Read Online The Ancient Ones (The Legacy Trilogy Book 3) by Michael Foster - Free Book Online

his efforts.
    The magician took the beating without flinching until Leopold could not go on. Infuriated, he staggered away from Lord Samuel, collapsing onto his seat and covering his face in his grazed and bleeding hands, weeping upon his feet.
    ‘Why?’ he whimpered. ‘Why have you done this? Why did you come to our island? Why is this happening to me?’
    He heard the magician climb to his feet and after a while, sniffing and wiping his eyes, Leopold dared look up—to find Lord Samuel gazing straight back at him.
    ‘I hope you have that out of your system,’ the magician told him. ‘I cannot be harmed and you cannot escape, no matter how much you wish for it. You are obliged to me. As I made a promise to your parents, you have made a binding oath to me—and we have a job to do. The sooner we do it, the sooner you can be home.’
    Leopold put his back to the fiend and, with a start, found Toby standing right before him. The young fool was looking at him intently, a cat watching a twitching leaf in the wind.
    ‘What do you want?’ Leopold asked angrily, sniffing once more.
    The boy looked at him cheekily. ‘Tooby,’ he said happily, as if his mangled name was the answer to all their problems.
    Leopold was surprised to hear the boy utter his first word, however, his melancholy quickly returned. He had no care if the boy spoke or not.
    He shut his mind to them all and spent the following hours looking quietly out to sea.
     
    ****
     
    Light was falling and the sun was hidden behind overlapping veils of pink and orange clouds low to the west, when the dark shape of buildings hugging the coastline came into view. Leopold steered towards them at the magician’s instruction, doing what he was told without comment or objection. He wanted to get them to land, so he could be away from the man.
    Their destination revealed a fortified settlement, built upon a rocky island. Sheer walls climbed from the water’s edge. A narrow causeway extended to the mainland, barely above the waves. From the way the rocks glistened, Leopold guessed the roadway would be underwater each high tide. Boats moved around the island and lights glowed in the windows, suggesting life in the place. Silhouettes strode the battlements, pointing towards them on noticing their approach.
    ‘Why has this town not yet fallen?’ Leopold asked. ‘I thought few settlements prevailed on the mainland?’
    ‘This is Seakeep. Many soldiers who fled the old Empire banded together and came here—what’s left of them. They protect and shelter any civilians who they find, or send them on to other safe havens farther away. There are no magicians here to attract the Truthseekers, and the soldiers do a good job of keeping out the minions of Cintar. It would take Rei herself to root them out, and it is only a matter of time until she does. They know that, too—which is why they’re letting us in.’
    Figures, bows readied in their hands, watched them from the crenellations upon the walls. Some tracked their passage, arrows poised for flight. It seemed Lord Samuel was tolerated, although not entirely welcomed.
    At the magician’s instruction, Leopold brought them against the chiselled rocks, and tied their vessel to one of many rings set into the stone, beside a large doorway. They waited several minutes, then the doors opened inward and a short rope was slung out from the resulting opening in the wall. Samuel climbed spryly.
    Leopold followed, finding an enclosed storage area, with a wet stone floor and a ramp that pushed out into the water. Small boats, oars, piles of rope and various boating equipment lay around the walls.
    Several guards in blue and gold trimmed armour were waiting: young men, not much older than Leopold. They stood valiantly, with the air of warriors. Leopold had no doubt they would use their swords if so commanded, making him feel nervous.
    ‘Welcome, companions of the magician,’ hailed one flatly. He did not sound welcoming and he did