Chapter 16 – Resolutions
Matt felt good as he watched the battle’s aftermath. While he seemed a one-trick pony, fire erupting from the staff was a fearsome trick, and he had cast a few spells aside from that. Only now could he look at the dragon with the awe and fascination it deserved.
“Has anyone seen Raith?” Morven asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“I saw him go through the gate,” Cirion admitted angrily. “I’m going after him.”
“Not so fast,” said Ryan coldly, clamping a big hand on Cirion’s arm. “You’ve already caused enough trouble.”
The rogue tried to pull free but got nowhere. He was no match for Korrin and knew it. He stepped back, eyes hard, while Ryan moved to stand between the gate and everyone else. If they wanted to get to it, they’d have to go through him, and for the first time in ages he was willing to use his strength to get his point across.
“Should we go after him?” Anna asked dubiously. “There’s no telling what’s on the other side.”
Eric shook his head. “Too risky. There are thousands of dragons there, and whoever opened the gate can appear and lock it behind us.”
Images suddenly flashed inside Matt’s head; of the black-robed figure that attacked him standing here just weeks ago with his identical staff inserted into the gate’s base; of that wizard fashioning the gate from soclarin ore; of a knight, rogue, and priestess in his company on a quest, dressed just like Matt’s friends were now; of the figure’s hand penning the original scroll describing their time here; of a rosewood cabinet opening to reveal the staff and robe locked within; of his own face as seen by the figure through the orb just before lightning flashed from it to electrocute the dark elf spy.
Matt’s mouth fell open and he just stopped himself from blurting out his realization. He’d known it earlier but had forgotten during the fight. Now Nola and Cirion stood here and this was none of their business.
“You two,” he said with such a commanding voice that he startled his friends, “get over there behind the fountain.” When the pair hesitated, he barked, “Now!”
Lorian nodded at his elves and a few escorted a glowering Cirion and Nola out of earshot. The others gathered around Matt more closely, perplexed.
“Soliander did it,” the wizard said in a quiet voice, amazed by the truth of it. “The real Soliander. He’s the one who opened the gate, and he attacked me downstairs. That’s who you heard screaming before.”
Expressions of disbelief surrounded him except from Lorian.
The elf nodded, looking grim. “I suspected as much myself.” Inquisitive eyes turned on him and he added, “When you did not join us in the dungeon I went looking for you and saw what I thought was you walking away, so I followed. It soon became apparent that it was someone else despite the identical staff, which was impossible. Or so I thought. It would seem that you each have a copy of it, presumably a result of the summoning spell always equipping the champions with whatever they need for the quest. I am not sure how that works, but since they could be summoned from anywhere at any time, they cannot expect to be dressed appropriately and the spell resolves this for them. I suspected the truth as I followed the figure, and when he opened a portal to depart through, he nearly killed me. I did not confirm his identity. You are sure?”
“Positive,” Matt answered. “He attacked me downstairs and tried to pull information from my mind with a spell of some kind.” He flushed at the memory. “He wasn’t very nice about it. I noticed our staves were the same, too. In fact, that was how I got away. He made my staff stop working but I was able to reach out to his and make it burn him, so I did. I don’t think he was expecting that. Anyway, I think I somehow got some of the info in his head by mistake,” he concluded, realizing he now knew what the real champions looked like.
Lorian made a sound. “Interesting. It is a two-way spell unless the one controlling it prevents that, as was undoubtedly his intention. His control would likely have slipped given the injuries he sustained.”
“So you learned things from him beyond his identity?” Eric asked intently. “Now we know at least one of the real champions is alive, which raises a ton of questions. What else can you tell us? Did you sense anything about the others?”
Matt thought for a moment and frowned, shaking his head. “I don’t know. It’s not like that, I don’t think. I don’t even know what I know. I just know for certain it was him that attacked me, and when you wondered who’d opened the gate, I just knew that, too, as if his memory was mine.”
Eric asked, “Can you tell why he opened the gate?”
Matt paused but again shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m not getting anything.”
“Maybe because you’re trying on purpose now,” suggested Anna, laying a comforting hand on him.
Lorian nodded, looking concerned about the revelations. “Yes, that could be. Since the transfer was involuntary, the memories and knowledge may be difficult to retrieve. We have more pressing issues, however, and can talk more of this later.”
Wondering if hypnosis might work, Matt brushed that aside and asked, “So we’ll leave Raith on the other side of the gate with the dragons?” As he wondered what was over there, images of a thick forest covering a mountain range popped into his head, but that was all.
“Yes,” said Lorian, indicating Cirion and Nola could return to them now. “We can discuss his motives later, but he’ll be unable to cause trouble once you seal the gate. We should act fast.”
Matt took the hint and started for the gate with everyone following, which made him
