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

whose mind is addled by dark magic...I must be pretty stupid."
He watched as soldiers were moved a little as Kemra went past them, invisible.
"Watch your mouth general," said Hurvun. "The dark magic has not 'addled my mind.' Remember, it is my dark magic that let me win the day."
"Dark magic? Or my own magicians stupidity. I know that spell your cyclopses used came from his wand. Here you are taking credit for this victory when it was all luck."
"Enough!" cried the sorcerer. "Do you surrender or not?"
He saw a tapestry move behind the cyclops army. Kemra had made it past them.
"I do," he replied.
Hurvun grinned, "Good."
Leevan and Normir, still invisible, kept watching, looking on in horror.
"Now what?" said Normir.
"We find the spell," said Leevan. "We can still turn this around."
"How are we going to do that?" said Normir, despair in his voice. "We don't even know where the spell is."
"Maelin," said Leevan. "The general is right. he did do something, and whatever it did affected the cyclopses...except you. He must have tried to break the spell himself. We find him, we find the spell."
"Fine," said Normir unenthusiastically. They left as Hurvun's forces rounded up the humans, and as Kemra wandered the halls, also invisible. Things had taken a turn for the worse, and even Leevan wondered how they would get out of this.

Chapter Twenty One
Yet Another New Plan

Leevan and Normir searched, but they couldn't find the spell. It was hard enough when they had to avoid slefah, ogres, and other cyclops, even while invisible, but to do that while searching for something? It wasn't easy. Besides, Leevan had to come to a conclusion.
"The spell is hidden," said Leevan. "Hurvun must have concealed it somehow."
"Leevan" began Normir.
"I hate to admit it," said Leevan. "I really do...but I think we need to find Maelin. He must have found the spell somehow. His eye enchantment could easily let him"
"Leevan," said Normir. "I'm going to reveal myself."
They stopped. Leevan looked, but of course they were both still invisible. He shook his head and spoke, "What do you mean?"
"I'm going to tell the cyclopses the truth," said Normir. "That Hurvun has cast a spell to make them think other nations want their metal craft."
"Normir, they won't believe you."
"I have to try. Finding the spell isn't working."
"It won't if we give up!" Leevan was shocked.
"You won't. You find it. I have to do this."
"Normir, I need you to break the spell!"
"Leevan, if there's one thing I've learned about you it's that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. You'll find a way...I know it. If anything this will give you a good distraction to get to the spell. But Leevan, I have to do this. My people cannot stay in the dark forever."
Leevan imagined Normir's face turning from despair to smiling when he said that. He had no idea what Normir really looked like at that moment, all he knew was that Normir's hand, which had been on Leevan's shoulder, suddenly went away. Leevan reached around for his invisible friend, but Normir was gone.
"Normir?" Leevan called to no answer. "Normir?!"
He couldn't shout too loud. He would be discovered. He stood there, invisible, trying to decide what to do. There was nothing for it. He would have to find Maelin and break the spell himself. Normir was the only way to break the spell without magic, but Leevan had magic. It would have to be enough to do this.
But, as Leevan went in search of Maelin, he honestly wasn't sure that it was.

Chapter Twenty Two
An Unpleasant Rescue

Unlike Hurvun's spell, the dungeons weren't hard to find, but then again that was probably the point. Leevan descended the stone stairs to get there, occasionally watching out for guards. It was cold and it smelled.
It was a dungeon alright, and he couldn't believe he was going to it intentionally.
There were cyclops guards standing at the entrance but, being invisible, Leevan slipped past them without much trouble. He wandered the surprisingly long corridors, searching through prison cells for Maelin. A few cyclopses patrolled them, but they never saw him. Many human soldiers and magicians had already been brought here, locked away in these dungeons. General Hevman didn't seem to be among them.
They were probably interrogating him, which wasn't a pleasant thought.
Finally Leevan found Maelin in his torn and tattered yellow robes. He was in his cell facing the wall. Leevan looked around to make sure there were no guards near, and he started whispering.
"Psst! Maelin!" he whispered.
For a second Maelin didn't move, and then he slowly turned around. Leevan looked on in horror when he saw Maelin's single eye, as if he were a cyclops. Of course, Leevan knew he wasn't.
"Maelin?" he whispered, astonished. "What did you do?"
"I tried to end the spell," he said miserably. "And I made it worse. I guess I'm not the great magician I thought I was."
Maelin wandered over and sat down on his dusty looking bed. Leevan didn't envy him that bed.
"Well come on," said Leevan. "You have a chance to end it again."
"You do it."
"I intend to...but you're the only one who can find it. I need your eye enchantment to see where it the spell is hidden."
"Then use it. Order of the sun. We share magic...remember?"
"True, but we're only supposed to use our fellow's magic as a last resort."
"Then you should. You can't get us out of these bars without the key. If magic touches them the bars will strike us with lightning. One magician already tried it. I heard him die."
"Then I'll get the key"
"Just go already! You don't need me! Besides, you hate me! You should be the first person to realize I'm useless!"
Leevan froze, a swell of pity rising up within him, and then he chuckled. "Maelin, that's your problem. You're too quick to assume something is useless. You made that mistake with me...and now you're doing it with yourself."
Maelin looked away scornfully. Leevan thought about it.
"I'll use your spell myself. If you want to be of use figure out a way out yourself."
Leevan left, waiting to get out of the dungeon before casting the eye enchantment. Maelin didn't turn back, but kept staring at the wall with his one eye. He had to ask himself one question.
Why was Leevan being nice to him?

Chapter Twenty Three
An Unheard Message

Normir found the armory, where most of the cyclopses were staying, polishing armor and weapons. More weapons were being created here as well, being molded into shape in the furnaces. A red glow pervaded the room, giving an ominous feeling to the wall covered with sharp weapons. This was where the cyclopses were practicing their craft.
The craft they feared others would steal.
Normir stood on a table and removed the gem from his armor, turning visible. His armor had been made ugly to accommodate the invisibility spell, so the sight of him was jarring. A cyclops in hideous armor standing on the table, and he had something to say as every cyclops looked at him in astonishment.
"Fellow cyclopses!" he cried loudly! "You have been told that other nations wish to steal our metal craft. This is a lie!"
"You're that cyclops who has taken up with the enemy!" shouted one. Normir didn't stop.
"Hurvun has deceived you! His spell makes you believe he talks of protecting our craft, when he really speaks of conquering the world!"
"So you admit it!" cried another cyclops angrily.
Admit what? Normir asked himself. He kept talking, "The other races don't want our craft, they"
"Listen to you," one interrupted him. "Boasting about the strength of your army. You traitor!"
"Traitor!" they all cried. "Traitor!" They chanted it over and over, and Normir understood. Somehow the spell masked what he was saying as well. He wanted to shout out the truth, but his people would not hear him.
"That's quite enough," said Hurvun form the corner. The room silence and Hurvun grinned evilly. "Take him away."
Normir looked at Hurvun pitifully as he was dragged away by two of his own kind. From a corner of the room Kemra watched, invisible. She looked at Normir with pity, and then at Hurvun scornfully, and then left.
She thought to herself that she had to find Leevan.

Chapter Twenty Four
Not Good.

Maelin's eye spell wasn't hard to perform. He just had to convince his eyes that the magic was hiding from him by looking at magic before it was triggered, and then triggering it. When the eyes saw a spell they hadn't seen before, the new spell would let him see other spells. Leevan did this by casting the incantation and then putting his sun amulet into the notch of his armor.
He turned invisible, and then he could see the invisibility spell on him. He saw himself faded. So Maelin could see them even when he used this spell. Leevan thought that was interesting, but didn't think much about it. He went on, searching for Hurvun's hidden chamber.
It wasn't hard to find. It seemed strange, having stumbled blindly through the corridors of this castle before, only to see a single shimmering center through the wall. Whatever magic it was, it had to be the magic he was looking for. He reached it and saw a door faded into the wall. No wonder they had missed it. He waited for some cyclopses and slefah to pass, and then he made for the door. He was just about to enter when, down the passage
"Kemra?" he said to himself.
There she was, faded, obviously invisible, sneaking along. So she hadn't been captured with the others. Leevan waited a bit until she was closer and whispered to her.
"Kemra! Psst! Kemra!"
She heard him, "Leevan? Is that you?"
"Yes, it's me. I've just found the chamber with Hurvun's spell. We can end this."
"Leevan, I'm not so sure it's going to be that easy. Normir's been captured."
Leevan had expected that.
"You know, I'm not surprised, but at this I really shouldn't expect to be surprised by bad news." In truth he was worried, for their mission and for Normir. Out of curiosity he looked into the chamber. He looked carefully and saw what appeared to be a ball of lightning the size of an eye.
"Hurvun's in there," said Leevan. "And I'm willing to be he has Normir hostage. I also don't think he'll have any other cyclopses with him. If we destroy the spell now he can just keep his mouth shut around cyclopses until he can rebuild it."
"Then what do we do?"
"I have an idea. A way to let the cyclopses see the truth and beat Hurvun, but we'll need help. And mirrors. We'll need a few mirrors.
Kemra looked at him funny. She didn't understand, but Leevan had an idea. A very sneaky idea.

Jaxia had recovered from the old age Maelin hit her with.