by Vic Broquard
“Oh yea? How?” Dario, the red, suddenly became intensely interested.
Werner, the black, let out a long, sneering laugh. “Before I tell you, there is one other thing that we didn’t bring up before Aldrick. Dante, please tell the greens what you’ve discovered.”
Dante, the red, smiled. “We’ve been putting our human forms to good use, ever since Baron Clav began feeding us wrong information about the human gem shipments. We’ve been doing a little spying on our own here on Rehor and on Adapazan. Brace yourselves, this in incredible and terrible news.”
“Ah, come on, Dante. Out with it! You always did have a flair for the dramatic,” growled Cezar, the white, growing more impatient by the moment. He did not like all this delaying talk. “Just say it” was his philosophy.
Unwilling to be rushed, Dante, the red, continued, “Recently, some very large emeralds have been unearthed on Adapazan and on Rehor. Two of these are in the hands of Archmages — Jakob Hamil in Tratky Province, Adapazan and old Valentýn Ryba of Rehor, Baron Clav’s lackey.”
“So?” Cezar, the white, growled, growing even more impatient. The exhilarating cold was beckoning to him, and he longed to get back home and enjoy this fine weather.
“So we’ve discovered that these two treacherous Archmages are working on enchanting these gems.”
“Why not?” Cezar, the white, growled. Dante, the red, was obviously dragging this out.
“Both are working on making some kind of Gem of Dragon Control magical items out of them,” Dante, the red, finally punched in the magnitude of his spy’s discoveries. “Yes, if these evil men succeed, they will be able to wave their creations about and force us to do their bidding! They will be able to control us! Force us into utter slavery!” Dante, the red, smirked. He’d just delivered the coupe de grace.
Curses filled the cavern room. When the explicatives died down, Cezar, the white, now suddenly interested, said, “This cannot be allowed to happen! Are you sure that they are actually doing this? Have they the power, intelligence, and magical skill to make such hideous devices?”
“They are Archmages, are they not? Valentýn’s been at it for years, we think. No, they have not yet gotten the heavy power enchantments completed, as far as we can tell. There is still time to prevent them from succeeding. If they are successful, all dragons will be in dire jeopardy! We cannot allow them to finish.”
“But killing an Archmage is most difficult,” Werner, the black, pointed out.
“Quite true, quite,” Cezar, the white, concurred, although he had never tried such a thing. The mere label of Archmage cast a certain awe and fear in his mind.
“What can we do about it?” asked Jenryk, the white, highly worried.
“We can slow them down a while. That is the safe route, not directly attacking the Archmages in their highly enchanted Magic Towers. No, that would be suicide on our part. Lord knows what evil, wicked, diabolical traps such powerful mages have in place there. No, we must take two approaches. First, let our people know about these and keep a sharp watch on each other. Report any strange behavior to us leaders at once. That way, the instant that they are successful, we will know about it and can then take decisive actions to stop them. Second, we can slow them down,” Werner, the black, retook control of his private meeting.
“We can do two things — one to make up the losses of our children and one to slow these evil, wicked mages down,” Werner, the black, lowered his voice to the barest whisper. Naturally, all the others cocked their ears intently to hear his plans.
“I love it! Brilliant, Werner, positively brilliant!” Dario, the red, exclaimed upon hearing the two ideas.
The pair of greens laughed. “Count the greens in on this one!” added Alistair, the green. “Ingenious. We’d never of thought of this!”
“Then it is agreed? We four races shall follow this path?” Werner, the black, called for a vote. He had one hundred percent agreement from them. “I’ll work out the details shortly and let you know when we start.” After that, their private meeting also broke up.
Later that day, Aldrick visited Zoran and told him, “I believe that I have cooled things down between the dragons and humans. However, I learned a most disturbing thing. Apparently, humans have been murdering some of our defenseless children in their home caverns while their parents were out hunting for food. Can you look into this? If this has or is happening, you must cease killing our young immediately.”
“Damn Aldrick! I’ve heard absolutely nothing about any such thing at the High Council. No baron mentioned any such thing. The way the meeting went, I am certain that I would have heard about something like that. Nevertheless, I will spread the word and see if any of us can find out if that has been happening. I give you my word that we will try to see if that’s happened, and, if so, put a stop to it,” Zoran replied earnestly.
“I’m sure that you will. Good day.” Aldrick left. He felt certain that Zoran was just as shocked and surprised to hear this as he had been. No, Zoran knew nothing about the killing of our children, he thought.
Zoran Messaged the other barons. None new anything about it, but promised to look into it. Over dinner, Zoran told the others about it. All were just as surprised as he to learn of it. However, Archmage Karel began to wonder about it. Was there any connection between these murders and the mysterious supplies that his son was providing him?
Chapter 12 The Petr Falls Affair
Tratky Province is located in the far northern portion of the main known continent of Adapazan. There in the often frozen land, Warlord Osvald ruled. Twelve years ago, he was able to purchase the services of one of Archmage Zdenka’s newly trained Archmages, Jakob Hamil, who had just turned eighteen and was a nephew of Osvald. The warlord had sent him down to Brn to be trained, accepting Baron Zoran’s offer of mage training for the many warlords. Luck was with him, Jakob excelled far beyond any of his expectations.
Now supported by a true Archmage of immense power, Warlord Osvald began making huge strides in bringing civilization to his people of the far north. Vastly better roads had already contributed to immeasurably better trading deals. Tratky produced high quality iron ore and emeralds along with coal. At long last, the warlord could send large shipments south, receiving large shipments of manufactured items which his people greatly desired and needed. During these past ten years, the quality of life in this far northern province had improved markedly.
The village of Petr Falls lay some five miles from his fortress and the new Archmage tower, that is, as the crow flies. The winding road took some eight miles to get there. The terrain was craggy and mountainous for the most part. However, Petr Falls was located at the edge of a fertile valley. Crops were grown there during the short growing season from late May through August. The rugged mountains with their thick cover of pines lay at the western edge of the village. Here were found a highly profitable iron mine and a vein which produced emeralds as well. Thus, the two thousand plus folks who lived in Petr Falls were mostly miners or farmers, though a few were teamsters.
“Zoran! Quick! Dragons have attacked Petr Falls! It’s horrible!” Early one morning in late October, Zoran was startled to receive the panic stricken Message from Archmage Jakob Hamil who lived up in Tratky Province.
“Good god not again! Where is Petr Falls?” Zoran sent back via a Message spell.
“Five miles south of the fortress. Home in on me. Be prepared. It is a horror beyond description. Warlord Osvald was here, vomited, and left,” Archmage Jakob sent back. At once, Zoran sent a Message to his ever-growing group of First Responders, as he had begun to call them. Mystical Doors flashed as they began assembling in his study, all dressed for the winter cold.
“I’ve got a pail of healing potions, but if this one is like the others, they won’t be of much use,” Jarka said sternly. “I thought that Aldrick said that this sort of thing was going to stop,” she added covertly.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet, Jarka. Okay, grab on to me.
Lord knows where this Petr Falls is at. I am homing in on Jakob,” Zoran said sternly. A moment later, he Shadow Walked the large group, arriving beside Archmage Jakob, who was dressed in heavy furs and standing at the edge of the village.
“Oh dear god!” Mage Jarka exclaimed.
“Not again!” Archmage Karel cursed.
“Oh god!” Zdenka whispered under her breath.
“How many lived here, Jakob?” Zoran asked, fighting the urge to vomit himself. Smoke rose from the burning homes. Bodies lay everywhere in the snow-covered streets. The stone buildings were crumbled, as if some giant hands had taken an enormous ball bat to them. Other than the crackling of still burning fires, no other sounds could be heard in this once picturesque village.
“At least two thousand lived here, maybe more,” Archmage Jakob whispered, afraid to raise his voice as if it might frighten the dead who lay everywhere before them.
“Okay, we should fan out and look for survivors,” Mage Jarka took charge. Reactively, the others followed her, as she began stepping gingerly down the street, avoiding the obviously dead bodies. “Fire. Must have been reds,” she called out. A bit later, “No wait, this one has acid burns. Blacks too! Wait, this one is frozen stiff! Whites were here as well! Damn reds, blacks, and whites!” Zoran’s heart sank. All three types were working together — such a combination was beyond deadly. Just then Aldrick and Emil appeared flying above them.
Aldrick glided down, morphing into his human shape. “Damn them. They gave me their word that this would not happen again. Zoran, I will deal with them.”
“Reds, blacks, and whites were here, we think. Take a look for yourself and verify that we are correct,” Zoran said softly.
“Hey, over here! We have a survivor!” Jarka yelled. Zdenka and Verushka got to her first and saw a young woman of twenty-two lying face down in the foot deep snow. Her fur coat was blackened and burned partially, but the hood had protected her face. Both of her hands were charred, mere bones lying upon the pool of melted snow that they had melted, a ghastly sight. A foot from her was the charred remains of a one year only baby boy. To her right were the remains of a three year old girl. Her hands had been reaching for them, that much was clear. The woman was unconscious, but as Zdenka tried to lift her up so Jarka could pour in the life-saving potion, the burned bones of her hands cracked and remained frozen in the pool of ice they had made from the snow. Blood began flowing from the woman’s lower arms.
“Good god!” Zdenka whispered. Jarka poured the healing potion into the woman’s mouth, while Verushka used her hands to make the woman swallow the liquid. Jarka poured three healing potions into the woman, before Bernard and Chan called out.
“Hey, here’s another survivor. Jarka, over here fast!” Chan yelled, excited that she had found another survivor, this time a ten year old girl.
“Verushka, get her back to our place and get her cleaned up and in a warm bed pronto. I’ll get back as soon as we find the rest of the survivors. Get the infirmary ready for us,” Jarka ordered, then scampered over to Chan and Bernard, who already had the young girl propped up and ready for Jarka’s potions.
The girl’s left arm was nearly entirely gone, eaten away by acid. She too was unconscious and blood covered the whole left side of her winter coat, which was covered in black soot and partially dissolved by the acid. Evidently, she had escaped a burning building only to run into a stream of spewing acid from a black, Jarka concluded. Hastily, she poured three healing potions into the girl before ordering Bernard to get her back to the infirmary. “Hurry up, dear and get back fast. There may be more.”
“You got it, my love.” Bernard gently lifted the girl and teleported away. Chan and Jarka rose and continued their search. Body by body, the group stopped and checked on the dead. After a half hour, they finished their first pass through the village and found no other survivors.
“Okay, we’d best recheck everyone and search the buildings. There could be more trapped inside,” Zoran ordered. Jakob and I will start organizing the confirmed dead. Karel will dig us a mass grave. We should lay the dead out first. Jakob says that some of their relatives would like to pay their last respects before we bury them.”
Three hours later, two thousand one hundred five bodies lay in a long line down the main street of Petr Falls. Several dozen relatives arrived and crying became the most common sound now. “I’ll take it from here, Zoran,” Jakob said softly. “I’ll handle the burial. There are others on their way to pay their respects yet. No need for you and the others to stick around. It is going to be a very grim late morning, sir.”
“Okay, thanks Jakob. True, there is little more that we can do here. I will let you know how the two survivors are doing. Once we know their names, you can see if they have any other relatives around here who can take them in. If not, we’ll take good care of them in Brn,” Zoran replied solemnly. His group quietly teleported home.
Zoran and Zdenka headed for the infirmary the moment they returned to their fortress in Brn. They found Verushka hovering over her two patients, along with Jarka. Both were now conscious, though both were sobbing.
“This is Lilia Mila. She’s twenty-two,” Verushka said quietly. The young woman was fairly pretty with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes, bloodshot from crying. Verushka had her cleaned up and tucked nicely into a bed; her two arm stumps were bandaged and resting above the covers. “Those were her two children by her. We’ve learned that they were attacked by a flock of red, black, and a few white dragons. She has no idea how many there were, just lots according to her. They were taken by complete surprise, naturally.”
Zoran leaned over her. “Lilia. I am Baron Zoran. You are safe here in my fortress. We will look after you now. Get some rest and recover.”
“My babies! I’ve lost my babies!” she wailed and Zoran could think of nothing comforting to say to her. Graciously, Verushka moved him over to the other bed where the young girl was sitting up. She too had been cleaned up and tucked into a warm bed.
“This is Neda Valdemar. She’s ten going on eleven,” Verushka said softly and the girl grinned at that last, trying to look older than she was.
“Very pleased to meet you, Neda. You are safe here. We will look after you. You have nothing to fear or worry about now,” Zoran told her.
“Are the dragons gone? Will they come back? Is mommy dead too? I saw daddy burning up. He’s dead, isn’t he?” she asked bravely.
“I am afraid they both didn’t make it. But you, young lady, you have survived and that is wonderful,” Zoran answered her.
“My shoulder hurts. Will my arm grow back?” she asked innocently.
“The pain will subside soon, dear,” Jarka explained. “In a little while, I will give you another of my potions and then there will be no more pain. I am afraid though that I don’t know how to grow back missing arms. But that’s not the end of the world. Chan lost hers to a Green Dragon. She’s a dragon fighter and is now back ready to fight them again. She and her sister have killed nineteen of them. So it’s not the end of the world, dear.”
“Really? Chan only has one arm like I do? She’s killed nineteen? Really?” Neda’s eyes opened wide.
“You bet. After you get a little stronger, I’ll have Chan come by and tell you about it,” Jarka said.
“Promise?”
“Promise!” Neda smiled broadly.
“I’ll see if we can find any of your relatives. They must be plenty worried about you, Neda,” Zoran added. She smiled again and he left to do just that.
Although Jakob tried, no relatives could be found for either patient. All had perished in the attack. Later that evening, Jakob personally visited Zoran.
“Hi. Well, I have the dead buried now. However, Baron Zoran, we’ve come across something quite shocking. I don’t know quite what to make of it,” he said. From the pained expression on his face, Zoran knew that something was seriously amiss.
Jakob continued. “Thirty
women are missing along with twenty-five men.”
“What? Maybe they were able to flee the carnage?” Zoran suggested hopefully.
“We thought so at first. However, we scoured the edge of Petr Falls. There are no signs of anyone leaving the village. There was a light snowfall last night; anyone leaving would have left footprints or sleigh tracks or hoof prints if they went by horse. No, they are simply missing and unaccounted for — thirty women and twenty-five men.”
“How strange.”
“Indeed. That’s why I am so late reporting back to you. I don’t like anomalies so I have been checking on it further. The final results are still not completely clear, but it appears that the thirty missing women are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. The missing men are all similar in age and were miners, relatively burly, strong men. I’ll know more in a few days. I have several men and women working on trying to put together just who is missing. None are related to the two survivors, unfortunately. I guess they are orphans now.”
“How incredibly strange. Yes, we will look after them here in Brn. Fifty-five missing. Weird indeed. Where could they have gone? Could a mage have teleported them to safety someplace?”
“That is what I am hoping, baron. There were two mages living in Petr Falls, but we buried both of their bodies. If they did manage to get them to safety, we won’t know from them. I guess time will tell. Still, I don’t like anomalies.”
“I agree. Keep on it. We need to find them and make sure that they are safe.”