by Vic Broquard
“If I were only twenty years younger,” Zoran teased the three new Archmages. Zdenka gave him a playful poke in his ribs, and all five laughed as they entered the Great Hall. Right on time, the others arrived and within a few minutes, Zoran prepared to Shadow Walk the whole group to Alta.
These sessions of the High Council of the Federation of Planets alternated among the sixteen worlds. Baron Alvaro and Baroness Anita Cencion hosted this session at their castle in Puerto on the planet of Alta, a hilly planet. Politically, Alta was Neutral, neither aligned with Zoran’s group nor Clav’s or as many now believed the “have-nots” and the “haves.” Normally, these sessions lasted an entire week, but this session would be shorter. By mutual agreement among the barons, the dragon threat was too real to allow for the usual extended formalities.
After they all joined hands, Zoran stepped them all to the planet Alta. Since this was the first time here for some, Zoran purposefully allowed his walk to circumnavigate the world, allowing them to get a good overview look at this world, whose land masses were uniformly all very hilly. Periodically, they spied roads streaking across the green hills like gray lines a child might draw. A few towns came into view before the large capital city of Puerto appeared before their eyes. Gray stone buildings predominated as they approached, and then the giant gray stone fortress of Baron Alvaro Cencion loomed before them, growing larger and larger. Zoran focused on the giant gray cobblestone courtyard just inside the fortress gates and they arrived.
Rimming the courtyard were hundreds of orange pots, whose late fall marigolds were in full bloom, adding color to the uniform drab surroundings. On the ramparts behind and above them, a hundred fighters stood, weapons raised, ready for any trouble — Baron Alvaro took the High Council security measures seriously, though he, as did Zoran, knew these men would have no chance at all if even one dragon showed up and attacked. A tall man in a suit that looked finer than Zoran’s stepped forward to meet them. He recognized the old man, recalling the first time that he’d met him some twenty years ago.
“I am Esteban, the butler. Welcome Baron Archmage Zoran,” he said mostly bored, as if he had been doing this all day.
“I’ve been expecting you. If you will follow me, I will show you to your rooms. You are to be at the meeting room at ten o’clock for the opening ceremonies, sir. If you have a moment before then, Baron Alvaro wishes a private word with you.” He then led them inside the gaping, handcrafted doors of the main manor house and down long corridors. Periodically, large orange pots hung from the walls with more flowers still blooming. After showing them to their suite of four rooms, he bowed and left them, walking crisply back down the long hall.
Inside, they found a small home, with a private bath and four bedrooms with a central living room. The women took two of the bedrooms, while the men divided themselves between the remaining two. After unshrinking their gear, they quickly stowed their things. As always, the mages executed a thorough search for scrying devices and spells. Finding none, they then setup their own personal defenses. Satisfied, Zoran was about to visit Baron Milan when the baron knocked on his door.
The two older men hugged. “So glad that you could come. Nine Archmages! Zoran, you have an army of them!” Baron Alvaro was extremely impressed with this singular detail. “I sincerely hope that we do not need their services. Yet, I beg you; use all of your skills that we may have advanced warning of dragon attacks. I feel it in my bones, Zoran. Something awful is going to happen and on my watch!”
“You have our pledge, Baron,” Zdenka’s alto voice broke in on the two’s hushed conversation. “Four of us will have our Foresight Spells active at all times.”
“What? Four of your Archmages can cast such a power spell?” Clearly Baron Alvaro was quite taken aback. He knew that she could cast this spell, but three others? “Thank you! This is almost too good to be true! I will rest far easier now! I have put a discussion of how to best attack the dragons as the first topic of discussion, after the official opening ceremonies that is. I am so relieved. Thank you.” He shook her hand and then left to greet the other arriving barons and baronesses.
Once they freshened up, Zoran led them to the huge meeting room, explaining to the three new Archmages what they should expect. Once in the room, he assisted the three into the visitor’s section. This area was separated from the rest of the room by an ornate wooden baluster wall that stood two feet tall. The barrel vaulted ceiling rose some fifty feet overhead covered with highly realistic artwork depicting various landscapes representing the sixteen worlds of the Federation. “Incredible!” whispered Ivana, who had never seen anything like this before.
Out beyond them were large, magnificently made tables and plush chairs, arranged in a U-shape with six foot gaps between the two joining corners. Zoran pointed out that the neutral barons would sit along the bottom of the U, while the two other aligned groups of barons would sit facing each other. All could face the Visitor’s Area. Across the way, a line of six uniformed men stood, large brass trumpets at the ready. Precisely at ten, they raised their instruments and began a fanfare. A bass voice bellowed loudly, “Baron Alvaro Cencion and Baroness Anita.”
As the two walked in ceremoniously, Zdenka and Jarka saw at once that Anita must be wearing low heels or flats. Gone were her tiny steps; the couple moved rather swiftly across the room, taking their seats in the center of the section of the bottom of the U-shape. The voice then announced, “Baron Basilio and Baroness Benita Cencion, Baron Eduardo and Baroness Concha Cencion.” His oldest son and daughter now controlled the two new Circles here on Alta. Slowly the forty-eight barons and forty-eight baronesses were introduced and walked ceremoniously to their assigned seats. Zoran’s group was announced immediately after Baron Alvaro’s group, since he was the second-most senior baron.
“Baron Archmage Zoran and Baroness Archmage Zdenka Vladislov. Baron Thomas and Baroness Archmage Verushka Vladislov. Baron Jan and Baroness Reina Matous Vavrin.” Of course, Dusan and Archmage Nadia Vladislov Dragon followed them, along with Archmage Karel and Chika Ambrose, Mage Bernard and Mage Jarka Dragon, and Archmage Marek and Akira Aceda. These were both their advisors and Baron Alvaro’s requested extra Archmages.
As usual, the women took careful note of each other’s attire. Zoran still didn’t understand why the women were so insistent upon not wearing identically colored dresses, and yet so many wanted to be wearing the latest in fashions. Jarka breathed a sigh of relief. No other woman was wearing a bright, cherry red gown as she wore, though a couple of satin gowns were close in color.
Baron Alvaro tapped his gavel, the hollow sound echoing around the high vaulted ceiling. “The High Council of the Federation of the Sixteen Planets is now officially in session. First, we have the introductions of the newest Archmages. I call upon Baroness Archmage Zdenka who will introduce her three newest Archmages.”
Zdenka rose. Her mellow alto voice cut through the air, magnified by the acoustics of this special room. “It is with the greatest pleasure and pride that I give to you Archmage Zelenka Matous, daughter of Baron Leo and Baroness Lida Matous. I give you Archmage Chesna Pavel, daughter of Baron Stefan and Baroness Rayna Pavel. I give you Archmage Ivana Jakuba, daughter of Evzen Jakuba.”
Zoran thought that the round of hearty applause for the three new Archmages was far more enthusiastic than he could recall others having received. Perhaps it was because of the serious dragon threat that all were now facing. Baron Alvaro rose and announced, “I call upon Archmage Abelard Brecht of Gerde to announce his new Archmage.”
The aged man rose. He was sitting beside Baron Karel Ebbe, the leader of the three Gerde barons and sworn enemies of Zoran’s group. “It is with humble pride that I give you Archmage Berend Deidricht of Gerde, who will be taking over for me as I am retiring soon.” A thin, tall man rose. Zoran guessed that he was in his middle twenties. Again, he received an equally boisterous round of applause, and he flushed from the unexpected adoration tossed his way.
Baro
n Alvaro then announced, “Archmages, you may come down from the visitor’s box and take your places at the High Council.” Quickly, the four did as asked, the two daughters, grinning ear to ear, proudly sat down beside their mothers. Archmage Ivana sat next to Zoran and Jarka, while Archmage Berend sat beside Baron Karel.
“Now then, I have altered the usual order of business to permit Baroness Archmage Zdenka Vladislov to share a few words with us and all of the many Archmages here with us. As you all know, I am very worried about the possibility of the dragons making an attack on our High Council and have asked each of you to bring along as many Archmages as you can. She will explain why I have taken this unprecedented action. After she has finished, we will discuss how we may defend ourselves from dragon attacks. Baroness, I ceded the floor to you.” He sat down, motioning for her to stand.
Again, her alto voice filled the room. For once, Zoran noticed that he could have heard a pin hitting the stone floor. Rapt attention focused on her every word. “Thank you Baron. As some of you know, not long ago, our fortress on Adapazan was attacked by Black Dragons. Some twenty attempted to destroy us. However, our Foresight Spells alerted us to the impending attack. As you may know, dragons are exceptionally difficult to slay or even wound. Normal weapons are entirely useless against them, since they cannot pierce their tough hides. Because of their inherent natures, they have a resistance to magical spells, making the usual spells cast by mages often completely ineffective.”
“However, during the attack, we had six Archmages casting spells at them. We have learned a great deal from that. This is what I am obligated to share with all our fellow Archmages here. When you cast a spell at a dragon, as your spell activates, you will suddenly find yourself on a flat, featureless grey plain facing the dragon that your spell is about to affect. It is a challenge of wills. If you win, your spell will affect the dragon. If you lose, your spell will not affect the dragon in the slightest. If you flinch, if your resolve is not hardened, you will lose. Archmage Karel believes that the way to avoid this is to glare angrily at the opposing dragon. Such has worked several times for him. Honestly, I do not know any pat way to guarantee that you will win the battle of wills. Just don’t flinch is the best advice that I can give you.”
Zdenka tried to sit down, but was besieged with questions from other Archmages. Eventually Berend asked, “Baroness Archmage, how do we best defend our people from the dragon’s breath? Can you tell us more?” Clearly, Zoran noted, Baron Karl and his new Archmage Berend were very worried. He tucked this observation away for future reference.
“Okay, I admit that I do not have all the answers,” Zdenka admitted. She described the attack on the fortress at Brn in detail. “Summarizing then, Disintegrate Spells cast by Archmages are effective. Mage Jarka’s counter of their caustic acid spray works. That is, conjure mountains of lime and then conjure a mass of water over the lime. The resulting chemical reaction between the acid and lime neutralizes the acid, but it also creates very nasty fumes. Have healing potions at hand. Archmage Karel used a series of Force Screens to protect his falcon cages on the roof from the dragons’ acid breath. This worked perfectly. However, I do not have any experience with the other dragon breath weapons. I’m sorry.”
“Surely you didn’t just use Disintegrate Spells on all of them,” Archmage Berend countered.
“No, Archmage Marek cast a Meteor Swarm which proved effective, especially when there were several blacks flying close together. Balls of Fire also worked against the blacks,” Zdenka answered. “Please note that we began our attack at the most extreme range of our spells, giving us time to get them off and then prepare to dodge the incoming streams of acid as the dragons drew closer. Several also attacked them with weapons after that,” she explained.
“What kind of weapons?” Baron Karl broke in.
“Let’s save that for the next topic, baron,” Baron Alvaro interrupted him.
“Are our mages going to be utterly useless against them?” asked a worried Baron Goro Yoko of the water world of Asami. “Are you saying that only an Archmage can hope to defeat a dragon?” Many other voices suddenly whispered, and Zoran knew that this was on everyone’s mind. Archmages were extremely rare. Mages were commonplace. Until now, most barons depended upon their mages. Would they be completely ineffective against the dragons? Key question Zoran noted. He wished Zdenka had a better answer.
She sighed, “I wish I could say that mages are very effective against dragons, but I cannot. Don’t get me wrong. A mage does have some chance of breaking down the opposing dragon’s will and magical resistance, but it is not a good chance. It depends on the will power of the mage, I believe.”
“Excuse me, may I add a word or two?” Mage Jarka interrupted her. She had been watching the various barons and saw precisely what their concern was: they had many mages in their service, but often one Archmage at most. That Zoran had six Archmages in this battle was so far beyond what they could field should an attack come their way that they were becoming extremely worried to say the very least.
Zdenka nodded and Mage Jarka rose. “Please relay this to all of your mages. Yes, I shot a Ball of Fire at an incoming Black Dragon. I was extremely startled to suddenly find myself standing alone on that featureless, grey plain that Zdenka told you about — the dragon that I was attacking staring coldly straight at me. I found the experience quite unnerving. However, I was not about to let a dragon defeat me and I began to toss my magically enchanted throwing daggers at it, figuring maybe I could attack it this way. I think that was what allowed my will to triumph over the dragon’s. My spell took the dragon down. Now that I know what to expect the next time that I attack a dragon with a magical spell, I will be more able to focus my will power. So what I am saying, is let your mages know what to expect and what they must do when they find themselves on that grey plain. Make their will exceed that of their opponent’s will. Knowledge gives us a better chance, but I will say that it is a frightening experience.”
Zoran saw the relief on many barons’ faces. There was some hope that their mages could help protect them. Jarka added one more detail, “However, I found myself far, far more useful in helping to undo the acid spews, helping protect others from serious injury than in actually defeating a dragon. For my money, mages ought to focus more on keeping the damage that the dragons do minimized. We are far more effective at this than in killing the beasts.” This did not go over as well, but many recognized her wisdom.
“Baron Alvaro, can’t we move on to how to attack these dragons with weapons? Really, we need to discuss this. It’s vital,” Baron Karl interrupted again. Alvaro glanced around the room; many heads nodded in total agreement with Karl and Alvaro conceded the point.
“Okay, let’s move on then.”
“Right. I’ve heard a lot of wild stories about magical weapons and such coming from Adapazan. Perhaps Baron Zoran would like to share this with the rest of us,” Baron Karl said hostilely, as if Zoran was purposely keeping vital data from him.
Zoran turned to Archmage Karel and motioned for him to stand. “Baron Karl, I know little about such. I give you my expert, Archmage Karel.”
Karel rose solemnly and slowly. This is to be my finest hour, he thought. I will receive the recognition that I rightly deserve! “Yes, for quite some time now, barons, baronesses, Archmages, I have been enchanting all manner of weapons. With the rise of this serious dragon problem, I have found ways and means of creating Dragon Slaying weapons, both swords and arrows. Each such weapon, however, is attuned to a specific color or type of dragon. For example, any enchanted blade will have a chance of penetrating the hide of any dragon. However, my especially enchanted blades will do far more damage to the type of dragon for which it is enchanted. For example, my Red Dragon Slayer blades will do far more damage to reds than any other type of creature.”
“However, I have gone one step beyond even this. If I know the name of the dragon that I wish to slay, I can add an extra enchantment. I tested this out o
n a Red Dragon, creating an Arrow of Red Dragon Slaying for one specific red who led the slaughter of one of our entire villages. One thousand men, women, and children were murdered by his band of reds. When he returned to pick up his extorted gems, I shot the arrow at him. Mind you, an arrow has a relatively short range of travel. This specific dragon was far, far beyond bow range, yet my enchantment locked on to him and followed after him, even into the Shadows, where it finally pierced his hide and slew him. Yes, I found myself on that grey plain as the arrow pierced him, but my will is power and he was slain!”
“Now as far as technique is concerned, I’ve learned a good deal from a pair of Duska heirs from Jing. You teleport onto the necks of these flying beasts and either stab them in their eyes with a dagger or cut off their head as I did with one of my short swords — highly effective approach, I’ve found.”
“So our mighty armies are useless?” asked Baron Clav. Zoran noted that his archenemy looked both highly concerned and worried as well.
Zoran rose to answer this one. He had a vested interest in this topic. “Baron Clav, you bring up a key point that I wish to answer, as I have firsthand knowledge of this one. You are right; our mighty armies are completely and utterly useless if even one dragon attacks them. My father fielded a mighty army, shock troops and all. In thirty minutes, two dragons wiped out nearly three thousand men and had not a scratch on them. No, whatever you do when dragons attack you, do not attempt to use your soldiers. They will be destroyed utterly and likely cause no harm whatsoever to the dragons, baron. I hate to say this, but it is the truth of the matter. Dragons are at the top of the food chain, not we humans.”
“Actually, only an Archmage has much of a chance with a dragon. Next come those armed with magically enchanted blades. Mere mages are probably third in line. Virtually nothing else is going to affect these powerful beasts, baron. Well, we Duska are able to dodge them fairly effectively, if that counts for anything.” That sobered the entire room for a minute.