‘Lord Hathen proved to be the weakest link. He tried to escape from the Magicians’ Game. His weaves collapsed and the game fell in upon him. He, Lord Irshank and the other magicians were all killed. Master Glim and Master Sanctus tried their best to limit the damage, but I’m afraid the palace is in desperate need of some reconstruction now. Half the city’s engineers are there right at this moment. The other half are trying to decide if the tower will stay up or not-so we should probably hurry along.’
Samuel nodded distantly. ‘Ah…I see.’
‘What of the Staff? And the Argum Stone?’ Lomar asked with interest.
‘Destroyed,’ Samuel said. ‘I managed to get the Argum Stone from Ash and I used it against him. In the end, they destroyed each other.’
Lomar nodded thoughtfully. ‘Then the legacy of the Ancients did, indeed, prove itself.’
Samuel nodded numbly and they started back down the winding tower stairs.
Samuel could feel the Argum Stone jiggling in his pocket, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. If anyone were to find out, the Order would certainly confiscate the relic for their own purposes. After this latest experience, he still did not trust any of them.
They made their way down the many steps, with Samuel using the shoulder of his friend for support. The feeling in his body was returning, like jagged glass thrust into his joints, and the pain would not be dulled as it slid beneath his skin.
They finally made ground level and staggered out into the palace grounds, where crowds of people had gathered by torch-light and mage-light. Samuel could see that Lomar had not been exaggerating, for there was a great hole in the side of the palace beside the High Tower and a pile of broken rubble lay sprawled out beneath it. Magicians were busy casting spells onto the tower while soldiers and engineers were propping great beams against the palace to keep the remaining walls supported. General Ruardin’s booming voice could be heard shouting out orders and instructions.
Eric was the first to throw himself onto Samuel, and Master Glim and Goodfellow were not far behind. ‘Samuel! You did it!’ he cried. He had a bloodied length of bandage around his middle and a swathe of spells around his wounds.
‘Eric, you made it,’ Samuel said. He tried to push some excitement into his voice, but he barely had the strength to make the words, let alone fill them with emotion.
‘Of course,’ Eric declared. ‘I can’t feel a thing. Isn’t it great?’
Samuel looked to Master Glim with puzzlement.
‘I know, Samuel,’ the old teacher explained. ‘He should be in bed, but he refused to rest until we found you. In a few minutes, he’ll drop like a horse when he realises how tired he is.’
‘Good,’ Samuel said, with Eric’s arms still locked around him. ‘I think he’s killing
Master Glim nodded and, with a wave of his finger, set a spell upon Eric, who immediately retracted his arms from Samuel and sighed. He staggered backwards, eyes closed, and fell gently into Master Glim’s embrace and was fast asleep. Master Glim, in turn, placed Eric tenderly onto the soft lawn.
‘He should be well once my spells have had a chance to mend him. It’s a deep wound. His own attempts to stop the bleeding were pathetic, but I do admit he was in no state to cast much of anything. I think it was actually just his sheer stubbornness that stopped him from bleeding to death altogether.’
‘We should get him to a bed,’ Samuel suggested.
‘You, there,’ Lomar called to a wide-eyed servant who was standing nearby and gawking at the scene of destruction. ‘Take him to a bed and be careful.’
‘Yes, My Lord,’ the man replied and, with the help of another couple of men, picked up the drooping form of Eric and lugged him off into the palace.
‘Don’t bump his head!’ Master Glim shouted after them. ‘And be careful with that dressing!’
‘It seems as though you need some attention, as well, Samuel,’ Goodfellow stated. ‘You look terrible!’
‘Perhaps, you’re right,’ Samuel said, feeling the weariness in his bones and the pain in his muscles. ‘I think the day is starting to catch up with me.’
‘We’ll find somewhere for you to rest, too,’ Master Glim said. ‘It’s been too long since any of us had some decent sleep.’
‘Very well,’ Samuel conceded. ‘But which way is the tower going to fall? I don’t want to be in that direction.’
Master Glim laughed and summoned over some more servants and together they helped Samuel inside. Samuel was barely aware of what was happening but, when he felt his head falling against a soft pillow and a mattress beneath his body, he knew it was time to finally let go and sleep took him firmly into its folds.
‘Samuel?’ a voice called through the deep darkness.
Samuel let his eyes flutter open, for he was still trying to decide if he was really awake or still dreaming, and at once noticed Tulan Goodwin seated on a small stool beside him, next to the bed.
‘Tulan?’ Samuel asked groggily.
‘I wanted to see you one last time before I left.’
‘Where are you going?’ Samuel asked wearily; then some realisation came back to him. ‘What…what are you doing here?’
‘I’m sorry, Samuel. I’ve been hiding in the city all this time, but now matters have finally been sorted, I must leave. The Royal Guard and half the Empire are still after me, so I must be away quickly while I have the chance.’
‘Have you really been working for the Gartens?’ Samuel asked, sitting himself up in bed and waking up a little more.
‘Yes,’ Tulan admitted. ‘I have lived almost all my life in Turia, but I am a Garten by birth. I came to Turia in my youth to explore my skills with the aid of the Order, hiding my true lineage. I soon found, however, even at that youthful age, that the Order was just as hollow and shallow as the Turian Empire itself, so I tried to keep to myself as much as I could and concentrate on my studies. Unfortunately, when government agents in my home learned I had been accepted into the Order, they began to demand favours. If I did not do everything they asked, my family would pay for my “treachery”. At first, I only needed to drop a message here, a note there, but each time they demanded more and more from me until I was deeply involved within their network of spies. Finally, they demanded that I find a way to kill the Emperor. I used my friendship with Master Kelvin and others around the Empire to gain a place on the Council and, when the opportunity arose, as you know, I took it. I’m sorry I used you. You and the Grand Master had your own plans, I know, but I could not take the chance that you would fail.’
‘It doesn’t matter, Tulan,’ Samuel said. ‘Everything has ended up for the best. You did what you had to do and the Emperor is dead. But how will you escape? I’m sure you must be the most wanted man in the Empire.’
Tulan smiled. ‘The Empress now owes me quite a favour, so she is giving me one week to disappear forever. You see, my contacts had learned of hidden rooms and dungeons in the palace many years ago. After killing the Archmage, I left my men to finish their work with the Emperor and went down to wait for them. You can imagine my surprise when I found that someone else had also found the dungeons. Dividian had set up a laboratory there to practise all his dark rituals unseen. When I heard of the Empress’ disappearance, I had to find a way back into the palace and check there for myself. Inside, Dividian had several prisoners, with the Empress and Grand Master Anthem among them. They were quite glad to be freed, as you could guess.’
‘So now everything is over, will you return to Garteny?’
‘Yes. Hopefully, I may even receive a reward for my success and my family will not be threatened any longer-or so I hope. I will find a quiet place in a quiet town and disappear as well as I can. I certainly cannot stay here or anywhere within the Empire’s reach.’
Samuel nodded in understanding. ‘Where are the others?’ Samuel asked.
‘The others? Oh, yes. They’re all still trying to organise some order in the city. The last of Ash’s mercenaries and any rogue magicians have to be routed out. Until a short time ago, everyone was still helping to reinforce the tower, but I’ve heard it shouldn’t fall any time soon and they’ve already begun reconstruction of the fallen palace walls.’
‘How long have I been asleep?’ Samuel asked, looking out to the grey sky beyond the window.
‘Two days. It’s morning now. I thought you would feel like some breakfast.’
