Read The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) for Free Online Page A

later, the elemental nodded
invisibility to himself. The griffon's right wing was bent at an
awkward angle with no sign of recent injury. The creature must have
lost the ability to fly and been attacked by the drake. It didn't
really matter to Aethos. Neither monster was anything but vicious and
evil and he rather hoped they'd kill each other and save him the
trouble.
    The elemental looked around the edge of
the clearing and spotted others watching the epic battle. He saw
several large deer, horns gleaming like wicked daggers. He spotted
the black fur of a massive bear and flickering, strange shapes that
were monsters of some kind that he couldn't quite make out. Aethos
knew that he would have to keep an eye on them when the time came for
him to strike.
    The combatants were evenly matched. The
thick feathers of the griffon protected its body from the drake's
attacks almost as well as the red monster's scales. Both were about
the same size, although the reptilian drake was the heavier of the
two.
    Red blood splashed and mingled with
green. Scales were torn off and feathers flew in a cloud as both
creatures rolled and twisted and tore at each other. It was primeval
and savage and even Aethos was repulsed by the simple-minded rage of
the battle. If anything was needed to convince him of the lack of
intelligence of drakes, it was this.
    Neither creature showed any sign of
tactics or planning; they simply threw themselves at each other, over
and over again. It wasn't long before the combatants were covered in
gore and showing signs of weakening. Aethos watched closely and
allowed himself a resigned sigh. The griffon was going to lose.
    As deeply as its talons gouged the
drake and its beak sliced into the red hide, the drake's scales were
simply too thick to allow the avian to deal a killing blow. On the
other hand, the reptilian was biting deeply into the griffon through
its feathers and its lighter weight and awkwardness on the ground
worked against it.
    I'll have to kill the damnable thing
myself, the elemental thought ruefully. And quickly. Once the griffon
is dead, the scavengers may work up their nerve and attack the
injured drake en masse.
    By luck or chance, the fighters had
rolled and thrashed across the glade until they were fairly close to
the edge of the forest where Aethos floated invisibly. He gathered
his power, waiting for the drake to deliver the coup de gr â ce.
It came suddenly.
    The griffon leaped on to the drake,
which twisted suddenly and flung its opponent a dozen feet away to
land on its back. For a brief instant the bird-like creature lay
stunned, feebly clawing at the sky, and the drake seized its
opportunity, pounced on its helpless foe and disemboweled it.
    The griffon screeched pathetically one
last time, a wail of despair and agony and then collapsed and lay
still. The forest seemed to hold its breath as the drake raised its
hideous, blood-soaked head and bellowed triumphantly. It seemed to be
daring the monsters that surrounded the clearing and it licked its
muzzle clean of gore as it appeared to wait for another opponent.
    There was no immediate response to the
drake's challenge and its yellow eyes gleamed in wicked glee, even as
its own blood dripped from the open wounds left by the griffon. It
stretched its neck skyward and screamed its battle cry.
    The howl was suddenly cut off abruptly
and the drake's eyes widened with a look of almost comical surprise.
This was followed by a grotesque, slopping sound as the misshapen
head appeared to tear loose from its serpentine neck and drop to the
ground with a meaty thunk. Green blood sprayed from its severed neck
and the heavy body collapsed.
    A stunned silence gripped the
surrounding forest and then a misty outline, vaguely man-shaped,
appeared next to the corpse and scooped up the dripping head.
    Aethos held the grizzly trophy up by
one twisted horn and looked around the edge of the clearing, seeing
dozen of glowing sets of eyes watching him with evil