The Missing Mage (28 page)

“See, isn’t that the stupidest plan ever? Sharon, Quinton tell him how stupid it is…” said Ava.

Nobody said a thing.

Ava looked at both of them, searching their faces for some sign of support. Finally, she lowered her head in defeat. Nathan was right. Getting the tomes safely back to Balta was the most important thing. “Okay, I’ll go. But you had better not get hurt again mister.” She gave Nathan another punch on the arm.

Nathan smiled. The hardest part of his plan was over: getting Ava to agree to it. “Come on, let’s go now. It will be daylight soon, and the Darcarion trackers will figure out our little water trick before too long.”

After swimming out of the pool, they climbed up the northern bank of the ravine. They had hardly gotten over the top before Thorn greeted them.

“Hello boy!” said Nathan, as he rubbed the stallion’s forehead. “I missed you too!” Thorn pawed the ground in answer.

Once Ava and Quinton were mounted on Thorn, Sharon handed Cyrnic’s satchel to Quinton. “See you soon,” she said to her two friends.

Quinton smiled. “You can count on it.”

Ava reached down and handed Sharon a small package. “Take this, Nathan is always getting himself hurt, and I don’t think you are any saner than he is, so I put some bandages and healing salves in there … just in case.”

“I love you too, Ava. You look after my guy, too, please.” The girls held hands momentarily.

Nathan looked into Ava’s eyes for a long moment, then turned his attention to Quinton, simply saying. “Get those tomes to Balthazar. Tell no one that we have them. There is still a spy in Balta that needs to be rooted out.”

Quinton nodded. “Got it.”

Nathan sent a thought to Thorn, directing the stallion on his way back to Balta with his precious cargo.

As their friends rode off into the faint pre-dawn light, Sharon turned to Nathan. “We sure have come a long way from Elderwood: new friends, new family, crazy adventures.”

Nathan nodded and a small smile crept onto his face. “It has been crazy, hasn’t it? Who would have imagined you turning into a temptress warrior? Stealing a prince’s heart and fighting off reanimated corpses, stone golems, and evil mages.”

Sharon laughed. “And who would have thought that shy wimpy little boy who couldn’t even talk to me without blushing would turn into such a big strong warrior.” Sharon pulled one of the daggers that Nathan had made for her out of belt and handed it to him. “Here, since I found a sword and you lost a sword, you will need it more than me. I trust you still remember how to fight with two daggers.”

Nathan smiled. His father had started his fighting training with two daggers, and he in turn had taught Sharon to fight with two weapons.
Yes
, he thought
, I still remember
. “Let’s head up the hill now. It won’t be long before Thorn is at the edge of the forest. I want to be able to provide cover if there are any Darcarions.”

Sharon nodded and followed Nathan as he led her to the high spot where he would have a good view of Thorn leaving the woods.

Nathan found a tree that looked like it had a good perch where he would have an unobstructed view of the edge of the woods, and began to climb. Finding a solid branch to sit on, he removed his bow from this shoulder and cocked an arrow. Feeling Thorn’s presence, Nathan knew he had about a minute before the animal would walk out into the fields. Nathan sent Thorn a thought to walk slower. Nathan wanted to scan the edge of the woods and fields for areas that the Darcarions might be hiding before Thorn started his sprint to Balta.

The sun was just starting to breach the eastern sky. The mellow morning light made seeing into the shadows tough, but would also make noticing Thorn and his riders difficult for the Darcarions. Nathan spotted a few dark shadows along the tree line that he could not fully discern. Having picked his spots to keep an eye on, Nathan encouraged Thorn to exit the woods.

Thorn came out of the woods slowly. As the stallion walked out from the cover of the woods, Nathan kept his eyes roaming, watching for any signs of movement from the shadows along the edge of the woods. When it came, the action started all at once.

Thorn, hearing a cracking noise, started to gallop into the fields. A scurry of movement came from one of the dark groups of shadows that Nathan had been eying. A flicker of flame could be seen as a Darcarion mage started to cast a fireball towards Thorn. Without hesitation, Nathan fired his arrow at the mage, striking him down before he could finish his cast. Two Morthon archers stepped into the field and raised their bows to fire at Thorn and his riders. Nathan’s second arrow caught one of the archers in the back. The second archer turned and spotted Nathan. He pointed and yelled Nathan’s location to some unseen ally, before turning and taking aim once more at Thorn. As the archer was about to release his arrow, Nathan instructed Thorn to make a hard turn. Thorn cut to his right as the archer’s arrow sliced through the empty air where he had been a moment earlier. As the archer prepared a second arrow, Nathan cut him down with an arrow of his own. Scanning the field and treeline once more, Nathan could find no more targets. Ava and Quinton were galloping towards Balta now.

Nathan caught another movement through the trees. Something was climbing the hill. The Darcarions were coming for them. Nathan quickly dropped out of the tree to where Sharon waited. “They are away, but now we need to get moving. We are going to have company soon,” said Nathan.

The pair ran deeper into the woods. They could hear a screeching noise coming fast. Devil rats!

Nathan, not sure how useful his arrows would be in the thick forest against the beasts, shouldered his bow and drew his daggers. Sharon already had her sword and dagger ready. They continued to run through the forest.

A devil rat burst from the bush off to Nathan’s left. The hideous, oversized rat pounced towards Nathan. But Nathan was ready for the attack and deftly stepped to the side while thrusting his right dagger forward. The weapon pieced the devil rat’s chest.

While the first devil rat was attempting to pounce on Nathan, two more of the trained trackers attacked Sharon from behind. Still running, Sharon looked behind her to see the two devil rats close on her heels. Instead of turning and stopping, Sharon changed her direction slightly so that she was aiming at a tree. As she was about to hit the tree, she jumped, so that she was running up the tree. As gravity threatened to bring her back down to earth, she did a flip. The two devil rats both crashed into the tree, unable to slow their momentum as they lunged, trying to bite her heels. As Sharon came down from her flip, she stabbed her daggers into the heads of the two devil rats, killing them.

Nathan watched Sharon’s maneuver out of the corner of his eye. He was very impressed. Sharon was a natural warrior. Nathan stood still, listening for anymore of the vicious devil rats. None could be heard, but he could hear soldiers clunking their way up the hill. Turning to Sharon, Nathan spoke softly, “This way, we will hide in the cave again.”

“And if they find us in the cave?” asked Sharon.

“Then we will make our last stand there. I am getting tired of running,” replied Nathan.

…

Thorn ran as swift as the wind towards the city gates of Balta. The guards, already on high alert, spotted them and quickly notified Verin. When Ava and Quinton reached the gates, Verin was waiting for them.

Quinton wasted no time on pleasantries. He slid off Thorn, and took Verin aside and whispered. “Where is Balthazar? I have a package here he needs to take responsibility for.”

Verin knew exactly what package Quinton was referring to. The young adventurers had done it. They had brought the tomes back to Balta. “He is conferring with the king right now.”

Quinton nodded. “Nathan and Sharon are still out there surrounded by Darcarion mages and soldiers from Morthon.”

Verin turned to the two guards beside him. “Gather all the rangers and a squadron of the king’s knights. Have them on horse and ready to leave in ten minutes.”

The guards hurried of to sound the alarm, and gather the men.

Quinton turned to look at Ava, who was still mounted on Thorn. They had agreed to not announce their success upon arrival; getting the tomes to Balthazar in secret was imperative. The spy would be watching and listening. “I will report to the king,” said Quinton, even though what he intended to do was find Balthazar and place the tomes in his hands. “And then, we will go back with Verin to find Nathan and Sharon. Go to Avera’s, tell her what is going on and saddle another horse for me.”

Ava nodded, and urged Thorn forward. She raced to Avera’s estate. Reaching the house, she jumped off Thorn and ran inside.

Avera was in her study when Ava found her.

“Ava, thank goodness you are okay! Where are the others?” exclaimed Avera as Ava embraced her.

“Quinton is taking the tomes to Balthazar. Nathan and Sharon are still in danger. They stayed in the woods so Quinton and I could ride Thorn back. I am just here to saddle another horse. Quinton and I are going to lead Verin and his rangers back to Nathan.”

“Let’s not waste any time. Come, we’ll saddle a couple of horses,” said Avera as she broke Ava’s embrace.

“Horses?” asked Ava.

“Yes, my dear. I have sat around waiting for news long enough. I am coming with you. Let’s get moving,” replied Avera.

“It will be dangerous,” warned Ava.

Avera gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t you worry about me child. I don’t go flaunting it, but my nephews are not the only magic users in the family. Don’t tell anyone. A lady needs to keep her secrets you know.”

Avera was a mage. Ava was surprised, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. “Okay, well in that case, let’s go.”

Avera and Ava had just finished saddling the horses when Quinton returned from delivering the tomes to Balthazar. The tomes were now safely in trusted hands. King Ganus had been foiled, yet there was still work to do. Nathan and Sharon needed help.

The three quickly rode back to the city gates, where they found Verin and a large passel of rangers and knights waiting for them.  As the three rode through the city gates, Verin joined them and the rest soon followed. The rescue party was on its way. From a trot the horses were urged into a gallop. Hooves thundered. The king’s flag fluttered above the heads of the horses. It was a magnificent-looking army. Ava tried projecting to Nathan that help was coming. She hoped her thoughts would reach him. She looked around at the riders. A sudden thought made her sad. How wonderful it would have been, how different it could have been, if Elderwood had been under the protection of such an army. She shook off the memory. At least Nathan was not projecting any alarming thoughts, or images, so far.

…

Nathan could feel Ava’s thoughts, her message that help was on the way had reached him. It lifted his spirits, but he did not return the message. He did not want to worry Ava. Nathan and Sharon were in the cave behind the waterfall. For hours, they had stayed hidden from the enemy, but finally the Morthon soldiers had figured out where they were. Through the falling water, Nathan could see the soldiers and mages gathering on the edge of the pond. Several were pointing towards the waterfall.

 “Well, it sure took them long enough to find us,” said Sharon. “I was getting bored.”

Nathan broke into a grin. “What, you weren’t enjoying my company?” The truth was, he too was growing restless. He knew from Thorn’s location that reinforcements would arrive soon and deal with the forces from Morthon along with their hired Darcarion mages. All Nathan and Sharon had to do was survive long enough.

Nathan watched as a trio of soldiers jumped into the pond and made their way towards the waterfall. He shook his head, how foolish he thought. Nathan stepped back further into the cave and warned Sharon. “Three soldiers are going to pop their heads up any second now.”

Sharon simply walked to the edge of the cave and waited. With her magical clothing, she was impossible to see. Nathan cocked an arrow and waited.

Nathan watched as the three soldiers slid out of the water, trying to stealthily make their way into the cave without being noticed. Nathan greeted the first one with an arrow through the eye. The second soldier attempted to jump to the side, away from Nathan’s aim and landed right on Sharon’s sword. As she drove her blade into the startled soldier, Nathan fired another arrow towards the third soldier who was scrambling to jump back into the water, and leave the death trap of a cave. He almost made it fully back into the water before Nathan’s arrow struck him.

Nathan pushed the other two bodies back into the water. The deceased soldiers floated and bobbed in the pond.

“Well, I bet they are done with sneak attacks,” said Sharon. “I wonder what they will try next?”

A barrage of fireballs made their way towards the cave, answering Sharon’s query.

Nathan put up a magic shield behind the waterfall. The fireballs struck magical barrier repeatedly. The barrier held but Nathan knew he wouldn’t be able to stop all the fireballs for long. The barrage of fireballs was already weakening his barrier.

“Sharon, pass me your sword,” said Nathan.

Sharon handed him the magical weapon.

Nathan took the sword and, using his dagger, he made a small cut on his arm. He let the blood drip onto the blade of Sharon’s sword.

“What are you doing!” said Sharon.

“Using my blood so that I can draw on the magic from your sword,” explained Nathan.

“Okay, that is gross, and I don’t see how it helps.”

Nathan walked to the edge of the cave. He thrust the sword into the waterfall, turning it instantly into ice.

“That is amazing,” said Sharon, changing her opinion of Nathan’s tactics.

More fireballs came flying towards the cave, hitting the now-frozen waterfall. As the fireballs hit the frozen water, they melted the ice, but more water would drop and freeze in its place. The ice barrier was a perfect shield against the fireballs.

“Okay,” said Sharon, “as long as they don’t have any tactics other than fireballs we should be okay.”