Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Two (18 page)

“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 the 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.”

“So I see. Let's deal with your spy quickly, so we can finish our business here in Stelgad. It seems like the sooner we make it to Lamuria the better,” said Renn.

“I'm certain they could use your help there, and the unique talents of your young friend here,” Hershel agreed.
“Come, let's catch ourselves a spy,” he said, not waiting for a reply and walking back down the corridor towards the main room.

***

Chapter Twenty

When they re-entered the room they found the men pretty much where they had been before, but this time looking much more relaxed. Hershel moved to the centre of the room, and bellowed at the top of his lungs,

“MEN! FALL IN!”

Immediately the men in the room formed a straight line from left to right, each exactly one arms length away from the next and standing to attention. Hershel slowly paced the length of the line and then back again before looking to Lusam and giving a slight nod of his head, indicating he wished the man to be revealed to him. Lusam created a small dimly lit orb behind and above the man with the crimson aura. When he was sure Hershel had identified the man, he extinguished the orb and got ready to shield Hershel and the men who were closest to the potential danger.

Hershel paced the line once more, as if inspecting
each of the recruits, then once he reached the centre of the line again he stopped.
“As you all know well, last week we lost fourteen of our recruits to a cowardly act of poisoning. Those fourteen men were our friends and colleagues, each one had pledged his life to serve Aysha in all things, and to protect our great nation at any cost. We suspected the despicable act had somehow been carried out by an Empire agent, and we were correct.