by G Clatworthy
The Professor stepped forward. “Well, Mei…actually we were rather hoping you might not show it.” The small lady spluttered and he spoke again quickly, “You see we have reason to believe that there are people who want to use it to try to awaken a dragon.”
“Impossible!” She snorted.
Aloora spoke softly. “I was kidnapped by two elves who thought they could do it, they have a ritual and…”
“The fact that you were kidnapped by elves does not change my exhibition. I have been planning this for two years, trekking the country, agreeing to insane demands to get it to happen. No ritual has ever been found for waking a dragon, if they even do still slumber and aren’t all dead. The power it would take…and you don’t even know for sure that they want this dagger do you?” Mei squinted at us dangerously.
We couldn’t deny it but the Professor kept trying. “If there is even the slightest risk to the dagger, surely your patron should be informed. Let me talk to them and they can decide on the best course of action.”
“Absolutely not! I expected better of you Elrond than chasing after dragons at your age. The exhibition will go ahead as planned. That is my final word on the matter. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some last minute details to attend to.” Mei stormed off.
“Well that went well,” I couldn’t help myself.
The Professor didn’t look disheartened though. “We shall just have to be here ourselves to help. We know what we’re looking for – people, probably elves, who are too interested in the dagger, and there’s nothing to stop me speaking to the security guards tomorrow, they may well pass on our concerns to this patron.”
Aloora invited the Professor and I back to her house to plan and Marco ordered pizza for us all. Aloora had sighed and plumped for a salad. That gnome was so healthy it was sickening. I pulled a slice of four cheese pizza from the box and waved it. “How do we know it will happen tomorrow?”
The Professor closed his eyes for a moment. “We don’t know for sure of course,” he admitted before going on quickly, “the easiest time to attempt a heist would be towards the end of the exhibition when security is more comfortable, I expect. But our elves need to be in possession of the artefact before Saturday if they are attempting the ritual on the Solstice and I’m sure there are other things to prepare, so they will want it well ahead of Saturday. And why not sooner than later? Better to have it in hand on day one than risk anyone getting wind of their plans, especially since Aloora escaped. I would think the easiest time to get it will be at the beginning of the exhibition, when it’s being moved.”
Professor Maron was persuasive but it was all supposition. I stayed quiet and ate my pizza while the others planned. The basic plan was to get into the exhibit and stay there all day, watching for any suspicious activity and trying not to act suspiciously ourselves. The Professor would put security on alert and try other channels to get the Fang Dagger safely back in its vault until after the Solstice. I handed out protection charms and the fire charms I had made that morning.
Marco pouted, “I wanted jewellery not key rings.”
“Jewellery costs extra,” I smiled, making a mental note to make him something for his birthday. As I handed one to Lorandir, my mind wandered to our first meeting and his invisible sword. “What about invisibility?” I blurted out. The others stared at me.
“You have a way to be invisible?” Marco asked, eyes wide in astonishment.
“Um, well no. But he does,” I pointed at Lorandir.
The elf narrowed his eyes, “I can cast an enchantment on an object so it is not visible from a distance, but I can’t make people invisible.” He thought a moment, “I could make you all less noticeable though, we would blend into the background more.”
Aloora nodded, “Sounds good. You can cast that on us tomorrow. So the plan is to meet at the park opposite the museum, eight thirty a.m. sharp.”
As I nodded in agreement, my phone rang. I saw Gunther’s contact info flash up and answered the call.
“Amethyst, my treasure, how are you?” I filled him in on our plan tomorrow and asked how it had gone with the Council. His voice hardened, “They didn’t believe anyone could waken a dragon. When I told them about Aloora’s kidnapping, they said it was an elvish matter. They don’t even believe there are any of the creatures sleeping. They said dwarfs tunnel deeper than anyone and they’d know if there were still dragons. They wouldn’t know a dragon if it bit them on the arse! Bunch of self-important short-sighted selfish dung rats.”
I was taken aback, for a full-blooded dwarf to insult the Dwarven Arms Council was unheard of. I raised my head from the phone to see everyone pretending not to listen in.
“The dwarves aren’t going to help,” I summarised. There were murmurs of disappointment from the others, but no one was too surprised.
I put the phone back to my ear, “I understand if you don’t want to get involved.”
Gunther snorted, “Blow that! I’ll be there tomorrow.” He hung up.
“Gunther’s in,” I informed the rest of the group.
“Wonderful! A full house. And now I must get back to the museum, the sooner I can translate the ritual, the sooner we will have more clues to help us stop this awakening.” I offered to walk the Professor back to the main University building and, after exchanging notes with Aloora on the translation so far, we left.
The walk back was illuminated by street lights and some stars twinkled dimly in the dark sky. It felt a lot later than it actually was and the traffic was quiet as it was Sunday evening, casting a strange eerie feel to the city until a police car raced by with blue lights flashing and a siren blaring.
The Professor walked slowly, seeming to delight in the night air and being out of his office, and what I secretly thought might be his bedroom too. As we ambled back to the University, he pointed out landmarks in the distance and gave me a history of the city. He was an engaging conversationalist and the time passed quickly despite our slow pace.
At the University gates, we paused.
“Do you really think we can stop them?” I asked him quietly. It was surprising how quickly I had gone from disbelief that dragons really slept underneath us to believing whole heartedly that a cult was planning on waking one of the creatures right here in Cardiff and I was helping to stop them.
The orange street lights seemed to make his eyes glow slightly as he met my gaze and gripped one of my hands between his own. His skin felt like cool paper to touch. “Young adventurer, these are troubling times, but I have lived a long time and it seems to me as if all times are troubled. And often, it is not the work of governments or politicians that change the times, but the deeds of a small group of determined people. We may hope we are wrong and there is no conspiracy to awaken dragons, but if there is, we will be prepared. We may be small in number but we are significant and we will do our best.”
“Thank you,” We said farewell and I watched him carefully as he walked across the small lawn and the empty car park, looking up at the sky before disappearing into the main entrance. I released the breath I wasn’t aware I had been holding and shivered, I was clearly still affected by the wyrm attack here. I hugged my arms and glanced around. It was quiet. Get it together Amethyst! I forced myself to walk, but as I passed the museum again with its flags streaming in the breeze, I shuddered and sped up.
Chapter 11
I awoke from another night of restless sleep, despite forcing Errol to go for a walk along the brightly lit main shopping streets before it got too late. Trying to tire myself out hadn’t worked and I bought myself a bag of jelly sweets as I walked back to the museum. I had a feeling I would need sugar to try to stay alert.
We met, as planned, in the park opposite the museum and watched the entrance. The museum didn’t open until ten a.m. and there was plenty of time before the delivery of the Fang Dagger. I had picked us up some hot drinks from the Dragon’s Head on the way in cardboard takeaway cups and I held mine, enjoying the warmth seeping into my h
ands and the sweet aroma of hot chocolate.
After the initial greetings, Lorandir offered to cast an enchantment on us so we’d be less noticeable. He closed his eyes and flicked his fingers at each of us in turn. When it was my turn, I felt the golden honey flavour of his magic tingle down me, and had the comforting warming sensation of drinking sweet mead and eating dark chocolate whilst somehow also feeling as if I was in a sunlit wood. I gasped involuntarily, Lorandir had a lot of power and I felt the glow of his magic as the enchantment settled on me.
“I’ve made your axe invisible at distance, the same as the sword you made me,” I stared at it stupidly. I pulled my goggles down over my eyes and noticed a golden shimmer over the usual dwarfish magic that surrounded my axe.
“Thank you,” sometimes I was very articulate!
After the initial excitement of being enchanted, a grim mood took hold and we watched in silence, sipping the hot drinks.
There were a few parked cars between us and the museum but it was quiet here compared to the busy street running adjacent to us, filled with Monday morning commuter traffic.
A black van pulled up, disregarding the double yellow lines. I tensed and felt the others do the same. A pair of burly guards in black suits got out of the front and walked round to the back to open the van doors. They looked our way but decided we were not a threat, possibly due to Lorandir’s enchantment, and pulled the doors open. Another two guards stepped out and one of them leant back in and pulled out a metal suitcase. It looked like it had a state of the art locking system on it. This had to be the Fang Dagger.
A slight figure approached them from behind a column. We all started forward, before the Professor recognised Mei and whispered to us to hold our positions. He was the only one enjoying acting like we were in some sort of special ops team. He motioned to us to turn around so Mei wouldn’t recognise us and chase us away. It worked. Mei accompanied the guards inside. A jogger ran past and a few people in suits and uniforms with sensible trainers walked through the park on their way to work. So far, so good, no suspicious activity.
As soon as the museum opened, we entered in two groups of three to try to avoid suspicion. Lorandir and I trying to stay back so our weapons were less visible whilst Gunther declared his axe was a cultural piece. When he started to make a fuss, Lorandir and I darted in and tried to stay nonchalant. The museum security decided they weren’t paid to deal with Gunther’s cultural arguments and, taking in his fitted embroidered waistcoat and tailored trousers, told him to keep it sheathed. They watched him go, muttering about “bloody dwarves” as they glared after him.
We were in! We split up as per the plan. We would take it in shifts with three of us in the main exhibition room and the other three loitering around the rest of the museum, looking for anything suspicious. Aloora, Professor Maron and Gunther went to the exhibition room first.
I heard the Progessor starting to tell the security guards about our suspicions when Mei rushed past, heading towards him with intent. We would be lucky not to be thrown out at this rate.
Marco, Lorandir and I split up and wandered around the museum trying to find a good vantage point to watch the lobby and remain unobtrusive. I quickly got too hot, but didn’t want to risk drawing attention to my axe by removing my coat, even if the weapon was enchanted.
The day passed slowly. I had wandered around most of the museum several times and had sampled a lot of the café’s treats as well as finishing the colourful jelly sweets I had brought with me. I was bored and had taken to looking at the paintings and other items on display with my goggles on to see which ones were enchanted.
I was surprised that some of the more famous paintings had a glimmer of glamour on them, probably what made them attractive. One strange square jade vase glowed with slimy green goblin magic and I had a feeling there was more to it than it seemed.
It was nearly closing time and nothing had happened. I was kicking my heels in the lobby when I heard a snippet of a conversation.
“I still don’t understand why it’s sunset,” a female voice complained, “the sooner, the better.”
“The day will have time to build up more power, sunset is the most powerful time on the Solstice. He explained that, weren’t you listening? This is our chance to redeem ourselves. Be grateful.”
That didn’t sound good. I looked up quickly. Two tall figures in oversized hoodies were strolling across the lobby. Their grey hoods were pulled over their heads. Instantly suspicious, I pulled my enchanting goggles down over my eyes and confirmed the forest green aura of two full-blooded elves. They seemed familiar and my heart sank. I grabbed my phone and sent a group message to everyone:
Be alert. 2 elves on way to exhibit
Then I fell into step behind them. The enchantment that Lorandir had placed on me seemed to be working because they didn’t so much as turn around as I followed them into the exhibition room.
There were two other people in the room perusing the exhibits. Two security guards stood menacingly by the entrance, dark sunglasses and black suits making them seem like every intimidating security guard in the films. A museum employee in a creased shirt sat on a plastic chair eyeing the clock. Aloora was in the back corner, almost hidden as she sat right next to a stand holding a large ancient book, opened onto a page of St George slaying a fearsome dragon. The Professor was standing next to the weapons, looking absorbed. I almost didn’t see Gunther, but I had kept my goggles on and his dark red aura was in the other back corner. I nodded to the two hooded figures and we all began to casually move closer.
Lorandir and Marco shuffled in, just as the two elves reached the Fang Dagger’s podium. They had ignored the rest of the exhibition and were staring at the Dagger, which glowed a fierce gold colour under my goggle’s gaze. As we started to move to surround them, the smaller of the two, the one I thought was female, pulled something round out of her hoodie pocket. I had a very bad feeling about this. She dropped it casually to the ground. There was a blinding flash of light followed by billowing smoke.
One of the security guards immediately spoke into his microphone while the other one shouted “Stop!” Both moved forward quickly but the purplish smoke made it hard to see. There were confused shouts from the museum employee and the two tourists. The fire alarm started beeping, adding to the cacophony of noise. Then the sprinkler system activated. It was chaos.
With my goggles, I was able to see more than most. The two elves with the forest green auras were leaning over the podium. The Dagger continued to glow like molten gold. I rushed forward, raising Bane, and I heard the smash of glass and a new alarm began to blare.
I stopped as suddenly as if I had run into a wall. I could move a little, but it was like pushing through thick toffee. I shouted and turned to look at the rest of the group. Aloora’s violet aura wasn’t moving. Gunther was moving slowly, either dwarves weren’t affected as much or perhaps he had some sort of charm that counteracted elvish spells. I could hear coughing and my chest felt tight, the smoke was clogging up my airways. I held my breath and focused on willing myself to move against the spell that was holding me.
The security guards were shouting in confusion, it sounded like they couldn’t move at all. I heard Lorandir shout “Sheld!” and his forest green aura started to move towards the others. I shouted the same and felt the buzz of my magic surround me as my own protection charm activated. I could move, slower than I’d like, but at least I was moving. The others caught on and activated their own protection charms, but it looked like they were moving slowly too.
One of the elves had picked up the dagger and put it into a bag. The golden glow of the Dagger’s aura was muted and had a greenish haze over it. I guessed the bag had been spelled to conceal items, but the Dagger’s aura was too strong to be completely hidden.
There was more shouting. It sounded like museum security had arrived but couldn’t enter either because of the smoke, which seemed to be getting thicker, or the spell that had held us.
&nbs
p; The elves were on the move now. The one with the Dagger ran and somehow managed to evade all the people outside the room and slipped away. I tried to yell, but the smoke made my voice hoarse and croaky. It was getting harder to breathe too and my voice cracked as I forced out the shout. I willed myself to be heard above the two alarms and the water that was still raining down from the sprinklers. It seemed as if Lorandir heard because I saw his green aura move towards the entrance.
I was moving too slowly to catch the elf who had run, but the other one was moving more cautiously. I approached from behind and raised Bane to swing at its leg. I wanted to stop him or her from escaping. I wasn’t an expert markswoman and I could only see the swirling aura of the elf rather than the precise shape of its body. I was rewarded with a cry of pain before the elf turned and blasted me with an electric blue bolt of lightning that lit up the purple smoke.
I was thrown backwards and hit the podium which had held the Dagger hard. Pain shot through my back and I fell forward onto the ground clumsily. I lost my grip on Bane and heard it skid across the floor. The fall had winded me and I gasped for air as the elf limped towards me. My hands scrabbled on the wet tiles, trying to find my axe. Instead my fist closed on the strange ball that was emanating smoke. It felt metal to my hands and had an aura of trollish magic surrounding it. I whispered the Dwarfish word for stop, tracing the rune weakly with my finger onto the metal and willing my magic to override the trollish sorcery.
If it was made of anything other than metal, I don’t think it would have worked but the ball seemed to sputter and then the smoke stopped. It was still hanging thick in the room, but it did seem to be getting thinner as it crept out of the doorway and wasn’t replaced.