Power Conspiracy (Book 9)

Cover of Power Conspiracy

## Description

**A conspiracy is in the making. Will the Snow Panthers be able to stop it and find the perpetrators?**

Ingrid, Viggo and Lasgol are off to a rescue mission. What is supposed to be a straight forward task soon gets derailed and the friends find themselves in more trouble than they ever wanted.

Nilsa and Gerd travel to the Rangers Camp to help Egil. They will have to embark in a new adventure to try to find the truth behind the dark events surrounding them.

The Panthers will discover a power conspiracy and will have to confront it.

Will they rescue Astrid from the Turquoise Queen? Will the Panthers find out who is behind the conspiracy? Will they save the kingdom?

## Plot

Viggo discovers that Maldreck, one of the Ice Magi, has stolen the Star of Sea and Life for Orten. Viggo and Lasgol watch the two of them plotting. Orten tells Maldreck to take the Star to his personal fortress in Skol. Viggo brings Eicewald to meet with the Snow Panthers and tells them what happened. Eicewald decides to go to Irinel to search for the Bow of Aodh, a magical weapon designed to kill dragons, and to tell Thoran and Orten about this so that their attention will be focused on him, while the Snow Panthers retake the Star of Sea and Life from Maldreck and the guards that Orten sent with him, and go to help Egil.

One night along the way, Ingrid tells Lasgol and Viggo that she broke up with Molak, because there was not enough trust between them, and she warns Lasgol not to let the same thing happen with Astrid. Then Lasgol and Ingrid make a plan to ambush the guards and Maldreck. They use traps to incapacitate the guards as they are going over a narrow bridge, and Camu prevents Maldreck from casting spells. Ona makes Maldreck's horse throw him and then Lasgol, Ingrid and Viggo retrieve the Star and run away. They travel through the Masig territory and into Rogdon to reach the coast, where they will take a ship to the Turquoise Realm.

Meanwhile Gerd and Nilsa reach the Camp and meet with Egil. He tells them that two Rangers have been following him around and watching him, and Ivana and Haakon often rudely question him about his actions. Then Oden summons all three of them to talk to Angus. On the way they meet Valeria, who has graduated Specialist training as an Elemental Archer. Angus asks Nilsa and Gerd why they came to the Camp, and they say they came to help Egil. Angus asks why Egil needed their help, and Egil says he needs to go to Erenal to speak with Erudite Martos about Dolbarar's sickness, since a former king of Erenal had the same disease and the treatment of it was recorded. Then the three go to the Sacred Oakwood, where they meet Edwina. She tells them that Dolbarar's sickness keeps getting worse and regenerating itself, and tells the story of how she originally came to the Camp from the Temple of Tirsar.

They are summoned to see Angus again, and he tells them that Egil has to go with Nilsa and Gerd to retrieve the book about Dolbarar's sickness, and that he is sending another Ranger with them to ensure the success of the mission. Then they go to visit Dolbarar, who looks very sick; Eyra comes in and tells them about the times when she and Dolbarar were competing for the posts of Master Rangers in their Schools at the Camp. Afterwards the three go to leave on their mission, and find that Angus assigned Valeria to go with them.

Meanwhile Lasgol, Ingrid and Viggo steal a Norghanian assault ship to sail down the Utla River into Rogdon. They are forced to run it aground to escape from a Norghanian ship that spots them, but luckily they were fairly close to Rogdon at the time. Meanwhile, Egil's group cross into Zangria. They head to the city of Asofi in Zangria to investigate the assassins hunting Egil. Ingrid's group encounter some Masig warriors and try to flee, when they are saved by Ona, since the Masig have great respect for wild animals. Then they head into Rogdon. Egil, with the help of his friends, interrogates Belgorio, the bookkeeper of the Guild of the Blue Snake, to find out who has paid for the contract for his death with the Guild.

Ingrid's group reach the harbor in Rogdon and meet with Captain Olsen. Olsen has hired the Rogdonian Captain Alfons, who has a large ship, to take them back to the Turquoise Realm, since if they used a Norghanian ship the King might find out. Egil's group captures Vincent Uliskson, who had been following them. Egil interrogates Vincent and forces him to reveal who gave him the orders to follow him, though he doesn't tell the others. Then Egil's group go to a small village, where they meet Variksen, who gives Egil the permit to enter the library they will need to get the information about the cure for Dolbarar. In order to get the information about the cure, they will have to steal it from the Grand Library of Bintantium, in Erenalia, the capitol of Erenal.

Ingrid's group reaches the mist near the Turquoise Realm, and Captain Alfons sends them into the mist in a smaller sailboat while he and the sailors wait outside the mist on the main ship. Before they leave, Captain Olsen gives Lasgol a blue pearl that Eicewald used to navigate the mist; Eicewald had given it to him to give to Lasgol. Egil's group reaches Erenalia, and spends some time walking around the city before going to the library. Despite the permit, the librarians won't let Egil see the tome with information about the cure, so he and his friends come back that night and sneak into the library to copy the information. They discover that it is likely that Dolbarar is actually being poisoned instead of just having a sickness, and that they will need to make a potion to remove the effects of the poison from his body. Then they escape and head back to Norghana.

Ingrid's group reach the Turquoise Realm. They return the Star of Sea and Life, and Uragh tells them that Astrid has left to kill one of Olagar's sorcerers who managed to survive the Snow Panthers' previous attack and is continuing his leader's plan. She tells them that she gave Astrid a talisman called a pearl of life, which gives the wearer magical protection and lets Uragh sense whether they are alive. Lasgol, Ingrid and Viggo decide to go help Astrid, and Uragh gives them five pearls of life (one for each of them, plus Ona and Camu). They also let Uragh have a sample of the ingredients they keep in their Rangers' belts, at her request.

Meanwhile, Egil's group are still traveling back to Norghana. On the way they stop to rest a bit, and Valeria tells them about her relationship with her father, who doesn't like her and named her younger brother Lars as the heir to the Olmossen title. Then they continue on their way, stealing a barge to cross the Thousand Lakes into Zangria. Next, they cross into Norghana, managing to escape from a patrol of Zangrian soldiers at the border. They stop at the capitol for a day so Egil can get the ingredients for the potion, and then continue to the Camp.

Ingrid's group reach the Ferocious Islands, where Olagar had his army. They reach the chamber where the remaining Sorcerer is carrying out his magic of transformations, and find that he is working on creating larger, stronger three headed monsters, and he has transformed himself into one. A furious battle takes place, which ends with Astrid appearing from a hiding place and killing the Sorcerer. They return to the Turquoise Realm and give back the pearls of life; Uragh gives Lasgol a talisman called a Conch, that produces powerful gusts of wind, which will help them to get back to Norghana about ten times as fast as a normal ship. She also tells Lasgol that the Undying Bell plants are actually poisonous. Then they return to the Camp.

Egil's group return to the Camp and tell Angus that it is likely that Dolbarar is being poisoned, or that he has the disease known as Putrefaction of the Blood, in which case there is no cure. Angus decides to call a council with the Master Rangers, Edwina, and Egil's group to decide what to do. Haakon, Eyra and Edwina refuse to believe that Dolbarar could have been poisoned, but Angus, Ivana, and Esben decide for Egil's plan, which is to give Dolbarar the antidote potion while maintaining some treatments. Nilsa is assigned to give the potion to Dolbarar, and she and Gerd are assigned to make sure none of the food and water given to him while he is recovering are poisoned, by preparing it themselves.

After a week of this, Dolbarar is much better than before; Angus calls another council about this situation to find the guilty person. During the council, Lasgol arrives and tells Angus about the real use of the Undying Bell. Uragh told him that it was used for making poisons that caused Putrefaction of the Blood. Because of this, Lasgol accuses Eyra of being the poisoner. Egil reveals that Vincent and Isker were spying on him for the Dark Rangers, and says that it is likely that Eyra is part of them, since her position as one of the Master Rangers would be ideal for getting new recruits for the organization. Angus decides to proceed with an investigation into the evidence against Eyra, and the other Master Rangers and Edwina agree.

Lasgol, Ingrid, Astrid and Viggo are put in prison for being absent past their vacation leave. Later they are released by Angus and Dolbarar, who tell them the results of the investigation: the evidence shows that Eyra is guilty of poisoning and part of the Dark Rangers (since they found Undying Bell plants and coins with the mark of the bear and the boar in her quarters), and she will be tried in a Great Council in the capitol. In a private conversation with Lasgol, Egil reveals that according to the records of the Guild of the Blue Snake, Count Malason was the person who hired them to assassinate him.