Valhala
Chapter 4
Stalking AJ and a reptile
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An hour or so later they were back on the road to Valkara. AJ was out in front pretending he knew where they were going. Nick and Brian were stalking him, creeping in and out of the trees along side the trail nodding and coordinating plans to 'take 'im down' Jakara heard Nick mindspeak to Brian. She smiled and shook her head at their antics. "Are they always like that?" she asked Kevin and Howie.
Kevin nodded "You should have seen them when they were younger. It was horrid, the jokes they pulled."
"Kevin only thinks it horrible because most of the jokes were on him" Howie put in, getting a glare from Kevin.
"Need I remind you Howard of the crazy glue in the hair they pull on you a few years back?" Kevin asked grinning.
"Ok, ok I take it back, you were right Kevin, the jokes were horrid" Howie said throwing his hands up in the hair and then runing one through his hair.
Moments later they saw Nick and Brian rush AJ from behind and saw them smack into an invisible barrier. AJ turned around "Gotcha" he cackled.
"Oh my head" Brian said rubbing his forehead "You ok Kaos?"
"Yeah Rok, I'll be perfectly fine after your twin goes away" he said sitting up to look at Brian.
Howie shook his head and walked over to Nick, sat down and started to rub his forehead with eyes closed and humming softly. Jakara could see the energy flow from his hand to Nick's head. Moments later he pulled his hand away and asked "Better?"
Nick nodded "Yep. but what the hell did I run into?"
"You walked into a wall of sheer energy. Did you draw from the ley line along the river AJ?" Jakara asked.
AJ shrugged "I don't know what I did, I felt Nick and Brian creeping up on me and I wanted to stop them from tackling me and I imagined a wall behind me."
'You are a very strong mage if you can do that cold and with no training whatsoever' Aketa told him.
"Adept strength maybe?" Jakara wondered aloud.
"What is an Adept?" AJ asked curiously.
Jakara smiled "An Adept is a very powerful mage, not all mages have enough to be an Adept. If you do have Adept mage potential you are very lucky" she told him.
'No maybes love, he has Adept strength. He is as strong as Stormwind maybe' Aketa told her.
"Stormwind, he is the strongest mage Valhala has had in 200 years and this otherworlder could be his equal?" Jakara asked in shock.
'I know, I believe they have been sent to us to help us darlin'' Aketa replied softly.
Suddenly they heard a ferocious howl and growl and a giant reptile leapt out of the brush and onto the pathway in front of AJ. He snarled and snapped at him. AJ jumped back and out of the way and threw up another wall of energy between the monster, himself and the others. "Jakara, what in the hell is that?" he asked backing up so he was beside her.
"It is a mutated lizard. Obviously one of the mages on the other side is an Adept and likes to play with animals" she said hopping down off of Aketa and walking over to the barrier.
The reptile kept smashing itself into the wall repeatedly, as if trying to knock it down. All of a sudden it burst into flames and was howling and screaming in agony as it fell to the ground still burning. Jakara turned back to the guys and saw Kevin, eyes glazed over with a hand on Aketa's back. He managed a weak smile before slumping against the companion.
'He's fine everyone, he is just a little spent from his first magickal working' Aketa told them.
Howie grabbed him and laid him down on the grass near the path. He put his hand to Kevin's head and closed his eyes. Moments later he opened them again. "He needs to rest for awhile, he is completely depleted and if we tried to move him it could cause more damage" he said getting up and comming over to them.
Jakara nodded "We'll rest for a candlemark and continue on then" she said walking over to Kevin and sitting down next to him. Aketa came over and lay down next to Jakara and closed her eyes.
AJ looked at them "Can I look about the forest a bit?" he asked Jakara.
"I don't want you going off by yourself" she protested.
"I'll go with him" Brian said walking up next to him. "I'll keep in touch with Nick so if we see another whatever that thing was he'll know where we are."
"Ok, but do keep in touch with Nick" Jakara replied.
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