Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Four

by Dean Cadman

  Zedd almost didn’t bother answering Cole. He contemplated simply turning and walking away from him and going to Coldmont by himself, but the truth was, he needed Cole. He needed to use his mental abilities to gain them some money for supplies and a bed for the night. But more importantly, he needed his abilities to be able to overcome any Inquisitors which Lord Zelroth might send after them. All the power in the world was useless, if his mind wasn’t his own to use it. There was a reason why Lord Zelroth had Inquisitors, and it was the same reason why he needed his own.

  “So, I take it that you intended to stay in Helveel for a while, or hide somewhere else in Afaraon?” Zedd asked, as if he’d not heard anything that Cole had just said.

  “Maybe,” Cole replied warily.

  Zedd nodded slowly. “And how long do you think it will take Lord Zelroth to find you?”

  “I suppose that depends how well I hide,” Cole replied smugly.

  “Does it? So you think you can hide from a God, do you? If Aamon could detect the dragon heart through the tiny energy stream of Lord Zelroth’s pet Aznavor, I doubt he’ll have much of a problem finding us now that we’ve partially opened The Rift again,” Zedd replied equally smugly. Zedd could see Cole’s face drain of colour even in the relative darkness of the street, as he realised what Zedd had just said was true.

  Zedd hated having to say the words, but he knew that he had no choice. “Our only chance is to work together. Don’t ask me how, but now that I’m bonded with the shard, I know that I can read the Guardian book in Coldmont. I’m already far more powerful than I was, and after I’ve read the book, it won’t matter who Lord Zelroth sends after us. I will crush them all. I need you as my Inquisitor, for the same reason Lord Zelroth needs his. He obviously realised a long time ago that there was no advantage to having so much power, if he couldn’t use it simply because someone else took control of his mind. Think about it, together we will be unstoppable.”

  Cole couldn’t think of anything in world that he would like to do less, than permanently join forces with Zedd. He wanted nothing more than to be as far away from him as possible, but he also couldn’t argue with his logic about how easily Lord Zelroth would be able to find them now. If he did leave Zedd, he would likely be dead before the end of the month, no matter where he tried to hide. If on the other hand he stayed with Zedd, and he did manage to read the Guardian book, they might actually stand a slim chance of surviving. But that didn’t address the rather large problem of Lord Zelroth detecting that someone had entered Coldmont, and then coming to find out who it was.

  “Okay, I hear what you’re saying. But none of that will matter when Lord Zelroth comes to see who has entered Coldmont. He will kill us long before you’ve had a chance to read the Guardian book,” Cole replied.

  “No, I don’t think so. If I’m right, Lord Zelroth won’t dare come to Coldmont. Think about it. The boy-mage was already powerful when we pursued him to Coldmont. But you saw just how much more powerful his aura was when came out after reading the Guardian book. It was every bit as bright as Lord Zelroth’s. I think even at that point he may have been more powerful than Lord Zelroth, but since then he has read another Guardian book at Lamuria. That much was obvious when he re-emerged and wiped out our entire army single-handedly, not to mention how much brighter his aura was. So, if you were the boy-mage, and you wanted to kill Lord Zelroth, wouldn’t you just enter Coldmont and wait for him to come to you?

  “Lord Zelroth hasn’t survived for so long by being foolish. When he detects that someone has entered Coldmont, he will automatically assume it’s a trap. A trap conceived by the boy-mage to draw him out, away from his Darkseed Elite and Inquisitors. Without access to their combined power through his Necromatic ring, I don’t think he would stand a chance against the boy-mage, and I think he knows that too.”

  Cole thought about what Zedd had just said, and had to concede that he may well be right. Given his position, it would be foolish of Lord Zelroth to go to Coldmont and see who was trespassing there. Even if it was possible for him to take a dozen or more Darkseed Elite with him, he still couldn’t guarantee victory against the boy-mage. And to send any there alone would be sacrificing them for no good reason. As much as he hated to admit it, it looked like his best chance was still with Zedd. He didn’t relish the thought of becoming Zedd’s equivalent of an Inquisitor one bit, but he did have a couple of big advantages over Lord Zelroth’s. Zedd couldn’t kill him with a single thought using his Necromatic ring, and he still had his own connection to Zedd’s mind.

  He hadn’t tested his ability to influence Zedd’s mind since he had bonded with the shard, and decided now was as good a time as any before committing to anything. Carefully, he reached out along his tenuous connection, and subtly suggested that Zedd should offer his hand to seal the deal between them. He half-expected the shard entity to detect him, or even Zedd now that his power had increased so much, but neither happened, and Zedd uncharacteristically offered his hand to Cole. Cole smiled and took his hand, confident in the knowledge that he still had the better of him.

  Tonight, he would find a gambling house somewhere in Helveel and win enough money to equip them for their journey, as well as furnish them with a comfortable night’s sleep in one of the city’s better establishments. Tomorrow they would journey to Coldmont, and hopefully if all went well, they would never have to worry about Lord Zelroth again.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Alexia watched as the Carazhal slowly disappeared below ground. It was the last of the Netherworld creatures to seek sanctuary from the sun, and by the time it did so, its skin was already smoking in the early morning light. The Carazhal had killed far more Netherworld creatures than they had during the previous night, and it had also been extremely effective at keeping away many others from their vicinity too. All in all, their arrival at The Great Rift couldn’t have gone much better than it had—so far.

  They had already systematically cleared the entire area around The Rift of Netherworld creatures, by moving their perimeter around and exposing new areas of ground. Once the ground was free of Aysha’s light, any creatures there had begun to rise. The Carazhal seemed to quickly understand what they were doing, and never once tried to attack them while they were repositioning their perimeter of swords.

  “Ethan,” Hershel called out to the veteran paladin.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “I need you to collect some firewood for us, so that we can cook breakfast. Take Lexie and Emma with you to help,”

  “Yes, sir,” replied Ethan. Hershel watched as Lexie and Emma nervously went to join Ethan. He kept having to remind himself that some of his paladins were new to everything that was going on, and didn’t possess the knowledge that they should yet. He had never had to warn his paladins of the dangers within The Dark Forest, simply because they had studied everything there was to know about the place for years before they ever entered it. But his new paladins had not yet received that training, and so, for the first time ever, he found himself having to warn them of the potential dangers.

  “Be careful out there. It may be daylight now, but there could still be an odd creature lurking in the shadows, or even a Zeadahl around,” Hershel said, then seeing the confused look on the two women’s faces, he added, “Zeadahl are Netherworld creatures that can move around in the daylight. There shouldn’t be any here because the paladins actively hunted them to extinction centuries ago, but there’s no way of knowing if any more came through The Rift before we got here. So stay alert, and keep an eye on your weapons for any sign of them glowing.”

  “Yes, sir,” Lexie and Emma replied, then hurried off to catch up with Ethan.

  “Let’s reposition our weapons so that The Rift is better bathed in Aysha’s light. With a bit of luck, it might prevent any creatures from getting through. Morgan and Tess, you’re on first watch just in case any do come through. In two hours’ time, swap with another two paladins, but make sure there is a veteran in the group so he can id
entify any creatures that make it through. The rest of you, try to get some rest, we’re working the night shift from now on,” Hershel said grinning at his gathered paladins.

  The rest of the day was very uneventful, and the paladins spent most of it snoozing the hours away within the safety of their established perimeter. No further Netherworld creatures managed to get past Aysha’s light, but the sounds of their frustration could be heard from the other side of The Great Rift. It sounded very distant, but it was there constantly nonetheless. It was about an hour before dark when one of the paladins who had been on watch came to speak with Hershel.

  “Sir, something strange seems to be happening at The Rift,” Colby reported. Hershel looked towards The Rift, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  “Strange how?” Hershel asked.

  “There’s a small dark spot appeared at its centre. It looks like… like a small patch of black smoke, sir,” Colby replied.

  Hershel looked again, and it took him a moment to see what Colby was referring to. He walked towards it, and as he got closer, he could see the small smoky area more clearly. It was about the size of a small plum, and was made up of a swirling black smoke-like substance. Whatever it was, it was obviously from the Netherworld and able to withstand the power of Aysha’s light, and that made him a little nervous to say the least.

  “Keep an eye on it, if it gets any bigger let me know,” Hershel said, taking one last look at it before walking back to the others.

  “Yes, sir,” Colby replied.

  Over the next two days and nights the black smoke-like area grew slowly in size, and was now as big as one of their shields. The Carazhal appeared again and dealt swiftly with any approaching Netherworld creatures, but still didn’t try to attack their defences. It was just about midnight on their third night at The Rift, when the first Netherworld creature emerged from behind the black smoke-like area. Nobody saw it emerging inside the inky blackness, and it hit the ground running, quickly disappearing amongst the trees in the darkness. The Carazhal saw it running, and screamed in frustration at the sight of its escape.

  Alexia was unable to retrieve her bow in time to take a shot, and Hershel cursed under his breath. Alexia thought he was blaming her at first, but it soon became clear that wasn’t the case.

  “That was a Vesdari,” Hershel said, as if she should know what a Vesdari was. She had already read some books that he had given her about the Netherworld creatures, but there were far too many for her to remember them all. Hershel must have taken her lack of response for exactly what it was; a lack of knowledge.

  “A Vesdari is the worst possible creature we could have allowed access to our world. They’re very rare creatures which feed voraciously on any magic contained in living things, then they send that magic back to the Netherworld. Aysha told us that Aamon was using the magic that the Netherworld creatures sent back to force open The Rift from the inside. And now that there’s a Vesdari on the loose, it’s certainly going to help him achieve his goal much quicker.”

  “That doesn’t sound good at all,” Alexia said, watching the inky blackness for any more signs of movement. She remained poised and ready with her bow, and a few minutes later she was rewarded for her patience, when another Vesdari suddenly appeared out of the inky blackness. It took less than three steps before her arrow ended its life, and it skidded to halt face down in the dirt. The Carazhal raced over and dismembered it in seconds, then returned to patrolling the treeline for any more unsuspecting Netherworld creatures attracted to The Rift.

  “Good shot, old girl!” Hershel said by her side. She nodded, but didn’t take her eyes off The Rift. The inky blackness was starting to make more sense to her now. She realised that it must be to hide the emerging Netherworld creatures, and give them a chance to escape both the paladins and the Carazhal waiting for them.

  “No doubt it’s the doing of Aamon, in an attempt to speed up The Rift’s opening,” she thought to herself, as she counted the seconds go by in her head. She counted to almost three hundred before the next Vesdari appeared, and it too died swiftly to one of her arrows. Again she waited and counted, and again she reached almost the exact same number before the forth Vesdari appeared, and again it died almost immediately.

  “Pippa… start counting seconds out loud,” Alexia called without even looking to see where she was. Pippa didn’t question her, and started to count as ordered. Alexia turned to speak with Hershel, and found him, along with everyone else looking at her for an explanation.

  “They’re appearing at about three hundred second intervals. Probably because it takes them that long to emerge through The Rift’s opening,” Alexia said, returning her gaze back The Rift.

  Hershel nodded to himself. “If you’re right, you’re going to be running short on arrows real soon. Lucian… Antonio… Darryl, collect the spare weapons and get ready to retrieve Alexia’s arrows on my command. Earth-bind the weapons in a direct line towards each arrow, retrieve them, then return here with the weapons and arrows.”

  The men did as ordered, and stood ready to collect the blessed arrows at Hershel’s command. Alexia nocked an arrow and drew back her bow slightly as Pippa approached the expected number, and a few seconds later, yet another Vesdari appeared out of the inky blackness. Again, it only took a few short strides before crashing to the ground with an arrow protruding from its head.

  “Pippa, start the count again,” Alexia ordered.

  “Go!” Hershel said to the waiting men, and they quickly retrieved all of Alexia’s arrows.

  “I thought you said those Vesdari were rare creatures,” Alexia said, looking at Hershel.

  “They’re supposed to be. According to the old records only a few of them ever came through The Great Rift, but those few were capable of causing havoc with the magi of the time. They can instantly kill a normal person on contact, and the magi were soon drained of their magic too. Once The Great Rift was closed, however, they pretty much killed themselves,” Hershel replied.

  “How?” Alexia asked.

  “Well, they kept absorbing magic, even though they could no longer send it back to the Netherworld, and eventually, they simply exploded. What I don’t understand though, is why they’re not being attracted to the magic of our weapons. There’s nothing else in this entire forest with anywhere near as much magic as we have right here. It’s as if something is overriding their natural instincts and forcing them to do other things instead.”

  “They sound like delightful little creatures,” Alexia chuckled mirthlessly.

  “Well, you wouldn’t want to meet one unprepared, that’s for sure,” Hershel replied grinning.

  Only two more Vesdari appeared before they finally stopped coming. Pippa counted on well past the expected time period, and still no more Vesdari appeared. Alexia stood ready for more than an hour, but nothing else came through The Rift.

  “Do you think Aamon has run out of Vesdari?” Alexia joked.

  Hershel chuckled. “I suppose we can only hope.”

  “So what now?” Alexia asked.

  “Now we post a watch on The Rift again, and wait until reinforcements arrive,” Hershel replied shrugging.

  Darkness came, and with it the now familiar sounds of the nearby Netherworld creatures. The inky blackness around The Great Rift had begun to grow in size again, and was now at least twice the size it had been the day before. Hershel had ordered a series of small rocks to be placed on the ground as markers, so they could more easily judge its rate of growth. Since then the inky blackness had covered the first of those markers, and was now well on its way towards the second.

  No one was sure what would happen if they touched the strange smoke-like substance, but they soon had a good indication when Morgan decided to test it. He cut a fresh branch from a nearby tree and allowed it to pass through the inky blackness. What emerged after was truly shocking. When it entered the blackness it had been a thriving green-leafed branch, but after it had passed through it, all signs of
life had vanished. What remained was a black, dead and crisp silhouette of what it had once been, and it turned to dust at the slightest touch.

  Hershel watched the blackness slowly eat into Aysha’s light throughout the night, and by the time the sun began to rise again, it had covered another of their stone markers. There was now an audible low sizzling sound, as the darkness pushed into the soft blue glow of Aysha’s light.

  Alexia thought she heard something coming from the direction of The Rift, and readied her bow just in time to see not one, but three Vesdari appear from the inky blackness and race towards the treeline. She released an arrow at the first and killed it outright, but the second she only wounded, sending it sprawling onto the floor with an injured leg. The third had already disappeared beyond the treeline, so she turned her attention back to the injured creature, which was now struggling back to its feet behind a large tree. She no longer had a clear shot of it, but luckily she didn’t need one, because the Carazhal suddenly emerged from the shadows and tore into the terrified screaming creature.

  “I thought our friend had already gone to sleep,” Hershel said, nodding towards the Carazhal.

  “Me too, but I’m glad he didn’t,” Alexia replied, watching The Rift intently.

  “Agreed. But we still have a second Vesdari out there now. It looks like Aamon might have changed his tactics, so I think we should too,” Hershel said.

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “If Aamon is sending more than one creature at a time through The Rift now, we should consider limiting their choices when they arrive. I suggest we use some of the spare weapons to reduce their potential escape routes, slow them down a little so you can get more shots off.”