Free The Written by Ben Galley Page B

miles
underground.’
    ‘And with barely any magick
left in it, if I heard the stories right,’ Farden pointed a finger
at his friend. The heat from the fire curled around him like a
blanket. ‘And as far as I know, there
aren’t any left in Emaneska, but Jergan seems to think that there
are a few we might have missed.’
    ‘Indeed, I’ve spent almost my
entire life trying to track them down.’ He tapped his thin lips
thoughtfully, deciding what to do. ‘This is dire news, Farden,
especially if the lycan is right about an undiscovered well. If
we’re assuming, that the thief stole the manual to get at the
spells, then we have to suppose that they mean to release this
beast on the world.’ Durnus spoke his words with an ominous tone, a
cold voice in a vacuous cave.
    ‘And if Jergan was right about
the size and power of this creature, then we could all be in
serious danger, and I don’t just mean the Arka. Whoever stole that
book wants to turn Emaneska upside down…’ Farden looked at the
vampyre and their eyes locked in a steely embrace.
    ‘We need to get you to
Krauslung with all speed.’ Durnus quickly leapt from his chair and
went to the pile of scaffolding in the corner. He flipped the dry
pages of the dusty tome on the lectern and let his fingers scroll
over the lines of brown ink.
    ‘I’ll need most of the night to
prepare the quickdoor to the citadel. You need to rest. I can
imagine that you’ve been through enough to get this information so
I advise you just get some sleep friend,’ he said, as his pale blue
eyes scanned the book eagerly.
    The mage took a deep breath and
gathered his cloak behind him.
    ‘What was it like?’ asked
Durnus abruptly. His finger had stopped on the page.
    Farden looked over at the
vampyre’s back. ‘Imagine seeing death in the eyes of a nine-foot
tall wolf,’ the mage paused, remembering that blur of a fight.
Durnus turned to face him, a humorous look in his pale eyes. ‘It
strikes me as odd, my good friend, that you should ever see
anything resembling death. Every time I fear the worst, you come
back to us with no more than a handful of scratches. I envy you
Farden, being out there face to face with creatures like
Jergan?’
    ‘Envy me?’ Farden threw him a
quizzical look. ‘Are you sure?’ Farden lifted his torn cloak over
his breastplate and pointed to the deep groove made by the lycan’s
raking claws. ‘This isn’t a handful of scratches, an inch further
up and I would be either dead or howling away somewhere out in the
mountains.’
    Durnus smiled and turned back
to his book. ‘Come now, I know you better than that. You crave
danger,’ there was a pause. ‘That’s why I’m always telling you to
be careful.’
    ‘Here we go,’ muttered Farden,
with a mock sigh. The vampyre turned around again as the mage
slumped back into the chair. ‘No, I’m not going to lecture
you.’
    ‘For a change.’
    ‘Fine. All I’m saying is that
we’ve known eachother a long time,’ Durnus tapped the side of his
head with a pale finger. ‘I know why you came here to Albion, and
what you’re trying to hide from, and I’ve seen how you deal with
it. Just remember that we care about you, and that even you have
your limits.’ The vampyre crossed his arms and stared at the mage.
His face was serious, and his words were sincere. Farden felt a
little uncomfortable as he always did in these moments, and tapped
his vambraces with his fingernail. ‘It’s not likely I’ll find them
just yet though,’
    Durnus sighed and went over to
the mage. ‘Just be careful,’ he said, and Farden nodded silently.
The vampyre found himself smiling and put a thin grey hand on his
friend’s shoulder. ‘And in truth I do envy you, because you’re the
one who gets to go out there and make a difference, fight the
battles and the monsters, uncover the secrets and be the warrior.
My days are long drawn out and my memories are slowly fading,
Farden, I can’t remember the last time I