Up, up he went, his agile form sprinting along rapidly. The tunnel almost spiraled up to where he knew the lizardmen had been. The elf’s heart pounded in excitement. He was happy to finally be getting close to the heart of the lizardmens’ realm. Though he preferred to work alone, he hoped to find Kazin. The mage was the only one who could open the lizardmens’ portals, and get him closer to the lizardmage he sought.
Before he knew it, Alric reached the cave where the lizardmen had been. The walls and floor were black and steaming, the result of fire damage. It could have been either Tyris or Kazin. There was no sign of the lizardmen or Kazin. The elf swore. Not including the cavern directly ahead, there were only two ways into the cave. He had arrived by one. That meant Kazin had probably gone the other way in pursuit of the lizardmen. Or, Kazin had found a portal the lizardmen had used to escape and gone after them the same way.
Alric swore again. If the latter were true, he had no way of finding either the lizardmen or the mage. He had to assume his former reasoning was correct. The elf sprinted into the opposite tunnel and would have disappeared if he wasn’t already invisible.
* * * * *
Kazin looked around at the empty cave. Should he go left or right? He tried a magical spell check and the right tunnel glowed. “That was easy,” he muttered. He followed the trail of magic as fast as he could. The lizardmen were not far ahead. The mage reached a wide intersection branching into three other directions. He was about to cast another spell check spell when a gust of wind blasted down the left path. Kazin grinned. The air elemental was resisting the lizardmens’ magic again. Hurrying down the left tunnel, the mage could hear sounds ahead. Soon light could be seen reflecting off the walls. He was close!
Rounding a final bend, Kazin reached a well-lit cavern. Several hissing lizardmen holding torches surrounded a giant translucent box with a clear liquid sloshing around in its walls. The light emitting from it was a brilliant orange in hue. The lizardmen were in the process of stepping through a portal in a nearby wall. Before Kazin could think of how to proceed, the last lizardman disappeared through the portal and the portal vanished. The cavern reverted to darkness once again.
Kazin lit his staff and moved forward cautiously. There were two more tunnels with access to this portal junction. He wondered vaguely what lay at the end of their depths, but knew he had no time for exploring. He had to free Tyris at all costs. He began to concentrate on the portal. It began to shimmer.
The mage suddenly heard a noise behind him but had no time to react. A ‘whoosh’ noise was followed by a sharp pain in his neck. Sudden dizziness overwhelmed him before everything went black.
A hooded figure in a red robe approached the prone mage and hissed menacingly. “So! A human mage! We can’t allow humans in our realm! Those who meddle in our affairs must suffer the consequences!” He withdrew a dagger from his cloak and took another step toward the mage.
A noise behind him made him turn abruptly. Someone was coming! He turned back to the unconscious mage and lifted his weapon to deliver a killing blow. Before he could make his move, a one word chant instigated a magical arrow. The arrow streaked across the cavern and struck the lizardman’s dagger on its downswing. The dagger was thrown from the lizardmage’s hand, and the lizardman jumped over Kazin while hissing a spell of his own. He cast a fireball spell in the direction the arrow had come from, but another arrow was already flying at him from a different direction.
The lizardman was struck in the left arm and he responded by hissing in pain and raising a magical shield to protect himself from any further arrows. Then he opened the portal and dived through, with more arrows in pursuit. Some of the arrows bounced harmlessly off his shield. The rest bounced off the bare wall as the portal closed.
Alric quickly checked the area for any further intruders. When the area was secure, he hurried over to the mage and dragged him from the cavern to a spot a short distance away down a tunnel. He was thankful he had spotted a lizardman skulking around at the four-way intersection. By following the lizardman, the elf had deduced correctly the path that Kazin had taken. Kazin would have been killed had he not come along to save him.
Alric laughed inwardly at this. He stole from this man, and had saved his life too. If he didn’t need the mage so much, he could have let him die. Alric shook his head quickly. No, that was not his way. He was a thief, not a murderer. He looked down at the unconscious figure. The peaceful expression on Kazin’s face did not indicate an evil person. Kazin appeared to be a good man. All the stories he had heard about this mage backed this up. Just over a decade ago, Kazin had saved not only the human race, but all of the races, including the elves. Many elves would mourn his death should something happen to him. Alric owed this man his allegiance. Indeed, they were allied in their present quest. Their goals were the same. Alric suddenly felt honoured to be working with Kazin. If they lived through this quest and succeeded in saving the world, Alric’s own name would be adored by his elven brothers and sisters. The elf considered his personal goal in this quest. Fame was one thing, but revenge was another. His part in unknowingly helping the lizardmen was a part he wished to correct. His reputation had been tarnished. The lizardmage who had taken advantage of him had used him to help cause the disaster that awaited them right now. It was up to him - and the others in his group - to stop this threat before it was too late. True, up to now the humans had suffered the worst of the damage. But the lizardmen wouldn’t stop there. Once the humans were defeated, the elves and dwarves were sure to follow.
A low moan brought Alric back to the present. It was time to move on.
Chapter 24
Graf closed the portal behind him and walked quietly down the corridor, stopping in front of a wall that barred his way. Silently, he pulled his hood over his head and concealed his gloved hands within his robe. Then he spoke a word of magic and stepped through the wall as though it wasn’t even there. He entered a large room with a grey stone table in its center. A number of hooded figures were present and they turned to suspiciously watch the newcomer.
Graf spoke his secret password and the figures in the room relaxed. The lizardman approached the others and they waited for him to identify himself.
“Inferno,” said Graf in a low voice.
“Welcome,” responded a cloaked figure nearest him. “Ice Blade,” he continued, indicating himself. The others followed suit with names like Sawtooth, Cleaver, Ropeburn, Sparky, and Multibolt.
When the introductions were concluded, Graf spoke. “How are things progressing?”
Ice Blade held up a hand. “Let’s wait until Longspike gets here.”
“I’m here,” said a voice behind them.
Everyone turned to face the newcomer. Other than the fact that he was very tall, he looked like an ordinary cloaked figure like the rest of them.
They started to identify themselves but Longspike held up his hand. “I know who you are. Is everyone here?”
“Affirmative,” said Ice Blade.
“Then we should proceed,” said Longspike. He thrust his pack on the table and opened it, withdrawing a stack of marked papers. “Have we got enough information concerning the humans’ magic?”
“I think so,” said Ice Blade. “Many of the spell components are common in our realm but rarer in the humans’ world. We can reduce or block movement of those goods to restrict the use of many of their spells.”
“Good!” said Longspike.
“I’ve studied the spell inflections and hand motions of their magic,” put in Sparky. “Most of the spells can be identified soon enough to give us time to erect counter measures. Arch mages are still a threat since they can cast even complicated spells with lightning-quick speed, as well as cast numerous spells at once.”
Longspike sighed. “I wish we were able to do that. That’s why I dislike human spell casters so much. We’ll have to deal with their arch mages one at a time. Working together, we have the power to defeat them.”
Graf (Infer
no) chuckled. “No problem!” he muttered under his breath. When everyone turned to look in his direction, Inferno realized he needed to change the subject quickly. He pulled a scroll from his cloak and placed it on the table. His hand swiftly returned to his pocket. “Here is a scroll that should interest you.”
Longspike took hold of it and unscrolled it. After a moment, he gasped. “A ‘pass through rock’ spell!” He turned to Inferno. “Where did you get this?”
Inferno shrugged innocently. “It was lying around in a pile of spells in my study. I figured it might come in useful.”
“Let me see!” exclaimed Sparky. She held out her hand.
Longspike passed it to Sparky for inspection.
Sparky studied it for a moment before exclaiming, “It’s an ancient elven spell! I’ve only ever heard of this spell being used in the time of the dragons! The spell was thought to have been forgotten shortly afterward when the dragon wars ended! A spell like this could prove useful indeed! This is a rare find!”
“How long have you had this, Inferno?” asked Longspike.
Inferno shrugged again. “It’s only one of hundreds of scrolls I inherited a while back. Most of them are self-explanatory, but this one in particular looked intriguing. I figured it was interesting magic, so I put it aside to study later. It must have fallen behind some books on my shelf, because I forgot about it until just now when I was reorganizing my library.”
“I’ll have to study it and see if we can cast this spell ourselves,” said Sparky.
“Help yourself,” offered Inferno.
“That’s settled then,” said Longspike. “Is there anything else to report?”
“Support for our magic continues to increase,” said Ropeburn in a feminine voice. “Especially once word spreads of the poisoned water caused by the human black mages and their foolish experiments. We tell people that black magic is the only way to defend ourselves against them. Recruitment is steady, with the majority being younger and eager to learn.”
“Many of those apprentices are defying the laws and openly casting their magic,” added Multibolt. “Several have even been arrested.”
“As long as they aren’t traced back to the guild,” said Longspike sternly.
“They’re only being detained overnight with stern warnings, or fines if damages were incurred,” stated Sawtooth. “So far there is no indication that the authorities are interrogating them.”
“That will change soon,” said Cleaver. “I have it on good authority that a priority will be placed on infiltrating the guild.” Sawtooth gave Cleaver a sharp glance but said nothing.
“Then we have to increase the screening and limit new members with a questionable background,” said Longspike.
“Consider it done,” said Ropeburn. “We will keep apprentices away from confirmed mages until they have proven themselves.”
“Very good,” said Longspike. “Is there anything else to report?”
“More wells have become contaminated,” said Ice Blade. “Several communities in the northern part of the realm have been affected.”
“Is there any progress being made in counteracting the poison?” asked Longspike.
Ice Blade shook his head. “No. Some of our mages are experimenting with black magic to see if anything may have been missed by our ordinary magic, but so far we have come up empty.”
“I still think the key lies with the humans’ magic,” put in Inferno. “The fact that the disease started within the Tower of Sorcery proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the human black mages unleashed this plague upon the world. They are the ones who should be held accountable for this gruesome act.”
There were murmurs of agreement among the others.
“Furthermore,” continued Inferno, “if we plan to do something about it, now is the time to act. The black mages are presently in a seriously weakened state.”
“I’ve taken that into consideration,” said Longspike. He spread his papers out on the table. “Here is the plan…”
* * * * *
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming,” lamented Rebecca. “I should have been more alert.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” said Vera consolingly. “We were all caught off guard.” She looked over at the cyclops, whose head was covered with a sack. His hands were bound behind his back via shackles attached to the wall. His head hung down, an indication that he was unconscious.
“I don’t even know where we are,” complained Rebecca.
“At least we’re together,” said Vera. She knew she didn’t sound very reassuring so she stopped talking. Instead, she recounted in her mind their swift capture.
Crossing under an overhang, they hadn’t been aware of their captors until they had been jumped from above by a number of lizardmen guards. A sack had been thrown over Cyril’s head just before he was knocked unconscious. Rebecca had gotten swarmed before she could draw a weapon. She had also been hampered by a slow spell. Meanwhile, Vera had been too surprised to cast a spell to help her friends. Her staff had been yanked from her hands and several spears had been aimed at her throat. From there, the ladies had their packs taken away and were led away from the area with bags over their heads, while some of their captors had the delightful task of carrying the unconscious cyclops on a stretcher.
They had walked for what seemed like hours, and Vera’s head swam with all the twists and turns they had made en route. But even had she kept track of where they were going, the magical portals they had passed through would be difficult, if not impossible to find without Kazin’s help.
They had finally been shoved into a cell, and Cyril had been tied up in an adjacent cell. The heavy iron doors had been slammed shut, and Vera and Rebecca were then free to remove the sacks. It had made little difference.
The cells were almost as dark as the sacks were. The only light came from a distant torch in the hallway outside the cells. It shone eerily through the grate in the cell door. Heavy iron bars separated the dwarf and cleric from Cyril’s cell. They were unable to aid him from where they were.
Vera discovered enough spell components in her pocket to be able to cast a spell for Cyril. Her staff would have made the spell stronger and more accurate, but it was not at her disposal this time, so she chanted the spell and waved her hand in Cyril’s general direction.
“Hopefully that takes care of his headache when he wakes up,” explained the cleric when the dwarf gave her a questioning glance.
Rebecca nodded.
“Do you need any healing?” asked Vera.
The dwarf shook her head. “I didn’t even have a chance to fight.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t undo the spell they cast on you in time,” said Vera sadly. “I wasn’t prepared.”
“None of us were,” said Rebecca flatly. “We walked right into that one. I should have been wearing my talisman. It tells me when magic is nearby.”
“Wouldn’t my staff interfere with it?” asked Vera.
Rebecca nodded. “Probably, but it would vibrate even more with more magic present. At least I could tell if we were getting close to another magic source.”
“I see,” said Vera. She felt for her pendant and discovered it was still around her neck. Somehow the lizardmen had failed to discover it. She sighed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t particularly useful right now.
A moan from the other cell alerted them that the cyclops was regaining consciousness.
“Cyril? Are you O.K.?” asked Vera anxiously.
“Vera?”
“I’m here,” said Vera. “I’m in an adjoining cell.”
Cyril yanked at his chains and winced. “I can’t move!”
“Don’t struggle,” said Vera. “Rebecca and I are O.K. We’re working on a way out of here.” She looked at the dwarf.
“Maybe we can jump them when they come to check on us,” said the dwarf. “They didn’t tie us up.”
“Maybe there’s a way out of these cells,” commented Vera. She got up and pushed on th
e cell door, making it rattle noisily.
“That’s dwarven workmanship,” said Rebecca. “It won’t be easy to break out.”
“How would lizardmen have access to dwarven iron?” asked Vera. “Could they have stolen it?”
“It looks pretty old,” said Rebecca. “I’d guess these cells predate the lizardmen. These cells probably belonged to the dwarves when they still resided in these mountains before the dragon wars.”
“So the lizardmen moved in when the dwarves moved out?” asked the cleric.
“Not right away,” said Rebecca. “A few decades probably passed before the lizardmen called this home. I’m sure it was occupied by goblins and orcs in the meantime.”
Vera shuddered. “I don’t know how you dwarves manage to live in the mountains with all these evil creatures running around.”
“In the outside world you have bears and boars and the like,” countered Rebecca. “And thieves and bandits are commonplace. What’s the difference?”
“I suppose,” said Vera.
“In many ways, the mountain is peaceful,” added Cyril in a muffled voice.
“I prefer the sun on my face and the breeze flitting through the green grass,” said Vera defiantly. “This darkness is too forbidding. Even this gold engraving the dwarves put in this cell door doesn’t shine as brilliantly as it would in the outside world.”
Rebecca was about to respond when her eyes, now accustomed to the faint light, spotted something familiar within the engraving that Vera had pointed out. She got up and went nearer to examine it more closely. It was an ancient dwarven emblem. She had seen this emblem before. Where? Then it occurred to her. It was the same as the one on the key that she had used to open her cell in the orc’s realm! The dwarf frantically felt in her pockets and a shiver went down her spine. It was still there! She had kept it!
Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy Page 24
