Deep Threat (Book 19)

## Description

An unfathomable threat looms over Norghana and all of Tremia. The Panthers will have to face it and destroy it.

The Immortal Dragon has a secret plan and is close to executing it.

The Panthers must stop him as difficulties in Norghana for the rangers increase.

Abroad, political relations with other kingdoms are complicated.

Will the Panthers be able to stop the unfathomable threat? Will Norghana emerge victorious from the political war?

## Plot

Egil is now the King of Norghana. He is officially crowned at a coronation ceremony, after which he's scheduled a parade through the Capitol and a week of food and festivities. During his speech, an archer on a roof makes an attempt on his life. Camu, invisible and standing in front of Egil, blocks the shot. Molak and Astrid locate and shoot the archer. Viggo finds a strange foreign coin on the shooter's person when he searches the corpse for evidence of who the person was or who had sent him to kill Egil. Egil announces that he is fine and the festivities will continue, much to the displeasure of Sigrid, Gondobar, and Dolbarar. Raner, Gerd, Ellingson and Lasgol try to talk him out of continuing but the King insists. The fighting tournament begins. Egil watches and comments with Sigrid, Dolbarar and Gondobar. He thanks them for their support, and learns they've all discussed it, and the Ranger leaders feel that Egil is a good man and a blessing for Norghana.

Meanwhile, on the roofs, Nilsa and Ingrid go looking for any other potential assassins. They hear breaking glass and see a Ranger fly through the window. They run to where they saw the commotion and chase down the potential assassin, and they discover he's a warlock using fire magic. He escapes by throwing highly flammable oil on Ingrid and Nilsa, rendering them unable to attack so that they won't catch fire. He runs while they hide from a fire ball he has thrown. Haines is caught on fire during the fight and escape.

Egil is crowned king of Norghana by Magistrate Tarseson, the highest lawyer of Norghana. The Eastern nobles are notably silent, compared to everyone else present who cheer at the coronation. After the coronation Egil has a parade through Norghania, the capitol, in order to lift the citizens' mood and gain their trust. Egil makes a speech after the parade, and announces that each Norghanian family will be paid some gold every season for the next three years. While he is finishing the speech, an archer shoots at him, but the arrow is intercepted and the archer is killed by Molak and Astrid. Egil tells Camu to tell Nilsa and Ingrid to check the escape route to see if there's another archer, and then continues with the celebration, holding a tournament. Nilsa and Ingrid find an assassin mage hiding in a nearby house. The assassin attacks them with throwing knives and jars of oil, then lighting the oil on fire with his magic. They wound the assassin, but he escapes, and later escapes from the capitol itself by hiding amongst the crowds making their way back home after the end of the celebration.

Egil orders Lasgol to train to become a Royal Ranger, and sends Viggo, Astrid, and Ingrid with Sigrid to the Shelter to study the magical weapons the Panthers had retrieved before. Lasgol and Astrid talk about their plans to start a family, and decide to ask Egil for some time off to do this in the future. Then Astrid and the others leave for the journey to the Shelter. When they arrive, they are greeted by Loke and the Elders, who are eager to see the magical weapons. Lasgol trains with Haines, Kol, and Mostassen, three Royal Rangers. He asks them to treat him just like any normal trainee instead of giving him favors because of his friendship with the king (Egil). Lasgol loses in a complicated training exercise, despite coming very close to victory.

Then Lasgol and the other Royal Rangers are summoned by Egil. Egil is meeting with General Zorberg, who demands that the Norghanians pay more gold for the expense of keeping Thoran and Orten prisoner. Egil agrees, and then asks how Lasgol is progressing in his training. Raner says he is progressing at a satisfactory pace, and that he will manage to graduate. Then Egil decides to reinstate the Royal Eagles special team, which would consist of all the Panthers except himself, and would go on special missions for him. He renames the group to Royal Panthers. Then Kacey, a diplomat from Irinel, and Valeria arrive. Kacey tells them that Kendryk and Gwyneth, the old rulers of Irinel, have been placed under house arrest, and that King Kylian wants to negotiate a treaty with Egil. Irinel will not attack Norghana, and Egil will negotiate with Queen Niria of Moontian for Heulyn's release from prison there. If these negotiations are successful, then Irinel will also pay Norghana large amounts of gold and grain. Egil tells Kacey he will consider the plan.

Then Egil tells the Royal Panthers and Raner about his plan to go on a tour of the entire kingdom of Norghana. They are surprised and concerned, since it will be difficult to protect him from whoever was behind the assassination attempt earlier, but Egil firmly says he will go ahead with the tour. Then Egil, Lasgol, Nilsa and Gerd meet with Valeria. She tells them that Kylian is desperate to free his sister, but that he is not good at negotiating, and that he is seeking an alliance with the Zangrians. Egil tells Valeria to inform Kylian that she sees Egil as inclined to accept Kylian's proposal, and to report to him on how the meeting with the Zangrians goes. Valeria tells them she is spying for Egil to make up for her deeds as a Dark Ranger. The next day, Egil meets with Mipermon, the ambassador of Moontian, who gives him a chest of silver and a chest of gold. This open alliance was made to cover for the secret alliance that Egil already had with Moontian.

Then Egil meets with Hamlal, the ambassador of the Nocean Empire, who has brought two mages with him. They discuss the issue of Salamansur and the creatures coming from it (giant crocodiles, scorpions, snakes, beetles). Egil calls in Maldreck and two other Ice Magi, and orders Maldreck to go to Salamansur to assist the Nocean forces in destroying the army of the creatures. Hamlal promises that Egil will be rewarded for his help and for keeping the issue secret from other countries. Then Egil leaves on his tour of the kingdom, taking the Royal Guards, over twenty Royal Rangers (including Lasgol, Gerd, and Nilsa), as well as forces from each of the three main Norghanian armies and the Invincibles of the Ice with him. Egil decides to sleep in a different tent each night, with one of the Royal Rangers, to minimize the chance of an assassin finding him. The first city Egil goes to is Icelbag, in the south of Norghana. Egil tells the people there that he will try to make their lives as happy and prosperous as he can, and that this is the main goal of his reign.

Afterwards, Egil calls a meeting of his top leaders and the Ice Magi. He tells them, in order to gain his trust, he needs them to volunteer to taste his food and wine first. Rangvald, an Ice Mage, and Ellingsen, the commander of the Royal Guards, volunteer. Both the dishes that they taste turn out to be poisoned, but the surgeon at the castle heals them with tonics. Enduald and Galdason have studied the Gauntlet of Liriana Luna and Sansen's Knife, and found that they are made from the same material as Aodh's Bow and have the same magic power. Unfortunately, this material is not known in Tremia, and the mages think it must have been brought there from somewhere else. They also found that only a mage can use the weapons at their full effectiveness. Egil and his entourage arrive in the city of Denmik, where only a few people come out to greet him. He delivers his speech about making Norghana a prosperous, peaceful kingdom again, despite the small amount of people there.

That night, Egil meets with Lasgol, Nilsa and Gerd. Gerd asks that, when Egil can spare him, he can go to the Shelter to train Argi as his familiar. Egil says that when they finish the tour of the kingdom, he can go, and asks them to promise that they will always treat him as a friend first rather than as king. After they reach the next city, Olstran, Gerd asks Egil if he can temporarily leave to visit his family, as Skrongen, his home village, is close to the route of the tour. Egil agrees, and Gerd heads off to Skrongen. He meets with his mother, Elina, his father, Enok, and his brothers, Casper, Even, and Dag. They prepare a special meal for him and he tells them about his time in the Rangers' service, trying to convince his younger brothers to reconsider wanting to join, since his parents are concerned about their plans in this regard.

The next day, Gerd goes to visit the cave where his cousin Alfred was killed by a bear. When Alfred and Gerd were little, they would play together, and Alfred wanted to go to the cave to play a game bandits-and-rangers (like hide-and-seek). Gerd didn't want to go to the cave, because his parents had told him that it was dangerous and to stay away from it, but Alfred insisted. Gerd went to hide in the cave, and when Alfred came in to find him, a bear attacked and killed Alfred. Gerd fled because he was scared and knew he would've been killed as well if he stayed, and the shame and trauma from this made him very fearful for a long time afterwards. Gerd asks his uncle Jamund for forgiveness, and he tells Gerd that there is nothing to forgive, and that he acted normally in the situation. Jamund asks Gerd if he can help Jerrik, Jamund's son, who has been suffering from what seem to be hallucinations. Gerd goes up to talk to Jerrik, and while he is talking to him, a strange discharge comes from Jerrik and shocks Gerd, just as Jerrik is starting to have a hallucination. Gerd theorizes that Jerrik needs help from a mage, as this seems to be magic, and he tells this to Jamund.

Meanwhile, Enduald and Galdason, with Camu's help, are experimenting to attempt to open a portal by themselves. Their experiments are successful. Egil reaches the Western territory of Norghana, after two attempts on his life, one in Olstran and one in Four Winds. Each time, the Rangers were unable to capture the assassins alive, as they were either killed in the engagements or committed suicide to prevent capture. As Egil and his entourage approach Estocos, they are met by Gerd and Jerrik. Despite protests from Raner and Ellingsen over the issue of security, Egil allows Jerrik to join them. In Estocos they receive a very warm welcome, all the people come out to greet Egil and cheer his coronation. Egil gives his speech to the people about his goals for his reign, and then goes to the Vigons-Olafstone castle, where he grew up. It is a very emotional moment for him. Molak and Luca meet with Gerd, Lasgol, Nilsa and Jerrik to catch up on how they've been doing. Then Evil invites them to dinner. At the dinner, Jerrik suddenly has a hallucination, and Lasgol tries to help him, using his Aura Presence skill to test what is happening. He finds a strange purple aura attached to Jerrik's aura, which then passes to him, causing him to see a horrible spirit. Eventually Lasgol uses his Ranger Healing skill to dispel this aura, and tells them that Jerrik is an Illusionist Mage.

At the Shelter, Galdason and Enduald have completed their tests on the magical anti-dragon weapons. They have developed a magical gauntlet, which, through the use of a jewel on the gauntlet, will allow the wearer to activate the magic of the weapons to use their full effect. Astrid tests it with Sansen's Knife, and is able to pierce a thick metal shield. Then a red dragon opens a portal through the White Pearl and attacks the Shelter, using fire attacks. It kills many Rangers, Gisli's familiar Snowflake and companion animal Big Boy, and injures Gisli. Engla takes another of the magical gauntlets that Enduald and Galdason had been working on and Sansen's Knife and goes to fight the dragon. Then a second dragon appears through the Portal. It is brown and sprays a powerful jet of razor-sharp rocks and sand from its mouth. This dragon transmits a mental message to Enduald and Galdason, saying that its name is Maroi-Arri-Kuhl and that it serves Dergha-Sho-Blaska. Ingrid, Astrid, Viggo, Ona and Camu come back with Gisli. Galdason asks Ingrid and Astrid to take Ona and Camu and shut the Portal so no more dragons come through. Viggo goes to help Engla fight the red dragon.

Just as Camu is shutting the Portal, a third dragon with strange white coloring appears through it. This is an elemental dragon of Air, and it's attacks are like lightning bolts destroying everything in their path. It reveals it's name is Zuri-Bada-Zara, and states that it has come to kill them. Meanwhile, the (red) fire dragon reveals it's name is Gorri-Daiken-Marzan. Engla blinds Gorri-Daiken-Marzan, but is mortally wounded herself. She gives Sansen's Knife to Viggo, and tells him that one day he may take her place. She tells Viggo to look after the King and the Rangers. Enduald and Galdason attack Maroi-Arri-Kuhl and mortally wound it, but Enduald is knocked unconscious and Galdason is killed during the fight. Loke delivers the final blow, beheading the dragon. Zuri-Bada-Zara continues his fight with Astrid, Ingrid, Camu and Ona. Camu tries to order the dragon to leave through a mental communication, but the dragon refuses, saying it serves Dergha-Sho-Blaska, and criticizing Camu for being friends with humans.

Camu develops a magical skill to heal himself, and then fights Zuri-Bada-Zara in the air, defeating it by using his adhesive feet to flip the dragon onto its back in flight and cause it to crash into the ground. Zuri-Bada-Zara then retreats from the area, having been half blinded and severely injured. Sigrid orders the evacuation of the Shelter, as all the contenders, as well as Engla and Galdason, have been killed, and the two living dragons could come back with reinforcements. All the survivors go to the city of Denmik. Egil changes the tour route to visit Skad, Lasgol's home village. They go to his house, and Martha and Ulf are very happy to see them. Martha prepares a feast for the royal party. The next day, a messenger arrives in Skad bringing the news of the attack on the Shelter. Egil orders the royal entourage to return to Norghania.

When they arrive, Sigrid, Astrid, Viggo, Ingrid and Camu tell them about the attack on the Shelter. Egil announces that he will award Engla and Galdason the posthumous honor of Hero of Norghana. Then each of the Royal Panthers volunteer to carry one of the golden anti dragon weapons, and Egil himself says he will carry the Golden Spear of Rogdon. Loke volunteers to carry it for him during normal situations. Then the Mages discuss how to charge the gauntlets so the Panthers can hold the anti dragon weapons. Lasgol tells them about the Glacier Stars, Objects of Power used by the mages of the Frozen Continent. Egil orders Lasgol to prepare an expedition to the Frozen Continent. Nilsa requests permission to go to warn the Desher Tumaini tribe, as they live near a Pearl and worship dragons as gods (which they call Hors). Egil orders Loke, Molak and Luca to take a regiment and retrieve the bodies of those who fell in the battle at the Shelter. They all go to the Shelter and depart through the Pearl there. As the other Rangers and soldiers are leaving with the bodies of the dead Rangers, the Pearl opens again and three dragons come through, but the group is luckily already out of range.

Lasgol, Ingrid, Astrid, Viggo, Gerd, Camu and Ona go to the Frozen Continent. They meet with Drokose, the leader of the Higher Drakonians. Drokose tells them that Tremia (the land where Norghana, Rogdon, Nocean Empire etc are located) is only a small continent on the wider world. Drokose tells them that he is dying, and suggests Camu seek out Izotza, the Lady of the Glaciers, for advice after he is gone. He also tells them that Dergha-Sho-Blaska will call up other very powerful dragons from other parts of the world to help him, since the Golden Gods only expelled dragons from Tremia. He mentions that Dergha-Sho-Blaska is not very far away from where they are now, but that he is hiding. Afterwards Lasgol and the group go to find Misha, Asrael's familiar, in the hope that she can tell them where Asrael is. Misha communicates with Asrael, and then lets Lasgol and the others know Asrael is on his way and will be there in three days.

Nilsa arrives at the lands of the Desher Tumaini tribe, and meets Aibin. Aibin tells her that an ice dragon attacked their tribe and killed many people. They meet with Tor Nassor, the chief, who tells them that the tribe is working on blocking off the entrances to the tunnels where they live, as the dragon has not left and will eventually find a way in. Aibin shows Nilsa the healing pools, where seriously wounded people from the tribe are taken to recover. This process involves some magic, as well as caterpillars that are used like leeches to prevent infection. Then they go to the construction site where the tribe is building a wall to block off the last major tunnel. A Sand Hor and the ice dragon, which is named Urdin-Ilargi-Warsad, attack the wall. Urdin-Ilargi-Warsad is controlling the Sand Hor, which otherwise wouldn't attack. Nilsa kills Urdin-Ilargi-Warsad with Antior's Beam, but is severely wounded.

Asrael arrives at Misha's cave, bringing the new leaders of the peoples of the Frozen Continent with him- Jorna, the leader of the Wild of the Ice, Tandor, leader of the Tundra Dwellers, and Arkan, leader of the Glacial Arcanes. Asrael says he brought them with him to increase the openness of the relationship between the Norghanians and the peoples of the Frozen Continent. Lasgol tells them that Egil has become king in Norghana, and about the attacks of the dragons and Dergha-Sho-Blaska. Then Asrael takes them to see Izotza. Izotza is pleased to see Lasgol and Camu again. They experiment with the Glacial Star and Aodh's Bow to see if the power from the Glacial Star is compatible with the golden weapons. Fortunately, the Glacial Star is compatible with the golden weapons. Izotza also tells Lasgol that, in total, she knows of five base sources of magic, compared to the three that the Norghanians know about, and that there could be more. Izotza then combines two smaller Objects of Power to create another Glacial Star.

Izotza also helps Lasgol to increase his magical power, and then tells Lasgol and Camu about Camu's parents, Camikdra and Sedrokon Luktrun. Camikdra was a Higher Drakonian of royal lineage, and Sedrokon Luktrun was a fierce warrior Higher Drakonian of Clan Rokstrum. Grokos Rokstrum, the heir of Clan Rokstrum, wanted to marry Camikdra because of her royal lineage, and so he sent Sedrokon Luktrun to his death. Once Grokos found out that Camikdra was already pregnant with Camu, he poisoned her, though no one was able to prove it officially. Afterwards Lasgol and his group set off to try to persuade Jazibela, a powerful creature of the ice, to give them her Glacial Star.

On the way, four dragons attack them. Lasgol mortally wounds one of them, a fire dragon whose name is Gorri-Arrapa-Kari, but as this dragon is dying Dergha-Sho-Blaska arrives with five more dragons. Lasgol kills another of the first four dragons and knocks the other two out with poisoned arrows. Dergha-Sho-Blaska reveals that he has come to the Frozen Continent because there is a great Portal there that he can use to return dragons to the whole world. Then he attacks Lasgol and the others. Lasgol uses a significant part of his magic energy to power Aodh's Bow and seriously wounds Dergha-Sho-Blaska. Then Drokose arrives and distracts Dergha-Sho-Blaska and his allies to give Camu, Lasgol and the others time to escape. They head to the Pearl to travel back to Norghana. As they are going through it and waiting for Camu to close it behind them, Dergha-Sho-Blaska attacks. Lasgol stays back to hold him off, but Gerd throws him through the portal as Dergha-Sho-Blaska lands near it. Then Lasgol faints from the effects of passing through the portal.