Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Two (27 page)

“OK.” Neala replied, and quickly mounted the horse. Knowing he would likely make a fool of himself trying to climb up onto the horse, Lusam decided to just levitate himself up onto the horse instead, and got a look of disdain for his efforts from Neala.

“What?” Lusam asked innocently.

Neala just shook her head and replied, “Nothing.”

Chapter Twenty Eight

“There. Do you see that?” Zedd said pointing at something in the distance.

“See what?” Cole replied, then he spotted it. It looked like the auras of two people slowly falling from the city wall. Zedd stopped his horse in its tracks.

“Cole, can you levitate?” asked Zedd, knowing the answer even before Cole gave it.

“No, I can't. I once tried it and broke my ankle,”

“Of course you can't, and neither can they,” Zedd said nodding towards where they had just seen the two people's auras slowly falling from the city wall. “You don't have enough magic to levitate, but you have more than either of those two did. So how can two people who possess no magic ability levitate themselves from the top of the city
wall to the ground below?”
“They can't,” Cole replied.

“Exactly! So there had to be a third person with them. A person of strong magic ability, but one we couldn't see. The boy,” Zedd said, almost to himself.

“But, we can always see magic users. They stand out like a full moon on a midwinter night,”

“Usually I would agree with you, but there has to be something special about this boy. Something that's kept him alive all this time, and I think I've just discovered what that is. He can hide his aura,” Zedd said.

“Impossible!” Cole exclaimed. “Nobody can hide their aura, not even Lord Zelroth can do that.”

“If you have a better explanation for what you just witnessed, and the fact that the boy managed to walk around in Helveel for years without being discovered, then please, enlighten me,” Zedd said, but was only met with silence from Cole. “I didn't think so,” he added.

“So, are we to capture, or kill them sire?” Cole asked.

“Neither, yet,” Zedd replied.

“But, I thought you wanted the credit for the boy. If we let them go they will be someone else’s prize,” Cole said.

“Not necessarily. The boy was smart enough not to
travel to Stelgad by road, and also smart enough to enter and leave the city over the wall, instead of through a gate.
I can't imagine for one moment he would be stupid enough to try and travel south to Lamuria on the road. No, he has a plan to avoid our forces, and I will allow him to do so.

“If we attacked him here, there could always be the chance of someone superior to myself claiming the credit for his capture or death. But if we wait until he's far enough away from our forces, so that they won't detect our fight, then no one can steal our prize away from us,” said Zedd, with an evil smile on his face.

***

Renn led the two horses north towards The Forest of Dannar. He was aware it would soon be dawn, and that it would be much easier to enter the forest unseen if they arrived while it was still dark. He was also very much aware of the need to keep the horses as fresh as possible, just in case they were spotted by the enemy and had to run for for their lives.

Lusam felt very vulnerable without his magic shield protecting their group, but he had no intentions of repeating
the same mistake he made inside Stelgad.
Leaving his shield active would alert every Empire agent around if they saw him. He had to keep reminding himself that if any agents saw his party right now, they still couldn't see his aura, therefore they shouldn't suspect him of being the one they were looking for, especially when they all thought he was still inside the Temple of Light.

Lusam had been watching behind them closely for signs of the two agents that he'd spotted when leaving the city wall, but although he'd caught several glimpses of them, they didn't seem to be gaining on them at all. He began to relax a little, until they crested the next small hill and the southern road to Lamuria came into view.

On the road half a mile ahead of them were four Empire agents, two with horses and two without.

“Renn, we may have a problem. There are four Empire agents up ahead of us on the road,” Lusam said.

“Yes, I see them. Don't change direction completely, but let's angle our horse slightly, so by the time we pass them we will be a little further south of them,” Renn said.

They both marginally changed the direction of their mounts, so they would intersect the road about a quarter of a mile further south than they would have, and continued at the same slow pace so as not to draw any unwanted attention to their group.

When they were only a few hundred paces from the road Lusam noticed the two agents on horseback break away from the other two, and start heading in their direction.

“Do you see that Renn?” Lusam asked.

“Yes I do. Stay calm everyone,” Renn replied.

“That won't help us when they read Neala's or Alexia's mind. They will know it's us they are after for sure,” Lusam said.

“Hmm, I forgot about that,” Renn replied.

“Not if I kill them first with my bow,” Alexia said,  reaching slowly for her bow.

“No! We can't kill them either. Even if they didn't shield themselves in time, their deaths would be felt by every agent for miles around. We would be showing them all exactly where to find us,” Lusam said.

“So what are we going to do?” asked Neala.

“I'm not sure, but maybe Renn's suggestion is the best for now. Neala, if you feel your mind is being probed scratch your head so I know, same goes for you Alexia. Hopefully they will only try reading mine or Renn's mind,” Lusam said.

“I don't have enough time to teach you any mind disciplines, but if you feel their presence within your mind
try and think of the most terrifying thing you can think of.
Fear clouds the mind, but only temporarily. After a minute or so your mind will adapt to the fear, and your thoughts will become clearer to read once more,” Renn said quietly.

As Lusam's party crossed over the road and into the fields beyond, the two men on horseback came within range to try read their minds. Lusam knew this because he was the first to feel that strange crawling sensation within his mind. Effortlessly he shut away any thought that would give away his identity, and allowed other information to be freely taken by the two men. If his plan worked the two agents would now think he was a pig farmer from a village south of Stelgad, on his way to buy livestock from the west.

Lusam watched carefully for any signs of either Neala's or Alexia's minds being probed, and at first he thought his ruse had worked. One of the men turned his horse around and headed back towards where he'd started from, happy that Lusam's group were not of any interest to them. However the other agent remained long enough to probe Neala's mind. Lusam saw the signal from Neala, and the fear in her face. They were about to be discovered.

Lusam's mind raced, but all he could come up with was the same trick he had used before; projecting his aura to a different location. The problem was, out here there was nothing but open space. If he projected his aura here it would be discovered as a fake almost instantly. The closest
cover was either back where they had come from, or a long way in front of them where the forest started.
He knew he couldn't project it towards the forest, or he would be cutting off their own escape route. The small hill behind them was a very long way back now, and he wasn't sure he could project his aura anywhere near as far as that, but he had to try.

Building up his power within his shuttered mind, he concentrated hard on the crest of the small hill they had climbed several minutes ago, and released a huge blast of power at the location. Instantly he knew he had overdone it. The area around the hill briefly glowed like a blazing fire, lighting up the whole area with the colour of a powerful mage's aura. The man attempting to read Neala's mind snapped his head in the direction of the hill, turned his horse, and rode full speed towards the location where Lusam had projected his aura. When Lusam glanced back to the road he also saw the other three agents rushing towards the area he had chosen.

“We need to get out of here, fast!” Lusam said. “As soon as they realise it was only a trick, they will soon be coming after us, and they won't be alone.”

“I agree, but at least you bought us some time, let's go,” Renn said, spurring his horse into a gallop, and Neala following his lead.

Less than five minutes later they reached the edge
of the forest, but they weren't alone.
Moments after they had dismounted and Renn had released the horses, the first magical missile struck a nearby tree, narrowly missing Alexia.

“RUN!” shouted Lusam, and all of them ran for cover within the forest, whilst several more magical missiles blasted apart trees all around them.

***

Zedd and Cole were approaching a small hill when they were almost blinded by a brief flash resembling a powerful mage's aura, but many times brighter. At first Zedd thought they had been discovered by the boy's party and were now under attack by him, but having erected his magical shield to the danger, he now realised they were still alone. Seconds later he intercepted the communication of the boy's suspected location, and the description matched the very hill where they now stood.

“Damn!” Zedd cursed. “It looks like we will be joining the battle after all. Let's go, we have to get to that boy first, before anyone else does.” Zedd surged forward over the hill, almost colliding with another Empire agent
coming the opposite direction.
Cole raced to follow, trying to answer the questions coming from the other agent as he went.

Zedd could see the boy's party clearly now, but the boy himself remained invisible to his mage-sight. He raced across the fields in pursuit, and as soon as he was in range he released several magical missiles towards the fleeing party. The blasts missed their intended targets, destroying several trees in the process, then they were gone.

When he reached the edge of the forest he waited for Cole to catch up. Although he had contemplated going into the forest alone after them, having had time to think about the situation he decided against it. The boy had already shown great power and skill, achieving things Zedd thought impossible, who knew how powerful he really was? Zedd had no intentions of finding out the hard way, not when so many expendable volunteers now raced towards his location. He planned to take the first group that arrived under his command, and then set out after the boy's party. It would be daylight soon, and much easier to track them then.

Chapter Twenty Nine

“How do you know where we're going?” Neala asked breathlessly during a brief respite from running.

“I don't, I've never been in this forest before, but if we keep the moss on the trees to our backs we should be heading north,” Lusam replied between breaths. He had hoped his forest running days were forever behind him, but at least this forest didn't contain the dark creatures the last one had. He hoped.

“This forest is vast, it covers half of the western continent, and most of it is uncharted, especially the further west you travel,” Renn said. “I remember seeing some very old maps of this forest during my training at the High Temple, and if I remember correctly there's a long mountain range that runs from north to south within the forest.

“It might be a good idea if we head west and try get to the other side of that mountain range. If we were to continue directly north we could easily be ambushed by any Empire forces that join the hunt for us. If we put the
mountain range between us and them, they will have far fewer opportunities to surprise us along the way.”
“Can't they simply come over the mountain and intercept us that way instead?” asked Alexia.

“No, I don't think so. From what I remember reading about that mountain range it's more like a giant wall or cliff than a regular mountain. There was a reference to an ancient trade route between two long lost cities in the region, one each side of mountain range. The book spoke of having to pass the mountain range by either the north or south passage, as scaling it was impossible.

“I've never heard of that place before, and I've lived in Stelgad all my life,” Neala said.

“Me neither,” said Alexia.

“It's not that surprising really. The Elveen mountains are considered by most to be our north western borders, but the truth is, that beyond them lies much more land. The land beyond the Elveen mountains is mostly barren rock, cold and inhospitable. No crops would ever grow there, and no people could survive for long, but the history books tell us that it wasn't always that way. Once our people thrived there, and trade passed freely from west to east around the spine,” Renn said.

“The spine?” Lusam asked.

“Yes, that's what they used to call the long thin mountain range; The spine of the Elveen mountains.” Renn
replied.
“Ah, okay,” Lusam said.

“There's another reason why we should head west too,” Neala said.

“Why's that?” asked Renn.

“Because, if we remain on this soft ground it will be far too easy for them to track us,” Neala replied pointing out their clear tracks on the ground. “If the terrain to the west is as rocky as you say, it would be far harder for them to track us there. We may even be able to lose them completely.”