Cerulean nodded. His breathing was still a little uneven, mixed with sniffles, but the poison was obviously no longer a danger.

Meanwhile, Ren had checked the ebony door for mechanical traps. Finding none, he eased it open. Peering inside the door, Ren could see that the chamber inside was completely open, from the full height of the tower to the depths of the subterranean cavern below. The door opened onto a roomy landing, fenced by an iron guardrail. A black grillwork stairway led down. The walls inside the tower and the cavern below all glowed a brilliant golden color.

"I've seen this somewhere before," Ren whispered.

Behind him, Tarl answered softly, "In the gnoll temple… The model looked just like this. He'll be here, all right. This must be the lair of the Lord of the Ruins."

"Do come down," called a warm, avuncular voice from somewhere below. "I enjoy company."

The three exchanged surprised glances, but it was Ren who creeped out onto the landing and peered down into the great golden vault. He saw no sign of Cadorna or the soldiers of the Black Watch, but from the top of the stairway, he could see a crescent-shaped pool, a full-sized version of the model they had seen in the gnoll temple. It glistened with an unnatural intensity, as if it created its own light source. "The pool!" whispered Ren." 'Power to the pool.' That's it! The blood from the temples is channeled into that pool!"

Beside the pool, partially hidden from view by the landing, stood a great bronze dragon, identifiable by its metallic color as one of the good dragons of the Realms.

"Please come down," the dragon repeated. Again the voice, which echoed through the golden chamber, seemed friendly and had a genuine warmth to it.

Ren had seen three dragons close up before. Each had seemed bigger than the one before, but this one was easily half again the size of any of them. Electricity crackled along the beast's gums and teeth each time it exhaled, and its tail switched behind it nervously.

"A bronze dragon" whispered Ren to Shal and Tarl, behind him. To the dragon, he said, "We seek the Lord of the Ruins."

"Dead," breathed the dragon, puffing a wisp of smoke into the air. "A puny man, but with tremendous magical powers of possession. As evil as anything I've seen in millennia."

"Do you live here?" Ren questioned. He had never heard of a bronze dragon choosing a subterranean lair.

"Yes, honorable Ren o' the Blade. This has been my lair for several of your lifetimes. Greetings to you and your companions, Shal Bal and Tarl Desanea."

All three were startled that the dragon knew their names. Tyranthraxus, the evil possessor of the dragon's mind, recognized their concern and immediately spoke to assuage their fears. "Now, now, there's nothing to fear. You see, your reputation precedes you, and I must say that the length and breadth of Phlan is safer for your presence. In fact, it is your weakening of the power of the Lord of the Ruins that has allowed me to finally free myself of his control. For years, he held me captive here by means of mind control and a form of possession the likes of which I hope died with him. But his rotting body remains here in my lair. I would be indebted to you if you would remove it."

Ren motioned for Shal and Tarl to follow him, and he started down the stairs. Shal called Cerulean back into the Cloth of Many Pockets, and she and Tarl followed.

As the three stood facing the dragon, they were awed all over again by its size. Shal had never been in close proximity to a dragon, and she felt an unreasonable terror creeping through her body as she stared up at the gigantic beast. She realized as she looked on that her fear was not from the creature's presence but rather from the thread of a memory that was slowly being drawn across her mind."… Beware of the dragon of bronze." It took her a moment to recall the context in which she had heard the words, but then suddenly she remembered. Ranthor had spoken of the dragon! As he fought with Denlor to defeat the masses of monsters and humanoids that scrabbled at the tower's walls, he had warned her about the dragon of bronze!

At almost the same moment as Shal realized there might be good reason for her fear, Tarl became aware that the Hammer of Tyr, which he was holding at his side, was glowing bright blue in his hand. He could feel more than see the pulsing energy within the hammer, and he caught a glimpse of the dragon blinking as the hammer's rays reflected in its eyes.

"That thing you're carrying…" the dragon said innocently. "It's hurting my eyes. Can you cover it, please?"

Tarl lifted the hammer toward the dragon. "The light of the Hammer of Tyr should be soothing to you or any other good creature of the Realms."

Ren interrupted before the dragon could reply. "Where's the body you want disposed of?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, the body," said the dragon, turning its head away from the light. "It's here behind me. The Lord of the Ruins died along with several of his minions. Only two escaped." The dragon shifted its bulk to one side. Behind it were several charred bodies, piled together in a heap like sacks of flour. "I was finally able to break his-"

"The Black Watch!" Ren exclaimed suddenly. Despite the damage done by the dragon's lightning breath, the chain mail on the bodies remained intact, and those Ren could see bore the sign of the mercenary guild employed by Cadorna. "Those are soldiers of the Black Watch, not-"

"And the dragon is the Lord of the Ruins," whispered Shal, starting to back away.

Ren shook his head.

"Try to get one of the ioun stones" Shal whispered. "A good dragon wouldn't care."

Ren nodded his head imperceptibly, then turned back to face the dragon. "Which one of the bodies belongs to the Lord of the Ruins?" he asked as he walked to the inner curve of the crescent, the side of the pool opposite the dragon, as if to examine the bodies from that angle.

"He's at the bottom of the heap," answered the dragon. "He was the first to die."

Ren knew at that moment that the dragon was lying. Mercenaries such as those of the Black Watch would go to their deaths in hopes of treasure, but the minute their employer was killed, they had no reason to stick around. Ren also saw, as he came closer, that the necks of the soldiers had been sliced, and their blood was draining into the brilliant waters of the pool. Ren stepped up to the hexagon at the crux of the crescent, noticing that it was just like the one in the diorama on the gnoll altar. Ioun stones were set in place at four of its six corners, while two empty sockets stood gaping, waiting to be filled. "That's quite a collection of ioun stones," he said, reaching his hand out toward the hexagon.

In a move of exceptional dexterity for so large a creature, the dragon swiveled its entire body to face the ranger. "Yes… remarkable, aren't they?"

Ren pulled Right from his boot. "I expect you've heard that I have an ioun stone" said Ren softly.

Avarice spread over the dragon's previously composed features. "Yes… so I've heard." The change in its manner was not even subtle. There was a definite edge in its voice, a demanding quality. Suddenly the dragon snaked its tongue out at Ren and hissed, "Give it to me… or die!"

The dragon thrust its huge head and neck across the pool toward Ren, its jaws wide open. Ren hurled Right at the creature, diving and rolling before his release was even complete. At that moment, a thundering bolt of electricity shot from the creature's gaping mouth and exploded against the wall behind where Ren had just stood. At the same time, the dragon bellowed in pain and anger as the dagger buried itself to the hilt in its right eye. Quickly Ren scrambled to his feet and sprinted around the pool to the dragon's flank, the only place where he might be safe from the creature's flailing tail.