Dragon Spell by Jeff Sampson

Author:Jeff Sampson [Sampson, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7869-3744-8
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

“Tea?”

The Goblin Man loomed in Mudd’s face, his lips pressed together in a toad-like grin. Tilting his head, he gestured toward a small pot on the table before him.

“Er, all right,” Mudd said.

With little introduction, the companions had been rushed along the path to a hidden door. Passing through, they entered a craggy tunnel that seemed to lead deep inside the cliff. Then, finally, they reached the Goblin Man’s home.

It was little more than a single room, but it was more than enough space to hold them all. It was filled to the brim with furniture and knickknacks. Plush armchairs were arranged in threes around misshapen wooden tables. Threadbare brown rugs covered the stone floor. Two fireplaces blazed with flame, and strange metal artifacts crowded their hearths.

Two doors were cut into the rocky walls. The rest were lined from floor to ceiling with wooden bookshelves. They seemed to hold thousands of dusty books and crumbling scrolls.

Ushering them into the armchairs, the Goblin Man—whose name they learned was actually Arvin Derry—had quickly produced the beverages, though Mudd hadn’t seen from where.

Mudd reached for the teapot. It was cold to the touch, but that didn’t mean anything. Maybe it was enchanted so as not to scald. Pouring the thin yellow-brown liquid into a cup, Mudd raised it to his lips, took a sip, and promptly spit it out.

“This isn’t tea,” he gasped. Fire rushed down his throat.

Coughing from where he sat beside Catriona and Rina, Maddoc forced himself to swallow the drink he’d taken from a short, clear glass. Meeting Arvin’s eye, he frowned. “This would be the tea. It tastes about three days old.”

Arvin reared his head back into a high-pitched laugh. Mudd could swear he saw his yellow teeth momentarily sharpen into fang-like points, but they were back to normal in an instant.

“Oh, my,” Arvin said, wiping away a tear. “Seems I switched the brandy and the tea once again. My stupidity never fails to amuse me.”

His thin lips curled into a snarl, and he whipped around. He pointed an accusatory finger at Sindri, who had been fingering the spines of the books.

“Touch nothing, kender!” he shouted. “Or I shall turn you into a gnat.” Giggling, he dropped his hands and turned to Maddoc. “I know some magic.” This sent him into yet another fit of laughter.

Watching in surprise, Sindri backed away from the bookshelves.

“How did Maddoc say he knew this man?” Mudd whispered to Davyn. The boy only shrugged.

“You’ll have to excuse my old friend,” Maddoc said. “His isolation has caused him to lose quite a bit of his sanity.”

“Among other things,” Arvin said.

“And yet you trusted him with the Aegis?” Catriona crossed her arms. “You might as well just have handed it over to Asvoria and been done with it.”

Trembling, Arvin turned to face Catriona. His skin seemed to flush red in anger, but soon the red became much too dark to be a blush. His eyes blackened, his skin creased and drew tight, and his nose flattened. As his mouth opened to speak, Mudd once again saw twin rows of jagged teeth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.