Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 04

Staria looked at her, "It would have to be able to go onto something that will change shape. A horse's bridle would not do well for that."

The Countess looked at the King, "You need to disperse your dragon mages to all critical areas. The enchanters need to modify these glasses to detect for necromancy once they have been cleared of any runes. Starting with the academy and enchanter shops."

Jazzia looked at her, "Let us not forget our armies and all of our allies. If they have any human or elven members in this cult then they could be trapped into a ring and worn by a dragon in through our shields!"

The Countess looked to be talking mentally. Then turned to us, "We could add another enchantment to the diamonds at the sky to include blocking necromancy from entering the shields.

Jazzia looked at the King, "I would do that and then turn that aspect on. Establish everyone to teleport outside of the city walls and then walk in and they could teleport to the palace. This would block the rings from coming or going without being revealed.

Items that we have that have necromancy would have to be stored in a bag of holding to get through the shield at that point. Like every Moon Blade. High-end non-detection could also allow it to pass so it is not foolproof. Any way to enchant something to detect and remove these dragon wards? Passing through these shields if you will?"

The Countess nodded, "We could do that as well. It will take a couple of weeks to modify each location and we would need our dragon assets to modify them all. It would also block ward communication from passing through the boundary. That is why it is not a spell we would share openly with just anyone."

Jazzia nodded and looked at the King, "You need to bring Traxxa and your generals in as well as the other King, Queen, and her generals once we have the detect necromancy spell in place. We cannot warn them until we can clear them, Your Majesty."

The Countess sighed, "We could bring them in and have the spell running. We could use this room to stop the wards. I will travel back and clear the Dragon riders and shadow riders. John, you stay here. Staria, clear each of the other ladies. Then Bring Amy here to help John with his efforts.

The champion is correct in this is a dangerous shift. If we have taken the existing chromatic dragons that far down, we could eliminate many of them with our precautions. Those rings need to go to the forge."

Jazzia nodded, "I can take them and put them into the forge. I have the location. I went on one of the trips. Detect magic will do it?"

She smiled, "Detect magic will work. Look at the auras of the people. If they have on a necromancy aura then they have a ring. I would recommend you take Vivia along to clear the forge area while you are there. You can travel with me back to town. Grab your tack. I assume you lost your mount in that battle?"

Jazzia nodded, "Yes. Tell Traxxa to get that ring back to Vivia she turned it in just before the battle. They lost 7 riders and 9 horses to 3 dragons. A fourth fled the field after falling. Those numbers are way too high. The gear from the drow is on the table. His body was left behind thought it might prove useful." John nodded.

Jazzia looked to the King, "Finding these on orcs and drow in the same attack group coming from orc lands goes back to my concern over the tunnels and poison, Your Majesty."

He nodded, "Point taken. We will see what John is able to pull from him."

They left the secure shelter and were back at the inn. Jazzia took her tack and walked toward the pasture. She was about halfway there when she ran into Vivia and Wendia.

They looked at Jazzia and Vivia sighed, "Glad you are alright. Traxxa gave me that ring back. Said we would need it. We saw your horse."

Jazzia nodded, "Could you let yours know I need another as their brother fell in battle."

She nodded and another came running from the pasture toward her. Jazzia looked at him, "Grinta. Melia had a horse years ago with that name."

He heard a chuckle, "Black as night. Very well."

She saddled him up, "Your brother fell protecting another."

She heard back, "We already knew. He knew it was someone you found attractive. A human even. We relayed the message on your behalf."

Jazzia smiled, "A Sorceress as well."

Jazzia looked at Vivia, "We need to head to the inn."

She saw Lady Rachel, "We will need your assistance for a few minutes at my home."

She nodded and they went inside. Jazzia detected magic and they were cleared, "All of you need to strip down and check for dragon runes. They have new rings that are not picked up by our glasses. Detect magic to examine the auras of the person will reveal them. They will need to be enchanted into all of the glasses in the field."

Vivia looked at Jazzia, "I will do yours when we get back."

She looked at her, "It just needs to pick up necromancy so that should limit the time but it does need to always be on."

She nodded, "I can do that."

Jazzia looked at her, "I need another shelter design. This one with nine-foot ceilings and two-foot spikes in them. For the floor, the same spikes except for designated walking areas. The entrance should shield that until they go around the corner into the 'main' room. Small rooms with cells Same thing. To keep them from changing into something big."

Vivia nodded, "I can do that. I will make the ones over the walkway about six inches shorter. But I can cast that now if needed."

Jazzia nodded, "Good."

Once the ladies cleared themselves. She asked, "Any found?" They shook their heads.

Jazzia sighed, "2 were found on Dame Staria."

Rachel looked shocked, "I will check the other ladies."

Jazzia went and cast detect magic and looked the three of them over. She nodded and teleported to the dwarven forge area. The Paragon looked over, "Greetings. Can I help you?"

She smiled, "We met a few years back."

He nodded, "I remember."

Jazzia looked at him, "I am going to have my associate put up a shelter so we can talk in private. Who is the big dwarf in the back with two guards?"

He looked at Jazzia, "That is the King's cousin. Sixth in line to the throne."

Jazzia sighed, "Prince Fireaxe. You might want to join us for this discussion."

He nodded and his two bodyguards followed as well.

Vivia threw up the shelter They walked inside she looked at Wendia and whispered, "Command those three to the ground when we get inside."

She looked at Jazzia as her eyes went bright and wide-eyed. They got inside and she did a mass command. That sent the three of them to the ground. She pulled manacles and put them on all three of them. She looked at the paragon who was speechless.

She looked at him, "The dragons have a new type of ring. We came to strip any dragon wards from here and to see if any of them made it to your forge. You can imagine my surprise that we found 3 together."

They drug them into the main room. Jazzia looked into their eyes. They were assessing the situation they found themselves in. She looked at them, "Seal the room." She nodded. Jazzia put them each in a six by six cell with spikes everywhere.

Having divested them of everything but the one ring. She threw it on the ground outside each cell. Jazzia looked at them, "Vivia come with me so you can change. She nodded. They went outside and she switched into a silver dragon and then back to an elven form. She walked back in. She pulled the crystal, "Your Majesty, are you able to talk?"

Jazzia heard him sigh, "Yes. The others are not liking this search. They found listening wards on all of the leaders and their guards."

Jazzia sighed, "I need the Countess to bring the Dwarven King to the forge. We have a royal situation here, Your Majesty."

The King sighed and groaned, "Very well but I need him back here in the next 30 minutes!"

Jazzia rolled her eyes, "Understood, Your Majesty."

The Countess, the Dwarven King, and two guards appeared a few minutes later.

She opened the portal for them. They walked inside as the paragon got dressed, "He had 2 on him."

She nodded, "Take him outside and check the area and all of his men."

She walked up to the first cell and opened the door. He looked at his cousin. She held his hand and stuck it through the bars of the cell. Jazzia then pulled the ring and they saw an old human wizard. She opened the door and stripped him naked. She looked at him, "Your cousin is in the ring. MIND intact."

She walked down to the next room and repeated the process and the two turned into dragons but did not live long as the spikes and lack of space sent blood through the holes. "Yet another variant of these rings." The Countess disintegrated the bodies.

She looked at him as she put the ring back on his cousin. "You are a willing participant in this latest issue."

Jazzia took him out and looked at the King, "We have four to kill once they have been interrogated."

He looked at Jazzia, "Your King has not gone into detail yet."

Jazzia nodded, "We will go outside and head back to the King with your cousin, Your Majesty." She picked up all the gear and stored it for the moment. They stepped outside and Vivia looked at Jazzia, "I will be a while."

Jazzia nodded, "Meet you at the inn."

She took the four rings she brought and threw those into the forge. She watched them all pop and melt. The countess teleported them back.

They walked into the room with the door to the extra-dimensional area open. They walked inside.

Jazzia looked at her Great Uncle John, "Have 4 for you to interrogate Thought you might want to start with this one. She pulled off the ring and they looked at the naked man. She sighed, "Based upon his gear he is a necromancer."

Her uncle nodded and took him to a back room with his wife. Jazzia handed him the three rings, "Three others to interrogate. Another ring variant."

He sighed and walked off as the Countess stepped out and grabbed a crystal.

She looked at everyone, "Two more dragons dead. That one had two bodyguards. He was sixth in line to the throne and apparently joined the Draco-lich's little cult. For those trying to figure out what is going on, they have created another variant of the ring. This traps the mind with the body and is put on an unwilling or volunteer victim if you wish.

We will get answers at some point. Each appears to be a one-time use item. One of the rings was on a dragon that was taken down in the sky and it rose back up and flew away leaving a dead drow behind. The ring losing its enchantment. The body you saw with the ring on was in complete control, Your Majesty. The four rings have all been destroyed as well as the one dead ring."

She grabbed a chair. Her Sister the Queen entered the room and Jazzia stood and bowed to her and then hugged her, "Hello my sister, Your Majesty."

She laughed, "When in court you can use that. Sister is fine."

Jazzia smiled and pointed around the room and she chuckled, "Well it looks like the court is in session. I just got a message from the tower. Sir Gold Moon appears to be dead, his office destroyed by fire and a doppelganger killed."

Jazzia sighed, "They probably wanted his research. If they told them I have the pieces for the draconic stored away they will come looking for me or Vivia. I had her put it in a separate book and kept it secured with me during our travels."

Her sister nodded, "They found a large tome in his possession. The fire set off an alert and the Magister saw him with his glasses."

Jazzia sighed, "Unless I am needed further it looks like I need to pull that book from the Academy. Then get it secured."

The King nodded, "I will let your brother know if there is anything that needs to be passed on to you."

She stepped out and teleported to the Academy, "Take me to the fire and your Magister, please. He nodded and took her up. She went and cast another detect magic. She looked around. "Who has the book?"

A young mage stuck his hands out with the book overhead.

She looked at him, "I need to take a look and see if one of the four-tier ciphers are still in place. I added the fourth cipher to keep it from being read."

He looked startled and went to hand her the book and she shackled his hands together. She looked at the surprised mage who made no move for his ring. Jazzia pulled it off and the Instructor was there.

Jazzia sighed and took the ring and undid the shackles. She looked at him, "As I suspected. They would want you and this book to work on enchanting it for the enemy. Would you take us to the palace from here?"

He nodded, "Gladly. Thank you for saving me."

She held the book as they walked up the stairs. Her sister was on her way down and stopped. Jazzia looked at her, "Need you to get us back into that meeting, sister."

She smiled and waved them to follow. The guards opened the door for them. They stepped inside. She looked at the Countess, "You might want to check him out for any type of wards. Give this ring to my uncle and let him know another mind for the frying pan. The ring was worn by a gold-elf caster, I am betting a Goldbar.

I suspect his body hid the doppelganger to give him time to escape with the instructor alive."

The King shook his head, "I want our dragon mages divided up now for the time being! Keep the shields up at all locations! Teleportation will have to come in on the outside of the city. I want kingdom-wide searches for these assets if any are left."

Traxxa nodded at him.

The King looked at Jazzia, "Thank you yet again. As you are here and with good news it seems you should have a seat until we finish."

The human Queen looked at Jazzia, "How did you see him?"

Jazzia smiled, "Your Majesty, a mage with detect magic would be able to see the necromantic aura. IF they had it active. I would suggest that for your kingdom but your court wizards have not held the highest level of confidence since my Great Grandfather's day. He would need to be cleared first. Magic suppressing manacles are a good idea as well."

Traxxa chuckled, "The man sitting in the back is her court wizard. He has been checked already."

Jazzia chuckled, "Very well. He can check your court. He notices anyone then he should contact us for reinforcements. We can establish a room like this that is geared to questioning even the most stubborn of dragons."

The dwarven King chuckled, "The 2 you found in my Kingdom found your method of questioning to be eye-opening as well as blood spilling."

Jazzia smiled, "A requested design I will be sure to include in my variant of the spell going forward. The cells had two-foot-long spikes coming out of the floor ceiling and walls in a six-foot cell. Except for the entryway. Once the rings came off, they did not have room to expand before dying."

Uncle John stepped out, "They know the forge location and want it badly. They have not been able to generate another Draco-lich as they do not have a relic powerful enough. They placed tracking runes on the forge."

Jazzia nodded, "Vivia was working to remove all the draconic ward runes in that area."

The dwarven King stepped out, "I want the capital area sealed. Do not open them until I call."

Jazzia shook her head, "Your Majesty, might I suggest we get some arcane casters in there first. If they have the location to that then they likely have knowledge of your controls. Especially given all of the wards. They would dispatch an agent or agents to try and lock you out of your own kingdom."

He sighed and waved the Countess, Wendia, and Jazzia went out, "Unseal it I am returning."

King Goldeagle had them drop the shield for the moment. They teleported to the control room.

The countess detected magic and saw two coming up the hall. She sent Jazzia a message, "Two in the center have the new ones. The other two have older style rings. Target the two in the center. You take left on three. One two, three." They both cast disintegrate on the two of them and halls filled with two dead dragons pinning the two dwarves who changed into dragons and were crushed between the bodies and the size of the hall. The Countess turned and cleared the control room. Jazzia looked at her, "I will wait with the King. You need to go and do the same in the human kingdom."

She nodded, "True."

The dwarven King looked at her, "How do you do that?"

Jazzia chuckled, "Your Majesty, my family has a history of finding conspiracies. We hope we are wrong. That does not happen often."

The King chuckled, "No it does not. I am not getting any younger and I may not be around for this war."

He got on a crystal and called for his sons to get to his audience chamber. He chuckled, "They will clear that hall to get here."

He pulled out another as it vibrated. He joked around with King Goldeagle on the other end. An hour later and the 2 sons have cut a path through two of the dead dragons. She saw Vivia on the other side, "They would not let you help?"

She shrugged, "No."

She smiled, "Get rid of one of those bodies."

She cast another detect magic. And thought, "Fuck!"

She turned to his Majesty, "Could you let the King know we have an ALPHA sized problem, Amy and a couple of her sons with someone who can bring them here would be appreciated."

He relayed the message. She waved the other two forward in a hurry and they ran up past the two dwarves. She looked at them, "Who is the eldest? I was told you would understand that he is talking with my King and you should wait here for just a moment."

Her sword alerted, "Danger."

Jazzia thought, "ALPHA" and cast mirror image. They saw the sword in her hand. Wendia slammed them both to the ground. Jazzia went over and shackled the one. She looked at his brother. "When you can move, come in and talk with your father."

Jazzia drug the one brother into the audience chamber.

The King looked at her as the others came in. She held up a hand to keep quiet. She waived Amy forward and Vivia,

Jazzia whispered to her, "Like the forge area."

They waited in silence as she cleared the prisoner and his brother Jazzia looked at her, "Another cell of mine if you would."

She sighed and cast it up, "You need to memorize this one."

She took them inside.

Jazzia nodded, "Tomorrow, had not planned for this today."

Jazzia looked at Amy, "Contact the Countess. Have her check all of the royal human heirs as well."

They got them inside the shelter and put him in the six-foot cell. She looked at him, "I kill you in that room and it kills a dragon in that ring, they will be scraping your body off the walls. Let me guess second in line to the throne behind your brother?"

The King nodded, "Stronger too, bigger temper. He has been trying to convince me for a few years I should name him my successor. His cousin supported that position."

Amy looked at him, "He has a black in that ring."

Jazzia nodded and pulled the prisoner out and jammed the one hand behind the door. She cut off the hand while his brother watched and the door slammed shut. The small explosion of bodily fluids seeping out from under the door held him in place. She looked at the King, "He does not get a second life. I kept the dragon from squashing us.

She popped open the door. The King looked at Jazzia, "Leave it!"

She nodded. "When this room disappears, it will be in your audience chamber, Your Majesty."

He nodded, "I will have you meet with someone."

They walked out together and the other brother held his brother's stump. They walked out and he called for 'Paladin Glint Hammer' on a crystal. He walked in and he radiated positive magic. Jazzia nodded to him, "The dwarven champion if I had to guess."

Glint looked at her, "An elven champion?"

She nodded and waved him into the room, "Been here a few times today destroying dragons. I believe you saw 3 in the hall. One was disintegrated to open a path on top of those 3. Another was killed here in this room and two more down by your forge." As she walked toward the open cell. He nodded, "Have not seen them."