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"Are you certain?" Brandon demanded as he rushed forward, his sister a half step behind him.
"I've only seen it the one time," Harper replied. "But it's got the same look and magic around it acts funny, although in a different way from the last time I saw it. That could be something to do with the mirror itself or the shape of this thing, though."
Sheriff Warwick joined them by the reflector, a hard look on his face. "If it is steel we could have a problem on our hands. When I looked into Stu's memories von Nighburg had a staff made of this stuff with him when Stu was abducted. Which means our blackguard has a steel weapon."
"If I may ask," Proud Elk said, interrupting their careful examination of the reflector's frame. "What is steel?"
"It's a mythical metal," Brandon said, carefully touching the cool metal with his bare fingers. "Supposedly the strongest metal ever forged. When the Armies of Eternity marched over the horizon, eight hundred years ago, and began the Forever War they carried weapons made of it. There are a few left, in the great armories of the Continent. No one ever discovered how they were made."
Harper patted the hilt of his sword in a strange, almost ritual fashion. "That one told me his sword was made of steel and that it was a kind of refined iron, if you can believe it."
"Iron scorns all magic," Proud Elk said. "Thus you cannot refine or forge it with fire, so I find that difficult to believe. Yet if he said it, it may be possible."
"He did," Johan replied. "I was there when Roy asked about it."
Brandon laughed. "The three of you talk like he's standing around the corner, waiting to burst in when you say his name. Why are you so nervous about it?"
"Because we've seen him work," Harper replied. "Enough about this. We can take this thing apart if you two want to keep it, I suppose, or we can sell it to cover our expenses later. Right now I think we leave it where it is. Johan, am I right in guessing this is the way into wherever von Nighburg is?"
"Almost certainly." He was already setting up his own mirror opposite the reflector. "I'll need a few minutes to assess how its defended and what exact mechanism its built on before we can go through. However, the fact that it is a mirror rather than a ring or something even more exotic helps."
Harper nodded and looked around. "Riker, Tanner, grab one of those barrels and help me burn that foul shelled thing in case von Nighburg can use it again."
The two locals dumped the barrel of oil over the biggest lobster Brandon had ever seen then Harper lit it with a spark from his lantern. Under normal circumstances it would take twenty minutes or so for something that size to burn. However, at some point Harper had learned to make things burn faster than they ought and he was able to reduce the creature to ashes in a matter of twenty or thirty seconds. Brandon had only seen this trick a few times before, and only from one firemind. That didn't mean it was unique to Harper, Stonehenge druids were very secretive about the particulars of their abilities, but the fact that it worked on human bodies suggested it could also work on yew wood.
That was something Brandon felt it best to be prepared for. While Roy Harper seemed an honorable man there were many other fireminds out there, from within the druidic orders and from without, who were not. Sadly, he hadn't been able to figure out how one might counter that trick yet.
Disposing of the lobster took Harper less time than it took Johan to analyze the reflector and Brandon found himself examining the lighthouse as he waited. The structure was some seventy feet tall but the third floor was slightly less than half that height. A rickety metal stair wound up the inside of the remaining tower up to the top floor, where the reflectors and oil burner were housed. There were no windows. Several iron hooks stuck out of the walls along the stairway, so presumably the lighthouse keepers used lanterns to make their way up or down.
A light touch at his elbow drew his attention downward. Cassie leaned in and softly asked, "Do you think this von Nighburg knows the secrets of steel?"
"I'd doubt it," Brandon said. "Far more likely he's found some old relics he's labored long to understand. Isn't that typically the way things go in the records? Someone finds a long forgotten piece of magic from the Forever Wars and, in trying to understand it, begins to tamper with forces we were not meant to deal with?"
Cassie nodded. "At the same time, he may have discovered writings the Armies of Eternity left behind. He could have learned the technique for forging steel from them."
"Yes, I wondered about that as well. Whether von Nighburg created that steel himself or discovered it in an ancient armory is something we'll have to determine at some point. Given how dangerous the man acts, I'm afraid it will have to wait until he's dealt with."
He could tell that notion didn't thrill his sister but she nodded her agreement with it. "I was just thinking we should mention it to Mr. Harper. We'll be staying by the entrance of von Nighburg's manse and there's no saying we'll be able to go to and from it freely after he's out of the picture. If Mr. Harper finds something and has the chance..."
There was merit to that point as well. "I'll mention it to him."
Whether he'd been listening while he watched the lobster burn or he'd just anticipated the issue, it turned out Harper didn't need it mentioned. When Brandon approached him the firespinner preempted the issue. "I'll keep an eye out for anything related to steel or the Forever Wars," he said when he spotted the other coming. "Don't know how much importance we can put on it, though. The other guy gets a say in how things play out."
"I understand," Brandon replied. "I appreciate your consideration."
It took a few more minutes for Johan to finish his work with the reflector and set up one of his own mirrors opposite it. "There," he said, "the doorway is open. Unfortunately von Nighburg has made visibility through the door one way so I can't tell you what's waiting on the other side. We'll have to send someone well defended through first."
"That's pretty much what we cultivate the yew for," Brandon said, his shift already underway. The layers of bark quickly grew over his body, already primed from his earlier use, and the roots of the plant stretched out through his muscles give him strength far beyond the human norm. Thus defended and empowered Brandon stepped up to the reflector. "Is there anything that needs done on the other side?"
"I would just look through and then report what you see," Proud Elk replied, digging through his own bag of magical tricks. "Is that possible?"
"No, you have to go all the way through this kind of portal before you can come back. The literature stresses that's a key part of making them function, as is making sure only one person uses it at a time." Johan shrugged. "I don't know if that's true or the old wizards just thought it was a good way to slow down invaders trying to breach a sanctum."
"Maybe," Harper said, studying the reflector, then Brandon. "Go through, check it out and report back. We'll check on you if you don't come back in sixty seconds. You got another of those barrier breaker things, Johan?"
"Give me a second."
It was more like a minute but eventually he handed Brandon a duplicate of the mirror he'd given the sheriff a while before. For Brandon it was starting to feel like they were taking too long. They'd entered the tower in late afternoon, as the sun was setting, giving them about five hours before the eclipse started. They'd already lost about an hour, fumbling through von Nighburg's defenses. Under normal circumstances he probably would have insisted on a better plan for what would happen next but given the proximity of Low Noon Brandon knew they had to move as fast as possible.
He took a moment to test his right knee. With the yew fully awakened he didn't expect any issues with it and, for the moment, he didn't find any. Still, he didn't want it to fold during what was likely to be his only contribution to the expedition.
"Stay safe," Cassie said as he stepped forward.
That wasn't likely but he kept that to himself. Instead he touched his brow in salute and stepped up to the reflector and touched his hand to it. He was drawn in as soon as he made contact with it and for a moment all he could see was rippling, prismatic colors, then he found himself in a much different room. He caught a glimpse of a small, enclosed space before the floor under him flew up and smashed him into the ceiling.
That was a clever place to put a barrier.
Fortunately yew wood was both tough and flexible and it absorbed most of the impact. He already had the counter charm in his hands and it didn't break when he hit the ceiling. Brandon wound up crunched into a ball, pressed against the ceiling, a little pained but intact. The mirror Johan gave him wound up clutched to his chest and it took quite a bit of work in order to get it down, past his knees, and into direct contact with the barrier. At that point the spell shattered, just like the previous one, and he dropped to the ground again.
The room was little more than a square box with a polished oval mirror secured to the wall behind him. A quick glance told Brandon the mirror's frame was identical to the one he'd come through. Opposite it was another door which Brandon quickly tested and confirmed was locked. He wasn't an expert but it looked like that lock was made of steel. The rest of the room was featureless stone without windows, furniture or decoration, a quintessential antechamber and deathtrap hybrid. No other traps hit him so Brandon quelled the yew and stepped back through the mirror.
The others were gearing up to follow him when he returned, or so Brandon guessed from the slew of weapons they pointed at him when he emerged through the reflector in the lighthouse. He quickly gave them a rundown of what he saw then crossed back with Proud Elk in tow. To Brandon's surprise, it took the Sanna man all of five seconds to pick the door lock using the narrow, almost prehensile end of his whip club.
Johan set a mirror on the floor by the door and they slowly opened it a sliver so the next room appeared in the reflective surface. To Brandon's glee, it looked like a typical sanctum. There were bookshelves on the far wall and a large table in the center with some kind of magical contraption on top of it. A series of bronze or brass struts held up a gleaming silver mesh orb. Within it was a smaller, solid gold orb with strange, glowing pinpricks of light scattered around it in an indiscernible pattern. In the reflection it was hard to determine how big it was.
"Dust and ashes."
Brandon glanced over his shoulder to find Sheriff Warwick staring at the mirror in horror. "What's the matter?"
"That's an Immelmann Array."
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