Nature's Peril Part 1 (The Nature Mage Series) by Duncan Pile Page A

for Gaspi overriding her hurt, but Hephistole wouldn’t have any of it, and when he finally dismissed them, it was with folded arms and a closed expression. The chancellor was clear; he had already sent one student to his death in the last few months, and he wasn’t about to send three more!
     
    …
     
    “Hephistole has lost his backbone,” Lydia said, shoving her cup angrily away from her and slopping tea all over the table. Fortunately, the tables in the Traveller’s Rest had seen much worse over the years, and another stain would hardly make any difference.
    “He’s not himself, that’s for sure,” Emmy responded.
    “He’s been getting worse for weeks,” Rimulth interjected. “Gaspi says he’s still blaming himself for Everand’s death.”
    “Well he’ll be blaming himself for Gaspi and Taurnil’s death too if he doesn’t let us join them,” Lydia said.
    “What do you mean?” Emmy asked, panicked. “Did you see that?” All she could think about was how close the Darkman had come to catching Gaspi.
    “No I didn’t see it,” Lydia said. “But think about it. Last year the elementals were crystal clear that we have to stick together. Even Hephistole had to back down. But they’re not here now and Hephistole has to make this decision on his own, just when he’s lost his nerve.”
    “To be fair to him, it’s a hard decision,” Rimulth said. “We’re asking him to send us into the path of a powerful demon.”
    “Don’t defend him Rimulth!” Lydia snapped. “Taurnil needs me and I’m stuck here! That’s all I care about. Hephistole needs to grow some stones and let us go.”
    Emmy winced inwardly, hoping Rimulth would back down. The tribesman ’s calm and knowing manner sometimes rubbed Lydia up the wrong way. He was extremely fair in all things, and his quiet questions often presented a challenge to Lydia’s headstrong opinions. In this case, however, she hoped he didn’t stand his ground. The news that Taurnil had gone off without her had shaken Lydia out of the state she’d been in for the last few weeks, and this definitely wasn’t the time to argue with her. She also happened to agree with Lydia on this occasion. There was no way she was going to let Gaspi go off on a dangerous mission without her. What if he got injured and she wasn’t there to heal him?
    “Fair enough,” Rimulth responded, leaning back in his seat and frowning thoughtfully. “I suppose we’ll just have to pester Hephistole until he lets us go.”
    “Day and night,” Lydia said, and it was clear to Emmy that the gypsy girl meant exactly what she said.
                 
    …
     
    Gaspi trudged wearily through the forest behind Voltan. The warrior mage was planning on acquiring some mounts as soon as possible, but until he did so, they had to make progress on foot. It wasn’t that he minded walking as such, but it was a long way to Pell, and the sooner they got some horses the better. Taurnil walked alongside him, and the rest of the group followed behind, with the exception of Talmo, who’d taken on the role of scout. Just at that moment, the tribesman emerged from the trees ahead of them and dropped in beside Voltan to report. He talked quietly with the warrior mage, and then fell back a few paces to join Gaspi and Taurnil.
    “Hi Talmo,” Gaspi said. Taurnil mumbled something incoherent, which was surprising. The two guards had become friends over the last year, and Taurnil was usually pretty comfortable around the taciturn tribesman. Gaspi looked at his friend, and saw that he was flushing from his chin right up to the roots of his hair. Perhaps he too was having reservations about deceiving Rimulth.
    “He will not thank you, you know,” Talmo said without preamble.
    “You mean Rimulth,” Gaspi said.
    “Yes,” Talmo responded . “Among our people, he is a man and a warrior. In the face of danger, and even death, a man makes his own choices. You have taken that away from