Chapter 4The atmosphere in the Royal Dungeons was as lugubrious as could be expected of such a place. Many were the stories that ran throughout Norghana of what this place had witnessed. All of them were horrendous tales about nobles, traitors, and beggars who had entered the place to never come out again. The poor wretches who had suffered the ill fate of ending up there died screaming in the cells with rock walls, windowless, cold, and damp. Their screams did not even reach the upper levels. It was as if the dungeons had been built for that purpose, to drown out the prisoners’ cries of despair.It was a place with an atrocious reputation in the kingdom. Just the mention of it made people cringe. It was said that illustrious people had vanished in there, from nobles to princes and even kings, both Norghanian and foreign. A lot of the talk was exaggerated, but part of it was true. The soldiers and executioners who had served in the dungeons had let their tongues run on more than one

Chapter 6Lasgol went over to the Royal Stables. His heart was divided. On the one hand he was feeling sad, and on the other he was feeling happy. A stable boy with platinum-blond hair and skin as white as milk came to greet him as soon as he saw Lasgol approach.“Needing a horse, sir?” he asked, willing to help. “No, thanks, not today.”“Can I do anything else for you?” the boy offered, seeing that Lasgol was entering the stables anyway.“Yes, I have a horse being cared for here, a pony…” “I’ll come with you.”“Thank you,” Lasgol smiled at the boy, grateful for his good cheer.“Of course, sir. Follow me, please.”The boy led him to a small enclosure behind the great sheds. There were several horses and ponies resting there. They all looked healthy; they were well fed, rested, and groomed, their coats shining from a recent brushing. They had hay and fresh grass and were all quiet and content.With pain in his heart, Lasgol had come here to say goodbye to his faithful friend and partne

Chapter 8      They followed the Magi for a while longer until they arrived at the center of the forest and stopped. The place was unmistakable since there was a tall block of ice—a long square, a frozen monolith. It was surrounded by the mist. For some strange reason the mist did not cover it but seemed to emanate from it, falling off its frozen body and then dispersing around it.Funny, that block of ice is very peculiar. Magic come from block.That’s even more interesting. Then it’s no sorcerer, mage, or anyone similar who’s causing the mist.Live in forest.That sounds very complicated to me. Complicated, yes. Possible, yes.Hmmm, it might be, indeed. We’ve already had one similar experience.Yes. Dragon Orb in ice.Lasgol nodded.But that’s not Drakonian magic, is it? Not be.Well, that puts me at ease. The last thing we need is

Chapter 10      Lasgol was saying goodbye to his comrades at the Tower of the Rangers with a broken heart. He knew he had to continue the search for Dergha-Sho-Blaska, that it was imperative to destroy the great Immortal Dragon before he attacked and demolished Norghana. But he felt bad having to leave his friends, especially Astrid, the woman he loved so much. It was going to be difficult, but the life of a Ranger was hard and required sacrifice. They all knew that and accepted it.He had been away from his friends on several occasions now, and he was used to it. But this time, he had the strange feeling that he was not going to see them for a long time. He did not know why he felt this way, but he did. He was only going to follow a lead and see where it took him. But he had the feeling that the journey would be long and difficult, and thinking about it made his stomach turn, and that was never a good si

Chapter 12      Lasgol sat with his face to the morning breeze and started working on repairing his inner bridge, as he did every morning he could. He always felt better when he was able to follow an evening of magical training with a morning of bridge repair. It gave him a feeling of well-being, of doing what he should, and that with work he would earn the reward someday. When because of external reasons he could not do one or even both practices, he felt bad. He knew it was the law of life, the life of the Path of the Ranger, but even so, he felt he was not doing what he should.Camu and Ona were watching the surroundings of the hollow. They were both aware of what Lasgol was doing, and they let him be so he could concentrate and work in peace. Since Lasgol had to concentrate hard, with his eyes shut, he was very vulnerable to possible attacks, so the two of them looked after him. There was nothing wors