Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol II - By Richard A. Knaak Page 0,440

had Morgis looked so close into the eyes of a human and read such evil.

“You call us jackals, devils. You are no better than us, dragon. You are a beast parading as a man!” He glanced down at the dead captain. “You will regret every one of the deaths you caused. First you will be tortured to within an inch of your miserable life in every manner prescribed and every manner we can devise… and then, when you have worn your voice hoarse pleading for mercy… I shall skin you alive the way you did my men. Your blood will be the foundation of my power and the losses here will be recouped a thousand times over—”

But Morgis was no longer listening to the other’s tirade. “What did you sssay?”

Before D’Kairn could answer, one of the men he had sent to hunt for Kalena and Leonin rushed back. “My lord! There’s a passage open in one of the walls!”

“So that was how you worked your plan…” The keeper pointed at all but one guard. “Take torches! Bring back their heads as proof to me!”

As the Aramites obeyed his order, Morgis struggled to be heard. “You fool! D’Kairn, you’ll be sssending them to their deathsss!”

“Against your two friends? Hardly! Your trickery is at an end!”

“There’sss something elssse out there! The thing that ssskinned your men—”

D’Kairn touched the stone, sending pain through the drake. “You and your friends are the ones who skinned my men.”

“Go out back! You’ll find ssscores of bonesss and even some bodiesss! I thought you resssponsible, but now I sssee I was wrong!”

“Bind his mouth.” The keeper turned from his prisoner.

Weakened, Morgis could not keep the lone guard from obeying the order. Muzzled, arms tightly tied, he could only watch and wait.

Despite his previous display of confidence, Keeper D’Kairn paced the floor in clear impatience as the seconds passed. Next to Morgis, the single guard fidgeted, hand constantly stroking the hilt of his sword. Morgis was aware of the fact that if he made one false move, he risked being slain simply due to the Aramite’s anxiety.

As for the drake, he also worried about his friends and not because of their pursuers. He should have seen it sooner. D’Kairn had said that he had circled behind Morgis and the others, following instead of being followed. Therefore, the keeper had never had the opportunity to perform his insidious spellwork here. In addition, when D’Kairn had slain Awrak and used the Syrryn’s blood to increase his power, he had left the body otherwise intact.

It had not been skinned.

And the more Morgis thought of the scant details of Kalena’s story, the more he realized that what had stalked her and her partners had been something else entirely, something that had long made its home in the keep and knew all the hidden passages.

Something that had found more than a dozen armed and armored soldiers only a tempting target.

Before, the drake had thought that once Leonin had Kalena, it would be simple for them to lose the wolf raiders. Now, though, they might be running right into the waiting talons of the keep’s foul denizen.

With the spell on him, Morgis was all but helpless. D’Kairn had the only potential weapon against whatever ghoulish creature lurked in the ruins, but the sorcerer was too focused on revenge against mortal foes.

D’Kairn kept most of his attention on the doorway to the one back room, no doubt assuming that the guard would be watching the prisoner. However, the guard’s gaze also eventually drifted more to the doorway than to his charge. Both Aramites were clearly growing disturbed at the lengthening absence of their cohorts.

Morgis braced himself, waiting for what would undoubtedly be his last chance. They had bound his arms, but, as before, they had left his legs free.

The cloaked keeper paused, completely facing the doorway. Out of the corner of his eye, the drake noted that the guard’s attention was fixed on that direction. One hand remained on the sword hilt, but the weapon was still sheathed.

It was the moment for which Morgis had been hoping.

Pushing forward with all his might, he leapt toward D’Kairn’s back.

The guard shouted and tried to stop him, but his hand came away empty. Running as hard as he could, the drake lowered his head like a battering ram.

D’Kairn started to turn… but too late.

The much larger Morgis barreled into the keeper with such force that D’Kairn went flying. The sorcerer lost his hold on the necklace, which wrapped