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It was decided by the Council that at this time we were going to expand our operations in the outer realms. We already had a small team there who were based near the stream I’d drunk from which, due to the wild magic pervasive on Azurana, had a displacement effect which meant you could not be detected save by anyone else who had drank from it. Nor did the water have an effect in our world; it lost its efficacy within minutes if it was removed from the source.
Jerhz, Mergna, Telqua and Hinnit were now instrumental in helping our Mages expand their base of operations to the fortress town called Zudraj where I’d initially been taken in chains. Zudraj was where the Nephilim armies assembled and where the wounded were cared for. Casualties were apparently very high and were overwhelming the few healers that the Malakha had, it not being one of their major talents, or something that they trained for. We’d gathered that Malakha in the field rarely if ever gave healing to the forces under their control, save only for a few of the higher officer class, and left it to a lesser Mage class of healer who, as far as our Mages could tell, were not terribly good at it.
It had been the practice of our healers during the Rwandan crisis to heal any and all who came to them via a triage system that had bonded Hinnit’s Azuran Caddiysh fighting band Samyaza to our cause. This had caused many of the Caddiysh fighting us elsewhere to question their cause. Jerhz and Mergna had also ensured that the mistreatment of Azuran women who had volunteered to fight was relayed back to an increasingly fractious and disgruntled populace. The result of this was a major crackdown by the Malakha leadership, which naturally had caused further resentment and had also diverted forces, that could have been used elsewhere, to keeping their own people down.
We had seen very little of the ‘foreign’ Mages in Azurana. Jerhz suspected they were based mostly at the Azuran capital of Lorkhan, training the senior Malakha in new techniques; as well as making attempts to re-learn the ancient Azuran art of Qiyāmah, though, as far as we knew, with little success as we’d certainly not had any evidence of the dead rising on any of the worlds where the Nephilim were fighting.
Most of Jerhz and Mergna’s efforts were still based around getting their people out. What had started as a trickle was now heading towards a flood as many of the poor, starving and desperate Azurans were making their way to Zudraj to link up with the few free Azurans willing to return to Azurana and bring their people out. Many we suspected did not make it. Tales were rife about atrocities being committed by fanatical Caddiysh troops butchering any they found or suspected had no good reason to be there, although many were now being sacrificed at roadside altars to Irin.
Yet still they came and Jerhz was at times hard pressed to keep New Azurana capable of handling the mass of refugees who made their way to our encampment and the Seer built hidden portal that we used as the Malakha now guarded their own portal fiercely. So far almost 70,000 Azurans had made it to New Azurana where they were rapidly settling in the Mediterranean lands of that Earth where the climate was mild and the crops easy to grow. Few however would return once they were out and we didn’t blame them at all.
It was early in 1997 that Morgana, Julia, Simone, Róisín and I portalled into Azurana on what was essentially a fact finding mission for the Council.
“Careful looking up,” I murmured, which naturally had them all looking up only to recoil in shock at the tear in the sky which looked like a huge eye.
“Good grief,” muttered Morgana. “No wonder their history tells of so many going mad.”
“Looking up also gives you away as a stranger as not even the Malakha do it,” I said, getting a nod from Hinnit and his assistant Telqua.
“Simply disguising your appearance will no longer be enough either,” Mergna added. “There are scans by Malakha at the gates of Zudraj and many internal checks too, even for foreign Mages.”
“Mostly we’re here to gather information on a Mage called Landulf. All the hints we’ve had on our Earth point to him as being a prime mover amongst the Sidhe. However our information on his recent activities and location are scant. Our sources on Tír na nÓg tell us they haven’t had word of him in over three centuries and we suspect he made his way here then contacted other Mages to join him,” Morgana explained.
“So different from our worlds,” murmured Simone. “I’m recording it all for my sister Seers. They will be fascinated.”
“No criticism implied here, Mage Julia, but surely this is no place for a Seer?” I questioned.
“She insisted,” Julia replied with a pained look. “I might be their boss ... so to speak, but I can’t get them to obey me if they consider it a ‘greater need’ as they see it.”
“Part of our problem is not getting to see and know our enemies,” Simone replied. “Abi’s trip to Tír na nÓg proved that beyond doubt.”
“So you fancied a jaunt to the outer realms, Seer Simone?” I chuckled. “I can think of nicer holiday spots.”
“Very few as fascinating though,” she replied with a smile. “Irin in particular could be the work of centuries of study.”
“Is that safe?” Róisín asked.
“To be honest, I don’t know. But it hasn’t responded to any probes so far and I’ve moved from subtle to outright intrusive ... not that what I’m getting makes much sense,” Simone admitted.
“Alive?” Morgana asked.
“Not as we would understand alive, no,” Simone replied.
“Functioning then?” Róisín asked with a grin.
“Definitely functioning, but very different to what I’m used to,” Simone replied. “Nor does it match your experience with an Old One, John.”
“I’m told that the voice of Irin at Lorkhan comes out as a scream,” Hinnit added.
“Yes, that very much matched the outer realm’s norm of a great, or indeed a minor, power,” Simone mused. “However what I’m reading appears to be more of a construct.”
“Explains a few things,” Morgana said thoughtfully. “Close exposure to an Old One nearly drove John and I mad. This is simply an effect to drive mundanes mad.”
“Surely a magical construct would attract other denizens of the outer realms?” I queried.
“I’m looking into that, John,” Simone replied. “Normally you’d be correct, however should the construct which surrounds Azurana be inimical or even blends in well as a sort of cloak, then whoever constructed it could work here unrestrained.”
“There are old rumours, often denied but never refuted, that in the days of the casting out, the final few Caddiysh who survived Daedra and who could create the art of Qiyāmah died under unusual circumstances,” Telqua added. “After that they became a militia and then finally an army.”
“If true, I suspect we now know why,” Morgana replied thoughtfully.
“Indeed it was only the art of Qiyāmah that enabled us a victory of sorts,” Hinnit replied.
“Without it the Malakha were easy prey for the ‘wise ones’ when it came to maintaining their power,” Simone replied.
“Wonder why the Daoine Sidhe did not return to Tír na nÓg after the casting out?” I asked out loud.
“I cannot say for sure,” Simone replied. “But our studies into their parasitical form suggest that they needed time to restore their energy levels in order to create new bodies. Afterwards there was a religion to maintain and a people to enslave. Chances are they feared Oberon and Titania could defeat them or at least have enough strength to oppose them until they’d reached equilibrium.”
“Time works differently here too,” I added.
“That it does, John. It’s one of the reasons why we constantly turn over the staff here. You thought you’d only been here a couple of days, it was nearly five weeks on our Earth,” Morgana replied.
“No wonder you appeared pleased to see me,” I chuckled.
“Well, you did contact Jemima after a week or so,” Morgana replied with a smile. “After that it was merely a case of waiting and hoping.”
“Anyway, as interesting as this is,” Julia said with a smile. “We’d best be on our way to Zudraj, hopefully we can get a better idea on Nephilim numbers.”
“I hope so. Some of our ‘allies’ are getting fractious as the Nephilim seem to have a large manpower reserve, even if they are currently using women to supplement it,” Morgana replied.
“This way, Mages,” Mergna said as she led us off towards what I presumed was Zudraj.
As ever distances were deceptive and now that I knew what to look for I could spot the slight discontinuity as we passed through the fracturing portal zones that abounded Azurana. Mergna was a lot more confident of our abilities this time and actively engaged in conversation with us all. Telqua and Hinnit brought up the rear and ensured we were not being followed. Here and there we saw examples of temporary encampments where Mergna told us refugees had settled in the hopes that someone from the rebels would come and find them and lead them to safety.
“We get as many as we can, even rebel Malakha, though they have to allow a full scan to prove they are actually rebels,” she said.
“Catch many spies?” I asked.
“One or two, but mostly the Malakha try to kill off the escapees rather than blend in with them as an example to others,” she replied.
“Does it work?” Róisín asked curiously.
“Not so you’d notice. Though it’s now getting harder for them to approach the area as the number of guards has been stepped up substantially,” Mergna explained.
“I presume you have a way around it?” Róisín asked.
“Yes, we bribe some of the Caddiysh as they tend not to be supervised. Hinnit here uses some of his men’s old uniforms to disguise refugees, with Telqua here shielding them,” Mergna replied.
“We do our best,” Hinnit added. “But still too many are caught and sacrificed, even the children.”
“To our eternal shame,” added Telqua. “It was never meant to be like this. We and the people were told we were liberating the other worlds from slavery and yet the proscriptions of Caddiy were lifted and many of the Caddiysh who had been little more than sacrifice collectors and bully boys went on a rampage throughout the civilised worlds.”
“There were honourable Caddiysh. I attracted a good few to my fighting band, but even then I had little control when a Malakha called for a selective atrocity,” Hinnit sighed.
“You need not go over past wrongs, Hinnit,” Mergna replied. “All is forgiven now.”
“I know, but I still feel the shame,” Hinnit replied stony faced.
“As do I,” added Telqua.
Finally we’d reached Zudraj and I gazed again on the forbidding walls of the fortress town.
“Seems different, more run down,” I murmured.
“The best of the fighting men and the town guard were enlisted a few months ago,” Mergna explained. “What’s left are scum, thieves, robbers and rapists.”
“Surprised the townsfolk allow such,” Morgana replied.
“The guards are backed up by Malakha, resistance means death,” Mergna stated.
“Malakha at the gates scanning any and all entering,” Róisín noted.
“Not very powerful though,” Julia added. “No back up either.”
“He’s in mental contact of a sort with his superiors in the fortress, but his superiors appear to be asleep,” Simone added with a wry smile.
“I’ve no doubt he could wake them given a chance,” Morgana stated.
“I’m sure he could, Morgana. Which is why he won’t be given a chance,” chuckled Simone.
What Simone did next was quite subtle, but essentially she wrapped the guards and the Malakha in a continuous loop of sensations before signalling us to follow her as we simply strolled into town completely ignored by those who would prevent such things. Hinnit remained behind with Telqua as their job was to cover our retreat if necessary and to guide a known group of refugees to a staging area.
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