Even Gods Must Fall - Christian Warren Freed Page 0,16
far.” Boen shook his head. “I don’t know how they’re tracking us, either. Every time we stop they seem to make a straight line towards our position.”
Heads turned towards the wizard. Sensing their consternation, Anienam lacked the answers they desperately wanted. The truth was he was just as confused. Each night he cast a web of spells intended on confusing their stalkers. It was old magic, from the high days of Ipn Shal and the Mages. The powers able to counter it were few. Anienam reluctantly came to accept that their enemy was imbued with the taint of the Dae’shan. It was the only possibility that made sense. But how to explain that to the others when it was merely a stray thought without evidence?
“I don’t understand either,” he said reluctantly. “My magic is stronger than any other in this part of the world. We should be safe, practically invisible to any prying eyes.”
“But we’re not, wizard,” Bahr said. “And if they can unerringly follow us across the wilderness how secure are we at night? What stops Skaning from bursting into the perimeter and slaying us in our sleep?”
“Bahr, the situation is more convoluted than you make it appear,” Anienam replied. “There are many forms of magic in play. I recognize its taint on the air. Our enemies aren’t capable of producing such talent on their own. We must assume they are being aided by the very worst the dark gods have to offer.”
“You didn’t answer the question,” Boen growled.
“How would you have me answer when all I have is speculation?”
The Gaimosian pointed an accusatory finger. “With a straight answer for once. No more damned riddles. We’re too far along on this quest for child’s play. I don’t mind dying but I need to know all of the facts before I willingly sacrifice my life. You owe us that much.”
Anienam hesitated. The last in a long line of magic wielders, he alone was the heir to the wealth of knowledge from Ipn Shal. Many secrets were nestled deep within his mind. Secrets that no other living being should know lest the world was plunged into war again. He’d tried to follow his father’s advice. Tried to live up to the majesty of what the Mages had once represented. Anienam wasn’t convinced whether he’d succeed.
Malweir grew increasingly dangerous with each new generation. Petty wars sprung up between kingdoms. He often suspected the Dae’shan were pulling strings behind the curtain but never had the numbers to investigate in force. He paused to consider how he’d come to learn of this latest plot threatening them all. Idle in the crumbling libraries at the old Mage citadel, he was visited by a terrible premonition. Darkness approached. Darkness so deep all life on Malweir would be consumed, devoured by eternal rage.
He’d lost years trying to decipher what the vision meant. Anienam didn’t believe in premonition. Fate pulled or pushed each individual according to a whim. The directness in the message he’d received left him immobile. How could any one person walk the face of the world knowing that the hour of the dark gods’ return was finally at hand? His resulting crisis of faith took him down roads best left unmentioned. He nearly fell along the way, lost to all who truly needed him. The Mages were gone and with them the only capable force with the knowledge to combat the dark gods and the Dae’shan. He was alone. The solitary survivor of a way of life the rest of the world deemed too dangerous. A relic.
Anienam finally rediscovered his passion on a lone mountaintop high above the world. Dragons had once claimed the peak for their roost, but those days had fallen into dust as well. He hurried back to Ipn Shal to discover all he could of his impending doom. At last, after centuries of aimless wanderings trying to decipher his purpose in life, the last wizard knew what he must do. He attached himself to a merchant caravan and headed north to Delranan to find the forgotten son of kings.
“Very well. The Dae’shan lend speed to our enemies. It is not that they can unerringly find us, but more they’re being shown which direction we travel. Pointed, if you will, towards us through unflinching desire. Part of me takes heart in this. The Dae’shan have been trying to kill us, especially you, Bahr, from the beginning. I suspect they were already at work on your brother long before we were hired to