The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

dragon. Hanassa had stolen the machines from the Stargods and used them to mimic the magic of the three divine brothers.
    “Dragons live a long time in dragon form,” Powwell corrected him. “When they take human bodies, like Myrilandel did, then they are limited to the life span of the body.”
    “But Myrilandel borrowed an existing human body. She didn’t shapechange,” Rollett argued. “When her body dies, her spirit could move to a new body if she chooses.”
    Stunned silence greeted that statement.
    “Couldn’t she?” Rollett repeated.
    “Yes, she could,” Yaala whispered. “I don’t think she would want to, though, because she has embraced the limitations of humanity.”
    “What if Hanassa never accepted his human body as anything but a temporary host?” Bizarre thoughts plunged into Rollett’s mind faster than he could assimilate them all. “What if Hanassa’s spirit hides in these caverns waiting for a likely body to inhabit, then steals the body until he no longer needs it or it dies?”
    “The wraith,” Powwell and Yaala said together.

Chapter 20
     
    Before dawn, Library in the University of Magicians, Coronnan City
     
    K innsell walked to the back of the library. He stretched his stride, covering the twenty-five meters in short order. He ignored the tantalizing shelves of books along the way. He didn’t have time to dawdle and read titles, caress bindings, or smell the unique combination of old paper, ink, and leather.
    Iron bars blocked his exit. Behind the locked cage stood another library, as large or larger than the front portion. The stairway to the gallery and more books also lay behind the gate. Deep shadows hid these books from casual view. Kinnsell needed a lot more light to read the spines of even the closest volumes.
    “More secrets?” he asked the books. They didn’t reply. Not that he expected them to. He shook his head. Of course the magicians had to lock away most of their knowledge. The only way they could maintain control of the populace was to keep them ignorant.
    “Education will be the first thing I introduce to these people once I am in control. Then the wheel. After that, progress will be unlimited. They’ll thank me in the end.”
    He pulled a small, zippered wallet from inside his tunic. He brushed a dozen tiny tools made of the finest alloys with his fingertips. A hooked probe about the size of a toothpick seemed the proper piece to pick the lock. He could have used his telekinetic powers to manipulate the lock, but those skills didn’t come as easily to him as telepathy. He might need his strength later, to free the woman.
    The hair on the back of his wrist stood up in alarm as he inserted the probe. What? Cautiously, he channeled a little of his psi powers along the probe and met a wall of resistance.
    “Aha!” He smiled. The master magicians had set the lock with telekinetic powers. Only stronger powers would release it. Presuming, of course, the opener used his mind instead of a key.
    Kinnsell swallowed the atavistic fear that shot along the probe and up his arm. Merely the power of suggestion. His technology had to be stronger than the magicians’ psi powers. This was just the first test of his skills.
    With a little fiddling, the lock tumblers shifted under the probe. The gate swung open on well-oiled hinges. Kinnsell slipped through the opening and relocked the gate with the probe. He shook off the lingering tingle of distaste that infected his fingertips. The next person through here would find the lock much easier to manipulate.
    Thousands of books lay between himself and whatever exit he might find back here. He wanted to linger and learn from them. Not enough time today.
    “I’ll be back,” he promised himself. “I’ll own all of you before I’m done with this planet. And I’ll know why the magicians hide you. When I am emperor, I shall make books a priority. E-readers are efficient, but books are life.” He caressed a book spine and moved on.
    Half the wealthy merchants, nobility, and financiers in the Empire collected books. They would lobby for his election on that proclamation alone.
    Sure enough, a small postern door lay secluded in a dark corner, almost hidden among the shadows between the stacks of shelves. He thought he’d spotted it during his search of the exterior grounds of the University. He bent low to lift the antiquated latch. The little door refused to budge.
    “Mere locks won’t stop me.” But the mechanism