The Dragonspire Chronicles Omnibus 2

by James E. Wisher

  The answer appeared a moment later when a pair of snakes as big around as a tree trunk and close to a hundred feet long came slithering down the street from the opposite direction of the tower.

  The bard hummed and swayed and soon one of the serpents stopped and mimicked her movements. The other kept coming.

  “Lucy can only control one snake at a time,” Moz said. “We need to run.”

  Yaz raised his hand and willed a giant hand to appear. An instant later a pure-black gauntlet appeared and grabbed the approaching snake. He flicked his wrist and sent the monster flying across the city. Yaz didn’t see where it landed, but he doubted it would be returning anytime soon.

  Lucy sent the other one on its way and blew out a sigh. “That drained me. Let’s go before any more show up.”

  “Our camp is this way.” Moz set out west.

  They marched at a steady pace, not rushing. Yaz kept his gaze bouncing from the sky to the fallen buildings. Any moment he expected the black dragon to take another run at them, but the group reached the fields outside the city without further trouble. Moz led them to the centermost of a group of widely spaced tents.

  Yaz stepped through the open flap and found Callie seated in a camp chair waiting for them. She smiled when he entered. “Hello again. Perhaps one of these days we can run into each other when there isn’t a battle to be fought.”

  Yaz smiled back. “That would be nice. It feels like a long time since I haven’t had a battle to fight. Assuming we survive the current ones, I’m looking forward to a little peace and quiet.”

  Moz snorted. “There’s always another fight. I thought I could retire. See how that worked out. Looks like you’ve got that power you showed back in the swamp under control. First destroying the flying ship then attacking the tower and finally going one on one with that huge dragon.”

  “More or less. Even with my power under control, I don’t have enough to force my way into the tower. It’s protected by a barrier that draws power from all the other towers.”

  “We noticed that as well. The elemental dragons tried their luck and had a similar result, though they ended up burned alive by the dragon. We know the problem, the question is, what are we going to do about it?”

  “I know how to open the tower door if we can get through the barrier,” Yaz said. “I should be able to get inside the satellite towers, but I don’t know how to turn them off.”

  Callie and Moz shared a look before Moz said, “We scouted the Dark Sage’s base and found a notebook in a hidden room. The problem is, it’s written in some kind of code. We can’t make heads or tails of it.”

  “May I see it?” Yaz asked.

  Callie took a black leather-bound book off a small folding table and handed it to him. Yaz ran his fingers over the cover. The letters LB were embossed on it. “Leonidas Black?”

  “That’s our guess,” Callie said. “Can you read it?”

  Yaz flipped to the first page and stared at the random-seeming jagged lines. He’d never seen writing like that before. He flipped through the rest of it, but it was all the same.

  Finally, he closed the book and handed it back. “I’m sorry. It looks like gibberish to me. My mom’s a brilliant scholar. She might be able to decipher it. I was planning to go get her and my friends so we could make a plan to attack the outer towers. Is it okay if I bring them here?”

  “We’re not in a position to refuse help,” Moz said. “Callie told me what you and your friends have accomplished. We’d be glad to have you.”

  “Okay. I shouldn’t be long collecting them.”

  He went outside and leapt into the air. As he soared east, all Yaz could think was that he was finally flying and he didn’t even have a dragon. It was just like that dream he used to have. Maybe this was what it meant.

  Leonidas listened, outwardly calm but inwardly seething, as Jax explained that his final flying ship had been destroyed. His cadre was gathered on the lower level of the tower. Everyone was standing despite the many comfortable chairs scattered around. The pressure in the room was considerable and Leonidas knew he was the source of his people’s discomfort. In the throne room, Ariel slept at his command. For all the use she was he might as well leave her asleep. After the initial rush of destroying the capitals, the dragons had turned out to be a considerable waste of time.

  When Jax finished Leonidas said, “Thank you. I’m sure you did your best. What do we know about this dark magic wielder?”

  He looked from face to face but no one had any answers. He couldn’t even be angry as he didn’t have a clue himself. How could someone powerful enough to destroy his ship and survive a full-on blast from the black dragon just appear out of nowhere? Well, the next time he showed up, Leonidas would deal with the pest himself. No wizard was a match for his Black Ring.

  “Do you want us to go on another recruiting trip, Boss?” Shade asked. “We only visited about a third of the mercenary camps we know about.”

  “No, thank you, Shade. Until we’ve dealt with the groups surrounding the city, bringing in more soldiers would be a waste of time.”

  “How are we going to deal with them?” Jax asked.

  “First, we’ll send the dragon in to wreak havoc. They’ll avoid most of its attacks of course, that’s the whole point of sending such small groups, but it will put them into a panic. Before they recover, Shade and I will attack the Rend bards and Domina and Jax will deal with the Carttoom wizards.”

  “What about me?” Polymus asked.

  “You and Rondo will protect the tower. If, for some reason, Jax and Domina are forced to retreat with the enemy on their tail, you will be here to let them in.”

  Polymus jerked a thumb at Rondo. “What do I need him for?”

  “You don’t. I need him here to keep an eye on you. Rondo has earned my trust, you, I’m still on the fence about.”

  “When do we move?” Shade asked, sounding eager for a fight.

  “Dusk. The black dragon swooping down out of the night sky will have a greater impact than during the day. Plus, we have magic to see in the dark. I doubt all of our enemies do. Get some rest.”

  The group dispersed but Rondo made his way over.

  “Problem?” Leonidas asked.

  “A small one perhaps. Should Polymus betray us, how am I to stop an immortal alchemist?”

  Leonidas smiled faintly. “Go talk to Domina. In her spare time, I’ve had her working on a project for exactly that eventuality.”

  Rondo blanched but turned toward Domina. He really was a coward, but at least he was a loyal coward.

  Chapter 15

  Though Yaz hadn’t been aware of either his arrival or departure from the Well of Darkness, when he became one with Wrath, he gained the memories that his dark side had kept hidden. Below him, the trees and snow were little more than a white-and-green blur. His power allowed him to fly far faster than even a dragon. It thrilled him more than he could put into words. The power no longer came just through the black door, it infused every speck of his being.

  He understood better what the entity – he refused to think of that thing as his father – meant when he said Wrath was drunk on power. He would have to be very careful not to overestimate what he could do since it felt like he could do anything.

  The well wasn’t far now. Something was moving on the road. That had to be the sleigh.

  Yaz dove, pulled up, and flew beside them.

  The sleigh wobbled and nearly went into the trees when Silas noticed him. They slowed and Yaz landed beside the transport. Silas gave him a hard look.

  “It’s okay. I’m me again.”

  Brigid leapt out and hugged him. Yaz sighed and allowed himself to forget about everything and enjoy it for a few seconds. When they finally parted his mother asked, “What happened in there?”

  “I met my father, or so the creature claimed. It said the dark substance you made me out of was its blood.” Yaz shrugged. “I don’t know. I was trapped in my own mind. It wanted to ask me
questions. Lots of questions. It let Wrath control my body until I convinced it that my dark side was apt to get me killed. We made a deal and I was set free.”

  “What kind of deal?” Silas asked.

  “Don’t worry, I didn’t sell my soul or anything. I just agreed to talk with it twice a month. It seemed a small price to pay for my freedom.”

  “I’m so sorry, Yaz,” his mother said. “We had no idea there was an intelligence attached to the substance in the well. All we knew was that it was a source of power.”

  Yaz kissed her on the cheek. “It’s okay, Mom. The entity said that because you used such a small amount, I didn’t go insane, unlike that unfortunate young man back at the lab, which is nice. Anyway, after I escaped the black dragon, I ran into Moz. He found a journal that looks like it was written by Leonidas Black himself. Unfortunately, no one can read it.”

  They were all staring at him. “What?”

  “I think you might have left out a few details,” Silas said.

  “I’ll tell you on the way. Also, Mom, I offered your services as a translator. I figured if anyone could read the book, it was you.”

  “I’m happy to take a look, but my specialty is alchemy and biology not languages.”

  When Silas, Brigid, and his mother had climbed back into the sleigh Yaz said, “Hang on.”

  He flew over the sleigh and conjured a bubble of darkness around it.

  “I can’t see,” Silas said.

  “I can,” Yaz said. It surprised him that he could see perfectly through the inky darkness. For him it was like it existed as a faint, shadowy haze. “Everyone ready?”

  When they indicated they were, he willed them skyward. Despite the extra weight he found it took no more effort to fly nor did it slow him down. How much could he lift with this power? It would be an interesting experiment to find out.

  A little less than an hour of flying later, they reached Moz’s camp. The sun hung low in the sky. It would be dark in an hour or so. Talk about an eventful day.

  He dissolved the bubble and everyone got out of the sleigh. Moz and Callie emerged from the tent to meet them. Yaz made introductions and they went inside. A lamp had been lit and placed on the small camp table beside Leonidas’s book.

  “Is that it?” his mother asked.

  “Yeah, we found it in some kind of meeting room,” Callie said. “It was just sitting on the table.”

  “Wait.” His mother looked from Callie to Moz and back again. “Are you saying you entered the Dark Sage’s meeting hall and just found a journal written by Lord Black?”

  “Yes,” Moz said. “Though a woman named Southmore may have lent us a hand.”

  “You met High Sage Southmore? Well that explains who deactivated the wards protecting the council chamber. How she got her hands on the journal is another question.”

  “One that doesn’t matter at the moment,” Yaz said. “If the information inside is useful, who cares how they got it?”

  “Good point.” His mother took the book and opened it.

  Everyone crowded around for a look.

  His mother paged through a third of it before sighing. “I’m afraid I can’t read it.”

  “I can.” Everyone turned to stare at Silas. The wizard shrank a bit at the attention.

  “How?” Yaz asked.

  “When I was trying to bring Wicked back, I studied some rather dark and obscure texts. One of them was written in this language. It’s Infernal, the language used in Hell. Anything to do with diabolism and much of necromancy is performed in this tongue.”

  “Leonidas isn’t a wizard,” his mother said.

  “Perhaps not,” Silas said. “But even among wizards, those who can read Infernal are few and far between. Magic aside, if you wanted to keep your journal from being understood by someone who stumbled on it, Infernal would be the perfect language to use. I doubt there are more than a couple hundred people in the entire world that can read it.”

  “How did you learn it?” Brigid asked.

  Silas winced. “Understand, I was desperate to bring Wicked back. I may have summoned an imp and tortured it for information. I forced the creature to teach me how to read one of the books of necromancy in my master’s library. The important thing is, I can read that book for you.”

  Ever practical, his mother handed the journal to Silas.

  “One moment,” Yaz said. “Can I see that?”

  Silas handed the book to him and Yaz quickly paged through it. Much like the information he stole from the Slavers Guild, he didn’t bother even trying to understand it, he just committed images of the pages to memory. When he finished he returned the journal to Silas.

  “Figured it wouldn’t hurt to make a copy.” Yaz tapped the side of his head. “Just in case.”

  The wizard grinned. “Do you want me to read the whole thing, or find something specific?”

  “We need to know how to deactivate the outer towers,” Yaz said. “Once I know how, I can fly to all four in a day, shut them down, and then we’ll have access to the main tower.”

  “Got it. I’m not exactly fluent in Infernal so this might take a while. Wicked, light.” The little dragon skull started to glow. Silas took a step toward the camp chair.

  Before he could sit, the tent flap opened in a gust of wind and Tonia entered. “The black dragon is coming. We need to move.”

  Chapter 16

  Yaz had barely scrambled out of the tent when the black dragon came roaring out of the sky. A line of black fire, barely visible in the dim evening, scoured a path through camp. A pair of tents went up in flames, but the lack of screams indicated no one was harmed. Either that or they were instantly killed. He preferred to think the former.

  “Can anyone see it?” Moz shouted.

  “It’s to the west, banking for another run,” Tonia said.

  Gods damn it! If Yaz could see through his own darkness, why couldn’t he see at night?

  As soon as he thought it, the night seemed to brighten and the dragon appeared, soaring across the night sky. It seemed he needed to experiment more with his abilities.

  “Everyone gather around!” Yaz shouted.

  “If we bunch up, it’ll kill us all in one pass,” Moz said.

  Brigid, Silas, and his mother ran right over to him. Callie and Moz ran in opposite directions, seeming determined to dodge the dragon’s attacks on their own. If that’s what they wanted, he was in no position to stop them.

  “What now?” Brigid asked.

  “Now we wait.” Yaz wrapped them in a sphere of darkness and watched as the dragon completed its bank. It lined up with Moz’s tent and breathed fire again. The blaze missed them by twenty yards. “As I thought. The dragon won’t attack if it can’t see us.”

  “How sure were you?” Brigid asked.

  “It stopped attacking when it lost sight of me in the city, so I was reasonably sure. The darkness already survived a direct hit from the dragon’s fire once, so even if it hit us in passing, the danger seemed manageable.”

  “What’s happening out there?” his mother asked.

  “The tents are going up in flames. People are running everywhere, though none appear hurt. Mostly it looks like they’re trying to avoid the dragon.” Yaz turned his gaze skyward. “Speaking of which, she’s taking off back toward the city.”

  Yaz lowered the barrier. Their camp was a silent ruin. Only one tent remained standing and it smoldered at the edge. The people appeared okay at least.

  As if to mock him, a scream rang out.

  “You guys stay here.” Yaz conjured a new bubble around his mother and friends. That should keep them safe from anything short of the dragon returning.

  He sprinted toward the scream, conjuring dark armor as he ran. A woman in dragonscale armor lay in a pool of blood, her throat cut so deep her head was barely attached. Who could have snuck up on one of the rangers?

  Maybe a view from higher up would show him what he sought. He rose a couple hundred yards into the sky and
quickly spotted the remaining bards and rangers. They’d gathered together in a circle so they could see anyone that might approach. The rangers made up the outer perimeter while the bards waited on the interior for a chance to use their magic. Yaz didn’t know how many people were in the camp, but he suspected that was all of them.

  “I hoped I might run into you,” a rich, aristocratic voice said.

  Yaz spun and found himself face-to-face with a tall, noble-looking man in black robes. He had to be the leader of the Dark Sages, Leonidas Black. The ring on his right hand glowed red.

  “You attacked my tower and evaded my dragon. Meaningless efforts, but impressive for all that. I don’t know where you came from and I don’t care. Anyone that dares interfere with my plans will suffer the same fate: death.”

  Leonidas pointed and a crimson ray shot out.

  Yaz dove under it and kept flying just ahead of the beam. He didn’t know what it might do if it hit home and unlike Wrath, Yaz had no desire to find out if his new strength was enough to block it. Better to evade as long as possible.

  That turned out to be about three seconds. When the ray vanished, he found himself nearly back where he started. The arrogant bastard nodded in apparent appreciation.

  “You’re quick at the very least. Why don’t we try something else?”

  Yaz liked the sound of that. He hurled a blade of darkness at Leonidas’s sneering face.

  When the wizard hurled a blade of dark magic at him, Leonidas raised a casual hand and commanded his ring to absorb it. An unnecessary step but one that tended to dishearten his opponents.

  Nothing happened.

  He barely conjured a shield in time to deflect the attack. It felt like a betrayal from his most trusted friend.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to worry.

  A second blast followed the first. Leonidas flew straight up out of the way.

  His opponent took after him, sending an incessant barrage of dark blasts his way. Some missed and others were deflected by his shield, but none were absorbed. And without a new source of magical power, his ring would soon be drained from maintaining such a powerful shield.