The Phoenix Ring(21)

"Do you feel that?" Timothy asked as they approached a more newly carved chunk of wood.

Aidan could feel it. It was almost like an emptiness in the air around the tree. It felt lonely, but at the same time free.

"An amogh was here not five minutes ago. They literally repel magic."

The boys could feel the power reenter the area even as he stood there.

"Come on, let's get moving," Aidan said, walking back onto the road.

"Actually, you're not going anywhere," said a voice behind him, "Drop your weapons."

Aidan spun around, staff at the ready, and stopped.

His nose was less than three inches from a barbed, gleaming arrowhead.





10





"I said, drop your weapons." Timothy spun around so that he and Aidan  were back to back. Aidan knew immediately that they were outnumbered.  There seemed to be a man behind every tree, all of them armed. They were  wearing some sort of clothing that blended into the forest, if they  stood still Aidan could barely see them.

"This is the last chance you get. Drop your weapons, or I will put my arrow through your skull."

The man who said it was the only one who had stepped out of the woods.  He held a huge, curving bow, drawn back to the fullest extent. Aidan  doubted that even the Rangers could hold a bow that large so steadily.

Not knowing what else to do, he let his staff fall to the ground, and a moment later heard Timothy's hit a pile of leaves.

"Now your packs."

Even the man's face was covered in the strange garments, so Aidan could  not tell what he looked like. He did know that the man was about twice  his size and a head taller, and was holding a giant weapon.

The young mage slipped off his pack and let it fall to the ground.

"Now what is it that you seek, coming to our home with weapons in your hands?"

"Actually," Timothy said, "those aren't weapons, those are our staffs. You see, we're-"

"I know what you are, sorcerer." the man said. Aidan was sure if could have spit at them he would.

"We're here to see Borin," the green eyed youth said, "We are on an  errand from Bartemus, the King's Warlock, and we come in peace."

The man lowered the bow slightly, which didn't make it less threatening as it was now pointed at Aidan's throat.

"I doubt Bartemus sent two youths here, he knew it's dangerous.  Nonetheless, you know our leader's name, which means you are granted  safe entrance. Take them."

Aidan felt strong hands grab him from behind, and then some sort of wool  bag was thrown over his head. He felt himself being hoisted on to a  shoulder and was amazed at the strength of the person carrying him.

It was definitely an amogh, Aidan could feel the power being pushed away  from the bottom of the bag. Unfortunately for the mage, this was  disrupting the flow of magic all around him. He was unable to see, hear  or feel what was going on, he felt completely powerless, not to mention  hot and stuffy.

He had been bounced around inside the wool for no more than five minutes  when the man suddenly stopped and dumped him into the grass.                       
       
           



       

They were standing, or in the mages' case laying, outside a tall wall of  logs, with two doors twice the height of any of the amoghs set into the  center.

The man who had been carrying Aidan called out a string of numbers, too  complicated for the young mage to remember, and stepped back as the  massive doors swung out. The moment the doors were opened, a flood of  about ten amoghs appeared from the forest, and began to guide the mages  towards the opening.

As soon as Aidan stepped into the camp he felt the lack of magic. Even the Phoenix Ring was having a hard time keeping up.

The area inside the wall was about twice the size of Aidan's village,  and seemed to be little more than a village itself. Each of the  structures inside looked as if they had been built hastily, and with  only the rawest materials. They were made of planks, animal skins, and  mud, held together by thin ropes. All were Identical, except for a  large, long building that dominated the fort and had obviously not been  constructed with a similar design, or by the same people.

It was made of large stone bricks, held together in much the same way as  any of the structures at Fort Phoenix. At first guess, Aidan would say  it had been built with magic.

Aidan was led, none too gently, to that center structure, behind which  he could hear someone coughing painfully. Other than that there was no  sign of human life.

One of the amoghs opened the door and gestured for them to walk inside,  sarcastically bowing. Aidan began to feel a smoldering coal burn in the  pit of his stomach.

Three of the masked men followed them, bearing their things, and shut the door.

They were in a long hallway with no windows, lit only by candles on the  wall. On both sides of the hall were doorways, most covered only by a  sheet of cloth hanging from the top. Aidan was reminded of the adult  quarters at Fort Phoenix.

They walked forward until they reached the end of the hall, where a large black curtain hung down over a double doorway.

One of the amoghs pulled the tarp aside, and Aidan and Timothy were forced inside.

The room was very large, it could have held two of the smaller huts  outside. There was a burning fire in the center, with a hole cut in the  roof to allow the smoke to exit. Benches and chairs lined all of the  walls, each filled with a human.

The very first thing that Aidan noticed was the age. Most of the amoghs  appeared to be young, there were only a few adults. The second thing  Aidan noticed were the girls.

They were the most perfect people Aidan had ever seen. Each were  different, but that only served to highlight their individual beauty.  Aidan could have spent an hour describing each of them and still not  done them justice.

The boys were handsome, with perfectly toned muscles rippling across  their arms and under their shirts. They were made even more intimidating  by the countless weapons that adorned their bodies.

The mages appeared to have walked into the room in the middle of a  conversation, yet all eyes were immediately fixed on him and Timothy.

A young girl about Aidan's age broke the silence first.

"You're a mage," she said in a singsong voice that would make any man's  head turn. However her words were a statement, not a question, and were  said with the authority of one who is not to be tested.

Aidan found himself unable to answer her, enamored by her giant, unblemished blue eyes.

The amogh who had brought him into the camp cleared his throat and  pulled off his mask, revealing a boy of about twenty, with large green  eyes and coppery brown hair. Aidan felt ugly and slow next to this tall,  strong man.

"These two claim that they have a message for you, sir, from Master  Bartemus," he said to a man sitting at the far end of the room.

He was easily the oldest person present. Aidan would guess he was forty  to fifty years old, however, he still looked strong enough to wrestle a  dragon and win.

He regarded Aidan and Timothy for a few seconds before he stood.

"Aaliyah, Come with me. The rest of you stay here."

The girl that stood would have been ugly in comparison to the rest of  the amoghs, due to a thin scar that ran across her left cheek, from her  hairline to her chin, just barely missing her eye. By focusing on that  one imperfection, Aidan was able to see her as a human instead of angel.

She had deep hazel eyes and a long curtain of brown hair, currently tied  into a braid behind her back. She was probably about his age, but she  would barely come up to his shoulder. The clothing she wore was strange,  instead of donning a skirt like any respectable girl, she had pants  that barely came past her knees, and a shirt that only had a left  sleeve, the other was cut off at the shoulder.

The two mages followed the older man out of the room and began to walk  down the hall, followed by the girl, who moved more silently than a cat.                       
       
           



       

The amogh man stepped through a curtain a little less than halfway down  the hall, within which was a simple room not unlike Bartemus's quarters.

The older man sat down, while Aaliyah stood at the entrance, removing any means of escape.

"So you know my name is Borin," the man said, "But who are you, sorcerer?"

Timothy didn't even seem to realize that a question had been asked, so Aidan decided to answer.

"My name is Aidan … " he had been about to say Rune, but then he  remembered something Malachi had told him. "Dragonslayer. Aidan  Dragonslayer."

The girl behind them burst into laughter, until Borin silenced her by raising his hand.

"He tells the truth, Aaliyah. Whoever this boy is, he has earned his title."

Timothy's forehead creased. "How did you know that?"

"Every amogh has a special ability. Aaliyah can instinctively anticipate  events. I can read people's faces and eyes, and know what they are  feeling, or if they are lying. Unfortunately, my ability is not perfect,  so I would like some proof that it was indeed Bartemus that sent you."