Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Two Read Free

retrieved his waterskin, refilled it quickly at the stream, then resumed his run in a southerly direction without another word. Lusam scrambled to catch up and matched the big man's pace for the rest of the afternoon.
    It was about two hours later when the light noticeably began to fade fast. The shadows of the now huge trees began to merge into one, as the sun began to disappear beyond the hidden horizon.
    They continued to run at what seemed an even faster pace for the final few minutes, before Renn abruptly came to a stop. He turned to Lusam and said, “Here. We'll make camp here for tonight lad. I have enough food for us tonight, but tomorrow we must hunt for fresh supplies.”
    Lusam looked around at the spot Renn had chosen as their camp for their first night in the forest, and was a little confused. Apart from a large fallen tree, it looked no different from the countless miles of forest they had been running through all that day. He quickly decided not to question the merits of the location Renn had chosen, as he was more than ready to stop running and rest for the night. In fact, he was so tired he thought he could sleep for days given a chance, until the reality of Neala's situation once again entered his mind, then he was equally sure he would get no sleep at all that night.
    Renn started to clear an area of ground where they would later sleep, removing the fallen branches and rocks. Lusam followed his example and in no time at all they had a good size area clear of any debris likely to cause discomfort. Lusam then started to collect the fallen branches closest to camp as firewood. He intended to collect enough to see them through the coming night when he was stopped in his tracks by Renn's hushed voice,
    “No fire tonight lad. We don't want to be advertising our location to anyone, or anything that may be nearby when it's dark.”
    From the look on Renn's face Lusam knew he was serious when he said no fire. It was warm enough this time of year that he doubted he would miss the warmth of a camp fire while he slept. The thing that confused him most was the contradictory signals Renn was giving out. Not long ago he had told Lusam there were dangerous animals in this forest, even more dangerous than wolves. Now he didn't want to light a camp fire. Everyone knew animals are scared of fire, surely it would be their best defence whilst they slept, against any wandering beast that may fancy them as a midnight snack.
    Having spent most of his childhood in and around a forest very similar to this one, Lusam decided he wasn't unduly worried about any wild animals that may, or may not reside within its borders. He knew animals given a choice would avoid humans at all costs, unless cornered, injured or extremely hungry. He had seen a large amount of game animals and evidence of them during his long run through the forest that day, so he doubted very much that any predator could be hungry enough to attack them because of hunger alone. He decided Renn's warning of dangers hidden within the forest were more likely down to his lack of knowledge of his surroundings, and his decision not to create a camp fire only strengthened Lusam's opinion.
    Lusam sat with his back against the fallen tree trunk and watched Renn as he made a few final changes to their chosen camp site. Once he appeared to be satisfied with the area he removed his large shield from his back, and stood it against the fallen tree next to where Lusam guessed he would sleep. Renn then walked five paces from their camp, removed his sword, and with an audible grunt plunged his sword into the earth just outside camp. Lusam cringed at the thought of the damage that may have been caused to Renn's blade, and was about to ask why he would do such a thing when he saw him kneel before his sword, bow his head and begin praying to Aysha.
    Lusam watched in silence for several minutes as Renn remained on one knee, head bowed and in prayer, before deciding to join him in a silent