closer it approached, crushing rocks as it came. And farther back, the head of the white dragon reared up, surveying the scene.
Overwhelmed with fear, Merlin felt blood drain from his face, and his arms were like dead branches tied at his sides. An angel appeared before him in a blinding white robe. His voice was strong yet no more than a whisper in the great cavern.
“STRIKE EVIL, MERLIN!”
Then the angel faded from sight.
Merlin gulped, furrowed his brow and, embracing his own death, bounded at the creature. When he came within striking distance he tried to jab it in the snout.
Cla-rack!
The sword only glanced off its scales.
But the dragon reared up and studied him with narrowed pupils.
“WHO … ART … THOU?” it questioned as a long forked tongue flickered through its teeth.
“I am Merlin, servant of the High King of the Britons, and you shall not have her!”
“HIGH … KING?” It laughed, and its snorting roar shook the cavern. “THIS NIGHT … WE FEASTED ON HIS BLOOD … AND WE WILL GORGE … ON THINE AS WELL!”
The white dragon slithered forward, now alongside the red. Behind them, a movement caught Merlin’s gaze. A woman climbed out through the cavern hole and hobbled toward them. At first he thought she was Mônda, but while Mônda had black hair, this woman’s tresses waved reddish gray over her rags. A cruel thrall ring lay bound upon her neck, and a long chain fettered her to the wall of the cave. Scabbed gouges covered her body, and her hands were broken and smashed. The woman’s eyes gazed vacantly, yet as she lifted her oval face to behold him, tiny sparks of forgotten hope and wonder were kindled.
Rage welled up in Merlin. This should not be!
For the sake of the chained woman’s freedom, as well as Natalenya’s life, he thrust his sword before him and called out, “In the name of the Christ, I command you, serpents. Go back to your vile hole and set these women free!”
The red dragon turned to look at the hag and snarled, “THE OLD SERVANT’S … TIME IS DEAD … AND WE WILL SWALLOW HER. THE YOUNG ONE … SHALL TAKE HER PLACE.”
“By the power of the living God, you shall have neither!”
The white dragon clicked its claws together as black liquid dripped from its teeth. “WE ARE HELL AND DEATH … NONE SHALL DENY US!” It inhaled deeply, bright-green fire licking from its nostrils as air rushed in.
Merlin lunged sideways just as the dragon spewed forth a torrent of emerald flame. The back of Merlin’s hair became singed, and his cloak caught fire. Whipping the burning material off, he lunged at the white dragon, whose underside was exposed.
Merlin jabbed with all his strength, but the blade clacked uselessly against the white scales, jarring his shoulders so hard that his teeth cracked together.
The creature roared in anger and raked its claws across Merlin’s chest, sending him skidding across the cavern floor. Pain took his breath away, and before he could stand, the dragon was upon him.
Its white lips curled back. Its gaping jaws struck down.
Merlin yelled even as he lashed out with his blade. The sword bit deep into the soft flesh above the teeth, and the beast recoiled as a six-inch, bloody fang fell smoking to the ground.
The white dragon screamed and thrashed away, hitting its head on the rock wall and shaking the entire cave.
Merlin stood just as the red dragon’s tail snapped forward and slammed him prone to the ground.
Still holding his sword, he tried to rise to his knees, but his vision tilted and he fell over, dizzy.
The red dragon’s maw clamped down on his legs and stomach.
Merlin cried out as he was lifted high into the air, his chest, arms, and head hanging from the creature’s mouth. But before the teeth could sink into his flesh, he gripped the sword with both hands and chopped at the eye of the dragon, who lowered its lid and began shaking and ripping Merlin’s body.
In a last, desperate attempt, Merlin pried the point of the blade inside the eyelid and thrust it deep into the socket.
Roaring, the beast arched its back and let go of Merlin, who held on to the sword and attempted to drive it yet farther into the eye, even as he was whipped like a mere plaything. He lost his grip on the sword and fell against the side of the granite altar where Natalenya lay.
The red dragon crashed to the ground. Howling, it