Free Advent (Advent Mage Cycle) by Honor Raconteur

magicians—they can either feel or see magic. The longest range I’ve ever heard of was yours, Garth. Can anyone best twenty miles?”
    “Not that I’ve heard,” I admitted with a shrug.
    Xiaolang didn’t look surprised at my answer. “I doubt a Star Order Priest can match the range of a Mage. They aren’t as powerful as you, just sneakier. But for precaution’s sake, I’m going to pretend they might be able to detect something twenty miles away. And for paranoia’s sake, I’m going to double that distance when at all possible.”
    Considering that we were going up a whole country…that was very wise. “Sounds good to me.”
    “Now,” Xiaolang stood up, slinging a bag over his shoulder. “Let’s get out of here before my commanders can catch me and throw another stumbling block in my way.”
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     

Chapter Five: Discovery
     
    Was he hunched over that book again ?
    I shook my head. Barely two days out of Del’Hain and I swear I hadn’t seen Xiaolang’s face for more than five minutes. Fortunately, Hayate was intelligent enough to stay on the road without his rider’s guidance. Even now Xiaolang was paying absolutely no attention to his surroundings.
    I caught Eagle’s eye and jerked a thumb in Xiaolang’s direction. “The next time that he razzes you about always sticking your nose in a book, remind him of this moment.”
    “Oh, I intend to, don’t worry,” Eagle assured me with a feral smile. “In fact, I’ll never let him forget it.”
    I hadn’t expected anything different.
    “Garth, come here a moment!” Xiaolang called back to me.
    I heaved a sigh. And so it begins…. When I had explained to Xioalang about the index, his expression had resembled a goat with a new boot chew toy. When explained that the index lists the provinces each family lives in, I swear he began to dance in place. The end result being if we wanted a turn with the copy, we’d have to pry it from his cold dead fingers.
    Night lengthened his stride without my urging, catching up to Hayate before falling into step with the dragoo. Xiaolang leaned sideways, holding the book so that I could see it, his finger pointing to a particular spot on the page.
    “Does this name ring any bells for you?”
    I’ve been asked a lot of questions about that book before today but never that one. I frowned a little at the entry. Haikenen? That particular name didn’t sound familiar. However, the family name, “Hai” did. Where have I heard that before…? Ah!
    “Not that name. But the Hai family are renowned swordsmiths. Nothing can beat a Hai sword, not in quality of craftsmanship or in strength. I believe they’re based out of Shirlane, in Farless.”
    Xiaolang relaxed a bit, looking heartened. “Oh, good. Haikenen was from Shirlane as well, so apparently the family hasn’t moved out of that area. They were known to produce Fire Mages, which could explain why the family are such good swordsmiths.”
    I pulled up a mental map in my head. “If we push hard we could be there in about three days, I think.”
    “Yes, that matches my calculations as well.” Satisfied, he finally put the book away. “I do like having a destination like this.”
    “Even with the destination, I’m scanning the area as we move through it,” I informed him. Actually, I was doing that now, as we were barely ten miles from the border.
    “Oh certainly, please do. We never know when we’ll just stumble across someone.” His forehead wrinkled slightly in concern. “I just hope that if we do find a Fire Mage, he won’t be insane like Remcarparoden.”
    Me too.
    “ Garth?”
    I looked down at Night, who had tilted his head slightly to look back at me. “Yes?”
    “You said that Farless was a neutral Province, didn’t you?”
    “That’s what Guin’s information said.” I shrugged. I wasn’t as sure about that analysis. Sometimes “neutral” just meant “too lazy to do anything about it until