by Dean Cadman
Apparently, it had all been a sick joke of Lord Zelroth’s, and he had never expected Zedd or Cole to survive challenging Baliaeter Varorde for control over his army at Lamuria. Baliaeter Chaol had already been sent to Lamuria to take command of the army, even before Lord Zelroth had met Zedd or Cole at Coldmont. He had been sent to take Baliaeter Varorde into custody for alleged treasonous acts committed against the Empire during a recent campaign in the southern badlands.
Lord Zelroth went to great lengths to explain how insignificant both Zedd and Cole were to him, but unfortunately, the results of their actions had not been. It wasn’t the fact they had failed to carry out his orders—or even attempt to—it was what Lord Zelroth had been forced to do since their return. The location of Coldmont was a closely guarded secret by Lord Zelroth, with only a handful of his most trusted Darkseed Elite and Inquisitors knowing of its existence. Unfortunately, neither Baliaeter Chaol, nor the Inquisitors travelling with him were among those trusted few, and Lord Zelroth had been forced to execute them all due to Zedd and Cole’s actions—something that Lord Zelroth had promised them excruciating pain for as recompense, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. He also promised that it would be their lives that would be used to form the link to the Netherworld, so he could inform Aamon of his failure to release him.
As the doomed man continued his helpless screaming within the Aznavor’s jaws, an image of Aamon suddenly flickered into existence at the centre of the shimmering silver disc. Lord Zelroth fell to the ground, prostrating himself in front of his God.
“Might I presume by my continued imprisonment within the Netherworld that you have failed me?” Aamon said in an otherworldly voice.
“Please, I beg your forgiveness, sire. Our forces were taken completely unawares by a powerful young mage who emerged from the Deceiver’s Temple. From the information I have obtained about the battle, it appears that he used a form of Guardian magic to destroy our forces, similar to what is recorded in our ancient sacred texts. Sire, if the Deceiver has once again allied herself with Driden and his dragons—”
“SILENCE!” Aamon commanded. “There is no new alliance, and there will be no resurrection of the Guardians either. Even here, in the Netherworld, I sensed the disruption in the fabric of magic caused by the emergence of this new mage. He is powerful—but he is no Guardian. Without a dragon, such a feat is impossible.
“I know my brother, and so I know that Driden will never forgive the treacherous acts of my sister. I may be trapped within the Netherworld, but the outside world is not beyond my sight. I have seen Aysha’s creations proudly mount the stolen dragon heart above her High Temple, and rest assured, so has Driden. I have felt his rage at her betrayal over the countless centuries whilst I have been imprisoned here, and now that the dragon heart at Coldmont has become visible to him, his fury has only grown stronger. He believed that she had only stolen one of his sacred creations, but now he knows the truth—or at least part of it. I am confident that once I am set free from the Netherworld, and Driden learns the full truth of our sister’s treachery that he will be more than willing to form an alliance with me against her, and her vile creations.”
“Sire, I regret to report that the dragon heart at Lamuria has already been partly regenerated, and is now protected by their powerful new mage. I know of the weakness he exploited, and the same mistakes will not be repeated—but it will take us time to wear down their defences again.”
“Fortunately for you, that will not be necessary. During our recent communications I have begun to sense the existence of another dragon heart in your world. At first, I thought it to be the one at Coldmont, but realised its location was much closer than that. As you know, any dragon that dies in your world is immediately taken back to Nerroth by its brethren. Its heart is removed there, and the knowledge within is shared amongst their kind for all time.
“The soul of a dragon lives on in its heart after death, and all of its life experiences along with it. Their final resting place is a well guarded secret, and very well protected. I know of its existence, but even I am unable to penetrate the powerful magic protecting its location, or sense the dragon hearts within. It is Driden’s equivalent to a High Temple, and as such, carries all the safeguards associated with it. So knowing all of that, I could not understand why I was able to detect a dragon heart at first—one that had not been recovered by its kind and returned to Nerroth—then I began to understand; it was because the other dragons could not see it. I believe it remains hidden somewhere in The Dark Forest of Afaraon, somewhere close enough to The Great Rift for it to be hidden from the senses of both dragons and Gods, and somewhere it has remained since the time I was first imprisoned here. You will use the power of that dragon heart to finally free me from this prison…” Aamon’s image began to shimmer and fade, as the last remnants of power was drained from the dying man by the Aznavor.
“Another one—quickly!” Lord Zelroth said, snapping his fingers at the Inquisitor. Zedd’s legs went weak as his bonds were suddenly released, and his mind seized by the Inquisitor. His legs began moving independently of his mind, taking him one step at a time towards the waiting Aznavor, and his impending doom. He tried desperately to break the Inquisitor’s control over him, but his body still suffered the effects of the Calligray root, and no matter how hard he tried, any form of magic was beyond his ability. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t plead for his life, nor would he give Lord Zelroth the satisfaction of hearing him scream, but now, he wasn’t so sure.
As Zedd came almost within range of the creature’s influence, he suddenly realised why Aamon’s words had sounded so familiar to him. During his own trek through The Dark Forest in Afaraon, he had seen a pile of ancient dragon bones through the eyes of the Vesdari he was controlling, and they had glowed with power to its hungry eyes.
“WAIT!” Zedd screamed. “I know where the dragon heart is.”
Lord Zelroth held up his hand to the Inquisitor only a single footstep outside the range of the shrieking Aznavor.
“If you are lying to me, I will have you tortured for the rest of your natural life,” Lord Zelroth said menacingly to Zedd.
“I’m not. I swear it. We discovered the dragon remains when we travelled through The Dark Forest in pursuit of the boy-mage and his paladin friend. I summoned a Vesdari, and it stumbled across the dragon remains whilst it hunted for them. I saw it myself, through the creature’s own eyes,” Zedd said desperately, knowing that one more step would be his last.
Lord Zelroth locked eyes with Zedd, pointed to his Inquisitor, then to the final prisoner still chained next to Cole. The man’s bonds fell away, and he began to scream in terror as the slow walk to his death began.
Zedd breathed a sigh of relief, smiling inwardly at the prospect of surviving another close encounter with death. He would try and convince Lord Zelroth of Cole’s value, but whatever the outcome, at least he would survive this day.
***
Acknowledgements
Thank you for reading LUSAM—The Dragon Mage Wars—Book Three. I hope you enjoyed reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I very much hope you will join Lusam and the others again in the next thrilling instalment.
So, it seems my pet cockroach Zedd escaped with his hide intact once again. I think an email I received from a Mr Michael B. sums it up perfectly: Zedd would make a great politician.
Be honest, did you remember the pile of ancient dragon bones from the second book? Well done if you did!
Although I will not give specific details that will spoil the plot, I can assure you that the action in Book Four will really hot up. Obviously Lusam will attempt to rescue his mother, putting him on a direct collision course with Lord Zelroth, and the Great Rift will feature heavily, as will the Netherworld—more than that, I cannot say.
If you enjoyed reading my books, please, please leave me a review. It really does help stabilize my sales whilst I write the next book in the series for you, and it means I won’
t be knocking on your door asking if I can wash your car for a dollar.
Joking aside, I really would love to hear your thoughts about the series of books, because you, the reader, are the most important person to any author, and without you, there simply would be no point in us writing anything at all.
Once again, thank you for your support.
www.deancadman.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Acknowledgements