almost like a large, red-scaled man with a short and thick tail, small wings, and that horse-sized head, he was an intimidating beast, pro-jecting an aura of power that mocked anything that Cazzira had ever seen - and second only to Bestesbulzibar himself in the memory of Belli'mar Juraviel. And while Bestesbulzibar's might was more insidious, was the power to dominate others and use them as pawns, Agradeleous' strength was sheer, brute force, the power of a volcano and an earthquake, of a terri-ble storm with focused wrath.
His movements were not fluid, but were darting, like the forked tongue that continually flicked out between his long canines. He reached forward, holding a pack, which Juraviel took, knowing it to be more of the nutritious mushrooms that had been sustaining the elves through the months.
"More tales this day," the dragon demanded. Where Agradeleous' voice had been deafening before, in the dragon's true, gigantic form, now it was rasping, but hardly diminished. Each syllable sent a shiver up from the stone of the floor, coursing Juraviel's small frame. ?Tell me of this... ranger? This man I killed, that you name Emhem Dal."
"I know little of Emhem Dal," the elf replied, and the dragon frowned. ?But there is another tale I might tell, one greater still, of a ranger named Nightbird who did battle with Bestesbulzibar, the demon dactyl."
Agradeleous' reptile-and-cat eyes narrowed suddenly, and the dragon ex-haled, seething smoke flowing from his nostrils. Though the dragons and the demon dactyls were paired in legend as the races of darkness, though the legends named the dragons as the creations of the demon dactyls, the two races were hardly allied, and it seemed to Juraviel as if Agradeleous would truly enjoy hearing about the defeat of Bestesbulzibar.
The dragon gave a low and long growl, which Juraviel interpreted as Agradeleous' way of saying, ?Hmm."
"It is a good tale?" came the rasping question.
"The greatest of our age," Juraviel replied. ?And one that, perhaps, is not n tell it, Belli'mar Juraviel, and let me be the judge of its worthi-" h trreat wurm decided, and then Agradeleous' voice rose suddenly .-shaking volume. ?Fear my wrath if I judge that it is not so!" onviel noted Cazzira's look of concern, but he dismissed it with a wry r^ere was no tale that he knew of to exceed the story of Nightbird ??This heroic companions. And even if Agradeleous somehow found a way j tne tale as unworthy, Juraviel understood the dragon's roar to be ?r than his bite. Agradeleous would not kill them over a story, not when he craved so many, many more.
And Juraviel began the tale of Elbryan, starting with the sacking of Dun-dalis those years before, and the rescue of the young man, really just a boy. It occurred to him as he spoke that another survivor of that fateful day, one who would be mentioned often in his recounting, had a story not yet com-pleted, though of course, Juraviel had no idea that the same little girl who had crawled, soot-covered and battered, out of Dundalis was soon to be-come the queen of Honce-the-Bear!
With great detail, Juraviel spoke of the years Elbryan spent with the Touel'alfar, of his training and of his strength of body and of mind.
"All this from a human?" Agradeleous asked incredulously, more than once, and each time Juraviel nodded, the dragon gave another growling, ?hmm," as if the tale was making him reconsider, a bit at least, his previous views of the lesser human race.
Cazzira listened, too, sitting on the very edge of a rocky seat, leaning for-ward, devouring every word. That pleased Juraviel greatly, more so than he would have expected. He didn't fear that the Doc'alfar was gathering infor-mation here - none to use against him and his people, at least - but rather, that she was just enjoying the story. And even more than that, she was en-joying the storyteller.
Juraviel went on for a long, long time, and was still not even close to telling of the final ceremony, when Elbryan became Nightbird, when he sat back and took a deep breath, then sat silent for a long while.
Go on!" Agradeleous and Cazzira said together, and they looked at each other in surprise, then laughed at the shared emotion. I am tired, and wish to eat and to rest," Juraviel said. out I wish to hear more! I wish to hear it all!" the dragon growled. And I fear to tell it all, for what tale shall I