The Complete Darkwar Trilogy: Flight of the Night Hawks, Into a Dark Realm, Wrath of a Mad God. Raymond E. Feist

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       • CHAPTER FOURTEEN •

       Breakthrough

      MAGNUS WATCHED CAREFULLY.

      Nakor hovered over the Talnoy. Three Tsurani Great Ones also watched. ‘It’s nothing obvious,’ said Nakor. ‘And I may be wrong, but …’ He moved his hand over the thing’s helmet, and added, ‘… if my idea works –’

      The Talnoy sat up. Magnus’ eyes went wide and then he smiled. ‘You did it.’

      Magnus was holding the ring which had previously been required to control the creature.

      Nakor said, ‘I think I can now devise a way to control the Talnoy without using the ring. That would be a good thing since using the ring eventually drives you mad.’

      Illianda said, ‘Very impressive, Nakor.’

      Of the Great Ones who had met the wily Isalani, Illianda was the least bothered by the fact that Nakor didn’t fit into the Tsurani magical hierarchy of the Greater and Lesser Paths. Most of the time, Nakor even denied that he was a practitioner of magic. Illianda didn’t seem to care what he was, as long as there were results.

      ‘But we still need to concern ourselves with the rogue rifts that are attracted to our world by this thing,’ said Fomoine. ‘If we can’t establish protective wards we must return this thing to Midkemia, to divert the risk from our world. We have had another possible occurrence of a rift since you were last here. Nothing definite, but two of our brother magicians are visiting the site now to determine if such a thing did occur.’

      Nakor nodded. ‘I will tell Pug. He’s also attempting to understand the wards which shielded this thing from magical detection for so long.’

      Magnus said, ‘Perhaps we can divert whatever magical forces follow it, by removing it to Midkemia, but what if it’s already too late?’

      The three Tsurani magicians exchanged questioning looks before Savdari said, ‘If it is too late, then we shall have to look to our own resources to preclude an incursion into our world. If not, at least we can buy both of our worlds some time by switching the Talnoy between them? A few weeks there, then back here, then back to Midkemia?’

      ‘It’s possible,’ said Magnus. ‘I’ll speak to my father tonight. I hope, however, that shuttling the Talnoy between our worlds will not prove necessary and that an effective ward will be provided soon.’

      Nakor said, ‘If we have to, we can move the Talnoy through the rift quickly, to Stardock and then perhaps somewhere else.’

      The three Tsurani magicians bowed. ‘As always, convey our respects to Milamber,’ Illianda said, using Pug’s Tsurani name.

      Magnus and Nakor returned the courtesy. ‘I will, and as always he sends his respects to the Great Ones of Tsuranuanni.’ They left the room containing the Talnoy and walked through several halls to the rift room.

      Unlike in the past, the rift between the Assembly of Magicians on Kelewan and the Academy at Stardock was not left open continuously anymore. With the current concern over rifts from the Dasati world, Pug and the Great Ones of Tsuranuanni had thought it best to only open a rift when they most needed to.

      Magnus stood before the rift device and held out his arms, incanting the appropriate spell. Nakor watched him without comment and the younger magician went through the ritual necessary to attune the energies that would bridge the gulf between the two worlds.

      An odd buzzing filled the room for a moment, and the hairs on Nakor’s and Magnus’ arms and neck stood up, as if a lightning strike had occurred nearby. Then, a shimmering grey void appeared before the two men. They both stepped through without hesitation and suddenly they found themselves upon the island of Stardock.

      A few magicians had gathered when the rift had appeared, but upon seeing Magnus and Nakor they nodded their greetings and departed. Magnus turned and with a wave of his hand he willed the rift out of existence. With a wry smile, he said, ‘My father told me he almost died trying to close the first Tsurani rift.’

      Nakor said, ‘I’ve heard the story. Before you become too full of yourself, just remember he had to shut down a machine created by a dozen Great Ones, and he had to have your grandfather’s help to do it.’

      Magnus shrugged. ‘I wasn’t comparing myself to my father, or grandfather, Nakor.’ He started walking towards the beach. ‘I was merely remarking on … oh, never mind. It’s just an idle thought.’

      When they reached the edge of the lake, Magnus drew out an orb, and an instant later the two men stood at the door of Pug’s study. Magnus knocked and Pug’s voice answered: ‘Come in.’

      Nakor paused and said, ‘You tell your father what we’ve done and found. I’m going to go and look for Bek.’

      Magnus nodded, and Nakor took his leave.

      A few minutes later he found Bek sitting under a tree watching some students listen to Rosenvar lecture. When he saw Nakor approach, he jumped to his feet and said, ‘Are we leaving?’

      ‘Why, are you bored?’

      ‘Very. I have no idea what that old man is talking about. And the students here are not very friendly.’ He looked at Nakor and said accusingly, ‘And that thing you did in my head …’ His expression was one of frustration verging on tears. ‘One of the boys insulted me and normally I would have just hit him very hard, probably in the face. And if he had gotten up, I’d have hit him again. I’d have kept on hitting him until he didn’t get up.’ With an almost pained expression, Bek said, ‘But I couldn’t, Nakor. I couldn’t even ball my fist. He just stood there looking at me like there was something wrong with me, and there was! And then there was this pretty girl I wanted, but when she wouldn’t stop to talk to me and I tried to grab her, the same damn thing happened! I couldn’t bring my hand up to—’ Bek looked as if he were on the verge of tears. ‘What did you do to me, Nakor?’

      Nakor put his hand on the large youngster’s shoulder and said, ‘Something I would rather not do to anyone, Bek. At least for a while, you can’t do harm to someone else except if you’re defending yourself.’

      Bek sighed. ‘Am I always going to be this way?’

      ‘No,’ said Nakor. ‘Not if you learn to control your own impulses and anger.’

      Bek laughed. ‘I never get angry, Nakor. Not really.’

      Nakor motioned for Bek to sit and sat next to him. ‘What do you mean?’

      Bek shrugged. ‘Sometimes I get annoyed, and if I’m in pain I can really break things up, but I find most things either funny or not funny. People talk about love, hate, envy and the rest of it, and I think I know what they’re talking about, but I’m not certain.

      ‘I mean, I’ve seen how people act around each other and I sort of remember feeling things СКАЧАТЬ