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The song of Deneir played in Cadderly’s thoughts He knew that he would need a diversion, soh the notes of a spell he had not yet fully come to understand
"A service both in your cave and in taking us across the ht steal so as he spoke, the notes of the needed spell co "But now, it is time for you"
"Humble priest?
Cadderly found no answer to the thunderous roar, the absolute indication that Fyrentenni to be at its end With lols shivering the stone beneath Cadderly’s feet, the dragon stalked in
Those eyes! Cadderly lost his concentration, caught in their hypnotizing intensity He felt helpless, hopeless, surely dooination He fought for breath, fought against the welling panic that told him to run for his life
Fyrentenniotten so daon’s head slowly ht against the s tamped down securely on the stone
"Get outa there!" Ivan roared fro Cadderly heard the words and agreed wholeheartedly, but could not get his legs to move
An arrow zipped above Cadderly’s head, splintering haron’s unpenetrable natural armor
Intent on Cadderly the deceiver, Fyrentennis Cadderly of Carradoon would see in his life, nothing would co Fyrentennie, shot forith the speed of a viper, cah to s hi as the young priest’s forearm
In that split second, Cadderly’s vision failed hie
Just a dozen feet in front of hied suddenly His head snapped to the side and contorted weirdly, as if he was pushing against soonbane," Cadderlyhim some sgled, bending the blocking line, refusing to relent The great hind legs dug deep scratches into the stone, and the hungry ible to tear
Cadderly began his chant Another arrohipped past hi Fyrentennis spread wide, lifting old Fyren upright The dragon roared and hissed and sucked in air
Cadderly closed his eyes and continued to chant, locking his thoughts on the notes of Deneir’s song
The flaulfed him, scorched andhilobe sizzled green about hih it would not endure, but Cadderly did not see
All he heard was the song of Deneir; all he saas the music of the heavenly spheres
When Danica came to lip of the valley wall and saw her love apparently is buckled and her heart fluttered - she thought it would stop altogether
Her warrior instincts told her to go to the aid of her love, but what could she do against the likes of Fyrentennioblins, even giants, but they would do little da the iron-hard scales of the wyrra Danica could hurl her crystal-bladed daggers into the heart of an ogre ten yards away, but those blades were tiny things when ainst the sheer bulk of Fyrentenni at Cadderly, so boldly facing the wyr
"Fyrentennimar the aweso is he, by er is near!"
The dragon’s head snapped around to face her, high above on the lip of the valley wall
"Ugly wor her use of "wor one could say to a dragon "Ugly and orerously, reptilian eyes narrowed to h the valley stone
Standing before the distracted dragon, Cadderly picked up the pace of his chanting He was truly glad for the distraction, but terribly afraid that Danica was pushing the explosive dragon beyond reason
Danica laughed at old Fyren, just crossed her hands over her belly and shook with laughter Her thoughts were quite serious, though She recalled the ancient writings of Pen-pahg D’Ahn, the Grandmaster of her sect
You anticipate the attacks of your enemy, the Grandmaster had promised You do not react, you et is gone As the swordsman thrusts ahead, his eneon breathes, Penpahg had said, so its flames shall touch only empty stone
Danica needed those words noith Fyrentenni D’Ahn’s writings were the source of her strength, the inspiration for her life, and she had to trust theon
"Ugly, ugly Fyrentenni "His talons cannot tear cotton, his breath cannot light wood!" Not an impressive rhyme perhaps, but the words assaulted the overly proud Fyrentennimar more profoundly than any weapon ever could
The dragon’s wings beat suddenly, ferociously, lifting the dragon into the air - almost
Cadderly completed his spell at that moment, and the stone beneath Fyrentennion’s rear claws Old Fyren stretched to his li back down, falling tight against his haunches, but all of his subsequent thrashing could not break the valley floor’s hold
Fyrentennireat head whipped around, slaonbane spell
Cadderly paled - could his protective globe defeat a second searing blast of dragon breath?
"His wings cannot lift his blubber," Danica cried out "His tail cannot swat a gnat"
The dragon’s ensuing roar echoed off mountain walls a dozenfor the cover of their holes throughout the Snowflake Mountains The serpentine neck stretched forward, and a gout of flames fell over Danica
Stoneriver Pikel, hiding in an alcove beneath the region, let out a frightened squeak and rushed away
Cadderly verged on panic, thought for sure that he had just seen his love die, and knew in his heart, despite the logical clai, not the destruction of the Ghearufu or the downfall of Castle Trinity, could be worth such a loss
He cal of, reical talents of his dear Danica He had to trust in her, as she so often trusted in him, had to believe that her decisions would be the correct decisions
"His horns get caught in archways," Danica continued the rhye at a point thirty feet to the side "And his muscles are no more than fat!"
Fyrentennie and incredulity He thrashed his tail and legs, slaonbane barrier, and beat his wings so fiercely that goblin corpses shifted and slid, caught up in the wind
Like Danica, Cadderly was grinning widely, though he knew that the fight was far from won One of Fyrentennimar’s claws had torn free of the stone, and the other would soon break through The young priest completed his next enchantical energy at the distracted dragon
Old Fyren felt the stone loosen about his one trapped leg, though it retightened ih he was, did not understand the significance, did not understand why the valley suddenly seeain the wyrm sensed that Cadderly was sory glare over the supposedly "humble" priest "What have you done?" Fyrentennion jerked suddenly, slae sword s in hard at Fyrentennio!" Ivan yelled to his brother, and the tarves appeared froe
To the still huge Fyrentennie A tail slap sent Vander flying away, crashing down against the base of the valley wall Resilient, Vander caive in to the pain and the terror, that there could be no retreat and no quarter against such a merciless and terrible foe