The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (30 page)

Ensure Donkor keeps a cool head and this shouldn’t turn into
a war,
Cathy said.

I continued to
survey the inside of the fort. There was a small building
underneath the staircase to the top of the wall. An archer was
walking up the stairs and I quickly planted the Illusion spell on
him.

I signalled
Donkor up and pointed to beside the blacksmith area. He gave me a
worried look but I nodded to him and he stepped out cautiously
towards the inside of the fort. When he noticed that no one was
paying any attention to him he turned around and smiled excitedly.
I motioned for him to go faster and he hurried and settled into a
crouch along the wall. I altered my spell so that people would
ignore that area.

I stepped into
the outpost and crept along the wall towards the stairs keeping my
eyes on the courtyard. Inside, I turned to Donkor, who was looking
at me impatiently, and signalled for him to wait while I headed
upstairs. He nodded and I pushed off the wall and climbed the
stairs quickly.

The archer
that had climbed the stairs before me was heading along the wall
towards the command centre so I walked uninterrupted towards the
first guard tower at the front gate. A wooden ladder was the only
way to get to the top of tower and I checked to make sure no other
bandits had entered the courtyard while I was moving. The courtyard
remained quiet and I grabbed the ladder and started to climb.

“
Hey, do you smell something?” a gruff voice of a bandit
said.

“
Oh no, Andy, they found me!” Donkor shouted.

“
We are being attacked!” The bandit shouted.

Someone
screamed as they died and I dropped the Illusion and hurried up the
ladder. A wooden roof covered the top of the tower and the watchman
inside was looking down towards the courtyard. I forced energy into
my hand and launched a Pulse at him. He screamed as he sailed out
of the tower to the ground below.

Forcing more
power into my hand, it grew hot as I ran to face the other tower. I
raised my hand and let the Fire Ball fly. The tower’s wooden roof
exploded into flames and screaming followed shortly after as a
flaming body jumped out.

I looked down
into the courtyard to see Donkor facing at least six bandits and I
hurried back to the ladder and slid down.

Cathy chuckled.
So, this is going
well.

The archer was
back at the stairs looking for a shot and raised my hand and shot
out a small Pulse. The distance was too far and the archer only was
knocked back a step but it was enough for him to focus on me. I
drew my sword and ran along the wall towards him. The archer cocked
his bow and sent an arrow my way which I deflected with a Ward from
my left hand. The archer dropped the bow and pulled out his short
sword as I drew nearer.

Our swords met
and I forced myself into the fighting stance Donkor showed me. The
archer was undisciplined, focusing more on attacking then worrying
about his life. I slashed out at one of his attacks and drew him
off balance. He was wide open for an attack and I stabbed the sword
through his chest. He dropped to the ground and I looked down at
him in shocked.

Admire your kills later,
Cathy
said
. Don’t forget about your
friend.

“
Right,” I said as I ran down the stairs.

Four bodies
scattered the ground around Donkor as he chopped another bandit in
half at the waist. Despite the five bodies on the ground four more
circled Donkor looking for an opening. During my fight with the
archer, more must have emerged from the barracks. The bandit that
had left earlier was sneaking up behind Donkor and I sent a Pulse
at him while I charged. The bandit stumbled but turned around and
met my sword as I attacked.

He was more
skilled with the sword then the archer but it didn’t matter as
Donkor slashed him from behind and I finished him with a stab
through the chest. He dropped to the ground and one of the bandits
broke away from Donkor to fight me.

Defending a
couple of his attacks, I realized that it would be a fair sword
fight. Unfortunately for him, I didn’t have the time to be fair. I
forced power into hand and a stream of flames erupted from it and
engulfed the bandit. He ran screaming away from me towards the
forge. I chased after him and hit him with a Pulse that knocked him
head first into a support beam that held up a roof over the forge.
He fell to the ground unmoving.

I turned to
face Donkor and heard the whistling of wind as an arrow flew over
my head. I ducked down reflexively and saw the archer on his knee
near the command centre. I charged towards him, leaving Donkor to
finish off the last bandit, and deflected another arrow with a
Ward. The bandit didn’t abandon his bow for his sword as I drew
closer. My left hand grew cold as I launched a projectile of my
own. The Ice Bolt sailed through the air and hit the archer in the
shoulder. He jerked to his feet and grabbed his shoulder. Forcing
more power, I launched another Ice Bolt at him that struck him in
the chest. He was knocked off his feet, landing on his back with a
thud.

I heard Donkor
giggling to himself as he approached. “That was fun,” he said as I
turned to face him.

“
What happened?” I asked.

“
I raised my arm to scratch my head and...” he said a little
embarrassed. “We ran a lot yesterday, you see...”

I raised my
hand to stop him. “I got it.”

“
Where’s your hat?” Donkor asked.

I grabbed the
top of my head and noticed for the first time my hat was missing.
“I must have lost it in the battle. We will find it later. We have
to get the Princess before they kill her.”

“
You think they would?” he asked worried.

“
They weren’t expecting to be attacked and they really weren’t
expected to be defeated,” I answered. “The leader might get
desperate.”

“
Yeah, the Rooster doesn’t mess around,” Donkor
agreed.

“
The Rooster?” I asked.

“
I recognized the armour from Chiwocha’s men,” Donkor
answered.

“
But...why the Rooster?” I asked.

“
Because he always attacks early in the morning,” Donkor
answered as he headed for the command centre.

Makes
sense.

I’m so proud of you,
Cathy said
excitedly.
Five kills! You are getting
good at this.

Yeah, I guess
it gets easier after your first...a scary thought to have...

You aren’t killing innocents though,
Cathy said
. Plus over thinking about
it will never help.

I followed
Donkor to the front door of the command centre and he tried to open
the door. He smiled as he noticed the door was locked and before I
could ask why he kicked the door in and my question was
answered.

Immediately,
two bandits charged Donkor and before I could even get into the
building they were on the ground missing their heads. The rest of
the foyer was empty. Hallways and doors stretched to the left and
right and staircases, both going up and down, occupied the far
wall.

“
This and the top floor will be officer quarters and where
Chiwocha is,” Donkor explained. “Go downstairs and make sure Moro
won’t die.”

“
Okay,” I said as a bandit emerged from the hallway to attack
Donkor.

I hurried
across the room to the stairs and a bandit emerged from the
staircase. I held up my hand and a Pulse of energy threw him back
down the stairs. The sound of his body rolling down the stairs
echoed as I chased after it to the lower levels.

My hand grew
cold as I prepared an Ice Bolt and as I emerged from the staircase
into the tiny jailer’s room, a bandit was staring wide eyed down at
the body on the floor from behind a small desk. When he saw me, he
drew his sword and I let the Ice Bolt fly, catching him in the
chest and launching him into the wall.

The only door
in the room stood next to the desk and when I tried to open it, I
discovered it was locked. I searched the bodies and found the key
on the bandit behind the desk. I opened the door and found the
holding area.

Prison cells
lined both walls in the narrow hall and I walked down the hallway
checking each cell. Princess Morowa was sitting in a cell about
half way down on the left side. Across from her was a cell holding
the dead body of a Nesqa man. She looked up at me with worry before
looking at my robes. Confusion crossed her face and she took on a
stern stance.

“
Now this wasn’t what I was expecting,” she said.

“
You’ve been a tough person to find,” I smiled.

“
Funny,” she said humorlessly. “I was always terrible at
hiding.”

“
Well, when you’ve been tracking someone since Balendar from
Chester the Mongoose’s gang...” I started.

“
Don’t even speak of that name,” she hissed. “When I get out
of here, I will hunt him down and kill him.”

“
I already took care of him,” I said.

Her eyebrows
twitched in surprise. “Seems like I owe you a thanks.”

“
I haven’t gotten you out yet,” I said putting the key into
the lock. The lock clicked open and I pulled open the cell
door.

“
What gain does a Mage have in tracking me down and returning
me?” she asked as she stepped out from her cell.

“
Two things,” I answered. “One, the Tower appears to be
heading into war with itself and Balendar and Nesqa can’t be
wrapped up in petty bickering.”

“
And two?” she answered intrigued.

“
Two,” I smiled. “I need Demon’s Bane for my
mission.”

She chuckled.
“Quite the reason.”

“
It has been quite the task,” I smiled.

“
So, you attacked this place by yourself?” she asked as the
door at the end of the hallway opened.

“
Not quite,” I smiled at the giant approaching us.

“
Moro!” Donkor exclaimed dropping a severed head and running
to her to pick her up in a hug. “You are alive!”

“
Donkor?” she asked suspicious.

Could she really mistake him for someone else?
Cathy asked.

So we are just
ignoring the head?

“
I can’t believe you are here,” she continued.

“
Andy helped me,” he replied.

“
Andy?” she asked.

“
Hi,” I said with a wave.

“
We have to get you home,” Donkor said.

“
So we are just going to keep ignoring the body in the cell
and the severed head,” I stated.

“
The body is of a poor scout who had stumbled upon this
outpost,” she explained sadly. “There is nothing we can do for
him.”

“
And the head?” I asked pointing to the head still wearing a
shocked expression.

“
Oh,” Donkor said excited. “That’s the Rooster.”

“
Not the best looking guy is he?” I asked still staring at the
face.

“
He looks better this way,” Princess Morowa said
coldly.

She pushed
past Donkor and we followed her up the stairs and out of the
command centre. She looked over the battlefield before looking back
at us.

“
It really was just the two of you?” she asked
shocked.

“
Yeah, it was amazing,” Donkor said excited. “Andy made us
invisible, then they found me because of smells, so I attacked them
then Andy blew up the watchtower.”

I chuckled and
shook my head.

“’
Andy made us invisible’?” she asked.

“
A simple Illusion trick,” I replied as I started towards the
pile of bodies. “Oh, and if anyone finds my hat, let me
know.”

“
I’ll find it,” Donkor said running off.

“
You don’t look like an Andy, you know,” Princess Morowa said
as she followed me.

“’
Demon’ and ‘Moumno’ seem to be the popular alternatives,” I
said. “Feel free to choose your favourite.”

She laughed.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“
Found it, Andy!” Donkor shouted from the forge.

We hurried
over and found my hat with an arrow through it stuck to the support
beam for the forge’s roof. I grabbed the hat and pulled the arrow
out.

“
That’s lucky,” I said. “Anymore to the right and it would
have landed in the forge.”

DAMMIT!
Cathy exclaimed.

I put the hat
on my head an ignored the weird look from the Princess.

“
Let’s go,” I said. “We should get back before
nightfall.”

“
You remember how I said the hat couldn’t get any worse,”
Donkor said as we left the outpost.

“
Yeah,” I replied.

“
It just did,” he said.

Cathy
laughed.

Chapter 26

The walk back
to Kay Julis was peaceful. Donkor and I picked up our packs at
Abuya’s house and continued through the forest. I was worried that
the Princess would not be able to keep up with Donkor’s quick pace
but she surprised me by matching him stride for stride. I was now
worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them.

Fatigue was
setting in again as another long day passed. I couldn't remember
the last time I just had a relaxing day in the library. Even worse
was the prospect of a mountain climbing expedition next.