The Dark Mage emerging from the shadows of the trees wore a dark robe with a large hood that totally covered his head. The face was hidden in the dark shadows of the hood, but Max could make out the nasty yellow eyes staring out at him. The cuffs of the sleeves hung down from the wrists, hooked fingers twitching and summoning forth a dark spell. The nails were long, yellow, cracked, and thick. They looked more like old claws than fingernails. The fingers moved in strange jerky motions, bending against the finger joint’s natural movement.
Max could almost hear the knuckles and finger joints snapping in and out of place. The magic missile leapt from the fingers of the Dark Mage. Max flinched as the glowing red missiles arced towards him, two on each side, the orbs streaking right at him. At a few feet away, they slammed into Elderon’s magical shield.
Max still had the benefit of the Strength spell as he drew his catapult, the golden roc sinew stretching to near-breaking point. He took careful aim.
>
>
> Max attacks Dark Mage.
>
>
Max shot the bullet. It passed through Elderon’s magical shield and struck the Dark Mage.
>
>
> Dark Mage takes moderate damage.
>
>
The robes billowed as the bullet struck. Max loaded another bullet. He spotted a second Dark Mage emerging from the trees. He was turning his hands over, summoning a huge spell. Max took aim at the Dark Mage.
>
>
> Max attacks Dark Mage.
>
>
The bullet flew straight and true until at the final moment, it changed trajectory and arced around the Mage.
>
>
> Dark Mage protected from Missile Weapons; no damage done.
>
>
Then the Mage finished casting his big spell. A blue ball drifted towards Elderon. It drifted into the magical shield and spread over it. The spell crackled and absorbed all the energy from Elderon’s magical shield.
“They’ve cancelled my shield,” Elderon said. He quickly cast a new spell.
Max’s ears were filled not so much with a sound but a sensation, like a thick heavy blanket hitting the ground.
>
>
> Elderon casts Silence.
>
>
Max saw the Dark Mages fail in their spell casting, an area of utter silence surrounding them, preventing them from uttering their incantations.
“Attack them,” Jahrod said, and he ran toward the nearest of the two Dark Mages.
Anita sprinted towards the other. As she arrived at her target, the Dark Mage drew a long dark blade and swung it at her, the blade sweeping a wide arc at neck height.
Anita dropped to her knees and skidded under the swinging blade. She came back to her feet the instant the blade had passed over her head, and she struck with her Spear of Fire.
Anita’s strike caused the Mage to cry out in pain, but the area of silence prevented any noise. The fire from Anita’s flaming tip spread over the Dark Mage’s robes, a wave of flame that did its damage and then burned out.
Jahrod swung his axe but was parried by the dark blade of his Dark Mage opponent. The pair circled each other. The Mage jabbed forward with lightning speed, but the blade glanced harmlessly off Jahrod’s heavy armor. He swung his axe, aiming to take the knees out from under the Dark Mage, but the swinging axe struck only the heavy robes of the Dark Mage.
Max drew his Shortsword of Cold. The blade glowed with a low white light. He rushed in to fight alongside Anita.
>
>
> Max attacks Dark Mage.
>
>
With the Dark Mage focused on defending against Anita’s spear of fire, Max had a free attack.
>
>
> Dark Mage takes moderate damage.
>
> Bonus Strength.
>
> Bonus Cold damage.
>
>
The Mage turned on Max and swung his dark blade. Max brought up his Shortsword of Cold to defend against the dark blade. The blades struck. There was no sound, and the silence played strange tricks with Max’s ears.
Max used the power of the Dark Mage’s swinging sword to help him leap backwards and out of range of the Mage’s blade.
Anita jabbed forwards with her spear and again delivered damage to the unguarded left flank of the Mage. Again the flame rippled over the Mage’s robes, dealing extra fire damage. The Mage took a step back, sword vertical before him, ready to counter an attack from either side.
But the Dark Mage didn’t count on Max being so fast and agile.
>
>
> Max attacks Dark Mage
>
> Dark Mage takes moderate damage
>
> Bonus Strength damage
>
> Bonus Cold damage
>
> Dark Mage defeated
>
>
Anita turned her back on the Mage the instant he crumpled to the ground, buried under a heap of heavy dark robes. Max spotted the loot left behind, a few gold coins and a magic scroll.
At that moment, the field of silence ended as the spell wore off. The sound came rushing at Max. He heard Jahrod grunting as he swung his axe and the clatter and chime of blades striking each other. Then he heard Elderon call out.
“Look out, more Dark Mages!”
Max saw three more Dark Mages appear deeper in the trees. Elderon cast a Web spell at the Mages. The spell raced towards them, in between Max and Anita, who was running to aid Jahrod. The spell looked like a loose ball of twine, white and glistening. When the spell landed, it burst outward and trapped the Dark Mages in sticky threads. The threads splattered the trees around the Mages. It held their arms in the sticky strands and prevented any casting.
Max saw Anita strike a final blow and defeat the Dark Mage Jahrod had been battling. Elderon cast a fireball and threw it at the three Dark Mages trapped in the web.
Max watched the fireball move towards the trapped Dark Mages, and that’s when he spotted two more Dark Mages on the party’s right flank, moving along the tree line at the edge of the forest and the Salt River.
Max stepped back. “More of them, there.” He pointed with his sword.
“Behind you,” Anita called out.
Max turned and saw a group of Dark Mages closing on the party’s left.
Elderon cast a lightning bolt at the trapped Dark Mages. The lightning moved from one to the other, flickering, crackling, dealing high levels of damage, defeating all three Dark Mages and breaking the web so only loose strands still hung from the trees.
“There are too many of them,” Max said as he saw yet another Dark Mage join the pair on the right flank. “We need to get out of here.”
The only way Max could see to get away was through the remnants of the web, deeper into the forest.
“Dwarfs don’t run,” Jahrod said. “We stand and fight.”
“It is not running; it’s a tactical withdrawal,” Max said. He moved deeper into the trees. Anita led the way.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Elderon cast another Web at the large group on their right, stopping them in their tracks. Jahrod growled in anger as he ran to join the party as they moved into the trees. Anita cast a Root Tangle spell to cover their retreat.
Then a fireball struck. It fell far behind them and exploded with a soft sound like a flag flapping in the wind. It billowed outwards so Max was caught by the edge of the exploding fireball.
>
>
> Max takes heavy damage.
>
>
The burning was painful but mercifully short-lived. He had long ago burned his hand on an open fire, and it had hurt for over an hour. He could even feel it well into the next day, but the magical fire of the fireball hurt only for an instant. But it did its damage. Max knew he could not take another hit from a fireball.
Anita cast another Root Tangle to cover their retreat, preventing the Dark Mages from getting close enough to hit them with spells.
“That’s my last Root Tangle,” Anita said.
“I’m all out of Web spells,” Elderon said. He a cast spell that created a shimmering duplicate image of the party between them and the Dark Mages. “That’ll confuse them for a short while and maybe they’ll waste some of their spells with attacks on my Shimmer Image spell.”
Max continued his tactical withdrawal, but he couldn’t help looking at the Shimmer Image spell behind them. It was strange to see images of his friends standing in the trees. They moved slightly, taking a step forward, turning—small movements that made sure they didn’t look like static images, just enough to confuse an enemy for a moment.
“Keep moving,” Elderon said.
A fireball slammed into the Shimmer Images. and the strangely moving duplicates vanished in the fireball.
Max was running now. The party ran for an hour until safely away from the Dark Mages.
“That’s far enough,” Max leaned on his knees, gasping for breath. “I can’t go any further.” He looked at Anita and Jahrod, both red from running but content to keep going. Elderon made no complaints, but Max was sure he too welcomed the rest.
“No fires,” Elderon said as he sat down. He took out his Mage Book. The small book grew to the huge heavy tome the moment Elderon opened it.
Max wondered how long before his Mage Book was so big. Would he survive long enough?
“I need rest,” Elderon said, closing the book. It shrank back down, and he slipped it into the pouch on his hip. Then, sitting on the ground, he cast a spell and summoned forth a small army of mice. The creatures came up from the ground like lava from a volcano, bubbling up before running off into the surrounding trees. “A warning spell,” Elderon said, looking to Max. “They will squeak if danger is close.”
“I do not need rest,” Jahrod said. “I will stand guard.”
Max called Anita to rest with him on his Blanket of Comfort. “It will help us activate our spells more quickly,” he said as an excuse, but really, he just wanted to feel Anita’s body next to his. She smiled and lay down next to him. He felt her warm body next to his. Even in the cold forest, she was like a furnace. Sleep came easily with Anita next to him.
Max woke suddenly to find Anita was gone. He sat up and looked around anxiously.
Jahrod and Elderon were eating heavy dark bread. Jahrod tossed Max a crust.
“Don’t worry, Max,” Jahrod growled. “She’s walking the perimeter. She’ll be back in a moment.”
Max chewed the bread and looked to the surrounding trees. After a moment and a drink of a dark morning brew, he grew impatient.
“Where is she?” Max said.
Jahrod got to his feet. “Time we moved on. I’ll help you find her. I’ll search this way.”
Elderon stood up and gathered his staff. “I’ll check this direction. Don’t call out if you find her. We’ll meet up back here.”
Elderon walked off, Jahrod too. Max picked a direction and walked.
Max had a great sense of direction and was not troubled that he’d become lost. He knew how to get back to their temporary camp. He wandered deeper into the trees, moving slowly, silently, looking all about for Anita. Then he spotted a disturbed patch of ground: the leaf litter that lay across the forest floor was churned up, fresh dirt visible. Max looked about. He saw a set of footprints through the trees. The leaves disturbed slightly. He followed them. After a short while, he saw Anita, her back to him. She was hunched over something on the ground. A small fire burning next to her.
Anita spun around as Max approached.
Janet appeared on Max’s shoulder. “Danger close, Max. Be careful. If you get hurt . . .” She didn’t finish the sentence. Max knew if anything happened to him, she’d be trapped in the dark portal, stuck between Earth and Eveirea forever.
“Who’s there?” Anita said.
“It’s me, Max. It’s probably not a good idea to light fires right now. Come on, it’s time to move on.” Max walked closer. “What have you got there?”
Max looked over Anita’s shoulder. It was her Satchel. She had spilled the contents over the ground and was picking through them. There were little bottles of potions, a small wooden mixing bowl with a golden lining that Max had seen her use to prepare herbs. There was her bundle of glowing moss and assorted Druid tools, including a curved knife suitable only for peeling fruits.
Anita held up the bundle of sticks. “I was just about to make a brew.”
“Danger close, Max,” Janet said.
“Come on, Anita,” Max said. “We need to move.”
Anita turned her back to Max. “Go on without me. I’ll soon catch up with you.”
Max looked back the way he had come. It was true Anita could catch up with them. She could move through the forest as easy as a breeze. Then Max saw the disturbed ground leading to Anita. Max realized that she never left footprints. As a Druid, she was able to move without leaving a trace. She moved lightly over the forest floor, leaving as much trace as a song bird.
Anita reached out to her fire, the bundle of sticks in her hand. She was about to drop them into the fire. Max wondered what she was doing. She had had that small bundle since he’d first met her, and she told him it was not for the fire.
“Anita?” Max said.
Anita ignored him.
“Danger close, Max,” Janet said. “You need to move now.”
Max looked down at Anita. Her back to him. He touched her shoulder.
Cold.
Max stepped back.
Anita stood up and turned on him. Her eyes glowed yellow, her lips curled back in a snarl. Then her flesh melted away, and Max found himself confronted by a Dark Mage in his heavy robes.
The Mage cast a Magic Missile, and six burning yellow orbs slammed into Max. Each delivered minor damage. The Potion of Protection against Magic saved Max from taking some damage, but even so, the cumulative effect left Max badly injured, and his Health bar looked down to about half.
Max drew his sword and swung it in one swift move.
>
>
> Max attacks Dark Mage.
>
> Dark Mage takes moderate damage.
>
> Bonus Cold damage.
>
>
The Mage began casting another spell.
>
>
> Dark Mage attacks Max.
>
>
Max watched as the Dark Mage moved his gnarled fingers, twisting and cracking as he turned them through the casting gestures, strange combinations that looked uncomfortable, not the smooth casting gestures he performed when casting.
Max swung his sword at the Dark Mage.
>
>
> Max attacks Dark Mage.
>
> Dark Mage takes moderate damage.
>
> Bonus Cold damage.
>
>
The bonus Cold damage spread over the Dark Mage’s robes like fast-forming frost. The dark robes were momentarily turned white until the frost evaporated in an instant.
>
>
> Dark Mage casting interrupted; spell failed.
>
>
The spell growing in the Mage’s hands dissipated as the spell failed. The Mage snarled in rage and drew a long dark blade. It rasped as it was drawn from its scabbard that was buried somewhere within the Mage’s heavy robes.
Max jabbed forwards with his shortsword, but the Dark Mage parried it away with his dark blade.
>
>
> Dark Mage attacks Max.
>
>
Max saw the dark blade high above his head at the apex of its upwards swing. He knew that if he ran at this point, it would be a disaster. He’d be cut down before he’d even turned his back. He felt the fear building inside him. There was nothing to do but step forward inside the falling arc of the dark blade.
The Mage stepped backwards as Max advanced and stumbled into the small fire he had been hunched over. The flames and embers jumped and crackled, momentarily distracting him.
>
>
> Max attacks Dark Mage.
>
>
Max punched forward with the grip of his shortsword deep into the Dark Mage’s hood.
>
>
> Dark Mage takes minor damage.
>
> Dark Mage has been defeated.
>
>
The robes crumpled to the ground. The dark blade fell onto the pile of robes. Max saw the loot left behind, and stooped to pick it up.
“Not the blade, Max,” the voice of Elderon boomed out.
Max turned. Elderon and Jahrod were running towards him.
“The blade is cursed. Don’t touch it.”
Max looked at the blade sitting alongside a magic scroll and a few gold coins. He was grateful his friends had alerted him to this unknown danger. Then suspicion took him. He turned to Elderon and Jahrod and raised his sword.
“Hold there. How do I know you are who you say you are?”
Elderon and Jahrod slowed. They walked forward slowly, cautiously.
“You are Max Lightfoot,” Elderon said. “We first met in the town of Burke in the Breamor Kingdom.” Elderon spoke softly, his hand held out in friendship.
Max was not convinced. Anyone could have come by this information. He tightened the grip on his sword. Then he caught a whiff of the aroma emanating from the dwarf.
Max wrinkled his nose at the sour, pungent stench from the dwarf. No shape-shifter could have created that stench. He lowered his sword.
“Elderon? Jahrod? Is that really you?”
Elderon nodded. “The Dark Mages. They have Anita.”
Max looked down at the robes on the ground. “This one was disguised as Anita.” He scooped up the gold and the scrolls.
>
>
> Max gains 5 gold.
>
> Max gains Scroll of Disguise.
>
> Max gains Scroll of Permanent Strength.
>
>
Max checked his inventory. He added the five gold coins, giving him 215 in total. He read the Scroll of Disguise, and it crumbled in his hands. He quickly checked his Mage Book to see if it had been copied into his book.
>
>
> Mage Book
>
>
>
> Level 1 Spells:
>
> • Magic Missile
>
> • Detect Enemies
>
>
>
> Level 2 Spells:
>
> • Strength
>
>
>
> Level 3 Spells:
>
> • Shield
>
> • Fireball
>
> • Disguise
>
>
He was pleased to see it there along with his Level 3 spells. But he could only have one Level 3 spell active at any one time.
“Is this a spell?” Max said, showing Elderon the Scroll of Permanent Strength. The scroll had a slightly different appearance to ones he’d seen before with no gesture diagrams, just an incantation.
“It is powerful magic,” Elderon said. “Read it and you will see.”
Max read the scroll. Once he’d read the incantation, the scroll crumbled and drifted away like crushed dried leaves. Then Max felt the Strength. He could feel the new strength in his arms and his whole body.
>
>
> Name: Max Lightfoot
>
> Class: Mage
>
> Level: 4
>
> Health: Badly injured
>
> Strength: 10
>
> Stamina: 16
>
> Agility: 18
>
> Intelligence: 17
>
> Wisdom: 12
>
> Charisma: 16
>
> Abilities:
>
> • Climb
>
> • Pick pocket
>
> • Sneak
>
>
His Strength was increased. It wasn’t as much as the temporary boost, but this was permanent. He drew his sword and practiced a few swings to feel the additional power he could put in each swing.
“We can waste no more time, Max,” Elderon said kindly.
“You must show me how I can best use this Disguise spell,” Max said.
“Indeed I will,” Elderon said.
“But what I really need now is a tracking spell. We have to find Anita. The Dark Mages must be planning to continue their dark portal experiments with her. We must act fast.”
Then Janet appeared on Max’s shoulder. “Danger close, Max.”
Max stood ready with his sword, alert to danger.
“I heard it too,” Jahrod said.
Max saw movement in the trees, a billowing red cloud moving fast and heading right towards them.