Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (61 page)

Lusam placed his hand on the wall to steady himself before attempting to pick up the Power orb again. As he did so, he could feel distinct vibrations coming through the wall with his hand. His head was still trying to sort itself out from reading the Guardian book, as if the new information it had given him was fighting with itself to find a place within his mind to permanently reside. It was difficult to think clearly while it was going on, but as the fog in his mind began to clear he became aware of the distant sounds associated with the vibrations. He strained to hear the distant sounds, and as he did so, his hearing became far more sensitive to the world around him. He wasn’t sure if it was a new ability from this Guardian book, or one of the others, but it was a very strange sensation. He could hear people’s voices and their footfalls as they hurried around the High Temple above him. He could also hear the distant thuds that were causing the vibrations in the wall, but he couldn’t tell where they were coming from.

As the new information from the Guardian book established itself within his mind, more and more of that information became clear to him. The Guardian book in Coldmont had increased his understanding of how all things were connected to each other magically, and he had used that information on several occasions since. But now, his understanding of it took on a whole new dimension. The information this Guardian book had bestowed on him far outweighed the one in Coldmont. It was as if each piece of information was a part of a much larger puzzle, and now that puzzle was complete. When he opened his mage-sight to the world, he could see lines-of-power everywhere he looked. Everything was connected to everything else, either by physical touch, or by lines-of-power running through them. He could even see for the first time the magic within the air he breathed. It entered his body with every breath he took, and at first he thought that must be how the magi regained their magical reserves, but when he saw the same magic released back into the world again as he exhaled, he knew that not to be the case.

He reached out with his magical senses and searched for the true source of his power, and found it almost effortlessly. He could clearly see the magic that was being drawn towards his body and entering his upper torso, at the exact point where his heart was beating within his chest. It finally made perfect sense to him; the human heart was where a magi drew his or her power from, and that was also why a death-pulse was released whenever a mage died, as the heart released its stored power back to the world at large.

He sent out his magical senses through his hand and into the wall he still touched, through the countless layers of stone and mortar, and reached for the city’s power source. He was shocked when he finally linked to it and found it completely drained of power. His mind entered the vast empty power crystal that once powered the whole city, and he felt a strange feeling of unimaginable loss and sadness. He couldn’t explain why he felt that way, but it felt like he had suddenly lost someone very close to him. Somehow he knew the crystal could be recharged again, but he also knew that something within the crystal was now lost to the world forever, and could never be regained. What that
something
was, he did not know, but he felt a keen sense of loss, the likes of which he had not felt since his grandmother had died several years before.

From within the power crystal he sent out his magical senses once more, riding the lines-of-power which stretched out forever before him. It was a strange sensation seeing the world through its own magic. It was not like using his normal eyes, where he could see the shapes and colours of things, this was very different. All he could see was the magic of the world, and how it was all bound together. He could see the immense glow of the Empire magi on top of the southern cliffs, and the almost imperceivable amount of magic within the undead in the valley below. He could see the groups of paladins as they battled against the undead, and the bright magical-missiles as they arced towards the city. He could see the magic within several people caught in the bombardment all wink out of existence below, as they were struck and killed by various objects, and how the magic within them was also released back into the world around them.

Lusam watched the world from his strange new perspective without care. He felt almost free of concern for what was unfolding before him. As if it no longer mattered what happened in the real world. Only this new world mattered now, because this
was
the real world, not the one he had been blindly living his life in for so long.

He glanced down to his left and vaguely recognised a familiar glow of power. At first his mind couldn’t make the connection between the image and that of the old world, but then he realised what it was: it was Neala’s aura. He frowned to himself, knowing that she was somehow important to him, but he couldn’t quite remember why that was. Slowly, he sent out his consciousness along the lines-of-power towards her location, so he could see for himself who she was.

He could see that she was stealing the magic from the ones who barely had any, and then they went completely dark to his new sight. As she took their magic, it seemed to become contained within her hands. No, not her hands, it was something else, in her hands. He watched as she moved quickly towards two brighter glows of power, then stopped to face the thousands with barely any power advancing on her position. He watched as she continued to steal the power from the… what were they? He knew he should know what they were, but he seemed to be having great difficulty focusing on anything. He watched impassively as the girl suddenly moved backwards, as if someone had suddenly picked her up and thrown her. He felt that he should be concerned, but he didn’t know why as he watched the scene unfold before him. Two of the weak ones moved slowly towards the girl… no her name was Neala, he remembered. Neala was moving now, but the weak ones were also following her. He knew they wanted to steal all of her power, and he knew that was bad. He found a strand of power which led to the one called Neala and followed it. He entered her being and found himself looking out from behind her eyes at the old world. He could sense her thoughts like a gentle whisper on the wind. A name, over and over in her mind. One that meant so much to her, and she felt she had let down so badly. The name was… Lusam.

It was like a bolt of lightning to his mind. The mere mention of his name brought him back to himself. He pulled the countless threads of his being towards his own consciousness, trying desperately to remember who he was, and what he was. Neala… now he remembered who she was, she was part of him, an important part of him, and the weak ones were about to steal all of her power.

Neala closed her eyes, but it didn’t stop Lusam from being able to see what was happening. One of the weak ones touched her shoulder ready to steal her power, but Lusam sent out his consciousness through the connection and stole its power first, then he jumped across another line of power and did the same to the other weak one. Four incredibly bright objects suddenly appeared in front of him and bathed him in their light. It was like a veil being lifted from his eyes, as a voice more beautiful than anything he had ever heard spoke to him within his mind.

“
Lusam, you must go back now. You are not ready for this step yet, my child. Follow my light.
”

He turned and followed the glowing light, back to what, he could no longer remember. He looked back again at the girl one last time, but her name was now gone from his mind. “
Never mind
,” he thought to himself, as he followed the beautiful bright light to wherever it led.

Lusam woke gasping for air on the floor of the book room. His whole body shook uncontrollably as if he had massively overexerted himself physically, but he knew he had never left the room. Or at least his body hadn’t. As his mind began to clear, the memories of what had just happened began to reassert themselves.

“Neala!” he gasped, remembering the thousands of undead about to swamp her position.

“
There is no need for you to be concerned for Neala’s safety, my child, all will be well. She has opened her heart to me, and now wields my power upon the battlefield, but she fights for the love of you, Lusam. My faithful paladins are always a potent foe when they hold to their faith in me, but in Neala, that faith has been amplified by her love for you. Never have I seen a warrior fight with such passion and single-mindedness upon the battlefield. Her deeds here today will be remembered for as long as anyone draws breath in this world,
” Aysha said in his mind, her voice fading away with her final words. Relief flooded through Lusam at Aysha’s words, and he thanked her for both sharing the information with him, and her own power with Neala.

Eventually, Lusam managed to get to his knees and reach out to grab the Power Orb. He could feel the pull of the Power Orb on his mind, but now he was much more able to resist it somehow. Once he had regained his feet again, he turned to face the book pedestal. It seemed that he had been correct in his earlier assumption, because now he could see the two green lines-of-power leading away from the book pedestal. It confirmed his theory that to use one pedestal to reach another pedestal, you must first have read the Guardian books at both of those locations. Now he could clearly see the words
Freedom
and
Absolution
carved into the upright of the book pedestal, each with a green line of power emanating from it.

He reached his hand towards the green line of power coming from the side of the book pedestal marked
Freedom
, and a bright light flashed before his eyes. He felt the now familiar falling sensation, and a moment later found himself within the book room of Helveel. The room’s bright light was activated the instant it sensed his presence within, and the familiar Guardian book marked with
Freedom
sat on the pedestal where he expected it to be. He glanced down and breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw not one, but two names now on the book pedestal,
Absolution
for Coldmont, and
Transcendence
for Lamuria.

Lusam quickly located the five indentations and connected their points together with his magic as he had done before, then waited for the door to slowly open. Once he could squeeze through the gap, he created a small light orb and jogged towards the large chamber. He really wished he had time to say hello to Mr Daffer and Lucy whilst he was there, but he knew full well he didn’t.

Even before he had read the new Guardian book in the High Temple, he had fully intended to go to Helveel and recharge his own power reserves there, as well as one of the Power Orbs, by using the walls of the underground chamber. He knew he could not have tried to drain any power from Coldmont without risking its complete destruction, not to mention the possibility of bumping into Lord Zelroth again. So here he was in Helveel—again. He made a promise to himself, and to Aysha, that he would return later and replenish all the magic he took. He just hoped there was enough magic within the walls to fill both his, and the Power Orb’s reserves.

When he reached the huge chamber he placed his hand on the warm stone wall, then paused a moment. He didn’t want to drain any power from the wall until he was sure it held enough not only to meet his needs, but also enough to maintain the shield around the Guardian book room afterwards. The last thing the world needed was for Lord Zelroth to discover the location of another Guardian book. He sent out his new magical sense into the wall to search for the power source which powered it. He immediately felt the same intense pull on his mind that he had suffered when he first encountered the Power Orb, only this time it was far stronger than before.

It seemed to understand what he had come for: to steal the magic that was protecting the Guardian book. It seized his mind in its iron grip and threatened to drag him under. Whatever it was, it was immensely powerful. Lusam struggled desperately to free himself, but to no avail. He could feel the mind of another being crawling through his own, searching and clawing for information, and no matter what Lusam did, he could not stop it. As the entity pulled him in further and further, he began to sense the huge power reserves it had. He need not have worried about draining it. It could have filled his power reserves a hundred times over, and then some.

“
Please, stop! I have to get back to protect the Guardian book in Lamuria,
” Lusam shouted desperately with his mind. The incessant pulling at Lusam’s mind lessened slightly, as his words were digested by the hidden entity. Whatever had hold of him didn’t let go, but it didn’t pull him in any further either. Lusam knew it was waiting for him to speak again, but he also knew that whatever he chose to say next had better be exactly what the entity wanted to hear. Whatever the entity was, Lusam had to assume it was there to protect the Guardian book above all else, and therefore it too had a vested interest in keeping them
all
safe, or at least he hoped.

“
The power source has been completely depleted in Lamuria. I need to take some power from here to recharge it, so we can get the city’s magical shield back up. There are thousands of Empire magi attacking the city, I must be allowed to get back and defend it, or the entire world will be in danger,
” Lusam said with his mind. He immediately felt the entity searching through his mind for the truth in his words, so he allowed it free access to his thoughts. Not that he considered for one moment he could have prevented it, even if he had tried.

The entity sent out an incredibly powerful wave of emotion that stunned and dizzied Lusam. At first Lusam thought it was anger, and expected to be pulled in further at any moment, but it was anguish he felt from the entity, not anger. Anguish at being unable to change what had already happened, and anguish at not being able to do more now to help. The anguish was eventually replaced by a deep feeling of sorrow and loss, almost mirroring what Lusam himself had felt when he had discovered the power crystal had been depleted in Lamuria.