Brant stared at the fire with glazed eyes. Since he’d collapsed after getting Spear free, he’d been connecting to the magic faster, but it still seemed to take him forever.
Xan couldn’t just sit there. Trying to appear like nothing was wrong, he rose and gathered supplies to pack. Probably, nothing was wrong. Just a bit of silly paranoia.
“Huh,” Brant finally said, tilting his head. “The tunnel’s completely open.”
Dylan jumped to his feet. “That can’t be!”
Brant shrugged, his face a mask of confusion as he, too, rose.
There was only one possible explanation. “The two of you, a kineticist and a masser, could do it working together.” Xan had known he couldn’t trust the blasted nobles.
Dylan rolled his eyes. “Just what we need, more of your conspiracy theories. What this time? The catcher is really a mage?”
“How do you think he cleared the tunnel then?” Xan said through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know,” Dylan said. “Used his horses?”
“Really?” Xan said. “You think he moved tons—”
Lainey tugged on his shoulder. “Is this discussion really what’s important right now?”
“She’s right.” Brant tossed a saddlebag over Spear. “Let’s move.”
For once, Xan agreed with their self-appointed leader, and they all rushed to pack up. They didn’t bother extinguishing the fire and set out sooner than Xan would have thought possible. Though it had to kill her ankle, Lainey kept up with Brant’s fast pace.
“I’ll be on the lookout for another tower,” Brant called.
“Too much risk of you or Dylan overextending,” Xan yelled, “and too easy for them to bypass.”
“What do we do, then, genius?”
Xan had no idea. There was no way to outrun Justav, who had just bypassed—seemingly with no trouble—their best attempt to stop him.
Regardless of what Dylan thought, the catcher had to have at least two mages fighting for him. Xan had figured that, worst case scenario, magic would give him and his friends an advantage if it came down to a fight. Going against trained guardsmen who were also trained mages invalidated that option.
Where did that leave them? Screwed.
“Working on it.” All Xan knew was that whatever plan he developed wasn’t likely to be very good and that the others weren’t going to like it.
* * *
Xan shielded his eyes from the blinding morning sun. Waist-high grass filled a plain that stretched to the northeastern horizon while rocky hills extended to the north and west. He could work with that. The prairie would clearly show the passage of a horse while the mountains would make tracking difficult.
He turned to the cave’s exit behind him and cupped a hand behind his ear. Deep within the cavern—though not nearly deep enough—horses neighed. “We’ve no choice but to delay them here. Anyone got an idea?” Maybe putting the onus on his friends would make them accept his suggestion easier.
“Just tell us your blasted plan,” Brant said. “We know you’ve got one.”
Xan sighed. Nothing was ever easy. “Are there any big cities due north?”
“Welloch,” Dylan said. “It’s not huge but big enough to—”
“That sounds perfect.” Xan pointed to the prairie. “Ashley’s that way. If we manage to give Justav the slip, that’s where he’ll head unless he has a reason not to. We need to do three things: delay him so we can get a lead, make him think we’re still heading toward her, and obscure our real direction.”
Brant nodded, followed by Lainey and, finally, Dylan. None asked how they possibly could accomplish any, much less all, of the three objectives.
Xan couldn’t have hoped for a better start. “Delaying Justav is the hardest.” He gestured toward a small copse downslope. “I’m thinking Brant and I move a large trunk across the cave mouth.”
Dylan looked confused. “If a closed tunnel didn’t—”
“We don’t have time for interruptions!” Xan couldn’t afford to let them find all the holes in the load of crap he was trying to sell. “While Brant lays a false trail with Honey, I’ll set the log on fire and keep it burning. Should give you and Lainey a couple of hours’ head start. Keep to the rocks heading north and minimize your tracks.”
Brant nodded.
“What about you?” Lainey said.
“Spear’s faster than Justav’s horses.” Xan swallowed hard, immediately regretting the show of emotion. Hopefully, they’d interpret it as reluctance at riding the huge stallion. “Between his speed and the guardsmen having to get their supplies out of the cave, I can stay ahead. I’ll follow Brant’s trail until I reach a town big enough to hide my tracks. We’ll meet in Welloch.”
“But you won’t fight them?” she said. “You won’t hurt anyone?”
Not wanting her to see his face as he lied, Xan stared into the cave. “I promise.” He had to get them moving. Fast. “Did I hear something back there? Could they have sent a scout?”
Brant put a finger to his lips, and everyone stood still. When he finally spoke, it was in a low voice. “I don’t hear anything, but I better check it out.” He nodded at Dylan and Lainey. “You two get going.”
Lainey opened her mouth, but a sharp glance from Brant silenced her. Xan shot her an apologetic look that would have to serve as a goodbye and followed him into the cave. By the time they returned, she and Dylan had left.
“Must have been your imagination.” Brant shrugged. “Let’s go get that log.”
“Are you joking?” Xan said. “It’d take about a second for a kineticist and a masser to move a burning tree trunk out of the way, and we have to assume Justav has both.”
“But—”
“How do we set up an ambush?” Xan said.
Brant sputtered for a moment before realization hit. “The two of us aren’t going to be able to do much against thirty trained men, and it’s unlikely we’ll walk away.”
“Not two.” Xan sighed. “One. And I have no intention of leaving here alive.”
Brant’s face turned red, and he gripped the hilt of his sword. “I’m not leaving you to die alone.”
“How many times have you saved me? Bullies. Busting me out of jail.” Xan cleared his throat as emotion crept into his voice. What more was there to say? That Brant was more like a brother than a friend? How lame would that sound? “Please just listen to me for once.”
Brant tensed. His sword hand trembled.
“Staying here would just be throwing your life away when you’re actually needed elsewhere.” Xan only had one shot at convincing him. “Dylan is supremely competent when it comes to practical matters, but do you trust him—or me—to get Lainey to safety?”
The tension drained from Brant’s muscles. “Hard to say no when you put it that way, but—”
“And …” Xan hunched his shoulders. “Once you get my sister settled, will you rescue Ashley?”
Brant frowned. “I haven’t agreed—”
“I never pictured myself making some kind of last stand like a soldier out of a story. More your style than mine.” Xan barked out a short, humorless chuckle. “Besides, who am I kidding? Which of us saving a beautiful maiden makes more sense?”
All trace of anger left Brant’s face. “Lainey’s not going to like this.”
Xan forced a grin. “Lucky I won’t have to face her then.”
Brant looked to the cave mouth. “Are you sure you’re up for an ambush? Won’t do much good unless you kill as many of them as possible.”
Xan didn’t relish the prospect. Lainey was right. Each of the guardsmen was someone’s son or brother or husband. Or even father. “It’s you or them, right? I choose my friends.”
“Okay.” Brant stroked his chin. “Let’s say this was a battle with a lone fighter facing an entire squad. I’d tell you to pick a choke point and stand your ground. They’d wear you down in the end, but they’d have to come at you one at a time.”
“But?”
“Besides the fact you can’t fight for shit, neither of us knows much about using magic in combat. Instead …” Brant looked at the mountainside above the cave mouth. “Bury yourself to your eyes in the shadow of one of those big rocks. Wait until all the guardsmen are out in the open and burn as many as you can.” He shrugged. “Don’t know how many you’ll get, but you’ll do some damage, especially if you target their mages somehow.”
Xan nodded. It wasn’t the best plan, but he couldn’t think of anything better. As long as he killed a few of them, taking care of the bodies might delay them long enough for his friends to escape.
Maybe he could at least take out Justav. That would be good.
His hand tightened over the carving of the oak leaf in his pocket. Would that he could get it to Ashley, but what would he say? Hey, Brant, give this token of my undying love and affection to a girl I’ve never met outside of a dream? How stupid would that be?
Xan held out his empty hand. Brant shook it. Their eyes met, and Xan felt like he should say something. No words came to mind.
He nodded. Brant nodded back.
Picking each step with care, Xan climbed several yards up the steep slope above the cave. He turned to wave, but Brant already had Honey’s lead reins tied to Spear’s saddle and was riding away.
That was the last Xan would ever see of him. No more friends. No more life. No more Ashley.
He shook his head. Best to get hidden fast if he wanted to make his sacrifice worth it.
Massive boulders covered the slope, so finding a good hiding place wasn’t going to be difficult.
All those rocks. Tons and tons of rocks.
Xan slapped his forehead. How much of an idiot was he? “Brant! Wait!”
34.
Xan pointed at a boulder high up the mountain almost directly above the cave’s mouth. “Topple that one first.” Big enough to do the trick at twice a full-grown man’s height. More important, it was tilted in the right direction, so, presumably, it wouldn’t take much magic for Brant to get it moving.
“But—”
Xan wasn’t sure even a rock that big would create the result he wanted, though. “The trick is to get others moving as well. Those two should do the trick.” He pointed at boulders to the right and to the left of the first one.
“But you said trying to block the catcher is a waste of time, that they can remove the rocks faster than I could pile them on.” Brant’s eyebrows were furrowed.
Xan let out an exasperated breath. The catcher’s men could pour out of the opening at any minute. Why couldn’t anyone just do what he told them? “We didn’t dare bring down too much of the cave because we didn’t want to collapse the ceiling on our heads, and we didn’t want to risk you passing out. That left us with knocking over columns, which proved to be no obstacle for Justav.” He pointed at the mountainside above the cave. “But look at all those big, beautiful, bulky rocks! If we can make a landslide, it’ll take Justav days to dig out from that many tons.”
Brant nodded slowly.
Xan’s eyes swung back to the cave exit. The guardsmen couldn’t be far. “We have to hurry. Surely they won’t be able to stop the slide once it starts; there’s simply too much energy required. Before then, who knows?”
Not to mention that, if guardsmen escaped the cave, they’d have to be killed. Best to avoid such a drastic measure.
Brant’s muscles went taut as he concentrated, and Xan lit a torch. If the guardsmen did appear, he’d need to keep them at bay until Brant finished.
Xan poured magic into the fire and shielded it—hopeful that he wouldn’t have to use the weapon and, if in the awful event he did, Lainey wouldn’t find out about it. When he judged that the fire held enough energy to burn through several men, he stopped adding more.
Seconds passed. Minutes. Brant shook from the effort.
“Don’t fight it,” Xan said.
Brant glared at him, and Xan shut up. He shouldn’t have interrupted, but Brant taking so long was so frustrating. None of the rest of them had that problem.
Finally, after a good quarter hour, the first boulder stirred. Its tip inched downward. Gaining momentum as it tilted, it crashed into the ground.
By the time the lopsided shape made a single revolution, the second stone jerked, followed closely by the third. Each gathered friends as they cascaded into an avalanche of stone, dirt, and vegetation.
Tons of raw materials thundered down with a roar. The ground moaned in protest.
Xan hadn’t imagined Brant would be so successful. Half the mountain seemed to collapse. Right toward the two of them. “Uh, maybe we should move back.”
Xan discharged his fire at the top of the exit. Gravel trickled down. So much for his fiery death blast.
He spun Honey away from the calamitous rumble and urged her to a gallop. Behind him, Brant did the same, and they rode a good hundred yards into the waist-high grass before turning to watch the landslide.
Rocks and dirt had covered the cave mouth as they made their escape, and more material kept coming. Tiny pebbles, enormous boulders, and everything in between piled onto the flat area surrounding the cavern exit, making the mound higher and thicker by the second.
“Think about being on the other side of that mass of rubble and trying to get through,” Xan said. “It’s so thick you’d have to do it in stages. You’d make a load of rocks light, and Dylan’d fly them back into the cave. As soon as one load is removed, the rocks and dirt on top fill in the gap. And where do you even put all the material you’re moving? We’re talking half a mountainside. How long would that take the two of you?”
Brant let out a low whistle. “I see what you mean.”
“Even Justav shouldn’t be able to get through that easily.” Xan spun Honey to the northeast and urged her forward. “Hopefully.”
For all Xan knew, all the catcher’s men were mages and had powers beyond comprehension. They’d be out of the cave in minutes. Xan and his friends would be dead before nightfall.
“Get ahold of yourself,” he muttered.
Less than a half hour later, he sensed twin surges back toward the cave, confirming beyond doubt the Justav employed mages and compelling Xan and Brant to travel even faster. They didn’t stop until encountering a creek running through a deep, rocky ravine.
“We should cut back toward Lainey and Dylan here. There’ll be no hiding that we didn’t go straight, but maybe the guardsmen will have to spend a little time figuring out which way we went.” Brant grinned. “Besides, we’ll make it hard for them to figure out where we do exit.”
Xan hunched his shoulders, feeling like an ass. “It’ll take Justav even longer if one of us sets a trail in the direction he expects. You head west and stay in the creek as long as possible. I’ll go east a few hundred feet before getting out.”
“Good idea, but they can chase me.” Brant patted Spear. “I’ve got a little bit of speed on you. Remember? I bet I can beat the three of you to Welloch even going out of the way.”
Xan swallowed hard. “I’m not going to meet you—not right away at any rate. Not until I save Ashley.”
Justav would know they split up, both outside the cave and at the ravine, but Xan using magic to keep the catcher after him would keep the others safe. All Xan had to do was to convince Brant.
“Oh. Okay, then. Guess I’ll catch you later.” And just like that, Brant rode down the embankment without so much as a glance back.
Horse and rider disappeared from sight as Xan sat stunned. He’d expected an argument. A tearful goodbye. Something.
On the other side of the ravine, prairie stretched to the horizon with only the occasional copse to break the monotony. No roads. No houses. No signs of civilization.
The sound of Spear’s hooves splashing through the water faded, leaving Xan well and truly alone. He’d finally gotten what he wanted—the freedom to pursue Ashley without putting the others at risk.
Perfect. He just had to figure out how to evade Ju
stav, how to find food, how not to sleep too long, how not to be scared witless by every sound in the night, how to …
With a sigh, he plunged down into the ravine.
Miles of seemingly endless grass passed with a maddening, monotonous slowness. Watching for hidden holes, navigating streams, and skirting thickets hindered him, the journey made so much worse by his solitude.
To pass the time and to draw Justav in the correct direction, Xan practiced targeting bursts of fire and hitting individual blades of grass. His speed, control, and ability to snuff out resultant flames grew by the hour, and he constantly monitored Justav’s magic usage back at the cave.
By late evening, the guardsmen still hadn’t freed themselves. Or had and were faking being trapped by using extraneous flows—a horrible thought.
Sunlight slowly disappeared, leaving only Xan’s magic-powered torch to illuminate his way. The bubble of light reached only a few yards, not far enough for him to keep his bearings. And he couldn’t see the ground clearly enough to spot obstacles.
He should stop. But he needed to put as much distance between himself and the guardsmen as he could.
Yep. That was the reason he kept moving. It had nothing to do with the dread of spending the night alone, no one to help with chores or talk with over a cup of tea or even to guard him as he slept.
Inevitably, he had no choice but to stop.
He didn’t bother with a fire. Instead, after seeing to Honey, he ate a hunk of cold cheese and crawled straight into his bedroll where, despite his exhaustion, his eyes kept popping open. Every rustling of the grass was a predator intent on eating him, every cloud crossing the moon the shadow of Justav’s horse.
Xan had to stop being stupid. Animals weren’t going to attack him. The guardsmen were trapped in the cave. There was nothing to fear.
One more check of the magic before closing his eyes for the night. Nothing. He shot to his feet. Justav was mere hours behind, a trifling considering the superior horses he and his men rode. How would Xan make it to Ashley before being caught?
Frantic, he cinched his bedroll and grabbed his saddle. He’d ride night and day until he reached her. And risk breaking Honey’s leg. Or falling asleep and tumbling off the horse. Getting lost.
Rise of the Mages (Rise of the Mages 2) Page 17