“Shhhh … I hear something.”

“The only thing you can hear are your brains rattling in that empty head of yours.”

Keedra shot a venomous glare at her brother. “You’re the smart one. Well, you were until you got the bright idea that we should go and rob that mountain!”

Randor hissed and struck out at her with an open-clawed hand. He had the satisfaction of seeing three long welts appear on Keedra’s right cheek. She sank down with a sob, pressing her paws to her blood-soaked face. “What’d you do that for?” she whined, big fat tears rolling down her plain visage.

“To remind you who’s in charge here,” he snapped, clipping his words viciously with added beak clacks. “C’mon, whiner. I see some movement up ahead.”

Keedra whimpered. “I’m not going back there—that demon dragon, she’ll kill us!”

With a bellow too large for such a small thing, Randor leapt at his sister and cuffed her about until she howled in subservience. “You go where I say to, is that clear? We’re going back to the mountain and we’re getting what we came for!” He grabbed her by the scruff and shook her. “D’ya hear me?” Another shake. “Louder, sister-mine.”

“Yes, I hear you,” she whispered and sagged to the grass as he let her go. Rising her feet, she staggered after her brother’s receding form.

From the concealing leaves of a maple tree, something stirred. A flash of fuchsia and blue and it was gone.

Poison turned angrily and smashed her hand through a scrying bowl. The pieces cut into the sensitive palm, but she didn’t feel the pain. She’d seen Kaal and Aurora there upon the main ramp, alive and well. What did I do wrong? she berated herself. It was supposed to kill all of them! Yet … somehow, it didn’t.

Spinning about, she reared up on the table and put both hands on either side of the tome. With a snarl, she realized she was bleeding and hastily mopped up the blood with a bat carcass that she was done with. Throwing the cadaver into the fire pit, the Nightshade dragoness brought her attention back to the matter at hand. Her eyes flew over the text, her brain analyzing it and comparing it to what she had done.

“The bowl must be keyed to you—”

“Blasted SHIT!” she roared. Peering down at the other bowl on the table, she scanned it with her senses; sure enough, there was the distinct aura of Malystryxx about the bowl. No wonder the spell hadn’t performed as it should have! There was no time or resources left to try and redo the spell. Keying an artifact to yourself took too long for what she had in mind. Poison stepped down from the table and began to pace, snapping her tail left and right. Just as things were starting to go her way, this comes along!

Calling a bat from the caverns, the dragoness gave the disgusting little creature her instructions and watched it fly off and through Nightwing’s main entrance. Suddenly, she remembered that she’d forgotten to check up on Maly’s body. Cursing for all she was worth, Poison bounded down the corridor.

Maly moaned, passing a crusted paw across her field of vision. Her hard-scaled body had absorbed much of the impact of the fall, but her wings suffered the most. Without the hematite scales to protect them, they’d been punctured clean through: the sail, the veins, even her wing bones were broken. They hung as useless lumps of flesh and bone from her aching shoulders. She’d actually considered amputating them in a moment of bloodloss-fuvor.

Slowly, her conscious returned and with it brought a renewed sense of her predicament.

“Not dead yet, I see,” purred a silken voice above her.

Malystryxx craned her sprained neck upwards. Bloodshot eyes narrowed in on a familiar figure: POISON. “You—” she half-snarled, half choked. Turning her head to the side, the Lady of Nightwings hacked and spat a gob of phlegm and blood away from herself. “You little backstabbing bitch!”

Poison was gracious enough not to tsk. “You are the backstabbing one, Lady. You’ve held me in your grasp for too long; this is your punishment and my revenge.” The light of the full moon cast a perverse halo around the Nightshade dragoness, glinting off her bullring. “This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life since you took me.”

Narrow eyes pierced the shadows of the night. Maly heaved a rattled sigh. “Try me, Poison. There’s enough strength left in my body to destroy you with one shot. Come any closer and I’ll take us both to Hell.” Closing her eyes, the hematite lady began to hum, her aura reverberating with inner energy. It had come to this, she thought with a wistful turn of mind. When she opened her eyes again, Poison was gone.

Like the coward you are.

She would be back, Malystryxx reasoned; when her former mistress was well and truly dead.

Copyright 2002, Crystal Shekeira. All Guilders are © themselves. The Gryphon's Guild is trademarked to Tserisa Supalla. All other names, places and events are © MH. Do not alter, copy or distribute.