Wasteland Page 8

  Shale shook her head to herself. “I’m afraid that where I grew up the gifted were few and far between. I never learned anything about spell-forms, other than what my parents taught me about how to draw the Grace.”

  Richard cooled a bit, turning sympathetic. “I understand. I grew up in a place without magic. I’ve since had to learn about it. One of the things I had to learn is the language of Creation. The language of Creation actually uses some elements of spell-forms because it’s representational language.”

  “Representational language?”

  “Sure. If you see a simple drawing of a bird, it conveys a whole array of meaning—a concept—without needing words, right? That’s how the language of Creation works. It conveys meaning and concepts through symbols, designs, and emblems rather than words.”

  She looked intrigued. “Someday you will have to tell me more about the language of Creation, but for now, what is the important point about this particular spell-form?”

  Richard pointed a finger toward the ceiling, rotating his hand around to indicate everything above them. “The People’s Palace is laid out in the shape of a giant spell-form, the purpose of which is to give the Lord Rahl more power when he is here, in his home, also called the House of Rahl. That makes the People’s Palace a place of power for the Lord Rahl.”

  “More power? More power like what?”

  “Like when I turned all those Glee to ash. I was in part aided by the power of the spell-form of the palace itself. It helped me by adding energy to what I did—because I am the Lord Rahl. That’s the purpose of the way the palace was originally designed. Like a castle has thick walls and defensive parapets and ramparts, the People’s Palace was built on a giant spell-form drawn on the ground. That spell-form gives it its shape and is its means of defense for the House of Rahl by augmenting their magic.”

  Shale blinked as she thought about it. “No wonder the halls are so confusing.”

  “Not if you know the specific spell and the language of Creation. If you do, the layout of the palace makes perfect sense. It’s elegant in its simplicity … as a spell-form.”

  “Sure, perfect sense,” she mocked. She gestured at the plan on the table. “So then what’s this business about a complication?”

  Richard turned back to the diagram as he let out an unhappy sigh. “A complication, which is a spell-form, is an ancillary element of the principal spell-form to which it is attached. In this case, it’s a subordinate, supporting spell-form, meant to add power to the rest of the spell-form that is the palace. You might say it’s like extra descriptive words in a sentence.”

  “So it is a spell-form that exists on its own and it can also be a supporting element of another spell-form?”

  “Yes and no,” Richard told her. “This is a specific type of spell-form called a complication. It’s not meant to ever exactly exist on its own. Its purpose is to add capability to the spell-form to which it is attached.”

  “Then it has a purpose for being here, for being built into the palace,” Kahlan said.

  “Yes.”

  “So then why does it have you so worried and upset?”

  Richard took a deep breath. “The simplest way to explain the problem is that in the language of Creation, the primary elemental component of this particular spell-form means ‘chaos.’ That means that this spell-form adds an element of chaos to the power of the palace spell.”

  14

  “Chaos,” Kahlan repeated. “In what way?”

  Richard lifted a hand as if to say that it was unknowable. “It adds its power to the main spell to which it is attached in chaotic ways, meaning there is no way to predict what it will do. That makes the primary spell-form of the palace more dangerous to enemies of the House of Rahl.”

  Kahlan wasn’t at all sure how such a spell would work. “Why would a chaotic element make the main spell-form more dangerous?”

  “Because if a wizard—a Rahl here at the palace—uses his magic against a gifted enemy, the palace spell-form amplifies the power of the web he casts.”

  “All right,” Kahlan said. “That makes sense.”

  Richard held up a finger. “But a dangerously gifted enemy will know how to counter magic. See the problem?”

  Kahlan, trying to follow, frowned in concentration. “No.”

  “The spell-form of the palace is a known, specific spell-form and for someone powerfully gifted and experienced, it is therefore predictable in how it amplifies a Rahl’s power. Predictability means it can be anticipated and if it can be anticipated it can be countered. If a Rahl’s magic is countered, then it is rendered ineffective against the enemy, right?

  “To solve that predictability problem, what the creators of the People’s Palace did was to add in this chaotic complication.”

  “You mean it’s like gravy on a meat pie?” Shale asked.

  Richard smiled at her sarcasm. “Sort of. Lumpy gravy, and you don’t know what’s in the lumps.”

  He held out a hand toward the plan on the table. “In this case, this complication’s function is to make the web cast by the Lord Rahl and amplified by the primary palace spell chaotically unpredictable. That makes it nearly impossible for a gifted enemy to defend against. See? It’s hard if not impossible to put up a defense if you don’t know what’s coming.”

  “That’s incredibly devious,” Kahlan said as she thought about it.

  “Indeed it is,” Richard said with a nod.

  “Then having it here within the palace must not be so dangerous,” Shale said as she paced off a short distance, considering, and then returned. “After all, it’s been here for millennia, hasn’t it? And it was meant to help a Rahl. So why do you all of a sudden think it’s such a problem?”

  Richard wiped a hand back across his face. “Well, because it’s not simply a complication drawn in sand or blood meant to attach to another spell-form drawn in sand or blood to cast a web. This one is huge, and it exists in stone and mortar, not in the dirt drawn with a stick. That means we’re going to need to actually go inside the complication.” He leaned closer to her. “Inside it.”

  “We’re inside the palace spell-form right now,” Shale said with a shrug.

  “Hens and hawks. Both birds, not the same animal.”

  Kahlan was beginning to grasp his concern. “So that’s why Moravaska Michec would hide in there? Because it’s like he’s hiding in a giant thorn hedge?”

  Richard nodded. He turned to Edward Harris. “Could you please get me the plans for this region of the palace—the surrounding areas? And the levels above and below?”

  After consulting the palace map, the man went around the room, pulling rolls of the appropriate plans out of their cubbyholes, holding them under an arm as he collected all the ones needed. Once he had them all, he spread them out on the adjacent tables, putting weights on the sides to hold them open. Following along behind him, Richard reviewed each one, looking increasingly upset with everything he saw.

  “What?” Kahlan finally asked as he silently studied one, then another, then went back to the first, then to the last. “What do you see?”

  His brow lowered as he leaned in over the plans laid out on all the tables. “This thing is even more extensive than I thought at first. This complication spell isn’t technically two-dimensional, so it’s not a single floor, but actually a number of floors that are involved, all of it self-contained in its own compartmentalized, separate location. Look here,” he said, pointing, “this is the whole restricted wing of the palace where the complication is located, and all of this is the complication. It’s enormous. I mean, really enormous. Not simply in terms of length and width, but on multiple levels.

  “It’s one gigantic, three-dimensional labyrinth. I can easily see why people who went in there became lost and were never seen again. If you became disoriented, and didn’t understand the nature of the layout, it would be easy to get lost and never find your way out. That’s why I needed the plans. I need to understand them so that we
’ll know where we are once in there.

  “This kind of spell-form, being chaotic, is naturally unpredictable, so the builders deliberately kept it totally isolated. When the palace spell uses it, it becomes involved and has purpose.”

  He gave both Shale and Kahlan a deadly serious look. “But when it’s idle and left to its own devices, since it’s a chaotic element, it’s unpredictable.”

  “Unpredictable,” Kahlan repeated, folding her arms as she looked from his raptor gaze down at the plans, seeing the maze of halls and rooms and staircases in a new light. “We get the concept. It adds chaos to the palace spell.”

  Richard was shaking his head. “No, I mean it’s unpredictable in and of itself.”

  Kahlan frowned her skepticism. “Are you saying this place made up of confusing halls and rooms can do things on its own, independent of the palace spell?”

  Richard nodded. “Exactly. In the right circumstances, this kind of spell-form would be semi-sentient.”

  Shale’s jaw dropped. “What! Are you actually suggesting that it’s alive?”

  Richard waved a hand, dismissing the notion. “No, no, it’s not alive. I oversimplified what I meant. Its specific purpose is to decide on its own, because it’s a chaos spell-form, how to add power to the primary spell-form. See what I mean? Because it has the power to decide what to do and when, that process makes it seem to mimic life. When I used my power, and the palace’s spell added power, this complication likely added some unpredictable, violent element, making what I did to the Glee functionally more lethal. That makes it virtually impossible to defend against.”

  Richard leaned in, giving them both a serious look again. “But when idle and left to its own devices, a spell-form of this nature doesn’t simply sit there. It’s always active, a pot always on the boil, so it can do dangerously unpredictable things, such as entice people in.”

  Shale made a face. “Why? Why would it entice people in?”

  Richard stared at her for a long moment. “As a self-generated activity—as entertainment, you might say. Not exactly, but that’s the best way I can explain how its function appears to us. Absent direction from the primary spell-form, it boils up and acts on its own, kind of like a curious child when left alone. It starts doing things as a way to fulfill its primary purpose. It’s a hammer, and pretty soon, if not used, it starts to think everything is a nail. When we go in there, we are the nail.”

  “Dear spirits.” Kahlan put a hand to her forehead. “Why in the world would they build something that dangerous into the palace?”

  “Because it has a valid purpose,” Richard said. “If left entirely isolated, it’s not an issue, and that is what was intended. See here? The complication is not only off-limits, but completely isolated. The builders put it on dedicated levels off to the side, diagonally, under the tombs. To further isolate it, they built in locked doors preventing people from even getting to the stairs down to the complication. It can’t hurt you if you don’t go near it.”

  “How can it hurt us?” Kahlan asked. “What can it do to us if we go in there?”

  Richard shook his head. “I don’t know. All I can tell you is that whatever it does will be unpredictable.”

  “Then we should leave,” Shale announced. “You’ve just done a thorough job of explaining why this complication spell is incredibly dangerous.

  “This isn’t your primary objective,” she reminded him with a shake of her finger. “Your duty is to get yourself and the Mother Confessor to the safety of the Wizard’s Keep. The future of magic and the lives of everyone in our world depend on it. The safety of children yet unborn depends on it. Your gift, the Mother Confessor’s gift, your unborn children, are more important than getting Vika out of there.”

  “I hate to say it,” Rikka said, “but the sorceress has a point. Like all of us, Vika knows the risks of protecting you. As terrified as she rightfully is of Michec, she would want to die at his hands rather than have you put your life and the life of the Mother Confessor at risk to come in there after her.”

  “I agree,” Vale said. “Your safety and the Mother Confessor’s safety are what matters. We should avoid this danger and get to the Keep.”

  Nyda nodded her agreement. Cassia did so next. Berdine turned her face away and nodded.

  “You don’t understand,” Richard said. “Yes, I want to get Vika out of that man’s clutches, but this is about something more important. If Moravaska Michec is what you all say he is, then once we leave, he will undoubtedly strike at our backs when we least expect it. He could sabotage our cause just as effectively as the Glee in ways we can’t even imagine. He doesn’t want me to rule as the Lord Rahl. If we leave and he takes over the palace …”

  “Richard is right,” Kahlan said. “You don’t leave a powerful enemy hiding in your home to come at you when you’re asleep.”

  “Why would Michec be hiding in this complication thing?” Shale asked. “Wouldn’t it be dangerous to him as well?”

  “Not if he understands it,” Richard said.

  “He did,” Nyda confirmed. “He often took captives in there.”

  “He’s hiding in there, waiting for the right time to kill you,” Berdine said. “Taking Vika proves it.”

  “Well, that place down there isn’t called the Wasteland for nothing,” Harris said. “We always did our best to keep people away from the section. Somehow people still got in.”

  Richard nodded. “The spell-form self-generates things to act on as a way to carry out its destructive, defensive function. I guess you could say it practices killing by enticing unsuspecting people in there and killing them. Moravaska Michec isn’t unsuspecting, so the spell-form is in a way his protection.”

  Harris shook his head. “I just don’t see how, with it being behind all kinds of locked doors and guard posts, people still manage to wander in there.”

  “The complication has the ability to undo locks,” Richard said. When they all stared at him, he added, “Because locks are part of the palace, and so is the complication, it’s very possible it can unlock the doors.”

  “If people die in there,” Shale asked Harris, “then how do you really know that people find their way out there? I thought that people never returned from that place.”

  “Well, over the years a few people have wandered out,” he said. “They all died, however, shortly after escaping. But before dying they reported seeing corpses in there, or human bones. I’m not sure what they died of because the First File was responsible for such things, but I know that since it’s their responsibility to keep everyone away, the soldiers were quite alarmed to discover people coming out.”

  Shale finally let out a deep sigh. “I can see that I’m not going to be able to talk you out of going in there, and probably for good reason. But if it’s that dangerous, then I think the Mother Confessor shouldn’t go in. I will protect her while you go in and deal with Michec.”

  Richard shook his head. “I appreciate the thought, but that’s not a good idea. For all we know, he could be expecting that and while I’m in there trying to find him, he could actually be lurking out here in order to strike at Kahlan. Besides, as you said, he’s a witch man. You’re a witch woman.”

  Shale arched an eyebrow. “You seem to know everything, so now you need me?”

  “I hardly know everything, Shale. I do know I need your ability. We’re stronger together. In our own way, we each help fill in the blanks. I agree that it’s dangerous for all of us to go in there, but the situation we have on our hands now is that it’s more dangerous for us to split up and more dangerous yet to simply leave this witch man lurking in the maze down there. Taking Vika was his first act of war against us. He very well might have done it to get us to run.”

  Shale folded her arms as she looked away in thought. “I hate to admit it, but I think you may be right.”

  “So how are we going to deal with him?” Kahlan asked. “He is a witch man. We know all too well how dangerous witch women, like Shota
, can be. For all we know, he could be much more powerful. Plus he has us at a disadvantage because he has been living and hiding in there for a very long time. He knows the layout and how to use the complication to his advantage. He’s had time to plot his revenge. How are we going to be able to deal with someone like that?”

  Richard gazed into her eyes. “If I have to, I will strangle him to death with my bare hands.”

  15

  “That’s the passageway, there, Lord Rahl,” Nyda said in a low voice. “Beyond lies the Wasteland.”

  “Just so you understand,” Rikka told him, “Vika is most likely dead by now. Michec would not want to let you have any hope of saving her. He would want to use her death to make you feel powerless against him. His specialty is making his victims feel helpless.”

  Richard shook his head as he stared off into the darkness. “A man like Michec has bigger designs than killing Vika. His desire is to eliminate me. To do that, he will need her alive as bait.”

  Rikka let out a deep breath. “I have to admit, that’s a possibility. He must feel you are vulnerable.”

  “You mean because of the goddess?” Kahlan asked.

  Rikka nodded. “He has a way of knowing things. He would have chosen this time to strike while you already have an incredibly difficult situation on your hands. He came and took Vika before we could leave in order to keep you here.”

  Richard checked a side hall as they went past. “All the more reason we can’t leave and allow him to have free run of the palace. There is no telling what sort of treason he could be up to.”

  While Richard and those with him were on their way to find Michec, he had sent Edward Harris back. Harris swore that he would oversee the staff until Richard’s return.

  He also swore to investigate any influence by Moravaska Michec among the palace staff. Richard told him that if he found any connections, to have the First File deal with it harshly.

  It had been a long way down to where the tombs were located, and then another long journey to the isolated section M111-B. The eight soldiers at the guard station at the first of the locked doors reported no activity.