"Kyla´s Story (chapter 8)" by Nancy Kelaria Chamberlain

After staying in an inn in Honurk, Conan took Kyla aside before they left.

“Once we leave this city, we will not be staying in any more inns. We wont even be able to ride directly through another city. We are going to cross the river just west of Honurk, then we will turn north and ride towards Shei, but we will not go all the way there, about an hour's ride north of Honurk, we will turn West again and slip across the boarder into Huron.” A look of fear, that frightened Kyla, appeared on Conan’s face. “You don’t have to come any further if you don’t want to. It’s an unnecessary risk, if we’re caught, we could be hanged or worse.” Kyla hugged him fiercely.

“Where you go, I go.” She pulled back and looked him in the eyes, “If you get caught, I get caught. Your risk is my risk. We must do this together, you need me in order to find him.” She hugged him again. “Friends must stick together!” Tears flooded Conan’s eyes, he hugged Kyla back.

“Thanks, that means a lot to me!” He replied. Kyla pulled back, her own eyes wet too.

“It’s my choice, right? I choose to risk life for justice and for all the other young Mages out there.” She put on a brave smile, “We should go soon.”

“Yeah,” Conan replied.

The two friends rode out of the city. They followed the directions Conan had explained earlier.

When they reached the border of Huron, 4 hours after leaving Honurk, they stopped for a bit.

“Is something wrong?” Kyla asked.

“This is it,” Conan said, “Here is where we cross the border.” He looked at Kyla, worry in every line of his body. “You’re sure of your decision?”

“Yes,” Kyla said. “I’m sure.” She gave him another brave smile.

“Ok,” he said slowly, “lets go.” They turned towards the border and rode into Huron hidden among the trees.

“Where do we go now?” Kyla asked when they stopped 5 minutes after crossing the border.

“We must sense for him.” Conan told her.

“Sense?” Kyla wondered.

“Yes,” Conan replied, “You will sense for his power, which direction it is coming from.”

“How?” Kyla asked, puzzled.

“I’ll show you.” He dismounted and motioned for Kyla to do the same.

Once they had set up their meditation dome, Conan explained what they were going to do.

“Ok, first we sit, cross-legged, facing one another. Then we hold hands.” As he talked, they did what he was instructing. “Now, close your eyes.” Kyla did so.

‘What we are going to do requires you to remember what his power felt like when it was taking over you. If you did this alone, he would be able to take over you mind again, but I will protect you from that.’ He told her through mind speech.

‘Ok,’ Kyla replied, ‘I trust you.’

‘Good.’ Conan smiled. Kyla tried to remember what Garrun’s power felt like. Soon she felt like she was being sucked out of her own body.

‘Conan!’ she thought, panicking.

‘It’s okay, I’ve got you.’ He responded. Kyla felt his hands tighten on hers, and she felt his magic in her body, keeping her power inside herself. Immediately, Kyla felt safe again, she breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Can you sense which direction his power is coming from?’ Conan asked her.

‘Um...’ Kyla began, ‘yes, I can!’ She was surprised. In her surprise she opened her eyes and gasped. Heading northwest, from their meditation circle, was a thin string of white power. Conan opened his eyes as well.

“Good job,” he said aloud, “we’ll take up our meditation circle and follow that line of power. It’ll stay there,” He explained when Kyla looked at him puzzled, “Only you and I can see it. This kind of spell is meant to last until its use has been completed.”

“Oh.” Kyla said in return. They took up their circle and mounted their horses.

The two Mages rode northwest, following the glowing string for almost 3 hours.

“If my maps are correct, we should be reaching a city called Jobil soon. Jobil is one of the biggest cities in Huron.” Conan said.

“But I thought that you said we couldn’t go through anymore cities.” Kyla reflected.

“Well, we really shouldn’t but…” He paused, “ I don’t want to loose the trail of the magic.”

“But we’ll be caught!” Kyla exclaimed.

“No,” Conan frowned, “I can put a spell on us so we can’t be seen, but it can take a lot of my energy up if I hold it for a long time.”

“Will it work in a crowded city?” Kyla asked.

“If we go through at night.” Conan said, “It’ll be dark soon, we can go then.”

Later that night, after making Kyla, himself, and their mounts hidden from enemy eyes, they rode towards the city of Jobil. Quietly they rode through the city, Kyla could feel Conan’s tension and worry and she knew he could sense her fright.

After what seemed to Kyla like an eternity, they reached the other edge of the city. Once they felt that they were far enough away from Jobil so that they were safe, Conan lifted his spell. He looked at Kyla, relief in his dark brown eyes. He dismounted and Kyla did so as well. He turned to Kyla and smiled.

“We made it.” he said, and collapsed.