Chapter 11

The one thing Lord Drago didn't expect was for the two heroes to applaud and laugh. This was more than Lord Drago could take! His appearance as a handsome middle-aged man began to shimmer and alternate with the semblance of an especially ugly looking dragon. His appearance as a dragon was vaguely similar to The Unconquerable, but not nearly as handsome.

Lord Drago seemed to realize what was happening to him, and he managed to get himself back under control. He announced, "Since you don't seem to appreciate the dire circumstances you are facing, I will leave you here to rot for a time while I tend to more important duties."

With that statement, Lord Drago turned to float away back toward the stairs leading up to the main part of the palace. Unfortunately for him, he was still sorely pissed at the two heroes, so he did not pay attention to what was going on around him. As a result, he ran head on into the barrier that Sue had constructed to hold him in place. Lord Drago did not fall to the ground, but he did receive a hard knock on the forehead as he bounced off the shield.

This was the last straw! Lord Drago underwent a complete change in appearance. He completely lost his temper and turned toward Sue and Jack. Now he looked like a pitifully misshapen dragon. No wonder he assumed a different look. His body was covered with what looked like randomly shaped scales of varying shades of gray. There appeared to be humps at odd intervals up and down his back as if he had been the unfortunate victim of an almost terminal case of rickets as a youngster. He had two forelimbs that were mere stubs of arms with grotesque hands having very short claws. His body was covered with short lengths of what looked like growths that were intended to be tentacles, but never made it.

He had 20 pairs of legs and feet of different lengths, such that it looked like it was impossible to walk properly on them. His face was scary, not because it was fierce, but because it was so ugly. His muzzle was too short to be that of a proper dragon, and it looked more like a human skull than much of anything else. Lord Drago looked so pitiable that Jack and Sue would have felt sorry for him if he had not been so evil.

Lord Drago gathered his malevolence into a ball of hate and launched it at Sue and Jack. Jack did not wait for Sue to concoct a defense, but jumped in front of her to intercept the magic ball with his own body. Sue simply could not react fast enough to do anything useful, so the ball of evil magic struck Jack dead center on his chest. There was a bright flash of light, and Jack fell to the floor in a kind of daze.

Jack sat up and looked around to see what had happened. All three of the participants fully expected Jack to be dead, and none could figure out why he wasn't. After a moment, Jack felt something very warm in his pocket. It had taken time for the heat to work its way through his protective clothing. Jack was wearing his combat gloves, so he did not hesitate to reach into his pocket and pull out the thing that had gotten so hot.

All three were stunned to see that it was the charm that Jack had taken from the soldier the day before and forgotten that he still had in his pocket. Lord Drago, himself, had fashioned the spell to resist magical forces using his most powerful spells and incantations. The charm was especially tuned to Lord Drago's magic, so it was particularly effective in blocking Lord Drago's offensive magic.

Drago let out a scream of frustration and fury and disappeared. He had transported himself to places unknown.

Sue helped Jack to his feet and said, "Jack, for God's sake, how did you know that charm would block Drago's magic blast?"

"I didn't know, but you can damned well bet that I will always keep it with me from now on. The thing that we need desperately to do now is to find one for you to keep."

"That's true, but I think that I am mad at you for risking your life the way you did. Nevertheless, Darling, I appreciate the gesture. Thank you so very much!"

"Honey, I couldn't let him kill you. You mean too much to me. Now, what is the easiest way for us to escape this two-bit trap?"

"I think that the easiest way is for me to transport us back to the main floor of the palace so that we can see what is going on."

They transported to the main floor in front of the throne room. The palace was a madhouse. People were running back and forth as if they had no idea what to do. Jack grabbed a passing page and asked, "What has happened? Why does this place look like a disturbed ant hill?"

"Lord Drago has fled the palace, and we don't know who is in charge. We are trying to find someone to tell us what to do."

Sue said, "Hat, is this a good time for us to announce ourselves and to take over?"

It most certainly is. You could not find a better time. You will have to watch out for the real evil doers and get rid of them. Most of the staff is just that: hired employees who had nothing to do with the evil that permeated this place. Guards and the chamberlain's staff are the bad guys you need to lock up, the rest you can keep on to serve you.

"Thank you, Hat. You, Page, this man is Lord Argo and I am Lady Ulna, the rightful rulers of Isbardia. We are taking over as of right now. Please tell everybody to assemble in the throne room and we will straighten out this mess."

"Oh, Lady Ulna, I am so glad to see you. I will get right on it. Do you want me to have other pages relay the order?"

"Yes, that is an excellent idea. We want to see everybody, from the kitchen staff on up. Please go get started."

Jack said, "Sue, you need to cast a spell right now to freeze the guards and Chamberlain's staff in place until we can take care of them. Let's go into the throne room and get out of this madhouse."

The throne room was massive. It was at least 100 yards wide and 300 yards long. Magically endowed, the room was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. It could grow even bigger if necessary, but that was rarely needed. There was a dais at one end of the room and a throne rested on it. The seat was made of marble and looked to be impossibly uncomfortable. After Sue had cast the spell on the bad guys, Jack asked her to use her magic to get rid of this throne and bring in two overstuffed recliners for them us use as thrones. Sue thought that was an excellent idea, and she got right on it.

The old throne vanished in a puff of smoke and two recliners appeared. They were top of the line with no amenity left out. The chairs were covered in leather, one in red for Jack and the other in sky blue for Sue. They took their seats and Sue conjured up iced tea and popcorn for them to munch on while they waited for the staff to assemble.

Sue suddenly sat up and said, "We need appropriate clothes. We just don't look like the rulers of a prosperous country in the clothes we are now wearing. I'll cast a spell which will not actually change the clothes we are wearing, because I know that you don't want to give up that special armor. It will just look to everybody else like we are dressed in the height of fashion. How does that strike you?"

"Sounds good to me. We do want to make a good impression. Do whatever you think is appropriate." A moment later, they appeared to be dressed as the rulers of Isbardia should dress.

Jack said, "Before we forget, we need to get you one of those protection charms. I think that all we need to do is have a page pull one from the nearest guard and bring it to you. Can you send a mental message ordering one to do that?"

Sue nodded and a few minutes later, a page came in and bowed. He said to Sue, "Your Majesty, is this what you commanded me to fetch for you?"

Sue looked at it and nodded. "Thank you, Earnest. I appreciate the fast service."

"Any time, Your Majesty. Your wish is my command." Earnest was sent to join the staff that was beginning to accumulate in the room. Sue and Jack talked about inconsequentials while they waited for everybody to get the word. Sue conjured up iced tea and popcorn for the people to munch on while they were waiting.