Hunted by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #3)(52)

“What is it?” I asked Iannis.

“Someone has set up wards around the camp.” His low voice simmered with anger. “It must be that renegade mage you and Fenris mentioned earlier.”

“Shit.” I squinted through the tree line again, trying to see whatever Iannis was looking at, but I couldn’t. “How the hell do you know there are wards out there?”

“With enough practice you can train yourself to see the residue from active spells,” Fenris explained. “It takes years to master though, so in the meantime you’ll have to trust us. I can see it too.”

“I don’t see how the wards matter right now,” Annia said. “We’re heading for the mineshaft, not the camp. As long as there aren’t any wards outside the mine it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“True, but it’s very likely the mage has warded the mineshaft as well,” Iannis said tightly. “It’s what I would do in his place. No matter though; I don’t intend to walk away without confronting the traitor. Any mage foolish enough to side with the Resistance must answer to the Federation for his crimes.”

“That sounds a little hypocritical, considering that you saved Fenris from execution for defying the Federation,” I couldn’t help pointing out. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the Resistance, I did think that the current establishment needed to change. I liked the idea that maybe, just maybe, there was a mage out there who agreed and had the balls to join the fight for equality.

“Now is not the time to debate politics,” Iannis growled, and the hairs on my spine rose in challenge.

“Maybe, but could you at least hold off on erasing the mage from existence until we find out a little more about him?” I snapped back. Part of me couldn’t believe I was saying this, but I’d come a long way from my black and white viewpoint about mages ever since I was forced to stay at Solantha Palace. “If we could turn him back onto our side, he could help us bring the Benefactor down.”

There was a long pause. “I will consider your suggestion. In the meantime, lead the way to the mineshaft.”

Who knew I could actually be the voice of reason? I thought as I changed back into human form. Once the glow had faded from my eyes, I swept my gaze across the horizon again…and in the growing daylight, spotted something I hadn’t seen before.

“Guys,” I muttered. “Any of you see that airship over there?”

Everyone turned their heads in the direction I was pointing. Settled about fifty yards from the camp was a small airship, with a wooden cabin attached under a faded canvas cylinder. It was half the size of those owned by the Mages Guild.

“I’m pretty sure that’s how the camp receives their supplies. It could fit all four of us,” Annia said, excitement in her voice. “Maybe we don’t have to walk all the way back to Solantha after all!”

“You’re forgetting about the delegates,” Fenris said dryly. “Not to mention that Iannis needs to get to the Convention as soon as possible to thwart whatever the Benefactor is up to there. If we commandeer that dirigible, we’ll be heading away from Solantha, not toward it.”

“Okay, but we are agreeing that we’re going to commandeer it, right?” Annia demanded. “The Chief Mage can send back a larger aircraft to pick up whoever is left behind, and any prisoners we take.”

“Indeed.” Iannis’s eyes were focused on the dirigible. “Miss Melcott, I suggest that you stay close to the dirigible to make sure that no one takes off in it, while Miss Baine, Fenris, and I rescue the delegates.”

With that settled, we split up, Annia sneaking toward the dirigible while I led the way to the mines. The sun was creeping closer to the horizon now, bathing the dark, rocky mountain face with a muted glow, and we moved a little faster, not wanting to be caught in the sunlight where sentries might see us.

To our surprise, there were no wards set up around the entrance to the mineshaft, and nor was there a guard on duty. Were we too late? No – a grumpy-looking mule was harnessed to the pulley mechanism that operated the cage, and I could hear voices coming from below.

“Hang on,” I said, lying flat on my belly at the edge of the shaft and tilting my ear toward the opening. “Let me see if I can hear what’s going on before we go down there.”

Fenris copied my pose while Iannis stood guard over us, and together we tuned in to listen to the furious argument occurring down in the mineshaft.

“You can’t do this, Chartis!” Bosal, the delegate I’d spoken to earlier, shouted. I froze, straining to make sure I’d heard him right – his voice was thick and hoarse from the drugs in his system. “You’re one of us! How could you side with these filthy mongrels and use your magic for their gain?”

“I was one of you,” a cold voice answered, and a shiver crawled up my spine as I recognized Argon Chartis’s superior tone. “But that was before Lord Iannis stripped me of my title and tossed me out into the cold, without so much as a recommendation. You did not lift a finger to help me then, Bosal.”

“And so what, that justifies your becoming the tool of these barbaric humans instead?” the Secretary demanded. “I didn’t realize you’d sunk so low, Argon. That any mage could sink so low.”

“Silence!” There was a crack, and I imagined the delegate slumping against the wall beneath the force of one of Chartis’s air-slaps. My cheek throbbed in sympathy – I’d been on the receiving end of a few of those from him myself. “The Resistance has offered me the means for getting my own back! Did all of you really expect me to just slink away after such injustice, like a chastised cur? A mage of my experience and standing?”