A Clash of Magics by Guy Antibes (read this if txt) 📕

immunity doesn’t allow me any power, so I have to borrow some. Not all magicians are strong enough. Are you?”

Coosin smiled confidently. “Shall we try?”

Trevor put his bag together and changed into his diving outfit, and when the seer returned, they went up to Trevor’s room. “I’ve tentatively sold my horse,” Trevor said.

“And I took a carriage. Now let’s see if I’ll have to hire another one to take me back to the church.”

Chapter Nineteen

~

T revor held out a fisted arm. Coosin Escarik put his hand on Trevor’s wrist, and in an instant, they stood outside General Henkari’s garrison. “There is someone I’d like you to meet.”

Coosin put a hand to his head. “A moment, if you please. Part of my brain is catching up. Where are we?”

“Close to the Maskumite border, two-thirds of the way to the west side of Jarkan,” Trevor said.

“Trevor Arcwin to see General Henkari,” Trevor said to the shocked soldiers standing guard.

“He is in the town, sir,” one of the soldiers said.

“Is Akku Manusa or the Viksaran I brought with me here?”

“Prince Akku is recovering from a night in the town, but your friend is in the town. Your lady is too.”

“And the white horse?”

“With your friend,” the guard said.

Trevor sighed. He had made the right choice of returning to the border, hoping that Lissa and Potur would leave Khartoo when he had gone missing. “We are going to do a little walking,” Trevor said.

Trevor went to the inn where he had stayed briefly and found that Volst and Lissa were in residence but out in the town.

“A room for each of us, if you have them,” Trevor said. He looked in his purse, and the payment would finally exhaust his funds. He had lost too much money selling the horse he rode from Berry Port to Wistfall.

Trevor met Seer Escarik in the lobby, and they stepped out in the afternoon sun heading toward the town’s market. They walked through the lanes of stalls until someone ran into Trevor from behind, putting arms around his waist.

He turned to see a blonde head. “You made it back to the border.”

“And you are alive! I couldn’t believe you were dead,” Lissa said, her eyes watering. “No one else would wear one of those black outfits in Jarkan.” She turned to Coosin. “Who is this?”

“My traveling companion. Let me introduce you.” He looked at Coosin. “This is Lissa Caspur, the daughter of Seer Caspur of Viksar.” Then he turned to Lissa. “This is Seer Coosin Escarik, although at present he is more like a seer on a temporary assignment. I’ll tell you later. I met him in Wistfall.”

Volst walked up, and the introductions continued. “Did I hear you made it to Wistfall?”

“On a ship that refused to turn back,” Trevor said. “I made the mistake of taking too much of a risk and was caught in a place where I couldn’t escape, so I jumped out a window into the sea. A ship bound for Berry Port picked me up. They were already behind schedule, so they wouldn’t turn back to Khartoo, and I made the voyage. I rode north to Wistfall and found Seer Escarik staying at the Wistfall cathedral. We teleported from there to here.”

“I’m sure there is more to the story,” Volst said.

Trevor nodded. “It’s not for telling in the middle of a marketplace.”

“What is happening at the border?” Trevor asked.

“Not in the middle of a marketplace,” Lissa said with a smirk.

“Potur Lott is furious with you,” Lissa said after Trevor told his story over dinner with considerably more detail. “It took him a full day to find out you jumped out the window and either drowned or were picked up by a passing ship. I was confident you were picked up by the ship.”

“Either way, I overestimated my abilities,” Trevor said.

“Do you think you killed Gareeze Plissaki?” Volst asked.

Trevor shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t think he is the head of his cabal. If we want to cut off the Maskumites, we need to destroy the Enclave.”

“That is what Potur said, but he admits it is impregnable from magical attack,” Lissa said.

“I didn’t see enough of it to have much of an opinion either way. I’m not a fan of enclave magicians.”

General Henkari showed up a bit later. “You gave us quite a scare, Trevor.”

“What is going on along the border?”

“Nothing at present after we slapped the Maskumite hand at that inept ambush they tried,” Henkari said. “I suggest we take a trip to the eastern edge. Perhaps the seer can join us and continue into Sirland. It is less than three days to Wistfall from the border. You might want to know what is going on in that region.”

“I could do that,” Coosin said. “I’m not a recognized seer, at least by the current ruler of Sirland, so an education will be helpful.

They left the next morning. Akku was as bright and cheery after a full day’s rest from overdoing it before Trevor had arrived. Potur Lott joined them as a scout. Trevor had found that the man volunteered to go. He left Snowflake behind since he had unfinished business in Wistfall and would ride to the Sirland capital with Lissa and Coosin. He and Lissa could teleport back to General Henkari’s garrison when they finished in Sirland.

“I wanted to know what happened in the enclave,” Potur said.

Trevor told his story to Akku and Potur this time.

“What you lack in wits, you make up with luck,” Potur said when Trevor finished.

Akku beamed. “Selara watches out for you.”

“Indeed she does,” Trevor said.

~

The next morning, Henkari, Volst, Lott, and Trevor rode to the border, leaving Akku to talk to Coosin and Lissa about Jarkan.

“The Maskumites aren’t pressing