"Not a year," he tried to explain, reminded again of the profound differ-ence between dragons and all the other races. These were the creatures from the dawn of time, who witnessed the early sunrise of Corona. They lived forever, unless they were killed, and saw the passage of time from an entirely different perspective than even the long-living elves. ?I need but a few hours to rest and to eat, and then I will call to you, mighty Agradeleous." As he finished, an idea came to Juraviel. He started looking around the floor of the pit, scratching his head.
"What is it?"
'I am trying to discover how I might better embellish the story," Juraviel explained. ?No matter - I will think of something."
Agradeleous stared at him, yellow-green eyes blinking, and then the beast shrugged, fell into a crouch and leaped away, easily clearing the fifty feet to the ledge.
That is power beyond measure," Cazzira remarked, coming over to -and beside Juraviel, who was also looking up to where the dragon had dis- eared. She draped her arm comfortably over Juraviel's shoulder, moving r head very close to his.
'1 let his still-formulating plans slip away for a few moments then, ;king m the sweet scent of this beautiful creature. He turned and consid-ered her porcelain skin and those striking blue eyes.
t wasn't for the missing Brynn, Belli'mar Juraviel would not have ^nded the captivity at all.
keep stopping!" Agradeleous protested when Juraviel again halted ory and began stalking about the pit.
With a growl, the elf grabbed up one stone and inspected it, then tossed it aside.
"What?" the dragon demanded.
"How can I properly perform with a stage so bland?" Juraviel angrily replied.
"Perform? I asked you to tell a story!"
"But it is a story of battle and courage, of heroes, living and dead!" the elf shot right back. ?I would do the memory of Nightbird justice, or I will tell his tale no more!"
"You will tell..." the dragon started to argue, and forcefully, but Agradeleous stopped suddenly and glanced all about, at Juraviel, at Caz-zira, and at the nearly empty pit. The dragon looked back to Juraviel and nodded.
"Come along," he instructed, and he stepped toward Cazzira and grabbed her up tightly with one mighty arm, then similarly scooped Juraviel when he neared.
With a single mighty leap, the dragon exited the pit and set both the elves down on the stone floor of a huge treasure chamber, full of armor and weapons, and mounds of silver and gold coins, sparkling with glittering gems and jewels.
"A grander stage," the dragon explained.
Juraviel nodded and moved about the area, studying the hoard. Were there items here that he might put to better use than as props in a play? he wondered. A mighty sword or gemstone that would bring him freedom?
He dismissed that almost immediately, remembering the foe he would have to defeat, a creature beyond his power even if he held the finest sword in all the world, if he was clad in the finest armor in all the world, and if he possessed the greatest gemstone in all the world.
Besides, Juraviel knew, he really didn't want to do battle with Agra-deleous, even if he thought he could win.
That notion stopped him momentarily, struck him with a surprising real-ization. Had he come to like Agradeleous the dragon?
Juraviel shook the notions away and cleared his throat, then took up his tale, running about the mounds and the various ledges of the room to ac-centuate the action scenes, taking up a sword at one point to replay the bat-tles that had faced Nightbird and Pony around and within the Barbacan. Again he embellished, adding great detail - and often taking artistic license - because he did not wish to finish quickly.
At one point, telling of the run from the giants at the Barbacan ring, Ju-raviel ran up the side of a mound of coins and dove over, sliding down the back slope, out of sight of his audience of two. He waited a long while out of their sight.
"Where are you, little one?" Agradeleous boomed, the tone showing sus-picion and growing anger.
Belli'mar Juraviel burst out of the coin pile, sword flashing in the air. ?So lied the giants!" he cried dramatically, leaping forward, sword slashing \" air about him. ?Where are you? And out leaped Nightbird, Tempest's rm flashing about him, driving back the mighty beasts, cutting them and felling them."
The elf danced a ferocious and wild routine as he embellished the story, to the