Dragon Realm
Episode 33

KYRG JUST SAT there. None of his powers even received a scratch. I don't understand, Mr. Gryphon.”

Lionbird turned to his friend, Blane. There was a pause in that battle. Now the siege situation is normal. The Lochivarites and their firedrake commanders were testing the resilience of the city. The dragons were clearly afraid of more attacks than the kind the Gryphon used to destroy the initial air attack. That would soon change if the ruler of Penacles could not translate the words he read in books. Why poetry and poetry, of all things?

One consolation: the longer a firerake waits, the harder it is to be controlled by their fanatical humans.

“Kyrg,” said, “waiting for Duke Toma. Toma, at the moment, is destroying Mito Pica.”

"What?" Blane dropped his helmet, which was held under his arm. “Mito Pica? Can we do nothing?”

"No. So many spells that I thought were useful were not enough. No wonder the Purple Dragon could not kill Nathan Bedlam directly. Most people who study books think in terms of generalizations, not specifics. More and more, I find that in order to receive what you really want, you have to be very precise. If not, the library will play the game.”

“Why has no one ever written a spell in a simpler form? Surely, one of the rulers of this city—”

“In three days, each copy of the page will be lost. Anyone who reads it will forget what he said. Some sort of fail-safe, I would imagine.

The scarred face of the commander became worse. “Bah! The magic! Give me a simple war!”

Looking at the overwhelming enemy army, the Gryphon shook his head. “No simple war.”

An aide stepped into the room behind them. When they did not look at him, he cleared his throat nervously.

Blane looked at the man. "What's that?"

The adjutant was pale. The commander's face had stopped more than one person killed in the middle of the road. "I'm sorry, but I came to talk to Lord Gryphon about Lady Gwen."

Lionbird was interested. "And?"

“I went to call him, as you requested. I searched first in his room, and then in his lost friend. She's not in both.”

"Indeed." The gryphon pulls the hair under its beak. "Then how?"

“I—I asked others to help me. We searched several floors without success. That's when I discovered the truth.”

"And that was?" Blane's getting impatient.

The soldier was white. “He alone spoke with your spies before you, Lord Gryphon. He hears that Mito Pica fell to Toma's dragon army. A servant heard all this, but remained silent in fear of the power of Madam.”

“Understandable. Continue."

“He became angry. The spy shrugged his shoulders and left. Only the servant heard his last words. He had planned to go to Mito Pica!”

The growl of anger coming out of the Gryphon's throat caused the two humans to retreat. There was little reason in the minds of the lion birds at that moment. Only after a few seconds could he calm down enough.

"Are we a ship that sank, so our allies disappeared one by one?" Those words were more to himself. “Mito Pica is done! What he was looking for was most likely no more! He might die for his stupidity!”

Blane asked cautiously, "What is he looking for?"

allowing him to save her from Azran. Thin expectations are best, but he acts more with emotion than logic. I should have been so scared.”

The commander from Zuu coughed in a hoarse voice. “Now what do we do?”

The Gryphon stared at the room. Grey fog has drifted into the city. Each room was dim, though more lights than usual in areas used by the military.

“I've heard of some men who suffer from the same severe cough as you. Now it surprises me that this is all too familiar. ”

"What?"

“Gray Mist weakens our strength. We grow weaker while the Lochivarites breathe freely. I remain uninfected, but the whole city is in danger.” He walked to the window and peered into the interior of the Penacles. “This will be a short siege. We should crush them in the next week or two or fall into their hands like a sick baby.”

Blane managed to grin. "I'll gather my people—"

"No. It would be a massacre. The key is to find the source of the Gray Mist. If only I—” Gryphon was cut off. "Could be! Blane! Please tell General Toos that I will be in the library for the next few hours! ”

"What's that?"

"I might mistake fire for air!" Lionbird rushed out of the room. Behind him, Blane shrugged, coughed, and picked up his falling helmet. “She claims Grey Fog does not affect her! It sounds like they're rummaging their heads, Zuu-kala help us all!”

The tapestry has been moved to one of the deeper and safer areas of the palace. Although he was quite running through the building, the Gryphon felt as if he was crawling. It was just a hunch, and probably wrong in that regard. However, it explains many things, such as how Lochivar went from a clean and peaceful land to a bleak, ghost-like desert. He was astonished that the thought had not occurred to him for many years.

This time, the library is located in the city center. The dead center. He wondered if this was some kind of safety factor.

He found himself standing in the corridor of one of the libraries without noticing the change in location. Gnome—or gnome—wait patiently. This was no surprise to the Gryphon, but what the little man in his hands did. There, without looking for it, was a blue book. It was open, and the ancient script filled two pages in sight. The lionbird looked at the thick books keeper.

Without blinking, without any hesitation, the gnome handed the book to him. “To save much needed time, Lord Gryphon.”

A DAY HAS PASSED. Cabe's still in the chair. It became very uncomfortable, but Azran's shock spell would be much worse, there was no question about it. Still, it would probably be easier if he had at least eaten. His father seems to have forgotten all about him.

That's not happening right now. With a trace of sulfur, Azran and his throne appeared no more than three feet away from Cabe. There was a smile on the black magician's face. It did not push his captive in the slightest.

“My son, how are you feeling today?”

"May I get off this chair?"

"I think so."

Azran waved his hand. Cabe noticed the area around him glittering. When everything returned to normal, he carefully stood up. Every part of his body hurts. He straightened his body slowly—

—and jump towards Azran.

It was hard to do anything while floating in the air. Cabe found this the hard way. His father frowned, turned his finger, and saw the unfortunate victim spinning several times.

“I'm disappointed in you, Cabe. I really think you might behave yourself. ” Azran's face goes dark. “I can see that there is little hope to discuss this with you. Poor thing. I have to use a more drastic way.”