Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book One (2 page)

His grandmother stood still for a few more seconds, before resuming her original line of interception. He was pretty sure she couldn’t see his aura, so he presumed that she must be just heading towards the last place she'd seen him. He was just about ready to accept defeat again, when he had another idea.

He concentrated on projecting his aura to a location about fifty paces to the east. He then set the image in his mind and released a short, sharp blast of power in that direction. Instantly his grandmother turned to look to the east, and then changed her direction to where he had projected his fake aura.

Lusam by this time was chuckling to himself so hard he was surprised his grandmother didn’t just hear him instead of see him. When she reached the place he had projected his aura she stopped, then started scanning the ground all around her. Even at fifty paces he could see the worry and concern on her face as she started calling out his name.

Rules were rules, and the rule was if you didn’t say the words, `
I give up,
` you didn’t reveal your location, or you lost, and at the age of seven rules were very important; almost as important as winning the game.

After a few more minutes his grandmother must have also remembered the rules because she called out the correct phrase, indicating that Lusam had won the game and
should come out of hiding.
He did just that with a very loud “
Whoop!
” while jumping into the air, over and over again. He also noticed the relief that washed over his grandmother's face when he emerged from his hiding place as she rushed over to hug him tightly.

“I won, I won, I actually won this time!”

“Yes, you did indeed. Come, let’s go sit by the fire, I need to talk with you Lusam.”

Lusam felt a little apprehensive as they headed the short distance back to their camp. He wondered if he was in big trouble for playing the trick on his grandmother. When they reached the camp and sat down, his grandmother sat there for what seemed like a very long time just looking at Lusam, then eventually she said in a calm voice, “Lusam, how did you do that? How did you hide your aura from me?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you angry with me. I won’t do it again. I promise,” he replied sheepishly.

“No, you don’t understand Lusam. What you just did is supposed to be impossible to achieve, and to my knowledge, I have never heard of  it ever being done before. Could you do it again, here, now for me please?” she asked him. He looked up at her and nodded his head. “Thank you Lusam,” she replied, watching his aura closely.

He cleared his thoughts again and closed the shutter in his mind just as he had done before. This time it was much easier, because he knew exactly what he needed to
do to achieve it.
His grandmother brought her hand to her mouth, gasping out loud, and a small tear rolled down her cheek, dripping onto the back of her quivering hand.

“Are you alright grandmother?” he asked, suddenly concerned.

“Oh, yes Lusam. I’m more than alright my boy,” she replied with a huge smile on her face.

Later that evening she asked him in more detail how he had done it, and she tried for a long time to hide her own aura with his help, but she was unable to do it, or even come close.

One of the most vivid memories of his early years that had stayed with him right up until now, were of that day in the forest. The simple things like winning a game, or being able to do something an adult couldn’t do. One conversation however stuck in his mind more than any other from that afternoon around the campfire.

His grandmother took hold of his hand and looked deep into his eyes, then said, “Lusam, I thank Aysha, for you have been doubly blessed. Not only can you use the power Aysha has granted you, but you can also now hide amongst the non-magi of this world.”

He looked at her while his seven-year-old mind tried to process what she had just said. “Hide? Why do I need to hide?”

“Oh, my boy, there is a lot of this world I must
teach you.
The lessons here in the forest you have learned well, surpassing anything I could have imagined. Many things I must teach you must wait until you are older, so you will understand them fully. I must ask something of you now, so it may help ensure that we
do
have the time we will need for me to teach you all that I must. Promise me, that you will use your new found skill and shield your aura at all times. If possible, even while you sleep. Can you promise me this Lusam?”

“But, why grandmother?”

“Please Lusam, if you love me, you must promise me you will do it. For me, and for you.” He looked at his grandmother's pleading expression and knew he had to agree, even if he didn’t know the reasons why.

“I'll do it for you, don’t worry grandmother.”

“Thank you Lusam. It means so much for me to hear you say that,” she said, taking a hold of him in her arms, and hugging him so hard he could barely breathe. It was a good feeling, and he missed those times so much now he was older, and all alone in the world.

Thinking about all the good times he had as a child was all well and good, but it did little to relieve the discomfort coming from his stomach, as it loudly reminded him he had yet to eat anything today.

Lusam had already been to the main gate earlier that morning. It was the place where all the street kids
gathered each day, and where they all tried to gain some kind of work, for food or coin.
Sometimes a rich nobleman may simply need information regarding the whereabouts of a certain building, or person. Or it could be something as disgusting as clearing out a blocked sewer pipe, or some other equally degrading job that nobody else in town wanted to do. All the people of Helveel knew that the street kids gathered at the gate each morning, desperate for anything they could get, and so they knew exactly where to find the people to do the jobs that nobody else wanted to do in Helveel.

It was a long-shot, but he stood up and headed back down to the city gates. Nobody would usually try to find street kids there at this time in the afternoon, because they knew they wouldn’t be there. If the work didn’t come in the early mornings, it didn’t come at all, and the kids would have to try and eat by other less reputable means.

As he approached the gates he noticed a pretty blonde girl about his own age already standing at the gate. Although her clothes were dirty, they were cleaner and in much better condition than his own attire. She wore green trousers and a brown tunic with sturdy looking black boots, and her shoulder length hair was neatly tied up in a pony tail. He had seen her the previous morning at the gate, but she had kept to herself, and not really spoken with any of the other street kids waiting for work there. As he approached
she made brief eye contact with him, and when he nodded his head in greeting, she did the same in return.
“Hi there. Are you waiting for work, or are you just meeting someone here?” he asked in his friendliest voice.

“Why do you ask?” she replied, with more than a hint of caution evident in her voice.

“Sorry, I was just trying to be polite. I didn’t want to take any job you might be waiting for,” Lusam said smiling.

The girl stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if he was making fun of her or not, then after a brief hesitation she said, “There aren’t many polite people around these parts. Being polite means you usually go hungry.”

“That may be so, but I was taught that manners don’t cost anything. Nothing can be lost by using them, but much can be gained,” he said smiling at her, pleased with himself that he had remembered one of his grandmother's teachings so well.

She looked directly at him, raised an eyebrow and said, “And what, exactly, do you think you will gain from me?”

His face instantly flushed with embarrassment, as he realised how she had mistaken the meaning of his words.

“No … No … I, I didn’t mean it like that at all,” he stammered, feeling his face grow even redder, if that was even possible. The girl started to smile, and when she could no longer hold back her amusement, she burst out laughing,
pointing at his beaming red face.
“You should see your face, it's a real picture! It's redder than the knights' tabards.”

Lusam didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with embarrassment, but he settled on the former, and they both had a good laugh at his expense. Eventually, when they both calmed down enough, Lusam offered a hand towards her.

“My name's Lusam.”

“Neala. Pleased to meet you Lusam,” she said, still wearing a huge smile. “Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around here much.”

“No, actually I've been here in Helveel for about two years now since my grandmother died, but until recently I … I had other accommodations.” He didn’t think that telling Neala he had lived inside a grate, and had eaten mostly stale bread for the past two years would impress her very much, so he decided to skip those details entirely.

After talking together for about an hour, it turned out Neala herself was quite new to Helveel, and had only just arrived there a month earlier. She had lived in the southern city of Stelgad, which she described as being even worse than Helveel for its crime and filth, which he found very hard to believe possible. She told him of her life there, as part of a thieves' guild in the city, and how she had been taught to defend herself through the tutelage of her guild master, and others in her guild.

Neala had been, until recently, quite  happy with her life in Stelgad. That was until a rival guild ambushed them, and killed most of her guild members in a swift and deadly surprise attack. Apparently, Neala had only managed to escape the massacre through sheer luck. The night it happened, she had been on an errand to fetch more wine for one of the guild member's birthday celebrations. She recounted the obviously painful memories of that night to Lusam. She told him that as she was returning with the wine, she could see a huge fire in the distance, and soon discovered it to be her own guild headquarters that were fully ablaze. She had tried to get closer and see what was happening, but fortunately she had noticed the men on the ground, and on the rooftops above, all dressed in the dark brown cloaks of a rival guild. As her own guild members tried to flee the burning building, they were shot down mercilessly by the crossbowmen on the rooftops opposite. They had no chance of surviving, nor would the rival guild allow any to survive, as was the way of these things. No survivors, meant no one to claim future revenge.

Having witnessed the destruction of her entire guild with her own eyes, she knew she must leave the city immediately, or the enemy guild would find and kill her too. If she left right now under the cover of darkness, they would most likely assume she had perished in the fire along with so many others of her guild.

Neala knew exactly which businesses in the city were owned by the enemy guild, and decided to steal a horse from one of them. It wasn’t much revenge for what they had just done to her friends, but at least she would cost them a horse, if nothing else.

Neala had spent the next ten days on the road surviving as best she could, until finally arriving at Helveel, where she sold the horse, and then tried to blend in while she decided what to do next.

One of the local thieves' guilds she'd approached had refused to hire her, claiming they weren’t hiring any new members at the moment, but Neala knew better. The guilds were always hiring new members, simply because they lost so many members to enemy guilds, and the law keepers. Neala knew that the real reason they wouldn’t hire her, was simply because they didn’t know her. They feared that she might be a spy from a rival guild trying to gain entry into their organisation. The big problem for her now was, that after she had approached that guild and being refused entry, it was entirely foolish to try a second guild. She would almost certainly be under close observation now by several of the original guild members, just in case she actually was a spy, and tried to report back to any rival guild. If she even went near another guild now, the order would be to kill her, and she knew it. Her only option left in Helveel, was to live as she was at present, on the streets, and wait until other,
better opportunities presented themselves.

Daylight was rapidly turning to dusk when they agreed to walk back towards the town square together. The street traders would soon be packing up for the day, and the small roadside cafes would be preparing for their evening trade yet to come. Lusam had often found that it was worth being around the stalls as they packed up. On several occasions Lusam had been asked to help pack up stalls, and had been paid a coin or two for his troubles. On more than one occasion he had found a coin on the floor, hiding between the cobbles as the stalls were being dismantled. The coins must have been dropped by a careless patron or trader at some point earlier in the day. There was also occasionally spoiled food left by the vendors, either by accident or intentionally, he couldn’t be certain. As Lusam and Neala started to walk up the cobbled street towards the town square, they saw a finely dressed man approaching from up ahead. When he was within hailing distance he called out, “Hey! I need one of you kids for a job. I need this letter delivering across town with the utmost urgency,” he said, brandishing a small folded brown piece of paper with an address written on the front, and a wax seal placed upon it. The address on the letter read: