The Gem Lords

The Battle of the Portal - Part 4

     He didn't go straight there, though, but headed for the infirmary first. He had to see Lirenna, see how she was, and Saturn could rant and rave as much as he wanted if he thought he could stop him.

     He arrived to find Timothy and Daleen just as exhausted as when he'd last seen them. The moment they felt able, they were praying over the demi shae again, draining their strength as fast as it came to them. As a result, the cleric of Caroli looked terrible, but Thomas hardly glanced at him, going straight to his wife and taking her hand.

     "How is she?" he asked.

     "Holding on," replied Timothy. "How long 'till the portal opens?"

     "I don't know. It seems like years since this happened. It can’t be long now, surely."

     "We’ve still got forty minutes," said Saturn, who'd sent a silent Farspoken message to the bridge to request the information. "The battle lasted just ten minutes. And now, mister Gown..."

     Thomas nodded numbly. "Look after her," he begged Timothy. "Please."

     "We will," promised the cleric of Caroli, and then Saturn was grasping his elbow and guiding him firmly towards the door.

     Arriving at the laboratory, the only place on the ship where the wizards could be sure of privacy, Thomas resigned himself to the inevitable and told Saturn the whole story. The gradual awakening of Tak's memories. The highlights of his life revealing themselves to him a little bit at a time over the past months and years, and the knowledge of spells that had been lost for thousands of years. Saturn's face darkened with anger as he spoke, and his arm trembled where it grasped the back of a chair. Thomas said nothing about deliberately researching Tak's spells, his attempts to recreate them, and he said nothing about his knowledge of rak transformation, but of course Saturn was reading his mind and so found out anyway.

     When the younger wizard finally finished speaking, he waited, trembling, for his reaction, but the elder wizard just stood there for a long time, glowering like a smouldering volcano as he digested the news. When he finally spoke it was with a voice clearly held calm only by a great effort that terrified Thomas more than if he'd shouted at the top of his voice.

     "What you have done," he began, and then had to stop, his single eye glaring as he chose his words carefully, and if looks could kill Thomas would have dropped dead there and then. "I consider this a betrayal," he said at last. "From the very start I have helped you. Supported you. Taken you under my wing..."

     In his present condition, terrified of the elder wizard and distraught for his stricken wife, Thomas wasn't fully in control of himself and he spoke without thinking. "No you didn't!" he protested. "I'm here because I can sense Rossemian magic, because I have a talent you can use. You've never supported me! A little while ago you tried to crucify me for the blight incident, while everyone else not only exonerated me but even commended me..."

     Saturn's face turned purple with rage. "You dare answer me back..."

     "I didn't ask for these memories!" cried Thomas in terror and anguish. "They just came all by themselves! I don't know where they came from and I don't know how to stop them! I didn't research most of the spells I cast back there. They just came to me and I used them because they were the only way to save the ship!"

     "But you have researched spells. You used University resources..."

     "Yes! Yes I did! So what? Everyone does that! Who doesn't research a spell for themselves every now and then..."