The climb went on and on and the dust and cobwebs and stale air grew thicker. At several points they found their way barred by spider webs stretched right across their path. Althak sliced them away with his sword, sending cascades of dust falling to the steps and clouds of it billowing into the air. Eyes streaming and noses running they hurried past.
Thalissa was worst affected. She coughed and spluttered as she climbed on and eventually asked if they could rest.
Azkun was not yet tired, but he could see that the end was nowhere in sight. They stopped, but the way upward held his gaze as they sat on the steps. Althak pulled a flask of water from his pack and passed it to Thalissa who drank gratefully.
“Forgive me but I'm old. My legs are no longer suited to such work.”
Althak laughed.
“I'm weary too. You've saved me some embarrassment by asking for a rest before my own legs dropped beneath me.”
In spite of concern for Thalissa, Azkun wanted to press on ahead. He was uncomfortable in this dusty passage and longed to meet his masters. The way went on as before. There were still cobwebs and strange designs on the walls. Still the globe of light hovered above them and still the endless stairs went on. They stopped again when next Thalissa grew tired and she and Althak ate some of their food. There they rested longer, for they were all growing weary of the climb. They spoke little. The echoes in the passage were unnerving and no one wished to stir them up. On the walls the strange designs and pictures were still visible and on some could be seen traces of paint that had long ago peeled away or faded.
When they had rested they climbed on. Gradually they noticed a subtle change in the air. It was still stuffy and dusty but just a little fresher than before. Another faint smell came, just on the edge of sense at first, but it grew stronger as they climbed. It was like green plants waving in a breeze far away.
Presently they came to a crack in the passage. It was as if one section of their tunnel had shifted sideways and down from the other, leaving a gaping hole to cross. It was only two paces wide but it disappeared into black gloom and, from far below, they thought they could hear the sound of the sea.
The difficulty in crossing such a gap is always in proportion to its depth, or its perceived depth. Althak tackled it. Pushing past Azkun, he crouched on one side of the hole and tested the other side with one leg stretched across. Then he jumped across the space. Finally he stood astride the hole and helped Thalissa to cross. Azkun sprang across followed by Tenari, who refused Althak’s offer of help by characteristically ignoring him.
As the smell of greenery became stronger the air became still fresher. Slowly they realised that there was a source of light ahead. The passage was more difficult here, the steps were cracked and uneven. Piles of rubble had fallen from the roof and walls. One or two holes in the floor had to be skirted, although none barred their way like the first.
A light breeze could actually be felt now as they approached what was clearly the end of the steps. The daylight was growing and, without warning, the globe above them disappeared. Azkun looked up and smiled.
“We are almost there. Our guide is no longer needed.”
They stepped through a narrow archway into a huge hall, big enough to hold a dozen dragons. It was twice the size of the Sword Hall of Atonir. High overhead great arches curved magnificently to points stamped with the double axe. At one end of the room a large arch, much bigger than the one they had just passed through, led to another great hall. Daylight streamed in through tall windows along another wall.
Part of this wall had fallen away, opening an extensive gap and strewing debris across the floor. However, it let in even more light, which they were glad of after the long, gloomy stairs.
Azkun crossed the hall to one of the windows. They were, as he had realised they must be, high up the cliffs that surrounded the island. The windows overlooked a precipice that plunged to the blue waters far below. From the boat they had not seen any buildings, and this hall, like the stairs, had been hewn from the solid rock of the island. It was a fitting residence for the dragons, an eyrie of stone.
“Azkun,” Thalissa touched his shoulder. “This is a ruin. I don't like this place.”
In spite of the gap in the wall the fresh air was still tainted by that odd smell. Azkun had smelt it before somewhere. When it was faint it smelled like green plants as it had done on the stairs, but now that it was stronger it was almost sickly.
Azkun patted his mother’s hand.
“Put away your fears, Mother. You have no need of them here.”
Tenari clung to his arm as blankly as ever and Althak prowled among the rubble. A small animal, it looked like a rat, squeaked and scuttled from the shelter of a stone to a crack in the floor.
“No dragons here, Azkun,” said Althak. “This is just a ruin. They must be higher up.”
“Of course. Through that arch.” He looked at them for a moment. “There will be a way. Like the light, it will be provided.”
So they walked across the great hall. There was a lot of rubble on the floor. Some of it lay in piles that looked as though it had been roughly scraped together, possibly with the intention of restoring the wreckage. They clambered across these piles and over loose boulders and rubble.
On the other side of the room the smell was much stronger. It was like a wet, green stickiness that clung in their throats. Azkun led them through the archway to the next hall and there they saw what they had all looked for.
A dragon lay sprawled on a nest of greenery in the centre of the room. A long, silver tail coiled around its legs like a cat’s. Its wings were folded flat against a spiny, mottled back. In its fore claws it held the carcass of a cow or a deer, it was difficult to tell which for its great teeth were in the process of rending the victim. Blood dribbled from its mouth onto the greenery. As it moved they could make out the dull, white shapes of eggs half hidden by the tail.
Azkun gagged at the stench of hot blood, dragon urine and crushed fennel, for that was what the greenery was. He stared at the dragon, frozen in shock. But it had not noticed them. Althak reacted quickly. He grabbed Azkun to pull him back through the archway. There was danger here.
But Azkun shook him off.
“Leave me,” he snapped as he came out of his surprise. “This is a dragon, can you not see?” Althak looked pained and pointed to the feeding dragon. “It is not for us to question their deeds,” Azkun said indignantly.
“Azkun-”
“This is what I came for. Have you forgotten the Gashans already?” He walked towards the dragon. His knees felt weak and trembling but he tried to steady them.
“Hail, Great One,” he cried. “I am Azkun of Kelerish. I come to serve you.” He bowed low before the dragon. It stopped rending the beast and turned towards him, watching intently. Azkun waited with bated breath, his pulse pounding.
Suddenly the dragon threw back its head and gave a piercing whistle that was so loud it shook the hall. Then it lowered its bloody jaws to the carcass again.
“Please,” called Azkun more timidly. “You flamed me at Kelerish. You led me here to ask you for help. The Gashans, they are evil… I saw them myself.” A shudder went through him as the dragon swallowed a heap of entrails. This was wrong. This was not what he had promised, this was not what he had travelled so far to see.
“I saw them,” he continued, not knowing how to stop himself. “They live for murder and death.” He could hear his voice rising to an hysterical pitch. The dragon tore off a leg of the carcass and chewed it with a jerking motion while it held the leg in its jaws. “Can you not hear me? They were killing themselves and each other, they even made me kill one of them. You hate killing, you hate death! Why are you eating that thing?” As he spoke the dragon discarded the remains of the cow and reached behind itself to grasp another carcass. Azkun was silent as sick horror welled up his chest. It was the body of a small dragon. The big dragon began tearing it open with claws and teeth.
“No! You cannot, not that!” Azkun screamed. “Stop it, stop it!” He grabbed a piece of rock from the rubble on the floor, but before he could hurl it at the dragon Althak caught his arm.
“Stop,” he said quietly. “Let's go now.”
“But…” Azkun was trembling violently and there were flecks of foam about his lips. “I made promises. Dragons to fight the Gashans, dragon power and strength. I promised them… My gods are just beasts!” He clutched
