The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 (20 page)

“
That was for putting
me on my butt the other day,” she whispered back.

“
Bad timing for
revenge,” I hissed. “But well played.”

Natalie dragged me forward and I
stumbled to match her speed. As part of her instructions, she
informed me when certain watchtowers could no longer see us and I
dropped the spell from those guards’ minds. After dropping half of
the towers, I was able to open my eyes and focus on other stuff
without fear of the spell wavering. We had just about reached the
wall and I took off in a full sprint to beat Natalie.

She arrived at the
wall and I mouthed, ‘I win’ to her. She mouthed something back, but
I didn’t make it out. I was quite sure, however, that it was
inappropriate.

I looked up at the closest watchtower.
I was confident the bandits inside wouldn’t see us so I dropped the
Illusion spell completely and rubbed my head as the tired feeling
kicked in. I pushed the feeling out of my mind and continued along
the wall towards the opening.

When I spotted the heavily armoured
guard, I slipped into his mind to plant the Illusion spell. He
stared out in the forest with a scary alertness like he couldn’t
wait for someone to cause trouble. The desire to run up and pull
his pants down rose in me and I had to push it from my mind.

I peeked into the camp through the
opening. ‘Camp’ no longer seemed an appropriate name for it. The
place was a freaking town. After years and years of being settled
by different gangs, the camp had continuously been upgraded and now
rivalled the likes of Riverside and Davalin, at least
architecturally.

Foot traffic was light and I slipped
through the opening and stayed low to the ground to hide behind
some crates. I saw Natalie’s head poke out before she repeated my
movements and joined me. We waited for a group to pass by before
circling around the crates and entering the walkways. Natalie
nodded in farewell before strolling confidently towards the
buildings.

I dropped the Illusion on the heavily
armoured guard and focused on the bandits close to me. From a
distance I could blend in but if anyone was close to me, they would
spot I wasn’t one of them. By tricking the bandits closest to me,
everyone would just ignore me and let me carry about my
business.

Trying to put a little more confidence
in my steps, I headed towards the nearest watchtower. Despite the
number of times I had done something like this, both in the Tower
and out, my heart still hammered against my chest. I wished Cathy
was there to say something funny to help me calm down.

A gnawing feeling
filled my chest for a second and I had to stop until it passed. It
was such a weird and sudden feeling. I didn’t know what to make of
it. Everything returned to normal and I waited a second before
continuing.

At the base of the
watchtower I scanned the area to see if anyone was focused on me.
The bandit presence was heavy, but they were busy within their
groups or sharing dinner. I dropped most of the spells and focused
on the two in the tower, climbing the steps slowly.

The top was a cramped circle with a
table of spare arrows and jugs of alcoholic drinks. The two guards
were close to the edge facing in opposite directions, watching the
forest. With them so close to the edge, I was worried that they
would fall out when I killed them.

I stopped at the top of the stairs to
think out my next move and when I shifted my weight from one foot
to another, the stair creaked quietly. My eyes shot open wide as I
notice one of the guards twitch in response. I lowered myself to
the ground slowly as the guard turned his head back to check the
watchtower. Because of the spell, I was safe as long as he didn’t
move. I still held my breath in anticipation.

“
Did you hear
something?” the guard asked.

“
I’m not falling for
that again, Ian,” his friend replied.

“
No, I’m serious this
time,” ‘Ian’ said.

“
Yeah, and when I
turn around, your balls will be out,” the other guard said. “You’re
not tricking me again.”

“
But...” Ian
started.

“
No,” the other guard
said.

Ian scanned the area one more time
before returning his attention to the forest. I took an extra
moment to let the exchange sink into my head and stared blankly at
nothing, wondering what type of games bandits played in watchtowers
when alone.

I made a mental note
to wear gloves before touching anything and slowly worked my way in
between the two guards. I gathered my power and aimed my hands at
the back of their knees. I launched a small Pulse at them which
made their knees buckle. The other guard cried out in shock and
after they both hit the ground, I sent them each an Ice Bolt to the
chest. The bandits lay dead, but I didn’t move as I waited to hear
if any footsteps came up the steps.

“
Oy!” a voice called
up. “Is everything okay up there?”

My mind raced as I headed for the edge.
“Yeah, uh, Ian just tricked me into seeing his balls,” I answered,
trying to imitate the other guard.

Laughter broke out amongst the bandits
below. “Again, Freddy?” one called out. “You’re an idiot.”

I peeked over the edge and watched the
bandits leave. I hoped that Natalie hadn’t heard that whole display
wherever she was. I really didn’t want to hear about it for the
rest of my life.

With the watchtower under my control, I
needed to move quickly to set up for the battle. With the arrows
and the alcohol, I would be able to disable the other watchtowers
by sending a flaming arrow into each. I checked the leaf roof and
was pleased to discover that the leaves had dried out from sitting
in the sun all day. The conditions were perfect.

I picked up a bottle of the alcohol
drink and sniffed it. It smelt sweet and I took a swig, gagging as
the alcohol burnt the back of my throat. I grabbed five arrows and
poured the drink over the tip. I wished I knew what the drink was
called but my knowledge was limited. Last time I had anything with
alcohol in it I woke up naked in a bathtub in someone else’s room.
I’ve never been in a hurry for a repeat.

I enchanted the arrows with my power
and they levitated out of my hands. I guided each one to face a
watchtower and ensured they were lined up accurately. I double and
triple checked each one as I paced nervously around the watchtower,
checking the sky periodically. The sun was slowly disappearing over
the horizon.

I heard a bandit call out and looked
into his direction. He was pointing out to the forest as a group of
bandits headed for the opening. The others were alerted and started
to make their way to the front of the line. There were definitely
more than forty down there. Taking out the towers wasn’t going to
be enough.

I turned to the forest and saw the
knights and Cathy heading across the field. The march was slow as
they waited to see if they could draw out the overly excited
bandits. The bandits held their positions as one paced behind them
barking orders. My gut told me it wasn’t Diamondback Joe and I
hoped Natalie would find him alone.

The knights were closing in and I
decided it was time to launch my arrows. I gathered my energy and
sent little Fireballs to the arrowheads to light them. When the
last was lit, I launched them out of my tower. Each arrow struck
its mark and immediately started burning the leaf canopies. I
grabbed the remaining alcohol from the table and poured it onto the
floor. I set it on fire, and ran down the stairs.

The cries of surprise
rang out through the evening as the fire spread through each
watchtower quickly. I reached the bottom and three bandits were
already closing in on my position. Without hesitation, I raised my
arm and a stream of fire shot out of my hands. I swept it across
the bandits and all three screamed as the flames engulfed them. I
drew my short sword and headed for the main battle.

The fighting had broken out in full
force as Cathy and the knights used the watchtower distraction to
charge the group. The bossy bandit was still shouting out orders as
I approached him from behind. Power charged in my left hand and I
unleashed a stream of ice on the bandit. He quickly froze into an
ice block and I launched a Pulse to send him flying into the
group.

Bandits unaffected by
a flying, frozen boss turned to face me. I started backing up and
when someone shouted “Get him”, I took off like a shot away from
the battle. I looked back and saw seven bandits break off the main
group to chase me. It wasn’t much, but it would help.

When I was a good
distance away from the battle, I turned around, summoned my power
into my foot and stomped the ground. A ripple of magic exploded
around me and knocked four of the bandits off their feet. The other
three approached me cautiously and I covered my left forearm in
thick ice.

The three bandits
spread out to form a semicircle around me. The one on the right
struck first. I parried the blow expertly and slashed him across
the chest. He dropped and the two other charged. The one on the
left swung his sword and I blocked it with my ice covered forearm.
I launched an Ice Bolt with the same hand to kill the middle bandit
and plunged my sword into the chest of the one on the
left.

Three bandits were
down by the time it took the first four to get back to their feet.
They studied me with a new respect and I drew power into myself. My
skin began tingling as my body temperature rose. The bandits
decided to charge me at the same time and I unleashed the power.
Electricity exploded from my body and the four bandits started
jerking violently. They fell to the ground and I rubbed my forehead
to ease the pain.

“
Been a while since
I’ve done that,” I muttered to myself.

“
Run, run, run, run,”
a voice chanted.

When I turned towards it, Natalie shot
past me at full speed. Not too far behind her was an angry giant
with a cleaver that could chop a barn in half. I immediately
started running after Natalie.

“
What the Void is
that?” I asked.

“
Diamondback Joe,”
she answered.

“
I thought you were
going to kill him,” I said.

“
I tried!” she
exclaimed. “Can’t you see the sword sticking through
him?”

We arrived back at
the main battle site which was looking a little corpsier than
before. I stopped to turn back to Diamondback Joe and noticed a
sword blade sticking out through his stomach. It didn’t seem to
faze the giant at all as he swung that mighty cleaver at me. Too
stunned by his strength, all I did was throw up a barrier which was
shattered by the impact of the strike. I was launched back and
landed hard on my back and head.

I groaned and pushed
to get up into a sitting position. Ser Scott and Cathy charged at
Diamondback Joe, but Joe’s strength shattered Cathy’s shield and
cleaved Ser Scott in two. Cathy regained her footing and charged. I
could hear Markus call out to his friend and mentor and I forced
myself onto my feet.

Markus was slashing his way through the
remaining bandits and I pushed myself to help clear out a path for
him. Natalie was thinking the same thing and her blade was a
dazzling flash of iron as she slashed a path for him. I reached up
my arms and launched Ice Bolts to help.

Cathy fought valiantly against Joe but
he was slowly gaining the upper hand. Even with Cathy starting to
glow blue, he was still pounding her back. Markus saw an
opportunity and charged Joe from behind. He leapt into the air and
drove his sword through Joe’s back. The giant fell to his knees and
the young heir drove his sword in again and again. The remaining
bandits fled from the camp towards the forest. With their
leadership destroyed, they wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

Markus ran over to where his mentor
lay. Cathy grabbed my head and squeezed it into her chest.

“
You’re okay!” she
exclaimed. “I was so worried when I saw your barrier
break.”

I groaned as my head pressed harder
against her armour.

She pulled me away from her chest. “I
don’t know if I’m doing this right this time either.”

“
Try a little lower
and a lot softer,” I said. “You’ll get the hang of it.”

She lowered her hands to my shoulders
and brought me closer, wrapping her arms around me. “Like
this?”

“
Yes, much better,” I
said, returning the hug. “Why are you hugging me again?”

“
Because I was
worried and you are okay,” she answered. “It made sense to
me.”

“
Fair enough,” I
said, ending the hug. “We should see to Markus though.”

I turned to him and saw he had his eyes
closed in silent prayer. Cathy and I walked over to him and he
opened his eyes again.

“
He told me to
prepare for this day, but how could I?” he asked. We stood in
silence with him unsure how to answer. “Before we go back to the
capital, I want to give him a proper send off.”

“
Of course,” Cathy
said.

Natalie cheered and
we turned towards her. She ran over to us with her headdress off,
holding a big sack. “I found the gold,” she smiled.

I chuckled and shook my head.

“
What?” she
asked.

Chapter
18

We spent the night at the bandit camp.
Markus gave Ser Scott a proper funeral pyre and we had a feast in
his honour. I couldn’t help but feel guilty about his death and
wished I could have been more helpful. Markus brushed it off when I
told him and said we had already achieved the impossible and he
couldn’t expect more from us.