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Dawn of Darkness: Book 1 - Full (Where The Shadows Stalk)

Page 48

by Adam Watson


  “We seek lodging for the night … and supplies.”

  “And a hot meal,” added Cassandra. The Innkeeper nodded, it was usual for his guests to request such things.

  “Well, you’ve come to the right place. As you probably know, this fine establishment is called the Berkley Tanklar, and I am its Innkeeper Aren Duvarh. We have rooms available for rent, there are two prices, the overnight rate and standard rate, which is cheaper if you wish to rent long term. If you follow the corridor through that door there,” he added, pointing to a door at the back of the foyer. “It will take you to the tavern, where you can order meals and drink at your leisure and because there are so many travellers that come through this way, we have a stable at the back with plenty of water and feed troughs for the horses.”

  “And where can we get the supplies from?”

  “Across the street, there is a general store called, would you believe it, Smeethsteen’s General Store and you’ll never guess who owns the place …”

  “Um … Smeethsteen?” answered Cassandra, at the innkeeper's pause.

  “Exactly right,” the Innkeeper laughed.

  “All right,” said Magmus, now that he had taken all of that in. “We’ll be needing two rooms next to each other …”

  “And located on the ground floor,” added Cassandra, cutting Magmus off. Magmus paused for a moment at the interrupt, and not seeing any harm to it, continued.

  “… located on the ground floor.” The Innkeeper nodded eagerly, it seemed like there was good coin to be made here.

  “I see … unfortunately, we only have rooms available on the second level. You have come at a busy time of the year I’m afraid. There are only a few rooms available, and none of them are side by side. Magmus nodded understandingly but Cassandra tched in frustration. Magmus eyed her, seeing if he could determine the cause of her strange reaction. She glared back at him but offered no explanation.

  “It’s all right,” she muttered angrily. “I guess they’ll have to do.”

  “They’ll be fine,” continued Magmus to the Innkeeper. He didn’t know what her problem was, but she had been acting strangely ever since the attack.

  “All right, two rooms, anything else?” ask the Innkeeper.

  “Yes, we have a two-horse coach, we had a little accident on the way here, it’s a bit battered at the moment, but it should get us to Tiet K’rea. So we’ll need water and feed for the horses.”

  “It shouldn’t be a problem. Just drive it around to the back, and the stablehands will take care of the rest. Is that it?” Magmus turned to Cassandra who shrugged her shoulders but nodded.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “Very well. Let’s see …” The Innkeeper looked up towards the roof whilst he did the calculations in his head. “Two rooms, water and feed, allocation for a two-horse coach, that’ll be twenty silver.” Magmus looked at Cassandra and Cassandra back to him. They both knew it was more than they could afford. Cassandra nodded to Magmus who turned back to the Innkeeper.

  “Unfortunately we don’t have that much money on us.” The Innkeeper snorted in disbelief, what did they think this was … a charity?

  “Well if you can’t pay, you can’t stay …” began the Innkeeper, but Magmus cut him off before he could utter another word.

  “I didn’t say we can’t pay,” answered Magmus, reaching into the inner pocket of his robe. “You see, I have this gem …” he continued, pulling out the red gem. “It's called a Dragon Gem. They're very rare but extremely valuable.”

  The Innkeeper eyed the Dragon Gem, he had never seen anything like it. It was huge, almost covering Magmus’s hand and it glowed like there was a light coming from within.

  “Go ahead, look into the eye of the dragon and tell me how much its worth.” Of course, the Innkeeper never did tell Magmus how much it was worth. In fact, the Innkeeper had no recollection of ever seeing the Dragon Gem. Instead, he let Magmus and the others board for free. He was very generous, giving them all a free meal and food for the horses. The other people working at the Berkley Tanklar had never witnessed Aren being so generous, but Aren assured them all that Magmus was an old friend of the family.

  After talking to the Innkeeper, Magmus decided to go to the general store to replenish the supplies of food which the Lurkers had taken to the murky depths. They had stolen the camping supplies as well during the melee, but Magmus and Cassandra had already decided that they would not be spending another night outdoors. Whilst he did that Cassandra took the time to have a look around.

  She started with the foyer and slowly made her way down the corridor towards the tavern, taking mental notes along the way. No, this way won’t do at all. She entered the tavern, and the barkeep greeted her from across the room, she waved but ordered no drink and even though she was hungry she ordered no food – that would have to wait, she had business to attend to first.

  She examined the tavern thoroughly, there were three exits; one leading upstairs to the second level floors, one leading to the stable area at the back of the inn and the other leading back to the foyer from which she came. Satisfied that she knew all the entries and exits of tavern she moved on to the stables.

  The stable area was a large space, much larger than she had expected. To her left was a large stable full of horses of all kind. To her right and in front of her was a large circular area with a few wagons, a merchant caravan and the coach which she had arrived in. She walked over to the stablehand and spoke.

  “You there, are you the one looking after all these horses?” The young lad turned around startled, he wasn’t used to the patrons addressing him.

  “Y-Yes My lady.” The stablehand wasn’t sure if Cassandra was, in fact, a noblewoman, but in her flowing red dress and brown fur cloak, she very well could be.

  “Good,” she replied, and moved closer to the young man. Flicking her hair over her shoulders, she gazed at the man a moment before continuing. The stablehand thought she was lovely. “That coach there,” she continued. “The one that my party arrived in ...” The stablehand eyed the coach then turned back to Cassandra.

  “Yes, My lady?”

  “We shall need it ready for travel immediately.” The stablehand looked at her puzzled.

  “Ready for travel My Lady? But you’ve only just arrived.”

  “Tend to the horses, rest them as much as you can, but they need to be ready to go at a moments notice.” The stablehand looked alarmed at the notion and ran his hands through his straw-laced hair.

  “Surely you’re not going to travel under the Black Moon, My Lady.”

  “Some things are unavoidable,” she stated, placing her hand on his arm. The young man stared at her hand as if it were a viper, he could feel some kind of power coming from it. “It's best to be prepared for the worst, is it not?” The stablehand looked back into her eyes; they were beautiful, but he could sense something deadly in them.

  “Of course My Lady, of course. I will prepare them for departure right away.” Cassandra smiled, pleased that he saw things her way.

  “Good. You do well.” The stablehand walked away and began to ready the horses to leave. Cassandra walked towards the far entrance of the compound. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to leave in the middle of the night. Hopefully, she could rest till the morn, but she knew the risk was too great to take a chance.

  She thought about the staff and the power it had released. Someone will come looking for that. In fact, she knew they already were, and it was for that reason that she began to methodically set wards around the entire inn.

  Slowly and methodically she walked around the compound, setting wards here and there. They weren’t strong wards, in fact, they were very weak. So weak that no-one would know they were there; including casters. They wouldn’t know, but she would know, and there was a reason for such – strong wards would bring unwanted attention.

  It was her father who had taught her that trick. He had made sure she had learnt it, he had made sure she had learnt a lot of t
hings. I bet you regret showing me your secrets now, don’t you Father? He had been a good man once, but his power had corrupted him.

  For the next hour and a half Cassandra stalked the inn, memorising the layout, determining the best routes of escape should the need arise, and placing wards to warn her of intruders.

  Her cautious mindset was another trait she had gained from her father. If she wanted to live she would have to take every precaution until she reached the academy – only then would she find sanctuary.

  Meanwhile, as Cassandra placed her wards, Magmus had made his way across the road to Smeethsteen’s General Store. On his way he had collected Erwan and Torvar to help carry the supplies. They seemed to be in good spirits, Erwan was looking forward to his meal and as for Torvar ... well, he was slowly getting back to normal.

  Magmus could tell that the beguiling effect of the Dragon Gem was starting to wear off. Torvar was doing a lot less meditation than he was, and he wasn’t quite as obsessed with going to Tiet K’rea. Magmus let it go for now, he was actually more tolerable in this state, but if he started asking questions ... then he would be getting another session with the Dragon Gem.

  For now, it would be Smeethsteen who would receive the next encounter with the gem. As far as Magmus was concerned it was unavoidable – he needed supplies to get to Tiet K’rea, and he needed what gold he had to pay for his studies. At the same time though, stealing was not in his nature, so he decided in his mind that he was not stealing these supplies but borrowing them – he vowed that one day he would return and give Smeethsteen the coin he was owed.

  After the supplies had been sorted Magmus made his way to the tavern. Randall was already at the bar with two empty ale mugs in front of him. He seemed to be having an in-depth conversation with the barkeep, so Magmus decided to go to one of the empty booths and sit by himself.

  In the booth, Magmus quietly contemplated the journey since leaving Amalicia City.

  “May I get you something, sir?” Magmus looked up to see a young woman standing near him – she was obviously one of the serving girls. “Can I get you a drink or maybe something to eat? Aren said your party can have anything they want … on the house.” The corners of Magmus’s mouth turned up ever so slightly, he had promised his grandfather he would never abuse the power of the Dragon Gem, but here he was taking full advantage of these people. He made a mental note – Aren was now on his list of people to pay back once he had made his fortune.

  “Yes, I’ll have an ale thank you and er, maybe the roast duck for my meal.”

  “Certainly sir.” She walked off to tell the cook the order and returned a few minutes later with an ale. Magmus stared into the froth as his mind thought back upon events.

  It started the moment he walked into the coach stop in Amalicia City. All he had wanted to do was travel to Tiet K’rea, and he was almost foiled by the Black Moon. Yeah, all right we were attacked by Lurkers … but that’s got nothing to do with the Black Moon. Magmus shook his head, that little ‘incident’ had almost ended with all their deaths. It’s a murky lake! He should have known there were going to be creatures living in it. They probably built the damn campfire themselves to lure unsuspecting travellers into camping at that spot. That made sense to Magmus – a lot more sense than the Black Moon anyway.

  In the end, they had escaped … thanks to Cassandra. The very thought made Magmus look around the room. Was anyone watching him? No. Cassandra had blasted fire from her hand, incinerating one of the Lurkers. So what? Magmus looked around the room again. Randall was still laughing and joking with the barkeep, everyone else seemed to be doing their own thing. Something was going on here, something odd, something strange, something that didn’t make sense.

  She blasted fire … from her hand. He could see the image clearly. The Lurker was at the window, and he had almost soiled himself with fright when he had seen it. Her hand went in front of his view, it had glowed for a split-second, and then fire had erupted forth blasting the window out and destroying part of the coach wall … but that wasn’t what bothered him.

  He thought back to the conversations they had had in the coach on the way here. They had talked about each other's powers many times, and she had always led him to believe that he was the more powerful one of the two. Now she was blasting fire from her hand – it didn’t make any sense. There’s a coverup going on here.

  At that moment the serving girl appeared with Magmus’s dinner.

  “Your roast duck, sir.” Magmus turned to the girl with a kind smile gracing his face.

  “Thank you,” he answered. She smiled then walked away. Magmus glanced around the room, making sure that nobody was looking at him, then his smile disappeared. What kind of game is Cassandra playing here? Was she playing him for a fool? Was she manipulating him? Then there was that fucking weird staff she was always carrying around wrapped in cloth. What was that all about?

  He remembered back to the Lurker attack, to the moment where he had followed Randall down to the lake. Magmus had expelled all of his energy creating the dragon illusion and collapsed to the ground. Yes, he may have been completely drained and of no use to anyone, but he was still conscious of what was going on around him.

  As he was laying face down in the dirt, Cassandra had shielded them all with some kind of protective ward. When that staff had hit the ground, it had unleashed tremendous power. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, he was just happy to be alive, but there was something very unusual about that staff.

  He grabbed the fork and stabbed it in the breast of the duck; juices flowed, and the smell of sage and onion wafted to his nostrils. He closed his eyes savouring the smell, breathing in the aroma deeply.

  He thought back to the ride from the lake to this town. Cassandra had nursed him back to health, she seemed genuinely concerned for his welfare, and she did go back for him during the melee ... but why? She could have easily escaped had she wanted to, and then made her way to Tiet K’rea by herself. Instead, she had risked her own life to save both him and Randall. So why the secrecy when it came to her powers?

  He took a slice of the duck and then a spoonful of mashed potato. The flavour of the sage was making him feel better, as was the ale, but he wasn’t enjoying it as much as he normally would have – he just couldn’t stop thinking about Cassandra.

  Yes, she was beautiful. Magmus couldn’t deny that. He had had a thing for redheads long before he had met Cassandra, but this redhead was a magic user. They had so much in common, they shared so many interests, he honestly thought he might have had a chance with her, but now she had lied to him.

  Sure, they had only met a few days ago, but they had shared such in-depth conversations. Magmus thought he had made a real connection, after all, they had so much in common, but she had lied about her powers, making him believe that she was a complete novice, and if she lied about that what else had she lied about?

  Did she really enjoy ‘Diaside’s Journey’ as much as what she claimed or was that just a lie as well? A little snippet of something to make him think she was interested in the same things he was? But she had talked with such passion. Surely she couldn’t just be making it up.

  Then there was the conversation about the Rings of Anarkis. Who had ever heard of such, let alone understood the meaning behind the concept?

  Magmus sighed, the worst part of the whole situation was that he thought she actually liked him. Was that just an act as well? He picked up his mug and downed the rest of his ale in one swig. Slamming it down on the table he quickly ordered another.

  Her flame-coloured hair, her ice blue eyes, the way her dress clung to her slender frame, them both on their way to the academy – she had seemed perfect.

  He hacked away at the duck and stirred the mash around on his plate. When he saw that the new mug of ale had arrived on the table next to his plate, he downed that in one shot too. This was too much for him to handle. Cassandra - so beautiful, so intelligent. It had seemed too good to be true ... and perhaps it
was.

  Now she was lying, or she was hiding something. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was playing him for a fool. His heart sank, he wanted to deny it, but in the depths of his gut, he had terrible feeling that she was manipulating him.

  At that moment Cassandra entered the room, and when she did Magmus’s heart fluttered. He closed his eyes, he didn’t want her to have this kind of effect on him, but he couldn’t help it.

  She ordered her meal and a cider, which she carried with her to Magmus’s booth. She looked happy and greeted him with a big smile, he pretended to smile, but it was only on the outside; inside he was a sour grapefruit.

  “Oh I can’t wait to have something to eat,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. I’m absolutely famished.” DECEIVER! Magmus wanted to scream it, to scream it in her face, to shout it at her and make her as miserable as she had made him. Instead, he answered as though he had not a care in the world.

  “You should try the duck, it's quite delicious.”

  “Well, now that you mention it, that’s exactly what I ordered.” Magmus nodded. Of course you did Cassandra, what else would you have ordered? Now they had another thing in common – the love of duck. She’s perfect! Why was she playing these games with him?

  Magmus stared at the mash. It didn’t look so appealing now that he had stirred the duck juice into it, but the aroma was delectable. He could feel Cassandra looking at him, but he didn’t want to look up, he didn’t want to look into those eyes. He knew their beauty would devour him.

  “Magmus, are you all right? You seem a bit quiet tonight.”

  “I’m just a bit tired,” he lied. “You know, after last night.” She rubbed his arm sympathetically.

  “You should get some sleep.” Magmus nodded. Yes, maybe after he had some sleep, things would make more sense.

  Rest is what he needed now, he needed to let his mind rest and ponder the situation. Things should be clearer in the morning.

 

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