Storm Rising

physical damage,' Elspeth chimed in. The gryphon nodded firmly.

'Which brings us around to the question again, and that is how? We need a focused burst,' Sejanes said, 'and not a sustained release. Most of us are not used to thinking in those terms; the only focused bursts of energy I'm used to creating are lightning strikes and similar unpleasantness. Or Final Strikes, but the mage who does one isn't going to survive the experience, and I'd like to survive.'

Lo'isha looked very, very thoughtful and stood up, clearing his throat and getting everyone's attention. All activity slowed and stopped, and attention went to the Shin'a'in.

'For the sake of clarity, I am going to impart something that some of you may already know,' he said. 'This was once a closely-guarded secret among my people, but there is a time when secrets need to be revealed. After the Cataclysm, all of the people formerly known as the Kaled'a'in—'

'Except for Clan k'Leshya—' interrupted a k'Leshya mage.

'Yes, except for k'Leshya—gathered at the edge of the crater that had once been their homeland—which was also the place where Urtho's Tower had stood. They divided over how magic was to be dealt with in the future, and became the two cousin-peoples, the Shin'a'in and the Tayledras. To the Hawkbrothers, who chose to follow the ways of the mage still, the Star-Eyed Goddess gave the task of cleansing the lands warped by the magics of the Cataclysm. To the Shin'a'in, who chose to ever after avoid the use of all magics save those of the Shaman, she gave another task.' He paused, closing his eyes for a moment. 'In exchange for this, she restored our home, and since we were vowed to use no magic, we did not experience the effects of the mage- storms of the time. The task we were given was to guard the Plains from all outsiders. This much is common knowledge. What is not common knowledge is the reason for the task. In the center of the Plains, at a site known only to the Sworn of the four faces of the Goddess, lie the remains of Urtho's Tower. Buried beneath the surface are the weapons Urtho did not and would not use. They are very powerful. And they are still alive and ready for use, according to our traditions. At least one of these should be the very thing that we need.'

The Shin'a'in drew his dagger and laid it flat on the table. 'It is time to end the Guardianship.'

Jaws were dropping all around the table, Karal's not the least.

'Here is the one problem that I foresee—and given that we have our Kaled'a'in brothers and sisters of k'Leshya with us, this may be less of a problem than I had thought,' the Sworn One continued. 'Once we unearth the weapons' vault, which should still be intact, we will have to search through what is there to find a suitable weapon. And we will have to determine how to make it work, or how to adapt it to our need.' He smiled slightly. 'Needless to say, Urtho did not leave an inventory nor a book of instructions with them.'

Karal realized he had stopped breathing with surprise, and forced himself to take a deep lungful of air.

Treyvan shook his feathers, and nibbled a talon. 'I rrrecall a litany, much like the Tayledrrrasss litany of 'frrriendly beassstss,' that we magesss of k'Lessshya arrre all rrrequirred to learrrn.'

'The 'Garland of Death,' of course,' supplied one of the humans. 'That could be an inventory and set of descriptions! But I always thought it was just a memory-exercise with a particularly morbid name—'

'And ssso it isss,' Treyvan agreed. 'But like ssso many thingsss in ourrr teaching, it hasss morrre than one Purrrpossse, I think.'

'Another problem—' said a voice from the door. Firesong strode in, with Silverfox beside him. 'I beg your pardon for being late, but I was checking some calculations of my own. Ladies and gentlemen, we knew we were chasing a deadline, but I now know the exact moment of that deadline. How are we to get to the Dhorisha Plains before the breakwater collapses? We have only until a fortnight after Midwinter Day to reach the Plains—in the winter, across two countries. Then we must travel to the center of the Plains, and sort through the contents of this Vault. just how are we to manage that?'

Silence. Then, into the silence, Elspeth spoke.

'There is a permanent Gate near k'Leshya Vale on the rim of the crater,' she said. 'There must be— Falconsbane vanished from there, and how else—'

'Yes!' An'desha shouted excitedly. 'There is, I remember! I know right where it is! But how are we going to reach there from here?'

'Piffle. A trifle,' said Sejanes.

Now all eyes turned to him, as he smiled broadly and presented his knowledge to them as a wise old grandfather presenting candy to a room full of children.

'We of the Empire are the Masters of Portals—you call them Gates. We can find them at great distances, we can key into strange Portals, and we can build Portals that are permanent structures. But most of all, we know how to construct them using energies outside of ourselves, or the joined energies of several mages.' His smile broadened, and he spread his hands wide. 'I can teach even the apprentices among you how to join together with a single Adept to construct such a Portal, and given that another permanent Portal will anchor the other end, we should be able to make it self-sustaining for a limited time. Will that serve as our means to your ruined Tower?'