he didn’t have to choose them. He could still choose the good. A shiver ran down his spine as the thought of what his true potential might be and, more important, the road that it would take him down.
“I will be a real person. I will be what I was meant to be.” It sounded odd for him to say, it sounded pompous and arrogant, but at least he was trying.
Legon was looking intently at the boy, wondering if he would choose to be a man or remain a boy. It tore at him to hurt Keither, but he was to take Kovos’ place, a job he took very seriously. It was cruel of him to tell Keither the truth of Kovos’ and his thoughts; you were supposed to say that someone loved and cared for you and that they were proud, yet this was a lie. But if Keither chose to be something then this night would be a reminder for him in dark times, a defining moment. Conversely, if he chose not to move then this would haunt him for life and there might be no chance at convincing him again.
Was this his place? He purpose was to restore, right? But what was he to restore Keither to? A voice in his mind said he was also to destroy, but was destruction all bad? He would have to destroy the Iumenta to restore order, wouldn’t he? This was just another function of the Everser Vald. This was the risk that was taken; it would be up to Keither to decide the outcome. Either way, Legon would live with it and do his best for the boy or man, depending on what he decided.
Keither was now looking at Sara, and he could almost see the wheels turning in his head. He was standing on a path now, but which one was it? When Keither turned his attention back to Legon there was a look that could have been hate or determination, Legon wasn’t sure. With Keither they often came together. After his pronouncement, though, he knew it was the latter, and he smiled inwardly.
“Good, Keither, now sleep. Tomorrow we will reach the Precipice, if there is trouble you will be the lead rider so the rest of us may fight with magic.”
“What’s the Precipice? Sorry, I wasn’t listening to Arkin earlier.”
“It is the outpost for the Elves and Humans in this part of the land. It is said to be the only one for the humans. The rest of their lands are blocked by the Cornis mountain range to the northwest and then Elven lands to the east.”
“Is there no way by the sea? We’re close to that now, aren’t we?”
“Yes, I think we are, and the city that feeds and takes care of the Precipice is called Manton and it is a coastal city, but the Iumenta won’t do anything via the sea.”
“Why do you think that is?”
Legon thought this might be a good time to let Keither do what he was good at. Making a new life didn’t mean that he wasn’t to think any more.
“Well, why would you avoid attacking by sea if you were the Queen?”
He saw Keither thinking it over. “Well, the Queen has more resources, but…”
He would get it, Legon told himself, just give it time.
“But the humans have Elves for allies.”
“And why would that help?” Legon asked, knowing the answer.
“The Elven navy is unrivaled. It would be expensive and extremely difficult to do. You could harass them a bit, but a full-on attack would mean going head to head with an undefeated navy.”
This was true. Legon didn’t know much about his people’s military, but he did know the tales about their Navy. It was unsurpassed and to attack it was suicide. The Iumenta came from landlocked areas, whereas the Elves had an obsession with the sea, according to stories. Keither was right; it would be a bad idea to try and take Manton by sea, and by land you had to hit the Precipice. He wasn’t sure what advantage taking the city would hold anyway. It was at the edge of their territory and therefore not a hub for trade. He guessed that must be why it had never been attacked. There is a certain security in being an unimportant city, he thought; this was the case for Salmont as well.
“Very good, Keither.”
“Thanks, I really apprec-”
Legon held up his hand, stopping Keither.
“It’s time for you to lead, get up!”
He started rousing the others. The intruders were coming fast; they would be there within the hour. Everyone was moving slowly, not wanting to get up.
“We have company! We need to move now!”
With this they woke up and frantically began to gather their things. Within ten minutes they were on their way. Sasha had the network up and running and Legon was giving the horses just a little help. As the sun rose they saw a plume of dirt rising in the distance behind them. Their pursuers were gaining fast-too fast in fact. Then it hit him.
“Venefica! They’re helping the horses! Arkin, we need help.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Arkin responded.
Arkin needed to separate from the network to make his connection. One of the rules for connecting to the Precipice was to not have anyone else who wasn’t known and trusted with them. Legon looked back at the incoming force; there was no using the animals now. They were gaining fast, but he was hesitant to do too much with their horses. They could drop if more chemicals entered their blood stream, and he couldn’t work for them for long. As they closed in he saw around thirty or so men on horses. It was time to raise their defenses. Arkin activated the wards. As he did he saw flickers of purple and green around them. On the enemy’s horses he saw orange, yellow, and blue flickers. There were at least three Venefica with them.
As the gap between the two racing groups closed, Legon sent Keither a message to lead the group. All he had to do was keep them going in their current direction. Off in the distance, the peaks of the Cornis mountains were coming into view, their best hope for safety. The gap between the forces was closing rapidly and soon their pursuers would be in range. Legon faded back, placing himself at the rear of the group. Undoubtedly they knew more magic than him, but he was stronger and he had the assistance of Arkin, Sasha, and Sara, so not all was lost- just mostly lost.
Arkin had instructed them in the basics of magical combat, so it was no surprise when Legon saw a bolt of blue fly from the horsemen. It was a large ball of energy. It hit a wall of purple about five feet away from him with a deafening crack. This spell was not attacking them directly; it was designed to hit wards and weaken them.
Legon felt a small tug on his energy at this, and countered with a spell of his own. He only knew of a few breaking spells, as they were called, but he sent one their way. It smacked into a wall of yellow, causing a crack like thunder to rent the air, and at once a flash of orange came at him, this time hitting him directly. He felt his fire ward activate, stopping the flame curse. He knew what they were doing now. The Venefica with the yellow magic was protecting the group as a whole. There would be wards by the others as well, but this person would take the brunt of the attack, then the blue would try and take out their shield and the orange would take shots at holes in their armor. As if to enforce this point he saw another bolt of blue collide with his wards, and this time he felt the mind and energy behind it. The first had been a test. Now the Venefica was attempting to break the wards. He pushed with magic and his mind, reinforcing the shield. Legon felt it begin to buckle and he poured more into it, but he couldn’t hold them too long. He wasn’t good with wards yet and, powerful or not, it didn’t matter.
He sent commands to Sasha and Sara, telling them to attack only when he ordered. He wasn’t about to have them waste what little energy they had. He sent another breaking spell their way, and this time when it made contact he held it, changing it, working it around as if he were trying to extract a splinter. He felt a hole open in their shield and sent the command to Sara and Sasha.
They sent simple spells at the enemy. Red and silver bolts shot by, hitting their intended targets, one hitting blue, the other orange. He told them to focus on the blue, and again he hit the yellow ward and again they sent spells at one of the men covered by the blue Venefica. The man looked terrified, and as the two spells hit, the ward around him failed and his head wrenched back, breaking his neck.
There was now magic flying back and forth between the groups at an incredible speed, but they were winning, Legon was too strong, and even when the blue Venefica broke his initial wards the orange spells were stopped by Arkin’s and his others.
“Help is on the way,” Arkin said across the network.
“Good, you take command.”
Arkin acknowledged this with commands. “Legon, attack with everything you have. Don’t worry about their
