Excerpt
Egam grabbed his head and sank to the ground, moaning and twitching. The others gathered around him while Jenneva tried to comfort him.



“Egam,” prodded Jenneva, “what is wrong?”



Egam did not respond and continued to roll on the ground and moan. Jenneva decided to perform a Mind Probe and indicated to the men to hold Egam still so that he did not roll off the narrow path. Jenneva stooped over Egam and began her probe. Egam was fighting, but he was not fighting Jenneva. He was fighting someone or something else. Jenneva strove to capture Egam’s mental vision, but his mind was bouncing from place to place and time to time. Egam’s mind was confused and frightened. Jenneva began to break out into a sweat as she felt Egam’s fear heighten.



The visions swirled rapidly in Egam’s head as he sought the source of his discomfort and fear. Jenneva was getting dizzy watching the quickly moving panorama. Suddenly, Egam’s body stiffened and Jenneva stared into the face of the most grotesque being she had ever imagined. Hatred and death emanated from the distorted evil face and Jenneva screamed and then fainted.



Egam had also passed out and was no longer shaking or moving. Alex caught Jenneva and laid her down next to Egam. Prince Rigal reached into his pack and removed a blanket that he spread over the two magicians.



“What do you make of this?” asked the elf Prince.



Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. I have never seen fear in either one of them before, but I think that is what we just saw. They were both terribly afraid of something.”



“Do you think we should turn back?” asked Prince Tergota.



“No,” responded Alex. “We will wait for them to recover and find out what happened.”



Jenneva was the first to recover. She sat up, her face drained of color, and looked at Egam. “Is he all right?”



“I am not sure,” replied Alex. “He passed out the same time you did. He’s still breathing and he is no longer shaking. What happened?”



Jenneva did not reply. She leaned over and felt Egam’s head. Egam awoke at Jenneva’s touch and struggled to sit up. Alex had never thought of Egam as being old, but his attempt at movements now gave the appearance of someone who is ancient and incapable of caring for himself.



Jenneva helped Egam sit up and leaned him against the rock cliff. “Egam, what was that creature and where did it come from?”



Egam appeared to exert a great effort in turning his head towards Jenneva. His face was a ghastly white and his eyes were wide and round. “I don’t know, Jenneva. He was trying to reach for me. Alutar. Yes, his name is Alutar. He knew me. He wants me . . . to suffer.”



Egam began sweating again and Jenneva mopped his brow. “We will not talk about this now,” Jenneva stated. “Rest for a while and then we will resume our journey.”



Jenneva extended her hand to Alex and he helped her to her feet. She indicated to the two Princes that they should make themselves busy and leave Egam to rest.



Jenneva led Alex down the path away from Egam. “I saw it, Alex. It was the most hideous thing I have ever seen. I have trouble believing something so evil can really exist. I think Egam may have been hallucinating. We need to monitor him closely for he may be ill.