Disclaimer: All characters and the story outline belong to Tamora Pierce. The rest is my stuff and nonesence.
Chapter 19 – The laboratory
When they got back to the university, Numair changed back into himself and dressed. Lindhall had been silent since the execution and sat in his chair now, petting Bonedancer's beak and lost in his thoughts. In a soft, compassionate voice, Numair asked, "Are you alright, Lindhall?"
Lindhall merely nodded, but there was a look of sadness in his eyes.
"Are you thinking about Kaddar and Varice?"
Lindhall spoke at last. "Yes. It was as much torture for them as it was for your simulacrum."
"But there is more. What is it?"
"He has no humanity left. I had always hoped that he would somehow see the error of his ways. He has been unable to drain Gift from slaves for years. I guess part of me believed that the boy we both once liked would resurface and repent his sins to the Gods. But there was not a bit of regret in that man we saw today. No regret. No mercy. No humanity. I have started to believe he would sacrifice all of mankind for power. I had thought there was a glimmer of humanity in his love for various creatures and especially birds. But today I believe that is about power as well. He likes that he can control them. Nothing more. Arra—Numair, I looked upon true evil today and I don't think I will ever be the same."
Numair could do nothing more than nod. It was the same feeling he had suffered so many years ago when the slave girl was sucked dry.
"I didn't watch what he did to that girl all those years ago," Lindhall continued. "You told me and I never doubted – I mean I saw your face. But I never saw his. Despite everything I was told he did and everything I've seen since, despite everything I've done to keep it from happening again, I always believed that he might change. I was a fool all of these years and I didn't know it. But you did, didn't you? You knew the level of his evil. That was why you sent the simulacrum. I was such a fool. I thought you would go home and never use it."
Numair gripped the man's shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. "Believe me, I had not completely given up hope."
"I'm frightened, Numair. I'm frightened of what other evil things he may have done for power and frightened that he will get out of this alive. I prayed for his demise." Lindhall swallowed hard. "I have always been a kind of pacifist. I helped the underground, but I avoided wars in the strictest sense."
"There is nothing pacifistic about what you have done for the slave underground. Lindhall. We all stick to our strengths. When I joined the battle mages in Tortall, Jonathan of Conte insisted on my learning to use a sword and dagger as well. I can use them, thanks to some hard lessons by a very talented teacher. But I'm not great. When the fighting starts, they don't stick a sword in my hand. I blast things, punch through opponents' magic, or hold off dampening fields. I go where my strengths are. Your strengths have been in keeping this monster from growing stronger. In ten years you have not faltered. If you think that is nothing … Lindhall, it is probably the only reason that he does not dominate the world. You told me that you are proud of me. But I don't feel that I even begin to measure up to you. The Gods will hold a special place of honor for you when you are gone. Every mortal could wish for as much. I only hope I can live up to half of what you have done."
The two men stared at one another for a moment. A single tear trickled down Lindhall's face. He choked out the words, "Thank you, son," before he turned and walked into the aviary.
Numair spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening trying every scrying spell he had ever heard of. A small smile played on Lindhall's face when he put a plate of food before Numair. He said, "You aren't giving up, are you?"
"Not until my last breath," Numair answered with a chuckle.
Lindhall didn't look amused. "You know, I watched you die today. Even knowing it was your image and not you, I could barely cope. Try not to get yourself killed."
Numair looked stern. "You need to understand, Lindhall, I cannot let anything happen to her. If my life is forfeit for her safety, so be it. I have accepted that and you need to as well. I'm sorry for what you suffered today, but I cannot sit by while my student -- my friend -- is tortured into madness or killed. That would be against the core of my being."
"Of course," Lindhall said, looking at the floor. "Then I suppose you better see this." He placed a very large book in front of Numair. It looked ancient and was written in Old Thak. "I have spent months trying to translate it. You know I'm slow with that stuff. It is full of stealth spells. They require a significant amount of gift and they are quite dangerous. I don't know if you will find what you need in there or be able to figure out how to use it in time. But I think Daine is clearly somewhere where you cannot find her with any method of scrying. This seems the next choice."
The yellowed pages were fragile, but with shaking hands, Numair began to examine it. "The Power Codex," he read the title with whispered awe. He flipped it open to somewhere in the center – a random choice. But his hand must have been guided by the Gods, for this was just what he was looking for. It would allow him to walk through walls. It was going to require significant gift and he could see it would be tough to maintain for any length of time, assuming he could master it.
He spent the night and a few hours into the morning deciphering and practicing the spell. Just after dawn he rushed to Lindhall's pallate and shouted, "Lindhall, I've got it!" Lindhall had been sleeping, but he woke immediately with wide eyes.
"Watch!" Numair said with eyes glittering. After a few well-spoken Old Thak words, Numair's gift enveloped him. He walked through the wall to the other room and back again.
"Mithos!" Lindhall whispered. "You learned this in one night?" His eyes were wide.
"Well, yes. But it did take all night." Numair tried not to look too proud of himself.
"But do you realize… you have always been brilliant but – Gods, that's just…" he never really finished, just covered his mouth with his hand and looked dumbstruck.
"I am exhausted though. I will need a couple hours rest before I go. But then I can look for Daine. I should be able to use the spelled gem for invisibility and the Power Codex spell."
"Rest then. I will wake you in two hours. Wait, can you teach me the spell? I will go with you if it's…" He stopped as Numair looked at the floor. "You don't know how to tell me that my Gift is not great enough. It is alright, my boy. Rest." He left the room.
Numair layed down for a meditative rest. The last thing he thought before he drifted off to sleep was that he needed to learn humility from Lindhall.
But it wasn't quite two hours later when Numair awoke, and it wasn't Lindhall who had brought him from his slumber. Every animal in the Kingdom was going crazy. Lindhall's lizards were snapping, the birds pounded the glass of the aviary. Numair scrambled up and out into the main room. Lindhall's hand was on the door to his aviary. He clearly intended to try to calm his pets.
"No!" Numair shouted. "It's Daine. She's frightened. Your birds will likely attack you. You need to avoid all your animals until they calm. And I have to go now. If Ozorne realizes she's awake..." He never finished the sentence. Placing his agate in his mouth, he shifted to hawk form and flew from the building.
Outside, the world was chaos. He could hear Daine faintly when he was in animal form. He heard her mind cry, "I want out." Birds of all types were pelting the palace. Numair knew he would blend well with the other thousands of birds peppering the sky. He could hear dogs howl and saw every palace animal forcing against doors to get in.
He landed on an open window, followed by hundreds of other assorted birds. But the chaos had erupted into battle between the people and what Daine called "two-leggers". Then he heard Daine's mind-speak again. "Stop! No don't! Stop! They'll hurt you! They'll kill you." Her panic was clearly broadcast with the words. He was scared for her. And then her voice was silent. She had cut herself off in effort to stop the animals from being killed.
Numair found that the silence made him ache. He was not a real animal. Perhaps some of the others could still find her. But to him it was as if she had died. He shifted to human and used the agate spell to turn invisible. He had to find her and now.
It was slow going. He had to avoid walking into humans and making noises. Though the chaos of the animal attacks had ended, humans seemed to be running everywhere, trying to figure out what had happened. It took him nearly one and a half hours to reach the emperor's section, which was now the center of the most heavily protected wing. It took him even longer to find the tunnel entrance. By then all the humans seemed to have disappeared from view. His fear and emptiness had grown so much that he was sure he would find her dead. When at last he found the area where the laboratory was, he could hardly contain his fear. The entrances were as heavily spelled as he suspected. The walls were designed to block magic without a powerful booster. Of course, Numair knew what that booster was. He thought with hatred about the black opal necklace that Ozorne wore. He grabbed his own opal pendant – his jewels were spelled to stay with him during shifts. Using the "Power Codex" spell he walked through the wall of the laboratory.
Inside the laboratory was a smaller cell. The walls were spelled to allow the emperor to observe the prisoner without being seen. Its walls blocked magic entirely. A prisoner with the Gift would be completely helpless inside it. He shuddered involuntarily. A thick pad covered in blankets lay on the floor. Three collapsed water skins lay beside it along with a dirty, discarded napkin. Filthy, wrinkled clothing lay in a heap in the corner. He knew without a second glance that they were Daine's. But Daine was not here. He whispered her name in case she was hiding as a mouse, but there was no point. She was gone and he could not know where.