Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (24 page)

“Err… what are you doing, Lusam?” Neala asked, beginning to wonder if the Guardian book in Coldmont hadn’t scrambled his brains more than they thought. Lusam smiled to himself, realising how strange what he was doing must look to the others.

“I was just checking to see if I could see you all through this stone pillar,” Lusam replied, trying hard not to let the humour enter his voice.

Alexia burst out laughing. “I think lover-boy has finally lost the plot,” she said jokingly. Neala gave her a stern look, obviously concerned for Lusam’s sanity herself.

“Are you feeling alright, Lusam?” Neala asked, starting to walk towards him.

“I’m fine, thanks. Stay there, and hold up a few fingers. I’ll show you that I can see through this pillar.”

“What?” Neala said.

“Please, just do as I ask, and you’ll see.”

Neala sighed and held up four fingers towards the stone pillar. Lusam was tempted to give her the wrong number on purpose, but decided against prolonging her worry about his sanity any further.

“Four,” he said. She changed the number to five. “Five… two… three… six,” he called out as she changed the number of fingers she held up.

“How can you do that?” Renn asked. Lusam stepped out from behind the pillar and walked back towards the others.

“It’s an extension to my mage-sight. Something I gained from the book in Coldmont. It’s difficult to describe, but I can project my sight through solid objects. I’m not sure what the maximum range is yet. I’ll have to experiment with it later, but it’s certainly enough to see through most walls,” Lusam said.

“Gods! Can you imagine how much money you could make as a thief with that skill? The ability to see through solid walls. You could find the loot even before you entered the building. You could even see if anyone was guarding the place,” Alexia said excitedly.

Neala frowned at Alexia’s words, then she turned and started walking towards the corridor where they used to sleep. She walked past the first and second cells, then stopped by the doorway to the third.

“Lusam, try looking through the walls. See if you can see me in this room,” she said.

Lusam watched as she disappeared into the third sleeping cell. He moved close to the wall, then sent out his mage-sight. He could just about still see her, so he called out to her.

“Yes, I can still see you.”

Neala exited the sleeping cell and moved on to the next.

“What about now?” she shouted. Lusam tried to stretch his mage-sight further, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see through the next wall along.

“No, I can’t see that far,” he shouted back. Neala emerged from the cell smiling, and rejoined the others in the main chamber.

“It seems we managed to find the limit of your new ability to see through walls,” Neala said.

“Yeah, but he can still see through three walls—that’s amazing!” Alexia said in awe.

Neala turned to face Lusam, but spoke to Alexia, “Yes, it’s
too
amazing, that’s why you’ll be sleeping at least four cells away from him.” Lusam’s face flushed brightly as the meaning of Neala’s words sank in. Both Alexia and Renn burst out laughing, and even Neala couldn’t quite hide her smile as she headed towards the main stairs, leaving Lusam behind to protest his innocence.

Using his newly enhanced mage-sight, Lusam watched patiently from behind the basement door for over an hour, before giving the all-clear to enter the shop. Lucy had been wrapping parcels at the counter, and Mr Daffer had been scurrying around helping various customers during that time. Only when Lusam was certain that they had both finally left the shop area, did he open the basement door. He then quickly ushered Neala, Alexia and Renn through, before closing the door quietly behind himself. They swiftly made their way to the main shop entrance, trying hard not to make a sound as they went. With a quick glance over his shoulder—to make sure nobody had seen them cross the shop area—Lusam opened the main shop door. The bell rang out from the rear of the premises, and a few seconds later, he closed it again—firmly—and waited.

A few moments later, Lucy appeared from the back of the shop carrying a pile of several books in her arms. She could barely see over the top of the books, and called out from behind the pile.

“Sorry for the delay. I’ll be right with you in a moment, as soon as I…” Lucy started to say, but once she saw Lusam and Neala, she froze mid-stride. She unceremoniously dumped the pile of books onto the floor, and ran the length of the shop to embrace them both.

“Where have you been? We’ve been so worried about you both,” Lucy said, turning towards the back of the shop and shouting, “Tom… Tom… come quickly.” A moment later Mr Daffer came racing into the shop brandishing a strange looking piece of wood. From the concerned look on his face, it was apparent that he had mistaken Lucy’s calls, as a call for help. When he noticed Lucy embracing Lusam and Neala he visibly relaxed, lowering the improvised weapon, and placing it on the counter as he approached them.

“We’re sorry for having to leave as we did, but you have to trust me when I say there was no way to let you know. We didn’t even know we were leaving ourselves,” Lusam said apologetically.

“Likely story,” Mr Daffer said, frowning slightly, then looking at Renn and Alexia.

“Tom!” Lucy chastised. “If Lusam says he couldn’t let us know—then he couldn’t let us know.”

“What the lad says is true, sir. I can vouch for him. In fact, it was due to my insistence that he left so hastily,” Renn said, stepping out from behind Lusam and Neala.

“Is that so? And who…” Mr Daffer started to say, but suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Renn had surreptitiously opened his tunic to reveal his sigil of Aysha, and when Mr Daffer caught sight of it, his eyes opened wide, as did his mouth.

“I… I… I meant no disrespect, holy one. Please forgive my words, they were spoken only in jest. I can assure you, we owe Lusam and Neala a debt that could never be repaid, and if he says he couldn’t let us know they were leaving—well, that’s good enough for me,” Mr Daffer said, with his head bowed.

Lusam was shocked by the reactions of Mr Daffer, and even Lucy stood with her head bowed to Renn. He knew that the paladins of Aysha were held in high esteem throughout all of Afaraon, but he had no idea they were revered this much. It made him feel slightly guilty remembering his first encounter with Renn. He hadn’t bowed his head, or even shown him much courtesy at all—in fact, he had blasted him with his magic. It was strange, but Lusam got the distinct impression—by the way Renn was now fidgeting—that he would probably prefer being blasted by magic than being bowed to like this.

The silence stretched on and on. Lusam knew Mr Daffer and Lucy were waiting for a response from Renn, but he also knew that Renn wouldn’t want to extend any further reverence towards himself either. He decided to end the silence, and introduce Renn and Alexia himself.

“Mr Daffer, Lucy, may I introduce to you Renn and Alexia. Renn, as I’m sure you’re already aware, is a paladin of Aysha, and Alexia is an old friend of Neala’s.”

“We’re both very honoured to meet you, Renn—and you too, Alexia,” Mr Daffer said, offering his hand to them both.

“Mr Daffer, do you remember when I asked you to keep my… abilities secret?” Lusam said quietly.

“Yes, of course, Lusam, and we have… I swear,” Mr Daffer said, looking a little worried.

“I don’t doubt you have, but I must also ask another similar request,” Lusam replied.

“Of course. What is it you need us to do?” Lucy said smiling.

“Would it be okay if we locked the shop door for a few minutes while we discuss it?” Neala asked hopefully. Mr Daffer nodded to her request, so she quickly turned the sign over to read “Closed” and locked the door.

“Maybe we should discuss the matter in the dining room, where we will all be out of sight and, I’m sure, much more comfortable,” Mr Daffer suggested.

“Under the circumstances, that sounds sensible,” Renn said nodding.

A few moments later they were all in the dining room and seated at the large table. Lucy offered them some refreshments, which they all accepted gratefully, and then sat down to hear Lusam’s request. After a few moments’ silence Lusam cleared his throat.

“I’m not really sure where to start, or what I can safely tell you both. Please understand, I’d trust you both with any amount of information, but the enemy we’re facing, could simply read the information directly from your minds. It’s for your own well being, as well as ours, that I must withhold certain information from you right now. I hope you both understand,” Lusam said apologetically. Both Mr Daffer and Lucy nodded, but remained silent.

“Firstly, I apologise for us disappearing suddenly like we did. It’s a long story, but it involved Neala being abducted and taken to Stelgad against her will. After the carnival we were attacked. I was stabbed in the stomach, and Neala was drugged, abducted, and taken to Stelgad.” Lucy took a sharp intake of breath at the news, covering her mouth with her hands.

“Oh, you poor things!” she said looking shocked. “Are you both okay now?”

“Yes, we’re fine now, thank you,” Lusam replied smiling, trying his best to allay her fears, so he could move on with his story swiftly.

“I healed my own wounds with magic, and was about to confront Neala’s attacker, when I was attacked once more,” Lusam said, pausing. He wasn’t sure if revealing the existence of the Empire agents would be a good thing or not. Renn caught his eye and nodded that he should continue his story.

“It was an Empire agent who attacked me.”

“An Empire agent? Why would an Empire agent attack you?” Mr Daffer asked—obviously aware of their existence. Lusam wasn’t sure if Lucy understood the significance or not, but he decided she could ask Mr Daffer about it later if she chose to do so.

“That’s where I come in,” Renn said from the end of the table. “I understand that you’re already aware of Lusam’s magical ability. The High Temple in Lamuria is also aware of it, and they sent me to find and protect him, then return him to Lamuria to complete his training. Unfortunately, the Empire has also discovered Lusam’s abilities, and now they hunt him day and night. They will stop at nothing to find and kill him. When Neala was abducted, the man who took her travelled by road to Stelgad, but because of all the Empire agents looking for Lusam, we were unable to use the roads. We were forced to travel through The Dark Forest to Stelgad, but even then, we were pursued by Empire agents. That’s why you must try keep this meeting a secret. If word got out that you had a paladin of Aysha here in your shop—even to people you trust—it’s only a matter of time before that information is intercepted by an Empire agent.

“The betrayal may not even be intentional. The Empire agents possess magic capable of reading people’s minds, and only people trained to resist it can avoid divulging their secrets inadvertently. At the moment, the Empire doesn’t know for sure where we are. We hope to keep it that way for as long as possible,” Renn said.

Mr Daffer and Lucy sat silently for a long time, absorbing the information they had just been given.

“Obviously your passage through The Dark Forest and subsequent rescue of Neala went well, but there’s one thing I don’t understand,” Mr Daffer said looking confused. “If you were already in Stelgad, why would you come back to Helveel if you needed to go south to Lamuria?”

“For their money,” Lucy said out loud, whilst deep in thought. Then she suddenly realised what she had said. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Your money is perfectly safe, we haven’t touched it. We weren’t snooping or anything. It’s just… When you left, we were very worried about you both. We went into the basement looking for you—thinking that maybe you were ill, or had been injured down there somehow. When we looked inside one of your sleeping cells, we saw an open box full of gold coins. I know it’s none of our business, but it confused us greatly. We couldn’t understand why you would want to work so hard for a few silver coins, when you had such wealth already.”

“I can see why that would look strange,” Lusam said laughing, “but to be honest, when we first started here, we didn’t have any money at all.” Once again Lusam became conscious of just how much he could safely tell Mr Daffer and Lucy. If he revealed exactly how he had gained the knowledge to mine gold from the river, it could place them both in great danger. He decided that omitting some of the truth would be better than outright lies.

“I’m quite new to my own magic abilities. Often I don’t realise what I am capable of doing until I actually try—like when I healed you, Lucy. Neala and I would often walk along the riverbank on Seventh-day, and it was during one of those excursions that I discovered something interesting. If I concentrated hard enough, I found I was able to sense very small particles of gold on the riverbed. I worked out a way to collect the gold, and over several weeks turned it into the coins you discovered. And yes… the coins were one of the reasons we returned to Helveel, but not the only one. Unfortunately, the main reason we returned to Helveel is one of those things I can’t discuss. I’m sorry,” Lusam said.