Soul of Light (The Hidden Wizard Book 4) Read online

  “A small town really. Called Londarth.”

  “Londarth it is. I’m not naive enough to believe that she will still be there, but we can find a trail.”

  “There’s always a trail.”

  “There wasn’t one here. How did we lose her?” Alrion practically mumbled the words. Lara stopped and grabbed him by the arm.

  “You have to stop beating yourself up. Sometimes you can’t do it all. We’ll make it right.” Lara looked directly into his eyes. Alrion could see the same pain that he felt. It was reassuring.

  “Good.” Alrion strode forward, “let’s get a move on.”

  “Try and keep up.” Lara darted forward, picking an odd path between the large stones littered along the path. Alrion almost lost sight of her.

  Here we go. He started to really move, and the exercise awakened him in a way that was surprising. It was invigorating.

  I’ve been too static. This is good. It was time to just lose himself in the journey for a little while.

  Hours passed, and Lara finally slowed.

  “You really do know these lands now. I didn’t think it was possible to cut a path through here that wouldn’t require us to take a break.” Alrion heaved in a deep breath. He could augment his physical endurance somewhat with the Soul Power, but it had nothing on actual training. The more he learned, the more he realised that it wasn’t a shortcut. It was more of an augmentation. He couldn’t create fitness. But he could create speed and strength in short bursts.

  “Trust me, it became pretty boring heading out time and time again. We needed to find ways to make it more interesting. And cut the duration. There’s a limit to how much you can explore in a day.” Lara drew in measured breaths. It seemed like she had used this as a rest place before.

  “I need to figure out a way to travel faster with magic.”

  “And take away another thing I can still beat you at?” Lara grinned. Alrion was thinking of a witty retort when he noticed something suddenly hurtling towards them. He reached out by instinct, sending a wave of force. The object stopped immediately and hovered in the air. Alrion stepped over to investigate. It was a jet-black arrow.

  “Good reaction.” Lara had a dagger in hand and was staring into the distance.

  Alrion activated his Soul Power and examined the arrow. He could see the taint of the Blight on it. He could even see traces in the air, where the arrow had displaced it.

  This is interesting. He followed the signs, tracking the arrow’s point of origin. A flat rock in the distance. There was a man standing on it, but at this distance was only a silhouette.

  “There. Let’s go ask him a few questions.” Alrion grabbed the arrow out of the air. He could feel the Blight within it. A familiar and unsettling feeling.

  Don’t worry you are past that.

  Alrion approached carefully, Lara by his side. She stalked along, sweeping left and right looking for threats. Alrion maintained his focus on the figure ahead of them. The man remained still, looking in their direction.

  Details began to emerge. Alrion could see the bow and quiver clearly now, as dark as the arrow. The man was wearing a black hood over his face, with a black leather jerkin. His legs though, they were something else. They were black and wiry, and the stone beneath him seemed to ooze blackness. Alrion conjured a fireball and held it in front of him as he moved closer.

  “Ahoy there. Don’t shoot the messenger!” The man’s voice was almost normal, but there was a strange accent to it that sounded off. He quickly raised his hands and backed away a little.

  “Don’t trust him, keep alert.” Lara started to circle around to approach the man from behind.

  “You shot first,” Alrion said.

  “Just to get your attention. I didn’t want to make the wrong impression.”

  “Too late,” Lara said. She was almost within striking distance. However, the man seemed unfazed by her.

  “Trust me, it would have been a lot worse had I done this.” The man seemed to become a blur and ran rings around them before settling down in the same spot. It was almost too fast for Alrion to react. But rather than loose the fireball, he had held on to avoid friendly fire.

  “See? I’m rather fast.”

  “And you leave a trail.” Lara pointed to the ground. A black tar coated the ground in a circle around them, showing his path. It quickly dried up and started to flake away.

  “What are you?” Alrion said. He had encountered nothing like this at all. Not even the Trackers were like this.

  “I prefer who. Fermur, pleased to meet your acquaintance. You may have heard of me?”

  “You’re one of the generals of the Blight.”

  “Alrion, wasn’t it?”

  “How did you find me? Why are you here?” Alrion created a second fireball. Fermur backed away more, but then noticed how close Lara was.

  “Easy now, as I said, don’t shoot the messenger. That’s all I am. I have a message for you.” Fermur seemed a little apprehensive.

  He’s probably heard of what I can do. Alrion let both fireballs dissipate into nothing. They were a distraction and were probably too slow to deal with this thing anyway.

  “Pass on your message then.”

  “With great delight. I have a message for you from our fearless leader, Darvin. He sends his regards.” Fermur paused, watching Alrion.

  “And?”

  “And he would like to inform you of two events. First, his new comrade the Skull Queen will be leading an assault on a town nearby called Carth.”

  Alyx. We’ve found you.

  “Why should we trust anything you say?” Lara inched closer, with her dagger still poised to strike.

  “I am honour bound to relay only truth. I am a messenger after all. Never liked fighting, not really. It was a benefit of my transformation then, that I could have a legitimate reason to avoid it. Do you want to hear the second part of the message?” Fermur looked at Alrion. He nodded. Fermur beamed a smile.

  “Excellent! Now, the second event of note is that Darvin himself will be leading a separate assault on the city of Hurdenor. He provides you an opportunity to confront him as the hero you are.” Fermur stopped again and assumed a waiting pose.

  “That’s it?” Alrion said. What are they playing at?

  “Yes, that is all. Were you expecting something else?” Fermur grinned like he was expecting the reaction. Alrion looked to Lara. She shrugged her shoulders lightly and kept her focus on Fermur.

  “What do you think he’s trying to tell us?” Alrion said. The grin faded from Fermur, and he took on a confused look. He leaned back and pulled out an arrow. But rather than preparing it to fire, he rubbed it between his fingers, deep in thought.

  “You know, nobody ever asked my opinion. They either tried to kill me or chase me away.”

  “You seem quite intelligent to me. I would like to hear what you think.” Alrion could see Fermur coming around. The general put the arrow back in his quiver.

  “Very well, that’s not against the rules. I think that he is taunting you. He wants you to choose between going after your friend and saving a city.”

  “Why?”

  “You are his adversary. He wants to know how you think, also, I believe, to cause you pain. That is his way. But as I said…”

  “Yes, you’re just a messenger. We get it.” Lara didn’t hide the frustration in her voice.

  “You do listen. Fantastic. I must be away then, message delivered after all.” Fermur started to whir and move away. But Alrion was ready.

  You’re not leaving. Alrion sent out a wave of force and wound it around Fermur. It prevented him from moving from the spot.

  “Curious.” Fermur looked around his feet while straining to run.

  I have to try. Alrion started releasing his Soul Power, using his magic as a conduit. He activated his enhanced vision, watching the Soul Power travelling along hidden waves. It started to wrap around and permeate Fermur.

  “Oh no, that’s cheating.” F
ermur quickly drew and fired multiple arrows at Lara. She dived down and Alrion quickly refocused his wave of force. Two arrows hit the ground and two others were diverted away by Alrion’s spell. In that instant, Fermur was gone, the only sign the trail of black ooze. It seemed to be drying up and flaking away faster than before.

  “I’m fine.” Lara stood and Alrion ran over. He helped her up.

  “No, really I’m fine.” Lara turned and looked over the slowly disappearing trail behind Fermur.

  “Do we want to follow him? It might be possible.”

  “No, he’s probably going to return to Darvin. Our focus needs to be Alyx.” Alrion noticed surprise in Lara’s face.

  “You’ve already decided?”

  “I can’t move on otherwise, no matter the cost. If we don’t act now, we will lose her again.” Alrion saw doubt in Lara’s face before she looked away.

  “You don’t agree, do you?”

  “I thought you were about saving everyone. Maybe there’s a way we can?”

  “Not this time. Please, support me on this.” Alrion looked into her eyes. She held his gaze.

  “Always. Let’s go save our friend.” Lara gave him a hug. The warmth was reassuring. But it was like he could feel it weighing on her.

  I won’t do this again. I promise.

  4

  Investigation diverted

  Vincent paused and looked around. The sweeping hills and clear sky were breathtaking. The contrast of the bright green leaves with the remnants of the snow made the surroundings much more colourful than he had expected.

  “Beautiful country around here.” Vincent brushed some snow off a knee-height rock and eased himself down.

  “You really should have tried visiting sometime.” Celes gave him a wry smile.

  “I know, I know.”

  “What do you think we will find out here? Lara and I found so little.” Celes leaned against a tree and brushed some snow off her shoulder.

  “As thorough as you were, your search was constrained by how far you could go and easily return to the Mystics. There’s a lot more going on around here, the news about Alyx is just one thing.” Vincent sighed. Alrion had taken the news harder than expected.

  He’s so blind to anything else right now.

  “He’s been tasked with the impossible. And you haven’t made it easy for him.”

  Here it is. I’ve been waiting for this conversation.

  “Our family history? I was protecting him!”

  “You may have started by protecting him, but you ended up protecting yourself.” Celes pointed at his chest with a finger and he felt real pain. She was right.

  “I know. I hope he understands. The weight of something like that, it’s crushing. I didn’t want to put it on him, nor did I want to have to deal with the fact that I had kept it silent.” Vincent paused and shook his head, “that’s always the way, isn’t it?”

  “What is?”

  “Secrets come out at the worst times.”

  “Always. I think it’s a golden rule. Makes life interesting though.” Celes chuckled, and Vincent showed a tiny smile.

  “So, was there a plan here? Or did you just want to run away from our son?”

  She’s on fire today.

  “Definitely a real plan. I wanted to get you to a bigger city, so you could get to the bottom of what’s happening around here. I think any major Blight activity will turn into a lead towards the Source. It’s inevitable.”

  “And I suppose that it’s a complete coincidence that the big city around here will be the only place with decent blacksmiths?”

  “Of course. If we need to do some investigation at the smithy’s, then, of course, I will reluctantly accept the responsibility.” Vincent grinned at Celes.

  “You are having way too much fun.” He pointed at her in a mock accusatory way.

  “I know. But I feel like we’re finally free again after twenty years of just living a different life. Not a bad one, but different. And it’s the last one.”

  “The last one?”

  “This quest, journey, adventure—whatever we are calling it. It’s the last one, I can feel it. So, I’m enjoying it for what it is when I can.”

  “I can’t argue with that.” Vincent rose and shook off the weariness. He needed to be active and strong.

  “Let’s push on and find civilisation.”

  Vincent put down the mug of ale and settled into the warmth. The little tavern was packed full of people, which was a nice change from the lonely wilderness. He gave Celes’s hand an affectionate squeeze.

  “Feeling more comfortable now?” She smiled.

  “I hadn’t realised how remote that area is. This feels better. We’re still on the fringe, but there are people and activity.”

  “Shhh.” Celes nudged her head towards a nearby conversation. Vincent nodded and tried to pick out the voices.

  “I’m telling you, I saw them. Headed towards Hurdenor. A whole horde of Blighters. But they’re using the forests to hide their movement,” an old man said. He was nursing an ale and, as he spoke, flecks of spit flew across the table. His friends laughed him off.

  “Gurt, you old dog. You’ve been on the piss again. You wouldn’t spot a horde of Blighters if they were in here with us!”

  “I swear, I hadn’t even been drinking. But now, now I need to forget all about it.” Gurt downed the rest of his drink and wiped his mouth. One of the men at the table jumped up to return to the bar.

  “Good man, Frand. You know I’m telling the truth.” Frand turned back.

  “Not really, I just want to hear what kind of ridiculous story you’ll be telling us next!” The rest of the table burst into laughter and Gurt grumbled with annoyance. Vincent leaned over.

  “Sorry, friend, I couldn’t help but overhear. Which forest was it?”

  “Finally, someone with some sense! It’s just over to the east. Easy to avoid, it’s not the way you’d normally travel. Although I’d avoid Hurdenor just in case. They couldn’t have been heading anywhere else.”

  “I wouldn’t want to risk that, not after hearing your story.” Vincent fished out a coin and flicked it onto the table in front of Gurt, “for your trouble.” Gurt quickly pocketed the coin.

  “Thanks.” He looked about to say something else, but Frand returned with his drink. Vincent looked over at Celes.

  “I know that look.”

  “Good, we can skip the conversation where I convince you to follow me into the woods.” Vincent finished off his ale and slammed the mug down.

  “You know, you’re lucky that I love you.” Celes rose carefully and threaded her way between the bodies and tables and found the door. Vincent followed close and paused before he left, relishing the heat.

  The cold chill was worse than he expected. Night had fallen, and a stiff breeze brought the temperature down even more. Vincent nodded towards the edge of town, and Celes followed close.

  “Do you really believe there’s an attack brewing?”

  “I believe enough to go tramp through the cold and drag you with me.”

  “Good. This is one of those situations where I would rather you were wrong and had dragged me out here for no reason.”

  “Likewise. I can’t explain it, but it just feels like something is brewing. I can’t ignore this.” Vincent found a path between two houses, that headed into the trees. He noticed a lantern by the side of the path and bent down to pick it up.

  “Looks like we’re not the first to venture down here. Can you light it?” Vincent handed it to his wife. Celes retrieved something from her cloak and knelt on the ground. Within moments, she had a flame going and handed the lantern back to Vincent.

  “After you.” Vincent accepted the light and walked ahead. He noticed Celes walking closely behind him on the narrow path.

  “Do you think we are being followed?” Vincent didn’t stop to wait for a response and kept walking. The path was easy enough to follow but didn’t seem to be much in use.

&nb
sp; “No, all clear.”

  “That’s a relief. I’m so hasty sometimes, this whole thing could have been a setup.”

  “That’s why I’m here, to keep you out of trouble. Speaking of which, what have you been up to these last weeks?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “While I’ve been out in the countryside, you never ventured out. What have you been up to?”

  “Keeping an eye on Alrion mostly and making sure he had what he needed. At other times, practising with the Soul Power.”

  “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” Celes laughed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “First chance to do something that I think of as magic, you’re all over it!”

  “Hardly. I did it to be responsible and not shirk away from my duty. It should be helpful in our quest.” Vincent expected a quip back, but there was silence. He continued to forge through the forest, pausing occasionally to look for signs of activity. There were none.

  “What can you do? With the Soul Power?”

  “I’m still figuring that out. But I seem able to heal myself and enhance my body. Gain extra speed or strength, push it beyond its normal limits.”

  “That sounds useful. I assume there’s some sort of limits to how much you can use it?”

  “Of course, once it runs out, I need time to recover. Stop a moment.” Vincent thought he could hear something. He handed the lantern to Celes and motioned for her to stay put. She nodded. Vincent enhanced his vision and was able to see in the dark. He crept forward, straining his ears for confirmation of what he had heard. Nothing yet. Then, a quiet rustling.

  Vincent stalked forward, using care to glide through the forest. Stealth wasn’t his strength, but he knew enough to avoid twigs on the ground and errant branches. The rustling became louder, spurring him on. He reached a tree and clambered in, bracing himself on the lowest branches. Vincent stifled a gasp.

  Before him marched an army of Blighters. With care and minimal noise, they were slowly advancing through the forest. Each one looked intensely focused and in control.

  What is this? The tip was good, he needed to warn Celes. Vincent spun quickly and almost lost his grip. He paused, feeling his heart pounding. After a few deep breaths, he lowered himself down and ran back as quietly as he could.