Chapter 6 Chapter 5 The Test of Willpower

Cadderly and Shailene sprinted at the stunned dwarf, but Danica ran back to the ledge, grabbed Cadderly, turned him around, and kissed him hard, pressing her lips to his.She stepped back abruptly, her face full of admiration, admiration—and ecstasy. Her breathing was a flurry of excited gasps; her eyes darted wildly around, looking at the air beyond the rock, at her own enchanted feet, and at the man who had saved her life. "I want to do it again!" she blurted out, jumbled words, as if she couldn't help but have to say them. Cadderly seemed dazed until he realized that his lover had just walked on air—that must have been an extremely miraculous experience!He stared at Danica for a long moment.Then, remembering Ivan's condition, he looked at Pikel - who was happily munching on his roast leg of lamb again (Ivan was not badly hurt, obviously) - and then at the stone that made Ivan, Guy Mi-ra's wild ride ends abruptly on the rocks.All these absurd things happened in a desperate plan, and the success of this plan could even determine the life and death of all the nations in this area.

Danica's shining, admiring brown eyes told Cadderly something more.He is coming to the forefront of the whole thing, inevitably becoming the leader of this defending battle.He had seized that responsibility—when he had forced Headmaster Thobicus into submission, there was no turning back—but now, as the true weight of that responsibility became clearer and clearer, he began to worry. In the past, Cadderly had relied on his powerful friends.He pointed out the direction, and they would use stealth and force to make the plan go smoothly.Now, judging by the look in Danica's eyes, Cadderly's burden was heavier.His growing ability to cast spells has become the main weapon of the group.

Cadderly will not shy away from his new role, he will fight with all his heart.But he wondered if he could live up to the expectations of his friends, if he could keep Danica's eyes so bright. For this burdened young priest, these were more than he could handle.What started as an embarrassed chuckle turned into a laugh that bordered on hysteria as Cadderly sat on the edge of the rock. Cadderly came to his senses as he saw Vander standing up again, approaching him.Although Vander's horrific wounds were beginning to heal, the giant's face showed pain—and that Vander found nothing funny about their situation.

"I told you we were going too high," said the Fubo giant in a low, determined voice. Cadderly thought for a moment, then began to explain to the giant that while the strange, moving yeti might be native to the area, the Gamera and the other winged monster—the mutant Manticore—were It must have been caused by magic, not some alien creature on this cold and desolate mountain.Cadderly didn't finish his explanation, though, for he suddenly realized what his thoughts meant. Magic monster? I'm so stupid!Cadderly thought, and then only gave Vander and his friends a brief, vague look.The young priest closed his eyes and explored the area with his mind to find out the magical eyes of the magician for scouting—because someone must have led those two monsters here!He sensed it almost immediately, sensed a directional magical energy, no doubt the exploration of a scrying magician—and immediately released a counterattack line to disperse it.Cadderly then erected magical defenses, casting a barrier around himself and his friends that distant, searching eyes could not easily penetrate.

"What happened?" Danica demanded when he finally opened those gray eyes again. Cadderly shook his head, then looked at Vander. "Find a sheltered place where we can camp and heal our wounds," he instructed the Fubo giant.Danica still stared at him, waiting for an explanation, but the young priest just shook his head at her again, feeling foolish for not protecting everyone from the prying wizards earlier in the journey. Again Cadderly wondered if he would disappoint those who had come to trust him. ※※※ Gamera and the Manticore are Aballister's property, his children.The mighty sorcerer spelled them into existence, nourishing them into powerful mature bodies.As they crashed into the mountains, Aballister felt something was lost, as if a part of his own life had been taken from him.He had left the private quarters so abruptly that he didn't even bother to close the spellbook or take any precautions against intruders.The old wizard strode down the hallway to Dorigen's room, pounding on the door, breaking the woman's concentration.

"Find them!" Aballister yelled as soon as Dorigen opened the door, pushing the door open and entering. "What news do you have?" she asked. "Find them!" Aballister ordered again.He turned sharply, grabbed Dorigen's hand, and dragged her to a seat in front of the crystal ball. Dorigen shook her hand out of Aballister's grasp and eyed him dangerously. "Find them!" the older magician yelled at her for the third time, not budging from her menacing glare. Dorigen recognized the eagerness on Aballister's thin face, and knew he wouldn't normally barge in like this, treat her with such disrespect, unless he was terribly afraid of arousal.She uncovered the crystal ball and gazed at it for a long moment, focused on reconnecting with Cadderly.After a while, there was nothing in the crystal ball except for the swirling gray mist.Dorigen applied pressure, ordering the mist to form an image.

The crystal ball turned black. Dorigen watched Aballister helplessly as the older magician pushed her aside and took her place.He hit the crystal ball with all his magic power, and threw his powerful willpower towards the black barrier.Someone put up a defense against scrying magic.Aballister roared to increase the magic power invested, almost piercing the black screen.That defensive force let him know without a doubt who it was that set it up. "No!" growled Aballister, attacking the barrier again, determined to force his way through the defenses. The crystal ball remained motionless.

"Damn him!" cried Aballister, knocking the crystal ball off its pedestal with one slap.Dorigen catches the solid ball as it rolls off the edge of the table.She saw Aballister's face wrinkle, although the magician stubbornly didn't grab his swollen hand. "Your son is difficult..." Dorigen began, but Aballister cut her off with an animal growl.He jumped up from his seat, sending the stool bullets flying. "My son is a troublesome worm," Aballister sneered, thinking of the many ways that Cadderly and his group of friends could pay for the deaths of Gamera and Manticore. "The next surprise I give him will be the ultimate display of my own strength."

A shiver ran down Dorigen's spine.She had never heard Aballister so determined.A student of Aballister, she had seen the older man perform many powerful spells—and knew that was only part of his power. "Find them!" Aballister growled again, hissing sharply, and then, with the closest edge to uncontrolled rage Dorigen had ever seen, he swept out of the room and slammed the door shut. Dorigen nodded, as if she really wanted to give it a try, and once she was sure that Aballister would not return immediately, put the crystal ball back on its pedestal and covered it with a cloth.Cadderly had counter-magiced, and the scrying device would have been useless for at least a day, and Dorigen knew that.In fact, she didn't expect to succeed the next day either, because Cadderly was clearly aware of her secret spying operation now, and it was impossible to let his guard down again.

Dorigen looked at the closed door and thought again that Aballister did not understand his son's power.And his sympathy, she knew that as she shook two still recovering hands, and she thought: it was only because of Cadderly's kindness that she was still alive and well. But Cadderly did not understand his father's power either.Dorigen was glad it was Druzil, and not her, who had been sent near the young priest, because the next time Aballister attacked Cadderly, it seemed to Dorigen that even the mountains would be killed. razed. ※※※ When Danica awoke, the light from the campfire had dimmed, barely illuminating the shape of the area closest to the fire in the large cavern they had found.She heard the reassuring snores of the dwarves—Ivan's low snort matched Pikel's shriek—and could feel Shaylin sleeping soundly near the wall behind her.

Even Vander was asleep, leaning against a rock on the other side of the small fire.The night was dark and peaceful, the snow had stopped, and although the wind was milder, it continued to whisper softly through the wide mouth of the cave.On the surface, the camp seemed peaceful by any measure, but the monk's keen instincts told her something was amiss. She stood up on her elbows and looked around.Another fire appeared in the cave, far away at the other end, and partly hidden by Cadderly who sat there.Cadderly?Danica looked towards the entrance of the wide cavern, where the young priest was supposed to be standing, guarding it. She heard a slight click, followed by a soft chant.Danica slipped quietly out of the bunk, gliding across the stone floor. Cadderly sat cross-legged in front of a lighted candle, a parchment spread out beside him, its corners fastened with small stones.Next to it lay the young priest's writing implement case, and the holy book of the god Denir, the Book of Universal Harmony, both items open.Danica crept closer, heard Cadderly chanting under his breath, and saw the young priest sprinkle some ivory paddles on the ground in front of him. He wrote something on the parchment, then tossed a fresh feather into the air ahead, watched it spin and land on the stone, and noted its direction.Danica had spent enough time with the priest to know that her lover was working on some kind of divination spell. Danica nearly jumped up and yelled when she felt a hand on her back, but her reaction was enough for her to stop and recognize Xuelin coming to her side.The elf looked at Cadderly curiously, and then Danica, who just shook her head and spread her hands. Cadderly read something from a book, then rummaged in the bag and produced a small mirror trimmed with gold, and a pair of asymmetrical gloves, one black and one white. Danica's mouth fell open.Cadderly was actually carrying a weapon. It was a three-piece evil prop brought by the killer. At the same time, it was also a powerful weapon that Headmaster Thobicus insisted on handing over for inspection! Danica's mind was filled with countless questions about the importance of the weapon.From what she saw, and what Cadderly told her, it was a prop to occupy the body—Cadderly's odd behavior, his hysterical laughing in The Rocks, and his insistence that everyone stay in the Is the dangerous high place on the mountain related to Qilufu?Was Cadderly himself fighting some kind of possession, something evil that clouded his judgment and led us all astray? Xuelin put a hand on Danica's back again and looked at the monk worriedly, but a movement nearby caught their attention. It took only three strides for Vander to cross the cavern, grab the back of Cadderly's jacket, and lift the young priest off the ground. "What the hell are you doing?" the Fubo giant demanded loudly. "You're staying in the cave and guarding...?" The next words caught in Vander's throat, and the blood faded from his rosy face.Before him lay the capuchin, the wicked instrument that bound him, and kept him in slavery for many miserable years. Danica and Xuelin rushed toward them, Danica fearing that Vander might, in surprise and horror, throw Cadderly across the cavern. "What the hell are you doing?" Danica agreed to Vander's questioning, but as she spoke, she stepped in front of the Fubo giant, strategically placed her thumb on a pressure point on Vander's forearm, and silently forced the giant to relax. open master. Frowning, Cadderly straightened his tunic and walked over to gather his belongings.At first, he seemed embarrassed, but then, when he looked back at Danica's determined stare, he resolutely let his gray eyes look hard. "You shouldn't have brought that," Danica told him. Cadderly didn't answer right away, though his mind screamed that the warlocks were the main reason they were there. The other three exchanged worried looks. "We're here for the Wall of Trinity," Danica argued. "That's just one of the reasons," Cadderly replied with reservations.He wasn't sure if he should tell them the truth, not sure that he really wanted to force them to go with him to that horrible place where he could destroy Qilufu. Danica felt Vander's muscles tense, and she leaned back even tighter on the Volbol, preventing him from jumping out and choking the young priest. "Have you always kept such an important secret from your fellow travelers?" Xuelin asked. "Still, do you think trust is not an essential element of every adventuring party?" "I'll tell you!" Cadderly snapped at her. "When will it be?" Danica snarled at him from the other side.He looked back and forth between the two, and Vander's angry expression seemed to be about to lose control. "Are you being controlled by a weapon?" Danica asked bluntly. "No!" Cade retorted immediately. "Though it tried. You can't imagine the depths of evil in this thing." Clearing his throat, Vander made a point of reminding him that the Fubo giant had been ravaged by it long before Cadderly knew of its existence. "Then what's the use of doing that?" Xuelin exclaimed angrily. Cadderly bit his lower lip, his eyes wandering.He guessed that his companions would not agree with the order of priorities he had drawn up, and would still consider Walled Trinity their top priority.Doubts about his fitness to be at the forefront now attacked the young priest again.He told himself that he at least owed his friends an explanation. But it was just self-rationalization, Cadderly understood.He wanted to tell his friends, wanted them to stand by his side on this most dangerous mission together. "We came out to find the Trinity Wall," he explained, his conscience aching with every word. "But that's only part of the purpose. I've done a lot of research, and I've found that there are a few—very few—ways that can actually destroy the Kiruvo." "Can't this wait?" Danica asked. "No!" Cadderly retorted angrily.Faced with this sudden explosive tone, the three suspicious companions exchanged worried glances again, and Danica actually growled when she looked at the scales. "If I had left the treasure in the library, the extent of the disaster we would find when we went back is simply unimaginable," Cadderly explained, his voice steady again. "And if we take it all the way to Wall Trinity, the enemy might find a way to use it against us." He looked down at the set of implements too, his face flushed with fear. "But it won't be that dangerous," insisted the young priest. "There's a way to end the threat of Knockout forever. That's why we're going up the trail so high," he explained, looking straight at Vander. "There is a peak not far from here, and there is a certain legend in this area." "Falentenema?" Danica blurted out, and Xuelin recognized the terrible name and subconsciously gasped. "This peak is called 'Nightblade,'" Cadderly continued, not flinching. "Decades ago, it was said to burn in the night with an internal fire, a fiery flame visible from Kaladon and all the Glorious Plains." "A volcano," Vander reasoned, remembering his rugged homeland, sandwiched among the many peaks spewing lava. "A dragon," Danica corrected. "An old red dragon, so it is said in the legend." "Based on legends that are at least two centuries old, it's even older," Xuelin added gravely. "And it's not just a legend," she assured them. "Galandale, the former king of the Simista forest, still remembers the era when dragons existed, and also remembers the great disaster that the dragon once brought to Caladon and the forest." "This bloody stupid kid trying to wake up a dragon?" Ivan snarled, rushing forward like a storm, joining the circle around Cadderly.In the course of the secret discussions, no one had noticed that the rhythmic snoring of the dwarves had ceased. "Ooooh," Pikel said to Cadderly, wagging a finger back and forth in front of his face. "Do you want the weapon destroyed?" Cadderly asked directly, directing the thought to Vander, the ally he believed most likely to stand by his side against the growing wave of protest. The Fubao giant seems to be struggling very much. "What's the price?" Danica asked before Vander could clear her thoughts. "The dragon has been asleep for centuries—centuries of peace. When it wakes, how many more lives will it have to sacrifice to satisfy its hunger?" "Leave a sleeping dragon lying around, my old man always said that," Ivan interjected. "Yeah," Pikel added, nodding eagerly. Cadderly sighed resignedly, picked up the weapon and put it in the backpack, then slung the backpack over one shoulder. "I was directed to destroy Qilufu," he said, his voice resigned. "There is only one way." "Then you'll have to wait," Danica replied. "Threats to life and property throughout the place..." "A temporary danger in a temporary society," Cadderly concluded philosophically. "But Qilufu is not temporary. It has been endangering the world since it was created thousands of years ago in the lower planes." "I will not force you to accept my ideas." Cadderly continued calmly, "I am guided by the teachings of a god, but this god is not one you believe in. Go ahead and discuss for yourselves, and decide together or individually .It's my journey, and it's yours—only if you make your own choices. And you're right," he said to Xuelin, seemingly genuinely sorry. "I was wrong for not telling you guys this as soon as I left the library. It was...difficult." He looked at Danica as he finished, knowing she was the only one who understood what he was trying to do. "Persuading" the various experiences of Dean Thobicus. The others walked slowly across the cavern, each looking back at Cadderly several times. "The kid is crazy," Ivan insisted, loud enough for Cadderly to hear. "He just followed his heart," Danica replied quietly. "I don't doubt Cadderly's sincerity either," Xuelin added. "What I question is the wisdom of what he's doing." Pikel continued to nod his eager agreement. "To wake a dragon," Vander said grimly, shaking his head. "Red ones," Danica added deliberately, because red dragons were the most vicious, and the most powerful of all dragons. "It's probably an antique red dragon now." Pikel continued to nod, and Ivan swung his palm at the back of his head. "Oh," said the green-bearded dwarf, glaring at his brother. "Can't wake the dragon," Ivan interjected, again loud enough for Cadderly to hear. "There's one more thing I worry about," Danica said. "Is Cadderly rightly being led by his god, or is he being wrongly led by the captor to where he can find helpful help?" Shocked by the thought, Xuelin and Vander heaved a deep sigh, while Pikel and Ivan let out a long drawn-out "ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh" together.Ivan then apparently realized that he had done the same thing as Pikel, and turned his head to eye his brother suspiciously. "What should we do?" Xuelin asked. They stood speechless for a while, until Danica made a decisive decision. "The threat today is Walled Trinity," she asserted. "But we're not going to go together with weapons," Vander insisted, keeping his giant voice low. "We can bury it here, deep in the mountains, and come back to get it after we finish other things." "Cadderly won't agree," Sherin reasoned, looking at the resolute young priest. "Then we won't ask him," Ivan replied, with a sly wink.He looked at Danica and nodded, and Danica nodded back after taking a painful look at the man she loved.She walked toward Cadderly alone, and Ivan reckoned that the young man would soon be in his pocket. "You're not going to Everglade together," he stated instead of asking a question, as Danica approached Cadderly. Danica said nothing.Subconsciously, she clenched and loosened a fist hanging by her side - Cadderly didn't miss this movement. "The weapon is the most important thing," said the young priest. Danica still didn't answer.But Cadderly read her mind and saw that she was struggling to carry out a decided action that smacked of betrayal.As Danica moved closer to him, he began to sing softly.Suddenly her actions became urgent; she tried to grab him, only to find that he had become something insubstantial. "Come help me!" Danica yelled to her friends, and they rushed, Ivan and Pikel lunging for Cadderly's leg.The two dwarves bumped their heads together, wrestled and rolled, and it took them several seconds to realize that they had only caught each other. For Cadderly's body had quickly faded away, dissipated in the wind.

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