Free Nature's Peril Part 1 (The Nature Mage Series) by Duncan Pile Page B

the contents of his stomach, though the retching sounds around him made it clear that some of the others had not been so fortunate.
    He looked up, pale and sweating, to find they were in the dark interior of a house. The only light was the faint radiance of the stars filtered in through the windows, but that was enough for him to be able to recognise Stragos’ bungalow.
    “St ay here,” Voltan whispered. He stepped quietly across the room and into the corridor that led to the bedrooms. Gaspi waited with the others while Voltan explored, and soon enough the warrior mage was back. He threw a globe light up in the air.
    “There’s no-one here,” he said in a normal tone of voice . After hours of trying to be quiet, it sounded recklessly loud. “You’d better clean that up,” Voltan said to the group in general, indicating the pools of vomit on the floor with a broad gesture. Bret was the first one to act, using his powers to deal with the disgusting mess they’d made. Baard groaned and crawled away from the group, levering his enormous frame up and collapsing into one of Stragos’ comfortable chairs.
    “ There’s the amulet,” Voltan said, pointing at the wall behind Gaspi’s head. Gaspi turned around to see the other part of the amulet, dangling from a rack on the wall.
    “Should we take it with us?” Gaspi asked. “We could use the two of them to transport back and forth if we’re in danger.”
    “ That’s not a good idea,” Voltan responded. “There are two parts of the amulet that work as lodestones – the one in Helioport and this one here. The other two parts only transport to one destination or the other. This one here,” he continued, pulling at the chord round his neck, “transports to either place based on the command you give it – transport to Arkright or return to Helioport . If we took Stragos’ part of the amulet, anyone could transport directly to us if they used the right command. When Hephistole works out that we’ve gone, he might not be too pleased. Personally, I’d rather not have an angry archmage appear in our midst unannounced. Would you?”
    “Er, no! ” Gaspi said.
    “For exactly the same reason, we cannot stay here tonight, even though Stragos doesn’t appear to be in residence,” Voltan continued. “The moment Hephistole realises we are gone, he is likely to put two and two together. We need to get to Pell, and this is the obvious step for us to take, cutting many weeks out of our journey in a single leap. He will come here, of that you can be assured, so I suggest we put as much distance between ourselves and this place as possible.” An assortment of groans sounded from various members of the group. Clearly no-one felt like travelling. “Come on,” Voltan urged. “Up on your feet, and let’s get moving.” With a further chorus of groans, everyone got to their feet, with the exception of Baard, who had to be helped out of the chair he’d sunk into by Sabu.
    “You weigh a tonne,” Sabu muttered as he hauled on the giant’s huge hand.
    “No need ter get personal,” Baard grumbled, groaning once again as he finally stood up. “Jus’ so yer know,” he added, addressing Voltan. “If we get inter trouble I’d rather die fightin’ than use the bloody transporter again.”
    Voltan cracked the smallest of smiles. Without responding, he turned around, walked out into the hallway and exited through the front door. Within moments, the group was heading north, trudging in silence through the night.

Five
     
    “What do you mean, they’re gone?” Emmy said. The chancellor had sent for her first thing in the morning, along with Lydia and Rimulth, and told them that Gaspi and Taurnil had left in the middle of the night.
    “Exactly that I’m afraid,” Hephistole responded wearily. “After the disturbance last night I went to see Voltan, but it seems that he too has left the city.”
    “But why? Wh ere would they go?” Emmy asked, totally