Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (33 page)

Krendal frowned. “It shouldn’t be. Let’s see it.”

Kazin pulled it out and held it in front of the orb. Krendal examined it for a moment and then harrumphed. “Just an ordinary staff. Strange. Very well, you may re sheath it.”

Kazin complied.

“Now it’s time for a new lesson,” continued Krendal. The arch mage sat forward so his face covered the entire surface of the orb. “Kazin, here is the anti-warding spell for the trunk. Listen carefully…”

Grakath smashed his fist on the table, knocking over the short stand containing his communication orb. The orb rolled to the end of the table and would have crashed to the floor if a skeletal hand had not stopped it.

“They’re using a magical code to prevent others from listening in!” growled the necromancer. “Very clever! I’ll have to decipher it later. What were you saying, Nimbar?”

“The sea forces are reporting success in their interception of enemy ships, and the land forces are gathering to make a thrust toward the Tower of Strength. The zombie forces are slower than expected, but are due to arrive on the scene within one month. We are still employing roving bands of orcs and goblins, with or without their permission. Graf reports success with the staves you supplied and says one staff is capable of handling as many as 100 fighters, regardless of race. Anything over that causes the staff to explode.”

“Very well,” said Grakath. “We can’t afford to damage any more staves. Leave the limit at 100. The only tests we will now perform are in battle.”

“Graf has been doing that already,” said Nimbar. “His battle against the Tower of Hope was designed not only to test the staves, but to get some literature on orbs in the hopes of improving the staves.”

“Is that so?” said Grakath unpleasantly. “He should have informed me of his plan first. Did his adventure go as planned? Did he get the books?”

“Yes, milord,” said Nimbar.

“Great,” said Grakath. “Have them sent to me. If anyone can improve the staves, my mages at the academy can. They’re more apt to come up with something than those lizardmen.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Nimbar.

“Are the forces in the south in place?”

“Nearly. They report a minimum of two weeks to deploy.”

“That gives us two weeks to find out what the Tower of the Sky is up to,” said Grakath. “I haven’t heard a peep out of them since they sent the first wave of reinforcements north. You don’t think they’re aware of our presence, do you?”

“Negative, milord.”

“Have some men positioned to intercept any pigeons heading north or east. They may be trying to communicate the old-fashioned way thinking we’d never suspect them of doing so,” said Grakath.

“Yes, Sir,” said Nimbar.

“What of the Guardian?” inquired Grakath.

“He has escaped once again,” said Nimbar. “His mage was too powerful for ours.”

“Too powerful? I gave that mage more power than he ever dreamed of and he failed? The fool! Along with power you need intellect. Power without thought is pointless. He was taught these things in the academy. Obviously he wasn’t paying attention. He has now paid with his life. Has my spy caught up with the Guardian yet?”

“Yes, Sir. He awaits instructions.”

“Good. We know the Guardian has a mage and a dwarf with him. We need to separate or isolate the mage to get a clear shot at the Guardian. The dwarf is of no consequence. When the time is right, the spy must strike! Have my spells and ring have been sent to him?”

“Yes, milord.”

Grakath smiled.

Part V

Truth in the Past

Chapter 29

S
ir Galado stroked his dark mustache and stared across the valley to view the army in its entirety. As far as the eye could see, wave upon wave of soldiers marched in tight formation toward their latest objective. The cavalry flanked these formations on both sides, winding their way around rocky outcrops and other obstructions.

On the right between the cavalry strode the foot soldiers of Sir Galado’s home nation, confident and uniform in their march.

On the left were the armies of barbarians, most of whom were thrust into the tide of battle with the fall of their own homelands at the hands of those they now served. They would not have served willingly if not for the dark cowled riders behind them. These riders were each equipped with a tall, gnarled staff topped with a bleached white skull. The eyes of the skulls glowed with an eerie red glow. With these staves, the mages controlled the barbarians’ thoughts and movements, making them willing servants, regardless of personal prejudice.

The bulk of the army marched in the center in ragged, sloppy formation, and consisted of hordes of skeletons and some zombies. They were supplied by the queen’s advisor, and were also regulated by cowled mages behind. These mages required no skull staves to regulate their army and operated their portion of the army similarly to Sir Galado’s own, barking orders and commands to subordinates.

Sir Galado recalled how this all started. For years, the monarchy had to face the dilemma of feeding the large population with the less than adequate supply of land available. The barbarian communities held the majority of the fertile land and traded with the monarchy for other wares. But recently the cost of food had risen to extremes and Grakath, the queen’s advisor, being impatient with the barbarians’ refusal to lower costs, put forth a proposal to eradicate the barbarians and seize the land for themselves. This met with major opposition by the nobles. But Grakath had the support of the queen, as usual, and suggested sending a small army to retake a minor settlement to the north of the monarchy’s domain, one that was in dispute after many years of debate.

The nobles reluctantly agreed and, with the queen’s permission, they set out at the end of the week. What they didn’t know was that Grakath had planned to use his legions of skeletons to do the dirty work.

When the settlement was secured, the nobles were pleasantly surprised by the outcome. The skeletons charged into the heart of the settlement and the defenders quickly lost heart and surrendered.

Grakath immediately called another session in the council and demanded to continue his assault against other outlying barbarian settlements before they had a chance to unite against them. The nobles would have agreed immediately but Grakath told them he needed to use the monarchy’s soldiers to enhance his undead army in order to succeed. His skeletons were not enough.

This met with opposition again until the advisor warned them that they had to proceed since the barbarians would soon hear about the fall of one of their settlements. In retaliation they could refuse to sell any more food to the monarchy. They couldn’t stand by and allow that to that happen, could they?

So in the end a majority of the nobles agreed and a state of war was declared.

Sir Galado shook his head. He never thought it would have come to this. Despite his objections, the present set up had worked quite well. With the undead taking the brunt of the damage, his own forces had received relatively few casualties thus far. It took little convincing for Grakath to get the remainder of the nobles to agree to this continued expansion.

Recently something happened that only Sir Galado seemed to notice. After each victory, the number of skeletons and zombies increased. Many fell in battles, yet their numbers still grew. They were now almost as numerous as the army he himself controlled. There always seemed to be enough mages to handle those hordes as well. Where all these troops came from he had no idea. Perhaps the new mage academies endorsed by Grakath were churning out more recruits. He could only guess.

Sir Galado never liked Grakath, but then nobody did except the queen. Sir Galado smiled. Ah, the queen! How beautiful she always looked! But much had changed in the past few decades.

Sir Galado thought back to that time, before everything turned to chaos. It started while he was out on an errand for the queen’s brother. He had received word that the queen was ill. He returned to the castle at once, as concerned as any of the home guard of which he was a member at the time. When he arrived, the castle was in total disarray. Servants were scurrying about haphazardly and the home guards on duty that night were trying to establish order. By their worried and drawn expressions, it was evident that something was amiss. Without stopping to ask questions, he ran for the queen’s chamber. The queen’s brother, William, met him en route in a hallway and brought him to a halt.

“The queen—,” began Sir Galado.

“She’s alive and resting,” answered William. He was a hulking man, his stature similar to the barbarians in the surrounding lands. It was said his family had barbarian blood in their ancestry. William had short cut brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Then why—?” began Sir Galado.

“Follow me,” answered the big man. He led the way down the hall and they entered a small side chamber. It was the children’s room. It was in total disarray. The sheets on the small bed and in the crib were thrown aside, and drawers were pulled out of the dressers with the contents dumped on the floor in a loose pile.

Sir Galado’s jaw dropped. “What—?”

“The children have been kidnapped,” muttered William darkly.

Sir Galado gaped in astonishment.

“I’ve gained information which indicates the kidnappers have probably headed south. I’m going after them immediately.”

“Let me go instead,” said Sir Galado. “You’re obligated to stay with the queen.”

William shook his head. “Not in this instance. I can’t just stand by and wait. You know me. I’m a man of action.”

“Then take me with you,” growled Sir Galado. He was just as upset as William.

The queen’s brother shook his head. “With me gone, you’re in charge of the home guard until I return. The queen’s safety is of paramount importance.”

Sir Galado set his jaw. “You could use my tracking skill.”

William put his enormous hand on Sir Galado’s shoulder. “No, Wilf. Your position is by the queen’s side. This is something I must do personally, and that’s final. If it will make you feel better, I’ll take some of the home guard with me.”

“Very well,” said Sir Galado reluctantly.

Wilfred Galado sighed. That was the last time he had seen the big man alive. After a week had passed and there was still no sign of William or the children, Sir Galado organized a search party and went south to see if he could track either of them down. It didn’t take long to discover that the queen’s brother had entered the forbidden Black Forest and never returned.

Sir Galado bravely entered the forest and before the day was out found a small clearing where a battle had taken place. After a thorough search, he found the remains of William and his party, as well as some of the kidnappers.

A path led away from the area of the fight and, after following it for a few minutes, Sir Galado discovered a cloaked mage lying against a tree. He was dead, his robe tattered and bloody. In his right hand he held a stuffed animal. There was no sign of the queen’s children. An extensive search revealed nothing further.

They pulled William’s body from under a pile of dead enemies and bore him on a stretcher to be taken back to the castle for burial. Upon exiting the woods, Sir Galado discovered that two of his men were missing. It was growing dark and to re-enter the forest at that point would have been foolish. The woods were forbidden for a reason. Those two men were as good as dead, if not already so. He couldn’t risk losing more men to find them.

Sir Galado sighed again. Things went rapidly downhill from there. The queen, when she was up and about once again, seemed almost withdrawn. Everyone attributed it to the loss of her two children; that and the fact that her husband had died in a hunting accident almost six months earlier. Sir Galado sensed something else, however, and when the queen announced her plans to marry her advisor the following year, he knew there was more to it than met the eye.

Speaking of eyes, thought Sir Galado, the queen’s eyes were never the same. She was still very beautiful and, although they were around the same age, Sir Galado could have easily passed for her father. But the eyes! What was wrong with them? He brushed his long black mustache thoughtfully.

“Sir?”

Sir Galado turned, startled.

“Sir, the wolf riders have been spotted in the south east. We will rendezvous with them in an hour and then make camp.”

Sir Galado nodded to his lieutenant. “Very well, Slader. Spread the cavalry to make room for them on the left flank.”

“Yes, sir,” said Slader. He rode off to give the order.

Sir Galado wondered about the wolf riders. How had Grakath convinced them to join the army? He didn’t know. Goblins were known to be disruptive, so he positioned them on the left flank, consolidating his own forces on the right. He wanted his forces organized, and if the unpredictable advisor wanted goblins to fight for him, he could have them on his side of the battlefield.

The sun was beginning to set in the west as Sir Galado turned his horse back to the valley. The lower sections of the valley were already cloaked in twilight and the eyes on the skull-staves glittered eerily as the mages rode behind their charges.

Sir Galado wondered idly how the next barbarian settlement would react to the sheer numbers of the force sent against them. He already knew what the outcome would be and felt sorry for his adversaries. But he was unable to set things right. He was bound by the queen’s orders and she was bound by her advisor. There was no one else to turn to for support.

Chapter 30

K
azin exited the black mage dormitories and stretched in the warm morning sunlight. It was already summer and the air was mild and refreshing. He looked around the courtyard of the Tower of Hope and noticed for the first time the beauty of the entire landscape. Gone were the remains of the dead, the gouges in the earth, and the piles of charred mortar and stone. Replacing the destruction of several days ago was a healthy, almost serene backdrop. Aisles of neatly arranged flowers in various hues bordered the walkways, their pungent aroma hanging in the air. Clerics milled about in their herb gardens, strolling the walkways in a leisurely fashion. Many smiled pleasantly as they passed Kazin on their way to or from various places within the courtyard. It was strange to think that there was a battle not too long ago and that these peaceful people were using their magic to drive off their enemies. But Kazin knew the power clerics wielded. They were formidable opponents on the battlefield.