Dawn of the Aspects: Part II by Richard A. Knaak

ONE
    THE NEXUS TOUCHED
    The hot, malodorous breath nearly overwhelmed Kalec and his host as the jaws closed. Kalec wondered if perhaps it would be best for Malygos to let the stench knock them out so that they would not feel the monstrous teeth crush through their shared flesh and bone.
    A violent, steaming burst of wind suddenly threw Malygos back. The burst was accompanied by an odd muffled thunder. At the same time, Galakrond’s maw opened wide again, enabling Malygos to tumble to freedom.
    Finally out of range, the blue-and-white proto-dragon frantically righted himself. As he did, both he and Kalec saw the source of Malygos’s salvation.
    With a defiant laugh, Neltharion darted away from under Galakrond’s throat. Galakrond hacked, creating another powerful explosion of wind that forced back not only Malygos but also other proto-dragons in its path.
    Neltharion had struck at the weakest point just at the right moment, an attack that Kalec would have thought foolhardy at the best of times. Even while regaining his breath, Galakrond had the cunning and fury to snatch at his tiny attacker as the charcoal-gray proto-dragon dived. Claws as large as Neltharion closed on him, but at the last second, a fearsome blast of what appeared to Kalec to be sand half-blinded Galakrond.
    A dust-brown male veered off. Galakrond shook his head to clear his vision, enabling his prey to make good their escape.
    Neltharion flew directly toward Malygos. “Fly or die!”
    It was good advice to both Kalec and Malygos. But as Malygos turned, Galakrond’s roar arose from behind them. The roar was accompanied by a swoosh ing sound and punctuated by a heavy thud and Neltharion’s pained grunt.
    Peering over his shoulder, Malygos saw that where the titanic monster’s claws had missed, Galakrond’s long, thick tail had not. Several times the length of Galakrond’s hind limb, it easily caught Neltharion on the side, striking him hard.
    Stunned, the gray male spiraled toward the harsh ground below. Perhaps Galakrond intended to pursue, but a panicked yellow female chose that moment to pass near enough in the gigantic proto-dragon’s field of vision to attract his attention. With an eager roar, the hungry behemoth gave chase.
    Unheedful of this stroke of luck, Malygos had already dived after Neltharion. The other male had endangered himself to save Malygos, and Kalec saw without surprise that his host could do no less. The blue-and-white proto-dragon stretched hard to reach the plummeting figure, but even as swift as he was, it was clear to Malygos and Kalec that there would be no catching Neltharion before the gray struck the ground.
    A fire-orange form rose from below, colliding with the stunned male. Alexstrasza grunted hard as she and the bulkier Neltharion hit, but somehow the female managed to maintain control. For a few vital seconds, she stopped Neltharion’s fatal descent, just long enough for Malygos to reach the pair.
    Without a word, he gripped Neltharion by the shoulders, hefting the larger male up and relieving Alexstrasza of her burden. She, in turn, rose and assisted him with carrying Neltharion away from the vicinity.
    Through Malygos, Kalec observed the area and found it astonishingly devoid of blood and torn flesh. He realized that Galakrond had swallowed nearly all of his victims whole. In some ways, the blue found that even more horrific, imagining how those proto-dragons had felt as they vanished in the behemoth’s gullet.
    â€œSo many . . .” Alexstrasza gasped as they flew. “So many . . .”
    Malygos said nothing, but his thoughts mirrored her words. Kalec’s host was just as shocked by events as she was.
    A new sound rumbled through the area, a sound so odd, so unnerving, that the two proto-dragons nearly lost their grip on Neltharion.
    The sound grew more intense, more guttural—and because of that, more terrifying. Kalec still had no idea