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yetis,” Brimstone whispered. “It’s poor stuff compared to the ichor of men. You have no legitimate reason to deny me this prey, and I intend to keep it. Be thankful I don’t take your blood instead.”
    “Back away,” Pavel said. He shouted the opening words of a spell. Brimstone bared his fangs and charged, hurtling forward with appalling speed.
    Curse it! Will thought. Over the past several months, he’d dodged death at the hands of countless foes, only, it appeared, to perish under the fangs and talons of a creature at least nominally an ally. He slung a skiprock at the huge ruby in Brimstone’s collar. It was supposed to be impossible for an undead dragon to wander far from his horde. Back in Thar, Pavel had conjectured that the choker contained the magic enabling Brimstone to break the rule, and that destroying it might thus slay the drake as well.
    The missile hit the gem, but to no effect, and Will had no time
    to fling another. Already Brimstone loomed over his intended victims. Already he was pouncing into striking distance. “Lathander!” Pavel shouted.
    Yellow light, hotter and brighter, blazed from the upraised amulet. Brimstone screeched and balked, though his momentum almost carried him right over the human and halfling. Patches of his charcoal-colored scales burned away.
    Will didn’t think he’d ever seen his friend conjure such a fierce light before, but then, Pavel had changed. The struggle to end the Rage had put a hitch in his walk, etched new lines in his handsome face, and maybe strengthened his faith as well.
    Still, though, the magic was insufficient. When the flare faded, Brimstone, blinking as though half-blind, his charred hide steaming, whirled back around toward the priest. His throat swelled, and his head cocked back at the end of his long neck, as he prepared to discharge his breath weapon. Pavel stood poised to try and dodge.
    Will darted between the dragon and the human. “Sammaster!” he cried. “Remember him?”
    Brimstone hesitated.
    “You hate him more than anything, don’t you?” Will continued. “That’s why you’re here, and why you need Kara and the rest of us, Pavel and me included. You’ll never get your revenge without us.”
    The wyrm sneered. “You have an inflated opinion of your own importance. I suspect that if the two of you died here and now, the search would proceed without you.”
    Maybe, thought Will, but the important thing is, you’re talking again instead of attacking. Your temper’s cooling a little.
    With an effort of will, he managed to turn his back on the drake and face Pavel. “And you,” the halfling said, “you’re acting just as stupid, though naturally, in your case, it comes as no surprise. Stopping the Rage is what’s most important, right, and to do that, we need Brimstone the same as he needs us. By the Hells, he already rescued Dragonsbane and saved your homeland, didn’t he?”
    “I still can’t stand idly by and watch him feed on human beings,” Pavel said. “My vows forbid it.”
    “Fine,” said Will. “You stopped him. Now let it go.”
    Pavel took a long breath. “Get out of here,” he said to the wyrm.
    “Someday,” Brimstone whispered, “we’ll finish our appointed task. Then you and I will enjoy the consummation we crave.” He flexed his legs, spread his immense wings, and sprang upward.
    Pavel watched the vampire, making sure he was really flying off, then strode toward the men Brimstone had held helpless beneath his claws. Scurrying to keep pace with the long-legged human, Will was amazed to discover the wyrm had managed to charge without trampling the Nars, and almost as surprised to see that one of the nomads was the chief.
    For the moment, the horror of his ordeal and the miracle of his deliverance had wrung all the aggression out of him. He stayed on the ground, trembling, staring ashen-faced at his rescuers.
    “It’s all right,” Pavel said, lifting the barbarian to his feet. “You’re