The Divine Apprentice (The Divine Series) (39 page)

Kade knew he might not be as powerful as Morg, but he believed he was more than a challenge as long as he continued to think his way through this.  He looked up at the sky to see the position of the moon, trying to calculate how much time had passed, but could not even fathom a guess.

Rayden, let me know when you are in position,
Kade thought.  There was nothing.  Kade took a deep breath, focused his attention hard and sent the thought again.  He was about to give up when, very faintly, he got a response.  He was not sure if he was really hearing the dragon, or if it was just wishful thinking, but he had to believe it was Rayden.  He held his breath and reached out for the dragon’s mind, again.  It was so faint he would not have connected if he was not so focused, but it was there. 
Let me know when you are in position,
Kade sent.

“Kade?” Garig started to ask but Kade quickly cut him off.

“I am sorry Father, but I must focus.  This is critical,” Kade said as he listened intently for the dragon’s response.  It seemed to take forever, but Rayden finally made contact.  “It’s time.  Are you ready?” Kade asked as his heart started to pound.

“I am,” Garig said, his voice a mix of excitement and fear.

Kade moved to the edge of the platform and focused on the other tower.  He took a deep breath and performed the Transparency Calling, sending the Divine Power to his mother.  He looked closely and was shocked to see she was still visible.  Kade shook his head, took another deep breath and performed the calling once more.  Again, it failed.  Kade felt a knot grow in his stomach.  Fear worked its way into his heart.  Fear of failure and no back-up plan was causing him to doubt.  It had to work
.

I am too close to freeing my parents to fail
, Kade thought angrily.  He curled his lips as he fumed.  He cast the calling again, but it made no difference.  She was still in plain sight.

Kade clenched his fist as he turned to look at his father.  Anger exploded in him.  He was not going to allow this evil man to lay one more hand on his parents.  Kade felt the Divine Power growing as his anger increased.  He clenched his fist, and when he was on the verge of losing his last sense, a vague hint of an idea worked its way into his mind.  Kade grabbed ahold of the Divine with a vengeance.  He completed the calling and directed it at his mother.  She faded out of sight.  Stunned, Kade felt the power snap into place and it was his.  He spun quickly and performed the calling on his father.  He, too, disappeared.

Retrieving the knife from his boot, Kade turned and lunged for his father’s ropes.  He gave a mental thanks to Dran for the knife.  He ran his hands up his father’s right arm to find the rope and frantically sawed through it.  Garig’s feet hit the floor with a thud but thanks to the calling, none heard the sound.  As Kade was reaching for the next arm, he saw a figure slide out from an alley, cautiously moving toward his mother’s tower.

“What next, Son?” Garig whispered.

“We work our way to the bottom and we stay under the tower,” Kade said as he watched the man drift closer and closer to the tower.  The man then turned and ran to the tower they were on, stopping just at the edge of the traps.  Kade felt as if the man were looking directly at him.  The apprentice froze.  The man edged a little closer as he peered up at the empty beam.  Kade felt his father work his way across the tower to the ladder, but before Garig could start down, Kade hissed, “Wait!”

Several more shadows drifted out into the open and it was not long before an alarm was sounded.  Kade felt his pulse pound so hard he could hear it in his ears.  He reached for his father, found his arm and pulled him away from the ladder.

“We can’t go down, yet,” Kade hissed as he recalled the way the tower squeaked.  That would, most definitely, call attention to themselves with the number of people filling the streets.  “And, if that man is able to come up, he would meet us on the way down.”  There were more than twenty men and the numbers were growing by the moment.

Kade felt the structure shift slightly and inhaled sharply as he pulled his father to the back of the tower.  So close to succeeding, and yet, even closer to failing.  Kade embraced the Divine Power and prepared to use it.  The tower shifted rhythmically as someone climbed the steps.  A head appeared at the edge of the platform.  The man stopped and looked closely at the beam that had previously held a prisoner.  He eased himself onto the platform and moved over to where his father had hung, running his hand over the wood.  The man spun and ran to the edge, staring intently at the other tower.

“They are gone!” he screamed frantically.  “They are gone!”  

Kade could sense fear coming off the man in waves.  A figured stepped out of the shadow, slowly, and all the other men gave him a wide birth.  The man on the platform shifted nervously.

“You let them escape?” the man asked quietly but his voice carried throughout the town.  He looked up at the man on the tower and pointed at him.  Kade could see the one just a few feet away start to shake.  His bladder let loose as he wet himself.  Kade wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“They just disappeared.  I was watching the whole time, but they just vanished,” he said in desperation.  His voice broke and the last word came out as a squeak.  Kade did not need to see the man to know he swallowed hard as he tried to speak.  The man in the street took two steps toward the tower and aimed something.  The other men nearby scattered.  The one on the tower gasped and reached for his neck.  He backed across the tower, turning red in the face, clearly unable to breath.  Kade tried to slip by him but was not quick enough.  Man and apprentice collided.  He spun around still scratching at his neck.  There was blood where his nails had raked his skin.  The man’s eyes widened as his hand shot out and touched Kade in the chest.  Kade could see the man’s eyes go wide as realization hit him.  He stumbled to the edge of the tower and then fell over, hitting the ground with a thud, taking his discovery with him.

“Morg,” Garig said so quietly that Kade barely heard.

Kade watched as the figure walked to the tower where his mother was and stood, studying the ground.  He tensed, hoping with all his heart that Morg would not climb the tower.  The man slowly walked around the structure while his small army stood by, nervously fidgeting.   He stopped at the narrow pathway where the one calling had been neutralized and followed it with his eyes.

Kade could still feel the Divine Power swirling in him like a calm stream…waiting ominously.  He closed his eyes and completed the Reveal Calling.  He watched as the traps surrounding the tower fade out completely.  Morg circled the structure and put a hand on the ladder.

“Stay still, Father.  Do not move until I say,” Kade said as he walked to the edge of the platform.  He planted his feet firmly and prepared to cast his most powerful calling.  He watched intently as Morg started up the ladder.  Kade began the moves for the calling.  He was at the seventh move when a man yelled out.

“Here,” the man yelled as he studied the ground.  “Here,” he said again with excitement.

Morg stopped just short of the platform and looked at the man.  Instead of going back down, he turned, studying the platform just above him.  He moved up another step, his head barely above the edge.  Kade moved onto the eighth move.  Two more moves and there was no turning back.   

“I found something!” the man said urgently.

Morg paused for a moment more and then quickly started down the ladder.  Kade almost let out a cry of relief as he froze at the end of the ninth move.  His arms shaking, he dropped them to his side.

Morg stopped in front of the man who was down with one knee on the ground.  He was looking up at Morg like a child who looks up at a parent, waiting for approval.  Morg slowly knelt down to study the ground.  After several long moments, he stood and turned to look at all the men.  A few of them started to plead for their lives and backed away with their hands up protectively.  Kade felt sorry for them, but he would not help them if he could.  They deserved this.

Morg was shaking with rage as he glared hard at the men.  Kade could feel the fury from where he stood and cringed, grateful he was not at the end of that glare.  He took an involuntary step back.  Kade could feel Morg drawing on the power and it scared him.  There was something different about it.  He could not explain it, but he knew his father had been telling the truth.  This man was more than deadly.

“Find them!”  Morg screamed like a mad man.  “They went that way,” he raged as he pointed the way Rayden had gone.  “They got away right under your noses, you fools!” he yelled as he aimed something at them.  The small army of men raced in the direction the dragon had gone, frantically trying to push past each other.  The two buildings on either side of the alley exploded.  The few men not fast enough to make it through the alley never had to fear Morg again.  They died with the explosion, and Kade was sure that many of them welcomed their deaths.

Morg held something out in front of himself, gripping it in both hands.  Kade felt the Divine flow and then he hissed harshly as the amulet turned into a scalding piece of metal.  He leaned forward to let the protective necklace hang away from his skin.  After a moment, Morg dropped his arms and the amulet cooled.  Morg let out a yell of rage.

Morg stood with his feet apart, his left arm at his side, while his right hand clenched something but Kade could not quite make it out.  Debris was still raining down, but Morg did not appear to notice.  Several large pieces bounced off him but he never flinched.  The evil Chosen started forward when a grimalkin raced into town from the west.  It ran up to Morg and put its head against the ground in an act of submission.  Morg yelled for it to follow after the men, but as it stood, it whipped its head around to stare at the tower where Judeen was still held captive.  It sniffed the air several times and then took a step in her direction.

Kade’s gut twisted into a knot.  He had no doubt that it had caught the scent of his mother.  He hoped and prayed that it did not have the ability to communicate with Morg the way he and the dragon did.  If so, this was going to turn into a disaster when it was on the brink of success.  Morg started down the path after his men and yelled for the cat-like creature again, but it ignored him, and instead, took another step toward the tower.

Kade felt as though his nerves could not take any more.  He focused on the beast as it moved forward another step.  Morg screamed in rage as he spun on the creature.  Within moments, he had unleashed the Divine.  The grimalkin writhed violently.  Kade realized, in shock, that Morg could cast a calling that could crush the air out of anyone, or anything, and that was exactly what he was doing to this beast.  It kicked out furiously, catching one of the support legs for the tower, causing it to explode in a shower of wood.  The tower teetered dangerously.  Kade gasped, expecting it to fall at any moment.

“Come,” Morg commanded as he let the beast breath again.

“Father!”  Kade hissed.

“I know.  We have to get to her!”  Garig said as he moved forward.

“Stay with me,” Kade said as he reached for the ladder.

“What about the traps?” 

“They are gone.  Morg must have dismissed them for the man who came up,” Kade said as he grabbed ahold of the ladder and started down as fast as he dared.

The tower creaked as they descended.  Kade stepped around the still form of the man that had fallen from the tower and moved back, giving his father room.  He waited until he felt his father hit the ground.  As they turned for the other tower, the structure let out another creak, causing Kade to cringe as he held his breath.

“Run, Son!  We have to hurry!”  Garig said in a panic.  Kade’s heart pumped wildly at the urging from his father.  They broke into a run and then slid to a stop at the tower.  Fortunately, the support leg that was missing was opposite the ladder.  Kade quickly grabbed ahold, climbed a few rungs and stopped, hoping his extra weight would keep the tower from toppling.

“I have this, Son,” Garig said as he grabbed ahold of the ladder, urging his son to climb.  Kade scrambled up, still fearing it would fall at any moment.  He could feel the sweat run down his back as he reached the platform.  Before climbing the rest of the way, he glanced over his shoulder to the other end of town and saw a movement.  He froze as he watched.  Kade felt his muscles go taut as he recognized the man by the way he moved.  It was arrogance and power.  There was only one man it could be.  Kade could feel his heart pounding like mad.  He was in no position to defend himself.  He was at the mercy of fate now, and he knew it.

Kade felt his grip on the edge of the platform slip.  He wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and reached back up for a firmer grip.  He pulled himself up slowly, afraid the wood might creak, and also, afraid his weight might take them crashing to the ground.

“Mother, are you okay?” Kade asked.  There was no response.  Kade realized instantly why she had not answered, or at least hoped he knew why.  He prepared to dismiss the Silence Calling but at the last moment, decided against it.  Even though the medallion seemed to be working, he was not sure that Morg would not see the use of the Divine Power or sense it, since he was this close.

Kade moved forward and reached out for his mother.  He found her arms and gave a gentle squeeze of reassurance.  He was relieved when she responded to his touch.  He reached down, retrieved his knife from his boot, and then followed her arms up to the ropes.  He stood on his toes as he grabbed ahold of the bindings, trying not to injure his mother’s already raw wrists.  He carefully sawed through, making sure not to cut her.  As he sliced through the last of the rope, she slipped from his grasp and dropped to the platform.  Kade flinched, waiting to hear his mother land with a thud, but it never came.  The Silence Calling he had cast previously was still in place.  He breathed a sigh of relief until he felt the tower shift ever so slightly.