“Don’t sit like a man!” Haplo hissed. “On your knees. That’s it. Alake, bring Grundle over here. And wake her up. I want everyone conscious and alert.”
Alake nodded, not taking time to reply. She hastened over to the prostrate dwarf.
“Grundle, you’ve got to get up. Haplo says so. Grundle”— Alake’s voice lowered—”I can feel the evil. The dragon-snakes are here, Grundle. They’re watching us. Please, you’ve got to be brave!”
The dwarf groaned again, but she sat up, huffing and wheezing and blinking water out of her eyes. Alake helped her to her feet. The two started walking toward the fire.
“Wait!” Haplo breathed.
Slowly, he rose.
Behind him, he heard Alake draw in her breath sharply, heard Grundle mutter something in dwarven, then fall silent. Devon melted back into the shadows.
Red-green eyes appeared out of the darkness, made the light of the fire seem dim by contrast. The eyes were slanted, snake eyes and there were many of them, innumerable, far more than Haplo could count. They towered over him, their height unbelievable. A sound came of giant, heavy bodies undulating over sand and rock. A stench, foul and putrid, seemed to coat his nose and mouth with the flavor of death, decay. His stomach clenched. Behind him, he heard the mensch whimper in terror. One of them was retching.
Haplo didn’t turn around. He couldn’t turn around. The dragon-snakes slithered into the firelight. Flames shone on huge, scaled, shining bodies. He was overwhelmed by the enormity of the creatures that loomed before him. Enormous not only in size, but in power. He was awed, humbled. He no longer regretted the loss of his magic, for it would have been of no use. These beings could crush him with a breath. A whisper would hammer him into the ground.
Hands clenched at his side, Haplo waited calmly for death.
The largest among the dragon-snakes suddenly reared its head. The green-red eyes burned, seemed to bathe the cavern in an unholy radiance. Then the eyes closed, the head sank to the sand before Haplo, who stood naked in the firelight.
“Patryn,” it said reverently. “Master.”
CHAPTER * 15
DRAKNOR
CHELESTRA
“WELL, TEAR OUT MY WHISKERS BY THE ROOTS!”
Haplo heard the dwarf’s awed murmur, felt something of the same himself. The gigantic dragon-snake prostrated its head on the ground before the Patryn. Its fellows had drawn back a respectful distance, their scaled necks arched, heads bowed, slit-eyes closed.
Haplo remained tense, wary, alert. Dragons were intelligent, tricky creatures, not to be trusted.
The dragon-snake lifted its head, reared its body almost to the cavern’s high ceiling. The mensch gasped and cried out. Haplo raised a hand.
“Be quiet,” he ordered.
The dragon-snake was, apparently, merely shifting to a more comfortable position. It wound its body round and round, looping in upon itself, and came to rest with its head pillowed on its own coils.
“Now, we can speak together more comfortably. Please, Patryn, be seated. Welcome to Draknor.”
The dragon-snake spoke the Patryn language, a rune-based language that should have presented images to Haplo’s mind, as well as words. But he saw nothing, heard only the sound, and it was flat and lifeless. A shiver crawled over the Patryn’s skin. It was as if the dragons had reduced the power of the runes to nothing more than shapes and figures, to be manipulated at will.
“Thank you, Royal One.” Haplo seated himself again, never taking his eyes from the dragon-snake.
The snake’s own slit-eyed gaze slid to the mensch, who had not moved. “But why do our young guests keep from drying themselves at the fire? Is the blaze too hot? Perhaps not hot enough. We know so little of you frail beings, we cannot judge properly …”
Haplo shook his head. “They’re afraid of you, Royal One. After what you did to their people, I can hardly blame them.”
The dragon-snake shifted its coils. Its eyelids closed, a soft, sibilant sigh escaped its toothless mouth. “Ah, I fear we’ve made a terrible mistake. But we will make it up to them.”
The red eyes opened, the snake’s tone was anxious. “You have influence over them? They trust you? Yes, of course. Assure them that we mean them no harm. We will do everything in our power to make their stay among us comfortable. A warm place to sleep? Food, dry clothing? Precious jewels, gold, silver? Will all this make them happy, soothe their fright?”