Free Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy by Carey Scheppner Page A

black, and visibility was almost nonexistent, even to the dwarf. Fortunately, she had a fluorescent light stone in her pack. She rummaged around in the pack before withdrawing a fist-sized stone. It glowed with a faint greenish light. She held it aloft and peered around the room, taking a cautious step forward. A faint glimmer beneath her caused her to refrain from putting her foot down all the way. She looked down and saw what appeared to be a bone. Her forward motion forced her to step past the bone onto a safe area of footing, leaving her straddling the bone.
    Cursing under her breath, Rebecca brought her other foot forward so she could stand properly. Turning carefully, she investigated the bone and saw the rest of the body as it was sprawled on the ground. Judging by its clothes, it appeared to be a dwarf. The realization that the body was that of a dead dwarf nearly made her retch. It was disgusting.
    Turning some more Rebecca could make out the bones of another body adjacent to the first. It was somewhat larger, possibly that of a human. She wrinkled her nose, even though there was no odour. These bodies had been dead for a long time. Both were wrapped in tattered clothing.
    Her momentary reverie was broken by the pendant, which was now vibrating quite violently. The magic seemed the strongest when Rebecca was facing the second body.
    She started to step past the first body when something caught her eye. The dwarf had been carrying a bag, but the leather had dried and torn open. The items that were within were exposed to Rebecca’s light and she could see them fairly clearly. There were gold pieces, a few gems, a dagger, some chunks of coal, and other personal items that one would take on a long journey. But the thing that really caught Rebecca’s eye were the well-oiled parchment scraps that were rolled up tightly with a partly disintegrated string. It was a roll of maps! The dwarf was a mapmaker!
    Excited, Rebecca reached down and lifted up the maps. She shuddered at the thought of stealing from the dead, but the other dwarf definitely didn’t need them anymore. Carefully unrolling the maps, Rebecca was amazed at their detail. She recognized them as showing tunnels and passageways from the entire area that she had been traveling! Even some of the passageways she had skipped had already been surveyed! Some of them even led to gem deposits! Hastily but carefully, Rebecca stuffed the maps into her side pouch.
    Then she glanced at the dead dwarf with respect and pity. He was a talented mapmaker. It was a shame he had come to such a sad end. “How did you die?” she wondered aloud. She helplessly looked at the bones and tattered rags and noticed that the dwarf’s arm almost pointed to the second body. The rags on that arm appeared to have been burnt.
    Following the pointing arm, Rebecca glanced at the second body, which was half sitting and leaning against the wall. The elbows rested on the floor with the arms outstretched ahead of them. The skeleton’s lower jaw was hanging and looked as though it was laughing at her. She shuddered and looked down past the skeletal rib cage to the arms and hands. It was then that she noticed the long, serrated dagger in the skeleton’s right hand. It contained a jewel-tipped haft. Curious, Rebecca leaned forward to examine it more closely in the light of her light stone. As she drew near, the pendant literally thumped against her chest. The dagger was magical!
    Eagerly, Rebecca reached out for the dagger when the image of the dwarf’s burned arm appeared in her mind. She looked at it again and realized that there was no hand at the end of the dwarf’s arm. It had been burned off!
    With a frightened yelp, Rebecca threw herself back and landed with an unceremonious thump on her behind. She shivered as she gazed at the dwarf’s dead body. She had nearly ended up just like he did! That dagger was cursed! The dwarf died because he - or she - had tried to grab the dagger! Her heart