Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Two (26 page)

“There's much more I need to tell you, but I'm very short of time right now. Renn will be waiting for me on the other side of the wall with the horses. I must hurry before he's discovered by any Empire agents,” Lusam said.

“What do you mean `
waiting for you
`, Surely you mean waiting for
us
. You're not thinking of leaving me here!” Neala exclaimed.

“Neala, I can't ask you to risk your life for a promise I made to Renn. You just witnessed for yourself how dangerous those men outside are, and who knows how many of them are out there waiting?”

“You only had to make that promise to Renn because of me! So if you think I'm going to let you face whatever's out there alone, after
you
risked your life to save me, then you're crazy! I'm coming with you, let's go.” Neala said with absolute conviction.

“Neala, I'm not sure I can protect you against all the Empire agents that are trying to kill me. We only just made it to the safety of this temple with our lives last time. In fact, if it hadn't been for the paladins helping us, I'm not sure we would have made it at all. I was planning to ask Hershel if he would allow you to travel to Lamuria with the next group of paladins he sent. That way you would be safe, and we could both reunite there,” Lusam said.

Deep down Neala knew Lusam was only trying to protect her, but she also knew that she loved him, and that she never wanted to be separated from him again. And certainly not under these type of circumstances, where she wouldn't know from day to day whether he was still alive or
not.
She'd had enough of that kind of mental torture already on her long journey to Stelgad with Skelly, and had no intentions of ever repeating it, if she could avoid it.

“Lusam, I understand the risks, but it's my life to risk, and whatever you say won't make me change my mind. If I did die, then I'll die happy knowing I was able to spend my last days with you. I love you, and I'm coming with you, it's that simple,” Neala whispered. Lusam hugged her tightly gently kissing her lips, and then whispered,

“I love you too.”

“Eww! Did you really have to drag me in here to watch you both slobbering over each other like that. I think I'd rather have stayed in my cell back at the Hawks' guild-house than watch you two much longer,” Alexia said mockingly. Neala and Lusam had both momentarily forgotten about Alexia being in the same room, and were slightly startled by her playful interruption of their blossoming passion for each other. Lusam felt his cheeks redden, but Neala dealt with her own embarrassment in her usual manner; by playfully punching Alexia on the arm.

“I'm sure we can arrange to drop you back at your old cell on our way out of town if you miss it so much,” Neala said grinning at her old friend.

“Yes, I bet you'd like that, but then you'd miss all my witty banter on our journey to Lamuria,” Alexia said,
holding up her hand towards Lusam, “and before you give
me
the same speech about all the dangers lover-boy, I've already heard it.
Neala is the only family I have left, and unless she asks me to stay here, I'm coming too.”

“You know Lusam, as much as I hate to admit it, she's the best shot I've ever seen with a bow, and she might actually be useful to us, if we can both put up with her annoying personality that is,” Neala said winking at Lusam, who just rolled his eyes at their verbal jousting.

“Good, that's settled then, I'm coming with you both to Lamuria. Talking of bows, I don't suppose your friend Hershel has a spare one does he? I lost mine when I was captured by Shiva's men.”

“I guess I can ask him before we leave. By the way, we're not going directly to Lamuria because the road south will be crawling with Empire agents. We plan to ride west to The Forest of Dannar, and then head north to Helveel. Apparently Renn knows the harbour master at a small sea port just east of Helveel. We plan to book passage aboard a suitable vessel and then travel south to Lamuria via sea,” said Lusam. Neala and Alexia both nodded their agreement without adding anything further.

“I guess we better get going then. If we're lucky we might make the forest before sunrise, and avoid any further unwanted attention from the Empire,” Lusam said. Neala
and Alexia both agreed and they all headed back to the main room.

When they reached the main room they found Hershel patiently waiting for them to return. He'd already dismissed his men back to their regular duties within the temple, leaving the room feeling strangely quiet.

“Hershel, before we all leave I need to ask something of you,” Lusam said.

“All, you say? I expected the young ladies would be staying within the safety of the temple for a while. I have arranged for them to have their own private chambers in the west wing, well away from the men,” Hershel said.

“That won't be necessary, but thanks for the kind offer, we appreciate it. It's  regarding the fact that they'll be joining me as to why I need to ask you for something. Alexia apparently favours the use of a bow, and I was hoping that you might have a spare one we could take with us?”

“I'm sure we can find something for you in the armoury. Bows aren't the weapon of choice for a paladin, but we do have a couple we use for hunting game in the forest, you're welcome to take one of those with you. Please, wait here a moment, and I'll go get one for you,” Hershel said, and quickly disappeared through a door at the opposite end of the room. Moments later he returned with a standard
looking bow and a quiver of arrows.
Alexia thanked him for the weapon and began to strap the quiver of arrows to her back, and carried the bow across her shoulder.

“Thanks for all your help Hershel. I hope we meet again in the future, but for now I'm afraid we must be going. Renn will probably be wondering where we are by now,” Lusam said.

“I'm sure we'll see each other again Lusam, but in the meantime stay safe, and may Aysha watch over you all, as I know she will.”

“Thank you Hershel. I hope we haven't put you or your men in danger by coming here. There are a lot of Empire agents outside these walls right now,” Lusam said. Hershel laughed and patted Lusam on the shoulder.

“And outside these walls they shall stay boy. No magic of theirs could ever breach these blessed walls, and they know it. Not to mention the fact that they probably think we have at least two hundred paladins in here. No, they won't dare attack us here, we're quite safe, so don't you worry about us,” Hershel said.

“I'm happy to hear that. Then I guess it's time we were off. Thanks again for everything Hershel,” Lusam said, shaking his hand. Neala and Alexia both bid him farewell, and then all three made their way to the tower room. Once they entered the tower room the large doors where once
again closed and barred from within the temple, plunging them all into darkness.
Lusam created a small light orb and began climbing the steps.

“Why are we in here?” Neala asked.

“I was about to ask the same thing,” said Alexia.

“Sorry, I keep forgetting you don't know everything. This is where Renn and I first entered the temple. We crossed from the top of the city wall, and then came in through the top windows of this tower. We need to go out the same way, so hopefully we aren't seen leaving the temple. Renn should already be waiting for us on the other side of the wall, with a bit of luck,” Lusam said.

“So, I guess now isn't a good time to tell you that I'm afraid of heights,” Neala said, looking up into the darkness above.

“Don't worry, I'll hold your hand at the top before we jump off the tower onto the wall,” Lusam said, struggling to hide his smile.

“Careful lover-boy, or she's likely to throw you off the top of this tower herself,” Alexia said. Neala didn't respond to either of their jokes, instead she continued looking anxiously up into the darkness above her head. Lusam began to climb the stairs again, closely followed by Alexia and a very reluctant Neala.

Lusam hadn't realised just how many floors he and Renn had fallen past when they first arrived. He knew climbing the stairs would be much harder than descending them, but he had no idea how much harder. After fifteen minutes everyone was sweating and breathless, and they still had several floors left to climb.

When they finally reached the top of the stone stairs Lusam looked for another ladder to reach the top platform, but found none. He knew before he even spoke what Neala's reaction would likely be, but he had no choice.

“I need to levitate us all up to the next platform. The wooden ladder broke when we first arrived, so there's no other way to get up there I'm afraid,” Lusam said. Neala by this time was hugging the wall like her life depended on it, and Alexia didn't seem too happy about the news either.

“Trust me, it will be fine. Each of you take my hand, and on the count of three we will step off this platform,”

“We'll do what!” Alexia exclaimed. Neala just made a nervous giggling sound and remained stuck to the wall.

“Like this,” Lusam said, stepping off the edge and falling about a foot before he stabilised himself in mid-air, then floated back up to their platform. “It's okay, I won't let you fall, I promise,” he said offering them both his hands. Alexia looked nervous, but nothing like as nervous as Neala, who was now physically shaking at the thought of stepping
off the platform into mid-air.
Lusam gave her trembling hand a squeeze of encouragement, but he didn't think she even noticed.

“Okay, after three we all step off together. One...two....three,” Lusam said, and stepped off the platform, almost dragging the two girls with him. He heard Alexia's sharp intake of breath as they left the platform, but Neala squealed like a stuck pig as she left the safety of the platform. He felt sure her legs would have given way under her if she were having to support herself at that moment. He quickly levitated all three of them up onto the top platform, gently releasing Neala so her legs had chance to support her weight. He gave her a hug to try and calm her nerves, but he could feel her still trembling in his arms.

“Neala, look at me please,” he said. Neala opened her eyes and looked at him, still holding tightly onto him as if she was too scared to let go. “I'm sorry we have to do this. I had no idea how scared you would be, but I need you to trust me. Can you do that?” Lusam asked. Neala nodded silently. “Good. We need to levitate from this window across the gap and onto the the city wall over there,” Lusam said pointing out of the window. Neala slowly turned her head to look, she closed her eyes again and swallowed hard when she saw the gap between the window and the wall, but she nodded her head nonetheless.

“I know it will be hard, but I need you to stay completely silent as we cross the gap. We don't want anyone looking up to see us, especially any Empire agents. Do you understand?” Lusam said. Again Neala nodded her understanding.

“I will take us across the gap as fast as I can, but we must stop once we reach the top of the wall. Once we land safely on the wall we should all lie down flat on our stomachs until I check over the wall for dangers. If Renn is there waiting we will quickly levitate down to him. Do you both understand?” Lusam said. Both girls nodded and they all prepared to leave through the window.

Lusam checked below for signs of people passing by, especially the distinctive auras of the Empire agents, but thankfully saw none. He held both Neala and Alexia's hands tightly as they all approached the open window. After one last check of the streets below, he stepped out into the night sky taking Neala and Alexia with him. He heard their sharp intake of breath as they fell from the height of the tower towards the top of the wall below.

A moment later they were all safely on top of the wide city wall. They all immediately fell flat to their stomachs, and Lusam checked the far side of the wall for any hidden dangers. He couldn't see any empire agents on the other side of the wall, but he was very happy to see Renn
directly below, with two horses at the ready.
“Okay, let's go,” he said standing up, and offering them both a hand each. As they all stepped off the wall and began to descend, Lusam suddenly noticed a bright crimson aura far off to the south. He wasn't sure but he thought he may have seen a second one too just before they vanished from sight behind a hill as they all descended. The horses startled a little as all three of them touched down gently on the ground next to Renn.

“About time, I was beginning to think something bad had happened to you lad,” Renn said, holding both horses steady while they settled back down.

“We did have some complications on the way,” Lusam said, not elaborating any further. “This is Neala, and her friend Alexia. This is Renn, the one I told you about,”

“It's good to meet you at last Neala, you too Alexia, although I'm afraid I haven't heard mention of you before today,” Renn said, looking at Lusam for an explanation.

“It's a long story, but now probably isn't the best time for it. I think I just spotted a couple of Empire agents coming this way from the south. One of them looked pretty powerful from what I could see,” Lusam said.

“Well, if you're right I hope they were both on foot because these two horses won't last long with two people on each if we have to try and outrun anyone,” Renn said.

“Understood. Renn you take Alexia, I'll ride with Neala,” Lusam said, taking the reigns of the second horse. “Neala, you ride up front, you have far more experience with a horse than I do.”