“Hold on there little lady. Don’t get all dramatic on me, we aren’t dead yet. And if you think about it, we’re exactly where you wanted to be.”
“What? I never wanted to be in prison,” I said, wiping a couple of tears before they could run down my face.
“Of course not in prison, but at this prison,” Karakowski said, shaking his head. “This has to be where they’re holding your grandpa. I doubt there are many other portal proof areas nearby. So even if we didn’t get here how you intended, we have to be really close to finding him.”
“He could be in the next cell. How many cells are there? How do we get out of here?” I was starting to freak out. Grandpa Dan was so close, but we were stuck in here.
“They may have taken my gun,” Karakowski said, “but they didn’t notice this.” He pulled a slim metal object from the hem of his suit jacket.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a lock pick.”
His words washed over me like a cool breeze, flooding me with hope.
“Thank you!” I said, and hugged him from the side without thinking. I let go almost immediately, but it still felt a little tingly.
“I’m just doing my job,” he said.
The metal lock on the door was larger than a normal home lock, making the lock pick look quite small as he started. People in movies always made this look easy.
“I don’t mean to rush you, but what’s taking so long?” I asked, after a couple of minutes.
“This lock isn’t like the ones we have back on Earth. It’s larger and heavier, so this tiny little lock pick is struggling to get the tumblers to . . . Hey! I got it.” I heard a thunk as the bolt slid back. I reached for the door handle to open it, but he caught my hand.
“Not yet. We have to make sure there isn’t a guard out there watching.”
He listened at the door for several seconds before slowly turning the latch and opening the door barely an inch.
“Just a little more and I can fit through,” Iverog said. “Your soul plane has started spilling out the open door, but not enough for me to fit in yet.”
“Hey,” I said, whispering near Karakowski’s head. “Open the door just one more inch and let me try some magical recon.”
He nodded and the opening widened slightly. Iverog disappeared through the door like it wasn’t even there.
“There’s at least four different prison cells, but only one hobgoblin guard that I can see. He doesn’t appear to be armed,” Iverog said.
“There is only one guard out there. Let me go distract him and you can sneak up from behind,” I told Karakowski.
“I don’t really like it, but it’s not a bad plan.”
The heavy door felt cold and damp as I slowly pulled it open wide enough for me to squeeze through. The guard was only a few feet away and didn’t look like the one who had brought us in. I tiptoed the best I could, trying to be silent as I approached, but I’d only gotten a couple of steps from the door when he saw me and said something I didn’t understand.
The cell door was in full view, so Karakowski wouldn’t have any time to ambush the guard if I didn’t stall. “Hi! I’m looking for my Grandpa,” I said.
“How did you get in here?” the hobgoblin asked, switching to English.
“Grandpa said he was in one of these rooms,” I said. I was lying for all I was worth, but I needed to keep him off balance. “Mind if I check that one behind you?”
I reached for the door, and he grabbed my wrist. This very scenario was something I’d practiced in Taekwondo during a self-defense class. Now he was leaning forward and off balance. I yanked down with my arm, pulling him closer to me and kneed him in the head. He jerked his hand back and staggered to an upright position. I spun to the right, turning all the way around in a spin kick to the other side of his head. In tournaments, we wear protective headgear to keep from getting knocked out. He wasn’t wearing any, and he toppled to the ground like a boulder in an avalanche.
Karakowski came bursting out of the cell door at a full run, arriving at the same moment the guard hit the floor.
“Wow, I think I underestimated you,” he said.
I stepped over the guard’s limp body and tried the door, but it was locked. The handle and lock were made of asilver metal. I kicked at it once just to be sure, but it didn’t budge.
“Can you pick this one?”
“No need. I got a set of keys,” Karakowski said. He was crouched near the guard and holding a small metal ring of keys. They jangled loudly in the relative silence of the room. The keys were unusually large, like nothing I’d ever seen. The handle ends had broad circles that provided a grip to turn the key. The other end had intricate teeth that I could only assume fit into the lock.
He selected the first key and tried it, but it wouldn’t even fit in the keyhole. The next one fit, but didn’t turn.
“I think this is the right one, but it still won’t budge,” he said, as he tried the third key. “The lock seems like it should move, but something is wrong.”
“Push on the door as you turn it,” Iverog said. “The bolt may be pinched by the door.”
“Try again,” I said, and put my shoulder to the door, the lock turned. A loud thunk accompanied the rotation of the lock as the bolt slid free. He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.
Cool, musty air smelling of mildew and feces blew past my face. Peering at me from within the dark room glared four sets of deep-red, glowing eyes. I jumped back, knocking Karakowski over as I ran past him.
“Scary eyes!” I whispered.
Karakowski rolled to his feet and slammed the door shut. Iverog let out a deep-throated laugh.
“Those are Adra,” Iverog said. “They are quite harmless.”
“You didn’t need to laugh at me, you jerk.”
“What?” asked Karakowski.
“My spirit guide is laughing at us. Apparently those things are harmless.”
I took a deep breath and pulled the door open again. This time I opened it as far as it would go, letting light flood into the room. The four Adra looked less scary in the light, even with their red eyes peering out of mounds of long, thick, jet-black hair. There was so much hair that no other features were visible, except for their red, glowing eyes. They were short, about half my height and each chained to the wall with a silver chain that disappeared into their hair. I could almost mistake them for large hairy dogs, except they walked upright.
“He’s not here,” I said. I didn’t wait for a response, I grabbed the keys from Karakowski and ran to the next cell. The same key opened the lock and I yanked the door open.
There was a person tied up in a chair with a bag over his head, but I instantly recognized the familiar silhouette.
“Grandpa Dan!” I said, and rushed over and removed the bag. He was gagged, and his hands were tied behind his back. I fumbled with the gag, pulling it off instead of untying it.
“Alecia! How you get here?” Grandpa Dan said, in his familiar broken English.
“It is you!” I said, and wrapped my arms around him in a big hug.
“Untie me. Bad guys come back.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, wiping a tear from my eyes. I hadn’t expected to be so emotional. I made quick work of the knots, even though my fingers were shaking.
“Hi,” Karakowski said, as he walked into the room.
“Is this wizard who brought you?” asked Grandpa Dan.
“Um, no. I actually brought him and he isn’t a wizard. It’s kind of a long story.”
“Never mind, we unlock slaves now. Where key?” he asked. I pulled the set of keys I got from the guard out of my pocket and handed them to him.
We walked down the row of cells, unlocking the doors and entering them. He selected a smaller key from the set and began unlocking the Adra and other creatures that were being held here.
“Why did they take you?” I asked Grandpa Dan.
“Those rings you find. I explain later.”
; ‘“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to get us into this mess.”
“Not your fault,” Grandpa Dan said. He led the way out of the prison cells and into a large room. Vaulted ceilings and double doors marked this room as a gathering place.
“The guard is gone,” Iverog said, as we passed where the guard had lain unconscious.
“Hey Grandpa Dan, I think we might have a problem.”
The doors on the opposite side of the room burst open, and several large creatures came in.
“Too late! We have company,” said Agent Karakowski.
“Oh good. I hungry,” Grandpa Dan said. I looked at him sideways, trying to figure out what he meant.
“Two more ogres just came in,” Iverog said. “I don’t think your spin kick is going to be enough for them. Maybe we should think about running.” I turned to tell Grandpa Dan, but he wasn’t behind me anymore.
“LEAVE, OR I KILL YOU ALL!” bellowed Grandpa Dan in the loudest voice I’d ever heard, shaking the room like a small earthquake. Several of the oncoming creatures halted, but the ogres and a troll carrying a long poleax kept advancing. Behind me, the Adra retreated back into the darkness.
And then Grandpa Dan changed.
I felt the magic hit me like a solid wave of water, knocking me back and throwing me off balance. I could see it, thick like fog, and taste it in my mouth. The energy momentarily enveloped the entire room and then receded back into Grandpa Dan, except it wasn’t him anymore.
He was changing, growing; easily larger than a car, maybe larger than two cars and he didn’t seem to be slowing down. His limbs stretched out and bulked up amazingly fast.
“What the . . .” Karakowski said, his voice trailing off in shock. He stood transfixed, staring at the transformation.
“Move!” I yelled, pushing Karakowski into a doorway.
A massive tail unfurled where we had stood only moments before. I turned around. Grandpa Dan’s transformation seemed complete. A colossal green dragon, complete with massive teeth, claws, wings, and tail spikes dominated our half of the large room. His head nearly reached the two-story ceiling.
The small army of hobgoblins filing into the room stopped in their tracks, recoiling at the sight of the dragon. Two heavily armed ogres pushed their way through the mob of hobgoblins, one brandishing a spear and the other a long sword, and sprinted toward the dragon.
“That’s Korac!” Iverog said.
“You know him?” I asked.
“I don’t know anything,” Karakowski said. We were still cowering in the doorway, well behind where the fighting was taking place.
“What the heck is going on? I thought we were trying to rescue your grandpa. Now we are surrounded by monsters and your grandpa is the biggest one of them.”
I heard a scream and looked back to see the dragon swallow the first ogre to reach him, barely stopping to chew. Deep-maroon ogre blood coated his jaws and pooled on the floor beneath him.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” I said to Karakowski. “My spirit guide says he’s seen the dragon out there before.”
“I met him when I was much younger, back when he terrorized half of China. I thought he was dead,” Iverog said.
Grandpa Dan the dragon tore the other ogre in half and flung it at the group of hobgoblins, knocking several of them down.
“Alecia!” the Dragon said. “I can’t maintain this form for much longer.” The noises he made didn’t sound English, but I understood every word.
I scrambled out of the doorway and made my way toward his head. The ogre’s spear was protruding from his left flank and blood was oozing from the wound. The hobgoblin guards kept their distance, but effectively blocked the only exit.
“Are you OK?” I asked.
“I’m afraid I’m old and weak. We have to get out of here before reinforcements arrive, and I can’t fit through those doors in this form. There are too many guards. This might be the end for me.”
“Don’t talk like that. I’ll think of something.”
A hobgoblin moved just past the edge of the group to throw a spear at me, but before he could throw it, the dragon snapped his jaws shut around his head. I sprinted back into the doorway hideout.
“It’s pretty dire out there,” I said to Karakowski. “Grandpa Dan is really weak and I don’t think he can hold them off much longer.”
“Can you open a portal here?” asked Karakowski. Iverog shook his head.
“No, plus we can’t leave the truck out there.”
“The way those monsters are grouped together, I wish I had a grenade.”
“That’s brilliant!”
“You’ve got a grenade?” Karakowski raised an eyebrow.
“No, but I know how to blow things up.”
“No way,” Iverog said. “I know exactly what you are thinking. Don’t do it.”
“Magic bomb huh? Sure, what could go wrong?”
“Everything. Do not do it,” Iverog said, again.
“Its all I can think of. Besides, if the guards get past Grandpa Dan, then we are dead anyway.”
Grandpa Dan snapped at a guard trying to get in range with a spear. They had gotten in a few more hits, he was bleeding more now than earlier.
“Protect yourself! I’m about to explode some stuff,” I said to Grandpa Dan, as I crept up behind his massive dragon leg.
“Much about you has changed since I’ve been gone,” he said. He was so much easier to understand in his dragon form.
“I can say the same about you.” I figured I was close enough to cast the spell, and relatively protected from the guards. A single ley line ran overhead, it wasn’t very large, but I didn’t think I wanted this spell to be too big anyway. Energy flowed easily when I pulled on the line, rapidly filling the air in front of me. I pushed it out toward the guards, much like I had pushed the portal out in front of the truck.
A large troll entered through the double doors and cheers erupted from the hobgoblin guards. I couldn’t wait any longer. I made the hand motion to activate the portal spell, but instead of using the zip-up motion that had worked so well, I swiped from left to right like opening a door.
The last time I’d done it this way, the spell had exploded on me. I was counting on that to happen this time.
“Look out!” I screamed, and dropped to the ground to try and be clear from the blast. I felt a surge of magic from the explosion, but it didn’t hit me like I expected, instead a warm energy from Grandpa Dan split the blast harmlessly to each side of us.
Hobgoblin guards lay sprawled unconscious on the ground, but the blast had mostly missed the troll.
The troll regained his footing and charged, swinging his poleax at Korac. The great dragon lifted his foreleg, dodging the attack, and brought it back down on top of the troll, squishing out blood and ichor all over the place.
I wiped splattered troll off my shirt.
“We should hurry,” Grandpa Dan said.
“Of course. But how did they capture you?” I asked.
“The rings we purchased in Korea. They were in disguise, to be sold to a set of slave traders. But when we bought them, they tracked me back to my shop and took me along with the rings.”
“I noticed. They left one of the rings on a goblin to impersonate you.”
“How did you realize it wasn’t me?”
“The goblin spoke perfect English.”
“My human form has such trouble with language, a dragon has no trouble being understood.”
“Why didn’t you just escape?” I asked. “You seem quite powerful.”
“Yes, they realized I was a wizard after I melted the first guard. I almost got away, but in my human form, it’s very hard to do magic when you can’t see, speak or move your hands.”
“That explains why you were tied so heavily.”
“They refused to remove my bindings. They were going to starve me until someone who could handle a wizard arrived. Fortunately, you appeared before that could happen. How did you manage to open the
portal?”
“That’s a long story,” I said.
“I’d very much like to hear it when we get back.” Grandpa Dan was already shrinking, changing back to his human form.
“Karakowski! Let’s go.”
“One step ahead of you,” Karakowski said, coming out of a cell. Several Adra and other creatures I hadn’t seen before followed behind him. “I was freeing the slaves. Seemed like the thing to do.”
“Awesome. Everyone this way,” I said, pointing to one of the doors.
“Actually, we want that door,” Iverog said, pointing to the smaller of the two doors.
“Hurry up people,” I said, and quietly changed the door I was pointing to. “The exit is this way.”
CHAPTER 20
“How you get truck here?” asked Grandpa Dan, as I climbed down the stone wall of Morren Stronghold. He was back in human form and his English was back to normal as well.
“I drove it through the portal.”
“Last week you not light candle, today you drive truck through portal. Something very weird.” I took his hand and helped him down onto the roof of the truck.
“Yes it is, but it’s OK. I’ve got my everything-is-weird learner’s permit.”
“When we get home, I help fix things.” There was that familiar kindness in his voice, which made it hard to tell him the next part.
“About that. I sort of blew up your shop.”
“What? You get demolition learner’s permit too?” Grandpa Dan’s eyes went wide.
“When I tried to open a portal for the first time, it sort of exploded. Parts of your shop kinda got destroyed. That’s how the FBI got involved. I used the same bad-spell-thing when I blew up those guards a little while ago.”
An amused expression crossed his face and he chuckled. I hadn’t expected him to laugh about it.
“You blew up the shop?” asked Karakowski, walking up behind me. “This is going to be so much paperwork. I guess I can call off the search for terrorists when we get back.”
“I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”
“No more practice indoors. Need big space for you,” Grandpa Dan said.
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