"Our minds blot out such traumatic events in order to protect us from them," Goldmoon had once told Mina. "You may remember what happened to you some day or you may never remember. Do not fret over it, child. It is quite natural."

Mina had fretted. She felt guilty and ashamed that she had no memory of those parents who had loved her dearly, perhaps even sacrificed their lives for her, and she tried hard to bring to mind their faces or the sound of a mother's voice. She became obsessed with trying to remember, an obsession that ended only when the One God, Takhisis, chided her for wasting her time.

"It does not matter who gave you birth!" Takhisis had said, cold and furious. "I am your mother. I am your father. Look to me for protection and succor and nourishment."

Mina had obeyed the god's command as she obeyed all others given to her by the One God. She had never allowed herself to think about her parents again, not until she had been imprisoned in this Tower below the sea. She had so much time on her hands in the Tower, time to think, time to remember her childhood. The frustration and the shame and the need to know returned. Mina took care to keep her obsession to herself. She did not want to anger Chemosh as she had angered Takhisis.

The spiral stairs were lit by magical globules of light placed at intervals and renewed daily by Basalt. Doors, opening off the stairs, led to the other floors of the Tower. Mina glanced at them curiously. She would have liked to explore, to see how the rooms were constructed and what they looked like, for the Tower intrigued her.

She did not have time, however. "I will postpone that for another day," she said to herself, smiling at the thought, for she knew perfectly well she was never likely to see the inside of this Tower again.

The stairs brought her at last to the Tower's base. She came up against a door made of steel banded with bronze and inscribed with runes. Runes had also been carved into the stone arch around the door. Mina recognized the runes as being the language of magic, the same as she'd read in the book Nuitari had given her. She knew what the runes said; she just didn't know what they meant.

Giving up on the runes, Mina inspected the door, trying to find some way inside. The door had no handle, no lock. The runes probably provided information on how to open the door. Mina tried reciting them aloud, to no avail. The door didn't budge.

Frustrated, Mina gave the door a kick.

The door revolved smoothly and silently on a center linchpin and swung open.

Mina stepped back, eyeing the door warily.

"This is too easy. This is a trap," she muttered.

She did not enter. Drawing closer to the arched doorway, she examined it carefully.

"What an idiot I am!" she scolded herself. "If this is a trap, it is a magical one and I'll never find it anyway. I might as well chance it."

Mina walked through the door and was pleasantly surprised to find herself emerging safely on the other side. She was less pleasantly surprised to hear the door revolve and slam shut behind her. There were no runes on this side of the door. Apparently, once you got in, you were supposed to know the secret of how to get back out.

Shrugging, Mina turned away. She'd deal with that problem when the time came. Now she had her task before her. An amazing task. She stood before what looked to be an enormous fish bowl.

Mina and the other children in the orphanage had kept fish in glass bowls filled with water. The children were taught to feed the fish and care for them. They observed their habits and marveled at how the creatures breathed water as easily as people breathed air. This globe was similar to those fish bowls, except it was much, much larger-as big in circumference as the Tower itself. The glass walls were covered with runes etched into the glass. Shafts of sunlight illuminated the globe and the creatures swimming inside.

"It is beautiful," Mina said softly, awed. "Beautiful and deadly."

The graceful jellyfish, drifting along at the mercy of the swirling currents, killed their prey by stinging it with a venom that paralyzed the victim and prevented it from escaping. These jellyfish were enormous, several times Mina's size, with tentacles long enough to ensnare a full-grown man.

A gigantic squid, large enough to drag a ship beneath the waves, lay sprawled across the floor, its arms trembling as it slept. Stingrays slithered up the crystal sides of the globe. Monstrous bull sharks swam about, their jaws, filled with the rows of razor-sharp teeth, opening and closing. The floor was covered with fire coral, pretty to look at, burning to the touch.

Inside the center of the globe, surrounded by its lethal guards, was the Solio Febalas Solio Febalas.

Mina stared, astonished. The Hall was not at all what she expected.

The structure resembled a child's sand castle. It was simple in design with four walls, a tower at each corner, and crenellations on the battlements. There were no windows. She could see, from this angle, what appeared to be a door, but she could not make out any details. What was truly amazing was that the Hall of Sacrilege, supposedly containing any number of sacred artifacts, was only about four feet tall and four feet wide.

"It must be an illusion, a trick of the water," Mina said to herself.

She ran her hand over the rune-etched surface of the crystal wall that blocked her way.

"The question is: how do I reach it? I stand outside an impenetrable wall of crystal encompassing water in which are swimming hundreds of deadly creatures. I have no idea how to get inside the globe, and if I manage that, I cannot breathe water, and even if I could, I would have to battle sharks and men-of-war and-"

She caught her breath. A large coral reef that formed a hillock inside the crystal globe gave a lurch, displacing thousands of fish, which swam away from it in flashing-scaled panic. A head emerged from beneath the coral reef, now revealed to be a huge shell, like that of a tortoise.

Gleaming yellow eyes fixed on Mina. She had found the guardian-a sea dragon.

More to the point, the sea dragon had found Mina.

The guardian of the Hall of Sacrilege was a sea dragon known as Midori. Reclusive, bad-tempered, and irritable, Midori was the oldest dragon on Krynn, which made her the oldest living creature in the world.

She numbered her years not by decades but by centuries. She was not sure exactly how old she was. She'd lost count around the ten-century mark. The passage of time meant little to her. Midori marked her life by momentous events and then only those events that had affected her directly.

One of these was the Cataclysm, for it had been a distinct annoyance. The fiery mountain that had struck the world, killing thousands and destroying a city, had also collapsed a wall of her sea cave, rudely waking her from a fifty-year nap. Rocks tumbled down, half-burying her and wholly burying her treasure hoard. She managed to dig out most of her treasure, but some valuable objects were irretrievably lost. Furious, Midori left her ruined lair and swam into the open sea to find out what all the commotion was about.

A confirmed recluse, a dragon who made no secret of the fact that she loathed and despised every other being on the planet, Midori was forced to seek out others of her kind and actually have conversations with them. This did not improve her humor.

She heard the tale of the Cataclysm from an excited young sea dragon, who told her the history of the human Kingpriests and their transgressions and subsequent punishment by the gods. Midori listened in growing ire. Humans were like fish. Here one minute, gone the next, and always plenty more where the others came from. She saw no reason why the gods should have destroyed a perfectly good lair over such a paltry matter. Seething, Midori moved what remained of her treasure into another lair and went back to sleep.

She slept through the War of the Lance, the Summer of Flame, the Chaos War, the Theft of the World, and the arrival of the Dragon Overlords, who never suspected her existence. She would have continued deep in slumber, but for a horrific scream that jolted Midori out of her sleep and caused her to open her eyes for the first time in several centuries.

The scream was the death cry of Takhisis Midori had never thought much of the Dark Queen. Some sea dragons had taken part in Takhisis's wars. Midori had not been one of them. Her life was precious to her, and she saw no need to risk it for another's cause. If Takhisis ruled the world or if she didn't, it was all the same to Midori. But now, like the child who long ago left home, yet likes to know that her Mama is still there in case she's needed, Midori felt bereft and even a little fearful.

If such a terrible fate could befall a god, no one-not even a dragon- was safe.

For the second time in her life, Midori left her lair and went out to discover the truth. She swam slowly and ponderously through the water, not burdened by years so much as by as the weight of the enormous shell on her back. Whereas land dragons have spiny protrusions on their backs and wings that enable them to fly, sea dragons have an enormous shell, like that of a tortoise, and flippers instead of clawed feet. The shell was designed for defense. Midori could withdraw her head and feet into it for safety, and that was where she slept. Over the centuries, as she slept, her shell had been overgrown by coral and barnacles, so that swimming with it was tantamount to picking up and moving a coral reef.

Thinking that this latest calamity might have something to do with Istar and that other Cataclysm, Midori returned to the Blood Sea and there came across Nuitari, busily raising up the ruins of some rotting old tower. The god was startled and not particularly pleased to see a sea dragon, for he had no idea one was in the vicinity and he feared she might cause trouble.

Nuitari was respectful to Midori, however, and told her the whole story-all about the Irda, Chaos, world-snatching, alien dragons, skull totems, a time-traveling kender, a girl named Mina, the War of Souls, the death of one god and the voluntary exile of another.

As Midori listened, her fears grew. A world where even gods could die was obviously a much more dangerous place than she'd realized. She was thinking of this and wondering how she would ever have a good epoch's sleep again, when, unexpectedly, Nuitari made her an offer. He needed a guardian for some relics he'd picked up off the sea floor. The job was hers, if she wanted it.

Midori didn't like Nuitari. She considered him a whining, ungrateful child, not worthy of the mother who had given birth to him. She didn't particularly relish working for him, but she didn't like the thought of returning to her lonely lair, either. She needed to keep an eye on things. Besides, if she grew bored or if he annoyed her too much, she could always leave. Midori agreed to move into Nuitari's newly restored Tower, there to guard his store of valuable religious artifacts.

Nuitari assured her that, since his Tower was located far beneath the Blood Sea, there was little likelihood of any mortals annoying her. The only one who did come was Caele, a mongrel half-elf who was forced to visit her every so often to beg her to give him a drop or two of her blood.

Midori would have refused, but Caele groveled so well and flattered her so lavishly, and he was obviously so frightened of her, that she found she actually enjoyed his visits. She would emerge from her lair and toy with him for a time, long enough for him to utterly debase himself, and then she would snarlingly grant his request, snapping at him as he collected her blood just for the pleasure of seeing him leap about in panic.

No one else came to disturb the dragon's rest and ruminations. Nuitari built a lair specially designed for her-a large crystal-walled globe flooded with seawater located at the base of the Tower. Inside the enormous globe, the dragon could swim at her ease, coming and going as she desired by swimming through a magical portal placed in the crystal wall.

In the center of the globe was the Hall of Sacrilege-not really a hall, but more of a small castle, where the artifacts were stored. Any mortal trying to gain access to the artifacts would not only have to be able to swim, they would have to find a way to avoid the sea dragon, and the other denizens of the deep. The dragon couldn't abide commotion, so she admitted into her globe only those creatures who were quiet and kept to themselves, such as jellyfish and stingrays. Sharks were stupid and uncouth, but they made a tasty snack, and they entertained her by fighting her giant squids. Sea urchins, with their constant chatter, were banned.

All in all, a pleasant way to pass one's twilight years.

Midori was dozing, her head half-in and half-out of her shell, lulled into a tranquil state by the undulating motions of the jellyfish, when she heard the door leading to the underwater chamber open. A person entered.

Thinking it was the half-elf after more blood, Midori decided she didn't want to be bothered with him now. She was about to tell him to go drain his own blood or she would do it for him, when she realized, suddenly, that this was not the half-elf. This was an intruder.

Midori withdrew into her shell and held very still. She was, to all appearances, a vast coral formation. Fish swam, undisturbed, around her. Sea plants, growing on her back, swayed back and forth with the currents that swirled around the globe. Only an acute observer, looking very closely, would have seen the dragon's yellow eyes gleaming from out of the shadowy depths of her shell.

What Midori saw amazed her more than anything else had amazed her in several millennia.

She came out to investigate further.

Mina watched the dragon in a terror that seemed to paralyze her. The dragon's jaws gaped. Fangs glistened in the eerie green sunlight, as the dragon sucked in a breath that sent hundreds of helpless fish disappearing into the beast's gullet.

The dragon's jaws snapped shut. Two huge flipper-like legs thrust the ponderous shell up from the seaweed-covered floor. The dragon's tail lashed the water, stirring up clouds of silt. The flipper legs propelled the beast through the water. Head and neck outthrust, the dragon lunged straight at Mina.

Mina feared the dragon meant to crash through the crystal wall. She ran back to the door and pushed on it frantically.

The door would not open. Mina looked over her shoulder. The dragon was almost on her. The eyes were enormous-slits of black surrounded by green-gold flame. It seemed the eyes alone could swallow her. The dragon's jaws opened.

Mina pressed her back against the door, a prayer to Chemosh on her lips.

The dragon reached the crystal wall, made a sudden turn, following the curve of the globe, and hung there, floating. The dragon spoke, words and fish gushing from her mouth.

"Where did you you come from?" come from?"

Mina had expected violent death, not an inane question. She couldn't find breath enough to answer.

"Well?" the dragon demanded impatiently.

"I came from... the Tower..." Mina indicated with a feeble gesture the door behind her.

"I don't mean that," snapped the dragon, irate. "I mean where did you come from? Where have you been?"

Mina had heard that some dragons liked to play games with their victims, asking them riddles and toying with them before the kill. This dragon didn't sound as if she were playing, however. This dragon appeared to be quite serious.

I am obviously not a wizard, yet I am here in this Tower. The guardian must think I am here at Nuitari's invitation. That is why she hasn't killed me. This may work to my advantage.

"I am a friend of the god's," Mina replied. This, at least, was true. She just didn't mention which god had befriended her. "When those tremors shook the Tower, he sent me to see that the artifacts are safe."

The dragon's slit eyes narrowed. She was displeased. "Do you refuse to answer my questions?"

Mina was perplexed. "It's just... I didn't think you'd be interested. I have no objection to answering. As to who I am, my name is Mina. As to where I came from, I do not know. I am an orphan with no memory of my childhood. As to where I have been, I have been in almost every part of Ansalon. To tell you my tale would take too long. I am supposed to check the artifacts-"

"You waste my time. Come inside and check the artifacts then. No one's stopping you," the dragon snarled irascibly.

Mina realized that the dragon must think Nuitari had revealed the secret of how to enter the globe.

What a fool I was to mention that, Mina thought in irritation. Now what do I say? That I forgot what the god told me? Not even a gully dwarf would believe that!

The dragon glared at her. "Well, what are you waiting for? As for that rigmarole you told me about being an orphan-"

The dragon paused. Her eyes flared open. Her head thrust forward and banged against the crystal.

"By my teeth and tonsils," exclaimed the dragon. "By my lungs and liver. By my heart and stomach, tooth and toenail! You don't know You don't know!"

Mina couldn't understand what this was all about. "What don't I know?" she asked the dragon.

But the creature was muttering to herself and no longer paying attention.

Mina caught a few words of the dragon's ranting: "... bastard... liar... we'll see about that that!"

Mina could make no sense of any of it.

"What is it I don't know?" Mina asked again. Something twisted inside her. She had the feeling that this was desperately important.

"You don't know"-the dragon paused-"how to get inside. Do you?"

That hadn't been what the dragon meant. The dragon was now teasing, taunting. Her slit eyes glinted. Her green lip curled. "There's no trick to it, really. Just walk right through the crystal wall. As to breathing under water, you won't have any trouble. It's all part of the magic, isn't it?"

The beast is trying to lure me inside, Mina reasoned. I could stay here and remain safe from the dragon, but that would mean failing my lord.

"Chemosh, be with me!" Mina prayed and walked up to the crystal wall.

She placed both her hands on the glass. Her fingers traced the sharp edges of the runes engraved on the surface. She focused on her destination-the sand castle in the center of the globe and, keeping her gaze fixed on that and away from the dragon, Mina drew in a deep breath, shut her eyes, and walked forward.

The crystal melted like ice at her touch and she found herself inside the globe.

Mina experienced a strange sensation. She was not floundering, drowning, gasping for breath. It was as though her body had lost its solidity. She did not breathe the water so much as she was one with the water. She was water, no longer flesh. The sensation was marvelous, liberating, and frightening all at once. She could not take time to try to understand what had happened. Tensing, Mina turned to face the dragon, certain that now the creature must attack.

The dragon's lips drew back from the yellowed fangs in a grin. To Mina's astonishment, the dragon flipped herself around ponderously in the water and swam down to the floor of the globe, where she settled herself on the bottom.

"You will excuse me," said the dragon. "I am old and all this excitement has worn me out. Please don't let me deter you from your task."

Sharks circled Mina. Jellyfish floated uncomfortably close. The squid's eyes opened. The sea creatures watched her. None of them came near her.

Mina began to swim through the water, heading toward the sand castle, keeping her enemies in sight.

Moving in lazy circles, the sharks accompanied her. The squid propelled itself through the water, but kept its distance.

Puzzled beyond measure, Mina continued to swim. The sea creatures followed her, watching her. The dragon watched her, gold-green eyes gleaming with what might have been amusement.

Of course, there will be traps.

Arriving at the structure, Mina swam around to the front and floated there, swaying gently with the currents, to gaze at it in perplexity. The water had not been playing tricks on her eyes. The Solio Febalas Solio Febalas was a child's play castle made of sand, which looked as though it would crumble at a touch. was a child's play castle made of sand, which looked as though it would crumble at a touch.

She would have to get down on her hands and knees to crawl through the doorway, and even with her slender build, it would be a tight fit.

There are no artifacts! This is a hoax perpetrated by Nuitari, but why? Why go to all this trouble? Certainly, Mina reflected, the ways of the gods are beyond man's comprehension. My lord will be exceedingly disappointed. why? Why go to all this trouble? Certainly, Mina reflected, the ways of the gods are beyond man's comprehension. My lord will be exceedingly disappointed.

Mina glanced back at the dragon, who appeared to be enjoying her discomfiture. Mina wondered if she should continue to investigate or give up and swim back.

At least, I should look inside, she determined. My lord will be outraged enough as it is. I should be able to provide him with all the details.

Mina approached the sand castle with caution, mindful of traps and half-afraid she would bring down the entire structure if she bumped into it. The top of the walls came to her shoulders.

Mina reached out her hand to gingerly touch the wall. The structure was made of sand that had been fused together and was hard as marble. Nothing happened when she touched the wall. She glanced back again at the dragon and then outside the crystal globe, fearing Nuitari must come at any moment.