Neversfall - Ed Gentry [31]
"How do you mean?" Taennen said, turning to face where the man had indicated.
Taennen stepped backward when an image began to form before him where the southern window had been a moment before. The northern peaks of the Curna Mountains shone before his eyes, like a reflection on water but clearer and more distinct. The rocks and trees waved in pulsing rhythm, like an image on a sheet blown by the wind. "How?" Taennen asked.
The view changed, moving even closer to the mountains. Taennen could see a bear scratching its flabby body on the trunk of a tree.
"That's…" he said. "That's over a hundred leagues away."
Khatib nodded. "What better gift to grant a watch tower?"
"You can do that in every direction?" he asked, spinning his gaze around the room. "Yes."
"Jhoqo will want to see this," Taennen said.
"I'm sure he will," Khatib said. "He was quite interested when they told us about it."
Taennen eyed the man. "You knew of this too?"
Khatib shrugged but affirmed. "Just Jhoqo and myself. They felt we needed to know about the tools that would be at our disposal."
Taennen thanked the man and started past him toward the stairs.
"Wait," Khatib said. "It does so much more."
Taennen turned to face the man. The wizard's smile was contagious. His lined face shone with the merriment usually expressed by children showing off new toys.
"Like what?" Taennen asked.
Khatib waved him over to the northern window. The wizard's hands darted among the crystals on the table, twisting some, pushing others. A low hum tickled Taennen's ears as the crystals began to glow even more brightly.
The view through the northern window shifted, drawing in close and tight on a section of ground. Taennen blinked again, surprised by the closeness of the view. He could see individual rocks and flowering plants that dotted the plains.
"There-that large, light-colored rock," Khatib said, pointing to the image in the window.
"Yes?"
"That rock lies approximately half a league away. Please use that spyglass of yours to locate it," Khatib said.
Taennen drew out his spyglass and stepped toward the window. Khatib waved a hand and the closeup image shrank to consume half the window. Taennen stood next to the hovering image and looked out the unhindered portion of the window. He scanned the ground until he found the rock.
"I have it," he said.
"Excellent. You have seen me use a spell before that emits small missiles of light?" "Yes," Taennen said.
"Watch the stone carefully," Khatib said.
Taennen held his gaze on the rock. Behind him, Khatib murmured arcane words for a moment. A low buzzing sound vibrated in his ears but he held his gaze on the rock. A few heartbeats later, darts of light plowed into the rock, tossing it on its side, and left a blackened hole in the ground where the rock had been. Taennen jerked back a step withdrawing the spyglass from his eye.
"By all the One," he said.
Khatib chuckled. "Fantastic, isn't it?"
"The tower did that?"
"Oh no. I cast the spell as you have seen me do. The tower allowed me to do it from this distance with that level of accuracy," Khatib said.
"You could kill a man that far away," Taennen said. "Oh, most definitely."
Taennen turned to face the.man. "What else?"
Khatib pointed to a cluster of crystals on the right side of the table. "I can open, close and lock the gate from here. And," he said, pointing to another crystal, "sound an alarm here." He shifted to another set of the crystals, "This one is how we report to command in Estagund."
"This is amazing," Taennen said. "Does each table contain the same controls?"
Khatib nodded. "It was designed so that four masters of the Art," he said with a slight bow, "could each defend one direction from the citadel. With these, I and three others could hold off an army trying to assault Neversfall without risking any of our soldiers in combat. Lucky me, I get it to myself for the nonce."
Taennen gazed out the eastern window. "This is amazing. I would not trust it to be true had I not seen it for myself."
"It