Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (53 page)

“You!” exclaimed Graf. “Have you come to clear your conscience?”

“I’ve come to rid the world of the likes of you!” growled Alric.

Graf laughed. “Nothing you do will ease your conscience of your involvement in my plan, elf! With the help of the cloak you stole, you poisoned the tower and set my plan in motion! I was able to test the poison and prove we were ready to begin preparations for our attack! I should thank you for helping me!”

Alric could hear no more. He struggled with the lizardmage, but Graf had a better grip. The lizardmage broke the elf’s grip and threw him down. He grabbed his right hand with his left and looked down in surprise. “My ring! It’s gone!”

“Are you looking for this?” asked Alric, holding the lizardmage’s special ring. “You didn’t think I’d let you get away with that trick twice, did you?” With his other hand, Alric threw his dagger at the surprised lizardmage.

The blade struck Graf in the chest. Graf hissed and then gurgled as his body sagged to the floor. He raised his hand to do one last spell but it never materialized. Then his hands relaxed and he dropped his staff to the floor. The top of the staff shimmered slightly and everyone recognized it right away. Protruding from the top of the staff was an orb.

Arch Mage Krendal suddenly pushed everyone aside. He reached down to remove the orb and held it aloft using a handkerchief. “An orb!” he exclaimed. “It’s not a dragon orb, but it appears to be a powerful one nonetheless.” He nodded his head. “That explains why he had the magical power to overcome our warding on the inner levels of the tower. The orb gave him that strength. I wonder how he obtained it.”

Alric got to his feet unsteadily.

“You stole my cloak!” burst out Della in an accusing tone. “And you poisoned the mages in the tower! How could you?! You’re an elf, not an assassin!”

“I thought you were our friend!” exclaimed Rebecca. She had tears in her eyes. “I trusted you! You betrayed us!”

Alric’s shoulders sagged. All life seemed to drain from his body. His eyes were moist too, now that everyone he cared for knew he had betrayed them. His secret was out and no matter what he said they would hate him. If the mages in the tower wanted to put him to death for his involvement in the crime, yesterday wasn’t soon enough.

“Why did you do it?” asked Kazin.

Alric shook his head sadly. His voice was barely audible when he spoke. “I didn’t know.” He sighed and pointed at Graf. “He knew my secret, and threatened to turn me in. At the time, I had no choice. I didn’t know his plans. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” He sagged back to the floor and wept.

While all this was going on, Vera was busy healing the arch mages, to the astonishment of the more experienced clerics in the room. All of the remaining arch mages began to awaken from their long slumber.

Arch Mage Fildamir yawned. “What’s going on here?” he asked when he saw the strange group of people in the room.

“Fildamir!” exclaimed Krendal happily. He ran over to the old arch mage and pumped his hand joyfully. “It’s good to have you back!”

Fildamir blinked. “I thought you were dead!” He shook his head. “Or am I dead now too?”

“You’re quite alive,” said a cleric near him, “although I’m not quite sure how.” He looked at Vera and shrugged.

“Is that dwarven ale I smell?” asked Fildamir.

“It’s the cure for what ‘ales’ ya,” said Frosty.

The old arch mage raised his eyebrow at the unicorn’s remark.

The captain of the guard of the elven king entered the room. He saw Alric’s ring and approached the stricken elf. “The dark elves are in custody. We need you to go back to the king with us to explain the charges.”

Alric looked up at the captain and blinked. “Huh? Oh!” He looked at Kazin. “We’ll have to get Sawtooth. She’ll know what to do next.”

Kazin nodded. “Very well.”

As Alric was led from the room by Kazin and the captain of the guard, Alric could feel the companions staring at him in hatred. He dared not look at Cyril. He was sure one glance at the cyclops’ eye would result in permanent paralysis.

When they had passed, the others stayed behind.

Then Rebecca stomped her foot. “Aw, heck!” She turned and marched off after the disowned elf.

Vera, who was finished healing the arch mages, came up to Cyril and Della. She looked into Cyril’s eye. “Coming?”

Cyril blinked but Vera was already on her way. Then he shrugged and followed the cleric.

Della retrieved her cloak, which still lay where the lizardmage had thrown it. She shook of the dust. Then she looked at the arch mages who were still groggy from their ordeal. Sighing impatiently, she followed the others.

Frosty whinnied. It was time for him to go outside for some fresh air. In a flash, he was gone.

Sawtooth was overwhelmed by the number of visitors she was receiving at her bedside. Alric had given back her ring and explained what had happened during the apprehension of the dark elves. He also mentioned the lizardmage who was dressed as one of them. At this Sawtooth was shocked.

“A lizardmage! But, how?”

Alric shrugged. “I’d say he was impersonating one of the high-ranking dark elves. He used the dark elves’ hatred of human mages to advance his own agenda. He fooled me too.” Then Alric mentioned how Graf had fooled him into poisoning the tower.

Sawtooth looked up at Alric with admiration. “But you fought back.”

Alric shook his head sadly. “But not until it was too late. Do you know how many people have died because of me? Or how many could have died? Everyone who knows what I did would never forgive what I have done!”

“I would,” said a voice behind the elf.

Alric turned to look at Rebecca. “You’re just saying that to -.”

“I mean it,” interrupted Rebecca. She brushed her hand through the silver streak in her hair. “We’ve been through too much together for me to simply write you off. We’ve been traveling together long enough that I feel I’m qualified to be a good judge of your character. You stood up for what is right. You never took advantage of us, and, more importantly, you stuck with us until the end. That, in my opinion - or the opinion of any dwarf for that matter - is honourable. Many dwarves could learn from one such as you.” The dwarf held out her hand.

Alric didn’t know what to say. He shook the dwarf’s hand and nodded in gratitude.

Then Cyril stepped forward. He looked at Alric’s hand as he spoke. “Once, I did something terrible to someone who hated me. They somehow managed to forgive me despite what I had done. I thought I was better than him. Now I’m not so sure.” He held out his hand. “You’re alright, Alric.”

Alric placed his tiny hand in the cyclops’ large one. Cyril grasped it firmly and shook it.

“Stay on the true path, my friend,” said Cyril.

Vera was tearful by now. She stepped forward and embraced the elf. “Oh, Alric!” She cried.

When Alric released the cleric, he was surprised to see Della standing in front of him. She held up the invisibility cloak.

“Here,” she said. “Take it.”

Alric stepped back and shook his head. “No! I can’t do that. It’s yours.”

“Take it,” insisted Della. She held it closer to Alric. “What you did was awful, but I think you will have to live with it for the rest of your life. That will be punishment enough. Maybe now you will learn to accept humans for what they are. We are all different, but we all want to live together in peace. Anyway, you saved my husband’s life. I owe you for that. Take the cloak. You earned it.”

Alric couldn’t believe his ears. He let Della place the cloak in his arms.

Before she let go of the cloak, Della added, “But promise you won’t use it to steal.”

Alric flinched at this request but nodded. “O.K.”

“Well,” said Kazin, “It looks like your friends won’t abandon you.” He stepped forward and shook the stunned elf’s hand. “I owe you my life. If you hadn’t stolen the cloak, things would be different. Don’t blame yourself too harshly. The lizardmage would have found others to do what he made you do. And even if he didn’t, he would have poisoned the water despite your actions. People would have died regardless. In fact, your involvement in the defeat of the lizardmen may have been critical to our success. If you hadn’t been in the right places in the right times, we could have lost the war. I could have died a number of times, and anything I have done to make a difference would not have taken place, from the creation of a cure to winning a war. Somehow things worked out better this way, even if you may not see it that way right now. If you are ever in need, you can find us - well - you know where we live.” He winked.

Alric nodded.

Sawtooth got up out of bed. “In that case, we’ll be going. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up back home. We have to restructure the Dark Magic Society so that it won’t get out of hand again.” She stuck her arm through Alric’s. “You coming with us, Windoor?” Sawtooth waited while the captain of the guard and some of his elves led the injured dark elves from the room. They were all going back to the elven realm using the same magic that had transported them here. As they left, Sawtooth was heard saying, “So, Windoor, what do you think about becoming one of the new heads of the Dark Magic Society?”

“I love happy endings, don’t you, Cyril?” asked Vera.

Cyril looked down into Vera’s brown eyes. Suddenly he remembered to avoid his gaze. He looked away and groaned in despair. He had waited too long. He looked back down at the cleric expecting the worst.

Vera smiled up at him. “I’ve been working on my mental discipline. I can look you in the eye now, Cyril.”

Cyril smiled.

* * * * *

Lynch and Lyrr sat on the shore of Skull Island and examined the orb as it lay on the unfolded piece of cloth.

“I wonder how hard it is to control?” asked Lynch. “I’ll wager you have to be good with magic.”

“Graf’s nephews and niece were too young to control it,” agreed Lyrr.

“They say cracked dragon orbs have a different effect each time they are used,” said Lynch.

“That’s what I heard, too,” said Lyrr.

Lynch looked at Lyrr. “Should I try?”

Lyrr shook his head. “I wouldn’t. We should concentrate on selling it instead. Some merchants would give a fortune for one of these.”

“Bah!” said Lynch. “I’ll bet the thing isn’t even any good anymore.” He reached for it but Lyrr tried to stop him.

“No! Don’t do it!”

But it was too late. The impulsive lizardmage had his hand on the orb. Lyrr tried to let go of Lynch’s arm at the last second but it was too late.

A transformation took place then. The two lizardmages blurred into one. Their skin changed from the usual green hue to a drab grey. Leathery wings sprouted on their back and their feet became longer and grew claws. Their muscles bulged and their arms lengthened. Their hands became elongated and razor sharp claws protruded from their fingertips. The only thing that maintained their individuality was their separate heads.

Lynch’s head grew stubbier, and his teeth hung out of the sides of his mouth in a kind of scowl. His ears became pointed and his eyes glared through slits.

Lyrr’s head became longer and his teeth stuck out in a kind of grin. His ears became pointed like Lynch’s but his eyes looked through narrower slits. He appeared to have laughing eyes rather than angry ones.

Their expressions were completely opposite one another. Lynch had the evil expression, while Lyrr had the happy one.

With a heinous shriek, followed by a horrendous laugh, the gargoyle took flight, heading north to the safety of the mountains.

* * * * *

Brind was almost on the opposite shore. He had given up hope that Graf would return. Undoubtedly something had gone wrong. He didn’t care. Graf deserved what he got. If he didn’t return within a week, it was time to seize power for himself. He was one of the most powerful lizardmages, and his fire magic was unequaled. He needed to carefully plan his coup.

Brind’s planning didn’t get very far. For no apparent reason, he found himself in the water. Somehow his raft had disappeared. It didn’t sink - it shouldn’t have because it was made of wood. It simply vanished! It was as if it had simply ceased to exist!

Brind had no time to concentrate on how it vanished. He had a more immediate problem. He couldn’t swim.

Inherently, lizardmen couldn’t swim like their cousins the skink warriors. Lizardmen preferred their homes deep within the safety of the mountains, while skink warriors - former lizardmen who were banished from the lizardmen’s realm for not accepting magic - were confined to lives within the water. That way the two factions wouldn’t clash.

All of Brind’s spells were fire based, and none of them helped him stay afloat. Helplessly, he slid beneath the waves and disappeared from sight forever.

The disappearance of random things or parts of things stopped for a time, but a few months later, they resumed. Most of them went unnoticed - a rock here, a tree or shrub there. Nothing spectacular. But as things began to vanish more frequently, people started to notice them. When they tried to tell others about it, no one believed them because those things that vanished had never existed in the first place. Even those who had experienced the disappearance began to doubt themselves.

Years passed.

In time, even animals started to vanish. They ceased to exist, along with any descendants they would normally have produced. Then, people also began to vanish. No one seemed to notice or think about it. But some with magical ability started to sense something was amiss. The world was moving toward an uncertain future - a future that was being erased before it had a chance to happen …

Don’t miss the other books in The Dragon Mage Trilogy,

BOOK I:
KAZIN'S QUEST

BOOK III:
SPIRIT BLADE

Check out
www.dragonmagetrilogy.com

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