The Radiant Dragon

Teldin felt the first tendrils of control slip into his mind. He took a reflexive step backward. 'Another time,' he replied. 'I must return to my ship now.'

The illithid's shoulders shook with silent laughter. You have a sense of humor, I see. I think I would enjoy taking your thoughts, Teldin Moore, but I must remember my pledge to the elder-brain. She turned to her slaves. Take our guests below and put a guard on their quarters until whatever time Teldin Moore feels like talking, she said, broadcasting her instructions.

A sharp gasp burst from the dracons. 'A guard? You mean to keep Captain Teldin Moore prisoner?' Chirp asked in a shrill squeak.

'But kaba Netarza, this is most irregular,' Trivit protested. The pale green dracon had been standing quietly by, watching his clan leader with growing confusion and dismay.

'Most irregular,' Chirp echoed, obviously in deep distress. 'This human rescued us from a beholder, and surely he should be honored and rewarded, not-' Overcome with emotion, Chirp broke off, biting his reptilian lip to keep it from quivering.

The dracons' chagrin seemed only to amuse Netarza. She reached up and patted Chirp's dark green cheek. Take them below, she repeated, then she spun and walked away.

Elves surrounded Teldin and Estriss, and the two 'guests' were roughly herded below deck and through a narrow hall. Teldin glanced back at the troubled dracons, wondering whether he should try to warn them about what lay in store for them. Perhaps such knowledge at this point would only endanger them; it would seem that their safety lay in their continued ignorance. Of one thing Teldin was sure: if he managed to escape the illithid ship-a distinct possibility, given the creatures' oversight in leaving him armed-he would find a way to bring Chirp and Trivit with him.

When the door to the cabin clicked shut behind them, Teldin turned to his fellow captive. 'What's going on, Estriss? How did you get here? I thought you were-' He broke off abruptly.

Dead? Estriss finished coldly. He held his facial tentacles stiff and immobile, a clear sign of his emotional detachment. Illithids require less air than humans, and I survived in the void long enough to be rescued by this group from Falx.

There was so much to say that Teldin did not know how to start, or what to do to bridge the gap of betrayal that lay between them.

'I've heard that the mind flayers of Falx were going after the cloak-'

And you assume that I was in league with them, Estriss finished coldly. I deserved better from you than to be judged solely on the basis of my race.

Deeply ashamed, Teldin averted his eyes from the mind flayer's steady, white-eyed gaze. The words Estriss had just formed were not new to Teldin; they had echoed in his own mind since the mutiny, which Aelfred and Sylvie had helped him lead.

'You're here,' Teldin observed lamely.

Yes, but not by my own choice, the illithid said. There was a long silence, then his shoulders rose and fell in a great sigh. Much of what is said of my race is true, Teldin Moore, but I despise the slave trade and all those who engage in it. I find slavery morally repugnant-a view, I might add, that is virtually unique among illithids.

Teldin nodded. From the first day he'd met Estriss, he could not consider him a monster, despite his appearance. He could not say the same thing for Netarza and her crew. Those illithids seemed to require a new word for evil. Estriss was right; in their own way they were every bit as bad as the neogi. But even if Estriss was different from most of his kind, there still was much about the past that lacked explanation.

'The threat from the Falx illithids was only one thing of many,' Teldin continued, determined to have the whole truth. 'Our first meeting aboard the Probe could not have been a coincidence. You came after me. If not to gain the cloak for yourself, then why?'

That is a long story, one better left for another time. Estriss's mental voice was suddenly weary, and he sank down on one of a few narrow cots in the cell. There are more immediate concerns.

'Like keeping the Spelljammer out of Netarza's hands,' Teldin said.

Actually, Netarza does not seek the Spelljammer, Estriss replied, though she would hardly turn down a chance at the great ship. She does not know why the elder-brain seeks the cloak, but she harbors ambitions of her own and command of the Spelljammer would certainly further them. Most illithids are content to gain power through trade and information; Netarza seeks military strength as well. To what end, I am not sure. She is searching for the homeworld of the dracons, planning to raise a mindless army.

'How can Chirp and Trivit not realize what's going on?' Teldin demanded. 'Can't they see that they're surrounded by slaves?'

Estriss shifted his shoulders in a crooked shrug. The dracons have an inborn sense of order. Each clan must have a leader and a spiritual guide. The dracons' need for this structure is so imperative that they will die if deprived of a clan setting, and perhaps this need has blinded them to the true nature of their adopted clan.

'They've got to know,' Teldin insisted. 'When we escape, the dracons go with us. When the time comes, can you convince them?'

The illithid inclined his lavender head. You have grown in confidence and daring, I see. When the time comes, as you say, I will do what I can for the dracons.

A piercing alarm sounded throughout the ship, its insistent shriek rising and ebbing in a hideous pattern that made Teldin think of an angry, wounded eagle. Footsteps hurried down the narrow corridor outside their room, and the sounds of battle began to ring on the deck above. Teldin tried the door to Estriss's cabin and found it unlocked. He smiled at his good fortune, cracked the door open, and ventured a look. Their guard was gone, and the corridor was deserted. A woman's voice soared above the din of battle, raised in a berserker's war cry.

Dagmar!

Teldin was halfway down the corridor before he realized he had left Estriss's cabin. Fear gripped him as he sprinted up the stairs toward the main deck. His small crew had no hope of overcoming the illithids' elven warriors. He drew his own sword, glad that the contemptuous illithids hadn't bothered to take it from him.

The sight on deck stopped him cold. Somehow his crew had boarded the Nightstalker, and they were locked in battle with the illithids' slaves. Fighting alongside Dagmar was a ten-foot monster wielding a two-pointed halberd with incredible speed and skill.

Shock welded Teldin to the deck as he gaped at the monstrous ally. Roughly humanoid, the creature resembled a bipedal, muscular insect. A large gem was set in the center of the monster's forehead, and it cast an eerie red glow into the purple light. Two large compound eyes, like those of a giant fly, faced forward, and four more eyes darted about independently as the creature took on newcomers from all sides. Although it was surrounded, the creature did not seem to be in trouble. Weapons clanked harmlessly against its iridescent exoskeleton.

At the edge of his vision Teldin saw a black-robed illithid draw near the creature, its white eyes fixed in a wide, compelling stare. Teldin realized it was summoning a mind blast. Before he could shout a warning to the insect creature, it lunged forward with the halberd, neatly spitting the mind flayer and raising it aloft. The illithid's legs flailed beneath its black robes, but their motion rapidly diminished to a few jerky twists. With a quick, sharp shake of the halberd, the creature sent the mortally wounded illithid flying into the void.

An elven warrior crept slowly behind the monster. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. His grandfather's words rang in Teldin's mind, Whether the homily was true or not, Teldin saw in the enormous insect his only hope of keeping the cloak away from the illithid slavers.

'Behind you!' he bellowed, pointing with his sword toward the elf. Teldin charged toward the insect creature, not sure what he could do to help it.

He needn't have bothered. Even as his lips formed the warning, the monstrous insect kicked backward. Its heel spur sliced up and into its attacker, and the elf slumped to the deck clutching at his spilling entrails. Two more elven slaves rushed the creature from the side. A quick thrust of the halberd beheaded one, and the monster drove a spiked fist into the other elf s midsection. No, through his midsection, Teldin amended with horror. He skidded to a stop, just short of tripping over one of the fallen slaves.