She was right. Not in what she suggested, but in another way. I didn’t have to flip the swords out of the hands of all ten. I could also make a few of them trip over their feet, cause sand to fly into the eyes of three more, force more to drop their swords while I used my skills to fight them as a last resort. I didn’t have to fight the last one. Or any. With all those things happening, most men would retreat and think things over before facing me again.
But her idea was sound. Instead of simply using my fighting skills, I could supplement them with a little trickery. A slip of the foot here, the sting of an imaginary bee there, a splash of water thrown in the face somewhere else provided me with ample superiority to face ten men.
It was not about the magic, at least, not directly. It was about how to use it. Forcing ten swords from the hands of ten warriors one at a time with my increased powers was silly. Uprooting an entire tree and throwing it at them was far more effective. There were probably a hundred better solutions if I took the time to think of them. It was all about training.
My problem was that like most people I didn’t know much about magic. My experience with magic was performing a few parlor tricks. I never had a teacher because we had chosen to keep my magic abilities secret. I didn’t know a vast ocean of information and had only recently discovered a small puddle. With each discovery came more ideas, more opportunities. All untested. I needed to learn.
Worse, I had no idea of how or who could teach me, let alone if I had the latent abilities to learn.
As if reading my mind, Kendra said, “As we travel, with your permission and cooperation, we can devise tests to find the limits of your skills and teach you new ones. We can maybe teach you to improve your abilities, to use them more effectively.”
I liked the concept, but there were things about it that bothered me. The first was that magic was not free. It always has a cost. That cost was supplied by Dragons, Wyverns, and Waystones, in the form of Essence. Yet, none of those three providers were near me. That made me question how I was able to use my magic.
No, the dragon was on our side of the lake. I’d forgotten about it and our pursuers. It might be nearer than I thought. “Did your dragon attack the men coming after us?”
She nodded.
“And?” I prompted.
“I can’t tell you. I asked it to attack them. I gave it a mental image that they were trying to harm us. We can’t talk. Not like you and Anna. So, I gave her the feelings of anger directed at them.”
“I think I understand. Hopefully, that was not a caravan of trade goods or innocents.”
“Don’t do that, Damon. It was the army, and you know it, so don’t even suggest I may have killed innocent people.”
Instead of responding, my mind went back to the basics of my magic. I had to draw my power from one of the three. How far away was the dragon right now? Again, my knowledge failed me. I stood in utter confusion, knowing there were things to do, to learn, and knowing I was failing in nearly all of them.
“There is a lot we don’t know or understand,” I said with barely a tremble in my voice.
Kenda drew an exasperated breath and said, “I know. We, meaning you and me, have to do better.”
CHAPTER SIX
During our discussion, while walking our horses, I’d almost forgotten about the others of our group, those we’d left floating on the other side of the lake. Kendra and I were resting our weary butts from the pounding of the saddles while our friends were under attack. Well, they were floating within sight of our enemies, but out of range, which was much the same.
I abruptly said, “What about Elizabeth and the others?”
She mounted and waited until I did the same. “For now, you and I travel alone. Touch minds with Anna and find out what is happening.”
“Your dragon?”
She cast me one of those foul sisterly looks that petrify brothers. Without a doubt, she had her dragon ready to protect our friends, or us, as needed. I reached out. *Anna, how are things there?*
*We are just floating around on the barge. It’s mostly boring. The boys rowed us to the east, and the soldiers kept pace with us on the shore, yelling and ordering us to surrender. One small boat approached, with two rowers and two army archers. Will used one of the bows the boys brought with them, and his first arrow went too far, then he landed four in a row inside their boat. He hit at least two of them before they fled. They rowed better going away.*
I chuckled. *Has Will told you his plans?*
*A little. We will go across the lake after dark to your side, but not where you landed. He wants to land more to the west where there are small hills to hide us, and the ground is too rocky for army horses. He said we could walk carefully, and escape by going south before turning east to meet up with you. But he said the plan may change.*
*I think he’s right. The army is not equipped for travel away from water over rugged land.*
*Princess Elizabeth is furious and refuses to speak to any of us.*
*Why?*
*I’m not sure, but I think she believes this is all her fault, her failings. Her anger scares me. I miss you.*
*If it were possible, we’d be on the shore to greet you, but a small detachment of soldiers tried to capture us there while we waited for you to cross.*
There was a pause. Anna said, *The Young Mage has mobilized all he has to stop us. He’s scared, too.*
Kendra interrupted, “Talking to Anna?”
“Yes.”
“Ask her to check with the fishermen and find out if there are any Waystones south of Dagger or near the village we are heading for.”
I relayed the message. A few minutes later Anna answered, *Yes. They said there are two, one in Dagger and another down the coast near the village. They said the second one is “dead.” I asked what that means, and they said it is not warm. Does that make sense to you?*
It was a tremendous relief. The second Waystone, the one where we were headed was unused for some reason. The dragon egg inside either missing or had aged and died. The important thing was that no mages were going to appear using their magic from within the Waystone and prevent us from sailing. I passed that on to Anna as good news and told her I needed to talk to Kendra.
After telling my sister all I knew, she pointed to a small knoll off to our right and changed our direction slightly to head for it. Normally, when wishing to remain out of sight in flat lands such as the rocky desert we were crossing, we avoided the crests of hills. Anyone far away would see two riders at the top of a hill as moving figures. We called it sky-lighting. Only the ignorant were that careless.
We tied our horses to a low juniper and made our way to the top in a crouch. There we remained low and surveyed the entire area. There were no plumes of dust from soldier’s horses, no reflections off shiny armor or weapons, and no movement. We were alone in a brown land of emptiness and solitude.
Kendra said, “We need water.”
Our flasks were almost empty. I considered the options. To the best of our knowledge, there was no water ahead. The only water was where we’d been, at the river that had been dammed into the chain of lakes. The soldiers were also there—waiting for us.