Free Brave Men Die: Part 3 by Dan Adams

two guys barely two metres away. He almost shat himself thinking how it could have been him. The trademark whistling sounded again and he got up and ran, taking off toward the entrance of the pass and passed Pollux on the way, thinking that the man was an idiot for running toward him.
    Pollux stopped as he watched Octans run past, turned and went after him as the smaller boulders rained down. The onslaught had begun, the Kyzantine barrage continued. He ran all over the place, dodging between falling rocks in an effort to catch his friend. He kept moving until he left the catapults range, the rocks still falling throughout the compound behind him, Pollux managed to catch up then crash tackle him to the ground. He rolled on top of him and slapped him hard across the face.
    ‘Snap out of it you fool,’ Pollux hissed.
    ‘I could have been …’
    ‘Yes and you weren’t. Deal with it.’
    The two remained still for moments, neither sure how this would play out.
    Suddenly Octans roared with laughter. ‘Bloody hell, mate, I reckon I’ve got the gods luck on my side.’
    Pollux patted him on the chest and rolled off him, smiling at the return of Octan’s humour. ‘Luck, you must have stolen their speed! I’ve never seen you run so fast.’
    The two friends sat there in silence, listening to the camp at Black Claw, staring back down at the inevitable. Both were wondering how long their luck could hold out.
    The two men reluctantly walked back into camp. Everyone was on high alert, watching the sky and listening for the warnings. Pollux and Octans joined the men in silence, watching the night for shadows and hoping that dawn would come soon.

CHAPTER SIX
    The wind rattled through the stone corridors of the Academy making the Fifth Circle mage glance nervously over her shoulder. Not discarding the possible threat, Laura moved urgently along. Her footsteps scuttled across the tiled floor as she hurried along the first floor open expanse, passing through the periodic shadows cast by the pillars on her left side.
    Travelling quickly down the stairs, her hand skimmed along the rail for balance, the balls of her feet barely touching each step. With her hood down, her blonde hair was tousled by the breeze channelling down the corridors of the lower levels of the Academy. Her right hand absently pulled the straying strands from her hazel eyes and back behind her ear every other minute as the swirling wind in the courtyard took over.
    The Academy was silent in the early hours of the morning. The other students and mentors were abed or at study, anywhere but walking the halls. It was still hot and there was humidity in the summer air, despite the sun sinking beneath the horizon hours ago and the current breeze. As she neared the western training area that was external to the main building, Laura could sense the residue of magic that hung heavily in the air. She blinked and traced the pattern, recognising a variety of familiar signatures and the weaves they had cast. Most of it was of an elemental nature, no mage above the Sixth Circle had been on the western field yesterday morning, but two women had been casting something different. There were two fire-based incants but they had darker threads, something she couldn’t quite place. Laura thought after some sleep she would come back and figure out what they were doing, learn it for herself and see what else she could apply the twisted threads to.
    When she veered away from the training grounds Laura’s thoughts returned to her fears of being followed. Pausing ever so slightly, the incant came to the forefront of her mind and she whispered the four key words to activate the spell and send out a pulse that would pick up anyone in the vicinity who was currently casting. There were no pings on her radar, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t being followed by conventional means. Perhaps she just couldn’t see them trailing her.
    The thought of being followed was slightly disturbing. She’d