The still air lay sodden and warm from the first wave of early summer heat, and moisture clung to the Cohort's face as he crept along the side of the path which wound along the west side of the island. His fingers twitched despite how tightly he had laced them, and he spun his gaze behind him every few steps.

Ahead of him was the S-shaped curve between the trees which lined the shore to the left and the gardens to the right. Just beyond was the dwelling of Elder Yurton. His breath became short as he hastened. He looked behind him once more, letting out a ragged sigh when he saw the path was still clear.

He felt fortunate most of his brethren had been tasked with surveillance on Mage Jothan. He had not wanted to devise fanciful explanations for why he was out after dark. This way he could be about his business and back in his quarters long before the others had returned.

He did not like this. It felt like a betrayal. But the Holy Order trumped all other considerations, even someone he admired. He turned his eyes forward and uttered a yelp rather unbecoming of his station as he shuddered to a stop and flung himself backwards, then stumbled and fell to the ground. He raised an arm when a hand thrust towards him from below the face which had popped out of nowhere.

"Please, let me help you up," said Jollis with a smile.

The Cohort hesitated before he clasped the proffered hand and was hauled to his feet in one swift move.

"I hope I did not startle you," Jollis said.

"Not ... not at all, honored Wanderer," said the Cohort with a bow of his head.

"Ah, then there must be some other explanation as to why your breath is still short. And why you feel obligated to use an additional honorific to my name."

The Cohort paused. "I simply wish to show you respect, and to thank you properly for helping me."

"Then I suppose that is your reason for why you are about this late at night."

"It was your directive, Wanderer, to ensure Mage Jothan was under proper surveillance. I am participating in that venture."

Jollis' smile broadened. "It is little wonder you let a crucial piece of information slip earlier. You are a very bad liar."

The Cohort's eyes widened. "My ... my Wanderer, I would never--"

"The one who lies simply to deceive is most certainly the fool," intoned Jollis. "But he starts on the road to wisdom upon admitting his lie when caught in it."

The Cohort swallowed. "I do not--"

Jollis voice grew less pleasant. "And I suggest you do not compound this lie with another, for you would surely have lost all honor at that point."

The Cohort flexed his fingers and said nothing.

"You were about to visit Elder Yurton, were you not? To tell him of the orders which I had given you and the others."

"What makes you think that?"

"Answering a question with a question is another form of deception. That was the last one I will allow you. Tell me the truth from this point forward or you will tell neither lies nor truths."

The Cohort staggered back a step. "Wanderer, I--!"

"You have one more chance to answer my question. I am usually a very patient man, but there are times when I find it a liability. This is one of them."

The Cohort swallowed and let out a ragged sigh. He bowed his head and lowered his eyes. "Yes, I was about to visit him. Please forgive me, but I am under orders."

"Then I absolve you of blame. But you must tell me why you were so concerned about the Portal energies earlier today."

The Cohort looked stricken. "But I am sworn to secrecy on the matter!"

"By that very statement, you have negated your secrecy oath. A secret is such only when no one knows it exists. And I will remind you once more of my lack of patience this evening."

"W-Wanderer, I am but a servant of the larger path. I cannot--"

"--delay your answers to my questions any further. Decide in this next moment before you speak again which is more important to you, your oath or your continued existence."

The Cohort swallowed. "Elder Yurton authorized some sort of experiment to be carried out on the Overlord Portal. It is Verano, however, who is doing the actual work."

"What kind of experiment?" Jollis demanded.

"I do not have all the details. It involves a careful and controlled cycling of the Portal energies."

"For what purpose?"

"I do not know."

"Verano is supposed to be perfecting the craft of targeting Portals via memories. Does this have anything to do with that?"

"No, Wanderer, I do not believe so."

Jollis considered for a moment, then nodded once.

"That is all I know," the Cohort said.

"Then return to your quarters. I offer an apology for my actions."

The Cohort paused as if confused, then bowed his head and scurried back the way he had come.

Jollis watched the Cohort retreat with a look of disgust, directed not at the Cohort but himself. Had a fellow Cohort resorted to the same technique to obtain information from his fellow, Jollis would have taken the man to task. Jollis' actions had been sheer expediency, and it felt distasteful to have resorted to such crude methods.

Nevertheless, it had revealed a most unfortunate fact which he had already suspected: Yurton was doing something which he did not want the rest of Oceanus to see. Or even his fellow Inonni. It flew against everything for which the Holy Order stood.

Jollis turned his head when he heard a rustling noise somewhere around the curve along the path ahead. He ducked into the trees until passing footsteps against the packed earth had turned into the gardens and faded into the distance.

So Jothan makes his move tonight, Jollis thought with some satisfaction. Then we will see what he is up to.

Jothan stopped at the point of the S-curve hidden from sight from both directions, glanced either way, and hurried into the gardens. He crouched out of sight and mumbled a countdown, passing thirty as he crawled along the ground behind a line of bushes, then twenty when he reached the northern edge of the gardens and plunged into the protection of the trees.

He had gone over in his mind several plans for a frontal assault on the Cohorts at the gate, but all scenarios had ended badly for him. Thus he chose the next best thing: diversion.

He reached the edge of the northern path and ducked down as his countdown reached ten. From behind a boulder he peered at the Cohorts standing at the gate. As his countdown reached five, he turned his head to the left and jockeyed for position to see past the thicker foliage until he spotted the warriors at the head of the path to the Portal building.

Three ... two ... one ... showtime.

A pearl imbued with elemental magic combined with combat magic, hidden among the trees between the west path and the shore, exploded its overloaded spell charge. A ball of crimson flame rocketed towards the night sky, whistling like a firecandle. Shouts of warning were drowned out when the flaming meteor reached the end of its arc and plummeted to the ground with a roar of thunder, landing between Yurton's dwelling and the astonished warriors guarding the Portal.

As flame engulfed the trees, the warriors at Yurton's dwelling dashed inside, then reappeared with the Elder, escorting him away from the fire and away from Jothan's position. The Portal guardians also left their post to join several Cohorts who now attempted to contain the fire until Verano could be summoned.

Jothan turned his attention to the gate. The two Cohorts looked on with concern, hesitated, then finally dashed away to join the makeshift fire brigade.

Jothan emerged from hiding, the flames casting a mottled orange glow upon the ground and the trees. He smirked as he saw the Inonni busy with their little "problem." He dashed across the road and through the gate, then darted into the trees where the road started to curve. He peeked towards the gate, but no shadows moved before the flickering red-orange light of his handiwork.

He took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. The initial rush had worn off, and he could not recall ever feeling this frightened. He sensed the fading residual energies of not just Barranus, but of others as well, all accompanied by the same nauseating staleness and decay. Such energies had never garnered such a reaction in him before, and the implications were too staggering to comprehend.

He emerged from the trees and sensed the energies emanating from almost due west, where a narrow path meandered off the main road. He glanced towards the gate. The glow of his diversionary fire was diminishing more quickly than he had anticipated. He plunged down the path, withdrawing a pearl from his pocket and holding it before him to light the way.

The path had been barely maintained. The foliage had been cleared back only enough to allow passage, the ground covered in spotty underbrush. He came upon what appeared to be a small hut, similar to a slave quarters, except comprised of but a single chamber. Jothan stepped inside, but it was clear it had been unoccupied for some time. He puzzled over its purpose until he remembered the former Overlord once had a personal tradesman. This may have been his quarters.

This was not the target of his search. The energies lie further west, but close. He emerged from the hut and held the pearl before him like a beacon as he continued down the path, peering into the darkness which seemed to close around him as if intent on swallowing him into the void. A breeze rustled the leaves and he shivered, not quite in proportion to the coolness of the air.

Jothan narrowed his eyes and extended the hand which held the glowing pearl, illuminating a small clearing. The moonlight was smothered by the canopies of the trees, only the occasional spots of silver light sliding across the ground. It was enough to tell him the area had been scoured of brush and vegetation.

His temples throbbed with the reverberating energies. He rubbed them and tried and sort out what he was sensing to little avail. Some had faded enough to be indistinguishable from the background magical radiance. He knew only he was sensing more than one, and Barranus was among them.

He advanced, and stumbled when his foot struck the edge of a raised mound. When he recovered, Jothan stood upon dirt looser and softer than the packed earth of the path. A shiver ran down his spine, and he jumped off the mound. He lowered his pearl for a closer look.

The mound was a little longer than a man was tall, and about a fourth as wide. Jothan came upon a second such mound only a few steps from the first. By the third one, he had determined the source of the energy emanations. He fell to his knees as his stomach heaved, but he managed not to vomit, shivering hard until the nausea had passed.

Nevertheless, nothing could lift the pall which had settled over him at the sight of the makeshift graveyard. A sense of disgust rose inside him which threatened to nauseate him once more. The supposedly "enlightened" Inonni had not had the dignity to perform the proper ritual for a fallen Mage, where his lingering energies could be dispersed and freed from the fetters of the lifeless body.

Jothan stared down at the grave he now knew contained Barranus' remains. All the others were filled with his brethren, fellow expatriates who had not known how great a payment would be extracted for the "privilege" of working for the Inonni. But what happened to them? Indiscriminate killing of expatriate Mages who wanted to work for them made little sense.

He straightened up and backed away. A twig snapped on the path behind him. He spun around and with a single gesture let loose a bolt of crimson combat magic. Without a specific target, the energy advanced on a broad front.

The edges of the advancing wall flashed as they struck home, and several dull thuds confirmed their unprepared targets. The remainder suddenly roared back towards him, and Jothan had only just enough time to duck before it shot overhead, its burning light illuminating his back.

Jothan straightened up as soon as it was past and raised his hands before him. In the same instant, a glowing sphere of tightly concentrated combat magic struck his chest and blew him off his feet and across the graveyard. He fell and rolled into the thorny underbrush just past Barranus' grave.

Jothan was nowhere near as accomplished at combat magic. He knew only several basic self-defense moves. Nevertheless, he leapt to his feet, ignoring the pain of the thorns in his arms and legs, and loosed another attack. He ducked out of the way of a counterattack, only to be struck by another arriving on its heels.

Every inch of Jothan's skin felt as if immersed in burning acid, and the scream remained locked in his throat from the shock. He had a fleeting thought about how well-played it had been, the first attack clearly the feint which had forced him into the second one.

The agony stopped all at once, the shock of its absence as jarring as the shock of its appearance. Jothan collapsed to the ground, his nerves still firing randomly all over his body, as if he had fallen into the smoldering embers of a campfire which now sought his skin as fuel to reignite. By the time he had managed to force himself to his knees, a flurry of motion surrounded him, and a staff whacked him across the stomach and then against the back of his head. Jothan fell across Barranus' grave and hovered on the gray brink of unconsciousness for a few breaths before he succumbed and lay limp and still.

The two warriors lowered their staffs and looked up as a third figure approached from the darkness, flanked by four shadows. The figure's eyes glowed with Mage-sight until a pearl ignited in his hand.

Verano turned to the other four warriors with him and ordered, "Guard the path back to the Manor." As they nodded and disappeared back into the darkness, Verano regarded the prone body. "I didn't want to do this, Jothan," he said with a quaver in his voice. "I had thought you would do well just on your own. Now you will have to serve in the same manner as your brethren."

Verano gestured to the warriors. They hauled Jothan from the ground and propped him up between them.

"Secure him, and make sure he cannot use his magic when he awakens," Verano ordered.

"Shall we tell Elder Yurton?" asked one of the warriors.

"Do not concern yourself. I will speak with him as needed." He brought his hands together and laced the fingers to stop them from trembling. "I do the Holy Order's most sacred work, as do you."

The warriors bowed their heads in acknowledgement and started to drag Jothan past Verano.

Verano gestured to stop them. "And make quite sure you are not seen by the Wanderer Jollis."

The warriors exchanged a confused look. "Honored Mage, would the Wanderer not wish to assist in your--"

"Do as I say. As the Holy Order commands through me."

"Yes, Mage Master Verano."

Verano let out a slow sigh as the warriors passed. He turned his gaze towards the graveyard, opened his mouth as if to speak, then swallowed hard and fled.

"Jothan then slipped past the gate once the fire had started, Wanderer," said the first Cohort.

"It was clear to us then he had anticipated the fire and was thus its instigator, despite having slipped from our observation at the crucial moment when he planted the spelled pearl," said the second Cohort.

"It pained us greatly, but we did not assist in putting out the fire. We instead observed from a concealed location. We thought it prudent not to follow him past the gate for fear someone else would spot us and learn of your clandestine surveillance."

"As soon as the fire was under control, Mage Verano led a contingent of warriors out of the Manor."

"Wanderer, I admit I am not privy to the security requirements of the Mage Master or the Holy Order--"

"Indeed, we now realize there is much we are not privy to," the second Cohort said in a slightly sour voice.

"Hush, please, and let me continue," said the first. "Wanderer, it seemed to me he took an inordinate number of warriors with him, at least six. Even if he had somehow known Jothan was responsible for the fire, this was more than was needed in light of Mage Verano's considerable magic skills."

"We were unable to observe the outcome, Wanderer. Before Verano returned, some of his warriors appeared ahead of him and cleared the area about the gate. If we had not left, we would surely have been discovered and questioned."

"Thus we do not know the fate of Mage Jothan, other than he is nowhere to be found."

The Cohorts fell silent, their fingers laced together tightly before them. This was the only anxiety they would allow themselves to show before their master.

Jollis remained absolutely still, appearing as little more than a statue for many moments. Finally, he raised his head, his gaze hard but glistening slightly. When he spoke, his tone was heavy and somber. "You have both done well."

The two Cohorts relaxed, but only a bit. The second spoke. "Wanderer, if I may be so bold, what does it all mean?"

Jollis looked at him. "What thoughts cross your mind?"

The Cohort flexed his fingers. "I am not sure I wish to dwell upon them."

"Do so. I insist."

"If he will not speak, I will, Wanderer," said the first Cohort. "None of this seems right. I see behavior I do not expect from fellow Inonni. There is far too much secrecy for my liking. I am finding it ..." He exchanged a worried glance with his compatriot. "... most distasteful."

Jollis slowly nodded. "As do I."

The second Cohort gasped. "You do not think the Mage Master ... that the Holy Order itself would ...?!"

Jollis held up a hand. "I hear the panic in your voice. Enough. This is the time for clear minds. Above all else, you are intelligent, enlightened, thinking men. Act as such."

"But I do not care to consider the implications."

"Consider them!" Jollis snapped. "I need allies. Whatever tribulation will come, I need those who feel they can stand beside me without wavering. If either of you cannot do that, then leave now and you will be absolved."

The two Cohorts paused and dropped their gazes, unable to seek each other for either solace or advice. Finally, the first Cohort uttered a noisy sigh and looked up. "I am beside you, Honored Wanderer. I will follow you wherever you go."

"As will I," said the second, though in a voice of less conviction. "I will do whatever you wish if it means understanding what is happening."

"You have chosen well," said Jollis. "But remember, this is not a matter of loyalty to me, but to what the Inonni stand for. It is my fondest hope all my suspicions prove false, and I will gladly suffer whatever punishment is deemed suitable for my transgression."

"What is your first task for us, Wanderer?" asked the first Cohort.

"Go to Jothan's quarters. Search it and bring anything useful you find to me, especially any items of a magical nature. Do so before Mage Verano thinks to do the same."

Both Cohorts bowed their heads and turned to leave.

"Wait," Jollis called out.

The Cohorts paused at the door and faced him.

"What are your names?"

The two stood in shocked silence before the first responded in a tentative voice, "I ... I am called Rolas."

"I am called Hurus," said the second, his voice quavering slightly.

Jollis nodded. "You have chosen your names well. Now, go and perform your task."

The Cohorts fled.

Jollis uttered a long sigh. Everything had gone from bad to worse. He thought in desperation of some alternate explanation which would fit with his understanding of the benevolent workings of the Holy Order and came up empty.

Many questions remained unanswered, but none more so than the one which had not been spoken by the Cohorts, though he could forgive them for such an oversight: what exactly was Jothan looking for outside the gate? Search had to have been Jothan's purpose; if escape had been his only goal, he had needed only to run, as he was wily enough to evade detection despite Verano's formidable magic skills.

Which forced Jollis to consider another question: why did he need to sneak out of the Manor? Surely the Cohorts at the gate would not have stopped him, for this was not a prison. And yet the fact he had to ask the question had provided him the answer, and he uttered another forlorn sigh.

The first thing Jothan became aware of was a slight vibration which rippled uncomfortably through his entire body. Yet this was surpassed first by the terrible ache in the back of his head and then again from the side of his neck.

His eyes blinked open and squinted at the strangely faceted light. He tried to raise a hand to rub his stiff neck, but his hands would not move from behind him. It took a few more moments for enough faculties to return before he realized his hands were tied behind his back. Jothan tried to stand to correct the awkward angle at which he was sitting, only to fall back when he discovered his feet were bound and tucked under the seat.

The pain had retreated enough to clear his head and allow him to perceive his surroundings better. He was surrounded on almost all sides by translucent crystal save for a gap immediately before him, and now he understood he was seated in the device they had used on him earlier to target the Portal.

Jothan closed his eyes and twisted his neck slowly back and forth to work out the remaining stiffness. He opened them again when he heard movement, and now Verano stood in the gap.

"Good morning, Mage Jothan," Verano said as he folded his hands before him. "Though it will not be dawn for another candlemark. I apologize I could not afford you better accommodations."

Jothan flexed his legs and found there was something between his feet. They had bound his ankles to the support for the seat, effectively locking him in place unless he wanted to fall forward onto his face.

He twisted his wrists in their binding while envisioning an incantation in his head. He expected the rope to loosen in response to his spell. Instead, it grew tighter until he winced in pain. Only then did he realize the rope felt far smoother than he had expected.

"Please do not try to magick yourself free, as you will only hurt yourself," said Verano. "You are bound with a variation of spun Mage Glass. It will absorb your magical energies to bind themselves tighter to you."

Jothan sighed and slumped his shoulders, closing up his magical channels as much as possible. The wrist bindings eased, though his fingers now felt like pins and needles. "Fine, have it your way," Jothan snapped. "Mind telling me what in blazing hellfire this is all about?"

"The information you previously provided for our Portal did not work out as we would have liked," Verano said in an even voice. "The camp was abandoned."

"That's not what I meant."

Verano paused, then gave Jothan a tight smile. "Perhaps it is best we don't talk about that too much."

"Then I'll talk about it," Jothan declared. "That was a graveyard back there, wasn't it? A graveyard of Mages."

Verano's smile faltered, one corner of his mouth twitching. "A very unfortunate circumstance."

"You mean the graveyard or the fact I found it?"

"Both."

Jothan ground his teeth when Verano stepped out of view. His eyes narrowed as he watched the Mage's shadow step to the side of the device, where the four of five pearls still glowed.

"Now, if you would," said Verano. "Face forward, close your eyes, and clear your mind."

Jothan snorted. "You actually think I'm going to help you bastards any further?"

"It is in your best interest to cooperate, as this will go a lot easier if you do."

"Go jump off a pier. Anyway, if you're looking for me to help you target your precious Portal to my brethren's new camp, forget it. I have no idea where it is."

Verano passed his hands over the pearls. The thrumming rose, and Jothan felt as if insects were crawling over the back of his neck. "The leader of your fellow expatriates is a Mage named Marlon, is he not?"

Jothan cocked his head. "What?"

Yet even in his moment of confusion, the image of Marlon sprang into his head. He pictured Marlon as he was the day Jothan had last seen him, when he continued to rail against Jothan's plan.

Verano passed his hand over the remaining dark pearl, and it came to blazing life.

Jothan went rigid as pain lanced from the back of his neck into his head, where it became a sense of extreme numbing cold freezing his thoughts in place. The thrumming had become a deep pulsing rhythm which beat against his eardrums like a mallet.

"Very good, very good," said Verano. "Perhaps this will be easier than I--"

Jothan cried out, and brilliant blue sparks materialized in the air around his head. He scrunched up his face, his body shaking, every nerve ending on fire. Suddenly he slumped forward, panting hard, the numbness retreating from his mind. The pain retreated as well, albeit far more slowly, but he had managed to shut down his thoughts about Marlon.

He heard a soft sigh. "That will not do at all, Mage Jothan."

Jothan fought through the haze of pain. "Y-yes ... It ... makes sense now ..."

Verano did not appear to be paying attention. His hands waved and flourished over the pearls, his incantations becoming more complex and urgent.

Jothan sat up straight. "That's how you did it," he breathed. "That's how you took control so easily. You can target Portals to people."

Jothan had already known this, as it had been relayed to the expatriates from the Guild Hall, but he had not wanted to believe it. And he did not want Verano to know how much the Oceanus Mages had gleaned of Inonni Portal technology; better for the Mage Master to think realization had dawned only now.

"Now, Mage Jothan," said Verano in a louder voice. "Relax once more and think of Marlon."

"Go shove it up your fat ass."

"Your resistance makes no sense. Because you have thought of him so strongly once, I can follow the thread of thought into your memories. But to do so requires more power. You have already felt what this is like."

"How many more times have you done this?" Jothan demanded. "Is that what happened to all the Mages buried outside the Manor?"

Verano sighed. "I am trying to avoid such an outcome."

"Yeah, I can see how considerate you are."

"This is a very delicate task! Trying to extract enough information from a single mind to properly target a Portal is very difficult to do safely."

Jothan raised an eyebrow. Was he still suffering from the effects of the first blast to his brain or did Verano actually sound upset?

"I am getting closer each time. This should be possible! I know it will be possible! It ... it must be."

"Why?"

Verano paused.

"Why must it be possible, Verano?" Jothan demanded. "What drives you to do this?"

Verano took a deep breath and let it go as a quavering sigh. "I will implore you one last time. Please think freely of Marlon. There is a chance you will survive intact if you do."

Jothan's eyes widened. "Intact? What in hellfire does that mean?"

"The energies are building, Mage Jothan. Do not ask more questions I will not answer!"

Jothan clenched his teeth. The tingling crept up his spine and neck, and the pain threatened to needle its way into his brain. His heart hammered in his chest until it felt as if it would burst. His mouth became dry.

I'm sorry Taarla, Jothan thought. You will never know what happened to Barranus.

Jothan closed his eyes and summoned all his remaining reserves of magical strength. He channeled it into a single tight barrier in his head, between his conscious mind and his deeper memories. He had never done such a difficult exercise as more than idle practice prior to developing difficult incantations. The strength was slow to build, but he refused to waver. He would spend every last waking thought on this task, until his own mind would wonder exactly who it was he was trying to forget.

And then came the final blast of white-hot pain, an inferno burning inside his skull, ravaging his neurons and leaving behind a scorched wasteland.

Elder Yurton emerged from behind the curtain, his gaze growing sad as his eyes beheld the somber look upon the tired face of Mage Verano.

"I have failed, Elder," said Verano in a low voice.

Yurton let out a single slow sigh through his nose. "Then you were unable to extract the information from Mage Jothan?"

"No ... that is, yes. I did get enough memories to target the Portal."

"Then I do not see what--"

"By the time I broke through his resistance, there was little left of his mind. In that I could not extract it safely, I have failed."

Yurton paused, then nodded once, all trace of sadness gone. "Most unfortunate. But, necessary, it would seem."

Verano's eyes burned.

"You have something to say?" Yurton said in a gentle but challenging voice.

"Nothing that has not already been said. I did not expect to add another place in the graveyard this morning."

"You have honored your task to the Holy Order very well thus far, and you must continue to do so. Your work is clearly not done yet."

"If you would allow me to call in other Mages--!"

"No," Yurton declared. "I have faith you will persevere."

Verano stared at the Elder, his eyes glistening. "I do not care for all this secrecy."

"I have explained this to you before. There are others who may question what we are doing, despite the greater good which will come out of it."

"Are you sure the rest of the Holy Order have ..." Verano trailed off. Yurton gave him a level look, and the Mage shook his head. "I am sorry my faith wavers, Elder."

"It is the wise man who recognizes and accepts his limitations, but only the fool refuses to move past them. Continue to move past them, Verano, as you always have, and you will eventually triumph."

Verano nodded once.

"Now, do you wish to have morning meal with me? It is a bit early, but I would be most honored. Then we can send the Wanderer Jollis after our quarry."

Verano shook his head. "I must tend to disposing of Jothan's body before I lose what little cover of darkness I have left."

"Ah, yes, quite right. Then I will see you once you have completed your task."

Without meeting the Elder's eyes, Verano slowly turned and trudged out of the dwelling.

"We still know not where Mage Jothan is, Wanderer," said Cohort Rolas. "But we discovered these in his quarters."

Jollis accepted the two blue pearls and held them in his hand as if weighing them. As he sensed the ebb and flow of the magic within them, it was clear one was a simple Farviewing pearl. He gave this back to Rolas and examined the second one in more detail.

"I can sense something similar to Farviewing magic, but not quite," said Jollis. "It is straining with energy, however."

"Yes, Wanderer, I sensed it as well. I advise caution, as it may be charged to its limits."

Jollis rolled the pearl around and brought it closer to his eyes. All pearls developed faint runes in reaction to the spells contained within; a careful reading could determine the type of magic stored within.

"The Farviewing spells appear to form only a small part of the energy within," said Jollis. "The rest seems ... vague. Differentiated. The energy is not coherent enough to be a spell, yet contains order."

"Information, perhaps?" asked Rolas. "Is it not possible to store data in a pearl such as this?"

"Indeed, it is. If so, and if the gathering of such information is tied to the Farviewing pearl, then one might examine the data in this fashion."

Jollis passed his hand over the pearl as if opening a Farview. The pearl began to glow, and runes swirled in the air in quick progression.

Jollis frowned. "It is too fast for me to comprehend. I do not have enough knowledge of Mage runes to read this."

"I may be able to find someone who can, Wanderer."

Jollis started to pass his hand over it once more, then paused as something familiar flickered by: runes associated with Portal energies.

He snapped his hand over it. The runes faded and the glow died. He handed it back to Rolas. "Please be very discreet. Work through only those Cohorts with whom I have directly associated. And under no circumstances allow Mage Verano or Elder Yurton to learn of what we are doing."

Rolas gave Jollis a tense nod. "Of course."

"I know this is difficult. It is my hope we will continue this secrecy for only another day or two. But it is important we learn what is stored in this pearl before it loses its remaining integrity or energy."

"At once, Wanderer," said Rolas, who then turned on his heel and left.

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