Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town (44 page)

            
“My idea is to put an impenetrable Force Wall down the middle of all of the wall
sections and then inside the castle-manor house walls and on top of the roofs. Make the
spells permanent and you’ve got a hidden extra measure of protection. What say you
all?” Everyone thought Karel’s idea was sound, practical, and brilliant. At this point in
time, Zoran and Karel had to work out its implementation with the five top engineers.

            
The high, impassable, rugged mountain valley just behind the Wizard Tower and
northern walls of Brn was filled with work crews. Like ants, they cut through the hard
granite, leveling off the surface which the outer walls would eventually surround. The
stone that they removed was carefully cut and polished and stored for use in the wall
construction proper. Another crew had just begun assembling the first section of the
mile in circumference walls. Each section was fifteen feet long and would be three feet
thick at its top, each rising fifteen feet above the ground. Three hundred fifty-two such
sections were required, yielding nearly two hundred fifty thousand cubic feet of stone to
be quarried, shaped, polished, and set into position.

            
The forty work crews that the two barons had sent would require nearly ten years
finishing the outer walls, ignoring the inner castle and manor house! However, the
barons sent along ten Mages who would use their magical spells to help the workers,
cutting the time down to one year for the outer walls to be finished. Zoran began to fully
realize just how indebted he was to his uncles Milan and Viktor!

            
While they were discussing the alteration of Karel’s, two workers came running
up to their chief engineers. “Come quick! We’ve struck something important. Gems, we
think.” Everyone rushed after the two excited workers. At the center of the area being
cleared, where the base of the castle was going to be positioned, workers having removed
a good deal of stone, discovered two ore bearing veins, running on down into the
mountain. The jubilant workers quickly pointed out what appeared to be a large green
gemstone affixed to the rocky vein and nearby was a clear, white crystal in a similar vein.

            
Zoran sent off a Message spell and shortly an enormous gold dragon swooped
down, landed, and changed into the familiar form of Aldrick. Naturally, the workers all
stopped to stare at this incredible sight. “What have you found?” he asked curiously.

            
“Well, that’s what I need you for — have a look see. Valuable gems perhaps, at
least we think so,” Zoran replied. He kept his fingers crossed. Could he be this lucky?
Obtaining enough money was a major problem he faced. Aldrick squatted down and
began examining the green stone. “Yes, it is an emerald! Looks like they’ve uncovered a
vein here. Now this other is a diamond, Zoran. You need to carefully extract these. The
emeralds are particularly prone to breakage when you try to break them free from the
stones to which they have grown. You need to mine these veins carefully.”

            
“Well, I have not got any miners around. Those who can do this are up at the
mountain mines beyond the Dark Forest. Would you be interested in doing the mining
here for me?”

            
“Certainly. I can use this opportunity to train my twins properly. What say you to
our keeping a quarter of what we find?” Aldrick struck a hard bargain. Zoran, however,
readily agreed. He needed all the help he could muster.

            
“Deal.”

            
Aldrick was surprised that Zoran had not bargained for a lower price, and he felt a
bit guilty having asked such a high price. “We’ll throw in the cutting of the gemstones as
well. It will give my twins much valuable experience. They must know how to precisely
cut a raw stone so as to bring out its true inner beauty. Sofie, the twins, and I will get on
it now, if we are not going to be in the way.”

            
The plans for the castle portion now had to be slightly revised to allow for the two
working mines in its basement. The excavated rock the dragons generated was used in
the construction of the walls, so it did not go to waste. However, easy access had to be
provided in the castle plans for the mines once it was built.

            
While they were reworking the plans, Jarka made a suggestion. “Based on what I
have seen with the other Baron’s Circle of Ascension protections, I think that we can do
it better. Suppose that we cast and make permanent a Mind Maze spell in the corridor
just before the Circle’s room. As long as one speaks the password, nothing happens.
However, if someone should try to sneak in via your Circle, when they reach the Mind
Maze, they will become trapped in an endless maze until we let them out. That ought to
stop any assassins trying to sneak in that way.” Oh, Jarka was brilliant, Zoran thought.
He readily adopted her idea and thanked her profusely for coming up with an excellent
use of magical spells.

            
The next day, Mayor Bogdan Oldrich came to visit Zoran. “Baron, about these
road improvements. We’ve drawn up these plans and I would like to make sure that we
are going to be meeting the proposed needs. As you know, the mountain peaks here in
Brn Province pretty much dictate the path that our roads must take. I know that it is a
long, circuitous route to get to Ves, Valy, and Veklov Provinces from here. We are in the
very north of our province. The mountains and Dark Forest rather force us to go very
nearly to the southern edge before we can go east or west to Valy or Ves.” Zoran
examined his proposals and decided that they would suffice.

            
“Have you coordinated with the other three provinces to make sure those will be
the routes that they will be improving? We don’t want our improved roads to wind up in
some isolated valley of Ves Province,” Zoran asked.

            
“Not exactly, but those are the only real road into those provinces from here. Can
you contact those warlords and make sure we are going to meet up with their improved
road systems?” Zoran agreed to do this.

            
“Now then, the cost of these improvements. Brn treasury is unable at this time to
finance all of these improvements at once. Nor do we have the manpower to do three at
the same time. I believe that we can finish one of these road improvements yet this
construction season.”

            
“Okay. I suspect the other warlords will be having similar problems. Let’s see if
we can get the improvements made to Veklov Province. Next year, the two east-west side
spurs to the other two provinces can be done. How’s that?” Mayor Bogdan was pleased
and left to attend to the details. This was going to be a major expense for Brn this year;
he’d have little left over for anything else.

            
That night, Zoran began having nightmares. At least he called them that. In the
middle of the night, he awoke in a hot sweat. He’d seen a mermaid swimming around a
Circle of Ascension. Somehow the mermaid was drowning and he was trying to help her,
but continually failed.

            
“What’s wrong?” asked a very concerned Zdenka, who had been awakened by his
thrashing in their bed. She saw that he was dripping wet. “Are you ill?”

            
“Bad dream. No, I’m fine. Just had a nightmare, that’s all. Mermaid was
drowning and I couldn’t save her.”

            
“Dear, there are no such things as mermaids. It must be your imagination at
work. Maybe you are working too hard. Maybe all of the stress you are under — what
with all the assassinations and war threats.” She tried to invent a plausible explanation.
He agreed with her and they went back to sleep.

            
Since the assassination attempt on Baroness Zdenka, Karel had adopted a new
policy. He’s been highly successful at thwarting the assassin by virtue of being both
Invisible and perched high on the roof of the inn. From that vantage point, he’d seen the
assassin coming. Now each morning as the sun rose, Karel moved to the top of the
tower, some five stories above the city and the construction site behind the tower. Here
was where he kept his dozen falcon cages. Each morning, as well as evening, he would
release them and allow them to hunt and get some exercise. While they were doing so,
he cast his most powerful spell, changing into a giant falcon himself. While circling high
over the town, his falcon vision showed all warm blooded bodies down below. Workers
coming to the construction site predominated.

            
Karel’s thought was to continue to hunt for further Invisible assassins who might
be making a sneak attack on the tower. Anyone about below who had cast Invisibility on
themselves would show up with his falcon sight. He could now see in the infrared band
as did his hunters. Once the town became a bustling hive of activity, Karel would
transform back and call back his many falcons and join the others for breakfast. Thus
far, he’s seen nothing out of the ordinary.

            
Near the end of April, while they were eating breakfast, Baron Milan made mental
contact with Zoran.
Zoran, we just got word from our spies that a large force of shock
troops is on the move. We don’t know where they are headed or how many there are.
Reports suggest that a number of Mages are with them. Stay vigilant, nephew.
He
thanked his uncle and promised to be so.

            
“Gang, that was my uncle. He reports that his spies have detected a large force of
shock troops and Mages are on the move. Stay alert today. They may be headed here,”
Zoran relayed the news. All day long, everyone was on high alert, spells at the ready.
However, Zdenka continued her lessons with her students. If an attack came, she would
join in the defense. Nothing happened all that day.

            
In the middle of the night, Zoran again had his mermaid nightmare, waking
Zdenka once again. “It’s always the same. I see this mermaid swimming around a Circle
and she is drowning and I am powerless to prevent it,” he explained, wiping the sweat
from his face. Zdenka just snuggled with him. She’d run out of things to say. After all,
mermaids did not exist. True, the Mages could cast Breath Water spells and stay
underwater for hours, but there were no mermaids on any planets.

            
At dawn, Karel once again let his falcons lose and transformed into his giant
falcon form to join them. As he soared high above the nearly deserted streets just beyond
the entrance of the Archmage Tower, he suddenly spied invisible forms materializing. At
once, he cast his Message spell to the others.

            
In bed, Zoran suddenly had a vision of a Circle of Ascension activating and men in
plate armor with broadswords and shiny helms were being transported. He awoke with a
start. Just then, Karel’s warning message blasted into his mind as well as all of the other
Mages and General Janos. Archmage Karel dove for the safety of the tower’s barbican
lined top and transformed back into his normal form. Then, he hastily cast numerous
protection spells on himself. Invisible, he crept to the edge and peered down into the
broad street below.

            
Hundreds of Kazimir’s best shock troops, their plate mail armor glinting in the
early morning sunlight, began marching rapidly towards the tower. In the rear, hovering
above the mass of men were five Mages, Archmage Milos, and Baron Kazimir himself.
The Baron was heavily encased in his best suit of armor and was at the very rear of his
small force.

            
Boom! The Archmage cast a Disintegrate spell on the wooden doors of the tower,
splintering them into kindling wood. The Baron’s plan was obvious. Rush the tower
before anyone was awake and take them all down while they were confined within the
constricted space of the tower. Karel took careful aim and determinedly cast his spell.
Suddenly, Archmage Milos’ head had a three inch hole bored completely through it. He
died instantly from Karel’s Disintegrate spell, catching the small army and Mages totally
unaware. Of course, that revealed Karel and his position to the other Mages, who
unleashed a volley of devastating spells his way. Karel was faster and he dodged back out
of the way and cast a Fly spell and then Invisibility. Quickly, he flew off to the right of
the tower as more spells landed on the top of the tower. Several Web spells covered the
area from which he’d launched his attack.

            
Zoran and Zdenka were sleeping on the fourth floor when the alarm came. While
she cast protective spells as rapidly as she could on Zoran, he got dressed and grabbed
his swords. He cast a Magical Door spell and stepped into the first floor, just out of sight
of the main door. Already he could see the leading wave of shock troops a mere ten feet
from the gaping hole where the door had been. He cast his most powerful Ball of Fire
spell. He spotted Marek, the door warden, nearby. Marek saw what Zoran cast and
duplicated it, adding his exploding ball of flames to Zoran’s, doubling its effect. Men
dropped like flies before the door.