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

by Vic Broquard

  “Hey, at least you had a witness to the abductions. In our case, we didn’t. It took some clever work on Archmage Jakob’s part to even determine that some had been abducted,” Baron Tomas pointed out.

  Just then a soldier yelled for help. He’d found a survivor and Jarka reached the wounded man before anyone else did. The man’s right leg was still smoldering foul fumes; acid had eaten away most of the flesh, leaving black goo over the major leg bones, a grizzly sight. She poured a healing potion down the unconscious man and stabilized him. Bernard conjured lime and water over the acid covered, mostly destroyed leg, neutralizing the acid and washing it off the man. As the soldier then picked the man up to carry him out of the battlefield, most of the leg simply fell off.

  “I’ll take him to your infirmary, baron,” Archmage Bianca quickly spoke up. She teleported both the soldier and the man he was carrying directly to Baron Arcangelo’s infirmary. Bianca reappeared a few minutes later. “He’s stabilized and the physician says that he will survive.” The soldier thanked her.

  During the next hour, they identified three women and one man who had been abducted. Methodically, the Archmages attempted to Message the four but had no success. Of course, this meant that they were likely now being held off-world, beyond the range of the mage spells. Now the Duska barons attempted to make their Mind Links to the four. Unfortunately, they did not know the four victims and had little reality on making such connections to people with whom they didn’t know. Thus, there was little more that Zoran could do and they returned home. He did promise to return the instant that they established contact with any of the abducted men or women.

  Once back home, Tomas pointed out, “Dad, we sure had more luck than they did.”

  “We’re used to dealing with tough situations, son. Cosma has not had such conflicts in centuries. They are a bit soft, so to speak,” Zoran noted. He kept in touch with Baron Arcangelo during the next few days, but nothing more came of it. The baron had scratched those who had been abducted off; there wasn’t anything that he could do for them.

  On the 10th of March, the raiding dragons struck again. This time, the allies got a break. Fifty dragons swarmed over the town of Valtr Hills, some fifty miles from Baron Stefan’s Circle and Fortress. The carefully laid plans of Baron Stefan, based on Zoran’s advice, paid off. In these larger towns, he’d stationed a mage whose job was to provide early warning of attacks. Luck was with the mage, he just happened to be out walking when he spotted the dragons just arriving from the Shadows, several miles above the sprawling town of some three thousand. Instantly, he Messaged Baron Stefan and then cast his Magnify spell and shouted an alarm to warn the townsfolk. His voice was so loud that everyone heard it. “Dragons are about to attack Valtr Hills. Take cover immediately!”

  Baron Stefan had drilled his Duska, Archmages, and mages on just what to do in the event of a dragon attack. Such an attack had never occurred before and despite the drilling, confusion reigned for a few minutes. At once, Stefan sent Zoran the frantic call for help and then got his staff to the outskirts of the town. Already, the dragons were swooping down, shooting flames right and left, along with slime and acid flows. However, almost no one was outside, much to their surprise, and the dragons began to torch wooden homes, the easier targets. Terrified inhabitants then fled their burning homes, falling victim to the acid and slime flows from the greens and blacks.

  Five minutes after the initial warning, Baron Stefan and his group arrived. Barons Zdenk and Daron, Baronesses Zusa and Kamila, Archmages Chesan, Patrik, and Zikmund surrounded him. Five other Duskas and ten mages circled around them, forming a battle squadron. Just as Stefan was about to issue his attack orders, Zoran stepped his group out of the Shadows, landing them nearby. He had spotted Stefan as he zoomed in on Valtr. Zoran brought his usual Archmages, barons, baronesses, and all the Duskas that could be spared, leaving Baron Jan in charge of Adapazan. Lida and Rayna had also come, unwilling to be left behind.

  Stefan glanced at Zoran and the huge force that he’d brought and grinned. Zoran nodded and the two groups launched their counterattack. Stefan took his forces to the northern entrance to the town which sat on a tall hill, while Zoran took his to the southern edge. Chaos reigned.

  Circling dragons suddenly found themselves under a very serious counterattack. They greatly feared the Archmages and here were way too many of them. Deadly spells flew in all directions, enormous cones of flames, freezing cold, caustic acid, and rotting slime likewise flew all around, landing eventually upon the ground or roofs of the many buildings, adding to the wild random chaos. Dead dragons fell from the sky like falling locomotives, shattering whatever they happened to land upon.

  Amid all this frantic chaos, Zoran spotted Archmage Karel and paused to watch the lunatic, or so Zoran thought at first. Had Karel gone mad? Berserk? The man stood squarely in the middle of the street, totally oblivious to the flames and acid being hurled at him. He did hold some small stick in his hand, but otherwise, he was merely casting his spells of death right and left. Somehow the man seemed immune to the flames and caustic acid. Zoran’s Duska senses triggered and he made a frantic drop and roll to get out of the way of a blast of searing fire from a red who saw that he was distracted and attempted to wipe him out. Zdenka shot her Disintegrate spell at the red, covering for Zoran. The spell took the left side of the red’s head off and the huge beast came plummeting to the ground, crashing through the roof of an inn. Zoran got back on his feet and nodded her way. She flashed him a smile and headed after another black.

  Streaks of Lightning, Crushing Fists, Balls of Fire, Magical Missiles, Spectrum Sprays, Stuns, Disintegrate beams, Blind, Blasts of Frost, and many other spells flashed through the skies above Valtr Hills. This was the biggest display of magical spells that had even been seen at one time anywhere in the Federation of the Sixteen Planets! The noise was deafening.

  Five minutes later with half of their attacking force destroyed, the remaining two dozen dragons suddenly fled the battlefield, stepping quickly into the Shadows, leaving the carnage behind them. At last, Zoran relaxed and signaled his group to regroup. “Injuries?” he called out to everyone.

  “Over here, Jarka. I took a bad burn,” Bernard called out. Six others had minor injuries and needed her healing potions as well. Karel had not a scratch on him, however.

  “Hey, I got seven of the beasts! Not bad,” Karel bragged to his wife, Chika, who had only slain one. She’d spent most of her time dodging the flames and acid.

  Stefan used his Magnify spell to notify the townsfolk that the dragons were gone, but to stay inside until further notice. He ordered his mages to conjure water to douse the flaming roofs. Archmage Chesna also ordered the conjuring of lime to help neutralized the streams of acid running down the sides of the buildings and flooding through the paved streets. They dare not enter the town until the acid and slime had been nullified, otherwise, it would eat through their boots! Meanwhile, Zusa and Kamila tended their wounded, doling out their healing potions right and left. Stefan’s group suffered more injuries than Zoran’s, though neither had lost any of their people, unlike the two dozen dead dragons that lay scattered about the streets and upon crushed buildings.

  An hour later, the fires were out and the slime and acid neutralized. Now they could at last enter the town and remove the dead dragons. “My god, they are heavy,” he noted. It took several mages working together to lift the carcasses and move them to piles outside the town proper. Their working spells got quite a work out. Meantime, Stefan, Zoran, and several others joined up and discussed the event and how to proceed, going door to door checking on the possible wounded inside.

  “Hey, Archmage Karel, I thought that you were a total goner. Did you go sort of berserk there?” Stefan asked.

  “Nope, I got seven of the beasts. Anyone kill more than that?” the prideful man replied.

  “Well, I got three,” Zdenka replied. Several other Archmages also had slain three. No one was close to his tally.
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br />   “Okay, Karel, out with it. How the devil did you not get killed six times over? I saw you getting the full blast of flames and acids several times,” Zoran asked, becoming a little annoyed at the arrogance of Karel.

  He waved his small rod and Chika grinned. She knew that Karel was about to tell the world of his new super weapon. “Just combat testing my latest invention, baron. This here is my Rod of Dragon Slaying!” His voice was louder than normal; he wanted all within hearing to take notice, which they did. Everyone around stopped and stared at the small rod that he held up for curious eyes to see.

  He added, “Makes you immune to the breaths of the dragons, leaving you free to destroy the foul beasts. Works rather well, wouldn’t you say?” he teased his audience.

  “My god, man! We need them immediately! How soon can you deliver me a goodly supply of them? Name your price!” Baron Stefan took the bait.

  Karel smiled. He tossed the baron his rod. “Here, you can take this one now. It needs to be recharged. After we get this mess cleaned up, I’ll tell you all about it. Don’t worry, Zoran, I have eleven more back home, one for you too.” He quickly alleviated the worried look on his friend’s face.

  “My god, man! Thanks! Do you realize what you have invented?” Stefan effused. “With this, we actually stand a chance against the dragons! Wow, seven slain and not a scratch on you. Unbelievable! I would not have believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. You really did get blasted many times! I figured you were a goner!”

  Karel accepted the praise. “Yes, totally immune. Gives us a chance. The rod also can attack the dragons as well, but this time I used my own killer spells. If the battle had lasted longer, why I might have tied Chan and Wen’s kill total.”

  “Hey, we are up to twenty-two dragons now,” Chan boasted, punching her good hand into the air.

  Wen added, “Give us one of those rods, Karel, and you’ll never catch up to us. We’re the Dragon Slayers, after all.” Everyone laughed at their taunts.

  After spending an hour going door to door, miraculously few of the townsfolk had been killed, only those who had been forced from their burning homes. Another two dozen suffered broken bones from collapsing houses but these were quickly helped with liberal doses of healing potions, doled out this time by Baronesses Zusa and Kamila.

  Finally, leaving his mages in charge, Stefan had everyone accompany him back to his fortress. Everyone wanted to examine and hear about Karel’s Rod of Dragon Slaying. Archmage Karel grandly explained the details of his invention. He cautioned Stefan, “Remember, if you do not use the rod’s attack powers, you can withstand ten dragon breath attacks before it needs recharging.”

  “Simply amazing, Archmage Karel! You are to be highly commended. Are you going to tell the other barons about it at the Spring High Council? If you do, expect to receive many, many orders for these. I am incredibly honored to receive this, Karel.” The Archmage basked in the limelight and also returned home with a hundred thousand in gems in his pockets. At home, he then gave a rod to Chika and one to Zoran. He was still in the process of finishing up the last enchantments on the remaining rods.

  Of course, that very night Stefan told the other allied barons all about the attack and the powerful new weapon that Karel had invented. Baron Leo was drooling with envy that Stefan had gotten the first of these new magnificent weapons. Lida and Rayna teased their husbands about this before they returned to continue to help Zdenka with her students. “They are like little boys with a new toy and they don’t want to share,” Rayna joked. Lida laughed.

  In bed that night, Zoran said, “Dear, for once, we all got a lucky break there on Valtr.”

  “Yes, your idea of stationing mages around the land finally paid off. I am sure thankful that more women were not taken. I feel so badly for those women of Cosma. There is still no word on them, is there?”

  “Nope, they’ve had no luck in locating any of them, but there is still time to save them, if they can be found. It hasn’t been sixty days yet. So there is still some hope.”

  On the 10th of April, Zoran sighed. Now there was no hope for the abducted women of Cosma. Probably they had given birth to thirty new dragons and died for their efforts. Zdenka did not need him to tell her why he looked so glum at breakfast that morning. She knew what he was thinking.

  Two days later, Baron John Witherspoon roused him just before dawn. The man’s mental voice was shaking. Fear and terror fought to gain control over his logical mind. We’ve been attacked by dragons too. I just got word this morning that a farming village of Westumbria was attacked around midnight last night when everyone was sleeping. The mage there died in his bed. So much for my early warning system. Can you come and lend us a hand? I beg you.

  No need to beg. We’ll be there in a few minutes. I’ll home in on you there at the site.

  Thanks Baron Zoran. I never believed it would happen to us. It is beyond awful. It just makes me sick at my stomach. The carnage, the destruction. We’re just farmers.

  “What’s up?” a sleepy Zdenka asked, as she realized he was up and getting dressed rapidly.

  “Another attack. Terra this time. They are getting smarter. The dragons attacked at midnight when everyone was in bed. Damn them anyway!”

  “Want us all to come?” she said getting up and rapidly dressing.

  “No, I’ll take Tomas, Jarka, and Bernard. There is probably nothing that we can really do now. It’s been six hours since the attack. I’ll keep you posted. Will you inform the others please?”

  True to his word, five minutes later, Zoran Shadow Walked his son, Jarka, and Bernard to the site, homing in on Baron John. Westumbria was in ruins, much like the other destroyed villages. Homes were still smoldering; stone buildings lay half crumbled. Soldiers were going from building to building, hauling out the dead and searching for survivors.

  “Thanks for coming. No survivors as yet. This is just appalling,” the pale faced Baron John said softly.

  “The thing to worry most about, John, is this. How many women and men were abducted this time? That is the pattern that we’ve seen several times now. They are going to interspecies-breed the women, and the women will later die when they give birth to the dragon babies,” Zoran advised, keeping his voice low as well.

  It took a moment to fully register with him. “So many dead. How are we ever going to know how many were taken? There were thousands living here. My god, breeding our women? That’s, that’s, that’s the most despicable, hideous, vile thing that I’ve ever heard.” Now it fully registered with Baron John.

  “Well, you might consult those living near the town. Have them identify the many dead and see if they can spot anyone that they knew who lived here whose body is not among the dead. That’s how we did it at Petr Falls. It took days, but we finally got a pretty good idea. You are looking for missing strong, burly men and young women between say eighteen and twenty-five.”

  “I see. Yes, if we knew the name of even one who was taken, we can try to make contact with them and rescue them. Makes sense. I’ll get on it,” Baron John replied. He quickly left them to issue new orders.

  There was little for the four to do and they helped the others arrange the dead in long lines, ready for the outlying neighbors to view with the hope that they would be able to discover if anyone was missing. While it was quite shocking for these farmers to walk along the long lines of the dead, Baron John desperately needed to know if some had been abducted. Around ten, Zoran returned home to await John’s report.

  “Vile beasts are getting smarter,” Jarka commented, as Zoran prepared to Shadow Walk them home.

  “Dragons are formidable foes, my dear,” Bernard replied.

  Three days later, Baron John contacted him again. We’re in luck. Abigail Westwood is missing. Apparently, she is widely known for making superb quilts. That’s how they spotted that she is missing. If you don’t mind, I could use you help now.

  On our way! Be there in a few minutes. Zoran Messaged his group with the
news and called for a quick conference to decide who ought to go with him. He decided to take Karel, Tomas and Nadia, along with Bernard and Jarka, of course. The others were on standby in case they needed more firepower. “Here you go, Zoran. Remember, if you do not use it to cast spells or to absorb spells shot at you, you can take ten dragon breath hits before the rod exhausts it charge.” Karel handed him a Rod of Dragon Slaying. Then, he gave another to Tomas and one to Bernard, allowing the men to decide if they should wield it or let their wives use the rod. Both men passed the precious rod to their wives. Jarka gave Bernard a quick thank you kiss.

  Just as they were about to go, Archmage Jakob teleported beside them. “Excuse me, baron. I wish to come with you this time. I need to test out my new magical gem on the dragons. It could prove to be more powerful than Karel’s rods.” Karel gave him a snarled look, which the tall man ignored.

  Zoran grinned. “Okay, grab a hold of each other. I’ll take us to where Baron John is waiting for us.” Once more Jarka’s stomach did a violent lurch as she was pulled into the grey-black Shadows, totally disorienting her. She focused all her intention on holding tightly to Bernard’s hand, praying that he was doing the same with Archmage Nadia. Soon, the bluish orb took shape and then the white snow covered plains of Terra appeared and she began to reorient her senses. She disliked this Shadow Walking.

  “Ah, here you are. Thank you for coming on such short notice,” a worried Baron John Witherspoon said as the small group materialized beside his larger group. He had his fellow barons and baronesses with him along with his two younger Archmages. Old Albert was too infirm to make such a trip as this. He also had six other mages with him. Karel noted that John was now wielding one of his magical Dragon Slayer bastard swords and smiled.