He glared at Chihon. "I said stop this sacrifice!"
Chihon stepped behind the altar to put something between herself and Hatther. She raised her shields and focused her power in the palm of her hand. She could feel the heat as the fireball sprang to life and began to spit and spin. She threw it at the Wizard with all her might.
He deftly deflected it, even as Chihon prepared a second blast. She focused even more energy into her palm, waiting for the fireball to grow so hot that she could barely hold on to it. She sent it sailing for the Wizard and pressed it with as much power as she was able to summon.
Again, he deflected it, but this time it caressed his head as it passed by. She could feel the waves of his pain as it seared his face and ear in passing. The room was filed with the unmistakable odor of burnt flesh. The Wizard was on the defense now, only a few more attempts and he would be defeated.
She pulled back again, preparing to push all her energy into the next fireball. She reached out to throw it, but her arm froze in place. She was unable to release the spitting spinning ball of lightening. It grew hotter and hotter in her hand until she could smell her own flesh burning.
She reached out for Hatther's magic. She probed his defenses looking for a weakness, anything that she could use against him. She found a gap in his shield. There was a weak spot in the threads that covered him.
Chihon separated the strands and reached inside. She found his life thread and grabbed it, pulling at it with all her might. She hoped he would fall down dead or incapacitated, but the only effect was her regaining the ability to release the fireball she held in her hand. It streaked towards him as the others had. He dodged it once again. It singed his hair, but left him otherwise undamaged.
Hatther retaliated. Chihon felt him probing her shields, digging for a weakness or an opening. He poked and prodded, slowly opening a gap. She could feel it start to widen. She pulled her power in and tried to force the shield shut. Chihon felt her own shield close, but there was something else. She could feel a layer of other magic around her. It was as if she were enclosed in someone else's shields, not only her own.
It was those shields he attacked now. She tried to stop him, but she had no control over them. She struggled to close her own shield around the hole he’d made, but he was too strong. A hissing noise erupted from behind her. The air was filled with the smell of rotten swamp gas, and suddenly she felt a blast of heat.
The mini dragon was breathing fire.
Chihon struggled harder, hoping the mini dragon blast would unbalance the Wizard and leave him open to a counter attack. She pushed at him with all her strength even as he pummeled her shields. The mini dragon hissed again as it prepared for another blast. She waited, gathering her strength to attack just as she heard the hiss of the mini dragon. How long until the fire?
This time the fire did not pass by her. It rushed over her, spreading around the shield as the Wizard attacked, washing around her, surrounding her in flame. She felt the heat of it and smelled the odor of swamp gas. She felt her shields weaken and prepared to be exposed.
There was a pronounced snap as the shield broke. Suddenly Chihon felt access to a power that was unmistakable and so much greater than it had ever been before.
It was Lorit.
All this time he'd been but a weak memory of a dim connection. She'd grown accustomed to the idea that he was not around, not connected to her, not available to her when she needed a friend or a little extra power.
His magic was stronger now than it had ever been, not as she remembered it, and she did remember it. All of it. The battle at the Temple, the battle in the park. All of it came rushing back to her in one gigantic blast. It was almost physical in its impact. Behind her, she could feel the magic of the mini dragon; it was pure, clean, and crystal clear. That was what she felt coming from Lorit.
The Wizard stopped pressing the attack, and Chihon watched him, waiting to see if he was just pausing or he had accomplished what he came for. He stood there, as if searching for something on her person, and then quietly spoke. "It looks like we have a Free Sorceress once again."
He lowered his hands and stood smiling at her, no longer attacking, but watching her carefully. "I’m glad I did not have to kill you."
"What's going on?" Chihon was disoriented by the sudden recovery of her memory. Why was she here in the Temple? Wasn't she here with someone?
Chihon felt a burning pain on her back that reminded her of the fireballs she'd just thrown. It hit her from behind and stuck there, spitting sparks, trying to work its way through her shields. She turned to see Tass standing behind her with her hand out. Another fireball was spinning and contracting in it.
"What is the meaning of this?" Why had Tass suddenly turned against her?
"If I can't turn you, then the next best thing is to kill you," Tass spat. "I've spent all this time trying to get you to take the magic of one of these creatures. If you won't do that, I'm not letting you get away alive."
Tass threw another fireball. This time Chihon was ready; she raised her hand and deflected it easily. She felt a surge of power from Lorit. Their connection was back and she could feel him as if he were by her side. She drew on his power just as she had since they met. With the combined force of the two of them, it was almost child's play.
She reached for the life thread of the old woman who had been her companion and guide for all this time and pulled it deftly. Tass should have dropped like a sack of roots, but instead, she vanished in a sparkle of light.
"Did you kill her?" the Wizard asked.
"No, I don't know what happened. She just disappeared." Chihon looked from the light cloud of smoke that stood where Tass had been and over to the Wizard.
Hatther walked over to the spot where Tass had vanished. "She's gone. There's a lingering feel of a travel spell. I wonder where she went."
Hatther escorted Chihon back to the inn. She was tired and wanted someone to talk to, now that she was fee of the spells. She explained how she had lost her memory from the time they were at the castle in Veldwaite. Her memories since then were vague and indistinct.
"Tass put a compulsion spell on you, and a memory spell. The compulsion kept you from remembering your true past. The memory spell made you think the memories she was feeding you were real."
"How did you break the spells?"
"I didn't, I was prepared to kill you." He took a swallow from his glass.
"What?" Chihon was confused.
"When you walked into my shop, I recognized you for a Sorceress, and a powerful one. I was intrigued why you were masquerading as a Priestess. I had to find out. I followed you and observed."
"And what did you find?" Chihon asked.
"I found out that Tass is a Priestess, and you were under her spell. I had to set you free or kill you. While you were under her spell, I could have killed you easily, but I wanted to see if I could free you.
"I wasn't making much headway with you, and I was going for the kill when the mini dragon blasted you. Just then, I felt a surge in power. It was like you were suddenly connected to something else." He shook his head. "Something very powerful."
"That's Lorit, my partner. I was unable to find him since Veldwaite, but suddenly he was there."
"You're free now."
"I remember everything. I have to get in touch with Lorit."
"I'll leave you to it," Hatther said. "If you need anything, you know where I am." He stood to leave. "May fortune smile on you."
Back in her room, Chihon reached out to Lorit, and soon felt the familiar tingle of contact. He had felt the power drain as she fought the Wizard. She told him she was safe now, and that she missed him. She smiled at his concern. Now that they were back in touch, it looked like everything was going to be better.
His image appeared in the room before her. It solidified and filled out, as if he were actually there with her and not leagues away. She wished he were there in the flesh so she could tell him everything about her adventure and catch up on his.
His image was so real that she felt she could reach out and touch him. She tentatively extended her hand. When her hand touched his, she felt not the misty ethereal contact, but flesh and bones. It was him. He was here.
"I learned how to travel," Lorit said as he turned to her.
She rushed to him and threw her arms around him. "Lorit! I'm so glad you're here, you won't believe what I've been through." She was so relieved to see him.
She caught him off guard and he almost lost his balance, and squeezed him so hard she thought she was going to break his ribs.
He hugged her back, his hands grasping her thick Temple robe. It felt good just to hold him and realize they were finally reunited.
She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "I missed you so much. I never felt right without your magic. It was like a part of me was missing."
Lorit's hand found its way to her clean shaven head. He caressed her scalp. To Chihon it called up the guilt at everything that she'd done. Her bald pate was a symbol of all of that. "A part of you
is
missing," he said.
"Don't. It reminds me of what I did," was all she could say as she pulled his hand away.
"That's over now," Lorit said. She felt him dig deep for his magic. He lifted his hand to her head again and she felt a tingling that grew into an itch. Her scalp prickled and she felt the warmth as her hair quickly grew out and down to touch her shoulders.
She ran her fingers through it, reveling it its thickness. She held him tightly once again. "I really missed you." She was content just to hold on to him, hoping that they would never be separated again.
Nebrook
Lorit and Chihon stopped in Nebrook as they made their way to Amedon. They hired a room at the Humble Plumb, a moderate inn with reasonable accommodations. They planned to stay there for several days, and then depart.
Lorit was still worried about Zhimosom. He wanted to secure the Council's help, but he didn't know how to contact them directly. He asked Rotiaqua to gather them in Zhimosom's study so he could make his plea. At the appointed time, Lorit sat at the table in their room and focused his will. He appeared in Zhimosom's study almost without effort, and felt the power draw from him as Chihon appeared beside him.
"Ah, there you are," Rotiaqua said. "We've been waiting for you."
Lorit looked around the room. It was filled with Wizards, many of whom he had yet to meet.
"These are Maomran, Awbelser, Neussul, and Koaleing." As Rotiaqua introduced them, each nodded his head at the mention of his name.
"Pleased to meet you all," Lorit said. "I am grateful to be here."
"We are extremely pleased to see the young Sorceress back with us," Awbelser said. "I trust she is well after her adventures?"
"I am well," Chihon answered for Lorit. "We have had a chance to rest up and are now eager to be on our way."
"We have determined that it was a Priestess who was behind your abduction," Rotiaqua said. "The woman you know as Tass is a highly placed Priestess in the Temple."
"Did she get away?" Lorit asked. He had heard the story from Chihon and worried that she might try something else, if the woman was still alive.
"We presume so," Rotiaqua said. "We don't have spies in Quineshua itself, but we would have heard if a high ranking Priestess had been killed. Priestesses are just as rare as Sorceresses are."
"Have you located Zhimosom?" Lorit pressed them. "Is he alright?"
"We are still searching," Neussul said. "We will contact you if your help is needed."
"We want to help in the search. What can we do?" Lorit wasn't going to let anyone dismiss him that easily.
"We feel the best course of action is for you to take a ship to Wradon, then travel overland to Midian. We have contacts there that can provide you assistance before your final leg to Amedon," Rotiaqua said. She drew the route out on a faded map in the book before her.
"You want us to travel by ship?" Lorit asked. "The last time we traveled by ship we didn't have such a pleasant voyage."
"Do you have a better idea? Do you want to make the trip across the Plains of Grass?" Neussul asked.
"Why can't we travel there by magic? I made it all the way from Friega to Derig. We could go straight to Midian by magic." Lorit was already upset with their tight lipped explanations and now they wanted him to take the risk of traveling by ship, where he would be weak and vulnerable.
"Go ahead and travel, then," Neussul said. He looked at Lorit defiantly. "If you have the power, then by all means travel." He folded his arms across his chest.
"Lorit reached out to Chihon and tried to visualize their destination. He had no idea where they were going besides a point on the map.
"Where are we going? How do we get there?" Lorit asked.
Neussul chuckled and Rotiaqua held up her hand. "You can only travel somewhere you have already been or have seen. You have never been to Midian, so you can't travel there."
"Why was I able to travel to Chihon, then?" Lorit demanded.
"You have a connection to Chihon. That was what guided you to her. You could not have traveled to her without that. You will need to make your way to Midian over land. There's a Wizard there who can help. He is closest to your path as you make your way to Amedon."
"Why don't we just come to Zhimosom's study?" Lorit asked. He'd seen Zhimosom's study often enough. He could travel there.
This time it was Rotiaqua who laughed. "Zhimosom's study is a lot farther from Amedon than you could imagine. You'd never make it to Amedon from his study."
"So we have to travel by sea." Lorit didn't like the way the Council always had a reason for him to follow their plans.
"You must. Magic, after all, has its limitations." Rotiaqua glanced at him with a stern look. "I trust this time you will build up enough reserves to handle whatever comes along?"
"I will spend the time until we embark storing what energy I can. I don't like it, though." Lorit remembered the pain and humiliation he'd endured at the hands of Captain Bukelach, on their last voyage. He did not want a repeat of that incident.