The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (44 page)

“
We can have him at the border before the sun hits the highest
point,” Sister Carlia said.

“
Wait, what?” I said shocked. “We’re leaving
today?”

“
The sooner the better,” Sister Carlia said.

“
The longer we wait the more the forest will get corrupted,”
The Mistress said. “We don’t get an opportunity like you falling
into our laps every day. We must take it without delay.”

“
Lovely,” I groaned as I ran my hand through my hair. “Okay,
how many Mages have your scouts seen?”

“
15 entered the forest in total,” Sister Carlia answered. “How
many survived being enthralled I can’t say.”

“
Oh, that’s not bad. When you said army I thought…” I stopped
then shook my head. “Never mind. I’m just silly.”

Yes you are,
Cathy said.

“
Lead on, Sister. Should I be vined up or is this okay?” I
asked.

“
You have earned enough trust to walk without a leash,” she
said slightly hiding a smirk.

“
Yay for me,” I smiled.

“
We will meet you at the Daru’ka temple when we have found all
the ingredients for the ritual,” Mistress Velias said. “Be careful
out there. I don’t think we will get another chance to solve this
problem once and for all.”

***

The forest
darkened the deeper we travelled. Sister Carlia and her scouts grew
increasingly disturbed at the sight of the gnarled and blackened
trees. The Demon appeared to be drawing strength from the forest
itself, leaving a wasteland of dead foliage. My escorts stopped and
lowered themselves close to the ground. I crouched down next to
Sister Carlia as she surveyed the forest ahead.

“
We are getting close. Feel with your magic and it will lead
you to the temple,” she said quietly.

“
You’ll be ready, right?” I asked as I gripped the Staff
tightly. My other equipment was left at the Nao village.

Except for my
hat.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep rubbing it in,
Cathy said.

“
Mistress Velias will always be ready when it is needed,” she
answered.

Not as comforting as I would’ve hoped,
Cathy replied.

“
Remember,” Sister Carlia continued, “stealth isn’t your
friend here. The more Mages you meet out in the forest, the less
you deal with at the temple.”

“
So bonus points for shouting obscenities?” I said.

“
I don’t know what that is but sure,” she replied. “Good luck.
I hope to see you alive after this, Kairu.”

“
Yeah, me too,” I said glumly as I stood up.

I stretched
out with my mind and felt a large power source in front on me. This
had to be either the temple or the Masquade. Hoping it was the
former was an understatement. I didn’t want to just run into a
forest guardian all ‘willy-nilly’.

Cathy chuckled
. Why not? It builds
character.

I started
walking towards the power source searching for any Mages. There was
plenty of activity but nothing that I could track down. It was
starting to look like my joke about shouting was the right
course.

You aren’t even trying,
Cathy
said
. I think you just want to shout
obscenities into the forest.

It sounds like
it fun.

Cathy sighed.
Just be tasteful about
it.

“
Son of a…pickled…beet!” I shouted into the forest.

Wow
, Cathy said
sarcastically.

I’ve never
done this before. I froze under the pressure.

Excuses, excuses
, Cathy
said.

I could feel a
mind drawing closer to my position. I readied my staff as I scanned
the area and saw a girl in a purple robe drawing closer. She
stopped when she saw me and smiled. Her smile was as unnatural as
her white eyes and grey skin.

“
Another Mage comes to play with the Master?” she asked in an
echoing voice.

“
Not quite,” I said levelling the staff towards
her.

I pushed
energy through the staff and a large Pulse shot out from the
crystal. I staggered back two steps as the Demon girl took the shot
into the chest. She was lifted off the ground and thrown back until
she collided with a tree 50 meters away.

“
Whoa,” I said.

How about we stick to lethal spells so we don’t have to chase
everyone around this forest?
Cathy
asked.

“
I’ll agree to that,” I replied.

I stretched
out with my mind and felt more minds approaching. The massive
discharge of magic must have alerted the group. It wasn’t all the
Mages, but it still promised to be a good fight. I removed my hat
and robe and covered myself in scales. When they arrived they were
in for a surprise.

Three Mages
grouped together broke through the dense forest and charged at me.
I pointed the staff at them and concentrated some power into
it.

“
Let’s give this lightning a try,” I said as a bolt shot out
from the tip.

The Mages
threw up a barrier but the sheer power of the crystal and staff cut
through the barrier and hit one Mage square in the chest. The
lightning jumped to the two other Mages and they all screamed as
the electricity coursed through their systems. The light in their
eyes went out and they dropped to the ground twitching.

Son of a pickled beet!
Cathy
exclaimed.

My back grew
warm as a Fire Ball hit me and I turned around to find a Mage
running at me with his hand growing red. I pointed the staff at him
and a steady stream of Ice completely froze him solid. Out of the
corner of my eye I saw two more Mages approaching and put my staff
up against the frozen Mage. Aiming him towards his friends, I sent
a Pulse through the staff that launched the Magesicle. One of the
Mages dodged out of the way as the other bore the brunt of the
attack. The frozen Mage exploded into ice shards that pierced the
targeted Mage.

The remaining
Mage just continued to charge at me with no sign of caring for his
other Mages or how much power was in the staff. I aimed the staff
at him and he stopped and threw up a Ward. I focused my power and
launched a Fire Ball at him. The Fire Ball struck the Ward,
effectively destroying it and knocked the Mage off his feet. He was
still alive but the flames had covered his robes and he batted at
them to put them out. I aimed the staff and sent an Ice Bolt to
finish him off.

All the
expelled magic was sure to draw the attention of the remaining
Mages but I continued to press forward to the temple. The staff and
crystal was definitely the equalizer Mistress Velias said it would
be. It’s a shame I didn’t come here first and have the staff for
everywhere.

You know for next time,
Cathy
said.

I stretched
out with my mind to find my next victim. The temple was getting
closer and I still couldn’t pinpoint where the Masquade was hiding.
The temple’s energy was even making it hard to figure out how many
Mages were left. I was stuck with seeking them out the old fashion
way.

Scanning the
forest, I caught a flash of purple to my left and a couple red and
blue robes to my right. The purple robe was going to be first to go
down. Years of torment in the Tower will always teach you to take
out the Spiritual Mage who can screw with your mind first.

I stopped and
turned towards her. She approached with her arm out and I shielded
my mind in time to feel her probing around. I sent out a Fire Ball
and she threw up a Ward to protect her. I diverted my attention to
the Elemental Mages as her screams broke through the trees.

The Elemental
Mages were close together as they ran and I slammed the staff into
the ground and sent an Earth Rift towards them. They dived out of
the way and immediately started shoot Ice and Fire at my staff. I
swatted them away with my scaled hands as the Mages closed in.

One Mage’s
hands froze into a lump of solid ice as he swung at me. My scaled
shoulder took the hit and pain exploded throughout my body. The
second Mage launched a Fire Ball at my staff and I staggered around
to take the attack with my back. Icy Hands still pressed the attack
and I dodged what I could before falling over backwards. As I hit
the ground, I launched a pulse at him with my hands and turned the
staff towards the second Mage. A stream of Ice shot out towards him
and froze him in place.

Icy Hands was
back swinging at me and I rolled away from his blows. His speed was
impressive and I had to reach out with my hand to send a Pulse to
knock him back. He staggered back a couple of steps and I was able
to get to my feet and point my staff at him. He watched me in
anticipation as I noticed two more Mages approaching.

If you go to shoot he’ll try to dodge,
Cathy said.

I launched a
stream of Fire at him and, as predicted dodged to his right. I
swept the area with Fire and caught the Mage as he was rolling into
a stand up position. He screamed as he tried to cover himself with
Ice to stop the flames but I continued to shoot my stream of Fire.
Overwhelmed, he grew quiet.

I turned my
attention to the new Mages and just caught sight of the green robe
as a vine grabbed a hold of the staff. I pulled against it with all
my strength as I turned the tip to face the vine. A small stream of
Fire freed the staff from the vine and I aimed the staff at the
newcomers. A stream of lightning shot out of my staff hitting one,
but the Nature Mage managed to dodge behind a tree as the lightning
shot out at him. The trunk of the tree exploded and the tree fell
to the ground as the Nature Mage continued to run at me.

Another vine
grabbed at the staff and two more wrapped around my feet and tried
to pull me away from the staff. Holding on tightly with one hand, I
used the other to grab at the vines at my feet. A bolt of lightning
from the Mage hit me and my whole body twitched violently but I
held onto the staff with everything I had. I reached down for my
feet and sent a stream of Fire to destroy the vines holding my
feet. With the vines destroyed, the staff and I were thrown forward
by the remaining vine and I pulled the staff loose as I crashed
into the ground.

I dragged
myself to my feet and hid behind a tree as the bark erupted from
another lightning bolt. I circled around the tree with the staff
and shot a lightning bolt back at the Mage. He shuddered violently
then dropped to the ground twitching. I took a deep breath and felt
around with mind. I couldn’t feel any more Mages but it couldn’t be
the last of them.

That was 12 by my count,
Cathy
said
. If the Sister is right and there are
15, they will be waiting for you at the temple.

I rolled my
shoulders and focused on healing the sore muscles. If they were
waiting for me, I was going to make them wait. When everything was
back in order, I started towards the temple again.

I felt another
Mage approaching and readied the staff but lowered it when I
recognized the girl standing in front of me in her blue and red
robes. It was hard not to recognize your old bunk mate and best
friend, even with the glowing eyes and pale complexion

“
Lily,” I whispered.

She stopped
and smirked at me. “You recognize this one?”

“
How did you get her, Demon?” I asked raising my
staff.

“
This one came with the second wave,” she answered. “Little
girl fought hard but fell like the others. No one resists the
Master.”

She sent me a
Fire Ball and I batted it away easily as I backed up.

What are you waiting for?
Cathy
asked
. Kill it.

I can’t.

Another Fire
Ball that was easy to defend. Lily’s face twisted in
frustration.

It is not Lily anymore!
Cathy
exclaimed.

She could
still be in there.

Lily gathered
her strength and sent a steady stream of Fire at me. I hide the
staff behind my back and covered my face with my free hand.

Listen,
Cathy
started
. She is not in there! That is not
a normal possession. All these Demons have been bound to dead
bodies by some serious magic. What was your friend has already left
that body and moved on. Destroy the Demon desecrating her
corpse.

The Fire died
down and I looked at the Demon in Lily’s body. She snarled at me
and I smirked. “Is it my turn?” I asked turning the staff towards
her.

Fire erupted
from the staff and engulfed the Demon in Lily’s body. She screamed
and I continued to burn her.

“
Get out of my friend’s body, Demon!” I shouted as a tear slid
down my face.

Even after her
screams ended, I still burnt the body to ash. Never again would
anyone possess the body. It was the least I could do for her.

I didn’t…I mean…I’m sorry,
Cathy
said no doubt sensing my emotions.

The Fire
stopped but I couldn’t stop looking at the body. Lily was the one
person who cared about me when no one else would. The one person
who helped me up when everyone else put me down. Her belief in
magic being used for good was the only light in Tower’s darkness
and they handed her away to some Demon.

I’m sure she volunteered for this mission,
Cathy countered.
She
seemed like the type who would jump at the opportunity to save the
forest. I’m sorry for your loss but we must continue. The Demon and
guardian must be stopped.