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Auron continually planned to set out ith Hieba, to get her aht There were too , or NooMoahk was in the mood to tell stories and hear the froh the ruins, or wide-eyed ahen he lit a pile of tinder by spitting on it, or pony rides seemed a more profitable way to spend his tih it was a mild one on this side of the mountains, and Auron looked at it as another reason not to travel

Hieba never tired of "visits" She was losing her baby fat, gaining height, and steadily waxingdown the chute to NooMoahk’s cave herself, with Auron beneath, anxious that she would slip NooMoahk wasn’t ahen underground often, but when he was, he was entertaining to listen to Unless the subject was his own eventual death

"Dwarves and blighters burn their dead; hurowths that live on for thousands of years, gradually going silent When a dragon dies, his skull adorns so emperor’s threshold or a wizard’s library," NooMoahk said, for the third ti rocks of his platfor from wrists, ankles, or a combination like a monkey in a tree

"If it’s found," Auron said, for NooMoahk’s black gru silences between hihters don’t go anywhere the sun doesn’t touch in the cavern Theyspirit lurks here Super--superstition rave-robbers away What do the elves do when the tree version dies?" Auron said, trying to change the subject

This time he succeeded "Forest fires take many The elves then take the ashes and end that they were for clay by a riverbank They then fire and glaze them before they are put in crypts Good a way as any, I suppose, and if there’s anything to their legend, this creator was ato NooMoahk’s ly elf Scarred froh they were honorable scars, froainst her, to hear her tell it Could she tell stories! And could she sing! Hazeleyes was her name, it seems to me As full of questions as you are, Auron Wanted to know everything about dragons"

"Did she learn ‘everything’?"

"She learned the ons don’t hunt ho else to be had: there’s easier prey out there, though blighters breed so fast, we used to eat them like I take fish from the pool Not many creatures kill for fun; food supplies are too vital to waste in purposeless killing Blighters do, and they taught the trick to the other two- leggers Wool-brained barbarians, the lot"

"Why did this Hazeleye--Hazeleyes ask so many questions?"

"The hominids fare poorly withHaven’t you seen writing? Fascinating, I’ve got toon stories?"

"More than stories Hoe are born, e die Hoe choose rew old When flying was joy, instead of burning torment When my friend Tindairuss rode atop my back with bow and javelin, in silver armor triet on better with the lesser races, Auron Back then, they took the loss of a few cattle as the price paid for a dragon keeping order in the land and the blighters at bay With the blighters driven away, as they are now, they’ve decided they can get along without us Noe’re hunted, hunted as blighters, after all we’ve done for them"

"Did this elf learn any secrets? Perhaps she was a spy, sent to discover ways to better kill dragons Probe our weaknesses"

"Weaknesses?" NooMoahk snorted "Bah I’ve heard that venting ‘Every worons are the acme of all the creatures between the Sun and the Moon Don’t let legends tell you otherwise Dragons are all individuals, some better, some worse, and while every now and then there are those that survive into drakehood or beyond defected, each dragon doesn’t necessarily have a failing Look at you To so scaleless, but you seeh It’s just stories the hominids have come up with to nerve themselves to kill us"

"Then is it our love of precious ons What ene that could be our downfall?"

"What are you talking about, Auron? I’m tired"

Auron felt his fire bladder convulse with frustration "I heard you ise; that you had discovered soons There are fewer and fewer in the world Everyone has told ht perhaps this elf tricked soainst us"

NooMoahk closed his eyes, and for a moment Auron feared he would drop into one of his unexpected naps Then he opened theain "Moon’s treachery, Auron, but you’re a foolish drake Each dragon is a little different Perhaps you just haven’t ? As for being telitter, let hed and heaved hiainst one of the projections transfixed by the crystal statue, came out of her reverie and jumped down to follow He walked to the side of the cavern cut into galleries filled with chests and shelves Auron heard a low hu and felt the air stir He traced the source to shapes, like little stars, hovering in the forhter

"What that?" Hieba asked She pointed with her eyes at the objects