The Druid Queen (Book 16)

## Description

The Snow Panthers will have to protect the future queen of Norghana. Not a pleasant job and a very dangerous one.

There are political interests at stake and some kingdoms and factions do not see the new alliance between Norghana and Irinel with good eyes. There are those who want the Druid Queen not to reach the throne.

As if that weren't enough, another, greater danger looms over Norghana and all of Tremia. A danger of enormous dimensions that threatens to descend from the skies and destroy entire kingdoms.

A new epic adventure awaits our friends. An exceedingly difficult one.

## Plot

Egil has sent Lasgol, Astrid, Camu and Ona to check a possible location where Dergha-Sho-Blaska might be hiding, northeast of the capitol between the city of Olstran and the village of the Four Winds. They find a group of bandits digging a hole in the ground to search for something underground. Meanwhile Nilsa is working with Gondabar in the capitol. Gondabar sends several Ranger Specialists to watch the White Pearl at the Shelter (at Sigrid's request), since the Shelter would be in danger if Dergha-Sho-Blaska's followers came out of the Pearl there.

Viggo and Ingrid are investigating a potential sighting of some beast that might be the dragon near Viggo's home city, Ostangor. Viggo is not happy to be back, and tells Ingrid that the city is very dangerous. He explains that the local ruler, Duke Wrotoson, levies a high "maintenance tax" on the citizens, making the city look neglected since the people don't have enough money to take care of their houses properly. Viggo shows Ingrid the huge market in Ostangor, which is one of the largest in Norghana. In the market Ingrid almost gets her money stolen by Strips, a pickpocket working for the Red Fox Syndicate, one of the two major criminal organizations in the city. Viggo shows Strips his tattoo that shows he is from the Crazy Crows, the other organization, and then lets him go. Then they go to the Magistrate's castle and meet with him. The Magistrate says that he would rather they drop the investigation, since the situation reflects poorly on Duke Wrotoson. Then he summons Captain Ingers, who tells them that half a dozen people have disappeared near Lake Krystall, and only dried blood was found.

Egil and Gerd meet with Erudite Alvis Dyktig and ask his advice on how to deal with the dragon. Alvis thinks that they are under the influence of Illusion magic, but agrees to help them. Lasgol and Astrid question two prisoners from the bandit camp, who turn out to be treasure hunters named Lars and Umber. They came to the area because there were rumors of Count Ilsmaren's treasure being hidden nearby. They were betrayed by a group of men led by Ormag, who they hired to help them. Lasgol finds that Ormag's men killed five Defenders of the True Blood who were in the nearby ruins. Then Lasgol and Astrid tie up the bandits and explore the ruins with Lars and Umber to find the treasure.

Nilsa is investigating the disappearance of a shipment of Rangers' arrowheads, which the Royal Armorer tells her have gone missing. Nilsa meets Valeria, who asks her to make an alliance between them- in return for Nilsa telling her about the Snow Panthers, she will help to calm down Princess Heulyn, who is still angry with them. Viggo and Ingrid leave for Lake Krystall with a detachment of fifty soldiers led by Captain Ingers. Ingrid is very concerned about Viggo, since he was walking around the city at night. He tells her he was inquiring about his father, who is now serving a life sentence in a silver mine. Then they reach High Rock and meet with the chief, some witnesses who claimed to have seen the dragon, and two hunters. The witnesses don't have much useful information, but the hunters are able to show them the areas where the tracks from the beast were. As they are searching the area near Lake Krystall, the beast attacks and kills Captain Ingers. Ingrid sees the beast clearly and discovers it is a giant snakelike creature over ninety feet long, with a crested head and four legs. Most of the soldiers are killed fighting the creature, but Ingrid and Viggo manage to wound it and drive it back into the lake. Then they return to Ostangor and tell the Magistrate what happened.

Alvis takes Egil and Gerd to the section of his library where the books about dragons are, and then tells them he has helped enough, and they will have to find the information themselves, as well as finding their own food and water, so as not to disturb his studies. Umber and Lars break through a wall in the underground chamber and find a treasure room, where Count Ilsmaren is buried. After Lasgol disarms some traps, they find a few jewels and a strange pearl necklace, which Camu says has Draconian magic. Lasgol lets Umber and Lars have the jewels and then he and Astrid take the necklace back to the capitol for Eicewald and Egil to examine.

Viggo takes Ingrid into the sewers of Ostangor and shows her the living conditions of the Crazy Crows, his old gang. Then he challenges the leader, Klaus, to a duel. Klaus had been Viggo's friend when he still lived in Ostangor, but he betrayed him and tried to have him killed. Viggo wins the duel, and is proclaimed the new leader of the Crazy Crows. However, he appoints Nimble Fingers Mike, one of the more experienced Crazy Crows, to lead in his place. Then Viggo and Ingrid leave. Meanwhile, Egil and Gerd have been researching dragons using the books from Alvis' library for the past two weeks, finally finishing all the relevant books. Then they go to ask Alvis about the results of their research. Alvis suggests that dragons first arrived in Tremia ten thousand years ago, and that they ruled over the land for about six thousand years. Alvis also tells them about various legendary weapons said to be capable of killing dragons, including the Bow of Aodh, which Eicewald had been searching for.

Back in the capitol, Nilsa is worried because she has been getting many more reports of dragon sightings. Then she is summoned to report to the throne room with Gondabar and Olsen. Thoran and Orten make fun of Gondabar for his sickly appearance, and then Thoran tells them he wishes to announce his wedding with Princess Heulyn. Thoran suggests bringing some Masig, Usik, and Semi-Giants to the wedding in cages, and Heulyn agrees, saying it will make the wedding exotic. In addition, all the royal houses of the other kingdoms will be invited to the wedding, making it a very stressful even for the Rangers and Royal Guards since the potential for fights will be immense. Thoran orders that all the Rangers be brought back to the capitol to guard it during the wedding. Nilsa is worried because of this since it means the search for Dergha-Sho-Blaska will be stopped, as well as all the other tasks the Rangers normally carry out.

Lasgol and Astrid arrive back in the capitol. Lasgol is sorry for Princess Heulyn after he hears the news of the royal wedding, but Astrid is not, because she says the princess could have just rejected Thoran or escaped. They are met by Nilsa, who tells them about Thoran's orders for the Rangers to stay in the capitol and guard the guests at the wedding. Then Lasgol gives the pearl necklace to Eicewald. Viggo and Ingrid arrive in the capitol, and have a hard time getting through the city because of the huge crowds of people. Egil and Gerd are stopped by messengers from the Western League on their way back to the capitol. The messengers give Egil a message that says there is a major difference of opinion in the Western League. Egil tells them to tell the Western League to wait for instructions from him.

When they arrive back in the capitol, Gondabar asks to see all the Royal Eagles. He asks Egil if Alvis helped them, and is happy to hear the results of their research. Nilsa tells them about the reports of dragon sightings, and Viggo and Ingrid confirm that they have fought many gigantic reptilian creatures at the locations of these sightings. Gondabar and Olsen decide to send Lasgol and Eicewald to look for one of the weapons capable of killing dragons. The next morning, Lasgol and Egil are going to talk to Eicewald when they meet Elina, Frida, Sugesen, and Gonars, who have just returned to the capitol. They tell each other about their experiences since graduating as Specialists, and then Lasgol and Egil go into the Tower of the Ice Magi to meet Eicewald. Eicewald tells them that he will have to hide the pearl necklace as well as the Pearl he found in Irinel to keep them from Maldreck or Dergha-Sho-Blaska.

The next morning Dolbarar and the four Master Rangers arrive. That night Lasgol leaves on the mission to find the dragon-killer weapon; Eicewald has been ordered to stay in the palace for the next several days so he can't leave with Lasgol. However, Eicewald sneaks out and joins Lasgol the next night. They try to experiment with Camu to find out which would be the best weapon to search for, but Camu can't really help them because it's difficult for him to understand what they need. Eicewald tells Lasgol to search for the Bow of Aodh in Moontian, a small kingdom south of Irinel, and heads back to the capitol. Sigrid and the Elders arrive in the capitol, during the night.

Then the royal delegation from Irinel arrives. In addition to the royal family, the First General Reagan, and the royal counselor Kacey, Aidan and three other Druids are present. Egil goes to meet with the nobles of the Western League. They inform him that they have made a plan to assassinate Thoran. They also reveal that Egil has one surviving relative, his cousin Lars Berge, and imply that they will replace Egil with him as King of the West if Egil doesn't give them permission to act on the assassination plan. At the feast before the royal wedding, Orten is poisoned. Thoran forces the delegations from the other countries to stay in the banquet hall until Orten is revived by Edwina, Sylvia and Annika. Thoran orders a search for the fugitives, but later Olsen finds out they escaped disguised as Rangers.

The next day Thoran and Heulyn have a procession to the temple of the Ice Gods, where they receive the blessing of the Ice Gods. Heulyn also receives the blessing of the Druids from Aidan. At the temple the royal party is ambushed; the attackers use a poisonous gas that kills Helge, four Royal Guards, and three Royal Rangers, and then a Zangrian assassin attacks and tries to kill Heulyn, but Viggo and Valeria stop him. Then the wedding takes place. Meanwhile Lasgol, Camu and Ona arrive at the White Pearl at the Shelter and use it. Enduald also gives them a map of Moontian. Unfortunately the Pearl they end up at is in Galdar, one of the Free Cities, rather than in Moontian, but luckily it is not too far away from Moontian. Lasgol arrives at the city of Enmemounte, and meets Minotem, an interpreter. Minotem takes him to see Mostiais, the Moontian Officer of Permits, to inquire about a foreign noble (Riagain) living in the city. Minotem shows Lasgol where Riagain's house is and sends him on his way. Lasgol meets with Riagain and asks him to lend him the Bow of Aodh to kill Dergha-Sho-Blaska. Riagain doesn't believe Lasgol, and then Lasgol orders Camu to attack the Irinel guards at Riagain's house so he can take the Bow of Aodh.

Then Lasgol and Camu leave the city, go back to the Pearl in Galdar, and return to Norghana. Lasgol is unconscious for several days, and when he wakes up Galdason and Enduald are there. They tell him they analyzed the magic of the Bow and that it is three thousand years old, the same as one of Lasgol's magic sources. They theorize that this magic comes from the Gods who fought and overthrew the dragons three thousand years ago. They also say that Lasgol could be descended from the Gods somehow. Lasgol tests the Bow and is able to activate its magic. He sends a message to Eicewald by Milton asking him to meet him in the Forest of the Green Ogre so that they can do more tests with the Bow. Eicewald arrives and tells Lasgol what happened at the royal wedding.

Suddenly Dergha-Sho-Blaska appears and tells them to bow before their true lord. He says he is the true ruler of all Tremia, and tells Lasgol he has gold and silver blood in his veins. Then he asks Camu to go with him and offers him a kingdom anywhere on Tremia. Camu refuses, and then Dergha-Sho-Blaska attacks them. He kills Eicewald, injures Trotter, Camu and Ona and then leaves, after saying he spared Lasgol's life because he is partially descended from dragons (the "silver blood"), but warns him never to cross paths with him again because he also has the "golden blood" of Dergha-Sho-Blaska's enemies, the Gods. Dergha-Sho-Blaska still wants the magical pearls from the necklace in order to get to his full power, but he takes the Pearl that Eicewald had hidden in a nearby pond.

Lasgol loses consciousness and wakes up in the Rangers' Tower. Edwina healed him, and she tells him that he will have to find a new horse because Trotter was too badly hurt, but Camu and Ona will be alright. Then the other Snow Panthers come in and Lasgol tells them what happened; they also explain what happened at the royal wedding. Egil admits he helped the two poisoners escape the palace after the Western League attempted to kill Thoran (which was stopped because Orten stole his drink), but he says he doesn't know who organized the attack at the Temple on Heulyn, which made Norghana start a war with Zangria. The Panthers agree to fight to avenge Eicewald and to help Egil take the throne.