Read Online Good Ogre by Platte F. Clark - Free Book Online

said.
    â€œI don’t think you’ve looked close enough,” Glenn replied.
    Max glowered, looking down at his clothes. Unless he’d somehow slipped into someone’s nightshirt, things had gone horribly wrong. He ran over to the mirror on the far wall as the others trailed behind him. Max saw his reflection staring back at him; he was dressed in a long blue robe with a sparkling sash tied around his waist. A sash? Real men don’t wear sashes! Slung over Max’s shoulder was a white leather satchel, and he could feel the weight of the Codex of Infinite Knowability inside. But what really shocked him was his hair—usually a thick mop of brown, it had turned nearly white and grown to reach his shoulders. “I’m old! And a hippie!”
    â€œWizards don’t age like normal people,” Dirk announced, walking over and joining Max’s reflection in the mirror. They looked like two characters out of their role-playing games.
    â€œIs it Halloween already?” Glenn asked. “Let me guess your costumes: nursing-home grandpa and deranged clown. You two will be getting lots of candy for sure.”
    â€œDirk says I’m a paladin,” Sarah added, ignoring Glenn. “Whatever that is.”
    Dirk nodded in agreement. “Only paladins can pull off wearing white cloaks.”
    â€œBut how?” Max asked. “And why?”
    â€œWe were in the fog,” Sarah answered. “We all felt it doing something to us, but then you stopped it.”
    Max moved away from the mirror, not liking the whole white-hair-and-blue-robes look. “I felt something magical start to take hold. It felt dark and old. Andpowerful. The only thing I could think of was to grab a Prime Spell. I guess it was strong enough to work.”
    â€œAnd good thing you did,” Puff said. “I’ve heard of such magic before. It would have changed you into something monstrous. Now it’s just changed you into something . . . else . Although Dirk could still be considered monstrous, I suppose.”
    â€œWait, where’s Wayne?” Max asked, suddenly remembering him.
    â€œHe’s upstairs sleeping,” Dwight said, “with the others.”
    â€œOthers . . . ?”
    â€œMelvin, Megan, and Sydney,” Sarah answered. “They came back after the storm started.”
    â€œThen they came under the protection of the spell,” Max said. “Before I passed out, I was able to attach it to the building.”
    â€œI think I know what’s going on,” Dwight said. He retrieved his Dwarven Book of Lore from under the counter and dropped it with a thud. After climbing onto his stool, he began flipping the pages. The others gathered around. “Here it is—the Cataclysm.”
    â€œThings that start with ‘cat’ are not to be trusted,”Dirk informed them. “Cataracts, catapults, catsup, ­catalogs—”
    â€œFinished?” Dwight asked. “Or do you have more prattling to do?”
    Dirk frowned but remained quiet.
    â€œThe Cataclysm is what happens when a realm is touched by the umbraverse,” Dwight continued. “It has the power to change everything in its path, drawing upon whatever magic caused the doorway to open.”
    â€œAnd that would be the Shadric Portal,” Sarah said, doing her best not to look at Max. “Black magic.”
    Max scratched his head. “So you’re saying that the black fog was the umbraverse taking over our world?”
    â€œNot so much taking over but transforming. Turning the Techrus into a shadow realm, like the Shadrus.”
    â€œIf this is indeed a Cataclysm, the storm outside will continue to grow,” Puff warned. “It will slowly build until it has the strength to surge outward again, transforming more of the Techrus each time. Eventually it will grow large enough to encircle the world.”
    Dwight scratched at his beard. “This is the doing of the