The Unsuspecting Mage (41 page)

“Let’s see,” James replies as he takes it. Wrapping the scarf around his hand, he holds the compass nestled within it. Closing his eyes he concentrates, thinking of the owner of the scarf and wanting to find her. He lets loose the power and the compass slowly swivels to the south, away from the road and into the grasslands.

Showing it to Rylin he points toward the south and says, “She’s that way.”

“Is she alive?” he asks earnestly.

“It doesn’t tell me that, just where she is,” he responds. “Even if she’s dead, we can still deal with the bandits.” Turning to Miko he says, “Bring our horses.” Miko hurries to comply and soon returns with the three animals.

As he and Miko make ready to ride, Rylin asks, “What about me?”

“Get on behind Miko,” James says, trying to ignore the look he flashes him. Once Rylin has mounted, James turns his horse in the direction indicated by the compass. “Let’s ride quick and see if we can catch them.” Without waiting for a reply, he kicks his horse into a gallop and they race off the road into the grasslands with James leading the way.

The rain steadily worsens, increasing until it’s a heavy downpour and reducing visibility to mere feet. It doesn’t take long before the ground begins showing signs of the bandits’ progress. The grass becomes increasingly trampled and the mud rain-soaked earth begins to show hoof prints. No longer needing his compass, James puts it away and concentrates on the trail before them.

Pointing to the trail they are following, James says, “The rain hasn’t had enough time to be able to remove the signs of their passing. Therefore, they can’t be too far ahead.”

“That makes sense,” Miko says looking at the signs of the bandits passing.

“If this rain continues as it is, we may end up riding right into them before we even know they are there,” says Rylin.

“That’s a chance we’ll have to take,” James says. A moment later, he comes to a stop and dismounts for a moment. Scanning the ground, he picks up several stones and places them in one of his pockets.

Mounted again, they once more set off after the bandits. Another hour passes and the rain continues its relentless downpour. The trail becomes clearer and more distinct now that they have narrowed the gap. Even with the torrential deluge, they have little trouble making it out.

Then, from out of the rain ahead comes a woman’s scream. “Sheila!” shouts Rylin. Kicking their horses into a gallop, they race forward hoping to arrive in time.

No sooner had James reached a full gallop, than indistinct shadows appear before him. Unable to stop in time, he rushes headlong into the bandits’ camp, knocking down two of them before even realizing they are there. As the two bandits hit the ground his horse slams into the side of a tent and the unexpected impact vaults him from the saddle. He hits the tent and it collapses beneath him.

“To arms! Intruders!” sounded the alarm.

James rolls and clears the side of the collapsing tent, gaining his feet. He looks around and sees men running toward him with swords drawn. Reaching into his pocket he pulls out the stones. With magic aiding aim and velocity, one of his missiles strikes the nearest attacker square in the chest. The bandit looks in startled surprise at the hole that appeared in his chest before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Three more men are bearing down on him so he turns and runs, keeping distance between them. He concentrates, then stops suddenly and spins quickly toward his pursuers, casting his flashing light spell. The brilliance of the flash causes them to pause for an instant, long enough for him to throw three more stones in quick succession, taking them out.

“To me!” he hears a commanding voice pierce the air. “To me!”

A clash of metal off to his right signals Rylin’s entry into the battle. Following the sound, he finds the caravan guard hard pressed battling two of the bandits. Using his last stone, he nails one of them in the side, dropping him to the ground. Rylin steps back a moment and glances over to see James, who is but a shadow in the rain. He acknowledges him with a nod and then continues the attack on the remaining bandit pressing him.

James moves in the direction from which the commanding voice had called out earlier. Darting around another tent, he spies a group of men heading toward him. One is covered in armor and wielding a long sword, obviously the leader. They are heading toward the sound of Rylin’s battle with the bandit.

He waits too long and one of the approaching bandits sees him standing by the tent and cries out, pointing him out to the others. The leader yells for them to charge and they surge forward, swords drawn.

Seeing a dozen men bearing down on him, James turns and runs, angling away from where Rylin is battling in the hopes of giving him time to finish his opponent before help arrives.

Another shape materializes out of the rain ahead of him and he prepares another spell. Then he realizes it’s Miko leading the horses and mule.

“Are you okay?” Miko asks before spying the raging, sword waving men emerging out of the rain behind James.

“Get the hell out of here!” James yells at Miko, then turns to face the men. He concentrates on the ground near the leading edge of the attackers and lets loose a massive surge of power just as the men enter the targeted area.

Crrrrumph!

The ground erupts, throwing men, mud and rocks high into the air. James cries out at the pain caused by unleashing so much power at once. He drops to his knees, refusing to give in to unconsciousness.

Surveying the damage through the rain and falling mud, he sees most of the men lie unmoving. From behind the scene of carnage, three men, one being the leader, walk around the crater in the ground he just made. Coming toward him cautiously, the men gain confidence when they see him on his knees.

James grabs a stone from off the ground as he climbs to his feet and faces the approaching men. “Stand back!” he yells, putting more strength and confidence in his voice than he really feels. “Lest you wish to die.”

“You’re the one to die, mage,” the leader says as he continues his approach, a smug smile upon his face. “You can’t have much left in you after that, not if it left you on your knees.”

Coming off his knees through a sheer force of will, James stands straight and tall, praying that his knees won’t collapse on him. “Die then,” he yells and throws the stone at the leader while casting his spell. There is no familiar out-surging of power and the rock glances harmlessly off the leader’s armor. His magic has been all but depleted and the effort to draw on the little remaining to him causes dots to dance before his eyes.

Laughing, the leader says “Take him boys.” His two men come at James as he turns and tries to run away. But his weak legs give out and drop him to the ground. Turning, he sees his death coming at a run.

Thwock!

A crossbow bolt flies out of the rain to strike one of the men in the shoulder, spinning him backward. The bandit cries out in pain as he hits the ground. James looks to where the crossbow bolt originated and sees Miko throwing down the crossbow. Drawing his knife, Miko comes and stands before James.

The other bandit, seeing who it was who shot his partner says, “I’m going to gut you boy. You’re going to die slow and painful.”

Miko stands ready and doesn’t back down. James can see that the boy’s legs are shaking. He’s scared to death, but still holds his ground.

A fast-moving shadow emerges from the pouring rain and slams into the man approaching Miko, knocking him to the ground. Rylin quickly regains his feet and slashes down, catching the bandit in the neck, practically severing his head from his shoulders.

Roaring in rage, the leader rushes Rylin and launches into a series of blows, causing him to retreat in the face of such an onslaught. Rylin successfully blocks the leader’s attacks but seems to be doing all he can just to hold his own.

Hack! Hack! Slash!

It is soon obvious that Rylin is outclassed, the leader is by far the better swordsman and he’s protected by armor.

Miko approaches the battle in an attempt to help Rylin, but only receives a back handed cut for his efforts that slashes open his upper left arm. Out of commission, he backs away from the fight. He tears a strip of cloth off his shirt and uses it to stem the flow of blood coming from his arm, tying it as tightly as he can.

James watches as Rylin blocks blow after blow, never once being able to go on the offensive. The two combatants move around the camp, the leader seemingly able to have Rylin go in any direction he wants simply with the pattern of his blows.

Miko glances over at Rylin then says, “He’s not going to last much longer. If we don’t do something soon we’ll all be dead.” He reaches over and takes James’ hand, “Just do it!”

Nodding, James concentrates, envisioning the power flowing from Miko into him and then through him. He looks over at the battle where Rylin who’s obviously exhausted, is having greater difficulty in blocking the leader’s blows.

Suddenly, Rylin cries out as the leader scores along his side opening a shallow cut. The leader shouts in triumph, “Aha!” when he sees the blood beginning to well from Rylin’s wound. Blow after blow the leader rains down upon him, continuously pushing him backward.

The leader maneuvers Rylin back close to the man Miko shot with the crossbow who is still lying on the ground. The man, though in pain, reaches out and grabs Rylin’s ankle causing him to lose his balance and stumble to the ground. The leader sees his chance and raises his sword to finish it.

Feeling the power flowing from Miko to him, James releases it and feels it being sucked out of his friend at an alarming rate. Miko cries out before slumping to the ground unconscious. James keeps a tight hold of his hand so the contact won’t be broken. He directs the power to the upraised sword of the leader, increasing the disparity of polarities between the sword and the clouds above.

Flash! Boom!

A giant bolt of lightning flashes from the sky to strike the end of the sword. The resulting explosion blasts the leader into the air. The bandit on the ground is charred as both he and Rylin are lifted into the air and tossed several feet away.

The leader, when he hits the ground, no longer moves. Wisps of smoke drift upward from his body and a hissing sound can be heard from where the rain comes in contact with the heated metal of his armor.

Rylin looks down at himself and nods, “I think so, is it over?” He presses his hand over the cut in his side to stem the flow of blood.

“I don’t see anyone else but us moving, so I think it is,” he replies.

Helping Rylin to his feet, James says, “My friend is over there,” pointing to where the boy lies in the grass. “He’s out, but alive.”

“Thank goodness,” Rylin sighs, leaning on James for support. “Now, let’s find the women.”

They return to the collapsed tent where the battle started. There they find a lump under the canvas, and it isn’t moving. Thinking the worst, they pull back the tent and uncover a bandit. The man’s neck is bent at a wrong angle, obviously broken, and his pants are down around his ankles.

Rylin quickly scans the camp through the rain but sees nothing other than the dead bandits. “Sheila!” he cries into the rain. “It’s Rylin! It’s safe, they are all dead.”

James looks around as well and soon spies two silhouettes appearing out of the rain, coming toward the camp.

“Sheila!” Rylin cries and runs over to them, James following.

The women, though shaken and upset, seem to be alright. Sheila is wrapped in a blanket and her mother has her arms around her. She has a lost look about her.

Rylin turns to her mother and asks, “Is she okay?”

“One of the bandits was just about to have his way with her,” she explains. “He had stripped her and was about to…,” overcome with emotion, she stopped. Getting hold of herself, she continued. “Then something hit the side of the tent, knocking it over.”

Rylin puts his arm around her and begins to offer comfort when her eyes suddenly widen at something behind him and she looks as though she’s ready to bolt. Seeing her reaction, Rylin turns around expecting an attack but only finds James walking toward them.