The Throne of the North (Book 18)

## Description

War looms over Norghana as the Immortal Dragon plans to conquer Tremia. Can the Snow Panthers stop him?

King Thoran of Norghana and King Kendryk of Irinel seek an alliance with King Caron of Zangria to attack the Kingdom of Erenal.

The Druid Queen improves her magic and position at court. Will she be an ally or an implacable enemy?

The Snow Panthers seek to recover the only weapons that can kill a dragon and hide the immortal dragon's silver pearls as they seek to crown Egil as king of Norghana.

Will the Panthers achieve their goals? Will they survive the wars and the Immortal Dragon?

## Plot

Gondabar, Raner and the Snow Panthers plan to attempt to convince the Nocean Emperor Malotas to send his army to destroy Dergha-Sho-Blaska's forces, since the dragon is hiding in Salamansur, located in Nocean territory. The situation is complicated by the fact that Norghana and Irinel are about to go to war against Erenal, and the Snow Panthers are assigned to guard the Queen. Gondabar also orders them to search for other weapons that are capable of killing dragons. Lasgol later mentions that they also have to find another container with magical shielding so that Camu doesn't have to constantly guard the Pearls. Astrid also volunteers to spy on Maldreck, since the Snow Panthers think he is plotting something to deal with the Pearls and Camu.

Queen Heulyn leaves for Irinel, along with Valeria, Aidan, and Edwina, saying that the Snow Panthers can stay in Norghana. They return there because the Queen of Irinel is sick. Strangely, neither Thoran or the other Norghanian nobles come to see the Queen on her way. Lasgol tells the Snow Panthers he hid the Pearls in a place called the Grey Chasm, known only to the Rangers at the Shelter and a few local villagers. Before they leave on their mission, Maldreck threatens Lasgol and the Snow Panthers that he will put them in a dungeon if he finds out they are doing anything with magic objects or creatures.

When they arrive at the Grey Chasm, Camu grabs Viggo and flies down to the bottom with him. Lasgol tells them that Camu has vastly improved his flying skills and can even hover like a hummingbird now. Then Camu takes the other Snow Panthers down. He has to do this in shifts, with Lasgol, Gerd, and Ingrid going down the next day, so that Camu can recover his magical energy overnight. Once they are all at the bottom, Egil tells them about the different weapons to kill dragons. Viggo is most interested in Sansen's Knife, Astrid in the Gauntlet of Liriana Luna, Gerd in Dim's Double Death (a two-headed battle-axe), Ingrid in Neil's Dragonkiller (a golden sword), and Nilsa in Antior's Beam, a javelin. They plan to split up to get each of these weapons, while Lasgol will go to Mirkos to get a container shielded from magic. That night, Astrid tells Lasgol that she believes he has a great and important destiny, and makes him promise that if anything happens to her that he will continue on his mission to stop the dragon. They also discuss how their lives have turned out, and their plans to have children one day. Then the group splits up.

At the Shelter, Nilsa, Ingrid, and Viggo are waiting to begin their journeys through the Portal. Sigrid and the Elder Rangers come out to greet them, and Sigrid tells them she approves of the plan. She and the Elders are very concerned that the dragon has been forming an army, since that means he will soon begin a war. Enduald tells them that there is a danger they will go insane after using the weapons since they can't use magic, and many others who have attempted to use enchanted weapons without having magic in the past have gone insane.

Egil goes through the Portal and ends up near Derfin, a fishing village in south Rogdon. The villagers tell him to talk to Gordon the Sailor. Egil tells Gordon the Sailor that he is looking for a golden spear to kill a dragon. Gordon lets him borrow a boat and tells him the spear is on one of three uninhabited islands off the coast nearby. Gordon also tells him that everyone who has gone to the islands has been killed by a ghost that inflicted pain on them until they died.

Nilsa reaches the Desher Tumaini tribe, on her way to get Antior's Beam. Tor Nassor sends his son, Aibin Alfajir, with Nilsa to help her on the journey. On the way they are attacked several times by bandits and religious fanatics. They arrive at the city of Albahrwahm, where they ask Almarahan, a local scholar, about Antior's Beam. Almarahan tells them the story of Antior's Beam, saying it was created for Antior by a Sorcerer of Curses and that he used it to avenge his brothers, who were killed by a dragon, but that he died due to the curse on the weapon. Almarahan mentions that Antior's Beam was recently found and brought to him by a treasure hunter named Albahel, who later left with the weapon.

Gerd goes to the Camp to bring Gondabar and the other leaders there up to date on the events. Gerd and Esben leave to look for Gim's Double Death in the Frozen Continent. Esben goes with Gerd as far as the Unreachable Range and then returns to the Camp. Gerd keeps going north and reaches a Norghanian village, but he is caught in a winter storm. Frans, one of the villagers, lets him into his house. Gerd tells them about his mission to find Gim's Double Death, and the next day Frans takes him to see Fulker, the village chief. Fulker tells him to go to the village of Lorders, further north, where the smith who forged Gim's Double Death lived.

Egil goes to the islands to search for the golden spear and encounters a strange ghostlike being. Egil hides from the being, then searches the first island, not finding the spear, and moves on to the second. Again, he finds nothing, and so moves on to the third island, where the ghostlike being seems to live. Egil searches in a deep cave there and finds the golden spear, but the being attacks. The being turns out to be some kind of giant flying jellyfish. Egil kills it using Elemental arrows, and then he retrieves the golden spear.

Nilsa and Aibin reach the Nocean city of Zenut. Aibin finds out that Albahel has already left the city, heading to Salamansur, so they have to follow him there. Nilsa and Aibin spy on the Nocean army when they arrive at Salamansur. They watch as thousands of giant crocodiles, cobras, and scorpions come out of Salamansur and attack the Noceans. The Nocean soldiers are able to hold their own against the scorpions by surrounding and disabling them, but they stand no chance against the crocodiles and cobras, and eventually are forced to retreat after losing many soldiers. Then four Nocean sorcerers attack the creatures and kill many of them, but they used up all their magical energy in those spells. Then four giant rhinoceros beetles attack and kill almost all the remaining Noceans. Both armies retreat from the battlefield, and then Nilsa and Aibin search the dead to find Albahel. Once they find him they search his belongings and find Antior's Beam.

Gerd arrives at the village of Lorders and seeks out Ripdis Ulken's great-grandson Henerik, who lives there. Henerik tells him that Gim's Double Death disappeared in the Pink Caves, a location north of Lorders that is sacred to the Wild of the Ice and may have a Semi-Giant living there. Inside the caves, Gerd finds a huge number of pink crystal formations, and two Wild of the Ice, who attack him. Gerd disables the Wild of the Ice and continues. Then he sees a group of Wild of the Ice performing a ritual to kill a gigantic wolf with Gim's Double Death. Gerd waits until they finish the ritual, then rescues the wolf's pup and takes Gim's Double Death from the chief Wild One after killing him. Gerd names the wolf pup Argi and adopts him as his familiar.

Ingrid arrives at the city of Orecor, which has walls one hundred feet tall and is part of the Confederation of Free Cities of the East, an alliance of five trading cities. She gets a permit to trade in valuable weapons and has to pay ten gold coins to enter the city. She meets an interpreter, Celopus, and hires him to help her find Neil's Dragonkiller. They go to the store owned by Dopemus, a weapons dealer. Dopemus tells them about the legend of General Neils Usmentus, who had Neil's Dragonkiller. He is generally considered to have been a madman. Dopemus tells them that if Neil's Dragonkiller exists, there's a chance it would have been taken to the Victory Museum, a weapons museum in Orecor. They go to the Victory Museum and talk with Jotus, the senior guide there. They find out that Neil's Dragonkiller is in the possession of the Gotirus family, one of the families on the ruling council of Orecor.

Lasgol arrives at Mirkos' Tower and they talk about the sources of magic. Mirkos tells Lasgol that there are three sources of magic: gold, silver, and a third source that he says Lasgol has to find out by studying. Mirkos agrees to give Lasgol a container shielded from magic in exchange for getting to study the Pearls later on. After Lasgol leaves, an Ice Mage named Sigurd, who has been ordered to follow him by Maldreck, attacks. Lasgol kills Sigurd using the Bow of Aodh.

Ingrid enters a fighting competition in order to gain access to the Gotirus family house. The fighters, who number one hundred originally, are split into two groups who fight each other, then the winners from each group fight each other and so on. The competition ends with a fight between Ingrid and Sopelus, a Confederate soldier. Although Sopelus is quite skilled Ingrid beats him. Captain General Sabis Gotirus offers Ingrid a deal, saying he will give her Neil's Dragonkiller, on the condition that if the Norghanian mages can get the sword's magic to work, she will bring it back to him within a year, and if not, she will serve in his guard. Ingrid accepts, and the Gotirus family gives her Neil's Dragonkiller.

Viggo arrives in the city of Dulbelin between Moontian and Irinel, where he is searching for Sansen's Knife. He ambushes a trader named Mortises, who had Sansen's Knife. Mortises tells him the legend of Sansen. At the time when Sansen lived, a giant white dragon had made itself king of the region around Dulbelin. Sansen was in charge of bringing cattle for the dragon to eat. One day the dragon killed Sansen's assistants and family because it didn't like the cattle that day, and Sansen prayed to the Gods for a weapon to kill the dragon. The Gods gave him a golden knife, and Sansen killed the dragon and took its power. Mortises says a Zangrian noble named Count Zolatan bought Sansen's Knife from him fifteen years ago. Viggo goes to Saprost, the city in Zangria where Count Zolatan lives. He breaks into Count Zolatan's bedroom at night and questions him. Count Zolatan tells Viggo that he gave Sansen's Knife to General Zorlten, a Zangrian military official, ten years ago.

Astrid arrives at the base of the Fighters of the New Sun in Erenal, where the Gauntlet of Liriana Luna is kept. She convinces Belona, the leader of the order, to let her join by winning fights against the five strongest warriors of the order. A week later, the Fighters of the New Sun join the army of Erenal in fighting the Norghanian army, which is invading Erenal. The night before the new fighters leave, Astrid steals the Gauntlet of Liriana Luna.

Viggo arrives at the army camp where General Zorlten is staying. He infiltrates the camp at night, goes to Zorlten's tent, and steals Sansen's Knife and a strange silver knife that Zorlten was keeping alongside Sansen's Knife. Two new Zangrian armies arrive as well, one under General Zotomer and another under General Zorberg. Viggo sends a message to Egil asking him if he should kill General Zorberg for betraying Egil before. The Norghanian army of the Western League arrives soon after, bringing the total allied force to forty thousand (thirty thousand Zangrians are there as well, plus the ten thousand soldiers of the Western League). The next day, the army of Irinel arrives, and the day after the main Norghanian armies arrive. The next day the Invincibles of the Ice, along with the Royal Rangers, Royal Guards, and the King and eastern Norghanian nobles arrive, as well as the Rangers and all the Snow Panthers except Astrid. Three Erenal legions, eighteen thousand men in all, arrive. The next day King arrives with his personal legion, another six thousand troops; each legion also has three hundred cavalry. Then the forces of Moontian arrive, joining Erenal with another twenty thousand soldiers. The army of the Confederate city of Yort arrives next with fifteen thousand soldiers, some of whom are armed with crossbows, which Astrid is greatly interested in. The next army to arrive are the Coporneans, a race of pirates, with whom King Dasleo made a treaty granting them trading rights and control of the Central Sea. They bring ten thousand soldiers.

Egil and Lasgol meet with the Western nobles. Camu helps by camouflaging them along the way so Thoran and his spies don't see Egil visiting with the Western League. The Western nobles tell Egil that Thoran plans to send them as an advance force with no backup against the whole army of Erenal and its allies, which would result in a massacre of the Western soldiers. Egil tells the Western nobles that he will not allow this to happen, and that he is working on a plan to save them and change the situation. He tells them that they have to follow the plan exactly once he completes it. The Western nobles agree, and renew their pledges of loyalty to Egil as the true king of Norghana. The next night, Egil leaves with Camu on a spying mission; he tells Lasgol that he can't tell him anything about the mission or where he is going.

The next day King Kendryk, Queen Heulyn and Valeria arrive. Valeria tells Lasgol that the Druids are looking after Heulyn's mother, and that Heulyn and Kendryk have been fighting all the way to Norghana. Lasgol asks Valeria to let him know if she sees any signs that the Snow Panthers would be in danger. Then Maldreck asks to see Lasgol. He tells Lasgol to give him the Pearls, and to tell him how he was able to defeat Sigurd. Lasgol refuses, and Maldreck is about to attack him when Nilsa shows up and helps to stop the situation. The leaders of the Norghanian and allied forces hold a war meeting. Queen Heulyn gets kicked out of the meeting and says Thoran and her father will regret not allowing her to be there.

In the battle, Thoran orders the Rangers to protect his position. The Erenal army faces the Norghanians, the army of Yort and the Coporneans face the Zangrians, and the Moontian army faces the Irinel army. Each army brings mages as well, which makes the battle one of incredible power, with earthquakes, ice storms, gigantic elemental creatures and other great works of magic. At the height of the battle, the Zangrian and Irinel armies join the Western League to fight the Norghanians. Kylian and Heulyn depose Kendryk and take control of Irinel. Then, as the Norghanian army is retreating, the Erenal army and the Zangrians attack each other, and the Moontian army attacks the Irinel army. Then Astrid rejoins the Snow Panthers.

Later Egil meets with Heulyn and King Caron. King Caron has captured Thoran, and he says that he will keep him in his dungeons to ensure that Egil and Heulyn maintain the relationship with him. Then King Caron leaves with Thoran. Heulyn betrays Egil and orders her guards to kill him, but the Snow Panthers rescue him, and Valeria helps to stop Heulyn's plan. Afterwards Egil sends Heulyn to the dungeons in Moontian. Valeria agrees to go back to Irinel and spy for Egil.

Egil and the Western League march to Norghana. Egil gives the Eastern Norghanian nobles three days to accept him as king, or else he will order his army to attack Norghana. On the last night, Lasgol, Viggo and the other Panthers except Egil sneak into the rooms of the six most powerful Eastern nobles and threaten them that if they don't agree to Egil's terms the next day, they will be killed in their sleep. The next day, the Eastern nobles and the generals of the four Norghanian armies agree to let Egil take the throne. The Rangers and Royal Guards also swear fealty to Egil.