Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2), B.T. Narro [digital book reader txt] 📗

on his own,” Leon said. “We have to get out of here quickly.”

I took that to mean that Leon’s healing spell wouldn’t do anything for this kind of wound.

I bent down to place my hands over the bleeding opening and put my all into healing him for a few moments, watching the wound close. I gladly stopped as soon as his skin had been repaired, as he was screaming in agony right next to my ear.

“Come on, now.” Leon pulled him up by his arms again, this time getting the mage to his feet.

“I don’t know anything!” the man said.

“All right, give me the sword, Jon. If he has nothing to tell us, I’m going to kill him right now.”

I handed the blade to Leon, figuring he was bluffing, and took hold of the mage’s arms.

It seemed that the mage thought the same thing, refusing to speak as Leon lifted the sword over the man’s heart.

But then Leon made a face as if he was about to push the blade hard.

“Wait!” the mage yelled.

“What do you know?” Leon asked.

“A lot, but I want a deal.”

I demanded, “Tell us who saved Cason, and we will consider giving you a reduced charge.”

“I will only speak with the king.”

“Then you will die,” Leon said and put the point of the sword over the man’s heart again. “Last chance.” Leon motioned that he would push the tip in.

“I’m only speaking to the king,” the mage reiterated.

As Leon’s face crossed with anger, I feared he might kill this man while I held his arms from behind. I didn’t anticipate the blade going all the way through and piercing me, but this was not a place I wanted to be standing if this was really going to happen.

Three guards arrived. “We were told Cason was here,” said one, all out of breath.

“He was,” I notified them. “Cason attacked us with this man and one other. The other escaped, and so did Cason.”

“Which way?” asked a guard.

“I didn’t see where Cason went. Leon?” I asked.

“Negative, but I burned the other one pretty good. He ran off that way.” Leon pointed the opposite way the guards had come. “You three should go after him.”

“What about Cason?” asked one of the men.

“You’re not going to catch him without sorcery,” Leon said.

It was true. Cason should be able to escape any number of guards, unless one or more of them was skilled with a bow.

“Leave a pair of shackles,” Leon said.

One of the guards handed over a pair. Then they took off.

Leon cuffed the man behind his back.

“Come on,” Leon said. He grabbed the man by his hair with one hand and held the sword against him with the other. With a little pull to his hair, then a push to his back, he got the man to start walking in front of us. The mage did so with a hunch, a hand over his stomach.

He should still be injured internally. I could feel that my spell hadn’t fully healed him yet, just closed his wound. I was confident I could repair any damage that had been done as I watched him stagger a couple times. He could suffer for now, though.

Leon was clearly on guard, glancing around frequently, which made me think that this was still not over. He had mentioned to look out for illusions earlier, but if there were others who were going to attack, wouldn’t they have already done so?

“What are you looking out for?” I asked him.

“Cason. He can cloak himself like that elf.”

He was talking about Eslenda.

“Then why didn’t he turn invisible earlier?” I wondered.

“Because of the difficulty of the spell. Not even that elf could remain invisible and act. It takes too much concentration and effort. Cason can probably barely move while he’s cloaked, but I know from Jennava that he can cloak.”

“So then he couldn’t kill us while cloaked.”

“It’s not us I’m worried about. Can you move any faster?” Leon complained to the mage.

“Not unless Jon heals me more.”

“That’s not happening,” Leon said. “You’re not running away from us.”

“Then this is as fast as I can go.”

“How do you know my name?” I asked. “Who is the one talking?”

“Not until we speak with the king and he agrees to a contract bound by ordia.”

“What do you hope this contract will say?” Leon asked skeptically. “You think you’re going to be free after this? The best you can hope for is a reduced sentence, and your best bet of getting one is by cooperating with us now. Who the hell is talking? How do you and the others know about Jon?”

I was glad to see someone besides myself getting so pissed off about this betrayal.

“I’m not going to say anything until the contract is ready.”

“Wait,” Leon said. “Did you see something?”

“Where?” I asked.

“Right ahead of us.” He pointed. “I think there’s someone there.”

I started to make out a clear silhouette in the shape of a man just five yards in front of us. Leon and I both let go of the mage at the same time as we ran at Cason, but then he appeared with a black bow, an arrow aimed in between Leon and me.

Leon and I casted at the same time, him Wind and me Expel, but it was too late. Cason let the arrow go. I flinched, but it passed right between us and struck the mage in the chest.

“Shit. Go heal him, Jon!” Leon yelled as he ran after Cason.

I sprinted back and put my hands around the arrow, then started to heal. The mage was groaning weakly, his eyes closing. The arrow seemed to have struck him straight in the heart.

I panicked, casting as I told my mana to heal his heart. I felt it start to work, but was it too late?

The strain was nearly unbearable, as I was still tired from this long ordeal. I shut my eyes and focused hard. There was so much damage to his heart, the arrow still stuck within. I