Free Lord Of Dragons (Book 2) by John Forrester

into her body. In a dash, she raced over to the bed and frantically untied Tael from his bonds.
      "They're attracted to light and heat," Tael said, and wriggled off the bed and grabbed his clothes and backpack. "Behind us!"
    As Sebine spun around towards the door, she spotted several of the shadow men that had circled around and blocked their way of escape. She flared several more candles to life and illuminated the bowels of the laboratory. With a quick whip of her hands she flung the witch's body against a tall shelf filled with flasks, and at the shattering of glass, she ignited the whole mess in a fiery explosion. Just as the shadow figures were about to overtake Sebine and Tael cringing at the back of the bed, the abominations veered away and shuffled towards the fire like moths to flame.
    "Let's get out of here," Tael hissed, and Sebine snapped to attention at the sound of terror in his voice. He gripped her hand and ran, but she found her feet slipping on the dark pool at the door, and she fell, slapping her arm as she skittered across the wet ground. Her once beautiful dress was soiled and drenched in blood. Glancing back, she could see that the tall, wiry shadow figures had turned away from the raging fire and were shambling towards them in a burst of speed.  
      She scrambled across the ground and together they raced towards the stairs. In the floor above she heard the shouts of guards and knew she had to disguise herself to ensure they escaped unscathed. Tael tugged his pants up to cover his naked body.
    "I'm going to cast a spell, and change forms into that witch," Sebine said, and tried to calm herself enough to quickly cast the spell of self-illusion. She closed her eyes and remembered what the witch had worn and how her face and figure had looked. Likely it wouldn't be perfect, but hopefully good enough to fool the panicked guards. She cast the spell and found herself instantly transformed into the witch, and her once stained dress morphed into the black silk gown of the woman.
    The fearful faces of four guards appeared in the stairwell and stared over Sebine's shoulders at the flames and the shadows shuffling towards them.
    "There's been a horrible accident in the laboratory," Sebine shouted, and pointed inside the chamber. "Hurry up and put out the fire before we're all killed!"
    She raced forward and the guards parted and stepped uncertainly towards the burning room. As she ran past, she caught a glimpse of a guard's wide-eyed face frozen in absolute horror as he undoubtedly had caught sight of one of the shadow figures.
    They'll make fine bait , she thought, picturing the cruelty with which the guards had severed the heads of the addicted men and women outside. And as Tael and Sebine rushed up the stairs, she heard the screams and shouts of the guards fall silent as a deep, ominous groaning sound overtook them. More guards approached them on their ascent, and each time Sebine commanded the men to help put out the fire below, and they ran swiftly like sheep to the slaughter.
    "I need to get my sword," Tael said, and they stopped for a moment at the top of the stairs to catch their breath. "In Lord Oberon's chambers." Sebine followed after Tael, but worried whether they would encounter the old man. Likely if he saw Sebine in this illusion, he would certainly recognize her disguise. A flash of an idea came to her all at once.
    "We need to find Lord Oberon." Sebine had kept her voice low as they stalked around the corner and tried the door to Lord Oberon's chambers.
    "It's locked." Tael glanced expectantly at her, and as Sebine was about to blast the door open, she remembered she held the witch's silver key in the pocket of her robe. She retrieved the key and found the runes activate along the edge as the lock clicked open.  
    Sebine's heart hammered in surprise as she eyed Lord Oberon sleeping on the reclining chair in the dimly lit room. The old man snored haltingly, his lips flapping at each loud