Gannie nodded approvingly. “And the two dragons, Koryon and Elgan, are silver.” He folded his arms.
“Besides,” Kory said thoughtfully, “other dragons could use magic.”
“True.” Gannie let grim disapproval enter his voice. “Even a black dragon like Jaegendar could wear a ring of shaping.”
The audience was stirring restlessly. They appealed to the innkeeper.
“They’re right,” Darien said unwillingly. “If a black dragon could find a ring of shaping somewhere, and if he could wear it, he could change to human shape.”
“You see?” Gannie smiled brightly at Peilanne. “A dragon could be among you right now, and no one would know….”
*****
Jaegendar was surprisingly easy to find. As Koryon had said gloomily, “Just follow the weeping.” There was a fire in the hills, where a farm was burning. Elgan hiked up to it in human form, not wishing to panic any survivors.
A huge black dragon, fully three times as long as Elgan in dragon form, perched on the edge of a roofless cottage, peering in like a carrion crow. He turned a cold eye this way and that as he checked the corners. He peered down at Elgan, who had stopped well back. “Who is it now?”
“Just me, Elgan.” He licked his lips, which felt suddenly dry.
“Elgan?” The black dragon looked Elgan up and down, not smiling and not frowning. Jaegendar waved a red-stained claw. “Never mind; it’s obvious. You’re here to fight me?”
“I seem to have to”-Elgan could feel his ears reddening-“because, well, the other night, I might have said something about knowing how to fight dragons-”
“You were bragging.” A noise, half scream and half wail, sounded from inside the cottage. “Excuse me.” Jaegendar tracked something this way and that, striking down swiftly like a crane into a stream. There was another scream, and another as Jaegendar thrust his head up and down inside the cottage.
“And I was wondering,” Elgan said, suddenly ashamed of himself as he said it, “if, since you might not want a real fight and all, if we could stage just enough of a mock fight to satisfy-”
“Let me guess.” The black dragon rose up, wiping his mouth with a claw. “A lady has bound you to fight me. And she wants you to kill me because of my cruel ways, is that it?”
“Well, she has her own motives-mostly monetary-”
Jaegendar smiled, yellowing fangs showing suddenly. “Ah. Beldieze? Why am I not surprised?” There was blood on one of his fangs. Jaegendar said, “Excuse me, again.” His tongue flickered across the tooth, licking it clean. His eyes half-closed like a purring cat’s.
When he opened them again he said, “And I can’t dissuade you from this … fight?”
Elgan said honestly, “I wish you could.”
“Well, let me try.” Almost casually he flung a stone the size of a kender at Elgan. As Elgan ducked, Jaegendar threw another, and another.
Elgan scrambled frantically, searching for cover. Moments later, cowering in a ditch and half buried under building stones, he heard mocking laughter and felt a cold wind as Jaegendar rose and flew off.
Something rolled down the pile of stones toward him; he put up an arm to ward it off. The thing that hit his arm was soft, wet and pulpy. Elgan shuddered and struggled under the stones.
Several of them rolled free and Koryon’s head appeared. “I saw him fly off. Big brute, isn’t he? How did it go?” He cocked his head, sniffing the air. “I smell blood. Are you all right?”
Elgan reached up. “Pull me free. Then let’s think of a strategy for tomorrow.” He looked at the black dot in the distance. “A very good one.”
*****
Elinor had buried her head against her mother’s sweater, and was peeking out with one frightened eye.
In a single smooth gesture, before her mother could object, Kory popped Elinor onto his shoulders, grabbed the cider ladle, and charged at Gannie, who flapped his arms in mock panic and fled through the inn. They spun and ducked, making spiral turns and leaps near the fire and quick dives in the cold air near the door. From time to time one or the other of them shouted: “Glide!” “Stall!” “Plunge!” “Loop!” Elinor waved the spoon and tried to hit Gannie. She was very happy.