Vegenrage: The Magic User (40 page)

Ragbrise swoops down, flying parallel to the hill and high up, breathing fire that shoots extremely powerfully and sets the forest ablaze along the flight path he is on. He is heading right for the dwarves when Farrah flies right at him and Vegenrage sees something amazing. Farrah flies right at him, not saying a word, and Vergraughtu consumes his fire. Farrah continues her flight right under Ragbrise, extending Vergraughtu into the belly of the dragon and cutting him wide open. When she passes Ragbrise and turns and pulls her arms down, all the innards of Ragbrise come free from his body and fall to the ground followed by Ragbrise, who dies on impact.

Glurtain and Rifter are the farthest to the left side of the hill and watch as Ragbrise falls dead to the ground. Their attention is drawn to the left as they hear the ground shuffle and they see imprints on the ground, but that is all. “Dragon!” yells Glurtain.

These two dwarves have bows with Foarsbleem arrows, and they start firing into the invisible dragon. These arrows are relatively small in comparison to the dragon but are Foarsbleem and penetrate deeply, causing serious and painful injury to Guylumbree, who becomes visible and descends on Glurtain with exceptional speed, biting him in his mouth and raising his head, biting Glurtain in half. Glurtain’s feet fall to the ground, and Guylumbree swallows the rest. Rifter keeps firing arrows into the dragon, who is about to snatch him up when Vegenrage, flying at incredible speed headfirst, enters Guylumbre’s stomach. Guylumbree, with incredible force, is slammed to the ground on his side and rolls into a large tree, knocking it over before coming to a stop. Guylumbree stands, flailing and bouncing around, screaming in pain, yelling, “Stop, stop!” and Vegenrage exits his back between his wings, killing him.

Richter watches as Vegenrage hovers smiling, covered in gore and, with a wicked shake, expels all the gore and regains his normal serious look. He floats down to Richter, who is just as much afraid of Vegenrage as he is the dragons. From out of nowhere and at incredible speed, Vegenrage is snatched out of the air by Blethstole, who flies off with Vegenrage in his mouth.

“Vegenrage!” yells Farrah, and she flies after Blethstole. This starts a chain reaction, and all the dragons follow. The dwarves come down from the hill to meet up with the Dagi.

“Glimtron, we lost Debbreir and Carboul.”

“We lost Glurtain, Cringelin, Breemkin, Leersee, and Dodgeker.”

“I know we have, and we have five slain dragons lying dead here in the Ruin of Altrar. This is an unprecedented achievement on our part. Come, we honor our fallen.”

The giants join the party when the ground starts to shake. “Blythgrin, what is it? Earthquake?”

“I don’t think so, arm yourselves.”

The Salcendreepes start to emerge from the ground, and the giants immediately attack. Fillismrend and Osworns are on the first one they see come up and start slamming their clubs into its head with bone-crushing force. Cremnole and Nordiath do the same to another. The dwarves start attacking with their axes, severing legs and cutting gaping wounds into the long bodies of the Salcendreepes. Solmbus and Greeter raise water elementals, which attack, and Trybill and Grenlew raise dirt elementals, which attack. Blythgrin shoots lightning bolts, which have devastating effects, exploding large holes into the creatures.

The Salcendreepes thought they had the dwarves at a disadvantage, but the adrenaline in the dwarves is flowing and their alertness high. They also were not prepared for the giants, which easily crush their skulls with their heavy blunt clubs. The dwarves, elementals, and giants turn this scene into a free-for-all, and the Salcendreepes themselves rose right into a trap. The Salcendreepes never even get a chance to use any of their magic. This battle happens to fast, and they are way too outnumbered. The elementals take the attention of four of them, the giants kill four of them in no time, and they are swarmed by the dwarves and the magic of Blythgrin, making this a very short one-sided battle.

The barbed appendages of the Salcendreepes prove deadly as before they are crushed, dismembered, and torn apart, they inflict mortal wounds to four more of the dwarves that the Dagi are not able to heal. These are the only four dwarves that died here at the Ruin of Altrar, and their bodies remain, with the exception of the legs of Glurtain, which are buried. The remaining dwarves bury Kreil, Siller, Drypes, and Alitch and make a beautiful monument in their memory at the base of the Ruin of Altrar. Trybill and Grenlew go to retrieve the horses, and soon enough they are back.

Blythgrin notices a piece of cloth floating in the air, and it seemingly floats right to him. His curiosity gets the best of him, and he grabs it from the air. He looks at it, and there is writing on it. It is actually directions to him from Vegenrage. He looks up.

“Blythgrin, what of Vegenrage and Farrah? Do you know if they are still alive?”

“I do not know, Glimtron. I have some more disturbing news. I have not been able to contact Limms, Breebellow, or Logantrance. Usually, by the time we get to the Long Forest, I can at least communicate with the elven order, but there is nothing. No response at all. This is very troubling.”

“Let us hurry to the Erkensharie. We may already be too late.”

“Glimtron, I must take Trybill and Grenlew. I may know where Logantrance is, and he needs our help.”

“How long will you be?”

“We will be back with you within the day. We must go. It is of the utmost importance.”

“Blythgrin, I feel this day will be a pivotal day for all the races of man, and for some reason, I don’t know why but it seems we are all separating. Go and hurry back, we will be fine with Solmbus and Greeter.”

The dwarves head off to the Erkensharie, and the three Dagi head into a Dimension Door.

From atop the Ruin at Altrar stand Cloakenstrike and Bastrenboar. Cloakenstrike looks to Bastrenboar. “Now we know where the Sapphirewell is. Let the dwarves battle the dragons, and we will be there in the end to take our treasure.”

“What about Vergraughtu?”

“Once we have both the Octagemerwell and the Sapphirewell, we get you the Snow Gold Trinket. Vergraughtu will be within our reach, but for right now, let the dragons and races of man fight over him.”

“Dribrillianth, what is this place?”

“This, Gairdennow, is Vollenbeln.”

“This is the home of Vlianth. What are we doing here?”

“We are waiting the coming of Vlianth.”

Blethstole and a whole lot of dragons following him enter the night sky through a Dimension Door. Vegenrage can be seen still alive but caught in Blethstole’s mouth with his teeth dug deep in Vegenrage’s body.

“It has begun, Gairdennow, just as it was written, the coming of Vlianth.”

CHAPTER 30
Vegenrage’s Destiny

Vegenrage was completely taken by surprise. Blethstole has concealing magic of his own and snatched Vegenrage right out of the air. Blethstole bit down on Vegenrage at just the right time to sink his teeth into Vegenrage’s right arm, chest, and back. Vegenrage is stunned and immobilized. Blethstole has such a tight bite on him he can just barely breathe with very short, shallow breaths, and he has never felt fear like he does now. His left arm is dangling outside of Blethstole’s mouth, and he has just enough strength to reach over to the cloth on his shoulder and magically engrave some wording on it. He uses a weak Blade of Sharpness to cut the cloth, and it floats in the air. It floats and tumbles and swirls in the air, and the passing dragons fly by, sending it floating in the air currents.

Like it was meant to be, the cloth makes its way to Blythgrin, and he can decipher the message Vegenrage has sent. Vegenrage was caught so off guard by Blethstole and put in such a compromising position that for the first few moments all he could think about were the visions coming to him. He could see Logantrance suspended in the magic bubble in Blethstole’s lair. The teeth of Blethstole are sunk deep into his body, and they have cut right through the scale that he has affixed to his chest, and this is very bad. He has not lost all the immunity to charm, but most of it. Being in contact with Blethstole is what is making it possible for him to see these visions, and he has just enough energy to send a message to the Dagi. Vegenrage’s healing magic is nullified because he cannot do anything about the teeth that have punctured his lungs and keep him weak. He is conscious but unable to do much more than concentrate on keeping himself calm and try the best he can to prepare for what Blethstole has in store for him.

Blythgrin, Trybill, and Grenlew arrive right on top of Blethstole’s bed of gold. It is pitch-black in here, so they cannot see a thing, and they hear the gold and treasure clank and ring under their feet.

“What are we standing on?”

“Blythgrin, where are we?”

“Hold on a second, let me light this up for us.” Grenlew casts a Staff of Light, and the entire lair is lit up with his light. The Dagi look in awe at the wide earth cavern that they are in, but very quickly they are realizing they are standing on a bed of gold.

“There, there, he is right there.” Grenlew and Trybill look to see Logantrance frozen in the bubble high up in the wall.

“That is Logantrance. How did he get there? And where are Breebellow and Limms?”

“Yeah, and where are we?”

“We are in the lair of Blethstole.” Grenlew and Trybill look at each other with wide eyes.

“Come on, we have to get Logantrance out of there quickly.”

The Dagi levitate up to Logantrance, and Blythgrin pulls the Sapphirewell from his Bag of Holding. He touches the Sapphirewell to the bubble, and it dissipates, releasing Logantrance from its magic. Grenlew and Trybill catch him, and they float back down to the bed of gold.

“We have him now, let’s get out of here.” Blythgrin begins to chant his Dimension Door spell.

“Wait! We have to get something first.”

“What, Logantrance, what do we have to get?”

“A book, a very powerful book, and you have the Sapphirewell, which we need in order to retrieve it. Be quick, Blythgrin, Blethstole surely knows we are here by now.”

Blethstole lands for the first time on Vollenbeln and drops Vegenrage to the ground and stands on him. He sinks Vegenrage into the soft earth, and only his head is exposed. Blethstole looks around at the dark sky. “Humph! You are a clever one, Logantrance. Gairdennow, freeze him.”

Gairdennow blows a bubble from his mouth, and Blethstole removes his foot and the bubble encapsulates Vegenrage. “Dribrillianth, freeze him.” Dribrillianth freezes Vegenrage just as Logantrance was.

Blethstole looks to the sky and chants magical words, and the realm of Vollenbeln transforms into the day sky revealing Vegenrage’s home, which is still intact. Blethstole is surrounded by Kertinkpice, Pryenthious, Bailseize, Gisewear, Gairdennow, Dribrillianth, and Gannream. These are the largest, most adept dragons alive. More and more dragons are entering Vollenbeln and landing keeping their distance from the older larger dragons, showing their respect. Before long, all the dragons are on Vollenbeln, and Blethstole walks to the top of the mound, entering Vegenrage’s home. He stands there with Vegenrage frozen in the bubble and clearly visible for all to see, and he addresses the gathering.

“This is the coming of Vlianth, and here he is. For the first time in our history, all the dragons have been summoned to Vollenbeln, as written in
The Wattsverocy: The Coming of Vlianth
. And for the first time in our history, here we all are not fighting and killing one another but focused on this event that will ensure our dominance over the Maglical System and continue our supremacy. This is Vlianth, the true master of magic, and through this vessel, our race is to evolve and grow supreme, or else we will fall to the races of man. This one day has been foretold, and this is the time we evolve or we fall.” Blethstole looks to the air like something has his attention. He snaps his head to the dragons. “We need the book. The book is being stolen from my lair right now. Get there, get there, kill the humans and bring the book back here.”

All the dragons take to the wing and head through Dimension Doors to Blethstole’s lair. All leave but one. Blethstole stands on the mound alone with Vegenrage. Blethstole begins to chant magical words in his dragon tongue. The mound rising over Vegenrage’s home begins to separate, exposing the interior. The earth pulls apart, and the fireplace in the center of his home rises. The floor and all of Vegenrage’s belongings change into a melting pool of gold and hardens. All the books surrounding his home start to shake and come free from their shelves, floating into the fire in the center of the room. The books burn and burn until they are all gone. The center of the fire pit falls, and the fire in a second vanishes, exposing a dark pit from which a very large book rises. Molten silver rises from the pit and covers it, cooling as it hits the golden floor, and it grows upward, forming a beautiful solid silver pedestal and the book lay on it. Blethstole floats to the pedestal with Vegenrage above the book.

“Not even I could believe such a thing without seeing it with my own eyes.” He talks to Vegenrage like he is listening to him. “All the books in this fantastic library, this great wealth of knowledge condensed into this one book. Knowledge is power, and somehow you, magic man, have managed to obtain all this knowledge in you, and through you, all this knowledge will be transferred to me.” Blethstole looks to the sky, laughing. “
The Coming of Vlianth
is mine.”

“Vegenrage!” yells Farrah, and she flies after Blethstole. Farrah does something very smart: she turns invisible, and Vergraughtu conceals her scent from the dragons. She is flying as fast as she can to catch Blethstole. Fear is nowhere in her mind. She is taken over by the instinct to save Vegenrage. As she gets closer, she can see Vegenrage caught in the teeth of Blethstole, and he looks like he is dying. And now she feels fear, fear of losing Vegenrage, and tears fly out of her eyes, and she is consumed with rage. Dragons are flying by her, and she is swung all over by the air currents and hit by one dragon, which looks, noticing something but not enough to maintain its attention, and it speeds on.

Blethstole vanishes through a Dimension Door, and the dragons follow. Again Farrah does something very smart. She spots Gannream and follows him. She can see Gannream in her mind, and if she concentrates, she can actually see through his eyes. Gannream flies into his Dimension Door, and Farrah can follow, seeing where he is going. She appears in Vollenbeln and watches the dragons out of their detection. She can see that Vegenrage is still alive and listens to Blethstole as he addresses the dragons. She watches as Vegenrage’s home transforms.

“What am I supposed to do, Logantrance? What book am I supposed to retrieve?”

“The Wattsverocy.”

“
The Coming of Vlianth
? That book is only myth, Logantrance, it does not exist.”

“Blythgrin, use the Sapphirewell. Call for the book and find out if it is myth or real. Hurry, we have no time to waste. Call for the book.”

Blythgrin holds the Sapphirewell and calls, “
Wattsverocy: The Coming of Vlianth
, I call to you. Come to me.”

The wall just below where Logantrance was held captive shakes and the earth pulls free and a book emerges and floats over to Logantrance, who grasps it and puts it in his Bag of Holding. His Bag of Holding spits the book out, and it falls on the bed of gold. Logantrance quickly picks it up.

“Logantrance, I have never seen a Bag of Holding spit out an object before, especially a magical one.”

“Yes, this book is too powerful. It will take over my Bag of Holding and render its ability useless. Only Behaggen can hold this book, and Behaggen is with Vegenrage. Where is Vegenrage?”

“He was caught in the jaws of Blethstole and taken away.”

“Vegenrage caught by Blethstole? This is not good. We must get to him before the dragons use him to further their elimination of the magic users, or worse yet, kill him.” Logantrance tries to open the book, but he cannot.

“Logantrance, do not open this book. It is meant for dragons only. If you read one word of this book, you will be rendered a servant of them.”

“Thank you, Blythgrin, I had forgotten that part. Fortunately, I cannot open it, but we need to know its secrets. We need to know what to do next.”

The Sapphirewell starts to gleam brilliantly with the silhouettes of dragons flying around inside of it.

“The dragons are coming. They know we are here.”

“I think I know where they have taken Vegenrage. I don’t know how, but I think he will know what to do. Come, follow me.” Logantrance draws a Dimension Door and tries to walk through it but is thrown back like he has walked into a glass door that molded to his body and threw him back on his back. Grenlew helps him up.

“Logantrance, what happened?”

“I don’t know. Our escape has been blocked.”

The bed of gold and treasure that they are standing on bursts into the air and lines the walls of Blethstole’s lair. It melts and forms shapes and designs that none of the magic users understand. Underneath this incredibly large mound of treasure is a statue lying on the ground of a once great dragon. Logantrance, Grenlew, Trybill, and Blythgrin were thrown and now stand at different sides of the statue. They hurry to group together, unable to see one another because the statue is immense.

“Logantrance, do you know what this is?”

“I do not, Trybill, but I think we are going to find out.”

The gold lining the walls starts to shine golden lights on the statue, and it rocks, creaks, and starts to crumble. Bursting from the rock shell, Hornspire, the great horned dragon, emerges. He is colossal, standing fifteen feet on all fours. He is the color of gray rock and has horns protruding from all over his body. He shakes his head and body like a dog getting out of a bath. Blythgrin holds up the Sapphirewell, and the four back up to the wall.

“Do not fear me, races of men. After all, it was you, Logantrance, who made this all possible. It was you that brought the ingredient we needed to evolve our species. It was you who brought the human from another world so that we could harvest him and take from him the purest and strongest magic from another world to add to ours. The one who can give us the ability to cast magic without having to speak first. It was you that leads us to greater evolution and you who brought Vlianth to us, and he will lead us to earth, where the food supply will last us for another millennium. You puny races of man think you can compete with the dragons when we have been playing you for millenniums. Everything is almost set, and the races of man that think they are so smart, they think they are so cunning, they have been our pets forever.” Hornspire laughs. “We now have Vlianth, Behaggen, Vergraughtu, and the newly formed book,
Wogenkeld
, all in one place, and all thanks to you, Logantrance. I say and bow to you. Thank you for collecting all the most knowledgeable books and gathering them in one place for us to harvest. That was very nice of you, my pet. All that is left is the Sapphirewell, which, can it be, is right here in front of me and the Octagemerwell, which man himself will bring to us as well. I love the races of man. They are our food, they are our inspiration, they are our salvation.”

Hornspire raises his wings and flaps them at the four, and they disappear. They appear on the back side of a silver podium, and Blethstole is standing in front of it. The Sapphirewell raises out of Blythgrin’s hands, and he cannot stop it.

Cloakenstrike and Bastrenboar are on top of Mirrimya Mountain.

“What are they doing in there? Is this really the home of Blethstole?”

“Yes, his lair is right under us. We need to be smart, we need to wait for the right time to make our move, and this is very dangerous for them to be where they are and for us to be where we are. Wait, they have moved again.”

Cloakenstrike looks into the Octagemerwell, and he can see the opened earth where the Dagi and Logantrance have been sent to. He can see Blethstole looking at them. He sees the Sapphirewell as it floats away from Blythgrin. “We move again, but first we need some enlightenment from Oriapow.” He puts the Octagemerwell in his Bag of Holding and retrieves the Oriapow Genie Book.

The Sapphirewell hovers about three feet in the back of the podium, and the book
Wogenkeld
floats up and opens. It flaps like a bird flapping its wings and flies over to the Sapphirewell. It opens and hovers motionless. Suddenly, a magical burst slams the Sapphirewell to the ground, and it hits with incredible force but sticks to the floor gently.

Logantrance and the Dagi are frozen in their curiosity, unaware of the events that are unfolding. The Sapphirewell starts to crack and crumble to the floor and grows and grows, forming a solid bed of blue sapphire with the imprint of Vegenrage in its top. The bubble containing Vegenrage lowers and disappears, gently laying Vegenrage in this bed made just for him. The gold floor that Logantrance and the Dagi are standing on is a form of Dragonmire that is only effective on the races of man, but what a genius trap this is. They do not experience headaches and nausea, but their magic is all but gone while standing on this metal.