by Cadman, Dean
Samara then grabbed hold of Asima's hand, placed the amulet in her palm, and made her swear she would give the amulet to her surviving child when he or she came of age. The old woman looked into the eyes of Samara and swore she would, but insisted she would be able to give the child the amulet herself after all this was over. Samara just smiled and gently shook her head, then insisted Asima proceed before it was too late.
The repositioning of the babies was a long and incredibly painful experience for Samara. Asima was worried she would not be able to endure the procedure, and that further complications would ensue from an unconscious mother, making what they had planned impossible to achieve in the time frame allowed. Amazingly, and to her credit Samara stayed conscious, and the first child was born without further complications. The second baby however was far from straight forward, and refused to be born.
Time was running out fast. By now the agents of Aamon would have sensed the birth and be well on their way. The second baby must be born before they arrived to achieve the deception they required, and before it died naturally in the womb. Asima tried to think frantically of an alternative solution, but could not come up with one that would work in the time they had left.
Samara, gritting her teeth through the pain reached over and took hold of her hand, then reached into her belt and removed her dagger, before giving it to Asima. Placing the dagger in her hand, and clasping it with both of her own, she looked straight at the old woman and nodded silently. Asima knew exactly what she wanted her to do to save the new baby, and as hard as she tried she could not think of an alternative to the grisly, but only option now available to her. She bent forward and kissed Samara on the forehead. Then smiling at her with tears in her eyes, sadly nodded her reply. Asima placed her hand on the mother's forehead, and spoke the words of a basic spell that would put Samara to sleep while she carried out what was necessary.
Moments later the second baby was free of his mother, and as expected only survived a few breaths, before peacefully passing away whilst lying against his mother's body. Asima felt the pulse of magic flow through her as the baby took his final breath, and was equally sure the agents of Aamon had also felt it. The old woman did not posses the skill to heal Samara of her wounds, even if there had been enough time to attempt it. Taking one last look back, with tears freely rolling down her cheeks, she clutched at the baby swathed in a blanket, and prayed silently to Aysha for Samara's soul. Then she turned and disappeared into the woods with the newborn child.
All of this information was contained in the first report sent from Asima to the High Temple. At that time it was decided that she would raise him as her own kin, under the guise of being his grandmother. She would be responsible for his safety and early training, and then when he came of age deliver him to the temple for his more advanced training to begin. That was almost fifteen years ago now, and somehow Lusam was still alive, possibly within this very city, and it was Renn's job to find him.
***
From within the shadows Renn looked out of the warehouse window, and down onto the cobbled street below. The agent of Aamon was kneeling down inspecting the body of a middle aged man whose throat had obviously been cut. The agent had been eating a simple meal at an inn four streets away, when he suddenly stood up and left without finishing his meal. Renn had secretly followed him to this location, and after seeing the two bodies from a distance, one of which displayed the unmistakable residual effects of magic being used on it, had decided to find a vantage point in one of the warehouses above the scene. Here he stood, carefully watching the agent of Aamon from within the shadows.
He suspected this man was probably a necromancer by the black full length robe he wore, and the gold chain that held the symbol of his god Aamon hanging loosely around his neck, but he had not yet seen him perform any magic to be completely sure. When Renn had first arrived and looked out from the warehouse window, he had noticed a group of five town guards inspecting the bodies. The agent had briefly spoken to the five guards, and now they were casually talking amongst themselves, seemingly unaware of the two bodies that lay in the street. As Renn watched the agent kneeling beside the first corpse, he noticed a small amount of magic being used, but he couldn’t determine exactly what the effect had been.
After several minutes the agent stood up, walked over to the second corpse, and knelt down beside it, just as he had done with the first. He seemed much more interested in this corpse however, as Renn would have expected. If Renn could see the residual magic that had been used, then it was certain the agent of Aamon would also be able to see it. Several more minutes passed before Renn noticed a boy and girl walking up the street towards the grisly scene. He saw the couple stop and lean into the wall for a kiss and cuddle. Renn instinctively scanned both of their auras for signs of magic, as he had done hundreds of times in the last year, but saw nothing of any significance. As he resumed watching the agent, he noticed another guard patrol entering the cobbled street heading their way. When the new guards met the first patrol they stopped and began talking among themselves. He noticed the two lovers resume walking towards him again holding each others hands, whilst giggling and laughing, as young people in love often do. Just as Renn momentarily went back to concentrating on the agent again, he was sure he sensed magic come from one of young couple, but it vanished as fast as it came. The agent stood up quickly and turned in the direction of the two lovers, who were now standing still looking at the corpse he was standing over. He could see the girl pulling at the boy's hand, eager to get away from the grisly scene. Renn checked their auras again to be certain, but he was sure neither lover were capable of using magic, and once again turned his attention back to the agent. From down the street, just out of sight, came the blinding flash of a powerful aura: someone down there was using magic.
The agent of Aamon walked quickly past the two lovers, and down the cobbled street in the direction of the magical disturbance both he and the agent had just witnessed. Renn knew he had to follow the agent, as he may lead him to the boy-mage. He was about to leave the warehouse and try to catch him up, when he saw the agent returning back up the street, this time at a much slower pace. Renn watched as the agent casually walked up to the group of guards. He spoke a few words of magic, waved his hand, and the guards formed up in rank. Renn then watched as they marched back down the street, towards where they had originally come from.
“Neat trick,” Renn said quietly to himself.
Renn watched as the agent remained there for a moment longer with a thoughtful look on his face, then he appeared to momentarily glance directly up at the window where Renn was hiding. Renn moved further back into the shadows to make sure that he couldn’t be seen. The agent then turned his attention back towards the corpse with the magical residue. He walked slowly over to the corpse, and confirming Renn's earlier suspicions, he began chanting a dark spell to raise the corpse from the dead. At first the corpse began to twitch a little. Then came a groaning noise from deep within its throat, and then finally, it began to try and stand up. Even from this distance Renn could hear the broken bones grinding and snapping as it struggled to stand before the agent of Aamon. When it finally managed to stand up, he could clearly hear the necromancer questioning his new minion. “Can you understand me?” the agent asked in a thick southern accent.
“Yesss massster,” replied the huge corpse.
“Good. Now tell me, who killed you?”
“A boy killed me massster,” the corpse hissed back.
“Would you recognize the boy's face again?” asked the necromancer.
“Oh … Yeeesss massster.”
“Good! I command you to find and kill this boy, and anyone else who gets in your way. Do you understand?” asked the necromancer, with an evil grin on his face.
“Yeeesss masster … I shall obey,” replied the undead corpse, before turning and slowly disappearing through the tunnel under the warehouse complex.
The necromancer watched, as his minion slowl
y walked away into the city in search of its new prey. The agent then turned and started walking back down the cobbled road again, in no apparent hurry to get anywhere fast.
Renn stood in the shadows a moment longer, thinking about the two choices he now faced; he could continue to follow the necromancer, and lose track of the vile creature sent to kill the very person he had been sent to protect, or he could go kill the creature before it managed to complete its mission, and then try to find the necromancer at a later time. It only took him a moment to decide: the vile undead creature had to die. Its very existence was an affront to both himself and his God, and it must be destroyed as soon as possible, before it could do anyone any harm. He left the warehouse building behind, and started to track down the undead creature. Killing it would be easy. Killing undead was exactly what paladins were born to do. All he had to do was find it, before it found Lusam.
Chapter Three
Lusam was sitting on the edge of the fountain waiting for Neala as the sun came up over the distant hills. They had both agreed to meet at the fountain early the next morning, while eating their well-earned meal the night before. Despite the troubling events of the day before, it had still been one of the best days Lusam could remember since arriving in Helveel. He knew he had made a good friend in Neala, and he felt sure she felt the same way about him. They had both also gained employment for at least the next few weeks, thanks to their new employer Mr Daffer at the Old Ink Well.
Lusam even had a few coppers left in his pocket from the previous night's meal. And so, he had decided to call at the new baker's shop on his way to the fountain, and buy two small freshly baked loaves of bread for their breakfast. There was nothing that tasted better first thing on a crisp, cold winter morning, than warm freshly baked bread, and he was hoping Neala would get there before it went cold. “Morning,” came the familiar voice of Neala. She walked around the fountain wearing her ever present smile, and sat down beside him on the wall.
“Good morning,” he replied, smiling back at her, and handing her a packet of warm bread.
“Thanks Lusam. You're so sweet,” she said kissing him on the cheek, which only made his smile grow even more.
They both started eating the warm bread and were almost done when Lusam asked, “What do you think we should do until noon? There's no point going to the gate for work today.”
“No, I guess not,” she agreed, taking another bite from the warm loaf.
“I was thinking maybe we could go out of town for a walk in the forest this morning. If we’re lucky there might still be some huckleberry thickets, or even hackberry around that we could gather.”
Neala laughed. “I wouldn’t know what a huckleberry or hackberry looked like if it hit me between the eyes.”
“It’s okay, I can show you. When I was a boy, my grandmother used to take me into the forest, near where we used to live, and we would collect a whole basket full of them. They look like large wild blueberries, but taste really sweet. They should be very ripe at this time of year,” he replied eagerly.
“Okay, okay, I give in. Lead the way master woodsman,” she said with a grin, and an over enthusiastic attempt at a bow. Laughing and joking they both headed for the east gate of town, both knowing that was the most direct route to the forest outside of Helveel. When they passed the guards at the gate they were given no more than a cursory glance by either guard, and continued on their way unchallenged.
Twenty minutes later they crossed the small wooden footbridge that spanned the river, and arrived on the east bank next to the forest.
“Don't get us lost in there,” Neala said nodding towards the forest.
Lusam laughed and replied, “Those woods aren’t big enough to get lost in. Thirty minutes in any direction would see you back out of them again. Not like the forest in the Elveen mountains where my grandmother used to take me. If you got lost in there, you could have walked for days amongst those trees and never seen daylight.”
“Sounds delightful,” she said sarcastically.
“Tell you what, I'll hold your hand if it makes you feel any safer,” he replied with a grin, using the same sarcastic tone she'd just used on him, and before they took another step, they both broke out in fits of laughter.
Sure enough Lusam was right, the huckleberry were in plentiful supply, and very ripe and sweet. Neala didn’t like the taste of the hackberry, complaining they tasted too tart and she didn’t like the seeds inside, but she seemed to like the huckleberry just fine. They spent a while gathering a few handfuls each, then found a clearing with a fallen log to sit down and eat them in the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.
After a few minutes of quietly eating the berries Neala broke the silence and said, “I guess now would be as good a time as any to talk about what happened yesterday. How you managed to blast that big guy down the street into that wall the way you did?”
Lusam stopped eating and just looked at her, not really knowing what to say. “To be honest, like I said when it happened, I really don’t know how I did it. I just heard running footsteps coming from behind me, I turned, and saw that huge guy flying through the air with a meat cleaver, ready to chop me into bits and I panicked. All I remember is wanting him as far away from me as possible. I put my hands up to protect myself, and the next thing I saw, was him flying backwards away from me into that wall,” he replied in a calm even voice.
Looking directly at him, and after thinking for a while she replied, “Okay, let’s say I believe you about that part, for now. What about the part where you told me your grandmother taught you how to do magic when you were a boy? Everyone I've ever met doesn’t believe magic exists in the world anymore, and it’s only something dreamed up by story tellers, or written about in ancient tales and the likes. Until yesterday I felt the same way, but I can’t deny what I saw you do with my own eyes. So tell me what your 'magical grandmother' taught you, or maybe better still, show me something, so I can better understand.”
“Well, I really don’t know what I could show you. She taught me how to light a fire with magic, but that hasn’t done me much good in Helveel, because it's forbidden to light fires in town. She taught me how to talk to animals, which was quite useful for keeping the rats away at night, but other than that, the rest was only about mind preparation and concentration techniques. The rest of the time was spent with normal things like reading, writing and other stuff,” he replied shrugging his shoulders.
Neala looked at him with disbelief written all over her face before saying, “Please don’t make fun of me Lusam, now I know you're not telling me the truth. Nobody can talk to animals. Not even you!” She stood up ready to walk away, but Lusam put his hand out and took hold of her hand.
“Wait. Please. Let me show you. Come sit down and be still a minute,” he said gently to her. Neala paused a few seconds before doing as he asked. She sat down next to him, fully expecting some excuse to be forthcoming as to why he couldn’t perform this impossible task. Lusam relaxed his mind, and then searched the surrounding area for any wild animals using his mage-sight. It wasn't long before he found a burrow of rabbits and several birds only a short distance from where they were sitting. Concentrating, he called to the animals and birds with a combination of promises of food and feelings of intense safety. One by one they emerged from their hiding places, and approached the fallen log where the two humans sat side by side holding hands.
Neala's face was a real pleasure for Lusam to behold. As she sat there in complete astonishment, several birds landed on her legs and shoulders, and four large rabbits came and sat by her feet, grazing on the vegetation right in front of her. Neala looked too scared to even move, just in case she startled the animals and they ran away, so she just sat there watching them intently, happy to simply share the space with them all.
“Sorry, I couldn’t find any wild unicorns to summon for you. You will have to make do with rabbits and birds I'm afraid,” he said, trying not to burst into laughter at the look on h
er face.
All Neala could manage was a single word. “Incredible!” she whispered, gripping his hand as if her life depended on it.
They sat there for maybe half an hour while Neala watched the animals—and Lusam watched Neala. Then remembering they had to be back by noon, he gently coaxed the animals away from them, before releasing them altogether. Lusam was about to suggest they should head back to town, when Neala threw her arms around his neck and gave him a huge hug.
“I'm sorry Lusam. I'm sorry for not believing you. That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Thank you Lusam,” she whispered in his ear.
“You're welcome,” was all he could think of to say in reply. “We better head back to town. We don’t want to be late on our first day.”
“Yes, you're right, we better head back,” she agreed smiling at him.
“Oh, and just so we’re clear, I was joking about the unicorns, they don’t really exist,” he said in a serious voice, trying hard to keep a straight face.
“HA! HA! Very funny,” she replied playfully smacking his arm, while still smiling from ear to ear. As they turned and started walking back towards town, Neala reached down and took hold of his hand, and all the way back to town constantly asked him questions about how he had spoken to the animals, and what other kinds of magic he could do. Lusam just smiled, happy being in Neala's company, and answered the best he knew how.
As they approached the street where Mr Daffer's shop was situated, Lusam looked up at the sun and judged the time to be as close to noon as made any difference, and so felt quite confident Mr Daffer would not think them late for their first day at work. Lusam remembered the first time they had come to the shop, when Mr Daffer had seemed overly concerned that someone would see them entering his establishment. At the time it seemed a little rude and confusing to Lusam as to why it should bother him so much if anyone saw them enter, but having had time to think about the situation from his point of view, it made more sense now. Given the fact that usually only the wealthy, clergy and scholars could read, it stood to reason they were his main clientele in Helveel. If that was the case, having a couple of dirty looking street kids be seen by any of them entering his shop would do his business no favours at all. With that in mind, Lusam suggested they wait until the street was clear before knocking on the door of the shop. Once the street was clear of people, they quickly approached the door and knocked loudly three times.