The Tomes Of Magic by Cody J. Sherer Page B

tomes.”
    Ector nodded and watched as Thanos disappeared. It felt good to see another Wizard that had not sided with the dragons. The elf was torn in his feelings about those who had accepted the dragons. Part of him felt betrayed by their actions, but the other part of him felt sorry for them. He knew that a large portion of why the elves were so eager to help the dwarves could be attributed to their inability to come to a conclusion about the rest of Canai. Like the elves, the dwarves preferred not to meddle in the affairs of other kingdoms. The Holy Order had never overstepped its bounds in relation to the elves and their allies, but the elves were no friends to the dragons. Helping the dwarves gave them more than just an ally in the coming war. It allowed them to observe the two warring factions. Ector hoped the decision would not lead to a civil war among the elves. The other elves seemed to be leaning toward siding with the Holy Order, but the Archwizard knew he would have a hard time turning on him former allies.
    He sighed as his horse continued along its path in the dark. Ector had switched from his spell that allowed the others to see in the dark to a spell that created light due to the amount of energy the spell drained from him. After two ambushes, they settled for near darkness. Their eyes had mostly adjusted well to the low light of his spell, but it did not stop them from being surprised when a hand grabbed Ector’s reins. The Archwizard nearly fell off his horse as he tried to stave off what he thought was an attacker. Sev shook his head and grabbed Ector’s arm to ensure he did not fall. The half-elf motioned for him to dismount. He followed the Ranger’s lead and didn’t speak. His men slowly dismounted and gathered around their leader. Sev looked at Ector as though he were waiting for something. It dawned on the Archwizard that his companion wanted him to use magic to keep their voices from carrying. He lifted his staff into the air and created a small dome around the party.
    “I think we’ve found the dwarves,” Sev pointed off toward one of the branching tunnels.
    “Why haven’t we met up with them yet?” Ector asked.
    “There is a large force of orcs, goblins, and trolls in between us and them. It looks like they’ve been sieging a stronghold of some kind for at least a week. Now that you are here, we may be able to break the siege. Make sure your men are ready by the time we have a plan.”
    *
    Cormac knelt before the King, not to pledge his service, but to ask for forgiveness. He rose before King Aithen could reply. The Archwizard didn’t want the gnome to think he was beholden to the entire race. His mistake had cost far too many lives, but the gnome King had been on board the entire time. He would not take the fall for their tactical error. They should have told me that the naga had superior numbers , he thought as he glared at Aithen. The gnome King returned his angry stare. Both knew it was the naga they hated and not each other, but that didn’t stop them from showing their contempt for one another. Cormac sighed and walked to the window on the far side of the room. It gave him a magnificent view of the underground city and the lake it bordered. He was truly amazed at the ingenuity of the gnomes and wished his interaction with them had gone better. His eye was drawn to one of the hot air balloons that they used as giant floating torches. They were normally tethered to the ground, but this one was getting dangerously close to the ceiling.
    He followed the rope down to where it should be tethered and saw a mass of gnomes charging toward the shore of the lake. Several creatures were slithering out of the water. One appeared to have sliced the cord for the hot air balloon. It was hard to make out in the distance, but the attackers looked like naga. He turned to tell King Aithen, but was interrupted by a gnome bursting through the throne room doors. The gnome was trying to catch his