“Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t feel the proper control. He even claimed to have come of his own will. He eventually did as I commanded, but by that point more enemies were coming, and I decided it would be best to leave with the book.”
“Wise decision,” Lenamare approved.
“I had to leave the ring, I needed a protection ring, and didn’t have time to balance the elements in the rings, so I just dropped the ring. If she’s lucky, that girl Jenn may have grabbed it and kept herself from being raped when the demon returned.’
“Oh well, regrettable, but we can make another. For now, let’s make something else.” He smiled as his clothes vanished in a puff of smoke.
“Let’s,” she agreed as she raised the sheet, and extinguished the candles with a bare thought.
He was pissed.
He still wasn’t sure what it was that Lenamare had done, but it had taken everything he had to maintain that shield. At the moment he could hardly move. He sat in his throne, and his officers brought him the news. Any people not protected by the shield were gone. Ashes or less. Of those protected by the shield, half had been watching the keep and were blind, those nearest the shield had burns and were quickly sickening. Fortunately, many of his sycophants were quick to point out, Exador had had his helmet on, and was well behind his own magical shield.
He’d lost this one. He’d never expected it. He’d never thought Lenamare capable of such a feat, let alone willing to destroy his own castle. Had he destroyed all his own people? Exador had stationed patrols in key locations in case people tried escaping from the school. So far he hadn’t heard anything, but he’d have to check for himself first thing tomorrow. He didn’t think Lenamare would kill all of his own people, not if he ever wanted to get anyone else’s aid. If he could just get a hold of some of those people, he could find out for sure what Lenamare’s plans were.
For now though, all they could do was clean up the mess and treat the wounded. He had a few master healers left and they were analyzing the sick victims, apparently, there was some sort of sickness spell associated with the explosive spell. Tomorrow he would search. Tonight he had to sleep. His powers were drained lower than they had been in centuries, if not a millenia. If he ever got that sludgeworm Lenamare in his grasp, he’d certainly have to wring the secret of that spell from him. Damn effective.
Once they’d finished eating, Jenn began saddling her horse and preparing for the day’s journey, Tom had flown up to see if anyone was following them, so Rupert had a few minutes to himself. He felt better today than he had in a long time. He was still a little nervous, but happier than he could remember being in the last several years.
After all the walking yesterday his feet ached a bit, so did his back for some reason. He reached up to scratch his head which had been itching him all morning, and felt a slight swelling above his temple. He was slightly surprised, apparently he’d relaxed more last night than he’d thought. He’d have to be careful. He still wasn’t completely confident. True, Tom had given him a part of his name, but he hadn’t said anything to him. He’d really been scared, when it had looked like Tom might leave. He didn’t know what he’d have done then.
When you want something all your life, which in his case was only about a decade, and then to almost have it in your grasp and lose it. Scary, he still hadn’t figured out exactly what Tom was doing, maybe testing him. Last night, though... maybe, Tom seemed to care about him. He gave a hasty prayer to whoever managed such things, then turned as Tom descended.
“No one in sight, I didn’t look very far, but it seems clear for a while.”
“Fine, shall we go then. Rupert, have you changed your mind about riding?” Jenn asked hopefully.
“No, I’ll walk,” Rupert said to both of them.
“Are you sure, we’ll be going all day, not just for a few hours?”
“I’m sure,” Rupert said as Tom simply looked on without saying anything. Jenn gave up in despair and pointed her horses toward the trail. Today she’d switched and was riding Timber Leaf. She’d still saddled Bitterwhite though, since she’d hoped Rupert would ride, and she didn’t have anything else to do with the gear. At this rate it would take a long time to reach Freehold.
