* * *
Fraenir sat coiled, a snake his choice of form, on the ledge above the opening to the mountain. Segrath would need to be dealt with delicately for she was more than a normal dragon. And although he did not want to admit it, Prydon had almost killed him. And Segrath was…more.
But Klavon was correct. A dragon’s stone would prove most useful to him. He was powerful, indeed. And he believed he could easily destroy Prydon, but with the stone, there would be no doubt.
Fraenir began to slither from the ledge when he caught a glimpse of something. Prydon, his enemy was just a small stretch away and heading straight for him. For a moment, he thought he’d been discovered, so he quickly changed to the form of a small mouse and scurried beneath a rock just in the entrance of the mountain.
Prydon landed, his spiked tail only inches from Fraenir’s hiding place, and paused. Fraenir knew why—he, too, would know the power of Segrath. As Prydon entered and made his way along, so did Fraenir, quiet and careful not to follow too closely.
This might prove to be most convenient, Fraenir thought as they entered the main part of the cavern.
Below, he could see her, and she was not amused with Prydon’s invasion. During their first battle, Fraenir scurried down and ran stealthily behind the cauldron. Just then, a boot fell next to his head. The human child, in his fear of the two dragons and the fire that rained from above, had almost crushed him.
Stupid child! Fraenir thought, and he hid beneath a nearby rock to wait.
Somehow, Prydon had delayed her wrath. Segrath now reached into the boiling cauldron to retrieve the stones, and Fraenir cursed the process. How would he be able to attain one, with a fire so hot? Then he laughed. How ridiculous—he was from the hottest fires that burned deep beneath the surface of this world.
In a short time, the boy received his weapons and was gone, no doubt to the training fields—a stupid place were it not for the sorcerers it produced…like Klavon.
What happened next shocked him, however, as he watched Segrath plunge her claws into Prydon’s chest. But there was no blood, and both dragons seemed to enter a trance, devoid of senses in this world.
Fraenir took advantage of the situation. The tiny mouse turned into a fiery beast—the same beast that had, on another day, retrieved the book from Brandor. It dove into the cauldron and in seconds, flew high into the cavern holding a dragon’s stone. He grinned as he shot out of the mountain—Segrath and Prydon never knew he was there.
Darius and the Dragon's Stone Page 23