The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1

by Tim McFarlane

  Considering you are attacking a military outpost in broad daylight, I’d say we are very lucky, Cathy said.

  They have the Princess and know the Emperor won’t compromise her health to come after them. They look like they are just making sure no other bandits try to muscle in on their action.

  Ensure Donkor keeps a cool head and this shouldn’t turn into a war, Cathy said.

  I continued to survey the inside of the fort. There was a small building underneath the staircase to the top of the wall. An archer was walking up the stairs and I quickly planted the Illusion spell on him.

  I signalled Donkor up and pointed to beside the blacksmith area. He gave me a worried look but I nodded to him and he stepped out cautiously towards the inside of the fort. When he noticed that no one was paying any attention to him he turned around and smiled excitedly. I motioned for him to go faster and he hurried and settled into a crouch along the wall. I altered my spell so that people would ignore that area.

  I stepped into the outpost and crept along the wall towards the stairs keeping my eyes on the courtyard. Inside, I turned to Donkor, who was looking at me impatiently, and signalled for him to wait while I headed upstairs. He nodded and I pushed off the wall and climbed the stairs quickly.

  The archer that had climbed the stairs before me was heading along the wall towards the command centre so I walked uninterrupted towards the first guard tower at the front gate. A wooden ladder was the only way to get to the top of tower and I checked to make sure no other bandits had entered the courtyard while I was moving. The courtyard remained quiet and I grabbed the ladder and started to climb.

  “Hey, do you smell something?” a gruff voice of a bandit said.

  “Oh no, Andy, they found me!” Donkor shouted.

  “We are being attacked!” The bandit shouted.

  Someone screamed as they died and I dropped the Illusion and hurried up the ladder. A wooden roof covered the top of the tower and the watchman inside was looking down towards the courtyard. I forced energy into my hand and launched a Pulse at him. He screamed as he sailed out of the tower to the ground below.

  Forcing more power into my hand, it grew hot as I ran to face the other tower. I raised my hand and let the Fire Ball fly. The tower’s wooden roof exploded into flames and screaming followed shortly after as a flaming body jumped out.

  I looked down into the courtyard to see Donkor facing at least six bandits and I hurried back to the ladder and slid down.

  Cathy chuckled. So, this is going well.

  The archer was back at the stairs looking for a shot and raised my hand and shot out a small Pulse. The distance was too far and the archer only was knocked back a step but it was enough for him to focus on me. I drew my sword and ran along the wall towards him. The archer cocked his bow and sent an arrow my way which I deflected with a Ward from my left hand. The archer dropped the bow and pulled out his short sword as I drew nearer.

  Our swords met and I forced myself into the fighting stance Donkor showed me. The archer was undisciplined, focusing more on attacking then worrying about his life. I slashed out at one of his attacks and drew him off balance. He was wide open for an attack and I stabbed the sword through his chest. He dropped to the ground and I looked down at him in shocked.

  Admire your kills later, Cathy said. Don’t forget about your friend.

  “Right,” I said as I ran down the stairs.

  Four bodies scattered the ground around Donkor as he chopped another bandit in half at the waist. Despite the five bodies on the ground four more circled Donkor looking for an opening. During my fight with the archer, more must have emerged from the barracks. The bandit that had left earlier was sneaking up behind Donkor and I sent a Pulse at him while I charged. The bandit stumbled but turned around and met my sword as I attacked.

  He was more skilled with the sword then the archer but it didn’t matter as Donkor slashed him from behind and I finished him with a stab through the chest. He dropped to the ground and one of the bandits broke away from Donkor to fight me.

  Defending a couple of his attacks, I realized that it would be a fair sword fight. Unfortunately for him, I didn’t have the time to be fair. I forced power into hand and a stream of flames erupted from it and engulfed the bandit. He ran screaming away from me towards the forge. I chased after him and hit him with a Pulse that knocked him head first into a support beam that held up a roof over the forge. He fell to the ground unmoving.

  I turned to face Donkor and heard the whistling of wind as an arrow flew over my head. I ducked down reflexively and saw the archer on his knee near the command centre. I charged towards him, leaving Donkor to finish off the last bandit, and deflected another arrow with a Ward. The bandit didn’t abandon his bow for his sword as I drew closer. My left hand grew cold as I launched a projectile of my own. The Ice Bolt sailed through the air and hit the archer in the shoulder. He jerked to his feet and grabbed his shoulder. Forcing more power, I launched another Ice Bolt at him that struck him in the chest. He was knocked off his feet, landing on his back with a thud.

  I heard Donkor giggling to himself as he approached. “That was fun,” he said as I turned to face him.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I raised my arm to scratch my head and...” he said a little embarrassed. “We ran a lot yesterday, you see...”

  I raised my hand to stop him. “I got it.”

  “Where’s your hat?” Donkor asked.

  I grabbed the top of my head and noticed for the first time my hat was missing. “I must have lost it in the battle. We will find it later. We have to get the Princess before they kill her.”

  “You think they would?” he asked worried.

  “They weren’t expecting to be attacked and they really weren’t expected to be defeated,” I answered. “The leader might get desperate.”

  “Yeah, the Rooster doesn’t mess around,” Donkor agreed.

  “The Rooster?” I asked.

  “I recognized the armour from Chiwocha’s men,” Donkor answered.

  “But...why the Rooster?” I asked.

  “Because he always attacks early in the morning,” Donkor answered as he headed for the command centre.

  Makes sense.

  I’m so proud of you, Cathy said excitedly. Five kills! You are getting good at this.

  Yeah, I guess it gets easier after your first...a scary thought to have...

  You aren’t killing innocents though, Cathy said. Plus over thinking about it will never help.

  I followed Donkor to the front door of the command centre and he tried to open the door. He smiled as he noticed the door was locked and before I could ask why he kicked the door in and my question was answered.

  Immediately, two bandits charged Donkor and before I could even get into the building they were on the ground missing their heads. The rest of the foyer was empty. Hallways and doors stretched to the left and right and staircases, both going up and down, occupied the far wall.

  “This and the top floor will be officer quarters and where Chiwocha is,” Donkor explained. “Go downstairs and make sure Moro won’t die.”

  “Okay,” I said as a bandit emerged from the hallway to attack Donkor.

  I hurried across the room to the stairs and a bandit emerged from the staircase. I held up my hand and a Pulse of energy threw him back down the stairs. The sound of his body rolling down the stairs echoed as I chased after it to the lower levels.

  My hand grew cold as I prepared an Ice Bolt and as I emerged from the staircase into the tiny jailer’s room, a bandit was staring wide eyed down at the body on the floor from behind a small desk. When he saw me, he drew his sword and I let the Ice Bolt fly, catching him in the chest and launching him into the wall.

  The only door in the room stood next to the desk and when I tried to open it, I discovered it was locked. I searched the bodies and found the key on the bandit behind the desk. I opened the door and found the holding area.

  Prison cells
lined both walls in the narrow hall and I walked down the hallway checking each cell. Princess Morowa was sitting in a cell about half way down on the left side. Across from her was a cell holding the dead body of a Nesqa man. She looked up at me with worry before looking at my robes. Confusion crossed her face and she took on a stern stance.

  “Now this wasn’t what I was expecting,” she said.

  “You’ve been a tough person to find,” I smiled.

  “Funny,” she said humorlessly. “I was always terrible at hiding.”

  “Well, when you’ve been tracking someone since Balendar from Chester the Mongoose’s gang...” I started.

  “Don’t even speak of that name,” she hissed. “When I get out of here, I will hunt him down and kill him.”

  “I already took care of him,” I said.

  Her eyebrows twitched in surprise. “Seems like I owe you a thanks.”

  “I haven’t gotten you out yet,” I said putting the key into the lock. The lock clicked open and I pulled open the cell door.

  “What gain does a Mage have in tracking me down and returning me?” she asked as she stepped out from her cell.

  “Two things,” I answered. “One, the Tower appears to be heading into war with itself and Balendar and Nesqa can’t be wrapped up in petty bickering.”

  “And two?” she answered intrigued.

  “Two,” I smiled. “I need Demon’s Bane for my mission.”

  She chuckled. “Quite the reason.”

  “It has been quite the task,” I smiled.

  “So, you attacked this place by yourself?” she asked as the door at the end of the hallway opened.

  “Not quite,” I smiled at the giant approaching us.

  “Moro!” Donkor exclaimed dropping a severed head and running to her to pick her up in a hug. “You are alive!”

  “Donkor?” she asked suspicious.

  Could she really mistake him for someone else? Cathy asked.

  So we are just ignoring the head?

  “I can’t believe you are here,” she continued.

  “Andy helped me,” he replied.

  “Andy?” she asked.

  “Hi,” I said with a wave.

  “We have to get you home,” Donkor said.

  “So we are just going to keep ignoring the body in the cell and the severed head,” I stated.

  “The body is of a poor scout who had stumbled upon this outpost,” she explained sadly. “There is nothing we can do for him.”

  “And the head?” I asked pointing to the head still wearing a shocked expression.

  “Oh,” Donkor said excited. “That’s the Rooster.”

  “Not the best looking guy is he?” I asked still staring at the face.

  “He looks better this way,” Princess Morowa said coldly.

  She pushed past Donkor and we followed her up the stairs and out of the command centre. She looked over the battlefield before looking back at us.

  “It really was just the two of you?” she asked shocked.

  “Yeah, it was amazing,” Donkor said excited. “Andy made us invisible, then they found me because of smells, so I attacked them then Andy blew up the watchtower.”

  I chuckled and shook my head.

  “’Andy made us invisible’?” she asked.

  “A simple Illusion trick,” I replied as I started towards the pile of bodies. “Oh, and if anyone finds my hat, let me know.”

  “I’ll find it,” Donkor said running off.

  “You don’t look like an Andy, you know,” Princess Morowa said as she followed me.

  “’Demon’ and ‘Moumno’ seem to be the popular alternatives,” I said. “Feel free to choose your favourite.”

  She laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Found it, Andy!” Donkor shouted from the forge.

  We hurried over and found my hat with an arrow through it stuck to the support beam for the forge’s roof. I grabbed the hat and pulled the arrow out.

  “That’s lucky,” I said. “Anymore to the right and it would have landed in the forge.”

  DAMMIT! Cathy exclaimed.

  I put the hat on my head an ignored the weird look from the Princess.

  “Let’s go,” I said. “We should get back before nightfall.”

  “You remember how I said the hat couldn’t get any worse,” Donkor said as we left the outpost.

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  “It just did,” he said.

  Cathy laughed.

  Chapter 26

  The walk back to Kay Julis was peaceful. Donkor and I picked up our packs at Abuya’s house and continued through the forest. I was worried that the Princess would not be able to keep up with Donkor’s quick pace but she surprised me by matching him stride for stride. I was now worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them.

  Fatigue was setting in again as another long day passed. I couldn't remember the last time I just had a relaxing day in the library. Even worse was the prospect of a mountain climbing expedition next.

  If you want, I could take over, Cathy pitched.

  Still no.

  You’ll feel differently one day, she said.

  With the setting sun, we emerged from the forest to the con’creat wall that protected Kay Julis. I hunched over to catch my breath and saw the Princess doing the same. I smiled weakly as I felt less embarrassed.

  To be fair, Cathy started. You did fight a battle and have been carrying your pack.

  Yeah but so has Donkor.

  Donkor is a freak of nature, Cathy chuckled.

  That is also true.

  “Don’t tell me you guys are tired already,” Donkor smiled. “We should swim to one of the Kays and cool off.”

  “Donkor,” Princess Morowa said through heavy breaths. “Don’t make me smack you.”

  He laughed. “Uncle Naliwa is going to be so happy you are home.”

  “I’m happy to be home too,” she smiled. “I know that Andy wants the Ba Moumno but is there anything I can get for you? And don’t say ‘nothing’, really think about it.”

  “Well...” he said as he scratched his head nervously. “I can’t say it.”

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” he said embarrassed.

  She laughed. “Now, I just said that you weren’t allowed to say ‘nothing’ so you have to tell me.”

  He opened his mouth but closed it and looked at me.

  “Tell her,” I said.

  “What if she says no?” he asked.

  “What if she says yes?” I asked back.

  “Don’t talk like I’m not here,” she said crossing her arms.

  I nodded to Donkor and he turned back to the Princess. “I want to teach.”

  Princess Morowa’s eyebrows twitched in surprise. “You want to teach?”

  “Yes,” he answered getting embarrassed. “I am good with swords and I want to teach.”

  She smiled. “That is a good idea. You are the best swordsman Nesqa has ever seen. Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you wanted to be a teacher?”

  “I have never taught before,” he answered. “When I taught Andy how to fight, it felt good. So I want to do it again.”

  “I’ll talk to my father,” she said. “I’m sure he will be just as happy to hear the idea as I am.”

  Donkor smiled. “Thank you, Moro.”

  “We should continue,” she said as she started down the road. “Or do you need more time Andy?”

  She shot me a smirk and I straightened myself up. “I’m good,” I said following her.

  As we approached the front gate, the guards’ eyes widened in shock. The Princess instructed them to send a runner to her father to inform him of our arrival. The gate was opened, we entered and Donkor took the lead as we walked through the city to the Palace.

  Once people recognized the Princess, they moved out of the way as fast as their feet could carry them. The murmuring grew with the crowds as we drew closer to the Palace. I guess
seeing the Princess escorted by a giant and a Mage isn’t a daily occurrence around here.

  Climbing the steps, the figure of the Emperor grew clearer and the Princess couldn’t wait any longer as she raced up the stairs to hug him. Donkor and I arrived at the top as they broke away from each other.

  “I didn’t think I would see you again,” The Emperor said to her. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, I was in good company,” she said.

  The Emperor turned to us and smiled. When I first saw him on the balcony, I couldn’t make out any features but with him standing in front of me I could see that age and the recent stress have taken their toll. His balding head was beyond grey and starting to turn a snowy white and his face was taking on a sickly look. Not what you would expect from the strong Emperor of Nesqa.

  That probably explains the balcony then, Cathy said.

  “When you left here Mage, I didn’t expect you to return,” The Emperor said. “But you have lived up to your word. Never in my whole life did I think I’d see the day.” He chuckled to himself and coughed a couple of times before turning to Donkor. “I should have guessed you might tag along.”

  “I missed Moro,” he said.

  He smiled. “I did too. Was the battle great? I wish I could have charged in with you.”

  “We didn’t charge,” Donkor said getting excited. “Andy made us invisible and we attacked from the inside.”

  “Made you invisible?” The Emperor asked confused.

  “A simple Illusion trick,” I replied.

  “Can’t be that simple if you’ve made Donkor invisible,” The Emperor said.

  “I wasn’t allowed to make a sound or smell,” Donkor said excited. “But they ended up smelling me and I gave away our position. Then Andy blew up the watchtower.”

  The Emperor was laughing at this point and raised his hand to stop Donkor. “Tell me it all later. I believe I owe your friend Andy here the Ba Moumno.”

  “Andy has also brought something else to my attention,” Princess Morowa said. “We should go inside and wake Nnamdi.”