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Thus began the first dragon-rage.
Folk cowered in their cities as destruction rained down from above. Fire and
acid, lightning and
poisonous clouds, mayhem and devastation. Dragon wings blotted out the sun,
and dragon roars boomed like thunder. It was glori-ous. And Dusk was the most
magnificent of them all. The other dragons looked to him as their exalted
leader. The tribute they had agreed to pay would make him lord over a mountain
of treasure such as Faerun had never seen.
Or it would have come to pass, had it not been for Ande-har Longarm.
Andehar was the latest in Phlan's irksomely endless supply of champions.
Heroes seemed to breed like lice in that wretched city. Just as the
dragon-rage was nearing the peak of its frenzy, Dusk had made the mistake of
flying too close to Phlan's walls. Standing atop the city's battlements,
Andehar had loosed an enchanted arrow from his bow. Guided by magic, the
barbed shaft had struck Dusk in his left eye.
Dusk had never known such agony. He had spun wildly through the air, blinded
by the pain. He fell to the ground and crawled away. Without his leadership,
the evil dragons began to bicker among themselves.
Hatred and suspicion flared. The dragon-rage descended into chaos as the wyrms
sped back to guard their lairs from each other, leav-ing Dusk to flee abjectly
to the mountains. He never forgot the cheers rising from the walls of Phlan,
and he had vowed to exact his vengeance upon that blasted city and all of the
vile folk that inhabited it.
Dusk had limped into a cavern deep in the Dragonspine Mountains, intent upon
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licking his wounds until he gath-ered the strength once again to assault
Phlan. But he had not counted on the pool of twilight. He had stumbled upon it
by accident, and in his delirium of pain and anger had succumbed to the
tempting offers of power made to him by the storm giant who was the pool's
guardian. Dusk had agreed to enter the pool in the hope of gaining the power
he needed to recuperate and wreak the ultimate ven-geance. The storm giant had
been freed while Dusk found himself trapped.
Over time, Dusk had discovered he could use the power of the pool to compel
the multitudes of monsters that inhabited the mountains to do his bidding. All
it took were a few droplets from the pool mixed with the underground streams
that flowed below the cavern. Once the streams passed into the outside world,
all manner of creatures drank from their waters, thus falling under Dusk's
sway. Over the centuries, he had amassed great hordes of crea-tures and sent
them to attack Phlan. Time and time again the monsters failed, dying by the
thousands against Phlan's stubborn walls. Eventually Dusk realized that there
was only one way he could destroy Phlan. He had to launch a new dragon-rage.
And now that he was finally free, he could do just that. Only this time he
would not send a hundred dragons against the cities of the Moonsea. He would
send a thou-sand! He would not be simply a prince of his kind, or even a king.
He would be an emperor of dragons, and all the lands around the Moonsea would
cower in fear before him.
Dusk unfolded his huge, shadowy wings, exulting at the glorious victory that
would soon be his. Ah, but first he had to say a fond good-bye to Sirana. As
the pool's new guardian, it would be her honor to grant him the power he
needed to summon the evil wyrms for a new dragon-rage.
"Sirana!" he called out. "Heed my call!"
Why should I, wyrm?
the sorceress's voice echoed in his mind with a sound like laughter. It was
clear she was enjoying her newfound status as the pool's guardian and was
intoxicated by the incredible power.
Sirana was even more of a fool than Dusk had imagined.
The dragon grinned evilly, displaying row after row of daggerlike teeth. "Obey
my wishes, sorceress, or
I will pul-verize the mountains, sealing this cavern under so much rubble that
it will never be discovered.
You will remain here, imprisoned, forever."
He could feel fury radiating from the pool, along with just a hint of fear.
His feral grin widened. She would be forced to serve him.
Very well, she replied sullenly.
What do you wish, wyrm?
"Don't call me that!" he hissed dangerously. He crawled toward the edge of the
pool, seeing his dark and sinuous beauty reflected in its surface. "Now, grant
me power enough to summon a thousand dragons."
I will grant you what I can. But I must retain enough power for myself so that
I can create a new
army to send against Phlan.
The dragon roared with laughter. "Believe me, sorcer-ess, nothing you can do
while trapped within the pool will be enough to destroy that city. I have
tried myself a hun-dred times over."
He felt disbelief radiate from the pool. "But do not fear," he continued
wickedly. "Once the dragon-rage has begun, Phlan will be blasted off the face [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]