Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (49 page)

Rubin laughed. “Then ye’ll have more help than ye know.”

“My army can also help,” said Sherman. “All we need is food and shelter. Our own supplies are low since we didn’t have much time to prepare.” He looked at Kazin as though it were his fault.

Malachi clapped his hands together. “That’s wonderful! You are a true hero indeed!”

“I’ll do what I can too,” said Kazin. “I have nothing better to do.”

At this Malachi held up a hand. “Not so fast, Kazin. One reason I took a break was to receive a message from the Tower of Sorcery. It seems there was another break in. The tower has some intruders.”

Alric, who had been lurking in the background, snapped to attention.

Kazin gasped. “Who?”

Malachi shook his head. “I don’t know. The mage who contacted me had to break the connection rather suddenly. I think you’d better go there and find out what’s happening. The quarantine has been lifted now that there’s a cure available.”

Kazin nodded grimly. “I’ll leave right away!”

“I’m coming too,” said Alric before Kazin’s sentence was even finished.

The mage turned to the elf. “You’ve done enough, Alric. You -.”

“I’m going,” stated Alric resolutely.

Kazin could see there was no arguing with the elf.

Rebecca watched the exchange with curiosity. Not wanting to be outdone by an elf, she said, “Me too.” There was no way an elf was going to have more honour than a dwarf.

Kazin looked helplessly at the dwarf. He was about to respond when he made eye contact with his wife. If looks could kill, he would be dead a hundred times over.

“Don’t even think about leaving me behind this time!” she said venomously.

“I should go too,” put in Vera. She looked pleadingly at the high cleric. “No one has gone to heal the mages. They are still dying, and -.”

“Yes, yes,” said Malachi gently. “You made your point. Go with him. You can train the clerics there to perform the cure spell.”

Vera hugged the high cleric. “Thank you, Malachi!”

“Then I’m going too,” said Cyril.

Vera turned to the cyclops. “But the gardens -!”

“The gardens can wait,” said Cyril. “Besides, you are my friend. You may be headed into danger. You didn’t abandon me when I went into a dangerous place, and I won’t abandon you, either.”

Vera hugged the cyclops. “Oh, Cyril!”

Kazin looked at Sherman. The big warrior let out a huge breath. “Me and my big mouth.”

Kazin grinned. “Don’t worry, Sherm. Malachi needs you right now. Your spell casters and soldiers can rebuild things faster than the mightiest of men.”

“I guess,” muttered the big man. He did not seem happy about being left out.

“You can help us load supplies,” said Kazin. “We’ll need plenty of faelora and dwarven ale.”

Sherman brightened. “Right!” Then he lowered his eyebrows. “Dwarven ale?”

Kazin laughed. “You can let Malachi explain that one to you.” He turned to Tyris. “What about you, Tyris?”

“It’s time we had a talk,” said Tyris. He looked around at the others. “Alone, if you don’t mind.”

Kazin and Tyris left the others and the elemental informed the mage that it was time for him to return to his other plane of existence. “Before I go,” said the elemental, “I would like to offer you something no human black mage has ever had.”

“You mean the enchantment on my staff?” asked Kazin.

“That too,” said Tyris, “but I’m talking about something else right now.”

Kazin stopped and looked at the elemental’s coal black eyes.

“Kazin, I want to give you the ability to summon me.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” asked Kazin. “Look what happened when all the elementals were gathered together in a war!”

“That’s one of the reasons I want you to have that ability,” said Tyris. “If you can summon me, it will prevent others from summoning all the elementals for themselves. It will even out the playing field in your realm a little more.”

“But why me?” asked Kazin.

“You’re just in your actions, Kazin,” said Tyris. “I trust you to do what is right. I can’t trust anyone else that I know of. You’re my only candidate.”

Kazin sighed. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is,” said Tyris. “Now listen closely -.” The fire elemental whispered into Kazin’s ear.

“That’s it?” asked Kazin when the elemental had finished.

“Yes,” said Tyris. “Memorize it well and tell no one about it. You won’t use it often, but you mustn’t forget.”

“I won’t,” said Kazin.

“Good,” said Tyris. “Now for the next thing. Once I enchant your staff, the spell will be complete. You will have the power of all four elementals at your disposal. The spell you will wield is called ‘lifeforce’. The words to the spell will come to your mind when you need it. It is potent enough to defeat any foe, yet powerful enough to raise the dead. It can only be used sparingly. If you use it for killing, you must wait a full month before using it again. If you use it for bringing someone back to life, you must wait for a full year before using it again. If you do not wait the allotted time, the spell will fail and the enchantment will be gone forever. Note one thing - if the being you are bringing back to life has been dead for more than three days, you cannot bring them back to life. Their spirit has departed and the body is no longer able to be revived.”

“That’s a lethal magic,” said Kazin uncertainly. “I don’t know if I’m ready for it.”

“You won’t need it for many years,” said Tyris, “but use it you will.”

“How do you know?” asked Kazin.

Tyris merely smiled. “I can’t tell you. Just take my word for it.”

Kazin took a deep breath. “O.K. Let’s get on with it.”

Tyris turned to the others who were watching. “I have had a wonderful time with you all. My time here is finished, so I must go now. Take care in your journey wherever it takes you.” He waved.

The others waved back.

Tyris turned back to Kazin. “Incidentally, Kazin, I may not appear the same when next you see me.”

Kazin gave Tyris a quizzical glance.

The fire elemental touched his hand to Kazin’s staff to perform the enchantment. Then his whole body was sucked into the staff and the elemental was gone.

Kazin looked at his staff and waited for something special to happen. When nothing transpired, he walked back to the others. “Let’s get ready to go.”

“It’s about time,” muttered Alric. He led the way to the supplies building.

Sherman gave Kazin a questioning glance. “What’s got into him?”

“I have a feeling I’ll find out fairly soon,” said Kazin slowly.

Chapter 35

I
t was early in the afternoon when the dragon circled the square to search for a suitable landing spot. The journey had gone much more quickly because Mara had offered the services of the grey mages to cast a ‘haste’ spell on the dragon and his passengers. Kazin had gratefully accepted the offer, and had flown away from the Tower of Hope with incredible speed.

Now Kazin landed amidst a handful of concerned-looking people. The dragon allowed his passengers get off with all the gear before turning back into human form. While the others shouldered the packs of gear, the island residents quickly informed the arch mage of the dead island sentries and how no one had left the tower since the previous day. Two of the shop keepers reported seeing an unusually large number of mages entering the tower sometime after midnight.

Kazin thanked them and led the others to the tunnel entrance. Here he sheathed his staff in his specially designed holster and turned to face them. “Only spell casters can enter the tower. Non magic wielders will simply not be able to penetrate the opening. Spell casters not authorized to enter the tower will get past the opening, but will be magically transported to the detainment cells where they will be interrogated.” He looked at each of them. “With special magic, I can take three of you with me. Alric, you and Vera can cast spells, so you will have to go through on your own. As soon as I enter the tower with the others, we’ll go down to the cells to free you. Alright?”

Everyone nodded.

Kazin cast the spell and took Rebecca and Della by the hand. Cyril held Rebecca’s hand. Then they stepped through the magical barrier and disappeared from sight. Alric and Vera looked at each other and then followed.

Once within the tower’s entry hall, Kazin let go of the others and led them to the right into a tunnel that wound down under the entry hall. Another turn to the left guided them to a hallway with steps that went down to the detainment cells. When they entered the cell room hallway where cells lined both sides, they stopped abruptly. A ringing noise was sounding from the end of the hallway signaling the intruder alarm. Kazin was surprised no one had turned it off. The reason for this became apparent when they saw two mages on the floor ahead of them. Kazin hurried up to the first one and rolled him over. The mage was dead.

“She’s dead,” said Rebecca, examining the other body. “Some time ago, I’d guess.”

“Vera!” called Cyril anxiously.

“I’m here!” said Vera from further down the hallway.

Kazin grabbed the keys from the dead mage and he and the others hurried to the cell where Vera was trapped. They released her and found Alric directly across the hall from her. When he was released, Kazin went to the room at the end of the hall and canceled the alarm. Something was amiss. If the guards were overcome, someone would surely have come along by now and turned off the alarm. The rest of the tower would have been alerted and the bodies would have been removed.

“I don’t like it,” said Kazin grimly. “Something is seriously wrong.”

“Then let’s investigate,” said Alric. “Ughh!” He paused to wipe some rat droppings off his shoe.

“Follow me,” said Kazin. He led the others back up to the main hall and chose the left path. At the end of that path, they arrived at another intersection. They went right and passed several classrooms. These rooms were eerily empty.

“Where is everybody?” asked Della. Her voice echoed in the emptiness.

“I’m guessing most of the sick mages are in the residences,” said Kazin. But he was proven wrong when they reached the next classroom. Cots lined the floor from wall to wall. Dozens of patients lay in those cots, and a handful of clerics moved between the beds, making their patients as comfortable as possible. They looked up with surprised expressions when Kazin and the others entered.

One cleric came up to Kazin. “Have they been stopped?”

“Has who been stopped?” asked Kazin.

“The intruders,” said the cleric as though Kazin should know what she was talking about.

“I don’t know,” said Kazin. “We just got here.”

The cleric gasped when she saw the cyclops. “Don’t hurt us!”

Cyril looked away so the cleric wouldn’t accidentally become paralyzed.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” said Vera, stepping forward. “We have the cure for the disease.”

“The cure?” said the cleric suspiciously. She took a step back.

“It’s true,” said Vera. She unshouldered her pack. “We must work quickly to save all the people we can. Which of your patients are the sickest?”

The cleric seemed to be coming around. She pointed. “In the corner.”

As Vera headed for the spot, Kazin asked, “Which way did the intruders go?”

“They were looking for the arch mages,” said the cleric. “There were at least thirty of them.”

“Do you know who they were?” asked Della.

The cleric shook her head. “They were dressed in dark green robes. Their faces were hidden.”

At this Alric looked uneasy.

“Which way did they go?” asked Kazin.

“I sent them to the inner chambers,” said the cleric. “I don’t know if they succeeded in accessing that part of the tower, but ever since they came by, no one else has come along until you arrived.”

A chill ran up Kazin’s spine. If the intruders made it to the inner chambers, they could potentially access the magic artifact stores. That could be devastating. There was no time to lose.

“Vera,” called Kazin.

Vera was in the corner preparing to heal one of the patients. “Yes?”

“Can you teach these clerics the spell quickly? We have to move on and I need you with me.”

“O.K.” said the cleric. She readied the dwarven ale and faelora and called the other clerics to observe. Then she chanted her magic and healed the first mage. To the amazement of the clerics, the mage awakened from his coma and sat up groggily.

Then Vera let another cleric try the spell. She coached the cleric through the spell and the next mage was healed. After that, Vera was able to let the clerics continue healing on their own. Vera left most of the spell components with them and instructed one of the clerics to take some of the components and pass the spell on to the other clerics within the tower. The more clerics who learned to cure the disease, the better. Then she left with Kazin and the others.

Kazin took a short cut through the tower by cutting across the cafeteria. Alric instantly recognized the room. He shuddered at the thought that he was again within a stone’s throw of the spark that had set all these events in motion. The spark that he himself had ignited. He set his jaw. He was determined to make that right again, now more than ever. He wasn’t sure he would find the elusive lizardmage, but he was puzzled by the description the cleric gave of the intruders. They wore dark green robes. Were the intruders dark elves? If so, that would explain why they were looking for information pertaining to the human’s black magic. Alric ground his teeth. He had supplied some of that information too. Was he being used by the Dark Magic Society? He hated being used. He preferred to be in control. The evil lizardmage wore a dark green robe. Was there a conspiracy within the dark magic society? Was the Dark Magic Society being manipulated by the lizardmen? Were they in cahoots with lizardmen? It hardly seemed possible. Alric vowed to get to the bottom of it.

As the group passed the entrance to the kitchen, a fat cook sprang out at them with a frying pan in one hand and a cleaver in the other. He yelled like a crazed lunatic, swinging his arms in a threatening manner. At the last moment, he recognized Kazin’s robe and stopped himself before any damage was done. “Uh - oh - sorry,” he said bashfully. “I thought you might be the creature coming back to cause trouble in my kitchen.”