The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) Read Online Free Page B

to pick it up with both hands just to hold it
upright.
    He held up the staff with
a grunt of effort, but his mind remained blank. The staff was just an
inert length of wood and metal.
    Simon put Bene-Dunn-Gal
back in its place. His stomach was clenched with fear but he would
not allow himself to panic.
    I need to memorize a spell
to see if the magic is still there, he thought. But he was reluctant
to try. Without his power, he was, he thought, basically useless. The
only reason he no longer missed being the big strong man he'd once
been before his Change was because magic made him so much more
powerful.
    But now? He was a skinny,
weak teenager who probably couldn't even defend himself against a
grown man.
    Come on, Simon, he
thought. You have to know, one way or the other.
    He nodded to himself and
walked hurriedly to the stairs.
    On the second floor, he
went into his study and opened the shutters to let in the bright,
cold afternoon light. Then he sat at his desk and picked up his
spell-book.
    Well, he thought with a
trace of grim amusement, I never thought I'd need you again.
    The dog-eared bundle of
pages had been fastened together with thick cord and Simon carefully
turned each page, looking at the symbols and runes that he had
written down each time he'd discovered a spell that actually worked.
    He was tempted to try the
Summoning spell at once, but common sense stopped him.
    Try the easiest, least
complicated one you have, he thought. The one that uses the least
amount of power.
    He turned back to the
front of the book and looked at the first few pages. He stared at the
simple spell he'd called Sparkle. All it did was create small sparks
that were basically useless.
    Except when you used it to
get the black dragon's attention, he thought with some satisfaction.
But then he'd had Bene-Dunn-Gal to boost his power. Now? Now it was
the most useless and least powerful spell he had.
    Taking a deep breath,
Simon read through the runes that comprised the spell, firmly locking
them into his mind.
    “ Okay,” he
said aloud. “Let's see how bad the situation really is.”
    He chanted the incantation
in a firm voice, with only a hint of a nervous quiver, and then
intoned the word of command.
    “ Invectis, ”
he said. And then waited.
    After
a minute he sat back in the leather chair, the springs squealing
almost in sympathy.
    “ I'm
screwed,” he muttered.
    Nothing
had happened. No sparks. No reaction of any kind.
    He
was powerless.
    Simon
sat in his chair and stared out at the bright afternoon. His mind was
a jumble of disconnected thoughts. What do I do now, was the most
prevalent one.
    Finally
he stood up, creaking like an old man as his joints had stiffened
while he sat, closed the shutters and bolted them.
    The
room darkened immediately and he glanced at a candle, willing it to
light thoughtlessly.
    Nothing
happened and he sighed in frustration.
    No
power, Simon, remember? He shrugged and wandered back downstairs to
the fireplace. If he couldn't light things with his mind anymore,
he'd better make sure that the fire was maintained. It got awfully
cold in the tower when it went out.
    He
arranged fresh logs carefully in the fireplace, lit several candles
to brighten the room and made more tea. Then he sat down to try and
organize his thoughts.
    The
gods of Chaos had failed in their attempt to kill him using the
dragons. But they had succeeded in rendering him powerless. And in
this increasingly dangerous world, the result might well be the same.
    Monsters
of old were returning to the New Earth. Undead now stalked the night
near graveyards, seeking the warmth of the living. And many animals,
like some humans, had Changed into something...else. Some were
benevolent, like his horses, but others were not.
    Simon
sat up with a jerk. The horses!
    He'd
been so used to having Kronk around to care for Chief, Tammy and
Sunshine, his three horses, that he'd forgotten all about them. They
must have been freaking out when the dragons