War of Power (The Trouble with Magic Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

gave Karryl a triumphant smirk, and took a pace backwards.
    The little magician flapped a hand at him. “Come in here and close the door. Leave that wet cloak out there!”
    Leaving the runner to make himself comfortable in the large entrance hall, the two magicians hurried into the sitting room and across to the window. After glancing at Vintar’s seal, Symon broke it open and tilted the letter towards the cold hard light of the snowy winter dawn. Quickly he read the message through then read it again, this time more slowly.
    As he handed it to Karryl, he turned to gaze out of the window. “It would seem that things are moving somewhat faster than we anticipated.”
    Karryl frowned as he too read the letter twice. “Who or what would be capable of this?”
    Symon turned away from the window, his small hands tightly clasped, his grey eyes troubled. “From the way Vintar says the soldier described it and the effect it has had on them both, I believe it can only be an Assassin-Wraith.”
    Karryl rested on the arm of a chair. “No-one’s seen or even mentioned one of those for centuries. But if it is one, who summoned it and why did it attack the two soldiers?”
    Symon sat down in the chair opposite and clasped his small hands under his chin. His expression was grim. “An Assassin-Wraith has very limited perceptions. It is given a target, or a place where its target can be found, with instructions to kill by whatever means it finds necessary. Having accomplished its mission, it will return to await its master’s bidding. I have a strong suspicion that in this particular instance it made a mistake. In all likelihood it will be coming back.”
    Karryl studied his toes for a long moment then dropped the letter on a side table. “A similar thing happened to Tukrin, in the tunnel on Thermera. That could have been a Wraith. Areel said at the time that Tukrin wasn’t its intended victim. It’s out to kill us isn’t it?”
    Symon’s grey eyes regarded Karryl thoughtfully. “Almost certainly. However, this incident also tells us that Vedran intelligence is not up to date regarding our location.”
    Karryl stood up and began to pace the floor in front of the window. “Of course! It would have been told to kill the two occupants of the tower!”
    Warming to his subject, Symon raised a finger. “Exactly! It sensed the two soldiers, assumed they were you and me, and proceeded to do what its master sent it to do. Believing it had accomplished its task, it would then have returned to its master, almost certainly in the city of Vedra. Even more of a certainty is that its master is a person of extremely specialised accomplishments. Not even I could summon an Assassin-Wraith without placing myself in the utmost peril. I think that after we have had breakfast I shall go to the tower and see if the creature has left any trace of its presence. I’ll send the runner back with a verbal reply.”
    Leaving Karryl to read the disturbing letter again, Symon scurried off to give the runner his reply to Captain Vintar. Once he had left, the two magicians washed and dressed, then joined forces to prepare breakfast.
    As they tucked into sausages and fried potatoes, Karryl gave voice to something which had been troubling him since Symon first mentioned the Wraith. “How did it manage to get past the double warding, or unlock the door for that matter?”
    Symon placed his fork across the side of his plate and regarded Karryl from under bushy white eyebrows. “A warding such as the one we used would present no difficulties to such a creature. Although its deductive powers are limited, its magical dexterity would be extremely well developed. It would have considered the unravelling of that particular warding only a minor challenge. As for the door itself, it only required a basic spell of unlocking.”
    Karryl chewed for a few moments while his agile brain devised and rejected numerous solutions. “Is there an accepted theory as to how these