Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (40 page)

“Lusam, what are you doing, lad?” Renn asked frantically.

“I can’t just kill all those men—I just can’t,” Lusam replied, regaining his footing. Lusam watched as his missile found its target. Then he felt the unmistakable death-pulse of three magi, as did Renn standing by his side. At first Lusam thought he had overestimated the power he had put into his magical-missile and killed the man outright, as well as two others that must have been close by when his shield had failed. But when he looked again, their leader was getting back to his feet, as were a dozen more men scattered across the deck. It all started to make sense when he remembered what Renn had told him, of how the Empire agents shared their magical power through their Necromatic rings. The sudden massive strike on their leader’s shield, must have completely drained two of his underlings, killing them instantly.

Lusam thought his plan had worked, as no more missiles came from the enemy vessel for more than a minute after he had struck their leader. Then they suddenly started again. This time with even more power behind them. ‘
What’s wrong with these people?
’ Lusam thought to himself, as he braced himself for the incoming missiles. Again he staggered as they impacted heavily on his shield.

“What’s wrong with you, lad? Finish them!” Renn half-shouted at Lusam.

Lusam ignored him, and instead fully lowered the shutter around his aura. His aura was so bright, Renn had to shield his own eyes, and even the attacks from the Empire ship ceased, as they stood on their deck open-mouthed at the sight before them.

“Listen to me, lad. I understand what you’re trying to do here. I really do. But making them run away will not help anyone in the long term. Either they will call for more support, or simply wait until the Pelorus is on her homeward journey before destroying her. And even if that didn’t happen, where do you suppose they were heading before they spotted us? Lamuria of course. If you don’t finish them off now, you’ll only allow them to kill more innocent people later, whether it’s the crew of this ship, another ship, or even innocent women and children as they carve their way to Lamuria,” Renn said passionately. Lusam knew he was right, but how could it ever be right to kill so many people. He knew for certain that the men aboard that ship would kill everyone they came across if he didn’t stop them, and so he also knew at that moment he
had
to stop them, no matter what it cost him personally. Lusam turned to face Renn, and with misty eyes, nodded that he understood what he must do.

Even though Lusam knew these men were his enemy, and worshipped Aamon not Aysha, he still said a silent prayer for their souls as he prepared to do what must be done; something he would have considered unthinkable only a few short minutes earlier. He shuttered his aura once more, and summoned a powerful ball of flame in his right hand, before letting it fly in the direction of the same man he had hit earlier, quickly followed by two others. The two ships were much closer to each other now, and it left little chance for the man to dodge his fate. The first one struck cleanly, killing at least fifteen of his underlings, as he drew magic from them into his own shield to survive. He managed to dodge the second one, but it still took down three of his men who were unfortunate enough to be standing in the line of fire. The third and final missile also found its target, sealing the fate of every man aboard the enemy vessel, including their leader.

The only men who remained, were the crew of the ship, who were now frantically trying to retreat. Lusam was numbed by feeling so many death-pulses. Never before had he felt death so intensely. He knew he couldn’t allow the ship to remain afloat and retreat back to the Empire, only to bring more of its evil to the shores of Afaraon. He had no desire to kill the men aboard however, as they posed little threat to anyone, even if they did manage to swim back to shore. The two ships were now less than a hundred paces apart, and the helmsman aboard the Pelorus had already adjusted their course so they didn’t collide with the enemy ship. Lusam reached for the sea between the two ships with his mind, and isolated a narrow column of water. He encased the water within a force-field and instantly froze its contents, creating a long blade-like structure twice as high as the enemy ship, and twice as long as the ship was wide. The newly formed ice-blade desperately wanted to escape his grasp and shoot to the surface by itself, but Lusam still gave it a strong push of his own to help it on its way. The giant shard of ice broke through the surface of the sea, cutting the enemy ship cleanly in half, scattering men, bodies and timber from the enemy ship over a large area. The two halves of the ship quickly sank, leaving only the flotsam of what once was. The giant ice-blade was the only refuge for the few men who had survived, but even that began to melt rapidly in the relatively warm waters.

Neala could tell what it had just cost Lusam to kill all those men, and she knew there was nothing she could say that would make him feel any different, so she simply hugged him tightly, and reminded him that she
still
loved him. Renn only gave his shoulder a squeeze, but remained silent, and even Alexia chose not to try and lighten the mood with any of her jokes or jibes. The absolute stillness aboard ship was palpable. Not a soul moved on deck, not a sound made, or an order issued. It was as if they were suddenly afloat a ghost ship.

Lusam eventually broke their embrace, realising himself there was something amiss with the crew. He reached for Neala’s hand, intending to return to the aft deck to seek out some much needed solitude, but when he turned around, he found every member of the crew frozen to the spot with a complete look of awe on their faces. Then as one, a huge cheer went up, and men started scurrying like ants towards him to congratulate him for his destruction of the enemy ship. They surrounded him in seconds, lifting him off the deck onto their shoulders, and forcing him to release Neala’s hand. At first Lusam tried to resist the praise and attention of the men, but their overwhelming jubilant mood was infectious, even to him, and he found himself smiling at their obvious relieved joy. The celebrations continued for several more minutes, until Captain Waylon joined them on the fore deck, at which point the men quietened a little, and returned Lusam back to his feet in front of the Captain. The Captain smiled and held out his hand to Lusam, who took it in return.

“Thank you,” The Captain said, shaking his hand firmly. Lusam nodded to the captain, not sure he was ready for words just yet, and the men cheered loudly again, but thankfully left him on his own two feet this time. Lusam couldn’t help thinking about how many men, just like these, must have lost their lives, and how many ships had been destroyed lately by the Empire ships in this area. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the precise numbers, but he knew from what he had heard that it must be in the hundreds, if not thousands.

He suddenly realised that he no longer had the right to risk the lives of these men—and certainly not to simply reach Lamuria a few days sooner than they might otherwise. If he had not been here to protect the Pelorus, it would have been destroyed for sure, and everyone aboard killed. He found that he could no longer morally justify asking the Captain and his men to travel any further south, not when he knew full well they would have to retrace the same route home
without
his protection. Every extra mile they travelled further south, made it less likely these men would ever make it home alive, and that
was
something Lusam could change.

“Captain, may I have a word, in private, please?” Lusam asked, as the Captain started heading for the main deck.

“Of course,” he replied, gesturing that Lusam should follow him.

“I think you should all come too. What I have to say affects all of us,” Lusam said to Renn, Neala and Alexia, who all exchanged curious glances, but remained silent and followed Lusam to the Captain’s cabin.

They all entered the Captain’s cabin, closing the door firmly behind them just as the quartermaster began issuing orders for the men to return back to work. Captain Waylon took to his chair behind his dark wooden desk, waiting expectantly for Lusam to speak.

“Captain, I would like you to drop us off at the next available port we come to,” Lusam said bluntly, and without preamble.

“But, we had a deal,” The Captain replied defensively, sitting up straighter in his chair, ready for an argument. Lusam held up his hand to the Captain, indicating he should listen.

“Yes, we did,” Renn agreed from Lusam’s side, looking at him curiously.

“Yes, I know we did. And we
still
do. I am not suggesting we renegotiate the payment terms, Captain, only the destination. Captain Waylon, let me ask you this: what would have happened to you, your ship, and its crew if I had not been here today? I’ll tell you, Captain—exactly the same thing that would happen to you on your return journey, when I’m
not
here to protect you. I cannot ask you, or your men to risk their lives any further than you already have for us. Every minute we sail further south, is one extra minute you must travel back north, alone, and unprotected. I
have
to live with my conscience whenever I kill our enemies, but I can choose
not
to live with your deaths on my conscience too. And so, I ask again, Captain. Please drop us at the next available port, and take your men and ship home, safely,” Lusam said, almost pleading with the man.

Captain Waylon looked to Renn for direction, as it was with him he had made the deal, and wanted to make sure he was in agreement with Lusam before setting out any new plans. Renn nodded mutely to the Captain, then returned his gaze back to Lusam. ‘
How he’s grown, in such a short space of time,
’ Renn thought to himself, no longer recognising Lusam as the innocent boy he had first met only a short time ago. It reminded him of something his old friend and tutor, Hershel had once told him: ‘
Sometimes the prize is not worth the eventual cost, and often, men discover that too late to be of any use to them
.’ Renn felt a great sense of pride in Lusam, that he had seen what he himself had not. And an equal sense of shame for himself, because he had been so blinded by his own mission to reach Lamuria, at
any
cost, even at the expense of these innocent men’s lives.

“Lusam is right Captain, we cannot risk your lives any further on this trip,” Renn agreed, placing a hand on Lusam’s shoulder and giving it a small squeeze.

“Very well,” Captain Waylon said, leaning over to a map rack and retrieving one of them. He unrolled it on his desk, weighting each corner with a brass weight, and began to study the coastline. “Here’s the closest port to our current position. In fact, we should be almost there,” he said pointing to an area on the map. Renn looked closely and read the name:
Prystone
.

“Prystone it is then, Captain,” Renn said. “I guess we should gather our things together if we’re already so close. Well, Captain, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

“Likewise,” the Captain replied, standing up and offering each of them in turn his hand. When it came to Lusam’s turn, he said, “And thank
you
, young man. We all owe you a debt of gratitude. One which I hope I can repay someday.”

“Knowing that you and your men are safely on your way home is enough for me, Captain,” Lusam replied shaking his hand. Captain Waylon smiled and nodded.

The quartermaster was on the main deck when they all stepped out, and the Captain gave him his new orders to pass on to the helmsman: they were to dock at Prystone, then return home to their families in Fairport.

“Yes, sir,” the quartermaster said enthusiastically, obviously relieved that their trip was being cut short.

It didn’t take long for the good news to spread throughout the ship, as was evident by the men’s lifted spirits. Many of the crew sung old seafaring songs, and there was a noticeable spring in the step of almost every man aboard ship.

Neala was busy packing her things away on the lower deck, and Alexia had gone to return the board game she had borrowed earlier from one of the crew, leaving Lusam and Renn to themselves on the aft deck of the ship. Lusam noticed Renn watching him, as he watched the crew go about their own work on the deck below. He was smiling at Lusam in strange sort of way, which surprised Lusam quite a bit, considering he had just scuppered Renn’s plans to reach Lamuria as fast as they might have, if they had gone further south before making landfall. He was about to ask Renn what was up, but he spoke first, breaking the silence between them.

“You know, I’m really proud of you, lad,” Renn said beaming a smile at Lusam.

“Proud of me… for what?” Lusam asked, slightly confused.

“For seeing what I couldn’t, or at least, what I chose not to see. For putting the lives of others before your own goals. And for using your own morality to guide your actions. I saw how hard you struggled with yourself, when you were faced with ending the lives of those Empire men, and for that I thank Aysha. Not because it caused you great pain to have to kill those men, but because you paused long enough to think about it, before you did. There’s no doubt that you wield great power now, Lusam, but with that power, comes even greater responsibility. And having witnessed that responsibility in you today, is what makes me so proud of you, lad.”

Lusam had been thinking of little else since he had destroyed the enemy ship and its crew. Each man aboard probably had a family of their own back home in the Empire. One they would never see again. He knew Renn had seen his fair share of combat, and wondered how he dealt with it.

“Renn… how do you do it? How do you live with yourself after you’ve killed someone? I know that I killed those Empire agents outside Coldmont, but that felt different somehow, especially at the time. They had been trying to kill us for days, and it seemed almost
reasonable
to kill them for what they had done to us. But those men on the ship… they were just following orders. I know they would likely have killed innocent people if I had let them live, but what gives
me
the right to choose who lives and dies?” Lusam asked in a quiet voice, looking to Renn for guidance. Renn remained silent for quite a while, trying to think of how best to answer such an important question.