by Dean Cadman
“Are you alright?” she asked, looking down at him with a slight look of concern on her face.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” Lusam replied.
“Well, I’ve been watching you sitting over here by yourself for over an hour playing with those pine cones. I was hoping that you might prefer my company for a while instead. I can’t promise to be as entertaining as your prickly friends, but I give better hugs,” she said grinning at him. He chuckled at her joke, as he got back to his feet. Bending down, he collected his two pine cones, and placed them in his pocket.
“Come with me, I need to try something,” he said, taking hold of her hand.
She raised her eyebrows at him, glanced at his bulging pocket, and replied, “I’m not sure that you’ll need your two chaperones.”
He laughed again. “Actually, I do,” he replied, leading her by the hand back towards the road. When they emerged onto the road, Lusam removed the pine cones from his pocket and placed one at each side of the road. Neala gave him a strange look, as if he had suddenly gone mad. Lusam grinned at her, knowing that she could only see the two pine cones, and not the power they contained, or the thin line-of-power stretching between them. He reached out towards the nearest cone with his mind and created a link to it.
“I need you to walk between the two cones when I tell you. Okay?” Lusam said. She gave him a very strange look, then stared at the two pine cones as if they were about to jump up and bite her. Lusam backed away from the road and hid behind the first large tree he came to. “Okay, you can walk between them when you’re ready,” he called to her.
“Why are you hiding behind that tree? Are these things going to explode or something?” Neala called back to him nervously.
He almost choked laughing at her, and it took him a few moments to catch his breath to reply. “No, they won’t explode, I promise. I just need to test something, that’s all,” he said, trying to reassure her.
“I swear, if you’re lying to me…” she threatened.
He couldn’t help chuckling to himself as he tried to convince her that nothing bad was going to happen. “Trust me. You won’t feel a thing. I promise.”
“If that was supposed reassure me, it didn’t work,” she said sarcastically. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, placed her hands over her ears, then walked quickly between the two pine cones. Nothing happened.
Lusam felt the unmistakable mental twang as the line-of-power between the two pine cones was broken. “It worked!” he said from behind the tree.
“What did?” Neala asked, suspiciously looking back towards the two innocuous looking pine cones.
“I could feel it when you walked between them,” he said excitedly.
“Oh,” she said in a droll tone, suddenly wondering if exploding pine cones might have actually been more fun.
“Don’t you see? Now we can tell if we’re being followed or not. And if we are, we’ll also know how far behind us they are. But first I need to do one more test. This time I’ll go back to camp and see if I can still sense it there when you walk between them. If I’m right, the extra distance shouldn’t make any difference,” Lusam said.
“If it does work, it’ll certainly be an advantage knowing if we are being followed,” Neala replied.
Lusam reset the connection between the two pine cones, and re-established his own link with them. He asked Neala to give him a five minute head start before walking between the two cones again, then set off back towards their camp. He monitored his own power drain closely as the distance increased between himself and the pine cones. But he couldn’t detect any significant amount of magic being used from his own reserves. He had to conclude that whatever tiny amount of power was being drained from him, was being replenished naturally at a sufficient rate so as not to notice it. Whether or not that would be the case tomorrow on horseback, he was yet to discover. But in the worst case scenario, he could either gather magic from his surroundings, or simply sever his connection.
A moment later Lusam felt the unmistakable mental twang as the line-of-power between the two pine cones was broken by Neala. He doubted that the magi of old had ever sold pine cones to the people of Podrana, but he was very proud of his own creation all the same.
Chapter Nineteen
The following morning they were underway even before the sun crested the distant horizon. Lusam had already explained to the others about his new creation and how it worked, and now they looked for a suitable place to deploy it. A few miles east of their camp, they came across an almost perfect spot. The road ran between two large trees, with no other obvious route around them due to the surrounding dense undergrowth. This made it highly unlikely that anyone who was following them, would do anything else but pass directly between the two trees.
Lusam had given the placement of the pine cones a fair bit of thought the previous night, and had decided not to dismount his horse when he did so. If the Nylian trackers were as good as Renn suggested they were, they would read his boot marks on the ground and possibly investigate further. So as they passed through the gap between the trees, Lusam used his magic to levitate the two pine cones into position: one behind each tree. He then activated the enchantment on them, creating a thin line-of-power between the two which stretched across the entire width of the road. Finally, he established his own mental connection with the pine cones, and continued to ride without even slowing his pace.
When he glanced over his shoulder, he could see the thin line-of-power stretching across the road, as well as his own ever lengthening connection back to it. Once their horses had warmed up a little they began to increase their speed, and were soon riding hard towards their next waypoint. Lusam monitored the power drain on himself carefully, but just as the night before, he could feel no significant reduction in his own reserves. Thankfully, it seemed like he was able to regenerate his own magical reserves at least as fast as he was currently using it. But even so, he still kept a close eye on it for the next few hours.
It was mid-afternoon when Lusam felt the unmistakable mental twang of his detection device being activated. They had already swapped their horses earlier that day, and according to Renn they were due to swap them again in another couple of miles. He decided not to hinder their current progress, and instead tell everyone once they stopped to swap their horses.
He didn’t have to wait long. Shortly after the road entered a small wooded area, it split three ways at a junction. Waiting for them at the junction were four tethered horses, and four riders of similar size to each of their own party. Lusam noticed that the four horses were equipped with saddlebags, no doubt containing food and water just like the previous ones.
They slowed their tired horses as they approached the road junction, and Lusam saw Renn nod towards one of the men.
“What have you done to my poor animals,” the man asked, inspecting Renn’s horse.
“Don’t worry, Slade, the exercise will do them good. It’ll stop them getting fat like their owner,” Renn replied, grinning at the man.
“I’m not fat!” Slade protested. “My wife tells me I’m cuddly,” he said grinning. Renn laughed loudly as he dismounted his horse, and clasped arms with Slade.
“It’s good to see you again, old friend,” Renn said, patting him hard on the shoulder.
“Likewise. Should we be expecting any trouble?” Slade asked Renn, nodding back down the road in the direction they’d just come from.
“Maybe, but we’re not sure…” Renn started to say, but was cut short by Lusam.
“Actually, someone just activated my device about ten minutes ago. So, if it is someone tracking us, that would put them about ten hours behind us, just like you predicted,” Lusam said to Renn.
“Couldn’t it have just been another traveller, or even a wild animal that triggered it?” Neala asked.
“I suppose so. But I’ve brought plenty more pine cones with me, so I guess we’ll soon see,” Lusam replied, opening his saddlebag and removing a handful of pin
e cones.
“Pine cones?” Slade asked curiously.
“It’s a long story. One that I’ll tell you about some other time. For now, let me introduce my friends here. This is Neala and Durlan, and the lad holding the pine cones, is Lusam,” Renn said.
“The Lusam?” Slade asked wide eyed. Renn chuckled at the look on his friend’s face.
“The very same,” Renn replied grinning.
“It’s a real pleasure to meet you Lusam,” Slade said shaking his hand so vigorously, that he thought he might actually pull it off.
Slade spun on Renn. “Why didn’t you tell me that he was travelling with you? I would have had a far more elaborate welcome arranged for you all.”
“That’s precisely why I didn’t tell you, old friend. If I had, you would have had the entire village here to greet him. And as soon as word got out, which of course it would have, all the surrounding villages would have been here too. Slade, we need what we are doing to remain a secret. Just as if it were any other mission we run,” Renn replied. Slade nodded his understanding to Renn, but couldn’t hide his excitement at meeting Lusam all the same.
It didn’t take them long to swap their horses, and they were soon eager to get going again. Renn bid his friend farewell, and after another round of vigorous handshakes for Lusam from the others in Slade’s group, they resumed their journey once more. Lusam couldn’t believe how far and wide his name had already travelled. If people ever began to recognise his face as easily as they did his name, he had no idea what he would do. Fame, was definitely not something he enjoyed.
Lusam strategically placed another two of his pine cones just before leaving the wooded area, then activated them to detect anyone passing by. Renn informed them that they would have to ride hard to reach the next campsite before nightfall. And ride hard they did. For the next several hours they pushed their horses to the brink of exhaustion. On two occasions they’d had to stop because one of their horses had pulled up lame. Fortunately, it was easy for Lusam to cure with his magic, but he could do little about the tiredness of the horses. And what made it even worse, was when Lusam felt the second of his traps being activated shortly before nightfall.
“Someone has just activated my second detection device,” Lusam announced as they slowed their horses to a steady trot.
“That can’t be them, surely. If it is, they’ve just gained at least two hours on us. How’s that even possible given the speed we’ve been travelling at today?” Neala said, sounding a little shocked.
“More to the point, if it is them, that would mean neither the first or second decoy slowed them down at all. So either they were incredibly lucky to choose the right path both times, or Renn might be right about them having special tracking abilities,” Lusam said.
“Like I already said. Don’t underestimate their incredible horses, or the Nylian trackers for that matter. While we have to allow our horses to walk, so they can rest, the Nylian trackers will simply dismount and run alongside theirs. And while we have to vary our speed, they will simply run flat out for hour after hour. It was never going to be a case of if they caught up with us, but when,” Renn said.
“So you’re not bothered if they discover where the Nauroe live then?” Durlan asked.
“Quite the contrary. But it’s not the Nauroe’s home that’s at risk of being discovered. Even I don’t know where that is. The Nauroe are a nomadic seafaring people who live their entire lives at sea on their floating city. The place that we’re heading to, is simply a meeting place. One of many they have on our shores, as I’m sure they do on many others too. But even so, if they even suspect that we have led someone to their door, our deal with them is likely to be off. And even if we managed to set sail before the Nylian trackers arrived, it would still sour any future deals that I might have to make with the Nauroe,” Renn replied.
“So what can we do about it?” Lusam asked. He didn’t want to kill the Nylian trackers. But if letting them live meant that he couldn’t rescue his mother. Well, there was only one outcome to that scenario.
“To be honest, I was hoping that the decoys would have proved to be more effective than they were. But I think we can discount any chance of losing them that way now. I did think of another way that we might lose them, but I’m not sure if it’s even possible. It would rely on Lusam being able to levitate all of us at once, including the horses,” Renn said looking at Lusam.
Lusam raised his eyebrows at the thought of flying horses, but knew he could do it easily enough.
“I don’t see any problems with that. We might have to blinker the horses before we attempt it though. I doubt they’re going enjoy flying too much, even if I try to keep them calm magically,” Lusam replied chuckling.
“They’re not the only ones,” Neala said quietly, making everyone laugh.
“So what exactly did you have in mind?” Lusam asked.
Renn thought about it for a moment. “Well, I don’t think we’ll need to worry about the Nylians for tonight, but from tomorrow it might be a good idea to start using a magical shield overnight. I wouldn’t want them sneaking up on us in the dark and using poison darts or gas on us.”
“Yeah, that would spoil our day real quick,” Neala replied sarcastically.
Renn chuckled. “Yes, it would. But whatever the Nylians choose to do, I doubt it will involve any direct assaults. I still believe that they’ll keep their distance and try to work out where we’re going first. It would still be their best chance of success to arrive there first and plan some kind of ambush for us. Having said that, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared for just about anything.
“With regards to my plan for losing the Nylians. First and foremost it would rely on them not already knowing the location of the Nauroe. If they do, and they figure out that’s where we’re heading, my plan simply won’t work. So, presuming they don’t know, we will be taking a small detour before making contact with the Nauroe.”
“What kind of detour?” Lusam asked, hoping that whatever Renn had planned wasn’t going to delay him rescuing his mother for too long.
“Well, the day after tomorrow we will find ourselves travelling alongside a river in a deep gorge. Not far from where the river reaches the sea, is where we’ll eventually find the Nauroe camp. Now here’s where it gets a little tricky. It’s almost certain that the Nylians will at least have a map of the area, and may even have prior knowledge of that gorge already. Either way, if they even suspect we’re planning on entering the gorge, they will bypass us and beat us to the far end. That’s because once you’re in that gorge, there’s only one way to go, and that’s towards the sea. It wouldn’t be too difficult for them to do either, because both sides of the river are heavily wooded areas, which would make it very easy to hide their presence from us.
“So here’s what I suggest we do. A few miles before we enter the gorge, the road spits two ways. One road leads into the gorge, and the other follows a steep path to the highlands overlooking the gorge. It will be a difficult road for the Nylians to follow us closely on, as it’s too exposed. Because the road switches back and forth as it climbs the hillside, we will easily spot them even if they try. So the Nylian trackers will have no choice but to wait until we’re out of sight before pursuing us. But, if we time it right, and make sure we reach that point just before dark, they will most likely stay in the valley bottom for the night. We on the other hand, will continue to travel in the darkness. And when we eventually reach the cliff edge, that’s when Lusam will levitate us all down to the beach below.
“By the time the Nylians catch up and realise what we’ve done, and then retrace their path back into the gorge, we’ll be long gone. And so will the Nauroe.”
“I’m impressed. You know Renn, you’d have made a good thief,” Neala said grinning at him.
Renn chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. But I’m not sure Aysha would agree with you.”
“Probably not,” Neala laughed.
Lusam also thought Renn
’s plan was a good one. But he did have his concerns about whether or not the Nylian trackers would actually remain in the valley bottom for the night. Or if they might feel it necessary to check that his party had indeed stopped for the night just out of sight of them. He wondered if there was anything he could do magically to make it appear that they were still close by, then realised he didn’t really need to use his magic at all.
“How far is it from where you want to make camp to fool the Nylians, and the cliffs that I need to levitate us off?” Lusam asked.
“About ten miles, give or take a little. Why?” Renn replied.
“Well, your plan is a good one. Although it does rely on the Nylians staying in the valley for the night, while we travel to the cliffs. But I think I might have a way to ensure that they do just that,” Lusam said.
“How?” Neala asked curiously.
“First of all, we should start making a campfire from now on. That way, when we make one two nights from now, it won’t look suspicious. We will build a campfire near the edge of the cliff, but not in direct view of the Nylians below. I know that might not be enough to convince them that we’ve actually camped for the night, but what if we left one of our horses tethered between the campfire and the Nylians below. They would see the silhouette of the horse moving from below, and that would help reassure them that we were still there. Hopefully enough to stop them from coming up the hillside and checking for themselves.”
“That’s a great idea, lad. And because the horses will have already had an easy day, it shouldn’t be an issue riding double with one of us to the cliffs,” Renn said.
“What will happen to all of the horses when we leave them near the Nauroe camp? And what about the one that’s still going to be tethered on the clifftop?” Neala asked.
