Juxtan 4 - The Forgotten One by Owens Tricia

Author:Owens Tricia [Tricia, Owens]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

~~~~~

Riding in the darkness was a marginal improvement. Hadrian could still remember the scenes he had seen in the Obar walls. In fact, being trapped in darkness helped him to better relive them. He wanted to scream, and then he wanted to hide in a corner.

He clutched Caled as tightly as he dared, trying to concentrate on the dull thud of their horses’ hooves and not think about what he had seen. The memories spanned his childhood to adulthood, each one taking him back to those years effortlessly, but with the added regret and self-recrimination that came with the passage of time.

Caled had asked him earlier if Gavedon had hit him as Jessyd had claimed to be hit. To Hadrian, the whipping had been less hurtful than being alternately ignored and belittled by the most important person in the world to him. Hadrian didn’t think Caled would understand how painful such treatment could be. Compared to the very real abuse of physical violence, what he’d suffered sounded too much like a child’s complaint, and Hadrian was determined to prove himself a healthy adult.

How long they rode, blinded and haunted by what they had seen in the rocks, he had no idea. It was Caled who noticed the change.

"Something’s ahead of us," he warned them all. "The pitch is different."

It took Hadrian a moment to realize he meant the sound that their passage made within the canyon. No longer did the narrow pathways echo with a nearly metallic ring. The sound their horses’ hooves made was duller now, the sound not carrying as far ahead of them.

Then he felt the faint bee-like buzz of magickal energy ahead. He hastily pulled off his blindfold. An opalescent sphere as large as a horse and its cart sat in the middle of their path like an enormous soap bubble.

"Caled," he gasped.

The mercenary and the thieves yanked off their blindfolds as well. As they did, the sphere shimmered and then evaporated into the air like mist beneath an afternoon sun. Manix, Jessyd and Syellen sat on their horses in the spot where the sphere had sat.

"Casts linger in the Falls," Manix intoned.

Caled snorted. "You could say that. Excellent choice of routes, Jessyd."

The brunette sorcerer looked chagrined as he ducked his head. "It’s dangerous, yes, but I insist that this Cast was not made by Gavedon."

Manix waved him off. "Regardless of who created this Cast, it exists. Your idea of the blindfolds is a good one, however, the road ahead must be traversed with open eyes. Jessyd’s passageway is at the bottom. The road winds and balances upon a sheer cliff face. The horses must be guided along it."

"Then how do we get down?" Gam asked as he stood in his saddle, trying to peer beyond the Elder to the road ahead. “How did Gavedon and the Order do it?”

Jessyd pointed ahead, though Hadrian couldn’t see what the other sorcerer was indicating. “We used the path, but there’s since been an avalanche. Rocks block the way.”

Convenient, Hadrian thought.

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