he loosed the next shaft. The aim was true and the arrow pierced the man’s heart. Surprise, pain and confusion rioted on the cultist’s face until death alleviate his suffering and he fell to the ground.
Feeling his mental defenses tested, Urake stepped around the nervous horses and found the first man lying on the ground. He stretched a hand towards Urake and the sensations intensified. Suddenly Ice Heart in Urake’s hand felt cool and the man on the ground recoiled in terror.
“Who are you?” Fear and pain was evident in the man’s contorted features.
“I already said. The last son of Safrym. Better known as the Asgare.”
“No! We killed them all…”
“Missed two.” The work of death was finished quickly and the dead cultists were disposed of in a shallow grave a small distance away from the road. The horses had been tied to a tree so after the blood had been cleaned off the road and the buck recovered, Urake rode one while leading the other though the woods.
These two men had been looking for the Princess. One had been a telepath. Curiously the hand that he had focused his attack through was nearly frozen solid. The other’s ability was not necessarily dangerous in and of itself, but posed a significant risk if someone else were to attack the blinded target. Together, the two of them would have had little difficulty in killing a dozen armed men if the need had arisen. Urake had the advantage of surprise, but that didn’t explain why either of the men’s attacks had faltered. Urake had been blinded and preparing to fire in the occultist's direction when the wall of light had suddenly been broken. By the man’s face, it had come as a surprise.
The telepath’s attack would have given him a headache for hours if it had persisted, but he had apparently suffered some sort of backlash. Urake recalled the cool sensation he had felt from Ice Heart just before the man had recoiled. Now that he was able to think about it, the man’s last words haunted him. We killed them all… The man was old enough to have been a part of the massacre. One more murderer knocked off the list.
Despite the fact that it was getting light by the time that Urake returned to the camp, he nearly managed to sneak back in. The soldier that challenged him nearly fell over backwards when he recognized the black cloaked figure.
“Sorry Sir. Didn’t know that you were out.” The sentry appeared relieved when Urake simply nodded to him before continuing on his way. The horses were dropped off at the stables while Urake carried the buck on to the kitchens. The cooks that had been busy through the night were still at work. A few looked downcast at the appearance of more work, but they set to dressing the meat quickly. After leaving a few instructions with the head cook, Urake left for his room. Emeck met him inside and began explaining the progress he had made in his search.
“Em’risi was up so I observed her to see if I could find a way that she was different. I couldn’t sense anything so I met her on a walk. She agreed to help us, but only if you will talk to her later.”
“What about?”
“I'm not sure.”
“I guess that I will find out in a bit.” Urake shook the beaded moisture of his cloak and hung it by the door to dry. The humid cave air didn’t bode well and he knew that Tusul would be outraged at the poor care his cloak was receiving.
“Oh, one other thing. I sensed Skeln again. Not much, just a sense of something feeling smooth and round. Like a rock. It was only a flicker and I couldn’t tell where he was.”
“Smooth and round… You have been sensing him a lot in the last few days.”
“Just three or four times. Nothing much longer than a split second.”
“But still, you might be able to get a better sense soon. You found me quickly enough.”
“You are different. When you hide your mind, it is only like it gets dimmer. Almost gone, but there is always a flicker left. When Skeln hides, he just disappears. Gone, yet everywhere at once. I think I can feel him wherever I focus. If I focus right here in this room, I can sense a faint essence just like if I try focusing on the other side of the Garoche. It’s impossible to narrow down