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I blinked in surprise. “Is this a joke?”
“Dragons don't normally cooperate with people. We're more of a snack to them. It took a lot of persuading. And a lot of gold.”
“Did you say… a dragon?”
“Uh-huh.”
I smiled grimly. This might well turn the tide of battle in our favor.
“Where is it now?”
“I made a Trump. I can call him any time. You want him right now?”
“Yes—but do it over here!”
“Right!”
I broke the co
Everyone cheered. They drew back a fifty feet in all directions, which I judged a safe enough distance.
Co
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes!”
“Here it is!”
He handed me the Trump. It showed a face… huge, scaled, with eyes like black coals.
I raised it, concentrating. A presence seemed to overwhelm me… something huge… something old and dark and powerful. Something very smart and very powerful.
“Human.” The voice was so low I barely heard it.
“I am King Oberon,” I said. “My brother Co
“For a price…”
“Yes. Join us.”
I reached out my hand. A claw touched it, cold as ice and harder than steel. I pulled. It felt like ten thousand pounds on the other end, but slowly it came through the co
With a hop and a leap, it suddenly appeared. It towered over me, forty feet at the shoulder, perhaps a hundred and twenty from tip of snout to tip of tail. As it moved, the ground trembled. Slowly it spread its wings, and then it roared.
Arrows struck its back and sides, but they bounced off. It was well armored.
“This is Ulyss,” Co
“Yes,” said the dragon. “Manling promises gold.”
“As much as you want,” I said, “for your help today.”
“My weight in gold…”
“Agreed.”
“What must I do?”
More arrows pinged down. A man behind me collapsed with a choking gurgle, the long black shaft of an arrow jutting from his throat.
“We are in the middle of a war,” I said. “Can you stop the archers who are shooting at us?”
“Yes…”
It reared back, took three hopping steps, and began beating the air with its wings. In a second it was airborne. Rapidly it gained altitude and speed, and then it circled. More arrows struck it, doing no damage.
Suddenly it dived. Turning, I tried to see its target. There—it was after something in the bushes to the right. When its mouth opened, gouts of flame shot out. I couldn't see what it had burned, but I could guess. The rain of arrows abruptly ceased. Rising again, it circled, looking for more targets.
“What do you think of him?” Co
“Three more dragons like him, and the day would already be ours.”
“We don't have that long. As soon as Swayvil sees what's happening, he'll destroy this world.”
“Primal Chaos—” I guessed.
“Yes. He'll release it here, and nothing will remain. We must leave at once.”
“What about the dragon?”
“What about him?”
“You promised him gold.”
Co
“Their arrows are useless.”
“It just takes one lucky shot. And if the archers don't get him, Lord Zon will.”
I chuckled. “You have a high opinion of Zon.”
“Any Lord of Chaos can kill a dragon.”
“Even you?” I asked. It seemed impossible.
“Yes.” He shrugged modestly. “Ulyss was the fifth dragon I approached. I killed two who decided I'd make a better breakfast than employer.” His eyes suddenly widened. “Look!”
I followed his pointing finger. Ulyss had paused in mid attack. In the air before him hung a shadow. It had no fixed shape, and its center was as dark as a raincloud. It pulsed ever so faintly.
“Pull back!” I shouted to Ulyss, but the dragon could not hear me.
Instead, it breathed gouts of fire at the shadow. That did no damage that I could see. If anything, the shadow grew larger. Then, like a panther springing onto its prey, the shadow surged forward. It completely enveloped the dragon. I saw Ulyss's wings paused in mid downstroke, but the dragon did not fall.
Instead, the dragon began to scream. The terrible soul-rending noise cut through the air like a knife. It went on and on, growing louder, tearing through my head, tearing through my heart. I covered my ears, and still it went through me. I had never heard such a horrible sound before. It made me want to curl into a ball and die.
The scream came to an abrupt stop. As I watched with growing horror, the dragon seemed to crumble to dust. In a second it simply disappeared, its few remains swept away by the wind.
The Shadow drifted through the air for a second, as though no hand guided it. Then, slowly and inexorably, it drifted toward Co
Chapter 29
“What is that thing?” I asked uneasily, starting to back away.
“Primal Chaos, under a master adept's control.” Co
“I'm not leaving without my troops.” I had gone through too much to get them; I wouldn't just abandon King Aslom and his men to be slaughtered—not as long as other options remained. “What else can we do?”
“Kill the one casting the spell.”
“I can't see him. And I don't think we have time to go hunting.”
He hesitated. “Dad or Freda might be able to counter it. Try Freda. Just do it fast!”
Keeping one eye on the shadow—which had definitely gotten larger since destroying the dragon—I pulled out Freda's Trump and concentrated on her image.
She answered immediately.
“Is something wrong?”
“We're having trouble with Primal Chaos. Co
“What does it look like?”
“A cloud. It's in the sky.”
“Move it to another Shadow,” she said.
I blinked. “Can we do that?”
“Of course. Tell Co
She took one look at the Shadow and said, “Hmm!” Then she turned and strolled away at an almost leisurely pace, her head bowed. I noted a Trump in her left hand, but I could not yet tell what it showed.
The Shadow became a seething, writhing cloud. It glided toward the three of us, faster now, three hundred yards away and closing rapidly.
My uneasiness grew. Someone had to be controlling it… but who? And from where? He had to be watching us to send it right at us.
I glanced around camp. My men had stopped in the midst of their packing to stare up at it, awe and horror mingling on their faces. They too recognized it as something evil.
“Bring me a bow!” I called.
“Here, Oberon!” One of the archers leaped forward, offering his.
“Thanks.”
Notching an arrow, I drew back as far as I could, turned quickly, and fired into the cloud. Once—twice—a third time. The arrows entered it one after another, disappearing from sight; they did not come out the other side. Like the dragon's fire, they had no effect.
I swallowed. Then I backed up a few more feet, getting behind Freda. I didn't want to be in the path when she let loose whatever magic she'd been working.
What could I do to help? I hated waiting. It made me feel powerless.
I sca