The red snarled in hatred and prepared to dive, his flight with him, but the Dragon High lord swooped down in front of him, causing him to pull up.

"I tell you, they must not be killed!" the Dragon Highlord said sternly.

"But they're escaping!" the red hissed furiously.

"Let them;" the Highlord said coldly. "They will not go far. I relieve you of your duty in this. Return to the main body. And if that idiot Toede mentions this, tell him that the secret of how he lost the blue crystal staff did not die with Lord Verminaard. The memory of Fewmaster Toede lives on-in my mind-and will become known to others if he dares to challenge me!"

The Dragon Highlord saluted, then wheeled the large blue dragon in the air to fly swiftly after the griffons, whose tremendous speed had allowed them to escape with their riders well past the city gates. The red watched the blues disappear through the night skies in pursuit.

"Shouldn't we give chase as well?" asked the female red.

"No;' the red male replied thoughtfully, his fiery eyes on the figure of the Dragon Highlord dwindling in the distance. "I will not cross that one!"

"Your thanks are not necessary, or even wanted;' Alhana Starbreeze cut off Tanis's halting, exhausted words in midsentence. The companions rode through the slashing rain on the backs of three griffons, clutching their feathered necks with their hands, peering apprehensively down at the dying city falling rapidly away beneath them.

"And you may not wish to extend them after you hear me out;' Alhana stated coldly, glancing at Tanis, riding behind her. "I rescued you for my own purposes. I need warriors to help me find my father. We fly to Silvanesti:"

"But that's impossible!" Tanis gasped. "We must meet our friends! Fly to the hills. We can't go to Silvanesti, Alhana. There's too much at stake! If we can find these dragon orbs, we have a chance to destroy these foul creatures and end this war.

Then we can go to Silvanesti

"Now we are going to Silvanesti;" Alhana retorted. "You have no choice in the matter, Half-Elven. My griffons obey my command and mine alone. They would tear you apart, as they did those dragonmen, if I gave the order."

"Someday the elves will wake up and find they are members of a vast family," Tanis said, his voice shaking with anger. "No longer can they be treated as the spoiled elder child who is given everything while the rest of us wait for the crumbs:'

"What gifts we received from the gods we earned. You humans and half-humans'"-the scorn in her voice cut like a dagger-"had these same gifts and threw them away in your greed for more. We are capable of fighting for our own survival without your help. .4s to your survival, that matters little to us:'

"You seem willing enough to accept our help now!"

"Fur which you will be well-rewarded;' Alhana returned.

"There is, not steel nor jewels enough in Silvanesti to pay us

"You seek the dragon orbs;" Alhana interrupted. "I know where one is located. It is in Silvanesti:"

Tanis blinked. For a moment, he could think of nothing to say, but the mention of the dragon orb brought back thoughts of his Friend. "l^4-hexes Sturm?" he asked Alhana. 'The last I saw him, he was with you:"

"I don't know; " she replied. "We parted. He was going to the Inn, to find you. l called my ,griffons to me:'

"Why didn't you let him take you to Silvanesti if you needed war riors

"'E h .at is none of your concern." .Alhana turned her back to Tanis. who pat wordlessly, too tired to think clearly. Then he heard) a noire shouting at him, barely distinguishable through the feathery ru tle of the griffon's mighty wings.

It was Caramon. The warrior ryas shouting and pointing behind them. What now? Tanis thought wearily.

They had. left behind the smoke and the storm clouds that covered Tads, flying out into the clear right sky. The stars gleamed al---ove them, their sparkling lights shining as cold as diamonds, emphasizing the gaping black holes in the night sky where the two constellations had wheeled in their track above the world. The moons, silver and red, had set, but Tanis did not need their light to recognize the dark drapes blotting out the shining stars.

"Dragons;' he said to Alhana. "Following us:'

Tanis could never afterward clearly remember the nightmare flight from Tarsis. It was hours of chill, biting wind that made even death by a dragon's flaming breath seem appealing. It was hours of panic, staring behind to see the dark shapes gaining on them, staring until his eyes watered and the tears froze on his cheeks, yet unable to turn away. It was stopping at dusk, worn out from fear and fatigue, to sleep in a cave on a high rock cliff. It was waking at dawn only to see-as they soared through the air again-the dark, winged shapes still behind them.

Few living creatures can outcry the eagle-winged griffon. But the dragons-blue dragons, the first they had ever seen-were always on the horizon, always pursuing; allowing no rest during the day, farting the companions into hiding at night when the exhausted griffons must sleep. There was little food, only quith-pah-a dried fruit type of iron-ration that sustains the body, but does little to ease hunger-which Alhana carried and shared, But even Caramon was too weary and dispirited to eat much.

The only thing Tanis remembered vividly occurred on the second night of their journey. He was telling the small group huddled around a fire in a damp and cheerless cave about the kender's discovery in the library at Tarsis. At the mention of the dragon orbs, Raistlin's eyes glittered, his thin face lit from within by an eager, intense glow.

"Dragon orbs?" he repeated softly.

"l thought you might know of them;' Tanis said. "What are they"

Raistlin did not answer immediately. Wrapped a both his own and his brothels cloak, he lay as near the fire as possible, and all his trail body shook with the chill. The wage's golden eyes stared at Alhana, who sat somewhat apart from the group,, deigning to share the cane but not the conversation. Now, however, it seemed she half-turned her head, listening.

"You sand them is a dragon orb in Silvanesti;' the wage whispered,, glancing at Tanis. "Surely I am not the one to ask'

"I know little about it;' Alhana said, turning her pale face to the firelight. "We keep it as a relic of bygone days, more a curiosity than anything else. Who believed humans would once again wake this evil and bring the dragons back to Krynn?"

Before Raistlin could answer, Riverwind spoke angrily. "You have no proof it was humans!"

Alhana swept the Plainsman an imperious glance. She did not reply, considering it beneath her to argue with a barbarian.