Temple of the Dragonslayer by Tim Waggoner Page A

shouldn’t let her friends risk their lives for her. But Catriona was right. She knew nothing of battle. And what could Nearra do against a fearsome dragon? The dagger in Nearra’s hand shook and Nearra realized she was trembling.
    She turned to Elidor in the hope that he had drawn a weapon to protect her—but when she looked, she could find no sign of him. It was as if the elf had vanished.
    Perhaps he’s planning some sort of sneak attack, she thought. Or perhaps he’s run off and abandoned us. If so, she supposed she couldn’t blame him. They’d hired Elidor to guide them to the Temple of the Holy Orders of the Stars—not to fight dragons for them. Still, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She’d almost begun to think of the elf as another friend.
    Sindri raised his hands above his head and curled his fingers into mystic gestures. “Beware, dragon! I am the wizard Sindri Suncatcher, and if you do not depart at once, I shall visit a powerful enchantment upon you!”
    Slean stopped circling and hovered twenty feet above them, flapping her wings to remain in place. The wind generated by her wings was strong enough to nearly knock the companions off their feet. The dragon fixed her reptilian gaze on Sindri. For an instant Nearra feared Slean intended to snap up the kender in her jaws and make a snack out of him. But then the great beast burst out laughing, filling the air with the acrid scent of her breath.
    Nearra remembered something Maddoc had told her yesterday.
    A green dragon such as Slean doesn’t breathe fire. Instead, she spews a cloud of deadly gas called chlorine.
    The smell burned Nearra’s nasal passages and her throat. She coughed and tried not to gag. This was only the merest residueof gas, breathed out when Slean was laughing. Nearra didn’t want to even imagine what a blast of full-strength chlorine gas would be like.
    Slean looked down at Sindri, her mouth stretching into a hideous grin.
    “A wizard, eh? You’re the smallest mage I’ve ever seen, wee one. Tell me, what sort of spells do kender cast? A curse of annoyance? A glamour of ridiculousness?” Slean laughed again, and wisps of yellow-green gas curled upward from the slits of her nostrils.
    The usually good-natured kender scowled, but as he opened his mouth to reply, he was cut off by the sound of a battle cry echoing across the grassy field.
    Nearra and her friends all looked westward in surprise. A minotaur came running toward them, battle-axe held high. It was Jax.
    “What in the name of all the gods is he doing here?” Davyn said.
    “What does it matter?” Catriona answered. She pointed her short sword at Slean. “We’ve got a bigger problem to worry about!”
    Slean looked at the charging minotaur, then turned back toward Nearra. She narrowed her reptilian eyes. “You surprise me, girl. Not only have you managed to find yourself protectors, but one of them is a minotaur as well.”
    Nearra wasn’t certain, but Slean seemed to turn her gaze to Davyn for a moment before rising higher into the air and flying off to meet the minotaur’s attack.
    Nearra didn’t know whether the minotaur had originally intended to engage Slean in battle, but now the man-bull had no choice. Slean flew lower until she was skimming just above the grass. The minotaur didn’t slow his charge. If anything, he picked up speed.
    Though Nearra had lost her memories, she doubted she’d ever witnessed such bravery before.
    Then, just as Slean and the minotaur were about to collide, the dragon gave a powerful beat of her wings and arced skyward. The minotaur swung his axe in an attempt to strike a blow. But the dragon was too fast, and the man-bull’s swing missed as she flew out of reach.
    Slean laughed as she ascended. Nearra realized the dragon was toying with them. Slean could destroy them all whenever she wished, but like a cat playing with a mouse, she wanted to have fun with her prey before killing them.
    The minotaur bellowed in