Radi stopped Yerra and listened. He heard the whistle as well, recognizing it immediately. It came from the north, no more then a few miles away. He smiled, glad Gail was okay. His good mood didn’t last very long. Yerra snorted from underneath him and lunged in Gail’s direction. Normally, he would be more than happy to see Gail, but the mare was galloping north, the opposite of where he was heading. Not to mention, there was a risk of running into Seth and Lianas, who were probably not to happy with him for disappearing.

“Whoa!” Radi pulled hard on the reins in an attempt to stop the crazed horse. Yerra shook her head and, if possible, went faster. She bucked a little as she sped up, causing Radi to slip sideways on her bare back. He panicked, letting go off the reins, and grabbed her neck and mane to stay on. He pulled himself back on before he could fall any farther. Nothing was going to stop Yerra as she pounded across the sand. Just as Radi was contemplating jumping off her back, the mare snorted and slowed to a stop.

Surprised, he slipped to the ground and grabbed her reins before she could take off again. He looked up the beach and saw what made her stop. Twenty paces away, two figures were lying on the sand. He walked towards them cautiously, pulling the horse with him. He recognized Oran’s green robes and Gail’s dark braid, but he wanted to be sure it wasn’t a trapped before he came too close. He reached out his mind, looking for any life forms that might have been hiding nearby. They were alone.

“Stay here Yerra,” he said, not caring if she understood or not. He let go of the reins and approached the dragons. He immediately saw blood soaking Oran’s robes and Gail’s white skin. He jumped to their sides, checking them. Yerra whined behind him, feeling his anxiety. “Don’t worry, Yerra. They’re alive.” He sighed with relief and looked from the mare to the dragons. “Let’s get them to shelter.”

Using magic, Radi lifted Oran and draped him over Yerra’s back. He secured the large man with rope before turning to Gail. Gently, he lifted her from the sand, amazed how light she was. He started walking toward the trees, having a bit of trouble stepping in the sand. Yerra whined again and hurried to catch up to Radi. She nuzzled Gail’s foot and stayed near. Radi put Gail down in an opening between three palm trees. He hurried to clear the space, kicking out coconuts and throwing away fallen leaves. He threw down his blanket, spreading it out before he put Gail and Oran on it.

Blood was soaking onto the blanket when Radi remembered Oran was wounded. He carefully pulled the robes away from Oran’s leg and hesitated. He had never healed anyone with magic before. He tried to remember how Lianas patched up Gail’s shoulder and abdomen. He held his hand above the wound as the elf had done and drew energy from the trees around him. Then, he concentrated on pulling together the torn skin and muscle. Slowly, the blood stopped and the wound began to close. Radi smiled in triumph, almost losing his focus. In a few moments, the ugly gashes became nothing more than pink marks on Oran’s skin.

Radi sat with his back against one of the palm trees, laying his sword next to his hand. He reached out with his mind again, checking to make sure no one was near. He didn’t want any enemies sneaking up on him or the elves finding him. He had tried hard to stay away. If Lianas did catch up, he would slip away unnoticed while the elf found Gail and Oran. Satisfied that no one was close by, Radi relaxed and watched Yerra chewing on some grass. Even though it was midmorning, it wasn’t long before he dozed off.

The sun was only hours away from setting when Radi woke. His eyes went over Oran and Gail. They were still unconscious on the blanket. Gail looked much better; her skin was just pale instead of white. Oran was snoring softly. Radi smiled at the two and looked out of the shade to the ocean. He could see Yerra wandering near the waves. The mare was enjoying herself, racing the water onto the sand. Radi kicked off his shoes and stretched, thinking how peaceful it seemed in the southern part of Accria.

Lazily, he reached out with his mind, letting it travel through the trees and across the shore. He was about to pull back when he felt something that made him catch his breath. A group of large life forms were moving at a rapid pace toward his little shelter. They were no more then twenty minutes away. Radi pulled his mind back and jumped to his feet. Yerra! He ran onto the beach and whistled for the mare to come. Unfortunately for Radi, Yerra was not in the mood to cooperate. She pretended to trot towards him before springing away with a snicker.

“Yerra! Stop that!” Radi practically shouted as he grabbed at her harness. The mare suddenly stopped five paces away. Her ears were pricked and she pawed the sand nervously. Before he could get close, she whined and galloped toward the trees. He almost ran after her when Falconiar appeared. Radi stepped back in alarm. The apparition hadn’t shown himself since he tried to stop Radi from leaving the rest.

“What do you want? Are you going to try and stop me from running again?” Radi asked the dead king, his voice betraying his anger. Falconiar looked at him with desperation.

“You always seem to be running, human.” The smooth voice boomed from the beach behind him. Radi spun around; his fear almost taking over. Standing a bit over thirty paces from him was a monstrous dragon, three times the size of Gail. It was coming out of the ocean when it saw Radi and it watched him in triumph. Its scales were dull black and its wings were torn in various places. Evil red eyes sparkled with amusement as it met Radi’s blue eyes.

Strangely, Radi felt his fear disappear as Falconiar appeared next to him. “So you’re Kuroda,” he said with a grin. “I thought that was a female name.”

The roar that came from Kuroda’s throat nearly deafened his prey. Radi clamped his hand over his ears in attempt to lessen the pain in his now throbbing head. He looked up to see the dragon approach him. He unconsciously reached to his right hip before realizing his sword was still lying next to the palm tree where he slept. Instead, he pulled out his hunting knife.

The dragon hissed with laughter. “Such boldness for such a small thing.” He stopped an arm’s length from Radi. “No where did I see this before. Ah, yes! The fool of a mortal, Ravir, stood like that before he died. You look shocked that I knew your father. Don’t worry. He suffered only a little when I tore him apart, limb by limb, and fed him to my soldiers.”

Kuroda didn’t have time to blink before Radi attacked. With Falconiar’s aide, he drew energy from the ghost and ocean. Concentrating on the dragon’s head, he released the magic. A white beam of energy shot from his right hand towards the dragon. It hit Kuroda with enough force to knock him back. Run.

Radi obeyed the dead king’s order without the slightest hesitation. He sprinted away from the black dragon, cutting his bare feet on shells that littered the sand. He headed northward, in the direction of the elves. He wanted to keep Kuroda from finding Gail or Oran. He heard an angry snarl and increased his pace.

Kuroda leaped at Radi. In three jumps, he caught up to the running human and cut off his escape. In a pathetic attempt to distract the dragon, Radi hurled his hunting knife at him. It clattered off the black scales and fell to the sand. Kuroda’s tail collided with Radi’s head with a sickening thump. He flew to the ground and stayed there.

“Come on, Falconiar!” Kuroda hissed mockingly. “Is that all your pathetic human can take?” He poked Radi’s limp body with his snout. His red eyes narrowed and he pulled back.

Radi rose slowly to his feet. But, it wasn’t Radi. A white, ghostly glow enveloped his body. His hair grew longer, more transparent. He wore equally transparent armor; silver armor with a crimson cape. “Some would think you have become weak, Kuroda.” His voice was deeper, more mature and demanding than before. “Fighting babes and children for seven hundred years can soften a dragon.”

Unnerved by the magic flowing from the man before him, the black dragon took a step back. “Falconiar,” he hissed evilly. “I thought you were in there somewhere. I could never forget your stench.”

“Enough talk, you over-grown lizard,” Falconiar growled. “I’m going to kill you.” He threw out his right hand and sent white beams of energy at Kuroda. The dragon hopped to the side and returned with a jet of fire. Falconiar threw up a wall of energy to protect himself.

Kuroda spread his wings and jumped toward the open sky. He flew one circle around Falconiar before attacking with more fire. Falconiar threw up the wall again, thinking quickly. He didn’t have much more time left. He was using too much energy to stay in Radi’s body and fighting the dragon at the same time. He needed to end this quickly. As soon as Kuroda stopped using fire, the dead king decided to try a new trick.

The black dragon’s jaw dropped as Falconiar rose from the beach with the aide of the wind and shot toward him, a phantom sword in his hand. Crying out with a mixture of anger and sorrow, Falconiar struck Kuroda in the head. The dragon fell to the ground with a roar, followed by the dead king. Falconiar watched Kuroda hit the beach hard and landed a bit away. “Well Radi, I did what I could,” he said softly.

---

Gail woke with a start. She sat, looking at Oran next to her. At first, she thought Oran had carried her to shelter. But then, a golden glint caught her eye. Radi’s sword was lying next to a pair of boots. She crawled to the blade, making sure it was Radi’s before turning to Oran. She shook his shoulder lightly. “Wake up.”

His yellow eyes slowly opened. “How are you feeling?” he asked, sitting up. His eyes narrowed when he saw the extra gear and sword. “Is Radi here?”

Gail opened her mouth to answer when there was a loud thud noise and vibrations ran through the ground. The two dragons jumped to their feet and rushed out to the beach. A cloud of sand was forming north of the small camp. Gail ran without a second thought. She raced toward the cloud with an unnatural speed, Oran right behind her.

“Radi!” she cried out, seeing his limp form sprawled on the ground. She skidded to a stop and fell to her knees next to him. The right side of his face was horribly bruised and bleeding. Gail touched his face lightly with shaking hands. Unexplainable anger threatened to explode from her chest. She turned quickly, seeing the huge form of the black dragon crawling to his feet. He was moving toward the water; one of his wings stuck out awkwardly.

“Kuroda,” she growled in anger to herself. She stood next to Oran, who had been watching the black dragon.

He grinned as he watched Kuroda struggle. “That kid blinded the black devil,” he whispered. Sure enough, when Gail looked closer she could see a deep gash running up the dragon’s head, going through his eye. He didn’t even see Gail and Oran. His good eye was concentrating on something coming from the north. With a hiss, he leaped into the ocean, quickly disappearing under the waves.

“Here comes Lianas,” Oran said with a laugh. They watched a cluster of horse and riders galloped down the beach toward them. “The elves are always late.”

Gail sat on the sand, putting Radi’s head in her lap. She brushed aside his long bangs and looked at his face. It was starting to swell. Holding out her hand, Gail closed her eyes and froze moisture in the air. Within seconds, she held a small block of ice and held it to Radi’s head. “I should go finish Kuroda while he’s injured.”

“I think he should live a little longer. Being crippled will be worse than death to him,” Oran chuckled. Gail smiled and nodded, not taking her eyes from Radi. Oran watched them curiously until he heard the horses get close. Then, he turned to face the elves and Seth. “In the name of the gods, you’re always two seconds too late Lianas.”

The elf leader slipped from his steed and looked down at Radi. “Too late?” He stepped forward in alarm.

Oran laughed at his concern. “Be calm. The kid is still alive.”

“Great!” Seth said, jumping from his horse and marching forward. “Now I get to kill him!”