Rise of the Mages (Rise of the Mages 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

rumors of a mage, so how would the catcher know? Someone would have to make a report, and I can’t imagine it remaining secret.”
    “Maybe they’re just passing through,” Lainey said.
    “To go where?” Dylan said. “The tribes don’t have mages.”
    Speculation continued without any resolution other than it was best if they all stayed clear of the inn, and, anxious to complete his task for Master Rae, Xan took his leave as soon as he swallowed the last bite of his lunch.
    His path from the square to the mayor’s office led him by the Angry Egg, so walking on the opposite side of the street was the best he could do to fulfill his agreement. Ropes tied a line of horses to the railing outside the inn, and a guardsman covered neck to foot in dark-brown leather armor with simple black cloth draped over his torso tended them. While Xan was no judge of horseflesh, the wide-chested, muscular animals outclassed most mounts he’d seen around Eagleton.
    Three more guardsmen talked at the end of the block. They looked nothing like the clean and sharp militiamen under Captain Reed’s command. Instead, they wore their beards wild and unkempt and their clothes rumpled and dirty.
    The set of the largest one’s jaw reminded Xan of Dirc Layman. Angry. Ready to talk with his fists at the slightest excuse.
    The name made Xan grimace. Too many bad memories. How could someone twice his weight run so fast? The pounding. The punches. A blur of red and pain.
    If Brant hadn’t happened by …
    Xan shut his eyes at the recollection of having to be rescued by a ten-year-old. But he wasn’t that scared kid any longer. He forced himself to look at the guardsman.
    Lewis Thern, mumbling and swatting at non-existent insects, staggered toward the soldier from the opposite direction. Poor man hadn’t been right in the head since his entire family perished in the same plague that took Xan’s mother and father.
    Thern slowed and, finally, halted. He stared at the side of the inn.
    The mixture of a crazy old man and the rough-looking guardsmen was so not a good combination. Xan had to do something, but, before he made it even to the middle of the road, Thern lurched forward again.
    Xan froze. Years of wind and water had formed a pothole in the dirt. Right in Thern’s path.
    Surely, he’d see it and step over it.
    Nope. Plop went his foot. He pitched forward and fell right onto the largest guardsman.
    The armored behemoth backhanded Thern. His head snapped back, and his body followed. He sprawled onto the ground with a thud. The guardsman clenched his fists and advanced with a murderous glare.
    He was going to kill Thern!
    “Don’t hurt him!” Xan sprinted toward the men.
    The guardsman snarled. “Get lost, boy.”
    The thought of a confrontation scared Xan spitless, but he had to do something. He moved in front of Thern.
    “Get out of my way or you’ll get the same as him,” the guardsman said.
    Thern staggered to his feet and cowered from them.
    “What’s this man done to you? Wait, let me guess. He’s an evil magic user.” The words felt good. Xan wished he’d said similar ones to Dirc.
    “He attacked me.”
    Xan rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Right. An unarmed seventy-year-old randomly decided to lay into you.”
    A blow whipped Xan’s head around, and he sprawled face first into the dirt. Dust and grit coated his mouth and nostrils, and his cheek throbbed. Tears leaked shamefully from his eyes.
    Xan clenched his fists. His tormentor would pay.
    The guardsman kicked him in the stomach.
    Xan slid back a foot. Air fled his lungs. As he struggled to take a breath, the pain hit. He curled into a ball.
    People poured from surrounding buildings. Maybe they’d stop the beating.
    But they’d also see him lying on the ground and crying like a baby. He wanted to slink off and die.
    The guardsman reared back his leg for another kick. Xan whimpered. He couldn’t take more pain.
    “What’s going on there?” Mayor Williamson shouted from