Brave Men Die: Part 3 Read Free Page B

within Beyond and marvelled at the possibilities of what she could learn.
    Battle Lore had been Dale Struthers’ crowning achievement and copies had been lost in the purge. For centuries now, magi had gone to war with only limited knowledge of what battle spells were most effective and destructive, those passed down by the survivors of the purge. They had mostly been novices or lowly ranked magi, the senior magi had never returned from the fields and what they had cast there had gone with them to their graves. It was claimed Struthers had created the most brutal spells, had wandered the borders for skirmishes to test them. Legends described him as a one-man wrecking ball.
    The third and final book was written by a female mage and was simply titled Manipulating Weaves . Carina had never heard of Lola Gale, but the contents looked promising. It was all about twisting the weaves, incorporating new elements from other spells and combining the strengths. The concept was simply fascinating.
    ‘Can you help me with this?’ Carina asked, disrobing.
    Carina turned her back to Rigel and he opened the thin pack and removed the two books that they had prepared earlier. Carina had aged them with a spell that made them artificially appear as if they belonged with everything else in the chamber. Rigel picked up the first spellbook and placed it in the pack, then the second, before closing it securely.
    He held up her robe for Carina to slip into, before walking over to the table with the weapons and picking up a dagger with a sheath that was practically falling apart.
    ‘There are prettier ones than that,’ Carina provoked. ‘There is one encrusted with gems.’
    ‘Pull out the blade,’ Rigel prompted, indicating the fancy dagger.
    Carina moved to the table and unsheathed the blade. The hilt was in good condition, but the blade had rusted.
    ‘In my line of work that dagger is nothing but useless. The gems could make me rich but acolytes don’t really accumulate wealth and if I wore it, someone would try to slit my throat while I slept.’
    ‘And that one?’
    Rigel flicked the blade up an inch with his thumb. The red tempered steel flashed eerily in the magical light. The edge was as sharp as the day it was forged and Carina got the sense that the blade was probably the most valuable artefact in the chamber.
    ‘They are going to hate you.’
    ‘This will probably be the reason they hunt us down,’ Rigel joked.
    ‘An Acheon blade. I thought these only existed in royal treasuries these days.’
    ‘I guess not all of them.’
    ‘I didn’t see it listed …’
    ‘No, you didn’t. They kept this all to themselves, it was described as an old dagger in a rotting sheath. Practically the most unappealing item on that list.’
    ‘So does this make you a blade master?’
    ‘Huh, gorgeous, you know how to make me laugh. I’m the furthest from it that you can imagine.’
    Carina stepped closer and kissed him gently on the mouth. His hand came up to hold her at the back of her neck and pulled her body close to his. Finally, she pulled away from him, both wearing smiles.
    ‘And that is why you are mine Rigel Harding — nothing proper about you at all.’
    After a moment more of kissing, Rigel released her taut body. ‘I think it’s time we smuggled your prizes out of here and got you back to your precious Academy.’
    ‘Why so eager?’
    ‘I want you in a proper bed.’
    Carina playfully slapped him across the face and stormed down the hall with mock indignation.
    Rigel caught back up as Carina reached the barrier. Snapping her fingers, the orb of light diminished and the barrier dissipated. The diggers eyed them suspiciously and Finn, standing there aloof, only rolled his eyes at Carina’s flair for the dramatics.
    Carina presented the book that Rigel hadn’t tucked away. Beyond promised to be the most explosive of the three and if they had any idea about the importance of the books in their possession, they would have