Another thirty seconds brought me to the way in. An illusion of a rock face covered a short tunnel that led to a thick metal door. The walls of the tunnel held traps, the door held a formidable-looking lock, and the whole area was heavily warded. It was a well-hidden and well-defended entrance.
Or at least it had been. The illusion spell had been broken, leaving the tunnel clearly visible, and the traps beyond had been triggered or destroyed. The only reason I could tell the tunnel had been warded was from its magical signatures, and even those were fading. The door had been ripped off its hinges, the solid steel bent and warped, leaving a gap that led into darkness. Beyond, nothing stirred; the area was silent but for the whistling wind.
It was about the most obvious Do Not Enter sign I’d ever seen. No prizes for guessing what I was about to do. Even after everything that had happened, I was still a diviner, and if there’s one thing diviners do, it’s poke their noses where they’re not wanted.
Well, if you’re going to do something stupid, you might as well have company.
I reached into my pocket, took out a small dull yellow pyramid, and set it down on the flattest piece of ground I could find. Then I stepped back and reached out mentally, stretching out my thoughts over a gap that was both unimaginably vast and thinner than a razor. Vari, I said. Clear to gate.
Thirty seconds passed. Sixty. Then the air above the pyramid glowed, turning from yellow to orange-red. Space seemed to ignite as flame flared into existence in a vertical oval, six feet high and three feet wide. The centre of the oval darkened and the oval became a ring, a gate linking two points in space, providing a view to a leafy forest, shadowed and gloomy. A young man stepped through, head turning as he scanned from side to side.
Variam Singh is small and compact, dark-skinned and dark-eyed. He used to be wiry, but he’s filled out since he joined the Keepers. As far as I can tell, pretty much all the extra weight is muscle—Vari joined the Order of the Shield just as the Council was ramping up for war, and his first year as a journeyman mage was a busy one. He spared a glance at the bodies down the slope, then focused on the ruined door with a scowl. “Shit.”
“Yup.”
“We’re too late, aren’t we?” Variam said.
“Half an hour,” I said. “She might still be inside.”
Variam gave me a look.
We started towards the entrance. “Jagadev’s goons?” Variam asked, nodding his head back down the slope.
“More likely a scout-response team,” I said. “The Chinese Council claims this territory these days.”
“How long till more show up?”
“None on the way, but let’s not hang around.”
We entered the tunnel, Variam conjuring up a flame of bright orange light. It danced and flickered, casting shadows on the rocky walls. I glanced at Variam’s black robes and turban. “No armour?”
“I’m supposed to be on my lunch break,” Variam said. “I check out a set of armour from the ready room, they might get a little suspicious. We clear?”
“Clear.”
The doorway led through into a long, straight corridor, its walls made from smooth blocks of stone. A pair of torches burned in sconces, the magical flames casting light but no heat. Variam took a step forward.
Futures flashed up in front of me. “Stop!” I said sharply.
Variam froze instantly. “What?”
“Stay where you are and don’t move forward,” I said. “Watch.” I looked around until I found a pebble about the size of a large grape, stepped up next to Variam, and tossed it underhand.
A blade swept out of the wall in a silver flash, hitting the pebble in midair with a whangggg! and sending it bouncing back down the corridor. Variam jumped away, but before he’d even landed, the blade had disappeared back into the wall. It had missed him by about two feet.
“Bloody hell,” Variam said.
“Optical trigger,” I said, nodding down the corridor. “Laser, probably. No magical signature, no heat signature, and that blade’s strong enough to cut an armoured man in half. You know what’s interesting?”
“You mean apart from that?” Variam glared at me. “No. No, I don’t.”
“What’s interesting,” I said, “is that that’s exactly the kind of trap you’d use to kill a life mage or a fire mage.”
“Thanks,” Variam said. He scanned the ceiling, focusing on what looked like a piece of ornamental ironwork. “Sensor’s in that?”
“Could be,” I said. “Though we could just duck under—”
Variam raised his hand and a burst of heat melted the ironwork to slag.
“—or that works too,” I finished. “You’re clear.”
Variam walked forward, kicking aside bits of cooling metal. I followed, scanning ahead for more dangers. “This would be easier if you’d let me take point.”
“Screw that,” Variam said, and I glanced sideways to see that his face was set. “You know what that bastard did. If she hasn’t killed him, I will.”
The door at the end of the corridor led into a wide circular room. In contrast to the corridor, the walls and floor were rough rock, with only a single smoothed path running through it. Variam stopped in the entrance. “This is another trap, isn’t it?”
“It was,” I said, pointing at the centre of the room. “See the residue there?”
“Earth magic, right? Some sort of ceiling collapse? Wait for people to get in, then drop the roof on them?”
“I thought of that too, but no. Looks more like a summon effect. I’d guess earth elemental. Similar result, but doesn’t require you to dig out the whole room afterwards. It was summoned there, but it doesn’t look like it had time to do much.”
“No reset?”
I shook my head.
We kept walking, following the smoothed path towards the door at the far end. “You planning to get in my way if we find him?” Variam asked.
“Jagadev?”
“Yeah.” Variam gave me a look that wasn’t entirely friendly. “That was why you sat on this for five years, right?”
“I didn’t want you going after him back then, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“You try and give me some speech about forgiveness and how revenge isn’t the way, I am going to punch you.”
“I’m not going to hold you back,” I said. “But I do want you to look before you leap. Remember that blade trap. Jagadev’s had a long time to figure out how to kill you both if you came here. I am not okay with you going on a suicide run.”