“The journey itself is part of our goal,” Nathan said. “After we find Kol Adair and I am whole again with my magic, we have the rest of the Old World to explore.”
“Let us get a good rest for tonight,” she said, “and explore the whole world tomorrow.”
They warmed water over the fire and made a fortifying soup with barley, dried meat, and spices. Afterward, they collected enough rainwater in a pot outside the wayward pine that they could make hot tea.
Bannon rolled up in his now-dry cloak and pretended to go to sleep, and Nathan looked at him with concern. “Adventures rarely turn out the way one expects,” he said in a low voice to Nicci, but Bannon surely heard as well—as the wizard no doubt intended.
*
The next day as they continued through the drizzle, splashing in puddles and slipping in the trail mud, Nathan exuberantly drew his sword and rounded on Bannon. “You walk like a sluggard, my boy. And with your eyes so downcast, a dragon could be upon you before you even noticed.” He held up his sword and stepped in front of the young man, blocking his way. “Defend yourself, or you’re useless to us.”
Though Bannon was startled, the wizard swung his sword, but without malice, and he did so slowly enough that the confused young man had a chance to duck. “Stop, Nathan! What are you doing?”
“Waking you up.” The wizard swung again, more earnestly this time.
Bannon leaped out of the way. He fumbled Sturdy from its scabbard. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“Such a pity,” Nathan said, coming after him. “When bloodthirsty enemies come for me, I always let them know whether I’m in the mood for fighting. It makes all the difference.” He swung again, and Bannon lifted his sword to meet the blow with a loud clang. Sparrows in the branches overhead were startled into flight, swooping away to find a drier, more peaceful bough.
Nicci knew exactly what Nathan was doing, although she also understood the young man’s lethargy. After Bannon had been forced to face the fact that his nostalgic life was nothing more than a foolish fantasy, he was like a ship cast adrift with no rudder or sails. Nicci had spent years building shields around her mind and heart, but Bannon was still so young.
Nathan cried out in happy surprise as his opponent counterattacked, whistling his blade through the air. The solid ringing of steel against steel echoed through the waterlogged forest. “That’s better, my boy! I want to know that you can handle yourself if we’re set upon by monsters again.”
They crashed through the underbrush as Nathan chased him. Bannon wheeled to defend himself and press an attack, sending the wizard into full retreat; then, in a furious volley of blows, they brought each other to a standstill. His face animated now, Bannon pressed forward, pushing Nathan, who slipped in the slimy mud of the trail. The wizard tumbled flat on his back, and then Bannon also lost his balance and sprawled beside his mentor. The two men picked themselves up, panting, and laughing. Both were covered in mud.
Nicci watched them, her arms crossed, the woolen traveling cloak pulled around her. Meeting Nathan’s eyes, she gave him a nod of acknowledgment.
The wizard reached out to take the young man’s hand, and pulled him up beside him. “Dear spirits, that didn’t stop the rain, but it may have lifted your gloom.”
“I’m sorry,” Bannon muttered. “When I wanted to leave Chiriya Island, I think … I may have been running away. But now, I realize that isn’t the point at all.” He lifted his chin, which was smeared with mud. The rain kept coming down, fat droplets falling from the dense branches above in a constant cold shower. “I want to go with you. This is the journey I’ve always dreamed about.”
“Good,” Nathan said. “Then, let’s keep exploring.”
Nicci set off in the lead. “If we go far enough, we may even walk out of this rain.”
The higher they climbed, the colder the nights got, but finally the rain ceased. The downpour had lasted long enough to wash the mud from their clothes.
Two days later, the skies cleared of clouds, opening to a fresh blue, and Nicci picked up the pace, rejuvenated by the sunshine. By now, the path had become all but indistinguishable from a game trail, and they had seen no one since leaving Lockridge. Nicci could understand why Emperor Jagang had not bothered to send his armies down to these isolated lands, where there were few people to conquer.
Occasionally, they came upon ruins of large stone buildings that had fallen into disrepair, overgrown by the forest and reclaimed by time.
“This land must have thrived thousands of years ago,” Nathan said. “After the great barrier was erected at the end of the wizard wars, Sulachan and his successors were forced to push south instead, since they could no longer reach the New World. There were cities and roads, trading posts, mining towns, great leaders and internal wars. In fact, Emperor Kurgan devoted most of his conquest to the southern part of the Old World.”
“That is why we’ve heard little of him in our history,” Nicci said. “He was unimportant.”
“He was important enough to these people,” the wizard said.
“I don’t see any people,” Bannon said.
“Use your imagination. They were here.”
They stopped at a mossy, overgrown building foundation. Squares laid out on the ground marked what must have been a large fortress, but now only crumbling remnants outlined the rubble. “The world tends to pass you by when you live your life in a tower.” He kept talking while Nicci and Bannon followed him away from the ruins. “Did I tell you about the time I foolishly tried to escape from the palace? I was young, with little concept of how impregnable my prison was.”
Nicci frowned. “The Sisters never mentioned to me that you had tried to escape.”
“I was only a century old, just a boy, really. I was brash and willing to take chances … and I was also impossibly bored. Yes, I had the freedom to roam through the high tower rooms, to look at the wonderful books in the library, but such diversions can only distract a young man for so long before he begins to dream. I didn’t want to be their pet prophet, so I laid my plans for months. Yes, they had placed an iron collar around my neck, and with the Rada’Han they could control me and my magic.” His lips quirked in a smile, and he tossed his straight white hair behind him. “So I had to be resourceful and not just use a spell or two to get away.