The International Dragon Conspiracy

About the Book

Morris the Jewish wizard and this traveling companion, Trog the troll, enter a country where the king has his police grabbing and torturing people to make them confess that they’re part of what he believes is the International Dragon Conspiracy. There is a real dragon, one who keeps burning large areas of the king’s land and burning any knights who come after him. Morris and Trog, who are traveling to a distant land to meet the wizard who controls the great dragon of Alhambra, decide that a good way to get money for their trip is to get rid of this dragon and claim the reward. A problem develops, however, in that the dragon turns out to be a nice fellow named Zil who is only burning things because he has serious allergy problems that make him spray fire whenever he sneezes. Morris cures Zil’s allergies, but knowing that the king will have Zil killed if they take him back, Morris, Trog, and Zil make a run for it and escape from the kingdom. Morris needs to disguise Zil. Trog can be passed off as merely a large, hairy man, but Zil is obviously a dragon. A cooperative tailor who believes that being a dragon is merely a valid alternative lifestyle, provides Zil with a monk’s robe that covers him from head to toe. While camping one night, they meet Ezzie, a runaway servant girl. Ezzie sees Zil uncovered, but Morris convinces her that Zil is really a good and noble monk who was cursed by an evil wizard. Ezzie joins them in their journey and becomes Trog’s lover. She eventually learns the truth about both Zil and Trog, but accepts them for what they are. At a chapel in the middle of a large cemetery one night, Morris encounters a beautiful young woman who has gone into a coma called false death. At the urging of her lover, Morris performs a ceremony to raise her from false death; unfortunately, he also accidentally raises all the real dead in the cemetery. Zombies start digging their way out of the graves. Morris and the others make a dash down the hill to the nearest village to warn them that the zombies are coming. With the help of some ancient books on black magic, Morris manages to get rid of the zombies--but it’s a close call. Farther on, they enter a large forest and come to a village that that is plagued by vampires. The woman who runs the inn where Morris and his friends are staying is horrified, because her daughter is in love with a vampire boy. The boy is a vegetarian; unfortunately, the boy’s father is not. With a combination of his silver tongue and his wizard skills, along with help from Zil, Morris manages to unite the boy and girl while dealing with the vampire father. In yet another village, Morris and his friends encounter a man who turns into a werewolf at every full moon. The man, knowing that Morris is a wizard, pleads with him for help. Morris studies the problem and manages to cure him--but not at in the way the man was expecting. Later, while staying at an inn, Morris and the others meet three young witches who have accidentally called up Satan and need Morris to help send him back. That’s fine with Satan; he wants to be sent back, but no one can figure out how. Finally, they call up Satan’s wife, Lillith, and she uses her knowledge to send both Satan and herself back to their realm. Finally, Morris and his friends come to the end of their journey, a meeting with the wizard who controls the great dragon of Alhambra. The wizard proves to be the local baron. He also proves to be power crazed and insane. After dealing with him, Morris and the others climb a nearby volcanic mountain and go into a cave where the meet the great dragon himself. The dragon is grateful to them for freeing him from the grip of the wizard, but what he grants them is not quite what they were looking for when they started their journey

About the Author

George Buford is a professor of classical studies at the Missouri School of Veterinary Medicine. He did not violate the American embargo on travel to Cuba by going to Mexico on a false passport and then flying to Cuba. He didn’t do that. Honest.