The Gem Lords

Lord Sapphire - Part 5

     The news had Saturn impatient to get there and he was badly tempted to cast some spells to fly through the air, getting him there in just a couple of minutes. Natan Crowley didn't have any such spell, though, and neither, he suspected, did either of the others, and it would have been a serious breach of etiquette to rush on alone and leave them behind. It would also have been foolhardy, exposing himself to danger until the other wizards and their escort could catch him up, and so he gritted his teeth and forced himself to walk alongside the limping, hobbling head of demonology as they left the camp behind and entered the valley.

     He was encouraged to see the other wizard nodding his head as he looked around at the surrounding rocks, however, and hear him muttering under his breath. "Very low level of sorceric flux," he said. "The wards should be stable. And all the water seems to be on the surface. No subterranean flows."

     It sounded as though the summoning would be able to proceed swiftly, here at least, but would conditions be equally favourable at the six other locations? What would he do if Locon Tax refused to approve a summoning at one or more of the umbilici? Closing six of them would be pointless if the seventh was left open. Could he, Saturn, perform the ceremony himself? Could he accept the possibility that the demons he raised up might escape and cause untold death and suffering in a nearby community? And, of course, one of the umbilici was in the Southern Continent, which raised a whole new set of problems...

     Just then, the Ruby Keep came into view ahead of them and he muttered a spell under his breath to enhance his eyesight, making the view expand as if seen through a telescope. He gasped audibly, making the others stare at them.

     "What is it, my old friend?" asked the Director.

     "There are three figures standing by the gatehouse," Saturn replied, shading his one good eye with a knobbly, arthritic hand. "Two of them, both men, are dressed in red. The third is smaller, a woman. She's... Yes. It's Lirenna Gown. It's hard to see at this distance, but she seems to be in some distress."

     The Beltharan officer looked at him in amazement, then looked back at the three tiny specks, only just visible in the distance. "You have amazing eyesight," he commented.

     The other wizards accepted the report without comment, though. Spells to enhance the senses were commonplace to them, and Hatherbil Jonderol was already casting the same spell.

     "Any sign of Thomas Gown?" asked the Director.

     "I don't see him," replied Saturn. "He may still be inside, but with his wife in such obvious distress, I'd have expected him to be with her..." His voice trailed off as he began to suspect the source of her distress.

     The two people with Lirenna were Jasper and Garnet, still muttering sympathetic words to the demi shae which did nothing to ease her misery. When they saw the approaching party of soldiers and wizards, though, they pointed them out to her and the demi shae left immediately, walking out across the rocky, uneven ground. The two gem raks called out additional words of sympathy and regret, but Lirenna ignored them and didn't look back. Jasper and Garnet glanced at each other, then turned and went back into the gatehouse, crossing the drawbridge and returning to the main body of the castle. A moment later the Ruby Keep began to ripple and shimmer, like a reflection in disturbed water, and then it was gone, leaving behind nothing to show that it had ever been there.

     Lirenna walked a few paces further, then stopped and sank slowly to the ground, her face in her hands as she started weeping again.

     Saturn had, of course, been reading her mind, and so he already knew the reason for her distress by the time he reached her side. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said as gently as he could, and then he had to explain to the others, who lacked mind reading spells.