by Cadman, Dean
“Amongst many other vile creatures that flooded into our world from the rift at that time, was one known as a Vesdari. It was feared more than any other creature because it was attracted to, and fed voraciously on magic of any kind. The Guardians had no defence against this vile creature. Each time they encountered one in battle it would consume any magic or magical weapon used against it. If it made physical contact with any living thing, it would consume every last drop of magic within them, and they would die instantly. Thankfully the Vesdari were one of the rarest creatures to come through the rift, or the final fate of our world may have been very different.
“It is written that anywhere there was a fresh battlefield you would find a Vesdari, feeding on the injured or dying, or consuming the power held within any of the weapons dropped. Unfortunately, as the Guardians fell, many of their weapons were consumed by them also. One account even refers to various weapons and shields being sacrificed to lure a Vesdari away from a raging battle near the entrance of the rift itself. They lured a Vesdari deep into the forest and away from the Guardians fighting to stem the flow of creatures from the rift, giving them vital time to try and complete their task,” Renn said looking reverently at his shield.
Lusam couldn't believe a creature like that could even exist, let alone he might encounter one at any time in this very forest. Trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice he asked Renn,
“Are the Vesdari still here in this forest?”
Renn noticed how anxious Lusam had suddenly become, as he looked around for any signs of the vile creature he'd just described to him. “Don't worry lad. Nobody has seen a Vesdari since the end of the great battle. Scholars believe they required the rift to be open to exist in our world. Others believe the magic they fed on was absorbed into the rift, and when it closed they could no longer absorb the huge amounts of magic safely. Several eye witness accounts of Vesdari exploding shortly after the rift was closed adds weight to their theories,” Renn said reassuringly.
“Oh, I hope you're right about that. We have enough problems without meeting one of those things too,” Lusam said forcing a smile on to his face.
Renn laughed, and placing a hand on Lusam's shoulder said, “Come on lad, let's finish the last of my travel rations for breakfast before we head off. We'll have to hunt from here on in though, that's if you want to eat anything.”
“That's okay, I can hunt for us no problem,” Lusam said confidently. Renn shared out his meagre travel rations equally, and Lusam added the few berries he had left over from the day before. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
After breakfast they both retrieved what few possessions they had with them and broke camp. Their pace started off at a slow jog, for which Lusam was thankful, given how stiff his muscles and joints were from the day before. After about half an hour Renn picked up the pace a little more, only stopping once briefly to refill his waterskin and drink from a small stream. They kept a constant pace all morning and in to the early afternoon, always heading south through the thick forest.
Lusam had found it easier to maintain the pace set by Renn if he kept his mind occupied with other thoughts. He had been trying all morning to think of a way to communicate with Neala using his magic, to let her know he was coming to save her, but he couldn't come up with anything that might work. He just didn't possess the correct magical knowledge to achieve it. It was so frustrating that he was able to do so much with his magic, and yet, not be able to do the things he really needed to do the most.
After mentally agonizing over the fact he couldn't communicate magically with Neala for most of the morning and early afternoon, he eventually decided that he needed to think of something else instead. If he wasn't able to communicate with Neala, he had to make sure he arrived at Stelgad before her and her captor did. He had no idea how far, or how fast Neala and her captor had travelled since they had left Helveel, but he needed to find out somehow. So he set to work on thinking about a way to achieve his goals, whilst all the time keeping pace with Renn.
It was mid-afternoon when they finally stopped at the bank of a medium-sized river. It was maybe thirty paces across from bank to bank, and ranged from ankle to waist deep. Several large moss covered rocks stuck up above the surface of the slow moving water, but they weren't a natural crossing point due to their lack of numbers, and their spacing. Both Lusam and Renn quenched their thirst at the riverbank, and then Renn refilled his waterskin for a second time that day.
“It doesn't look too deep, but I think we should try and find a place to cross further up or downstream. Running is bad enough, but with wet clothes it would be even worse,” Lusam said looking up and down the river for any obvious crossing points.
“I agree, but we can't afford to waste too much time looking for a crossing. You go downstream and look, and I'll go upstream and look. No matter what we find, we meet back here in twenty minutes. It looks like a good place to catch fish from these rocks anyway,” Renn said pointing towards the rocks with his chin.
“Okay, that sounds sensible, but don't worry about the fish, I'm good at catching them. I'll try to catch us some when we meet back here in twenty minutes,” Lusam replied. It didn't take Renn long at all to come across a fallen tree spanning the river just around the next bend. He tested its stability by climbing on top of it and trying to make it move by jumping up and down and shifting his weight around, but it was completely stable and not going to move anywhere unexpectedly. Renn noticed that half way across the fallen tree one of the branches was a perfect shape for trying to catch fish. It was almost completely straight, as tall as him and had three perfectly spaced branches growing from its tip. He crossed the fallen tree and cut the branch free from the main trunk with his sword. Taking out his knife he shortened the three branches on the end and then sharpened them into spikes, making his branch resemble a wooden trident. Happy with his new acquisition he headed back early to their rendezvous point, where he planned to catch some fish until Lusam returned.
Lusam had no luck finding a crossing point, in fact the river seemed to get wider and deeper the further he walked downstream. He didn't think it was worth walking any further in this direction, and just hoped Renn had had more luck than him at finding a crossing point. On his way downstream Lusam had noticed a few raspberry bushes hugging the shoreline and decided to collect some on his way back. At least he wouldn't go back completely empty-handed. He quickly collected as many of the berries as he could hold, and then started heading back upstream to meet Renn. It must have been at least twenty minutes by now, and he didn't want Renn worrying that he had got himself into some kind of trouble.
Just before Lusam came within sight of their rendezvous point he heard a loud shout, followed by splashing noises, as if someone was being attacked in the water. He dropped his two handfuls of berries on the ground and sprinted towards the sounds as fast as he could. By the time he reached the source of the commotion he had a large powerful fireball fully formed in his right hand ready to defend himself, or Renn from any would-be attackers, and a strong force-field surrounding his entire body, just in case it was another one of the strange men in black robes that had somehow found them here. What he saw instead of a battle scene, was quite possibly the funniest thing he had ever seen in his life. Renn obviously had been trying to catch fish whilst standing on one of the slippery moss covered rocks, but now he was in the water on his back splashing around between two rocks in the shallow water. Above him, holding him down was a strange looking fishing spear wedged tightly between the two rocks so Renn couldn't stand up, and on the end of his spear was a large skewered fish, still flapping and trying to escape its fate. Lusam couldn't help himself, and burst out laughing at the sight before him.
“Stop your laughing, and get me out of here will you!” Renn screamed at Lusam, while he held on tight to the fishing spear to keep his head above the water. Lusam let his fireball fizzle out in his hand, then he thought about how best to get Renn out of his situation.
“NO! Wait....,” was all Renn managed to say before the fishing pole broke in two with a snapping sound, and his head disappeared under the water. Surfacing a couple of seconds later he managed to stand up in knee deep water, coughing and gasping for air, and looking more than a little worse for his ordeal. Lusam really struggled not to start laughing at the sight of Renn standing there dripping from head to toe, and still holding half of the fishing pole in his right hand. Renn waded towards the far river bank and clambered up the slippery muddy bank. By the time he reached the top he was not only completely wet through, but covered in mud too. Lusam couldn't take it any more and burst out laughing at Renn's expense. Renn stayed silent until Lusam regained control of himself, before throwing what was left of his fishing pole into the river.
“By breaking the pole like that you just lost us a good fish, who knows if we can get another?” Renn stated in a controlled even tone. Lusam was very surprised at how calm Renn actually was considering what had just happened to him. He knew if the roles had been reversed it would have taken him much longer to calm down whilst being soaked to the skin, cold and hungry. Lusam searched the water with his magic and quickly located two good sized fish. He enclosed both fish in a small force-field and catapulted them to rest at the feet of Renn, who was still standing there dripping water onto the floor from all of his clothing. The fish startled Renn as they came hurtling out of the river directly at him and he took an involuntary step backwards, tripping over a root and landing hard on his behind, with two large fish flapping around on the ground between his feet.
“See, I told you I was good at fishing,” Lusam said trying to keep a straight face. The long hard stare Renn gave him spoke a thousand words, he was sure none he would care to hear. “So, did you find a place to cross the river?” Lusam dared to ask after a few more seconds. Renn contemplated his answer for a few moments before finally just nodding up river without a word. Lusam realised at that moment he could easily cross the river by riding a force-field similar to when he had lifted Neala on the riverbank a few months before, but he didn't want to upset Renn any more than he had already by telling him that he'd just thought about it now. So still smiling to himself he quietly turned and headed upstream to find the crossing point, leaving Renn to drip-dry a little in the meantime.
Chapter Seven
Zedd and the other agent of Aamon had continued to pursue the boy mage relentlessly since entering the forest. Zedd knew that by now the agent he had sent back into Helveel would have met up with the rest of their forces there, and already be on the road to Stelgad, ready to intercept the boy mage if he managed to escape him in the forest. He had no intention of letting him get as far as Stelgad, and losing the opportunity to bring himself to the attention of Lord Zelroth and the council.
Gaining rank within the Empire was not easy, and especially so if you were not well connected to the members of the council. It had been well known for countless centuries that the ability of parents to perform magic directly affected the chances that their children would also inherit their abilities. Several centuries ago Lord Zelroth had implemented a secret breeding program to create what would later become the Darkseed Elite. The program worked well in the early days and the newly formed Darkseed Elite became the new upper classes of the Empire. As the decades and centuries passed, the number of citizens with magical abilities grew rapidly. The citizens of the Empire who did not possess the ability of magic quickly became second class citizens in their own land. A few localised rebellions broke out within the Empire, but they were quickly crushed by the sheer number of its new magical force at its disposal. The non-magical citizens soon became nothing more than slaves to be used by the Empire, however it saw fit. It quickly became a rarity for a non-magical child to be born, and any that were quickly met their demise.
The success of the Empire's breeding program was never in doubt, but the results bore its own problems. With so many powerful citizens now in the Empire, it was only a matter of time before a challenge came for the leadership of the entire Empire. A group of about fifty disenchanted magi banded together, some say led by a spy from Afaraon, others say he was just a parent of a non-magical child who'd been killed at birth by the authorities, and now wanted justice. Lord Zelroth had anticipated their attack and he had created the necromatic rings for his most powerful, and closest allies. The rings enabled Lord Zelroth to harvest the power of any mage who wore them within range, making him immensely powerful.
When the attackers reached the inner chambers of the palace they were met by an already powerful mage, who now wielded the power of over a hundred other magi combined. The results were devastating for the attackers. Their shields failed them almost immediately, and having to put all their power into self preservation meant that they were unable to attempt a single attack in reply. The final few begged for mercy. None was given. Their broken bodies were put on display throughout the capitol and the rest of the Empire, as a warning to any others foolish enough to attempt seizing power from him.
Later the rings were altered, the range of the rings was vastly increased, extra abilities and safeguards were also added, and many more created. Once the new rings were worn, they were impossible to remove without killing the wearer. Each new mage of the empire was classified by their ability to wield magic. The strongest among them became the elite guards of the palace. The next strongest became the commanders of his forces, and those later wore the silver chain Zedd now wore to distinguish their rank. The next level down became the mainstay of the Empire's forces. Any lesser magi were employed in the more menial day to day tasks associated with running the Empire. Each and every citizen of the Empire was made to swear an allegiance to the Empire when they came of age, then they were given a ring to wear, ensuring they kept that allegiance.
One of the new abilities added to the rings was the ability to communicate with any others nearby. By doing this it was possible to create vast networks of communication across the whole Empire. What once took days or weeks to communicate across the Empire, now only took minutes to accomplish. The results were that nothing in the Empire went unnoticed, or unchallenged by the powers that ran it. Although never proven, it was speculated that the rings even gave Lord Zelroth the ability to read everyone’s mind, even from great distances. It proved a most powerful dissuasive measure for anyone contemplating a future revolt against the Empire.
The fact the Empire categorised its subjects by the strength of their magic meant it was difficult to rise in rank or standing. Difficult, but not impossible. Zedd hated the fact he wasn't home in their warm capital with his family, but instead forced to live here in the cold, wet miserable lands of Afaraon. For over a year he had searched this land for a boy who had managed to escape their magical eradication plans. Often Zedd had wondered to himself, why one boy was so important to the Empire. The Empire secretly killed dozens of newborns every year, as it had done for generations before. Surely the land of Afaraon was almost devoid of magi now. What difference could one untrained boy make to the fate of this land?
Zedd quickly put such thoughts out of his mind. It was not for him to question his superiors, only to carry out the orders he had been given. If the rumours that Lord Zelroth could indeed read everyone's mind were true, he didn't want to be the one who proved the theory correct. Instead he committed himself fully to the task of being the one who killed the boy mage, the one who had evaded so many of the Empire's agents for so long. By doing so, he stood a good chance of being noticed by the council, or even Lord Zelroth himself. Any promotion would mean he would soon be back with his family in the capital, finally warm and dry, and rid of this cold, wet land forever.
“Stop!” Zedd commanded his subordinate. They both came to a stop, and once again Zedd checked the direction of travel his prey was heading using the dagger
with the boy's blood on the blade. Several times that day he had done the same thing, and each time the dagger spun so fast it was no longer visible, before stopping dead, always pointing south. He needed something to slow the boy down, so they could catch up to him before he made it through the forest and into the waiting arms of his fellow agents.
Like all of his brethren he knew the history very well regarding this area of Afaraon. How the rift had been used by his God Aamon, to summon creatures from the Netherworld, and into this world to fight for him against the followers of the deceiver Goddess Aysha. In fact, the last few centuries had been dedicated entirely to preparing Afaraon for conquest. Without any magi to resist them Lord Zelroth would re-open the rift, releasing Aamon, and allowing him to reclaim this world as his own, as it should always have been. Nobody knew exactly how Lord Zelroth intended to achieve such a feat, nor would anyone dare ask him outright. To do so would be to question his worth, and that would mean certain death for whichever fool did confront him for such details.
Being so close to the rift made summoning creatures from the Netherworld much easier than it would normally be. Normally during daylight it would take an exceptionally powerful mage to be able to force a creature of the Netherworld into this world and then bind it to their will. There was nothing the creatures hated more than daylight. It weakened them hugely, and they would never willingly be exposed to it by their own free will, always returning to the depths of the earth until nightfall. If it had been dark he could easily have summoned one of the creatures already in this world and bound it to his will. But not knowing the exact location, or the type of creatures that were already nearby made that much more difficult during daylight hours, when they hid so deep within the earth.
“We need a way to slow him down, or we'll never catch him before he makes it through this forest. We're not gaining on him, and it's too dangerous to travel by night in this forest, even for us,” Zedd said to the other man. “What did you have in mind?” he asked nervously.