one dies when the other does. Amazing, but also sad and beautiful.
“I want that,” he said with a surprisingly high amount of conviction.
“Good. You can have it. You have the ability to connect with someone if you try. Now remember, you are your thoughts.”
“So I’d better start being the man I want to be with the kind of mind that Emma will want to live in,” he said, smiling.
Arkin patted his shoulder. It felt like a great weight had been taken off him, and he decided that from that point on, he was going to work his hardest on himself. He was going back to Salmont to get Emma, just as soon as they got Legon and Sasha to the border.
Arkin rode separate from the others for a while trying not to let his fatigue show, when suddenly he felt Legon’s presence.
“Are you ok?” Legon’s voice said in his mind. It was followed by energy that coursed through his veins. Arkin told Legon about the Iumenta searching for them, and almost at once Legon offered his strength to him. It was rare that Arkin felt the pull of other magic users on his spells this hard. He pushed it from his mind knowing the drain wouldn’t last long. Legon inquired about what kind of spells he could use for protection. Silently, Arkin explained that wards were passive forms of magical protection. You could have a ward active and feel no drain until it was needed. Legon was months away from using the complex magic needed for masking them, but Arkin could use Legon’s considerable magical power to do it himself.
Suddenly Arkin felt a huge drain on his wards. There was thick forest on all sides of the road now. Legon rounded up the others, bringing them in close to him. It was easier to protect things that were close to him as magic was affected by space. Arkin felt his heart race as another huge hit on his wards drained energy from his magical reserves and his body.
“Dragon,” he said in a hoarse voice.
They all moved off the road and Legon came up next to Arkin, placing his hand on his shoulder. He felt Legon open the connection between their minds all the way. The power was amazing. He felt a deep well of magic in him, but still it was nothing to the dragon that was coming. They might be able to resist the seeking spell if the dragon wasn’t looking that hard, but if it noticed the drain on its own power it would be sure to investigate.
Legon felt the pull on his magic and now his body. He rushed to connect his mind with the others and the horses. As he made the connection, he began to siphon off energy. There was a dull thud in the far distance. Sweat was forming on Kovos’ brow from the drain, but he kept his mind open. The thudding was closer now, much closer. He needed more power. He tapped Sasha, Sara, and Keither, and saw all of them place their hands on their chests from the sudden taxation.
THUD… THUD.
More. Where was there more? There were blue dots popping in his eyes and he saw Arkin slump in his saddle. The horses. He could use more from the horses.
THUD.
Phantom was starting to shake. Still there was more needed. He rummaged in the minds of the others, spiking hormones and endorphins, causing their hearts to race. They were producing a lot of energy, but not enough. Arkin was almost unconscious now. They needed more, and the beating of the dragon’s wings was like thunder. He reached into Keither’s mind and body, forcing the fat cells to give up their contents, forcing as much energy out as he could. He looked up through a gap in the trees to see a pale-green sky. No, not the sky. Wings and a long, snake-like body with four black-clawed feet. The dragon seemed to be leaching light from the sky as it passed overhead. The trees blew from the torrent of downward air but it didn’t look down. Finally, the sound of wings died down and Legon released the magic.
Sasha took an inventory of herself. She felt like her whole body was buzzing now that Legon was no longer draining it. Her heart was pounding and she closed her eyes, breathing deep, repeating a calming script. The sound of wings was gone, and she thought that the dragon either hadn’t seen them or didn’t care. The thing that amazed her was just how strong it was. When it passed overhead it hadn’t even looked down, so it must not have been concentrating on whatever spell it was using to find them.
Murray was covered in sweat, along with all the other horses. Sasha felt like she needed to sleep, but there was something that seemed off to her. There was something missing in her mind… Arkin! She got off Murray and rushed over the carpenter, who was lying across Phaedra’s neck, passed out in his saddle.
“Arkin, Arkin, are you awake?” she said, shaking him but trying to not to be loud.
“Yes, Sasha, I’m fine. It’s passed now. We will sleep here tonight.”
She looked around. This was not a great place to camp for the night. They were off the road, which was good, but they were in thick trees. Still, the brush could be good in case anything else flew over head. Kovos still had his head cocked up to the sky, looking, waiting for the dragon to come swooping down on them. Legon looked fine, though; he wasn’t breathing hard and he looked calm, his eyes closed and body still. She poked him with her mind. His voice came reverberating back into hers.
“I’m fine. I’m trying to see if the coast is clear.”
As he said this to her she became aware of the minds of other animals. There was a deer that was about fifty yards away sniffing the air and looking for whatever had caused the trees to move. Further was an eagle that was surveying the forest with shrewd eyes. This was new to her; she had never thought of using the animals in an area to do reconnaissance, but it was smart. Legon was taking advantage of all of their senses and using his mind to gently nudge them to look and go where he wanted. He wasn’t doing much; he was letting the animals’ survival instincts do most of the work. Also smart. He opened his eyes.
“Are you all ok?” he said. Sasha sensed that he knew exactly how much energy he had taken from all of them, but this was the polite thing to do.
“Legon, I’ve seen that one before,” Sara said, sounding terrified. “He’s from Salez. We need to get to the border soon.”
Arkin spoke. “He was looking for us. There’s no denying that, but we have about two weeks until we reach the border towns and safety. Now we need to rest.”
“Arkin, are you going to be alright?” Sara asked.
“I’m fine, just very tired, as are all of you and the horses. That was a lot of energy we needed to use.” He looked up at Legon with a look of new-found respect.
“Using the fat in our bodies along with hormones and endorphins was very wise of you. I am impressed.”
“Thank you,” Legon said
Legon was thinking hard; Sasha could feel it. She felt him tapping into the logical part of her mind. He was using the information from the animals to figure out the best place to rest for a day or so, and the best ways into the hiding spots and out of them.
“There is a good place about one hundred yards over there,” he said, pointing into some dense brush.
“But that’s thick wood,” Kovos said, looking cynical.
“Only for a little way, then it opens. The forest canopy is high there,” Sasha said.
“And how do you know this?” Keither asked.
“The minds of the animals in this area. They have been hiding from threats for years. Now let’s move,” she said with a bit more force than she was planning. Arkin looked at Legon again and smiled.
They worked their way through the thick underbrush, and sure enough it cleared to a perfectly secluded place. The ground was bare except for some twigs and leaves. It was round with more than enough room for all of them and the horses. Twenty feet above them the trees became so dense that there was barely light to see. Not even the dragon could see them from overhead now. Legon instructed everyone to place their bedrolls on the ground; there wasn’t room for a tent or a fire. Everyone agreed. They might need to leave in a hurry. The tents would slow things down and a fire could attract attention.
It was mid-day when they made camp, but within a few hours the clearing was already dark. They lay on their bedrolls in a circle with their heads to the center, trying to rest.
“How are we going to see?” Keither asked. He always forgot about magic.
