Legends of the Dragonrealm: Shade Read Free

inflicting pain. Despite all that, he managed to push himself up to his feet.
    “I see I’m just in time. It ends here, Shade,” a so-familiar voice sadly declared. “It must.”
    The sorcerer turned to where the shopkeeper had stood, not at all surprised to find the elderly man vanished and, in his place, a young male in blue robes. He had a strong head of black hair save for a great streak of silver running from the front to a good part of the back. By the standards of the heroic tales sung by bards, the newcomer was not glorious of face, but with his strong jaw and slightly bent nose he had a ruggedness that appealed to many women, and especially one in particular. The newcomer looked little more than two decades old unless one stared into his solemn brown eyes and saw the bitter experience there. Cabe Bedlam was more than twice the age his appearance indicated; one of the benefits of being a spellcaster was the ability to hold one’s youth for potentially some three hundred years or more.
    “Cabe.” Shade greeted him, his tone dark. “Would that I could say it was a pleasure to see you. A trick most cunning.”
    “It needed to be, to lure you. Don’t worry about the shopkeeper. The real one is far from here. What you ensorcelled was one of the Gryphon’s golems with an illusion cast over it.”
    “I’d wondered. You were never one to risk an innocent.” The sorcerer could sense the energies building around them, energies all summoned by his companion. It was a mistake to judge Cabe by his appearance; he was possibly the most powerful spellcaster in all the Dragonrealm.
    But even with the arcane knowledge and ability inherited from his famous grandfather, Nathan, Cabe was not the most experienced . Not compared with one who had lived countless centuries.
    Or so Shade hoped.
    He drew his cloak into him. His body twisted, shrank into the folds.
    “Shade!”
    A spell tugged at him, nearly made the hooded sorcerer falter. Inaddition, the effects of Cabe’s previous spell still played havoc with Shade’s thoughts.
    The shop faded, the frustrated image of the wizard with it. Shade felt his insides wrench but pressed his escape.
    Cool, moist air struck his blurred face. Shade fell forward, only a stone wall preventing him from hitting the ground.
    Even before his gaze could focus, he knew that he was still in Irillian. The smell of the sea cleared his head slightly, but not enough. Shade knew that he needed to concentrate if he hoped to transport himself farther away. Cabe would be right behind him, and worse, the wizard’s most obvious ally here in Irillian would be on the hunt for—
    He sensed something terrible about to take place in the alley in which he had landed. Unable to focus enough to transport himself away, Shade was left with an ignoble sprint into the public areas.
    A tremendous fwoosh erupted from behind him. The roar of water filled his ears. A flood surged past his boots toward the startled citizenry, the water rising up to his knees before the open areas let it settle again.
    Had he been anyone else, his heightened senses would still likely not have been sufficient to warn him of the Blue Dragon’s attack. From far away in his lair, Irillian’s master had sent forth a small bit of the sea to entirely fill the alley. It had not simply been dumped into the narrow passage; the water had materialized there. Shade would have instantly drowned.
    The humans and drakes eyed him with astonishment. Most did not recognize him—for who expects a dark legend in their midst?—but a few did, and the name by which he was known, the name now so much more apt than his original, sprang from more and more mouths.
    The guards needed no such knowledge to urge them to action. Whether or not they knew who the intruder was, they clearly knew him as an enemy. A mounted drake officer sent the mainly human contingent forward. Swords and lances drawn, the guards converged on Shade.
    Gasping for air, the sorcerer