Amber's Enchantment Ch. 07

*****

Vesti, Silene, Garth and Thabian were walking back towards the house leader's office, the two wizards discussing the ramifications of a magic performing slave. Vesti suddenly pulled up short next to a door; the others barely able to keep from running into him.

"Silene, did you see that?"

She turned towards where he was looking with, "See what?"

"There was a small spot of black aura here. It was only there for a second."

"Are you sure? If it really was there, mana would flow towards it. It would be a hole in the world."

"I know." He turned towards Thabian and Garth. "Where does this door lead?"

Garth looked at the door, one of the few true doors in the caverns. It was sealed with magic so as not to open. "It leads outside to the courtyard. Obviously no one goes out there these days."

"So, just beyond this door are the fires?"

"Yes."

"It's not big enough," Vesti whispered to himself. He turned towards Silene again. "There's something I haven't told you. Mana levels are dropping, significantly. No one knows why, at least not before now. That black spot of aura, you called it a hole in the world. It is, and I suspect mana leaked out of it while it was there. But, it wouldn't be enough to explain the drops in mana we're seeing at the guild."

"Maybe not by itself. But what if there were thousands of these holes popping into and out of existence all the time?"

"Someone would have noticed before now."

"Not if they occurred where no one was," she answered, looking meaningfully at the door.

Good Gods!" Vesti exclaimed. "What could cause such a thing? More importantly, why hasn't happened before now?"

"Excuse me," Inclon asked. "Would someone explain just what the two of you are talking about?"

"I'm sorry," Vesti answered. "A black spot of mana appeared in the passage for a few seconds. I suspect that such a spot, call it a hole, would suck mana into it. If there were enough of them, they could slowly drain all the mana out of the world. The guild has discovered that mana levels are dropping in everything. These drops are beyond the changes that occur naturally. To cause these drops, there would have to be thousands of these holes, enough that any wizard would see them. Unless they were primarily in areas we can't look at. We need to see what's out there, amid the burning."

Silene added, "We can see places at a distance, but we can't see auras at a distance. The only way to see if they're there would be to go out there. There's no one who could survive that."

Vesti opened his mouthy, then closed it. After a minute, he commented, almost to himself, "There might just be someone who could."

Garth caught his meaning immediately. Vesti found himself slammed against the passage wall. "No! You're not sending her out there."

"Garth, control yourself." Thabian laid a hand on his shoulder. "I understand your feelings. We all care about our slaves. But, if magic becomes merely a legend of the past, how will we be able to continue to bring young women to the slavery they need and crave, as all our slaves do?"

"But the fires will consume her. We don't kill slaves."

"I won't let Amber be killed either. But, if she dies, these wizards won't get the information they need." He turned towards the wizard. "I assume you have some reason to believe that Amber won't be consumed by the fires."

"Yes, I do. I suspect that Amber can't be killed so long as she wears her collar. The mana seed in her will power the healing spell in the collar to keep her alive. It will be quite painful, though."

"My Lord! You can't be seriously considering this..." Garth was at a loss for words adequate to describe his feelings on the matter.

"Garth, imagine, if you will, every slave collar in the world failing, bit by bit, as the mana needed to power their magics vanishes. Imagine the unpredictability in how magic affects Amber, only more wildly variant, for every slave in the world. We have an obligation to do whatever it takes to protect our charges—in the long run."

The look of horror in his face was enough for Thabian. The slave trainer understood what was at stake. The leader of the slave house turned back towards the wizards. "Can it be done? I mean, can Amber go out there without letting the fires in here?"

"Yes, it is. We don't understand the reasons, but the fires never come underground, even when they have a large natural cavern entrance to use. The fires may lick at the areas near the entrance, but not far enough to be a danger to anyone; unless they stand at the doorway itself."

"Garth, bring Amber here in an hour. It would be best if we don't delay."

*****

The portal closed with a loud popping sound. Ponet glared at the people standing before him. "This had better be important. I don't have time for the petty concerns of merchants."

"And we don't enjoy inviting wizards to our meetings. Rest assured, this is important. If you'll follow me." Haversham and his slave left the room, confident the wizard would follow. The caravan was camped at one of the many traveling caverns that dotted the tunnels; just large enough for a caravan to part without blocking the main tunnel. Soon all three people entered Haversham's tent.

"Ponet, this is Colrit. He's a theoretical alchemist. Since he's the person that made the discovery, I'll let him explain what it."

The wizard looked at the dwarf, unable to hide the mild surprise at seeing someone, especially a long lived dwarf, showing signs of advanced aging. "Sit down, wizard. My neck can't take all this looking up these days." Ponet, not used to being ordered around with such brashness, sat in surprise. Behind his beard, the old dwarf smiled at having put the wizard on the defensive.

"I'll not belabor the point. Mana is vanishing from Destran. In 50 years, there won't be enough mana in the world to power a water cooler."

Ponet, his mouth hanging open, tried to think how the secret could have gotten out already. It didn't even occur to him to deny it. "How in the names of the Gods did you find out?"

Colrit stood, his hands pounding the desk. "You wizards knew already! When were you planning on telling the rest of us? The imminent collapse of civilization is not something you keep a secret."

Ponet stood as well. "On the contrary," he replied in terse, measured tones. "It most certainly is. Widely spread, such knowledge would incite panic in the general populace. We don't have any idea what's happening, whether it's a temporary change or one that will stop on its own."

"Gods save us from the do nothings. If we don't know when the mana drain will end, the solution isn't to sit and hope it does so soon."

"We are not sitting and hoping anything. We have top people researching just how such a violation of the laws of magic is possible. We suspect an outside force is responsible."

Haversham looked up from his grimace at the hostile tones being exchanged. "Outside force? Are you referring to Melen Lustran's mysterious trading partners?"

"Yes. We already know they're capable of draining mana from individual objects." The fear such an acknowledgement stirred was obvious in his face. "We think they might have some way of doing the same on a much larger scale."

"Do you know anything about these traders?"

"No; madam Lustran is very tightlipped with that information."

Haversham looked at Colrit. "I think the time for secrets is over. The people with the knowledge base to solve the problem need all the information."

"I agree, merchant. Do you have the authority to do so?"

"Yes. I was in touch with the President yesterday." He turned back to Ponet. "These traders are unlike anything on Destran. Our intelligence indicates that they are creatures without material bodies. They seem to be capable of moving through solid objects. The one our agent saw must have been a powerful wizard, as it was able to detect him with ease."

"That's impossible. Life can't be sustained without a solid form to contain the mana."

"Never the less; that's the report we have. These creatures are so strange that it isn't even surprising they prefer to be paid with copper over gold or platinum."

"Copper? How odd. Did you know the trade goods Melen is buying are mana free? There's not a trace of mana in any of them. What's curious is that copper is the most mana rich of the precious metals. So, they're trading things with no mana for metal that is as mana rich as there is. I wonder if that's on purpose?"

"How can anything be free of mana? Isn't one of the cornerstones of magic the fact that mana permeates everything?"

"Yes it is. And I wasn't quite accurate. The goods aren't mana free, they're mana voids. And no, we don't understand how this is possible. We suspect it's because these traders seem to come from some other dimension."

"Another dimension? Slave house Venturers go to other dimensions regularly to obtain new captives. Are you saying their slaves have no mana?"

"No, not at all. They take captives from dimensions much like our own; though they don't seem to have anyone capable of performing magic. These traders seem to come from a dimension that is radically different from our own. Thus the mana voids and, apparently, their insubstantiability. What's truly confusing is that we thought their attempt to siphon mana from our world failed. They had sold the Lustren family devices that seem to strip the mana from whatever they're used on. But, she never used them. In fact, she told our wizard in her caverns that she was giving them back. So what's happening to the mana?"

"Just as confusing," Colrit added, "is why the loss is uniform. If more of these devices you mentioned were responsible, we would be seeing outbreaks of mana free things, not a gradual reduction in everything. It's almost like the whole world has sprung a leak, in terms of mana. I just don't see how that's possible."

"I get the feeling we're missing some very important piece of information," Ponet said.

At his words, Colrit looked up, as if staring at something no one else could see. "No, we're not missing anything; we have something fundamentally wrong in our information."

"What?" Ponet was clearly confused by the seemingly random statement.

"Wizard, what's the second law of magic?"

"Mana can't be lost..." Ponet stopped, the light dawning in his eyes.

"Exactly. You see it now. The laws of magic are simply wrong. As long as we limit our thinking by them, this problem will be unsolvable." He though for a minute. "Imagine trying to explain time differences if you knew the world was a flat sheet carries on the back of a giant tortoise. You might come up with an explanation, but it would be wrong."

"But, what can we do? Abandon the laws completely? We'll be just as lost, only with no guide at all."

"No, but we do need to ignore the laws that are being blatantly violated. Most importantly, we must assume that mana can move between objects. Clearly it does. The changes in mana levels of reagents should have been proof enough of that." He turned a judgmental stare towards the wizard.

"I'm not a theory expert. I'll have to take this back to the council. They aren't going to like it. Hells, I don't like it."

"One doesn't have to like facts; one simply has to acknowledge them."

*****

Amber entered the room and knelt nervously in front of Thabian Y' Grantlo, the man who literally owned her. "Master, you sent for me?"

"Yes, Amber. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't explain an order I give a slave. These aren't normal times, and you certainly aren't a normal slave."

"I'm sorry, Master."

"Don't be. A normal slave wouldn't be able to do what I'm going to have you do. There is a danger, Amber; a danger that threatens our entire way of life. Mana is disappearing, and we don't know where it's going. Do you understand what that means?"

"I'm not sure, Master. Mana makes magic work, doesn't it?"

"Not precisely, but close enough."

"So, if mana is going away, so is the ability to do magic."

"Exactly. Our society is founded on magical technology. Without it, there would be no fresh water in homes, no elimination of waste, no construction, no slave collars. Everything we rely on in our day to day lives would be gone."

Amber fingered her collar, trying to imagine not having it any more. She could remember a time when she would give anything to avoid wearing it. Now, the thought of it being gone frightened her. "What can I do, Master/"

"You're the only slave we know of that can see magical auras. Being a slave, you are nearly impossible to kill." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I want you to go outside and see what you can see, in terms of auras."

Amber gasped. "Master, the fires..."

"Will try to consume you. It will be painful beyond imagining. Vesti and Silene believe that the magic of your collar and the fires will be nearly balanced, with your body healing the burning as fast as it consumes you. They say that any other slave, without this mana seed thing in them, would slowly be consumed, while not dying."

He paused as Amber started to tremble in terror. He didn't blame her. Every person living on Destran had pounded into them the deadliness of the burning times. For 50 years, an entire society locked itself in caverns, away from sun, moons and stars; to avoid being burned to ash by unbelievable fires that ravaged the surface of the planet. It was with surprise that he ;listen to her answer.

"Master, when do you need me to do it?" Her voice trembled even as she agreed to do as she had been told.

"The sooner the better." He reached down and lifted her chin. "I expected more resistance from you. Why?"

"Master, you, house Grantlo, saved me from Ravenshore. You've given me a better life than I could ever have hoped for in the brothel. If I can help keep this way of life going, I will."

Thabian nodded at her answer. All slaves were loyal to their trainers and owners. Amber's memories made her even more loyal than a slave normally would have been. He rose to his feet.

"Amber, come with me. The wizards will have to explain what they want you to look for."

It wasn't long before Amber was once again standing before Vesti and Silene.

"Amber, has Lord Grantlo explained what we need from you?"

"Not in any detail, Mistress; just that I need to go outside and look at the mana."

"What we need you to look for is any black area of a mana void."

"I thought that only existed on that strange device that tried to hurt me in Master Vesti's workroom."

"We though so as well. But, we have reason to think there might me other sources. We need you to confirm or deny this."

"So, Mistress, I'm to look at the auras outside while I'm being burned alive, then come back in and tell you what I saw?"

Silene turned towards Vesti. "When she puts it like that, it sounds truly crazy, doesn't it?"

"No more crazy that the entire situation itself. Can you do this, Amber?"

"I don't know, Master, but I'll try."

"We'll use magic to open and close the door for you. You just concentrate on seeing the mana. You won't have to go outside, merely stand in the doorway. Unfortunately, the flames will reach into the hall when the door opens."

They left Amber standing in front of the door. She nodded when could see auras again (Silene had taught he to shut it off at will). As the door opened, Amber's first thought was how lovely the fires were that danced beyond the opening. A wave of heat washed over her, turning her skin red a provoking a cry of pain from the slave. Flames danced at the doorway, seeming to act as if unbelieving that a new venue existed for their unending consumption.

Amber's hair was the first to ignite, bursting into flames that licked at her face and back. Amber fell to her knees, as agonizing pain tore through her body. The flames in her hair weren't satisfied with the mere morsel hair provided, but quickly spread to encompass her entire body. Her skin blackened and charred. The two wizards could see, however, magic flare from her collar and the charred skin replenish itself out of nothing, only to be reconsumed by the fires.

Amber had been burned in the past; as a child in Bella. She thought she knew what she would experience. But, there was an immense difference between putting one's hand on a hot pan and having fire consume one's entire body at once, over and over again. Amber wanted nothing more than to make the pain go away. Lost was any thought of seeing auras. Every ounce of her being wished for the pain to stop...and then it did.

From her hands and knees (she didn't remember falling), Amber looked up in awe, both at the lack of pain and the sight of her skin charring and healing in waves across her body. Blinking the tears from her eyes, she looked out into the world and saw mana; waves upon waves of pure white mana streaming down from the sky. She saw colored mana flowing out of the plants and into the soil and rocks. She also saw the voids. Hundreds of black voids appearing and vanishing; each one sucking mana into it during its brief existence.

With a violent slash of his hand, Vesti closed the door to the outside and sealed it again. The fires on Amber's body died down and extinguished. Her skin regenerated, mostly. Her mana seed, both wizards had seen, had done what they expected and energized the healing magic. It had also, however, absorbed mana directly from the air that swept into the tunnel. Only now was it draining to finish the healing. Vesti realized that Amber now looked again as she did after the weapon attacked her.

"Did you see the spell she cast?" Silene asked.

"Yes, it was incredibly complex. I'm sure not one wizard in 100 would have been able to do such a spell. Yet, she did it apparently without thought. There was a boy once who could work magic on an instinctive level like that. The guild had to quench his spark. He killed someone by simply wanting them dead."

Amber was brought back to their immediate attention when she moaned in pain and collapsed to the floor. Garth and Thabian, having watched from the other end of the tunnel, rushed to her. When they arrived at her side, she tried to kneel up, whispering, "Master."

"Come along slave, we're taking you to the doctor."

They were careful not to touch her skin much, expecting that the severe red burns and blisters would be extremely painful. Vesti and Silene followed at a discrete distance, suspecting that they weren't the most popular people in the house right now. In the medical room, H' Renith guided Amber to a set of poles at one side of the room. When she was standing in the middle of them, he tapped a stone on one and Amber's body suspended itself in mid air, eliminating the need for Amber to lie on a table, causing more pain.

The healer and Dawn, his medical slave, examined Amber briefly before he turned back towards Garth. "Her collar seems to be healing the burns normally now. It's clear they were much worse earlier. We need to keep her suspended until the worst damage heals, as extended pressure on the burns would interfere with their proper healing"

"Can she talk?"

"Yes, sir. There's some pain, but it doesn't appear to be debilitating."

Garth stepped up to the suspension field. "Amber, the wizards need you to talk with them."

"Of course, Master," came her labored reply. The training that enabled her to serve someone sexually while in pain carried over to this request as well.

Vesti and Silene entered at a motion from Garth. Both could see the drastic reduction in her mana seed's brightness, though it still pulsed and seemed to draw mana into it from her surroundings. They could also tell that whatever spell she had done earlier had vanished. "Amber, what did you see?"