by Vic Broquard
Later, she overheard Anezka and Kamila chatting. “I actually did it, Kamila. I cast a for real Clean spell! The dirt really did vanish!”
“So did I! It’s fantastic, but I wonder where the dirt actually went? Did Kate tell you that?” Jarka smiled, knowing that the women were now on their way to becoming Adepts, the first step on the road to greatness.
With the successes confirmed, Zoran fired off Messages to all of the barons telling them of the terrific news and the role that Baron Goro of Asami had played. Goro began receiving many thank you’s from the other barons, which pleased the beach bum considerably.
Chapter 27 The Problem with Neutrals
During the fourth week of August, Werner, the black, and Dario, the red, began their attempt to rally the neutral dragons to their side. Now they were armed with exciting new data and plans. Why?
Wenzel, an ancient Black Dragon, had just given Werner another brilliant idea. Wenzel was Werner’s mentor. Of all dragons, Werner respected old Wenzel’s opinions the most. So far, his ideas had worked out, for the most part. Of course no one could predict the constant interference of Baron Zoran. Wenzel had stated factually. “We need to raise far more blacks. The breeding program is crucial, if we blacks are ever going to survive and take our positions as the leaders of all dragon-kind as we were meant to be.”
“Yes, but Zoran keeps interfering, finding our secret locations and stealing away our unborn baby dragons,” Werner, the black, complained bitterly.
“He is a Duska and they are to be respected. Still their powers are not unlimited. He’s made use of that Tracker Honani from Isi to locate some of your secret sites. We now know that for a fact, thanks to the red Sniffer and your spy in Brn. It was blind luck that one of the abducted women was a latent Duska. How could anyone have known that? No one could. Alas, Zoran and his Duska now know where Voss is located. However, they only know about that single location and Voss is large. Pick another location. I have some additional ideas that may keep these Duskas from finding the breeding stock. The Duska use mental communications to reach through the Shadows. Werner, it takes two to communicate. So we use a No-detect spell on each woman. That will handle that part. However, Werner, the real solution is so simple that you are going to bite your own tail when I tell you. I can’t believe that I didn’t suggest this in the first place.”
“What, Great Master? What is the real solution?” Werner, the black, asked. He was nodding as his mentor made his points. He grasped their having overlooked the No-detect spell. True, they were using Blind, Charm Human, and Sleep spells, but this one would eliminate the detection in the first place. What had they overlooked that was so simple?
Wenzel, the black, chuckled to himself. “After you have impregnated the breeding stock, Morph them into a dragon, black or red. When Zoran or anyone comes looking for them, they will only find more dragons, not humans. Make sure they are impregnated first or you will have to wait ten years or so. Blind and Charm should also be kept on them as well as Dominate and No-detect to ensure that they remain under your control.”
“Brilliant! You are right! I ought to bite my tail! This also solves the frailty of their human bodies. We feed them normal dragon food. They will not die when they give birth. Once done, we can reuse them by Morphing them back to human form, re-impregnating them, and Morphing them back into dragon forms once again. We’ll have an unlimited supply of new dragons coming from them! Brilliant indeed. Thanks Master Wenzel, thanks!” Werner, the black, was ecstatic. So simple, so effective, so fool proof, as long as the morphed humans were kept blinded. No more need for the exotic neurotoxin extracts of the reds.
“Now then, about the Neutrals. We must get them on our side at all costs,” Wenzel, the black, continued. “Visit them and see if you can now convince them. If not, then here is a last resort which should work.” He outlined his next plan.
Werner, the black, grinned, “Master, it shall be done! I will return with good news this time.”
After visiting Dario, the red, and outlining just how stupid they both had been with regards to their breeding program, the two issued new orders to get another secret site constructed on Voss. It would be ready in two weeks’ time. In addition to the existing traps that they had used previously, Werner, the black, added a couple more of them. Now it was time to convince the neutrals to join up, rally time.
First stop, Cezar, the white, on Rehor. His cave was high in the forbidding alpine region filled with year-round glaciers. Snow perpetually covered his peak. While the red and black hated the infernal cold, the personal visit was crucial. As always when conferring, the dragons lay in a circle, their heads facing each other at its center. Werner, the black, did most of the talking, while Dario, the red, tried to keep from catching a cold.
“Cezar, the time for action has come. As you know the barons have declared war on dragon-kind. Have you not seen their Strike Force One in action here on Rehor?”
“Well yes, most pathetic excuse for an attacking force. Wholly useless for the most part,” Cezar, the white, replied. Werner’s statement had not even gotten a rise out of the old white.
“This is just the very beginning of their war against us. Each month that goes by, their Archmages are pumping out more and more of their enchanted Dragon Slayer swords. Dozens are made each month. Another year from now and you will be facing a dozen more strike forces as they slowly get armed. In two years, two dozen strike forces.”
Cezar, the white, replied, “Hum. Point taken. Is that all?”
“Oh no, only the tip of the iceberg, old friend. Do you realize that at this very minute Zoran and his Archmages are making more of their Rods of Dragon Slaying and Gems of Dragon Control? Have you seen what they can do? The rods make the humans totally impervious to your frost breath, my acid spew, Dario’s flames. Our biggest weapon is nullified by these enchanted rods of theirs.”
“Yes, that is serious, Werner, most,” Cezar, the white, noted, becoming a bit more worried about the time line.
“It gets worse, Cezar. Each month, another of these foul, wicked, evil rods comes into existence, again made by the Archmages themselves. A year from now, another dozen at least will be in the hands of the humans. Two years, why two dozen or more will be used against us. Further, we’ve seen firsthand that even one rod will protect three fighters. So you are looking at dozens of nearly impervious fighters and mages attacking us at one time.”
“Well, if we don’t provoke them, surely they will not use them against us,” Cezar, the white, suggested. “Good reason to leave the humans alone.”
“But they have already declared war on we dragons, Cezar. The only reason that you have not yet been attacked is that they are waiting for more of these rod and enchanted blades before they have sufficient strength to assail you.”
“Point taken,” Cezar, the white, admitted.
“Cezar, it is far worse than you can ever imagine! Zoran and his group of Archmages are now training all those women who we tried to have give birth to our new dragons — all those he stole back from us and slaughtered the unborn dragons within their wombs. We gave them life and now Zoran is using even that against us. These women are learning magic an unheard of rates, even for humans. Those seventeen he stole almost a year ago are now officially mages and are well on their way to becoming Archmages! He has hundreds of these women in training at his fortress in Brn, Adapazan. If you do not believe me, send in a spy to Brn. If you are like me, you will be terrified of having to fight against an army of Archmages!”
“Yes, that is precisely what will be happening within just a couple of years. Two hundred Archmages will come marching out of Brn to kill off all dragon-kind! You’ve seen what just a few Archmages in a fighting group can do, they decimate our forces. Imagine what two hundred can do to us. Who knows if he will be training up even more than this? Two hundred in two years. Cezar, do the math. In two years, dozens and dozens of enchanted Dragon Slayer blades in the hands of the fighters, accompanied by hundre
ds of Archmages, all immune to our powerful breath weapons — Cezar, there will not be a dragon anywhere in these sixteen worlds that would be safe from that. The end of our whole race is at hand.”
“Two hundred? Archmages? Impossible.” Cezar, the white, replied, though Werner, the black, sensed the white had serious doubts about his statement of “impossible.”
“Go send in a spy and see for yourself. Zoran has two hundred in training at this very minute. Have your spy see for himself the incredible progress these killer mages are making.”
“I will do just that, Werner. Yet, let us say for the moment all that you have said is true. What are we to do?”
“Fight! Fight the humans now, before they complete their massive buildup of insurmountable forces. That’s what we must do. Old Aldrick just doesn’t see what’s coming. True, he’ll probably be the last dragon to be killed. He is so blind that he won’t see the sword strike coming until he’s hit with it.”
“You mean to go up against Zoran at his fortress in Brn?” Cezar, the white, asked, somewhat taken aback. He feared Zoran and his army of Archmages already.
“No, that would decimate our forces too badly. No, we start wiping out whole outlying towns and villages across all the planets. We force the barons to spread their, as yet not fully equipped and manned forces, out over wide areas. Then we smash them. Get a single Archmage alone, like the greens did, and we can defeat him. Allow seven Archmages to join forces and we are doomed to massive losses. It can be done, but only if all we dragons work together.”
“Well, Werner, if what you say about their massive buildup of Archmages and rods is true, then we are left with little choice but to attack them before they can become fully prepared to slaughter all dragon-kind. Let me send out some spies and learn of this myself.”
Werner, the black, could get no further commitments from Cezar, the white. Still, he was certain that once the white’s spies reported back, Cezar would be on board with the attack plans. He and Dario then left to visit the next neutral leader. “Let’s go-o-o to the desert. I am freezing to death,” Dario, the red, suggested. They did just that, visiting Donatello, the brown, on the desert world of Anwyn.
Werner , the black, made basically the same presentation to Donatello, the brown, as he had to Cezar, the white. Donatello’s reactions were vastly more subdued.
“Our relations with the humans have given us no cause to harm them. They are puny and we are strong. Have you and the reds not provoked them into this? I certainly think so,” Donatello, the brown, countered. “We browns have no desire to fight your wars for you. Would you let a brown lead the attacks? I thought not.”
After hearing about the two hundred Archmages, which ought to have filled the brown with fear and trepidation, Donatello, the brown, answered, “Yes, if I had been the ones provoking the humans, I would be frightened and rightly so. I am sure that the humans will leave us alone, just as we leave them alone, Werner. Blacks and reds are famous for biting the hand that feeds them, literally in this case.”
Clearly, Donatello, the brown, would not be siding with the proposed war. He would need Wenzel’s further inducements. Worse, with the near annihilation of the greens, Donatello, the brown, now commanded the largest force of dragons of any color. It was critical to get Donatello onboard. Originally, the reds and blacks had the largest numbers, but having suffered so many losses in the past year, the browns now outnumbered them. This was another factor spurring them into the breeding program.
The two dragons next visited Bolivar, the blue, on Asami. The total number of blues was about half of those of the reds, blacks, browns, and whites. Further, they preferred a watery existence. Still, a dragon is a dragon and the two delivered their pitch to Bolivar, the blue. His reactions were nearly the same as Donatello’s had been. He chided Dario for having used Blue Dragon Extract to paralyze the kidnaped women, however, annoying Dario, the red.
Finally, the two visited Alistair, the green, who had abandoned Jing and was now living on Maeve, with the final remnants of the greens, barely forty all told. He was all for the war, but pointed out that his greens were almost extinct as it was. Hence, Werner, the black, outlined their new, foolproof breeding program.
Alistair, the green, still smarting over having conquered Jing only to lose it and nearly all his greens, declared, “Okay, Werner, here’s the deal. You get the breeding program going. Capture dozens of human females for us. We will come and breed them. Once we actually have fifty baby greens in our hands, I will commit the remainder of our males to the war. Our remaining females must care for the new young ones.”
Werner, the black, saw his point and agreed with Alistair, the green. “Okay, once we have the breeding program going, I will come get you to partake. Fifty it shall be for starters.” Alistair, the green, nodded, confident that he’d made an incredibly good bargain. The blacks did all the work and he had to do nothing to repopulate his greens. Werner must really be desperate, Alistair thought after the two left.
Back at his warm cavern, Dario, the red, complained, “Werner, we’ve accomplished nothing. It is still four to four in the voting, assuming Cezar gets aboard with his whites.”
“Well, the greens are nearly useless anyway and there are so few of them that it isn’t going to matter much, except for their council vote. Same with the greys, too few of them to amount to much. No, it is the browns that we need to convince. I have a plan for that too, old friend. We need to get fourteen of our most trusted dragons together and at least two have to be able to cast the Morph Other spell. Here’s what we are going to do to get the browns on our side. Once it is five to three, the blues and greys will have no choice. They always follow the vote.” Both dragons chuckled at his jest.
Chapter 28 Love Lost, Love Found
Wen, Chan, Zong, and Dana were swamped. With the entire ruling body and the entire army of their world suddenly eliminated in one day, Jing entered very uncertain times. They had scraped together a dozen palace guards for each of the three fortresses, woefully inadequate. True, they still had the domestic staff that their late brothers employed and they retained them by immediately doubling their salaries — Chan’s idea.
With no mages handling the usual communications and court details, the three new rulers were forced to deal with every issue personally turning long days into near nightmares for the three women. They had little choice but to offer various court positions to many of their cousins, though they tried to keep their power hungry uncles out of the picture in so far as that was possible.
Outside of the three main cities with their fortresses, palaces, and Circles of Ascension, the common folk accepted the change in rulership. Many proclaimed that this was for the best, especially since the greens seemed to have deserted Jing. The three women knew that opinion would change the instant the greens made a reappearance. No, their greater security problem came from the very cities in which they now lived. At last tax time, Nanchan residents tallied one hundred fifty thousand, while Chaohu and Zhouhan tallied around a hundred thousand residents each.
Here in these cities dwelled most of Jing’s assassins and thieves, some of which in the past had been frequently employed by their brothers. Many of the deceased soldiers’ families lived in the cities too. Some of these relatives were demanding compensation for the lost men. A dozen palace guards were ill equipped to really maintain security over the large palaces, fortresses, and Circles. Hardly a day went by without the Dana or the baronesses having to stop everything to handle a robbery attempt or even an assassination attempt. The occurrences of the latter forced the three women to keep Skin of Stone spells on themselves nearly all the time, especially when they were asleep. Few nights went by without at least one Alarm spell going off, rousing them all to deal with some kind of break in.
A week after the High Council had accepted them as Jing’s official new rulers, the three were routinely only getting three or four hours sleep at a time. Enter politics — Federation politics, to be precise. Duk
e Bogdan Clav was the first suitor to put in an appearance at Wen’s court in Nanchan. “Greetings Baroness Wen Meerong. I’ve come to offer you my hand in marriage. Obviously, you need a strong man to rule at your side, to enforce your will on your people. I am that man,” he declared boastfully.
Per Federation Rules, she had to accept his offer and genuinely consider it, even though she found him repugnant. At least she had another strong sword hanging around the fortress. Not long after that, Chan had to welcome a suitor from Dietmar, followed within days with a suitor from Anwyn. As Dana pointed out, the enemy planets were moving swiftly to attempt to bring Jing back into their group of planets.
Zoran knew that this would be happening, but he could do nothing about it, save allow Dana to remain with Wen. He knew that the two had fallen for each other but he also knew that the rulers of Jing were facing monumental problems that he really could do little about, except provide advice when asked.
Barons Leo and Stefan, on the other hand, saw the overall political implications. For centuries, Jing had been solidly in the enemy planet alliance. Overnight, its allegiance had flipped, thanks to Zoran. At the High Council meeting, these two barons saw that if Jing were going to remain in their camp, they would have to act. “After all, Zoran has done all the hard work for us. It is up to us to secure what he’s done,” Leo pointed out. The two agreed to do so.
Each baron kept in touch with either Chan or Wen at least twice each day, answering key questions the baronesses had and subtly analyzing the new rulers’ current needs. They did their best to assist, sending many loads of supplies at way below going prices. Thus they learned of the arrival of the various suitors and knew that they had to take an even larger role if they were to keep Jing from falling back into the enemy camp. They would have to provide suitors as well.