Chapter 092: Invasion

 

 

"All of you people standing around

Waiting for someone to show you the way

There's nobody there - there's only yourself

So get up and fight"

 

 

Call to Arms - Pallas

Arriving by Trump, I found myself standing in front of a large tent which appeared to be in the middle of an army camp. I had a quick look around before being ushered inside by Alexander. His forces consisted mainly of the various races that inhabited the Kingdom of Galoria, along with a sizeable group of Alex's hand-trained oriental warriors and a cadre of Chaosians, presumably members of what had once been the House Hendrake. There was a general air of nervous tension, and everywhere I looked I saw soldiers preparing for battle.

Warm air wafted over me as I stepped into the tent. A brazier stood burning in its centre, yet apart from this there were but few other luxuries, as I had come to expect of my cousin. He offered me a seat, but rather characteristically he did not bother about wine or any other beverages. Just as well, I guess, since I had not had time to sit down to breakfast, having rushed off more or less straight away. His call for a private parley had sounded rather urgent, and I had got to know Alex as someone who as a rule was not prone to exaggeration.

Foregoing all pleasantries, he came right down to business. His news was indeed quite alarming: the Crystal Spire that had been erected in a Shadow close to Galoria had apparently been completed, just as the one in Quendor, and rank upon rank of the same insectoid creatures I had seen in the corrupted parts of the Nexus had begun to pour forth from its gates. With Galoran's background knowledge Alexander had concluded that the Spire was now functioning as some kind of gateway to these insectoids' breeding grounds, and as yet there seemed to be no end to their numbers. It was not hard to guess what the goal of this invading army would be.

Alex had contacted me, he said, both because he knew I had been investigating the Quendor affair, and because I had been able to halt the advance of a similarly large army when defending Cardane. Any kind of help or information that I could give him would be welcome. I could see why, for although my own knowledge of military matters was not as extensive as his, a quick calculation of what I knew of the Galorian defenses and a rough estimate of the numbers of insectoids ready to march on the Kingdom made it plain to me that Galoria would not be able to withstand the invasion without some kind of outside help.

Nevertheless, I was quick to warn him against trying to repeat the course of action I'd taken in Cardane. My defense of my children's homeland had been successful, yes, but the price had very nearly been too high, and I'd resolved myself never to try anything like that again. If I had a choice, that is. Anyway, I had no qualms about informing Alex of the general state of affairs in Quendor, especially warning him about the local magicians' increased mind-altering powers that stemmed from their Crystal Spire. Seeing that he was not immediately swayed, I decided to tell him about Fiona's current situation too, reasoning that if he had been to Quendor, as indeed his manner suggested, he would surely have picked up some of the local papers and would have seen the announcements of Eugenie's wedding or even reports of the disastrous day itself. Finally, I told him about Aurelia and her connection with Lothair, raising the possibility that someone like her might well be in command of the army that was now threatening Galoria.

After contemplating the matter for only a few seconds, Alex came to what seemed to him the only possible solution: the Crystal Spire had to be destroyed. After all, if this one had the same properties as the one in Quendor, any attempt to oppose the Enemy army with similar military forces would be futile due to the very real possibility of his own troops being turned against him. Still, logical as his solution might seem, neither of us could think of any immediate practical way to pull it off. We couldn't foretell what would happen if we were to try and destroy the Shadow in which the Spire was located, or whether this would even be possible, since the heightened level of Reality brought about by the Spire's presence could make the Shadow more resistant to the influence of other Powers. Besides, I had to admit to Alex that direct Power confrontations had been of little use to me in Quendor, and that only stealth and the assistance of the local mages had helped me see it through.

Quite naturally, our conversation turned to Random and Amber's official position in this matter. Alex explained that Myrthe was at that very moment in Trump contact with the King, trying to persuade him to come to Galoria's aid, but Alex's own conversations with him had left the impression that Amber was far from ready to commit to anything that might bring us head to head with the likes of Lothair. Without some kind of military aid, Alex saw only two possibilities: either to try and contain the Enemy army to a single Shadow or to fall back to Galoria and try to weather the storm. Frankly, I got the feeling that even the second option was rather too optimistic.

We decided to wait for the results of Myrthe's attempts at negotiation, which proved to be less than we had hoped for. The only concession she'd got from him was the usual one: individual Amberites were free to help her if they could be persuaded to do so, but they would not in any way be representing the Kingdom of Amber. Myrthe, however, seemed convinced that he would come around if only they would be able to gain the aid of both Sherwyn and the Courts. In other words, if all four Major Powers were to stand united against this common Enemy, Amber wouldn't shirk its duty. This, however, left the whole task of uniting the Powers up to Myrthe, and she was clearly less than happy about it. I couldn't blame her either, especially since the Royal Succession in the Courts was still way up in the air. As it was, Random seemed quite happy to stand by and watch Galoria take a fall, all for the sake of his precious policy of non-involvement.

As I listened to Alexander's proposals to his Queen to attack the Spire straight away in the hope that an immediate battle would stir the other Powers into action, a thought suddenly struck me, and I inquired where Galoran might be. It turned out that he had just returned from studying the Crystal Spire up close, and a few minutes later he joined us in Alex's tent. His dark frown told us enough, but my question about the possibility of a desperate gamble like destroying the entire Shadow around the Spire quickly sparked his interest. Under normal circumstances, he said, he would be able to accomplish quite a bit with the raw, destructive power of Primal Chaos, but he believed the Crystal Spire to be some kind of new physical manifestation of a corrupted Nexus Gate, which would act like an anchor between the Shadow and the entire Nexus Power Grid. Destroying the Shadow would probably not be sufficient to neutralise the Spire; Galoran's most optimistic prediction was that such an action might serve to isolate the Crystal, but a worst case scenario would see the Spire manifest itself in all the original Shadow's neighbouring regions. Somehow, all four of us were more inclined to be swayed by this more pessimistic possibility. Alexander then proposed that we'd try and destroy all the neighbouring Shadows as well, to which I immediately objected, the image of the Shadow Storm I had raised in Svarta still fresh in my mind. Galoran didn't think it a good idea either, for the best thing that could happen would simply be the other Shadows crowding in to fill the space of the ones that had been destroyed, and the Enemy would not be bothered in any way.

Our apparent inability to deal with this threat effectively was frustrating to say the least, but we weren't about to give up that easily. The idea of somehow trying to isolate the Enemy forces had some merit, I believed, and perhaps it could be accomplished by making the Shadow barriers around the Spire more rigid. Galoran didn't think this would be possible with the actual Shadow where the Crystal Spire was located, but the neighbouring Shadows were another matter. He believed we might be able to erect some kind of Power barrier, spanning various Shadows and effectively cutting off the Spire from the rest of our Reality. It wouldn't be easy, though, for the amount of energy required was staggering. Of course, the Nexus Itself was close at hand as a nigh-inexhaustible source of Power, yet it was far too flexible and could easily be corrupted by the Enemy. Still, I would be able to channel Pattern energy, and Galoran himself could supply some Logrus too, so if we collaborated on this we just might succeed. As Galoran himself put it, it would be a good test case to see whether the Powers of this Reality would truly be able to work together. He didn't let himself become too optimistic, though, for even if we managed to erect such a Power barrier, it would not constitute a permanent solution. Still, it would be enough to buy us more time to look for other, better options.

Even though the influence of Corwin's Pattern would be limited, seeing as how Sherwyn and Galoria were just about at opposite ends of the spectrum, Alexander felt it would be a good idea to get his father involved in this as well. The political ramifications were significant enough to warrant the attempt. While Alex would try to Trump Corwin, Myrthe started arranging the evacuation of the various Shadows where we would start erecting our barrier, for the combination of these Major Powers would certainly render these regions quite uninhabitable.

In the meantime, I sat and thought and ate. Upon reflection I was a bit bemused by the seemingly easy manner in which I had been drawn into this mess. After all, even though I rather enjoyed my current semi-professional relationship with Alexander, the whole Kingdom of Galoria meant but little to me. It was easy to forget, I guess, what with Lothair and his people running around, but there had been a time, not at all so very long ago, when Galoran and Monias could have been numbered among Amber's enemies. All, or at least most, of our early problems had been the result of their schemes to set up the right conditions for establishing the Nexus in our Reality: the Black Unicorn, the Pink Golems, even the damage done to Corwin's Pattern and the subsequent death of Coral could be traced back to them. So, no, I did not harbour any special feelings of loyalty towards Galoria, although I must admit that I did not feel any kind of strong enmity towards the individual people involved either. Alexander, as said before, had become a somewhat trustworthy associate (insofar this was ever possible where relatives were concerned), Galoran had gained my grudging respect as a Power Master with the added bonus of him being far more accessible than, say, someone like Dworkin, and Myrthe in her new role as Queen of Galoria had my sincerest sympathy.

This, however, did not add up to enough to warrant my unquestioning involvement in their immediate defense, and after my previous encounters with the Enemy forces I should perhaps have thought twice before standing up to them again. Yet, I guess it was just because of my earlier experiences that I had reacted so promptly: I still didn't know why the Enemy was here or what they wanted, but all their actions so far had made me into their Enemy, and I was determined to oppose them in all their endeavours.

Replaying this last sentence in my mind, I realise it sounds far too fanatical. Yes, I would help to defend Galoria, but I wasn't about to lay down my life in the process (while I might have done so before, in the defense of Cardane). If things truly looked hopeless, I knew I would bail out and live to fight another day, no matter what. I might think Random's stance simply too over-cautious, but that didn't mean I was entirely heedless of the danger either. There was still a good chance that Galoria would fall, but if the time ever came for my last stand, I knew the place would be Amber.

Alexander returned sometime later, saying that he had spoken with his father and that an official response from Sherwyn would be forthcoming. As he joined me for a bite to eat, I took the opportunity to ask him politely to keep what had happened to Fiona in Quendor quiet for now, since she would surely not welcome any extra damage it might do to her reputation. He complied with a shrug, more for my sake perhaps than for our aunt's, although I think at this point he wouldn't want to antagonise too many people, especially relatives, if he could help it. We continued our breakfast in silence, each one lost in his own thoughts and worries, until Alex received a Trump call. A moment later Justin stepped through; he'd come not as an official representative of Sherwyn, he said, but as a private individual he offered all the help at his disposal, more or less in the same way as I had done. It appeared that Corwin would adopt the same policy as Random had and would hold back any official support for the time being. I was just about to comment on the cagey nature of Amberites, when I received a Trump call myself. Thinking momentarily that it might be Murlas, because of the recent arrangement we'd made, I accepted, but as always in such cases it was someone I'd least expected.

“Dorian,” Boadice said, with a cheerful smile, “I’ve got something to ask you and a few things to tell you too, but since it is possible for others to listen in on Trump, it might be better if you came through to me. We’re currently having a quite advantageous rate at which time passes at my end of things, so whatever you’re involved in, you wouldn’t stand to lose much time over it.”

“Where exactly are you?” I asked.

“In Ornach Ways,” came the answer. Alright, that was pretty neutral territory, and I must admit that I was rather curious to hear what she wanted from me. Besides, afterwards I could take a slight detour on my way back to Galoria, for I had just thought of someone else who might prove quite helpful here.

“Fair enough,” I said, “just give me a moment to explain this to the others.” I allowed her a quick glance at all the other people present, thus giving her a clear indication of where it was that she had reached me. Boa nodded and kept the contact open while I addressed Alexander, who was clearly less than happy at the thought of me leaving, especially since all the people who were going to take part in trying to erect the Power barrier were now more or less present. Of course I could not give him a clear estimate of how long I would be gone, but at my guess of half an hour he visibly relaxed and assented. My absence would give him the opportunity to explain the extent of our problems to Justin and anyone else who needed to be told.

Boadice had done her best to play the perfect hostess, for upon my arrival a pot of hot tea and a tray of biscuits were waiting for me. As we settled down for our conversation, I noticed that she had physically been through some rough times recently, for although she had applied a fair amount of make-up, he skin still showed a great number of ugly lesions and bruises. I decided not to ask what had happened to her, figuring that if she wanted me to know, she would tell me. Besides, time was precious, so we’d better stick to the matter at hand, whatever that was.

“Okay,” Boa said, as I sipped my tea, “you may not be aware of it yet, but I’m currently staging some serious action against Flora. You know about the Keep of the Four Worlds, don’t you?”

“No,” I said with a slight shrug. It sure sounded very grand, but I couldn’t recall ever having heard of it before. This seemed to deflate Boadice’s obvious feelings of self-importance slightly.

“Oh,” she said, before rallying her wits. “It’s something like a Primal Plane, with its own power source to boot. If Flora manages to gain control of it, as she is trying to do right now, we’ll never be able to get her out of there again.” I gave her a slight frown, but kept my reservations silent. It just seemed to me that if this Keep was indeed as important as she made it out to be, I would surely have heard of it before. “Of course, there are other reasons to oppose her,” Boa continued, “but regardless of these, I would like to ask you whether you would help me try and stop her. After all, I believe you bear her quite a grudge, don’t you?”

Hmm. I nodded, but privately I wondered. My feelings towards Flora may be rather more neutral, or even positive, than my cousin made them out to be. Still, if Boadice was serious about opposing Flora, it might be worth it to tag along. Even though revenge didn’t rate high among my priorities, thwarting my aunt’s plans would be a good and clean way of paying her back for that demeaning imprisonment. And perhaps it might lead to a situation where I could have that private conversation with her that I was still

hoping for. However, first things first. The danger to Galoria appeared far more pressing at this moment.

“When do you intend to take steps against Flora?” I asked.

“Soon. Within a couple of days, local time. Say nine to ten hours back in Amber.”

“I see. You have to understand that I’ve just become involved in a quite serious situation in Galoria.” And I explained to her about the Enemy’s intentions and our plan to stop them, saying that I didn’t dare to guess how much time this would take.

“It’s a pity,” Boa sighed, “but I understand.”

“Let’s make the following arrangement,” I suggested, “if you agree, that is: I’ll Trump you as soon as I’m free to do so, and then we’ll see how much help I can still be to you.”

“Alright. Perhaps there’s something I can do to help you in the short time I’ve still got?”

“Well, I don’t rightly know. I’ve got the impression that Galoria will welcome just about anybody willing to lend their aid, for the threat is indeed quite serious. If they manage to break through, we might have to give up on Galoria altogether. A worst case scenario would see the Enemy taking complete control over Galoria and the Nexus, and since they are already using parts of the Nexus as their own, they could easily turn Its entire Power to their advantage.”

Boadice pensively sipped her tea and sighed. “It’s a serious problem,” she said, “but so is mine, and I can’t simply ignore it.”

“Fair enough. Let me warn you, though, about the manifestations of the Enemy’s Power centres in our Reality. They take the form of tall Crystal Spires. So far we’ve located two of them, one in that Shadow close to Galoria. Should you come across such a construct, you’ll at least know who is behind it. And if it turns out that Flora is trying to create one of these Spires too, it will certainly raise the interest of other people in your plans.”

“Is there anything you can do against such a Crystal Spire?”

“Hopefully destroy it before it’s fully operational. They’re very strong, although luckily their Power does not appear to extend very far from the Shadow where they’re situated.”

“How would you destroy it, though?” she insisted.

“With anything you can get your hands on, really. I have to say that we have but very little experience in this area. At this stage it’s all still very much a matter of try and try again.”

“Alright, I’ll keep in touch. I know I’m not the most popular person in Galoria at the moment, but still, I think you’d better offer them my services should things get really critical.”

That was right, I remembered there was this lingering matter of her trial and escape from Galoria. Technically, she might still be considered a criminal there, and I was fairly certain they were still aiming to bring her sister Yaslin to trial over the assassination of Monias too. However, they might simply not be in the position to turn anyone down, whatever their criminal record. “I’ll be sure to bring the matter up,” I said. “After all, there is a new government now.”

“I would appreciate it,” Boa said with a smile. I could see how she would like to improve her position over there. It’s not easy being a wanted criminal in at least one quarter of the Universe. “I have to go and prepare,” she added. “You’re free to stay a bit longer, if you like, but I seem to recall that you’d promised to keep it short.”

“And so I did. I’m returning with a bit of a detour anyway. Have to stop by in Amber and pick someone up who might be of some help to us too.”

And so I did. Trumping via Ygg to Amber, since the direct contact from the Courts would have been too hard, I quickly located Miss Fabre in the gardens, playing croquet with a friendly young courtier. In as few words as possible I outlined the situation for her, and I added that I hoped she might be able to detect any fluctuations in the Power of the Crystal Spire. In that capacity she could be of invaluable assistance to us. Fortunately, she didn’t have to think long and right away agreed to come with me back to Galoria.

When I Trumped Alexander again, three quarters of an hour proved to have passed, slightly longer than I had anticipated, but still within an acceptable margin. Janice tried to hide it, but I could sense that she was rather pleased when I formally introduced her to all those who were present. I explained about her being from Quendor and about her having been initiated in the Enemy’s Power. This news was met with remarkable equanimity. Apparently my credit with Alex and the others was such that they were willing to accept someone like Janice just on the basis of my evident confidence in her.

“Your Majesty,” I said, turning to Queen Myrthe, “I’ve just had a brief conversation with the Lady Boadice. She was asking for my help with her own problems, which entail staging some action against the Lady Flora. Of course, I’ve given the situation here some priority, yet when I explained this to her she responded by offering her own assistance, if you should have need of it.”

“What is it she could do to help us?” Myrthe asked.

I shrugged. “I can’t precisely say, but she has quite a reputation as a skilled Trump artist, and of course she has also walked the Pattern.”

“Well, perhaps we could try to incorporate some Trump energy in the barrier?” Myrthe suggested, glancing at Galoran. He frowned momentarily before nodding slowly.

“Whatever we do,” I said, “he have to try and construct something that will be self-sustaining. None of us can afford to stay here, indefinitely supplying the power to keep the barrier intact.” Galoran agreed, suggesting that the Nexus would be used as the central Power in this venture, since our proximity to the Flux, the actual centre of the Nexus, would allow the barrier to replenish itself. However, should all the nearby Nexus gates be corrupted by the Enemy, the barrier itself might be corrupted too. To keep this from happening Boadice’s Trump skills could come in quite handy, for they would make it possible for us to establish links to other, more distant sources of Nexus. In other words, her assistance would be more than welcome, as I had expected. Alexander appeared to be more than familiar with Boa’s usual manner, though, for he immediately suggested offering his own not insubstansive military expertise to be put at her disposal in her campaign against Flora after we had managed to deflect the danger to Galoria.

Before we went ahead and contacted her, however, I wanted to know how long we would have to spend working on this barrier. Galoran was uncertain, but he had to admit that it would at least take a couple of hours, and at worst it might stretch to last for days. Guessing that this might be too long a time for Boadice, I suggested some other angles to our project, hoping to get our purpose as clear as possible before actually having to start working on it. I just wondered out loud how difficult it would be, after the barrier had been erected, to separate the area inside from our Reality completely. Galoran was of course quite interested because of the theoretical implications, but he right away raised some objections to my suggestion. The main problem was that the Crystal Spire was, at heart, still a corrupted Nexus Gate, and as such it was anchored quite firmly to our entire Reality. While it might be theoretically possible to disconnect part of a Reality from the whole, doing so might not solve anything. If we were to separate the area, barrier and all, all our work would simply collapse before we had had a chance to kick the Enemy out, and if we were to aim only for the area inside the barrier, there was no guarantee that the Enemy would not just forge a new link and a new Gate, bypassing the barrier altogether. And all this was pure speculation, of course, since none of this had ever been tried before, at least not in our Reality. Galoran promised to study the possibilities a bit further, but our first priority would have to be just to construct the barrier. We would worry about the consequences later.

“About Boadice,” Alexander said, “do you really think she’ll agree to participate in this?”

“She offered her help freely,” I replied with a shrug. “Now that we’ve agreed, I can go and put the actual matter to her. However, I do feel that her offer would largely depend on her current status in Galoria.”

“I see little gain in perpetuating this problem that my father has created,” Myrthe said, “but I don’t know what her attitude towards us will be.”

“We can present it like a plain and straightforward deal, consisting mainly of my offer to help her in return,” Alex said. “That way she doesn’t have to deal directly with the Crown, and neither does she have to be in Galoria itself. It only remains to be seen whether she’s available and whether she’s interested in my military assistance.”

“Well, maybe you should contact her directly and ask her yourself,” Myrthe suggested, but this was less to his liking.

“Since Dorian discussed this with her earlier, it would be best if he were to talk to her again,” he said stiffly. I kept my expression neutral, but inwardly I grinned; everyone knew there was no love lost between him and Boa, although it wasn’t exactly clear why. Oh well, not that it was important, though, and why aggravate the situation when collaboration was the catchword of the day?

“Dorian!” Boadice said eagerly when I Trumped her again. “You’re coming to help me? Are you ready to come through?”

“Ehm…, not exactly. I relayed your own offer of assistance, and there is a general feeling here that it would not only be appreciated, but that it would also play a significant role in dealing with our problems. The question is whether you have the time to become involved.”

So we bargained, but in the end I think that Boadice’s curiosity got the better of her. Betting on the minimum requirement of a few hours of her time, she quickly arranged for someone to cover for her while she was away. I could only hope that Flora was not acting in concert with Lothair and his people, for in that case pulling Boadice off her duties might have been the biggest mistake we could have made.

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