Chapter 14
Raner was waiting for the Panthers in front of the Tower of the Rangers. Four Royal Rangers were with him. One of them was Kol, whom Nilsa recognized at once and nodded at unobtrusively, smiling, while the Panthers formed a line before the First Ranger. Kol returned the nod, also unobtrusively, and smiled at her, which made Nilsa blush. Kol was the handsome Mage Hunter who tried to court her every time he had a chance. All of a sudden the training did not seem so bad— perhaps it was even becoming interesting. She bowed her head slightly and eyed Kol, who caught her glance and returned it with a playful smile.Most of the Royal Castle’s inhabitants were sleeping, with the exception of the soldiers on duty at the towers, battlements, corridors, and doors. Those on night watch had not been relieved yet. The rest of the soldiers, servants, nobles, and the Royal Family had not opened their eyes
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Chapter 15 Camu and Ona also turned to look at the Mage. Lasgol realized his friends were not camouflaged and that the Ice Magi had seen them.“Surprised to see me? You and your creatures?” Maldreck said.“Yes, surprised,” Lasgol replied, trying to remain calm while he wondered how the Ice Mage could be there and the possible reason. The fact that Maldreck had discovered Camu worried him so much that he lost the thread of his own thoughts and restlessness settled in his stomach.“I had guessed as much,” Maldreck smiled triumphantly. “It never ceases to amaze me how stupid you are.”“Compared to?”“Me, of course,” the leader of the Ice Magi took a small, vain bow.“What’s the leader of the Ice Magi doing here?” Lasgol was trying to gain time to see how he could get out of this situation. He already guessed what Maldreck was doing there and what he wanted.
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Chapter 16 Lasgol was sitting at the bow of the Norghanian assault vessel. They were heading north. Lasgol heard Captain Jakobson scolding some of his sailors. The mariner was at the helm in the stern and shouted orders to his soldiers every time he saw something he did not like. Lasgol realized those soldiers were sailors used to sailing on that ship. He guessed it was one of the war ships that regularly patrolled the Utla.He had no idea how Maldreck had secured the services of Captain Jakobson and his ship, but he guessed that being the leader of the Ice Magi, he could request war ships if he needed them. A Ranger could not do it by himself, he needed authorization from Gondabar or the King. He remembered the painful fate of the leader of the Rangers at the hands of the King and felt a deep sorrow. He wished Gondabar could return to his Tower soon, although nothing would erase from his heart the p
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Chapter 17 Nilsa, Egil, Gerd, and Viggo were practicing with Raner and half a dozen Royal Rangers behind the Tower. It was a quiet place where no one would bother them. They were practicing basic positioning, which they had to learn first of all. Raner was explaining to them how they had to position themselves around the person they were supposed to protect. He insisted they had to be well positioned at all times and how important this was to be able to protect someone efficiently from an attack or ambush.“Gerd, you’re too far away, and you, Egil, are too close,” he told them.“Yes, sir,” they said and corrected their positions.“To make things easier we’ll call the person you’re supposed to protect ‘the protectee’,” Raner told them. “In most of the exercises I’ll take on that role, but not always. Understood?”“Yes, sir,” Nilsa replied for the group.“Very well.
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Chapter 18 A second blow which almost knocked Lasgol down onto the deck made it clear they had hit something. Something big and solid, since the war ship was very stable. He was puzzled. All around there was only water, and it must be considerably deep.“Watch out! We’ve hit something!” Captain Jakobson warned.Hit what?” Maldreck asked while he put away the pearls in Eicewald’s box and then stood up.The sailor-soldiers were looking over port and starboard and were wondering the same thing as Lasgol. What could they have bumped into if they were in the deepest part of the river which was well laden with water?The answer was not long in coming. A shadow, longer than the ship itself, appeared underneath it, moving with it. They all stared at it with fear in their eyes, for its size and what it might mean. They could see it from any point of the ship.Suddenly, besi
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Chapter 19Lasgol left the remains of the war ship and swam toward dry land. He could see the tall grass and some trees in the distance, so he swam hard to get closer. It took him a long swim to reach the shore; it was farther than it looked. Distances in the water were always tricky and hard to calculate. Thank goodness he was a good swimmer and was in god shape. The life of a Ranger prepared one for situations like this.With a nimble push, he stood on a grass-covered mound on the shore and shook the water off his body while he tried to decide where he was. He needed to know approximately where in the river he was in order to go back to the island to fetch Ona and Camu. Now he was glad they had not come with him, they would not have liked the dip at all, and Camu was not a very good swimmer.The problem was that it was now dark and finding out where he was with only the help of the stars and constellations was never easy. He crouched down and called on his Guiding Light skill. A whi
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Chapter 20Raner sent one of his Royal Rangers to the Tower to tell Astrid, Ingrid, and Molak to join him in the anteroom of the Throne Hall. Ingrid and Astrid were already ready, and Molak joined them downstairs at the Tower door, since he shared lodgings with other Specialists on the second floor. Nilsa had suggested they let Molak use Lasgol’s bed, but Viggo had flatly refused. He had even insinuated there might be an accident and Molak might end up with his throat cut. As it would have happened with Viggo in a sleep-walking state, they would not be able to blame him. With such threats, they decided not to take any risks. Molak would not share lodgings with them.The three went to meet Raner at once, along with the Royal Ranger who had come to fetch them.When they arrived, they found Raner and three veteran Royal Rangers. They knew one of them; it was Mostassen. They had met him during the war mission against Darthor during their fourth year at the Camp.“Sir, you summoned us?” In
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Chapter 21Ona, Lasgol, and Camu reached the jetty. There was no trace of the boatman, who must still be sleeping it off. They got out of the barge, not without some difficulties, and once they had all landed, Lasgol told them what had happened on the war ship with the sea serpent.Monster, servant dragon, Camu said, certain.Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Much clever throw jewel.Thanks, I didn’t even stop to think, it was pure instinct. Serpent take pearls to dragon, sure.Dergha-Sho-Blaska must have sent the creature to intercept them.Can follow sea serpent?I think so. The locating spell is working. I guess I have to be close enough to feel it.Follow river. That’s my plan too.I have two horses I can switch between. I’ll ride as fast as they can go and follow the serpent south.You better go alone, more fast. And what about you two?We follow, more slow. No can run like horses.Ona moaned twice.I don’t like the idea of leaving you again, now
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Chapter 22Lasgol prepared to release. A sense of danger clutched at his stomach. He did not want to fight the Inon, but if he was forced to, he would.Be us, Camu’s message reached him.Lasgol lowered his bow. He snorted and smiled.Camu and Ona appeared in front of him and he welcomed them with a hug.I’m so glad you caught up with me. We come fast.Yeah, faster than I had expected, Lasgol smiled.Ona moaned and rubbed her head against Lasgol’s forehead to show her love. Lasgol appreciated the panther’s caress with all his heart. She was charming, good, obedient, and lovable, and also deadly when she needed to be.What happen with great sea serpent? Camu wanted to know.I’ll tell you. It’s quite funny. Surprise?Yeah, something like that. I like surprises.We’ll see if you like this one.Lasgol told them what had happened with the serpent and the monster-crocodile and the situation they were in now. And also about the curious fact that it had a camouflage skill similar to Camu’s.Su