The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

Jack. The young magician was just beginning to recover his memory and his talent after some adolescent trauma.
    And then the day came when a deep kardiaquake had collapsed the mine. Jack’s newly awakened senses had alerted him to the coming disaster. He, with Lanciar’s help, had rescued an entire team of slaves. But Simeon’s guards and administrators were caught up in the chaos; the entire complex had to be abandoned. All who survived ran for their lives. Lanciar had attached himself to Jack and his friend as ordered.
    On the trail out of the mine Jack had drawn Lanciar deep into a questing spell, seeking the dragon that Simeon had magically wounded and imprisoned. During that long night on a lonely mountain pass, Lanciar’s full talent had awakened.
    Now he was a master magician having to think and make his own decisions in order to survive, and able to see Rejiia for a selfish, power-hungry bitch who used everyone she came in contact with to augment her own illusion of greatness. Lanciar had to rescue his son from Rejiia’s ungentle clutches.
    The kardia rolled beneath his feet. He braced himself against the exterior wall of the tavern, momentarily reliving the terror of being trapped underground in the mine with tons of kardia pouring down upon him. He owed Jack his life as well as his respect—probably the only truly honest man he had ever met.
    But it was a little quake this time and did not deserve his fear. Almost a daily occurrence here in Hanassa, the city of outlaws. None of the ragged denizens of the city seemed to notice the disruption.
    Satisfied that the ground beneath his feet was solid once more, he stared into the last few drops of liquid in his cup. Not enough to scry a vision of Rejiia or the child she had stolen from him. The horrible ale served here was too thick to see through anyway.
    Should he drink another? Yes. The dry air within this ancient volcanic caldera that housed the dregs of the world left a constant sour taste in the back of his throat.
    “Let’s try the next tavern,” he suggested to the mug. “Maybe someone there has seen Rejiia with a child. Maybe their ale tastes better.”
    He strolled casually toward the next outcropping of ramshackle buildings. While he wove a slightly drunken path, he kept his eyes moving, taking in every detail of life among the outlaws, mercenaries, rogue magicians, and criminals. No innocents here, and precious few children.
    Where would Rejiia have taken her baby if she didn’t keep him with her?
    That was a sobering thought. What if she had fostered the child elsewhere? How would Lanciar ever find his son if she had?
    A party of richly clad magicians strolled past Lanciar. He knew their profession because they all carried long staffs, some topped with intricate carvings or natural crystals, and they all wore flowing robes embroidered or painted with arcane sigils. At the center of the group strode Rejiia, daughter of the late unlamented Lord Krej, and cousin to King Darville of Coronnan. Under other circumstances, she would be the heir to Darville’s dragon throne. But her magic, her illicit alliance with Simeon, the murdered sorcerer-king of SeLenicca, and her own murderous proclivities made her an exile from her native country.
    Her father’s treason against King Darville didn’t help her status either. Lord Krej had thrown one too many illegal spells in a desperate attempt to usurp power in Coronnan. His last piece of magic had been intended to turn Darville into a statue of whatever creature reflected his personality—probably a golden wolf. But the new king had worn his enchanted crown that protected him from all magic. Krej’s spell had backlashed into his own eyes, transforming him into a tin weasel with flaking gilt paint.
    Rejiia had rescued the statue of her father from Darville’s dungeon on the king’s coronation day. Simeon had had custody of the tin weasel for a time. But when Jack and his companion from the mines—what was his name?—had murdered the King of SeLenicca a few weeks ago, Rejiia had grabbed the statue and taken it with her in a desperate attempt to murder Jack before he could reunite the dragons with the Commune of Magicians.
    She’d failed to do more than enhance Jack’s status as a master magician in full command of his powers as she fled that battle scene in disgrace. But she’d managed to keep Krej with her during her escape.
    No one knew for sure if Krej lived within the tin casing or not. No