The Sorcerer's Tome by Philip Sealey

Author:Philip Sealey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, magic, adventure, young adult, vampire, werewolf, sorcery
Publisher: Wight Publishing
Published: 2021-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

At the River

So overgrown was the path that the six travellers were on that they were forced to go in single file. Garren slashed away the undergrowth with his staff. It had been transformed into a scimitar with a razor-sharp edge, the jewel forming the end of the grip. Behind Garren came Lyca, upbeat and full of frivolity as usual.

Maya followed, sullen and silent. She had hardly said a word since the group met at the hollow. Tom kept pace behind her, happy to have warm, dry feet and feel the cushioned air soles soften his steps.

The well-wrapped vampire brought up the rear, just behind the grumbling fairy in his human form, refusing to resume his natural state and fly effortlessly above the undergrowth because, he said, it was sissy.

After they had finished their lunch, they dismantled the camp. The fire was put out with snow, and to cover their tracks, Garren called up a strong wind which sucked up the snow like an invisible vacuum cleaner and threw it into the air. The result was a highly localised snow shower that covered the whole clearing, hiding all signs that anyone had been there. Once happy that no trace of their presence remained, Garren enchanted everyone's feet so that no footprints were left in the snow and they set off along the path. Tom thought it quite strange and oddly compelling to watch the snow spring back up like a sponge as soon as they had passed.

"Stop!" Lyca hissed at Garren.

He halted and quickly scanned around for any signs of trouble, but saw nothing.

"Move along there," called Dan from behind.

"Shhhh," Maya hissed, gesturing to everyone to keep quiet.

"What is it?" Garren whispered.

"There are two Guardians up ahead," she replied quietly.

"How can you be sure?" Tom asked, looking past the others.

"I can recognise that smell anywhere," said Lyca sniffing at the air. "It's the sulphur from the well. It gets into their robes, hair, skin. It's like a beacon for me."

"I can't smell anything," Tom said, sniffing.

"You wouldn't; you don't have a wolf's sense of smell," she lowered her voice further still. "Or hearing, I can hear them talking."

"We need to find out what they are doing out here," Garren said. "They don't normally patrol the woods. Lyca, come with me, the rest of you, wait here and keep quiet."

Silently Garren and Lyca crept along the path. Garren could hear the voices too now. A few yards further, he dropped to the ground. Through the brambles, the cleric could see the two Guardians. They were stood in a small clearing just round the bend from where he and Lyca were crouching, standing before a tree. Garren strained to hear the words, but Lyca could hear them clearly and had for some time.

"... sent by our master on an urgent errand. Six fugitives are coming this way. Two females and four males, all wanted for treason. They are believed to be making for the bridge," one of the men was saying.

"If they get to the bridge, they shall get no further," came the breathy, rasping voice of a Sen-Tree.

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