Dragons, Power, Courts, And War (Book 2)

by Vic Broquard

  Karel’s anger rose to a feverish pitch and he sliced a bit too hard, completely severing his dragon’s head! “Shit!” he exclaimed as the body he was riding and the neck around which he was holding on began to drop and fall. He barely managed to get a Mystical Door open before the dragon smashed into the side of the mountain. He came rolling out of his door, rolling through the foaming mess that Jarka and Bernard had going. Bernard directed more of his water over Karel’s nearly naked body, making sure the acid didn’t harm him.

  Just as the remaining nine dragons had arced around to make a second pass at the defenders, who were now frantically involved with neutralizing the acid flows and scrambling for healing potions, Emil and Renata appeared in the skies above the blacks. Sunlight glistened off of their golden hides, catching the attention of the blacks. At once, the remaining blacks stepped into the Shadows, heading for home. They had lost half their numbers on the first pass, and with the Gold Dragons now here, they knew that they had no chance at all and fled for their lives.

  With the dragons’ exodus, the mages all focused on neutralizing the acid flows. Jarka kept yelling what to do and they followed her advice, creating both lime and water. Huge clouds of noxious gas rose from the tops of both structures, nearly asphyxiating the mages, who at last had to vacate the rooftops. Half were nearly naked as they landed on the ground; most had already lost their shoes. Jarka summoned forth her bag of healing potions and began handing them around. Hands eagerly accepted them, most gulped them down rapidly. Hands, sides, chests, feet, lungs — all had been harmed, some more than others.

  Emil landed beside Zoran. “Sorry we were too late to help.”

  “You weren’t. I think your presence convinced them to leave,” he replied. “Say, I think I saw some dead dragons landing on some houses in the town. Can you and Renata lift them off? We need to get help to those trapped inside.”

  Emil and Renata rose in tight circles and then headed off to the two affected homes. Their enormous claws hooked onto the carcasses and with a huge flapping of their enormous wings, slowly lifted the dead off the homes, depositing them outside the city’s walls.

  Using a Magnify spell, Zoran called out, “Is anyone seriously hurt?” Most had minor acid burns, and Jarka’s potions were already working their magic.

  “Sorry, Zoran,” General Damek called out. “Two of your guards took a direct hit from acid falling down from above. There wasn’t anything that I could do for them.” Already, Damek had covered what remained of their bodies with a blanket. He didn’t want his liege, Baron Jan, to see the awful aftermath of the acid on their bodies. Already Jan was terrified of the dragons.

  Damek added, “I’ll take a squad of men and check on the collapsed buildings. I’ll send word if anyone is hurt or killed.”

  “Here, take along ten potions with you, just in case,” Jarka ordered, handing him what remained in her bag. She looked at Zoran and said, “Handy to have around, eh?” He flashed her a thank you smile.

  “Okay, everyone, get cleaned up fast and report back here. We need to clean up this incredible mess. Thank you all. We were very lucky this time,” Zoran called out. Within seconds, everyone vanished from the outside grounds. He smiled and was the last one to open his Mystical Door and step into his room to change.

  Karel and Milan were already outside extracting blood from the dragon carcasses when Zoran reappeared in clean clothes. He let them go about their business while he levitated up to the roof of the fortress to inspect the damage done. There was still acid in places, slowly eating its way through the stone rooftop. Worse, quite a little had fallen down the sides of the manor house and was eating away at the thinner sides. As the others returned, he began directing them on the flushing and neutralizing actions that were needed.

  Aldrick and twenty more golds appeared and demanded to be given the dead blacks. “They need to be properly buried, Zoran. I insist on this,” he stated in no uncertain terms. Zoran suspected that Aldrick already knew what and why Karel was doing and he gave his assent. While Karel growled at Aldrick, he stepped back and the giant gold clutched the black’s carcass and lifted it up into the sky.

  “Well, we have three barrels of blood and ten claws. That’s a good start!” Karel declared antagonistically, once Aldrick was out of hearing range. “Shrink! Shrink! Shrink! Okay son, let’s get these into my lab. I sure as heck hope the acid didn’t get into my room!” He and Milan vanished and reappeared a bit later, joining the others in the massive cleansing operation.

  As the action wound down, Zdenka whispered something in his ear and Zoran announced, “Okay, when we are finished here, all of you who cast a spell when the dragons first appeared are requested to meet with us in the dining room.”

  “Wonder what this is all about?” Jarka muttered to Bernard.

  “Don’t know. Maybe he wants to go over our choice of spells,” he replied, slightly bored now that excitement was over. “Sure glad my dogs are on the first floor and not up there on the roof where Karel’s falcons are at. I bet those birds got quite a fright today.” Jarka smiled. She’d seen the extreme care Karel had taken over the protection of his falcons. Not a feather had been ruffled on his birds.

  A while later, the whole group congregated in the dining room, whispering among themselves what the meeting might be about. Zdenka produced tea, biscuits, and honey, and the twenty-one casters began helping themselves. “I asked Zoran to have us all meet. I have been researching the dragons and more importantly the phenomenon of inherent resistance to magical spells that some creatures have. I admit that all of us have been rather ignorant in this arena. Not so any longer. Let me begin by asking all of you, whether Archmage or mere mage, when your spell was about to detonate, did you suddenly find yourself on a featureless, grey plain facing the dragon that your spell was about to effect? I did.”

  A chorus of “Me too’s” echoed around the room, as each person looked at the other. “So none of you didn’t experience this effect?” she asked. “Okay, then. Now I know what that was. When we use a spell that impacts a creature which has innate resistance to magical spells, this confrontation is always going to happen. During that brief instant, which seemed horribly long to me anyway, but it could not have been but a split second of real time, you have your chance to break down that creature’s resistance to your spell.”

  “If you win that battle, your spell will affect the creature. If you lose that battle, your spell will not affect the creature. It is as simple as that.”

  “So that is what that is! I’ll be damned. I just glared angrily at the beast and won each time!” Karel declared, enlightened.

  Jarka laughed, “I was spooked and tried to attack mine by throwing an enchanted dagger at it. I think mine flinched at that.”

  “It filled me with fear. I was so scared. I must have lost my battle,” Jan admitted, ashamed of his failure.

  “Now you know what to expect next time, Baron Jan. Next time, you hang in there and glare him down!” Karel broke in, giving him some needed advice.

  “I speak for many of us,” Milan spoke up. “You Archmages know that you are the most powerful spell casters in the universe, but we who only have mage status are not so confident.”

  “That’s very true, Milan,” Zdenka replied softly. “We wield great power and that helps us break down their inherent resistance to magic. Still, now that you know what is happening, your determination, your defiance, will also bring it down. That’s why I wanted to discuss this with all of you. Knowledge will enhance your chances of making your magic work on these dragons.”

  “Magic or not, Chan and Wen proved themselves today,” Dana spoke up. “Zoran, I give them both my official pass on their training.”

  “Hey, I learned from them too. I got mine downed, just like they did,” Karel pointed out, just in case no one had noticed him duplicating their attack methods. Everyone chuckled a bit. None had missed either event.

  “Well, I don’t know of any better way to do it,” C
han replied humbly.

  “Hey, it gets you out of the way of their damnable acid spew!” Jarka pointed out. “Ruined my dress and boots!”

  “Hey, Damek, was anyone hurt in the collapsed buildings?” Chika asked.

  “One gal had her arm broken, but Jarka’s potions has her almost healed up. It is a miracle that no one was crushed to death,” he reported.

  “Will they be back soon?” asked Jan, still nervous about the whole scary incident.

  “Good question,” Zoran replied. “I hope not. They took what must look to them like staggering losses so I am hopeful that they will think twice about assaulting the fortresses directly, Jan. In the meantime, we must continue to rely on our Archmage’s Premonition spells.” Everyone looked at Zdenka and Verushka. Both smiled demurely. These top power spells were only castable by Archmages and often defined an Archmage, though the other four Archmages simply had not been able to master that spell.

  “Say, Chan, is it hard to learn how to jump onto the flying dragon’s neck?” Dana asked what he was most curious about.

  She smiled. “Like anything else, it takes practice. I didn’t get it right until the seventh attempt. Do you suppose that you could get Emil or Renata to fly around and let us practice this action on them?”

  Zoran already knew the answer to that one. They would not ever consent to helping humans learn to kill their own kind. Chan guessed as much.

  The next morning, Zoran contacted each of his allies and relayed what had happened, urging them to exercise extreme caution. He’d escaped the wrath of the dragons primarily because there were six Archmages along with the usual mages, to say nothing of the Duskas. With only a single Archmage or two at most, the band of twenty blacks could well win the day. The situation was not only escalating but becoming far more deadly.

  Just after lunch, Zoran received an unexpected Duska communication. Baron Zoran? Good. Baron Alvaro here. May I have permission to visit your Circle?

  Of course. Give me a minute to de-activate our defenses. I’ll meet you at the Circle.

  A minute later, Jarka and Bernard joined him around his Circle of Ascension in the depths of his fortress in Brn. A moment later Baron Alvaro Cencion stepped out of the Shadows and onto his Circle. “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. You are looking fit. Putting on a bit of weight I see,” the mustached man of forty-five greeted the trio.

  Zoran extended his hand and greeted the Neutral baron. “Afternoon, Baron. You are looking fit yourself. Been horse riding I sense.”

  Alvaro smiled, “Noses always give such away. Is there somewhere that we can talk in private without being overheard?” Zoran led him to his private study via a Mystical Door, leaving Jarka and Bernard to re-secure the Circle. Once inside, both men cast their anti-scrying spells. Satisfied, Baron Alvaro sat down in one of the sofa chairs, refusing Zoran’s offer of something to drink.

  “I have not much time, so I will get right to the matter. As you know, the High Council is due to meet on Alta on the 15th of September, a mere three weeks and a few days from now.” Zoran nodded. “I’ve come to ask a favor of you, but before I can ask it, I must tell you a bit about what’s been happening recently on Alta. It is not good, I’m afraid.”

  Zoran sat down, seeing no need to seem to be standing over him. He was not his political enemy and besides, he had always been treated with the utmost kindness by Baron Alvaro. “Well, start at the beginning, I always say.”

  “Good sense. As you know, when the Golden Dragons first appeared within the Federation, many of us also took that opportunity to bring starving dragons to our worlds, if only to not be left out with these seemingly unlimited weapons. I invited the Brown and White Dragons to Alta. For many years now, this has been a most workable union. They keep to themselves for the most part, inhabiting the regions of Alta which we find most inhospitable. We’ve even established trade between our races, gemstones mostly.”

  “Ah, but all good things have another side, it is said. Ten years ago, the Red and Black Dragons somehow found their way to Alta, settling down without my consent or permission. At first, we tried to reason with them, but to no avail. Last year, they began making demands, holding us hostage to their greed for gems. They destroyed villages until we gave into their demands and gave them some of our gems.”

  “Recently, their greed is exceeding our ability to mine for gems. Now I am entrusted with holding this High Council, and I am extremely worried that either the reds or blacks will do something regrettable while I am hosting all of the barons and baronesses of the Sixteen Planets of the Federation. After all, we will all be in one place at one time. What better chance to eliminate all of us in one shot?”

  “So you are worried that the dragons will attack us while we meet?” Zoran asked, catching on to Alvaro’s worry.

  “Yes, this dragon problem is rapidly spinning out of control on Alta. I am at a total loss over what actions I can take if any. Baron, I am the longest serving baron now. All of the others who used to run things have retired or passed away. I am the senior statesman of the Federation now, but you are the second senior statesman. No one else has the twenty plus years as you have, excepting myself, of course. I am here today asking your advice. Ought I cancel the meeting on Alta and allow another baron whose lands are more secure to hold our meeting? It is not too late to change the location. What do you think? I need an honest appraisal.”

  Zoran rubbed his hands through his hair. Never in a million years did he ever expect to be the second most senior statesman of the Federation. Yet Alvaro was right. He had twenty-five years of service while Zoran had twenty-one now. All of the others had substantially less experience in ruling their worlds. “The situation is grim on many planets, Alvaro. Gonda, Terra, Cosma, Valtr, Gladno — all are facing similar dragon problems. Here on Adapazan it has turned very ugly.” He outlined what had just happened on Friday.

  “My god! Twenty blacks attacked your fortress here in Brn? Are you all right?” a very worried Alvaro asked. He had no idea it had gotten this bad and resolved to have better and more frequent communications with Zoran.

  “Yes, we lost some clothing and boots to the acid and two of our guards were killed, but the rest of us survived nicely. Only nine of the twenty escaped our wrath, but six of those suffered heavy wounds and will be out of action for a time, I hope, unless dragons heal rapidly. Here’s an idea that we’ve been trying.” He outlined their use of magic to turn worthless quartz crystals into diamonds to give to the dragons. “So far it has worked.”

  “Amazing, those gems cannot be enchanted and are certainly not the real thing. I guess dragons may not be as smart as we think. I will do as you suggest. Perhaps that will placate them while the High Council meets. Still. . .”

  “We should take further steps, Alvaro. When the blacks attacked here, by having so many Archmages present, we tipped the tide to our side. Perhaps you should request that each of we barons bring along as many Archmages as possible — bend the rules a bit. If we have a dozen to fifteen Archmages present, a horde of dragons could be stopped,” Zoran suggested.

  “Excellent idea. Can I count on Adapazan bringing a fair number?” he asked with a wry smile.

  “Of course. After all, no planet has more of us than Adapazan. My wife does an excellent job of it,” Zoran could not resist putting in a plug for Zdenka.

  “I am most relieved, thank you. Yet, I am most concerned about this growing dragon problem. I have placed that topic on our agenda.”

  “I concur, excellent idea,” Zoran complimented him. “Zdenka will be able to give us advanced warning should the dragons mount an attack while we are meeting.” He didn’t mention that Verushka could also do it.

  “Again, I thank you. It is really up to us to lead all these young barons, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, if only we could pound some sense in to some of them,” Zoran half teased. The two shook hands and Alvaro left, stepping into the Shadows for a quick trip home.

  “Knock, kno
ck,” Jarka called out. “What did he want?” Her curiosity got the better of her. Zoran smiled and explained the difficulties Alta was having.

  “Maybe you will find similar problems on other Neutral worlds,” she suggested. He wondered about that. If so, the problems were rapidly getting way beyond control.

  Chapter 8 Body Parts

  Honani sent a Message to Milan from his hideout on Isi. Milan agreed to meet, and Honani Shadow Walked to Brn, arriving before the gates of the city. He noted the new construction and guessed that the city had been greatly expanded with these new outer walls. Shortly, Milan apparated nearby, teleporting out of his room.

  “Welcome to Brn, Honani. I got your message. Why the secrecy?” Milan asked.

  “Walk with me,” the brownish skinned, thin, but tall man of thirty said. They slipped into the nearby forest, before Honani volunteered more information. “I can get a hold of a whole lot more parts of dragons. It seems there is quite a demand for bones, teeth, skulls, hides, and claws. I figured that I ought to see if you want in on these deals.”

  “Colors?”

  Honani laughed, “You name it, I get it. No questions asked, eh?”

  “Okay. Can I see if he needs these things first?” Milan asked. He had no idea whether his dad needed any of these. Blood, yes.

  “Sure. I’ll wait a while.”

  “Won’t take but a minute.” He sent a Message to his father.

  “Okay, bones, teeth, hides, and claws, please. Reds, blacks, greens predominately, but any color excepting of course gold,” Milan relayed his dad’s answer. Karel seemed very eager to get his hands on all of these, though Milan could not fathom why he would. Blood, yes, he infused it into the weapons.