Kyle Aarons

The Kandric Saga

Chapters 23-24

Chapter 23

"I have no clue what to do now," Kandric stated as he spit out another mouthful of the dragon's blood. He poured the water skin over his head and shook it violently as he leapt off the body of the dead green dragon. As he did so he sent drops of water thinned dragon blood splattering everywhere. "Well, this is about the most disgusting thing I could ever imagine."

Zeltoss held up his hand, "Careful Kandric! Keep your sword away from the bulge under its neck. Its poisonous gas is still in there!" Kandric quickly stepped forward and glanced back. It took only a couple of seconds to spot the area Zeltoss had warned him about. "Wow, I was way too close, Thanks Zel!"

"Us Mystics have to learn dragon parts." Zeltoss grinned, "But I never thought it would come in handy."

"My dad always said you just never know when an item of knowledge will come in handy. He was big on me and my sisters learning as much about different things as possible." Lorethorn added as he started to shake off the fear of an encounter almost no one would believe he had lived through even if he told them.

"He had a very valid point," Kandric nodded in agreement, "My teacher's most often spoken line was the most valuable thing in the world was knowledge, because everything else could be taken away."

Kandric caught his breath as he looked over the carnage the four of them had left in their wake over the last half an hour or so and then back to the massive cave in. He paused and glanced down at his own blood coated arms and hands then over to his new friends. As he did so he couldn't help but to notice all three of them had blood spatter of countless fallen enemies all over them and their weapons dripped with the gore of battle.

Taking a deep breath he walked around a couple of minutes and looked at the dozens of dead bodies littering the cavern floor. As the full impact of what the aftermath of a real battle was hit him he knelt and puked."

Lorthorn moved up, "Teacher Kandric?"

Kandric held up a hand as he took a swig of his own water skin and spit it out. "I will be fine. Just give me a minute."

"Dragon blood." Seldnat grunted.

Kandric forced himself to swallow some bile as he stood, "Only partially my friend." He stopped as it dawned on him the others didn't even realize what all four of them had just done. "Guys, I did not do this alone. Look around, see what we have done. Look your weapons. Look at your own clothing. Look at each other. I did not do all of this. We did."

Kandric watched the other three stop and take a look around. One by one the color drained from their faces as they started to move around the dead. A few times they paused to examine a spot where a creature had fallen mortally wounded, but must not have been completely dead. The death of the dragon had done the same for them as it had for Zeltoss and to a lesser extent the other three. The difference was, they fled in absolute terror.

Kandric nodded as the eyes of the other three come up to meet his. As they did so, he could see a mixture of the awe and horror he was feeling. "Not exactly all glorious is it?"

Seldnat shook his head, "Me killed lots a thing, but no notice it be like after. How me not see this before?"

Lorthorn nodded over at the Halforc boy, "Yea, but I don't get it. We're just a bunch of kids. How did we do all of this?"

Zeltoss pointed at Kandric, "He led us and we have learned how to be a team. All these creatures could have overwhelmed us, but they didn't use the teamwork we did and I never saw one of the cover the back of another like we all did countless times. They were crazy or insane the way they attacked us!"

"They were desperate and wanting the reward they would have gotten for a kill or capture," Kandric responded. "They would have gotten gold and power beyond dreams if they had dropped one of us while their very lives would have been forfeit if this dragon had gotten a single scratch. Now, however, those who survived are going to be hunted down like rabid dogs by everything the Green Dragons can throw at them. This will cause those who survived to be marked for a torturous execution or worse. This was a Green Dragon Great female, the rarest and most precious type of dragon in the world."

Seldnat gulped, "What 'bout we den teach'r?"

Kandric shrugged, "I honestly don't know. If they find out who we are I am sure they will want our heads. On the other hand it will be tough for them to find out who did this and they will be very afraid of us if they do. As far as I know this is the first time since at least the great Dragon wars that a Great female has been killed and it may be the first time since the Mythling wars that a non-dragon has killed a great female."

Kandric activated his necklace's ability to get him clean. As he did so, all signs of combat vanished from his skin and clothing. However, the extra magic from the dragon's death augmented this power, cleaning the other three's clothing and bodies as well. As this happened, Kandric felt some of his force get sucked out of his ring. He shook his head to clear it.

Lorthorn looked down at his clothing and weapon noticing all traces of dirt were gone and his weapon looked cleaned and oiled, "Nice trick Teacher!"

"Yea, but it wasn't supposed to do this," Kandric turned to face Zeltoss. "Zel, no spell tossing for a while; magic is going nuts down here right now!"

"I'm betting Rylop and the others are going a bit nuts right now too," Lorethorn snickered as he glanced toward the little cut out section that had been the guard post with the air shaft.

Seldnat grinned, "Yea, me bet dis whole hill be goin' nuts thanks ta teach'r Kandric!"

***

The Alphar scouts helped locate the entrance Kandric had entered allowing Duke Mathard and his Garm force quickly push into the caves within Bloody Rock. The expert miners with him quickly picked up the trail and followed it. Less than an hour in, the trail of death and destruction left behind started some quiet conversations within the Garm force, but Duke Mathard put a stop to the discussions. His single goal was to locate the young Alphar Prince and rescue him.

Still he had to wonder if this was really going to turn out to be a rescue mission. The trail of dead Morg, Hobgoblins, Green Dragonlings and Black Dragonlings was truly astonishing. The deeper they moved several facts started to take shape. First and probably most surprising was the fact the bodies had yet to be taken care of. This all but assured Mathard and his men the Alphar Prince was still on the loose, since once captured or killed the next duty would be to clean up the mess.

Second, and almost as surprising, was the lack of resistance. Even after a full hour they had yet to face serious opposition. A through search of each area had turned up a handful of Morg and Hobgoblins, most of them young or female and just trying to hide and ride out the assault. Duke Mathard used supplies found to hog tie any who surrendered without resistance. Any who ran or tried to fight were added to the high body count within the labyrinth known as Bloody Rock.

Finally the lead scout moved through another cavern littered with looted bodies and knelt, "The trail grows cold here my lord. They were here, but did not go further."

Duke Mathard moved up and glanced around. "Did they gate themselves out?"

A sorcerer came up shaking his heard, "No my lord. There have been no spells of such power cast here in quite some time, if ever. The flow of magic is steady. Actually there are some protections to prevent such spells, not good ones, but they are in place. It is almost as if a considerable amount of effort has been put in over the past 100 years or so to give this whole place some protections against scrying and gating types of magic. The scrying protections are actually very good."

A second Miner and scout moved around the cavern looking over the dead. "These bodies have been stripped of far more gear than most of the others. They may have started running low on supplies or had a serious injury and decided to halt their attack. One way or the other they turned around here."

Mathard frowned, "They did not leave. We would have stumbled right on them, so they must have taken a side passage."

The lead scout rolled his eyes, "Then they took a real small offshoot somewhere and took enough time to clean their boots of blood and let them dry, because we would have spotted them otherwise. They could be anywhere."

A deep booming voice cascaded through the cavern, "My scouts concurred hours ago. What brings the Garm out of their self imposed exile?"

Duke Mathard spun in the direction of his voice. In his heart he already knew what he would see, but even as prepared as he thought he was, he could feel his throat tighten and his eyes bug out as the head of Blathamort, king of all Black Dragons, came into view.

Time seemed to stop as the vibrations of each footfall of the gigantic dragon shook through the Duke and his troops. Several fell, while others took a knee. Duke Mathard had to remind himself to breath as he wondered how many of his force had dropped to the ground out of fear and how many had actually fallen do to the continuing tremors cause by the movement of the dragon king. The Duke slid his feet further apart to absorb the shock to his whole body as he took in the full terrifying beauty of Blathamort.

Meter by meter the midnight black scales came into view, the very light seemed to be partially absorbed making the cavern dimmer, to where even shadows seemed to flee the presence of the monster. As Duke Mathard gazed on, the smell in the cave changed as several of his Garm warriors soiled their loincloths well before all 85 meters of black scaled serpent came into view. Even the teeth were dark as a cloudy moonless night sky and the eye Mathard could see was as cold and dark as the emptiness of a hole. Adding to the effect was the sounds of the protective scales around the nose moving to allow the passage of vast amounts of air into and out of the serpent's lungs. An eerie whistling sound almost as a storm blown wind echoed over the heavy breathing of the entire Garm force.

Still even as imposing as Blathamort was Mathard noticed something those under him did not. It was not much, but truth be told it was just enough to give Duke Mathard a spark of hope. A smile crept on to his lips as he bowed to show some respect, "King, our mission here is straight forward. We are here to retrieve a young Alphar Prince who got in over his head while exploring the area. It was felt we would be a better choice than the Alphar since there is considerable iron within this place. If you would be kind enough to allow us to find him and escort the boy and those with him out of this cavern there will be no need for further violence."

Blathamort let out a deep growling sigh, knocking over a trio of still standing Garm. His head moved from side to side looking over the 100 plus heavily armed and armored high dwarves, most of whom were shaking off their initial terror and starting to get ready for combat. With a nod of his head he motioned for three score of Dragonlings to move forward to show he was not alone in this fight.

The silence, even momentary, gave Duke Mathard some pause. The very fact Blathamort didn't instantly refuse said way more then words would have. Having a large Dragonling force move up in a display of force reveled even more. This massive beast was worried. Mathard glanced up slightly once again catching sight of a graying edge to many of Blathamort's face and neck scales and a slight trembling to his right front hip as he moved. It was clear this massive beast was getting old and although it would never admit it, the thought of a fight with such a skilled force seemed to be giving him some pause.

Even as the silence persisted many of the Garm warriors behind him slowly stated moving away from each other and getting shields ready to block the rain of acid that they were certain would come out of the giant dragon's mouth at any moment. The further apart they were the harder it would be for Blathamort to kill or injure large numbers in a first volley of acid and spells.

Just as Blathamort was about to reply, the whole cavern shook followed moments later by an incredible burst of magic. Blathamort jerked his head and screamed in a mixture of rage and outright terror. Suddenly the King of all Black Dragons didn't look quite so old as he spun his entire body and charged down the passageway he had come. Over a third of his Dragonlings were physically knocked to the ground, some seriously wounded by the radical flight of their King. Two of the Garm warriors were instantly killed as they were tail whipped into the side of the cavern. Those who didn't understand Blathamort's words didn't really need to as the tone of the order allowed most of the Garm to understand even though the actually words escaped them. Even in its most rudimentary translation the message was crystal clear. "Kill them all!"

Duke Mathard didn't have the luxury of trying to comprehend what had just occurred. Instead he took the fight to the totally off balance elite Dragonling force. He picked out one dressed in the fanciest of armor and hurled his axe into its face as he shouted out in Garm, "Front lines take down any who lead first. Crossbowman, finish off those wounded and down before they can recover!"

One of the Garm Officers slammed his short sword into the gut of one of the Dragonlings in front of him, "What just happened my lord?"

Mathard used his off hand to stick a dagger into the neck of a Dragonling trying to get back to its feet after the flight of its king as he replied, "Something powerful enough to scare a dragon; what more needs to be said!" Throughout the cave Garm forces took full advantage of the violent and unexpected exit of Blathamort. Most of the Dragonlings didn't get a single breath off before they fell. Those who did found their breath weapons defected by prepared warriors with large shields. Still the screams of pain from a few Garm echoed through the cavern as acid splattering off of shields dripped onto hands and faces of a few unlucky warriors.

Less than five minutes of combat was all the Garm needed to secure the cavern. A few Dragonlings remained being lead by a rather young looking Dragonling officer in black chain armor with obsidian shoulder boards. He glared at Duke Mathard as he and the few survivors were surrounded by Garm. He spoke in Dwarvin as he motioned for those with him to lower their weapons while he moved forward with a raised mace. "Do you have any idea what the one you are here to retrieve just did?"

Mathard shook his head, "No, but I am sure I will find out soon enough," he then pointed to his lead sorcerer, "Take him alive, Healthmen, Channelers and Shamen move up and take care of our wounded. Everyone break out water skins and wash off weapons, shields and other gear hit by acid. Re-supply water from the pool on the far side of this cavern. We need to secure the area, find out what happened, and get back on track to rescue the prince."

The lead Garm sorcerer cast a powerful electric shock on the armor of the Dragonling with the dark black chain suit causing the creature to jerk and twitch before falling unconscious on the floor of the cave. The spell seemed to gather strength rather than diminish. Arcs of electrical energy started to flair around the armor, partially welding parts of the metal together. Finally the astonished Sorcerer had to use extra force to cut the flow of his own spell he fell to a knee exhausted by the sudden outburst of a spell beyond what he should have been able to cast.

"Oh, that isn't right." Duke Mathard growled as he knelt next to his lead sorcerer with a great deal of concern. "Spell casters, magic is off, use low power spells because they seem to be flaring at the moment!"

The Duke's Captain of the Guard moved up and knelt next to the Duke and Sorcerer. "I have to wonder if this Alphar prince didn't rescue us instead of the other way around my Lord."

Duke Mathard glanced over as the last seven Dragonlings dropped their already lowered weapons as their final leader fell. "Your thoughts and mine are on the same paths," he then pointed at the fallen leader, "Did we accidentally kill him?"

One of the warriors moved over to the leader and got a shock off the armor as he checked on him, "No my lord, he is alive. His breathing is not very strong and he has some bad burns on his scales from the spell, but it appears he will live. It also looks like he chipped several teeth as he was jerking inside the armor."

Mathard nodded as he glanced over to some of his other warriors who were waiting on a decision on what to do with those who surrendered. "Spare them, but chain them. Have a few of our walking wounded take them and our seriously injured out to the Alphar for proper and full attention. Also grab the leader, and tend to him. He is coming with us, so muzzle him. Kill any who are too badly wounded to take up to the Alphar or show any desire to resist. Chain the rest. I want none of these creatures to escape. I am going to take our fastest scouts and follow. We must get to the Prince before he does!"

The Duke's Captain of the Guard stood and started point to those under him to get the Duke's orders moving, "This prince must be quite impressive."

Duke Mathard managed a smile noting only six of his number had been killed and only a dozen wounded badly enough to need to head topside. He pointed to ten of his best warriors and two of his top scouts to start tracking Blathamort's hurried exit. Before he turned to join them he glanced back to his guard captain. "Something tells me everyone here will be thanking this Alphar Prince Kandric."

***

Senole led Rylop and the others back to the passage Kandric and the others had taken down into the depths of Bloody Rock. The young Dwarf had no problem picking out land marks, some of the more obvious ones he pointed out to the small group, but gave up in short order as he realized the untrained eyes of those he was leading could not tell what he was trying to show them unless he spent time to explain and time was simply something he didn't have.

Rylop glanced as he realized the speed at which they were moving created a great deal of sound. "Half this hill is goin' ta be able to hear us."

"I don't think it it'll matter none, sir." Senole stated with a great deal of concern in his voice. "When I left them, there were lots of voices closing in on them. With the huge rumbling we heard and felt, I bet Teacher Kandric caused a cave in. Everyone in this whole section had to have heard it!"

"Yea, well, I just hope they ain't under tons a rock 'er nothin'." Rylop stated showing growing nervousness. "Without him 3;" His voice trailed off as the sounds of a deeply enraged powerful voice seemed to echo around him.

Senole's eyes grew wide as he pointed to the vent shaft, "It's coming from where they went."

Rylop moved over to the sharply downward sloping tube and looked down "What in the name of the gods is that?"

"I'm not sure, but it sounds really pissed!" Karvock, the adult Healthman, spoke up as he moved forward to look down the tube. "It sound like it is speaking in Elvish."

"Somehow, I don't think they is under any rocks." Senole snickered as he kicked the still staked rope down the vent so everyone could climb down.

Before anyone could respond the cavern shook violently enough to knock down almost everyone in the group. Rylop, who happened to be looking down the vent, ended up falling in. Only his large size coupled with his armor saved him from falling all the way down. On the other hand he slid over three meters before getting stuck. "OH Crap! Pull me up!"

Just as several of the kids moved up to haul him out with the help of the rope another tremor caused the ground, then the walls, and finally the roof to start vibrating. Several kids knelt while others staggered around desperately trying to keep their footing. The few with shields put them over their heads to deflect stones as they started to fall from above.

Everyone felt and some could even taste a building of power as a few small sections of the natural cavern started to crack. Suddenly Rylop shot out of the vent tube as if catapulted. He fell to the ground about thirty meters away only to see a massive wave of dark green magical energy erupt out of the tube and ripple across everyone. Those who had managed to stay standing were flung to the ground while several of those who had taken a knee were blown back away from the vent shaft. Wave after wave of green light washed over the terrified group.

Just as quickly as it started, it stopped. Rylop did a quick assessment, and found much to his amazement that he was not injured. In fact he was totally healed and fully refreshed. Glancing around he noted the phenomenon was not limited to him. Everyone seemed to be testing formerly injured body parts.

The glow coins which provided light for the group were also affected. The normal golden light was gone, replaced by a greenish tinge, almost spooky glow. As he shook his head and got back to his feet, he glanced back over to the shaft, "What in the name of the gods did you do Kandric?"

***

Vondum glanced over the map in Monarch's command tent with a sigh, "Are you sure you want Kandric to gate us to the south of Everone? We will be right in the middle of contested territory."

Monarch snorted, "Yes and I know you will. Had you not been so concerned with killing off my forces you would have been here for the meeting where we talked over the best way to help the Lizardmen. I had originally planned to move you in by ship, compliments of a pair of Warlords of Morden and head up stream and move from the villages of the Applewood forest, but since your young friend says he can put you anywhere, this will be even better. You will be able to fan out and hit supply points and totally disrupt reinforcements.

"They will have to do one of two things. First, and by far the least damaging for them would be to pull troops off the front lines to deal with the threat in their rear. If they do this victory will be impossible for them but it will also keep their homeland strong. If they do pull forces away from their homeland, then you will move through the Valley of Lorb and into the Marshes of Ponna and hook up with the Lizardmen reinforcements and crush all stupid enough to follow you. This will be a death trap for them and may just weaken the Black Dragon Homeland enough to force Bandurlok to pull all his forces back home which would give me this area without having to fight him for endless years.

If they do pull troops from their homeland, which I think they will, you will head to the north side of the river just before you enter the Valley of Lorb. Once there look for a hill shaped much like a horse head. You will find a small detachment of Illorcs who can guide you, but even then the path they will take you down is far from safe."

Monarch pointed with a stick to the single most wild lands below the Silver Spine Mountains. "You will certainly loose forces on the trip, but so will they and once through the valley they will be in an area I have spent years and thousands of silver to create some secure spots. I have over ten thousand Lizardmen troops and more than double those forces of my Illorcs plus all the needed non-combatant support. Bandurlok's forces would never make it out alive."

Vondum shook his head, "And how many good warriors did you loose just trying to get through the valley?"

Monarch glanced over, "More than I care to admit but I also lost a huge number just getting a couple areas secured in the marshes. Over 95% remains terribly wild and dangerous but I still lost less than Bandurlok did when he tried and failed to secure a base in the Deathland Mountains and about as many as each of us lost fighting in the shadow of the Missing Finger Mountain. If acid breath would just let go of past grudges we would both be a great deal happier, more powerful and certainly a great deal wealthier."

Vondum couldn't help but chuckle, "He's a dragon prince, and unless I miss my guess, if you would have made concessions when you first screwed him over, took his flag ship and captured the crew including me, the whole matter would have been nothing more than a single payback on his part, but nooooo not you. You had to not only take out his entire command, capture all of his junior officers and toss them overboard, but also purposefully scuttle his personal ship after you looted it right down to the food stores. You knew who it belonged to, there is no doubt. And like it or not, he knows it from me and a few other survivors. Before you tossed me and my slave over the side I heard the captain repeatedly telling you the dire repercussions of what you were doing."

Monarch took a large bite out of the dagger bore steak, a smile creeping over his features. "Yea, well, his constant crying and warnings were the reasons he lost his head. A real captain would have defended the ship with a little more vigor and cried a lot less once it was lost. Besides, for a Warrior Dragon, he was actually quite cowardly. Hell all four of them were. The Dragonlings and the other crew killed far more of my boarders than the Dragons did. Matter of fact you killed more than any of the four dragons did. You really were on track to be a superior officer for him."

Vondum chewed on his lip as he thought back to the day of the attack by a quintet of Morden ships. Two didn't make it to boarding range; one other was burning and listing to the starboard as a few survivors started a boarding action out of desperation more than desire to take the ship.

This action gave the last two ships an opening and they took it. The largest of the surviving ships rammed into the aft end and brigands poured onto the Dragon's Claw. The final ship waited and sailed around to the far side of the burning and listing ship. This action went basically unnoticed as the Dragons and Dragonlings focused on clearing the ship of a huge number of boarders.

Vondum, on the other hand, did see what was going on and lead a makeshift counter attack. He took a detachment of junior officers and crew onto the burning ship, waited for the last ship to secure itself and the further waited while attackers moved over the deck of the burning ship and onto Bandurlok's ship.

As soon as the way was clear, Vondum lead his small force on a counter boarding action. His initial attack was devastating; he and those under him killed a good fifty crew. Victory turned to defeat when a hoard of Illorcs spilled onto the upper deck. As Vondum finally tossed down his sword and ordered the others to surrender, the deck was coated in blood, in some areas it was pooled to the point were footfalls in the blood created a splash.

The fifteen remaining under him were tied while he was allowed to remain standing. They were taken to the Dragon's Claw where they saw their captain beheaded followed by the other three warrior dragons and the handful of surviving Dragonlings. Finally each of the survivors was given a chance to refute their allegiance to Bandurlok. Only Vondum and a quintet of others refused. Those who did disavow their support to the Black Dragon Homeland were led below never to be seen again. Those who refused were given their gear and any personal belongings, which meant Vondum was given his slave, armor, and swords before being untied and literally dropped into a damaged lifeboat.

"I only had those who refused to drop their allegiance to Bandurlok and the Black Dragon Homeland pushed over the side. You had a choice. Speaking of which, you never have withdrawn your pledge of service to the Black Dragon Homeland."

Vondum's gaze never wavered as he stared over at Monarch, "And I never will. My word is the most important thing I have to give. My pact as a member of the Black Dragon Military was for six years, and I did everything required of me for those six years including being stranded beyond the sight of land by you. We barely made it to one of the sinking ships and got just enough supplies to fashion a raft. Your people were not quite as eager to pick it clean since it was already starting to roll so we also got some food, water and other equipment.

"For three weeks we drifted, got badly sunburned, and were close to death when we spotted a small island and managed to paddle toward it. Once there we commandeered a small sailing ship and forced the survivors to take us back to the mainland.

"The only reason one of us sitting here did not die from the hand of the other is the fact I was unable to locate you before my six years of service terminated. You stole a large part of Bandurlok's personal treasure and then spat on his face after the fact by killing off most of the crew. There are some things you simply can't expect an officer in his military or the dragon prince to forgive you for."

Monarch shook his head, "Yea, well other than the dragons and senior Dragonlings, the others were simply stranded on a small uncharted isle we found about a week later. I was a junior captain for Morden, and had to show them I was up to their standards but I did not, could not, kill such a hard core group of warriors. Of course after the victory I took the loot and decided to go my own way. Do you have any idea of how much I ended up with even after paying my cut to my warlord?"

"Probably over a hundred million silver. We had a great deal of magical treasure and pay for much of the troops fighting on the islands. If it had not been for the magic of your capture you would have never been able to move up here as a major power let alone go into the Marshes of Ponna to establish your secret base. Bandurlok's forces fighting on the isles were basically routed because of your actions too, by the way."

"If I said I was sorry I'd be lying; he has given me nothing but grief."

"You started it Monarch," Vondum grinned for a moment then pointed down at the map changing the subject back to matters at hand. "It still amazes me you got anyone through the valley. To be honest I do not look forward to having to go through the deepest parts of the gorge to get there."

Monarch took a sip of wine and pushed back from the table signaling he was done with the meal. Even has he continued to talk servants moved forward to clear his dishes. "Do I detect some concern for your young scout? Will he be able to handle the valley?"

Vondum rolled his eyes, "You're shooting at the wrong target. He will have every bit as good of a chance as me. It's your people I'm worried about. One thing I can tell you about Kandric is he has the heart of a 3;" Vondum stopped in mid sentence as the whole feel of the tent changed and the flames on all the candles flickered from yellowish to greenish. Vondum could actually feel the change in the flow of magic around him as it shifted.

Moments later gale force winds buffeted the command tent and the sounds of tents falling down, equipment being blown around and even a few cries of pain as debris slammed into Illorcs causing everything from minor to serious injuries.

Vondum's hand shot down to his blade as he spoke, "What in the name of the gods just happened."

Monarch tossed up a protection field as he saw his command tent start to shred around him. Everything from tree braches to rocks bounced off of the domed magical barrier as he looked around. He paused taking a moment to look at the flow within the fabric of what he pulled his sorcerer powers from before speaking, "The gods had nothing to do with it; whatever is going on is coming from the realms of mortals. I have never felt or seen anything like this, but whatever happened has dumped a vast quantity of raw magic into the world and the event was close by. My guess is it will be a few minutes before it levels out and things return to normal."

Vondum frowned as he stood muttering under his breath.

"Our redheaded friend?" Monarch spoke, making it sound as much like a statement as a question.

"Your guess is mine as well," Vondum cracked his neck as he rolled his head. He paused to stretch before he grabbed his gear and started securing it.

As Monarch stood a pair of Illorc guards rushed into the remnants of what used to be a very nice tent. The lead one didn't even bow as he nervously spoke, "Lord Monarch, Bloody Rock just glowed green!"

Vondum felt a chill go down his spine, "What part of it?"

"Sir, I don't think you get it, Bloody Rock just turned green!"

The second guard spoke up, "It was the whole mountain sir, every cave, crack and crevasse gushed out green energy.

Vondum glanced at Monarch, "Guess where my young scout went."

"Oh, gee, let me take a shot at this, Bloody Rock?" Monarch rolled his eyes as he pointed to one of the servants. "Grab my battle gear and assemble a full elite battalion. This needs to be investigated in force."

Both Vondum and Monarch glanced over at the table as the flames on the candles flashed a bright green before going out. Around the tent all the lamps went out one after another leaving them in the dark. Even the powerful protection spell shattered under the final magical assault.

Monarch's hand suddenly glowed giving everyone in the tent remnants some light. "I have to say, if your scout is behind this he has done something beyond what I can fathom, for even the campfires and my own fireplace went out and the magical lights are all green!"

"Oh, I have very little doubt. Very few could cause this kind of mess and only one of them I know of is inside Bloody Rock," Vondum grumbled as one of the servants helped him secure his armor.

Monarch frowned deeply. "The power inside the boy is astonishing, but this is so for beyond anything I have experienced, I find it hard to believe a boy could have been behind it.

Vondum snickered despite the situation, "He is not just a boy; he is Kandric."

***

Anettie stayed close to the Pantherling as he led them down a path Anettie had to admit she would have a hard time finding in the full light of day let alone at night. "Sir please slow down. Jormund is having a hard time keeping up carrying all of your friend's gear.

Grunn glanced back with a slightly miffed look. "You know for Swordsmen students you two do not show much promise."

Anettie bit her lip and said nothing, knowing the Pantherling was basically correct. A swordsman, even a young student should be able to go for more than a full day carrying a full load at the slow speeds they were moving. The fact she was barely able to keep up carrying her own stuff with a broken arm said more about herself and her fellow student than she cared to admit. She knew a broken arm alone should not be an excuse for such poor endurance.

Anettie moved over to Jormund and grabbed some of the extra gear he was carrying. She dumped out the water from the extra water skins and put the long sword over her back Jormund, on the other hand, frowned deeply, "What are you talkin' about?"

Anettie shifted her own gear to get everything as comfortable as possible while shaking her head. "What do you think Teacher Saslara would say 'bout us right now?"

Jormund started to say something, but the look on the Patherling's face stopped him. He moved over to a rock and dropped everything so he could also better secure what he was carrying. Suddenly dim light of night radically changed as the dark outline of bloody rock appeared in the darkness. Every cave leading out of the large hill burst forth with green light. One cave sent out a blast of green light right toward them.

Grunn moved quickly, knocking both Anettie and Jormund to the ground, "Stay down little ones!"

Wave after wave of magical energies flowed over them creating a gale force wind for over a minute, several trees snapped, and tree branches fell all around them. Even a few large stones were picked up and tossed over their heads as Grunn held the two students down behind the large rock Jormund had put his gear on.

As it ended Grunn stood and brushed off his fur. "Green, not black. Very troubling."

Anettie rolled off to the side gripping her arm for a moment before she realized it no longer hurt. Confused she poked at it then glanced back to the Pantherling who was still staring at bloody rock. "Whatever it was made my arm better sir."

Jormund stood looking around in some dismay as he realized all of the gear he had put on the rock had blown all over the forest. "Your friend is going to be very mad at me!"

Grunn's attention focused back on the kids realizing all the gear on the rock had been blown away in the magical explosion, "Spread out. Just find his dagger and pack. The rest he can live without. We need to get to camp now!"

"Why? What happened?" Anettie asked as she unwrapped her splinted arm and tested it, finding it had indeed been healed.

Grunn spun to face the two kids, "For the first time since the Dragon Wars a great dragon, in this case a green one, has just been killed by something other than natural means or dragon combat. We are not talking about a Dragonling, a Warrior Dragon, or even a True Dragon, but the real thing. Soon, very soon, friends of this Great Dragon will come wanting to know what happened and why. At the same time those tasked to guarding and protecting this dead dragon will flee out of Bloody Rock because they failed and their lives are now forfeit. In other words in a matter of hours, if not less, this whole area is going to be full of those hunting down those who failed and those who failed trying to rob, pillage, and loot so they have the coin to get as far away as possible."

Jormund looked skyward noticing the stars seemed a bit brighter as if the sky had been cleared by the weird green storm. His voice dripped with sarcasm as he half grunted. "Thanks Teacher Kandric."

***

Jamon nodded to the two man patrol as he carried a load of dishes. The men returned the nod but paused to see what he was up to.

Jamon didn't hesitate; he moved over and knelt next to Conth while putting down large heavy stack of dishes. As he unlocked the shackle holding his cousin to the post he kept his voice low and didn't look in his direction. "Vondum is at some sort of meeting until very late so Sy was able to make some extra food. We each took enough so there would be some left on each plate, but not enough for anyone else to take much notice. This will also give you a chance to get cleaned up and get some water."

Jamon then locked the shackle which had been attached to the post to Conth's free leg and stood. He spoke up so Vondum's guards could hear, "You have one hour to wash those and get them back into the hut before you get locked up here again for the night. Use fresh water from the well. You better be back here before the camp fire goes out." For emphasis he pointed to the central camp fire where the other slaves were working on various tasks and enjoying the heat.

Conth looked over the stack of plates each containing some half eaten meat stuffed rolls. A brief look of disgust faded as the smell of the food made his stomach rumble. He bowed. As he did so he hung his head and grunted out a whispered, "Thanks."

Jamon kept his head turned away from Conth as he reached down to stroke the fur of his new pet. With his mouth hidden he lowered his voice again, "When you get a chance thank Sy, he is the one who arranged all of this. There is also some heavier dry cloths behind the bush next to the well. It's the best we could do without Vondum noticing. Make sure you put some dirt on them so they match what you are wearing now."

Conth took a quick glance around noting the two guards had moved off, continuing their patrol of the Swamp Slums and the area being cleared for the fortress. "Do you know what I can do to get back on Vondum's good side?"

"Good side?" Jamon looked over at his cousin with a shake of his head. "You have to be kidding."

Conth's shoulders slumped and his head sagged, "I can't live like this!"

Jamon nervously glanced around then sighed as he realized no one was around to see the outburst. The last thing he wanted was to hit Conth again or worse yet whip him, but he was prepared to do either and he knew it. As this realization dawned on him, he paused and thought over the time he had recently spent around the man. As he did so, a sudden inspiration came to him.

His eyes returned to Conth with a sternness he didn't realize he had in him until now. "You don't have much choice. You live like he lets you or you die."

"If I die he'll bring me back, just like he threatened to do with Porma."

"Probably," Jamon couldn't help it, he snickered. "Dieing is way too easy a way out."

"So what do I do?" Conth pleaded softly.

"To be honest, it'll be really tough. You started off on the wrong foot with him. His whole life revolves around strength of body and mind. You didn't show either. You are acting like spoiled little girl. You whine and bitch instead of just doing what you are told. Making maters worse you have continued to try to make your life as easy as you could figure out how. The whole strategy is wrong, cause the more he sees you try to get off easy the more he despises you. He sees you as a weak, lazy and worthless piece of trash. The more I think it over, the more I see he actually believes what he is doing will make you a better person."

Conth thought this over as he started eating some of the food left on the plates since no one who cared was watching. Between bites of food he looked up. "How do I fix it?"

"I wish I knew," Jamon shook his head, "Your best bet may be to be really polite and ask Sy. He is way nicer than Vondum and does a lot behind the scenes to make life a little easier on all the slaves. Just remember where the food you are inhaling came from."

Conth didn't reply until he had crammed the last of the food he could easily get off the plates into his mouth not fully realizing just how hungry he had been. Going over a full day with nothing had left him far hungrier and desperate than he had thought possible. The fact the food was half eaten and getting cold didn't make it any less edible after all. Finally he started gathering the dishes so he could wash them. "I just wish 3;"

His words were cut off as the outline of Bloody Rock suddenly became visible in the darkness, bathed in an eerie green light. Moments later the green seemed to blossom as if the whole small mountain had exploded.

It took only seconds for the effects to get to the Swamp Slums. The first wave of green energy knocked Jamon on his butt and flung Conth back into the post he had just been released from. As the two boys looked up they noticed all the fires had a green tinge and were being fanned by gale force winds.

The second wave of power caused the flames to flair and started more then a few buildings on fire. Fortunately the flames didn't last long as a third wave of green magic snuffed all the fires out.

Still, the damage was pretty heavy in the Swamp Slums as a few poorly constructed huts completely crumpled under the sudden torrents of wind while others lost sections of roofs or sustained other types of damage. One of the few to weather the magical storm was the one Sy had rebuilt for Kandric's mom, Kaylaria.

Terrified and confused voices came from every direction as Jamon picked himself up and looked around, "What the hell was that?"

Kaylaria came out of the front door and activated a jeweled pendant bathing the area in a soft orangish glow, but tinted with a bit of green. "Watch your tongue young one. She took a deep breath, "Besides, Hell had nothing to do with it young man. This was a mortal caused phenomenon, but what I cannot say. All I know is my daughter felt the effects worse then I did. It knocked her out. Are you two boys OK?"

Conth shook his head to clear it. As he did so he realized the slashes from the repeated whip blows had all healed. "Better than I was, I think ma'am. I'm all healed up."

Sy appeared from the area being cleared for the fortress looking nervous. Seeing Jamon and Conth he took a deep breath. "Good, you two are in one piece. As a now I'm takin' control a you, Conth. Fer the time bein' you be off the post," he paused and nodded to Kaylaria. "Nice pin."

Kaylaria managed a smile, "I find it a real pleasure to be able to use gear I have not touched in decades. I just have to wonder what caused this."

"Your son. No one else can cause this kind of mess," Jamon answered without any hesitation.

Sy nodded, "I'd have ta say the boy be right," he then used a spark autospell to re-ignite the main camp fire. As he did so he and those around him were startled to find the spell went off with zeal, as a gushing of flame poured out of Sy's extended hand. Sy backed off and found he had to shake his hand to cut off the flow of power. "Whoa! That ain't right!"

Kaylaria frowned, "Magic has been heightened here. I recommend not casting for an hour or two until it settles down. There is no way my son could have done this!"

"Believe what you will." Sy stated as he stared right at Kaylaria, "We don't see him like you do though," he turned to look back at Conth and Jamon, "Right now we have other things to worry about. I have no idea what just happened, but there be major damage all over da place. Jamon, gather them slaves and see if'n anyone be trapped in them busted up shacks. Conth, you're with me."

Conth's eyes went wide with concern. "Doing what?"

Jamon turned and smacked his cousin with enough force to emphasize his words and remind him of his current station in life. "This is exactly what we were just talking about. You do what he tells you as best as you possibly can and keep trying till you either hurt yourself or get it done."

Conth's hand stated to clench into a fist, but Sy moved up quickly. He almost snarled as he grabbed Conth's chin turning the boy's head forcefully so he could look him in the eyes. "Kid, don't get stupid on us again. There be a good reason Jamon now be da lead slave and you're down ta to the crap spot out a all them others. Don' be stupid and end up havin' ta get another set a beatin's.

Conth held up his hands, "I'm sorry!"

"You'll be a lot more sorry if'n ya don't start simply obeyin'."

Jamon shrugged, "He just don't get it, Sy. All his stupid games are not helping," he turned away and called out to the other slaves to come to him so he could get a head count and get some sort of search going. As he waited, he glanced back toward Bloody Rock, noting the whole outline still had a light greenish glow to it. "Maybe you are sorry, Conth, but not as sorry as those inside the mountain probably are. If it was this bad out here it must have been horrible in there."

Sy kept his hand grip tight on Conth's chin. "No, me bet this brat here has it worse. All them kids had something goin' for em."

"What kids?" Kaylaria asked not understanding where the big Warrior adept was going with his thoughts.

Sy grinned as he picked up Conth by his jaw and flung him to the ground. "The kids from the Swordsman school are on a field trip hunting Hobs out there."

"So?"

"Who ya think be leadin' the Slome school in der right now."

Jamon couldn't help but snicker as he saw the Elvin woman's face go blank. "My owner is leading them Ma'am."

Astonishment and more than a bit of fear entered her voice as she whispered, "Then it really was him?"

"I'd bet me life on it." Sy nodded, "You still see a young boy when you look at him. Most a the rest a us see a terrifyingly powerful and crafty opponent."

"Is he really as good as you have all made him out to be?" Kaylaria's voice showed continued skepticism.

Jamon ignored his cousin's whimpers of pain as he smiled. "No Ma'am. He's better than any of us have said."

"There is no way 3;" Kaylaria started but stopped as she noticed a pair of Vondum's guards along with Sy, Jamon, and even Conth were staring at her with eyes saying they all knew differently. She once again started to speak but no words seemed adequate.

Finally Sy snickered, "Like it er not there ain't a bein' looking at you who ain't sure this was the work of yer Kandric."

***

The massive Silver Dragon nodded to his guest, "So young Pantherling, what could be so urgent you bypass your clan leadership and use the Gate Stone to come see me?"

Anex took a knee and stayed with his head looking to the floor, "Prince Millen, the young Halfelf is inside Bloody Rock."

The Silver Dragon Price twisted his head and looked down with some amusement. "Son, he will not get very far. King Blathamort's forces will crush him and we will no longer have to concern ourselves with this child, no matter how promising he may have been."

Anex refused to back down risking staring the prince in the eyes, "My liege, you are incorrect. We have first hand information from two who went in with him. He has gone deep into the old fortress and has killed Dragonlings, Morg and Hobgoblins too numerous for the two students with him to count."

Prince Millen looked over at his guards with more than a skeptical eye. The shrugs he received from the Dragonlings made him grin. "Even if this is so, and I believe it is because I know you are a young mind master and could easily glean the truth behind the words of mere students, I fail to see a problem. If this youngster can do real damage to Black Dragonling forces I cannot help but to be happy about it."

"My liege," Anex's voice trembled, "If it was just Blathamort's forces I would not have used the Gate Stone. However, the boy and girl both insisted this Kandric has killed as many Green Dragonlings as Black."

The mood within the silver coated chamber changed instantly. The six Silver Dragonlings' heads jerked to look at Prince Millen and the Prince's smile faded. "They What!?!" His voice boomed creating a series of echoes. "Are you certain?"

"I am. The boy we found had pulled the teeth of one of the dead greens and showed us. The girl had scales of both Black and Green in a captured pouch. I saw them as Healthman Grunn tended to her broken arm. It was then I lied to them, telling them I was gong to go to Vondum. Instead I went to the gate to get word to you."

A pair of Silver Warrior Dragons scampered into the room, responding to the sudden outburst. "My prince, is everything alright?"

Prince Millen stared down at the young Pantherling then to the larger of the two Warrior Dragons who had spoken. "I was just getting things organized to send a force up there. I want you two to drop whatever duties you had been assigned. As of now I want the two of you to gather a full troop of my personal elite Dragonlings and let this young Pantherling be their scout. I want to know what is going on inside of Bloody 3;"

His words seemed to halt in his throat as the silver cauldrons lighting the palace room flickered for an instant. The magic guarding the palace flared, but not enough to prevent the silver flames from having a greenish tinge for a few moments.

Prince Millen staggered back and shook his head. He glanced around the room as if confused for a few moments. The Warrior Dragons also seemed shaken by the unexpected event, but they recovered more quickly then the Prince. Both quickly moved to his side to see if he was alright.

The enormous Silver Dragon stretched his wings and rolled his head, sending all but the warrior dragons sprawling to the silver floor. Even Anex, who had been kneeling, had to roll into a ball and tumble with the massive gust of wind generated by the wings. Millen gave his head one last shake making a loud sound as his scales smacked against each other. "Belay those orders! I want a full company of our Palace Guardian Dragonlings ready to gate to Bloody Rock within the hour," he then turned to stare at the warrior dragons, I also expect you both to lead them. My father and I need a force there to not only find out what is going on, but also to show we are not going to let Blathamort go unchecked!"

"My liege," Anex spoke as he stood at the far side of the room, "what just happened?"

A combination of Prince Millen's words and the fact he spoke them in a whisper sent a shiver up the spine of every creature in the room. "A Green Great female has just been killed. So intense was her fear in her last moments she projected an image as she died. I was able to pull out of the explosion of magic with my Mindmaster talents. I guess I should have paid a bit more attention to the warnings sent by your uncle, since the vision I just got was of a red haired Halfelf child plunging downward with a sword in his hand toward her head. It was the last thing she saw."

Anax felt his eyes nearly bug out, "A Great Green fell to a sword in the hand of the child?"

"Not just a child," Prince Millen's gaze moved to focus on Anex, "The boy your uncle warned me to keep an eye on. Words I did not heed seriously enough. The greens are now down to two or at most three great females because of this mysterious child. Since they are unlikely to have so much as a clue as to who was behind this, they will blindly strike out at anything and everything in their quest for vengeance. It is now my task, my duty to draw a line in the sand so they see there is something standing between them and the countless beings they will attempt to step on as they try to figure out what happened and who caused the death of one of their most precious resources."

Prince Millen then turned to one the Dragonling guards. "Send a messenger to inform our Blue allies of what we are doing and what we know, but under no circumstances do I want the name of or description of this child revealed. Because of this, I want you to send a messenger who has never heard of this child so it cannot be pried out of him if he should be pressed for details. We need to do everything in our power to keep the identity of this boy secret for as long as we can."

He then looked over at the warrior dragons. "If possible, bring the red headed Half Elf to see me, but don't push it. If he can kill a heavily guarded great dragon, you two would not be more than a light workout for this Kandric."

***

Captain Pontarious made a quick series of rounds, checking on all aspects of the Thunder Rapids. The barge was doing well and making far better time then it should be making. The river currents aided by the magical sails were moving the ship at a dangerous clip, but for some reason the river itself seemed to be aiding the journey, as the currents constantly pushed it into the deepest and safest channels in the river.

He made his way aft to inspect repairs to damage done to the deck from the pirate attack. He nodded in satisfaction as the only signs it had happened at all was a slightly different shade to the color of the planking. He knelt to examine it, thinking of a way to make a potion to make all the wood the same color as he did so.

"The work looks pretty good sir." Conner's voice came out from behind him.

Captain Pontarious spun and took a deep breath as he saw Conner perched up on a couple of top side crates, "You are too damned quiet for your own good son."

"It comes with my training sir."

Pontarious stood and frowned, "Shouldn't you be down below enjoying Sharris' introduction into the Primary Echelon? It was you who managed to get her there after all."

"It is her time, not mine. All your spell casters wanted to talk to me instead of her so I left."

"She's just a kid. They are there to show support not to be part of the party. This is for her and the other kids. Besides, it doesn't surprise me so many want to talk to you. Your knowledge of spell casting seems to be better than anyone in my crew including me. I have yet to see this special autospell the crew keeps telling me about, but it really made quite an impression."

Conner gave a resigned sigh as he sat on the edge of the crate, "OK, I'll show ya."

Pontarious held up a hand to stop him. "Conner, I was not asking. I was simply commenting. You don't have to do anything you don't want to, nor am I trying to get something from you. They are your spells and your knowledge. No one has a right to demand you show them. If they want it, they can offer you money."

"So why aren't you down there sir?"

"I made my appearance, which is what is expected from me. Sometimes the life as a captain of a ship demands I keep a certain distance from most of the crew. I need to have and keep authority in order to be effective in running my ship. This means I need to let the crew have fun without me looking over their shoulder. Sometimes being a captain means I end up being a little lonely. You, however, should be down there as a member of the crew."

"Ya, well I don't fit into the world of kids or adults. No adult is gunna totally get past the fact I am a kid, and no kid can look at me without first looking at my abilities. Sharris is fun cause she wants to learn, and some of the crew are starting ta realize I can hold my own with not just combat but with adult talk which is great, but something just doesn't feel right about either. I don't think I'll ever belong nowhere."

"Your brother fits in just fine with those he is with."

"Better than I do, for sure." Conner glanced up skyward, "But he has some problems too. For some reason he is better with adults then I am, but sometimes he hated it when he was put in charge of the forge because some of the apprentices were actually older than he is. He told me more than once it just didn't seem fair."

Pontarious patted Conner's leg, "I cannot profess to have any knowledge of what it is to be so skilled, but I can tell you it was no treat being the lowest of the low in a large household. I was the only slave on the estate for almost twelve years. Sometimes life is not easy, but it could have been worse."

"You are so skilled." Conner snorted, "As a matter of fact I have never seen a Mystic with your skills. Your schooling must have been quite something."

Pontarious paused for a second then decided the best way to attempt to break through some of barriers the boy protected himself with was to go into details he had spent the second half of his life trying to forget. "Yea, the Black Dragon Palace training lab was certainly top notch."

The results were instant as the words caused the normally unreadable face to show absolute shock and astonishment, "The what?"

Pontarious winced slightly at the memories of the evil place before he slowly nodded, "I was a slave and a trainee in one of the richest and most brutal places known, the Black Dragon Palace."

Conner's normally heavily guarded features fractured as he gazed deeply into Pontarious' eyes. "As in the Obsidian Fortress?"

Pontarious shuttered involuntarily as part of him remembered the feel of the whips across is back. "Yea, that would be the place. You know of it?"

Conner shrugged, "Kind'a. My step-dad would threaten to take us there when we were really bad. We used to think it was a joke until his son, my oldest step-brother, Kedded, threw a rock at a wagon which caused the driver to almost crash.

My step-dad got so mad at Kedded he grabbed him and handed him to a guard telling the guy to see if the Obsidian Fortress wanted him. Kedded was brought back by the guard a few hours later saying we'd hear from them. We all thought it was still a joke, but shortly after dark a large dark hooded thing pounded on our door while loudly offering 750 silver for Kedded. My step-dad let the beast in and it dropped its hood revealing it was a Black Dragonling. I think we all wet our pants, as it walked around and examined each of us offering anywhere from 500 to 2500 silver for each of us. My step-dad looked shaken, but finally declined the offer saying it wouldn't be enough. He then paid it money for its trouble for stopping by. It didn't look happy, but it did say the offer would stand if he ever changed his mind and there would be a bonus if he sold more than one of us.

"After that whenever our step-dad threatened us with the Obsidian Fortress we stopped doing whatever it was we had been doing. To this day every time I hear about the place the first thing I think about is the dark black eyes, child size shackles hanging over its shoulder, and horrible breath of that Dragonling as its claw ran down my forehead. My step brother kept saying dad had planned it, but none of us wanted to take the chance, not even Kedded."

Pontarious closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I can assure you, it was not staged. The offer was real, and with the prices the Dragonling offered, it is equally clear it had magically determined most of you were trainable, at least one of you very much so. Do you remember how much he offered for each of you?"

Conner shuddered and shook his head, "I don't remember all the prices, but I know it said I'd have fetched 2300 silver." Conner's eyes suddenly flashed as pieces fit into place for him, "That tingling feeling as the claw ran down my head was the first time I felt a spell being used against me!"

Pontarious nodded slowly, "It sounds like most of you were too young to formally test, but it could still test to see if you were trainable and how much innate magic was in your blood. It probably opened your talents and allowed your innate magic to erupt a bit earlier than it would have naturally."

Conner used his own knowledge of magic to fill in the rest. "It wasn't his spell, it was my own magic defiance I felt. It must have purposefully cast very low power spells to see if we had any magical power to fight the spell then slowly increased it to see just how strong it was." Conner nodded, "And you are correct, I started casting autospells shortly after, the Dragonling must have activated it by pushing against my natural magic defiance!"

"Very good." Pontarious praised Conner's insights while trying to forget the nightmares of the place being discussed. "The Dragonling was probably a Sorcerer, so not only could it test how strong of a natural defiance you had, it could look into the magic surrounding you and see what type of magic it was. Do you remember who would have fetched the top price from 3;"

Pontarious' words got stuck in his throat as the sails on the Thunder Rapids puffed all the way out followed moment latter by a huge lurch as the barge suddenly picked up speed. Only Conner's lightning fast reflexes prevented both of them from falling overboard as his sect warrior training took over. His feet went wide and his left hand grabbed the rail as his right hand managed to snag the totally unprepared stumbling captain.

Just as both were getting normal footing the sails went totally slack. Pontarious looked up at the sails with confusion. "What 3;" Once again his words were cut off as the sails smacked a couple of times before fully inflating to their normal magical state.

Conner staggered as if whatever had messed with the sails had done the same to him. He dropped to a knee and put his hands up to his head.

Pontarious knelt next to him, "Son? Are you alright?"

Conner reached out and gripped the captain's arm and shook his head. "It just got very hot!"

Pontarious cringed as he felt his skin start to burn where Conner was holding him. The years of torment within the Black Dragon palace allowed the man to ignore the pain as he looked over Conner. As he did so he could see the boy's clothing was starting to smoke. He wasted no time casting a dampen autospell, but it too went a bit wild. Instead of a light mist coming out to make Conner's clothing damp the spell sucked out the force required to cast a Primary Echelon spell. A burst of water fired out of his extended hand, drenching the boy and knocking him flat.

"What the hell was that!" Conner shouted as he leapt to his feet and dropped into a fighting stance.

Pontarious stood dumbfounded looking as his hand. "I have no clue. I 3;" His words trailed off as no explanation could be found.

Conner shook his head sending water spraying from his hair. He glared at the captain for a moment then frowned as he saw the red lightly blistering burn mark in the exact shape of his hand on the captain's arm. His eyes went wide as he touched his clothing, noting spots were burned though. He gulped. "I was starting to burn you!"

Pontarious nodded slowly, noting the some light steam coming off the boy in front of him. "Not Just my skin, you were starting to burn everything! Are you feeling better now?"

Conner took a step back and glanced down where he had been kneeling. Where his knee had been, the deck showed some charring and there was a hole in his pant leg. He gulped. "I think so, but I don't know what happened to your sails or me!"

Pontarious tore his eyes from Conner for a moment and glanced toward the large mast noting both sets of cloth were fully inflated as they normally should be. "The sails were made by dragons and I paid a fortune for them. In the years I have had them I have never seen anything like this before. Are you sure you are unhurt?"

Conner took in a deep breath, "Yea, I think so. If anything I feel stronger. Something very weird just happened. We ought 'a get below to make sure no one was badly injured and to check to make sure there ain't no extra damage to the sections we still have to fix." "I agree, but I want you to stay around me or someone else for a few days until we know you are not going to burn up on us or something."

Conner started to make his way down, but stopped, "I think this had something to do with the flow of magic cause I have all my force back, and I should still be at only about half. Maybe we passed through a focal point or something. "

"It's possible," Pontarious hesitated, "but I have never heard of one so strong before. Of course my own spell went off violently so it could have been. Either way, my orders stand. I want you around someone at all times for the next couple of days at least!"

"You're the Captain, but I'll need someone up here with me to help repair your deck 3; again." Conner managed to grin. He then paused. "Just in case you still want to know, the Dragonling offered the most for my baby half-brother, Kandric."

***

Aster knelt next to Shade and hugged his beloved pet to get rid of some of his frustration. "I don't how I can see what you see, smell smoke through your nose, feel the wet grass under your paws, and even taste the fresh blood of the Dagger Boar you and shade brought down, yet cannot hear a sound through these fuzzy ears. It's driving me nuts."

Shade whined and nuzzled Aster, as if understanding everything the boy said. It then looked up and let out a soft howl, getting the attention of Dart and Frost. Walking around Aster, Shade pawed at Aster's ear then nuzzled up to Frost.

Aster frowned as he tried to understand what his pet was trying to tell him. Fortunately Pocet, who was watching, spoke up, "I think it wants you to listen through Frost."

Shade instantly wagged his tail and bounded over to Pocet giving the Swordsman a huge wet lick.

Aster giggled as Pocet whipped Shade's drool off his face, "I never knew you are part animal adept too."

"No, I just think you have grown so frustrated you've lost focus. Give it a try, somehow I think Shade has an idea."

"He is way smarter than even the Lizardmen gave him credit for," Aster responded as he moved closer to Frost and concentrated on the magic within himself. It took only moment for him to move some of it too his ears. Manipulating the magic had become easier with each attempt, but making the breakthrough with animal magic hearing seemed an insurmountable task.

This time things were different, however. For as he focused on Frost, Shade started a howl, the tone had been one Aster had taught his pet to alert others to danger. As Aster heard this, he realized it didn't sound the same to Frost at all, but it did mean the same thing. Suddenly he let go of the magic and found he was indeed hearing though Frost's ears.

As this happened, his past failures made sense. He had spent days trying to hear sound through his perceptions of the world, not his pets. The other senses were easier, as the base perceptions were identical. Wet grass was wet grass and meant moisture, smoke was smoke and meant there was a fire, blood was blood and meant the meat was uncooked, and a tree still looked like a tree and was perceived as a tree even if it was lower to the ground or looked at from fifty meters above.

Sound was not so clear cut. It was processed differently by all his pets. It was almost like having to understand a foreign language. Even the past tricks of trying to break a stick had not been understood in the same way by each pet. Since all three animals were watching him as he broke it, they took it in different ways. For Shade, it was his owner's frustration, for Dart it was dryness, and for Frost it was dead wood. Even though they all heard a sound, it meant completely different things. Making matters worse, it was understood as a sound they needed to ignore as all three animals tried to listen for threats, food or important commands.

The howling sound, however, was recognized as a threat for Aster as well as Frost and Dart. So even as all three of them turned to look at Shade to see what was wrong, the final piece of understanding fell into place for Aster. Aster shook his head softly as he realized all this time he had been trying to think of what it should sound like instead of what it meant to each pet.

As his understanding of this last piece of the puzzle of Primary Echelon Animal Magic fit snugly into place with the rest of what he had learned he smiled, "Thanks Shade!"

Once again, the sounds he heard through Frost's ears were of his voice, but the meaning was more like 'Shade is good', instead of gratitude in the way Aster meant.

Sagall moved up and put her arms gently around Aster and kissed him on the top of the head. "Well done young man. Now you know what you need to do, all you have to do is get comfortable with it before we move on to the next step."

Aster forced himself not to tense up as Segall pulled him closer into her. A deal was a deal. Still he could not help but feel some revulsion over having to get close to her. Memories of the Slome orphanage returned. As it did so the another kiss to his head switched his thoughts away from being with a woman to how he first learned much of what would be required to make money at the orphanage. He shivered at the memory.

It had been a chilly fall day and the work harvesting crops for a nearby farmer had left all the kids near exhaustion, still as the seventy plus boys and girls entered their long bunkhouses there was a strong hint of the rapidly approaching winter in the air.

The single fire place in the center of the building Aster had been living in for almost seven months was not lit like normal but unlike the average evening the air was uncomfortably cool. Several of the older ones shook their heads as it was noticed by some of the newer kids the small cage holding the fire wood was locked and the tools, including the flint and steel was also secured deep within the cage. Finally the oldest and most senior orphan, a teen by the name of Haboc stood up and told everyone to shut up.

Quickly everyone fell in silent, as Haboc was not only seen as a leader but was clearly one of the toughest kids in the orphanage. It was well known most of the staff was somewhat afraid of him and a few of the guards had been working with him for over three years in hopes of turning him into a trained Swordsman and junior guard. It was widely known both inside and outside the orphanage, the second Haboc reached age of ascension he would became a guilded Warrior Adept and city guard.

He called everyone over and told them to sit. This was the first time Aster had seen any kind of meeting organized by one of the kids so he quickly moved up and took a seat on a nearby bed. As he did so most of the others were following suit. The only ones who did not were kids who had been there for quite some time and seemed to know what was going to be said.

Haboc looked over the twenty or so boys to make sure everyone was listening. He kind of snarled as he started speaking. "Many of ya has been though a winter er two and should know this, but fer those a ya who can't think back ta last year, let's get this straight. Wood cost coin.

"The headmaster ain't gunna light the fire with his wood till it get real cold and it ain't even close ta real cold yet. We all has just a few choices. First, ya deal with what we gets and keeps yer mouths shut er some us older one 'll shut yer traps for ya or gives ya something to really yap about.

"Second, ya find a ways to make coin and them who pitch in the bunkhouse firewood pool get bunks close ta the fire and them who don't gets further away. The more ya pitch in the better yer choice. Last winter we had a fire almost every night, year before only about every other night. The harder ya works ta get coins the better yer spot and the happier all a us 'll be at night. Me'll tells ya right now, I be getting' some good coin from da guards so me'll be chipin' in. But it ain't cold 'nough yet for me to waste no coin. But when it do, me'll be stayin' warmer then some of the rest of ya. Cause me'll be sleepin right there!" he pointed to a bunk fairly close to the fireplace yet far enough away not to be right next to it.

"Third, and me thinks all a us seasoned orphans will tell ya, ya gots to find a way ta gets yourselfs some coin so ya all can gets some warm blankets and clothing. We ain't gunna gets more than a extra blanket and a coat if we be lucky. Ya all will wants more but ya got ta finds a way to buy it. Remember, we'll all still have ta work outside and it gets real cold with what the headmaster hands out.

Just so all ya all understands, any of ya steal er try to Black Dragon a kid out a what them buy fer themself, you'll learn a whole new meanin' ta the word pain. Plus, a few of us 'll leave ya in a heap in the streets with nothin'. And I do mean nothin'!" As he finished he looked right at a kid who was standing in the far back.

As Aster looked over he saw a kid who had been a total outcast for the entire time he had been at the orphanage. So shunned was the boy, Aster had not even learned the boy's name. The one time Aster moved to talk to the boy, an older kid had had stopped him with a shake of his head and quickly pulled him away and made Aster sit at his table to eat. Nothing more had been said. Aster couldn't help but see the kid's reaction even as deep in the shadows as he was. Everyone even glancing his direction could see the kid visibly quake in fear. The ten or eleven year old backed further into the corner and sat on his secluded bunk and put his head between his knees to avoid seeing everyone's stares.

Haboc snorted, "That ought to give ya greenies a clue as to what Tyillis done ta get banished from the rest a us. He'll get ta rejoin us if'n he keeps controlled and silent till the spring, so him only gots a few more moons. Then we forgets what happen last winter and worry what happen this winter. Anyways, the other thing ya may wants ta get used to is sleepin' with a bunk mate. Ain't no shame no time and it sure aint no shame ta it durin' the winter."

Haboc stood, "In'f ya haven't figured out how to make coin yet then see me er one of the other older ones, but don't ask unless yer ready ta learn," he stretched and looked around the bunkhouse. Making sure everyone was paying attention. "It be bath night, so get yer butts to the bath room and change out of yer cloths while yer at it. Someone's stuff is startin' to stink and none of us want ta smell ya er your cloths no more!"

Aster peeked over at one of the new boys who everyone knew was the guilty party. A glance around told Aster the rest of the kids knew this as well as a few of the older ones glared at the youngster and smashed their fists into open palms as a clear warning. Another quick look around told Aster the boy, although fully embarrassed by the thought of a public bath, had received the message loud and clear as he gulped. Many grinned while others let out relieved sighs as the kid stood to head out to the bath house for first time in two and a half weeks since he had arrived. A couple of the older ones towered over him as he gathered up all his smelly stuff and almost ran out toward the small bath house.

Satisfied nods along with a couple of grins from the older boys told Aster the matter would be dropped as long as the new kid continued to keep himself and his clothing clean. Aster breathed a bit of a relived sigh as the kid was bunked very close to him.

Haboc, much to his credit, noticed Aster's reaction. He patted Aster on the shoulder, "Don't worry none Elf. We all know it sucks ta have ta smell someone else all night every night."

Aster was somewhat surprised to hear Haboc speaking to him. In the entire time he had been in the bunkhouse, the boy had only spoken to him a pair of times. The first was to give him a light threat about not eating all of his food, and the second was to move him to a bunk further away from a kid who had started to pick on him. Although nothing more was said about the second incident, the older boy in question had ended up with a nasty black eye the very next day.

Aster looked up to the huge older boy, "Thank you."

"Not a problem Elf. You've actually done great for a new kid. None a us have done a thing ta keep ya in line, and ya work hard for yer size." Haboc stated to turn away but stopped, "This be yer first winter, ya gots any questions?"

Aster chewed on his lip for a moment, "I guess I just want to know how to make coin."

Another older boy paused and put his hand on Aster's shoulder, "Don't ask unless you're ready to learn kid. We give no second chances."

Aster could tell the two older boys were serious and were giving him a chance to back out, but he also knew working outside in the winter with orphanage provided clothing would be next to unbearable. "I have to find out sometime."

Jom sighed and shrugged. "OK, But once we start this there is no backing out."

"Last chance Elf." Haboc half growled as if hoping Aster would forget the whole thing.

Aster showed wisdom of years as he answered. "Look, I may be small and young in age equivalent years, but I'm actually older than you. I know I can't work outside or in the loom room where there is only one fireplace without better winter stuff. Since I'm small and young I'll end up in the back of loom room far from the fire almost every day and I'll freeze.

Jom backed off as he clearly deferred to Haboc.

Haboc waited to see if anyone else was interested. Noting all the other new kids were heading out to the bath house he pointed to Jom, "OK."

Jom rolled his eyes, "Once it gets colder you'll have more takers. At least this one is smart enough to know what is coming," he then turned to stare straight at Aster. "You've seen others get some copper right?"

Aster nodded, "Uh huh, but I don't get it. Most of them leave at night, miss work and are here when we get back from work. Sometimes adults come and get them from the work we are doing and they come back later, sometimes not till the next day. Sometimes it looks like they are hurt when I see them again too."

Haboc motioned for Aster to sit across from them then turned to one of the other older boys who was kind of hanging back, "Martal, let Kopponic know to tell the headmaster ta open the side door."

Martal frowned for a moment then suddenly nodded, "Got ya. Ya wants me to tell him to keep everyone a bit longer too?"

Jom responded. "Yea, let him know this be for one of the good ones though. We also need you make sure the new brat scrubs completely. Give him some personal attention so he understands the next time we won't be so nice."

Martal gave what looked to be a half wave and half salute, "Me thinks he got it, but no prob. I'll give him a bit more attention then he'll want."

Aster sat but looked out nervously toward the rest of the kids rapidly exiting the bunkhouse. Not only was he nervous about what was going to happen, this was the first time he had seen the inner workings of the bunkhouse. It never occurred to him just how much the older kids ran the place.

"Elf look at me and don't worry none." Haboc commanded. "This ain't a bad thing and we'll get it over as quick as possible and you'll still get a bath and fresh cloths." Haboc waited until they were alone then stood. "Elf, there ain't no easy way to learn this, but me showin' ya is way better than throwin' ya to the wolves."

"Huh?" Aster started to stand.

Haboc moved up and gently yet forcefully pushed Aster back down. "Elf, you asked, so you're gunna find out. It may seem nasty or bad, but it ain't and me'll be as gentle as possible."

Aster gulped but had seen Haboc stick up for younger ones a few times and heard the boy was pretty protective of most of those in "his" bunkhouse.

Haboc sighed and relaxed as he saw Aster obey. "Already a good start Elf, cause doin' what yer told is exactly what ya got to do ta make good coin."

Haboc surveyed the inside of the long building, making sure no one extra was lingering before he pointed at Aster. "Take off everything."

Aster frowned deeply, but did as instructed. He paused once he was down to his loincloth, but a bit of a glare and a wagging finger from Haboc made it clear he was to fully strip. He did so and shivered as the cold of the late fall night started to make its presence known.

"Very good." Haboc stated with total sincerity. "Just continue to do what yer told and it'll be over quick," he stepped up, undid his rope belt and dropped his pants.

Aster looked up confused.

"OK, Elf, here is the deal. There be beings in Slome who like kids and they'll pay fer time with em 3; With us. What we have ta do is make em happy and do what they want, this is the most common way. Undo my loincloth."

Aster's eyes went wide, but Haboc didn't let him think about it. Instead the older boy lightly slapped Aster, just enough to leave a red cheek and glared, "Elf, I said take off my loincloth!"

The shock and fear of being struck by a kid he was already afraid of caused Aster to obey. With trembling fingers he untied the loincloth as quickly as he could manage and let it fall to the ground.

"Good." Haboc softened just slightly, "Now take what is in front of you in your hand and lightly play with it and then I wants ya ta start licking it."

Aster felt momentarily panicked, but the sight of the boy's hand going upward to ready another slap caused him to comply. At first Haboc simply let Aster's hand roam over his jewels. After a few minutes he made Aster lean in a bit and use his tongue to lightly touch his enlarging young man tool. Finally after a couple more minutes he demanded more, then even more. Eventually Aster cringed as he heard the boy tell him to take it all the way into his mouth. The second he had the tip beyond his teeth Haboc grabbed Aster's head and pulled gently forcing the rock hard rod fully into his mouth.

Aster tried to struggle, but found someone had grabbed his hands and were holding them tightly behind his back.

"That's Jom, and he ain't gunna hurt you none either, he's just makin' sure you don't hurt me er you. Once yer calm he'll start playin' with you the way you did to me and the way some adults will want ta do to you."

Aster felt his hands pulled together and felt someone sit right behind him. Jom's voice spoke softly. "Don't ya dare bite him kid. Just accept it and let him help ya take it. For now I'm just going to hold your wrists together so you don't struggle too much and accidentally bite him. I'm also going to use my other hand to touch every part of you. If you do bite or try to fight us we will have to hurt you very bad and turn you into another Tyillis, neither of us want you to end up like him so just do what he tells you."

Haboc looked down and lightly kissed Aster on the top of the head. Even though he was being forced into this Aster could tell the older boy's affections were real and a large part of the older boy felt horrible about what he was doing. "Me knows ya be small and young, so this ain't gunna be easy. Just nod a bit so me knows ya understands."

At first Aster though he was going to get sick, but he managed to nod just a little. Tears started to flow as he felt the boy pull on his head, forcing him to take more into his already full mouth. As it hit the back of his throat he gagged.

Haboc backed off just enough to calm Aster. As he did so he used his thumbs to gently wipe some of the tears, "Look Elf, part of me hates doin' this. But trust me, getting it from one a us first be far better then some adult who just wants ta gets what they wants."

He paused and looked straight into Asters eyes, "The next part is the worst, so get ready and no matter what don't bite. I know yer jaw be startin' ta hurt, but we ain't done here. Next time me pull swallow and breath through yer nose. We'll keep doin' it till ya gets it, so the sooner ya learn how ta do this the sooner it'll be over. Blink twice when yer ready."

Aster was pretty much powerless to do anything but obey. After a long pause he blinked twice and tried to ready himself. The second he felt the boy's rod push deep into his throat he struggled to breath and stated to shake.

Instantly Jom locked his grip tight on his arms and his other hand put a bit of pressure on Aster's exposed boyhood. The pain was just enough to remind him not bite down. Haboc backed off waving a finger in warning. "No teeth Elf, no matter what else you are thinking about, remember, no teeth. Blink when you are ready to try this again."

Four times Aster tried to control himself as his jaw started to ache more and more. Finally he managed to swallow the large intruder and breath though his nose as his throat was invaded a bit further. A couple of minutes later he felt Haboc spasm a number of times and felt his stomach get fuller. Haboc backed off, but ordered Aster to lick his tool totally clean before he withdrew totally."

As Aster leaned forward and cried he felt Haboc give him a hug and once again kissed him on top of his head. "Don't upchuck. Adults don't like that none."

Jom didn't release Aster's arms but still helped to comfort and praise him as Aster slowly regained composure, forcing himself to swallow what was trying to come up a couple of times.

Once Aster's breath returned to normal Haboc back away. "You done good so far Elf," he stated as he looked over to Jom and nodded.

Aster looked up as the words struck him. "So far?"

Jom leaned forward and whispered into Aster's ear. "Now comes the worst part and it is going to hurt some. Do not yell or we'll have to put cloth in your mouth. Most of the adults hate when we yell and scream. Just grit your teeth and follow what we tell you."

Aster closed his eyes and nodded knowing there was nothing he could do or say to change what was going to happen. Either kid could force him to do what he wanted to do by themselves, let alone both of them.

Jom gave Aster a quick kiss behind the ear. "We'll make this as quick as we can." Before Aster could respond Jom pushed up on Aster's still held wrists forcing the boy in front of him forward. The second his head hit the bed he used his free hand to insert finger into the boy's exposed rear. Aster gasped in pain 3;

Aster found himself still being held by Sagell as he opened his eyes and jerked wildly as the memory seemed to be literally ripped from him. Pain filled his head as his hearing link to Frost seemed to go wild. He leaned forward and gripped his ears trying to block out some of the sound.

Unknown to Aster, Sagell, Pocet, Sardan and the others were equally preoccupied as the forest's animals all seemed to get startled at the same time.

Birds took fight, rodents darted out of their holes, a nearby Frost Elk let out a loud bellow and a distant Saber Bear roared.

Aster's and Sagell's pets were not immune. Rage's neck fur stood straight up as the huge cat backed up toward Sagell and growled a warning. Stealth let out a shriek and rolled thrashing on the ground. Shade turned into a shadow and snarled at the air, Dart took to the sky with a wicked screech. Finally Frost turned icy cold and reared up on it back legs slashing wildly with its front talons at the sudden blowing wind.

Pocet and Sardan pulled weapons as Sagell rapidly moved to her pets' sides. The others all scrambled for weapons and turned their backs toward one another and looked outside of the camp for dangers

Aster fell to his knees as he severed the link to Frost's ears. "What was that sound!" As his knees hit the ground, the snow around him seemed to harden and waves of icy cold radiated outward. Everyone within twenty meters was forced to back away.

Frost leapt over to Aster's side, pushing its massive beak and head into Aster's ribs while Dart circled the camp as Shade darted to Aster and passed right though him before becoming solid again. The wild in its eyes told of its own confusion and fear. Even Shade's thick coat didn't seem to give it enough protection as it fought its instincts not to back up.

Stealth rolled over and snarled, letting out a cloud of steam as it did so. "Death! It was the sound of death!"

Sagell put her arm around her beloved Fairy Dragon, "Death? What are you talking about Stealth?"

Stealth clawed at the ground and shook as if trying to rid itself of the lingering feeling. As it did so it looked straight over to Aster who was finally able to calm. As he did so the waves of cold dropped off, but it left him coated in a sheen of ice.

It took a few more seconds for Aster realize he was shivering. As he did so Shade and Frost moved up next to him protectively. Dart still stayed airborne as if too afraid to land, however.

Stealth kind of snarled, as it kept its eyes squarely on Aster, "The power came to you! It was your blood line!"

Pocet took a protective step toward Aster, "Could you be a little less angry and a little more forthcoming with information?"

Stealth let out a large bust of steam out though its nostrils. It paced around for a few minutes and slashed its claws into a tree to vent the last of its frustration and anger. Finally it turned back toward the group. "I will explain but you must start packing. We need to get clear of this area fast!"

Sardan wasted no time as he sheathed his blade, "Boys, forget about everything you were doing and pack up! I want to be clear of this campsite an hour ago!"

He paused to watch the youngsters scramble to start packing before turning his attention to Stealth. "Let us hear this then."

Stealth glanced around nervously, but calmed even more as it saw the fresh campsite was already starting to get broken down. "Very well. First, you have to understand I am not a full dragon, but I am dragon kin. Dragons cannot exist without magic and magic cannot exist without us. We are magic and magic is us.

"Because of this inseparable link, when we die there is a shift within magic. Normally this is a small, almost unnoticeable shift. If I were to die only those within a few meters of me would notice anything. It might manifest itself as a replenishment of casting magic, a healing of a few minor wounds, or even the re-growth of a lost limb.

"When larger dragon kin die the effects are more grand. For example, let us say you killed a warrior dragon. Upon its last breath those very close would gain real power, be healed totally, and or have their magical energies replenished. Those within twenty to fifty meters would probably all get healed, gain some minor powers and get some magical energies back. Those out to about one hundred meters would at the very lest get some healing.

"At the same time the flow of magic within a league or two would not flow properly for a few hours. Some spells would have a better chance of misfiring while other may be augmented for damage, duration or both. Low echelon casters may even suffer some overflow as they cast their spells as they may come out too powerful for them to handle. It is no different for magical weapons. Many would not behave as expected either.

"The actual slayer of the dragon, however, is certain to absorb some of this power. Many tales exist of some crazy effects. Some even say the reason some of the current gods were able to become so powerful is they fought and killed dragons. This is almost certainly true for Rovnar, as he was famed for killing three true red dragons who had allied with the Mythlings during the Mythling Wars. The reds had sacked Rovnar's kingdom and all but wiped out his village.

"It is also believed his siblings received some of this overflow, as they gained great power shortly after Rovnar's Red Rampage. His younger sister was pretty young, but texts and stories say she started casting Primary Echelon spells only weeks after word of Rovnar's victory in the Applewood Forest became known.

"The only exceptions to this release of magical energies are natural death and dragon combat. A dragon can kill another dragon with little effect as long as the dragon doing the slaying is as powerful or more powerful then the one being killed. The reason for this is unknown to me, but I can assure you it is true."

Sardan made a shrugging motion, "Very interesting, but what does this have to do with our Aster here."

Stealth made a slight snarl, "Because a dragon just died, not a mere Dragonling, a dragon kin like me, a warrior dragon, or even a true dragon of the type Rovnar defeated. Oh, no, nothing so minor. What just died was a Great Dragon, and a top notch one at that, possibly even one of the most precious types of Great Dragons known, a female."

Aster managed to pull himself up with a helping hand from Pocet. Still he pushed his hands into his throbbing temples and his clothing crackled with the sounds of ice. "So?"

"SO?" Stealth next to shouted, "SO some of this backlash of energy flowed into you! I heard the magic scream as it searched for you and felt its passing as it pinpointed you and flowed into you. Those who can track this type of magic will start trying to trace it, and it will lead them to the spot were the magic found its destination. Right here!"

"Conner killed a dragon?" Aster asked in astonishment.

"I think not." Stealth responded, "It came from up north, your half brother is east and south of us if he is still on the barge and unless he gated or teleported, there is no way he could be as far north as this magic came from."

Sardan looked toward the north, "Then it must have been your other half brother."

Aster let out a long breath as he sorted though his thoughts, "So let me get this straight. This lost brother of mine not only gained favor with the gods and sent us help far beyond anything I could ever imagine; he also killed a great dragon?"

"Unless you have another brother or sister capable of killing a dragon," Pocet snickered, "But somehow I kind of doubt it."

Aster tossed up his arms, "I wouldn't know, but from what Conner told me, the common thread is our mom and there was no one else. So if I do have another brother or sister he or she would be far too young."

Stealth hissed in annoyance, "Who in the name of the gods does this brother of yours think he is?"

Sardan clucked out a slight laugh, "I only met the boy once, but I'd say he thinks he is Kandric."

***

Glaster glanced down the nearby alley as dusk fell over the town. A slight snap of his fingers caused an eruption of sparks to cascade into the ground as he stared straight at a young ruffian who had been trying to shadow him.

He shook his head in warning as the young man's eyes went wide at the open display of magic. Just as quickly as he had appeared the figure stepped back into the deep shadows and vanished from sight. The only thing left was the sounds of his hurried flight as running footsteps faded into the growing shadows.

Glaster rolled his eyes, knowing the teen was probably just one more refugee trying to find a way to eat. At least the lad had shown some skill backed with enough brains to know a warning when he saw one. Glaster hoped he had scared the boy badly enough to keep him from making an attempt on someone else, but he doubted it. If the kid needed food and money as bad as the clothing he wore indicated, he would certainly try his hand on someone else.

Glaster shrugged to himself. After what the boys in his caravan had dealt with, Glaster cared little about the town or its inhabitants. The fact the Prince and Duke's son had appeared to be merchants, not royalty, didn't matter at all. What did matter was the fact lowly peasant brats had assaulted members of a higher cast and had not been punished for it. The jailing of his two charges only added insult to the injury.

He continued his trek into the poorer areas of the town, noting many of the businesses were closing early and more than a few had had pooled money to hire night guards. Almost every block containing multiple businesses had at least one armed guard watching over things, most had two.

Briefly he frowned, as he realized just how much danger he was putting the Prince and the others in. They were still over two weeks from getting to the edges of the fighting, but the effects of the war were being felt here to the point were city guards were no longer enough to ensure the safety of businesses. This meant caravans were certainly watched for weaknesses.

His thoughts were interrupted as Perth's father came into view. The man's eyes narrowed as he glanced around. "Where's me boy?"

Glaster raised an eyebrow but forced his voice to stay calm, hiding how much he detested having someone so low as a beggar speak to him in such a way. "Your son is fine good sir. He is in the company of one of my people who is starting to teach him the art of reading."

"Me want a see him!"

Glaster put on the best calming smile he could, "To bring him with me would not be fair to him sir. He needs to forget about his former home and concentrate on his future. Neither one of us would want to remind him of the home he cannot go back to so soon into his new life now would we?"

The man pulled at his ragged clothing and sighed. He paused to wipe away a tear before slowly nodding, "Me guesses yer right."

"Of course I am," Glaster stated confidently, knowing a bit of gloating on his part would remind the man in front of him who he was dealing with. "Now, since you are here I gather you are ready to put out your mark and make this official?"

Perth's father looked deep into Glaster's eyes as if trying to stare him down. Less than half a minute pasted before the man broke eye contact and looked down at the ground. "Will me ever see me boy again?"

"In a few years he will no longer be under contract to me and can return here if he wishes. Until then, no. I have no reason for him to look to you for guidance or protection. He is mine and those duties are also mine. Besides, I have no desire for him to be reminded of his low birth rank. He will be a merchant or better and must forget about this life until he becomes one," Glaster hardened, "Now stop wasting my precious time."

"You'll get yer way, but me thinks me found what ya were wantin' me to."

"So soon?" Glaster asked showing some astonishment.

The man shrugged. "Me think so. Ya gunna hold yer deal?"

Glaster frowned deeply, "My word is better than most people's signed agreements. Now do you have something for me or not?"

Perth's father momentarily clenched his hands into fists but a single glance at the man in front of him was all it took to realize he had no chance. His head sunk further, almost touching his chest as he slowly nodded. "Yea me do."

Glaster cocked his head to the side, clearly astonished to hear of a possible breakthrough so soon. "Such information would be as valuable to you as it would be for me. Please continue."

Perth's father took a deep breath, "Dis boy, him have long dark hair, carry a blade, gots grey er blue eyes, one a different color then da other?"

"Yes," Glaster stated with a great deal more interest.

"Good, den me know me gots whats ya wants."

The man made eye contact again, "Him go in ta the camp other side a river. Real mean, some a dem even say rude. Ask all sorts a question, him do, but no one tell him nothin' at first. But den him see dark skin elf lookin at kid chain ta post wit food just outa reach. The dark skinned one teased da kid by eatin' right in front of the chained one.

"Your boy go all wobbly leg and hide, him do. Me hear him wet pants, pee all down him leg him did." Perth's dad managed a light grin as he saw Glaster frown, but quickly looked down as he saw anger flash in his eyes.

"Anyway, yer boy hide behind tree und change then come back. Him go back over ta chained one, but owner stop him. Yer boy get mad. Offer pay coin to feed boy, not happen. Him get even more mad, but backs away and hide when him see dark elf girl. Yer boy scaredy cat a dark uns me hears. Old guy me talks ta says him think yer boy peed himself all over again."

Perth's dad flashed another grin but knew he better not push his luck. He continued without showing how pleased he was to get under Glaster's skin a little. "But it not matter none cause yer boy not like what him see with chained one.

"Cause somethin' changes like. Yer boy get sneaky like. Couple a guys say him no longer mean neither. Him talk ta a couple a kids and pay for roll of food. Pay other boy ta get it to chained one. He den talk ta owner so other boy feed chained one. Pay a couple others ta throw snow at owner horse so guard has ta chase em off. Owner not see cause yer boy keep him talk, pay fer some wood stuff him sell.

"Me talks ta lots a folk. Them in camp say first time chained boy eat in days. Many of them happy and tell yer boy all sorts a stuff. Him be nicer too. That's what me hear anyhow. Many says same thing er close 'nough to it ta check what me first gets told anyway."

Glaster paused as he looked at the man in front of him. At first he was surprised and a little skeptical of the report. For a mere beggar the man had found out a great deal in very little time, but as he mentally slid the pieces around in his mind they started to fall into place. The healed whip mark on Zoldon's back showed he had undergone some serious torment, starving was a common form of torture when dealing with children. The fear of a dark elf was an interesting twist, but Drow were infamous for pushing their young by force casting, something Zoldon had been forced to do if his dreams were to be believed, and Glaster firmly believed them.

Glaster shook off these thoughts, "Very well done. Anything else?"

"Yea. Yer kid get mad when him see man take whip ta the slave. Me hears the guy's tent burned shortly after yer boy leave. Couple a kids say yer boy throw spell on the edge caused it ta start too, but me no sure 'bout them two brats cause guards think dem two done the fire cause it start long after yer boy leave."

Glaster smiled and twirled his finger sending down a trickle of sparks in a spiral, not enough to instantly start a fire, but enough to cause something to start to smolder then ignite. It was an Autospell he had taught Zoldon and Mylan both. "Don't be so sure my good man."

Perth's father's jaw dropped as he noticed the hot sparks lying on the street. "Me see magic before, but nothin' like dat! Ya never say nothin'!"

Glaster snickered. "Some spells don't need verbal components. My students know many of them and so, soon, will Perth."

"Me boy a spell thrower?"

"In a way yes. Your son tested to have Warrior Adept talents. He will become one of the world's elite over the next five years," Glaster pulled out a scroll and a small chunk of coal. "All you have to do is make your mark and he will become my apprentice and servant until the age of 15."

The man slowly took hold of the coal and started to press it to the paper scarcely believing his oldest son would be getting real training. He paused and glanced up. "And me young'ans?"

"I will drop off the money at the school before high sun tomorrow. It is the one just south of the river, just beyond the grove. You can also go there to collect the money I owe you. They will keep it there for you so no one can steal it. You may want to consider buying a small hut close by, there are some for only 20 to 40 silver in the area with a yearly tax of just a couple of silver. You could break out of your beggar cast and become a low peasant. I will also arrange for you to get a job there as a grounds keeper for a copper a day if you would like."

The man nodded eagerly and glanced up in surprise, "Me done good, huh?"

Glaster started to say something then stopped as the direction of the wind suddenly switched from blowing from the south to blowing from the north. At the same time the clouds parted and exposed the moon which took on a green tinge casting an eerie light over the growing darkness.

Glaster's hand slid down to his blade as he looked around and slipped into the Spirit realms. Once there he saw nothing out of the ordinary so he figured it had to be something mortal. He frowned but quickly returned to his body before it collapsed on the ground.

"You did a fantastic job, far more than I expected," Glaster started to turn away but stopped, "Would you like me to add in some money so they can teach you to read as well?"

The man grinned and nodded showing rotten teeth but glanced up at the moon with a bewildered look. "Me would like ta learn ta read sir."

"Excellent. I will pay a fee for you as well then. You have earned it and Perth deserves to be from a higher cast than a beggar. In the mean time, I want you to go back to your children and watch over them tonight," Glaster dug into his pack and handed the man one of his back up Daggers of Light. "Take this as an extra gift and use it if you have to. Something is seriously amiss."

"Me notice, me do. Moon is wrong. I take care of me young'ans," he took a look at the magic dagger with awe, "How me get this back ta ya?"

"You don't. It is yours. Learn how to use it. I will pay a small side fee for the guard at the school will teach you more than the basics, but only use it for defense or a light source. Now go to your children. I do not like the feel of this!"

Perth's father quickly put an 'X' on the bottom of the scroll and handed it over. "Take good care of me oldest."

Glaster nodded and watched the man hurry away. He rolled up at the scroll he pulled his blade as the feeling of magic started tasting sour. He frowned as he noticed the hot sparks he cast minutes ago had not gone out and were now a weird green in color. He stamped them out as he took an oath aloud to himself. "I will treat and protect Perth just as I did Kandric."

***

Kandric sheathed his sword as he smiled at Lorethorn. "Something tells me this will reach a bit further than this mountain."

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA YOUNG PRINCE!" A deep powerful booming voice sounded from the other side of the cave-in. So powerful was the voice it was almost as if the huge cave-in was not blocking it.

"What in the hells was that?!?" Lorethorn yelped out as he scampered behind Kandric.

Kandric glanced up and noticed the rocks starting to glow and bulge as if becoming a giant bubble. "Down Now! Get cover behind the body!"

Lorethorn dove followed almost instantly by Kandric. Zeltoss and Seldnat were only a second behind. As the boys all covered their heads and used the massive green body and left wing as cover the rocks seemed to explode. Hunks of lava hot rocks spilled across the cavern, some so hot they burned deep into the body of the former great female dragon.

Kandric waited until he was sure the fiery rock storm was over before he poked his head out from behind the dragon's carcass. As he did so he found himself face to face with a midnight black mass easily twice the overall size of dragon he had just defeated. His jaw fell open and his knees buckled. If it hadn't been for the green mass next to him he would have fallen flat on his face. As it was he slid down the side of the carcass and dropped into a kneeling position.

Behind him Lorthorn passed out because he was too afraid to breath and Zeltoss threw up from shear terror. Seldnat did slightly better as he managed to stand, but he did bite off a large hunk of his own lip as the full magnitude of Blathamort become visible.

Kandric could swear he could feel the pitch black eyes burning into the top of his head as he fought to find a voice. Finally he managed to squeak out an explanation, "She attacked us lord dragon."

Blathamort looked at the carcass in disbelief, "Where are the ones who killed her?"

Kandric glanced up in surprise, but as his eyes met the Black Dragon king he felt the magic and power contained within the beast and was forced to look away. "Lord dragon, I alone killed her."

Blathamort's front leg shot out. Claws extended around Kandric and closed all the way around him. "PRINCE CHILD, DO NOT TOY WITH ME! I could kill you with a simple closing of my claw and I am in no mood for games!"

Seldnat forced his jaw to unclench. As he did so the flow of blood from the bit off section of his lower lip started dripping down his chin. "Him did kill er! Him no play game!"

Zeltoss, angered at the accusation of a lie, also found his voice as he spat out the last of the bile from his mouth, "It was his sword and his alone! We only assisted in killing of the guards!"

Kandric tried to say something, wanted the others to run or at the very least let him take the blame so they could live but the wind was knocked out of him as he was tossed like a rag doll into the body of the Green Dragon. As he hit he knew his leg had snapped.

Blathamort snarled dipping a puddle of acid as he did so, "You are children. I will only ask one more time. Who or what killed her?"

Kandric gritted his teeth in pain and looked toward the Black Dragon. As he do did so his eyes fell on the neck of the dead dragon only a few meters from where Blathamort's head and extended claws were.

Kandric saw the Dragon's claw raise in the air as it approached Zeltoss and the others. He forced air into his lungs and waited until the creature's head was right over the Green Dragon's neck before he whispered an arcane phrase. As he extended his hand he yelled as loud as he could, "ZEL! WIND GUST NOW!"

He didn't wait. Instead he unleashed a more powerful version of the force punch spell. A razor sharp protrusion of force blasted out of his hand and slammed right where Zeltoss had warned him not to hit with his sword only minutes before.

Magic on a scale Kandric had never felt left gushed out of him puncturing the poisonous gas sack in the green's neck in multiple places. Kandric shook with rage and pain as he momentarily lost control of his Force Spear spell. In desperation he bit down on his own arm to force the flow of magic to stop.

The effects of the outpouring of magic were devastating. The huge sack of poison gas had not been used at all in decades and thus was totally full. It exploded outward sending chunks of the dragon's neck muscles, bone, and scales hurling everywhere as the head literally blew off.

Fortunately, the other three boys were behind the carcass and were protected from the shrapnel-like effects of the explosion while Kandric was shielded by the bulk of Blathamort himself. Still Kandric felt a chunk of green dragon scale slice his right arm wide open as he rolled away from the poisonous cloud.

Likewise, Zeltoss, who had reacted to Kandric's command, was caught slightly exposed as he let go of a wind gust spell. A piece of dragon bone impaled his left hand and a chuck of flesh knocked him flat, breaking a pair of ribs.

Blathamort, on the other hand, was caught totally exposed with a claw up and ready to descend on the boys behind the body of the Green Dragon. Most of the bits of bone, flesh, and scale simply bounced off his iron hard scales, but not all of them. His exposed fore paw was shredded and all the claws on it were ripped loose.

As the pain assaulted him, Blathamort took a deep breath to roar, but all he inhaled was the poison bellowing out of the neck of the female dragon he had sworn to protect. He thrashed wildly trying to find breath that simply wouldn't come. Making matters worse was the fact the wind gust from Zeltoss had pushed much of the gas cloud back at him which had concentrated it.

Tears rolled out of Kandric's eyes as he clutched his broken leg, further aggravated by the roll away from Blathamort. Trembling in pain, he managed to straighten it out with a sharp cry of agony. Fighting the urge to pass out, he reached down and held the brake while retching a couple of times as he did so. Still, he knew the battle was not over.

Kandric focused on a spell he was not sure he could cast, but was pretty sure he had advanced far enough to do so after getting the power from the Green Dragon's death. Another string of magical words escaped his lips as he focused on his target.

Moments later a wave of magic erupted out of Kandric's extended hands and swirled around Blathamort's head and neck. Slowly a glowing bubble of force surrounded Blathamort's whole head. Force continued to flow out of Kandric as he felt himself blacking out. Just as he finally managed to kill the flow of magic to the powerful spell, he figured he was seeing things as a small force of heavily armed Dwarves poured into the room.

The lead Dwarf seemed to point at him as he shouted. "There is the red-headed elf child! By the gods, this was the work of Prince we are here to rescue!"

The last thing Kandric saw before he passed out was the huge head of the Black Dragon crashing into the ground and a new explosion of magic, only this time it was black not green. As he fell he could have sworn he heard the leader of the Dwarves say in single word as if in awe 3; "Kandric!"

***

Outside of the eyes of mortals and most spirits a small group of beings peered at the swirling mass in the center of the table. Most wore astonished looks. A few clenched their fists as even they felt the latest outpouring of mortal magic.

A Halfling dressed in Red Dragon hide armor with Red Dragon scale reinforcement spun his hands sliding the image backwards so he could once again see the death of the King of Black Dragons. He clutched at the Red Dragon bone hilt of his Eldwar Steel short sword. A bit of jealousy could be heard in his voice as he looked over to an Elvin woman dressed in armor made of petrified wood. "I believe I have just been upstaged by quite a distance."

The Elvin woman shrugged, "You managed three in four days. He still has one more to get even with you."

A human man with a flaming headband and golden colored Eldwar Steel chain armor shook his head, "This time I think our slippery fingered friend is correct, which is a rare occasion. He only killed one Great and two true, all red. This boy has taken down two Great, one of them female one of them a king and of different colors all in the span of an hour or so. None of us can claim two Great Dragon victories in one day let alone one hour."

A Gnome stood off to the side, his stone plate armor glowed with the heat of molten rock. "He is impressive, but without the green's dead body he would have never have survived Blathamort. I am yet to be convinced, but I am at least thinking those of you who are interested in this child have a right to be. He certainly has attracted my attention and I believe those of you who have been supporting him probably made the right decision."

A Dwarf with a great axe over his back covered by a spiked shield and wearing full plate armor all made of what appeared to be diamond, stepped up to the table and took a drink of the finest wine known. "Quite a change of heart my hot headed friend. Maybe there is hope for you after all. However, we cannot and must not put all efforts into this impressive child. There are two others with the right blood line who are neck and neck with him and his younger siblings also hold the proper blood lines to make them candidates."

A human woman rolled her eyes, her chain armor dancing with electrical energies as she moved. "This is all true, but you have just witnessed what I did only weeks ago with an Ice Demon. The boy is a thinker. He uses resources most would never dream about let alone think about in the heat of combat. His use of a spell meant to protect from poisons as a way of containing the cloud to where only Blathamort could breath it is surly something none of us would have thought about, yet he did so with some nasty injuries. I once again will say this with total conviction. I think it is time to become serious about discussing adding another chair at our table."

The Halfling replayed the full battle, watching the death of both the Green and Black dragons. With a sigh he nodded. "Alright Syria, you have my vote. If we don't get him it will not be long before the Mythlings become aware of him and try to turn him."

A Human dressed in a midnight blue robe with the constellations moving slowly across it stepped forward. "I am still more comfortable with his brother, Aster. The boy has a better heart. But no matter what direction we look, the fact remains it is time to add at least one chair to this table and be prepared to help, not hinder, the others form the avatar powers they will certainly gain on their own. The power required to fight them would weaken us at a time when we have finally gained the upper hand."

A female Halfling, wearing poor looking worker's clothing, yet carrying a wicked looking staff made of amber coated corn stalks with a small scythe blade on the end looked over at the robed Human and shook her head, "Aster is a good kid, but we don't want or need a good kid. We want something more, someone who can terrify the likes of Flexla."

Syria smiled and nodded. "Exactly my original point Veldora. We need Kandric!"

Chapter 24

Bandurlok paced in the Great Throne Room of the Obsidian Fortress, his claws clicking against the black stone under him. Around him were those he knew to be totally loyal to his cause. Beyond the main doors, a full company of his best Dragonlings guarded the door and beyond that, all palace guards had been replaced by Bandurlok loyalists hand picked by those in the Throne Room with him. All entrances were locked down with portcullis and thick obsidian stone doors.

Even as he held this meeting, the Black Dragon Prince felt a new feeling, one he had never truly experienced until now, fear. With a massive roar to show his power he silenced all talking and brought the meeting to order.

His first action was to take a couple of minutes to stare down each of those in the gigantic chamber and look for any signs of weakness. One Dragon Lord, Count Borgont, looked away far too quickly for Bandurlok's liking. He made a mental note to kill the elder Dragon at the first opportunity and give his land to his youngest son, the still juvenile dragon was not experienced, but would blindly follow Bandurlok because to do anything else would mean his older siblings would make a grab for the land hold.

Truth be told, the Prince hoped they would, because he knew for a fact at least two of the three of them were supporters of his Nephew and the third was a total unknown. If they made a grab he could have them killed and eliminate any threat from the southern borderlands.

Bandurlok took a deep breath and forced the voice to sound much surer than he felt. "As you all know my father, our King, is dead. Even as we gather to organize my Nephew is doing likewise in an attempt to forcibly take the seat behind me."

A round of nervous and angry sounding mummers cascaded over the chamber for a few seconds before Bandurlok silenced it with another roar. He then snarled as his head turned and his eyes swept the room. "I understand your anger and confusion, but this is NOT a time to run around like a bunch of terrified humans. We are Black Dragon and Black Dragon kin, not weak pathetic members of some helpless lower race!"

As a dead silence fell over the black stone chamber Bandurlok slammed his forepaw into the floor with enough power to send a tremble through the entire fortress. "Our King had not declared who was to follow him before his death, nor did he communicate who was to take his place before he died. The magic of the throne will not allow either me or my nephew to sit on it until one of two things happen. First is the death of one of the two of us. Second would be for one of us to concede the throne to the other."

Bandurlok shook his head, "Unless we can show what my father's true wishes were, there is only two choices. The first is to concede."

This brought out a few chuckles and a couple outright laughed at the idea of Bandurlok handing the throne over to his Nephew. The rest simply shook their heads. They knew, just as Bandurlok did, that if this happened they would be stripped of all power and lands because they were the staunchest supporters of Bandurlok. Likewise, they knew Bassork, Bandurlok's nephew was having a similar meeting with those most loyal to him. Just as here those in that gathering realized for Bassork to concede would guarantee they would forfeit their land holds and their power. Unless something conclusive could be found stating what Blathamort's wishes were, there was only one way to get a new king. A Black Dragon Civil War was now imminent.

One of the few other Great Dragons in the chamber, Duke Bojorm, lowered his head as a way of asking permission to speak. A wave of Bandurlok's paw gave the floor to him. "My Prince, my soon to be king, what do we know of his death and the death of the Great Green our king had guaranteed to guard?"

"Little to nothing." Bandurlok growled. "I got a report only hours before from one of my father's most faithful Dragonling commanders as to the fact the base had been invaded. He was sent to trace down those who had escaped killing many of my father's elite guards as they did so. He came to me for help. Before I had a chance to so much as figure out what needed to be done, the first death occurred. We all felt it, knew it to be a Great Dragon, knew it to have come by the hand or claw of a non-dragon or much lower dragon, but nothing more.

"I gated back here to find out where this had occurred, but even as our best sorcerers were pinpointing the area close to my father's secret base, the death of our King erupted through the very fabric of magic. This we needed no investigation to figure out for we all knew it to be a Great Black Dragon of the highest magnitude. We felt it in our bones and scales. We tasted the foulness of death in our teeth. And we heard the horrible strangling sounds of my father as he tried to send a message to all of us as to his wishes and what killed him.

"Unfortunately, this final attempt was blocked by some means. For whatever reason our king was unable to tell us what happened or to flee. Whatever killed him did so in a way so ruthlessly powerful he was not even able to teleport back here to die nor send us any hint as to who he had decided to rule our empire. For the first time since our homeland was born, it is likely one of our kings will not be immortalized in the Dark Crypt." Bandurlok lowered his head showing some sadness in this fact.

His momentary grief faded as he continued to tell the others what little he knew. "The deaths of two Great Dragons caused some rather unusual side effects further complicating matters. As it turned out the death of the Great Green female and our beloved King Blathamort caused a magical rupture within Bloody Rock. The ending result was to make direct gating impossible. The nearest I could gate our first responders was a full five leagues away, and only then by carefully scrying the magical flows delaying our arrival by several hours. By the time we were able to find a good location to gate to other forces had cut off all access to the site of our King's death. Even a full day after his death we have not gotten close to his body to see if he left any sort of message!"

Duke Bojorm raked his claws across the floor in frustration. "My Prince, what could possibly stand in the way of our nation getting to the body of our King?"

Bandurlok snorted in disgust. "First it did not help when our scouts got jumped by scouts of my beloved nephew before they could do more than make camp. A full fledged battle was averted simply because I sent far more than my nephew did so his force withdrew rather quickly. Still it slowed us down.

"Beyond the pesky problem of my Nephew, my good Duke, you must think in large terms and understand it is not just us and the Greens who are concerned. A single Dragon death of a Great would bring other Dragon Nations to investigate, the death of two in so short a time, meant all dragon races responded. Unfortunately, the Silvers and the Blues got there well before any other Dragon Nation. Of course the rather annoying Crown Prince of Silvers, Millen, is the only Great Dragon Mind Master known, so he probably knew instantly more information than any of us did or still do.

"His forces were clearly in place before I found a good spot to gate a sizable force to." Bandurlok waved a paw to kill conversation before it got started, "However, as best as we can tell, although the Silvers were the first Dragon race to get there followed rather quickly by a full battalion or more of Blues, they were not the first to respond." He paused to give his next statement more emphasis and impact. "As best as our few surviving forward scouts could tell, the first to arrive to help the lower races from the chaos and looting from our failed guardians of our Great Dragons that was sure to ensue such deaths were combined forces of the Dwarves and Elves."

"Dwarves and Elves?" The general of all palace guards snarled in disgust, "Our Dragonling scouts were cut down by Dwarves and Elves?"

Duke Bojorm looked shocked as did all the other elder Great and True Dragons. Still he managed to glance over at the Warrior Dragon with a half disgusted half humorous smirk, "My rather ignorant general, you are far too young to understand or comprehend exactly what our future king just said without thinking it over, so let me try this again, and this time think before you respond."

Duke Bojorm stared straight into the eyes of the general until the much smaller dragon started to squirm a little. Satisfied the Great Black Dragon's lips twisted upward into a bit of a grin. "Our future king just said THE Dwarves and Elves, not just Dwarves and Elves." His eyes stayed focused on the Warrior Dragon for a full minute before the meaning dawned on the much younger general.

Finally the general's eyes went wide, "As in Alphar and Garm?"

All heads turned to look at Bandurlok, most already knowing the answer but wanting confirmation. The others stared in outright shock and disbelief. Bandurlok took in a deep breath and slowly nodded. "Indeed, my future Council members, The Garm and the Alphar do still exist as we have long suspected. Not only do they exist, they are close to the power of their former glory days and they are no longer in hiding."

He managed a smile, "As troubling as this is, it is even more so since they seem to have a total resolve in not allowing anyone or anything inside of Bloody Rock. However, while they all but obliterated my lead scouts, my nephew and his green allies either did not understand what they were facing or were too focused on the goal of getting into Bloody Rock to care. Their entire first wave was annihilated and their second wave shattered on Garm and Alphar lines now augmented by Silver and Blue Dragon forces. Whites, Browns, Bronze, Brass, Coppers and even the mighty Golds, fought a rather round house pitched battle, but withdrew once they realized the Garm and the Alphar were holding the ground around Bloody Rock and reinforcements were arriving in huge numbers from both nations."

"With what limited resources I have left up there, I do not have great information, but what I have is staggering. My best estimates say over 6000 Dragonlings and a dozen or more Warrior Dragons of assorted Dragon Races have fallen in the last 36 hours. While the Greens and my Nephew's ranks have been hit the hardest, the Whites and the Brass took massive losses when they gated into the same area at almost the same time and the Bronze and Brown contingents were basically wiped out by the Copper and Gold forces.

"With the exception of the Blue and Silver forces working with the Alphar and Garm, the only others still in numbers are Green and Black. All others have retreated, most licking their wounds and trying, like I am, to see how this all came about. Although I am sure, like me, the other races also have had scouts hunker down in an attempt to glean any information they can.

"The Greens and my Nephew have yet to concede the battle. Even as we are sitting here planning what to do and how to do it my scouts have sent word of a third force of Green and Black Dragon forces getting cut to pieces in the fields and swamps around Bloody Rock. And for the first time, the being I hate the most is doing me a giant favor by assisting. Monarch has moved the full weight of his beloved Illorc forces in to support the Garm and Alphar, protecting the swamp and the outer villages around Slome. While this means I have lost all control of the passes into the Silver Spine Mountain from below, It also means my two adversaries are beating on each other while I have to do nothing but sit back and let their losses mount."

Bandurlok paused to take a look around. As he did so his voice dropped noting a bit of sadness. "Of course this is all minor when looking at the larger picture, for like it or not, the Alphar and Garm have the bodies of our King and the Great Green female solidly behind their lines. I am also willing to bet they are not likely to give anyone or anything access. While a full push from us may be able to get in, we would take massive losses trying to do so. Since there is no guarantee the body of our beloved King holds the answers we seek, and even if it does, we may not want it to come out, the crown for the Black Dragon Homeland will have to be gained the hard way."

The young Warrior Dragon General let out a sigh. "War."

"Indeed." Bandurlok managed a hard smile, "But while others may not understand why you are here, you have earned a spot in this chamber with us since thanks to you and your quickly following my orders we have a clear upper hand."

Duke Bojorm glanced down at the Warrior Dragon with a bit of skepticism then over to Bandurlok, "Exactly what advantage did he give us Highness?"

"Thanks to him, we hold the Obsidian Fortress and anyone not totally dedicated to us has been eliminated or blocked from entry. We have the forges, both magical and mundane, we have the great hall where most of the kingdom's magic is stored, plus we have the thousands of indentured servants below pounding out weapons for us. In addition we have the vast majority of the castles and fortresses in the Southeast, your Midnight Palace, Count Borgont's southern Mount Black Stone and my own Eastern Shadow Citadel.

"My beloved Nephew still has the Great Northern Gloom Keep, the Western Shade Spires and the Black Temple plus numerous smaller keeps to the north and west. While this is not insignificant, we clearly start out with the upper hand.

"Of course, my nephew and his green friends impaling their forces on Garm and Alphar lines does not hurt us either," he snorted lightly, almost chuckling. "The battle we face will still not be easy or bloodless. The loyalties of those in the center of our empire are questionable to both sides and is certainly where most of the fighting will take place. Some pacification of those hoping to break free of Black Dragon rule will certainly be necessary. Yet even as we fight this out and move in force to keep control of our nation's heartland, we cannot totally strip our boarders or we risk loosing a large chunk of our lands to outsiders even as we fight to consolidate and unify it. I just hope my Nephew understands this as well.

"We need to get this strategy session started so we can see exactly where we stand. Once we know this we can figure out where and when to strike. If we do so quickly enough, we may even be able to inflict major damage to their forces before my Nephew figures out Bloody Rock and our Kings remains has slipped out of the grasp of our kingdom."

Duke Bojorm nodded agreement but took a moment to glance over the assembly, "I guess the only other question is what to do about the Black Talisman of Kingship itself. We cannot simply abandon it."

Bandurlok half tossed up his paw, dismissing the question out of hand. "Once we have secured the whole of our homeland under my rulership, I will pay whatever ransom the Garm and Alphar require. I am sure the price will be beyond steep, but so be it. Until then, we do not want it for my father will have certainly embedded his wishes within the Talisman and thus it may contain a hint as to the real wishes as to whom he wanted to lead this nation. And as much as I doubt he was leaning toward my Nephew, I do not want to take the chance. This kingdom is MINE!" ***

Conner groaned as his eyes popped open. As he reached up to rub his throbbing forehead, his hand didn't touch skin, but instead hit a thick soft bandage. Confused, he rolled his head to look around. His confusion deepened as he found he wasn't even in his own small quarters. He tried to sit and shake his head to clear it, but the pain caused by the shake caused him to fall back into the bed.

Another glance told him he was not alone in the room. Off in the corner Sharris was in a chair, but was sound asleep and there was movement in the next room. As he concentrated in an attempt to will the pain in his head to stop, he tried to figure out exactly where he was and how he got there.

The memory was kind of fuzzy though. He clearly remembered the weird lurch of the Thunder Rapids followed by a massive burst of magic which caused him to burn the captain. He also had full recollection of going below to check on the crew. There were a few minor injuries, but nothing the barge's Healthmen couldn't handle.

As he reached up and touched the bandage again, he tried to remember what happened next. Touching the thick bandage caused him to wince with pain so he moved his hand back. As he did so, he could see some sticky redness on his fingers. Knowing he was looking at his own blood, he wiped the fingers on his side and closed his eyes. "What was the last thing I remember?"

Even though the words came out as a mere whisper the sound caused his head to pound. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to prevent making more sound. As he did so he visualized himself with Captain Pontarious. He was following the old man down to the front hold. As this memory came to him, so did some other details. The ship lurched again, only this time it was way worse. He heard boards creak and several things break and some others splinter.

Conner took a couple of deep breaths as he recalled Pontarious launching off the steps in front of him. He vaguely recalled being airborne himself and casting a spell, but what it was escaped him. All he did know is it went off with way too much power. Everything after the casting was totally black so he guessed the power of the spell must have knocked him out and left him defenseless to land in the lower hold with any kind of control.

Panic caused him to try to sit up again as his thoughts went to the captain. How was the old man? The pain was too much, however. He collapsed back into the soft bed with a bit of a yelp.

Sharris jerked awake with the sudden loud sound from Conner. She jumped up knocking over the chair she had been sleeping on. The second she saw Conner reach for his bandaged head she let out a huge sigh of relief. "Captain! He's awake!"

Conner made one more attempt to sit up, but before he was half way up a strong hand pushed against his chest while another cradled his head lowering him back into the bed.

"Don't move son," the ship's lead Healthman's voice commanded from the next room, but even though Conner's view was blocked he could tell the voice was already moving closer. Other sounds of movement told him there were at least three probably four others who were also moving his direction.

Conner winced again as the hand on his chest hit a tender spot. With the pain becoming too much he simple let the strong hands gently rest him back on the bed. He forced his eyes open again and looked over at Sharris. "How is the Captain?" he managed to whisper as he struggled to maintain consciousness.

Captain Pontarious' voice answered from the head of the bed just out of sight. "Thanks to you, I am fine and so is everyone else, with the few exceptions of a broken bone here or there and a couple of other nasty cuts the rest of the crew came through surprisingly intact."

Conner took a deep breath, but instantly regretted it as he chest flared with fiery pain. The words he wanted to speak were choked off as he gritted his teeth yet again.

Conner felt a rough hand slide through his hair as Pontarious' voice came from the above him again. "Don't move son. You have over a dozen serious injuries including broken ribs and a nasty knock on your head."

Conner inwardly cringed as the Captain's hand continued to move tenderly though his hair. The feeling reminded him too much of the time he had rented himself out for the pleasure of others for a few copper. Some parts of life in the orphanage always seemed to haunt him. As he forced himself to take more shallow breaths he wondered if he would ever be rid of those ghosts.

Conner swallowed and opened his eyes again. "What about your Shaman?"

Another voice came from the far side of the room, "I have tried young man, but it seems whatever caused the sails to act crazy has put some kind of magical barrier around you as well. My spells will simply not penetrate. Both our sorcerers say the external magic is slowly fading around you, being absorbed by you they believe, but it could be a day or two before I can do anything for you. But to be honest, I am nowhere near strong enough to heal you fully."

Pontarious leaned forward and kissed Conner on the top of his head. As he did so he saw the youngster tighten. Shaking his head with sadness he gently rested his hand on Conner's left shoulder, one of the few places he knew the boy had no injuries. "We are closing in on the town of Amber Rose, and should be there within just a few hours as long as the sails continue to function. There is a large temple of Vindayin there, we will see if a priest can do something our Shaman can't."

Conner nodded understanding very slowly, "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter, all 3;"The Healthman started to answer.

Conner clenched his teeth to fight the pain and spoke though a tightened jaw. He then forced his head back so he could stare into the Captain's eyes. "Sir, what happened."

Pontarious made a half shrugging motion as he waved off the Healthman. He then softened as he looked down on Conner's battered body. "We hit another wave of magic, but it was way worse. We were on the stairs and the new patch broke. I'm not sure exactly what you did, but you managed to hit me with a Slow Fall spell and then, as you were flying though the air you let loose some kind of massive wind spell which totally stopped the breach and, I might add, is still in place almost 36 hours later. It is so strong down there we can't get within a meter of the hull to check for damage. And, unlike the magic around you, the wind shows no sign of getting weaker or fading.

"Anyway, all I could do was watch helplessly as you flew past me because your spell slowed me down and allowed me to gently hit the wind spell. You, on the other hand, slammed into the main support for the lower hold. You should have been killed, but the injuries you sustained hitting the beam healed almost instantly. Unfortunately the ship then lurched again and sent you right back into the steps.

"Half of your current injuries came from you slamming into the steps. The other half are from you rolling down the stairs. Your head split open when it hit the bottom step. But whatever happened closed almost all the wounds. Unfortunately, it didn't heal the broken bones and the bruising, and I think your head hit after the healing so that is what it is. We think you may have a crack in that hard head of yours as well, so we don't want you moving too much until we can get it healed."

Conner let his body go slack. "I don't remember nothing past the sound of the ship's hull splintering." "Actually, that was the main mast." Pontarious stated with a bemused voice, "But whatever magic caused the sails to mess up in the first place also sent a backlash through the ship. As best we can tell the whole ship is totally repaired, but we won't know for sure till your spell goes away, if it ever does. Hell, it took almost five hours and three Cancel attempts to kill the spell you put on me to allow me to walk at a decent pace and I still have to plant my foot before lifting the next one or I move to the ground a bit slow!"

"It came out too strong, I lost control. I remember the magic spilling out of me, but can't remember what I cast." Conner's voice weakened as his eyes slowly closed.

"Don't worry about it young one." Pontarious spoke softly. He watched the pained expression fade from Conner's face as the boy drifted back to an unconscious like sleep. Leaning forward he carefully kissed Conner on the head again as he pulled the covers up and gently as possible tucked them in under Conner's shoulders.

He then turned to stare at everyone in the room, "I don't want him left alone for a moment. When we get to Amber Rose we will pay whatever it takes to heal him. I want their head priest down here, and don't take no for an answer!"

***

Aster woke with a start. His head quickly jerked around as he tried to get his bearings. Shade instantly snuggled in closer so the frightened boy could clutch onto something familiar as he figured out where and who he was. His eyes quickly settled on Quavis who was climbing out of the back of the moving wagon and Benem who was staring straight at him.

Benam looked over with a relieved expression, "How you feeling Teacher?"

Aster's eyes darted around the back of the wagon before settling back on Benem, "What?"

"Are you OK?" Benem asked as he moved a bit closer.

Aster scratched his forehead as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Um, I think so 3; How did I get in here?"

Quavis reappeared, jumping back into the slow moving wagon with an assist from Olinday. As he spoke it was clear the boy's voice was full of excitement. "It happened again!"

Confusion caused Aster's brow to wrinkle a bit, "What happened again?"

Benem stayed quite a bit calmer as he spoke up, but his voice also betrayed his own eagerness to talk about the recent events. "Lady Sagell's dragon said your brother killed another dragon, only this time it was even bigger!"

Aster's fingers dug deep into Shade's fur as he tried to put the pieces together. The last thing he remembered was the rush to pack up camp as Stealth gave them a brief dragon magic lesson. They moved out hurriedly from what was to be their camp. Aster remembered climbing into the back of the moving wagon to check on his traveling forge, securing the tool chest to the side then nothing.

He gazed out the back and noticed the sun was out. He knew that couldn't be right since it was just getting dark as they pulled out of the last camp. Aster took a deep breath as the sickening feeling of missing time and information returned. Finally he looked at the two eager faces looking back at him as Benem's words dawned on him. "As in two dragons in less than an hour?"

"Stealth says so and is really freaked out." Quavis spoke up with hyper sounding fast speech, "He says this one was like something in line with a royal dragon. It took almost a full day for the regular animals to calm down even with Benem and Sagell working with them, and even now Dart is flying over us as is Frost. Neither have landed since the last magic burst. Rage is also a bit crazy still. He has not stopped to eat or drink since we packed up and fled the camp."

Aster sat up and glanced down, noticing his skin looked a bit dark, almost like he was sun tanned. This distraction lasted for only a few seconds as the full extent of Quavis' words sank in. "Almost a full day? How long ago did this happen?"

Pocet's head poked in from the front, "Hey there's my boy! How you feeling?"

Aster stretched and flexed his chest and arms, "Really good actually. What happed to me?"

"There was another rupture of magic, this one was truly massive," Pocet reached in and ruffled Aster's hair, "The Fairy Dragon says it overloaded you with power and magic to the point where you blacked out. Olinday said you glowed really bright, but with a blackish color for a few seconds and your skin darkened a bit while he was watching. He tried to catch you as you fell forward, but the power surrounding you was just too much. It flung him out of the back of the wagon like he was catapulted. All we saw was a bit of a dark shimmer around you by the time we got to the wagon though."

Olinday nodded, "All three of your pets also got some of the overflow master. All three of them glowed right with you. Shade, however, glowed as bright, or actually as dark as you did."

Aster quickly reached down and gently lifted up Shade's head, "Are you OK boy?"

Shade gave Aster a quick yet very wet lick then nodded.

Pocet snickered, "I'd say he is just fine," he reached in and patted the massive animal on the head. "I think some of it went into all the animals, even the draft horses. We have only stopped for five short breaks since it happened, and that was more for us then the animals."

Shade let out a single bark and nodded again.

Aster slid out from under the bedroll, realizing he was totally naked as he did so. He took a moment to look over his body and frowned lightly as he noticed his entire body was now a light tan, almost olive color. In addition the scars he had on his leg and knee from past combat had vanished. He quickly reached up and felt his hair line. It was totally smooth, with no indentation where the nasty scar had been.

Pocet reached in and gently pulled Aster to him, kissing him as he did so. "It's totally gone. I noticed right away when I tucked you in. As a matter of fact there is no sign you have ever scrapped your elbow let alone been in combat."

Aster managed to grin playfully, "You just can't keep your hands to yourself can you?"

Pocet turned a bit red, "When it comes to you, it's mighty difficult!"

Aster chuckled as he pointed to Olinday, "Grab me something to wear," he then turned his attention back to Benem and Pocet. "How long was I out?"

"Just over a day and a half Teacher." Benem responded. "And even though the others say they didn't see it I am telling you the magic that found came as a huge bolt, almost like a lightning bolt, but was so dark it seemed to suck up the light as it went by. Blackie even tried to blast it with his stink glands, but it was so strong the smell went away almost as fast as it does when I use one of dad's potions. It went straight toward you, even curved a little as it went in your wagon just so it could hit you."

Aster took a deep breath as he put on his loincloth. "Well, whatever hit me didn't seem to hurt me at all. If anything I feel stronger."

***

Master Lannet gazed out over the land on the far side of the river. The rather hastily constructed tower wobbled lightly in the stiff breeze, but otherwise seemed sturdy enough to support his weight along with the other three looking out for trouble with him.

As he looked into the wood line only fifty meters from the opposite bank of the river, the only sign of movement was the rustling of braches in the wind. After nearly five minutes he shook his head and sighed in relief. "I detect nothing, either with my mind or my eyes. I think they have backed off."

The Silver Dragonling snorted sending a swirl of steam into the cold air, "And a good thing. Thissss town will not beat back another attack, and the wall issss breached in too many areassss. What issss left of my company would not be of much help either asss battered and exhausted assss we are.

"You got here jussst in time." Lord Falk stated as he looked out over the recently tilled farm fields surrounding the small town, now torn up and littered with a multitude of bodies. Green, Black, and Silver Dragonlings by the dozens could easily be seen, yet even more death could be spotted if one took the time to look. Over two score of Pantherlings and quintuple that of Hobgoblins were scattered over the fields surrounding the town.

Lord Falk let out a long hissing sigh as he watched a small, yet heavily armed, group of Pantherlings and Silver Dragonlings pick there way through the carnage looking for signs of life. From the looks of it, there they were finding far more dead than injured.

"Maybe," the Pantherling commander stated with a wince, cradling his slinged arm as the tower continued to vibrate. "But from what I saw they were doing a great job of killing each other before we jumped in. If the beings in this town would have abandoned it, I wouldn't have 10% of my force dead and another 20% too injured to fight if they had to."

The Silver Dragonling let out a light snort. "My unit took ssssome heavy losssssesss too, but you cannot fault thosssse who live here for wanting to defend their homessss. None of thisss isss their fault."

Lannet patted the Pantherling on his good shoulder, "Besides, the people here have opened up their homes to you and are giving up food that is already in short supply. All you have to do is look out there to know they will have to replant most of their fields after this as well. They are good people.

"In addition, after the pounding you gave them, there is little chance they will come back. No matter how crazed they are, they know a butt kicking when they get one. And, to be honest, this was one of the best I have ever seen."

The Pantherling managed a slight smile, "Indeed it was. We must have decimated a full battalion of Hobs and a company each of Green and Black Dragonlings. The problem is we are no longer looking at a straight up fight. It has turned into a free for all down here with former allies beating the teeth out of each other."

Falk nodded, "The recent magical rupture from Dragon Death hasss turned thissss into a three way war. Have either of you found out which Black and Green fell?"

"No," the Silver Dragonling spoke up, "But we can tell you my Prince dissspatched two full battalions of our Palace Guards to an area far to the north, a place known asss Bloody Rock. Why I do not know, but I have heard your Prince ordered in like numbers of his Desssert Guardiansss. Both forcesss are being lead by multiple Warrior Dragonsss and your Prince even sssent his grandssson, Lord Bolantor asss an overall joint commander for all Blue and Sssilver Dragon forcesss above the Sssilver Ssspine Mountiansss.

Lord Falk shook his head. "Commander, I may be a Blue Dragonling, but he isss not my Prince nor do I claim any allegiance to the Blue Dragon Home Land. I am a sssubject of King Wyhrem and King Wyhrem alone. Although, I am rather happy my kin have joined this fight on the ssside of my king, I cannot claim to be part of what I am not."

The Pantherling managed a light chuckle. "Lord Falk, you may not see yourself as part of their empire, but they do see you as one of them and highly respect you. Your devote service to King Wyhrem played a key part in the blues' decision to come to the aid of this kingdom."

"With any luck I will be able to repay the Blue Dragon Homeland for their kindnessss. Only time will tell. In the meantime, however, we need to refortify thisss town and prepare for the return of crazed Black and Green Dragon forcesss. The more we kill here the lessss King Wyhrem will have to face as he searches for the Dragon responsssible for this war.

The Silver Dragonling raised an eyebrow, "Lord Falk, are you telling usss you do not know who is behind all of thisss?"

Master Lannet turned shapely to look at the Silver Dragonling and Pantherling, "You do?"

The Pantherling nodded, "We know for certain the overall commander is one of two potential crown princes of the Black Dragon Homeland, Lord of Gloom Keep, Bassork. However, we know he has a direct allegiance with the Green Queen and seems to be getting orders from King Blathamort himself."

Lord Falk's eyes went wide, "King Wyhrem hasss no idea he is moving againsssst a Great Dragon let alone the possssibility of more than one!"

Master Lannet glanced at his Watch pin and grinned, "No, but he will shortly. We have a team with him."

The Pantherling managed a pained smile, "You may want to inform your king, things have just become even more interesting as we noticed there were two groups of Black Dragonlings as interested in fighting each other as they were us. The hobs and the smaller force were separate and hostile to the larger combined green and Black Dragonling force. I don't know who the smaller force was aligned with, but the larger group was clearly flying Prince Bassork's colors.

"With any luck, we will find a few survivors from the smaller group who know something, or at the very least can tell us who they are fighting for."

"Commander," Lord Falk half snarled, "It isss imperative we find out all we can and get the thissss intelligence to King Wyhrem!"

The Silver Dragonling responded with a bit of a grin, "Count on it, Lord Falk, Prince Millen hassss made it abundantly clear we are here to give full aid to your King, even if we have to gate captivessss back to him to mind read."

Master Lannet shook his head slightly, "As much as it is appreciated, I would ask for first crack at them."

"You are a lead member of the Watch, Master, so get first shot at them you shall," the Pantherling responded with a bit of a snarl. "But rest assured, if you cannot extract the information Prince Millen will."

***

Glaster entered the large barn quietly and moved silently up into the loft to watch the boys train from above. In the almost two days since the dual explosions of magic ripped though seemingly the whole world. Fear and speculation was the rule rather than the exception. Even though it was clear no one really knew what had happened rumors were running rampant, and as the tails grew taller the local magistrate was once again showing his ineptitude, feeding the rumors by locking up the whole town and disrupting the lives of locals and refugees alike.

The gates of the town had been locked down and remained that way. Word was circulating that the gates would open later in the day for a few hours for those who wanted to venture out could and those with supplies for the markets could get in. Rumor also had it the gates would then be locked down once again and only be opened for a few hours a day for the foreseeable future. Glaster shook his head in disgust; a real town leader would have done things to calm his subjects. Unfortunately, just like the incident with his charges and the peasant boys, the man's judgment was once again absolutely awful.

Fortunately the recent heavy snows had clogged the roads and the main pass leading down the line of buttes that separated the upper kingdom from the Barony of Everone so the only beings who really felt the added burden of the largest safe town close to the fighting was those already here. Still, Glaster eagerly looked forward to lunch where the King's Investigator would pass his judgment on the magistrate.

He knelt, pulling Perth closer to him as he did so. Now that the boy was clean, no longer hungry, and well groomed, his true beauty was stunning to the Master Shaman. In his entire life only a couple boys could have compared and only one was more beautiful. As his hand slid down Perth's leg, he couldn't help but think of Kandric once again. He closed his eyes for a moment to picture the red haired bright eyed child and let out a slight sad sigh.

He shook off his desire to see his most beloved find of his life as he focused on the kids below as they started putting on armor and secured their weapons. He whispered softly. "You realize you and you alone have helped to bring your entire family out of the beggar caste?"

Perth slightly nodded as he fought the urge to push the seemingly ever present hand off his skin. "Yes sir, but me 3; I mean my dad will disown me if he finds out I am going to be playing with magic liquids. Potion makers are not trusted."

Glaster responded with a shrug. "You need not worry, for I told your father you were going to be a Warrior Adept. I still do not understand the lower castes total mistrust of Mystics in this area. The rumors of them boiling babies and the like are badly exaggerated, although I am sure some do such horrible things. In the grand scheme of things, however, it is no different than a Swordsman becoming a Lockmaster and a Sect Warrior to become an assassin. It happens but not all Swordsmen are seen in such a bad light.

"I guess the real problem is they do need strange items to make their liquids and of all the Fields they tend to be the weakest in combat skills on and off the battlefield. Of course the primary reason for this is Mystics need to spend more time in classes and labs than with a sword in hand."

As Glaster continued to stroke Perth's exposed thigh, he used his other hand to point to the assembled boys below. "You, however, will need to learn how to fight and fight well like those below are doing if you are going to pass yourself off as anything other than a Mystic. Still, like it or not you have tested to have the gift of the Mystic we must start your training in many arts. Use this time well, for given time to fully heal, young Perth, you will be joining those boys in some of their combat training and I will get you extra training to get you up to par with them. In the meantime, watch, listen and learn as much as you can before you have the bruises those below will certainly sport before the end of this morning."

Glaster managed a grin as the boy lightly gulped. He forced himself to stay silent as once again his mind turned to Kandric. Perth's reaction was typical of most kids as they thought of leaning how to fight. Kandric had been just the opposite. He had not only not been intimidated by the thought, but had drunk up every gram of training Glaster could find for the boy. From the first time he had handed the boy a practice staff, Kandric had fallen in love with the very art of combat. Even the most elite Teachers in the hollowed halls of Protector's keep had found the boy had a natural gift for fighting far above what any non-Swordsman had ever shown, and even above what many Swordsman students had.

Kandric had not even backed away from the challenge of working with and fighting other Sect Warriors. For nineteen months Glaster had paid thousands of silver to an Expert Echelon Ferret Sect Warrior to work with his determined Halfelf. He would have continued to pay the outrageous fees the woman had asked, but shortly after Kandric had reached Secondary Echelon, the woman herself stated there was nothing more to teach. For, in her opinion, Kandric had reached a skill level where he could have passed the Primary Echelon test for a Ferret. The astonished woman even refused to accept a higher fee saying if Kandric wanted to go further he would have to do so on his on merits, for unlike most Subfields, the art of a Ferret was only taught up to the Primary Echelon passing level.

This was partially because the Ferret was the only Sect Warrior without a weapon. The hands, feet, elbows, knees and even the head were weapons of choice, and Kandric had learned enough to kill with any or all parts of his body. The other part was once the ferret learned the basics, it was then blended with the being's other skills to be the most effective, so it then was up to the Ferret to determine how best to blend the ferret into his daily life. A Ferret was a swift strike and cunning opponent, almost impossible to spot until it was too late. Even other Sect Warriors who were trained to spot other Sect Warriors often had a difficult time identifying a Ferret as a Sect Warrior.

All these skills Glaster had forced the boy to use on more than a couple of outings. A skill set which, just like all others Kandric had gained, had been battle tested and had tasted victory.

Glaster wondered if he would ever again find one such as Kandric. He shook his head, knowing it would be next to impossible. A part of him even briefly wondered if the magical explosions the world had felt were at least in part cause by his beloved boy. The focal point for the energy release had certainly been from the proper area. He snickered and shook his head, dismissing the idea no matter how intriguing it may be.

Finally he forced himself to push off all thoughts of Kandric as below the captain of the guard split the six boys up, teaming each up with his caravan partner. As this was done, one of the prince's guards moved though the dozens of obstacles and placed a dark green cloth on an upper corner of one of the wagons located close to the middle of barn then made his way out the far side and back around to the assembled kids.

Perth's brow wrinkled, "What are they doing sir?"

Glaster glanced over and kissed Perth on the cheek and lightly tasted the boy with his tongue which caused the boy to flinch and pull away. Glaster reached up and twisted Perth's ear enough to cause a stab of pain. "What are you doing boy? Who do you belong to?"

Perth cringed and whimpered for a moment, "Me belong to you sir. Sorry."

"I belong to you sir. I am sorry."

Perth felt his ear being twisted again, "I belong to you sir, I'm sorry."

"Two words not one!" Glaster snarled lightly as he pushed a finger into the tender spot just below the ear he was twisting. "I am sorry!"

Perth yelped and fell into Glaster, "I am sorry!"

"Better," Glaster stated as he looked into the eyes of the boy noting his fear. "Now remind yourself out loud who and what you are again."

"I am Mystic apprentice Perth, property of my master until I have lived fifteen years. I am here to serve my master in any and all ways and to learn to be one of the world's elite. My goals of my servitude are to please my master and learn everything necessary to become a Primary Echelon Mystic, sir."

"Perfect. It only took you a couple of days to learn those words. Now all you have to do is accept them. Let us test your resolve to those words shall we?"

Glaster pulled the boy's face up to his lips and kissed him deeply and held the kiss until the boy in his grasp stopped struggling and gave in. He gave it a few more moments before releasing Perth from his grasp. He used his thumbs to wipe the building teardrops welling up from the corners of Perth's eyes before wagging a warning finger. "Perth, the words you know as your mantra for the next several years of you life need to stop being just words. You must accept them or you will find life very difficult."

Perth took in a couple of breaths and blinked out the last vestiges of the tears he could still feel in them. "I'm 3; I am trying sir."

"I think you should try a bit harder. If you have problems now, it will only be worse once you are fully healed. On the other hand if you learn to accept and even enjoy this you can do the same for what is to come. I have had kids on both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between. Those who learned to enjoy are by far the most successful today. Now you can watch the spectacle below as I give you another chance to learn to enjoy being petted," Glaster once again moved his hand up Perth's bare leg.

"As for your previous question, I believe it is going to be a team capture the flag game. They will have to search though all the mess you see scattered below, find the green rag, and get it back to the large man without it being taken from them. If they get the flag out of the roped in area fifteen meters from the outer edge of the obstacles and it gets taken by another team, the other team has to get it back into the circle before they can take it to the guard leader. Once it gets turned over to the man, one of the other guards will hide a flag of a different color in the middle and it starts all over again. You will note they are using wooden weapons, not real ones, so they are being expected to fight each other if needed to achieve the goal.

"Normally the first kid to get the flag back to the guard leader three times would be the winner, but since they are teaming up it will probably be five or even six times. This should be interesting for us to watch and exceedingly painful for those below. For the team with the fewest victories will have a great deal of extra chores for the next couple of days while the winners will have none."

Perth let Glaster pull him toward the floor of the loft. He took a deep breath and allowed the man to guide his body into a sitting position just in front of the man so they could both see and Glaster's hands could freely roam over his body.

As he accepted this, he couldn't help but wonder if getting trained would be worth what he would have to endure over the next few years. As the teams of kids close to his own age entered the mess below with weapons ready he decided it probably would. For he would be trained with the weapons those below were wielding, would learn how to fight in armor as they were doing, and he would learn how to use magics and make magic liquids.

He vowed to one day return to this town and show all those who had looked down on him, kicked him, and belittled him, that those slights were not forgotten. He would find his father, brothers and sisters and give them a decent life. The name Perth would not end up being laughed at, instead it would be one held in respect, awe and if possible fear. Even as he felt a hand rub on the exposed edge of his bottom, he smiled as he thought of coming back to kick the teeth out of some of the higher classed kids who had tormented him literally since his birth.

***

King Wyhrem spun his Dragonsteed with practiced ease as he continued the inspection of the newest arrivals to bolster his royal troops. Flanked by the five man Watch team and his Captain of the Guard the King had grown tired of what he was seeing. Finally, he rolled his head in frustration, frowned deeply, and pointed to a young standard bearer. "This whole force is ridiculous! We are about to take on real dragons and this entire force is not ready to take on ranks of goblins! Just look at this far left flank flag bearer. What a disgrace!"

Instantly the Captain of the Guard jumped down. Without so much of a word the huge man grabbed long handle of the flowing gold and green flag of the Holgan Barony in one hand while cuffing the youngster holding it on the back of the head. The strike was hard enough to knock off the highly polished bronze helm and rock the bearer, but not enough to knock him down. This caused the Captain of the Guard to raise an eyebrow in surprise, but he kept the rest of his features stern and angry looking. Still he took a moment to look at the boy.

With the helmet now on the ground it allowed the man to note a few things he had not seen before. The kid had long dark black hair, pointed ear, and grayish colored eyes with a few tears threatening to spill out. The young Elf had not even flinched. Even though slender, there was a great deal of strength and self determination in the small body. The eyes were the most telling though, for they held no hatred only some confusion and anger which was clearly being directed at the commander, not the man who had just hit him with a very hard blow.

King Wyhrem pointed to the helm now laying almost three meters away while looking at the commander of the Holgan Barony force. "What are you thinking commander?"

The swordsman knelt and bowed his head, "My King, I cannot say I understand your displeasure."

Wyhrem's Captain of the Guard angrily picked up the helm and slammed it into the ground centimeters from the kneeling commander's hand causing the man to flinch. "Really? Then maybe you should wear that in combat instead of the boy!"

Confusion could be seen rippling across the commander's features as he glanced over at the helm. The man swallowed hard as he noticed the helm was now slightly bent and somewhat caved in by the extreme force of it being slammed to the ground. "My king, it came right out of the baron's keep. It was a helm used by his personal standard bearers during ceremonies, it was a good helm."

King Wyhrem let out a large sigh, "I am quite sure it was commander, for a royal guard protecting a baron in a city. It is quite proper," His voice took on a bit of a growl, "and very polished."

A gulp from the commander's Lieutenant caught Wyhrem's eye. He quickly moved his Dragonsteed sideways to get in front of the man. "Maybe you can tell your commander what the problem is since he cannot grasp the situation?"

The Warrior Adept knelt, "My King, our young bearers, trumpeters and drummers all stand out too much. The gear we equipped them with is of top quality and excellent for a royal entourage but not proper for a battle force. When the sun is out we would be seen because of our gear and our most vulnerable members stand out the most. Even our troops with their highly shined gear will attract too much attention under Zerris' shine."

Wyhrem's Captain of the Guard clenched his fist in frustration, "What about during the night? Lunara's moon is just as capable of announcing the locations of our forces as Zerris' sun. Who in the name of the gods equipped this unit?"

The lieutenant glanced over at the commander who remained totally silent and shame faced.

King Wyhrem waited for several moments before tossing up his hands in frustration, "Commander, you were asked a question!"

The Swordsman spoke in a voice barely higher than a whisper, "I did, my king."

Behind the King a female voice entered the conversation, "My King, may I interject some thoughts here?"

Wyhrem turned and glanced back to the Watch team leader. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he glanced over to his Captain of the Guard who he noted was still eyeing the boy a bit before giving a slight nod.

The woman moved her War Steed up to the group, "My King, the Holgan Barony is not used to large scale combat. They have a major problem with Kobald and Human raiders from the Kingdom of Naycrom on our eastern borders, but the whole of Naycrom is dirt poor and has the same problem. It takes everything they have to prevent the Black Dragon homeland from seizing their lands, so we cannot expect to get help from them with mere raiders.

"The Holgan Barony is a vast expanse of farmland, forests and shallow marshes good for growing rice. There is little monster problems and nothing that requires an army like they have sent you. Other than raiders, which have to be dealt with by using small hard striking fast moving units, they really don't do or probably know how to do large scale combat. My bet is the closest they come is when the baron does royal inspections or they put on a display in wide open fields during training which is exactly why their formations are ridged, their drummer and trumpeter youth are in fancy dress, and their barding for their horses are spit polished.

"On the other hand, if you look at their scouting units just off the flanks of their formations, you will see just the opposite; even the youngest members of their reconnaissance forces have a hard edge about them. Their animals are leaner, stronger, and at least from where I am positioned look meaner than most of the animals belonging to your other scouting units." As she finished she gently moved her War Steed back figuring she had said enough.

King Wyhrem straitened up a bit and looked over the assembled force sent by the Holgan Barony with a new perspective. As he did so he nodded slowly and took a moment to give the Watch team leader a slight gesture of thanks.

Finally he backed away from the commander and the lieutenant, leaving them still kneeling. "You all stay here and discuss this oversight with my captain. I want to take another look at this."

As he retreated a bit further, he glanced back at the young standard bearer whose helm was now a bent mess lying at the feet of his commander. "Young man you are to be commended. My wrath should not have been directed at you, but you took it and have not done anything but blink a couple of tears out of your eyes after the heavy handed blow from a man I know well. His strength would knock most adults to the ground which is what he expected to do to you given the fact he grabbed your standard. I would consider it an honor if you would take my personal standard for I have not found a suitable bearer as of yet."

The boy's eyes lit up as he knelt in a horribly preformed bow, "Mr. King, I'd be most happy ta do so!"

Around the King almost everyone cringed.

Wyhrem, on the other hand, laughed at the horrible language not being even slightly insulted. If anything he liked what he was seeing and hearing even more. "What is your age son?"

The boy's voice was strong as he answered. "Me turns fifty-one on da day after summer fest, Mr. King!"

Wyhrem smiled warmly at the lad. "A stronger thirteen year old equivalent being I doubt I have seen," he turned to look back at the Watch team, "One of you take this slightly rough around the edges, yet fine lad to my tent and get him properly outfitted with the best we carry. Judging by the fact he carries throwing daggers and has a short sword all worn properly, it is clear to me he has experience a bit beyond the training step four Sorcerer pins he sports on his shoulders.

"In addition, let us find out what he is made of; something tells me we will all be impressed. I want him part of the combat and Sorcerer practice we put all my personal troops through."

Wyhrem paused and snickered, "Still, he needs a bit of book work and refinement. I also want him put into classes when he is not at my side or in the field. Slot him time with my best instructors for the duration of this war. The rest of you, I would ask to accompany me, but keep back a bit. I want to see these new arrivals for what they really are."

Finally he glanced over to his Captain of the Guard, "Hand the standard to one of these highly polished swordsmen in the front rank of this formation for they no longer have the use of this bearer."

The Captain of the guard gave a hard nod, "Of course my King."

The Holgan force lieutenant kind of shrugged as one of the Watch members gave the boy a hand up to his Warsteed and tore off toward the King's encampment. "You may wish to inform our king the weird flows of magic seem to harm him especially hard and only the reason he is with us at all is the fact the boy was given the option of jail or being a bearer."

"Really?" The Captain of the Guard glanced back with a bit of humor in his voice, "What was his transgression?"

As the King rode off in the other direction with the rest of the Watch team, the commander of the Holgan force picked up the helm and stood. "He was captured on the far southeast border by one of our scout teams. We suspected they actually came from beyond our kingdom, but a mind master verified none of them were sure what kingdom they actually hailed from.

"Anyway, he and a trio of others were caught after they were found bedding down in one of the worker's barracks on one of the larger farms bordering the Marshes of Tomvail. We managed to grab the others quickly, but it took almost a week to track him down and we lost two good men in doing so. Unfortunately, our baron's advisor for the region noted they all were trained, or at least being trained. Because of this he decided they could be of use to the barony. He gave them each the option of swearing allegiance to our lands and joining this expeditionary force only to gain remittance of their crimes upon return to the barony after the campaign's successful conclusion or going to a hard labor prison for a span of not less than 18 moons. It is no surprise all four took the first option."

"Since he has been with us, this unit's leader has reported that both explosions of magic had very adverse effects on him. The first caused some sort of wild air torrents around him. It knocked him flat and sent others close by rolling away from him. The second blew apart the tent he was sleeping in and he didn't wake for over a full day. He had to be transported in the wagon the whole time."

Disgust could be heard as the man continued to speak. "The fact is, he is nothing but a brat of questionable Elvin blood. Never in my life have I heard or seen an elf so poorly educated and crude, so he must be of some disgrace to the Elves. Beyond those facts we know he is a criminal who directly or indirectly contributed to the deaths of two of our scouts, is prone to the effects of magic disturbances, almost certainly an orphan, and definitely ruffian trained backwoods trash."

The corners of the Captain of the Guard's mouth slowly twisted upwards. "Commander, I will warn our King of the magical problems surrounding the child. However, I want it made abundantly clear our King is a man who sometimes makes decisions based on gut instinct in which he is almost never wrong. In this case, he has just decided your former outer rank flag bearer is someone destined for greatness, which means the boy will most likely be over both of us in status in a matter of a few years and will have earned his way into the upper caste our King is slotting him for. From this moment until our King is proven wrong, which I highly doubt he will be, the kid you just referred to as a brat has captured his heart and is going to be treated as if he was one of our King's own. So, if you want to keep your teeth inside your thick skull, this better be the very last time you refer to the lad as anything other than the king's lead bearer, and do so with the utmost of respect."

The Captain of the Guard thrust the standard he was holding into the hands of one of the youngest swordsman he saw on the front rank. He kept a smile even as his words and voice took on an almost sinister tone. His eyes were harder than Eldwar Steel as glanced back at the Commander. "Oh, just for the record. If it happens, it will not be me knocking them pearly whites out. It will be the King himself."

***

Kandric rolled over and yawned. As he did so he could feel extremely soft covers rub up against his skin. Confused, his eyes snapped open only to see a dark green and gold colored tapestry surrounding the bed he was on and a picture of a mountain above him.

The memory of the last battle came to him as he wildly glanced around wondering where he was at. His hand quickly went down to his leg and felt the area where the break had been. His hand slid down past a silk loin cloth and onto his bare leg. There was no sign of the injury and no pain. He took a moment to flex his toes and his knee while keeping his hand over the area he clearly remembered having to straighten out. A slight sigh of relief escaped his lips as he found his leg was straight and he had full movement.

This allowed his heart to stop pounding so wildly, still he couldn't help but glance around nervously. It quickly became apparent he was alone in an extremely nice huge canopied bed covered with fine silk sheets and even the blankets covering him were softer than any velvet he had encountered.

Light was provided by glowing globs of magical light held up by a silver stand carved to look like an apple tree. Each glob of light was an apple and it seemed to put out a perfect amount of light for him to comfortably see without being too bright. Even as beautiful as it was, what it lit up was equally impressive.

The Green and gold tapestries making up the bedroom he was currently occupying had the scenes of Griffons in flight fighting a manticore and the thick comforter covering him was of a beautiful black with red trim and had a strange crest of a gold trimmed kite shield with a pair of golden arrows crossed over a black anvil with a red fire behind it. So exquisite was the craftsmanship, it actually looked like the flames flickered with each movement of the thick quilt.

Above him, were more colors and superb artistry. The canopy over the bed depicted an astonishing scene. It showed a carved out mountain with a deep blue sky. The whole of the mountain had been turned into a fortress that seemed to blend in perfectly to where it was almost natural. The snow over the upper towers looked like normal peaks unless one really looked hard. Above the main entrance was the same strange crest as was on the comforter. In the sky around the mountain were half a dozen golden griffins.

As a Ruinseeker he knew he was looking at a royal crest on the bed and on the castle scene above him, but never in his life had he seen it likes nor had he come across anything so beautifully done. As he slowly absorbed his surroundings his hands once again reached down and felt the silk loin cloth. Carefully he pulled back the covers to look over himself.

The loincloth was all he had on. It was of Black and red silk and had gold trim. A quick brush of his hand over his hair told him it had been recently washed as his hair was silky soft and there was the slight scent on apple blossoms about his whole body.

A moment of panic set in as he reached for his necklace and felt for his ring. Neither was on, but after a tense few seconds he saw both sitting on a small end table not far from the left side of the bed. Quickly he secured both times and continued to look around noting as he did so that there was very little sound coming from beyond the tapestries. If anything, all he could make out was the sound of blowing wind and some movement further out, possibly the sounds of beings moving around in heavy armor. As troubling as this all was, more of a serene feeling came over him as he spotted other important items.

Right next to the table was a small weapon rack which held his daggers, his sword, and boot knife. He took a deep breath of relief and looked over to the other side. There he found his armor on an actual armor stand, but it looked slightly different. As he slipped the ring on and secured the necklace chain behind his head he leaned forward to examine it.

At first he could not tell what the difference was. It looked exactly like the armor made by Vondum's men, had the built in dagger holders, the patch was in the same spot, and the trim was identical. Suddenly it dawned on Kandric, what was different. It was not made of leather like the old one had been. Instead this one was made of a thick black rugged looking hide.

After a few seconds it dawned on him it had to be dragon hide, Black Dragon hide to be precise. The reinforcement of metal had been replaced by Black Dragon scales and even the sheaths for the daggers had been crafted out of Black Dragon scales. He also noticed on the left shoulder was yet another crest of the seemingly ever present arrows, anvil, and fire.

He stood to look at it more carefully. As he did so his feet touched thick soft velvet carpet. He glanced down and whistled very softly as he realized the floor was covered in a plush carpet with the exact same black gold and red crest. As he continued to glance around he spotted a second armor stand. This one had armor of the exact same style, but it was of a dark green. Forgetting about the black armor he silently made his way over to the other stand. Even before he got there he knew it was made of Green Dragon hide and scales, but still he had to move closer to examine the craftsmanship. It was just as incredible, if not more so than the black armor.

He straitened up, stretched, and gazed around one more time. Finally a single loud word escaped from his amazed lips. "Wow!"

The sound of someone in armor snapping to attention just outside the boundaries of his makeshift room caused him to spin in the direction of the tapestry ends that wrapped around to make entry flaps into the area in which he woke. Without a thought he secured his sword and called out, "Who is there?"

A strong voice answered instantly, "I am your personal guard my prince!"

Kandric shook his head quickly as if trying to clear it. He switched to the sword to a defensive position as he took a step back from the flaps. "Excuse me?"

The voice responded, "My Prince, I have been given to you as your person guard. Is there anything you require?"

Kandric lowered the blade slightly, "An explanation would be a great start sir."

"My Prince, I am not a knight, but if you would prefer someone who is knighted to be your guard I am sure it can be arranged."

Kandric paused for a moment, briefly debating on what to say. As much as he would love to be treated like some royal brat, he shook off the momentary desire to be waited on hand and foot. Still none of this seemed right. Taking a deep breath he slipped into the spirit realms and took a look around. He quickly spotted his wind spirit friend, "What can you tell me my friend?"

The spirit swirled around creating a bit of a dust devil making the tent Kandric was in shake some. "It is good to see you alive. These beings have been beside themselves trying to get all sorts of stuff for your tent and there is no chance any dragon assassins getting to you. You seem to have some very powerful and impressive friends in your own realm."

"First I have heard of it. Thanks you." "Nothing to thank me for. You are the Great Dragon killer and yet again you did not call for help."

"Why, there is no way I could have you come underground!"

"As much as I thank you for your consideration, we could have found something to help you."

"I was told if I asked for help when I did not need it I could loose the offer, so I will not ask unless I need to."

The spirit once again swirled as it laughed, "Most would consider facing a Great Dragon as a good time to call for aid. Yet you did not even do so for a pair of greats. I have to wonder what would make you call for aid if those two did not." "You will be the first to know my friend," Kandric shrugged, "So you do not think I an in any danger here?"

"None what so ever. I do not believe I have ever seen one so guarded as you are right now."

Kandric rolled his eyes, "Very well, thanks once gain for being there for me."

"My pleasure, but I can tell you Syria's minions have told me you have further increased your status by not asking for help and you now have guards not far away even in this realm, but they are hidden even from me."

"Wonderful," Kandric stated with a bit of sarcasm. "If you see one, tell them I really do not want them to waste their time on me."

"I will be sure to pass your message on mortal friend, but I seriously doubt they will listen."

"Yea, well it does not sound like the mortals around me will listen either."

"I guess you will have to make them then," the spirit lifted off the ground buffeting the tent again.

Kandric slipped back into his body. As he did so he realized he could hear extra guards moving around his tent and some sounds of concern about the wind pulling at the strong ropes. Just outside the flaps to his room the guard worriedly asked if he was OK.

Kandric groaned in some disgust "Good sir, I believe there has been a major oversight here. I deserve no attention and you are a waste of your unit's resources standing outside there."

"My Prince, such decisions are not for me to make, but I can assure you, there is a need for you to be guarded. There are very angry dragons wanting a piece of you and they are not very far away."

Kandric's face twisted into a bemused smirk, "You do realize the last two dragons to get angry with me and those I was with did do so well, right?"

A very nervous clearing of a throat was all the response Kandric heard so he sighed, "Alright then, maybe I should speak to your commander or someone else of power to clear up this mistake."

The voice took on a concerned tone, "I will send for Duke Mathard straight away my Prince, for I do not know of any mistake and sincerely apologize if one was made. We have done our utmost to make the bedroom as comfortable as possible. Is there anything you are missing or desire?"

Kandric's head cocked sideways as he looked at the flaps. As he did so he lowered the sword down to his side. "Well I am awfully hungry, but I would prefer to see your commander and my friends. There is no need to bother a Duke or any other member of royalty, for rest assured I am not nearly important enough to bother one so lofty."

"My Prince, I am confused by your requests, but will send for who you have requested." As he said this Kandric heard the sound of a gong that was clearly right next to the being he was speaking to. "I will also send for food at once, what is it you desire?"

Kandric scratched his chin and shrugged his shoulders, "How about you come in here so I can talk to you face to face?"

There was a distinct gulping sound on the other side of the thick cloth wall before the flaps opened and a Dwarvin guard appeared wearing heavy Dwarvin Blue Steel plate mail, a heavy blue steel shield, and armed with a lightly shimmering blue steel axe. The thickly bearded dwarf took a single step in and dropped to a knee in a perfectly executed Elvin bow.

Kandric felt his jaw drop as he took in the shine of the polished armor, shield, and magical axe, all of which held the crest of the Garm High Council, a crest he had only seen in some of the oldest tomes Glaster had found for him to read. Most of which he had not even been allowed to touch. So old were the pages and so precious the information the only way the libraries would allow them to be read was to hire a mind master to turn the pages with the force of thought so nothing could damage them.

Kandric responded as his Ruinseeker training took over. In response to the crest alone, he dropped his blade and fell into an equally perfectly preformed Dwarvin bow.

The situation became even more awkward as another figure pulled open the flaps and also dropped to a knee in an Elvin bow. "My Prince, you honor us with your knowledge of Dwarvin, but please stand!"

Kandric glanced over to see another Dwarf, this one in even nicer armor and with a dark grey cape with some sort of crest on the back. It was held around his neck with a clasp depicting a Garm royal crest.

Color drained from Kandric face as he once again recognized the crest. This one had been written about in an even older text Glaster had in his personal collection. It was a detailed account of a Garm leader who fought and killed a massive White Dragon and claimed the lands for the Garm. As a reward his family had been elevated to the Garm High Council and the lands around the battle sight given to his family.

Kandric lowered his head deeper as he switched to Dwarvin. "Lord of Winter Creek, it is I who should not be allowed to stand in the presence of an esteemed member of the Garm High Council!"

Duke Mathard stood, motioning for Kandric to do likewise. As he did so he switched to Elvin. "Young Prince, your mastery of our customs and language are outstanding and your correct identification of my family crest is doubly so, but trust me when I say you have no need to bow to us. Even if you were not an Alphar Prince, your victories inside of Bloody Rock will be the legends from our time and will reach though history. Your linage may say you are a prince, but your action have proven it to all those who know or who are yet to find out."

Kandric stood on slightly wobbly legs as the nervousness at standing in front of a Duke made it hard not to tremble slightly. "My Duke, are you sure you have the right being? I am nothing more than a swamp slum Halfelf."

Duke Mathard laughed, "Son, your mother may have been thrown out of your grandfather's court, but you are still Alphar and you are very much a Prince. Like it or not, know it or not, you are Prince Kandric of the Alphar and a Lord of the lands of the Griffin Spires," he pointed to the crest on the carpet. "In my opinion you have earned a right to wear something you should have been given. The fact you have earned the respect of all of us without the help of your family line is even more impressive."

Kandric half tossed up his hands. "To be honest I am for more proud of the Wilderness Scout patch I wear. I could care less if my armor displays a crest I have no knowledge of and even less respect for. I in no way wish to dishonor you or the Alphar, but as best I can tell the man who heads this house has done nothing but hide. As a matter of fact I did not even know what it was until you told me. At least your family crest has a vast and important history. This, "Kandric lightly kicked at the carpet, "has not been written or talked about anywhere I know of, and I have been to some of the best knowledge storehouses known."

Before Mathard could counter Kandric made a bit of a snorting sound, "Besides, from what I have gleaned from my mother, the crest I am standing on is not one my mother or any of her kids should be allowed to be in the presence of let alone wear."

Mathard frowned deeply. "Prince Kandric not long ago your grandfather rescinded his order and put your mother back onto his family as the heir to his thrown."

Kandric shrugged, "Good she can have it, if the Alphar Court will allow her to."

Mathard took a deep breath and lowered his voice so others would not hear, "Young Prince it is a good thing for him he did reinstate your mother. For your actions alone would have forced him to hand your mother his throne within the next few months. Now he will get to pass it on to her when he is ready or upon his passing. Of course after this he may just put your name on it. If you were my grandson, I know I would bypass all my sons and daughters to hand Winter Creek over to the most impressive being I have ever encountered."

Kandric leaned against the post of the massive bed as he absorbed the information. His mind raced over hundreds of possible questions, one suddenly came to him that absolutely needed to be asked. "My Duke, what of Zeltoss, Lorthorn, and Seldnat?"

Duke Mathard frowned, "Who?"

Kandric felt his heart jump for a moment before the still kneeling guard responded, his voice taking on a note of displeasure. "My Duke, I believe those are three we took out with Prince Kandric. I have heard the Orcish one tell us his name is Seldnat."

Kandric felt his face flush with some anger, "He may be a Halforc, but his is someone I trust fully!"

Duke Mathard held up his hand to calm Kandric, "My Prince, all three of those we found with you are in a tent we set up for them. They, like you, were out for quite a while, but the Halforc one woke a few hours ago. I do not believe the others are yet moving."

Kandric took a breath of relief and started to walk toward the exit but stopped as he felt a bit of a head rush. Duke Mathard instantly reached out to give him some support. "My Prince, you have to take it a bit easy. You have been overwhelmed with more magic in an hour then most will encounter in a hundred lifetimes and you have not eaten or taken a drink in almost two days."

Mathard features took on an almost fatherly air as he saw the rather surprised look come over Kandric, "Yes, you have been sleeping for almost two full days now."

"No wonder I am so hungry," Kandric commented as he allowed the Duke to help him sit on the side of the bed. "But I still need to go see my friends my Duke."

"Let us get some nourishment in you first." Mathard Commanded.

"As you wish my Duke," Kandric paused as he eyes grew wide, "What of the others from the Slome School?"

'I do not know what you are talking about."

Kandric stood again, "I was helping lead students from the Slome School in there! I have to find them!"

"Young Prince, you are in no condition to go running back up to Bloody Rock." Mathard stopped and snickered, "Besides, I do not think you want to rush out right this minute even if you were feeling a bit stronger."

"Why not?" Kandric responded sounding a bit annoyed.

Duke Mathard's features broke into a wide grin as he pointed to the small chest at the foot of the bed then over to the armor. "Oh, far for me to tell an Alphar Prince what to do, but you may want to put on some clothing before exiting this tent. It would not do at all to have a near nude Prince walking around a camp so close to the front lines. Our troops might find it a bit unnerving after all."

Kandric didn't even bat an eyelash as he smiled playfully and looked straight into Mathard's eyes, "Maybe this is true, however, I am sure many would enjoy it and more than a handful would want to see it again."

The guard nearly choked on his own saliva as Duke Mathard jerked his head and took a step back. A moment later the Garm Duke boomed out a powerful laugh, "My young Dragon killing Prince, I am totally positive you are correct!"

Still chuckling Mathard gently kicked the still knelling guard, "Go fetch our guest some food and send someone to check on his three friends, make sure they are being taken care of as royal guests. Our Prince says they are his friends so we must do whatever it takes to make them as comfortable as a forward war camp can make such esteemed guests."

The guard stood, "Would you like a fruit tray my Prince?"

Kandric scowled for a moment then shook his head, "I may have the blood of Alphar in me, but I have lived in a swamp slum most of my years as a hunter. If you really want to know what I want, how about some freshly hunted meat, cooked but with a bit of blood in the middle, smothered in gravy with some potatoes and cooked vegetables? If you still think I need some fruit because I am of Elvin heritage, make it in the form of a drink."

Astonishment could be seen on the guard's face as he glanced to Duke Mathard.

Mathard's mouth twisted into a bit of a smirk, "Well it sounds like you need to send someone to our mess tent and not the Alphar's. You heard the Prince, get moving Sergeant."

As the Garm guard scurried out of sight Mathard let out a light snort, "Young Prince, while you are here, it sounds like you may wish to eat with me far more often than my Alphar counterparts on the far side of this encampment."

Kandric gave a grin as he slid off the bed and knelt next to the chest. His smile quickly vanished as he looked at the silks inside. "From what I have read, I am sure you are correct my Duke. Something tells me my Grandfather will not be pleased with what he sees when I finally meet the man."

Mathard shrugged, "I really doubt it matters. You are now the talk of the entire Alphar Court not to mention the Garm High Council. Your grandfather may not like your tastes, but there is nothing he can do about it other than deal with them and possibly hire a new cooking staff just for you." "There is no need for him to do so. If he thinks I am going to suddenly go to some lavish palace he could not be more mistaken. I grew up outside of Alphar lands and I intend to stay out here," Kandric started rummaging through the chest looking more and more aggravated.

Mathard watched on with some humor as nice silks started being tossed about the floor as Kandric continued to dig though the assortment of upper royal quality clothing. "Is there something you are not finding?"

"Yes," Kandric scowled as he reached the bottom. "How about something to wear under the armor you were so nice to make for me."

"Young Prince there is no need for you to dress in battle garb unless you wish to do so."

Kandric's voice slipped into a bit of a snarl, "Good Duke, the chances of me wearing silks when there is even the slightest chance of me joining a fight are zero. Chances of me getting into silks at all is only slightly better. I want some real clothing." Mathard glanced at the silks strewn all over the floor with slight shake of his head finding it rather humorous both the Garm High Council and the Alphar Courts had spent a great deal of resources and money making silk clothing to perfectly fit a boy who was absolutely disgusted by them. "Such as?"

"Thick cloth and britches would be a good start and some real socks so I can wear those beautiful dragon hide boots you made out of the green female would also be nice!" Kandric growled. "I want real clothing not some fancy trash good only to show off or appear in front of a royal wedding. I may have the blood but I could care less about being from some stupid royal family and I certainly want real clothing, especially for under the armor!"

Mathard held up a hand in an attempt to calm the outburst. Seeing Kandric lower his head and drop back into a Dwarvin bow he shook his head a bit sadly. "Prince Kandric you really do not need nor should you bow to me other than in an initial greeting. Your House has a very proud and ancient history." Suddenly the Duke's eyes went wide, "Young Prince did you just say the green was a female?"

Kandric nodded, "Yea, and there were lots of guardians for her too. It was quite a fight."

"Believe me when I say we all took notice of the tremendously high body count inside the cavern where you killed the two great dragons. Some of my men actually went around poking at many of the bodies thinking they had to be illusions."

"It would have been easier if they would have been," Kandric managed a bit of a smile, "So what is this about my mother being from so prestigious Alphar house?"

Mathard motioned for Kandric to sit. Once he did so the Duke slid up next to him, "Young Prince, I think it is time for a new History lesson. Would you care to learn something new?"

"Of course I would my Duke."

"Excellent. First I would deeply appreciate it if you would simply call me Mathard."

"Only if you just call me Kandric my Duke."

Mathard patted Kandric on the back, "Deal, Kandric it is."

"Fine by me Mathard. But please excuse me if I slip up. I am in no way used to being around royalty and every gram of my being wants to at the very least call you Duke Mathard."

"I am sure I will slip up as well, for your house is one of the oldest and most important in the Alphar Court."

As Mathard started to talk to Kandric a pair of Garm boys came in holding large trays of food and a pitcher of juice. Behind them the sergeant glanced over their shoulders at the mess of clothing. His confusion was obvious as he dropped into an Elvin bow. "My Prince, all we have for cooked fresh meat right now is bear, but we could get you some Frost Elk within the hour."

"Please stand already!" Kandric stated as the smell of the meat and gravy assaulted his nose. Bear is just fine. Besides, Frost Elk should be served to those of some importance, not me."

The Garm Sergeant stood while glancing at Mathard. Uncertainty was clearly written over his face.

Duke Mathard managed a half shrug, "Sergeant, our guest wants some think cloth garments to wear under his armor, find him something simple and suitable and make it fast."

The Sergeant started to say something but stopped as he caught a slight shake of Mathard's head. To stop himself he gave a fake cough before giving a slight Dwarvin bow. "At once my Duke, is their anything else?"

Kandric had to swallow some of the saliva building up in his mouth from the smell of the food as he eyed the plate with an almost animalistic look. "Yea, as matter of fact there are a couple of things."

"What my Prince?"

Kandric stood and walked over to the food "First have the servants stop cutting my food, I can feed myself!"

Both boys backed away even before being told to do so. They were so afraid of Kandric they tripped and fell over each other as they backed away. This caused Mathard to smile slightly as he noted the sergeant had also taken an involuntary step away from a figure less than a third of his weight and only wearing a loin cloth.

The Sergeant reached down and basically flung both servants out of the room as he nervously spoke, "What else my Prince?"

"Get me a real loin cloth; my old one would be just fine!"

"Um, well my prince, we kind of burned it 3;"

Anger flared in Kandric's eyes, "Why in the name of the gods would you burn something over a score kids in the Swamp Slums would kill for!" Kandric's right hand grabbed the plate of food off the small end table while his left slammed into it. His Ferret Sect Warrior training showed as the fine mahogany table splintered under the impact.

Mathard's eyed the table with wide eyes as his voice took on a commanding tone. "Sergeant, it would be in the better interest of you and the furniture in this tent for you to find what this young man wants. If you have to, send the servants over to the Alphar side and take some clothing belonging to their servants. Whatever you do make it happen at the utmost of speed then find a replacement as a personal guard for Our Prince here. He does not seem terribly happy with you."

"Forget about a guard for me!" Kandric snarled, "Just get my friends their gear and make them armor like you made me and they can be my guards! In the mean time, if you absolutely demand I have some sort of protection, get Seldnat some good equipment and have him be my guard since he is awake."

But he's nothing but a Halfo.." the words of the sergeant stopped short as Kandric, still holding onto the food, did a spinning kick. It slammed into the middle of the sergeant's chest with enough force to slightly dent the Dwarvin Blue Steel armor and send the stunned Garm stumbling out of the flaps of the inner tent room. He fell on back holding his chest wheezing.

Kandric advance out of the inner room, handed the food to the two servants, and dropped into a fighting stance. "I told you once he is my friend. Do not ever talk badly about him again if you want to live!" He then glanced to the servants, "Go put the food on the bed and get a new table or something!"

The outer flaps burst open as half a dozen heavily armed Garm poured into the large tent. All stopped short as they saw a Half-Elvin boy in a loincloth standing over one of their own with a slight trickle of blood coming from the boy's heal and a dent that matched the shape of heal in the armor of the downed Garm.

Kandric glanced up, rage burning in his eyes. "Do any of you care to be next?

The squad leader instantly held up his hands and took a step back, "No my Prince, I think we will all pass."

Kandric took a couple of deep breaths to calm some then nodded, "Good then a couple of you get him to your healer, a couple of you get me some real clothing and a couple of you go get my Halforc friend Seldnat and outfit him as my guard, then one of you go to your craftsmen and have them get started on dragon scale armor for all three of my friends you found me with and I just may forget about this!"

Kandric spun and pushed past a rather stunned Mathard who had moved up to the flaps to Kandric's room. "I am going to eat now and I want to be able to wear the armor by the time I am done so find me my old clothing or get me something close, and don't tell me you burned my other clothing, cause if you did you best find something very close to replace it all with. If not, fine, I'll go back into Bloody Rock like this. I am going to find those students and Teacher Saslara!" The squad leader motioned for two of the others to grab the sergeant and motioned for the boys to do what Kandric told them. Finally he looked over to Duke Mathard, "My lord, your orders?"

Mathard chewed on his lip for a second as he looked at the dented armor. "Well, corporal, I for one have never seen anyone dent Blue Steel armor with a bare foot, so I suggest you do as he asked. He wants thick cloth clothing and a heavy loincloth, probably of some kind of soft hide like he was wearing when we found him. Furthermore, you best all pass the word around about the status of his Halforc friend.

"Work fast, cause there is very little Elvin about his behavior, so my guess is he will eat what is on that platter like we would, so you don't have much time to find what he wants."

The corporal motioned for the others to get moving before turning to Mathard, "My Duke, the Prince's foot is bleeding slightly."

Duke Mathard glanced down and noticed several small drops of blood in a path on the carpet inside the royal tent. "Our feet would be too if we kicked full plate armor with a bare foot, and I seriously doubt we would leave a dent. Once you have everything the boy wants find someone to clean this up. I'll go take care of the boy and try to give you some extra time."

The corporal managed to smile, "Just don't make mad my lord."

Mathard half snickered, "Worry not, I like to chew my food and keeping my teeth is a vital part of doing so. Gumming a bear steak would just be no fun at all." Mathard started to turn back toward the inner room where Kandric had gone but paused, "OH, one last thing. Let us get our good sergeant healed up and out on the front lines. I really do not want him seen by our young guest again."

"I will pass your orders along my lord, but I am not so sure our royal guest will not want to go to the lines the second he gets his armor on. To be honest we could use him out there, the greens are really pressing this for some reason."

"Yes, and they are not likely to stop until we totally shatter their lines or they gain entry into Bloody Rock which is where the Prince and I will be going as soon as he is fed and in armor."

"My Duke, it is taking over a company of our best and a company of Alphar just to prevent those within the hill from breaking out. Going in there will be very dangerous."

"Indeed it will, but trying to prevent our guest from doing so would be just as hazardous. If he is going back in there so am I." Mathard's eyes hardened, "Speaking of which, pass the word so all the Garm and Alphar commanders know why the greens are so frenzied."

"You know?"

"Not until I talked to Prince Kandric. Now, however, it is abundantly clear why the greens are so obsessed with getting in there. It turns out our young prince did not simply kill a Great Green. Instead the one he killed was a female."

"A female 3;" The Garm patrol leader gasp, "No wonder there were so many heavily armed and armored dead of different races in there, they were her guardians."

"Indeed they were." Duke Mathard shook his head, "But now they absolutely need to get in there, for loosing her was beyond horrible for them, but making matters even worse, they also lost her lair."

The corporal's eyes went wide, "By the gods, they want the hatchery!"

"So would be my guess. We need to send scouts back in there ahead of the prince and see what we missed. For somewhere in there is a group of students our prince was helping to lead, a teacher from the town just a few leagues away who the prince want to recover, plus an egg room and probably a great deal more."

***

Klent knelt in the snow and studied the small group of brigands as they picked over a trio of dead bodies. Out of the three groups he had tracked down this one was the worst by a wide margin. So desperate were the four men and two women, nothing was beyond stealing including the loincloths of the two men they had ambushed and killed. The third, a young girl, was spared this final indignity as they rolled her down the hill still wearing her thin threadbare under-dress, but the rest including the girl's shoes, shirt, britches, and coat were hastily being shoved into sacks.

Lidevar pulled back on the string of his crossbow and slid a bolt out of his hip case, "This is a waste of time."

"Yea, but it's good combat practice for the younger ones." Klent sighed.

Jory yawned as he notched an arrow, "This isn't combat, it's barely target practice. At least the last group had a couple in armor."

Garvol, one of the two other surviving members of Lidevar's original group snorted; "Only leather, and it wasn't made good at all. But your right kid, this ain't practice, it's not even worth the effort and we ain't getting nothing worth it out of them neither."

Klent noticed the others with him were nodding slightly. A bit of anger crept into his voice, "Look guys, what we get off the bandits isn't the point. We are being paid to do this so if they have anything of value at all it is a bonus. Now we promised to find a decent group for the Master Shaman's students to hit and to deal with others as needed. Well, let me make this totally clear, those three people were just murdered and unless we do something to stop them we might as well kill the next set of refugees we come across cause those six down there surely will.

"Now you can either get on board with this or leave. Just remember you all signed on with me, not the other way around and I paid to get us this far and get this contract which has the possibility of a huge payout. I, for one, am going to do everything possible to complete it and if any of you go against the rules the Shaman set or try to screw this up I'll kill you or die trying. Got it?"

Lidevar was quick to support Klent. "While I really don't like this none and I don't get the point a what the Shaman wants, Klent's gots us a contract and we'd be fools ta think there be a better er easier deal in this neck a the wood. If takin' down a bunch a cut throats be part a the deal, then so be it. Besides, this be a whole lot better than boring caravan guardin' er some such nonsense."

Jory also spoke up as he continued to watch the small group push the last two bodies down the hill and start cleaning their cheep bronze weapons. "I don't see any problem at all. Those folks are killers and deserve what we are about to give them. But if any of you want to walk now would be the time to do it. At least the city still has its gates locked so the Master Shaman can't get out and find you quickly. Although, something tells me it wouldn't matter how far away you got, if you screw him over I have no doubt he'll find you, gut you, and stand there with a smile as you bleed to death."

The others glanced back and forth nervously for a few moments before nodding and readying their own ranged weapons.

Klent gave Jory and Lidevar a nod of gratitude before letting out a long breath of air. "You know this really don't look like much of a fight. The only two who might know a thing or two are the older woman and the tall skinny one with the short sword. "Jory, why don't you and the other two kids try to take them out on your own."

Jory glanced over with a bit of surprise, "Seriously?"

Klent nodded, "Yea. Lidevar, Garvol, Immeck and me 'll hang back and jump in if needed, but none a us are going to get much out of this. Besides you three should be able to handle two of them each. You are all guilded and you are a spell thrower. It really shouldn't take more than you kids to deal with this.

Jory glanced over to the other two and shrugged. The older of the boys, a fifteen year Animal Adept by the name of Pulon glanced down at his new pet a giant raccoon Klent had paid a great deal for, petted it once and gave a brief nod while Lryrod, a 14 year old Swordsman, looked a bit more nervous as he pulled an arrow out of his back quiver and notched it in his short bow.

Klent put on a smirk. "Let's make this a bit more fair. Move on down there and offer them a chance to surrender. We'll keep you covered from up here, but don't look back and don't expect us to help. It's high time I see what you three are capable of without us babysittin' ya all the time."

Jory just rolled his eyes stood and readied his barb, knowing Klent well enough to realize the man was simply testing him and the others. Pulon, however, gave Klent a bit of a glare, "Me ain't no baby and don't need sittin' none!"

The older boy turned to Lyrod who looked on with a bit of a nervous worried expression, "Get up and get movin'. Yer makin' us look bad.

Lidevar quickly added in some pressure, "Come on boy, before we go buyin' ya some diapers."

Lyrod clenched his jaw in an attempt to hide a slight lip quiver, but failed badly. Sill he stood and made his way over to the other two, adjusting his reinforced leather armor some as he did so further trying to hide how scared he was

Jory moved over to his side and gave him a pat on the back, "You take out the two younger ones doing most of the carrying, "I'll take care of the skilled woman and the old guy."

Pulon again stroked the fur of his pet, "So ya wants me to take the tall guy and the fat one, huh?"

Jory nodded, "Unless you want me to handle both the ones who seem to have some training."

Pulon snickered, "No way. Me ain't about to let some younger kid take all the credit. You want me ta do the talking or do you want to?"

Jory thought it over for a second and then looked over to Lyrod with a sad shake of the head. "I'll handle this group, you get the next one. Maybe by then your friend will be comfortable enough to handle the third group."

"He ain't my friend none, at least not yet." Pulon motioned for Jory to take the lead, "If'n he fights good and stop actin' so scared all the time me just might start to like him some."

"He'll be fine." Jory stated as he started to move down toward the six bandits, "Let's go."

Klent motioned for Garvol and Immeck to spread out and cover the three kids while he kept an eye out for other dangers. "So those two cubs were hired by Gambra huh?"

Lidevar half shrugged while nodding, "She took anyone who had a guild pin and he has a Primary Echelon pin, so yea. He did put a couple arrows into the mountain cat last fight at least."

Klent sighed, "It's a good thing he did or I would have tossed him out by now. He best shape up if he wants to stay with us."

"Give him a chance, Klent. We found him with large shield covering most a him, with burns over his leg armor and a dagger in his shoulder. If it hadn't been for your young'an me not sure he would have made it none.

"Me bettin' the caravan attack was his first fight and damn near his last. When we find him, he was crawlin' away with someone's hand still grippin' his shoulder. Garvol say he think it was the kid's uncle's hand cause a what the kid say when Gravol pulled it off and tossed it inta the trees, but we ain't sure cause we didn't really care none and didn't want no cryin' brat so none a us asked. One thing we be sure of though, is him had to see the hand get cut off and his face was covered in blood."

"I'd say I was sorry, but he hired on with Gambra, so to be honest I'm not. All I care is he shape up cause we can't have no skittish members of this party and I don't need to constantly watch someone's back."

"Make him do more a this and he'll get over it. In the mean time me'll look after him." Lidevar stated, defending the boy more than Klent had ever seen him do.

"You like the kid don't ya."

Lidevar turned a bit red, "No more than you like the Healthman kid."

"I happen to adore Jory; I just can't see paying his prices very often." Klent raised and eyebrow as he saw Lidevar fidget a bit. "So you have slept with him?"

Lidvar tried to change the subject. "Ya know, the animal handler kid ain't too bad and fights pretty good."

Klent let out a light laugh. "OK so take it you haven't but want to?"

"Never slept with no boy before, but 3;"

Klent snorted, "Do you think he was been in bed with someone? He kind of seems like he might have."

"Both me and Immeck thinks he been used before, probably how him got his trainin'. But we ain't had no chance to get him alone none. Before we catch up with ya, Immeck say we ought a patch the kid up and make him grow long hair ta pay us back for his healin'."

"What happened to the 50 silver Gambra paid?"

"No clue. He had only a few copper on him when we found him. Garvol checked."

"What a surprise. So do you want to get him into bed or what?"

"I'd give it a shot if I could."

"No problem, how about I start paying for two man rooms. I'll assign the kid to your room. If he has done it fine, if he hasn't and you want him to, make him. Tell him it's payment for you keeping him in the group."

"What if'n him leaves?"

Klent shook his head, "Not much chance, he may be guilded, but ain't no one going to hire him like he is and he'd be meat in the street if he tried to go it on his own. All you have to do is make sure he sees his he has no options before hand. I'll set the stage if you want."

"You probably be better at it then me." Lidevar reached down and adjusted his manhood as he took aim on the tall skinny guy down the hill. "The other kid seem ta be working out for us at least."

Klent nodded as he saw Jory emerge from the brush holding his spike tip whip at the ready. "He is pretty good actually. He took down one of the skilled bandits by himself on the last fight and his pet took down another. All and all it was probably worth the 70 silver I paid for the fur ball, but he is still a couple of skilled kills behind Jory."

"Yea, for a small pretty boy, he can fight. Of course him castin' sure helps some too. He really messed them up in the last fight with the fire commin' out of his hands. All four of their horses spooked and tossed all but one of em."

"Indeed, but this time he is more or less on his own." Klent sighed and shook his head in an almost sad way. "You may want to watch cause you are about to see a side of Jory you didn't even know existed."

Below Jory snapped his barb loudly causing the six bandits to jump and look his direction. Two of them moved their hands to their weapons while the older woman picked up her mace and stood. She raised and eyebrow as the other two emerged from the line of brush "Shouldn't you three be with your mommies?"

Jory clenched his off weapon hand into a fist but kept his facial features totally neutral, "Maybe, but its kind of hard to believe you care since there is at least one mommy out there who won't get to see her little girl ever again because of animals like you."

The two younger ones dropped the bags they were holding and pulled daggers while the tall skinny one drew a short sword. He snarled as he took a step forward, "Them be killing words boy."

The older woman's eyes narrowed but she held up her hand to prevent the others from starting a fight. Even though she spoke in Jory's direction it was clear her words were meant for those with her. "You three are well armed and you have good quality armor, but do you really think you can take all six of us once we spread out?"

Jory sighed as he noticed the others started to fan out a bit, "Look lady, this doesn't need to get ugly. Drop your weapons and let one of us tie you up. We'll take you back to town and let them deal with you." The tall one snorted, "We know you ain't working for or from the city guard so who ya workin' for kids?"

Jory cocked his head to the side slightly, "Now why would you think we are not hired by the city?'

The fat guy snorted and let out a loud fart at the same time, "Cause word's out round hear kiddo. Someone pretty high up ain't lettin' town patrols go more than a single league out of town in the direction of Everone. It be well know at least some of the town council wants people like us out here keeping those fleeing the fighting from getting there."

Lyrod looked totally sacred and confused, "Why?"

The older guy pulled a boot knife and used it to pick some dirt from under his fingernails on his left hand. "Why look there hun, trembly knee can speak," he laughed sending some spit into the air. "Cause it costs lots a money to help all these peasent folk. Ya gots to feed em, set up camps for em, and protect em, and what does the town get?"

The older woman could see none of the three in front of her really understood what they were hearing so she took a step forward while motioning for the others to continue to spread out and try to surround the smaller group. "The town don't get a thing for their efforts other than having extra crime from poor desperate folk. It be far better for the rich up there to have us kill off the weak and poor and take what little they have so the town don't have to feed em, protect em, and take up land better used for farm fields or outdoor markets."

The fat once spoke again, now well off to Jory's left side. "So, see, even if ya manage to get us to town, you ain't gunna be no heroes. No sir, more likely than not someone will find a way to cut your throats for messing with their plans."

Jory frowned deeply, "Something tells me the merchant who hired us to cut down on the bandits will not be at all happy to hear about this. He is pretty powerful and rich."

One of the younger ones smirked as he moved forward. "Oh fancy boys work for a rich guy, well why don't you three run back to your rich merchant and tell him."

Pulon had heard about enough. He rested his hand on the throwing dagger on his left hip, "Which one a you is gunna go with us so we has proof?" He pointed at the kid who just spoke up, "We'd be happy ta take him and let the rest a you go."

The tall one's shoulders slumped a bit, "Kid, ain't you been payin' attention none? We now have you surrounded and we is giving you a chance to leave. Get goin' already!"

"Screw this!" Jory suddenly blurted out as he rolled to the side of the woman and uncoiled his barb. The spiked tip of the Sect Warrior weapon made a hissing sound as if sailed through the air. Before any of the six bandits could react, the tip sank into her left thigh. Even as Jory pulled back and readied for another strike the woman went down holding her leg screaming.

Pulon's first throwing dagger found its mark only moments later as the tall guy leapt forward to swing on Jory. The dagger suck into the man's forearm and the tip poked out the far side. The guy bellowed in pain, but showed a surprising degree of toughness as he yanked the blade out of his arm and tossed it to the ground, "Yer blood's gunna flow boy!"

Jory's barb lanced out a second time at the woman, this time catching her in the face. As he yanked back the woman's left eye flew off the sharp tip and splattered against a nearby tree. "Stay with your assigned targets!"

Pulon dodged a sword swing as he pulled out his own short sword. He waited for the fat guy to move toward him before pointing to the guy and yelling out "Pouncer, attack!"

The fat guy managed only a single step forward before a huge brown and black fur covered blur leapt out of the bushes and landed on the guy's back. The guy staggered to the side as the weight of the giant raccoon almost knocked him off his feet. Claws dug into the guy's shoulders while teeth gouged deeply into the upper edge of the collar bone. He spun screaming and trying to get to the creature, but his fat arms prevented him from even getting his hands on it.

Jory ignored the woman and cut off the older guy from helping the fat man, his barb whistled and snapped only air but it was enough to back the guy off. His eyes narrowed as he saw the two younger ones trying to circle to get behind the fat guy to help him. "Damn-it Lyrod, cut those two kids off before they can get to Pulon's pet!"

Pulon gritted his teeth as he parried a sword thrust, "If Pouncer gets hurt cause a you, I'll kill you!"

Lyrod suddenly noticed the older of the two, a kid about his own age, was getting close to the giant raccoon. He clenched his fist and jumped between the kid and the now wildly spinning and screaming fat man pleading for anyone or anything to help get the vicious beast off him.

The kid flipped the dagger between his left and right hand with practiced ease, "Me be guilded too shaky knees."

Anger flared in Lyrod as the kid mocked him. Suddenly he sprang forward and knocked the dagger out of the air with his gauntleted right hand as the kid continued to toss it between hands. Before the surprised lad could figure out what to do, Lyrod's left fist covered with a spiked gauntlet crashed into the kid's jaw. Blood and teeth exploded out of the kid's open mouth. Totally dazed, the boy staggered backwards only to get a nasty shot to his gut from Lyrod's right hand.

Lyrod felt the spikes sink in. Still trembling in fear and anger he pushed his fist in a bit deeper and twisted before yanking it out. Four jagged puncture wounds poured blood from the kid's stomach area as he fell crying only a couple of meters from where they had rolled the dead girl down the hill. Lyrod clenched his fist as he stepped forward, but a slice to his left arm took his attention away from the kid he was getting ready to finish off.

Blood trickled down his arm as he turned to face the younger boy who held his dagger at the ready but now looked way more terrified than Lyrod had just a few seconds earlier. Much to Lyrod's credit he noticed this so he side stepped the kid. Before the younger one could react Lyrod delivered a boot to the older boy's face sending him flipping down the hill. They boy's screaming stopped before the crashing sounds did.

The younger one tried to lunge but Lyrod spun out of the way and pulled his morning star off his belt as he did so and smacked the weapon into his right hand menacingly. Even though the kid he was facing had not been so much as nicked yet, he started to cry.

Jory rolled at the old guy, letting the man's staff pass harmlessly over his head. Once he got close enough, he did a leg sweep, knocking the guy on his butt then rolled over to the still shrieking woman. He pulled his dagger and drug it across her neck silencing her for good. He glanced over to Lyrod, "Much better. See if you can take him in one piece more or less," he wiped the blade on the dead woman's leather armor pants and resheathed it. His focus now turned squarely to the older man.

Pulon once again blocked a sword swing from the tall guy with a grunt. He took a step back and jumped to his side to avoid yet another quick jab attempt. "Just knock him out and give me a hand er somethin', this bastard is good!"

Jory's barb whistled though the air again. A howl of pain rewarded him as the tip embedded into the older guy's ankle just as he tried to stand. As the guy fell again Jory shouted, "Lyrod, I'll take the kid help Pulon!"

Above Klent nodded as he watched the fight. "Way better than I expected so far."

"Yea, but our animal handler gots his hands full with Mr. Skinny."

"So it seems. He's certainly better than our boy but it is basically down to three on three. There is no way the fat guy is getting away from his pet. Just relax, cause Jory will give him a hand quicker than you expect."

Lidevar switched his attention to the fat guy who was now down on his knees still trying to grab any part of the furry beast firmly attached to his back. The guy bled from over a dozen bites on his shoulders, arms and neck and he had yet to dislodge its claws from his upper back. So exhausted was the man, he had stopped yelling for help and now just thrashed back and forth in a futile attempt to dislodge the creature. "Wow, I don't think a saber cat could do no better."

"Nope and the cat would have run me an extra 50 silver. I'm glad the boy agreed to the coon."

Below, Jory angled away from the old man so he could get closer to the kid. This in turn freed up Lyrod who moved up and swung at the skinny guy with his morning star, but this swing was easily blocked by the man who quickly used the opening it created. He lashed out with a foot and knocked Lyrod back into the brush.

Lyrod landed with a hard thud but jumped back up shook his head to clear it, "Damn, he's fast!"

Pulon used the distraction to step back and wipe at a bloody scratch left by the man's blade, "Yea, tell me about it."

The man advanced and once again Pulon felt his arms absorb some of the shock as his blade met the man's swing. Pain flashed in his eyes as he once again was forced to take a step back, "After you fall I'm going to gut yer pet and sell its fur."

Lyrod rushed forward but once again his swing was blocked and he hit the ground hard when a well placed elbow smashed into his chest. He had to roll as the elbow was followed up with a sword swing which narrowly missed his right foot.

"Nothing like sparing practice," the guy joked, not looking even slightly winded.

"You know my friend's pet will be done with your buddy shortly and it will be three on one, right?" Lyrod asked as he winced at the pain of taking a few deep breaths.

"First off, he ain't my friend. He was the one paying us to kill off folks fleeing the fighting. Second, I think he just may hold out long enough for me to drop one of you."

"You was bein' paid to kill these people?"

The man laughed at Pulon, "Of course we are! You don't think someone with my skill would be out here just for this kind of pathetic loot do you? Someone in the town pays three copper a head for adults and 1 for youngan's as long as they are clearly poor and unskilled. He is 3;" the man looked over and shrugged as he saw the fat man finally fall face down in the dirt, the raccoon still biting at the back of his neck, "well he was the one who verified the count. You all just cost me 7 copper."

Not far away the old man stood, limping badly, "Yea, so best stay away from me grand boy and lets us all go before the town sends people to get ya fer killing one of their own!"

Jory snorted, "Someone would have to tell them who it was and you ain't going to live to be the one to do so."

The old guy stepped forward with his staff. Once again the barb hissed as it snaked through the air in the man's direction. This time however he went for a block, but found the young man in front of him was more than ready for the move.

Jory gave a slight jerk causing the long whip to coil around the wooden weapon. Then, with a practiced yank back, he pulled the staff out of the man's hands. With his free hand he secured the weapon out of mid air and did a sharp backhand swing. The younger boy barely managed to flinch before the thick wood smashed over the back of his neck and shoulders. The kid fell face first into the rocky ground, his dagger slipped from his grasp and bounced down the hill.

Jory did a quick wrist twist to fully free staff from his barb and tossed it back to the old man. "It just wouldn't be right for me to kill you without a weapon in your hand."

They man's eyes went wide as he caught the staff. "I'll take the boy and go. Us no say nothing!"

"Nope." Jory took a moment to glance out of the corner of his eye. The younger boy had managed to get up to his hands and knees but was shaking like a leaf and bawling. Blood leaked out from his mouth from spots where his teeth had ripped open his lips when his face met the ground. "I'll let you go, but he stays with us. Like my friend said, we need someone to tell our boss what is going on out here." Jory's lips twisted slightly upward in a truly mean grin, "Besides, he is cute enough to provide some entertainment to some friends of mine."

The man bellowed in rage. Momentarily forgetting about the pain in his foot, he charged. Jory once again ducked under the poor combat swing, pulled his dagger again and spun to his left. As he did so, he plunged the blade into the man's chest all the way to the hilt. He let go leaving it firmly embedded and finished his spin. The bard hissed yet again, this time coiling around the mortally wounded man's neck.

Jory stood and jerked as hard as he could. There was an audible snapping sound as the man's neck broke. He quickly secured the staff, but had to yank hard to pull it out of the dead man's grasp. Without a second though he smacked it over the kid's shoulders again knocking him face first into the ground a second time. "Don't try to get up again!"

Jory didn't bother to look to see if the kid would obey or not. Instead he tossed the staff well off to the side and advanced on the tall guy noticing for the first time both Pulon and Lyrod were bleeding, "Three against one now, dirtball." Jory grinned as a spurt of blood erupted out of the fat guy's mouth and the raccoon finally let go, "Oh excuse me. Make it four to one."

The guy reacted well as he quickly put a tree to his back. "I'll take down at least one of you brats first."

Jory lightly shook his head as he spoke a quick arcane phrase and intertwined his fingers. Suddenly reddish brown glowing vines erupted out of the ground, surrounded the guy and held him to the tree. "Maybe if one of us wasn't a spell thrower, but I am."

The guy's eyes become wild as he first tired to pull at the vines then started to cut at them with his barely free weapon hand.

Lyrod moved up and smacked the blade out of the man's hand breaking a couple of fingers as he did so. "Do you really think we are stupid enough to let you cut yourself free?"

Muscles bulged on the slender frame of the man as he struggled to break free, "What do you want?"

Jory glanced down the hill. When he turned to stare at the man, his face showed his anger "I want to be able to give a dad his daughter 3; Alive."

The man shook his head wildly, "I can't do that and you know it! There has to be something 3;"

Pulon shrugged and looked over to Jory, "He ain't much different then me er Lyrod. We took the same type a deal not too long ago."

Jory took a deep breath and looked over to Lyrod, "What's your vote?"

"Pulon's right. We should have been dead, but got lucky. I've changed my ways maybe he will too."

Jory sighed and nodded slightly, "Fine," he looked at Lyrod with a bit of annoyance. "Go tie up the kid before he gets a brave streak and tries to run. I don't want to have to chase him."

Jory then turned his attention back to the man. "OK, my friends here just gave you a huge break, but you'll do exactly what I tell you when I release you or you die."

The guy eagerly nodded "Name it kid!"

"First you will strip to your loincloth, then gather up all the bodies still up here and burn them. All coin and weapons you will put into one of those sacks and give to us. Finally you will tell us how you get paid so I can tell our patron as much as possible."

A bit of fear crept into the man's voice "Yer gunna leave me out here in the cold with no clothing or weapons?"

Jory shook his head, "No, you can have the clothing you had the kids take off the dead men and somewhere down the hill you tossed the girl's body down is a dagger he dropped." Jory pointed to the younger kid who was giving token resistance to Lyrod's attempt to tie his hands. "Pulon go help him. I can handle this guy."

The guy watched Pulon walk over and kick the smaller kid in the ribs ending his struggles once and for all. "What are you going to do with him?"

"Whatever we want. You got a problem with it?"

The guy bit his lip then slowly shook his head. "No, you does what ya want. It's just the two boys be my nephews."

"Too bad for you. I ain't giving him to you and if you ever try to get him back I'll kill you."

"Alright, fine," the man stated with defeat in his voice, "I'll do what you want."

Jory secured the guy's short sword, dagger, and boot knife before snapping his fingers dropping the restraint spell. The guy dropped to his knees and gritted his teeth while he straightened his broken fingers.

Jory glanced down the hill again, "There is a better than even chance the other kid is alive and I noticed he had a boot knife, so even if he ain't you can get it. With any luck you and him can take care of each other once you deal with of what I want up here. To be honest I really don't care none."

Lidevar shook his head and whistled softly as he heard Jory talk to the guy, "Damn Klent I though him be a sweet kid."

"Sweet tasting, but it ends there." Klent stood, "He has had a rough life and when it comes out it ain't pretty. Don't forget it, and when you see him get mad back off and let me or someone like the Shaman who hired us deal with him. Believe it or not he is quite capable of slitting your throat with a smile on his face."

Garvol came over with a bemused grin, "So your takin' him in was no charity. He be one a us after all."

"In some ways he's worse." Klent stated cryptically as he quickly made his way down the hill leaving the other three adults looking at each other.

NEXT PART