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Storm on the Horizon
an illustrated tale
page 2

    What he saw before him reminded Garalt of the first time he saw the Tower of Olyian.  The whole rock face was now changed, and the huge gaping mouth of a cave stood before them.
    "Good God..." Demonclaw gasped.
    The group fell silent for a few moments, gazing at the huge cave.  Certainly a dragon could fit through that opening Garalt thought.  It was a perfect place to hide a recuperating dragon, Garalt's muscles could attest to the inaccessibility of the location by land.  As for getting in to the canyon by air, any beast the size of the four dragons would have a hard time fighting in such close quarters.  The Priests of Zaan chose well when they picked this place.
    "All right," Garalt looked at the group, "Alyia, Greylen and Demonclaw will come with me into the cave."
    "Why not all of us?" Garn asked.
    "Because if Formeathan is dangerous, I don't want this to be a repeat of what happened to Kullvox.  And quite frankly Alyia, the only reason why you're coming in is because of that weapon.  I don't want to see you hurt one bit."
    "Worry wort," Alyia pouted.
    "If we're not out in an hour, it'll be up to the rest of you to find another way to stop that dragon, whatever it takes."  Garalt ordered.  The other four nodded and watched Garalt and the small group enter the cave.
    Garalt could feel the cold, musty, stale air of the cave surround him.  The deeper they entered into the cave, the darker and more foreboding the cave became.  He could hear nothing but the echoing sound of their footfalls on the hard, stone surface of the cave floor.  Suddenly a noise from within the cavern caused all four of them to stop in place.  Garalt held his breath at the sound.  It was a growl, a loud, angry sounding growl.
    "H...he's here!" Alyia stammered.
    "Is he going to attack?" Greylen said, his voice sounded shaky.
    "I don't think so," Garalt said, moving onward.
    "Why do you say that?" Demonclaw said, following closely.
    "Greylen, use your candle spark spell," Garalt ordered.  Greylen softly chanted and fired off the spell, the whole room was bathed in light.
    "I don't think he's going to attack because he's still asleep," Garalt said, staring at the dragon before them.
    "He's snoring..." Greylen said, cocking his head to one side.
    The whole cave seemed to be filled by the huge beast.  He looked as if he hadn't moved from his place in ages, but his scales were vibrant and colorful as they could ever be.  Garalt couldn't tell from the darkness, but he suspected Formeathan was just as big as his sister.  His paws alone were bigger than he was.
    "He's huge!" Alyia finally spoke up.
    "Yes, that he is," Garalt said slowly, admiring the beast.  "So, Greylen, any ideas how to wake him up?"
    "Well, the Priests of Zaan put him to sleep, probably willingly too.  It takes a whole lot less magic to put someone willingly to sleep like this.  I would bet a simple dispel would work."
    "Do it," Garalt ordered.
    Greylen reached into his belt pouch and removed something from it.  He then walked right up to the nose of the beast and raised up his scepter and staff.  Greylen swallowed hard, looking up at the snout of the beast.  Greylen was a thousand times dwarfed, and Garalt could tell the mage was very intimidated.
    "Spell of long ago, you have served your purpose, now is the time to give back your energies to the world!  Century Sleep.... DISPEL!" Greylen shouted.

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All characters contained within this page and website are purely fictional, any resemblance to persons either living or otherwise is purely coincidental.  All material  contained herein are copyrighted 2002 by and property of Anthony J. Sava III.  Any copying or reproduction of said material is strictly prohibited except with expressed written authorization.