Night of the Dragon

They were chained tight in an underground chamber that surely had to be part of Grim Batol. He glared at his companion. 'So, once again, the great Korialstrasz has saved the world... or could I be mistaken?'

The dragon mage showed no offense at his remarks, instead asking, 'Do those dreams come often?'

Kalec looked away, not wanting to discuss the matter. However, the other captive would not let it go.

'How often do you dream of her, Kalec?'

He whipped his head back to Krasus. 'Every time I sleep or am unconscious for other reasons, such as now! Does that please you?'

Krasus shook his head. 'No.'

The younger male exhaled. 'We're in Grim Batol, aren't we? Is it Deathwing who has us?'

'No... It is Sintharia... or Sinestra, as she seems to prefer, since she wishes to claim no tie to her dread mate.' The dragon mage went into detail on his encounter with Deathwing's consort.

Much of Kalec's anger toward Krasus was pushed back as he listened in disbelief. He looked up at the tiny shard.

'That is what keeps us so weak?'

'That... and my little pet,' came another voice.

The pair looked at the entrance, where the blood elf who Krasus had said was called Zendarin now stood. Behind him in the corridor beyond was a shining mass of energy, an elemental that could only be a mageslayer. Yet, the blue, attuned to the many aspects of magic, immediately sensed that this was not an ordinary mageslayer, that much about it had been altered dramatically... and made the fiend a threat even to dragons.

Kalec could sense that the elemental wanted to draw nearer, but Zendarin waved the creature farther back.

'It's developed some interesting... tastes,' the blood elf remarked. 'There are points to it that now are reminiscent of a mana eater, for instance.'

'What do you want?' Krasus asked.

Zendarin grinned. 'I want to be your friend....'

Kalec snorted.

'You don't believe me? I've learned several things recently, especially about the dear lady in black. I've a mind that you and I could see eye-to-eye on her in some regards....'

'You play with your doom, Zendarin,' the elder dragon returned, 'and we will not play with you. Do you not think that she has always awaited your betrayal for your own desires?'

'Of course, she does. That's what makes it more amusing.'

The prisoners glanced at one another. Kalec expected his companion to press the blood elf, but Krasus appeared not at all interested in pursuing the only path to escape they had.

'What do you want of us?' Kalec finally asked.

Zendarin waited for Krasus to say something, too, but when the elder dragon remained mute, the blood elf focused on the blue. 'There will come a time, when she must be faced. I am mere blood elf. A dragon, though, would be far more able to stave her off for the moment needed....'

'Needed for what?'

'You are interested, then?'

Kalec bared his teeth. 'I would not be speaking with one of your kind if I was not, regardless of my current circumstances.'

Zendarin's gaze shifted to Krasus. 'And what of him?'

Again, the dragon mage remained silent, which infuriated Kalec. Did he think their options so unlimited that he could refuse to even play along with the blood elf?

'He does not speak for me, nor I him,' the blue snapped. 'I am interested. That is as much as you need from me, yes?'

'Two would be better than one. I give you some time to talk sense into your friend... but know that time is very short.'

With that, Zendarin slipped out again. The mageslayer did not follow immediately, lingering by the entrance as if still eager to come to them. Only when the blood elf called to it did it finally vanish.

'They have made a minor evil into something far more treacherous,' Krasus commented. 'Thus is the way of Grim Batol. Evil not only flourishes here. It transforms....'

'What was the matter with you? Why didn't you play along with him?'

'The blood elf is too great a fool to even toy with, young one. His darkness is terrible, but hers dwarfs his a thousandfold. Even to barter with him risks us more than it is worth, trust me.'

Kalec glared. “I will never understand you. Do as you wish, then. If Zendarin comes back again, you can rot in your chains alone, staring at that damned shard until she drags you out and sacrifices you or whatever it is she wants.'

'She is making an abomination of a dragon, and we are to feed that creation with our lives....'

'All the more reason to take what little possibility of escape we have... unless you've come up with some wonderful plan of your own?'

The other's eyes narrowed. ''Wonderful,' I would not call it... nor even truly a 'plan'...but...but there may just be something I can do after all....'

The younger dragon waited for more explanation, but Krasus merely turned his attention to the entrance... and stared.

Me is here.... Korialstrasz is here....

Sinestra savored the moment again. All her machinations were coming to fruition just as she had dreamed they would. Indeed, she had gained far more than expected, the blue male surely a gift of the fates.

Deathwing's consort strode to the edge of the pit where her favored child rested. It was hungry, very hungry, but had learned finally to trust that it would be fed at the right time in the right manner.

'A pity he could not have come sooner,' Sinestra murmured to herself, 'or the blue, also. It would have been best if their essences could have been fed into the egg. Now, they will enhance, but not be an integral part of the make-up.' She made a tsking sound. 'A pity, yes...'

But there are other eggs, the voice in her head reminded her. The next ones will gain the benefit that this one did not! They will be even more mighty, a true legacy to the years of suffering....

'Yes,' she agreed out loud. 'The next generation will outshine even Dargonax...'

As she said the name, the creature in the pit stirred.

'Hush, hush,' the mad dragon murmured to it. 'Rest, dear Dargonax, rest.... Supper will soon be ready.'

Silence settled over the pit again. Satisfied, Sinestra summoned a pair of skardyn.

'Descend below. You know what I need. You will find me in the cavern of the nether dragon.'

They grunted understanding, then rushed off to fulfill her command.

Sinestra peered into the black pit one more time, then headed for the cavern. Already, she could imagine what would happen with the next eggs, the magnificent children that would hatch from them.

'At long last!' the black dragon breathed. 'At long last...'

The thing in the pit stirred again. It—he—had discovered long ago that if he pretended to be complacent, he learned much. This time, though, perhaps he had learned more than he desired.

A future batch of eggs... new brothers and sisters. ..better brothers and sisters...

Dargonax hissed.

The dwarves and their two unlikely allies slipped toward Grim Batol. Vereesa it was who had insisted again that they head out, although Rom had convinced her to wait until the next night. In the daytime, the dwarves were too conspicuous a sight; the sentries would easily see them and there were also magical factors with which to deal.

Iridi offered some hope against the latter problem. While it was true that the blood elf might detect her, she suspected that he did not understand the staff's powers to the depths that she did.

'He has not had it long, surely only barely before he also captured the nether dragon,' she explained to the