THE THIRD MAGE

Samarra whispered to her brother, "If I didn"t know, I would seriously think that Denaire"s a royal magician. She is so powerful."

Amon felt so proud of his girl. "Of course. She is Denaire after all."

They then met a vast blue sea, which left them all confused. Squeaky looked at them haughtily and uttered, "A magical ward, an illusion, to prevent unwanted visitors. Those who know the pa.s.sword are the only ones allowed to enter. Dandelion."

The air shifted and Squeaky ushered them to follow him. And what met them was so beautiful. No, beautiful was an understatement. There were no words to describe the whole scenery. The whole place was filled with plants that bear fruits and crops, animals were locked in a pen, buildings were put up to accommodate a large number of people. The place was well thought out.

"Denaire made all of these?" Dranx asked in astonishment.

Squeaky smirked, "Where do you think she spent her time when you were all practicing and learning your magic? Master doesn"t need to train anymore; she knew everything about her magic from her practice before and just by reading. She only needs to learn to fight and she would be very invincible."

"I agree. Denaire discovered her magic some years ago. And in crafting, she is a pro. She learns really fast too. But the amount of work she gave this, and what more to the other islands, I can"t fathom how she did it. She is one amazing woman." Amon replied dreamily, thinking that his Denaire is such a special human in the world.

Squeaky smiled. "Of course. So when are you all planning to move?"

"Could we discuss it first?" Amon suggested.

"Sure Master. Just call me if you have decided."

As they huddled for a meeting, General Luther said, "Well, I don"t know. But this place, this place is gold. I can"t believe this is man-made! Well, with magic of course. But. I just can"t describe it. This is so wonderful, complete with that bada.s.s ward security. I feel like retiring already."

Everyone laughed. They also felt the same way with the general. The place was truly perfect.

"So, do we start as early as now?"

"Yes! We have to!"

"Good. But we have to plan on how to erase our traces on the island."

"I second that," Dranx agreed. "We have to confuse whoever is going to attack us. We should not leave traces. It"s as if we were never here."

Everyone agreed. "So, let"s go back and start. Our goal - we have to move here in three days. Agree?"

"Yes. Let"s go."

"Squeaky!"

"Yes, Master."

"We start now."

Squeaky smiled. "As you wish, Master."

***

Emong walked around his cell. He hasn"t seen Gina for how many days. He does not know how she is doing. He heard from the servants in the dungeon that the women from Oniro were sold to the captains and generals of their military. He feared that someone might have bought her and, and...

"Emong!"

Emong whirled around. "Who goes there?"

"It"s me, Denaire."

He looked at the front of his cell and there stood Denaire, who was wearing a fine set of clothes, although she looks tired.

"Denaire! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I"m okay. I was sold to General Hiro."

"The youngest general?"

"Yes."

"Are you alright? Did he - ?"

"No. He is different from the other generals. He understood me and gave me time. He never even touched me in any malicious way, even once."

"Well, that"s good to hear. Have you seen Gina?"

"Gina. You know Emong – "

"Just answer me!"

"Gina wasn"t part of the prisoners taken Emong. She might have been left – "

"She"s not dead."

"I am not saying that she is Emong! I am saying that she was left in Oniro and that General Luther may have found her. She may be safe now."

"But they are planning to attack the island! Someone has divulged its whereabouts."

Denaire smiled sadly. "You didn"t know Emong? It was you. It was you who told them about the island. After all, you were the only one who has been there."

Emong knelt in despair, a look of apparent disbelief on his face.

"Me? How? I know I have to keep that information. Even if they sever all my limbs, I will never give away that sacred information!"

"I know Emong, I know."

"But now you"re telling me that – "

"They have mind control magicians here Emong. So even if you are not willing, they would eventually extract that from you."

"I-I doomed them," Emong cried. "How are we going to save them?"

Denaire leaned in and whispered, "It"s alright, I have contacted them. I saved one communication ball. They are planning to move as we speak."

Emong sighed in relief. "Then what are we going to do now?"

"Tomorrow, all the men from Oniro are to work in the mines. I want you to smuggle me some materials. Anything that would help me build something."

"Are we allowed to that?"

"No. But just don"t get caught. Exoshans don"t like to stay in cramped places such as mines. Their fire magic tends to explode. So no one will watch you under there. Just get me something, however small."

"Okay, I can do that. I"ll ask the others to help. And where are we to leave that?"

"General Hiro oversees the mines now, so naturally, I will be there to check your spoils for the day. Here is a pouch," she reached in and gave Emong the pouch. "Put everything you find in there and drop it near me. Just be subtle with it."

Emong looked at the pouch in disdain. "But this so small!"

"Call it Tiny whenever you put something in it. The name has a magical effect to it. I better go; the general might wonder where I ran to. Best of luck and see you tomorrow."