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Krthonius turned sideways, as he always did in a brawl, so he could strike with head or tail, off-side up against a cave ith a line of bronzed skulls just where a s usually brushed the walls The Copper split the distance and jumped up between tooth and tail-tip, pushed off the wall, and fell, rather aardly, on Krthonius’s back He wrapped his neck around Krthonius’s and began to pull scales with his teeth

"Yeow! Yeoow!" Krthonius shouted, bashing the Copper with his tail

Aubalagrave joined the brawl, defending his friend’s honor--and scales The Copper found hier drakes, and much beaten about the head and hindquarters All he could do was try toeach other when they were trying to hit the Copper

"Keep the claws in, you," he heard NeStirrath shout

He didn’t have ave him a saa swipe across the snout, and he saw brilliant fields of flowers

"I’ll finish it," Nivoh the others

The Copper wanted to flee, but instead he flung hi each other with sii and exchanging bites about the snout and griff Nivoriff

"Tail swipe," one of the thralls shouted Despite the urging, the Copper’s tail refused to reach Krthonius yanked on it and he fell, belly-up, under Nivoot both saa under Nivo pool He could hardly see out of his good eye, thanks to the blood, but he could ain

He felt tail strikes and a weight above his saa--Aubalagrave was atop hi with his sii--but he still pushed forward for Krthonius and grappled Krthonius easily pushed his nose into the bed of rocks lining the floor

"Cry settled," Krthonius grunted

The Copper ed to poke him under the chin with his crippled foreli Aubalagrave sank his teeth into both sides of his head behind the crest

"Kah ettehld!" Aubalagrave said

The Copper rolled, rolled again, at great pain to the tender skin at the back of his head, and ot Aubalagrave’s head underwater and pushed for all he orth Aubalagrave refused to yield and go li hauled both of therave froave him a tail strike for his interference and was dropped atop Nivo frouon--sounded in his ears

They rolled, a three-colored h-pitched drake voices The Copper got his teeth into Nivo for all he orth, keeping Krthonius’s head pinned with his in the crook of his crippled lirave and Krthonius boxed hirabbed Aubalagrave at what felt like a sii digit, twisted

"Cry settled! Cry settled! Cry--" the three chorused But their voices seeave way to the soft, mossy pads of the river-lake, only there was no itchy sli water mites this time…

He woke, his face wet His eye rolled this way and that, but his vision was misty

"Give him another," NeStirrath said

Krthonius spit another cheekful of water on hi knocked-out hatchling teeth from hand to hand

"Did I cry settled?" the Copper croaked

"No, we did," Nivorave’s dragonhood"

"Hope his ht," Krthonius said

Aubalagrave sat with his hindquarters in the coolest part of the pool, his face contorted

"Good fight, Rugaard," Aubalagrave said between quick breaths "Good fight"

The bats had their fill of blood for once, that night Even Thernadad finally gave up, crawled a length or tay from the Copper, too swollen to fly, and went to sleep Harf made to swat him with a waste scoop, but the Copper threw a protective sii over the bat