by Cadman, Dean
“Well, there was no point us walking all the way down hundreds of steps if we didn't have to, besides it's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the end of the fall that does it,” Lusam replied, unable to hold back his amusement any longer. “You were the one who insisted the ladder would be safe not me, but I also remember someone telling me, `being over-confident will get you killed.` Well at least I think that's what they said, I was in a lot of pain when they said it, so I may be wrong,” Lusam said, getting ready to jump over the side of the staircase if Renn moved too quickly. Renn shook his head and burst into laughter, startling Lusam.
“I see, so that was payback for me slapping your back-side with my sword earlier was it? Okay, I guess we're even now lad, but I'm still taking the lead in here,”
“Yeah, I made sure you were always ahead of me on the way down here too,” Lusam replied smiling at Renn, who had just managed to stand up again. Renn rolled his eyes and once more shook his head, but he wasn't able to keep his smile completely absent.
“Okay, enough messing around now, time to get serious. You should use your shield until we make official contact with the Praefectus in charge. There can be as many as two hundred recruits here training at any given time, and they have strict orders to kill any intruders on sight,” Renn said, all hint of humour now gone from his voice.
“But my shield is useless against a paladin's weapon, as I painfully found out not too long ago,”
“These men aren't yet paladins, they are only recruits. They will be armed with normal swords and crossbows, but even so, don't underestimate their skill level. All paladin recruits are chosen from the very best soldiers the regular army has to offer, and even then most never make it this far,” Renn replied with a hint of pride evident in his voice. Lusam nodded his agreement and erected his shield as instructed, he also created a small globe of light to illuminate their surroundings, which had become much darker now the last of the natural light from outside had completely disappeared.
They made their way down the final part of the spiral staircase to the ground below, where they found a single corridor leading away from the base of the tower. It was impossible to see how far back the corridor stretched as it was in complete darkness, so Lusam sent his light further in front of them both to check. Once his light orb illuminated the corridor it became evident that it was actually fairly short, before a large oak door blocked their way any further.
Renn walked towards the door and tried to push it open but to no avail, it was obviously locked from the other side.
“Now what?” Lusam asked, hoping Renn had a plan to open the door. He knew he could open it with force, but under the circumstances destroying part of a temple seemed like a bad idea, especially if there were two hundred armed, and angry men at the other side of the door. “Can you open the door with your magic?”
“Maybe if there was a lock I could melt it out or something, but I don’t see a keyhole. I think it might be barred from the other side, and I can't move what I can't see, well, not without destroying it anyway,” Lusam replied.
“Then I guess we knock,” Renn said, removing his sword and hammering on the door four times with the hilt. He then removed his shield, exposed his sigil of Aysha from inside his shirt and waited. After a while he knocked again another four times on the door with his sword hilt. This time they could hear the shouts of men beyond the door, accompanied by the more concerning sound of steel weaponry being readied.
***
Chapter Nineteen
Lusam was becoming concerned at the amount of time it was taking for whoever was at the other side of the door to open it. He knew it meant they were preparing their defences against whoever, or whatever would come through the door at them. Lusam extinguished his magical light and quickly extended his shield to also protect Renn, even knowing he would have probably objected if he had asked permission first, then he waited.
It wasn't long before the sounds of a large bar being removed filtered through from the other side of the door, then almost immediately the door was thrown open to reveal at least thirty men arranged in a semicircle, most of which were pointing crossbows at them menacingly.
“HOLD YOUR FIRE!” Renn boomed out, but one of the men loosed his crossbow bolt anyway, and it flew directly at Renn's head. Renn moved with impossible speed to block the crossbow bolt with his shield, and would have easily done so if it had not impacted on Lusam's shield first, and fallen harmlessly to the ground in front of him. “STAND DOWN!” came a commanding shout from inside the room. Renn turned to give Lusam a withering look for his shield stunt, and Lusam just shrugged his shoulders and smiled in reply.
“Renn, is that you?” asked a large man dressed in full chain-mail, approaching the doorway where they stood.
“Hershel! It's good to see you again old friend,” Renn replied, both men clasping each others arms in greeting. “I didn't expect to see you here, the last I heard you'd retired you old fox, what happened?”
“I did retire, but unfortunately my services were once again called upon. I'm afraid the war goes badly for us in Lamuria, old boy. Our numbers are dwindling fast in the face of the Empire's relentless assaults. Their necromancers have raised an army of undead to attack the capital, and they are backed up by a number of powerful magi. Our paladins dispatch the undead easy enough, but we have little defence against their magical assaults due to our lack of effective magi,” Hershel replied, then lowing his voice so only Renn and Lusam could hear he continued, “Just last week we lost more than a dozen recruits to an attack of poisoning here in the temple itself. Nobody knows how or where it came from, but morale has taken a beating from it, that's for sure,” “That's very troubling news indeed old friend. When I was last in Lamuria a year ago the attacks were only sporadic at best. It seems the Empire has finally decided to step up its attacks on Afaraon. Is that the reason why you have so few recruits here?” Renn said looking over Hershel's shoulder at the men arrayed behind him.
“Six months ago we had almost two hundred recruits here, but the High Temple requested most of them to be forwarded to the capital to help defend the city. I expressed my strong opinion that most were not ready to take up the role of full paladin yet, but they still insisted I sent them all the same. I've even heard rumours from an old friend, that the High Temple's magical defences were becoming critically low. I don't have to tell you what the consequences for us all would be if they failed,” Hershel said quietly.
Lusam had been close enough to hear the exchange between the two men, and although he didn't know exactly what it meant, he could tell by their tone it wasn't good. For the first time since the door opened he now looked past the two men and into the room beyond. What he saw before him made him gasp. Standing casually amongst the recruits was an Empire agent, his scarlet aura marking him clearly to Lusam's mage-sight. Suddenly Hershel's words about recruits being poisoned within the temple made perfect sense. “Renn, I need to speak with you in private please,” Lusam said, forcing his eyes away from the man in the room. It appeared Renn had almost forgotten Lusam was standing behind him, too caught up in conversation with his old friend Hershel.
“Oh, sorry, how rude of me. Hershel, this is Lusam, the young man I was sent to find in Helveel, Lusam this is Hershel, he was my former tutor for many years at this very temple, and now I consider him a good friend,” Renn said.
“Nice to meet you Hershel,” Lusam said. Turning back to Renn he repeated his request for a quiet word in private, urgency beginning to sound in his voice.
“I can assure you Lusam, whatever you need to say to me can be said in front of Hershel too I'd trust him with my life, in fact I have done many times in the past,” Renn said.
“I'm sure you're right, but what I need to say has to be out of earshot of that room behind you,” Lusam whispered. He didn't wait for a reply. Instead he walked back into the tower room and waited for the men to follow him. He wasn't kept waiting long before Renn followed him into t
he room, beckoning Hershel to follow him. Lusam thought about creating another light orb, but decided against the idea. There was just enough light coming from the room to see by, and he didn't want to announce the fact that he was capable of magic right now.
“What's got you all riled up lad?” Renn asked.
“I'm not sure how to tell you this, so I guess I'll just come out and say it. I think I know how your recruits were poisoned. You have an Empire agent in that room,” Lusam said pointing down the corridor.
“Impossible!” Hershel said, “We screen our recruits very carefully long before they are even selected for training here.”
“Are you sure Lusam?” Renn asked, ignoring Hershel's words.
“Renn, you know as well as I the screening process all recruits undergo. How can you even consider the possibility of an Empire agent here within the temple?” Hershel said, looking decidedly annoyed that Lusam had even suggested it.
“Yes, of course I know the screening process well, but I also know the abilities of our young friend here, and if he says there is an Empire agent in that room, then I believe him, and so should you old friend,” Renn said.
“I'm sorry Renn, this boy shouldn't even be inside the temple, let alone accusing one of my men of being a spy. If it were anyone else who had broken our sacred laws and brought an unsanctified person in here, I would have arrested them immediately to face trial under our laws. It's only because of our long friendship I have stayed my hand thus far,” Hershel said, looking dubiously at Lusam.
“Hershel, we have been friends for many many years, and throughout all that time have you ever known me to be untruthful in what I say?” Renn asked.
“No, of course not. I trust what you say to be true completely and without question, but it's not your worthiness in question here,”
“Then I ask you to believe me when I tell you that Lusam is more than worthy to enter Aysha's temple. I have personally witnessed him receive Aysha's blessing three times, but that is not the full extent of it. Aysha herself appeared before him. She spoke to him personally of a special gift he has, and an important destiny he must achieve. I was there to witness this event, and charged with protecting him at all costs. I've already seen him do incredible things, things that are meant to be impossible, and I believe he is quite possibly the most powerful weapon we have against the Empire.”
Hershel looked absolutely shocked to the core. He looked between Renn and Lusam, obviously struggling to comprehend what he'd just been told. After a few moments he seemed to look at Lusam differently, almost reverently. “Renn, if absolutely anyone else had just spoken those words to me, I would have suspected they had gone completely mad, possibly spent too much time in the sun, or at least spent too long in the local tavern. But as incredible as your story is to believe, I have no choice but to take you at your word old friend,”
“Thanks Hershel, that means a lot to me. I know how incredible my story is; I was there, and I still have trouble believing it myself,” Renn said, one hand on Hershel's shoulder. “What I tell you know, you must keep secret at all costs. If the Empire should discover Lusam's secret we may lose one of the biggest advantages we have ever had against them,” Renn said.
“Of course old friend, his secret is safe with me. I give you my word as a paladin of Aysha, and your friend,” Hershel replied, holding his chain-mailed hand over his heart.
“Then I can ask no more of you old friend,” Renn replied, taking a moment before continuing. “Lusam is the boy I was sent to retrieve from Helveel over a year ago. As you know, he is the son of the mage Samara, and as such he was expected to show signs of being magically gifted himself. I expected to find him easily enough in Helveel if he still lived. All I had to do was look for a boy with a strong aura,”
“But, he's not capable of using magic. I already checked his aura as the door opened earlier, and he's completely devoid of any magical ability whatsoever,” Hershel interrupted.
“Quite the contrary. Even though he remains untrained in the art of magic, I have seen him use magic in a way no other mage could possibly match. One of his many talents is the ability to hide his aura completely from the view of others. That is why it took me so long to track him down in Helveel, and that is also why he survived alone for so long,” Renn said, keeping his voice low enough so that it didn't echo into the corridor and the room beyond.
“That's impossible, nobody can do that. It goes against all the known rules of magic. I doubt even the arch magi of old could achieve such a feat. How can you possibly expect me to believe what you're saying. In fact, I'm beginning to have second thoughts about your entire story to be honest,” Hershel said, now looking sceptically at Lusam.
Lusam knew time was running out to save Neala. He didn't want to be stuck here in the temple trying to convince Hershel of his magical abilities. He looked down the corridor to make sure none of the men in the other room could see, then quickly brought a small light orb into existence right in front of Hershel. It seemed to startle him a little, and he took a small step backwards away from the orb. Lusam cancelled the orb, then a moment later brought it back again, then a second one. Hershel had obviously been surprised that he did in fact possess magical abilities, even though he couldn't see his aura, but his biggest reaction came as he suddenly noticed something else about Lusam.
“How...How did you do that without speaking?” Hershel asked looking very confused.
“I remember asking him the exact same question when I first witnessed such a thing, but suffice to say he has many unique abilities. One of those abilities he revealed to me only a short while ago, just before we entered this temple in fact. Apparently he is able to easily spot Empire agents by their auras. He tells me he sees them not as blue like everyone else, but a crimson colour instead. So if he says you have an Empire agent in your midst, I'd listen to what he says if I were you,” Renn said.
Hershel took a moment to gather his thoughts, all the time glancing between Lusam and the two orbs that still floated in front of him.
“I'm sorry for doubting you old friend, I hope you can forgive me,” he said apologetically.
“No need to apologise Hershel, I didn't believe it myself for long enough,” Renn said chuckling, “but the question remains, what will you do with your spy?”
“I don't know yet. What I do know is that the men's morale is at an all time low right now. Any decisions I make regarding our Empire spy must not have any further negative effects on my men. I must think of a way to turn this to our advantage,” Hershel replied. “The last thing we need right now, is an enemy mage randomly killing our men within the supposedly safe walls of their own temple.”
“Actually, I'm pretty sure he isn't a mage. In fact I doubt he could do much more than sense aura's in other people, let alone cast any kind of spell. His aura intensity is only slightly brighter than that of a normal person, just crimson in colour,” Lusam said.
“If you're right that would be very good news indeed. We would have no way of safely holding a mage prisoner here within the temple, but a non-magical agent may be able to provide us with some answers, if we ask him the right way of course,” Hershel said.
“I'm sure you'd have plenty of volunteers to ask those questions when the men find out he was the one who poisoned their friends,” Renn said. Hershel nodded his head slowly in reply.
“I need you to secretly point out this man to me Lusam, can you do that?” asked Hershel.
“Yes, I can do that. If you line your men up again I'll create a small dim light orb above and behind the man,” Lusam replied.
“Okay, that will work for me, thanks,”
“I know they are your men, but may I suggest something?” asked Lusam.
“Of course, what is it?”
“Well, like I said, I'm sure he's not a mage, but he is well trained and armed with a weapon. If you were in his position and were exposed as a spy, wouldn't you try and take as many of the enemy with you as possible?”
“He has a good point there Hershel. Who knows how many he would injure or kill before we could subdue him, and that would do morale no good at all,” Renn said.
“Unfortunately, I was counting on him attacking someone, me hopefully. That way it's proof to the men that he is in fact a spy, otherwise it would look like we had just pulled one of their numbers out of line with no proof of guilt.
“Paladins like most fighting men form bonds between themselves, often lasting a lifetime. To just accuse one of a crime with no apparent evidence, except the word of a boy who had just appeared trespassing inside their temple, and claiming to have an ability that most would claim as impossible, well you can see my problem,” Hershel said.
“I understand, but you don't have to worry about any casualties as long as he doesn't use a blessed sword. I'll shield you and your men either side of him, if and when he strikes, no harm will be done. Once he shows his true allegiance I can restrain him until your men take over, but we must do this quickly, I have an urgent mission of my own, and I need to act fast,” Lusam said.
“Don't worry about him using a blessed sword, only full paladins gain access to such weapons, but currently there aren't even enough for the fully trained paladins to use. As part of their attack strategy the Empire seem to be removing any fallen paladin's weapon from the battlefield, so it can't be reused by another paladin later. It's a simple but very effective strategy, turning our paladins back into little more than regular soldiers again,” Hershel said sadly.
“What about the armouries here and at the High Temple, surely we have spare weapons for our paladins,” Renn said, looking worried.
“I'm afraid not. All the blessed weapons from our armoury were sent to the High Temple months ago, and their supply has almost run dry too. The situation is becoming desperate old friend.”