and killed the creature with one well-placed shot before leading the way into the passage to the dragon’s aerie. It was long and straight with a six-foot-deep, four-foot-wide trench filled with water bordered on one side by a two-foot-wide walkway. They moved as quickly as possible under Magda’s conjured light.
The walkway ended abruptly, but the water-filled trench continued under the wall, through a grate and into the watering pond for Zuhl’s dragons.
Alexander appeared. “There are two handlers in the aerie right now. All six dragons are asleep. I’m going to distract Zuhl and find out why my book didn’t kill him. Oh, and your ruse worked. The rest of the drakini went toward the main keep.”
“Thanks, Alex,” Abigail said as her brother disappeared.
She let herself down into the water very gently, Thinblade in hand, and carefully cut the grate from the walls while Anatoly held it to ensure it didn’t make any noise. Abigail went through first, carefully breaking the surface and gently floating to the edge of the water. Peering over the side of the stone-lined pool, she saw a giant room lit only by daylight streaming through a large hole in the exact center of the dome.
Around the walls lay sleeping dragons.
Abigail took a deep breath and pulled herself out of the water, crouching down in the shadows near the pond while she schooled her breathing and calmed her pounding heart, water streaming out of her armor and boots.
Anatoly and Magda pulled themselves from the water on either side of Abigail while she searched the aerie for the two handlers. Seeing no sign of them, she scanned for the largest dragon. He was curled up next to the wall on the far side.
Carefully, cautiously, painstakingly, they moved through the shadows, choosing each step with care. When they drew to within thirty feet of the dragon, Abigail motioned for Anatoly and Magda to stop while she continued toward Izzulft, Thinblade drawn and at the ready, Ixabrax’s tooth held high in the other hand.
“Hey, who are you?” a handler said, stepping through the threshold of one of the man-sized doors leading out of the aerie.
Izzulft opened his eyes and reared up, poised to strike. Anatoly faced the handler while Magda muttered under her breath.
“I’m here to help you … Ixabrax is waiting outside,” Abigail whispered loudly. “I can cut that collar off of your neck.”
“He gave you a tooth?”
Magda launched a handful of smoking pellets at the handler that burned out before they hit the ground but left a cloud of thick blue smoke surrounding him. A moment later, he wavered on his feet and then slumped to the ground.
“Yes,” Abigail said, waving the tooth at Izzulft, bringing his attention back from Magda’s spell. “We have to hurry. Bring that collar closer and I’ll cut it off.”
“Do not deceive me, Human,” Izzulft said, lowering his neck slowly and tentatively.
Abigail didn’t hesitate. As soon as he was close enough, she slipped the blade through the collar and cut it open with one smooth stroke. He reared back in surprise and then looked at Abigail as if seeing her for the very first time. Before she could blink, he snatched her up and launched into a low glide across the aerie toward the next largest dragon.
***
Alexander floated into a large, well-appointed but lifeless and impersonal chamber. He found Zuhl standing on a balcony in the cold, looking out over his vast army in the distance. Without a word, Alexander appeared beside him.
If Zuhl was startled he didn’t show it, instead simply looking at Alexander and nodding respectfully.
“Hello, Lord Reishi. I must congratulate you on your ruse and on discovering mine so quickly. You’re proving to be a more worthy adversary than I ever imagined.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t see through an imposter posing as my own sister?”
“I expected you would, but there was a chance you wouldn’t—easily worth the risk, considering the paltry cost of a single priestess weighed against the potential reward. While I didn’t really expect you to give me the lich book, I was quite surprised by what you did give me. It killed Mage Harkness, you know—a victory in your column by any account, yet also a potential defeat. You see, I have a few ideas for how to use the magic in that book, ideas that probably never even occurred to you, ideas that only a necromancer would conceive of. You may have done yourself grave harm, though I do applaud your initiative. Defeating worthy adversaries such