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

pounded just as hard as the pendant at her chest. That was close!
    After a few moments, the dwarf rose to her feet. There was nothing more for her here. The room was at the end of the tunnel. She had no choice but to retrace her steps back the way she had come.
    No sooner had she risen to her feet when the strangest thing happened. The human skeleton’s lower jaw fell, striking the chest on its way down. This triggered the head to roll to the side and fall on the right arm. As if spring loaded, the right elbow shot forward and the right hand flung the dagger straight at Rebecca’s abdomen!
    Instinctively Rebecca grabbed for the flying dagger. Miraculously, the dwarf caught the dagger in midair!
    With her mouth agape, Rebecca stared at the dagger in her hand in astonishment. An instant later, she dropped the dagger and sprang away from it, landing, once again, on her behind.
    For what seemed like an eternity, Rebecca stared at the dagger in fear. Then she crawled forward very slowly, never taking her eyes from the weapon. Soon she was directly above it. One thing repeated itself over and over in her mind. It had not harmed her. Was the curse broken?
    Then she came to another realization. The pendant at her chest had stopped quivering! Was the dagger’s magic spent? Back when Horst had given her the pendant, Rebecca had asked him about it. Horst, not being very familiar with magic, could only tell her what it was supposed to do. The only other thing the mage who had sold it to him said was that any magical items in your possession would not interfere with the magic. That meant either the dagger’s magic was spent, or it now belonged to her.
    Rebecca was in a quandary. Should she pick it up? According to her pendant, it no longer contained magic. That meant it didn’t have cursed magic either. Conversely, if the dagger now belonged to her, it wouldn’t harm her, would it?
    She had to find out. Rebecca took a deep breath and grasped the dagger’s handle. It quivered in her hand and she dropped it again. She examined her hand. No damage. Good. She picked it up again and felt the quivering but this time held onto it. It was definitely magical, judging by the quivering, but it didn’t harm her. She smiled in relief. It was now hers!
    Having had enough of this room, Rebecca quickly stashed the dagger and light stone in her side pouch to join the new collection of old maps. With that accomplished, she hustled over to the narrow tunnel and exited the strange room forever. She would discover what magic the dagger was capable of later.

Chapter 8
    I t would take the better part of four days for Kazin and Della to reach the Tower of Hope. During the early part of their flight, they saw many caravans on the roads below them, each carrying goods to a different destination. The ordinary bustle of activity contrasted with the suffering being endured by the mages in the Tower of Sorcery to the north. Here, people were carrying on with their lives as though nothing was wrong, secure in the knowledge that they were being protected from danger by the mage guilds and the army. They didn’t know about the threat of poison that was afflicting the black mages at present. Kazin knew that once word of what had happened at the Tower of Sorcery leaked out, the people would become fearful and concerned for their lives. Their carefree way of life would be shattered.
    Kazin’s thoughts changed when Della suddenly drew his attention and pointed down at a narrow side road off one of the more heavily traveled roads. A caravan consisting of three wagons was stopped and there appeared to be a number of people skirmishing on both sides of the first wagon. Kazin immediately changed course and rocketed toward the battle.
    Suddenly, a number of grey-cloaked people emerged from the woods to the rear of the third wagon. They snuck around the wagons and joined the fray. Della could see them raising their staves and chanting some spells.
    Before Kazin got