Chapter 6

Roan woke with a groan. He tenderly touched the side of his head. The panther had struck him so hard it had left an open gash. Sitting up slowly, he croaked out the healing spell, his throat dry from laying in the leaves.

Once he was done with that, he looked around. The elf bitch was long gone. It was dusk now. Checking himself, he rumbled in irritation, nose wrinkled. She’d taken his money!

Jumping up, he rushed back to the road. Thankfully, his horse had not moved very far and gladly trotted back to him. Checking through his things, his eyes narrowed to discover one of the nimbus spikes was also missing.

Such artifacts sold for a high price on black markets. He had doubts she intended to sell it, but only the Seekers made them, and did not relinquish them easily. His money didn’t matter as much as the spike. At least, that was his reasoning.

Spurring his horse into a trot after the two, the waning sun soon made tracking them difficult even with a magical light. He could cast a spell to follow the magic of the spike, but he could not handle that panther without knowing more. Hopefully, the one who might know wouldn’t be busy.

Drawing his horse to a stop, he made camp and started a small fire. The spell he intended to use required a spell circle carved into the ground. Once finished, he sat before the fire and closed his eyes while his lips moved slowly in a particularly complex incantation. He took some dry lichen from a velvet pouch, sprinkling it over the fire as he continued to chant. The flames flared blue, then died down to the coals. In the shimmers of intense heat from the blue cinders, a vague, wavering image appeared.

“Roan! My boy, did your mission go well?” He could hear the concerned voice as clearly as if the person truly stood before him.

Bowing his head, Roan took an aggravated breath. “No, Master Jorsam. I was able to dispatch of Lord Zandavir, but I ran into a bit of an ... issue.”

The shimmering figure cocked its head slightly. “Oh?”

Clenching his hands, Roan continued. “I thought I had caught the vampire by surprise, but it was merely a decoy. Then, a wild elf came in, accompanied by a giant magical panther the likes of which I’ve never seen. It tried to use memory magic on me, but of course it didn’t work. I was going to let it go, but I was attacked by the real vampire with his familiar. Much to my surprise, the elf and her panther came to aide me, but then the panther put me to sleep, and when I’d awoken at last, they had stolen my horse. I tracked them down, put the panther under my most powerful sleep spell, and bound the elf girl. I was going to bring them back to headquarters, but the panther got out of my sleep spell and attacked me. She stole one of my nimbus spikes. I’m on their trail now.”

The image burst out laughing. Roan flinched. His old teacher laughed long and hard until Roan was practically holding his head in his hands before fading down to a chuckle.

“Pray tell, my boy, whatever were you thinking of to have let your guard slip so drastically?” His voice was nothing but sarcasm.

“It’s that panther of hers!” Roan defended bitterly, his head popping up. “Alone, I could deal with her, but that panther has taken me by complete surprise! I have no idea how he managed to get out of my sleep spell. I was not that distracted!”

“And I’m not that old!” Jorsam guffawed again, but not as long this time. “Well, I guess I can’t blame you entirely. I recall having heard legends of a powerful race of sentient panthers that live somewhere deep within the magical jungles of Thirbor. Only the elves have ever had any meaningful contact with them and tend to keep them a secret, but what we know is that they are telepathic by nature and loyal to the death should they choose to associate with any person. For one to venture out of the jungle or the surrounding area is incredibly rare. The Council would greatly appreciate a chance to study such a beast. They have not been seen in centuries. Maybe we can find where they’ve gone into hiding.”