13. GERIK'S PLAN

CHAPTER 13 GERIK'S PLAN Gerik..." Drake said, thinking. "Why do I know that name?" "Isn't he one of the wizards we found in the wall in Maldred's hideout?" asked Rori. Maldred, an evil wizard, had once trapped many wizards in a wall. With the help of a Dragon Master and his Time Dragon, all the wizards were freed. Some were good wizards, and others were known to be troublemakers. Griffith had made a list of the wizards who fled after being freed from the wall. Gerik was on that list.

"Yes, it is I, Gerik!" the wizard said with a cackle. before Maldred trapped me in that wall, I had stolen his instructions for making a red Dragon Stone!" "Why did you come here, to the Crystal Cave?" Llew asked. "Nobody in Greenshire knows about Belydor. How did you know that a Crystal Dragon lived here?" "Not even the wizard who guards the cave knew about this dragon," Griffith added.

"I have been obsessed with the cave since I learned about it in wizard school," Gerik replied. "I searched libraries around the world, seeking to learn how the crystals get their magic. In a rare book, I read a legend about a Crystal Dragon that has lived here in secret for ages. I believed there was a link between the dragon and the magic of the crystals. So, I made my plan." Drake pointed at him. "You took Morgan's place so you could search the cave!" "Exactly, my boy," Gerilk said. "I used a spell to make myself look like Morgan, to fool any visiting villagers. Then I searched for the map chamber."

"And when you found it, the map led you to Belydor," Rori guessed. "Indeed. But he trapped me in a crystal before I could use my red Dragon Stone on him!" Gerik said, shaking his fist at Belydor. "Belydor trapped me, too, when I went looking for my cousin," Griffith said. His fingertips sparked with magic. "Gerik, tell me what you have done with Morgan!" Gerik laughed. "I'll tell you if you release me." Then Worm spoke to Drake. I have been searching the grotto with my mind for a sign of life, he said. I think I have located Morgan. "We need to go back to the grotto!" Drake cried. "Worm says Morgan may be inside!"