Helena held the little bottle of poison tight and listened as the twin's parents discussed how they would serve it up to the Lamya in the castle. The looks of devious glee on their faces as they spoke of murder made her head spin.

The mother took the bottle from her hand and held it over the pot of bubbling stew. "How much?" she asked.

"I—"

"Just put it all in," the father said, taking the bottle and emptying the contents into the pot.

Helena's eyes flicked to the twin girls sitting at the kitchen table. They too, looked excited. Her stomach turned - - she could not allow murder. Not for Millicent, not for the twins. It was not what she had been taught. She pushed the father out the way, grabbed the pot and tipped everything into the sink. Meat sauce splattered across the stone and she berated herself for even considering such a horrific idea.

"Well that's it then!" cried the twin's mother in exasperation. "We're all doomed to serve the Lamya forever." She glared at Helena, her lips twisted in bitterness. "What's the point in having any hope any more when not even our beloved healer will help us?"

Helena put the pot into the sink. What could she say? She had the chance to save them and she didn't take it. How could she explain? Healers do not murder.

"We'd best take them their desserts, dear, before they come here looking for us," said the husband. He looked at his daughters briefly but his gaze settled on Helena when he spoke. "Girls, try not to blame Helena too much."

Then they left, struggling under the weight of the desserts tray. The young twins sat at the far end of the table and glared at Helena. They didn't understand, but their angry stares hurt her more than any amount of blame ever could. She sighed heavily and collected a bucket of water to wash the poison away. She felt more alone now than she had ever done before.

#

Sorrel slid down from the dragon's back and turned to help Cloud before she approached the Elani. She stopped in front of her brother and gave him a wide grin.

"Well here I am," she said, barely able to conceal her excitement as she gave her warrior brother a big hug. "Back safe and sound. How's this for help?" She waved back at the dragon.

Leif hugged her tight, almost forcing the air from her lungs. He held her at arm's length and looked at her. "If only Mum were here to see you now, Sorrel. I swear you've grown."

She pulled away, embarrassed in front of the others. Bartram flew down and settled on her shoulder, his claws digging into her. She looked at the gathered Elani. "Close your eyes," she commanded softly. And then, once they had obeyed, she nodded to the dragon.

A burst of brilliant white light engulfed the dragon, covering the creature completely. It was soon over and Gaeshi Sarkany joined Little Cloud at her side.

She looked at the fallen Lamya bodies scattered across the gorge and her stomach clenched, most of them were so badly burned that it was impossible to tell if Elani or dragon had killed them. She turned to Leif. "Where's Synan?" she asked. She had hoped the old man would've been there to greet her.

Leif put his hand to hers and she felt her cheeks flush red at his affection. "He's safe," he said. "He's with Jia back at the cave. We'll go there now. We've so much to do!"

At last! she thought. Soon she'd be fighting at the Kingdom.

Mariko stopped for a moment and watched after the Elani. Gaeshi had ignored her! That was a good sign; maybe he had a short memory. She didn't. She caught up with them and poked Lachlan none too gently in the side.

"You tripped me, Elani," she said.

Lachlan stared at her. "If I didn't," he said, "you'd have been roasted Lamya! I think you owe me now."

She snorted. "Pah! Lamya don't owe nobody."

Lachlan grinned and said, "That's a double negative."

"That's a—"

"Lachlan! Mariko!"

A warning shout from Leif deterred any further argument and the pair slipped in line behind Maemi. Mariko caught Lachlan's eye and he smiled at her. She looked away, hiding a smile of her own.

#

A Lamya slaver, footsore and tired and so burned that he was almost unrecognisable stumbled into the banqueting hall of the castle.

Corrinus turned his face away from the light until the door closed again and then he looked at the injured slaver in total disgust. "How did you find your way here?" he asked, surprised the man had managed to negotiate the treacherous paths to the castle in such a state.

"My lord, the man is hurt, let him speak," Millicent said. She nodded to the man to take a seat. He did so warily and his gaze darted to the aides. To the burnt side of his face he held a cloth, though it didn't look as if it was helping. The slaver grabbed a glass of water gratefully before telling what he had witnessed.

"Corrinus, my lord, there was a dragon. A dragon, sir, the Elani have one!"

There was a worried murmur from the aides. Even Millicent seemed surprised. Corrinus sighed and rolled his eyes. "Tell the tale," he said patiently, "from the beginning. Yes?"

The slaver nodded and blurted out his story. "A slave stole Noan's horse and fled to Silence Gorge. Twenty of us followed her, my lord, twenty! Only five made it back and three of them look so bad that they might die soon anyway."

He took another swig of the water and splashed some onto his face before continuing. "We found other Elani in the gorge, waiting for us, they were! We had them surrounded though and sent one of our men back to warn Noan and bring reinforcements. They never came though, and I found out why too. Burnt alive, he was! The dragon must've got to him first." The Lamya stopped and looked at Corrinus, his eyes wide in fear. He shook his head in disbelief. "It was huge, my lord! I mean, you've never seen anything like it. Red scales the colour of blood. We fled, it was all we could do."

Corrinus glanced at Millicent and then back to the slaver. "You say five made it back, I take it you include yourself in that count, yes?"

The slaver nodded.

Corrinus smiled and rested his elbows on the table. "And three are near death?"

"Burnt, my lord, worse than me."

"And you came straight here. Good. You did well." Corrinus got up from the table and strode round to the injured Lamya. He leaned close to the frightened man's face and breathed menacingly in his ear. "I want no one else to know of this dragon, do you know where your companion was headed?"

A puzzled frown creased the slaver's forehead. "Back to Slavemaster Noan, sir, to tell him."

Corrinus straightened up and wrinkled his brow. "Maybe that is not a bad thing. Noan is not an idiot, he'll know to keep quiet."

Millicent smiled at him and added, "He'll know how to stop the information getting out too." Then to the slaver she said, "You can be certain your companion is dead by now."

The slaver suddenly seemed to realise he might be in danger. He gave Corrinus a desperate look. "Please, my lord, I'll tell no one. I'll be as quiet as a mouse! And, and anyway, your aides know. You'd have to kill them too!"

Corrinus chuckled and put a hand to the man's shoulder. "I trust my aides to keep their silence," he whispered, "but you..." While he spoke his hand slipped beneath his cloak to his array of daggers, "are just a slaver. Stupid and... expendable!" Corrinus thrust a dagger into the back of the man's neck, smiling in cruel satisfaction as the slaver slumped forward.

He wiped his hands on the tablecloth and smiled at the aides. "So the Elani have a dragon. Then we'll just have to get one ourselves, yes?"

The aides laughed obediently with their ruler and clapped their hands in appreciation. Corrinus turned his attention to Millicent and said quietly, "See to it that no one from Silence Gorge is left alive and make sure that our Slavemaster Noan knows the virtue of keeping his mouth shut."

Millicent narrowed her eyes. "Yes, my lord," she said. "I'll leave at once."

Corrinus waited for her to leave before sitting back down with his aides. The body of the murdered slaver stayed untouched as Corrinus smiled to himself. His book sat beside his hand and he reached out and stroked its leather cover. The title, woven in gold, read: Dragons.