"You have the incredible gall to believe that I cannot defend myself?"

His clawed forepaw swept back, a swirling sphere of red-orange light forming about it, pulsating with his anger. Then he hurled it at us. The fiery globe expanded as it came, unfurling into huge tangled bands of bright red that reached out towards the three of us to snare and bind. . . .

. . . .But my hand had swept back as well, to plunge itself into one of the patterns that hovered about me at the ready. A curt gesture and it sprang to life. Behind me I heard Dithra hiss in shock as the pattern flared with blue-black light, eye-hurtingly bright, then darted forward.

The pattern unfolded itself as it flew, spinning slightly, then suddenly stretching to encounter those red bands that were descending upon us like the gaudy ribbons of some brightly wrapped gift. Actinic lines met bright bands . . . and sliced them in twain.

Ahnkar stood there for a precious moment, gaping in stunned disbelief as his casting shattered. Then he was frantically trying to protect himself as all that thwarted power began to backlash. Too late. A brilliant white flash and deafening thunderclap, and Ahnkar was cartwheeling through the air to smash hard against the back wall.

I chuckled nastily as I started another casting. "You folks always did use too much juice." Before the rattled members of the council could gather their wits I hurled my weapon. It flew straight and true, homing unerringly in on the council's brightly glowing torcs and their overabundance of energy, so-very eager to be released. . . . Too late I saw Ksstha coming in fast and low, ducking beneath my pattern and arrowing straight for me in chilling silence, his jaws agape. Then there was a black and green blur and Stefan was there; smashing headlong into the attacking Ksstha. Spitting and snarling like two enormous cats, they rolled and thrashed their way across the floor.

In the meantime, my sorcerous rendition of a riot grenade impacted in the midst of the remaining council members. There was a blinding flash of light and a gut-punishing concussion, then more draconic bodies were tumbling through the air to fetch up hard against unyielding concrete or fall crashing into piles of storage crates. I followed up with several more stun bombs in rapid succession, hitting them again and again just as fast as I could, letting up only when the last of the opposition sprawled unmoving amidst the wreckage.

A relative quiet ensued; punctuated here and there by the sliding clatter of settling debris, the occasional groan, and a strangling noise as Stefan ruthlessly throttled Ksstha into unconsciousness.

I blinked dust out of my eyes and scanned the room. All-too easy. The element of surprise had given me the upper hand for the moment, but when the elders got back on their feet there would be hell to pay. Time to un-ass this AO.

My eye alighted upon a certain crumpled heap lying against the back wall. But first. . . .

The banded dragon awoke hissing in pain, to find himself sprawled on his back with my now-much larger form astride him, my hind legs grinding his delicate vanes into the concrete and my talons buried in his throat. He froze, eyes widening, when he realized how close those talons were to tearing out his life.

"Yesss. . . ." His eyes snapped up meet mine, and I grinned ferally. ". . . .And in what way are you my superior, 'my lord?'"

The corners of my mouth curled down into a snarl. "You arrogant fool. You spend millennia creating me as your ultimate weapon, centuries breeding into me the most dangerous aspects of both human and dragon, and then you have the incredible gall to believe that I cannot defend myself?

"You bastard. Because of you, my mate is dead. My child is dead, and my mate's children as well. Everything I valued is gone because of you."

I clenched my talons in his neck muscles until he gasped with the pain, then I began to slowly draw his face up towards my jaws, where flames were licking about fully-exposed fighting fangs. "Ahnkar, it is time to die."

"Hasai, if you kill him, we will never find your children that still live."

I paused, feeling Dithra's presence behind me. "He will not be the only one who knows, my Lady. Others know. And if I kill enough of them, sooner or later the survivors will tell me, if only to save their miserable lives." I gave Ahnkar a vicious shake, my hellish grin growing wider as bright arterial blood began to trickle across a talon. "Won't they, 'my lord?'"

The banded dragon didn't answer; merely choked and thrashed in my grip, his eyes filled with a terrified rage. Behind me Dithra shifted, and I sensed the forepaw that extended to touch me, but then shied away. "How little you understand us. No, Hasai, none of those who follow Ahnkar will tell you; even if you killed them all. None. That is not our way."

I stared down at my prey, fangs aching for his blood.

"Hasai, we are so very few. Would you make us fewer still?"

I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. Instead, I grinned down into the banded dragon's face and gave him another shake. "Hear that, Ahnkar? You get to live a little longer. But not because you ordain it, 'O Eldest,' nor because I wish it, but because my Lady wills it." I gave him one final shake. "But never fear, 'my lord.' Sooner or later, she will withdraw her protection, and on that day, I will feast on your heart."

I flung him down and left him there to cough blood and paw ineffectually at his lacerated throat. I turned to face Dithra, such rage smoldering in my eyes that even she stepped back. In the background the sounds of shifting debris and groans were getting louder. "My Lady, it is time to leave."

She hesitated, as if about to say something. Then she glanced at a pile of shattered crates from beneath which had just emanated an ominous growl. "Perhaps you are right, Hasai."

With me at her side, Dithra and I padded quickly for the exit. Near the door we encountered a battered Stefan, who was just releasing a limp Ksstha from a very human Sleeper hold.

"You okay, Stefan?"

He gave me a weary smile. "Yes, my lord." He nudged the dark green form at his feet. "And yes, so is he, my Lady; except for a very bad headache when he wakes." His smile faded. "My Lady, we have to get you out of here. The members of the council will be mad with rage--"

Indeed. One of the growls behind us suddenly escalated into an ear-shattering roar as the last entangling wreckage was flung aside and an elder charged straight for me with an all-too familiar look of murder in his eye.

"Out-out-out-out-OUT!!!" I snarled. Stefan reacted instantly, almost hurling Dithra through the doorway as I spun to meet the threat, my hand plunging into yet another of my patterns. I had expended all my non-lethal weaponry in the earlier skirmish; this pattern flared with a deadly light as I prepared to hurl it forward.

"Hasai! NO!"

I flinched at anguished Dithra's cry, then slashed across the pattern with my talons. It shattered and began to fade even as I arched my neck and launched a gout of azure flame at my attacker at point-blank range. It caught him full in the face, and his snarl became a yowl of agony as he rolled to the side, pawing frantically at his eyes. I backed out, deliberately setting as much material afire as I could with my flame, delaying several other elders struggling to reach me.

Pasqual! I'd forgotten Pasqual! I whipped my head frantically about until I spotted her, still standing forlornly where she had during the entire melee, neither helping nor hindering either side. Our eyes met, and for a moment I thought I saw something other than sadness and fear. . . .

. . . .Then Stefan was dragging me out of there. He got me clear, then sprang for the massive fire door and slid it shut with a crash just seconds before three elders smashed into it.

I hissed a curse at myself as the door began to shudder violently on its rails. "Brace it Stefan, brace it!" Quickly I began to scribe lines into the door's surface with my talons, connecting them into an intricate pattern. It began to glow as I poured power into it, then started spreading across the metal and surrounding wall like frost flowers of blue-black light. The shaking lessened.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "That'll hold them."

"But not for long, my lord. There is another exit."

I gave Stefan a pained look as the three of us turned and hustled down the corridor. "Didn't I ask you to stop calling me that?"

Dithra interrupted before Stefan could answer. "Hasai. What you did in there. What you did to that door. What by the Names of the Ancestors was that?"

I hesitated before answering her, then tilted my head in grim amusement. "For the moment, my Lady, let us just say that dragons are not the only ones who know how to wield Power."

She thought about that, and whatever conclusions she came to left her badly shaken as we thundered down one corridor after another.