The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (22 page)

“
Now, that’s cool,” Natalie smiled as she watched.

Holding my
hands out with the palms facing each other, I lined up the pine
needles between them and focused energy into each honey covered
tip. One by one they burst into fire and when they were ready I
made sure I was aimed at the door properly. I brought my hands
closer to my body while still keeping the palms facing the pine
needles. When my hands were close to touching in front of me, I
sent out a Pulse and launched the burning needles.

One by one
they struck the magical barrier causing it to ripple and turn
white. The barrier shimmered and as the last of the needles made
contact, the barrier exploded sending a blast of energy and air in
all directions. The two mummies on their knees fell forward and
exploded into dust.

“
Now, why didn’t they teach THAT at school,” I
smiled.

“
Nice one, Andy,” Aaron said stunned.

“
So, we can go through now?” Natalie asked unsure.

“
Yeah, the energy hum is gone,” I answered. “But we should be
careful in there. I think it is safe to assume that you friend
Chester has a Mage working for him.”

“
Make him regret crossing you then,” Natalie smiled. “We’ll
hide our packs up here so we won’t be weighed down for this
fight.”

Natalie found
a great spot to hide our packs within the rocks and Aaron opened
the wooden door to the mines. The passageway down was well lit by
the torches on the wall and the support beams for the ceiling was
well maintained.

“
Don’t let that fool you,” Natalie said as she started down.
“It’s pretty open in the main chambers.”

The blade from
Natalie’s gauntlet extended as she disappeared further into the
mine. Aaron nodded, grabbed an arrow and readied his bow as he
followed. I removed the short sword from my hip and took a deep
breath before entering.

You are actually going to use it?
Cathy asked.

If I have
to.

Aim for the heart!
Cathy exclaimed
excited.

There’s a
revolting thought.

Thought and
the real thing are very different, she explained. You can think of
anything. What will happen, can only happen one way.

At the bottom
of the passageway the mine opened up into what would have been a
main staging area for the miners. A cart on a track that led into a
dark passageway was all that remained of the old mining days. Now,
it looked like it was used as an area for the bandits to dump the
goods they’ve stolen.

A group of
three stood at the back of the room unmoving. They showed no signs
of hostility though it was obvious they knew we were here.

“
Chester,” Natalie said unsurprised.

Chapter 19

The man known
as Chester the Mongoose stepped out from the middle of the two
other bandits. He was about as average looking as anyone that could
be average looking.

Probably how he has been so successful,
Cathy pointed out.
Not an easy face
to describe
.

“
Good to see you again so soon, Natalie,” Chester
smiled.

“
I’m here for what is mine,” Natalie said as we stopped in
front of Chester.

We stopped, or
maybe he stopped us, close to the dark passageway into which the
old cart tracks disappeared. I looked down the passageway but
couldn’t see anything. It did nothing to ease my mind though.

“
If I remember correctly, it was mine first,” Chester smiled
as I felt around the area with my mind.

“
In our business it isn’t who had it first but who sold it
first,” Natalie replied.

“
True, but that can’t be the only reason you are here,”
Chester said. He slowly looked into my direction. “Or that you
brought a Mage to my doorstep.”

I stopped
searching with my mind and waited to see if that was a cue to
attack. With everyone unmoving I continued my search. There was a
strange undertone in this cave that was making it hard to focus on
anything.

“
Word has it you’ve been kidnapping people you shouldn’t
have,” Natalie said as if the idea was normal.

“
Just a favour for an old friend,” Chester replied in good
humour.

Finally my
search revealed two minds advancing on our position from within the
dark passageway. I looked at Aaron who was still focused on the
conversation. Hiding my hand, I sent a small little Pulse of energy
at him to get his attention.

When he turned
and looked at me confused, I held up two fingers from my hidden
hand. I motioned towards my hidden hand and Aaron looked down then
back up at my face more confused. I looked behind him into the
passage and motioned subtly with my head. He turned his head
slightly then back to me and thought for a second before
realization crossed his face.

Finally,
Cathy
said
. I thought that boy would take
forever to figure it out.

He nodded
slightly and we refocused on the conversation.

“
-And you think that’s a good idea?” Natalie asked.

“
Money is money love,” Chester answered. “So what now? She
isn’t here and I have the Falcon. What are you going to do
now?”

Wait, what did I miss?
Cathy
asked.

“
It stays the same, Chester,” Natalie answered. “I kill you
and take the Falcon.”

“
It’s going to be a shame to kill someone as wild as you
were,” he smirked.

Aaron aimed
his bow down the passageway and shot an arrow. A cry of surprise
echoed from the passageway as Aaron reached for another arrow. A
flood of power erupted from my hand as a created a magical wall
protecting Natalie and Aaron. An arrow flew out of the darkness,
striking the wall and landed on the ground harmlessly.

I dropped the
wall and Aaron let another arrow fly. Only the sound of the arrow
hitting the ground echoed throughout the passageway. Aaron and I
backed up out of sight of the passageway while Natalie was focused
solely on Chester. The two bandits at the other end of the room
started to advance on Natalie.

“
Get the other two,” he hissed at them. “I can handle
this.”

“
Yeah,” Natalie chuckled. “I’m only a girl.”

Natalie fought
with the fury of a tornado, quickly striking and dodging anything
Chester could throw at her with his short sword. The two bandits
left them alone as they turned their attention to us.

“
Wait for the archer in the passageway to come out,” I said to
Aaron holding the short sword in front of me with my right hand and
left hand up and ready for whatever spell I need. “I’ll hold off
these two.”

“
I can take one now,” he replied.

“
Then you won’t be ready for the archer,” I said. “I’d rather
not get an arrow in the butt.”

“
Ditto,” he chuckled as he quickly backed up.

I advanced
towards the bandits hoping my display with the wall would have been
enough to intimidate them a bit. They didn’t look the least bit
fazed and I searched my mind for a decent spell.

What? Your Illusion spell won’t work here?
Cathy mocked.

You’re not
helping.

Hit them with fire,
Cathy
said.

The two
bandits spaced themselves apart to try and flank me. My hand grew
warm as power started to form in my hand. When the bandit on my
left made his move, I launched a Fire Ball at him. It exploded on
his armour but it wasn’t powerful enough to kill him. Just make his
armour uncomfortably warm. The bandit began screaming and smacking
his armour.

The second
bandit swung his sword at me and I raised mine into a defensive
position. The sword was nearly knocked out of my hand by the force
of the bandit’s attack. I sent a small Pulse out with my left hand
which unbalanced my attacker allowing me to get back into a ready
stance.

Frustrated,
the bandit lunged at me with another swing of his sword and I was
more prepared to parry his attack with my own. I even managed to
block his second attack before using a Pulse to knock him onto his
back. He jumped back to his feet and screamed at me in rage until
he was abruptly silenced by one of Aaron’s arrows.

The first
bandit was advancing on me again having removed the top portion of
his armour to escape the burning pain. I sent a Pulse at him and
Aaron caught him square in the bare chest with an arrow.

“
I could do that all day,” Aaron chuckled as he joined
me.

“
You got the archer?” I asked.

“
Yup,” he answered as we headed towards Natalie and Chester.
“It didn’t take long for him to show his face.”

Having seen
that he was alone, Chester parried one of the Natalie’s attacks and
kicked her in the stomach to drop her to the ground. He backed up
quickly and fled down a side passage. Aaron sent an arrow in his
direction but it hit the wall nowhere near its mark.

Natalie
coughed as she slowly stood back up and seemed ready to charge
after him. Aaron and I dropped our weapons and ran up and to stop
her before she could do anything.

“
Let me go,” she hissed. “I had him.”

“
He’ll have traps prepared,” I said struggling to hold
on.

“
You run ahead alone, you’ll die alone,” Aaron said. “Our best
chance is to stay together. It’s what got us this far.”

Natalie
stopped struggling and took a deep breath. “You’re right. I don’t
want to see him escape but he has nowhere to go. I’ll hunt him down
by the night’s end. Can you feel if there is an ambush around the
next corner, Andy?”

I stretched
out with my mind but the strange undertone from earlier was louder
and made it impossible to focus on anything.

That’s not good,
Cathy
said.

What?

There is definitely another Mage here,
Cathy answered.

“
Damn,” I said looking to Natalie and Aaron.

“
What?” Aaron asked suspicious.

“
I can’t feel anything,” I answered. “I’m being
blocked.”

“
Blocked?” Natalie asked. “Blocked how?”

“
Another Mage is preventing me from checking the area,” I
explained.

“
So there definitely another Mage?” Aaron asked.

I nodded.

“
How does that affect you?” Natalie asked worried. “Can you
still use magic to help us?”

“
Of course,” I answered. “This happens all the time in the
Tower. I just won't be able to influence or sense anyone until we
take him out.”

“
Ok, good,” Natalie said relieved. “I don’t know how well I
trust you with a sword.”

“
Thanks,” I said sarcastically.

Natalie looked
ahead in the direction of Chester’s escape “Looks like we’re stuck
with good old fashioned instincts on this one.”

“
How were you able to sense the archers in the passage?” Aaron
asked.

“
I couldn’t until they were close enough and the Mage didn’t
know we were here,” I explained. “Now that they do, they are trying
harder.”

“
So the Mage could be weak when it comes time to fight them?”
Aaron asked.

“
That’s what I’m hoping,” I answered.

“
I’ll take lead,” Natalie said. “I still know the layout and
that should help us. Aaron, take the far back so you can get to
higher ground easily. Andy, stay close and be ready for that
Mage.”

“
I’ve noticed you’ve stopped calling me ‘Demon’,” I pointed
out.

“
Demon is way too cool a nickname for you,” Natalie said
heading off the start our search of the mine.

“
Even when you're mocking me?” I asked.

“
Even then,” she chuckled.

Seems like she trusts you now,
Cathy
said
. Now, you don’t have to worry about
being murdered in your sleep.

Wonderful.

I followed
behind her and Aaron tapped my shoulder and handed me back my sword
when I looked at him.

“
You might not want to forget this,” he chuckled.

“
I really am terrible with these,” I smiled as I put it back
into its sheath.

We followed
Natalie through the passageways. They were big enough to
accommodate two people walking side by side so there would be
plenty of space for movement, and for Aaron to take care of any
archers.

Without saying
anything, we fell into a system that worked; Aaron would hit
bandits as they drew closer, I would throw up barriers to block the
arrows and Natalie would finish off any that made it close to us.
We had killed 6 bandits by the time we made it to another open area
where the elevator to the lower section was kept...and guarded. The
Mage who had been trying to scramble my mind welcomed us with a
Fire Ball.

“
Hit the deck!” I exclaimed as I dove out of the
way.

The Fire Ball
missed us and hit the wall behind us with an explosion of heat. I
looked up at the Mage who stared at us with a crooked smile and
hands aflame.

“
Is there another way down?” I asked Natalie.

“
Of course, it’s a little longer but...” she
answered.