Rise of Shadows (17 page)

“Nice sword, but you cannot stop them all,” said the sorcerer as he began to cast more bolts.

A sword? Is that what that oversized knife is called?
I thought to myself. While I was thinking that, Shea stood up and threw something at him. I could not make out what it was, but when it was just about to hit him, he interrupted his spell, caught it, and threw it back. Craig and Shea dove out of the way as it hit the ground where they had been standing and exploded. It must have been some kind of grenade. Whatever it was, it packed a lot of power and left a small crater behind. I saw Craig stand up again and hold out his weapon defensively as he continued his careful march towards the sorcerer. Shea was readying another of her grenades, and the sorcerer began to cast again.

“Pyraulous pagou!” I called out and sent ice bolts flying towards the sorcerer, catching him completely off-guard and interrupting his casting. He reeled back from my attack and Craig sprang into action, running forward and swinging his sword, but the sorcerer managed to fall back out of the way.

“Left!” yelled Shea as she threw the grenade at the sorcerer, who was now struggling to get up. Craig dove to the left as what looked like a potion bottle flew through the air, hit the sorcerer and exploded, throwing smoke and debris everywhere.

The sorcerer must have had some kind of defense up because he survived the explosion, though he was obviously hurt. Not waiting to see what he might do next, I cast my ice bolts again, which slammed into him as he tried to get up, sending him flying back to the ground.

Craig recovered from his dive and carefully began to approach the sorcerer again. The sorcerer, obviously hurt, grabbed his staff and used it to stand back up. Craig took this as a cue to attack and charged in, swinging his sword. The sorcerer tried to get his staff up to block the attack but was just too slow, and there was a brilliant flash of light as Craig’s weapon cut deep into the sorcerer’s body, passing through the collarbone and burying itself deep within the sorcerer’s chest.

“Get down!” yelled Craig as he ran for cover.

I dove back behind the trees I was hiding in as an explosion ripped through the forest around me. Once it passed, I peeked out to see Shea and Craig coming out from where they were hiding, and a scorch mark where the sorcerer’s body had once lain. Now that the fight was over, I felt weak and drained. I had not used all that much power, but the stress of battle wore me down.

Shea looked at me and said, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” I said, still shaking from the fight. They looked totally calm and collected, as if it was just another day walking in the forest. That sorcerer was far too great for me to face alone, but they fought him seemingly without fear, and they beat him without him ever even wounding them. These two were far more powerful than I had thought when I first met them.

“We should press on quickly to the crossing,” said Craig, as he put his sword away and started briskly down the trail.

Shea and I quickly followed him down the trail. We were not far from the crossing, and soon I could detect the sweet smell of fresh water. That spurred me on to push through the aches and pains of sleeping on the ground and walking for days on end. We quickly reached the shore of the river and ran up on to the dock. The river was wide, deep, and running fast.

“The boat is gone,” called out Shea as we reached the end of the dock.

“Without the boat we will have to head downstream to the next crossing,” said Craig.

“How long will that take?” I asked.

“At least a week, probably closer to two,” he said.

On the dock there was a pulley system set up, but it looked like someone had recently cut the rope. “Is this,” I asked, gesturing towards the pulleys, “intended to retrieve the boat from the other side?”

“Yes, and to help pull it across against the current,” said Craig.

“Then the boat is likely to be on the other side. I will get it. Wait here,” I said as I jumped into the river, hitting it at a sharp angle. Once under water I quickly tacked back and forth to stay on target while the current tried to push me away. The water had a strong rejuvenating effect on me. I felt my aches and pains slowly fall behind me as my lungs once again filled with that precious life-giving water.

Once I had reached the other side, I found the boat securely docked with the rope dangling in the water. I grabbed the rope and dove back into the river. It was harder to tack properly due to the drag of the rope but I managed to get back across without issue. As I sprang up on to the dock, I saw Craig engaged in combat with a mob of Green Skins. Shea was hanging back, holding a potion, and looking for an opportunity to throw it.

“Shea, take this rope and see if you can get the pulleys working, I’ll help Craig,” I said. Once she had the rope, I turned and cast a sheet of ice on the dock in front of Craig. I quickly followed it up with a Frost Wind spell, which blew the Green Skins off the dock and into the river. With the sheet of ice on the dock in front of Craig, now they could not charge his position, but that did not stop them from trying and sliding off the dock and into the river.

“Got it!” called out Shea.

“Go, Craig! Once you’re clear I can swim across,” I said. “Until then I can keep these buffoons busy.”

With a swift nod, he turned and jumped onto the boat with Shea. He quickly grabbed the rope and started to pull it across the river. Meanwhile the Green Skins gave up their attempt to charge and instead started throwing things at us. It was all I could do to dodge the projectiles, and I had no opening to cast. That was bad because the ice sheet was a beginner spell and, as such, would not last long.

Then I noticed that most of what they threw was harmlessly bouncing off my armor. So I quickly pulled on my helmet to protect my face and then cast my Ice Storm spell, which mercilessly pummeled their front line. They hurriedly pushed the bodies out of their way and tried to charge again just as my ice sheet started to fail. I cast another Ice Storm to slow their advance and retreated into the river. I could only hope Shea and Craig had had enough time to make it across.

When I had reached the dock on the other side of the river, Craig and Shea had just arrived and were unloading the boat. “Should we cut the rope so the Green Skins can’t follow us?” I asked.

“No, others might need to use the boat some day. The goblins won’t cross this river,” said Craig.

“So we press on now to the trading outpost?” I asked.

“Yes, in the morning. Now that we are on this side of the river we can go back to traveling during the day,” said Craig. “If I remember right, a short walk towards the setting sun from here will bring us to a sheltered area where we can camp.”

I looked back at the river. I was not sure that I believed him about the Green Skins not following us across, but Shea and Craig started down the trail, so I joined them. When we had reached the campsite there was still at least half the night left till morning, so Craig took the first watch, and once again I had the wonderful privilege of sleeping on the cold hard ground.

I just lay there staring up at the strange constellations overhead, wondering how I was going to get myself out of this mess. Craig’s plan of heading to the school seemed wise, but we had already been traveling for longer than I cared to think about. Shadow and the others were probably searching for me, and that meant the whole mission would be put on hold for a while. There was no way they could know where I was, or even if I was alive. If only I could get a message to them somehow, to tell them I would be back when I could, but not to wait for me. I was still awake when Craig came over to wake me for my watch.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked.

“Not since coming here,” I said as I stood up.

“Takes a long while to get used to sleeping outdoors like this,” he said.

“I don’t imagine I ever could,” I said.

“Dusty, you did very well back there at the docks, and earlier with the sorcerer,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You said your nation is at war to defend its neighbor?” he asked.

“Yeah, basically the pirates in the area have grown to outnumber their navy, so they decided they wanted the territory for themselves,” I said.

“That’s a truly noble cause, and I am sure your fellow warriors are sorely missing one of your abilities,” he said and then lay down to sleep next to his sister.

I wondered about that exchange for a bit. We had talked a little about the war as we walked the other night, and he seemed extremely interested in that aspect of my background. Shea was always encouraging me, telling me how smart I was, and similar comments, but Craig was more reserved. I wondered if she had told him to be more positive around me.

The night passed without incident, and shortly after dawn we resumed our travels to the trading outpost. Craig pushed a harder pace than previously, as he hoped to make it to the outpost by sundown. It was a struggle to keep up with them, but the thought of a nice warm bed kept me going.

That hope was dashed to pieces when we came over a hill, and the old man that had captured me came into sight. He was standing there all alone with his arms spread to his sides as if trying to say, “I am harmless,” but I knew better.

Craig did not wait for the old man to make a move or say anything; he crossed in front of me and drew his sword, which was now glowing a bright blue. As Craig slowly walked towards the old man, Shea grabbed my arm and whispered, “Run!”

“Now, now, there is no reason to be concerned. I just want to see my good friend Dusty,” said the old man.

When he said my name, I felt myself being drawn to him. I could only think about how he saved my life, fed me that wonderful aupessi, and the luxurious swim in the ocean. I turned towards him and started to walk, but Shea jumped in front of me and did her best to stop my forward movement.

“DUSTY!” she yelled. “The sorcerer has you charmed! Resist it and get out of here!”

Sorcerer?
I thought as I shook my head. It was getting fuzzy again, and I could not think clearly.

“Now, my dear Shea, no need to call me foul names. I mean no harm. After all, I did save his life,” said the old man.

I tried to think, but my mind was so fuzzy. I tried to look at the old man, but Shea kept blocking my view, encouraging me to resist. My mind wandered back to the swim in that wondrous ocean full of fresh fish that were unusually easy pickings.

“Dusty, listen to me. Focus on my words. He is trying to trick you. Cast a defensive spell against his charms, and you will see,” said Shea.

I tried to push past her but she had dug in her feet. There was no way I was going to get by her without hurting her. I shook my head again, trying to shake the fuzziness out of it when I heard Craig call out with his warrior cry. Then Shea collapsed on the ground in front of me as light and power exploded around us.

“Dusty, help me!” called out the old man as Craig pressed his attack, swinging his sword with great and mighty blows. Sparks and thunder erupted every time he connected with some kind of shield that was around the old man.

Seeing Shea go down gave me a moment of clarity. I scooped her up and quickly cast Shadow Form. Once I was cloaked, I could feel my head clear up. I felt the old man desperately searching for me, but the one thing I was good at was hiding, and he was no match for me in that arena. Carrying Shea and moving as quickly as I could without breaking my cloak, I pushed on to the trading outpost. I reached the gates a little after sunset, as they were closing. I knew I would not make it before they locked them shut, so I risked canceling my spell and cried out, “Help!”

In response, I saw torches light up near the gate and move quickly towards me. I ran as fast as I could and stumbled, spilling Shea onto the ground and taking a bad fall myself. Soon men from the town were surrounding us and helping me up.

“What happened?” asked one.

“Attacked in the woods, please help her, and Craig … oh no, Craig!” I said as I turned to head back, but was stopped by the guard.

“Who attacked you?” he asked.

“Some old man, I don’t know, but Craig was still fighting him! I have to go and help!” I said. In a panic, I tried to run back to Craig, but the guards restrained me.

“That’s a mage bolt in her back,” said one of the guards.

“As crazed as he is acting, I believe it. Send a patrol to see if we can find this Craig. This skinny fellow could not have come all that far carrying her,” said the first guard.

I fought as hard as I could to break free and go out there, but I could not. “Easy there, we will help your friend, but we need to get both of you into the town quickly if we are to help her,” said one of the guards.

I sighed and gave in and said, “Will she make it?”

“Probably, if we get her to the temple quickly,” he said.

As the guards brought us into the town, a group of men riding some kind of animal charged back in the direction from which I had come. As soon as they were gone the gates to the town were sealed, and I could see men hurrying up on to the walls. The guards led us through the town to a large, ornate building. As we approached I saw several men dressed in very plain robes, waiting to meet us.

These men must have been doctors of some kind because they immediately took Shea in and started to treat her. I watched them work, and with my magical awareness up I could sense power build in them, but it was nothing like the magic I knew and understood. Instead it was more like the magic that I saw around Craig. It was a pure power, but I could not tell what it was doing or how it was doing it. Soon it became apparent that it was some kind of healing magic, as I could see color return to Shea’s face, and her breathing became deeper and more regular.

“She will be fine now. She just needs some rest,” said the man that was taking care of Shea.

I moved and sat next to her bed and said, “I will wait.”

“Certainly, I will have someone bring you some food and a bedroll,” he said and then left.

Dusty, you failed again, and this time you almost got Shea killed!
I thought to myself. I should have known that man was a sorcerer. How is it that Craig and Shea could tell so fast, and I was so blind?