When Dragons Rage

73

Nefrai-laysh spoke in a dismal rhyme, but Will barely heard his words. He looked from the broken manikin and up at Kerrigan’s face. Shock and betrayal dragged at the mage’s cheeks, and they drained of color. His eyes began to glaze over, but Will grabbed two fistfuls of his tunic. “I’m sorry, Kerrigan, I’m sorry, but I need you here. This is bad and we have to fix it.”

Bok reached out, his arm transforming, and swept Will away. The thief spun and fell, landing on his butt not ten feet away from Qwc. As his head came up, he saw Nefrai-laysh on the shelf. His form had become completely black save for the fire burning in his eye sockets and his flaming cloak. He held the glowing gem aloft as if he were going to throw it down and dash it into a million pieces.

A large dragon, with dark blue scales striped with lighter blue, shifted on his stone pedestal. “This Congress would accept testimony from a representative of the court of Aurolan. You need not threaten Rymramoch that way.”

“Alas, parity with them I desire, those before the lake of fire.” The sullanciri pointed at Erlestoke. “A Truestone has he, so even are we.”

The blue tilted its head to the right. “We would treat you with equanimity regardless. You are all guests here, and are bound by the Peace of our Congress. Violence one upon the other is not permitted. Violate the peace and earn our ire.

Crow pointed to the broken puppet. “This was not violence?” Another dragon, this one a mottled grey with one broken horn, pointed its muzzle toward a dragon resting in a niche. The one he indicated had red scales, but their color was muted, as if it lay beneath an inch of dust.

“Rymramoch is not a guest and Rymramoch put Rymramoch in jeopardy. Foolishness paid is foolishness bought.”

Dravothrak spoke. “And totally beside the point. I was sent to travel among men and so I have. We have been told that men mean to collect the Truestones and recreate the Crown to force us to abandon our duty. That is not true. They have held the pieces apart to prevent Chytrine from recreating the Crown and using it to destroy all that lives.”

The grey snorted two jets of flame. “There is a problem with the extermination of men? We created the Panqui to keep men away from our homes, but they still encroach. Chytrine does us a minor service in pursuit of a greater one.”

A black dragon with red stripes spoke, and Will realized two things. The first was that he’d seen that dragon before, at Vilwan. The second was that the wall between him and the lake not only served to keep the heat out, but was functioning to translate the hissing of dragons into words they could understand. I wonder if Resolute hears them speaking Elvish?

Vriisureol’s voice rumbled through the invisible wall. “For how long does she serve us? Now she offers to be our ally. She uses the Truestones in her possession to summon some, then lets them offer her their service. She has enslaved no one, but will this always be the way?”

The blue replied. “The Crown is ever a threat as long as it exists. Chytrine says that when she gets all the pieces and fits them together, she will unmake the Crown, freeing the Truestones and us of their tyranny forever. She is gathering them for this purpose.”

“Yes, yes, that is right. She gathers them with all her might, facing death and mankind’s spite.” Nefrai-laysh pointed at Erlestoke. “His stone, give it to me. I’ll bear it to her, you see.”

Resolute drew Syverce. “It will be your death to take that stone.”

“You’re part of the plot, deny it not, Resolute so bold.” The fire in the sullanciris eyes flared. “Soon not to be bolder, not to be older, but just very much cold.”

The blue’s nostrils flared as gold flame licked from them. “Do not use that sword, elf, or it’s not cold you’ll be.”

Resolute glared at the dragon, but did not return Syverce to its scabbard.

Will picked himself up off the shelf and stared at the blue. “I’d like to be heard. I don’t know if it helps that I’ve got dragon’s blood in me, or that I’ve bled on the Truestone the prince carries, but I think there’s a way you can see the truth of things pretty easily.”

The blue’s head oriented on Will. “Pray, tell us.”

“Well, it’s like this: I’m a thief. If I’m going to steal things, I figure out where they are and then I go after them. Now, Chytrine took Vorquellyn a long time ago. Maybe there was a stone there, maybe there wasn’t, but she tayed there after she took it. And then, twenty-five years ago, she tried to take pieces from Fortress Draconis, but she didn’t. Still, she had forces far south of it, and my father knows that, because he made up a poem about fighting them long before he saw a Truestone.“

The sullanciri hissed. “Tell your lies, you who was whelped ‘tween poxed thighs.”

Will snorted. “You were there before I was.”

Fire shot in jets from Nefrai-laysh’s eyes, but he remained silent.

The thief continued. “And then she went to Fortress Draconis and sent folks to Lakaslin to get fragments. She got one from Fortress Draconis, the prince has a second, and a third is hidden. And the one from Lakaslin is hidden. But, still, her troops are heading south even though she doesn’t know where the pieces are.”

The grey snarled. “Is there a purpose to your recitation?”

“Well, it’s this. If she wanted the fragments—if that’s what she’s been going after—she’d be stopping when she knows she can’t find them. But instead, her troops continue south.” He pointed at his father. “And you already know she enslaves people and makes them do her bidding. If you look at what she does, not what she says, I would be thinking you don’t want her to have that Crown any more than we do.”

The blue considered things for a moment. “Your point is taken. The request for possession of the Truestone is denied.”

The sullanciri raged. “Hear my plea, do not fools be! They come here in heroes’ guise, concealing venom in honeyed lies. It is plain to see, they are no friends to thee. But mistress mine, the magnificent Chytrine, has your best interest at heart. Keep not the crown apart. Give us the stone, merely a loan. Then with four, she will gain more. Her goal will be at hand. Dragons will rule the land.”

Will blinked. “Four? Four? She has two, this would make three.” He looked at Crow. “The ruby! We left it with Scrainwood. He wouldn’t!”

“Not if we stop him.”

The thief turned back to the blue. “Get us to Meredo, and we’ll bring that fourth stone here. You can keep it, along with this one. That way you’ll know it will be safe.” Will smiled. “In fact, if Chytrine really had your best interests at heart, she’d bring all the fragments here and let you keep them.”

The grey snorted two gouts of flame. “The thief uses wormwords to convince us to gather the stones in one place so he can steal them.”

Will’s head came up. “I’m very good, but I know I couldn’t get them out of here. Neither could Chytrine.”

The blue looked at Nefrai-laysh. “You will convey to your mistress our desire to have her deliver her Truestones here.”

The sullanciri laughed aloud. “You have no grounds; you overstep your bounds. Your request she does deny.“ With his right hand he reached behind himself and circled a finger through the air. An oval hole opened in nothingness. ”You have earned her ire, and in consequence dire, one of you must die.“

Nefrai-laysh drew back his left hand to throw the ruby stone. As his arm came forward, he jerked. A spear passed through his body, lancing down from left armpit to right hip. The haft caught his arm, abbreviating his throw. Instead of the Truestone flying straight out into the heart of the fiery lake, it spun end over end in a long, high arc.

Will watched it fly. He watched it spin and began to run. Light flashed from the heart of the stone as it tumbled, falling faster and faster. Will measured the arc, reckoned where the stone would land, and dove.

His fingers closed on the stone’s smooth surface. His body twisted. He threw the stone back toward the shelf and saw it was going to fly true.

“Qwc, get it!”

As Will’s body passed through the magick wall, he saw the Spritha dart for the stone. The little creature wrapped all four arms around it and hung on tightly.

Then the heat hit Will and he was no more.