Abbadon, or any of his minions, managed to manipulate that substance, he could breach the barrier between the worlds permanently. This must never be allowed to happen. Queen Willa and General Spyra must be told of the threat as well. Proper defenses must be manned. It may be tomorrow or it may be a dozen years from now, but my brother, the Abbadon, will come. We must be prepared. Below is a list of scrolls and texts I need Phen and Master Oarly to bring to me.
Finally, I do not know what became of the staff Queen Shaella used to communicate with my brother. She held it in her right hand as you took off her head. You must find it and lock it away in a vault, or have Master Amill, or another qualified wizard, spell it powerless. If there is a force that will help the Abbadon find another gateway, or a flaw in the barrier that exists, the Spectral Orb atop that staff is it.
Now all of that is out of the way, I’m happy for you, and pleased that you somehow managed to save Princess Rosa. Tell the Lion Lord that Tylen sends his regards, as do my mother and father. Sadly, my grandfather passed away. Tell Lord Gregory that my Uncle Condlin has assumed the position of Eldest, and that you and your wife are forever welcome here. He asked me to tell you to make sure that the Summer’s Day Festival is crowded next year. My people depend on the trade there. Even you could’ve gotten your name on the Spire this year.
I must close this missive. Borg is growing impatient, and his stinking sack is offending the womenfolk. Once Phen arrives here, I’ll have him contact Dreen’s mage with a sending. Give my respects to Willa, Jarrek, and the dwarves.
Your friend,
Hyden
Mikahl just stared at the parchment for a long while.
General Spyra was now Lord Spyra. The man was trying to reorganize Westland with the help of Lady Able. Master Wizard Amill had been killed fighting alongside the dwarves at the Battle of O’Dakahn. Hyden Hawk must not have heard.
Borg was well into his second tale. He was now telling the story of how his people once killed a rogue dragon without the aid of magic. Mikahl could hear the giant’s booming voice carrying through the otherwise silent night. At his feet the great wolves had fallen asleep, save for Huffa, who kept a watchful eye over the rest. Through all the dire warnings and talk of magical artifacts, Mikahl’s mind kept coming back to the same strange fact. Neither Phen nor Master Oarly were at the feast earlier. As he thought about it more, he decided that he hadn’t seen either of them for a few days. He began to worry about them. He could only imagine what they were up to.
Oarly saw a glowing ball and three little serpents dangling as if they were trying to swim through the air to get at it. He stopped his advance and looked at the flask in his hand, then back at the scene. Phen’s voice startled him so badly that he dropped the container into the fire. When the flames flared from the alcohol he stepped back.
“Oarly,” Phen yelled in a panic. “Get your clothes on. No, forget it, get your axe. There’s a skeleton coming, and two more back at-”
Oarly’s eyes went wide and locked onto something behind what he now realized was the invisible Phen. The boy whirled around and Oarly saw a shiny sword come sinking down at Phen’s chest. It hit Phen with a clank and it appeared that the hardness of the boy’s condition startled the thing wielding it. Suddenly the skeleton went stumbling backward, the result of an invisible fist, Oarly assumed.
Oarly came charging out of the tunnel with a yelp and bounced off of Phen. The half-naked dwarf went careening off at an odd angle with his axe held high. His battle cry faded into a cry of dismay. It looked as if the axe were too heavy for him and he was having to run to stay under it. He righted himself as Phen pulled Loak’s ring off of his finger and became visible again.
Phen didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe at the sight of the hairy naked dwarf. The skeleton stepped heavily into a swing of its silvery blade. Oarly met the blow with his axe and cleaved the thing’s sword arm completely from its body. Phen felt the wave of relief wash over him. When the skeleton bent down to try to get the sword with its other hand, he strode up to it and kicked it with a heavy marble boot. The skeleton’s legs crumbled, and it half fell into the pool. For a long time it thrashed about menacingly, but it was obviously no longer a threat.
“Where are your clothes?” Phen asked.
Oarly looked down and realized that he was naked from the waist down. “Bah!” he growled and stalked off toward the narrow passage.
“There are two more of those skeletons back there,” Phen said. “We’d better hurry, before the ice I put them in melts.”
“Aye, lad,” Oarly said. “If ya hadn’t scared me shitless, I wouldn’t be needing to get my clothes back on now, would I?”
Phen took a step back. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Oarly so mad before. He had to fight to hold in his mirth.
“Look,” he said, holding up the egg-sized emerald for the dwarf to see.
Oarly looked at it, gave a nod, then continued his tirade. “We got buckets full of jewels left over from that blasted dragon’s lair. I got scars from getting that treasure. What good is one more jewel, lad? I just don’t understand.”
“This one is magic. You played like you were dying in that lair, Oarly. You made me cry when I thought you’d died.” Phen turned toward the larger tunnel. He could hear the skeletons’ loud, scraping approach. “If I made you shit yer britches a dozen times, we still wouldn’t be even.”
Oarly’s anger vanished. He even barked out a laugh. He knew he’d made the boy cry like a babe. He pulled his boots on and grabbed the flask he’d dropped. Most of it had indeed spilled onto the fire. He still drained the last few drops.
“All right, lad, let’s see what you’ve stirred up, then.”
Together they charged off into the larger cavern. One of the skeletons had pulled itself in two, and the torso was trying to drag itself along the floor by its arms. Seeing that, Oarly gave it a wide berth. Phen took a long stride and planted his heavy foot on its rib cage. The thing rattled and then grew still. Phen leaned down for a closer look at its jeweled eyes. The rubies looked like onyx pebbles now that the power in them had been extinguished.
“You don’t even need me, Marble Boy,” Oarly chuckled. “That blade that slashed across your body didn’t even scratch your robe.”
“Stop calling me Marble Boy,” Phen yelled. He hated that. He hated that he sounded like a little child in a play yard over it, too. “I won’t be Marble Boy for long, Oarly. You can wager on that.”
“Awww, lad, you just don’t know,” the dwarf replied, pointing down at the serpent-covered third skeleton lying still at the bottom of the moat. Somehow the little eel-like creatures had survived the freeze. They wiggled and squirmed through the melting slush as if nothing had happened. “You will be Marble Boy forever.” Oarly laughed heartily and clasped Phen around the waist in a brotherly hug. “As long as you live, you’re doomed to be remembered as the boy made of marble who rode the red dragon and saved us at the Battle of O’Dakahn. Only if you somehow manage to magic yourself into a king, or a god, can you shake such a nickname.”
Just then a loud splash erupted from behind them in the entry cavern. Both of them turned and started quickly back toward it. If it was the serpent then they were possibly trapped between it and all the little ones in the pool. As they ran, Phen gave the emerald to Oarly and fumbled for Loak’s ring. It was hard to get it back off of the medallion chain and onto his finger while holding the dagger. He almost dropped it. Finally he put the dagger between his teeth and slipped on the ring.
The opening of the big tunnel wasn’t blocked off yet, but they could see that the entry cavern was filled with the slithering green glow of the serpent.
“I’ll look,” Phen said.
“Extinguish your light, fool,” Oarly hissed. “It’ll see you, if it hasn’t already.”
“Oh.” Phen had forgotten about the light spell entirely.
Suddenly the place went dark save for the continuously moving glow that radiated off of the serpent. Phen eased down to the big cavern and looked. The serpent was in front of the smaller tunnel, intently flicking its tongue as far as it could reach. Phen felt the jewel on the medallion around his neck begin to tingle and knew instantly that the serpent would sense it.
