The Tomes Of Magic (18 page)

“This is a fine mess,” Thanos said as he wiped off his robe.

“We need this room for meetings, you can’t leave it like this,” Cassandra said as she stood up.

“I will fix it as soon as I make sure that our friend has cooled off.”

Cassandra was about to say something when Leoth put a hand on her shoulder. She knew what it meant and nodded.
The last thing we need is two enraged magicians
, she thought as she took her seat. Talia and Leoth sat down on either side of her. All three of them sat in silence, presumably trying to grasp what they had just seen. It had been the first time that Thanos and Septimus had openly fought. The fact that they had not fought before was something of a surprise to all three of them. Septimus’ abrasive and obsessive behavior was vastly different from Thanos’ much more calm approach to things. Nobody dared to say it, but they all noticed the Warlock’s volatility rising. Seeing Thanos put him in his place was something of a relief for all three of them. The Archwizard returned and used his magic to replace the stones on the floor before turning to address all three of them.

“I haven’t much time. The Warlords have come seeking a treaty of some kind, so I will make this as short as possible. I think it would be best if Septimus and I go on ahead without the army. There is one thing I would request of you, though,” he said.

“You may travel ahead of us. What is it that you request?” Leoth asked.

“As a part of whatever deal you offer them, ensure that the Tome of Air falls into our hands,”

“That can be arranged.”

“Would it be too much to ask if I can come with you?” Talia asked.

“No, not at all. You are free to come or stay. The choice is yours,” Thanos said before turning to leave.

Talia rose and followed him, letting the Warlords in as she came to the door. Leoth sat tall in his seat, doing his best to appear intimidating. Cassandra smiled at him before glaring at the Warlords as they took their seats. She was proud of how willing her husband was to take on a completely different role. His new role was completely foreign to him, even if she did know a lot about it. The two Warlords squirmed in their seats as they waited for one of the two to address them. Leoth grinned as he called for one of the servants to bring forth drinks for all four of them. Offering their adversaries a drink had two purposes. The old ways dictated that sharing a drink with an enemy was a sign that you acknowledged their honor. At the same time, accepting a drink from the Emperor was a sign that they acknowledged being his guests.

“Gentlemen, you have been invited here to offer your surrender to Emperor Leoth. In doing so, you will both be rewarded and brought into our Empire. The Valorian Isles are far too small for our peoples. We can discuss our expansion plans as we figure out the terms of this surrender,” Cassandra said.

“I am willing to discuss the terms of the surrender of my people. We heard what happened when you invaded Jarok’s land, that is not a fate we wish to share,” one of the Warlords replied.

Argos pulled his wings in and went into a dive toward the ground. A Holy Order patrol was stopped near the southern end of the Telmac Valley. Though not a direct threat, the order still needed to be faced at some point in the future. They shared a common enemy, but that would not be enough for the Grand Cleric or the Grand Crusader to pursue an alliance. It was strange enough that they had chosen to assist the Barbarians, but Paul knew of no time in history when the order looked favorably on the Wizards. He even wondered if they knew that not all the Wizards were aligned with the dragons. None of that mattered at the moment. The Wizard and his dragon had a chance to strike a blow at the Holy Order and would be foolish not to take it. Paul pulled his sword as Argos slowed the dive with his wings.

Several of the Holy Order soldiers began running when they saw the winged beast.
That’s right,
Paul thought,
run away.
He laughed as he looked at the scattering warriors. Argos let out a massive blast of lightning as they closed within range. His massive tail whipped around and lashed at the group of soldiers as he landed near them. Paul jumped off the dragon’s back and into the midst of the enemy. Flames ignited around his sword as he swung at his disoriented foes. He batted away two blows and followed up with a sweeping strike that took down three soldiers. Argos caught up several of his opponents in his claws and tossed them into the air. Paul leaped into the air as the dragon’s tail came around for another pass. He landed and shot fire out of his free hand, engulfing three charging soldiers. The dragon roared and his Wizard companion quickly climbed aboard. They took off into the air and unleashed a storm of fire and lightning at the surviving Holy Order members.

“That should teach them to think twice before dealing with us,” Paul said as he watched a small fraction of the original group retreat to the north.

“Yes, but we seem to have more pressing matters to attend to,” Argos replied.

What is it?
Paul asked, using his mind so that the high winds didn’t drown out his words.

Your eyes are not in tune enough to see, but there is a dragon to the north. It appears to be engaging the Holy Order’s new fortress
, Argos replied.

Let us join the battle!

The dragon replied with a burst of speed toward the battle. Paul hoped that it was James that they were flying to assist, but he knew better than to assume it. Argos only mentioned a dragon, not a rider as well. They would find out soon enough. The Wizard wondered why a single dragon would attack the Holy Order so boldly, but no answers came to his mind. He asked Argos, but the dragon didn’t care to speculate. It was one of the stranger traits of dragons. They held a vast array of knowledge, but rarely discussed it with other races. There was no doubt in Paul’s mind that it came from their lengthy exile, but it bothered him nonetheless. His mindmeld with Argos allowed him to access the dragon’s knowledge, but all their conversation on it had to be started by the Wizard. Paul pushed aside his distracting thoughts and focused on the small figure of the dragon ahead of them. It flew about bombarding the fortress with swaths of fire as it darted to and fro.

Paul tightened his grip as Argos shifted into another dive. The dragon kept up a steady pace as they plummeted toward the ground. He whipped out his wings just in time to ensure that they did not crash. Several flaps of the wings had them near striking distance with the castle. They were close enough to recognize that it was James that was attacking the Holy Order. Paul also noticed a band of people further to the north. They appeared to be skirting well out of range of the enemy fortifications while James provided a distraction.
They won’t have seen this coming
, Paul thought as Argos closed in on the fortress wall. Dragon and rider both unleashed a flurry of lightning at the soldiers atop the wall. A cry rose through the enemy ranks as archers abandoned their spots atop the wall. Hanoth swooped down and took out a large chunk of the wall, flinging it into the buildings within. Argos, not wanting to be outdone, took down the top of one of the Holy Order’s cathedrals. Massive stones rained down from above as the dragons continued their deadly game of one-upmanship.

“Whoa, Argos. Easy, we don’t want to needlessly endanger ourselves,” Paul yelled as the dragon made a beeline for the keep.

“It is merely a game, Paul. Hanoth and I are driving fear into the hearts of our enemies. You cannot deny the strategic value of tearing apart an opponent’s defenses, can you?” Argos replied.

“Be that as it may, we don’t know if they have any surprises in store for us.”

“You are a fine Wizard, Paul, I highly doubt they could ever be able to touch us in an instance like this. As long as my wings are able, I can fight these fools all day long.”

Argos voice boomed as he took out another tower. It was a fair point, the Holy Order was far from prepared for the continued attacks from the dragons. For all their skill and boasting, the order had very few members with skill fighting a Wizard or a dragon. Likewise, the dragons had little experience fighting Wizards. An army was an easy target for the dragons, but they knew very little of the threat posed by those who wielded magic. Paul hoped that this would give them a boost when facing the dragon King. His years chasing the Knights of Doom had conditioned him to look for his enemies in the shadows. Even when he faced the Galimdorians, Arcantos had been pulling strings from the dark. The dragon King, much like Grand Cleric Bartholomew, made his opinion well known.
A little secrecy will get us a long way
, Paul thought as he instructed Argos to pull back.

“Should we escort your people now?” Paul yelled as James and Hanoth got closer.

“I think it is the safest option for them. The Holy Order would be insane to mount a counterattack against us. Without ground troops to protect, we can deflect their arrows for hours. Argos and Hanoth could wreak destruction until we were too tired to move,” James replied.

“They are lucky we aren’t trying to destroy them.”

“That they are, though we may have to take them on in the near future.”

“I don’t doubt it. This should keep them on their heels long enough for us to formulate a plan. With luck, Rolin and Janessa will be willing to join our cause after we overthrow the dragon King. I suggest we head south and see if we can’t contact them.”

*

Rolin slipped out of the city gates just as the hysteria started. He considered going after the assassin, but questioning the castle guard had been less than fruitful. Lethos waited for him far enough outside the city so as to not cause any panic. The Archwizard could feel the dragon scanning through his mind to find a proper explanation for what was happening. Rolin had long since concluded that the mindmeld worked best with the past. The workings of the mind were too complex in the moment for the meld partner to fully understand the situation. To make matters more difficult, a strong mind could shield itself from even the strongest meld. Rolin didn’t care if Lethos knew what happened, only that the dragon would not betray him to the dragon King.

I have no love for the dragon King
, Lethos’ thoughts flooded his mind.

Nor do I think you do
, Rolin replied.

Then you need not worry about it.

I would prefer not to underestimate my enemy. That mistake was far too costly last time.

The dragon knew as well as Rolin did that he was thinking of how he had underestimated Arcantos and the Galimdorians. He blamed himself for the failures of the Wizards and the subsequent tyranny courtesy of the dragon King. Lethos understood his manner of thinking, but knew of no way to convince him otherwise. Both the Wizards and the dragons that had mindmelded often found it difficult to deal with their meld partners. Their connection allowed for complete understanding of why either party acted or felt the way they did. However, their lack of understanding of the other’s race made it difficult to deal with such situations. The dragons did their best to let logic rule their lives, yet, at the same time, their emotions were much stronger than that of a human. A dragon’s bloodlust could drive the creature mad for hours, but their meld partners were nearly permanently driven mad by the same need. The other rift between the two races was how they perceived time. Though Wizards had longer lifespans than humans, they still lived a fraction of the time a dragon lived. This caused individual events to factor into the human Wizard’s process much more than that of a dragon. To make matters even more confusing, the mindmelded Wizards’ lives were stretched even further by the connection.

What happens when we live far longer than a human is accustomed to living?
Rolin had wanted to pose the question to his dragon companion since their meld.

I have no answer for that question,
Lethos replied.

You must know more than most on the matter.

A Wizard should know more than anyone. You have unnaturally long lives compared to humans. What affect does that have on your minds?

The eldest Wizards often focus on one or two tasks and begin to understand little else. We don’t necessarily go insane, but our minds experience a sort of overload of knowledge. Perhaps having a connection with a dragon would prevent that.

As interesting as the conversation was, Lethos felt the need to cut it short. They were getting closer to the dragon King and there was a strange feeling emanating from his brethren.
Something is not right
, he informed Rolin as he sped up. The Wizard attempted to pry more information out of the dragon, but Lethos was forced to focus on his flying. He was having difficulty not being overwhelmed by the emotions that poured at him from one of the other dragons. Rolin could tell that Lethos was reaching out to find which of his race was in such pain and confusion. The Archwizard used his magic to augment the dragon’s speed, propelling them beyond the natural pace that a dragon could fly. As they closed in on the dragon King’s tower, Lethos became less aware. Rolin used his magic to block out all distractions, allowing the dragon to free his mind.

“We must leave!” Lethos bellowed.

“No, I must know what happened,” Rolin replied.

“You will not like it and there is a chance you will not survive the aftermath.”

“I do not care, take me to the dragon King.”

*

Emily slumped against her bed, her body quivering in fear. She could scarcely believe what she had heard Kadegar say.
They can’t possibly think the others are in league with the dragons
, she thought. A knock on the door nearly caused her to cry out in surprise. She vanished as the door swung open. Two of the Supreme Wizard’s men began turning the room upside down as they searched for her. She held back her rage as she watched them pick apart all of her belongings. They left in anger after finding no signs of her whereabouts. She let out a sigh of relief as they disappeared down the hall. Her options were limited. Kadegar seemed to know about others who would be willing to side with Paul, Rolin, and James, but she had not heard about any of them. She slipped out into the hall, conscious that sound could give her away were she not careful. Attempting to calm her nerves, she checked her pack to unsure the Tome of Illusion was still there. She held the pack tightly as she headed for the main courtyard. Kadegar was addressing a large crowd.

“It has come to my attention that some in our midst seek our downfall. Not to worry, though, we have it under control. Many of you know Emily. She came to us for guidance and assistance or so we thought. It turns out that she is a spy for Rolin and his band of usurpers. It is still unknown as to whether they have thrown their lot in with the dragon King, but we do know that they have joined forces with at least some of the dragons,” Kadegar’s voice boomed as he spoke.

“What does this mean?” One of the students asked.

“Good question. I cannot overstress the importance of awareness in this situation. We do not know Rolin’s intentions at this point. All we know is that he and his followers are a real threat to us. Be ever vigilant, my friends.”

Emily looked around and saw more of Kadegar’s men pulling people aside for questioning. She wanted to scream, but knew that it would only cause her problems. The crowd began to disburse and Kadegar’s men directed them back to their rooms. She knew it was only a matter of time before somebody discovered what had happened to her. It frightened her that the Supreme Wizard knew she was spying on him.
He can’t possibly know
, she thought,
it must have been a bluff
. Whether or not he knew the truth of the matter, the possibility bothered her. The thought of it intimidated her, though not as much as the thought of Kadegar actively searching for her. Every time she saw one of his lackeys, she felt like running away. Not knowing the specifics of illusion magic only exacerbated the problem. She worried that the magic would falter and she would be found.

“The boss ordered us to double the patrols. He really wants to find her,” one of the nearby soldiers said.

“What makes him think she hasn’t left?” the other asked.

“We have spells in place that would detect her if she tries to leave.”

The guards continued on their patrol, leaving Emily alone in the courtyard. She paced back and forth as she contemplated her situation. There was no choice but to risk leaving, even if it would set off the spells to alert Kadegar. She went back to her room, but everything important was either already in her pack or broken. The room was still a complete mess, just as Kadegar’s men left it. Seeing the room in that state gave her an idea. She began tidying up as much as she could. Her plan would require somebody discovering the change in the state of her room, but she didn’t know who she could trust.
I’ll have to think up a spell
, she thought as she opened the door. The hallway was empty, giving her a little extra time to prepare the spell. She set everything up and then left, setting a spell that would make noise several minutes after she left.