‘Dragonfly, Iwant you to come to my rooms when you’re finished. I have somethingfor you.’
After getting asuit of leather armour, a nicely balanced scimitar and othersupplies and dropping them off in her room, Dragonfly quicklyhurried to Prendergrass’s rooms. What did he have for her?
‘Come in andhave some tea with me.’ he said in a pleasant voice.
He poured her acup of hot tea then walked to the middle of the room and began along involved ritual which resulted in the room being filled with alight fog then began a second ritual which resulted in a spiritdog-like creature being conjured into the room. After instructingit to patrol he returned to his chair.
‘I have put upa ward that will prevent people from listening in to what I have tosay in either this or any coexisting planes of existence. Thespirit hound will ensure that we are not disturbed.’
‘You have nodoubt wondered what is happening. Why I haven’t changed your memoryand why I have taken you with me these past few days. If you’vebeen observant you would have noticed that Darkmantle has beenpreparing his troops for something. You may be surprised that Idon’t know exactly what he has planned but I suspect that it’ssomething to do with the Queen’s ball, possibly some newentertainment.’
‘However, I doknow that he is concerned that your mother may show up or interferein some way so he’s likely to use you as bait in his plan. I’m nothappy with that and consequently, I’m going to give you a chance toescape.’
‘I am beingsent off on a useless errand to get me out of the way. I will nothave the opportunity to see you again before the ball andconsequently I cannot help you while you are at the ball. You maynot survive the ball. So I want you to escape during the attack onthe Llanlleans tomorrow.’
‘I want you togo to the entrance to Astaria and travel through the gateway backto Mudrun. I will give you a ring that you can use as the toll anda fake pass to get through.’
‘Why are youdoing this?’ asked Miranda.
‘Let’s just sayI’m getting old and I’ve witnessed Darkmantle’s excesses too long.I’m originally from Mudrun but I’d die if I returned. He despisesnewmans; he considers them as inferiors and no more than animals.His favourite pastime is blood sports.’
‘OK, assuming Ibelieve you.’ replied Miranda.
‘I’m a strangerto this world. How do you expect me to find the gateway and what ifit’s closed?’
‘I have alreadysolved those problems for you.’
‘Firstly I havehere a bracelet of return. It is a teleport bracelet that willbring you back here if you are injured. I have made several of themto equip the raiders tomorrow with a way to escape quickly andeasily. Yours, however, is different it will also teleport you tothe entrance to the gateway to Astaria.’
‘Secondly, Ihave a portal stone that should open the gateway even if the gateis closed. I’ve had it hidden since your mother escaped this world.At one time I had thoughts of leaving here myself but things didnot work out as I had planned.’
‘Why don’t youcome with me?’ asked Miranda.
‘I wish I couldbut I know that your mother hates all male wizards with a vengeanceand we go back quite a way. I’m afraid it would be certain death ifI were to set foot in Mudrun and I’m not in a hurry to meet mymaker.’
‘I guess you’reright.’ replied Miranda with a sigh.
‘OK. I’m in.Where’s the bracelet and portal stone and can you please remove thetattoo from my back.’
‘Okay butremember you must leave and not come back its much too dangerousfor you here.’ said Prendergrass as he used a transportation powerto retrieve the magic items and a dispelling power to remove thetattoo blocking her shape change ability.
Early thefollowing morning Miranda, Lash, the captain and a dozen well-armedtroops waited expectantly for the mage to turn up. A few minutesafter the allotted time, Darkmantle arrived with a small Llanlleanspider about the size of a small dog.
Lord Darkmantlegave a short speech about their duty to help the Queen rid thekingdom of rebels who were becoming a plague on their society andintroduced the small spider as Aquitain the wizard. He would givethem magical support against any rebel magic users. They were toprotect him where possible but keep out of his way. He then wentinto details about the mission such as where they were going andwhat they expected and the like.
Miranda nearlyhad a heart attack. Aquitain was a totally alien name to Mudrun letalone Moonmist. It was just too much of a coincidence. Was itreally her Aquitain? If it was he wouldn’t recognize her as she wasstill transformed to look ugly and had the glamour on to look likeDragonfly. Aquitain would be courageous enough to follow her hereand search for her. It would be just like him to act as a fieldwizard. If it was him then they could escape together and work outa way to retrieve Zephira. If it wasn’t then it would compromiseher plan to escape and possibly lead to her death. What should shedo?
There was alsoanother problem. Lash didn’t know she was Aquitain’s cousin sinceher memory had been wiped. She was unlikely to want to go with him.She would more than likely attack him and possibly even try to killhim.
Miranda wouldhave to try and get Aquitain’s attention before he tried to contactLash or there would be real trouble. Lash noticed that Dragonflywas not listening and decided to wake her up with a discrete kickto the shin. The sudden pain snapped Miranda out of her thoughtsand she gave Lash a dirty look. On second thoughts she might leaveLash with Darkmantle, since she seemed to revel in her new identityas Princess Bitch.
Darkmantlefinished his instructions, wished them luck and pulled out ateleport scroll. He was going to teleport the lot of them to neartheir attack location and they were expected to return in smallgroups using the bracelets of return at the end of the mission.Anyone unfortunate enough to get
