Free Blademage Adept (The Blademage Saga Book 3) by Chris Hollaway

other end of the log, Rhysabeth-Dane at her side, shuffling pages of parchment and comparing them to other books and notes.
    “We’ll begin the trek inland tomorrow, then.” Yusa affirmed, glancing toward Kevon.
    “I’m still weak, but well enough to hike.” He responded, his gaze remaining locked on the Mage across from him.
    “Sure you wouldn’t like any?” Alanna waved a bowl of the stew toward Reko.
    “Certain.” He sniffed. “I have my own rations back aboard the ship. And my own bed.” The Mage stood, and glanced around at the others. “Until the morning.” He raised his staff, and vanished.
    “Powerful, to do that unaided,” Kevon commented, shifting his gaze to Mirsa.
    “Concealed, as well,” she added. “I’ve seldom felt him work any of his magic.”
    “Strange, but he’s been a loyal companion for years,” Yusa laughed. “Quite a few scrapes he’s gotten me out of, that’s for sure. Quite a few others I would swear he had a hand in.”
    “We had a companion much like that,” Kevon closed his eyes and lowered his head. “Not a Mage, but…”
    “An incredible ally.” Mirsa finished.
    “I’m sorry I was never able to meet Waine,” Alanna offered. “It seems he changed everyone he met, for the better.” She stood and stalked around the fire to where Reko had been sitting. “One thing we may need to ask your friend, though,” she said, looking to Captain Yusa, “Is why he doesn’t leave footprints.”
    “I suspected Illusion before, on the ship.” Kevon added. “A Sending between rooms when seconds of walking would do… was hardly practical. But what I suspected then makes no sense in this situation. We would see prints where we had not seen him, instead of none where he had been.”
    “Or where he appeared to be?” Mirsa asked.
    “That may well be,” Kevon nodded.” Projecting himself into our midst, while hiding his true self? Difficult, but not impossible.”
    “But it is impossible,” Yusa fumed. “I’ve known him for years, before I got my ship, before I trained at…” he scratched his head. “No, it was after I abandoned my studies, and the Arts. A year or better after that. But still!”
    “It seems your friend Reko would be the best to ask about this, the next time we see him,” Mirsa decided. “How long have you been watching him?”
    “I always keep my eye on the nearest Mage,” Alanna smirked. “I noticed the footprints yesterday, but have felt uneasy around him since our first encounter.”
    “I’ve heard some of the reasons why you have cause to distrust practitioners of the Arts, and understand,” Mirsa fidgeted, and looked up at Alanna. “I hope to be a part of the reason you can trust some of us again.”
    “Tolerate? Perhaps.” Alanna answered, returning the Mage’s gaze. “But trust?”
    “It’s not just Magi that Alanna mistrusts,” Kevon interjected. “But we have the furthest to go to regain any measure of that trust.”
    “I trust we’ll all need a good night’s sleep under our belts to strike camp and head inland in the morning,” Yusa barked. He stood, glanced at the untouched sand in front of the log where Reko had sat, and shook his head. “Here’s to hoping we can get it.”
----
    Kevon led the way, working ever inward and upward toward the shrouded center of the island. Stretches of clear path were punctuated by webs of vines and brush that the Warrior reluctantly hacked aside with his saber.
    “We rest here,” he called to the others, staggering as he reached the third waterfall of the morning, the first that they could not step over and around. He reached out and filled his cupped hand in the thin cascade, sipping, then splashing the rest over his face to wash away the sweat and sap from the vines.
    “Still no sign of Reko,” Yusa grumbled. “I don’t know if he’ll even be able to find us this far away from shore.
    “Or if we’d want him to,” Alanna muttered as she entered the clearing, watching to