Ivy League Illusion, Part 16
Something Doesn't Add Up
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“How can you tell where you’re going?” asked DL as Susan and Carlos led us through the tunnels.
“There are symbols hidden in the murals,” replied Carlos, pointing to yet another graphic image of vampires slaughtering humans. “Basically, there’s an elaborate visual code that tells us where we are, and where the nearest exit is. We don’t need it too much because we aren’t down here that often, but we were required to learn it after first being turned, just in case.”
DL looked unconvinced, and Yong-Gam continued to carry his sword instead of sheathing it. Agnar kept his sunlight muted but never let it fade completely Ekaterina kept her eyes on our two guides, and Adreanna kept us veiled in protective magic. She might well have done that anyway, given that we were in hostile territory, but at this point, the precaution was clearly aimed partly at Carlos and Susan.
Something about their story didn’t make sense to me. Normally, the tunnels must have been pitch black. We only had light now because of our various magics. Vampires and dark elves could both see in the dark, so that wouldn’t have been a problem for them. But if they were the only ones using the tunnels, why bother with the code? Wouldn’t normal signs have been easier to use? I supposed they could have worried about me getting into the tunnels if I got my memory back, but they could easily have blocked the entrances instead of leaving them wide open. After all, the one through which I fell had been blocked off—rather hastily, by the look of it.
“Are there any other captives here besides me?” I asked.
“No one’s being held that I know of,” said Carlos. “Why?”
“Just that it seems strange to go to all that trouble to mask directions that someone would have to be able to see in the dark to notice.”
“That’s above our pay grade,” said Susan, though it had taken her long enough to answer to cast doubt on what she was saying. I thought about using Kenaz again, but that brought up another problem.
“We know it’s easy to track us through our magic. Isn’t it likely that if we get close to the portal, more vampires and dark alfar will be sent to reinforce it?”
“It’s easy for the dark alfar and Fjalar to spot magic down here,” replied Carlos. “But when your friends arrived, the dark alfar sorcerers started passing out amulets that mask such signals, presumably so that your friends couldn’t track alfar and duergar when they used magic. Before we came down, we stole a couple and are wearing them now.”
Carlos pulled an amulet with shadows writhing around it out of his shirt so I could see it. “As long as you’re with us, no one should be able to detect you from a distance.”
“What about the blood bond with Max?” asked Ekaterina. “Or you, for that matter?”
“The amulets don’t cut that off,” Susan admitted. “But Max could tell if anyone was keeping tabs on him that way. In any case, vampires probably wouldn’t try that unless they knew exactly what your situation was because you might be able to turn the bond against them.”
That sounded intriguing, but Susan changed the subject before I had a chance to ask about it.
“And just in case anyone is wondering, using the acute senses of vampires to track you would work eventually, but unlike magic tracking, a vampire’s tracking depend on distance, as you well know, and Carlos and I have learned after our turning. Vampires could pick up your scent trail but not know immediately where you are now. And they’d need to be close to pick up things like heat signatures and heartbeats.”
“Correct,” said Ekaterina. “You’ve obviously put much thought into this.”
“We had to,” said Susan. “We’ll only get one shot. If this plan doesn’t succeed, we’ll undoubtedly be killed. Our leaders could never forgive such a betrayal as we have committed.
“Hold up a minute,” I said, my eyes drawn to the nearest mural.
“We may not have much time,” said Carlos. “We should keep moving.”
“This is important,” I said. “There’s more concealed in this mural than just directions. I can also make out sequences of runes on it.”
Carlos raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“No doubt, they are only visible to people who are sensitive to magic,” said Adreanna, coming closer to examine the mural. “Vampires can sometimes feel magic but don’t perceive it the way magic users do. Yes, I see what you mean, Max. The murals have also been used as vehicles for runic magic.”
“What does it do?” I asked.
“It would take quite a while to parse out the whole thing. This is more complicated than I have ever seen. And notice how some of the runes are conjoined. We call those bind runes, which can create an entirely different effect than any single rune could. Not only are there a massive number of runes, but there are also a larger collection of bind runes among them than I have ever seen. Offhand, I can’t imagine why they’d need something this complicated.”
“It’s for the Harvard illusion,” I said. “Think about how much detail is needed to maintain the illusion of a college campus the size of Harvard’s. That’s close to 6,000 acres, not counting the space in between Harvard’s three campuses, which the illusion would have to include because I’ve walked through some of those areas. And since the crew team uses a long stretch on the Charles River, the illusion would need to include that as well. Even if we assume the illusion is only generated for areas in or close to my field of vision and shifts as I move around, that would be an incredibly complex spell to craft.”
“So what?” asked DL. “The illusion isn’t even running now—and we need to get out of here while we can.”
“Adreanna, is it possible to…hack something like this?” I asked.
“Maybe,” she said, sounding doubtful. “What is it you want to do?”
“Reactivate the illusion—but with real sunlight, not just the illusion of sunlight. If we did that, we could wipe out the vampires and render the dark alfar helpless.”
“What about us?” asked Carlos. “You promised—”
“We should be able to shield you,” I said. “I’m not going to break our deal.”
'“I don’t know how to do something like editing a complex rune sequence to change the way it works,” said Adreanna.
“Nor do I,” said Agnar. “But perhaps the three of us together could do it.”
“I’m not so sure,” said Adreanna. “But even if we could, isn’t that kind of manipulation going to give away our position long before we could finish the work?”
“An excellent point,” said Agnar. “That is why we need to duplicate the existing pattern before trying to change it.”
He studied the pattern for a nerve-rackingly long time before taking a few steps to the right, raising his hands, palms pointed toward the wall, and projecting on to it a copy of the elaborate rune script. The writing was light rather than dark, but otherwise, the two patterns were identical as far as I could tell.
I couldn’t remember enough about most of the runes to be immediately helpful, but Adreanna and Agnar immediately set to work, poking and prodding at the elaborate array of runes, occasionally adding one or easing another.
After a while, DL said, “I don’t like this. You’re taking too long.”
“I must concur,” said Yong-Gam. “I have no doubt that you can achieve what you set out to do, but I doubt you will succeed in the time available.”
“Give us a couple more minutes,” said Adreanna. Looking at the glowing mess in front of her, I was almost as skeptical as DL. I should never have suggested something like this.
“I’m afraid this is beyond me,” said Agnar after a little longer. “Though dokkalfar and ljosalfar use the same runes, the way in which they use them is different. The additional seidr involved specifically in the crafting of illusions is different as well.”
DL sighed but refrained from the I-told-you-so he probably felt like saying.
“Then let us move on,” said Yong-Gam.
“In a minute,” I said. Was it my imagination, or had the original runes slightly changed color? No, they still glowed black—odd as that sounded—but something was different about them. They looked almost as if they weren’t painted on the stone wall but actually floating slightly above the surface. Without thinking, I reached out to touch them.
“Wait!” said Adreanna, reaching for my hand. But before she could touch me, I touched the runes—or rather, some kind of field radiating from them.
My touch triggered an explosion of magical energy that I felt even through Adreanna’s protection, which twisted and buckled as the power whipped against it.
Tentacles of magic wrapped all around the bubble with which Adreanna had encircled us. Carlos and Susan, who had stood outside that protection, were engulfed by the hostile magic. Their screams echoed in the corridors before being abruptly cut off.
Agnar’s magic flared, his sunlight lashing out against the shadowy tentacles. But he’d been in the constricting atmosphere of the tunnels for too long. His power was pale against the surrounding darkness and had much less effect than I might have expected.
I couldn’t offhand think of how to counter this problem using runic magic, so I adopted a more primitive approach—I swung my staff at the encroaching darkness. It caused the tentacles to quiver and loosen their grip, but only momentarily. The darkness was backed by powerful magic.
Shrouded in hostile magic as we were, our enemies could find us in no time.
No doubt, that rune sequence was an elaborately conceived trap—and I had fallen right into it.
Ivy League Illusion is related to the Different Dragons series. (The action falls after the end of the third book.)
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Bill. Bill. Bill. 16 episodes!!!!!! I don’t have time for this but now I have to read them all. I love this concept. Thank you providing me the opportunity to read this. Subscribed!!!!