The Secret of the Dragon (Book 17)

## Description

The kingdom of Norghana is about to go to war after what happened at the royal wedding. A war that will be awfully hard for all the kingdoms involved.

The rangers will suffer a strong setback that will force their restructuring.

The Immortal Dragon has already been seen and has done so in a lethal and secret way. He's planning something the Panthers don't know about and need to find out before it's too late.

## Plot

The Snow Panthers, Raner, and Gondabar have been summoned by King Thoran to explain the report that Eicewald was killed by the dragon. Thoran doesn't believe them and accuses Gondabar of being senile. Then Heulyn arrives and listens to the report as well. While she is skeptical, she at least takes it seriously, although Thoran and Orten laugh at it and then send Gondabar to the dungeon for "incompetence", although he is still required to perform his duties as leader of the Rangers from the dungeon, because of the war with Zangria. Lasgol is demoted from the Royal Eagles, and Maldreck is promoted to leader of the Ice Magi. Thoran also decides to have the Ice Magi recruit young mages from foreign lands and throughout Norghana itself.

After the meeting the Panthers discuss what happened. Lasgol tells them Camu wants to fight the dragon, and they decide finding out the dragon's plans and how to stop it is their main goal. Then they are summoned to the dungeon to meet with Gondabar. On the way, Viggo is stopped by the Zangrian General Zotomer, who offers him a huge amount of gold to take a message to Zangria. Ingrid stops him, but Viggo signs to Zotomer to tell him they will talk again later. Astrid suggests going to the lower level, since there are Western nobles imprisoned there, and Egil says they will try it later after making a proper plan. Then they arrive at Gondabar's cell, where Sigrid, Raner, and Dolbarar are also waiting for them.

After a short conversation, Ellingsen and some Royal Guards come in to tell them that the Royal Eagles are forbidden to meet with Gondabar in the dungeon, as their duty is now to protect Heulyn. He also says that the King has ordered the Royal Eagles to train with Raner to become Royal Rangers. Gondabar then tells Sigrid and Dolbarar to keep searching for information on the dragon's location and plans, as well as to keep an eye on the White Pearls that it uses to teleport. Lasgol then goes to say goodbye to Trotter, who was injured in the battle with the dragon, and so Lasgol can't use him for riding anymore. The next day, Nilsa tells the Panthers that Eicewald's funeral is going to be held in the Albus Forest, a forest of snow white trees to the north of the capitol. The Albus Forest is rumored to be bewitched. Lasgol is the only one who can go, because the others have been ordered to start training as Royal Rangers. Lasgol goes to the funeral, and Camu tells him he wants to kill the dragon to avenge Eicewald's death. Lasgol tells Camu that revenge is not a good goal.

The next day Maldreck gives Lasgol a magical ice jewel and a letter, which he says are things Eicewald left to be given to Lasgol. In the letter Eicewald tells Lasgol never to give up hope of defeating the dragon, that there is always a way to defeat the enemy, it's just a matter of finding it and executing it. Lasgol uses his magic on the ribbon used to secure the letter, and finds a message saying that the twelve Silver Pearls, powerful magical artifacts, are hidden at the Island of Weeping, and not to let the dragon get them. Then Lasgol departs for the Island of Weeping, which is near the Masig lands. He takes the Bow of Aodh with him, as it is now his main weapon.

Molak joins the Royal Eagles to replace Lasgol. The Royal Eagles are summoned to meet with Heulyn, who asks Valeria to describe their roles in the group, and then says they are coming with her on a secret trip to a nearby forest. Lasgol finally repairs the connection between his mind and his pool of magic energy, and discovers that the pool has grown considerably larger. Then he uses a small boat to go to the Island of Weeping, and finds the Silver Pearls hidden in a cave behind a waterfall. Then Maldreck, who followed Lasgol, appears.

Meanwhile the Panthers are training as Royal Rangers. Viggo thinks it won't be too hard, so Raner gives him a practical example of the different training style by pretending to take Ingrid hostage and telling Viggo to free her. He fails, and then Raner and Kol show him how to do this. Maldreck, who has a group of Norghanian soldiers under Captain Jakobson with him, makes Lasgol give him the Silver Pearls and tells him the magical ice jewel was actually a locator talisman that Maldreck used to track him. Lasgol goes with them on their ship, and Camu and Ona are left on the Island of Weeping. Lasgol manages to change the magic of the locator talisman so that he is in control of it, as well as developing a magical skill to protect his mind from counter-spells. Then a sea serpent attacks their ship. It destroys the ship, kills the soldiers, and swallows the box with the Silver Pearls, but Lasgol throws the locator talisman down its throat as well.

Since the serpent swallowed the Pearls, Lasgol guesses that the dragon sent it. Lasgol starts to go back to the Island of Weeping, where the serpent is heading, using another small boat, but meets Camu and Ona, who are in another small boat, with Camu using his tail to propel it. The other Panthers are training with Mostassen, who worked with them before. Lasgol follows the serpent to a lake, where it meets with a gigantic crocodilian creature, and vomits the Silver Pearls into the crocodilian's mouth. By chance, the crocodilian also swallows the locator talisman. Lasgol follows the crocodilian, which is heading towards the Central Sea. A tribe of Inon warriors, the southern counterparts of the Masig, attack the crocodilian and almost prevent it from reaching the sea by wounding its legs with arrows, but it keeps going and eventually plunges into the sea. Lasgol heads to a nearby village and trades for a boat to follow the crocodilian.

On the boat, Lasgol, Camu and Ona follow it across the sea and into the Nocean Empire, where it lands again. The journey through the desert is difficult for all three of them, but especially Camu and Ona since they are used to icy climates. They eventually reach an oasis, where the crocodilian plunges into the water again. After three days it leaves and heads east. Meanwhile Raner tells the Panthers that the King has ordered the armies to be on alert, as war with the Zangrians is imminent. Lasgol meets a caravan of Nocean traders led by Abudbalis, who tells him the crocodilian is headed to a forbidden city called Salamansur, where there are at least ten other crocodilians.

After traveling through the desert again, Lasgol and his companions reach Salamansur, which is deserted, with no inhabitants in sight. The crocodilian arrives shortly afterward and enters the city, and Lasgol follows it. At a square, the crocodilian stops and emits a loud growl, and then six giant scorpions rise out of the ground. The crocodilian vomits out the box with the Silver Pearls and the locator talisman. One of the scorpions takes the box and another takes the locator talisman. Then they all start moving again and Lasgol and his companions follow. Suddenly they are trapped in an ambush by six giant cobras and four of the giant scorpions. Using magic, Lasgol and Camu are able to defeat them.

Then they continue to follow the other two giant scorpions, who had taken the Silver Pearls and the locator talisman. Then they are attacked by two giant rhinoceros beetles. Lasgol develops a new skill that allows him to fire a shot powerful enough to penetrate the thick armor of the beetles and defeat them. Then they reach the building where the scorpions were going, and are stopped by a minor Drakonian named Saki-Erki-Luzen, who serves Dergha-sho-blaska. The minor Drakonians in general serve greater Drakonians like Dergha-sho-blaska and Camu, and Camu orders Saki-Erki-Luzen to let them through. But Saki-Erki-Luzen refuses to obey because he says he doesn't serve Camu.

Egil and Gerd stop for a secret meeting while the Royal Eagles are out on running exercises with the Royal Rangers. They meet with Count Malason and Dukes Erikson and Svensen. Egil asks them if any of them ordered the assassination attempt on the Queen at the royal wedding, and they deny any participation in it. Egil then tells them it is important to find out who was behind this assassination attempt, since it's possible they have a hidden ally. He also says they should delay joining the King's forces to fight the Zangrians by claiming they have logistics problems. Meanwhile, Lasgol and his companions are attacked by Saki-Erki-Luzen and two giant scorpions. Lasgol and Ona manage to defeat the giant scorpions, and Camu fights Saki-Erki-Luzen. Saki-Erki-Luzen stops them all using mental attacks, which Lasgol and Ona can't defend against. Heulyn orders the Royal Eagles to go with her, Valeria and Aiden early one morning. They leave the Queen's quarters through a secret escape passage, and Heulyn tells them the King has a similar passage. They meet two Druids outside the capitol and go to a clearing in a nearby forest, where the Queen practices her magic. Egil is very interested to find out about the escape passages.

Lasgol manages to recover from the effects of the mental attack, and Camu helps him by flying around and distracting Saki-Erki-Luzen. Lasgol develops a link between his magic and the Bow of Aodh, which allows him to kill Saki-Erki-Luzen with it. Egil and Gerd stop during a running exercise again to meet with Dukes Erikson and Svensen, and his cousin, Lars Berge. The Dukes inform him that the two men who carried out the assassination attempt on Thoran have gone missing, and Egil tells them to assume Thoran's agents somehow captured them and to guard the routes to Orten's fortress at Skol. They also tell him that a man named Miroslav was involved with the assassination attempt on the Queen.

Lasgol, Camu and Ona, after Lasgol takes care of their injuries, follow the signal from the locator talisman. They find a cavern where a large number of humans, presumably the inhabitants of the city, are hammering at the walls, guarded by the giant scorpions and cobras. The Royal Eagles are now officially named Royal Rangers. After the ceremony, Kol tells them that the army and some Rangers have been ordered to march to the Zangrian border, so probably war will be declared soon. Lasgol and his companions explore the cavern more and find it's part of a series of tunnels and caverns under the mountains near Salamansur, and they find more caverns with slaves, sleeping areas and food storage areas. They eventually find a massive cavern where two more minor Drakonians and a large number of gigantic crocodilians, even larger than the one from before, as well as several very large giant cobras and scorpions and some Visionaries and Defenders of the True Blood are waiting. There are also some more human slaves, and a large number of fossilized gigantic reptilian skeletons, some incomplete. The two minor Drakonians take the Silver Pearls from the scorpions, and then Dergha-sho-blaska suddenly arrives.

Egil and the other Panthers ambush the group of men taking the two men who carried out the assassination attempt against Thoran to Skol, and capture the assassins. Egil takes them to interrogate them about what happened. Dergha-sho-blaska uses the Silver Pearls and fossilized bones coated in enchanted silver to create a giant scorpion, a giant cobra, and a crocodilian. Lasgol guesses that the dragon has been using this kind of magic to create all the other monsters that have appeared around Norghana, like the sea serpent that attacked the ship. Before getting the smaller Silver Pearls, Dergha-sho-blaska had been using the larger Silver Pearl he had taken when he killed Eicewald. Then Dergha-sho-blaska uses the Silver Pearls and a fossilized bone of a Drakonian to create a new minor Drakonian. Afterwards, he leaves the main cavern, saying he has to go on a secret journey.

Egil and Gerd go to meet with Miroslav, who is called Mikolson in Norghana. He tells Egil that Rolemus, a noble and spy from Erenal, was behind the assassination attempt on the Queen, and that he is now hiding in Zangria. Lasgol decides to try to take the Silver Pearls back from Dergha-sho-blaska. They creep through the cavern, using Camu's magic to hide them, and then go into the cavern behind it where Dergha-sho-blaska went. This cavern is even larger, and the three minor Drakonians are sleeping there. Two silver pedestals are set up near the back of the cavern, and there is a giant hole in the ceiling, through which Dergha-sho-blaska must have flown out as he is not there. Lasgol takes the Pearls and then they escape from the caverns and the city. Astrid and Viggo capture Rolemus and take him back to Norghana.

Outside Salamansur, Lasgol and his companions try to hide behind a large sand dune to evade the giant scorpions and cobras pursuing them, but it turns out to be sand settled on top of a giant crocodilian. Lasgol manages to control it with his magic and orders it to take them to the Mountains of Blood, after making it kill their pursuers. From there he plans to use the White Pearl in the Mountains of Blood to go to the Shelter. Meanwhile at the Norghanian war camp, Heulyn convinces Thoran and Kendryk, king of Irinel, not to attack Zangria, by showing them Rolemus and his notebook proving that Erenal was behind the assassination attempt on her. They decide to make an alliance with Zangria, which Thoran later plans to betray.

Lasgol returns to the capital and meets with the other Panthers. They tell him about the events with the war, and that Gondabar has been released from the dungeon. Egil also tells them that the two men who carried out the assassination attempt on the King have been killed so that they can't betray the Western League. Lasgol tells them they need to find another container that cancels out magic like the one Eicewald used before to hide the Pearls, because now Camu is using his magic to hide them and this isn't always going to work. He also says they need to find more of the weapons that can kill dragons.