Gannon's Book. 35

High in the tower of her Joranian castle Muerte relaxed. She had taken the dragons back with her to a set of caves deep in the forest and told them she would return once she learned what her enemies were up to. Her mission was clear to her. She had to find the spells that would make her rule permanent. She wasn't convinced that idiot Balthazar could be trusted with the task she left him. She had noticed the nightwalkers overwhelming the lands and knew he was carrying out that job. The taste of the people's fear was clear in the air, and that pleased her. Now she and her dragons had to finish the task and make sure no one could stand in her way. She knew the dragons were still out the fighting her. That had to end. She knew there were spells she could use that might bring them under her control. She just had to find the rest of Gannon's book and the world was hers. Muerte rose from her couch to descend the stairs that led to the courtyard on her way out, she meets Herin, the son of the Baron that use to rule here in Jorania. She has use for him this day. He looked at her and went to the floor on his knees." Come with me." She said. " I have need of your hands."
" Yes, Mistress." He fell in behind her as she continued down and out of the castle. Like her obedient slave he would follow her anywhere she wanted no matter what the danger. It was time to get moving. She had an idea where she could find the bindings for the spellbook. That would make her spells much stronger, maybe permanent. She draped her dragon disguise around her and called her new clan.
[Brothers, you are needed.]
In their cave, the three dragons stirred. The heads came up and they shook off the sleep.
[We come, Sister.]
One by one they emerged from the cave and took to the air for the short flight to the castle. The closer they came, the stronger her influenced on them became. Soon they would be totally under her power and unable to deny her anything she asked. That pleased her. The more power she, got the better. From the sky, they came. One red, one topaz and the other blue. Together they settled before her and bowed.
[ We are here to serve you.] Fiero's redhead rose up to stare at her. [ What can we do for you?][ There is something I want you to retrieve for me.] She said. [It's very special. You will need this one to handle it.]She pushed Herin forward. He fell to his knees quivering in fear of the dragons.
" You will go with Fiero and lead him to this place." She touched his forehead and a vision of there destination was implanted in his memory.
" There you will find what I seek. Bring it back to me."
What is it im looking for?" He asked. " What do I seek?"
" You will know it when you find it." She turned to walk back to the castle the stopped and looked at them.
"Do not fail me." She said and sent it to the dragons. [ None of you.]

Struggling through the knee-deep stagnant waters of the swamp, Eheren, Kalin, and Tanis searched for there prize. They were looking foe another section of Gannon's book. Kalin had felt the nearness of the spells and bought them here. In front of them swam a twenty-foot alligator protecting them from the front. Eheren was last in line, ready to shift protecting the rear. Insects buzzed and bit at them from everywhere. At least they bit Tanis and Kalin. Eheren didn't have that problem, his fear abilities kept them off him as they walked. With a smack at his neck, Tanis turned to Eheren.
" Cant you extend whatever you're doing to keep the bugs off to include us?" he held out his hand and showed him the huge mosquito he had killed.
" No." He said. " Sorry, my energy field keeps them off me. Im being careful not to let any energy go, or I could hurt you all. Kalin, how much further?"
Kalin held out his hand to reorient himself. He had a strange look on his face.
[ Something wrong?] Denner asked as he snapped up a large catfish and chomped it down.
" Yes. It seems like there are two directions." Kalin told them. " North and northwest."
" Which ones closest?" Tanis asked.
" They're both the same distance." He said. " Should we split up?" Tanis swung at another mosquito and missed.
" Damn!"
" I don't like the idea of splitting up." Eheren frowned. " We could search for hours without finding anything without you. They don't show on my magic sight at all."
" I can make them reveal themselves for a time," Kalin told them. " But you better get there fast."
" Denner, you take Kalin and go north west.." Kalin nodded at his suggestion. "Tanis and I will go north. Keep your eyes open. I think there's more in this swamp then mosquitos and alligators."
[You feel something here?] Denner asked. His reptilian eyes flashed as the light of the sun glinted off them.
" Yes," Eheren said. " Don't let Kalin leave your side for any reason. Even to piss."
" Im not powerless you know," Kalin argued. " I can protect myself."
" Be that as it may. Stay close."
[Climb on my back and we're off.] Denner told him. Kalin mounted himself on Denner's scaly back and Denner swam off to the north.
"We go that way." Tanis pointed. Not far off.

Dolon and the dragons were on a search of there own. It seems they were after the same prize. There's was a quiet quest. The dragon's minds were so entrapped by Muerte, that there wasn't much room for there own thoughts. In human form, they splashed through the swamp. Bug bits didn't bother them. They were like zombies pointed at an objective. Nothing would stop them. Deep in Fiero's mind, he screamed for release. He and his brothers knew what was happening to them, but they were powerless to stop it. Muerte now had total control over them.
"Move this way." Dolon told him." I see the place we seek."
All Fiero saw were trees reaching out of the water. Logs and moss everywhere. The swamp had a musty rotting smell but there was another smell. It was a dragon smell. Fiero ignored it. There wasn't anything he could do anyway. Maybe he should try calling out to the dragon. But then he didn't want Muerte to even find the memory in his mind. So he cast it out of his mind. In Dolan's mind, Muerte had placed a picture of the place they were to go. He saw what she wanted them to bring back clearly in his mind. They were here for some magic pages she wanted he had known better than to ask his mistress what they were. His job was to bring them back, and that was what he would do. He knew where they walked looked like the right direction. His vampire senses told him they were not alone. Off in the distance, he could hear splashed. He didn't know what it was. It could just be some swamp animal, or it could be someone after the same thing as he was. He thought he would find out soon, for they were close, very close to what they were after.

Splashing through the swamp, Tanis saw a faint glow ahead of them. It was coming from a shadow area not far in front of them. Could that be what they were looking for?
" Eheren." He called. " Look there!"
Eheren peered into the area he had pointed out. There was a glow.
" This must be it." Eheren said. " Come on."
Together they moved forward toward the shadow. It was dark now and the light had faded away. Suddenly a burst of flame cut them off from the side. Eheren grabbed Tanis and pulled him out of the way just in time. They looked to there left and there stood a tall man in red leathers and a nightwalker. Eheren knew the tall man was a dragon. He had no doubt. But where did come from?
" Kill them!!" The nightwalker yelled.
The tall man began to shift to dragon form and roared.
" Can you take him?" Eheren asked as he shifted.
" There's not a nightwalker alive, or undead, I cant take. My father had me trained well." Tanis grinned at him. His fangs and talons grew. His eyes glowed yellow, his body mass swelled as he grew stronger, he was ready for battle. The red dragon shot a blast of flame at them and leaped into the air. Eheren followed dodging the blast and shooting out his own bolt of lightning striking a tree and blowing it to pieces. Fiero flew high and sent his flame behind him to burn Eheren, but being an energy dragon, the flame bounced off his wing. Like a mindless beast, Fiero spun in the air and came back it Eheren. With seconds to dodge, Eheren turned on his side and swung out his tail which caught Fiero on the back. He almost was knocked out of the air but recovered in time to sail over the tops of the trees.
Below Tanis stood ready for the nightwalkers attack. Dolon launched himself at Tanis. With a massive arm, Tanis batted him aside. Dolon crashed into a tree and fell back into the water. Tanis smiled and waved him forward. Using the shadows, Dolon disappeared from Tanis's sight for a second. Moving with the speed of his kind, Tanis sent a number of punches into the air and connected with each knocking Dolon back. Dolon was no match for Tanis. Tanis had trained for years in his style of fighting. He used to all of his abilities and knew how to use them. Dolon was a new nightwalker. It would take him centuries to become as good a fighter as Tanis if he lived that long. Which was very doubtful Tanis thought. Dolon got up on one knee and wiped the blood from his face. He knew he couldn't win this fight. His only chance was to make a grab for the pages and escape. He looked to his left to where they were and made a dash for them. Dolon reached the spot where they were buried and pushed his hands deep into the water and pulled them out. Quickly he tossed them into the air and called Fiero. One page fell back separate and landed in the water.
"Take them back to our mistress!" When he looked back to Tanis he saw the hand coming out of his chest. Tanis was standing there gripping his dead heart. That was the last thing he saw. Overhead Fiero swooped down and caught the scroll and winged his wing up and away. Eheren gave chase, but Fiero was to fast. He couldn't catch him. He returned to Tanis and shifted back to human.
" Damn, he got away with it," Tanis said.
"It's alright," Eheren said. " He didn't get this."
He walked over and picked up the page. It was very old but Eheren could read it. He looked up at Tanis and smiled.
" What
Its the spell that will free the Baron." He said. " We found it at last."
" Then we're done?" Tanis asked.
" No." He said. " Not until all of the books is found. Who knows what spells are in that book. Come on, let's find Denner and Kalin."

To the northwest, Denner swam quickly following Kalin's direction. It wasn't too long before they found an island. Denner swam up and onto the shores where Kalin climbed off. Shifting back to human, Denner stretched, he'd been an alligator for hours. He was glad to stand again on two feet.
" Which way?"He asked.
"Over there." Kalin pointed. " Follow me."
With Kalin in the lead, Denner followed him. This island was strange. It wasn't swamp-like. It was more like a forest in the middle of a swamp. The smells here were even different. Denner noticed that the minute they left the water, the air smelled more dry, earthy. This forest seemed peaceful. Together they walked deeper into the forest. They saw many small animals scurry around as they came closer. A silver fox came walking out from behind a bush. It stopped and looked up at them. It stood right in their path. Denner frowned and looked over to Kalin.
" What's this?" He asked.
" I don't know." The fox turned and started walking ahead of them, then stopped and looked back.
"Why do I get the feeling it wants us to follow it," Denner asked. Kalin shrugged his agreement.
" Maybe we should." He said and followed the fox.
"Let's try something."
They follow the fox as it trotted along then they stopped. The fox stopped and waited.
" I guess the answers to our question. It is leading us. But to where?" Denner asked.
" Well, its heading in the direction we need to go, so we go on."
Following the fox they walked about a mile further on then came to a small field. It was beautiful. Like an oasis in the middle of a dessert. There the fox stopped and looked up at them. It moved aside as if to tell them to go on. In the middle of the field sat a young girl dressed in peasant clothes. She looked at them and smiled.
" Greetings." She said.
Denner and Kalin walked into the field as she got up from her seated position. This was weird. What was a young girl doing here so many miles from the closest town or village?
" Hello." Denner smiled at her. " Are you all along here?"
" Yes." She said. " I am where I was hidden."
" Hidden?" Kalin said. " By who?"
" By my master." She said. " And now you have found me, as I knew you would, Kalin Ka. Now you are the master."
Astonished they both were takin back. Who is she and how could she know Kalin's name? Or that he would find her. This was very confusing.
" Who are you?" Kalin asked. " And how do you know me?"
" I know you like I knew your father before you, and your grandfather before him." She said. "I am Texa and I was made to hold all Gannon's dreams and spells. I am binding to all of his spells and enchantments. Accessible only to you. Gannon made me to only give my knowledge to an ancestor of his. But it was said that my spells were too powerful, that they were removed from me and hidden. Some were afraid I might be used for evil. That cant happen. That is why I was hidden."
"We have been looking for you and your spells. It seems someone evil has found some of them." Kalin told her." I am here to help to stop the horrors being done with your magic."
"I am saddened this has happened. If you promise to use me as Gannon wished, I can help you." Texa told them. " I can locate all the spells that are missing, and for some, I can reverse their magic. if that is your wish. I can help you get them back."
" Will you come with us," Kalin asked holding out his hand.
" As you wish Master," Texa said. " I will be with you as a tattoo. Just call me and I will answer."
[ Eheren, we found what we were looking for.] Denner sent. [ And you're not going to believe this.]