Legends of the Dragonrealm: Shade by Richard A. Knaak Read Free Book Online Page A

where the predecessor of the current ruler of the Hell Plains had attempted to assault the citadel. That day, a Dragon King had perished, along with many of his servants, but so had these and a great number of other creatures enslaved by Cabe’s father.
    The skeletons threw themselves at Shade, their browned talons still sharp enough to rend, their beaks still able to snap through bone. Had they lived, he would have had to concern himself with their magic, too, but Shade took no consolation in the absence of that threat considering the powers that controlled them now.
    Muttering, he drew his finger across the line of ghoulish forms converging upon him. A brief flare of reddish energy followed in the line’s wake and as it moved along, the upper half of each skeleton tumbled off as if cut by a scythe.
    But although the first line fell easily, more and more neared. Shade inhaled and snarled, “Stop!”
    The voice was not his own but perfectly altered to be that of Azran’s. In life, these avians had been compelled to obey through the mad sorcerer’s magic and such had been the power of Cabe’s father that the residue of that spell even now caused the skeletons to hesitate one vital moment.
    Seizing that vital instant, Shade crouched, scooped up a handful of the broken soil, and threw it into the air. At the same time, he cast.
    A tremendous dust storm blanketed his monstrous assailants yet did not touch him. Even as the sharp beaks and talons again sought his flesh, the dust caked them. They tried to continue forward, but more and more dust clung to their bones. Within a few seconds, the skeletons could no longer even move, so buried were their lower halves.
    Shade gasped for breath as he seized his cloak and literally curled within himself. As he vanished, Shade felt the magic seeking to take him from this place but also sensed the power of the Lords of the Dead attempting to pull him back.
    They’re stronger . . . they shouldn’t be, but they are . . . Shade had no idea how they had managed to regain such might, but then, he had thought them vanquished, at last sent to the oblivion that they had long evaded. In that he had erred, so why not also err in his estimation of their awful might?
    He rematerialized. The stench of sulfur was enough to warn him that he had not traveled far.
    A wave of vertigo struck him. He would have fallen save that he had apparently appeared next to some rocky formation. A bit less focus, and Shade knew that he could have just as easily become part of that formation.
    You need not rush off . . . , Kadaria’s voice murmured with amusement. Shade managed to turn and, thanks to the moon, noted the silhouette of the ruins on the horizon. Unfortunately, the physical distance meant little to the necromancers.
    A thundering tremor shook the entire area. The formation cracked. Shade threw himself from it before large chunks could crash down on him. At the moment, he could not trust that he had the concentration to protect himself from the deadly rain.
    However, retreating from the crumbling formation only placed him nearer to the center of the quake. The ground heaved as if breathing, or as if something of tremendous size sought to break to the surface.
    It only occurred to Shade then that somewhere in this vicinity had perished a Dragon King . . . and that anything dying violently surely fell under the sway of the Lords of the Dead.
    He tried to gather his concentration—only to see that both of his hands were somewhat translucent. Shade could not imagine how the rest of him appeared. Whatever turn his curse was taking, the flight from one struggle to the next was adding too much of a toll.
    You will join us one way or the other . . . cousin . . .
    Shade was tempted to snap some last, futile rebuke, but then something glowing faintly near another, larger formation caught his eye. It was a vaguely seen figure that immediately flitted out of sight by walking directly into the