Joshua leaned in closer to his horse. He was tired. The heat of the plains wrapped around him like a heavy blanket. Even though he was just riding the horse, the heat drained away all of his energy.

  They had been riding for two days. The red dust stuck tight against his skin. Not even his robes were enough to keep it off him. The only reprieve from the discomfort was that the savod remained silent.

  It hadn’t talked since the wizard had suppressed it. Joshua kept up with the exercise each day, even in the midst of its absence. He knew better than to think that it was over. When the savod returned, it would be with a vengeance.

  Joshua looked down to his hand. There was still a stark black line running down his arm from the band. It hadn’t grown, but it wasn’t diminished either. He ran a finger up and down the mark, but there was no feeling there.

  A shadow flitted past the corner of Joshua’s eye. His head snapped to follow it, but there was nothing there. The hairs on the back of his neck still stood on end. He was sure there was something there.

  At the front, Logan held up a hand and called a halt. Apparently, Joshua wasn’t the only one to see the blur. Logan looked back and forth across the flat plains, his eyes searching through every blade of grass.

  “There are sarpans following us,” Logan whispered finally. “At least two scouts that are jumping between ravines behind us.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Joshua asked.

  “I can’t.” Logan shook his head. “But I know we are being followed and that a common sarpan tactic is to send two scouts to follow the enemy and signal an ambush.”

  “So, what do we do about it?” Joshua asked.

  “Nothing for now,” Logan said, kicking his horse back into a trot. “If they think we’re onto them, it might get worse. Just be ready to make a break for it.”

  Joshua grumbled, but fell in line after Elaine. Where was all the talk about fighting back now? They could take two sarpans hiding from sight easily. Even Joshua’s spells by themselves were up to the task.

  He had to trust Logan’s judgment. He made a promise.

  Joshua flinched at the scratching voice. He knew it was only a matter of time before the savod returned. He only wished that he could have a few more days without hearing its voice rattling about in his head.

  “What do you know about it?” Joshua dropped his horse further back, so Logan and Elaine could not hear his whisper.

  Joshua’s stomach lurched as the words crept through his body. It was punishment for letting the wizard suppress the savod. It was something he had brought on himself by even listening to the old man.

  He had to warn them.

  “I…” Joshua whispered.

  The savod was right. He could tell them, but he could not explain how he knew without revealing the truth. Even if he could think of a lie, there was no guarantee that the savod was telling the truth now.

  “Savod,” Joshua whispered, finding strength in his heart. “Know that you have made a terrible enemy today. I thought I could trust some of your words, and learn something from you. I now know your true nature.”

  Joshua leaned in closer to his horse, doing his best to ignore the cackling laugh that rang through his mind. The savod was still adamant. Once Joshua knew the truth, he would have no choice but to agree.

  That only made him wonder what they were planning.

  He turned his mind to the visions. He still shuddered at the thought of the fiery Sarrack. His skin still itched at the memory of how the very air burned around the creature’s body. He needed to know why the savod had shown him that vision.

  They were running. The savod showed him that already. They were trying to hide the source of their power, the crystal that so many died to protect. In the end, they were able to secrete it through a portal.

  It was a portal to another world; a portal that lead to Nelim.

  The first people the savod encountered were the sylvestri then. The sylvestri let the savod into the world, and through the guise of peace, the savod tore through them. There was no need for that. Not unless the savod were mindless savages.

  Joshua knew that wasn’t true. He had the mind of one to prove it along with the way the savod acted. They had their own scouts in the forms of corrupted wolves. They had their soldiers in the form of the large savod.

  He was missing something, the key to understanding the creatures. He wracked his brain as the sun began to set. He had to figure out the problem. He was a master of magic, able to bend the very elements to his will. Solving it should be easy.

  They were corrupting people with the night plague. They were also trying to capture Talan to release their seal. They had influence over two of the most powerful men in Tyra, and maybe others unknown.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  They were also killing mages, secretly and quietly. Joshua thought of his brethren, their bodies ripped apart by savod claws. There was no need to do that. Elemental magic was not enough to harm the creatures. There had to be something extra mixed in.

  Joshua gripped his head in frustration. He needed to know more.

  He stroked the staff that lay across his lap. Everything linked together, with creatures like the savod that was the only conclusion he could reach. Their claws dug deep into Nelim and their reach stretched across all of the land. He couldn’t know their machinations without asking.

  He would have to leave it for another time. Already, the sun was setting in the west. Logan called for them to stop and make camp. They didn’t unpack anything from the horses. They had to be ready to escape into the night.

  “Our followers are still there,” Logan said, nodding back to the south. “It’s odd. They should have been able to summon a band by now.”

  “Then we should fight them now,” Elaine said, looking up from where she sat.

  “I’m not worried about the sarpans,” Joshua said. “There’s something darker back there, something worse.”

  A wolf’s howl ripped through the coming night. More and more howls came after, until the plains rang with them. Logan and Elaine were on their feet in an instant, their swords flashing in the dim light.

  Joshua took a breath.

  He struck his staff against the ground, and summoned up the well of magic within him. It was the familiar touch of elemental magic at first, the raging flames, the cold ice; the sturdy stone and the fleeting wind were all ready to obey.

  He knew that he would need something more. He reached deep within his heart, touching the darkness and calling it to stand ready. The power surged through him, raging through every muscle.

  “Form up back to back,” Logan said as shadows swirled around them. “Be ready for whatever it is!”

  Joshua could see it, the lines of magic that trailed through the dark night. They twisted around the three, tightening their circle. Joshua recognized the wolves from the attack on the caravan.

  They would come in fast, far too fast for any of them to see. Joshua had to do something. He reached deep inside, drawing out the flames and concentrating them at the tip of his staff. Burning orange morphed to green as he added more power.

  Thrusting his staff into the air, he sent the light up into the sky. It exploded into a shower of fire. Joshua could see them now. The ten infected wolves stood still in the bright light, spread around the three in a circle.

  “Here they come,” Logan yelled as the wolves charged in.

  They were no longer circling; they charged a direct line toward the three. Drool flew from their jowls as they lumbered ahead. Joshua summoned the green flames into his hand again, and took aim at the first of the three charging at him.

  Joshua extinguished the flame in his hand. He still didn’t understand what the savod meant by that. He looked down at his arm. The dark vein called out to him, recalling the first time he had seen through the world.

  Joshua closed his eyes and concentrated. He pushed away all his thoughts on the world. He forced his mind to see beyond his eyes. He wanted to see the lines of magic, to see the lines of power.

  When he opened his eyes, he could see it. All around them, the lines of magic that flowed through the ground and up into through everything in the world. He could see the dark spots that resided in his own body, as well as those at the core of the wolves.

  He drew the power into his hands and tugged at the line between him and the first wolf. He willed the fire to come to him, and sent it along the line to the wolf. Green flame burst across its fur, flaying the decaying skin. With just a little more force, the lines cut through the wolf. The corpse fell smoldering to the ground.

  Joshua smiled. He reached out in his elation, targeting the other two wolves and summoning the power again. The green fire raced across them as well, and they fell to the ground the same as the first.

  Joshua turned away from his side to face both Logan and Elaine. Logan had already handled one of his. The beast lay at the man’s feet, bleeding black blood on the ground. Elaine was barely standing against the four that swarmed her. Just a sword was useless against them.

  Joshua drew the lines to the remaining six wolves, attaching his own omena to them and reaching into them. He ignited the omena again, and their bodies burst into flames. His heart jumped as the power flooded through him.

  Joshua stopped at the savod’s voice. In an instant, he blinked and his vision returned to normal. He could no longer see the lines of magic. He could only see the shock on both Logan and Elaine’s faces.

  Joshua looked down to his arm. The black line of magic was no longer just that. His entire hand was now dark, and the darkness now reached from the band to his elbow. He knew then, he had drawn on the savod’s power too deeply.

  “Joshua,” Logan said, but an eerie cry rang out in the night.

  There wouldn’t be time to answer the unasked questions, not that Joshua wanted to. His heart shook as the savod approached. Every step called out with an echo across the lines of magic.

  Joshua turned and looked to the south. The creature bounded effortlessly across the plains, its giant legs sending up a storm of dust as it ran. Soon, it would put their resolve to the test.

  Joshua ignored his black arm and steeled himself. He could not be concerned with the cost of the power, not while the creature rushed at them. Again, he closed his eyes and opened himself to the omena that flowed through the world.

  It responded with glee.

  He would kill it the same way he had killed the wolves. He would find the well of magic within the beast and ignite it. He knew that he could do it. He knew that he could defeat the monster once and for all.

  As it came within range, he searched for the magic. Yet, no matter where he looked, he could not see where the lines connected to the savod. The giant’s form bounded on and each step still sent bound across the lines of power.

  There was no source to ignite.

  Joshua’s heart sank in his chest. The voice of the savod within his arm echoed through his mind. He froze on the spot, losing sight of the magic and returning back to the world as the giant savod took a great leap into the air.

  He didn’t call on the elemental magic to defend himself. He couldn’t even think of it. All he could do was watch as the savod landed in front of him and unleashed its ethereal wail into the night.

  All hope was lost.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Lord Alban stood watching the northern plains, his arms crossed behind his back. Twenty men waited before him, mounted and ready for battle. He was dressed in his chain mail, and his family's sword rested ready in his belt.

  His men looked up to him, even when he stood beneath their horses. He marched up and down the line, inspecting their armor. Mounted men were no good on the plains, not against the sarpan’s tactics at least. It was a matter of honor to show the horses every day before they went out into the ravines.

  It was about honor, prestige and most importantly, blood. Their fathers, their fathers' fathers, and their fathers' fathers' fathers had done the same. War without nobility was meaningless. It just wasn't proper.

  “Fall out!” he yelled, allowing the men to dismount and lead their horses back into the camp.

  Before the sun was above the horizon, they would march out their men from the camp and kill any sarpans driven from below by the low born criminals that cleared the ravines. Many of them wouldn't return, but it was their duty to serve the crown.

  He felt no pity for them. They were all farmers bound for glory that was the domain of nobles alone. Briln would guide them to their newfound place in her plentiful fields, even with their lowborn blood.

  Lowborn blood, the image of the boy flashed in Lord Alban's mind, and his fingers drew tight around his sword's hilt. That boy was a stain on his family’s honor, his ancestors cried for vengeance. He had gotten away this time.

  He would not escape their next encounter.