The two dragons considered the crowd of evil soldiers milling at a distance, and they hesitated.

"Fly!" Onyx prompted. "Tell your riders you're evaluating the enemy's strength, if you must. Before they realize the truth, you'll be gone. Besides, what human would dare try to stop a dragon?"

The argument was enough for Neetra and Dnestr. Giving the silent Khoal the pitying look they would grant a fool, the two dragons leaped into the air and took wing to the west, headed for the mountains.

"You're not joining them?" asked Onyx.

Ignoring the question, Khoal looked down his nose at the young woman far below at his feet. "Funny you should men shy;tion the wing's other two dragons." The dragon's voice trailed off meaningfully. "When Jahet and Khisanth failed to appear after the claxons rang, I began to wonder if they were not betraying the wing." Khoal circled once around the ram shy;rod still woman.

"Then Neetra and Dnestr, those foolish young dragons, confessed to me that they'd made a pact with the Knights of Solamnia and arranged a pre-dawn attack. What's more, they'd had the last-minute inspiration to trap Jahet and Khi shy;santh in their lairs"- Khoal locked his gaze onto Onyx's tawny eyes -"without telling a soul." His brows raised. "Strange that you would know about it."

Khisanth did not for a minute believe in Khoal's inno shy;cence. Still, she couldn't prevent her face from falling at the realization of the trap into which she'd stumbled.

The dragon bent low and hissed into her ear with hot, meat-scented breath, "Why don't you tell me your comman shy;der's name?"

Khoal had been a liar his whole long life. Not even his nat shy;ural greed prevented him from recognizing one on sight. As the ancient dragon pressed in, evaluating the best way to slay the foolish young woman, he was only mildly interested in her motives for trying to trick him. He was certain he never met her, and yet there was something vaguely familiar about her voice, her cocky attitude. As his eyes focused on her shiny black hair and he prepared to claw her face from her skull, Khoal was about to receive the first true surprise of his long life.

The old dragon blinked. His face seemed to turn ashen beneath his scales. Where the young woman had stood was his most hated foe, that ambitious sycophant, Khisanth. Before his mind could make sense of it, the other dragon's mighty tail raised, delivering a vicious, air-snapping blow that sent him staggering. Khoal sailed some thirty feet, crashing into vacant tents and a small gathering of soldiers who'd wandered too close. Rolling himself from his side and back to his hind feet, Khoal sounded his rage in a bellow that sent all human and ogre soldiers within a hundred yards diving for cover.

"So, Khisanth, you can shapechange," snarled Khoal, cir shy;cling slowly around his opponent. "I should have guessed. You tried changing yourself into Jahet often enough, with all your showing off to Maldeev. Unfortunately for you, you can't change into a better fighter than me." Khoal's chest rose with pride. "I learned my skills before you were even a wyrmling," he gloated. "I fought in the great war against Huma."

Khisanth threw back her head and laughed aloud, a hate shy;ful, braying sound. "And we all know how that turned out!" She circled around in tempo with Khoal, keeping her eyes on his wrinkled, hoary face at all times. "Perhaps if our queen had more able fighters then, the history of dragons on Krynn would be much different, and we would not be answering to lowly humans…."

The taunt hit home. Roaring wildly, Khoal lashed out with his right claw. Khisanth darted to her right. Anticipating the dodge, the ancient dragon swung his tail and delivered a slap that hit squarely. With nothing to break her tumble, the

younger dragon rolled over and over, wings snapping against the dirt of the drill field. Finally she skidded to a thundering stop. Propping herself up with her claw arms, Khisanth regarded her foe with bitter and true hatred. She tried to think like her opponent to gauge his next move. She could see the light flicker away in his eyes, as if his thoughts were elsewhere briefly. Khisanth knew that look. Khoal was casting a spell.

Not sure what to expect, Khisanth quickly cast a general defensive spell. Instantly, her enormous black body was engulfed in a faintly shimmering sphere that looked vaguely like a bubble. Khisanth hoped Khoal wasn't going to cast anything too powerful, or her protective globe would prove useless.

If Khoal had not been concentrating on his own incanta shy;tion, he might have noticed her shield in time to alter his spell. The six bolts of lightning that flashed from the tips of Khoal's long, pearly talons bounced off her shield, zagged around wildly, then fizzled out. Khisanth's globe twinkled and winked away.

"Tell me, Khoal, when you awoke this day, did you sense it would be your last?"

The taunt, in addition to his thwarted spell, only served to further enrage Khoal. The ancient dragon charged like a bull directly at Khisanth, the ground shaking in his wake. He turned, preparing for a wing buffet. Reacting quickly, Khi shy;santh focused her thoughts on the first image that came to mind; the female dragon abruptly became a seven-foot-tall owlbear. Aiming his buffet to connect with Khisanth's head at dragon height, Khoal's wing swept harmlessly over the owl-headed bear. While the ancient dragon's back was turned, Khisanth reverted to dragon form. Springing high into the air, she delivered a stunning, one-footed kick to Khoal's right flank, a blow that sent him reeling, snout-first, into the dusty field.

Khoal scrambled onto all fours and spun around. Humilia shy;tion had turned the dragon's yellow eyes fiery and streaked them with blood. "I'll pull your entrails out and eat them while you still live!" Khoal snarled, rabid slather spraying from his jaws.

"Shouldn't you be winning, to make such a vow?" Khi-santh asked artlessly, stepping backward to contemplate her next move. The dragon knew she wouldn't be able to shape-change indefinitely; her energy was already flagging. Khoal's rage was making him careless. That's good, she thought, let his own anger defeat him.

Squealing in panic and pain, an ogre whose rags and fur had caught fire ran at full speed into Khisanth's flank. The hysterical brute flailed at her scales, trying to climb across the obstacle, too blinded by fear to turn aside. Glancing back, the dragon swept her wing outward, shoving the doomed crea shy;ture away.

Khisanth's head jerked up in time to see that Khoal had closed the gap between them. The black dragon's neck shot forward, and sagging old lips pulled back to expose his long, jagged teeth. He was heartbeats from severing Khisanth's head from her neck.

Again, the spry young dragon did the first thing that came to mind-she changed into the familiar form of the brown field mouse, far, far below the slathering jaws of the enraged dragon. She hadn't time to be smug about the close call, because Khoal was thinking fast as well. He raised his hind foot and, creating a cage of sorts with his spread wings, pre shy;pared to stomp the little mouse.

Khisanth knew she was trapped. She couldn't revert to dragon form easily in the small area; even if she could, Khoal's foot would crash into her skull before she could top shy;ple him. Or would it?

Taking a chance, Khisanth summoned her dragon form. The instant she felt the change begin, the dragon reached out, snagged Khoal's hind foot, and struggled to tip him off bal shy;ance before he could squash her. Khoal was a much heavier dragon than Khisanth, thick-muscled and dense. Just as Khi shy;santh was beginning to despair of toppling the ancient dragon, her form expanded beneath him. She felt the crush of his incredible weight for only a moment, before the stunned