Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book One (5 page)

Soon after, it was discovered how the agents of
Aamon were able to determine the location of the births so easily.
It was discovered they each wore a magic ring capable of communicating with each other over great distances. Whenever a birth occurs it creates a ripple outwards from the birthplace, just like throwing a stone into a pond. With the agents in constant contact with one another they sense the ripples hit them at slightly different times, and can calculate the area of the birth very accurately, also learning which one of them is closest, and therefore he or she becomes the assassin.

On the day of Lusam's birth his
Hermingild
arrived just in time, and fully intended to perform her duty, but unknown to Samara or Asima fate had other ideas. As Asima carefully prepared herself for the birth and her own ultimate sacrifice, custom dictated she must examine the mother magically to determine the precise time of delivery. Being just a moment or two early, or late would result in her sacrifice failing to have the desired effect, and the discovery of the newborn mage by their enemies. As she examined Samara she discovered that she was not having a single baby as expected, but instead twins. Even more alarming was the fact that one of the babies was struggling badly to survive, even before the birth. She suddenly realised if she sacrificed herself on the birth of the first child as planned, when the second child was born, its birth would be felt by the agents of Aamon, and they would still track down the mother and
newborn within a short time, and kill them both.
The agents searching for the baby would soon discover that two babies had actually been born, and maybe also discover the secrets of  the
Hermingild
at the same time, and that simply could not be allowed to happen.

Asima used her limited power to examine both babies in minute detail whilst still in the womb, and what she found startled her. The first baby was not formed correctly, and could not survive more than a few moments after birth, but the second baby was in good health. If they were born in the correct order, the birth of the healthy baby would be felt by the agents of Aamon, closely followed by the death ripples of the second baby. If this happened Asima would not have to sacrifice herself, and could serve another mother as
Hermingild
, further helping magic to prevail in the land of Afaraon.

The problem was that the unhealthy baby was already engaged in the birthing position. She would have to reverse this and engage the healthy baby instead, using her magic, and the  midwifery skills she had learnt at the High Temple. Asima quickly explained the situation to Samara, who by this time was in a great deal of  pain from the labour, and sweating profusely. Samara agreed there was no other way and asked Asima to begin the procedure of repositioning the babies, but first she must do something for her. Samara reached up and took an amulet from around
her neck, clutching it tightly until the latest contraction pain subsided.
When it finally passed, and while gasping for breath, she concentrated hard and cast an amazingly  complex spell on the amulet, creating a eerie glow upon it as she did so. Asima had no idea what the spell had done, and there was no time to ask for explanations at this point.

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 slowly 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.