Beware the Dragon-Man
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 23162
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Nine days ago Fred had been transformed into a thing; not quite an
animal and definitely not a
man. And he hated it. All he wanted was to be human again. And he was
willing to do anything to
become human again, even make a deal with a dragon. Which is
exactly what he and his comrade,
Princess Astra, had done. It had not been an easy decision for Fred, but
his choices had been few and the
time to decide had been short. In the end it was the dragon Malachi's
claim that it had come to do battle
with the dragon Minestus that had convinced Fred to join forces with the
monster. 'My enemy's enemy is
my friend', that was what Fred had based his decision upon. That, and the
dragon's promise that within
Minestus' lair was a way to recover his lost humanity.
But in the ensuing battle Malachi was killed, leaving Fred and Astra still trapped in the shapes of fox-things. They still had hope though, for as it died Malachi had told Fred and Astra to find Synizn and to give him the Crystallic, the object they had recovered from Minestus' lair. With the Crystallic then, Synizn might be able to restore their true forms. And so Fred and Astra had traveled to Walants. But between then and now much had changed. And no longer could Fred be so sure that his enemy's enemy was not in fact his own enemy as well. But that did not change the fact that he still wanted, desperately wanted, to be human again. And Synizn knew it. Taking a step forward the dragon-man said with a wry smile, "Do you not wish to regain your human form? Do you not wish to have your curse lifted from you? That is why you came here, is it not?" Fred said nothing in return, conflicted over what to do. Yes, he wanted to be a man again, but he also wanted to wring the very life out of this loathsome creature that pretended to be a man. Fred was, after all, still a dragon-slayer. And yet Synizn was Fred's only hope... But how could he trust the inhuman thing? Synizn took another step forward. "You are strangely quiet, Lord Fred. Do you now reconsider what you came here to do? What you came here to give me? Do you really wish to forever forsake your humanity?" Fred stood utterly still, locked in a terrible struggle within himself. On the one hand was his humanity, just out of reach. On the other hand was Synizn, an evil dragon with unknown designs. And in the middle lay the Crystallic, a mysterious artifact of immense magical power - and if Ringroot was right ultimate doom would fall on all of their heads if Synizn ever claimed possession of it. Synizn now stood very close to Fred. In a less than pleasant voice the dragon-man said, "Give me the Crystallic, Lord Fred." Fred looked up at the thing which towered above him and instinctively backed away. And then suddenly, with lightning speed, Synizn reached out and grabbed Fred by the throat, lifting him up off the ground. With his free hand he wrenched the Crystallic from Fred's clutched fingers and then hurled Fred across the room. With a crash Fred hit one of the room's walls and collapsed onto the floor. Synizn stared at the Crystallic with burning eyes but, after a moment, he glanced behind to where Fred lay. "I am a patient man," Synizn commented, "but my patience has its limits. You should have just given me the Crystallic and gotten it over with. Instead you went and tried my patience and that was not a very wise thing to do. That sort of thing tends to make me angry. Do not make me angry Lord Fred, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
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WolfRun
12/30/2002 8:43:01 PM
24925016 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.