Read Online The Written by Ben Galley - Free Book Online Page A

to steal the book?’
    ‘Power maybe? But to use the
greatest spell in that book you would have to be one of the more
powerful mages in Emaneska. I only know of a few, and most of them
are the ones who sent you. Out of the Arka probably only the
Arkmages could open the book and cast the spells within. You’re
probably asking the wrong person’ said Jergan, but Farden didn’t
buy it. ‘There are other powerful mages in the land these days,
besides the Arkmages. A few of the wizards from your own lands
could do it, and in the east Skölgard have sorcerers capable of
such feats. Why would my masters steal their own book?’
    ‘You tell me, mage. Could you
do it?’ Jergan asked with a nod of his head.
    Farden shook his head. ‘That’s
not the point,’ he snapped, and the lycan went on.
    ‘If someone wanted to steal it
then they would have to know of its existence. Excluding the dark
elves who are obviously not an option, that leaves the Sirens in
Nelska or your own people. That’s the truth of it.’ Jergan leaned
back on the rickety chair. Even with the stiff breeze from outside
sneaking through the open door, the air inside the hut was thick
and stale. The more Farden looked at the scaly lycan, the more he
pitied him. He obviously hadn’t eaten anything for days; Jergan had
eaten the whole apple already and had wolfed down the core and even
the wooden stem. The mage shook his head, and focussed on his
task.
    ‘Then if it wasn’t any of the
Arka, that means the war is far from over,’ concluded the mage. An
ominous silence hung between them. Farden’s mind ran through fields
of possibilities and jumped over hedges of doubt. Had, the gods
forbid, one of his own Arka committed this crime, murdered the
scholars and stolen this book? Farden’s mind clouded stormily with
fears. He couldn’t rule out the Sirens either. And there was the
distinct possibility that the murderers were working completely on
their own, independent of either race, Arka or Siren. Suddenly he
felt a heavy dread worrying and chilling his heart, but an equally
strong sense of duty coursed through his veins, and the mage
clenched his fists as he resolved to put a stop to this mess before
it got out of hand. Farden had to get back to Durnus.
    Jergan filled the silence. ‘If
the book was stolen by someone powerful enough, strong enough to
summon that terrible creature, then all of Emaneska would be in
danger, not just our peoples,’ Jergan warned. Some colour had
seemingly returned to his old skin, and he seemed more confident,
eloquent. He went on. ‘If you had seen the sort of caged daemons
hidden in this manual like I have then you would know how important
retrieving this book is. Now this is important, so listen well.
It’s not just being able to cast the spell that is the challenge,
but this particular beast needs a powerful well of dark magick to
help it cross over. The elves built deep caverns to house their
magick power, much like the Book you carry.’ Jergan paused to look
hungrily at the mage. He continued hastily when Farden
threateningly narrowed his eyes at the lycan. ‘There used to be
hundreds of these wells all over the lands, but when the elves left
they were hunted down and destroyed. I’m sure you know of them:
“lost by dark ones all forgotten…” ’ he recited.
    ‘ “…Lakes of magick below paths
untrodden.” Yes we’ve all heard the stories and the riddles to find
the last few elven treasure troves. But they’re all gone, lost to
time. Where else would someone take the book to release its power?’
Farden crouched forward, elbows on knees. Against his better
judgement he was beginning to trust this Siren’s words.
    ‘That’s assuming that you’re
wrong and not all the wells have vanished?’ The corner of Jergan’s
mouth rose ever so slightly, as if he had a won a small hand in a
verbal card game against the interrogative mage. But Farden wasn’t
in the mood for playing games. ‘Then tell me where I