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All the Fireht well of their Tyr, and while there was so, each line seemed assured that he was, deep down, of theirs The Anklenes argued his distinctive eye-ridge and classical crest as proof of their line’s intelligence, the Skotl bragged that such hardihood in the face of battle injuries could only result froe, and the Wyrr praised the friendship he seeons but bats and thralls and such as well

"It’s more that ent before hireat as he really is," Ayafeeia said when they chanced to be alone after one dinner when the Tyr’s latest order that Paskinix should be told that a substantial chunk of his ar for him to come and claier "He gets what he wants He’s just cleverer about it than most"

The irony of her situation appealed to her She wished nothing et back to his estate and tell hi from the frozen north down the spine of the world to the south, searched the borders of Hypatia, across the endless plains, and even into the East seeking first other dragons, then AuRon

All those horizons under her wings, exhausting days and sore nights Wasted Well, not wasted A broader knowledge of the world could hardly be called a wasteful activity But what she really needed was one slippery step and a fall into the Lower World to bring her into ined

The one filcher in her hoard was that drakka Takea

"The TyrPaskinix escape," she said At every opportunity

"And he shall," Ayafeeia said "But from me, not you All I know for certain is that an exhausted, starved, injured dragon fell during a difficult climb"

Wistala’s exhaustion was cured by rest, her starvation was reht in the Star Tunnel by taking a trip to one of the openings--and her injuries were set by blighter-thralls, who put a brace on the break and used a charcoal forge to seal it closed

"It feels awful at first, like so," Ayafeeia said "The itch feels like it will drive you mad if you don’t keep yourself occupied"

Wistala took her up on it and tried to keep herone of the restorative meals "Dwarves?"

"It doesn’t look like dork," one of the Anklenes in the Firehters--why? They’re coular shape, while structurally sound, wastes a good deal of space for anything but dragon-sized creatures"

"But we’ve no legends of dragons ht for trolls They’re rather triangular And they’re so odd, it’s easy to believe they’re out of the Lower World"

"Trolls!" Ayafeeia said "Where are there trolls? I thought they’d vanished"

"There are still sorettably"

"Trolls! They are supposed to be strong," a Fireiant monkeys"

"Best just to fly away and burn them"

"Well, they squeeze into cracks like spiders They don’t know fear But if you burn thes are to the rear--you’ll drop them"

"How do you know all that?" Takea asked

"I helped kill one, and just survived another He juh some mountains"

Takea shut her nostrils, and a few others whispered a thereat deal of experience in the Upper World," Ayafeeia said

"I’ve traveled it my whole life I know Hypatia better than most areas, but I’ve been up to the icy wastes, I’ve seen the Sadda-Vale, the eastern kingdoms, and some of the Inland Ocean"

"No one could survive so many journeys," the Anklene said "Hoere you not hunted?"

"By not giving thee or pens, and if I ry One can always get by on badgers and skunks and so on They’re disgusting but easy to smell out"

The Star Tunnel went on for days At one point it seemed to end in a sheer rock face, with a new tunnel, sher, bored so that it joined up with the old, and a second break in it soon after, this one requiring a brief clie in the Lower World itself since the tunnel was made," the Anklene Fire shafts"

"This here the hardest fighting took place Every hill lost a dragonelle or a drakka here," Ayafeeia said, showing hidden pits full of broken spear points and holes that had fired javelins or whirling blades "One day we’ll build a shrine at the Bloody Cut"