His Cure For Magic (Book 2) (15 page)

"Yes, my Lord. My father was a merchant. He was poor, but he worked hard. I travelled all over Varrow and Portnis with him, and even to Edgewater a couple of times. I know many of the villages and towns along the way."

"I want you to organize these people. No more than six to a group. Try to find someone who knows the land to lead them. You have to get them out of here as fast as you can, because
his
soldiers will be on their way. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my Lord. I'm honored to have your trust. You can count on me."

Silas smiled. "I know I can."

Loshe bowed and walked into the crowd of prisoners, raising his voice above their murmurs and getting their attention. General Talon Rast knew a leader when he saw one.

"The three of us need to return to Varrow," he said. "Davin will be eager to hear from you, and Eryn and I will both need a day or two to recover before we'll be ready to visit this Genesia."

"I don't need to rest," Eryn said.
 

Silas knew she was lying. Her eyes were bloodshot, and he had seen her reach out to steady herself against the walls of the tunnel more than once. He'd also seen her clutch at her hip, but her armor was unscathed.

"I'm an old man, my dear," he replied. He lifted his wounded shoulder. "I'll need Urla to stitch this, and a couple of days to make sure it doesn't get infected. I expect that we'll be able to make some progress on the journal in that time so it won't be for nothing."

 
"As you say, my friend."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Eryn

"We can rest for a minute, if you need," Silas said, putting his arm on Eryn's shoulder.

"No, I'm fine."

Eryn took a deep breath. Her thigh was on fire, burning from the outside in and threatening to drop her with every step. She was exhausted and dizzy, and something in her told her that to use her Curse again would be a huge mistake.
 

They had left the mine an hour ago, riding horses to the edge of the Washfall woods and then abandoning them to travel on foot. Silas was sure his soldiers would be on their way, and that they would need to hide and skirt past them - something that would be impossible to do on horseback.

She could tell he didn't believe her, but he nodded. They were making a desperate pace through the woods: run, stop, listen, run again. As long as they could hear the buzzing of insects and the calls of birds, they knew they were fine.

They came to a stop behind a large, moss-covered boulder.
 

There was no sound.

"Wait here," Silas whispered to her and Saretta. He moved slowly, skulking around the side of the rock and turning his head in every direction. The only light they had was the dim light from the sky. It was just barely enough to move in.
 

"He must be in a great deal of pain," Saretta whispered, pressing her shoulder against Eryn's.
 

She had thought the same thing. The wound on his arm was deep enough that it was continuing to bleed, even after they had wrapped a bandage around it.
 

Silas returned to them. "A single lantern, thirty feet away, held by someone on foot. It can't be soldiers."

They would have been on horseback, and they would have been picking their way through the forest as quickly as they could.
 

"We should go see," Eryn said.

Silas nodded and led them away.

Who would be out here?

She could see the light now, an oil burning flame rocking side to side with the motion of its carrier. Whoever they were, they weren't moving very steadily, or very quietly.

They tracked closer, until they were only ten feet away. That's when Silas broke into a run, charging towards the light. Eryn and Saretta were taken off-guard, and they lagged behind.

He had a knife to the wanderer's throat by the time they arrived. He pulled it away a moment later.
 

"Ames? What are you doing here?" Saretta rushed to the man's side.

His shirt was a mess of blood and grime. His nose was broken, and a heavy flap of skin hung from the side of his face.
 

"Saretta? They found you." His words were barely understandable through the wounds.

"What happened?" Silas asked.

Ames dropped to the dirt, all of the energy fleeing his body in an instant. Eryn couldn't even imagine how he had made it this far.
 

"Lance," he said. "He betrayed me." He could have been crying, but it seemed impossible through the damage. "He killed Andreaus. We fought. I stabbed him in the chest, and he did this to me. He thought I was dead."

"Why would he do that?" Eryn asked.

"I don't know." He hung his head, his voice quieting. "I don't know." He sat like that for a few seconds, and then raised his head again. "I came to warn you."

Silas looked around again. Eryn didn't need to be able to read his mind to know he was doing the calculations, figuring out how long it would have taken Lance to get back to Varrow and tell the soldiers, and how long it would have taken the soldiers to get to them.
 

"They could be here any minute," he said. "Put out that lantern."

Saretta reached down and grabbed the light from Ames' hands and snuffed it out. They sat in dark silence, their ears straining.
 

Eryn swallowed, feeling the lump in her throat ride down her neck and bubble back up. The pain in her thigh was forgotten in the sudden fear.
 

There was no sound in the woods around them. They waited to hear the return of the buzzing and chirping.
 

Silence.

Eryn felt it then. A soft tingle in the back of her neck, like an alarm bell ringing. Someone was using magic.

"They're coming," she said. "A Mediator."

"They must have seen the light," Saretta said.

"We need to go, now!" Silas extended his hand to Ames to help him to his feet.

"If Lance betrayed Ames, he betrayed Davin," Saretta said. "He will have fled Varrow. I know where he would go. This way."

She pointed south.
 

Eryn saw the light - a small blue ball darting through the trees and coming their way.

"Come on," she said.
 

"I'm staying," Ames said. "They found me. Just me. Go. Run."

"Ames," Saretta said.

"Go. Silas and Eryn need to survive, and so do you." He pulled his knife from his belt.
 

The light was getting closer, illuminating the woods while the Mediator sat back at a distance and waited for them to be revealed.

They didn't question, they just ran, flailing through brush and past trees as fast as they could move. Eryn looked back over her shoulder and watched as the light found Ames and circled his head. Whoever the Mediator was, he was skilled to have such fine control. She could only move the light in a straight line, and not very far.

They kept moving, with Silas in the lead. He brought them back to the boulder where they had stopped the last time, and circled them around to the far side before coming to a stop.
 

"We need to put some distance between one another. Saretta, where do we need to go?"

"You'll never find it in the dark," she said. "There is a small cave to the south of here, about half a mile from a stream. He'll have it covered over in brush so you won't be able to see it, but there is an owl that rests in the tree next to it. It is a fake. Look for the owl."

They heard a scream. Ames. Eryn felt the tears rush to her eyes unbidden.

"Eryn, stay here. Hide in the crook beneath the stone. Only you can fit there. You understand where to go?" He looked pained to ask her to hide, but if he thought it was best she would trust him.

"I know where to go. Do not worry, Silas. I'm a survivor."

He smiled at that. "I know you are."
 

Another scream made them all shiver.

"He'll tell them we were there," Saretta said. "They'll make him."

"I know," Silas said. "Saretta, go south a bit, then find a tree to climb."

"What are you going to do?"

"Lead them away."

"What? Silas, they'll kill you," Eryn said. "Don't ask me to hide and then sacrifice yourself."

Silas turned and looked at her, his eyes narrow. "I am the Champion of Ares-Nor. There are no soldiers in
his
army that can kill me without my permission, Cursed or no."

Ares-Nor?

She had never heard him call himself that. She had never heard his voice take such a sharp tone with her before. There had been times when he had shown the wisdom and experience of the General he used to be. Now he was the General once more.

A third scream. She could tell by the sound of it that they had killed him. Silas' eyes were on fire, and she didn't consider questioning him again. She dropped onto her stomach and pushed herself under the stone.
 

Saretta didn't question him either. She broke into a fresh run, away from the boulder. Eryn could hear horses now.
 

"I love you," Silas said into the darkness. Then she could hear his feet moving away from her.

"I love you, too," she whispered, but he was already gone.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Wilem

Wilem closed his eyes when Kelkin finally put the large man they had come upon out of his misery, wishing he could cover his ears without drawing notice.
 

The older Mediator had set his lungs on fire; a smoldering heat that caused immense pain without killing, to draw out the information he held.
 

"Where are they?" Clau had asked. He was calm and forceful, a mountain of strength astride a heavy breathing stallion.
 

The man had tried to hold his tongue. He had fought to stay loyal to the Liar and his Whore. He had even somehow managed to keep himself together while his lungs burned.
 

There were other ways to make someone talk.

Clau had dismounted and approached the man. He had drawn his knife. He had cut off a finger.

"Where are they?" he asked again. He pointed at the ground. "The ground is soft here, the grass too trampled for one pair of feet. It's Ames, isn't it? I spoke to your brother. He thought you were dead."

One finger hadn't been enough. Pointing out that they knew he was aiding them had only increased his will. Had Clau miscalculated, or was he enjoying this game? He cut off another finger.

"You're going to kill me anyway," Ames said after he stopped screaming. "Even if you didn't, I'm going to die tonight either way."

"I can give you a swift end," Clau said. "I'm going to find them, even if I have to burn this entire forest down."

Kelkin created a ball of fire in his hand for effect. Ames' eyes went wide at the sight of it.
 

"Your lungs, your fingers. That is nothing compared to pain I can have my Mediator inflict on you, Ames. Your brother betrayed you. Davin is dead. Silas will be dead soon, too. Why suffer for nothing?"

Ames looked up at the General. He licked his lips and let our a horrible, sad moan. "South."

Clau looked back at his Mediators. "Wilem, that way. Talia, that way. Kelkin, with me." He backed away from Ames. "You made the right choice," he said.

"Ustrina," Kelkin said. Ames was instantly engulfed in flame. His screams echoed throughout the wood.

"Go," Clau said, mounting his stallion once more.

Wilem held Strider's reins tight. He urged him forward into the wood, creating a ball of light in his hand as he did. He sent it ahead to help guide his way.

His mind raced. The Liar was near, as was his Cursed companion. General Clau was counting on him to find them, and to be able to neutralize her.
 

He wasn't sure that he could.

There was something wrong with him. He knew it the moment he had called on his Curse. He felt the familiar tingle, he felt the power coursing through him, but it was different. It was weakened. Bringing forth the light had made his mind a little fuzzy and brought a slight throbbing to his temple, and creating a light was one of the first things they were taught because it was so simple. How could he stand up to someone who had overpowered an Overlord?

Because I have to, that's how.

 
He didn't have a choice. If he found them he would need to defeat her, or he would die. It was as simple as that. He took a deep breath and resolved himself. If he was weakened, he would have to push harder, even if it left him unconscious. Even if it killed him instead.
 

He still didn't know how it had happened, though. He still didn't know what was wrong with him. When they had left Edgewater he had been fine. Up until a week ago he had been fine. His mind kept returning to the prior night at Waverly's. Kelkin carried the vials of blood everywhere; it was part of his duty to never let them out of his protection. He had opened the case while he was alone in the common room. Why?
 

He couldn't believe the Mediator would poison him. It didn't make sense. What would he have to gain by getting him killed?
 

Strider navigated the woods, following his light without hesitation. It darted around the trees ahead of them, showing them the landscape, as well as trampled brush and spread branches that suggested something had passed through not long ago.
 

"Hold," he said, breaking through the brush and coming to a stop next to his light. They were standing next to a large boulder. The grass was clinging horizontally to the ground, and a piece of moss had been brushed away from the rock.
 

Which way did they go?

He moved the light along near the ground, shifting it with his hand, trying to determine which way they had gone. There were two heavy tracks, and one lighter one that headed directly south, leaving Wilem to try to figure out if they had split up.

Kelkin couldn't be trying to kill him. He had spent the last five days with him, and he had been nothing but friendly, warm, and helpful. He had spent hours talking to him about what he would be expected to do once he was Clau's personal Mediator. He had also spent hours talking about how he was going to spend his years in semi-retirement, teaching the incoming Mediators and taking frequent sabbaticals to go fishing.