Warded Mage (Reawakening Saga) Read Free Page B

dept hs of the earth that had nearly claimed his life. He felt Crushers hand slap him hard on the back forcing his foot to make the first step on his journey. Looking over his shoulder he watched his friend turn and walk away with the rest of the dwarves. Avalanche bounded between Thad and the Crusher as she whined unsure of what was going on but sensing something was out of the ordinary. Putting Avalanche out of his mind Thad forced himself to take the second step and continue down into the darkness below.
    This had not been his first time back into the tunnels. He and Crusher had made the trip underground to fight the Vathari many times over the past days. Part of it was to help Thad recover; the other was because Thad was trying to prove to himself that his injury had not weakened his body. No matter what he could say, Thad knew that there was more damage done than he wanted to admit. It didn’t bother him at first but the more he worked himself the more the pain started to seep into his body. Luckily the pain never came until hours after he pushed himself, so if he was forced to fight at least he wouldn’t be hampered during a battle.
    A s soon as the light was completely gone Thad let his magical eye switch to the infrared spectrum. He had practiced a lot over the passing weeks and while not as good as the dwarves with their night sight he could make out the different walls and heat signatures of creatures. It wasn’t as good as having a light but it was a lot less taxing on his magical items and reserves. Shaking his head Thad almost laughed. How different it was this time as he headed into the darkness when he had run from the Ablaians. He had learned a lot during his time in the caves, as he stumbled about looking for an exit but he had learned even more once he could properly talk to Crusher who was a wealth of information.
    The silence of the tunnels was broken as Thad heard a loud noise rushing up with great speed from behind him. He wasn’t worried he had grown used to the noise and knew its origin. Turning his head slightly Thad saw Avalanche as she quickly made her way to his side. Though the creature didn’t have much in the way of facial features Thad could almost feel her sadness at having to leave the dwarven village. Avalanche had thoroughly enjoyed her stay and dwarves young and old had played with her, and the stoutest dwarves often enjoyed a good wrestle to see if they could match her boundless strength.
    Leaning down Thad patted Avalanche on the top of her head. “We will be back before you know it girl.” Thad said reassuringly unsure whether she understood him or not. That was the one thing about the creature that still amazed Thad. Sometimes she almost seemed to be able to converse with him while other times it was as if she was completely clueless. There was no rhyme or reason to it, it simply just was. Thad had long ago given up on analyzing Avalanche’s unique magical signatures; no matter how close he looked at it, he still didn’t understand its complex workings.
    Thad walked slo wly enjoying the stroll through the Underearth. His mind still battled with itself. He knew he had to go on but a large part of him urged him to turn around and head back to the dwarven village. He already missed the sound of the hammers beating against the anvils, and Crusher’s rough voice as the dwarf poked and prodded at the mage. It would have been easy to simply live out the rest of his days with the dwarves, but if everyone in the world took the easy route then little would be accomplished, he told himself that over and over as he forced his legs to carry him onward.
    It was a short journey into Vathari territory or he should say the territory they had claimed as theirs. Thad could hear the sound of the pickaxes against the stone as the Vat hari workers mined the rich ore that the dwarves held invaluable.  He knew it wouldn’t be long before he encountered a Vathari warrior he just hoped everything