Had she come to the knowledge of what awaited her at the fulfilment of her training regime? I should have told her but it was not time yet. The older man asked himself.
Lull did not have the time to link his thoughts together and settle on logical conclusions. The more time he spent doing that, the farther she got away. Mustering a squad of combat-trained mages, Lull went after Shewit as if his life depended on it.
Indeed, the future of all of Toas did.
Shewit wished that the horses would run faster. The plan had been simple, leave without being detected. But then they had come against unexpected resistance at the gate. One of the guards was being rather nasty. Shewit had worn a hood over her face to hide her features, and would have passed had the guard at the gate avoided harassing Ermias. It was something about a game they had played the night before, where Ermias had beaten the guard and won much as a result. But the guard was threatening to heap an accusation on him if he did not pay up, or worse, to stop them from going out. Ermias had cautioned her not to use her powers no matter what, and that if things became too difficult for both of them to maneuver, she should ditch him and leave. Ermias had insisted when he had instructed that she was all that mattered. But Shewit could not do that. So, she had intervened, and like Ermias warned, had attracted attention. Now, they had Lull and the rest of the teachers at their heels...
Shewit could not understand how Lull was catching up to them so fast. She dug her spurs into the sides of her horse urging it to go faster. But this was also dangerous. The horses could not go on riding like this for too long or they would collapse from exhaustion. So Shewit turned and began to haul down trees to block the path and prevent Lull and his men from getting to them, or at least, getting to them in time.
She and Ermias exchanged looks, and they rode on. They were not going to lose each other. If they were fast enough, they would evade Lull and be free to be together and to live for the rest of their lives.
But all of a sudden, they crashed into an invisible wall and were plunged into the air. For moments, Shewit could not feel anything; even taking in breaths was difficult. Everything was dead silent, and then all of a sudden the world became alive again. She heard coughing to her side and turned to find Ermias on the ground. Their horses were nowhere to be found. They must have taken to their heels while she and Ermias were trying to get themselves on the ground.
“What just happened?” Ermias asked as he rose to his elbows.
Shewit could breathe better now and had opened her mouth to respond when someone else here provided the answer instead.
“We just happened.”
The voice was too familiar that they knew whose it was before they even turned their faces. Lull, and a band of other mages stepped out of the trees to form a circle around them.
“Lull,” Ermias uttered, sitting up.
Shewit just glared at him.
“One look at the both of you and it is easy to surmise whose idea this little escapade was,” Lull said, staring hard at Shewit.
“But I’m curious,” he continued. “Why now, Shewit? You’ve been in the palace all these years. You’ve been well taken care of. Everyone at the palace is at your beck and call, yours. You’ve never exhibited signs of erraticism until today. What was it?”
Shewit just stared back at him.
“Is it this puny apprentice?” Lull asked. “Did he somehow find a way to wiggle into your mind? Perhaps mutter a few spells to put you under his control?”
“You very well know the answer to that, Lull,” Shewit replied.
“If you had grown too familiar with the palace walls, and wanted to see beyond it, all you had to do was ask, and your wish would have been granted. We did not need to create all this drama.”
Then he screwed up his face in a furious scowl.
“Unless,” he said, “the being of Balance and Chaos got their hands on knowledge that is forbidden.”
He stared at Ermias.
“Honestly, I must say, I did not know you had it in you,” Lull growled. “Two years before being appointed a mage of the kingdom, and your skill is already widely sought. It must be frustrating for you, being so good, and still being relegated to the background. How you must hate your master taking all the credit for your accomplishments?”
Ermias stared silently at Lull. Lull, on the other hand, could see the fear already building in the young mage’s eyes.
“So, you devised a means to place yourself as a true master, with the being of Balance and Chaos eating out of your hand. I must admit, that is genius on your part. A masterstroke. No one would have seen this coming.”
“That is not true,” Ermias protested.
“Enough, Lull,” Shewit barked. “If you are here to take me back to the palace, you might as well have not come out at all. Because I am not going back.”
Lull smiled. “Ah,” he exclaimed. “He told you. And just what did the mage tell you?”
“That while you are lavishing me with care, you are fattening me up for slaughter,” Shewit spat.
Lull chuckled. “And you think this power-hungry mage is telling you the entire truth? He is an apprentice, who had too much time, not more. The story is complex, Shewit. It is not only tapping into the power of Toas. This is what he told you, right?”
Shewit and Ermias stood there in shock. That was exactly what Ermias found out. By tapping into the direct power of Toas she would have become a lot more powerful.
Lull read their emotional reaction correctly
