Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. III

It was Benjin Traske who had released the spell, the novice sorceress realized: Benjin Traske, who was supposed to have barely enough ability to raise a feather a few inches from the ground.

It was Benjin Traske, a man who, still engrossed in crushing his opponent, was also beginning to melt.

More and more he looked less human. His mouth was open in a triumphant smile, but the teeth within were noticeably jagged even from where Valea stood. The scholar’s skin had taken on a peculiar coloring, one that was faintly . . . green? He looked taller, thinner, and beneath his robes it seemed as if he might be wearing armor. Even the blade he always wore on his belt had changed, for now it gleamed as if it had become a source of light itself.

Benjin Traske was a drake.

He could be only one drake, but Valea tried to deny it. Tried and failed, for too many things were falling in place, many of them involving her.

The stern but understanding man who had taught her and the others over the years was in reality the most hated creature in the Dragonrealm. He was Duke Toma, the renegade.

He began to turn her way. His face and form were again solidifying into the one she was so familiar with, but it would be impossible for Valea to ever believe that what she had just witnessed had been some illusion.

Traske/Toma fixed his gaze on her. “Valea-”

She transported herself away without even thinking of where it would be best to go. The hallway before the tutor’s chamber door became another corridor. At first, the enchantress was uncertain as to where she had chosen to flee, but slowly Valea recognized her location. She was near Kyl’s room . . . only a few yards from his door, in fact.

It was impossible to move. The realization of what she had just witnessed was finally catching up to her. Valea stood where she was, gasping for air and shaking. Only now did guilt touch her; guilt for leaving poor brave Ssarekai to Toma. It mattered not that she could have done nothing, but the weary sorceress felt that she should have been able to do something.

Ssarekai must have recalled what it was the spell Toma had put on him had made him forget. That suppressed memory had probably concerned the horrible truth about Benjin Traske. Something had stirred the stable master’s memory enough to break the spell. Why Ssarekai had chosen the path he had, a daring assassination attempt, she did not know, but it likely would have succeeded if Valea had not chosen to be there at that moment.

I have to warn everyone. Stirring, she tried to recall where her mother and father were. Father had been in his study. Perhaps he was still there. Valea tried to focus on the blue-robed figure. Father would make things right; he had always managed to overcome what she had often considered impossible odds. He would save them all from Toma.

Perhaps he would have, if he had been in his study. Valea called to her father, but sensed only that he had been in the Manor but recently, which helped her not in the least. Toma could only be moments behind her. Valea knew what sort of chance she stood against the renegade. Toma was a spellcaster on a par with her parents. Aurim, whose skill and power were greater than hers at the moment, had easily fallen victim to the drake.

She was almost ready to begin an attempt to contact her mother when the door to Kyl’s chambers swung open. The scarlet-tressed woman paused as the tall, elegant figure of the heir stepped into the corridor.

“Valea?” Kyl’s mouth broke into a dazzling smile, making Valea almost forget what was happening. “Thisss isss a pleasssant sssurprise, I mussst sssay! I wasss jussst-”

The sound of his voice stirred her to action. She seized him by the arms and cried, “Kyl! Toma’s in the Manor! Toma, he’s right behind-”

Confusion and dismay spread across the drake’s exotic visage. He looked at her close. “What’sss that? What are you sssaying?”

Before she could answer, however, an armored drake stepped out of Kyl’s chamber. Whether it was Faras or his counterpart Ssgayn, Valea could not at that moment have said. “My lord! We heard her ssspeak of Toma!”

“She sssays that-”

The guard did not wait for him to finish. He took hold of each of the two by an arm and began to steer them inside the room. “Bessst not to talk out here, my lord! What Toma cannot see he may not find! Hurry!”

Valea wanted to protest, but Ssgayn-she had recognized his voice at last-already had them through the doorway. As he led them through, Faras, standing nearby, closed the door and bolted it.

“We can’t simply wait here!” the sorceress finally shouted. “Toma will come here before long!”

“I agree.” Kyl hissed in obvious nervousness. “Toma! I was jussst ssspeaking of him, wasss I not?”

The two guards nodded solemnly.

Valea had no time for this. Again she took hold of Kyl. Another time, such close contact would have thrilled her, but now what mattered was their lives. “Listen, Kyl! I tried to contact my father, but I couldn’t find him. I’ll try my mother, but you have to know something first. He’s Benjin Traske, Kyl! Benjin Traske!”

The heir apparently misunderstood her. “Toma hasss the ssscholar? Where? How?”

“No! Benjin Traske is Duke Toma! I discovered it by accident. He caught poor Ssarekai, who tried to kill him.”

Kyl simply stood there, as if unable to accept what he was hearing. “Ssscholar Trassske isss Toma?”

The two guards said nothing, but both had grown very tense. Valea could hardly blame them; how many times had they left their lord with the tutor, not realizing the truth? “I have to try my mother. Everyone is in danger! I think he dares not hide any longer, Kyl! He had to fight Ssarekai and he knows that I saw him!”

“No more talk, then, my enchantress! Do what mussst be done.” He gave her an encouraging smile.

Strengthened by that, Valea put as much will as she had left to muster into the magical summons. She had no idea where her father must be, but her mother was usually in the same place at this time of day. If she failed to contact Lady Bedlam, Valea then planned on trying a scattered call, which, theoretically, would send her message to all parts of the Manor. Valea had trouble with that method, though, which was why she hoped that she was successful with her first attempt.

However, a peculiar thing happened when she tried to reach out and make contact with her mother. Valea felt the summons stretch forth from her mind, felt it building in strength, but when she tried to reach out beyond Kyl’s chamber, it was as if she had run into a mental wall. She tried to push harder, but still could sense nothing beyond the room. Valea tried again, but the results were the same. Try as she might, she could not have contacted her mother even if the emerald enchantress had been standing on the other side of the door to Kyl’s suite.

Toma knew where they were. It was the only answer.

“What isss wrong? Why are you shivering?”

Shivering? Valea had not even noticed that she was shivering, but under the circumstances, she did not think that she could be blamed for doing so. Quickly, Valea explained what had happened.

After she was done, Kyl glanced at his two guards, but their faces betrayed nothing. Valea simply assumed that they would follow whatever command he gave them. She had never been close to either Ssgayn or Faras, but then, they had never tried to be more than what they were. It was as if they had been born to be bodyguards all their lives.

“Perhapsss . . .” Kyl began. “Perhapsss if we pool our abilities, Valea. I have alwaysss thought that between the two of usss, we could accomplish mossst anything!” He gave her a brief smile. “But talk of that can wait. What do you think? If your power and mine were combined, we might be able to contact one of your parentsss or, if need be, even deal with the renegade.”

This at last caused the two guards to move. It was clear that they did not relish the idea of Kyl fighting Toma.

“My lord-” Faras began.

“Sssilence! Well, Valea?”

Someone rapped on the door. A moment later, a familiar voice hissed, “Kyl! Let me in!”

Grath! Valea had completely forgotten about Kyl’s brother. She had simply assumed that he was in one of