A Long Time from Home Ch. 34

Despite her attitude back when I met her for the first time, she was an intelligent and smart young woman, and once she understood that someone had tried to sabotage her and her family, she quickly changed her ways. Then again, wielding power wasn't easy and stupid people normally don't become spell-casters.

More to the point, I had never told anyone but Jia and Verina about her, and Junia might be persuaded to let Jia and the kids stay with her for a few days. If, and that was the important part, she would answer truthfully on a few questions to insure that she wasn't in league with the Cor's.

Taking a deep breath, I reached out and contacted her. "< Junia? Do you have a moment? >"

"< Ivah!? >" came the surprised answer. "< Well, with the Return happening, you picked an odd time to get in touch, but I always have time for you >"

"< Thank you, but before I say more, I need you to answer a couple of questions with simple yes or no answers. Please do, it's really important >"

There was a stunned silence before she sent. "< That sounds serious >"

"< It doesn't get more serious than this >" I sent, making my mental voice dry. "< Are you willing to play along? >"

"< Yes >"

"< Good. Are you connected to the group that have forced the return? >"

"< No >"

"< Are you connected with anyone from the Cor family? >" I asked, being slightly fearful for the answer. If she said yes now, I was out of good options.

"< No. I do know a few of them, but I'm not personally involved with that family >"

I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding. One of the many advantages of mental communication, is that it's almost impossible to lie when sending thoughts and I nodded to myself. "< Thank you. I need someone to keep my lover and my two children safe until the Return have happened. Can you handle that? >"

"< No problem >" She answered immediately and then added. "< They'll be safe with me >"

An enormous sense of relief ran through me and Junia must have felt it through the link, because her mental voice changed and became softer. "< It feels like you've gotten yourself into a mess, Ivah. How can that happen in the middle of the Return and how're the Cor family involved? >"

"< Can I trust you to keep a secret for a few days? Even if that might place you in danger? >"

"< Yes >"

"< You might hear things you don't want to hear >" I warned.

"< I can handle it >" Junia sent back. "< I just hope it's not too illegal >"

I sent her a mental laugh. "< I'll let you judge for yourself >"

"< Sounds fair >" She chuckled. "< Send me your story and let's see >"

"< Remember, this stays a secret until the Return have finished. I'll get back to you shortly >" I sent and gathered my thoughts. Having explained it several times already made it easier and allowed me to add more background to the explanation, which to me made it feel more complete.

I started with the Pulcher family and the events in the human world, that had led to the discovery that the Pulcher family had several strongholds there. Then the raid on those strongholds and the arrest of the Pulcher family, followed by the spread of the Disease, my debriefing by the Master Vibius of Ordo Arbites and the conclusion, that the Pulcher family had to be working with someone else.

Then I could go on with the interrogation of Chuzara, with the mind-images I got from her, the tracking of the group, what I had overheard them talking about, and the fight with the Nequam before I was almost killed and woke up in the hospital. I continued with my talk with Verina, and the informed guess, that it was the group of half-blood that had breached the security of the Southern and western Anchors and attacked the High King, and that the reports I had made had been altered.

That was followed by my trip to Grove, the discovery that Angus Nigrus Cor was the unknown mage as well as the nephew to Dominus Grande Cor of the Ordo Presidium, which explained how the otherwise secure reports could have been altered. The calculation of the shield strength came next, showing how they had misjudged the amount of power coming from the planet, resulting in a best outcome, that gave Baylon an even chance of being destroyed, with the risk increasing along with the number of human deaths. I also explained why the Cor family would like to keep the anchor intact, as they thought it would make the transition through the rift smoother, saving the life of four high-ranking family members, the current head of the family among them.

The next part was the combat to get out of Grove, Tia's involvement in getting me to Lescare, the stand-off with Senior Mage Cossus Cor and Diana Pico, and my reason to send Inquisitors out to arrest members of the Cor family, before we took of to attempt to destroy the Northern Anchor before it was too late.

It was with a sense of dread, that I sent the story. With the exception of my sister, everybody who had gotten the explanation up to this point had been members of the Ordo Gladius and as I was a Captain, they would be much more inclined to believe everything I said. Junia didn't have the same inclinations and might be harder to convince. However, it was for that exact reason, that I needed to get the story out to people not connected to the Ordo Gladius. If it just became a matter of Ordo Gladius versus the Cor family, there was a chance that the Cor would get away with it, since they were sitting on all the important posts.

Looking at the others, I said. "Junia agreed to take them."

"Yes!" said Verina, waving a fist triumphantly.

Jia smiled weakly and nodded, but I could feel the uncertainty coming from her. Considering that she had just left her homeland forever and had to watch her two lovers go into combat for the sake of the world. Not an easy place to be in.

An idea struck me. "Jia, would you feel better if there was another person beside you there?"

She considered it for a moment and nodded. "Yes, that would be nice."

"What's on your devious mind?" Asked Verina, while Tia nodded slightly, obviously curious as well.

"Pandora is still hiding from the Cor's in Grove along with her lover Atia." I explained. "We could get her to come here and then send her to Junia along with Jia, Ivanka and Kaeso."

"Ah." Said Verina. "Good idea." She looked at Tia. "Does your item work for anywhere on Baylon?"

Tia nodded. "Yes. It was a gift from my father, and he got the best Ordo Architectus could make, so I can make a gate to anywhere on Baylon." She smiled a bit. "However, when I use it as a focus, only ten persons can go through the Gate before it closes."

"Standard safety measure." chuckled Verina. "Can't have Baylon invaded by ambitious rulers."

Ignoring them, I reached out to Chilli and told her about Ivanka and Kaeso, as well as the chance to get out of the hiding. She was floored by the news that I had kids but accepted the plan, provided that Atia could come too. I agreed to that and she sent me a mind-image of the destination.

That being solved, I returned to Junia. "< So, what do you say? >"

"< I would love to say that either you or the Cors are insane, but unfortunately this makes a lot of sense >" Junia sent back with a mental sigh. "< You need to get reinforcement from somewhere, Ivah. If your theory is right, the last anchor is going to be heavily guarded >"

"< Who do you suggest? >" I asked, reasonable sure my mental voice sounded as tired as I felt. "< With the positions they hold, the Cor family controls Ordo Presidium as well as the Ordo Magica. Even the army have to stay on Baylon during the Return and the only one that can overrule any of them is the High King, and as far as I know, he's still in a coma after the attack >"

She was silent for a long moment. "< Good point. Anyone personal friends that can help? >"

"< Not unless you can get hold of Decimus Varro and he's locked down in the Capitol >"

She went silent again for a few heartbeats and then sent me a mental image of a corner of a garden. "< Make a portal to this and send your lover and children through >"

"< Can I send my sister and her lover as well? The Cors are looking for them as well >"

"< Yes >" She said firmly.

"< Thank you. They'll be there shortly >"

"< I'll be waiting for them >"

Closing the link again, I sent the mind-image from Chilli to Tia, saying "Can you make a gate to this place?"

She smiled, cast a spell and a moment later the familiar shimmering door appeared in front of us. "There you go."

I opened my mouth to reply, but at the same time, Chilli and Atia came running through the Gate, looking like they were hunted.

"Close the Gate!" Chilli said as soon as she was through.

Tia waved a hand and the Gate disappeared.

"Thanks." Chilli said, shaking a little. "A moment after your Gate started to form, another one appeared next to it."

"They're still hunting us." Gasped Atia with tears running down her face.

"Not here." Said Tia firmly. "The gate is close to impossible to track and even if they could, very few magi can gate directly from Baylon to Kemet."

Chilli nodded, but whatever she was going to say was spoiled by Kaeso who asked. "You're our aunt Pandora, aren't you?"

Blinking a few times in surprise, Chilli nodded as she studied them. "Yes, I am."

"You're pretty!" He said with a little smile. "Can we hug you?"

"Yes!" Said Chilli and went down on one knee so she was in the same height. A moment later both Kaeso and Ivanka hugged her.

"< Goddess! >" Chilli sent, as she hugged them back. "< They're adorable! >" A mental laugh followed. "< You just made our parents they happiest and most surprised grandparents on Baylon... there's nothing like surprise grandchildren >"

"< Try surprise children >" I replied drily. "< Chili, we need to get this moving... especially with the Cors being right behind you. Tia might think they can't track us here, but they've surprised us too many times for me to take that risk >"

"< Agreed >"

I sent the mental image of the garden to Tia, who cast the spell again. A moment later a shimmering gate of magical energy appeared, with the corner of a garden on the other side.

With a sigh, I went over to my family to hug them goodbye.

"< Take care, brother... don't get killed >" sent Chilli as she kissed my cheek.

"< That's the plan >"

The small group walked through the gate, leaving Verina, Jia and I standing alone in the house.

"< One moment, Ivah >" Junia suddenly said in my head. "< Reinforcement is here >"

"< What!? >" I sent back, just as I saw Varro come walking in the garden on the other side of the gate, heading towards the opening.

"< That was the best I could do, and you owe me a good fuck for that >" Junia sent, sounding sad for some reason, while trying to lighten the mood. "< Go destroy that Anchor, Ivah, but for the love of the Goddesses, try not to get killed >"

"< I'll do my best >"

"< I know, but you need to hurry. The return is happening much faster than expected. I doubt that you have more than six glass before Baylon is so far into the rift, that Gates won't work anymore >" She paused and then added. "< And thank you for trying to save Baylon >"

"< Stare contra malum. Cur non mihi? >" I sent back with a mental grin, citing the motto of the Ordo Gladius, and then closed the link as Varro walked through the Gate, a grin evident on his face. "Hello there."

Verina gave him a hug. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Easy! You're wearing armor!" He protested, as Tia made the gate dissolve behind him. "What is happening?"

"We'll explain in a moment, but first we need to get out here." I said. "Varro can you make a Gate to Albion, near the Northern Anchor?"

He dislodged himself from Verina. "Yes. Now?"

I nodded. "Now."

He started to cast a spell.

"Can he reach the Northern Anchor from here?" Asked Tia in a low voice filled with doubt.

"He's from the Varro family." Verina said, happiness in her voice.

Tia nodded slowly. "Good... then it'll go faster."

Just like Mutatur Tempus Mente ran in my bloodline along with the mental powers, some of the mage families had other abilities in their bloodlines. Most of them were, like Mutatur Tempus Mente, closely guarded secrets, but it was commonly known, that the magi of the Varro family had incredible range to their spells, easily double the range of most other spell users.

A moment later, a shimmering door appeared in the room.

"There you go." Said Varro, while looking into the semi-darkness beyond the gate for enemies. Finding none, he turned towards us. "The Anchor lays a league (5 miles or 8km) that way."

Verina flashed a smile. "Let's move."

Looking at Varro. "Don't dispel the gate. We might need it to get back."

"Right... I'll just spell it, so that nobody can go through from the other side."

I nodded. "Good. Then I'll explain the amount of trouble we're in as we walk."

A glass later, we had settled down behind some bushes on top of a low hill from where we could see the area with the Northern Anchor as the sun rose above the horizon.

Activating a spell in the armor, that allowed me to see further, I studied the area. The sight I saw wasn't encouraging.

Dimensional anchors consisted of pure power and were invisible, but they were placed on powerful energy nodes and in the case of the Northers Anchor, the local humans used the site as a place of worship complete with a huge stone structure surrounding the energy node.

Now the stone structure was filled with human soldiers in the same type of dark red armors, as the ones I had encountered in Grove. To make matters worse, there were also persons in dark red robes of the style magi preferred, and I guessed they were human magi. Less powerful than their Baylon counter parts, but undoubtedly still deadly.

Their equipment also bothered me. As far as I could see from this distance, it was Baylon style steel armor, shields and weapons, like spears and swords. While a few steel weapons have been given to various rulers, I had never heard about an entire human company being equipped like that and it violated quite a few Baylon laws, as the possession of such equipment could severely change the balance of power in an area.

It made sense. The Cor's wouldn't think twice about equipping humans with Baylon weapons. Especially not when said humans were going to die anyway.

When the last energy line broke and fully returned to this dimension, it would hit right here with an enormous force. Enough to disintegrate the soldiers and most of the surrounding area. In effect, the people in the stone structure were guarding the device meant to kill them.

"Killed by the very object they're guarding. Ruthless, but efficient." Said Verina, clearly having reached the same conclusion. "When we're done, we need to get away as soon as possible. The backlash is not going to be pretty."

"That's saying it mildly." Something caught my eye, and I snorted, when I saw Chuzara, Kruse and Piler standing together, talking. "Can you see the red-head down there? That's Chuzara, the one I interrogated in Drusus."

"Pretty, but what's the point?"

"Before we go in, I'll try explaining to Chuzara, that this is a death-trap. She might be able to order the soldiers away."

"Good idea. There's a lot of well-equipped soldiers over there."

"Yeah, I'll rather avoid combat if I can, but I doubt it'll work, and we need a plan for what to do if it doesn't."

I watched the scene in silence, as options ran through my head. At some point we would have to get inside the stone structure and that meant an attack. It was the only way to place the anti-magic device and ensure it stayed there until the Anchor was destroyed. So, the question became how to survive against an enemy that vastly outnumbered us, had steel weapons and armor and even some spellcasters.

"We need to even out the numbers." I said slowly. "Varro, how much of the structure can you cover with area spells?

"Depends on the spell." He said. "Do you just want to kill as many as possible?"

"Kill or wound."

He studied the area and then slowly nodded. "I need to get closer, but some powerful elemental spells will make them regret being here. I'll burn through almost all the power I have, but I think I can kill or injure most of them."

"Do that but keep some power for the return trip." He nodded and I looked at Tia. "You?"

She shook her head. "As I've said before, I'm not an elemental- or combat mage. I deal with magical items and Artificial creatures."

I blinked a few times, as an idea struck me. "Can you control Nequam?"

"Yes, but they're not used here."

"I know, but have Ordo Architectus had time to remove them from the Western Anchor?"

Tia shook her head. "No, and before you ask, I am sure about it, because that would be my job to get the Nequams back from both the Southern and Western Anchor along with the magi from Ordo Mechanicus and I'm not there to do it."

"Excellent. Let's make sure you do your job." I said with a grin. "Varro, can you and Tia gate to the Western Anchor, gather the Nequam there and get back here?"

"Not a problem."

"Good. Go now."

Varro nodded and walked down the hill to make sure he was out of sight, before making the gate and a moment later both he and Tia was gone.

Verina and I used the wait-time to scout the area, looking for a place where we could hide, while Varro unleashed his magic on them. We found one in a little grove a little more than halfway between the hill we were on and the Anchor, but both Verina and I judged it to be just a little too obvious, so we circled around until we were at the south side of the Anchor where a patch of bushes provided enough cover to hide us. Once there, I sent the location to Varro and settled down to wait again.

About half a glass later, a gate opened behind us and Varro and Tia came walking out of it, followed by ten Nequam. As the last time I had seen them, they were black, a head taller than me and had long white hair growing only from the back of their heads. A huge mouth filled with sharp teeth dominated the head and they had no eyes, nose, or ears. Their powerful bodies were humanoid, but the long arms ended in a hand with three deadly claws.

I shuddered. It had only been a week since I had fought them on the island of the Western Anchor, and I was glad they were on my side this time.

Varro made the Gate disappear again. "Is it show time?"

"Not quite yet." I said and explained. "First, I'll contact one of what I think are the leaders to see if we can make them leave without combat. If that doesn't work out, then it's time for your magic show. After that, Tia orders the Nequam to attack them, and when they're done or destroyed, I want you to take Tia and go back to Baylon. Verina and I will take it from there. There's no reason to put more lives at risk than we have to."

"How will you get back." He asked with a frown.

"Portal makers." I answered and held up one of the items. "It goes to the Hospital in the Capitol."

The frown disappeared from his face. "Good plan."

"Thank you. Get to a place from where you can cast your spells, while I talk with the leader."

Taking a deep breath, Varro nodded and walked into the bushes.

I followed him until I reached a place from where I could see Chuzara. Then I reached out with my mind and contacted her, using the nickname she told me last time we talked. "< Hello again, Cerasis >"

"< Doctor Ivah? >" came the startled response and I could see her starting to look around. Smart girl. With their powers, they were almost impossible to contact mentally unless they were in line of sight and Chuzara clearly knew that as well.