Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [108]
"Where is he?"
As Lewan's eyes began to adjust to the light, he saw Talieth standing beside him, her hair and clothes sodden, her left arm wet with rain and blood where the thorns had raked her skin.
Lewan looked past her. There was no sign of the half-orc. The bodies of the assassins lay where they'd fallen, one man still moving feebly. The archer whom Lewan had struck with the hammer was gone, though his bow still lay on the pavement next to a haphazard pile of a half dozen arrows. He saw nothing of Berun, save the cloak he'd tossed aside. Beyond the burning brush, the light from the fire only seemed to thicken the shadows in the courtyard. But Lewan could see that the shadows were moving-and not from the fall of the rain. Talieth s spells had hurt the army of vines and creepers, but more were coming.
Lewan cried, "Lady, there-!"
Talieth whirled, bringing her right arm up to cast another spell. But it was too late. Vines shot downward, their leaves rustling like the hissing of a serpent, and wrapped around Talieth's waist. Before she could complete her invocation, more wrapped round her arms and tightened. The Lady of Sentinelspire thrashed and screamed, but like Sauk, the more she struggled the more she entangled herself. More vines wound out of the forest to grapple her.
"Kheil! Lewan! Help me!" But then she was gone, pulled out of sight into the branches.
Lewan froze, crouched under the tree, the hammer in his hand. He was too frightened to move, afraid that more vines might come for him. But none did. He could still hear thrashing overhead, Talieth and Sauk screaming. An occasional branch or leaf fell, but no more vines dangled down.
"Lewan."
He turned to see his master. With his knife still in hand, Berun rushed out of the shadows and embraced Lewan.
Lewan squeezed him back. "Master, what just happened?"
Berun pulled away. He glanced up at the boughs where Talieth and Sauk were still screaming. Then he looked back at Lewan and said, "I think they have displeased the master of this tower."
"The Old Man?"
Berun nodded. "I never knew him to possess powers such as these. It seems what Sauk told me is true. He has learned to bend my master's power to his own will."
"I've seen him, Master!" said Lewan, and it all came out in a rush. "The Old Man. He came to me. On the mountain. He said… he said that Talieth and Sauk were lying, that he was out to save the world. He said he needed my help, master! He-"
"Lewan," said Berun. Not a shout, but enough force to cut off Lewan's stream of words. Berun held him by the shoulders and smiled. "It is good to see you again. I feared the worst. They didn't harm you?"
"N-no, Master. They-"
"I'm sorry, Lewan," said Berun, his smile fading and his face becoming grim. "I pray you'll be able to tell me all about it later. Now, you must find someplace to hide."
"What? Where are you going?"
Berun looked up at the tower. "I was given a task. During the Jalesh Rudra. I must fulfill my oath."
The Jalesh Rudra… Lewan had so much to tell Berun, so many questions, so much to confess.
"I'll come with you," he said.
"No, Lewan. Listen-"
"No!" Lewan shouted. All of the terror and secrets and worry rose up in him, boiling over and turning into white-hot anger. "No, you listen! You can't just order me to run off and hide every time it gets dangerous. Look how that worked last time! I begged-I begged to go with you, but you ordered me away without so much as an explanation. I'm hunted down by a bunch of murderers looking for you, dragged off and told that everything you ever told me was a lie!"
"I never lied to you, Lewan."
"You never told me about Kheil!"
Berun flinched at that, but his