Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (17 page)

“Battles are never pretty,” said Vera.

“That’s it, I guess,” said Cyril. “There’s no more to see here. We might as well get back to the other tunnel.”

“Easier said than done,” said Vera.

“What do you mean?” asked Cyril.

Vera giggled. “I’m stuck!”

* * * * *

Graf was irritated by the noise in the council hall. Lizardmen were arguing and hissing at each other. The whole place was in an uproar at the announcement made only moments ago by one of the army generals. Graf rose and chanted a short spell. A deafening thunder clap cracked from his staff, causing the entire assembly to cease their chatter at once. All turned their attention to their leader. Graf turned to the general, known as Slong, and told him to continue before sitting down.

Slong nodded. “As I was saying, some of our remote front line garrisons have recently been attacked. My scouts have returned with reports that confirm large numbers of ogres and orcs have been responsible for these attacks. It appears we are at war.”

“Why are they attacking?” demanded a lizardmage from an alcove.

“I have been informed that the orcs and ogres are blaming us for the poisoned water. They don’t see us suffering from the same illnesses that affect them, and assume our water is pure. They don’t realize that we are immune to the poison.”

A murmur filtered through the council hall but subsided immediately when Graf rose to his feet again. “Continue, Slong.”

Slong nodded. “Reinforcements have been dispatched to bolster our second line of defense, but I don’t know if it will be enough to stem the tide of ogres and orcs heading our way. They are angry and unafraid of our magic.”

The murmurs began again but ceased when Graf tapped his staff on the floor for silence. Relg rose and Graf nodded at him to speak.

“We were counting on the ogres and orcs to assist us in our upcoming battle. Perhaps we should convince them the humans are responsible for the poison and get them to join us using that as a source of motivation.”

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the lizardmen in the hall below.

“Perhaps we should give them clean water,” countered Graf suddenly.

The idea was so preposterous that the entire assembly stared dumfounded at Graf in complete silence.

“B-but how will that help this situation?” sputtered a lower-ranking lizardmage. “If we give the ogres and orcs fresh water, they might stop attacking and go away, but they might be angry enough not to join us in our cause!”

“By giving in to their demands so quickly,” added another lizardmage, “they might continue their assault, thinking that we are weak and can be defeated!”

Graf’s lips slid into a devious grin as the crowd began to murmur again. He chuckled evilly, just loud enough to be heard by those nearest him. As the murmurs waned, Graf’s chuckle became a sinister laugh.

“I take it there is a reason for your statement,” interrupted Relg irritably. He knew better than to shoot down Graf’s idea out of hand.

Graf stopped laughing and nodded. “We will give the ogres and orcs fresh water - and anybody else for that matter - but only if they agree to fight for us in exchange. Those who do not fight for us do not receive clean water. It’s as simple as that! Why, we could even recruit humans to fight for us, should they be in need of clean water! By the time we attack, many humans will only be too grateful to swell our ranks!”

This time the hall exploded in a roar of hissing as everyone spoke at once.

“Do we even have clean water to offer the ogres and orcs?” cried out one lizardman loudly.

“We still have access to clean mountain springs!” bellowed Graf, though he was barely audible above the raucous below. “We also control the water elemental, so good water is easily acquired!”

When the raucous died down, Graf sighed. “Is there anything else?”

A lizardmage fairly high in rank rose to her feet. Her lips were puffy, like a fish, and her navy blue cloak had purple trim at its edges.

“The council recognizes Narla,” stated the lizardmage below Graf.

Graf knew who she was but the announcer below him had to get a word in from time to time. His position was virtually meaningless, but he was tolerated nonetheless.

“Proceed,” stated Graf.

Narla smiled, her fish-like lips spreading grotesquely - although it was considered attractive from a lizardman’s point of view. “The air elemental has been contained within a solid wall of rock created by the earth elemental. There is still resistance, but full control will be established shortly.”

“Excellent!” praised Graf. “Now all we need is that fire elemental and the world will be ours!” He turned to Brind, the black-cloaked lizardmage. “Have you summoned the fire elemental yet?”

Brind shook his head. “Not yet. I need to get closer to it in order to summon it.”

“Lynch!” called Graf in a serious voice.

“Present!” answered Lynch from below. He was glad he was mixed in with the crowd. He did not want to be singled out when Graf was angry. He wasn’t in his alcove right now because he was close to the main hall when the meeting was called.

“I take it you still haven’t been able to capture the fire elemental?” Graf had a note of sarcasm in his voice.

“No,” said Lynch quietly.

“What?!” yelled Graf. “I didn’t hear you!”

“No!” repeated Lynch, louder this time.

Graf scowled. “Keep trying!” He turned to the general. “Slong, lend some of your scouts to Lynch. They know the tunnels beyond our realm better than most.”

“Of course,” answered Slong.

“And begin sending caskets of water to the orcs and ogres,” ordered Graf. “It’s time to generate an army!”

“Yes, Sir!” said Slong.

The meeting was over and everyone exited the hall, eager to put Graf’s plan into action.

Chapter 14

R
ebecca rummaged through her pack looking for some fungus she had accumulated in the last couple of days. Alric was complaining more and more frequently about being hungry, and Rebecca decided to do something about it. She found the fungus she had wrapped to keep it fresh. “Here,” she said, extending it toward the elf.

“What is it?” asked the elf, taking the package in his hands and holding it close to his face.

“Fungus.”

Alric quickly held it out at arms’ length when he heard what it was. “Fungus!” he exclaimed. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Of course not!” retorted Rebecca. “That fungus is safe to eat. It’s good for you, and some dwarves even use it for medicinal purposes.”

“What’s it taste like?” queried the elf, pulling his hand close again.

“It’s O.K.” said Rebecca. “It’s not something you would eat on a regular basis, but it beats being hungry.”

Alric looked at the dwarf uncertainly as he brought a small piece of fungus up to his mouth. He popped it in and chewed. Suddenly his face wrinkled in revulsion. “Eww! This stuff is terrible! Are you sure it’s not poisonous or something?”

“It’s perfectly safe,” said Rebecca. “Here.” She took a piece out of Alric’s hand and put it in her mouth. She chewed a few times and swallowed. “See? I’m not trying to poison you.”

Alric continued chewing slowly and then swallowed. He wrinkled his face again. “I wouldn’t recommend this stuff to anyone unless they’re starving to death. It’s horrible!” He popped another piece of fungus into his mouth and chewed distastefully.

“It’ll keep you from starving,” said the dwarf. Sitting down with a faint ‘plop’, Rebecca pulled out her map and began making modifications.

Alric swallowed with a grimace. “Do you know where we’re going?” Gingerly, he lifted another piece of fungus to his lips.

“We seem to be spiraling downward,” commented Rebecca. “Things should be getting warmer in a day or two.”

Alric stopped chewing. “Warmer?”

“Yup,” answered the dwarf. She ran her fingers along the silver streak in her hair. “As we get deeper, the mountain gets warmer. The rocks in the mountain are so compressed that they become hot. We may even start encountering lava flows.”

“Interesting,” said Alric, swallowing the last of the fungus. “A few days ago we were in cold, damp conditions. Now we’re going to be experiencing the exact opposite.”

“It’s a bigger world down here than you elves realize,” said Rebecca. She quickly wrote a few more notations on her map and then stashed it away. “Are you ready to continue?”

“I was waiting for you,” said Alric, springing to his feet.

Rebecca was about to argue the point when she saw the elf wink at her. He was only teasing. Feigning an angry tone, she jabbed him in the ribs and ordered, “Get moving!”

A few hours later, the duo ran across a fork in the tunnel.

“Which way?” asked Rebecca, looking at the elf.

“I think we should go right,” said Alric.

“I was thinking the left path is better,” said Rebecca. “It seems to slope downward, deeper into the mountain.”

“I have a hunch there are more chances of finding lizardmen on the right path,” insisted Alric. “It seems to be more heavily traveled.”

Rebecca hesitated. “I don’t know.”

Alric brightened. “Why don’t we investigate both?”

The dwarf looked up at him. “Huh?”

“I’ll take the right path and you take the left,” continued the elf. “We’ll explore for an hour or two and then meet back here. We can compare notes and make a decision then.”

“I don’t know,” said Rebecca slowly.

“I can even give you information to help you expand your map,” insisted Alric. “We’ve got nothing to lose.”

“And we’ll meet back here in a couple of hours?” asked the dwarf. She looked searchingly into the elf’s face.

Alric sensed her discomfort. “I promise.”

Rebecca didn’t know whether elves kept their promises or not so she didn’t feel reassured. Reluctantly she agreed.

“Great,” said Alric. He handed the torch to the dwarf.

“How will you be able to see?” asked Rebecca suddenly.

“Elves have keen eyesight,” stated Alric. “I’ll be fine.” He moved a few steps away and donned his invisibility cloak. In an instant, the elf vanished.

Rebecca felt momentary wind as the elf ran past her into the right tunnel. “Good luck,” she called after her companion.

“Same to you,” came the response.

Rebecca sighed. She was alone again. She was just beginning to enjoy Alric’s presence and wondered vaguely if he would rendezvous with her back at this spot in a few hours. She realized that the only way to find out was to fulfill her part of the bargain. Shouldering her pack, Rebecca strode resolutely into the left tunnel.

Nearly half an hour of ducking into side tunnels and alcoves turned up nothing, and the dwarf was almost ready to call it quits and return to the rendezvous point. Up ahead, she could make out a five-way intersection that had a promising look to it. As she neared the intersection, her nose picked up the faint smell of orcs.

Rebecca quickly put out her torch and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Soon, she could distinguish between the walls and the ground. The tunnels ahead looked black and forbidding. Withdrawing her light stone from her pouch, Rebecca cautiously walked forward to the middle of the intersection. She peered down each tunnel but saw nothing. There was also no sound but that of her own breathing.

Looking down, the dwarf noticed some marks in the soft ground where she stood. They were orc tracks. Almost all of them meandered between two of the tunnels. The other three tunnels were joined by only a few footprints, including her own. Rebecca was more interested in the tunnels that were heavily traveled.

Suddenly, the dwarf saw an increase of light in one of the heavily-traveled tunnels. Someone was approaching!

Hiding her light stone and springing back to the tunnel she had come from - it was the only one she knew to be safe - Rebecca ran for cover in a nearby alcove. Poking her nose around the corner, she watched and waited.

An agonizing minute later, the light increased and footsteps could be heard. The light continued to brighten and Rebecca almost had to close her eyes. It was as if whoever was coming had ten torches lit! With a hot rush of wind, a flaming figure burst into the intersection. It spun around, looking at each of the tunnels in turn. When it looked down Rebecca’s tunnel, the dwarf ducked back into the alcove, hoping she hadn’t been spotted. The footsteps could be heard again, and Rebecca immediately realized that the burning figure had not chosen her tunnel.

As the light began to fade, the dwarf left the refuge of the alcove only to dive back into its safety. Yells and stomping feet could be heard originating from the same tunnel as the flaming figure. Before long, Rebecca could smell the unmistakable scent of orcs. Running like a bunch of savages, the orcs piled into the intersection and milled about uncertainly.

“Where is he?” asked one orc.

Another sniffed. “I smell dwarf.”

“That was no dwarf!” retorted another.

“This way!” cried another one. “Burn marks!”

“Let’s go!” cried several orcs in unison. Their trampling feet indicated their departure down the tunnel the flaming figure had chosen.

One orc trailed behind the others. “I smell dwarf!” he lamented.

“Come on!” cried another orc.

The footsteps died away.

Rebecca cautiously exited the alcove. All was quiet once more. She took a moment to consider what she had seen. The orcs were chasing some sort of flaming creature. She didn’t know what it was, but it was in trouble.

She thought briefly of helping the flaming creature, but remembered that she had to rendezvous with Alric. There was plenty of time, but exploring any further alone would be dangerous. She didn’t need the elf to protect her, but she had made an agreement. If she didn’t keep her side of the bargain, how could she expect the elf to keep his? He might even return home to his people and report that dwarves don’t hold to a deal! She would be responsible for making all dwarves look dishonourable!

Rebecca couldn’t let that be on her conscience. She turned to head back when some hollering and yelling echoed through the tunnels. It came from the tunnel the orcs and flaming man had gone down. Had they captured him? If so, should she try to save him? She didn’t know him. The flaming man could be just as evil as the orcs were. But what if he wasn’t?