Free The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) by R. Alan Ferguson Page B

of a
Lore warrior. The old Wizard-Elf’s face and hands had bulging
purple veins and were wrinkled and bony, and his skin was chalky
white.
    Ulicoth was now looking at the
energy in John’s hands.
    “ You will not
need those,” he told the Wizard King.
    “ I think I’ll
hold onto them for now,” replied John firmly.
    “ Don’t be
rude, John. After all, you are my guest.”
    “ Guest,” John
snorted.
    “ Do you
really think that you would’ve got this far without my help?” asked
Ulicoth. His voice had suddenly changed; now it was cold and
menacing. “After all, it was I who told Kilamen to go down to join
my army and kill as many of the attacking force as she liked. She
loves the smell of the fear that comes from a battle, though she
likes killing even more. And it was I who saved you from the
Valcota in the forest. It was I that took away the protection spell
on the balcony, or you would have been blown to tiny little pieces
as soon as you touched it. And I am the one allowing most of your
friends to live. One word from me is all it would take for the rest
of my army to show themselves and destroy them all and end this
foolish, pitiful, and predictable attack.”
    “ What do you
mean, the rest of your army?” asked John.
    “ I have spent
over six hundred long years building the largest, strongest force
that this world or any other has known. And you and your idiotic
Wizard’s Council thought that you could build an army to match it
in just two.”
    “ So why
wait?” asked John.
    “ Because of
you,” said Ulicoth. “You are the one that I need to help
me.”
    “ I’ll never
help you.”
    “ Come now,
John. You are being rude again. I only have your best interests at
heart,” said Ulicoth. The Dark Wizard-Elf had again changed his
voice. Once more it sounded kind.
    “ That’s
strange. In all of the things I’ve read of you, in none have I ever
read of you having a heart,” said John. If the King could spit
poison, each word surely would have had enough to kill
instantly.
    “ The re is heart of body and heart
of mind, and I do have both, despite what history says, or rather
doesn’t say, though it is also true that I usually use the former
and never the latter. But we, John, we are kin. There are only a
few of our kind left. We need to work together to protect ourselves
from those who would sooner see us all dead than let us have even a
faction of power in this world. Why not disperse the energy and sit
down?” implied Ulicoth.
    The light
from the energy in John’s hand began to dim until finally it
disappeared.
    “ Good,” said
Ulicoth. “Now sit down.”
    “ STOP IT!”
shouted John.
    “ Stop what?”
asked Ulicoth, with a large smile on his face.
    “ Stop trying
to control me.”
    “ I see that
your will is stronger than I thought. That’s very good.”
    “ Not for
you,” said the King.
    “ You have but
one chance to join us,” said Ulicoth. He now held out his
hand.
    “ No! I won’t,
and do you want to know why?” asked the Wizard King forcefully.
“Trust. Trust is needed, and how could I ever trust you? After all,
you’re the reason there are only a few of our kind left, or did you
forget that little fact?”
    “ I warn you,
this will be the only chance you’ll have, so do not be a fool,
John. Take my hand and let the last three Wizard-Elves claim this
world, for who could stand against us? Join us, Jastark. Join your
family.”
    John usually
liked to hear his Wizard name, but this time he was repulsed with
the way it seemed to slide off the Dark Lord’s slimy tongue. For
the first time in his life, he hated the way it sounded. John could
see that Ulicoth was now slumping over a little. His right hand was
still outstretched, and his other hand was pressed against his
chest. And if the King listened hard enough, he could hear a slight
wheezing coming from the form that was his enemy.
    “ No,” he
said. “I already said I wouldn’t help you.”
    “ Yes,”