The Attack of Ganhai Mountain by Jason Richard (fox in socks read aloud txt) 📕

She still had a few wrinkles, but otherwise she was as young as ever. Good. She's be strong enough to throttle Maelin the next time she saw him. She wandered about the dungeons, looking at the imprisoned soldiers. She was searching to see if Leevan had been captured. She would probably only have time to free one person, and if he was there, it would have to be him.
Good thing she was invisible. All of these guards were annoying. She missed being able to look her enemy in the eye and watch them cower in fear. She was rather proud of that spell.
She never found Leevan, but she heard electricity go off in the distance. A crackle and blue light in the distance signaled it. Someone had tried to escape. She ran to the spot and found an empty cell. He looked around and saw, on a nail sticking out of the wall, a yellow piece of cloth. She knew that cloth.
Maelin had escaped. The question was this...was he going to help them, or hurt them again?

Chapter Twenty Five
A New Strategy

Jaxia wandered about the corridors, invisible, and stumbled into a room dodging a large squad of slefah, ogres, and cyclopses. When she closed the door behind her she found herself in a bedroom, and besides everything in the room being decorated with spikes and most of the furniture being metal it was all rather ornately designed. Perhaps this was where Hurvun himself slept.
She wandered over next to a full length mirror, which was odd being there as sorcerers didn't have a reputation for vanity. Witches did. A strange oddity that no one had ever explained, of course Hurvun might have been an exception.
Jaxia was about to move past it when the reflection changed. Her image faded away, replaced by a large image of Kemra's face. Jaxia looked at her surprised.
"Kemra?" she said curiously. "A scrying spell? What"
"Jaxia," said Kemra. "I'm glad you're here. We need your help. Leevan has an idea to beat Hurvun."
"Another one?" said Jaxia. "We've had a lot of those, and none of them seem to have worked. Still, I suppose it's worth a try, whatever it is."
"Alright. We need mirrors."
"That's it?"
"That's our part at least. Leevan will go after Hurvun himself."
Jaxia looked at her in disbelief. "What it in the world is he planning to do?"

Hurvun stood with Normir chained to the wall next to him, his golden cloak shimmering against the light from the window. Behind him was the spell everyone was looking for, a metal statue of a cyclops in armor, standing on a podium covered with symbols. This spell made the cyclopses believe that the other races were after their metal craft.
He turned to Normir and said, "Your friends are certainly taking their time."
"What friends?" asked Normir.
"Don't play that with me. With that invisibility spell there are bound to be some that slipped away. No matter." He looked back towards the entrance. "I have a few surprises for them when they get here."
Normir looked nervous, "What are you going to do?"
Hurvun grinned. "Do? My dear young cyclops. I've already done it."
Normir didn't understand, but he didn't have time to question him. The door to the room opened and Leevan stepped in, visible. He was wearing his ugly battle armor provided by Normir and carried a sword at his side. He looked straight and at Hurvun and said, "Do you know who I am?"
"I haven't a clue," said the cyclops sorcerer.
"Well, you're about to find out. I am the least desired magician in the order of the sun. A pauper compared to you. And you know what? I am the one who will be your downfall."

Chapter Twenty Six
The Staredown

Jaxia moved through the corridors. She needed a mirror. A big mirror. For what, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that Leevan needed it for a scrying spell, which she knew was really a useless spell causing two mirrors to exchange reflections. What she didn't know is how Leevan had made sound come from these mirrors, nor did she have any idea what he was up to. Whatever it was she just hoped it worked.
"Good luck Leevan," she said as she searched. "You'll need it."

Leevan looked Hurvun in the eye. Hurvun grinned at him evilly, shimmering in his golden robes. Leevan glanced at Normir, chained to the wall. Normir was nervous, very nervous.
"Are you alright Normir?" said Leevan.
"I'm fine," he said.
"Not so fine as you might think," said Hurvun.
Leevan didn't like the look in his eye at that moment. He stalled, "So, here we are."
"Here we are," said Hurvun. "And you've already lost."
That wasn't true. Leevan figured he had two options from this point. He could either free Normir somehow and get him to touch the statue, or he could get Hurvun to touch the statue. As it was, Leevan had let Kemra in, invisible, and she was slowly making her way over to Normir to free him.
"We haven't lost," said Leevan. "Not yet."
"Oh?" said Hurvun. "Then you still plan on using this young cyclops to break the spell? You should know that I've cast a spell on him. He doesn't remember it, but the spell I've cast will kill him within a year. If he touches that statue, it will pass to his people much like your friends spell did. Break the spell, and you will kill and entire race of people."
Leevan gritted his teeth. What a low trick! Normir looked absolutely devastated. Leevan felt so sorry for his friend.
"You must realize boy," said Hurvun. "I am too powerful for you. And I'm smarter too. Soon I will rule the world, and you will left in the dust. You think you are a pauper magician now? Just wait. In my order you will be left in the dust as I rise to supremacy!"
"You sure do like to talk about yourself don't you?" said Leevan. "Is it just the sound of your own voice or do you need to reassure yourself that this stuff is true? General Hevman was right. That dark magic has scrambled your senses."
"It has not! It has made me more powerful than ever! And with a power that has thwarted your plan!"
"Maybe so," said Leevan. "But that's only our first plan. We have many more. Even a second."
He hoped Kemra got the message, and was pleased to see her blue dust gathering. Once it put Hurvun into a trance then Hurvun himself could destroy the spell with a bolt of lightning.
"I don't care how many plans you have," said Hurvun. "None of them will work. Not even trying to put me into a trance."
Hurvun turned around and shot a bolt of lightning! It flashed against the wall and Kemra, invisible, screamed! At least she hadn't been hit, but the blue dust was dispersing, and Leevan needed to direct Hurvun's attention away from her. He put on his invisibility spell and drew his sword.
The sound attracted Hurvun and he blasted the wall again as Leevan moved left! Hurvun couldn't miss any visible target, but while invisible they had the advantage. Leevan had an idea. As Hurvun scanned the area for invisible assailants, Leevan crept behind the statue and shouted, "Hurvun!"
Hurvun shot a bolt of lightning as Leevan leapt out of the way! The bolt went around the statue and hit the wall. Hurvun could avoid targets too!
Now what? Leevan thought. He could make the statue invisible, but he had only one sun amulet. He would become visible. The statue might be destroyed, but he would go with it soon after!
As Hurvun scanned, Kemra remained hidden, and Normir wept while chained to the wall, Leevan asked himself in a whisper, "What do I do?!"

Chapter Twenty Seven
Unexpected Help

"I know you're still here boy!" Hurvun said loudly. "I'll find you eventually!"
He shot lightning from his eye at a random wall, just a few feet away from Leevan. If Hurvun kept doing that, it was only a matter of time before Leevan was hit. Leevan considered sneaking up behind him, still invisible, and taking him out quickly.
Then he saw Normir, chained to the wall, crying.
He couldn't give up on Normir now. Besides, if Hurvun died now the truth would die with him, and the cyclops would forever believe that the other races were after their metal craft. The war would still rage on. The only way to end it was for the cyclopses to hear the truth from Hurvun's own mouth. He had to take out that statue.
Kemra knew what to do. Leevan would put his invisibility spell on the statue, Hurvun would strike it accidentally, and the spell would be broken. He just hoped the statue was ugly enough. He thought so, but as the invisibility was a new spell he couldn't be sure. The metal cyclops statue wasn't nearly as ugly as, say, Leevan's armor, but it was the best shot he had.
Hurvun shot a few more lightning blasts at the walls, leaving scorch marks all over the place, but he couldn't find Leevan, who crept stealthily towards the statue. Leevan was nearly hit a few times, but he made it. This was it. Once he put the spell onto the statue he himself would be visible, and vulnerable, whatever else happened. He was about to remove it when someone whispered into his ear
"Don't do that," said Maelin.
"What"
"You should get out of the way," he heard.
He saw Maelin appear out of nowhere, putting his sun amulet from his neck to the statue and
"Uh oh," said Leevan. Diving out of the way.
"Hurvun," said Maelin as the statue disappeared.
Hurvun whipped around, blasting at Maelin! Who ducked as the statue was struck by lightning! It soared over Maelin's head, crashing into the wall behind him! Maelin stood defiantly, and Hurvun looked at him dumbfounded.
"You?!" said Hurvun.
"Yes," said Maelin, who still had his single cyclops eye. "Me, and you've just broken your own spell for me."
"You did it," murmured Normir in his weeping. "You actually did it."
As much as Leevan didn't like Maelin, he had to admit to himself. He was impressed. Still, there was one more thing that needed to be done before they could call this a victory.
They needed Hurvun himself to tell the cyclopses the truth. He was dumbfounded now, but he would snap out of it soon. If Leevan was going to do this, he needed to work fast.
For all of their sakes.

Chapter Twenty Eight
The Truth

Maelin stood defiantly against Hurvun. It seemed as if two cyclopses were staring each other down with their one eye each, but of course Maelin only looked like one. Hurvun went from surprised to angry. Very, very angry.
"How did you escape my prison?" Hurvun demanded.
"Well," said Maelin. "I saw someone else try to escape and get burned to a crisp by lightning from the bars of the cell, and I