| Fred, Carradene, Synizn and the others stood in front of the dark green
crystal in silence. For the past two hours they had attempted to make contact
with Malachi, but with no success. The crystal had glowed with preternatural
energy as the call had gone out to their dragon ally, but no magical portal
had appeared with which they could speak to the dragon mage. The room was
now filled with anxious and troubled men and women. Malachi's failure to
respond could mean only one thing.
"Malachi must be as dead as Minestus," Carradene shook his head forlornly. Synizn looked about him with growing alarm. "No, it cannot be," he said. The others looked at him, wondering at his tone. His heartfelt anguish seemed out of place for a man who had never heard of Malachi until just a few days ago. Synizn had still not revealed that he was in fact a dragon himself, or that he was a close personal confidant to Malachi. Prudence had urged him to keep his tongue silent. To the Pack, he was but a manimal like themselves who had miraculously escaped from one of Minestus' island enclaves. Catching his slip, Synizn smiled awkwardly and explained, "Much of my hopes for regaining my full humanity were pinned on your dragon friend. If she is dead, I fear none of us shall regain our true forms." Loam nodded at these words, but he did not seem troubled. "Perhaps," Synizn continued, "Malachi is simply unable to respond. To think her dead seems a bit presumptuous." Carradene sighed, "Indeed, and I hope you are right. But we must prepare for the worst and accept the fact that we have no one to rely on but ourselves. Our destiny is now firmly placed in our own hands." "So," Fred looked out at the others, "what now lies before us?" "We have a world free of marauding dragons," Moran said with satisfaction. "And a world in which Mankind is almost extinct," Ananka added with sadness. "The world of Men, the world of Dragons, what does it matter? We are the Pack and now we have a chance to make a world of our own," Loam said defiantly. Alicia stepped forward, "We live in a new world, my friends. The old world is ash and rubble. I agree with Loam, we should rebuild what has been left to us and perhaps make something new to leave to our children." She grabbed Fred's arm with these last words and hugged him close. Fred smiled down on her and hugged her even tighter, but his eyes betrayed a hint of fear. "If I have a choice," he began slowly, "then I would rather my son not walk this earth with a tail between his legs." A flash of pain crossed Alicia's face, but Fred continued. "Please understand everyone, not a month ago I was a man in body as well as spirit. A man." He looked down at his wife again. "Alicia, you have been your beautiful self for over two years. Loam (he turned toward his tall friend) you have worn the skin of a wolf for almost five years. And Carradene has grinned and growled with a hairy snout for four decades. But I was a man only a month ago. This form is not natural to me, and I will not accept it without trying to find a cure, a way back to what God meant me to be." "You are not the only one," Kayne said. "But what are we to do about it? Minestus was our only true enemy. Whatever dragons have survived this war with the Golem, certainly we mean nothing to them. With Minestus dead we can now live in peace, live our own way, make our own destiny. But if we scatter to the four corners of the world, some in search of impossible cures, others seeking dead and dying homelands, what shall happen to the Pack then? I say we stay and build. United we stand, but divided we shall surely fall." Silence again filled the room. Carradene looked at Fred with a grim resolve. "You are the Leader of the Pack, Fred," Carradene said. "Your will guides us all." Go Back
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