The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (32 page)

She smiled
weakly and I leaned in to kiss her. She pulled away and a look of
confusion and anger crossed her face.

“
What’s wrong?” I asked.

“
Damn it, Andy, we are not doing this,” She
exclaimed.

“
What are you talking about?” I asked confused.

“
Wake up!” She said as she grabbed and shook me.

***

I sat up
quickly, breathing heavily.

“
Cathy?” I said. “What the...?”

You dragged me into a fantasy dream?
She replied angrily.

How do you
know it was my dream?

Because in my dream, I am aware,
Cathy explained.
Your sub-conscious
was controlling me.

Seems like you
had control at the end.

Only after I figured out what was going on
! She exclaimed.

Well, it’s not
like I can control my sub-conscious! I was stuck going with it too.
Couldn’t you have just woken me up normally so I could end it?

Like you would willingly end a fantasy
, she said in disbelief.

If it was
going to make you uncomfortable, yes I would.

Liar
, she scoffed.

Well, we’ll
never know now, will we? You just have to believe and trust that I
would continue to be me.

She sighed
. I know I’m over reacting
but...it is just...so many emotions
and...confusing
.

What
happened?

I...
she started.
...need time to think. We’ll talk
later.

Cathy!

I could feel
her trying to hide her thoughts and emotions as she disappeared
deeper into my mind so I stopped trying to probe around. If she
needed time to think and hide then it must be serious but she was
going to explain what happened when she came back out.

I rubbed my
eyes and swung my legs off the bed as I tried to remember where I
was. Slowly the memories of last night came back. I was in the
Nesqan palace and I was to meet Donkor in the morning so we could
travel to the border.

What a dream
last night. I’ve never had one completely mess with my head like
that. Cathy is right, emotions are confusing.

I chuckled and
shook my head. I stood up from the bed and put on my robe and hat.
I shouldered the pack and felt the strain from the previous days of
carrying this thing. I couldn’t wait to be back at the Tower so I
could finally put it down for good.

I left the
guest room, headed through the hallway back to the main assembly
room and finally out the front door. The palace guards nodded to me
as I stepped out into the already humid morning. The sun was rising
over the water, illuminating the island cities close by. As I
climbed down the stairs to the city, I made a promise to myself try
and visit here as a tourist when I can.

In more
appropriate clothes of course.

At the bottom
of the stairs, I noticed Donkor moving through the light morning
crowd. When he looked up to see that I was already in front of him,
he threw his arms up in frustration.

“
I was hoping to scare you awake,” he said.

I chuckled. “I
was hoping to scare you first.”

“
Are you as excited as me?” he smiled.

“
Probably not,” I smiled. “But close.”

“
I want to thank you for helping me talk to Moro about
teaching,” he said.

“
It was the least I could do after you trusted and helped me,”
I said.

“
I still can’t believe that bandit guy smelt me,” Donkor
said.

I laughed. “I
told you to keep your arms down.”

“
Are you ready to go?” Donkor asked trying to steer the
conversation away.

I looked
around one more time before nodding. “It is time for me to move
on.”

“
You’ll come back to visit, right?” Donkor asked
hopefully.

“
Of course,” I smiled.

“
Good,” he smiled as he took the lead.

We left Kay
Julis heading on the same path we had travelled just yesterday.
Despite this, as soon as we entered the forest, I was lost. I don’t
think I could ever travel the forests without help no matter how
many times I walked it. A tree is a tree to me.

Donkor’s pace
was slower then our first time and without any interruptions, we
entered the village of Bauda. Donkor pointed to a thin path on the
far edge of the village and gave me directions to the border. He
needed to fix Abuya’s roof before he headed to the outpost so we
said our goodbyes and I promised him, again, that I would visit,
before leaving the village.

The trees
closed around me more now that Donkor wasn’t with me but quickly
thinned out as I reached the hillier landscape of the borders. I
would have to cut through the Archanion Field to get to the
entrance to the mountains Donkor told me about but he explained
that it would be a safer walk up the mountain.

According to
my map the path up the mountain from the Archanion field would take
me to the capital of Willow’s Trap, where the Mage’s run the
plateaus and mines. The rebellion would be somewhere within the
depths of the forest west of the cities but it would be a good idea
to see what I could turn up from the locals.

If they would
even talk to me.

The walk
through the Archanion Field was quiet. Very quiet. Cathy still hid
in the back of my mind trying to hide her emotions and thoughts and
wouldn’t be coaxed out. It was strange to not have her cracking
some witty joke about my observations or trying to get me to kill
the wildlife as we passed. I was starting to miss her. In such a
short time, I’ve grown to consider her such an important part of my
life.

With the path
up in the mountain ahead of me, I took a second to look back. In
the distance the Tower of the Watchful Eye rose over the landscape,
the only thing with any height in an otherwise empty field.

I would be
home again soon, if it could still be considered a home after all
this. To wish that things had been different was tempting but it
wouldn’t change a thing. The Mages were tormenting the provinces of
Kalenden like they had tormented me my whole childhood. Things
needed to change and I would see to it myself.

I see you haven’t lost any confidence in yourself,
Cathy said softly.

I smiled and
started my walk up the mountain path. Welcome back.

Thank you,
Cathy
said
. It is...not easy to be
away.

“
Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

Yes...and no,
she said
slowly
. But I do owe you an
apology.

I stopped
walking. “Whoa, did I hear that right?”

Ha ha,
she said
sarcastically
. I mean it. Human emotions
are...complex and confusing and I can’t seem to ever get the hang
of them but...I shouldn’t take them out on you.

I started
walking again. “Well...thank you for apologizing.”

As to what happened...
she
started,
I...don’t know. A lot of emotions
came over me and...umm...

I chuckled.
“It is ok. I think you handled yourself quite well considering your
position. It is not like we’ve been together like this for seasons.
It has only been a handful of days. I’ll do my best not to put you
into those dreams again.”

No...I mean...
she sighed. Like you said, you can’t control your sub-conscious. If
it happens again...we’ll deal with it calmly.

“
Agreed,” I said. “I’m just glad to have you back.”

I’m happy to
be talking to you too, she said softly.

A wave of
relief washed over my body either from Cathy or myself...

Probably both,
she said
quickly.

...as we
continued on our way. The winding path grew steep in some areas as
it narrowed. As we approached a large ravine with a thin, rickety
looking wooden bridge, my confidence failed to grow as I noticed
the large sections in the middle of its span with missing
boards.

Well, we tried. Let’s go home
, Cathy
said.

“
And here I was worried you wouldn’t have any faith in it,” I
said sarcastically.

It has to be a trick of some kind
,
she replied.

“
Worth a shot,” I said as I reached out with my
mind.

I could feel
the magical energy around the bridge, it felt like a Ward used by
Spiritual Mages. I held up my hand and sent a Pulse at the bridge.
A second magical bridge glowed and faded as the Pulse bounced off
the Ward.

Oh yeah,
Cathy cheered.

“
Good call,” I said. “If I remember correctly, there is a way
to form a bond with the bridge so I can supply consistent
power.”

You are correct, sir,
Cathy said as
a memory flashed through my mind quickly.

I walked
towards the bridge and held out my hand. I sent another Pulse and
the bridge glowed brightly. I reached out with my power through my
hands and grabbed the Spiritual nature of the bridge. Forming a
bond with it, I felt the unnatural feeling of being tethered to the
wood.

“
Is this right?” I asked.

Beats me,
Cathy answered.

The bridge
started to fade and I pushed a little more power through the bond
and the bridge glowed again. Confident in the connection, I
supplied a steady stream of power that kept the bridge
tangible.

I approached
the first step of the bridge and placed my foot on it gently. The
magical bridge felt solid and I continued with another step, then
another and another, until I was walking at a slow and steady pace
across the bridge.

The wind
started to pick up as I approached the missing middle section of
the bridge. With the glowing magical bridge, the way was covered
but I could still make out where the wooden bridge ended and the
fall that awaited me. I stepped out carefully and my foot landed on
the solid magical bridge. Walking quickly I crossed the gap and
made it to the other side with a sigh of relief. With the magical
bond starting to take its toll on me, I quickly made for the end of
the bridge.

A large gust
of wind rocked me on the bridge and my hat was blown off my head. I
reached out to grab it but missed as it fell off the bridge and to
the ground below.

And it is out of here!
Cathy
exclaimed.

“
Damn,” I said sadly. “I liked that hat.”

You are better off without it
, Cathy
said happily.

I finished
crossing the bridge and released the bond. The relief of not having
my power drain out of me brought a small smile to my face as I
looked down the gap for any sign of the hat.

“
It had been through so much,” I said.

But now we can get you something
fashionable
, Cathy countered.

“
I suppose,” I sighed continuing along the path.

The wind
slowly died down again. Having already done its damage there was no
more reason for it to stick around.

Oh, don’t be so melodramatic,
Cathy
said.

“
I thought you would like that,” I said playfully.

Cathy huffed
in exasperation.

The sound of
wind and flapping overhead drew my attention upwards as three large
birds circled me. Maybe a metre to a metre and a half in length
these were no ordinary birds, the Evenawks may have found me.

They descended
as they positioned themselves to encircle me. In their talons, they
each held a short bow and one also held a block like object. The
Evenawk dropped the object and it landed with a thump in front of
me.

It was my
hat.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Cathy
exclaimed.

As two other
Evenawks hovered above the ground, one of the leader’s talons
morphed into humanoid foot and it landed. Its wings transformed
into arms and it took the bow from its talon so it too could change
into a foot. It removed an arrow from a quiver attached to its
waist and awkwardly tried to get into a position to aim an arrow at
me. It was a weird experience as I politely waited from them to
take me prisoner.

“
We don’t appreciate you littering our mountainside, Mage,”
the one in front of me said.

In
their...ʻhuman’ form they still resembled a hawk with feathers
covering their whole body and two sharp eyes next to their beaked
mouth. Their ability to transform between ‘human mode’ and ‘bird
mode’ was amazing.

But useless when it comes to attack and
defence
, Cathy said as I picked up my hat
from the ground.
That is why they were so
easily defeated and made slaves by the Mages. You could have easily
killed all three while they transformed in front of you.

“
My hat fell off while I was crossing the bridge,” I explained
as I put it on. “Thank you for returning it.”

“
That’s a hat?” he asked.

I wasn’t
expecting to deal with them so soon. We have to be really careful
here.

This worked out better then we thought,
Cathy explained.
Do you really think
the Mages would have armed any of them? They are probably the
rebels
.