Mage Prime (Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

spell will hold much longer. My power is all but exhausted.”
    Swiftly Symon moved to stand beside him. Reaching up and placing a hand on each side of Karryl’s head, the little magician frowned slightly then uttered a short sharp phrase. The two magicians stood unmoving for a long moment. Symon removed his hands. “What kind of creatures?”
    Karryl took a deep breath. “You may find this hard to believe, but I’m almost certain they’re grelfons. Young ones, going by what you’ve told me about them”
    Symon darted across the room and yanked on a bell-pull. Almost immediately, a side door flew open. Two guards, half-armoured and wielding swords and halberds, dashed in.
    Symon’s low voice did not detract from the urgency it conveyed. “Place a close guard on the King’s person immediately, then detail four more men and come with us.”
    The moment for which the soldiers had spent long arduous hours training had arrived. Without question or argument they hurried from the room. Close by, an alarm bell began its strident clamour. The clattering sound of running feet echoed through the corridors. Scant minutes later the physically impressive but grim-faced sergeant Vintar burst into the room, closely followed by three equally impressive and grim-faced soldiers.
    Symon spun round. “Right, Karryl, lead on!”
    The transfer of power which Symon had performed had given Karryl new impetus. He hurtled back along the route he had so recently taken with Jobling, praying that when he reached the long gallery he would recognise where he was. Acutely aware of Vintar and the other soldiers thundering close on his heels, he pounded through the gallery and out the other side. He allowed himself a little smile. The path of his near blind retreat had imprinted itself on his mind. Faultlessly he sped along passages and corridors until he recognised the place where he had first seen the creatures. He pulled up and, without turning, made the hand-signal for silence. All went quiet. Karryl stood unmoving, listening for the slightest sound. Hearing nothing, he slowly began to move forward into the now unlit corridor, the one down which he had earlier pursued their present quarry. A faint creak of leather and a brief metallic clink told him the soldiers were still close. He stole a quick glance over his shoulder to look for Symon.
    Close behind the four soldiers, the magician was hunkered down in imitation of their half crouch, his lips moving silently in the process of a spell. Confident that Symon would do the right thing, Karryl continued to ease his way down the narrow corridor into the deepening darkness. Detecting the stomach-churning stench of the creatures, he realised something was very wrong. If they were still where he had left them, he shouldn’t be able to smell them yet. Simultaneously, two things happened. Symon cast up the Light of Perimus, and the creatures attacked. Shouting a loud “Ho!” of warning, Karryl threw himself to the floor. Rolled tight against the wall, he gagged as their stinking, mucus-slathered bellies passed over him, scale- encrusted talons screeching on flagstones. A leathery wing-tip fetched him a glancing blow on the side of his head. He spun round and caught a glimpse of black-feathered backs and thrashing, wickedly spiked segmented tails. Under Symon’s tight control, the shadow-less Light of Perimus flared into dazzling brilliance overhead. Throwing back their reptilian heads, the speeding creatures commenced their ear-piercing anguished wail.
    To a man, the highly trained soldiers dropped to one knee, halberds forward and aslant. Still howling, the evil monstrosities stormed head on into the waiting soldiers. They held their ground, as a gleaming, wickedly sharp foot-long spike was thrust forcefully upwards through each terrifyingly hideous head. Slithering to a flailing, squelching stop, the obscene creatures voided their full quota of steaming black and viscous stomach contents, a hissing