Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (51 page)

The people in the hallway reacted strangely when the arch mage opened the door. The young mage guarding the door could only gape with his mouth hanging open in surprise.

Arch Mage Krendal surveyed Kazin’s new companions curiously. It didn’t surprise him that there was such an odd assortment of characters present. He deliberately looked Cyril in the eye as he spoke. “I think we should find more comfortable quarters for Kazin and Della. They have had quite a shock.”

As Kazin and Della were carried to a room where there were spare beds, Rebecca introduced everyone and filled Krendal in on the strange happenings at the Tower of Sorcery. Arch Mage Krendal was surprised to hear about the hydra.

Krendal soon shook off the effects of lying on a bed for a prolonged time and began formulating a plan, when a young mage came running to inform him of the approaching hydra.

“The hydra was talking about getting into the higher levels of the tower to find its uncle,” said the messenger excitedly. “Apparently it wasn’t able to follow its uncle to the next level since it requires magic, so it was looking for an alternative route.”

“Are you saying there is a second hydra here also?” asked Krendal.

The messenger shook her head. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen one.”

The arch mage nodded. “We will have to be wary of that possibility.” He then took control of the situation and told everyone what he remembered of the mythical beast.

“Magic won’t work,” he informed them, “but magical artifacts are another matter entirely. While the magical characteristics may not be as effective, they will still do more damage than ordinary weapons. What it boils down to is brute strength. The key is to make your attacks count. Blinding the creature by stabbing its eyes is often a good practice, but we have three heads to deal with. It’s unlikely we’ll be able to pierce more than two eyes before the creature gets wise to the tactic. A hydra’s biggest weakness lies in the fact that all of the heads need to agree before it acts. If we can get the heads to argue amongst themselves, it may provide one or more opportunities for us to attack.”

“So what do you suggest?” asked Rebecca.

“The hydra is between us and the artifact room,” said Krendal. “We’ll have to make a stand here. Do any of you have magical artifacts in your possession?”

“I have a magical dagger,” said Rebecca, displaying her weapon for Krendal to see.

“I have a magical mace,” said Cyril.

“Good,” said Krendal. He looked at Alric. “And you?”

“I - have an invisibility cloak,” said the elf reluctantly.

“Perfect,” said Krendal. “Now here’s the plan.” The companions huddled around the old arch mage. “I’m going to distract the hydra while one of you sneaks up to it.” He looked at Alric. “Your cloak will be necessary for this.”

“My weapon isn’t magical,” objected Alric.

“Can you borrow someone else’s?” asked Krendal.

Alric shook his head. “No. Rebecca’s dagger would kill me, and I’ve tried to lift Cyril’s mace. It’s much too heavy for me to wield effectively.”

Krendal scratched his beard. “Can anyone other than Alric use the cloak?”

“It’s too big for me,” said Rebecca. “I would just trip over it.”

“It doesn’t even cover half of my body,” said Cyril.

Krendal sighed. Then he brightened. “Of course! What we have to do is quite simple. There is only one way to unify the cloak and dagger…

The hydra marched down the hallway angrily. Mages surrounded the creature in front and behind. They were casting spells at it but to no avail. The hydra was impervious to magic. A mage got too close and Gif’s head darted out and snapped up the mage in his giant maw. The mage screamed for a split second before being bitten in two.

“Ptui!” Gif spat out the remains. “These mages are horrible! Where is all the food Graf promised us?”

“We already cleaned out the kitchen,” reminded Frag.

Garf snapped at a nearby mage but missed. “I think they taste pretty good once you get past the robes.”

“I wonder why Graf sent us here?” commented Gif. “There are plenty of human villages that would have more food than this place.”

“He didn’t send us here to eat,” said Frag. “He sent us here to cause a distraction while he kills off the arch mages.”

“But he told us there would be plenty of food!” argued Gif.

“There is!” exclaimed Garf. He thrust his head out and this time his jaws managed to catch a mage by the arm. He swung the screaming mage up into the air and let her fall into his waiting jaws. He chomped the mage a couple of times and then swallowed. “You know, I think the women taste better than the men.”

Frag shook her head. Directly ahead of her, she spotted an old bearded mage who stood in the middle of the hallway. He had a serious expression and piercing blue eyes. Something about him made her come to a stop. The mages following the hydra abruptly stopped their magic as well.

Arch Mage Krendal nodded curtly before speaking. “I am Arch Mage Krendal. What is the reason for your visit to my tower?”

“We’re here to eat you!” hissed Garf.

Krendal turned to Garf. “Shut up!” Garf’s head recoiled at this outburst. “I’m speaking to the center head,” continued Krendal. “The center head of a hydra is the most intelligent.”

“Listen to him, Garf,” said Frag. “He’s an arch mage. He knows what he’s talking about.”

“That’s not true!” insisted Gif. “You said arch mages are liars!”

“I agree,” said Garf. “We determine intelligence by how strong our magic is, and mine is obviously stronger than yours, Frag.”

“If your magic is that strong,” said Frag, “how come you can’t use it to change us back?”

“I could if I had my staff and arms,” argued Garf.

“I doubt it!” snapped Frag.

“It’s true!”

“Is not!”

“Is so!”

“Is not!”

Garf snapped at Frag and she retaliated.

Arch Mage Krendal was surprised at how easy it was to distract the hydra. He made a signal and his plan was set in motion. The hydra didn’t see it until it was almost too late.

A female dwarf armed with a dagger materialized out of nowhere right in front of the hydra. She took the dagger by the blade and threw it a Frag’s head. The weapon flew true and landed directly in Frag’s left eye.

Alric pulled his cloak back over himself after letting the dwarf out. He pulled out his dagger and magically changed it into a sword. The disembodied sword bounded up to Garf and slashed at his exposed right side. The blade missed the eye but sliced deeply into the eyelid. Blood squirted from the wound and Garf hissed in dismay. He snapped his head in a sideways motion and sent the sword and its owner crashing into the wall.

From behind the old mage another figure sprang into view. He moved with incredible speed, the result of a haste spell Vera had cast on him. Cyril charged up to Gif’s head and began batting the head mercilessly with his mace. The head squealed in pain and tried to snap at Cyril, but the cyclops dodged out of the way. The initial attack left Gif’s head smashed on one side. Blood poured from his mouth where some teeth had been knocked loose.

Frag reared her head back in pain and then lashed out at the tiny dwarf below her. Rebecca barely had time to roll out of the way to the left as the head came smashing down on her. Her weapon was magically back in her hand, and thus the dwarf discovered a new attribute of her magical dagger. It could be thrown and would immediately return to her hand after it had stopped flying. Keeping this in mind, she quickly thrust out at Frag’s right eye. The blade succeeded in completely blinding Frag. The middle head thrashed and screamed in agony, bumping into her brothers’ heads in the process. Fortunately for Alric, the bump prevented Garf from successfully snapping up the invisible sword wielder.

Alric took the opportunity to spring to his feet and hide his weapon. Then he snuck up to Garf and readied his sword. He made a few quick slashes and then concealed his weapon again. Garf’s neck was cut open and he hissed in rage. His right eye was difficult to see out of with all the blood in the way, so he blindly snapped at the ground all around him. Alric stayed well back of the enraged head.

The turbulence of the other heads made it difficult for Cyril to land a decent blow, but he managed to seriously damage Gif’s neck and nose. The spikes in his mace rent the flesh nearly to the bone. Gif was losing lots of blood and he was beginning to lose consciousness. His half-hearted attacks against his adversary weren’t even close.

Rebecca wasn’t sure what to do next. Frag was blindly thrashing about like a maniac. The only thing Rebecca could do was stab the middle head’s neck. She threw her dagger again and it sank into a major artery in the neck. Frag gurgled a scream and blood trickled from her mouth. She continued lashing blindly at everything nearby.

Alric continued appearing and disappearing, landing sword slashes each time his sword made an appearance. He stayed on Garf’s partly blinded side to prevent his good eye from zeroing in on him.

Cyril landed a series of hard blows and succeeded in killing one of the heads. Gif’s head hung down limply by its neck, swinging with the heaving of the hydra’s body.

Frag was the next to go as Rebecca threw her dagger repeatedly at the bleeding neck. Several major arteries were severed and blood was gushing from the open wounds. Frag had no strength to thrash about any longer and her head crashed to the ground one last time. Rebecca was thrown to the floor as pieces of the floor exploded in every direction. Miraculously, she was unharmed.

Garf sensed the death of his two siblings and took full control of the hydra’s body. He turned the bulky body around to retreat, dragging the dead heads like balls on a chain. But the blood loss to the body was too much. Garf staggered and then the hydra crashed to the floor. The last thing Garf saw with his good eye was the disembodied sword coming down to pierce his eye and brain. With a last long hiss, the hydra was dead.

A magical transformation took place and the hydra vanished, to be replaced by two foolish lizardmen and one lizardwoman. On the ground near them, rolling to the side, was a cracked dragon orb.

“Well done!” exclaimed Arch Mage Krendal. To the fighters, he said, “The Tower of Sorcery owes each of you a debt of gratitude.” He strode up to the bodies to look at the lizardmen. “Why, they’re only young lizardmen children!” he exclaimed. “I should have known lizardmen were involved! That explains why the hydra was looking for its uncle. Lizardmen are responsible for the attack on the tower, and are still on the loose.”

While attention was on the bodies, a couple of rats spotted the orb.

“Quick!” whispered Lynch, his nose twitching excitedly. “Let’s take it before someone sees!”

Lyrr took a piece of torn robe from nearby and they ran over to the orb. Lynch rolled the orb onto the piece of robe using his pointed nose and Lyrr picked up the four corners in his mouth. He scurried off with the orb tucked safely inside. Lynch followed close behind.

Chapter 37

I
never expected young lizards to be part of a plan to attack the Tower of Sorcery!” exclaimed Vera.

Krendal shook his head sadly. “They undoubtedly found the dragon orb and handled it, not realizing that its magic was unstable. Damaged orbs in particular are unpredictable.” He looked around. “We’ll have to store it in a safe place so it won’t get into the wrong hands. Maybe it can even be repaired.” The arch mage spun all the way around, scanning the floor. “That’s funny. I thought I just saw it a moment ago.”

The other mages in the vicinity assisted in the search but came up empty. During the search, Alric removed his cloak and stashed it back into his pack.

“What’s everyone looking for?” asked a familiar voice down the hallway.

Rebecca turned to see Kazin and Della. “Oh, hi! You recovered fast!”

Kazin nodded. “The clerics here can do wonders.”

“Good,” said Krendal. “You’re just in time. We have work to do.” He turned to the gathered mages. “Some of you come with us. The rest of you clean up these bodies. If any of you find the damaged orb, do not touch it. Use a piece of cloth to handle it. Carry it to one of the classrooms and leave it there for me to examine.” Krendal turned back to Kazin. “Come with me.”

Arch Mage Krendal led Kazin and his companions and a few mages to a doorway that led to a higher level of the tower. Krendal cast a spell on the group and they entered the room.

The room was like a lobby, with many doors leading to other rooms. There was no furniture. Torches powered by mystical magic flickered on the walls. On the floor near one door lay two inert forms.

Vera rushed over to them and examined them. She looked up at the others. “They’re dead!”

Krendal stepped forward and recognized one of the ones Vera had examined. “Master Mage Linnal. He had good potential.” He turned to the others. “We are losing too many good mages. We must hurry!”

“Which way did the intruders go?” asked Rebecca.

Krendal checked the doors in the room with magic. The door nearest the dead mages glowed slightly. He pointed. “That door was opened using a different kind of magic. Someone overrode our magical lockout. They went through there.”

The group quickly opened the door and entered a hallway beyond. More bodies were scattered over the floor here. Three were mages. Two were dark elves. There were signs of fighting. The walls and ceiling were scorched and blackened.

“The fighting was more intense here,” remarked Krendal. “We must be getting close.”

“The damage here can’t all be from our guys,” commented Kazin. “Not unless some arch mages are still alive.”

“That’s unlikely, judging by the reduced number of defenders,” said Krendal. “These intruders wield more powerful magic than I thought.”

At the end of the hallway were three doors. One led straight ahead, one was on the left, and one on the right. Another spell check indicated the middle door had been used.

Krendal breathed a sigh of relief. “At least the artifact room hasn’t been breached.” He was referring to the door on the right.

The companions cautiously opened the door and entered a great library. The doorway was up above the main body of the library and stairs led down into the numerous aisles of bookshelves. Tables were set up in specific study areas and books were piled on some of them. Across the room from them was an identical set of stairs leading up to another doorway. At the entrance to that doorway was a crowd of dark green robed figures. They turned to see the newcomers and a yell was heard. From below, a series of fireballs came up to greet them from different parts of the room.