anything else. She pushed him toward the door. “Open it,” she said.
“I’m sorry, but that may be a bit of a problem …” began Pontifex.
Glissa jostled the harpoon, causing the vedalken to moan in pain. “Why?” she asked.
“Without the guards to verify my identity,” he replied, “the door will only open for a member of the Synod.”
“Try anyway,” said Glissa.
Pontifex waved his hand over the door and muttered a few words. Glissa saw mana streak from his hand to the door and another bolt of mana streak back and spread across his fingers. But nothing happened. The door remained closed. He can do some magic without his staff, Glissa realized. I wonder how helpless he really is right now?
“Only a member of the Synod can open that door for you now.” He smirked at them. “Too bad your father wasn’t more help to me, my dear Bruenna, or I might have the power you so badly need right now.”
“Let’s see you smile after I crack open your dome,” said Bruenna. She advanced on Pontifex, waving her hands in front of her. Mana built up in her palms.
“Wait,” said Glissa.
“Why?” asked Bruenna. “He’s no more good to us.”
“He may yet be,” said Glissa. “I have an idea.”
Glissa reached up and yanked on the leather strap she wore around her neck. The leather snapped and Glissa pulled the remnants of the strap from underneath her blouse. A shriveled thumb and forefinger dangled on the end of the leather. If Pontifex was telling the truth about her previous encounter, these belonged to Janus, the leader of the Synod. Glissa tossed the leather strap to Pontifex.
“Hold these in your hand and try again,” she said.
Pontifex looked at the severed digits and shuddered. “Where did you get …?”
Glissa twisted the harpoon shaft again. “Don’t worry about that. Just do as you’re told.”
Pontifex curled his thumb around the severed ends of the digits and held his palm up toward the door again. His hand shook as he performed the door-opening spell, but this time, when the energy spread across his fingers, it seemed to linger on the extra finger and thumb for a second. The door disappeared in front of them.
“Inside,” said Glissa. She pushed Pontifex through the door and followed him into the room. The Pool chamber was perfectly round and larger than the central courtyard at Taj Nar. The ceiling overhead was domed, giving Glissa the feeling that she was standing in an upside-down bowl.
The entire room was made of the same shimmering silver as the rest of the complex, but the light from the walls seemed to flicker around them. At first Glissa thought there might be a problem, that perhaps Slobad’s explosions had somehow affected the chamber. But then she realized it was just the reflection of the Pool on the walls.
The Pool of Knowledge itself dominated the center of the large room. But it was difficult to see where the floor ended and the Pool began. It looked very much like the Quicksilver Sea-silver like the surrounding floor, but alive. Ripples moved randomly across the surface, going in several directions at once, often colliding with each other and starting anew. The only way to see the edge of the Pool was to watch the ripples hit the side and bounce back toward the middle. Light from the walls reflected off the ripples and bounced all over the room.
Glissa moved to the edge and looked down into the pool. Unlike the Quicksilver Sea, she could see down into the Pool of Knowledge. But her vision was distorted by fleeting images. They almost looked like reflections, but the images moved and changed as the ripples washed over them. Glissa saw herself walking around the room, even though she never moved from the Pool. It was hypnotic and a little scary.
She moved away from the edge and shook her head to clear her mind. Across the pool, Glissa saw another door. “Where does that lead?” she asked.
“That is where we keep the serum,” he replied, “which, as you know, is necessary to activate the Pool. Without the serum, you cannot control the Pool, cannot tune into the visions you wish to view. You are at the Pool’s mercy, and-”
“Be quiet already,” said Glissa. “Bruenna, go with Pontifex and get two vials of serum. Be careful.”
Pontifex moved around the pool to the other side, followed closely by Bruenna. Glissa watched them but kept an eye on the door to the corridor as well. Pontifex waved his hand over the door and it disappeared. Glissa glanced over and saw that the room beyond was larger than just a storage room.
“Look out!” she shouted. But it was too late. Pontifex dived to the side as a harpoon flew past him. Bruenna tried to jump from the way, but the missile slammed into her thigh. The impact spun the mage around. She fell hard on the floor beside the door. The head of the harpoon, and part of her bone, stuck out from the back of her leg.