Curse of the Dragon Kings
That I would not give away, except to one who would truly treasure it, he remembered her saying back in Gyfen. Truly it was a gift he would have treasured above all others, if he did not believe Aiovel would take it back. It had already saved his life. Nevertheless, Gil hoped Aiovel would re-claim it. He did not feel he deserved such a gift, since she had already given him the sword and the clothes.
Gil recalled Olierin's reaction to the sword. How the dragon had scurried back to avoid it! Gil had never seen anything more unusual in all of his life. Now it seemed the sword had come home at last; for it had been forged here in this city, according to Olierin, perhaps in this very armory!
Yet now Gil knew how valuable it truly was; even the great King of the Emerald Dragons had feared it. And if this was the only kind of sword that could kill a dragon, why had Aiovel entrusted it with him?
She was a half-dragon herself, after all!
XII: Wraith
Galanor awoke the companions mid-morning the next day with a loud shout. Mygdewyn stirred a moment later, though reluctantly. He was exhausted from the long day before, and his body ached all over. His stomach growled fiercely, and he thought of searching for something left in his pack, but they had eaten the last of the provisions the night before. Suddenly, his nostrils flared with the scent of something cooking nearby in the pit of ancient coals once used to forge blades.
Galanor appeared in the barn with an offering of freshly cooked venison for breakfast. He gave the dwarf one of the sticks spitted with roasted meat. "This is water from the Elwellyn Forest, so only a swig for everyone," he said to the dwarf, handing him a flask. "Aiovel's found us a well not far from here where we can get some real water." He added, spying Lilia waking up, her eyes fixing greedily upon the flask in the dwarf's hand.
Mygdewyn took a sip before relinquishing the water to Lilia and felt his fatigue and hunger diminishing.
After breakfast, the companions left the armory and headed for the well. It was really only a decorative well, Aiovel explained, since at one time running water had run throughout the great elven city. Lilia's eyes widened; of all the Western cities, only Windfall had some measure of plumbing for its part-Sea Elf population. Unfortunately, the well's pulley mechanism had decayed, but Aiovel had found a bucket made of copper and tied a rope around the handle.
After they had drunk as much as they could, they continued toward the interior of the city.
"I'll have to re-cast Ronan's spell," Rodruban said as they walked. He paused, kneeling to touch one of the stones. "There," he said in satisfaction, pointing to a nearby ruined building with a wide entrance. "There seems to be a lot of treasure in there."
Dylan went in first and peered around circumspectly. The dwelling appeared to have been a school of some kind, with hundreds of old, slowly rotting desks and chairs.
"Watch out for rats," Mygdewyn advised from behind as the others tumbled in, pointing to several dark scurrying forms on the floor.
"So, what was this place?" Gil wondered, looking about.
"Of course you wouldn't know," Lilia said with a laugh. "It's a school, of course! Look over there," she said. "There's a book on one of the desks."
On the largest desk lay a closed, age-worn book. It had not crumbled to dust, and was, therefore, probably magical.
Since it was the only material object in the room, they headed toward it. However, the book smelled musty and rotten despite the wraith's preservation spell and the rejuvenating power of the book's own magic, and the writing on the cover had faded. Then, just as Mygdewyn was about to open it, Rodruban shouted.
"A minute, you fool!" The druid shoved past them and stood before the thick, heavy volume. "I can't cast a spell of restoration if you unsettle the pages!" He barked, pulling back his sleeves to his elbows and lifting his arms. His body glowed more brightly than usual as dancing white flames enveloped him. The vapors coalesced into a bright spark around the book, and Rodruban stepped back, a complacent smile twisting the corners of his mouth. Then suddenly, he frowned.
Gil peered forward. "A book about buildings?"
"No." Mygdewyn shook his head. "It's the science of building— things like bridges, buildings, and so on. I've seen only a few books like this— in the Killian Forest." The dwarf added, trying to assess it fairly. Though he had no use for books himself, at least he recognized their value to others.
"When did you learn to read?" Lilia caught the front of Gil's shirt, her eyes narrowed in surprise.
Gil shrugged. When had he learned to read? He thought back a moment. "I've always been able to," he said finally, "but I'm not very good at it. I think my mother must have taught me when I was young."
"Useless," Rodruban sighed in disgust, shaking his head. "I have no need for science! 'Tis against Nature!" He dropped the book back onto the table and walked away.
Galanor laughed as though at something absurd.
"Hey, watch it!" Dylan exclaimed, then picked up the book to examine it. It remained intact, no thanks to the druid's carelessness.
"Actually," Galanor began. "Science actually explains Na—"
"Don't bother," the dwarf advised, shaking his head. "It's not wise to get him started. I'm afraid Rodruban will never understand."
"I'll wager my father could use this," Dylan said as he flipped through the book's pages, trying to put less enthusiasm in his voice than he felt. A book such as this, about the science of building, one of the lost ancient arts, could be used to restore Dunlaith to glory! But if the others knew he wanted it so badly, he was afraid they would want it, too.
"Dunlaith's city center is in a terrible condition, you know." He continued. "And our sewer systems need to be entirely redone," he admitted, taking the book gingerly and putting it into his pack.
"You can say that again!" Lilia said, pinching her nose closed and letting go of Gil. "Dunlaith smells like a sewer, too! You can have that book as far as I'm concerned," she added. "But I'm going to go see if there's any real treasure in here," she said and disappeared.
Ten minutes later, Galanor shouted from one of the upper rooms. When they found him, he gestured toward an ancient wooden chest he'd come upon in the corner of a store room, blackened with age but still strong and intact because of the wraith's preservation spell. No doubt if they carried it outside the city, the spell would fade and the chest would crumble to dust, but then again, whatever was inside might also be rendered equally useless.
"Just step back," Lilia said, heading toward the chest with one of her keys. Suddenly she looked down at her feet as she passed Rodruban, distracted by a shuffling, clicking noise and a faint squeak. A long, segmented tail protruded from the druid's robe.
"Aiieeee!" Lilia cried and jumped away, pointing to the ground. "Watch out!"
The druid chuckled, waved his hand dismissively, then said something unintelligible toward the ground. A large rat emerged from the bottom of his cloak and glanced about uninterestedly.
"Oh no, not again," the dwarf slapped his forehead with his palm.
"Huh?" Dylan said.
"Rodruban likes to play mind games with dumb creatures." Mygdewyn sighed.
"It's not a mind control spell," Rodruban corrected. "But this one tried to gnaw a hole through my boot. I couldn't let him get away with it, now could I?" He peered down at the rat with some affection.
"Just keep it away from me!" Lilia cried and went over to pick the chest's lock. After a moment, she frowned. "It's no good." She declared. "The hinges are rusted shut."
Rodruban stepped forward and tried another restoration spell. The preserved wood fibers of the ancient chest grew light and new again, and Lilia tried the lock excitedly.
"It still doesn't open," she said in agitation, and Rodruban shrugged.
"I thought it might not." He admitted tiredly, magically drained and exh
austed from the second spell. "My restoration spell only works well on organic things— not on metallic hinges."
"So glad you bothered!" Lilia quipped sarcastically. The druid glared back at her with malevolent eyes.
"Hmmm." Rodruban paused, considering what to do. He reached an arm out to hold Galanor when the dragon appeared ready to open the chest by force. "A moment, if you please. Come here, rat," he added, snapping his fingers.
The rat scurried toward the druid, and set its teeth to work around the hinges, gnawing the chest until the lid slid away and landed with a heavy thump onto the stones. "I knew those great, hungry teeth would come in handy!" the druid laughed.
Even Lilia's eyes widened at the contents within the box: two jeweled necklaces made of green and blue stones and a large ruby heart.
"Too bad there isn't any magic around them, though," Aiovel said. "But then you'd have to look in the Wizards' Guild for magical charms." She added.
The others turned toward her.
"How do you know?" Lilia asked.
"I know where everything is in Argolen— or was, actually." Aiovel said. "This building was once a school for the Elwellyn Elves and humans alike, a place of great learning. The craftsmen created the fountains, the system of running waters, aqueducts, and sewers throughout the city. And they constructed many more things of wonder— but all of these have slowly fallen to decay. The Wizard's Guild lies closer to the source of the preservation spell and may yet have some things of value."
"I wonder that you did not take me there before," Galanor said.
"Well, dear friend," Aiovel replied, "I did not want to venture there before, but now I see that it is the best way to get out of this city as quickly as possible. Remember that because the Wizard's Guild lies near the castle where the wraith dwells, the magical spells around the guild, which were created to deter those who would claim its treasures, are still quite powerful."
"Even now?" Dylan inquired.
"I think so." Aiovel nodded. "In the fall of the city, the human wizards also cast protection spells over their guild's belongings, hoping to keep them from destruction at the hands of Galadon's beasts and to retrieve them one day when Argolen was reclaimed. Yet that never happened, and the wizards have never returned."
"So, lead on," Lilia said excitedly.
* * * * *
The guild of the wizards was almost a castle itself. Its high, crumbling towers pressed against the castle moat, its grand stone architecture making it seem a part of the castle from a distance. The company followed Aiovel through the streets, and it was well past noon by the time that they reached the guild.
"What do those runes say?" Dylan asked, peering up at the inscription etched in gold letters in the wide gateway made of blackened oak.
"The name of the great wizard who was head of the guild." Aiovel answered. "But part of the letters have fallen out of the wood. It used to read 'Calatin'."
Gil's eyes narrowed on the warped wood that had buckled inward and also cracked much of the gold. Lilia reached up a hand to see if she could pull any of it out, but Gil slapped her hand away.
"What did you do that for?" Lilia huffed.
"Just leave it alone," Gil said.
"Time is just going to knock them all loose anyway," Lilia insisted.
"Maybe," Gil admitted, "but you won't be able to carry many real treasures if you fill your pack with those."
Lilia shrugged, but she left the lettering alone.
Meanwhile, Mygdewyn was testing the oak gate with his heel.
"I think it'll give," the dwarf said, but Lilia shoved him aside, lock picks in hand. With a loud click, the magically preserved deadbolt gave in. Dylan, Mygdewyn, and Gil pushed one heavy door aside while Galanor single-handedly took care of the other and stepped back to allow Aiovel and Lilia inside the wide green courtyard.
"Show-off," Dylan muttered, wiping his brow.
* * * * *
As it turned out, the front doors of the guild proved more formidable than the gate had been. To Dylan's delight, even Galanor could not get them to budge.
"Stand back," Aiovel said, "I think there may be a spell warding off strangers, but the wizards' spells were not cast to have any effect on Elwellyn elves here in Argolen."
Gil glanced around at the wooded courtyard, full of chirping birds in the cool afternoon. Wild flowers poked through a nest of overgrown weeds; bees buzzed among them, collecting nectar. When Gil looked back, a green light flickered about Aiovel, and then a loud, echoing, snapping sound like a clap of thunder came from the great oaken doors.
"Now we can go in." Aiovel said with a grin.
The guild hall within seemed dark compared to the bright afternoon sunshine outdoors. Gil blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the dimness. Like everything in Argolen, the walls had collapsed here and there, creating piles of rubble on the floor.
Aiovel led them down many corridors and up three winding stone staircases to a large, brighter storage room near the center of the building. "This is where the magicians kept their magical weapons," she said. "But be careful where you step."
The room had no windows, but there were several cracks in the ceiling above. The fifth floor above them had partially collapsed in several places and had left large heaps of stone on the fourth floor; the roof far above had entirely collapsed long ago, probably destroying much of the fifth floor with it.
Lilia rushed ahead excitedly, but Galanor caught her by the sleeve. As he pulled her back, Lilia heard the floor ahead creak, settling, and the sound of ceiling falling to the third floor below.
Mygdewyn edged his way around the strongest looking wall and found a golden, bejeweled scepter protruding from a pile of stones.
"Yaaaiiii!" The dwarf shouted in pain as the scepter burned his hand. The room reverberated with the sound, threatening to further collapse. "Drat this thing!" Mygdewyn said, lifting his swollen, red fingers. Rodruban and Gil had taken the route of the dwarf, and now Rodruban chuckled behind him.
Rodruban raised a hand and cast a small healing spell on the dwarf's hand, enough to keep a blister from forming. It would be better to have a dwarf who could wield his axe, after all. Rodruban eyed the beautiful scepter greedily, but he had more sense than to repeat Mygdewyn's mistake by touching it.
Over at the other side of the room, Aiovel and Dylan had come across a wizard's staff and a round black orb. Dylan had jerked his arm back with a start at the dwarf's shout, now less inclined to touch the oak staff.
He decided to risk it at last; as he touched the orb and then the staff, nothing happened. Relieved, Dylan put the orb in his pack and held onto the staff. Lilia had gone ahead and found several glass vials crushed by falling stones, the precious magic elixirs inside drained away. Muttering softly under her breath, she headed toward a pile of stones and began scrabbling away in hopes of uncovering something that might have been buried under them.
"Easy, there," Galanor said beside her. "Or this floor is going to collapse right under you." Lilia shrugged and continued digging. Finally, she felt the sharp edge of a gemstone and began brushing away the dust. Carefully she pulled an electrum necklace from the pile, set in the center with a large round sapphire.
"Ha!" Lilia squealed, putting the necklace into her bag. Meanwhile, Galanor had found three metallic rods in a recess in the wall behind her.
Mygdewyn had moved on, and began working in another pile of stones under which a lay tattered cloth, perhaps buried in the battle over the city. Halfway through the pile, he found a jeweled dagger. The tattered cloth turned out to be a sack holding several small items: two rings, a pair of golden sandals, a green, discolored silver key, several round, polished stones marked with a single rune, and a belt.
Rodruban had gone to the wall to inspect a collection of tools, a small stone basin and pestle sitting on a shelf in which powder
s had once been ground. He picked up several pouches lying beside the basin and the basin itself. Opening the sack, he sniffed the acrid contents and poured some of a fine white sand into his palm, ready to taste it.
Across the room, Galanor stopped.
Gil remained rooted in front of the beautiful, golden scepter.
"Don't!" Galanor suddenly yelled across the room at Rodruban.
Then the ground began to rumble, loudly. Gil felt the tremors under his feet as the floor protested the ruptured silence. A few stones fell from above and onto the piles in the corners. A large boulder was sent slowly rolling off it toward the center of the room. Before anyone could stop it, it fell through to the ground below with a deafening thud.
"The floor's going to collapse! Everyone out!" Aiovel said as loudly as she dared. The company hurried toward the door.
Without thinking, Gil grabbed the scepter and pulled. The force sent him tumbling backward. As he came to a rest, he blinked uncertainly. To his surprise, he found the scepter grasped comfortably in his hand.
"Hurry, Gil!" Galanor called, rushing past him. Gil tucked the scepter into his sword belt and followed the others into the corridor. A long way down the corridor, Dylan had stopped, breathless.
Dylan looked behind him to see if the others were coming. Gil, Galanor, and the others had just made it. Aiovel followed them, waving her arms as though trying to get their attention. As the others sat down, Aiovel stopped.
"No, don't stop there!" she began.
The floor fell.
* * * * *
Gil looked up as the world suddenly dropped beneath him. They fell perhaps a hundred feet down a wide cylindrical shaft and plunged toward a small pool of water. Gil suddenly felt himself caught in a large blue claw, the great eyes of the dragon Galanor peering at him, blinking in concern.
"Ouch!! Watch it!" Lilia said, pushing Gil off her and standing on the uneven surface of Galanor's large foreclaw. She stumbled back and fell onto Gil.