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

mage’s home by the time we got them through the door. I gave the dark mage’s key to one of the two guards when I was done locking the door, but I kept his sword with me just in case there was trouble along the way.

“Your cooperation will go a long way,” I reminded the three of them.

“Cason is going to have your head, Jon Oklar,” said the dark mage.

I had already assumed they’d figured out my identity, but to hear my whole name spoken sent a needle down my spine.

“You can start cooperating by telling me how you know my name.”

“I’m not saying anything unless I have a deal from the king himself.”

Shaw spoke up from ahead of us. “You’re not making a deal without involving us.”

“You can shut up,” the dark mage replied. “You’ve been nothing but useless since you were a guard, and you’re even more useless now.”

Burda came up to my side. “So your name is Jon Oklar?”

“Go home,” I urged her. “It’s not safe for you here.”

“I will soon. You work for the king?”

I looked around, fearing an impending ambush. But I took a breath and reminded myself that we had caught these three without any enemy knowing. We should be fine.

“Yes,” I answered her.

“Will he do anything about Red, the tavernkeep you met? He doesn’t force men to leave when they touch me. He doesn’t even scold them.”

“I do plan to speak to the king about that, but we are dealing with a rebellion. Is there any other place you can work?”

“No, my family doesn’t have coin to spare while I look for another job.”

I pulled out my coin purse and started to open it, but she closed her hand over it.

“That’s not the point. Something needs to be done about Red.”

I nodded as I put my coin purse away. “Even if the king doesn’t do something, I promise I will as soon as I can.”

“How long might it be?”

“A few days,” I said, too tired to think of a plan clearly right now.

A pained look went across her face. It reminded me of the look on Aliana when she described the harassment she’d endured at the same place as this girl.

The guard at the front yelled out, “Move, young woman. Go to the other side of the street.”

I looked ahead at a very familiar girl headed straight toward us.

“Greda?” I asked. “What are you doing here?” She worked at the Enchanted Devices shop. There should be no reason for her to be out here right now, past curfew.

“Move,” said the guard again, gesturing for her to step aside.

Greda stopped right in front of him, forcing him to come to a stop as well.

Greda wasn’t speaking…and she was taller than usual….

My heart dropped. I knew what this meant.

“Run Burda!” I yelled as I readied my sword.

“Why?” she asked.

“Get out of here now!” I commanded. “It’s an illusionist.”

A man’s voice came out of Greda’s mouth. “This man is familiar to me.” The illusionist pointed at me.

The guards let go of Shaw and Jacob and took out their swords.

“It’s him, sir,” the dark mage said. “The bladedancer.”

Sir? Was this Cason Clay, right here before us?

The image of Greda’s face and hair morphed into that of a man. The light blonde hair shrank until it covered only the top of his head, the hue darkening. Greda’s cute, round face elongated. A light beard sprouted around the mouth, covering a pointed chin. The dark eyes didn’t change, making me realize that they were Cason’s from the beginning. He had a menacing look that was casual as well, as if the scene before him would require a great physical intervention and yet he wasn’t so much in the mood.

“Burda, get out of here now!” I demanded.

She finally took off running.

“You will free these men now,” Cason said.

“Who are you?” the lead guard asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Cason.” The brave guard dashed at the most wanted criminal with his sword, but Cason lifted his hand, and the guard rose into the air.

I had never seen such a spell. Cason must’ve encircled the man with dteria and forced the clear energy up, hoisting the man up with it. The amount of power it took was far beyond anything I could do with my mana.

The other guard and I charged. Cason made a shooing motion toward me. A thick sheet of clear energy shot out from his hand and picked me up. I had been thrown by dteria plenty of times before, but this was different. I kept rising higher, the energy still intact, as it carried me into the sky. Finally it dispersed, but my momentum carried me on until I slowly came to a peak and started to fall.

Terror consumed me when I looked down and saw just how high I was. Up past the two-story houses around me, I was going to break something for sure.

The ground came at me fast. I did the only thing I could think to do. I casted Expel right beneath me and held it as strongly as I could. The energy was soft, like a mattress. It would be a lot better to land on than the hard dirt of the street.

I didn’t know what happened exactly, but suddenly I was on the ground with aching pain across my entire front side, including my face. I felt weak, hurt, like I didn’t have the strength to stand up. A flash of memory came back to me. I had broken through my barrier of mana, the dvinia shattering from the force of my body pushing through it. However, it must have slowed me because I didn’t think anything was broken, though I was in too much pain everywhere to tell for sure.

I looked up to see Cason holding both guards suspended in the air. He walked up to the closest one and grabbed the man’s shin. He held out his other hand, and Shaw walked over to allow Cason to place it on his shoulder.

The guard