by Dean Cadman
“And how long is that likely to take?”
Lusam shrugged. “It’s impossible to say, really, but at least several hours I should think. Possibly even longer. If I’m honest, I’ve never rendered anyone unconscious for their own benefit before. In the past, I’ve only had to do it to people that I’ve needed out of the way, or to stop them from escaping. So I’ve never stuck around afterwards to see how long it took for them to wake up again,” Lusam replied, grinning.
“Then how can you be so sure that they did wake up again?” Captain Waylon asked, sounding more than a little concerned.
“Oh, they did, and so will Lamar. In fact, that’s about the only thing in this whole process that I am confident about,” Lusam replied.
Captain Waylon nodded. “Aye, well if anyone should know about these things, it would be you. So I guess I’ll leave ya to it then. If ya need me for anything, I’ll be out on deck making sure those lazy sea dogs are doing what they’re paid to do.”
“Thank you, Captain. And I’ll let you know the outcome as soon as I know myself,” Lusam replied.
Captain Waylon took one last look at Lamar and grunted. “Aye, you do that,” he said quietly, then turned and left his cabin.
Lusam moved one of the chairs so that he could sit down next to Lamar’s head. He had no idea how long it would take him to repair Lamar’s mind, or even if it could be done. One thing that he did suspect, however, was that it wouldn’t be a quick process, and as such, it made much more sense to be sitting down whilst he attempted it. It wasn’t until he actually sat in the chair that his nervousness began to surface. He found himself simply sitting there and staring at the old man.
“Are you alright?” Neala asked, quietly. Lusam heard her words but he didn’t really know how to answer. He had wanted so much to speak with Neala about this moment during their journey to Fairport, but he had been unable to through fear of being overheard by Aamon. He had been forced to bottle-up his hopes and fears about their mission, and now those fears were beginning to overwhelm him. What if he failed? What if he couldn’t heal Lamar’s mind and gain the information they so desperately needed? There simply wasn’t any other way. If he failed here, the only other alternative was to return to The Rift and continue to pit his strength against that of Aamon. A battle that he knew for certain he would eventually lose, sooner or later. He startled as Neala’s hand touched his shoulder. He hadn’t noticed her stand up and walk across the cabin to stand behind him. She gave his shoulder a small squeeze and kissed him on the top of his head.
“What if I can’t do it? What then?” he asked, meekly.
Neala put her arms around him from behind and hugged him tightly. “Then we’ll figure something else out—together… we’re a team, remember? But that’s not going to happen. I know you can do it, and so does Aysha, or she would never have sent you here in the first place. You just have to have faith in yourself, Lusam,” Neala replied, quietly.
“A team,” Lusam agreed, giving her hand a small squeeze. “I’m sorry, Neala. I’ve wanted so much to be able to talk to you openly about all of this, ever since we first left The Rift—but I’ve not been able to.”
“I know, me too. But that’s all behind us now. If Aamon is able to monitor our movements and hear what we say, then our small advantage is already over. He’ll already know where we are and at least part of what we’re planning to do next. Now I guess it’s just a race against time. Either we find what we’re looking for first, or he escapes through The Rift and none of this will really matter anyway.”
Lusam chuckled mirthlessly. “Everything seems to be a race against time lately, but when will we have the time to do the things that we want to do together?”
“Oh… you’re not trying to tell me you’d prefer a quieter, more boring life in the countryside somewhere, than having the type of adventures you’re having right now?” Neala teased.
“Absolutely, yes.”
“That’s good news then… because I intend to hold you to that promise of a wedding, and I get to choose where we live afterwards,” she said, tightening her arms around him as if emphasising that he wouldn’t be allowed to escape her grasp now.
Lusam smiled and gave her hand another squeeze. “Good,” he said, in a low voice. She gave him one last kiss, then stepped back to allow him room to work. Lusam took a deep breath, placed his hand on Lamar’s forehead, and sent out his mage-sight into the old man’s mind.
Ever since he had read the Guardian book within the High Temple, Lusam had a far greater understanding of power in all its forms. When he used his mage-sight now, he could see the delicate strands of power connecting everything around him. He had even been able to send out his own consciousness along those strands to view the battlefield outside Lamuria. It had become clear to him recently that each Guardian book imbued its own unique knowledge to the reader, and with each successive book that he read, that knowledge became more and more complete. However, he was still unable to create any lines-of-power for himself as the Empire Inquisitor had done when he attempted to take control of his mind within Coldmont. Lusam had been able to utilise the Inquisitor’s own line-of-power against him, sending a massive pulse of power along it to kill him, but creating his own was still beyond his ability.
Lusam surmised that the required knowledge to produce lines-of-power must be contained within the Guardian book at Irragin, and therefore Lord Zelroth had been able to teach his followers how to create them for themselves. That knowledge had then no doubt been adapted to read and control other people’s minds, and worst of all, control their undead minions. He just hoped that he wouldn’t need that particular knowledge right now to repair Lamar’s mind.
As Lusam entered Lamar’s mind with his mage-sight, he was stunned by what he found. The deterioration which had occurred since the last time he’d looked was astounding. At least before he could sense a jumble of disjointed thoughts, as well as fragments of various experiences from his past, but now there was almost nothing left. Lusam slipped deeper into his mage-sight, and the connections of Lamar’s mind came sharply into focus—or at least the lack of them did.
During their journey to Fairport, Lusam had occasionally studied his own mind using his mage-sight and had become quite familiar with the structure of it. He had already gained a basic understanding of how a person’s mind worked from the Guardian book at Lamuria, or at least how the power within a mind worked to make it function. He had been amazed by how many minute and delicate lines-of-power there actually were within his mind. They criss-crossed in every direction, making countless connections with one another, and pulsed brightly to his mage-sight with even the slightest thought or movement. At first, he had been overwhelmed by the complexity of it all, but one particular night—when he had found it difficult to sleep—he quietly lay in bed and began to study how is own mind worked in greater detail. It was far easier for him to see what was going on in the quiet darkened room than it had been whilst riding his horse. He found that if he relaxed and cleared his thoughts, he could greatly reduce the number of bright pulses of power within his mind.
Through experimentation, Lusam soon realised that when he moved various parts of his body, a corresponding area of his mind became active. He also found that the same thing was true for his sight, hearing and even smell. Even his thoughts and memories activated their own unique areas within his mind. He soon found that he could accurately predict which parts of his mind would become active even before he initiated the movement or thoughts associated with it. Now that he was faced with the daunting task of repairing Lamar’s badly damaged mind, he was incredibly relieved that he had taken the time to study his own in detail first. At least he now knew which area was responsible for memories. An area he knew he must repair if his mission was to even stand a chance of succeeding.
Lusam used his mage-sight to examine the area of Lamar’s mind where he believed his memories would be stored. It looked very different from what he had seen within his own mind. There were far fewer
sparks of power, and many of the connections looked like they had been broken or damaged somehow. But most strange of all was the substance which appeared to be growing between the broken connections. Whether the substance had caused the damage initially, or had grown there after, he couldn’t tell. But he knew for certain that he hadn’t seen anything like it inside himself, and felt equally sure that it shouldn’t be within Lamar’s head either.
Lusam tried to move some of the strange substance aside, but there was simply no room to manoeuvre it. It was very different from when he had cured Lucy of her disease. Then he had been able to break up her growth and remove it from her body by using the natural pathways of her veins and arteries. But here, in Lamar’s mind, it was far more complicated, and the last thing Lusam wanted to do was create an artificial route to the surface by burrowing through his brain.
As Lusam studied Lamar’s mind in more detail, he almost became overwhelmed by the enormity of what he was faced with. There were many thousands of broken connections that were obvious as to where the two ends should meet, but there were many more that weren’t. He had no idea what the consequences of getting a single connection wrong would be, let alone hundreds, or even possibly thousands. And that didn’t even begin to address the problem of the strange substance blocking the path of many of the connections. He almost withdrew his mage-sight from Lamar and declared it to be an impossible task, but as he thought about doing so, the images of Renn, Alexia and Hershel flashed before his eyes. If he failed now, it could quite possibly cost them their lives, not to mention all of the other paladins currently defending The Rift. And if he didn’t at least try to repair Lamar’s mind, failure would be the only possible outcome. He just hoped that he didn’t make Lamar’s life even worse than it already was by what he was about to do—or even kill him for that matter. He knew Aysha was forbidden to interfere in any way, but even so, he still said a silent prayer and asked her to guide his hand.
Lusam began by repairing the most obvious connections. The ones that were so close to each other, that they couldn’t possibly have been connected anywhere else. He had no idea how much time had passed before he was finally done, and he never withdrew from Lamar’s mind to find out, either. Instead, he shifted his attention directly onto the strange substance which was blocking many of the routes that he needed to take in order to repair the other broken links. He knew he couldn’t remove the substance, so he tried to shrink it instead by crushing it with his magic. Initially, he thought it might work, but the strange sponge-like substance simply unfurled again into its original shape a few moments later. He thought about creating a minute hole through its centre, to allow the connection to be repaired inside it, but the sheer number of blockages made him reconsider that action. It would have taken him days to undertake the delicate work on them all.
When Lusam examined the strange substance in more detail, he made a significant discovery. It wasn’t dead as he had expected, but instead, living tissue. He already knew from his earlier experiments with the pine cones, on his way to meet the Nauroe, that living things could absorb and hold magical power far better than inanimate objects could, and that gave him an idea. He singled out one of the blockages and fed a small amount of power into it, making it glow to his mage-sight. He then attached the closest broken connection to the newly glowing mass, before moving on to the other end. As he attached the other half of the connection, something remarkable happened. The pulses of power started to travel down the newly formed conduit, just as it did down the other healthy connections in Lamar’s mind. The pulses were weak at first, but soon they grew in intensity to match their healthy counterparts. Lusam watched very closely to see if the substance lost any of the power he had given it, but even after a few minutes it still appeared to be perfectly stable. He breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t know for certain if it actually worked until Lamar woke up, but at least the early signs were positive.
Over the next several hours Lusam continued to repair the connections within Lamar’s mind, and by the time he had done, he was all but exhausted from the continuous mental focus that he’d had to endure. When he finally withdrew his mage-sight from Lamar, he found himself momentarily disorientated, but thankfully it soon passed. He turned to speak with Neala but found her asleep in one of the more comfortable looking chairs. There was no sign of Captain Waylon, and from what he could see through the window, it was already dark outside. He stumbled forward as he tried to stand, and was forced to steady himself on the Captain Waylon’s desk until his—long immobile—legs woke up again.
“Is it done?” Neala asked, stretching out her arms and yawning.
Lusam tried to reply, but found his throat too dry to speak. Fortunately, there was a jug of water and a couple of glasses on the Captain’s desk, so he quickly helped himself to some.
“I’ve done all that I can, but we won’t really know if it’s worked or not until he wakes up,” Lusam replied, stretching out his stiff back. His stomach let out a loud rumble, confirming to him that many hours had passed since he’d first begun Lamar’s treatment.
“What time is it?” he asked, glancing out of the cabin window.
“I’m really not sure, but it’s been dark for at least several hours now, so I’d guess it’s well after midnight.”
Lusam nodded slowly. “I thought Captain Waylon might have been here to ask how it went, but I suppose he’s already asleep by now.”
“He kept coming in to check on your progress about once an hour at first, but I haven’t seen him in a while. I think the rest of the crew has already turned in for the night, but I did hear the occasional footsteps out on deck before I fell asleep. Maybe Captain Waylon is still awake and waiting for some news, or has left someone else on watch to inform him of any.”
“Maybe,” Lusam agreed. “I think I’ll go and check. I could do with stretching my legs anyway.”
“You and me both,” Neala agreed, standing up and stretching out her stiff limbs.
The night air was sharp and cold outside, and the small gusts of icy wind bit deep into their exposed skin. Both the town and docks seemed eerily quiet, with not a soul to be seen anywhere. Only the gentle lapping of water against the ship’s hull and the occasional hoot of a distant owl could be heard. It was a dark moonless night, and Lusam could barely see where he was walking, let alone make out if anyone was still awake on deck. He instinctively slipped into his mage-sight and everything around him suddenly illuminated with pulses of power. He could now see every minute detail of the ship, right down to the fine grain of the wood beneath his feet. He glanced over towards the aft deck, but there was no one there. Nor was there anyone else on the deck where they were standing.
“If the Captain is still awake he must be on the foredeck, because I can’t see him from here,” Lusam whispered.
“I’ll just have to take your word for that,” Neala whispered.
“Sorry,” Lusam said, grinning, as he created a small light orb. “I forgot you couldn’t see anything in the dark.” Neala gave him a sideways look but held her tongue, and followed him towards the wooden ladder that led to the foredeck above them. As it happened, Lusam didn’t need his mage-sight to spot the Captain, because the soft red glow of his pipe gave away his position in the darkness. Upon seeing the Captain, Lusam intensified the strength of his light orb and continued to climb the ladder. Captain Waylon immediately turned towards the light, and with a look of disbelief etched on his face, watched as it floated through the air directly towards him.
“Did it work?” he asked, looking suspiciously at the light orb.
“I don’t think we’ll know for sure until he wakes up I’m afraid,” Lusam replied.
Captain Waylon grunted. “I suspected as much. Well, it’s late and we should all be trying to get a little shut-eye before dawn comes calling. You’re both welcome to use my cabin, I’ll find a bunk down below with the crew.”
“Thank you, Captain, but the aft deck will be just fine, like last time,�
� Lusam replied.
“Trouble is, last time it was summer, lad. You wouldn’t want to be out ’ere for long at this time o’ year, trust me. And if it turns out that you did fix old Lamar’s melon, and we do end up taking a trip out to sea… well, it can get real ugly fast out there, I can tell ya.”
“We’ll be just fine, Captain. I can use my magic to keep us warm and dry, so don’t worry about the weather.”
Captain Waylon looked once more at the floating ball of light and grunted. “I guess you can at that, lad. Well, if there’s anything you need to make your stay aboard more comfortable, just let me know. You may not need ’em, but I’ll have one of the deckhands bring you up some blankets, just in case.
“Thank you, Captain,” Lusam replied, then smiled to himself as he remembered the last voyage they’d made aboard a ship. “Actually, Captain, there is one thing you could get for us, and I don’t mind paying for it myself.”
“Oh, what would that be, lad?”
“Four barrels of nails.”
“Nails? What in the Seven Hells would ya need four barrels of nails aboard ship for?”
Neala groaned and rolled her eyes. “Best you don’t ask, Captain, just humour him.”
***
Lusam and Neala were awoken early the next morning by a strange voice.
“Sir, Capt’n sent m’ to tell ya ’at old Lamar’s awake, and ya should go to ’is cabin right away,” the crewman said.
“Okay, thanks. Tell the Captain we’ll be right there,” Lusam replied groggily, propping himself up on his elbows. The crewman nodded and swiftly disappeared back down the ladder to the main deck below. Neala groaned loudly as she sat upright on the hard deck.
“Are you alright?” Lusam asked.
“I guess so, but maybe I was a little hasty criticising your request for those nails last night,” she replied, rubbing the base of her back and grimacing.
Lusam chuckled. “Yeah, sleeping directly on the ship’s deck isn’t exactly what I’d call comfortable,” he said, standing up and offering her a hand. “I suppose we better go and see how Lamar is doing.”