Free Rogue Powers by Phil Stern

might be a fitting reward for him should the military campaign achieve success.”
    This was most troubling. A pairing of Tenen with Aprina’s disaffected daughter could someday prove highly undesirable. Perno certainly hadn’t anticipated such an outcome when conspiring to frame Lydia’s mother for treason
    Yet now was not the time to press further. “As you wish, my liege.”

 
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    T HE SUN WAS JUST BEGINNING to peek over the eastern horizon. Anson, Senter, and Conger crept silently through the trees, seeking out any potential Karden activity on the army’s left flank.
    A tall, strong youth only a few years older than Anson and Conger, Corporal Senter carried himself with veteran assurance. This was the same soldier Anson had surreptitiously saved the day before, a move he was now amply regretting.
    Before even reaching the Outlands, of course, he’d sensed an unknown Demon accompanying the royal army. But now that he was in close proximity to Senter, the empowered youth from Hylen had no doubt who that Demon was, or why the regular army corporal had chosen him and only one other recruit for the morning patrol.
    Clearly this was a predator of the highest order, one who personally exalted in stalking and killing others like himself. For intertwined within Senter’s mental emanations was a seething malevolence he’d never before encountered. The corporal’s depraved soul pulsed outward, saturating Anson in its sickly aura, eagerly waiting to inflict pain and death.
    As of yet, Anson had no idea what specific ability Senter might possess. But given his potent mind and obvious speciality in hunting other telepaths, it must be powerful indeed. In any event, Anson was unable to quell his inner clarion, which had been shrieking continually since the beginning of the patrol a half-hour before.
    The forest here was very thick, with heavy vines and low-lying branches brushing nearly against his head and shoulders. Experts at ambush and close-in fighting, conditions were tailor-made for a Karden assault.
    “At least they won’t be able to use their archers,” Conger muttered. Bringing up the rear, behind first Senter and then Anson, the recruit nervously glanced behind him every half-minute.
    They all froze at the snap of a stick. A large northern deer burst from the woods twenty feet ahead, charging back into the forest to their right. Anson and Conger, terrified by the sudden outburst of sound and movement, swung their swords up to the ready.
    “Steady now.”  For his part, Senter barely reacted. “Save your energy for when it counts.”
    Grimly they proceeded on, Anson trying to block Senter’s twisted mental energy as best he could.
    The far point for their patrol had been marked on a crude map, a small clearing near a cliff and waterfall plunging down into a rocky pool below. Some twenty minutes after the scare with the deer, they heard the rush of water off to the right.
    “That’s the stream,” Senter observed, consulting the map. To those without power, the corporal appeared nothing more than an able, professional soldier. “Come on, we’re almost there. This is no time to lag behind schedule.”
    “Friendly chap, huh?” Conger whispered in Anson’s ear.
    “Yeah, well, you don’t know the half of it,” he replied. With both the stress of the patrol and constant sounding of his secondary power, Anson was feeling exhausted.
    “Did you say something, recruit?” Senter demanded. Turning back to the two youths, the patrol leader’s sword was pointing casually at Anson’s chest. “I’m not sure I heard you.”
    “It was nothing, sir.”
    “Really? Well, isn’t that nice.” Senter gave a thin, hard smile. “You don’t want to chatter too much out here. It puts us all in danger.”
    Deliberately, Anson matched his gaze. “I certainly wouldn’t want that, sir.”
    “I’m sure you wouldn’t.” Holding Anson’s eye a moment longer, Senter then clapped him on the