Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (56 page)

“I’m afraid I cannot allow you to accompany us to the Guardian book room, Neala,” the High Priest said, sounding a little unsure of himself.

“You have to let me go! I need to be with Lusam, to make sure he’s alright,” she protested, firmly taking hold of Lusam’s hand.

“Neala, my child, you heard Aysha say that she would take care of Lusam while he read the Guardian book. There is nothing you can do there that Aysha cannot. Aysha also gave you a wonderful gift, and asked that you use it to gain Lusam enough time to read the Guardian book. Surely you can see that Aysha wants you to help Lusam in a different way, other than sitting vigil by his side? Have faith, my child, and all will be well.”

Lusam hated to think of Neala being in danger while he was unconscious through reading the Guardian book, but he couldn’t fault the logic of the High Priest’s words. Neither could he deny what he had heard Aysha tell them all: either they won this battle, or the world and everything in it would perish.

“He’s right, Neala, you should go help the others while I do this. If we fail, we lose everything. I’ve seen how well you fight, Neala, and I know they could use your skill out there. Just promise me that you’ll stay safe, and not take any unnecessary risks. If I lost you, I’m not sure I would care what happens to the world anymore,” Lusam said quietly, trying hard to hold back his emotions at the thought of losing her. Neala threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight embrace, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

“I love you, Lusam,” she whispered in his ear.

“I love you too,” he whispered back, hugging her tightly.

During that long embrace Neala made a promise to herself that she would gain Lusam the time he needed, no matter what the cost. It was a promise she intended to keep.

***

Lusam felt terrible at having to send Neala away and putting her in harm’s way, but he knew if they were to succeed, Hershel would need every fighter he could get on the battlefield. He wished he’d had the opportunity to speak with Renn or Hershel about keeping an eye on her, but he trusted they would do so anyway, knowing how much he cared for her. And if they couldn’t for any reason, he was sure Alexia would. Even so, he found himself in silent prayer to Aysha, asking for her to watch over Neala while he was unable to.

The High Priest led him down a series of long corridors before they reached a large oak door. When he unlocked and opened the door, it revealed a wide stone staircase leading down into the darkness below. Lusam created a small light orb, startling the High Priest a little as he did so.

“Sorry,” Lusam said smiling at him.

“It’s perfectly alright, my child. It’s going to take me a while to get used to that I’m afraid,” the High Priest replied pointing towards Lusam’s light orb. Lusam nodded, and let the High Priest lead the way down the stone stairs. When they reached the bottom, Lusam brightened his light orb to reveal a room not dissimilar to the basement in Mr Daffer’s book shop. If anything, this room was even larger than the one in Helveel, but it didn’t have the numerous corridors leading away from it like that one did. Instead, it had only a single corridor at the far end of the room which disappeared into the darkness beyond.

As they walked through the large chamber Lusam couldn’t help himself looking up at the ceiling high above them. It didn’t surprise him at all to find another intricately painted image of a temple up there. He created a second light source up near the ceiling and increased its strength to reveal the incredible detail the artist, or artists had painstakingly crafted there. The image was of a large temple, seemingly carved out of the face of a mountainside. Only the front of the building was visible, the rest seemed to be part of the mountain itself. He recognised the image as probably being that of Irragin in Mount Nuxvar, the seat of power for Lord Zelroth and the Thule Empire. He remembered Renn’s earlier description of it, but he couldn’t help feeling disappointed that it wasn’t a picture depicting another, more accessible location of a Guardian book instead.

His circle had come to an end with this image. Helveel had led to Coldmont, and Coldmont to Lamuria, but there was no way he could hope to discover what was painted on the ceiling of Irragin. He just hoped that Lord Zelroth had also failed to discover the whereabouts of that one. Lusam couldn’t help smiling to himself, when he thought of how disappointed Lord Zelroth would be if he did indeed win this battle, only to find a picture of his own home painted on the ceiling there.

The High Priest cleared his throat, snapping Lusam’s attention back to the present. For a moment he had forgotten the man was standing there as he inspected the great work of art high above him.

“Irragin in Mount Nuxvar,” Lusam stated, looking up at the image.

“Yes, you are correct, it is Irragin, but how you would know that I have no idea,” the High Priest replied looking at Lusam strangely. Lusam thought about revealing the importance of the image, and decided it couldn’t harm if the High Priest knew the truth of what the images represented. After all, he was charged with the safe keeping of this particular Guardian book, and had done a good job of it by all accounts, as had his numerous predecessors.

“It is the location of another one of the Guardian books,” Lusam said causing the High Priest to gasp out loud. “At the place where I first discovered a Guardian book there was an image of Coldmont painted on the ceiling. In Coldmont the image was of Lamuria, and here it is of Irragin.”

The High Priest took only a moment to realise the implications of Lusam’s words. “Then that would mean Lord Zelroth has read a Guardian book within Irragin,” he said sounding slightly shocked at the prospect.

“Yes, and also the one in Coldmont I’m afraid,” Lusam replied, still inspecting the image high above them. The High Priest muttered something under his breath, but Lusam couldn’t tell what.

“If you are correct, then he must suspect that there is a Guardian book here in Lamuria.”

“Yes, I believe that’s why he has been so interested in Lamuria for as long as he has. I think stealing
The Heart of the City
is secondary to him wanting to read the Guardian book here, and also discover what you have painted on this ceiling. I think he would be very disappointed to discover it was a picture of his own temple,” Lusam replied smiling at the High Priest.

“I agree child, but let us hope that we never have to find out. If you will follow me, I will show you to the book room,” the High Priest said, gesturing for them to continue on their way. Lusam nodded and followed the High Priest towards the darkened corridor up ahead, extinguishing his light orb near the ceiling, and sending the other one further in front of them to illuminate the way. The corridor wasn’t very long, and Lusam soon found himself standing outside a familiar stone door, with a five pointed star carved into it. He slipped into his mage-sight and could clearly see the five indentations on the walls, ceiling and floor that needed to be magically connected to each other to open the door.

“The incantation to open the door is quite complex. If you give me a few minutes to prepare I will open it for you,” the High Priest said beginning his preparations. Lusam hoped it was not some kind of sacred rite to open the door. The last thing he wanted to do was offend the High Priest, but he needed to get inside as soon as possible. The more time they wasted, the higher their probability of failure.

“Allow me,” Lusam said, instantly creating an unbroken line of power between the five indentations, even before the High Priest had the chance to reply. The door made a sudden grinding noise, and started its slow opening process. Lusam expected the High Priest to protest, or at least ask him how he had created the spell so fast, but he didn’t, he simply watched Lusam, as Lusam watched the door slowly open.

Once the door had opened far enough to allow him access, Lusam approached it. He carefully stepped across the invisible boundary into the room, and just as it had done in Helveel and Coldmont, the interior of the room burst into light, revealing an identical circular room. In the centre stood a familiar looking pedestal, and on that pedestal a Guardian book.

The first thing Lusam noticed about the Guardian book was the word
Transcendence
written on the front of it in large golden letters. He remembered the one in Helveel had the word
Freedom
written on it, and the one in Coldmont had
Absolution
on its cover. None of the words meant anything of significance to him, either alone or combined. He decided he would ponder over their meaning at a later date, when he had more time to do so.

One other curious thing he noticed, was the fact that the green lines-of-power he had seen in Coldmont, and later in Helveel were absent from the pedestal in this room. So too were the words associated with their relevant destinations. He then remembered that both the green lines-of-power, and the words on the pedestal had only become visible to him
after
he had read the Guardian book in Coldmont. Once he had thought about it for a moment, he realised that any mage who wished to use the pedestals to teleport from location to location, must need to have already read the Guardian books at each of those locations for it to work. If he was right, both the names and the green lines-of-power would become visible to him after he had read this Guardian book.

Lusam stepped up to the pedestal ready to open the Guardian book, but paused before he touched it. He had an idea which may, or may not prove to be of importance, but he decided to take a gamble anyway.

“Your Grace, I need to ask you to do something for me, but please, don’t ask me why, as I’m unable to answer that question,” Lusam said cryptically.

“What would you ask of me, child?” the High Priest said.

“I would like you to bring me one of the Power orbs and leave it inside this room, for when I regain consciousness,” Lusam replied. The High Priest agreed to his request, assuring him it would be there waiting for him when he regained consciousness. He thanked the High Priest, turned back to the Guardian book, and opened its cover. He was instantly enveloped by a blindingly bright light that burst forth from inside the book, freezing him in time before it. The High Priest watched him for a few more minutes, then turned to leave the room. If he had stayed a few moments longer, he would have witnessed the pulses of Aysha’s light washing over Lusam, as she watched over him.

Hershel had all of his men fully assembled for battle by the time Neala caught up with him in the barracks. She guessed the men must have already been on high alert given the current situation outside, but it was still an impressive sight to see so many paladins all in one place ready for battle. Alexia entered the room a moment later carrying what looked like several bundles of arrows.

“I thought you were staying with Lusam?” Alexia said, unwrapping the bundles of arrows on the floor.

“Yeah me too, but I figured I couldn’t let you have all the fun without me,” she replied, grinning at her old friend. “Besides, Aysha gave me these blessed knives, so I guess she wants me to help you fight.”

“
Fun
, probably isn’t the word I’d use to describe what’s out there,” Alexia replied in a serious voice.

“Oh, come on, you’re not scared of a few thousand undead are you?” Neala said with a nervous laugh.

“The undead… no. It’s the thousands of Empire magi that are making me slightly nervous,” Alexia replied, grinning up at her friend. She noticed Neala seemed unusually anxious about the coming battle, but didn’t know exactly why. She had fought alongside Neala many times in the past, and never had she seen her so unsure of herself. Alexia knew very well how good she was with a blade. No one that Alexia had ever seen her fight, had even come close to beating her in the past. So why she would suddenly be afraid of fighting the undead outside Lamuria was confusing to her. Then she suddenly realised the problem. It wasn’t her faith in her own ability to fight that she was questioning, it was her faith in Aysha: if she failed to wield her new blessed weapons, she would be defenceless on the battlefield. She simply couldn’t allow her best friend to enter battle with doubts like that, or she would never survive out there.

Alexia stood up and took hold of both of Neala’s hands. She looked her straight in the eyes, and said, “Neala, listen to me. I can see you’re having doubts about whether or not you’ll be able to use those blessed weapons that Aysha gave you. You just need to put your faith in her, and she will
not
let you down out there, I promise you. Open your heart to her fully, and let her in, Neala. Think about it, she would never have given you those blessed knives, if she didn’t
know
you were capable of using them, Neala.”

Neala smiled and nodded at her words of encouragement, but Alexia could tell she hadn’t managed to erase all her doubts, and knew that could be very dangerous for her out there. A few moments later Alexia noticed Hershel heading back towards the armoury, and hurried to catch him up. Her excuse to Neala was that she was needed there to help with the equipment distribution, but really she wanted a quiet word with Hershel about Neala’s frame of mind.