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hold back your hits. You can control the force with your mind. Your intentions will determine the force applied. Hit me with the staff. Hard enough to almost bruise my arm, but not quite.”
    “Master Khatama…” began Tedi.
    “Trust me, lad,” smiled Master Khatama. “Trust me.”
    Tedi nodded and concentrated. He swung the staff as he would during a practice session. He heard the sound of it hitting Master Khatama’s arm and briefly closed his eyes.
    “Ow,” cried Master Khatama as he pushed his sleeve up to examine his arm. “You are a strong lad aren’t you? Well you did exactly as I asked. See, no bruise at all. Come let us rejoin the others and get moving along the road before anyone shows up to see what the magical energy release was all about. I want you to practice with that staff every time we stop.”

Chapter 3
In Memory of Wolinda
    Klarg saw the rider coming and called a halt to the column. Calastano and Hagik immediately appeared at Klarg’s side. Nobody spoke until the rider halted in front of Klarg.
    “They are about three hours behind us,” reported the rider. “I fear they will have little trouble following the tracks from a hundred of us.”
    “Were you able to get an accurate count of them?” questioned Klarg.
    “Fairly accurate,” nodded the rider. “They appear to be three hundred strong. It is a fairly typical size for a border patrol.”
    “We are hardly close to the border,” frowned Klarg. “We are only a half-day’s ride to Barouk.”
    “Perhaps they have been tracking us since we crossed into Lanoir,” shrugged the rider. “We do leave a pretty obvious track, and the Lanoirians do not take kindly to armies within their borders.”
    “True,” nodded Klarg. “Whatever their reason for following us, we must take steps to eliminate them. I will not jeopardize our coming conflict with the Rangers by allowing the Lanoirians to remain at our back.”
    “Our magicians can make short work of the Lanoirians,” offered Hagik. “There is no need to bloody your men.”
    Klarg turned and gazed at Hagik. He didn’t care much for the man, but he was a much easier taskmaster than the witch Wolinda had been. At least he did not try to interfere with Klarg’s plan for securing his men. Klarg finally admitted to himself that he didn’t care much for magicians at all. As far as mages went, Hagik was not so bad. Calastano was even better. Calastano appreciated Klarg’s discipline and control of his men and often deferred to him on matters that were not magical in nature.
    “I do not want to alert the Rangers that we are close,” Klarg eventually stated. “I would prefer to eliminate the Lanoirians with as little magical activity as possible.”
    “But they outnumber us three-to-one,” complained Hagik. “We cannot afford another slaughter. Sarac will not stand for it.”
    “There will be no slaughter,” Klarg sneered. “At least not of our men.”
    “I think Klarg has a valid point,” interrupted Calastano. “This close to Barouk our magic would surely be detected. We can of course use shields to protect Klarg’s men during the battle. With a good enough strategy, the losses should be minimal.”
    Klarg’s thoughts of Wolinda tickled his mind. His brow furrowed as he recalled the details that led to her death, and the deaths of his men.
    “Shields,” murmured Klarg. “Yes, shields will be important. So will the terrain. With the proper terrain, this conflict can be easily won.”
    Hagik frowned and shrugged. He clearly was not happy with Klarg calling the shots. Klarg had seen that attitude before. Sarac was unforgiving towards his magicians when they failed in their assignments. The Dark One had slightly more tolerance for failure from the Dark Riders, but only a fool would think of failing him twice. Klarg turned towards the rider.
    “Take four men and ride towards Barouk,” ordered Klarg as he looked at the rider. “Spread the men out widely. I want to find a