Nature's Peril Part 1 (The Nature Mage Series) (7 page)

It
passed through the gap in the wall, sparing a glance for the broken spars that thrust into the air. It sensed a ghost of power that might once have caused it some difficulty, but it was all but gone now – a shadowy residue of ancient enchantment that no longer had the power to restrain it. Pressing on through the campus, it darted from shadow to shadow. Despite the late hour, there were still a few people up and about, some of which gave off a clear signature of power. The Darkman snarled derisively. They were like infants compared to the man that had bound it to his will. Even so, staying hidden gave it the best chance of reaching the Nature Mage, so it slipped from shadow to shadow, moving ever onwards towards the tower.

When it reached the
tower’s base, it bypassed the enchanted doorway to the Atrium and dug its claws directly into the outer wall. The stone gave way, crumbling around its fingers, rock dust trickling down to the ground.

The Darkman began its ascent, scaling the tower effortlessly and leaving a trail of destruction behind it. All the while it craned its neck upwards, glowing orange eyes fixed on a single spot.
The compulsion drove it onwards, augmented by its natural hunger to kill. The hunger consumed it, making its mind and body thrum to a single, powerful note as it moved claw by claw towards its unwitting quarry.

…

Without warning, Gaspi’s door swept open and Voltan strode into the room, glancing at each of them and taking note of their gear.

“Time to go,” he said. “Follow me, quietly.” With that he swept out of the room, leaving Gaspi and Tau
rnil fumbling for their packs. They swung them over their shoulders, checking one last time that their gear was all in place, and left the room. Gaspi closed and locked his door, and slipped the key into a small pocket in his pack. Voltan waited impatiently while he got his pack back in place, and then led them along the silent corridors of the Warren. They had to pass both Emmy and Lydia’s rooms along the way, and Gaspi found himself walking on tiptoes, so nervous that he broke into a light sweat. One glance at Taurnil’s face told him his friend was feeling the exact same way, and he felt a great rush of relief when they were safely past both rooms.

“
Unless you’ve discovered a hidden talent for neuromancy, Gaspi, this will be the riskiest part,” Voltan said when they finally reached the transporter.

“No such luck,” Gaspi answered. Neither he nor Voltan had any natural talent for neuromancy, so they didn’t have the luxury of invisibility to aid them in their attempt to remain unseen.

“Then let’s hope that no-one is about,” the warrior mage responded. “Get on!” he said, and they stepped onto the plinth. Voltan spoke the command, and the next thing they saw was the wide, empty space of the Atrium. Gaspi breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t think he’d ever felt so anxious. “So far so good,” the warrior mage said, and led them to the third plinth. Again they climbed on and Voltan spoke the word of command, transporting them up to the corridor that led to his study.

The
y walked silently along the corridor and approached his office. “Be quiet when you get in there,” Voltan whispered. “The others are already inside.” Gaspi nodded and Voltan opened the door.

…

The Darkman stopped its climb. The Nature Mage was on the move. Traversing the exterior of the tower, it moved in tandem with its quarry, but all of a sudden it was way below him. Confused, the Darkman climbed back down the tower and approached the enchanted door. Yes, the Nature Mage was on the other side. Abandoning subtlety, it lifted its arms and unsheathed its natural weaponry – bony, poison-drenched spurs that slid from its wrists and glimmered wetly in the lamplight. It braced itself to smash right through the enchanted door, but all of a sudden the Nature Mage was back up in the tower, even higher than he had been before.

Growling angrily, the Darkman retracted its bony blades and started climbing again, hastily cutting a path up the stone with thrusting claws. It passed one set of windows, then several more, its baleful eyes fixed on a single square of light above it. That was where the Nature Mage was, and he wasn’t moving anymore. The Darkman sped up, shattering the stone heedlessly in its haste. It reached the lip of the square of light and grabbed it with both hands, tensing its shoulders to propel itself through the window and into the room. The tips of its natural weaponry quivered as it prepared to thrust them out and de
al death to all within the room.

…

They stepped into an extremely crowded room. Gaspi looked around at the collection of warriors, each of whom was bristling with weaponry. Baard on his own would have made the room look crowded, especially with Bonebreaker’s dark aura making him swell with palpable menace, but throw in Sabu, Talmo, Zlekic and Zaric and you barely had room to turn around. Talmo! Gaspi caught his eye and looked away guiltily. When they’d decided to leave Rimulth behind, he hadn’t even considered what Talmo would think, but it was obvious in that moment that he wasn’t impressed. The tribesman stared at him flatly for long moments, and then gave Taurnil the same treatment.

“Move in,” Voltan said, stepping into the room behind them and closing the door. It was only then that Ga
spi realised there was a stranger in the group – a stocky, balding magician with pale eyes and a doughy face who until that moment had been hidden behind Baard’s huge frame. Gaspi took a second look, and realised he wasn’t precisely a stranger, but he couldn’t quite place where he’d seen him before.

“Gaspi,
Taurnil, this is Bret,” Voltan said. “I’m sure you’ll agree we could do with a healer on this expedition.”

Gaspi nodded at
Bret and the healer nodded back. So that was where he’d seen him before – the infirmary. He should have realised that Emmy’s exclusion from the quest meant that they didn’t have a healer – something they couldn’t do without. Voltan must have gone recruiting that very day.

“There’s no time to waste,”
Voltan said. “We are transporting to Arkright immediately, after which we’ll make further plans. Everyone gather in a circle and make sure you are touching the person on either side of you.”

After a fair amount of shuffling, the circle was complete. Gaspi had Taurnil on his left and Baard looming over him on his right. Voltan looked around the circle. “We don’t know where Stragos keeps the amulet, so we could pop up pretty much anywhere. Be ready
for company.” With that, he took hold of a leather thong tied around his neck and drew the enchanted fragment of amulet from within his clothing. “This won’t be pleasant,” he said. “Brace yourselves.” Gaspi grimaced, remembering the extreme nausea he’d felt last time they transported to Arkright. Swallowing noisily, he braced himself.

“Transport to Arkright!”

…

A
ll of a sudden, the Nature Mage was gone. The presence that the Darkman had chased for weeks, that had filled its heart with hungry hate and made its claws twitch in anticipation, had disappeared.

And then it reappeared, far, far away;
many hundreds of miles to the north. Filled with fury, the Darkman tilted its head back and roared – a feral cry that woke every sleeper in the city. Guards dropped their weapons in fear and children ran screaming to their parents’ beds. Every magician in the college summoned power to their fingertips, looking around for the source of the fearsome noise. When the Darkman stopped roaring, people looked at each other uncertainly. The feelings of dread had passed, but no-one thought they’d imagined it.

Bound
by Sestin’s compulsion to pursue and kill the Nature Mage, the Darkman had no opportunity to slake its thirst for blood. Every instinct of its cruel nature urged it to rampage through the streets, rending the bodies and souls of its citizenry. The nearness of so much soft flesh and untainted spirit nearly drove it mad with lust, but the compulsion held it to its course. It dropped from the tower, landing only feet away from the enchanted doorway, which opened at that exact moment, spilling magicians out into the night. They saw the demon and stopped dead.

Roaring in frustration once more, the Darkman sprinted off into the night, beginning another long chase after
its elusive quarry.  

…

Even though he’d been through it twice before, Gaspi had forgotten just how bad the gut-twisting, head-pounding torture of long distance transportation was. The only slight difference was that he had a good idea of how long it would last, and however disturbing the sensation was, he knew it wouldn’t last forever. Somehow that knowledge helped, and although he felt like he was going to be squashed like a bug, he endured the experience with greater fortitude than he had in the past. When his senses returned, he even managed to hold onto the contents of his stomach, though the retching sounds around him made it clear that some of the others had not been so fortunate.

He
looked up, pale and sweating, to find they were in the dark interior of a house. The only light was the faint radiance of the stars filtered in through the windows, but that was enough for him to be able to recognise Stragos’ bungalow.

“St
ay here,” Voltan whispered. He stepped quietly across the room and into the corridor that led to the bedrooms. Gaspi waited with the others while Voltan explored, and soon enough the warrior mage was back. He threw a globe light up in the air.

“There’s no-one here,” he said in a normal tone of voice
. After hours of trying to be quiet, it sounded recklessly loud. “You’d better clean that up,” Voltan said to the group in general, indicating the pools of vomit on the floor with a broad gesture. Bret was the first one to act, using his powers to deal with the disgusting mess they’d made. Baard groaned and crawled away from the group, levering his enormous frame up and collapsing into one of Stragos’ comfortable chairs.

“
There’s the amulet,” Voltan said, pointing at the wall behind Gaspi’s head. Gaspi turned around to see the other part of the amulet, dangling from a rack on the wall.

“Should
we take it with us?” Gaspi asked. “We could use the two of them to transport back and forth if we’re in danger.”

“
That’s not a good idea,” Voltan responded. “There are two parts of the amulet that work as lodestones – the one in Helioport and this one here. The other two parts only transport to one destination or the other. This one here,” he continued, pulling at the chord round his neck, “transports to either place based on the command you give it –
transport to Arkright
or
return
to Helioport
. If we took Stragos’ part of the amulet, anyone could transport directly to us if they used the right command. When Hephistole works out that we’ve gone, he might not be too pleased. Personally, I’d rather not have an angry archmage appear in our midst unannounced. Would you?”

“Er, no!
” Gaspi said.

“For exactly the same reason, we cannot stay here
tonight, even though Stragos doesn’t appear to be in residence,” Voltan continued. “The moment Hephistole realises we are gone, he is likely to put two and two together. We need to get to Pell, and this is the obvious step for us to take, cutting many weeks out of our journey in a single leap. He will come here, of that you can be assured, so I suggest we put as much distance between ourselves and this place as possible.” An assortment of groans sounded from various members of the group. Clearly no-one felt like travelling. “Come on,” Voltan urged. “Up on your feet, and let’s get moving.” With a further chorus of groans, everyone got to their feet, with the exception of Baard, who had to be helped out of the chair he’d sunk into by Sabu.

“You weigh a tonne,” Sabu muttered as he hauled on the giant’s huge hand.

“No need ter get personal,” Baard grumbled, groaning once again as he finally stood up. “Jus’ so yer know,” he added, addressing Voltan. “If we get inter trouble I’d rather die fightin’ than use the bloody transporter again.”

Voltan cracked
the smallest of smiles. Without responding, he turned around, walked out into the hallway and exited through the front door. Within moments, the group was heading north, trudging in silence through the night.

“What do you
mean, they’re gone?” Emmy said. The chancellor had sent for her first thing in the morning, along with Lydia and Rimulth, and told them that Gaspi and Taurnil had left in the middle of the night.

“Exactly that I’m afraid,” Hephistole responded wearily.
“After the disturbance last night I went to see Voltan, but it seems that he too has left the city.”

“But why? Wh
ere would they go?” Emmy asked, totally confused.

“I’m sorry to say this my dear, but I think they have grown tired of waiting for me to make
up my mind, and have set out for Pell.” Emmy was dumbstruck. Gaspi wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t leave her behind.

Lydia stirred next to her.
“I beg your pardon?” the gypsy girl said, speaking for the first time since they’d arrived. Emmy glanced at her in surprise. Her friend had floated through the last few weeks in a daze, and this was the first time she’d sounded anything like her usual self.

“I’ve already checked with Drillmaster Trask,
” Hephistole said. “It’s the same story with every person we were planning to send to Pell. Their beds are empty, their weapons gone. There’s no other conclusion to be reached I’m afraid.”

Emmy found the nearest chair and slumped down heavily into it. “But…why?” she asked.

“I suppose it’s my fault,” Hephistole responded, sounding so drained Emmy would have felt sorry for him under normal circumstances, but right then she had no emotion to spare. “I delayed too long, and they must have felt the mission was too important to jeopardise.”

“No, not why did they go,” Emmy corrected him. “Why did they leave us behind?”

“They must have been trying to protect you,” Hephistole responded.

“They lied to us,” Lydia
hissed, throwing back her head and flicking her hair.

“Gaspi never lies to me,” Emmy said softly, feeling the first knife-cut of hurt as realisation started to take hold. She’d gone to his room the previous night, wanting to be with him, and he’d turned her away. He’d claimed he was tired, but he was never too tired to see her. It had upset her a bit at the time, but she’d n
ever considered that he might actually be lying to her.

“Perhaps they had good reasons,” Rimulth inserted, but Lydia
was having none of it. She glared at him, thrusting her fists against her hips.

“Don’t even start with that Rimulth,” she spat. “Taurnil lied to me. We are
soulbound
, and the soulbound
do not
lie to each other, no matter what the circumstances!” She rounded on Hephistole. “We must catch them,” she said, clearly expecting him to follow her lead.

“It’s not that simple,” Hephistole said, shaking his head.

“Yes it is!” Lydia said shrilly. “They can’t have gone far!”

“I’m afraid they
have
gone far,” Hephistole said with a sad smile. “One of the pieces of my enchanted amulet has gone missing. I checked as soon as I found out Voltan and the others had gone. They have gone ahead with the plan and transported to Arkright.”

“But there’s another piece of the amulet right?” Lydia said
, her voice getting louder and even more shrill. “Send us after them!”

“That may not be a good idea,” Hephistole said quietly
, a hint of steel in his voice.

“What do you mean by that?” Lydia demanded. “You
have
to do it!”

“I really don’t,” Hephistole answered
abruptly.

“Yes you do!” Lydia responded wildly. “
What’s the matter with you? Just get the amulet and…”

“YOUNG LADY
!” Hephistole barked, sitting bolt upright in his chair and placing both hands firmly on the desk in front of him. “I will not be spoken to like that in my own office!” Lydia looked shocked and angry at the same time, but she didn’t say anything more. “Now please just listen for a moment,” Hephistole continued more softly. “There’s something you don’t know.”

Emmy listened
in growing horror as he spoke of the trail of shattered stone left in the wall of the city, and all over the exterior of the tower. He spoke of the sighting of a demon that could only be the Darkman, and how it had left again without killing anyone. He explained his suspicions that it had been sent to kill Gaspi, and that he had only just transported out in time. He said he couldn’t in all conscience send them into its path, however much they felt it was their place. Emmy objected to that, worry for Gaspi overriding her hurt, but Hephistole wouldn’t have any of it, and when he finally dismissed them, it was with folded arms and a closed expression. The chancellor was clear; he had already sent one student to his death in the last few months, and he wasn’t about to send three more!

…

“Hephistole has lost his backbone,” Lydia said, shoving her cup angrily away from her and slopping tea all over the table. Fortunately, the tables in the Traveller’s Rest had seen much worse over the years, and another stain would hardly make any difference.

“He’s not himself, that’s for sure,” Emmy responded.

“He’s been getting worse for weeks,” Rimulth interjected. “Gaspi says he’s still blaming himself for Everand’s death.”

“Well he’ll be blaming himself for Gaspi and Taurnil’s death too
if he doesn’t let us join them,” Lydia said.

“What
do you mean?” Emmy asked, panicked. “Did you
see
that?” All she could think about was how close the Darkman had come to catching Gaspi.

“No I didn’t
see
it,” Lydia said. “But think about it. Last year the elementals were crystal clear that we have to stick together. Even Hephistole had to back down. But they’re not here now and Hephistole has to make this decision on his own, just when he’s lost his nerve.”

“To be fair to him,
it’s a hard decision,” Rimulth said. “We’re asking him to send us into the path of a powerful demon.”

“Don’t
defend him Rimulth!” Lydia snapped. “Taurnil needs me and I’m stuck here! That’s all I care about. Hephistole needs to grow some stones and let us go.”

Emmy winced inwardly, hoping Rimulth would back down. The tribesman
’s calm and knowing manner sometimes rubbed Lydia up the wrong way. He was extremely fair in all things, and his quiet questions often presented a challenge to Lydia’s headstrong opinions. In this case, however, she hoped he didn’t stand his ground. The news that Taurnil had gone off without her had shaken Lydia out of the state she’d been in for the last few weeks, and this definitely wasn’t the time to argue with her. She also happened to agree with Lydia on this occasion. There was no way she was going to let Gaspi go off on a dangerous mission without her. What if he got injured and she wasn’t there to heal him?

“Fair enough,” Rimulth responded, leaning back in his seat and frowning thoughtfully.
“I suppose we’ll just have to pester Hephistole until he lets us go.”

“Day and night,” Lydia said, and it was clear to Emmy that the gypsy girl meant exactly what she said.

…

Gaspi
trudged wearily through the forest behind Voltan. The warrior mage was planning on acquiring some mounts as soon as possible, but until he did so, they had to make progress on foot. It wasn’t that he minded walking as such, but it was a
long
way to Pell, and the sooner they got some horses the better. Taurnil walked alongside him, and the rest of the group followed behind, with the exception of Talmo, who’d taken on the role of scout. Just at that moment, the tribesman emerged from the trees ahead of them and dropped in beside Voltan to report. He talked quietly with the warrior mage, and then fell back a few paces to join Gaspi and Taurnil.

“Hi Talmo,”
Gaspi said. Taurnil mumbled something incoherent, which was surprising. The two guards had become friends over the last year, and Taurnil was usually pretty comfortable around the taciturn tribesman. Gaspi looked at his friend, and saw that he was flushing from his chin right up to the roots of his hair. Perhaps he too was having reservations about deceiving Rimulth.

“He
will not thank you, you know,” Talmo said without preamble.

“You mean Rimulth,” Gaspi
said.

“Yes,” Talmo responded
. “Among our people, he is a man and a warrior. In the face of danger, and even death, a man makes his own choices. You have taken that away from him.”

“To protect him!” Gaspi insisted. “Surely he will understand that!”

Taurnil interrupted, speaking quietly: “Do you think we did the wrong thing Talmo?”

“I do, but it is not my opinion that matters. You will have to ask Rimulth when you next see him. Perhaps he will not share my view.”
Taurnil looked greatly troubled. “Don’t worry Taurnil,” Talmo said. “I will not hold it against you. We are brothers you and I, and nothing will change that, but I would not be your brother if I failed to tell you my feelings about this. The same goes for you Gaspi.” With that, the tribesman took his leave of them and jogged ahead of the party into the trees, bow in hand.

“Sheesh,” Gaspi exhaled when Talmo was out of earshot. “Way to make a person feel bad!”

“I dunno,” Taurnil responded uncertainly.

“Look, we had a choice to make, and we made it,” G
aspi insisted, but even as he said it, he could feel a niggling doubt. They walked on in silence for a while. Gaspi wrestled with his uncertainty, telling himself that Lydia couldn’t have made the journey, and Rimulth and Emmy needed to look after her, but in the end, he couldn’t quite convince himself. Lydia definitely couldn’t have come along in her condition, and Emmy should be there to look after her, but there had been no real need to leave Rimulth out. If he’d asked the tribesman if he wanted to come along on the quest, he would have said yes in a heartbeat. Leaving Rimulth behind had been
his
choice, and it wasn’t his to make.

He sighed
wearily. “Maybe we made the wrong choice.”

“Maybe we did,” Taurnil repeated. They walked on, lost in their thoughts, and neither of them said anything else for a good while.