Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Two (24 page)

“Neat!” said Alexia, trying to peer past Skelly and the others to see what was in the tunnel ahead.

“Follow me carefully, and stand only where I do, unless you want to find yourself resembling a pin cushion,” Skelly said without humour. Lusam hadn't removed their shields yet, and decided it wise to keep them active until they at least reached the other side of the tunnel, just in case one of them should accidentally trigger any of the traps within the tunnel.

Skelly led them through the tunnel, pointing out several places of danger on the way. Eventually they reached
another large round wooden doorway.
Lusam guessed it was another huge barrel, and his suspicions were confirmed as Skelly operated the mechanism with his knife, and the lid swung inwards to reveal the inside of another giant barrel. They all stepped inside and Skelly quietly closed the door behind them, then he turned and indicated for them to remain silent. He went to the front of the barrel and slid open a small spy hole to check that the room beyond was empty. Seeing nobody there he quietly said, “This door leads into a tavern we own at the rear of our guild-house, but it's still important we aren't seen, either entering or leaving the tavern by any of the patrons there. Once we emerge from here we will go up the staircase to the right, quietly. When we reach the top of the staircase we will turn right and enter a large food storage room. We can exit the tavern from within there. Stay behind me, and stay silent.” All three nodded their understanding, and after another quick check through the spy hole, Skelly sprung the door open to reveal a wine cellar not too dissimilar to the one they had just left within the guild-house.

They all silently followed Skelly up the right hand staircase; which thankfully was made of solid stone, unlike the wooden staircase to the left, which Lusam felt sure would have creaked loud enough to alert everyone in the building of their presence. When they reached the top of the stairs, Skelly once again stopped and slid open another spy
hole.
Once he was satisfied the coast was clear, he quietly opened the door and led them all through and into the storage room to the right.

The storage room wasn't that large, and most of the room was taken up with boxes of vegetables, and meat hanging from the rafters. Skelly picked his way through all the boxes and cartons, and made his way to a closed hatch on the far wall. He unbolted the hatch and quietly opened the door.

“I'm afraid this is where we part ways, but if you ever change your mind about joining us in the future, just come and see me. I'll make sure you're accepted and given a high rank within the guild, you have my word,” Skelly said.

“Thanks, I'll bear that in mind,” replied Neala holding out her hand to him, which he took without hesitation.

“Good luck to you all, I have the feeling you might need it with what you told me earlier,” Skelly said looking at Lusam.

“Yes, thanks. About that...I'd appreciate it if you kept what you know about me a secret. I think the fewer people who know the better, that goes for the guys in black robes too,” Lusam said.

“Sure, I'll keep your secret, as I'm sure you'll keep mine. Nobody would ever believe me anyway even if I told
them, I'm not sure that even I do, and I saw it with my own eyes,” he said chuckling to himself.
“Thanks,” said Lusam smiling back and offering him his hand too. Alexia also bid him farewell, then all three climbed through the hatch and found themselves in a dark alleyway at the side of the tavern, with the hatch being firmly bolted behind them.

“So now what lover-boy?” Alexia said quietly in the darkness.

“Now we get out of here,” Lusam whispered back.

“If she calls you that again you have my permission to turn her into a toad, or something equally disgusting,” Neala whispered from behind. Lusam just smiled to himself and headed off in the direction of the temple, Neala and Alexia closely following behind.

They only reached the second intersection before they turned a corner and came face to face with two Empire agents. Lusam saw the unexpected reaction of the two men, and realised his mistake too late; he'd forgotten to cancel their magical shields. He and the other two would be lit up like giant fireflies to their mage-sight. Instinctively he sent out a blast of force towards the two men sending them hurtling into the wall behind, but not before one of them had managed to cast his silence spell on him.

He couldn't speak, so he gestured to the others to follow him as he ran for the cover of the back streets. It didn't take long for another two Empire agents to show up, no doubt sensing the excessive use of magic. This time Lusam could see that they already had their shields in place. He gestured that they all should remain close together, then he increased the strength of his shield around all three of them as they continued running towards the temple. It was a good job he had fortified his shield, because only moments later he was struck by two successive blasts from the chasing pair of men.

He held the blasts at bay with relative ease, but he could feel the instant drain on his reserves as each blast struck his shield. He knew if he was only shielding himself that it would have affected him much less, but with such a large area to protect it quickly sapped his strength. Blast after blast pounded his shield as they ran on towards their goal. At one point he turned and fired a shot back at his pursuers, only to see it fizzle on their shield with little or no effect.

Noticing the bombardment intensify on his shield he glanced back over his shoulder, only to discover another two men had joined forces with the first two, and were now also launching magical missiles at him. He knew he had to change his tactics, and fast, or he would never make it to the
temple before his reserves were drained.
He decided to use the buildings as best he could to block their shots. He switched streets and alleys at every opportunity, denying the pursuing men as many direct shots at his party as he could.

It seemed to be working for the first few minutes, but soon more and more of the Empire agents joined forces. He didn't dare slow down to look, but by the number of shots he was now taking he estimated that at least ten were now chasing them. He was extremely relieved to see the temple come into view as he turned the next corner, but equally dismayed to see yet another two men in black robes between him and the temple. There was nothing else he could do apart from run straight at them, zigzagging down the street, avoiding as many blasts as he could. It worked better than he thought it would, several of the blasts coming from the chasing pack missed them and impacted on the shields of the two blocking the road ahead.

What happened next amazed him. From the temple doorway emerged over a dozen paladins, each armed with a sword and shield and in full chain-mail. They charged the two men blocking the road, cutting through their magical shields as if they weren't even there, killing both men instantly. Lusam felt the double shock wave of their deaths ripple through him even before their lifeless bodies hit the ground.

As the paladins came within earshot, he heard the distinct voice of Hershel call out from within the group.

“Don't stop, keep running boy.” Lusam tried to reply, forgetting he still couldn't speak, so he just nodded and continued running. The paladins formed up behind his party, retreating along with them, and using their blessed shields to block the missiles coming from the dozen or so Empire agents now closing on their position. When they approached the entrance to the temple the doors opened, and they were beckoned inside by another couple of paladins. Just before he ducked inside Lusam turned to see how the main group of paladins were doing, and he didn't like what he saw. It looked like two of them had been injured and were being carried by several of the others, which left them exposed and extremely vulnerable to further attacks.

The Empire agents were now concentrating their fire-power on the weakened area of the paladins defences, pounding it relentlessly. He indicated for Neala and Alexia to remain inside the temple, and they seemed to understand what he had in mind. With Neala and Alexia safely inside he no longer needed to shield them, and instead focused on sending his magical barrier to fortify the weak spot in the paladins defensive line. The magical shield had an immediate positive effect on their speed of retreat, enabling
them to effectively carry their injured men, and reform their defensive line more effectively.
The first volley of shots that Lusam's shield absorbed almost brought him to his knees with its sudden massive drain on his reserves. Having seen the paladins reform their defensive line, he quickly narrowed his magical barrier so it only covered the gap in their defences, meaning most of the impacts were now being absorbed by the paladin's shields, instead of his.

As they approached the main entrance several of the magical missiles impacted on the walls surrounding the door, but seemed to do no visible damage. Lusam stepped inside the temple walls out of harm's way, and immediately felt the spell restricting his speech fade away. Moments later the men were safely inside the temple and the door firmly barred behind them. Lusam heard the impacts of several more magical missiles, but no-one seemed concerned about it, and it soon ceased.

Lusam could see that one of the men was badly injured, the other less so, but would still require medical attention. They were both carried into the large room where Lusam had first met Hershel and laid down on a long table against the far wall. One of the paladins quickly accessed the injuries of the worst of the two men.

“How is he?” asked Hershel, concern evident on his
face.
The man assessing his injuries just shook his head at Hershel's inquiry, indicating there was no hope for him.

“Lusam, you have to try and help him,” Neala whispered at Lusam's side.

“I intend to,” Lusam replied. “Those men most likely saved our hides out there. I'm not about to let any of them die if I can avoid it.”

“He looks pretty beat up to me, I'm not sure anyone could do anything for him,” Alexia said looking at the man on the table.

“If anyone can help him, Lusam can,” Neala replied squeezing Lusam's hand, then nudging him forward towards the unconscious man. He walked over to the makeshift bed where Hershel was now praying for his fallen comrade's soul. Lusam wanted to speak with Hershel first, but he felt strangely uncomfortable breaking into his private prayers, and decided to just try and help the man if he could.

Lusam placed his hand on the man's chest and sent his mage-sight into his body, searching for whichever was his most life threatening injury. It didn't take him long to see that it was his heart that had taken the brunt of the magical impact. It amazed Lusam the man still clung to life at all with his injuries, but he put that out of his mind and quickly set to work repairing his damaged organ, and surrounding tissues. Knitting the muscles of the heart
together while they still moved was no easy task, and several times he lost his concentration, having to restart that part of the repair again.
After about ten minutes he had managed to repair his heart and moved on to the surrounding damage caused by the impact. Apart from a few minor blood vessels that needed to be repaired around the main impact area, the rest was just superficial, and only took him a few more minutes to complete. When Lusam opened his eyes he could see that the wound was now fully closed, even though the amount of blood on his chest suggested otherwise. He reached over and grabbed a cloth from the end of the table and wiped away the blood to reveal a perfectly healed chest. He heard a gasp from the man who had first assessed his injuries as he saw the results of Lusam's work.

Hershel however was still in prayer, and completely oblivious to his comrade now regaining consciousness right in front of him. As he woke, his hand instinctively went to his chest, but found no signs of trauma. Gingerly he sat upright and swung his legs over the edge of the table. Lusam playfully put his finger to his lips, indication for the man to stay silent while Hershel continued his prayers. The two paladins got the joke immediately and nodded their approval, whilst Lusam went to see the less injured man.

The second man had suffered an impact on his left
leg, and it was a quick and simple task to heal him in comparison with the first man's injuries.
Once he was fully healed Lusam indicated for him to also remain silent, which he did. Unfortunately the other twenty or so men in the room must have found it far more difficult keeping their humour in check, as one after another escalated from chuckling to themselves, to bursting out in fits of laughter at Hershel's expense.

Hershel opened his eyes, ready to berate his men for their lack of respect for their fellow paladin about to die on the table in front of him, but he was cut short by the man himself.

“Sir, I think praying for my soul may be a little premature, just yet,” he said, grinning at the look of astonishment on Hershel's face.

“I...I don't understand. How's this possible?” Hershel said, also noticing the second man up on his feet too.

“I don't know how he did it, but our young friend over there placed his hand on them, and their wounds healed before my very eyes,” said the man who first assessed their injuries. The two men Lusam had healed were already thanking him verbally, and shaking his hand enthusiastically as Hershel approached him.

“Well boy, I've never seen the likes before, I can tell
you that,” Hershel half-whispered shaking his head.
“Thank you Lusam, we are going to need every paladin we have if we're going to turn the tide of this war, even two as useless as these,” he said pointing with his chin and smiling at the two men, who were now re-enacting, and embellishing their recent battle prowess for the other men's entertainment.