The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (23 page)

“
Take it,” I said. “I’ll meet you down there.”

“
Good luck,” Natalie said as she grabbed Aaron and ran back in
the direction from which we arrived.

What do I do
now?

Remember your dream when you fought the Mage,
Cathy said.
You used
your Harden Skin spell.

I grabbed at
the chest piece I was wearing to try and remove it. The tingle of
magic approaching caught my attention and I rolled out of the way.
I wasn’t fast enough and the armour started getting hot. I jumped
to my feet and finally freed myself from it.

“
I’ve been waiting for you,” the Mage smiled. “Chester’s
offering a pretty good pile of gold for your head.”

Power flowed
through my body as scales replaced my skin. The Mage’s expression
changed as he watched me cover my whole body in scales.

“
Oh yeah?” I asked as I rolled my shoulders. “How
much?”

The Mage’s
face hardened as his flaming hands grew brighter. I simply covered
my face with my scaly hands and felt his flames engulf my body. A
warming feeling grew but it was only a comfortable warmth, like
being wrapped in a blanket. When the attack stopped I dropped my
hands and smiled at my opponent. Doubt was creeping into his eyes
as he gathered his strength to launch Ice Bolts. I laughed as I
swatted them away like flies.

You are really having fun with this,
Cathy chuckled.

It’s nice
knowing the Order isn’t going to punish you for ‘excessive use of
magic’.

They grow up so fast,
Cathy said
more to herself.

The Mage
started to back away as I began advancing on him. He was searching
for a trick or spell that he could use to beat me and stood ready
for whatever I was about to unleash on him.

The sound of
footsteps drew my attention as two bandits came running up from the
passageway behind the Mage. They took one look at me and turned to
flee. The Mage turned around and unleashed a spell I had never seen
before. Twin trails of pale blue erupted from the bandits and flew
into the hands of the Mage. He groaned and his eyes glowed white as
he turned back to face me.

Damn
, Cathy hissed.
That’s what I thought.

What?

He’s possessed,
Cathy
explained
. Rage Demon. He just drained the
life force out of those two bandits. This also explains the magical
barrier.

“
The game is over, young Mage,” the possessed Mage boomed in a
new voice. “You’ve been a worthy foe, but now it is time for you to
die.”

Oh god.

Just hold out against his attacks,
Cathy said frantically sensing my fear
. They are all attack no strategy. He will use up all his
power then be vulnerable.

The possessed
Mage’s hand grew bright orange and I quickly covered my face with
my scaly hands. When the attack hit me it was like being trapped in
an inferno. I focused more power in my Harden Skin spell but it
only brought the heat down to an uncomfortable hot.

Just hold on,
Cathy said
worried.

I closed my
eyes and concentrated on holding off the attack. My knees grew weak
and my whole body started shaking. The heat would not give up and I
was starting to lose my grip on my consciousness.

You are not allowed to die on me,
Cathy said stressed.

A wave of
power entered my body and the heat was brought down to a
comfortable level. When the attack finally ended, I brought my
hands down and smirked wearily at the possess Mage.

“
Is that it?” I asked.

The possessed
Mage’s body had gone grey and gaunt as the Demon within was using
his body’s own life force to feed that attack.

“
Imposs...” it said looking at me.

I focused some
power into hand and launched an Ice Bolt at him. He wearily
deflected it away. Same with another that I launched at him while I
advanced. Too weak to run away, the possessed Mage allow me to pick
him up. I carried him to the edge and dangled him. Sensing that his
mind was an open book from exhaustion, I couldn’t help but have a
little fun.

Making him
think my eyes started glowing white, I made my voice booming. “Go
back to the Spirit Plain. This one’s mine.”

The possessed
Mage’s eyes grew wide and I focused what little energy I had into
lighting my hands on fire. The fire quickly spread over the Mage’s
entire body and I threw him down to the lower levels. He screamed
as he fell, landing with an unhealthy crack between some
unsuspecting bandits. When they looked up and saw me they started
running away in fear.

I don’t think it was in fear,
Cathy
chuckled
. After the last fire
attack...well...look down.

I looked down
and was shocked to discover that I was completely naked. The fire
must have been so hot it melted off the armour. Even the sword had
been melted off.

Right, I
should probably take care of that.

I headed
towards the two bandits that had been unlucky enough to run into
the possessed Mage and stole their armour.

Oh by the way,
Cathy said as I
pulled up the greaves while my skin returned to normal.
‘This one’s mine’ was a very nice
touch.

I thought you
would enjoy it. I thought I was done for. Where did that extra
power come from?

Me. Who else?
She
answered.

You can lend
me power?

I guess so,
she
answered
. I’m a part of you after all. I
lent you a little bit so it didn’t overwhelm you. It worked
perfectly. I figure it would be handy to have in emergency
situations.

Very handy.
Thank you for saving my life.

OUR life,
she
said
. I’m in here too
.

Sorry, OUR
life.

Fully dressed
again, I climbed into the elevator and took it down to the lower
level. Trying to feel around with my mind, I was too tired to focus
but I could feel two people at the bottom of the lower level. I
drew my new sword and waited. When I was close enough to make out
who they were, I put away the sword and waved to them.

“
What’s with the flaming guy?” Natalie asked motioning to the
still burning corpse.

“
He had a rather nasty trip,” I answered.

“
Good to see you’re still alive,” Aaron said.

“
Same,” I said as the elevator came to a stop. “Did you run
into much trouble?”

“
Tons,” Natalie said excited. “But that’s because they were
running away screaming about a naked Demon. You wouldn’t know
anything about that, would you?”

“
I’m fully dressed,” I smiled. “So, no.”

“
Chester’s just up ahead,” Natalie said pointing behind
her.

“
And the Princess?” I asked.

“
Were you not paying attention earlier?” she
chuckled.

“
We were preparing for the ambush from the tunnel,” Aaron
explained.

“
Right,” she said turning to me. “He’s already sold her to a
Nesqian crime lord looking to ransom her for money and power over
the Emperor.”

“
Damn,” I said disappointed.

“
Cheer up,” she said. “Chester’s the type who keeps documents
on everything. You won’t leave here empty handed for your little
quest. Now, come on, he’s lived long enough.”

Back in
formation behind Natalie, she led us through the final passageway
in the deepest part of the mine. Natalie explained that it was
where miners had discovered an underground river that runs through
the mountains to the south side of Malkia. This was also the place
that Chester the Mongoose called his home.

To my
amazement the passage opened up to a natural cavern within the
mountain. The high ceiling was a welcome change from the almost
claustrophobic nature of the mine. The rushing river split the
cavern in half with a single landmass in the middle of it. Chester
stood amongst his possessions holding a golden statue of a
falcon.

“
I should have known you’d make it this far, Nat,” Chester
called out as we approached the river.

“
I had a good teacher,” Natalie called back.

“
Stop,” Chester said as we were about to cross the river. “One
step onto my island and I throw the Falcon in the river. We both
know only one of us is walking out of here. But if I fall, you
don’t get a prize.”

Out of the
corner of my eye I could see Natalie clench her jaw.

Well she only has the two decisions,
Cathy said
. Kill him and lose it or
trade the gold for his life.

“
I’ll cut you a deal,” Chester said. “I’ll give you the Falcon
and you just turn around and leave. Your life and the falcon, for
my life.”

Did I call that or what?
Cathy
chuckled.

I searched the
cavern for any situation that could favour us. The only notable
thing was the hanging vines and moss that droop from the rocky
spires off the ceiling.

“
Both are pretty crappy deals,” Natalie said. “How can I be
sure you won’t just hunt me down later?”

“
You can’t,” he answered. “We have too much history, love. We
will always be in each others' lives.”

Already
feeling pretty burnt out, I tried to reach out and control the
vines. The vines responded to my magic, but for how long I didn't
know.

“
Kill him, Natalie,” I said focusing on the vines.

“
But...” she said.

“
What? You don’t trust me?” I smiled.

She looked in
the direction of the vine then back to me. I could see her smirk
and she drew her blade. She charged across the river and Chester
looked at her with shock before turning to his right and throwing
the Falcon. I lashed out with a vine, caught the Falcon and threw
it towards Aaron.

“
Catch it,” I said as I dropped to my knees in
exhaustion.

Aaron ran into
the river and caught it with a flying dive while Chester brought
his sword up to battle Natalie. Natalie crossed the river as if she
was walking on top of the water and struck out at Chester. Her
speed was too much for Chester as he failed to block her attacks.
After a slash to his hand he dropped his sword and backed up
slowly. Natalie advanced slowly and I could see that Chester was
talking but couldn’t make out any words. Natalie replied then
stabbed him in the chest. As he fell to the ground in a heap, she
retracted her blade and headed back to us.

“
How you holding up there, Andy?” she asked as she stepped
back on our side of the river.

“
Nothing a nap couldn’t cure,” I answered. “What did he
say?”

“
Oh, he asked me to think it through,” she laughed.

I laughed too
as I struggled to get back to my feet. Aaron handed her the Falcon
and she smiled as she studied it.

“
Looks like you are set for retirement,” I said.

“
Not quite,” she said. “This is for a different
purpose.”

“
What is it exactly?” Aaron asked.

“
A golden statue crafted by Nesqian smiths for the Emperor’s
family,” she explained. “They found it among the Princess’ thing
when she was kidnapped.”

“
Shouldn’t it be returned to them?” Aaron asked.

She shook her
head. “No, I need it.”

“
For what?” I asked.

“
Mind your own business,” she snapped.

“
It’s okay to tell us,” I started. “You wouldn’t have gone to
so much trouble for simple greed. What’s wrong?”

“
Nothing’s wrong,” she said frustrated before sighing and
continuing in a calmer voice. “I just...I made a promise that, if I
ever made a big score, I would donate the money to Honeywell
Orphanage. There, you happy?”

“
You’re hiding that you want to give your money to an
orphanage?” Aaron asked confused.

“
True, I don’t see you as the type but it’s nothing to be
ashamed of,” I chuckled.

She smiled.
“It’s more than that but I don’t want to go into detail. I
just...want to give back to the only place that was home for
me.”

“
Fair enough,” I nodded.

“
So, I can keep it?” she asked.

“
Of course,” I nodded.

“
Aaron?” she asked looking at him.

He smiled and
nodded.

“
Thanks,” she said. “Now Andy, let’s go get you some
information for your quest.”

“
I don’t think I can make it across the river,” I
chuckled.

Wuss
, Cathy said.

“
Wuss,” Natalie laughed as she threw my arm over her
shoulder.

Chapter 20

With Natalie’s
help, I was able to find Chester’s private documents. It appeared
that Chester had someone follow the Nesqian crime lord back to his
hideout so that after the Princess was ransomed off, Chester and
his men could attack for the gold.

And they say there’s no honour among thieves,
Cathy had said sarcastically.

The rest of
the night was a chance to celebrate in luxury as we ate and drank
as much of Chester’s food as we could. We removed the dead bodies
from the crew quarters and spent the night sleeping in warm soft
beds.