As if that weren’t enough to worry about, the Grand Hallway had recently gone through some construction, and there were lots of objects to weave around. It wasn’t just new golden statues or fountains, either, but tiny rocks on the ground that he could only see with his heightened sense of vision. The Sages were not very cleanly, after all. Not these days, at least. They had so much power in the dealings of the world, they could get legions of mensch to clean up after them and do other things of that nature, so they no longer worried about doing such menial tasks themselves, even though all they had to do was snap their fingers and watch as the trash threw itself away. Sage magic was powerful stuff.
The knowledge that a cleaning crew would be by the next day did not give any comfort to the man currently fleeing for his life, though. He could see why none of the Sages had thought to worry about such a thing, but he still wished they would take more responsibility for themselves and do a little spring cleaning now and then. Though he had to admit he had been one to slack off as well, but he was definitely going to change that come tomorrow. Assuming he lived that long.
He prayed for someone to sense his peril and at least start clearing a path for him, but he knew no one would. After all, this sort of thing was never supposed to happen.
The Great Palace of the Sages was protected by the heaviest security anyone had ever known, thought to be impenetrable by anything less than a god. So of course, this beast must have been helped by the Dark One – Fhyrr. But Fhyrr had been sealed away from the planet long ago and his powers weakened. Or at least that was what he’d always been told. He thought if he could ever figure out how the beast got in here, he would have to tell the Guardian Sages, so they could prevent it in the future.
There are just so many defenses; I don’t see how anyone could have pulled it off, not with all the help in the world.
He went over these systems in his head to try and calm himself. First and foremost, there was the matter of the two-thousand-foot-high sheer cliff face on all sides of the palace, which was impossible to climb without magical claws.
Some beasts had those, but that was why there were earth elementals waiting inside the cliff face, camouflaged to look invisible, lying in wait every fifty feet or so that would knock off anything attempting to climb up.
Of course, some beasts had wings instead of claws. But it wasn’t possible to fly up the face of the cliff to reach the palace, either. The Guardian Sages had seen to that as well. They had invented a spell called a gravfield, which they kept going at full force twenty-four hours a day.
It took the concerted effort of seven full Sages to keep it going, but it was worth it. This gravfield made flying creatures feel really heavy, and it actually bound them to the ground by disabling all flight capabilities. On top of that, most flying creatures couldn’t survive the enormous pressure the field caused and crumbled under its weight.
For some reason, the gravfield only worked on flying creatures, though. He’d have to ask about that later. Still, he knew that system was definitely secure, because the only way to disarm it would be to break into Sanctuary and kill all the Guardian Sages – an impossible task.
Supposing somehow, though, that the creatures could get up the cliff face to the palace proper, there were more defenses they’d have to get past. The drawbridge, the only path across the moat, could only be opened from the inside and would only be opened for a fellow Sage. They even had a retina scanner in place to double-check visitor’s identities to be sure, and those were impossible to fool. When the bridge wasn’t down, a rebel’s only hope was to swim the moat, a feat no creature had survived to date.
Placed strategically in the moat, so there would be no safe path to the other side, were many whirlpools and sea serpents. The whirlpools, to which the sea serpents were immune, could suck rebels down far enough that their bodies would never be seen again. The sea serpents were quite remarkable, too. They could breathe magical fire on their victims, and they also had limbs and claws to add to their destructive capabilities. The Sages even kept them partially starved so they would be more than happy to devour anything that came across – not that anything ever did.
Should anyone manage to get past all of that – which, of course, they wouldn’t – they’d have to face an army of stone soldiers that were programmed to kill any non-Sage on sight.
Of course, none of this knowledge was of great importance to him just now, but he went over it anyway in the hopes it would make him feel better.
It didn’t work.
No, his mind was more concerned with thoughts of how to get rid of the creature following him than how it got in. He figured looking at it might help, so at least he’d know what he was up against, but he was still too afraid to do even that.
Gallian could feel his strength waning. I don’t think I can keep up this pace much longer, not even with the aid of my magical spells. I suppose I’ll have to stop soon. Maybe up by that fountain thirty paces ahead. I don’t suppose the monster will stop with me, but at least this way, I’ll
