The Missing Mage (25 page)

Nathan turned to Ava. “Are you okay with this?” Nathan remembered how he had felt after his first combat. He did not look forward to Ava having to go through those emotions but this was too important to spare her feelings. He needed her help.

“It is fine. Every time I thing of the things they did to Cyrnic, I want to make them pay. I know what we have to do,” replied Ava. She didn’t say kill them, but they both knew what was going to happen.

Nathan pulled his bow off his back and looked at Ava. “Let’s go.”

Leading her back to the edge of the jungle, Nathan spoke softly “Can you hit that closest mage with a rock from here?”

Ava looked at the mage. He was a good hundred feet away from the edge of the jungle. It was within her throwing range, but how accurate she would be at this distance was another question. “I’m not sure. If I step out a few feet into the clearing I will have a better shot.”

Nathan appreciated her honesty. False bravado would do them no good. “Okay. When I shoot the mage holding the book, you step out and throw your rocks at that mage. Be ready, they like to use fireballs.” Nathan recalled the day he first arrived in Balta. Shooting the fire mage, who ended up blowing himself up when Nathan’s arrow broke his concentration mid-cast. This was the reason Nathan was shooting the mage with Cyrnic’s diary first. He didn’t want the diary burning during battle.

While Nathan pulled an arrow from his quiver, Ava reached into her pouch and grabbed one of the magic-infused rocks. With the rock in her right hand, she opened up her left hand and started focusing on her magical shield. The ball of energy grew until it was the size of a grapefruit. As soon as she stepped out into the open area between the edge of the jungle and the lake, she would flatten it into a shield. Ava took a deep breath. She could feel her heart pumping faster. Her mouth was dry and her left leg was practically bouncing off the jungle floor. She let her mind fill with thoughts of Cyrnic’s torture, the wounds Balthazar and Nathan had sustained, and the loss of the ranger’s life. Her brow furrowed as her anger rose. She was ready. Ava nodded at Nathan.

Nathan, having received Ava’s ready nod, drew back his bow and took one step closer to the edge of the forest. His hands and face were now clear of any obstacles. The Darcarion mage was standing sixty yards away. The mage was reading Cyrnic’s diary, his head would lift and look around every couple of seconds, then return to the book. Nathan took a deep breath and as he slowly exhaled, he let the arrow loose. The arrow flew true, sailing mere inches above the book and into the man’s chest. The Darcarion’s eyes bulged as the arrow penetrated deep. The mage fell to the ground.

As Nathan fired his arrow, Ava strode out of the jungle onto the rocky clearing. Her target, the closest mage on the right, had turned his head towards his falling companion and had not noticed her yet. As the mage turned to see where the arrow had come from, Ava fired her rock at him. The Darcarion mage put up a shield just in time to stop the rock. Even with his shield, the Darcarion mage was violently hammered back by the force of the magical rock hitting his energy shield. As the mage stumbled back, he flung balls of fire at Ava. Ava ducked the first ball of fire and activated her own energy shield in time to block the second fireball. Ava flinched as the flaming ball of energy deflected off her shield. She felt a tingle in her fingers as the shield pulled more energy from her. She could deflect and stop the fireballs, but her shield would only last so long, especially if she kept getting hit. Calmly, Ava reached into her pouch and pulled out another rock. This time she walked closer before firing. Again, her magic rock knocked the mage back.

While Ava was dealing with the second mage, Nathan was fighting the last Darcarion. As soon as he had fired his first arrow, Nathan had pulled a second one out and fired at the last mage. The mage, having seen companion fall, had his shield up and easily blocked Nathan’s arrow. The mage fired a series of fireballs towards Nathan. Nathan ducked back into the jungle as the fireballs whizzed past. As Nathan rose to fire another arrow at the mage, a fireball struck Nathan in the chest. The impact of the fireball knocked Nathan to the ground. But his vraber skin armor held up and he was unharmed. Dropping his bow, Nathan rose to one knee and hid behind a tree as the Darcarion stormed towards him. Fireballs whipped past Nathan’s head and smashed into the tree. Nathan took a deep breath and drew his sword. Crouching, he waited until the mage was only a few feet away from the tree before jumping out and running towards him. Caught off guard by Nathan’s change in tactics, the mage paused before firing another fireball. This time he fired from only a couple of feet away. Nathan, knowing his armor could withstand the hit, turned his body slightly, so when the fireball hit him in the chest it spun him around instead of knocking him back. Using the momentum of the impact of the fireball to spin again, Nathan brought his sword around in a wild swing. The spin had done nothing to slow Nathan’s forward progress and his sword came flying around into the mage. The Darcarion raised his energy shield, but to his shock, the sword kept coming. Nathan’s magically enhanced black steel was only slightly slowed by the energy shield. The blade sliced into the mages neck, dealing the Darcarion a fatal blow.

As Nathan was charging the mage, Ava was still in a heated battle with her own adversary. Her magic rocks were stunning the mage, but his fireballs were keeping her busy as well. Ava noticed that her fourth rock seemed to push the mage back farther than any of the previous ones. Was the Darcarions energy draining? She grabbed a fifth rock and threw it as hard as she could. This time the rock broke through the magic shield of the Darcarion and connected with the mage. Ava could not see the egg-sized rock, for it was deeply imbedded in the mages chest. The mage stumbled back, before falling to the ground. Turning, Ava looked just in time to see Nathan being hit with the fireball and spinning forward, killing the Darcarion.

Ava rushed over to Nathan, making sure he was okay.

“It’s okay, Ava,” said Nathan. “My armor stopped the fireballs. Are you okay?”

Ava hugged Nathan tightly. She had been so scared when the fireball exploded into his chest. “I am fine. Let’s get Cyrnic’s diary and get out of here.”

Nathan held her a minute longer, before letting her go. “Grab the rocks you threw, we might need them later,” he said as he walked over to the first mage’s body and removed the book from his hand. His last assumption that a mage was dead was still fresh in his mind.  This time around he made sure they were truly dead, not stunned. It was a distasteful task, made easier by remembering the evil acts the Darcarions had already done. Ava collected her rocks as Nathan as he made sure each mage would be worm food.

With the distasteful deed done, they ran back to the others, both eager to be away from the dead bodies.

When they got to them, Nathan handed Cyrnic his diary. “Here you go. I hope you can find the order’s hideout now.”

Cyrnic flipped through the diary, found the page he was looking for and started reading. “At the south end of the lake there are two large stones on the shoreline. From the stones, head directly east into the jungle 400 yards.”

Nathan looked at the journal. All he could see were squiggly lines and dots. “You got that from reading those marks?” he asked.

Cyrnic smiled. “Well actually it is not my marks. The Red Order used this code. It took me three months to decipher it. It should be easy to find their home now. Come on, let’s get moving.”

Chapter twenty seven

FINDING THE BUILDING WAS not easy. The stones on the edge of the lake they found easy enough, but when they went 400 yards east, they could see nothing. The jungle was thick and dense, making finding any landmarks challenging.

Undeterred, Cyrnic smiled. “Well, let’s get looking.”

Sharon was the first noticed something that wasn’t just a vine or leaf. A dark red brick caught her eye, and she moved closer to inspect it. It took several glances before she was sure that there was a building hidden underneath the vegetation. The jungle had grown so thick around the building that it was completely covered.

“Over here. I think I found something,” said Sharon. As Quinton came to see what she had found, Sharon moved some of the vines, revealing the stone structure.

“Good eye,” said Quinton. “Let’s see if we can find a door.”

As the group began inspecting the building Ava shouted. “Got it.”

The opening was dark and hidden in vines. Steps led down a narrow entrance way, before ending in front of a stone wall. In the darkness of the corridor, there seemed to be no way to get beyond the stone wall.

“Quinton, would you please provide us with some illumination?” asked Cyrnic.

Quinton raised his hand and a bright warm glowing orb of light appeared above his hand, lighting up the dark corridor. The stone wall seemed to be very thick and did not budge when Nathan pushed against it.

“Excellent. This is the place!” exclaimed Cyrnic. “See those markings above the door. Those are symbols of the Red Order. Only members of the order may travel beyond this point, or one who has studied their ancient texts and found their password. Let’s hope that I have this right.” Cyrnic raised his voice. “
Extum Blaytox Rouge
.” Suddenly the stone wall slid down, revealing a staircase cut into the ground, leading further underground. “Be careful, this entire structure will be booby trapped and full of all sorts of unpleasant surprises.”

“Wonderful,” said Sharon. “Tell me again, why are we risking our lives for some old books?”

“Because, if the Darcarions get the ancient tomes of the Red Order, they will give the tomes to the king of Morthon. He will build an insurmountable army of stone golems. And then everyone in Balta will be killed or enslaved,” replied Cyrnic.

“Oh, why didn’t you say so,” Sharon retorted with a sudden change in attitude. “Come on guys, let’s go get that book.”
Booby traps be damned
, Sharon thought. She was ready to do anything and everything to prevent the destruction of her new home. But, no snakes would be really nice.

The stairs spiraled, leading them to a large open room. Quinton blew gently on the magical ball of light above his hand, sending the bright energy orb floating towards the middle of the room, lighting the entire area.

“Hmm, it appears to be a dining room,” said Cyrnic. The room had six large rectangular tables with twenty chairs at each table. “Fascinating,” continued Cyrnic. “I had no idea that the order’s numbers had grown so large. The texts regarding the order were very vague about how large it truly was. Over a hundred mages lost during the conflict, such a pity.”

“What are we looking for now?” asked Nathan.

“Along the walls of the hall there should be openings to further rooms,” said Cyrnic.

Inspecting the walls, the group found five doorways. One of the doorways led into a kitchen and another lead into a storage area.

“Let break into smaller groups. If this structure held enough room for over a hundred mages, it is likely rather large. Nathan, you and Ava take the corridor on the left. I will go with Quinton and Sharon down the one on the right. We will meet back here. Be very careful where you walk,” said Cyrnic.

Nathan nodded, separating into smaller groups made sense. “Come on, Ava,” he said as he created a glowing glob of his own to light their way. The corridor went straight for 20 feet then turned right. They continued following the corridor.

As they walked, Nathan noted the stale air. The dark, narrow hallway had an oppressive feel to it. The corridor turned to the left, then went straight for another 20 feet before turning left again. Then, once again, the narrow hallway turned to the left.
Three left turns in a row? We are going in a circle
, Nathan thought to himself. The hallway continued. So they kept walking. Again, they turned left. Something weird was going on.

“Ava, have you noticed anything strange about this hallway?” asked Nathan.

Ava blew out a big breath of air. “You mean besides the fact that we are lost in a continuing circle. I haven’t even seen the way back. We are in a maze.”

Nathan nodded, he had feared that as well. “Let’s slow down. Keep your hand on the left wall, I will keep a hand on the right wall. Maybe we can find something out of place.”

“I hope so, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in a maze. On the other hand, at least the company would be good,” said Ava.

Nathan smiled. “Yes, if I am going to be trapped in a stone maze deep underground in the middle of the jungle, I can’t think of a person I would rather be trapped with.”

Ava grabbed Nathan and pulled him towards her, giving him a blood-stirring kiss and running her hands down his chest. She then broke the kiss off and stared into his eyes. Her eyes, bright and shining, sparkled in the soft magical light reflecting off the corridor walls. “Get us out of here alive and you will get more time to kiss me.”

Nathan’s pulse raced, his heart pounded. Ava’s passionate kiss awoke something inside him. Suddenly, the idea of dying in a mage’s maze was not an option. He would get them out of there if it meant digging their way through the stone walls. Shaking his head to clear his mind of the thoughts Ava had inspired, Nathan focused on the task at hand. “Right, let’s get out of this maze, find those damn tomes, and get out of this jungle.”

 “I thought you might say that.” She was realizing feminine wiles were powerful motivators. And what a fun way to motivate, while keeping dark thoughts at bay. Kissing! Who would have thought?

They continued to walk down the narrow hallway, this time each touching a wall and looking carefully at the floor and ceiling as they went. Down the hallway, then left, down the hallway and left, the repeated pattern was becoming very frustrating. Suddenly, Nathan’s hand slipped. A section of the right wall was deeper than the rest. They stopped moving and Nathan moved his hand into the missing section of wall, letting his magical light illuminate the discovery. A small narrow gap went off to the right. The area was so narrow Nathan had to remove his bow and quiver from his back and turn sideways to move forward. Slowly they shuffled sideways through the narrow opening until it open up into a large room. The room was empty, but Nathan could see another opening at the far end of the room.