garden reassured that panic, but stirred up a whole new one.
She looked down at Antoum, who was staring as his mother came unsteadily to her feet, shouting for a sword. Tennora pulled her staff free of its harness. 'Shava.'
The poor elf girl looked at her with utter terror. 'I can't do this,' she whispered. 'They said he's a dragon.'
'A dragon that will rip this city apart if we don't stop him.' Shava shook her head. 'I can't.'
'Then here-Antoum, go with her. Find a safe place to hide, and don't come out until you hear us calling for you.'
'I don't want to,' the little boy said, shaking nearly as hard as Shava.
'You must,' Tennora said. 'How else will we defeat the dragon-man? If he tries to grab you again, we'll have to stop him so he doesn't hurt you.' She met the elfs wide, frightened gaze. 'Shava, if anyone comes near you that you don't know, hit them with every spell you have.'
Shava shook fearfully, holding her wand tightly in one fist. Tennora looked out toward the garden exit, where the air vibrated with Andareunarthex's roaring.
'I can't… I only remember… Corellon, Tennora, I'm no good for this,' Shava said, holding her wand out as if she could give it to Tennora-and all her fear along with it.
Tennora grabbed the other young woman by the shoulders. 'Shava, you can and you have to. Get Antoum away until it's safe. Do it for him, do it for me, do it for the whole godsdamned city-but you must do it!'
Shava nodded, her eyes still wide and terrified. A terrible roar shook the walls, rattling the frames of paintings against the plaster walls. 'Go!' Tennora shouted.
Grabbing Antoum by the hand, Shava fled upstairs.
Tennora had expected to see a dragon when she ran out into the garden, but the actual sight of Andareunarthex in his green-scaled glory stopped her as solidly as a hand across her chest. The illustrations in her books were nothing next to the actual creature.
He bellowed something in a guttural language, and only when her dark-haired figure shot to attention did Tennora notice Nestrix, carrying a sword and standing over a sickly-looking Veron.
'Nestrix-' Tennora shouted. The blue dragon's attention broke from Dareun and she turned to Tennora.
'Take him,' Nestrix ordered, and pressed a vial into her hands. 'Give him that.'
Tennora shoved the vial in a pocket, hooked her hands under Veron's arms, and dragged him away from the dragon, as Nestrix stepped forward.
Nestrix threw back her head and answered his challenge with a blood-curdling scream and a tidal wave of dragonfear.
Tennora settled Veron against the garden wall. His head lolled to one side, and his breath came in shallow drafts. The vial shook in her hand as she worked the stopper free. 'Stay with us,' she muttered, pouring it into his mouth. When his breath came a little easier and his eyes focused, she squeezed his hand. 'Stay here. I'll be back.'
Nazra Mrays shouted an order up at the wall. From the window an unexpected figure leaped, and Aundra Blacklock circled the garden. A great globe of magic, swirling with strange colors and seemingly larger than the raptoran could hold between her hands, built as she passed. It screamed down from the heavens and shattered against Dareun's wings.
A volley of arrows soared across the gap and struck Dareun. He reached into the ranks, with two great swipes of his claws, like a child grabbing at toy soldiers.
Tennora grabbed Nestrix's arm as she strode toward Dareun. 'You have to use the lightning!'
Nestrix shook her head. 'I only have one chance. The breath is too much for me to handle this way. Once, and I'll fall. He must fall too.'
Tennora grabbed her by the arm. 'Hit him and give us a chance. I'll pull you out of his reach if it doesn't work.'
Dareun roared, his jaws sharp and serrated with teeth as long as Tennora's hand. In the back of his throat a swirling cloud of thick green gas was building. His head swayed on his neck.
'Move!' Nestrix shouted, and she pushed Tennora off into the bushes just before Dareun blew a stream of bitter, searing gas that rolled across the garden like a wall. Traces of the poison snaked into Tennora's lungs, and she crouched, coughing so hard she thought she would vomit, until she was free of it.
The ground vibrated as Dareun moved toward Nazra Mrays, who had crumpled to her knees still overwhelmed by the choking gas. Nestrix had been caught in the gas as well, and was climbing unsteadily to her feet.
'Give me the dragonstaff!' he bellowed. 'Or I'll make certain your son knows he's an orphan before he dies.'
Tennora took hold of her staff and shouted another ornate word. A spiderweb the size of a cart bed burst into being and spun toward Dareun's face. He turned as she shouted, and the web caught him across the snout, pinning his jaws together.
He thrashed his head and tried to rub the web off with the side of his claw, with his leg, with the willow tree. The silk was strong, but it snapped and frayed as Dareun worried at it, his stifled roars caught in his mouth.
Nestrix gained her feet and screamed.
Once more the lightning breath coursed through her, stronger than any mage's spell. From as close as she stood, Tennora could see the electricity arcing between Nestrix's fingers and eyelids, her whole body consumed by the storm. The static blew the deepnight cloak back over her shoulders, rippling the fabric out behind her. For a moment she seemed to flicker, and Tennora could swear she saw the shape of wide-spread wings curling around Nestrix's back, the sinuous curve of another neck and head stretched out above her.
The lightning raced over Dareun, building in strength with the flawed magic of the Songdragon's gorget. He screamed and the pain forced his jaws wide, shredding the web. The thunderclap drowned him out.
From above, Aundra threw another ball of flickering light. From the ground the remaining soldiers fired arrows.
The lightning faded; Nestrix collapsed as if the storm had been all that was holding her up. She did not move. Tennora sprinted to her.
But Andareunarthex was not fallen. His wings were torn and his scales scorched-but his eyes were still keen, and he dived for Tennora as she raced across the garden.
His damp, choking breath rushed over her. The side of his head struck her, knocking her backward onto the sod. She rolled and narrowly avoided the snap of his teeth. He drew back again.
'You'll die with your mistress!' he hissed.
Heart pounding, thoughts racing, Tennora rolled to her feet. She couldn't bring any spells to mind. She pulled one of the carvestars free and threw it as hard as she could toward Dareun's head. The delicate blade caught him under the jaw, where his scales were thin, and lodged there. Distracted, Dareun rubbed his chin against his neck, trying to dislodge it.
Nazra and the half-orc escaped the straggling line of archers and came at the dragon with swords, the half- elf woman holding up her skirts in one hand. The sword strokes were mere stings, but they kept Dareun's attention.
'The gorget!' Nazra cried.
The moonstone winked in the moonlight. The key is the singer's collar. Not the key to saving Nestrix-the key to stopping Dareun. Without the gorget's protection, the dragonward would overtake him.
The green dragon roared again, lashing his tail. It hit Nazra's half-orc bodyguard and threw him across the garden and into a shadowtop tree. Nazra shouted and plunged her sword into the underside of the dragon's front leg. He screamed and nearly brought his foot down on her.
Tennora ran as fast as her feet would carry her and leaped, pulling herself up on Dareun's wing joint. He thrashed and beat his wings, struggling to throw her off or fly away. They started to lift.
She clung to the spikes that lined his spine. The clasp lay along the side of the gorget, and as he moved, it kept slipping out of reach.
Dareun snarled at her. 'Flea! Insect! You think you can stop me?'
Still clinging to the spike, Tennora threw herself out over his shoulder, grabbing at the gorget. Her body yanked painfully away from her arm, but as she fell, she caught hold of the closure.
