Agra backed further into the hollow tree and regretted her choice of hiding place. Instinct drove her here after Dragonsong12's blast of fire and she had lain silently, listening as the great dragon roared and flamed.
Now three werewolves sat before the opening, trapping her in the confined space. One sat back a little and pawed at its scratched face. The entrance was only large enough for one to enter at a time and Agra had made sure they wouldn't make that mistake again, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before the beasts worked out an attack.
Somewhere above, a branch cracked. The werewolves looked up. Agra saw fear on their faces for an instant before a spiked staff impaled one and an axe swept the heads off the others in one swipe. A large figure blocked off the entrance and she heard the third werewolf die.
"Of course, everyone knows any dragon is can easily handle three weres," said Dirk. Light flooded into the hollow as he shifted away and bent to peer into the hiding place. "I hope you don't mind me doing it for you."
Agra blinked at the warrior's upside-down face. "No," she said softly. After a moment she struggled from the hole. "But are you going to hunt me down every time I try to leave?"
Dirk stared up at the trees above. The silence drew on but eventually he said, "One day soon the black arts will not be pursuing us and I will not be concerned for your safety." He sighed and muttered "I don't think I will be concerned about anything."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing," said Dirk dismissively. "A stupid dream."
"Well you need not be concerned for me now!"
"Ah but I do! Ever since each of us joined this group we were marked and watched. Have you not felt it?"
Agra hung her head. "Sometime I feel like-" She paused for a moment.
"Like someone is in your head?' finished Dirk. Agra's head jerked up and she glared at him. "No, it's not me," said Dirk. "I can sense things. I too have felt like someone is watching." He smiled suddenly. "But then, I've felt that all my life."
Silence dragged on as the pair sat in thought. "She tried to kill me," said Agra eventually.
"Yes." Dirk roused himself. "We should find the others. They'll need our help."
"What about Faz?"
"He can look after himself."
"Oh thank you VERY much!" came a familiar voice. The firedrake landed beside the tree and glared up at Ironclaw.
Dirk winked at Agra. "See? He's fine!"
"What about Dragonsong12?" asked Agra. "Why did she flame at me?"
"I don't know," said Fazelspitz. "She changed."
"So I saw," said Dirk. "What happened to her Faz? I thought Coldfyre and Blizzard are the only one who did that."
Fazelspitz considered the warrior's last sentence and decided it made sense. Maybe the big dragon had also sensed something about Kala. It really did seem like another dragon had taken her body. He kept the thought to himself. "We need to find the others," he said at last.
"That won't be hard," said Agra. "Just follow the path we retreated along. It'll take us back to the ambush."
"That was a strategic withdrawal," said Ironclaw.
Fazelspitz patted Dirk's shoulder. "Right. Yes, you keep telling yourself that. An advance in the other direction."
"I was following you, Frazelspit!"
"Good! Thank you! Now you can follow us back to help the others."
Agra trotted along the path of their retreat and listened to the warrior and the firedrake trading insults once again. She smiled and thought, We must be safe for now.

Crimson settled back into a ready stance. It didn't help that Ailwynn was there; he didn't want any of the others to know what had happened with him and Jared.
I don't see why not, Blizzard said.
"Shut up, Blizzard," Crimson snarled. "I want to hear what this human has to say for himself." Jared sat down crosslegged, albeit a lot closer to Ailwynn than to Crimson.
"First of all, you have to understand that things were different in Marrinal-"
"No duh!" Crimson snapped. "I remember."
"What is your problem with Jared, anyway?" Ailwynn wanted to know. "He hasn't done anything to any of us."
"Yeah, well, maybe he's just biding his time," Crimson said harshly. "You ever think of that?"
What is your problem? Blizzard demanded. I don't know what Jared did to you, but I'm pretty sure Ailwynn never did anything to deserve the rough edge of your tongue.
"Things were different in Marrinal," Jared repeated, as if there had been no interruption. "For one thing, I didn't fully understand what we were doing-"
"You knew exactly what you were doing!" Crimson hissed.
Jared had the grace to look away.
"Well, alright, maybe I did. But I did not realise that this would be the result."
"What would be the result?" Blizzard asked through Crimson.
"If you don't already know, I'm not about to fill you in," Crimson answered before Jared could speak.
"Maybe you'd better start from the beginning," Ailwynn suggested. "Jared, you just tell it as you remember it and Crimson, don't say a word until afterwards. In fact, it might be an idea if you let Blizzard take over for a while."
"NO!" Crimson said loudly. "I'll-"
"-listen to-" Blizzard cut in.
"-never-" Crimson interrupted.
"-interrupt-"
"Blizzard!" Crimson yelled, finally losing it. "WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ONCE AND FOR ALL?!"
Blizzard subsided, sulking (a trait he'd picked up from Crimson.)
"Maybe you need to know a little more about me before you judge me," Jared offered. "I got a job working in Marrinal before we...ah...met, for Cort."
Who? said Blizzard.
"Hemal'to'Dharrik," Crimson answered.
Jared nodded.
"Exactly. But I swear to you, Crimson, I didn't know who-what-he was at the time."
"Where is this going?" Ailwynn asked, settling around to get a little more comfortable.
"There used to be a lot more dragons around Marrinal," Crimson said accusingly. "It was a nice place. A small forest, grasslands and a lake. Then his kind came along-" he pointed a claw at Jared, who shuffled back out of talon range, "-and either captured or killed most of them."
"Oh?" Jared said, getting irritated, "and just who was it gave most of them away?"
"You murdered my family!" Crimson growled. "Every last one of them."
Jared held his ground.
"Not all of them," he said. "Not all of them. One managed to escape-I don't know who they are or where they went-but they made it out."
That's something, Blizzard said, trying desperately to defuse the tension.
"Cort is serving the Dark side," Jared said. "He was back then, but nobody realised it. He just thought up an idea of using the dragons in battles." "Yeah," Crimson said angrily. "'Just an'-"
Ailwynn brought one paw over and flattened Crimson to the ground.
"We're probably going to be here a while," she said. "I for one would like to spend it in peace, or at least in a state of non-violence. So, Crimson, or Blizzard, or whatever you want to call yourself, if you want to kill Jared, please wait until we get outside."
There was a pause while Crimson tried to get his jaw to work again and Jared thought about what Ailwynn had suggested Crimson do. He was pretty sure that the idea of being torn apart by an angry dragon wouldn't appeal any more out there than it did in here, but deemed it wise to keep his mouth shut.
Ailwynn was still speaking.
"So, perhaps you can keep quiet long enough for Jared to tell the whole thing?"
"Unkgay," Crimson answered from where his mouth was being squashed against the cavern floor.
"Was that a yes?" Ailwynn wanted to know.
"Gnk fwz ug unkgay."
"I think that's as close to a yes as we'll get," Jared said.
"Hgs."
"Okay. Like I said, Cort was devising some kind of plan to persuade the dragons to join us-"
"
'Pgswvayde'!?!" Crimson yelled in extremely muffled protest.
"I'm not saying that's what it actually was," Jared pointed out. "I'm saying that that's what Cort said it was. What it meant was Cort sent people in to capture dragons, ensnare them like wild animals or steal their eggs. Of course, there were some dragons that joined us voluntarily. Like Crimson here."
"What about Blizzard?" Ailwynn asked curiously.
"He came along a little later," Jared answered.
I did? said Blizzard.
"See, Cort wanted more dragons, but he wanted them to be voluntary. Then he said that if you could somehow get a dragon to become two dragons, that would be perfect. The more dragons he had, the more he could make. Crimson was an enthusiastic follower of Cort, so he volunteered to undergo this process. We got one of the most powerful mages in the area to perform the ceremony, and he said that the only way to do this was to create an exact opposite to the other dragon, in this case Crimson. So, Crimson's a firedragon, Blizzard's a waterdragon, and their personalities are exactly opposite. It was going fine, up until there was a breakout in one of the sections." He looked straight at Crimson. "That was how your sibling escaped. What it did was disrupt the spell irreparably. Blizzard had formed, but he hadn't emerged. So, to all intents and purposes, one of Cort's most devoted followers had become an unpredictable schizophrenic. He decided to cut that experiment on the head and kill Crimson."
Crimson lifted his ears slightly. This was news to him. He knew he'd had to get out of there, but he'd never realised Cort had been going to kill him.
"See, Crimson had developed some disturbing ideas along with Blizzard," Jared continued. Crimson squirmed indignantly at this, but didn't breathe fire at him. Jared took this to be encouraging.
Of course, it could just be because due to Ailwynn's paw on his head, if Crimson breathed fire he might well end up incinerating his own snout. But Jared was nothing if not an optimist.
"He'd started to question the morals of what Cort was doing. Cort couldn't risk him starting up some kind of, I don't know, revolution I suppose. I unlocked Crimson's cell and let him out. I also created a slight distraction myself."
Crimson looked a little more interested and lifted his head enough to be able to speak clearly.
"The spiders," he guessed. "That was you."
Jared nodded, looking pleased with himself.
"Yes. I saw you escape Marrinal and Cort. Until now I'd had no idea whether or not you'd survived."
Ailwynn cautiously let Crimson up. She couldn't take the heat from his firemane for much longer.
"But why did you release him in the first place?" she wanted to know.
"Why? I'll tell you why," Crimson said coldly. "Because I wasn't the only one to feel worried about Cort's morals, was I, Jared? This human had some feelings for it as well. And one thing he hasn't told you, a small detail admittedly, but important," Crimson lowered onto four legs and extended his head towards Jared until his eyes were on a level with the human's, "is that the mage stopped the experiment halfway through deliberately. He was the one who made me what I am. See, he didn't have the stomach to carry it through."
Didn't he? Blizzard queried.
"No, he didn't. Oh, he started out okay, but as soon as he realised what was going on, he left pretty quickly. Didn't you, Jared?"
"Jared!" Ailwynn echoed incredulously.
"Yes, Jared! Jared was the mage! He was the one who created Blizzard. He was the one who left me with this condition-"
I wouldn't think of myself as a condition, Blizzard said mildly.
"Shut up, Blizzard. Yes, Ailwynn, Jared is responsible for my condition. And Dragonsong12 wants to welcome him with open arms into her little party? I don't think so, somehow."
What about Malafyss? Blizzard said cunningly.
"I-huh? What about Malafyss?" Crimson tried to forget the hurt surprise he'd felt when seeing Malafyss hugging the other dragon.
Malafyss seems alright with Jared.
"So what?!" Crimson said.
"How many times do you want me to say I'm sorry?" Jared said.
"I don't," snarled Crimson. "I just want you to stay the hell away from me."
Jared sighed. It looked like patching things up with Crimson would take a little more time and effort than any of them could spare right now.
But if he didn't soon, Crimson would kill him.

Day 40 - Midnight: It was a dark and stormy night. Really, truly and honestly. We are in the castle of the Dark Lord. When I first met the man, I couldn't be more surprised. He was small! A withered old man, with beetle black eyes, that darted suspiciously around the room whenever he entered it. As soon as I walked through the door he smiled, a cold smile that scared even me. "Aieka. You have finally realized who you are. Thank you Cort. You are a true man, and a loyal servant."
Cort bowed, "Thank you my master."
I could sense something that the man was brooding about, and, somehow, my questioning thoughts came to his knowledge. "Ah, yes. You are very perceptive Aieka, something I always expected out of a knife for hire. A soldier, Wyrlin has left the castle.
Thankfully, I have left him in the care of one of my most trusty spiders, named WebJumper, which he does not know about. Wyrlin thinks he 'escaped' from the castle, but it was only with WebJumper's help. He will report to me what Wyrlin is doing, and whether or not they have found you your quarry."
"My quarry?" I asked, suspiciously.
"Dragonsong the Twelfth and her group of dragons.
They are protected by an Elemental named Malafyss, so you will need to be careful."
Malafyss. I has been sworn to protect her. Now, I had foresworn myself, and my family's prophecy. Or had I? The prophecy said that one dragon was doomed to die. Was it I, or Malafyss?
So, after a grand meal in the huge hall, I was escorted to a room in the castle, which I am now pacing, as I plan my thoughts out for this diary. Here is where I will decide what I must do. Ignore my family and turn to a man that I . .dare I say it . .I love? I am irresistably drawn to Cort, and . .I know not why. There is something in his lure of power that makes me shudder inwardly, but I know that he as a person is not so bad. I can see in his eyes what he is really like. And, in defence of his evilness, at least he's honest about it.

I should sleep now.

Day 41: Mid-Morning

I woke many times in the middle of the night by odd noises rumbling and clanking from the depths of the castle. Finally, as the greying of false dawn pearled the sky, I rose, and dressed, not in my normal black traveling clothes, but rather the silver robes that I wore for formal wear. My Lord would expect the best conduct out of me, and I planned to not let him down. A single note chimed in the still air of my chamber as soon as I had finished dressing. Did he know everything I did? I went down to the main hallway, where I was met by Cort, who bowed deeply to me, and then led me to the castle's courtyard. Within, was contained a massive black dragon, older than one I had ever seen. It was evil, pure evil, the evil of the world around me, refined and compressed into that mind. My blood burned hot in my veins. This was the person I had looked for all my life. The person who would lead me to my destiny.
He raised a majestic claw and waved it out over the plain behind the castle. "Behold," he said, "my army of darkness."

It was like nothing I had ever seen. Werewolves, Demons, Orcs, Goblins, Dark Elves, Trolls, Giants, as well as hundreds of thousands of humans. But there was one thing about all these fighters that made them different from all the rest. The thing that would allow them to continue no matter how much battle they would see.

They were all dead.

I stretched my wings and yawned. It had been a quiet day so far.
My name--well, I've been called plenty of things in my time, but my real name is Ae'Cirra Versura Maehan. It means Halfsky Lightning-fast. There is a story behind that but I won't go into it now.
Cut a long story short, I'm a Spectrum dragon. There aren't many of us left-we can only be born when a Light and Dark dragon join together in true love. And yes, I realise how corny that sounds.
I yawned again, almost accidentally inhaling what looked like a small winged lizard. It squawked angrily at me. "Hey, watch it!"
I blinked. What I thought was a lizard was actually a small firedrake.
"Who are you?" I wanted to know. "And what are you doing in my forest?"
It sounds grandiose, I know. But this really is my forest. I planted the first few trees and just took care of them, watched them grow, that kinda thing.
The drake didn't see it that way.
"Your forest?" it snorted pompously. "There's a road running through it."
"Yeah." I stretched to half height, seeking to intimidate this small mouthful. "A road which you left." Curiosity overcame my initial reaction and I studied this new arrival. "Just what are you anyway? Some kind of pygmy dragon?"
For some reason, this seemed to infuriate the newcomer.
"I am NOT a dragon!" it told me furiously. "I am a firedrake."
"Firedrake," I echoed, tasting the word as if I've never heard it before. I have, of course; there've been hundreds of firedrakes here in the past, particularly recently. "So, firedrake," I continued...
"And I have a name!"
I blinked again, then laughed. This was almost too amusing for words.
"A drake with a name?" I said.
Well, obviously, I suppose they do have names. I've just never really bothered asking what they are.
"I am called Fazelspitz," the drake announced, like that should mean something to me.
"Well, 'Fazelspitz'," I continued.
"The Great!" Fazelspitz interrupted.
I laughed out loud at that. It's been a long time since I've really laughed, out of genuine amusement.
"Well, Fazelspitz the Great," I corrected myself-after all, it couldn't hurt to humor this little one- "you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing in my forest?"
Fazelspitz looked edgy.
"Have you seen Dragonsong12?" he asked me.
"What's a Dragonsong12?" I answered.
"You know," Fazelspitz said impatiently. "Small dragon, female, blue and green, last seen flying over this way in a beserk rage. Ring any bells?"
We know
I blinked and looked up. I'm very in tune with this particular forest, and not only because of my prowess in Nature magic. So in tune, in fact, that I can sometimes hear what the trees and plants are saying to each other. This is the first time any of them had actually spoken directly to me though, in about five hundred years.
What do you know? I asked the giant oak. This was actually the very first tree I planted in what's become the centre of the forest. It was almost as old as me. the branches-held-high speak of a winged one flying over the forest hunting something
I suppressed a sigh. That's the only problem with plants; they tend to speak using concepts rather than names. 'Winged one' can mean anything from the smallest of insects to a, well, to a dragon. As far as they're concerned, if it's not vegetation, it's not worth naming.
"The Poplar Grove," I said.
Fazelspitz looked confused.
"What Poplar Grove?"
"That's where your friend was last seen," I answered curtly. I'd help this little squirt and then get both him and his friend out of my forest.
Fazelspitz remained unconvinced.
"How do you know?"
I hesitated. 'Because a tree told me' was not, I thought, the most convincing of arguments to win over this stubborn little creature.
"I heard her fly over," I lied. "And if we move fast, we might just get to her before something happens."
I beat down with my wings and took off, feeling more secure. I'm never happy on the ground. I think it's to do with the fact that my neck and tail are so long; I can't walk around trees very easily. From the sky, it was easy to spot this strange dragon. She was circling aggressively, pausing to shoot a bright jet of fire into the air. I made up my mind and turned to Fazelspitz, who was hovering beside me.
"Is she usually like this?" I asked him. "Because if she is, you can damn well go get her yourself!"
The drake shook his head.
"No," he said, "it was something to do with some kind of magic spell. I don't know which one. Anyway, it doesn't matter," he said in a more carefree tone. "After all, you're bigger than she is." Longer, certainly, I thought and flew towards her. I felt a slight weight on my back and realised the drake was hitching a lift. I growled irritably.
"What?" Fazelspitz said smugly. "You'll probably end up knocking me out the air with your wing if I don't hide somewhere."
I stopped listening at that point, partly because it was obvious this little pest wasn't going to say anything useful, partly because he'd suddenly dug his talons into my hide in a nervous twitch but mostly because this dragon had caught sight of me and was charging me, bent on the attack.
I focused inward and felt the strange tingling I get when I become invisible.
For a brief moment, Fazelspitz must have looked like he was perched on midair, then he took off and shot towards the strange female.
"Kala! KALA! It's me!"
I shook my head. No help there. I'd seen this happen before--the female was under the influence of some kind of berserker spell. The only option was a spell of my own.
I waited until the dragon's attention was back on me again, then flew as fast as I could away from the forest. I had no objection to taking the strange one down; but I'd be damned if I was going to take any of the forest down with her.
She roared and took off after me. I circled left suddenly, dived and headed straight towards the ground, yelling out the words of the spell as I went.
The female froze as if paralysed, then jerked suddenly, spasmodically, and fell from the sky. I flew under her, supported her, and finally helped her to land near to a group of dragons. She lay there, gasping and shuddering, then, as I watched, her size returned to normal and she staggered to her feet. Fazelspitz zipped about, looking worried.
"Kala?? Kala?"
"I think he wants to talk to you, Kala," I said drily.
The female shook her head.
"Call me Dragonsong12," she panted. "Everyone else does. Well, everyone except Faz."
I became aware of movement behind me and turned. The group of dragons I'd spotted from the sky had come to see what all the noise was about.
"Glad to meet you my name's Ae'Cirra Versura Maehan but people call me Sirra I'm happy you're not hurt and that no trees or animals were harmed in the breaking of your spell now get out of my forest!" I said in one breath. I glared from one dragon to the other and waited for one of them to make a move.

Dragonsong12

Dragonsong12 carefully eyed the newcomer. Where had this one come from? All she remembered was the werewolves attacking, then sitting here with a new, very large dragon crouched in front of her. She felt very tired. All she wanted to do was sleep, but she didn’t know what had become of the werewolves, and it didn’t seem to be the time for resting.
She jumped, startled, when a weight lighted on her shoulder, but it was only Faz. “Bright and alert as always, dear Kala?” he asked impishly.
She could only shake her head. She was too tired to do anything else. The firedrake seemed to accept that though, and didn’t press the matter further. Somehow it surprised her. She focused her attention beyond the newcomer to see the other familiar faces of her group. That made her feel better somehow, knowing that everyone was okay…but something wasn’t quite right yet. “Not everyone’s there…” she muttered, trying to lift herself up a bit to get a better look.
Faz shook his head, “They’re around, Kala, don’t worry.” He didn’t sound very convincing.
Dragonsong12 tried to ignore it, however, and returned her attention to the large dragon before her, who seemed to be eying them all carefully. If her senses weren’t deceiving her, this dragon was even bigger than Malafyss. What did she just say her name was? Sirra? “Ah,” Dragonsong12 said, climbing to her feet, and wondering again what had happened to make her so suddenly tired, “I’m guessing that you helped us out with those monsters. Although I’m not really sure what happened, thank you for the help…” She thought about introducing herself, then remembered that she already had introduced herself. She was a bit more light-headed than she had thought.
It was NightWhisper who spoke up next. Now where did she come from? Dragonsong12 caught herself wondering. “You seem to know quite a lot of this wood,” the mist dragon said, “perhaps you could tell us what happened to our friends?”
Sirra looked confused, “Your friends? You mean there are even more of you? I’ve never seen so many different dragons traveling in one group together.”
“There’s a bit of a story behind that,” Dragonsong12 chuckled. And the large dragon turned to look at her warily. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was for, this dragon was so much bigger than she was, she could be of no threat.
”Well,” Sirra sighed, somewhat grumpily, “I’ve really no time for stories, but if it will get you all out of my wood, I may as well help you find your friends. You can explain things on the way.”
She turned and started to walk away. Dragonsong12 and Faz were the last two to follow. Her feet still weren’t steady. “What happened, Faz?” she asked quietly, when she finally got herself moving forward, “how were we able to get away?”
Faz shook his head and smile sadly. “Don’t worry, Kala,” he said, “You were right, that big lummox of a tree dragon saved us, that’s all you need to know.”

"That's the secret?" Ailwynn asked. "That's what you've been hiding? That's why you hate Jared so much?"
"Yes, that's why," Crimson answered tersely. "He left me with this...this parasite!"
Now wait just a minute-- Blizzard began in protest.
"Shut up, Blizzard. You have no idea what it's like."
Oh yes I do, Blizzard said with what felt like a yawn.
"Oh yeah? How?"
You tell me about it every minute of every day.
"Oh, am I keeping you awake?!" Crimson demanded angrily. "I'm SORRY!"
Jared ducked out of the way of Crimson's firejet, although this time, Crimson really hadn't been aiming for the human. He'd just had to let off a bit of steam.
Ailwynn reared to her full height.
"Will you control yourself?" she demanded imperiously. "Either that or give Blizzard control for a while."
"No, that's okay," said Blizzard through Crimson. "I'm kinda tired. I want to sleep."
"Then maybe the two of you-I mean, three," Jared amended with a quick glance at Crimson, "can put your heads together and find a way back to the others?"
Back to Malafyss, Blizzard added wickedly.
"Shut up!" Crimson snarled.
"Oh, and I suppose you have a better idea?" Jared said, with a touch of asperity.
"I was talking to Blizzard," Crimson muttered. The biggest problem with an alter ego who happened to share your body was usually the fact that emotions couldn't be kept secret from them. Blizzard knew exactly what Crimson was thinking, just as Crimson could tell exactly what was passing through Blizzard's mind.
Which meant Blizzard knew about Crimson's...feelings...towards Malafyss.
Of course I know, Blizzard said with what sounded suspiciously like a snicker. Why don't you try flaming it in the sky next time?
"What?" Crimson said, panicked. "You don't think she...knows, do you?"
"Who knows what?" Ailwynn said.
"Are you talking about Ailwynn?" Jared put in.
Knows? Blizzard said mischievously. Come on, Crimson, the dragon'd have to be blind, deaf and a fool on top of that not to know!
"What about that other dragon?" Crimson said. "You can explain that, I suppose?"
Just because Kalon hugged Malafyss doesn't mean anything's going on between them, Blizzard pointed out reasonably.
"Right, right," Crimson snapped. "Yeah, she's not gonna go for the slender, attractive dragon with all his mind intact that she obviously knows from somewhere before. Oh no, she's gonna go for the unpredictable schizophrenic who spends more time talking to his invisible enemy than anyone else. Mm. Yeah. That really makes sense!" He noticed with some embarrassment that Jared and Ailwynn were listening curiously and rounded on them. "And don't you two have anything better to do!?"
"Like what?" Jared pointed out reasonably. "Until we find a way out, we're stuck here."
Crimson turned one red eye on him.
"Maybe if you mixed up some of that stuff you rolled into my family's nest in Marrinal, you could do something about that," he suggested nastily.
Jared had the grace not to look him directly in the eye.
"What stuff?" Ailwynn wanted to know.
"Oh, didn't he tell you?" Crimson said, his voice too pleasant. When someone is as pleasant as Crimson was being, it means they're either dangerously insane, or really, really angry. (Jared recognised it as the latter, Ailwynn was privately not convinced it wasn't the former as well.)
"When I was...oh, about eight of your years, Jared, let's say," Crimson continued in the same nice tone, "I went out hunting. I didn't have a hope of catching anything; I was only really a hatchling at that time."
Jared looked away.
"Anyway," Crimson continued, "I was chasing this little rabbit when I heard an explosion. And what an explosion that was, wasn't it, Jared? And-funnily enough-it seemed to come from the general direction of my nest. Can't imagine why."
Jared turned away and Ailwynn was shocked to see traces of tears in his eyes.
"Stop it," he whispered.
"So, I went running back to ask my mother what this big explosion was," Crimson went on, either not hearing Jared or deliberately ignoring him. "And when I get back to my nest...well, guess what I find?"
Your family? Blizzard suggested.
"Well, it's funny you should say that, Blizzard, but I'm not sure I did." Crimson's voice abruptly lost his pleasant, conversational tone and became an angry snarl. "Because the explosion caused by this son of a bitch mangled their bodies so badly, I couldn't tell which was which." He sat back on his haunches, breathing heavily.
The others were silent.
Jared lifted his head to look Crimson in the eye, tears of remorse streaking his cheeks.
"I can only say I'm sorry so many times," he said chokily. "I never meant for that-any of that-to happen. I just believed what I was told by Cort-that most dragons would eventually turn on us and kill us unless we struck first."
An almighty crash got their attention and all three of them turned to stare towards the cave entrance.
A female dragon stood there, so large she blocked out the light. In comparison with her long, sinous neck and tail, plus huge wings, her body seemed almost ridiculously small.
"These your friends?" she asked abruptly to someone over her shoulder.
Dragonsong12 stepped in.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Who--" Ailwynn began.
"What--" Crimson added.
Blizzard seized advantage of Crimson's momentary distraction to take control of Crimson's voice.
"Who's the big one?" he asked.
"This is Ae'Cirra Ver--"
"Sirra," the female interrupted curtly. "Just Sirra. If you try to say my full name you'll die of exhaustion. Now are you three coming to get out of my forest, or do I have to throw you out?"
"Sounds like a match made in heaven," Fazelspitz said chirpily. "Sirra, meet Crimson. Or Blizzard. He's a kind of schizo stroke fire stroke water dragon. And just as obnoxious as you," he added, not quite under his breath, dodging the attempts of both Crimson and Sirra to swat him out the air.
"Faz..." Dragonsong12 said tiredly, "give it a rest."
"Ah, dear Kala, if you had any sense of humour, you'd understand my point of view. I mean, on one hand, you have Crimson Blizzard, who can't quite make up his mind what he is, and on the other-gnk!"
Malafyss, who had come up unnoticed, flicked her tail and promptly flattened Fazelspitz into the ground.
"Now that wasn't funny!" the drake protested as he spat out a mouthful of earth and pebbles.
Malafyss ignored him.
"Are you okay?" she asked Crimson in a low voice.
For some reason, Crimson felt awkward.
"Um...yeah, I'm...fine..."
Sure, Blizzard piped up. Except for a weird desire to entwine our necks and have you lay my eggs.
"NO!" Crimson said hotly. Malafyss drew back, startled.
"You're not fine."
"No-I mean, yes, I am. I was talking to Blizzard, that's all. He's been a right pain in the ass lately." Crimson hesitated. The awkwardness was rapidly increasing. "Uh...are you okay?" he asked. Malafyss blinked, then smiled.
"Sure. I'm fine. C'mon."
She entwined her neck with his and nuzzled his ear briefly, then turned to walk back to Dragonsong12 and the others, who were watching with jaws open (all except for Fazelspitz, who'd started humming a hatchling's tune that went something along the lines of 'Crimson and Malafyss flying in the sky/Feeling so very S-E-X-Y').
"Faz, shut up!" Crimson ordered, like the drake ever did anything he was told. Of course, it didn't help matters that Blizzard was singing exactly the same song, despite the fact no one apart from Crimson could hear him.
But still...was it such a bad thing?
He walked outside following the group, feeling better somehow than he had for several years.

Ailwynn stepped out of the shadows of the cave and into the sunlight, blinking and wincing at the light. How these being managed to get on with all the light up here on land, day after day, was something she never thought she would understand. Her scales, and the skin beneath them, tightened and burned slightly as well at the sudden sun.
She breathed deeply of the fresh air, ignoring the odd scent left by the rocks as they had been smashed apart. Then she cast an eye over the group which, somehow, was one more even larger.
She stepped away rfom the cave, careful of the human underfoot, and took a lpace in the shade and the cool, watching the group. This was her preserred spot - outside, watching. Being in the cave, forced into action... she hated that.
So she watched. And the first ones she watched were Malafyss and Crimson.
When Crimson had been arging with... well, himself in the cave, she had been somewhat confused as to the full nature of their conversation. Now she watched Malafycc talking with Crimson and with the others, and Crimson basically staring like an enraptured hatchling much of the time, though he tried to be discreet, she thought she understood. The only question was how it remained hidden from her eyes so long. And everyone else’s.
The newcomer fascinated Ailwynn as well. Enormous, intelligent and powerful, there was something special about that one’s background, she was sure of it, but as to what it was... well, that was to the sea god to reveal in time.
Speaking of revealing, there was one member... two? Two she did not see around. She stretched slightly, then asked in her quiet voice, “Where are Agra and Dirk?”

Agra loped along their backtrail, staying out of the way of Dirk’s footfalls. Like being back on the mountain, she thought angrily. Always watch, Agra, people won’t see you and step on you. Tree and flame, she felt so used and useless. Having to get rescued none the less byDirk, the muscle with the axe, the prying....
“We’re getting close,” Dirk said in an even tone. She knew that, of course - she could smell the magic of that group, and she was sure Dirk knew she was aware. Perhaps the silence was getting to him, or turning his thoughts unplesant ways, the way it was doing to her.
Sighing, she made a gathered leap and launched into the air, winging up near the treeline. Seemed that most of the others were together again. She did not want to take the chance of being stepped on and proving her mother right.
She asked down at him, “Do you think we are close to... to whatever we are to meet?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to ask, but something in her mind connected their quest with that magical knot in her mind, and the feeling of being watches that pricked her scales.
“I cannot say,” he said with a chuckle. “My magic does not run to fortune telling.”
Agra nodded, then realized he probably could not see the gesture. “I know .But it is closer than mine.”
They continued in silence for a while more. And Agra’s thought were once more turning dark when the pain, the splitting, burning headache, returned. She faltered in her flight, forced herself to concentrate on that before she fell too far, and hurt herself or alerted Dirk to her situation.
And like before, it was gone the moment she gave up trying to make it stop. But this time there was something different, something left over, a thick, woozy feeling. She felt lightheaded, and she had to focus to keep going.
They arrived back at the camp to mild “There you are” and some odd looks from a number of the group, but she didn’t care. there was a feeling of something coursing through her, a strange, new feeling, something that probably felt familiar only because of her long association with those who had it, but something that felt delicious inside her, singing in her veins.
The power. She felt magic in her.

I looked around, my irritation having given way to surprise. I'd never seen so many dragons around each other without arguing about something. This...Crimson Blizzard appeared to be fairly gone on Malafyss, even if he was trying to appear all cool and suave about it. And Malafyss didn't seem to mind the attention.
Their leader, Kala/Dragonsong12, seemed as taken aback as the rest of them at Malafyss' display of affection. Obviously, none of them had cottoned on to this pair's feelings for each other before now.
"Are you coming with us?" Dragonsong12 asked me.
I blinked, completely taken aback.
"What? No I am not coming with you!" I answered sharply. "Or rather, I'm coming with you to get you out of my forest, and then I plan to go back to live in peace!"
This last was directed at Fazelspitz the drake, who was amusing himself by looping the loop around my tail. I flicked it slightly and for the second time that day, Faz was knocked out the air onto the ground.
The female who had just arrived said dryly,
"Well, I don't know what else you expected. Maybe now you'll learn to keep away from dragons that are about fifty times your size."
Faz scrambled up-in my irritation, I'd flicked a little too hard and pushed the little drake about eighteen inches into the ground-and glared at me. I returned the stare coolly.
"You're coming with us," Malafyss said quietly.
I stared. Then I laughed.
"Excuse me? I'm coming with you? Who's going to make me?"
"I think you'll make yourself," Crimson put in.
"And I think I don't need philosophical advice from a schizophrenic dragon," I flared. "Let's get one thing straight. I am not coming with you to...well, wherever it is you're going. I am going to go and make sure you leave the forest, then I am leaving."
There was silence.
"That's your choice," Malafyss said mildly, almost compassionately.
"You're damn right it's my choice," I muttered. I couldn't help my hostility-I really didn't like visitors. One was bad enough, but to have a whole horde of them turn up...well, it was my worst nightmare.
One of my worst nightmares.
We set off for the way out.
"I want you to understand I'm just coming to the outskirts," I repeated to Dragonsong12.
"No! Really?" Faz said. I flicked my tail again, but this time he'd been careful to fly out of range.
Dragonsong12 didn't answer. I got the weird feeling she knew something about me I didn't.
After about an hour's walking, I stopped.
"Okay. This is the edge of the forest I hope you enjoyed your little trip please come back soon but not too soon now get out!" I ordered.
The motley collection of dragons moved past me, not speaking or even looking in my direction. Don't ask me why, but I was a little put out at that. I mean, if you're going to go to all the trouble of annoying someone, you expect some reaction.
The group was making good progress. They were already halfway to the corner.
I could stay here. Or I could follow them.
At last I understood what Crimson had meant by 'you'll make yourself'.
"Oh damn," I muttered under my breath. "Hey! Wait for me!"

The giant dragon (what was her name? Sirra, that was it) paced past Crimson, who was bringing up the rear, as if daring him to comment.
Crimson didn't. He'd had enough to think about over the past few hours. The sudden knowledge that he had a sibling out there-a sibling when he'd thought all his family were dead-was too staggering to accept all at once. Like Blizzard did with anything academic, he had to nibble it into small chunks in order to work around it.
What do you mean, 'anything academic'? Blizzard demanded hotly.
"Who was it had to translate for you when that spider asked you for directions?" Crimson muttered under his breath.
Yes...well... Now Blizzard sounded abashed. I could've worked it out myself.
"What, a detailed description of each of his nine hundred and eighty seven siblings? Ha!" Crimson snickered. "Give me a break! When I asked a human how many miles it was to Asheyo and he held up three fingers you had to think about it."
Blizzard was silent for a few minutes.
I see the female's joined us, he said finally.
"Did you think she wouldn't?" Crimson said. "I was right-she did make herself."
You were right?? Blizzard said in a tone of hurt outrage. I said that to her!
"Details, details," Crimson said dismissively, then glanced up to where WebJumper was busy speaking to a bird spider in the strange, hissing, almost scratchy language of the arachnids. "Now shut up; I want to hear what that t'tksch-i'hha is saying to his friends."
Blizzard shut up, more out of shocked disapproval than anything else. T'tksch-i'hha was a killing insult in the spider language-it meant literally Lankylegs. Blizzard only knew what Crimson chose to reveal to him, but the language of the spiders was practically Crimson's second language.
The firedragon moved closer. Judging from the tersely patient expressions on the others' faces, none of them understood what WebJumper was saying. Acting as though he just wanted a closer look at a bee's nest, Crimson stepped right next to Wyrlin.
"...happened," WebJumper was saying. "You want your eggsac left in peace? You'll make it your duty to inform him of what's going on."
"What about you?" the other said, a little timidly. She was five inches across-a respectable size for a spider, but WebJumper towered over her.
They're fearsome looking creatures, aren't they? Blizzard said.
Crimson shrugged slightly. He'd never had much time for spiders-their thoughts centred around webs, prey, eggs and other spiders, not necessarily in that order.
"I'll worry about me," WebJumper said coldly. "All the time I'm with the giant snake-boy, my master will know where this group is."
The female said something that Crimson couldn't quite hear. WebJumper made the harsh k'k-k'k-k'k sound that was actually a spider's laugh.
"'What if he leaves'? He won't leave! He's too thankful to have found somewhere to stay at last. Now...if I can just persuade the leader that what they're looking for is in the Dark Keep, we might be in with a chance. Oh, don't worry," he added, as the female scuttled a little further back. "They won't suspect a thing. I'm the excited yet humble little spider."
Little?! Blizzard said incredulously.
"Comparatively speaking," Crimson murmured very quietly.
WebJumper continued.
"And when we're there...well, I know a certain sorcerer who will be very interested in seeing my 'friend' Wyrlin again."
The female focused one of her eyes on a large egg sack hanging under a branch. That seemed to decide her-she gave the brief twitch of her pedipalps that passed for a spider's nod and scurried off.
WebJumper turned to the dragons.
"She...she said she would go and ask her friends," he said, in the awed, somewhat breathless tone he adopted around the dragons. "She'll be back soon."
"Your duplicity surprises even me," Crimson said, in the arachnidian tongue.
WebJumper jumped, a distinctly peculiar movement.
"You-" he began.
"-have a strong draconic accent," Crimson finished pleasantly. "Yeah, I know. But I understood what you were saying to that female." He paused. "You're a double-dealing t'tksch-i'hha, and two faced to boot." He paused. "And coming from a schizophrenic dragon, that's quite an insult."
WebJumper bristled angrily.
"When we reach the Dark Keep," he said so loudly that even Agra, who was far ahead, heard him, "you will be the first to die."

I glanced around at the spider. I had no idea what he was saying; I didn't mind spiders, seeing as how they didn't destroy the trees or anything, but I'd never really taken the trouble to learn much about them. This Crimson was the first dragon I'd ever met who spoke the arachnidian tongue.
Whatever he'd said, it didn't seem to please the spider, who hissed back something so loudly that the small female (what was her name? Aqua? Afra?) who was well in the lead, turned to stare.
Malafyss moved past me up to Crimson.
"What was that all about?" I heard her ask incredulously.
"Don't trust the spider," Crimson said flatly. "Whatever he says, we should think very, very carefully before listening."
"You speak his language?"
"Yeah. If I say so myself, I'm pretty fluent," Crimson told her. "Trust me. WebJumper will betray us all."
"Do you realise how melodramatic that sounds?" I asked scornfully. "'He will betray us all to our deaths'!" I mimicked, earning a scathing look from the fire/water dragon.
"You're relatively new here," Malafyss told me coldly. "Don't talk about what you don't know."
I stretched my wings out leisurely.
"From what you say, I don't think you know much about it either," I countered, smiling slightly.
Crimson tensed up, almost as if he was going to lunge at me. I stood my ground. I could flatten pretty much any dragon here; after all, I was the biggest.
"Size doesn't always mean victory," Malafyss told me flatly. "You'd do well to remember that if you're coming with us."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Let's get one thing straight here," I shot back. "I don't step on you and squash you flat and you don't pry into my mind! There aren't many adversaries short of an elemental who would challenge me, anyway. I've lived alone for..." I broke off. How long had it been? I couldn't remember. The only thing that had really existed for me was the forest.
"You don't know, do you?" Malafyss said, a tone in her voice that was almost akin to sympathy.
I snarled. Why would this elemental feel sympathy for me? I was immortal, didn't have to fear death through old age like she and the others did.
"So what if I don't? I have seen things that would make your tail stiffen!" I flared. For some strange reason, I was frightened. I felt like I was on the verge of understanding something very important, something fundamental to life itself, but something that was strange, the exact opposite of everything I had known or believed in my long life. What was most terrifying, I knew this feeling was right.
"You've seen things to make my tail stiffen!?" Crimson snarled. "Let me tell you, I've been through hell and back! I got landed with some kind of...of parasite who's-shut up, Blizzard!-who's the exact opposite of me in every way! Do you have any idea what that's like?!"
"If I did, I'd probably be as crazy as you," I retorted. "I still don't know what I'm doing here."
"Neither do I," Crimson growled. "The path's just behind you. You can take it back home whenever you want."
I shook my head. I hadn't had much experience with other dragons for...well, a very long time, but it was too interesting to stop now.
"No fear," I told him confidently. "I'm coming along with you, if only to see what your little party is all about."
Crimson bared his teeth at me. I hesitated. Although I fully believed that he couldn't hurt me, I sincerely didn't want a battle with any of these dragons, not least because if I started one, their friends would probably join in. I was still reasonably confident I would win a fight, even against all of them combined, but I wasn't quite stupid enough to believe that I would come out of it unscathed.
I made up my mind. It would probably be better to keep out of Crimson's way for a while. I turned and padded up after the leading female (Agra, that was it), who glanced at me but didn't offer to start any conversations.
We continued on in relative silence for about three hours before something caught my eye and I stopped, looking up.
"What's that?" I said suddenly.
"What's what?" Dragonsong12 asked. I reared erect, stretching my neck to its fullest extent.
"That. There. It looks...almost like a castle."
The group exchanged glances.
"A castle," Dirk repeated slowly. "Well...we might as well see who lives there."
I dropped onto all fours again. The larger a dragon is, the harder it is for us to stand erect. And I'm pretty damn large.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked.
"Hey, if you don't like it, no one's making you stay," Crimson pointed out. I grimaced. It looked like he and I were going to have some real problems in the future.
"I'm not going anywhere," I told the group flatly. "I'm just saying, maybe we ought to send someone in. Maybe the drake wouldn't be noticed, if he'll go."
"Well, I can tell you for a fact that the drake won't!" Fazelspitz said hotly. "I can also tell you that the drake would draw more attention than even the great big dragon standing next to the drake!" he finished, glaring at me.
I looked around.
"Well, someone should go."
Dragonsong12 spoke up.
"We'll all go. If they're friendly, they won't mind, and if they're hostile, we'll stand more chance of getting away if there are more of us. Come on."
She moved along, heading straight towards the castle in the distance. I sighed, wondering what it was that made me want to stick around with this group, then followed.

Crimson Wyldeburn/Blizzard Coldfyre

I am not a parasite, Blizzard said peevishly, for what seemed like the four hundredth time.
"Oh shut up," Crimson muttered. His head was starting to hurt and the conversation he'd overheard between WebJumper and the other spider was worrying him more than he would admit, not to mention this newcomer Sirra.
Crimson didn't trust Sirra. He'd be the first to admit that he didn't actually trust anyone-except possibly Malafyss-but there was something about this dragon that bugged him. Maybe her arrogance...
She's no more arrogant than you are, Blizzard told him flatly.
"I am not arrogant!" Crimson said, with more emphasis than truth. "I just don't suffer fools, that's all."
Do you think she was lying about the castle?
"Hell no! Why would she lie about something like that? Even though she wants us out of her forest, she knows she doesn't have to invent anything to get us out." Crimson paused. "What's bugging me is WebJumper's mention of that Dark Keep. How do we know that castle Sirra saw isn't the same thing? We could well be walking into a trap."
Why don't you tell Dragonsong12 about that? Blizzard suggested.
"Jeez, will you stop and think for a minute!?" Crimson barked. "In the first place, after what happened, I'm in no hurry to tell Dragonsong12 anything that might lead to another berserker rage. Secondly, if all goes well, I've got a plan. I don't want any of these dragons to know it yet."
Even Malafyss? Blizzard said slyly.
"Even Malafyss," Crimson agreed. He felt Blizzard prying through his mind, trying to discern some shape of his plan, and let him. The waterdragon would find out sooner or later.
Crimson heard Blizzard's gasp.
You're planning to leave them?
"Only if the castle thing turns out to be a trap." Crimson shook his head. "Listen Blizzard, I haven't survived for this long by being sentimental. In the end, it's every dragon for himself."
"That's an interesting philosophy," Jared said quietly. Crimson jumped slightly; he hadn't realised the human was there.
"You're not still with us, are you?" he snarled. Jared flinched but held his ground.
"What do I have to do to convince you I'm not your enemy?" he asked wearily.
"There's nothing you can do!" Crimson swiped a claw at him and knocked the human fifteen feet across the path into a tree. "Just stay away from me!"
Why don't you give him a chance? Blizzard asked.
"This human filth deserves no chances," Crimson grated. "He deserves the slowest, most painful death I can contrive."
Blizzard took a look through Crimson's mind and cringed.
Ouch. I didn't think you could do that with chickens.
"Trust me. When I was with Hemal'to'Dharrik, I picked up a few things."
Jared risked picking himself up and rubbing his head.
"Look. I can't keep apologising. Say what you like; I saved your tail back there. I'm not in league with Cort; if I was, I would have finished the spell and not left you like this."
"That's your story! Now if you'll excuse me..." Crimson beat his wings, lifting himself into the air, trying to see the castle that Sirra had spoken of.

You must stop them.
Fazelspitz ignored the voice. It had been some time since he had last heard from Ky'arin and now she was talking again, he didn't feel like answering. Where had she been, anyway?
I had other duties to see to. Listen to me. The spirit's voice held a tone of urgency that had never been there before. You heard what Crimson said about the spider? He's right. WebJumper is leading you back to the sorcerer's castle, the one that Wyrlin came from. If he gains access to the likes of Malafyss, or Dragonsong12, or Ae'Cirra, or any of the other dragons, evil will triumph.
"You sound like a bard," Fazelspitz muttered.
I haven't been helping you only to see you throw your life away. Now Ky'arin sounded distinctly irritated.
Fazelspitz ignored her, flying ahead to perch in a tree and wait for Dragonsong12 to catch up. He'd forgotten what it was like with Ky'arin being aware of and sometimes commenting on his every move. It was a complete invasion of privacy, something the firedrake despised above everything else.
Yes, but a necessary one, Ky'arin told him, her voice unusually sombre.
No damn privacy, Fazelspitz thought irritably. It comes to something when one can't even call one's mind one's own any more.
A small part of him wondered if this was how Crimson felt all the time. If so, no wonder he was always so irritable.
You have to try!
In all the time he'd known her, Ky'arin had never given Fazelspitz bad advice. On the few occasions when he'd chosen to ignore her advice, he'd regretted it later. With a sigh, he spread his wings and flew down towards Dragonsong12.
"Alright, alright," he muttered under his breath. "But I can't promise they're going to listen to me."

Agra Marutha Delharien

~meanwhile, Agra had indeed moved on ahead of most of the group...~

Crimson Wyldeburn/Blizzard Coldfyre

For a moment, nobody said anything.
Wow, Blizzard commented eventually, though no one but Crimson could hear him.
“'Wow' just about sums it up pretty well,” Crimson murmured quietly. “So does 'I hate this place and let’s get the hell out'.”
He felt Blizzard’s shock and disapproval intensify at this suggestion.
We can’t just leave them! the waterdragon protested.
“Why not? Is there some kind of law against it?” Crimson circled irritably—he still hadn’t landed yet. “Besides, Agra was stupid, running into the castle like that.”
Maybe, Blizzard said flatly, but that doesn’t give you the right to be. Anyway, did you see the expression on her face? It was almost like she...I don’t know. Like she wasn’t herself.
“That’s no excuse for trying to kill someone!” Crimson said hotly, then realised that in his anger he’d sounded very much like Blizzard.
You always used it before, Blizzard reminded him. Whatever you did, I always got the blame! And it wasn’t my fault!
“Moan, moan, moan, moan, moan. That’s all you ever do.”
Like you’re any better; all you do is act bitter the whole time, Blizzard muttered.
“I act bitter? I act bitter?? Pardon me, but I am currently sharing my body with another dragon who has dragged it and me south with a group of dragons who are all most probably a scale short of a snout to a place that I will probably die horribly in! I think I have a certain right to 'act bitter', as you so eloquently put it!”
You’re strangely irritable today, Blizzard observed with what felt like a yawn. Any particular reason? I mean, beside your oh-so-winning personality.
Crimson opened his mouth indignantly to tell Blizzard to go doink a drake when Fazelspitz zipped in front of him. Crimson jerked back, startled.
“Hey, watch it!”
The drake shot back, spinning on his tail and coming to hover directly in front of the firedragon.
“We need to talk.”
“Do we,” Crimson said flatly. “What about?” Blizzard added.
“Not here. Follow me.” Fazelspitz headed straight upwards, making for the top of the keep.
Just flying in there, Blizzard said, startled. Is he mad?
“Probably,” Crimson said acerbically. “But I think we better follow him anyway.” He rose higher in the air, landing on the flat roof next to Fazelspitz, who was still flying.
“Don’t your wings ever get tired?” Blizzard asked.
“I’m guessing that was Blizzard and no, they don’t. Look, I need to know exactly what that spider said to you.”
“Not a lot,” Crimson said, and both Blizzard and Fazelspitz knew he was being absolutely honest and a hundred percent unhelpful at the same time.
“Quit playing around; I’m serious! Crimson, let me talk to Blizzard.”
“What? No!”
“Just quickly. I need answers and I need 'em now.”
“If I let Blizzard have my body, I’ll never get it back!” Crimson said heatedly. “And I happen to like my body, thank you very much!”
He’s not talking about your body; he’s talking about mine, Blizzard informed him flatly. Crimson felt the sharp prickling at the bottom of his paws that usually signified the start of one of Blizzard’s attempts to take his form.
“Blizzard, cut that out!” he yelled.
“I want to talk to Faz,” Blizzard answered. The fact that he was speaking through Crimson’s mouth indicated that the switch had already taken hold.
The prickling spread up the rest of Crimson’s body, gradually increasing to a violent tingle before that horrible feeling of being sucked into a hole hit him and he shut his eyes. When he opened them, he was in Blizzard’s body.
Blizzard sucked in air happily and spread his wings.
“You know, it really feels good to be able to move again,” he said.
Oh goody, Crimson replied sarcastically. I’m so pleased for you. Now give me back my body!
“Nothing doing. Not yet.” Briefly, Blizzard filled in Fazelspitz on what WebJumper had been saying. “I’m not sure if he was telling the truth,” he finished, “or if it was part of some larger plan, but I do know that’s what he said.”
“You speak arachnidian, then,” Fazelspitz said expressionlessly.
“No—Crimson does. He overheard WebJumper’s conversation with the other spider.”
That’s right, just talk about me as if I’m not here, Crimson said irritably. I don’t mind.
“Good,” Blizzard said cheerfully. “And you’re not here, not really.”
I damn well am!
“You’re not. And besides, you used to do the same thing to me.”
“You need to tell Dragonsong12 about it,” Fazelspitz said abruptly.
“What, that Crimson used to talk about me like I wasn’t there?” Blizzard said, startled.
“About the spider! Tell her about the spider! And while you’re at it, tell her not to go into the castle under any circumstances!”
Oh yeah, like that’s going to work, Crimson said with heavy sarcasm. Tell a group of dragons not to go into a strange, spooky looking castle under any circumstances and you’ll be flattened in the resulting stampede for the entrance.
“I don’t think these would actually stampede,” Blizzard said slowly, “more a sort of amble.”
Great, well, why don’t you get your big blue butt down there and tell these dragons to amble away?
“I have not got a big butt!” Blizzard said indignantly. Next to him, Fazelspitz hooted with laughter.
“Let me guess; Crimson’s not cooperating,” he said as soon as he could speak.
“That’s about the shape of it,” Blizzard said wearily.
Crimson happens to have better things to do with his time than help his annoying parasitic alter-ego to commit suicide, Crimson retorted with biting sarcasm.
“I am not going to commit suicide!” Blizzard told him flatly.
Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were going to walk into a strange castle belonging to someone who had possessed one of us and try to rescue her. My mistake.
“Shut up,” Blizzard told him flatly. “I’m in the body, and I say we try it.” He spread his wings and glided lazily down to the group of dragons. Malafyss looked up at their approach.
“Hello Crimson...er...Blizzard. Where’ve you been?”
“Where’s Dragonsong12?” Crimson asked, not bothering to return the greeting. Blizzard grimaced and shut his mouth firmly.
What? Crimson said irritably. Look, we have to know, sooner rather than later.
“Didn’t you hear?” Malafyss asked.
“Hear what?” Blizzard and Crimson said, for once in agreement. Malafyss shook her head.
“Jeez, I thought everyone would have heard! Dragonsong12 took Dirk and NightWhisper into the keep. Told the rest of us to wait outside. She’s in there, looking for Agra.”