Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (28 page)

“Renn, were the magi in Afaraon powerful back then?” Lusam asked.

“I suppose they varied in power, just like they do today. Why do you ask?”

“Well, when I say powerful… I mean, were they as powerful as I am now?”

Renn laughed loudly. “I’m not sure, but I doubt it, lad. I’ve never read about anyone doing some of the things you can do. The battles that are documented were fought using magic as you would imagine, but only in the normal sense. They would hurl magical-missiles at each other until one side ran out of power and their shields failed. Sometimes several magi would concentrate their firepower on a single mage, overwhelming them with brute force.”

Lusam nodded, but didn’t seem convinced by Renn’s words.

“Let me ask you something, lad. If you were on a battlefield, and there were paladins fighting against you, how would you defeat them? How would you bypass their shields and weapons?”

Lusam thought about it for a moment and easily came up with several methods to quickly dispatch a paladin.

“That’s easy. I…” Lusam began to say, but was cut short by Renn’s laughter booming out once more.

“You see, lad. A paladin wouldn’t pose much of a problem for you, but to an Empire agent, we’re a real threat. I saw how easily you dealt with those agents outside Coldmont, and I can say this—no mage I have ever read about in the history books ever made such light work of killing another mage, let alone several at once,” Renn said, still chuckling to himself.

“If you’re right, then that possibly answers another question we might have,” Lusam replied.

“Oh?”

“Well, before I read the book in Coldmont, I wasn’t much more powerful than some of the Empire agents. I might have won a battle against a single agent, or possibly two, but I certainly couldn’t have done what I did outside Coldmont.”

“And?” Renn prompted.

“Isn’t it obvious?… Lord Zelroth wasn’t powerful enough to challenge Afaraon until after he had read the book in Coldmont. I suspect it was just after reading Coldmont’s book that he first started killing newborn magi in Afaraon. If that’s true, it would mean he discovered the book over two hundred years ago,” Lusam said excitedly.

“I’m not following you, lad. How does that information help us now?”

“Don’t you see? Lord Zelroth hasn’t changed his tactics for the last two hundred years. Nothing has changed. He’s continued to try and exterminate our newborn magi, simply trying to make us weaker and weaker.”

Renn shot to his feet, knocking over the chair as he did so. “Aysha be blessed! You’re right, lad. That must mean he hasn’t found a third book yet. If he had, he would have become even more powerful and stepped up his attacks a long time ago,” Renn said, sounding even more excited than Lusam had.

“Exactly!” Lusam said grinning widely.

“So, if we could find a third book, potentially you could be even more powerful than Lord Zelroth is.”

“Possibly—but he’s had centuries to practise. I, on the other hand, barely know what I’m capable of yet. Not to mention the fact he’s also had centuries to look for the other books and has still not found them.”

“True, but we have one thing that he doesn’t,” Renn said grinning.

“What’s that?” Lusam asked confused.

Renn leant over the desk and tapped on the book in front of Lusam. “The journal, of course. Who knows what secrets it might reveal?”

Neala and Alexia returned to
The Old Ink Well
just before nightfall. Even though they had left the horses and supplies behind in the eastern forest, they still carried several bundles with them. As they entered the basement, they noticed that Mr Daffer had brought down two more mattresses for their sleeping cells, along with a fresh supply of lamp oil. There were already a few lanterns lit within the large chamber, but an even brighter light spilled out from inside the book room. As they got closer, Neala could clearly hear both Lusam and Renn’s voices coming from within the room. Strangely, they seemed to be discussing ancient history, both in Afaraon and the Empire—something Neala knew little about, nor did she wish to learn about it.

“It sounds like you’re both having fun in here,” Neala said, entering the room, closely followed by Alexia. Lusam stood up from behind the desk and quickly went to greet Neala with a big hug. He’d been worried since she and Alexia had left earlier that day, but now she was back safely, he began to relax again.

“Don’t I get a hug too, lover-boy? I did do half the work you know,” Alexia teased.

“No, you don’t,” replied Neala, wearing a fake scowl and making everyone laugh.

“What have you got there?” Renn asked, nodding towards the bundles Neala and Alexia had been carrying when they entered the room.

“We thought it best if we bought some fresh clothes for us all. We don’t have time to wash and repair the ones we’re wearing, and let’s face it—we all stink,” Alexia said, wrinkling her nose, as if to demonstrate her point.

“She might be right,” Renn said, surreptitiously sniffing his own armpit. “We do smell a little—ripe.”

“Speak for yourself,” Lusam replied laughing.

“There’s also another reason we bought new clothes. If the Empire has already circulated our descriptions, you can bet it also includes what clothes we were wearing,” Neala said.

“Good thinking. It certainly can’t hurt, anyway,” Renn agreed.

“There’s a small wash room upstairs that Neala and I used the last time we were here. I’m sure Mr Daffer and Lucy wouldn’t mind us all using it before we eat dinner. In fact, I’m fairly certain they’ll insist on it,” Lusam said chuckling to himself. “Talking of dinner, I hope it’s ready soon. I’m starving.”

“Nothing new there then,” Neala said rolling her eyes. “To be honest, I’m more looking forward to a good night’s sleep for once. I can’t remember the last time I was able to close my eyes and not have to worry whether we were about to be attacked or not.”

“Talking of sleep. It looks like Mr Daffer has brought another two mattresses down for us. I noticed them at the bottom of the stairs when we got back,” Alexia said.

“Maybe we should take them to the sleeping cells while we wait for dinner to be ready,” Renn suggested. They all agreed and headed back out into the large chamber where the mattresses leant against the wall. Renn and Lusam grabbed each end of one mattress and lifted it off the ground.

“Where should we put it?” Renn asked, nodding towards the mattress.

“At least four cells down that corridor,” Neala replied, glancing sideways at Alexia, who burst out laughing as she remembered their earlier conversation. Lusam’s face flushed as he too understood Neala’s meaning, but he remained silent. Renn also wore a wide grin as he and Lusam set off down the long corridor towards one of the cells at the far end. When they returned—slightly out of breath—Neala and Alexia were still standing in the exact same spot, and the second mattress remained leaning against the wall untouched. Renn didn’t seem to notice that the girls hadn’t even attempted to move the mattress, and instead, simply picked up one end and waited for Lusam to grab the other.

“Where do you want this one?” Renn asked.

“Oh, there is just fine, thanks, Renn. We’ll only be needing three mattresses tonight,” Neala said winking at Lusam, who instantly turned a bright scarlet colour. Everyone burst out laughing at the look on Lusam’s face, and he was immensely grateful when the door at the top of the basement stairs opened and Mr Daffer called down to them that dinner was ready.

Rebekah squinted at the horizon, checking for any signs of the returning ship, whilst her younger brother Kayden played with his wooden spinning top on the dockside. The Good Ship Tuthna was due to return with its precious cargo any time now, and when it did, there would be a large celebration in Prystone, just like the last one she remembered three months earlier. Except this time it would be even better. It wasn’t just one birth they would be celebrating, but two. Two expectant mothers had gone aboard The Good Ship Tuthna to give birth, and Deas willing, two would return with their new precious babies.

Kayden spoke the words over and over, as his wooden top spun faster and faster. He had discovered that he could make the wooden toy spin using words only three days before, and since then, his favourite toy had barely stopped moving. He was barely five years old, but he excelled at annoying his older sister—or at least she would have most people think so. In reality she loved her younger brother, and although Rebekah herself was only ten years old, she was more like a mother to him than an older sister. She was the one who cared for him whilst her mother worked the fields each day. Her father was the captain of The Good Ship Tuthna, and as such his days spent at sea sometimes outnumbered the ones he spent on land.

When her father did make it home, he often brought Rebekah and Kayden gifts: gifts that were no doubt given to him by the families of the newborns he had helped to bring into the world. Every time he spent a night at home, Rebekah would pester him to tell them the story of the
Rebirth
again. She knew the story well and often told it to her younger brother when they were alone, but she still loved to hear it from her father’s lips.

The story tells that before the
Rebirth
, most children would die shortly after being born, and often their parents too. At first, some believed the village of Prystone to be cursed, and they moved to neighbouring villages, only to find the same fate awaited their newborns there too. It wasn’t until her father’s great grandfather took his pregnant wife aboard The Good Ship Tuthna and sailed out to sea that things changed. When they returned to Prystone with a new child, rumours began to circulate within the village. It was said that The Good Ship Tuthna must be blessed by Deas himself.

At first it took time to gain credence within the village, with only close friends and family taking to the sea aboard the Tuthna to give birth. But soon people began to realise that each time a pregnant woman went to sea aboard The Good Ship Tuthna, she would return with a healthy baby in her arms. Soon, everyone in Prystone booked passage aboard the Tuthna to give birth at sea, and a new-found religion was born. One that worshipped the God Deas—creator of all things in the sea, and now upon it.

It wasn’t long before the neighbouring villages took notice of the swelling numbers within Prystone, and soon after, The Good Ship Tuthna began taking even more women out to sea to give birth. Now, there wasn’t a single person in Prystone or its neighbouring villages who hadn’t been born aboard The Good Ship Tuthna.

Rebekah had first taken on the job of watching for the return of her father’s ship when she was about Kayden’s age. She would sit there for hours waiting for the mast to appear on the horizon, then go running to her mother in the fields when she finally spotted it, shouting out all the way there. She could spot the ship before anyone else—something she was very proud of. During her long hours staring at the horizon, she had discovered a way to enhance her own vision using only a few words, something no one else was able to do in her village. It was true that almost everyone in the village had a special gift, sometimes even more than one. Hers was the ability to see further, and it seemed her younger brother’s was to make his wooden toy spin. ‘
Hopefully he would find a better use for his skill later
,’ she thought to herself.

Rebekah had been taught that each gift you were born with came from Deas, and it was important never to use that gift against anyone else. In fact, the exact opposite was true: if you could use your gift to help others, you should. That was the reason why Rebekah stood watch on the dockside, come rain or shine.

Rebekah squealed in pain as her younger brother’s wooden spinning top crashed into her bare ankle, burning away a small patch of skin as it spun.

“Sorry, Bekah,” he said, quickly moving out of his big sister’s range, as she hopped on one foot. He had always called his sister “Bekah” ever since he could first talk. He could never quite say her full name when he was younger and had always shortened it to “Bekah” instead.

“Kay!” she said through gritted teeth. He knew she was angry with him. She only ever called him “Kay” when she was angry.

“I’m sorry, Bekah. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to do it,” Kayden said, trying his best to sound sincere but secretly finding it incredibly amusing watching his big sister hop around the dockside.

***

The magical pulse was felt by everyone aboard ship. Either a birth or the death of a weak mage had just occurred somewhere close by. The trouble was they were still at sea—several hours from land—with no way to determine the direction the pulse had come from. Usually it took several Empire agents on land to determine the precise location of any pulse generated. As they intercepted the pulse at slightly different times, an accurate direction could be calculated by three or more agents working together using their Necromatic rings to communicate with each other. At sea, with only one point of reference it would be impossible to know which direction it came from. That was until the shout came from high above in the rigging.