Out of the Darkness

Something to keep me busy in my spare time, Pekka thought dazedly. She and Fernao and the rest of the mages here in the Naantali district were clever and talented. She knew that. But Ilmarinen had just reminded her of the difference between talent and raw genius. She shook her head, trying to clear it. All she could find to say was, “I’m glad you’re back.”

Seventeen

After Ilmarinen got down from his carriage, he gave the blockhouse in the.Naantali district a salute half affectionate, half ironic. “Congratulations,” he told Pekka and Fernao, who alighted just after him. “You never did quite manage to kill yourselves here, or to blast this place off the face of the earth.”

Fernao’s smile showed fangs. “You were the one who came closest to that, you know, when you told Linna goodbye and came out here with your miscalculations.”

Ilmarinen scowled; he didn’t like being reminded of that. “I still say there’s more to that side of the equation than you’re willing to admit. You don’t want to see the possibilities.”

“You don’t want to see the paradoxes,” Fernao retorted. “You ignored such a big one when you came out here, you could have taken half the district with you.”

That was also true, and Ilmarinen liked it no better. Before he could snap back at Fernao again, Pekka said, “It’s so good to have you back, Master. The bickering got dull after you went away.”

“Did it?” Ilmarinen’s smile was sour. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Raahe and Alkio and Piilis got out of their carriages. So did the secondary sorcerers, who would transmit the spell to the animals that would power it: an enormous bank of cages, larger than any Ilmarinen had seen. No one approached the blockhouse with any great eagerness. Except for Ilmarinen, all the mages here had already seen that this spell worked as advertised, so they weren’t out to discover anything new. That might have accounted for part of their reluctance. The rest. .

“You remind me of so many hangmen on execution day,” Ilmarinen said.

“That’s about what I feel like,” Pekka said. “We’ve tried everything we could to make the Gongs heed us, but they wouldn’t. If they had, we wouldn’t need to do this. I wish we didn’t.”

“They’re proud and they’re brave and they still don’t believe they’re overmatched,” Ilmarinen said. “When you run into someone like that, you usually have to hit him in the face to get his attention.”

“We are. I understand the need,” Pekka said. Ilmarinen found himself nodding. When he first got to know her, he’d made the mistake of thinking her soft; he’d had to change his mind about that in short order. She went on, “I understand it, but I still don’t like it.”

“It will end the war,” Fernao said. “It had better end the war.”

“Aye. It had better.” Pekka’s tone was bleak. “If it doesn’t… I don’t want to think about doing this twice, or more than twice, not to cities.”

“That’s one of the reasons we have some hope of getting away with this and keeping our spirits clean,” Ilmarinen said. “Believe me, if the Algarvians had known what we do, they wouldn’t have thought twice about using it. The deeper in trouble they got, the nastier the wizardry they tried and the less they counted the cost. They deserved having the Unkerlanters overrun them, and if that’s not a judgment I don’t know what is.”

“Let’s go do what needs doing,” Pekka said. “We have a crystal in the blockhouse-I ordered one moved there. If the Gyongyosians decide to be sensible at the last moment, we can abort the spell.”

She’s grasping at straws, Ilmarinen thought. She has to know she’s grasping- at straws, but she’s doing it anyhow. Can’t blame her for that. Blame? Powers above, I admire her for it. But it won’t do any good. If the Gongs were going to quit, they’d have quit by now. Beating them on the field hasn’t been enough to make them change their minds. Maybe this will be. If it is, it’ll be worthwhile.

One after another, the mages marched into the blockhouse. It was as cramped as Ilmarinen remembered. With his bad leg, Fernao was the last one through the door. He slammed it shut and let the heavy bar fall into place. The blockhouse might have been sealed away from the rest of the world.

“No need for that, not anymore,” Ilmarinen said.