Dragonmage of Mystara

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Thelvyn had to force down a sense of panic. He had to suppress the instinct of a dragon to react with fear and a sudden snap of desperate fury when pressed too closely by another, amplified many times over by the terror that faced him. He knew litde of the legends and superstitions of the dragons, but he felt certain that the great, horrible creature that confronted him was the very image of the worst monster that could possibly haunt a dragon's nightmares.

The moment of his capture had been so abrupt, the method so swift and absolute, that he was thrown off his guard. He knew he did not dare give in to a dragon's battle rage. The time to fight had come and gone before he could respond. Now was the time to remain calm and think, to guard his own secrets carefully while he tried to learn all he could. If he was ever to escape from this place, it would be by cunning and stealth.

The mists were beginning to draw back, and the pale light in the center of the chamber where he stood with Kharendaen grew subtly brighter, although the deep gloom didn't lighten much. Even so, he found that they were in a chamber of

tremendous size, the walls and ceiling lost in the distance and the heavy darkness. All he knew for certain about the place was that he was in the middle of a large but shallow pit, the sides so low that he could have simply stepped out if he had dared. Surrounding him were scores, if not hundreds, of the gemstone dragons, waiting half hidden in the mists beyond the edge of the pit. With their strange, faceted armor, watching him quietly with their large, dark eyes, they seemed like alien creatures, hardly something alive. They never spoke or indeed made any sound, giving no hint of their thoughts or mood, standing as silent witnesses to his defeat.

Before him stood the Overlord, a commanding and terrifying presence who moved slowly out of the darkness to confront his prisoner. He was a being of immense size, so that Thelvyn, standing before him, looked as small as a man appeared next to a dragon. Indeed, Thelvyn saw to his surprise that the Overlord was in size and shape very much like his metal warriors, a draconic form perhaps as much as a hundred yards in length, his slender, sinuous body carried on four pairs of legs. But the metal warriors were merely plain, stylized representations of the Overlord, whose armor was a nightmare patchwork of spikes and horns and elaborate frills.

Thelvyn drew back a step in instinctive fear, suddenly aware that his mate was also retreating to stand behind him when she bumped against him. Neither dared to take his or her eyes away from that image of terror standing before them. Clearly the Immortals had not known the true nature of the Overlord, or else they would have never expected him to fight such a monster. But then he forced himself to gather his ragged courage and stand his ground, although his thoughts at that moment did not go beyond the seemingly hopeless possibility of finding a way to save himself and his mate.

"You have come," the Overlord said, staring down at him in amusement. "Dragonlord. Dragonking. Pale hope of desperate Immortals, who dare not act for themselves for fear of risking defeat. I knew that you would come to me. You are too clever and too bold for your own good. You had to have answers. You knew you were lost if you did not try. Now your trials are done, and I have prepared for you a place where you

can rest from your hopeless labors."

"The Dragonlord and the Great One defeated you once before," Thelvyn retaliated, realizing how weak it sounded as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"You know that is not so," the Overlord corrected him. "I played no part of the battle to which you refer. The Dragonlord and the Great One fought the gemstone dragons, and even then only at a time when their race was young and inexperienced. But that has become irrelevant. You know now that you could destroy the Masters, yet even then you would be a long way from winning your war. You cannot fight me."

"I must try," Thelvyn insisted. "You offer me no choice."

"I have given you no choice," the Overlord repeated. "In truth, I can hardly fault you for opposing me, and for that reason, in all fairness, I should not punish you for the harm that you have done to my servants and my plans."

Thelvyn looked up in surprise, but he saw no compassion or tolerance in those cold eyes.

"But I have no concern with what is fair," the Overlord continued. "I must punish all my enemies when they have been conquered, except those who have been fortunate enough to die in battle. I know a special punishment for you, so that you will long for the escape of death until, in the end, your shall will yourself to die."

The Overlord continued to move slowly forward until he stood just beyond the edge of the pit, staring down at his captives. "They say that you spent most of your life unaware that you were a dragon. Do you still feel a bit uncertain of your dragon identity? I will show you just how much a dragon you are. I will show you what you fear most. I will show you despair such as you have never known."

Thelvyn prepared himself for the assault, expecting to be confronted with visions of horror, or perhaps with pain or longings that were unique to dragons. He was to be shown the worst that a dragon could endure, yet he was not yet dragon enough to anticipate the form that fear would take. The Overlord surprised him by doing nothing. Instead, he moved a few steps back into the dark mists.

"Attack me," the Overlord ordered him after a long moment.

"I promise the Masters will not interfere, no matter what happens. And I will not attack you in turn. I have no wish or need to harm or slay you just yet, I promise you. Come now. Show us first the terrible powers of the Dragonlord."

Thelvyn wasn't certain if he acted by his own will, although he wondered why he responded without hesitation. He changed form, teleporting himself into the armor of the Dragonlord as he did so. The weapons and armor, even the body that he had worn for so much of his life, now seemed strange and awkward to him. The Overlord merely stared down at him with vague interest as he drew the sword and held it out before him, commanding the tremendous powers of the enchantments of ancient Blackmoor.

But his weapon refused to respond to his will, remaining cold and lifeless in his hands. Instead, the weight of his armor seemed to settle heavily about him. He knew what was wrong at once, recalling too well the time that the renegade Fire Wizards had used the Radiance to nullify most of the powers of his armor and weapons. Clearly the Overlord was strong enough in his own magic that he could defeat the powers of the Dragonlord by the most direct means, by simply stripping away those enchantments.

For a long moment, Thelvyn could only stand motionless in surprise as he realized what had happened. Then he slowly lowered the heavy sword. In the next moment, he was struck squarely in the breastplate of the armor by some massive force, as if he had been struck a blow with a mammoth, unseen club. The usual protections of the armor had failed entirely, so that he took the full force of the impact. It lifted him entirely from the ground and hurled him backward against Kharendaen's chest. The dragon was so startled that she jumped back in alarm. By then it was too late for her to catch him as he fell.

Thelvyn struggled to move, but he had had the breath knocked from him in his fall, and he hurt all over. The weight of the armor was too much for him to lift. When Kharendaen tried to help him up, she found herself gently but firmly pushed aside by some unseen force. As the moments passed, Thelvyn found himself struggling for breath more than ever. In the past, the helmet had always supplied its own cool, fresh air by means of its native enchantments. Now even that power was subdued, and he was beginning to suffocate within the sealed armor.

Realizing he had only moments to save himself, Thelvyn rolled over so that he could push himself up against the dead weight of the armor and rose to his knees. Only then was he able to release the clips at his neck, yank off the helmet, and gasp for breath. In the next moment the armor vanished, tele-porting away in the usual manner, except that this time it hadn't been through his will. Apparently the Overlord retained control over his armor. Thelvyn tried to return to his draconic form, only to find that even that power was denied to him. His enemy could control him as easily as his armor, preventing him from regaining his true form.

"That didn't go at all well, did it?" the Overlord asked in mocking tones. "Your previous enemies worked so hard to fight the power of your armor. Why did they never think to simply take it from you?"

Thelvyn didn't have the breath to reply even if he had wanted to. He knew the answer well enough; no one had ever tried to take the armor from him by will alone because only the Overlord had the strength of will to accomplish that. He felt vulnerable, even rather frightened, to find himself isolated from the protection of his armor and weapons. He realized now that the Overlord's intention was to humiliate him. He tried not to give in to such a simple tactic, but he couldn't help feeling the deep humiliation that was being forced upon him.

"Would you feel better if you could be a dragon again?" the Overlord asked. "Do you think the Dragonking would have a better chance of fighting me? That was what you were born to do, was it not?"

Thelvyn shifted abruptly to his 'true form, although he had not willed it. He immediately gathered himself to spring, then launched himself at his enemy. The ill-considered move was by no design of his own; obviously his actions were planned for him. Clearly the Overlord intended to demonstrate the utter futility of any attempt to fight, whether Thelvyn wanted to play along or not. If he couldn't even control his own mind and body, then he could not hope to take on the Overlord. All he

could do now was wait and hope he didn't suffer too greatly.

Needless to say, the Overlord anticipated his charge and responded quickly, lifting his neck up and out of the way and stepping aside so that he could easily swat his much smaller opponent out of the air with the back of his claw. Thelvyn was caught by the blow in midleap and knocked backward. Kharendaen moved to try to break his fall, but once again she was pushed aside by some unseen force. The force of the impact was great enough that Thelvyn was thrown all the way across the wide pit, crashing his back heavily against the top of the low wall of the pit.

Thelvyn slumped to the floor of the pit and sprawled limply. Waves of pain exploded from the middle of his back, and he could only lie with his back and neck arched stiffly as he waited, trying to endure the first few moments of agony. Kharendaen couldn't help him even if she had been free to go to him. Isolated from the Great One in this strange world, she didn't even have her healing powers as a cleric to call upon.

"Now see what you've done. You've gone and hurt yourself," the Overlord said, moving to the edge of the pit to stare down at him in mock pity. "You should not have undertaken tasks that were beyond your limited abilities. But that was decided for you, wasn't it?"

Thelvyn could barely turn his head slightly to look up. The gray mists were gathering close again, and the darkness seemed all the heavier and more oppressive through the haze of his pain. The Overlord's nightmare face was hovering just above him, and now the Masters had also gathered about the edge of the pit to witness his defeat and humiliation. They did not laugh or ridicule him in any way, nor did they offer any compassion. They only watched him closely, with expressions he could only describe as patient hunger, like a dragon awaiting in pleasant anticipation of a roasted haunch of elk. He believed that they looked upon his defeat as the last remaining obstacle to their conquest of the world they had once tried to claim as their own, and the punishment of those who had once denied their ambitions.

There was nothing he could do to stop them, Thelvyn realized bitterly, not now and perhaps never again. He was too weak to stand up to the power of the Overlord. At that moment, he wondered if he would ever fight again. Pain burned like a raging fire in the middle of his back, and he couldn't move his hind legs or his tail.

"Are you beginning to learn what it means to be a dragon?" the Overlord asked as the faces began to draw back into the enclosing mists. "Perhaps you did not know that even you possessed the tremendous pride of a dragon until your pride was turned to bitterness. What would the dragons think of their king if they knew you had always believed you did not share the faults of their draconic nature, their pride, their temper, their greed, their capacity for cruelty, because you were not born a dragon? You thought you were better than they because you were the chosen of the Immortals."

Thelvyn closed his eyes so that he didn't have to see those faces fading away into the mists, but he couldn't stop himself from hearing those terrible words. He could only weep quiedy for all the pain he was being made to endure.

"You thought that you were a king. Now you are nothing more than a slave, a weak and crippled thing. Contemplate that well until I return, and then we will have another lesson in humility prepared for you. I will visit you each day until your dragon's pride wills you to die rather than face me once again."

The voice was gone, but the pain did not begin to release him for a long time. He had been a fool, indeed a far bigger fool than he would have ever thought. Above all, he had been a fool for continuing this quest when he had known he should turn back. He had not yet discovered just how powerful his true enemy was, and yet he had been aware that he was overmatched. He had told himself he needed to know more before he could face the Overlord in battle, and all he had learned was that this was an enemy he could never hope to match. And he was twice a fool for bringing Kharendaen here.

He had no idea how long he lay lost in his torment. Clearly the Overlord and the Masters had long since left him, satisfied in knowing there was no peace or rest for him, even alone with his thoughts. The intolerable pain in his back began to ease slightly after a time, so that he no longer had to pant with the mere effort to draw a breath. He knew he had been badly hurt in the collision with the wall. His terrible injuries would seem to limit the time that he would be tortured and allowed to live. The Overlord had other, greater conquests at hand.

The irony was that he had come to learn the secrets of an enemy he had hardly known, yet the Overlord had known secrets of his own that he had never guessed he kept hidden. Secrets, it seemed, that he would have been better off if he had never known, but which he could not deny. He had thought the fact that he hadn't grown up as a dragon had isolated him from their common faults. And he had always assumed that the fact that he was the chosen of the Immortals, indeed the son of an Immortal, implied that he must somehow be perfectly suited for the task that had been assigned to him. He had assumed a great many things that had seemed simple and obvious and really not all that important, which he now recognized as an expression of his draconic pride.

The Overlord was very right about one other thing. In nothing else had Thelvyn so proven that he was a dragon at heart than in his dragon's pride. He was surprised that he didn't find it quite the insult it had been intended to be.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he and Kharendaen were no longer in the pit in the immense, mist-filled chamber but had somehow been moved to a smaller chamber or cell of some type, still more than large enough for the two dragons. There was no sign of any window or even a door. He saw Kharendaen sitting back on her haunches with her tail curled around her legs, looking down at him.

"How do you feel?" she asked when she saw him open his eyes.

He started to lift his head, but it hurt too much. "How. . how long does it take a dragon to die?"

She looked startled and concerned. "A dragon can take a very long time to die, depending upon the nature of his injuries."

"I think my back is broken," he told her plainly. "I cannot move."

"Then do not try to move," she told him firmly. "You might also be surprised by what a dragon can survive, and how quickly you recover."

"I doubt that I will be allowed the time," Thelvyn complained, then lifted his head slightly to look around in spite of the pain. "When did they move us here?"

"We have not been moved anywhere," Kharendaen explained to Thelvyn's surprise. "After you lost consciousness, ihe darkness closed in all around us, and then these walls formed at what had been the edge of the pit. The Overlord has come to look at us from time to time, somehow removing the walls and then restoring them when he left."

"How long was I unconscious?" Thelvyn asked.

"You have slept these last two days, at least insofar as I can judge time," she told him. "I began to wonder if you would ever be coming back to me."

Thelvyn laid his head down on the cold stone floor and closed his eyes for a long moment. He had been hurt worse than he had thought; he had thought that only a few long minutes of pain had passed, and that he had not slept at all. He wondered what was happening in his own world. Were his allies beginning to think he would not be returning to defend them? He also wondered if there was some way that he could get Kharendaen out of this place, and he wondered what would become of her when he was gone. He had made a hopeless mess of everything. Bitterly he thought the Immortals had been foolish to insist upon sending him to this place.

"Perhaps there was never any hope," Kharendaen said softly, guessing his thoughts. "Perhaps the risk of this journey was simply too great. We took the chance, the only chance we had. You have done the best you can, and you must not blame yourself. You were given the responsibility to try your best, and you have done that."

"There was never any room for failure, not in this matter," 'Thelvyn said bitterly. "The price of my failure will be our world. I have lost everything."

"You have not lost me."

Thelvyn turned his head away. "You could not leave if you wanted to."

Kharendaen laid back her ears, perplexed. Then she rose and moved slowly around to sit down again direcdy in front of him, where he could not so easily ignore her. "You have been stung by words that were meant to deceive you. I would not leave you now even if I could. Why do you suddenly seem to think I want to shun your company?"

"I haven't exactly made a good showing as Dragonking, have I?" he asked, then closed his eyes. "I've been playing the part of the hero who boldly saves the world. What a disappointment I've been."

"Do you think that I am disappointed in you?" Kharendaen lifted her head in astonishment, suddenly realizing what was bothering him. She laid back her ears, looking very sad. "What a life you have been asked to lead. Never allowed to know who or what you are, never allowed to know your own place in the world or find your own sense of worth. Having been raised among the Flaem, always having to prove yourself to them, you might come to think that the only measure of worth in the world is by what you have done or what you should be able to do. All that you have ever known is what was expected of you."

"So?" he looked up at her, confused and annoyed. "What else is there?"

"Our deeds and abilities count for a great deal, but they are by no means the only measure of a person's value. I know you do not judge others by such shallow standards, so why do you expect yourself to be judged in that way? Did you think you must earn my companionship by the honor that I received from the dragons from being your mate?"

"No," Thelvyn muttered, not quite certain what he wanted to say. "But I feel that I've let you down."

"There are some things that dragons are. . especially poor at saying," Kharendaen explained haltingly, rising and walking in a tight circle before she returned to sit beside him. "We always leave certain things left unsaid, tilings that should have been said, so perhaps I can't blame you for coming to your own conclusions. You've always been able to make it clear to me how much I mean to you. I've taken it for granted that you understood how much you mean to me as well."

In spite of himself, Thelvyn had to hide his smile. There were indeed some things that dragons had a hard time saying, and Kharendaen seemed to be doing anything she could to avoid saying what she really meant.

"I wish we could have had more time to get to know each other better," he said. "All the hundreds of years of a dragon's lifetime."

"If our time together is indeed coming to an end, then there arc certain things that should be said," she said, lowering her head to rub the side of her cheek against his own. "You see, I mn going to lay an egg."

"What?" In spite of the pain, Thelvyn lifted his head sharply to stare at her. "How. . how do you know?"

"Because I've developed a craving for nonvirgins," Kharendaen declared, amused by his reaction. "Oh, honestly. Female dragons know such things."

"But how long have you known? When will it come?"

"I've suspected it since before we left Shadowmere," she answered, rubbing her cheek against his again. "That's why, when you decided that it was important for you to remain in dragon form, I welcomed your decision. It is no longer wise for me to change from my true form. But don't get overly excited just yet. A dragon does not lay her egg until shortly before it hatches. I don't expect it to come for almost another year yet."

"Merciful heavens," Thelvyn said softly to himself. "I can't imagine how this happened."

"Didn't Sir George have a little talk with you when we first arrived at Shadowmere?" she asked with tolerant amusement.

He quickly searched his memory. "Yes. . yes, he did say something about eggs. But what you taught me was much more interesting."

"Then you prefer a practical education over a theoretical one?"

Thelvyn lowered his head, his expression becoming one of determination. "We have to get away from here."

"That simply is not possible," Kharendaen told him. "Even if there were a way to escape, you cannot move. If you tried to move, even if you changed form so that I could carry you away, you would almost certainly not survive. And my clerical powers are gone. I cannot help you."

Thelvyn didn't seem to hear her. He stared aimlessly while he desperately searched for some means that would allow them to escape. Perhaps it was foolish for him to return to his old trust, considering how much the Immortals had underestimated the powers of the Overlord, but he had to believe that the Great One had intended him to be able to defeat his enemies. Surely the Great One had made certain he would be powerful enough to at least have a chance to defeat the Masters and the Overlord. He was convinced he must have far greater powers that he had not yet discovered.

All the same, this was the worst time and place for him to try to discover powers that he had not yet mastered. He would need the guidance of the Great One, something that was not available to him now. Then he realized that he might be looking for bigger answers than he needed when simpler answers were at hand. The free clans of the Veydran had escaped domination for centuries. If he could only recall their secret. .

"They know his name," he said at last.

"Who knows what name?" Kharendaen asked, cocking her head in mystification. "The Overlord?"

"The Veydran know his name, and therefore he cannot control their will," Thelvyn said as he lifted his head. "If I could remember the name they used, that would give us a strong tool in planning our escape."

"I don't recall that they ever spoke his name," she said, still perplexed. "All I ever heard was 'the Overlord.' "

"That was the word we heard in our minds," he explained. "But I tried to pay attention to the language of the Veydran as they spoke. I was curious to know if there was any relationship between their language and that of the dragons. I was especially interested in learning their name for the Overlord, but I'm not certain now what I heard."

Thelvyn laid his head on the cold stone floor, trying very hard to think back over their brief encounter with the Veydran, but he found that he was growing incredibly weary, and the pain in his back assaulted him anew. The true seriousness of his injuries was making itself known to him, so that it was difficult to direct his thoughts toward anything but his struggle to hold to the fading edges of consciousness. His efforts to remember just what the Veydran leader had said were already forgotten.

He wasn't even aware he had slept again until he was startled back to awareness, and even then he found himself in a nightmare of fear and pain. The walls of the cell were gone, and once again he lay in the shallow pit in the center of the large chamber where the Masters had gathered to witness his humiliation. The gemstone dragons were gone, or else they remained hidden within the dark mists that had closed almost to the very edge of the pit. The Overlord was glaring down at him, his immense, hideous face half hidden in the mist. Kharendaen stood over him protectively, but the posture of challenge she presented seemed halfhearted and desperate.

Thelvyn lifted his head painfully. It seemed to him that his back and shoulders hurt more than ever. He recognized one important difference from the first visit of the Overlord, however. The first time, he had not even been aware that the Overlord had taken control of his will. This time, however, his will remained entirely his own, at least for the moment.

"Then you are back, Little One?" the Overlord asked condescendingly. "You dragons are very slow to die."

"I have no plans of dying any time soon," Thelvyn responded. "And I won't allow you to make a fool of me again."

He realized that he had to act quickly, while he still could. If the Overlord were to look within his thoughts, his secret would be betrayed. He would never have a second chance. Looking up, he caught the gaze of the Overlord, staring into those large, malevolent eyes. That seemed to catch the Overlord by surprise, giving Thelvyn a momentary advantage over his opponent. Then Thelvyn spoke a single word, his voice loud, deep, and clear, the sound of it echoing through the hidden depths of the mist-filled chamber.

The Overlord drew back suddenly in alarm. The sound of his name apparently did him no' physical harm, but it obviously alarmed him. He hadn't been challenged directly in centuries, and it shook his confidence. Kharendaen stared at her mate for a moment, then turned back to the Overlord and repeated his name, protecting herself from his control. The Overlord hesitated in apprehension and then drew back into the concealing darkness of the mists to consider his next move. His captives had proven stronger than he had expected, and he wanted to avoid confronting them until he felt certain that they would not surprise him again.

Thelvyn knew he had to act quickly. The Overlord had withdrawn, but Thelvyn had no way of knowing how far he had gone. He closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching deep within his own powers, and for a moment his entire form began to glow with a soft golden light. When the light faded, he rose stiffly, moving slowly and with great uncertainty at first but gaining strength quickly. Kharendaen hurried to his side, fearful that he might harm himself, until she realized that he was calling upon his own powers to repair his injuries.

"We don't have a moment to waste," he told her quietly. "If we don't get out of here right now, we never will. The Overlord might not be able to control us now, but he can still fight us."

"But can you move?" she asked anxiously.

"I have no choice but to try."

At least he was spared the need to try to fly just yet; the spells that were healing his damaged back were still working, and he was in considerable pain even yet. Nor did he dare to attempt to fly through the walls of dark mist that filled the chamber, with no idea of its size or where he could find an exit. He climbed stiffly over the edge of the pit, waiting a moment for Kharendaen to join him before they began to hurry through the darkness, heading in the opposite direction from where they had last seen the Overlord. The mists parted slowly about them as they hurried across the stone floor at a half-run, unable to see more than a few yards ahead of them. They had to be careful not to lose sight of each other.

The two dragons ran for what seemed like several hundred yards, and they were beginning to wonder just how vast this chamber was when they suddenly encountered the wall looming suddenly out of the mist. Thelvyn paused for an instant, staring up as far as he could see along the featureless expanse of smooth, gray stone before he turned to run along the wall to his right. He had to find a way out of this chamber before it was sealed against them, just as the walls had materialized around the central pit to form their prison. When he did not find what he was seeking, he had to wonder if it was already too late. Only a few seconds had passed since they had escaped from the pit, but in that oppressive darkness, each second seemed to possess the weight of a hour.

When he came abrupdy to a corner, he had to pause a second time, trying to decide whether he should go back or search along the new wall. Taking a chance, he turned again to his right and began to race along the length of the new wall, running almost blindly in the darkness, certain that the next corner must be hundreds of yards ahead. Just as they approached what he thought should be about halfway along the wall, he began to slow somewhat in anticipation of finding a doorway. Instead, they came suddenly into an open pocket in the mists, as if the gray fog had been blown away from that portion of the wall.

Thelvyn stopped short and sat back on his tail so that he could lift his long neck to look up. Suddenly he realized that there might not be any floor-level entrances to this chamber. The only way in or out could be through passages set high in the wall; the gemstone dragons had the ability to fly, and the Overlord could probably come and go by will alone. Perhaps by chance, there was enough air moving through the passages of the stronghold to clear the air in this one small area as it poured through the unseen opening somewhere above.

Thelvyn stepped away from the wall and spread his wings. He was reassured to find that the pain and stiffness in his back had nearly disappeared. Then he leapt upward and began to climb in a tight spiral, with Kharendaen close behind him. He wondered how the Masters found their way through the mist, unless they possessed some magical instinct for direction. Moments later, he suddenly emerged into open air. The ceiling of the large chamber was more than a hundred yards high, and the misty clouds setded into only the lower portion, filling it like the bottom of a bowl. Now he could see several wide rectangular passageways opening into the chamber, one of them just before him.

He landed on the ledge at the front of the opening, still feeling a bit unsteady. The roof of the passage looked too low for him to try to fly through it. A short distance beyond the opening, the passageway began to climb upward at a steep angle. He folded away his wings and moved quickly out of the way, giving Kharendaen room to land beside him. Then, moving side by side, they began the difficult climb up the steep passage, their claws scratching against the smooth stone of the ramp as they struggled upward. The passage itself was dark, but there was a pale light in the opening above.

The passage was a long, difficult climb. It was less than fifty yards in actual length, but it was so steep that they were constantly in danger of slipping and falling. They were nearly at the top when the form of a gemstone dragon moved suddenly into the opening above, standing dark and menacing against the light. Although it appeared to be alone, it would be difficult to get by it because of the positional advantage it commanded at the top of the steep ramp. The two dragons continued their climb, acutely aware that they couldn't afford to be delayed.

Kharendaen decided it was her turn to get them to safety. Suddenly she darted forward up the ramp. On the steep ramp, she was the quicker of the two, being smaller and lighter, and Thelvyn was still slowed somewhat by his injuries. It was a brave choice, but it was more ill-considered than she had thought. When she came to the top of the ramp, she employed one of her favorite tricks, darting beneath the gemstone dragon and then thrusting herself upward sharply, throwing the gemstone dragon's greater bulk over her back and against the wall at the top of the opening. The maneuver stunned the alien dragon for a moment, long enough for Kharendaen to kick out with her hind legs and send the creature sliding down the ramp.

Unfortunately, Thelvyn was still on the ramp just below the opening. He pulled himself as far as he could to one side of the passage, trying to keep out of the way as the gemstone dragon slid by. For a moment it seemed that he had escaped, but in the last instant, the gemstone dragon caught the end of Thelvyn's tail and held on desperately. There wasn't much that Thelvyn could do about it, since he was barely able to keep his hold on the smooth stones to keep himself from sliding down the ramp with his enemy.

Then Kharendaen hurtled down the ramp, crashing into the gemstone dragon. At the same time, she caught the base of his neck in her jaws in a death hold. The Master released its hold on Thelvyn's tail immediately, and the two of them slid away into the darkness below. Alarmed, Thelvyn braced himself as best as he could and bent his head back to peer down the dark passage. He decided he should hurry to his mate's assistance, but a moment later he saw her swarming up the ramp to join him, looking none the worse for wear.

"Are you through playing?" he called down to her.

"I thought I was being helpful," she insisted. "Why? Are you in a hurry?"

"I was thinking about that big worldgate in the center of the stronghold," he told her. "If we hurry, we might just be lucky enough to get home the easy way."

They climbed out of the ramp into a large passage, pausing briefly to look around. They had emerged into a wide corridor, large enough to easily fly side by side along its length. Other doorways and passages entered this one at intervals, but they were set fairly far apart. The walls and floor of massive gray stone blocks were smooth and featureless. The Masters were obviously not much concerned with beauty or ornamentation. The two dragons spread their wings to fly as fast as they dared along the passage, hoping to escape the stronghold before they had to fight yet again.

Thelvyn had no idea how to find his way out of this place.

The only thing he could think of was to keep heading as directly as he could away from the center. He recalled that most of the fortresses that he had seen in the city of the Masters had only one main entrance, and his dragon's sense of direction told him that the gate probably would face the south, to his left. Perhaps he would have done better to have looked for a way out somewhere above, but he was afraid it might take too much time to find a ledge or window. After a short distance, they came to the intersection of another wide corridor leading to the left.

Fortunately the passages of the fortress were straight and regular, laid out with a singular attention to efficiency. Soon the corridor turned once again, back the way they had first come, then opened suddenly upon a large chamber. The dragons found themselves on a high balcony that looked out over one end of a wide hall, the vast gateroom of the fortress. From where they stood, the massive doors of dark metal were set in the center of the opposite wall. The doors were shut and barred, and six gemstone dragons waited below, guarding the gate. More than a score of Veydran warriors, these doubtlessly subject to the will of the Overlord, also waited on the floor below or along the stairs at either end of the balcony. They stood with their wings spread, holding long spears in their hands. They looked small to the dragons but also lean and swift, decidedly dangerous adversaries.

"We can't afford the time to find another way out," Thelvyn said as he stood beside Kharendaen at the center of the balcony.

"What can we do other than fight them?" she asked softly.

"We're going to have to fight," he replied. "I plan to make it a brief one. Be ready to follow me."

Kharendaen did not doubt him, but she wondered how long his strength would hold out after the terrible injuries he had recently endured. She recalled that few clerical spells were particularly useful in a battle of magic, but Thelvyn had always had a few tricks entirely his own. He rose to stand with his forelegs braced on the sturdy rail along the edge of the balcony, as if challenging his enemies, but she could see his eyes glaze as he concentrated on commanding a spell. She wished he would hurry; the Veydran warriors spotted him, shook their spears over their heads, and rushed up the stairs to attack.

Suddenly the floor of the fortress began to shake violently. The tremor was no more than three seconds in duration but very strong; blocks of the fortress walls began to shift and separate slightly, and long cracks split the floor of the gateroom. A large section of the balcony crumbled and fell away, and the gemstone dragons were forced to spread their wings and leap aside. The brief tremor was enough to shatter the outer wall of the fortress. The massive blocks of stone were too large and solid to collapse easily, but they were split by deep cracks, and the doors of the main gate shifted on bent hinges.

But the dragons had not escaped yet. Although the crossbars were broken, the doors remained shut and were now jammed together. Their enemies were disoriented, but Thelvyn knew he wouldn't have the time to try to force the damaged gate open before he was attacked. Looking quickly over his shoulder to see that Kharendaen was safe, he drew a deep breath and released the full fury of his breath weapon. A jet of blue flames that materialized into crackling bolts of lighting leapt and danced over the floor, ripping apart the stones as if they were dried mud. The Veydran warriors were chased down by the branching spears of lighting, their broken and smoking bodies hurled across the chamber. The gemstone dragons who were not immediately slain fled from the merciless destruction.

Kharendaen was alarmed by the ferocity of the attack, and as they flew, she kept herself slightly behind and above Thelvyn so that her mate was free to release his terrible destruction without fear for her safety. At last he turned and headed toward the gate, directing a full blast of lightning against the jammed doors until they exploded outward. Free at last, the dragons darted forward through the gate just as the stones began to collapse in a cloud of dust and rubble.

Thelvyn continued to lead the way, staying low as he followed the streets between the maze of fortresses. The sky above was tilled with the winged forms of the Masters and the smaller Veydran warriors, and soldiers of many other races hurried through the streets, but they seemed uncertain of what they were expected to fight. The confusion gave the two dragons enough time to search through the streets for the route to escape.

Following the larger streets, Thelvyn quickly found what he was looking for. Emerging between the long rows of strongholds, the dragons suddenly found themselves in the milling confusion of the central square. Companies of soldiers scattered and heavy freight wagons careened out of their path, but the dragons were too late. The immense worldgate had already been closed.

Seeing that he had no choice, Thelvyn turned and led the way out of the central square, staying low in the streets between the buildings to remain hidden as long as possible. The Masters and whole companies of Veydran had already seen them and were now in hot pursuit. Their only hope now was to avoid having to fight until they were away from the stronghold and able to disappear into the dusty twilight wilderness of that cold, dry world.