Pillars Of Grace - The God Pillars Trilogy - Book 1

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Several more days passed with far too many close calls for Miraveh's liking. More and more, they saw white cloaks upon horses, in the distance, and she began to wonder how many Hunters O' The Dark there were. How far their influence spread. They saw settlements, but avoided them even as the landscape became even more harsh and unforgiving.

Eventually, they reached a point where they could see seas to both sides. Through the taller, mountainous crags that bordered the Sea of Baerakis, to the west, and down a gradual lowering of the landscape towards the east, where the vast, open ocean lay. Beyond that ocean, she had heard tell of other lands, great civilisations but, as far as she knew, no-one had chanced taking a ship that way for years. Her thoughts continued to focus upon the south, however, and the urge to reach the Southern Lands still forced her to forge onwards.

That urge troubled her. It had progressed far beyond merely wishing to do something, anything, other than what Yusuvur wanted her to do. Expected her to do. She had resolved to search for any remnants of the Order of Velaurian Warriors, or to at least find some record of them. She wanted to tell them of Alran and how he had helped to save the world. Yet something else compelled her.

Searching for evidence of Velaurians was her choice. The 'urge' was something else and she feared it was the burden of a Seeker that turned her head to the south. She feared that, in some way, she was doing the bidding of Yusuvur, after all, and she hated that. Yet she could not turn away from it. It felt as though someone had tied a rope about her waist and dragged her towards the Southern Lands.

"Miraveh!" A harsh whisper broke into her thoughts and she turned towards Daras to see he and Sialira lowering themselves in their saddle. "More of them."

"Dismount. Find cover." She took him at his word, unhooking her feet from the stirrups and dropping to the stony ground.

Daras had proven to have good instincts and even better eyes as they travelled. A useful talent for a thief, no doubt. He and Sialira led their horse behind one large outcropping as Miraveh led hers behind another, a pair of elven knives appearing in his hand that he had appropriated from the elven camp. If he had asked, they would have gladly given them to him, but Daras was Daras and thievery was his way.

Over the course of the days, Miraveh had tested out her theories about her ability to sense magic. She had tested both herself and Sialira's range and she had come to the conclusion that it was the strength of the magic within someone that enabled them to sense at different distances, not the strength of the person sensed. Miraveh could sense magic at a far greater distance than Sialira and the girl had pouted at that.

It helped, however. Miraveh, due to her much-vaunted 'potential', could sense someone with magic before they could sense her, allowing her and the others to stay out of reach of the Karline that travelled with the Hunters. If she continued to get lost in her thoughts, however, that advantage would be worth little. More than once, she had noticed the faint feeling of magic almost too late.

"Did they see?" Sialira pressed her back against the surface of the rock as Daras cooed and tried to keep their horse calm. "Can you feel anything?"

Miraveh didn't answer. She tied the reins of her horse around a heavy rock and then drew her sword, backing away until she could flit behind another rock. Leaving the others, she moved from cover to cover, circling back the way they had come until she found a vantage point. From this distance, the sense of Sialira's magic had gone, leaving Miraveh reaching out towards the white-cloaked warriors on a rise away to the side.

It looked as though the Hunters were only taking a rest. One released himself from his breeches, sending a cascade of urine arcing away, over the edge. The others tended to the horses. Except for one. That man remained on his horse, his eyes roving about the landscape around him and his party. From here, Miraveh could feel the magic about him.