Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (15 page)

Frosty shook his head. “My magic isn’t as powerful when I’m inside the mountains. I’ll be more useful to you out here.”

Kazin was stunned. It wasn’t like his familiar to back out of a dangerous situation. “I don’t understand.”

“Kazin, there is something you should know,” said the unicorn sadly.

Kazin became alarmed. “What is it, Frosty?”

There was an uncomfortable pause before Frosty spoke. “My power is linked to the elementals. If they have been enslaved by the lizardmen, they will do whatever the lizardmen say. As they weaken, so will I. If they weaken too much, the magic that keeps me in this world will fail and I will be no more.”

“No!” cried Kazin anxiously. “We can’t let that happen!”

“For you to succeed,” continued Frosty, “I must stay away from the mountains. I can still draw my energy from what is presently available in the world. That will last for some time. But eventually that energy will become depleted the longer the elementals are imprisoned and controlled. You will see the evidence of that in the weather and in geographical conditions. If I were to go too deep into the mountains, my source of energy would be blocked out and I would only be a hindrance to you. You must go without me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help you.”

Kazin clenched his dragon teeth. Things were not going well at all. Now things were getting personal. He flew in silence for a while and thought about the situation carefully. Then he remembered something.

“Frosty, I have a task for you. I don’t know if it will help too much, but it’s important.”

“Go ahead,” said Frosty.

“I need you to gather some herbs from the Tower of Hope and bring them to the Tower of the Moon. Then I need you to take some more herbs to the royal palace in Priscilla, north of the Old Dwarven Mountains. Maybe the clerics and druids there can combine the herbs you bring with their magic to create an antidote for the plague that’s affecting the people at the Tower of Hope and the mages in the Tower of Sorcery.”

“No problem,” said Frosty. “Consider it done.”

“Maybe you should bring a patient from the Tower of the Moon with you so the serum can be tested as well.”

“Sure,” said Frosty. He started to turn back.

“Wait!” said Kazin suddenly.

Frosty looked at him questioningly.

“Do you even know how to find the Tower of the Moon?”

Frosty laughed. “Of course!” He turned and flew off in the opposite direction.

“I should have known” muttered Kazin.

Time was not an issue for Kazin, and by morning he neared the Old Dwarven Mountains. A storm was brewing directly over the mountains and thunder rumbled ominously in the form of a thick black cloud. Lightning surged haphazardly in all directions from the cloud, bathing the mountains in a dazzling display of blue and white light. Kazin needed no urging to find the nearest cavern entrance. Despite his speed, the dragon could not outrun the torrents of rain that burst from the clouds like a massive waterfall. He finally reached a cave entrance and transformed back into his human form before lunging into the safety of the cavern. The mage shook the raindrops from his cape and glanced out of the entrance. The rain was so hard that even the light could not penetrate the cavern. It was daytime, but one would never know it from where Kazin stood. He chanted a spell to light his staff and turned to face the passageway. It would be easy to become lost in these mountains. In the past he had guides to lead him through the maze of passageways. This time he was alone. Truly alone.

* * * * *

The river was almost deafening as it rushed through the cavern. The over-spray of water was cold but refreshing as the dwarf and elf trudged along its shoreline. Rebecca paused to fill her wineskin with water by a small spring that trickled from a cleft in the rock. The spring’s water ran across their path in small rivulets to join the torrential river as it wended its way out of sight in the darkness. Alric joined the dwarf and opened his wineskin.

“The water in this spring is very cold,” remarked Rebecca, moving aside so the elf could fill his wineskin in turn.

“That means it’s fresh,” said the elf. He eagerly took a few big gulps of the fresh water. “Ahh, that’s good,” he said, refilling his wineskin a second time.

While he was thus occupied, Rebecca reorganized the contents of her pack. The talisman’s vibrating was becoming annoying due to the fact that Alric had magical items in his possession, so it was moved to the bottom out of the way. The dagger was repositioned in the side pouch for easier access.

Satisfied, they moved on. The footing along here was slick at times and both of them slipped and stumbled along as best they could. Finally they encountered a tunnel on their left that led up from the water’s edge.

Rebecca hesitated. “Should we investigate?” She nodded in the direction of the tunnel.

Alric stopped to examine the ground. He appeared to be peering at something.

“What is it?” asked Rebecca.

Alric picked up an object and held it closer to Rebecca’s torch light. He rotated it in his fingers. “It appears to be the tip of a claw. The slender shape is consistent with the claw of a lizardman.”

Rebecca became excited. “Really? Then maybe this tunnel leads to a lizardman lair!”

Alric shrugged and cast the claw aside. “It’s possible. I guess we’d better check it out.”

Rebecca smiled and led the way, making sure to hide her grin. The elf had said ‘we’. That meant that he no longer objected to her presence. Either that, or he knew she would come along anyway and there was no point arguing about it.

A good half hour of exploring revealed nothing and they were about to turn back, when Alric stopped suddenly and raised his hand. Rebecca, who had chosen to let Alric take point a little way back, almost ran into him.

“Wha-?” Rebecca started to speak out but Alric shook his hand furiously for silence.

“Shhh!” he whispered. “I heard something.”

Rebecca strained her ears. After a moment, she heard a distant shuffling noise ahead of them.

“Someone’s coming!” whispered Alric. He looked back at Rebecca. “Let’s go back to that last intersection. We might be able to avoid a confrontation.”

Rebecca nodded and turned to lead the way back. They rounded one bend in the tunnel, but that proved to be futile. Coming toward them was a group of orcs.

Alric swore and looked behind them. The shuffling noise they had heard earlier was almost upon them and the tunnel began to flicker with the reflection of torchlight. “We’ll have to make a stand here,” grumbled the elf. He pulled his dagger from his robe pocket.

Rebecca drew her axe and looked at Alric’s dagger. “Is that all you -?” she began. Her words trailed off as Alric chanted a spell. With a small flash of light, his dagger grew into a long sword. Rebecca’s eyes widened. “That’s a clever trick!”

“It’s magic,” said Alric.

Rebecca knew it was. She could feel her talisman vibrating right through her pack.

Alric positioned himself with his back to the dwarf and braced himself to face the creatures making the shuffling noise. He could see them now and immediately recognized them as orcs. The shuffling noise was made by an injured orc that was dragging its leg.

Rebecca was already facing her opponents as well. They had slowed and were approaching the duo cautiously. They were looking at Rebecca’s waist and licked their lips anxiously.

“Water!” murmured one orc, trying to edge past his friends. He was somewhat smaller than the others and they roughly pushed him back behind them. “Hey!” he cried, obviously disappointed.

“You’ll get your share,” growled the orc with the torch.

Rebecca threw down her torch and it went out. With the axe in one hand and her other hand now free, she withdrew her magical dagger.

The orcs slowed but continued to advance.

Alric’s opponents weren’t as cautious. They drooled and pointed at him, shambling forward eagerly.

The two groups of orcs struck at roughly the same time. Alric grunted as he withstood a vicious blow from an orc’s club, his sword biting into the rough wood. With a powerful thrust, he threw the orc back into his friends, freeing his sword at the same time.

Behind him, an orc swung his club at the dwarf’s head. Instinctively, Rebecca ducked the blow, realizing almost too late that she was not protecting the taller elf at her back. Not a second too soon, she thrust her axe upward against the club with such vehemence that the club was redirected hard against the tunnel ceiling. The vibration of the club, along with the unorthodox battle tactic, caused the orc to drop his weapon. Another club came in low to Rebecca’s right and she only had time to twist her dagger hand. The club struck the tip of the knife and a small flash occurred. Any life within the club was burned out of it and the remainder crumbled in the orc’s hand.

The orcs facing Rebecca stumbled back into their buddies looking confused and helpless without their weapons.

Meanwhile, Alric had already slain two orcs with some straight thrusts and had a moment’s respite to glance behind him.

“How’s it goin’?” he asked.

“Everything’s under control,” answered Rebecca.

The sound of steel against steel told her that the battle behind her had commenced. Seizing the moment, Rebecca lunged at the orcs and swung her axe deep into one’s shoulder while her dagger found the abdomen of the other. The now familiar flash of light signaled the death of one orc. A scream was its final act as it dropped to the floor. The other one winced as green blood oozed from its severed limb. It wobbled uncertainly before sagging to the floor, unconscious. The orcs behind them were preparing to step in to do battle, but the bright flash had impaired their vision. One stumbled over its dead companion and fell flat on its face. Rebecca chopped its head off with a single one-armed blow from her axe and stepped back to brace for the next assault.

Alric sliced the head off of the orc armed with a sword, his agility giving him the edge in that battle. Unfortunately, this gave another orc an opening. It struck Alric in the leg with its club and the elf went down with a yelp. Fortunately for Alric, he was already moving in the same direction as the blow so it didn’t do any serious damage. Nimbly rolling to his feet, the elf made a couple of quick moves with his sword and dispatched the offender before it could cause any more harm.

Rebecca was now facing a terrifying orc armed with a meat cleaver. The orc was the largest and ugliest she had encountered thus far. With a vicious downward thrust, the orc tried to chop the dwarf like a log being prepared for kindling. Rebecca tried to block the attack with her axe but could not hinder the heavy blow. Falling to her back, she rolled out of the way as the weapons clashed to the floor beside her head. Letting go of her axe, she rolled up to the orc and stabbed it in the leg with her dagger. The orc was already off balance, and the searing pain in its leg was enough to fell the giant. In the blinding flash, Rebecca rolled out of the way, while Alric turned back to stab the creature as it fell.

When Alric saw that Rebecca was O.K., he turned to find that his remaining adversary was fleeing. It was the limping orc. Wasting no time, he sprinted after it and finished it off with a couple of quick stabs.

Rebecca rolled to her feet and faced her last opponent. It was the small orc. Somehow it had ended up with the torch. It trembled as it faced the fierce looking dwarf. Sizing up the situation properly, its voice quavered in some unknown gibberish as it dropped the torch, turned, and fled back the way it had come.

Rebecca was out of breath and knew it was pointless to try to follow. She turned and saw the elf approaching with a slight limp. His form looked somewhat eerie in the flickering light of the torch the orc had dropped.

“My side is secured,” said the elf.

Rebecca nodded. “My way is clear. Only one got away.”

The elf sat down and winced, rubbing his bruised leg. “I think we should rest for a few minutes.”

“What happened?” asked Rebecca, indicating Alric’s leg.

Alric told her, and when she offered to examine it he waved her off. “It’s nothing.”

Rebecca sighed but knew better than to argue. She stood up and made sure the unconscious orc was dead. Then she checked the bodies for anything useful but found nothing of interest.

“They wanted something,” mused Alric as the dwarf returned to his location.

“They mentioned water,” said Rebecca. “They seemed to be looking at my wineskin too.”

“Maybe they thought you had dwarven ale,” suggested Alric.

“That’s ridiculous,” retorted Rebecca. “I don’t carry that kind of thing on a journey.”

“Orcs like dwarven ale,” stated Alric. “You’re a dwarf.”

“True,” admitted Rebecca finally. “But they did mention water.”

“That’s what boggles me,” said Alric. “Why would they kill for water?”

Rebecca shrugged. “If water was hard to come by, why don’t they go to the river and obtain it there?”

“Maybe it’s not drinkable,” suggested the elf.

“But we filled our wineskins with it and even drank some of it!” said the dwarf. “It seemed like good water to me.”

Alric shook his head. “We filled our skins with water from the spring that ran into the river. We didn’t use the river’s water. I thought I smelled a strange odour from the river. Maybe it isn’t drinkable.”

Rebecca had also noticed the strange odour. The elf could be right. “I guess we’d better ration our water from here on in. It could mean the difference between life and death.”

“Agreed,” said the elf. He rose to his feet. “Ready to go?”

The dwarf hopped to her feet and picked up their extinguished torch. She took it over to the still burning torch from the orcs and relit hers. Then she stomped out the orc’s torch and kicked it aside. “Let’s go.”

As they left the battlefield behind, the elf commented, “You fought well.”

Rebecca was surprised at the elf’s comment but did not show it. “Thanks. You’re pretty good with that sword.” She noticed at that instant that the elf had already returned his sword into dagger form.

The elf did not respond and Rebecca respected his silence. She knew now that Alric had accepted her presence and she was not about to jeopardize that with pointless babble.