The Radiant Dragon by Elaine Cunningham Page B

consider him a monster, despite his appearance. He could not say the same thing for Netarza and her crew. Those illithids seemed to require a new word for evil. Estriss was right; in their own way they were every bit as bad as the neogi. But even if Estriss was different from most of his kind, there still was much about the past that lacked explanation.
    “The threat from the Falx illithids was only one thing of many,” Teldin continued, determined to have the whole truth. “Our first meeting aboard the Probe could not have been a coincidence. You came after me. If not to gain the cloak for yourself, then why?”
    That is a long story, one better left for another time. Estriss’s mental voice was suddenly weary, and he sank down on one of a few narrow cots in the cell. There are more immediate concerns.
    “Like keeping the Spelljammer out of Netarza’s hands,” Teldin said.
    Actually, Netarza does not seek the Spelljammer, Estriss replied, though she would hardly turn down a chance at the great ship. She does not know why the elder-brain seeks the cloak, but she harbors ambitions of her own and command of the Spelljammer would certainly further them. Most illithids are content to gain power through trade and information; Netarza seeks military strength as well. To what end, I am not sure. She is searching for the homeworld of the dracons, planning to raise a mindless army.
    “How can Chirp and Trivit not realize what’s going on?” Teldin demanded. “Can’t they see that they’re surrounded by slaves?”
    Estriss shifted his shoulders in a crooked shrug. The dracons have an inborn sense of order. Each clan must have a leader and a spiritual guide. The dracons’ need for this structure is so imperative that they will die if deprived of a clan setting, and perhaps this need has blinded them to the true nature of their adopted clan.
    “They’ve got to know,” Teldin insisted. “When we escape, the dracons go with us. When the time comes, can you convince them?”
    The illithid inclined his lavender head. You have grown in confidence and daring, I see. When the time comes, as you say, I will do what I can for the dracons.
    A piercing alarm sounded throughout the ship, its insistent shriek rising and ebbing in a hideous pattern that made Teldin think of an angry, wounded eagle. Footsteps hurried down the narrow corridor outside their room, and the sounds of battle began to ring on the deck above. Teldin tried the door to Estriss’s cabin and found it unlocked. He smiled at his good fortune, cracked the door open, and ventured a look. Their guard was gone, and the corridor was deserted. A woman’s voice soared above the din of battle, raised in a berserker’s war cry.
    Dagmar!
    Teldin was halfway down the corridor before he realized he had left Estriss’s cabin. Fear gripped him as he sprinted up the stairs toward the main deck. His small crew had no hope of overcoming the illithids’ elven warriors. He drew his own sword, glad that the contemptuous illithids hadn’t bothered to take it from him.
    The sight on deck stopped him cold. Somehow his crew had boarded the Nightstalker, and they were locked in battle with the illithids’ slaves. Fighting alongside Dagmar was a ten-foot monster wielding a two-pointed halberd with incredible speed and skill.
    Shock welded Teldin to the deck as he gaped at the monstrous ally. Roughly humanoid, the creature resembled a bipedal, muscular insect. A large gem was set in the center of the monster’s forehead, and it cast an eerie red glow into the purple light. Two large compound eyes, like those of a giant fly, faced forward, and four more eyes darted about independently as the creature took on newcomers from all sides. Although it was surrounded, the creature did not seem to be in trouble. Weapons clanked harmlessly against its iridescent exoskeleton.
    At the edge of his vision Teldin saw a black-robed illithid draw near the creature, its white eyes fixed in a wide,