"Don't look!" Huma cried to Gwyneth.

The emerald sphere exploded with a roar.

The citadel shook-and the chamber tipped-as the castle felt the impact of the artifact's destruction.

"Huma!" The silver dragon nudged him. "We must flee! Hurry!"

He regained his footing, partially clutching one of her wings. A quick glance showed him that the platform was being engulfed in a greenish inferno that seemed to cover the entire wall.

From without, something roared.

"Paladine!" he whispered. It could not be! Huma could imagine only one creature that could emit such a deafening, earth-shaking cry. A dragon. A giant dragon. A titan with five heads, he suspected. Takhisis.

"Yyyyoooouuu!"

Huma forgot the roar and whirled back to the blaze where this new cry had originated.

Something slowly emerged from the emerald fire. It blazed but did not burn. It walked on two legs but was no longer human in any way. It raised a taloned claw that had once been a hand. A demonic face with twisted features, like some distorted serpent, was evident under the torn and tattered remains of a hood.

"Hhhuuuuummmaaaaa!"

Galan Dracos stumbled forward.

"I will see you dead!"

Something with tendrils shot out toward him-and was daunted by what momentarily seemed a silver shield. Galan Dracos took a step back.

"You have your-your patron as well! Pity it is too late for Krynn!" The face twisted.

Huma took a step forward. Gwyneth began to protest, but the knight stared her into silence. Then he slowly began to walk toward the mad mage.

'Too many people have perished because of you, Galan Dracos. As Paladine as my witness, I cannot allow you to remain free. It must end here."

When Dracos finally spoke, his voice was under control. He stared off into the distance.

"Yes. It will end here. With the victorious-with my treachery unmasked. I have gambled and I have lost." Dracos turned back to Huma and then seemed to shrug.

The renegade stumbled back to the edge of the inferno. His legs could barely walk anymore. He relied more and more on his staff.

Huma came purposefully toward him. "I cannot let you go."

The deformed mage laughed, a laugh that seemed to go on much too long. The eyes of Galan Dracos were narrow slits that gleamed. "I'll not wait for the Queen's justice. I prefer oblivion to that. She shall not have my damned spirit to toy with for eternity."

Galan Dracos, master mage, renegade, spoke a single word.

The emerald flames engulfed him. Whatever immunity he had was discarded. Huma covered his eyes as the fire flickered more brightly. When he looked again, there was nothing remaining of the mage.

"He burned himself."

"No." The silver dragon shook her head. "He's ceased to exist. It was that last spell he unleashed. It's as if he never was. Before long, those who ever knew him will never remember-save his former mistress, I think." She frowned. "He's actually escaped from the Dragonqueen. Amazing."

The citadel began to shift downward again.

"Huma!" Her momentary fascination faded immediately as Gwyneth realized the danger.

"Yes!" He began to climb atop her, then stopped. "No! The staff of Magius! I have to see-"

"Is that the small rod on your belt?"

He looked down. On his right side, stuck securely through his pouch belt, was a familiar, foot-long stick. "How-"

Gwyneth finally grew exasperated. "I will explain to you about magic some other day! Huma, as Paladine is my witness, I love you! I will not see you die here if I can help it!"

At those words, he scrambled clumsily aboard. Each moment she stayed risked her own existence-and for what? His hesitations, his fears.

Yet she loved him.

The silver dragon rose swiftly into the air.

"Lie flat against me-and hold the Dragonlance straight!" she cried.

The citadel continued to shift as it slid downward. The gargoyles were tossed like rags. Parts of the chamber began to break off. A portion of the upper passage collapsed. Now the silver dragon would not be able to escape through its narrow funnel.

Huma heard her shout something in one of the magical tongues. He heard masonry shatter, and then bits of rock flew by his head.

"Steady! This is it!'

He felt the Dragonlance as it cut into the thick, stone wall, enlarging the gap. Gwyneth's wings folded back, and she glided up like an arrow shot from a bow. Huma knew she was shielding him with her own body as much as possible.

Then they were out. Huma realized he had been holding his breath, and exhaled. The silver dragon spiraled upward. From above, they could see that a green blaze now engulfed much of the castle.

What remained standing of the mage's tower stood perched momentarily over the precipice. It weaved there, then slowly began to tip over. First the tower went, a great shaft that tipped forward and then plummeted over.

Huma turned his eyes up to the heavens. "Paladine!"

A new and greater darkness had come suddenly.

"Huma . . ." The silver dragon's voice was unsteady.

He followed her gaze to the very top of the same peak that the citadel of Galan Dracos had fallen from. Something huge, multi-headed, and radiating evil gazed their direction.

Huma-Champion of Paladine. Come to me. Come to my embrace.

Takhisis.

Chapter 31.

The near-hypnotic Quality of the Dragonqueen's call was broken by a familiar voice.

"Huma! Thank the gods! We were afraid you had fallen with the citadel!"

He turned in the saddle. Bennett and Kaz rode near him. Kaz quickly explained, "We sent the others to seek aid. Only, Sargas!-what is that?"

Bennett's voice was drained of emotion. "It is the Dragonqueen, is it not?"

Huma only nodded. He stared up at the shadowy monstrosity above them. The portal through which the Dark Queen had come was expanding, and she seemed to be growing more solid, more real.

A thought struck the knight. He reached down to his side for the compacted staff of Magius and handed it to Bennett. 'Take this back to Vingaard Keep. It must be turned over to the Conclave. As ruling mages, they'll know what to do with it. It belonged to Magius, and I fear that it won't be of much use to me anymore."

Kaz and Bennett looked at one another.

Huma fixed each of them with a gaze. "It must be told that Dracos is no more. I also need you to organize the lancers. Bennett, you are the son of one Grand Master and the nephew of another. You were born to lead.

"I will draw the Dark Queen's ire for as long as I can, but a mass attack remains our only true chance. There must be at least a hundred lances left. Then, Paladine willing, we will be able to count for something."

Bennett shook his head. "Huma, this is a goddess! We are less than a single breath to her!"

"But we are Knights of Solamnia," Huma responded, "a knighthood forged by the holy Triumvirate of which Paladine is senior. Our mission has been to keep the justice and see that evil never holds sway over Krynn. This is our ultimate test. This is where we truly test ourselves against the Oath and the Measure."

The other knight could think of no response. Bennett's face had reddened slightly.

"I have no time to argue. Return, Bennett. Kaz, go with him," Huma said.

The minotaur looked down at his mount, then back at Huma. "I agree that one of us should return, and it is right that it be Bennett. But I will stay. I swore an oath, too, and I have not yet proved myself. And Bolt thinks as I do."

Huma sighed. "Kaz, I cannot stop you. Bennett, do your duty."

Bennett gritted his teeth, but nodded. At a signal, his silver dragon turned-but not before meeting the gaze of Gwyneth. Some message passed between them, and Huma remembered that here was kin of his own dragon. Parting was no easier for them.

When Bennett was gone, Huma turned to the minotaur. "Now."

The two dragons rose higher and higher. Above them, Takhisis's five-headed dragon form seemed to waver. The entire mountain, and even the heavens above, were being warped by a vast hole in the fabric of the sky itself. The gateway from which the Dragonqueen had materialized in this world. The portal through which she had drawn her absolute power with the help of the unlamented Galan Dracos. Her full power was cut off from her because Huma had shattered the emerald sphere, but the gateway remained. And Takhisis already had the power she had drawn earlier. Never in her invasions of the mortal plane had she ever been so strong.

Enchanting. Even more interesting than your constant need to argue with one another over hopeless causes.

The cold, cruel thoughts buffeted Huma's mind.

I will have to gather a few such as you and study this amusing, transitory thing called love. It seems so . . . wasteful.

At least Huma had some satisfaction in that he knew Takhisis could never experience any of the emotions he felt. They would ever be a mystery to one such as her. In that, she was less than any mortal.

Teach me, then.

Though he knew her dragon form still perched atop the mountain, he also saw the graceful, enticing figure of a raven-haired enchantress, clad in the thinnest of dark silks. When she smiled, it was as if for the first time anyone had truly done so.

I could be whatever you desire me to be. You could show me this love you think so much of. I would be a very willing student.

In his mind, the seductive form turned to the side slightly, revealing new and provocative poses. Huma found it impossible to concentrate. She was beautiful beyond compare, and she was willing to learn what it meant to love, to be a mortal. If he could show her what it meant, then Krynn might never again have to know evil or suffering.

There was added-and it weighed heavily-the interesting aspects that would surely be involved in teaching her.

She smiled and seemed to hold out a slim, perfectly sculpted hand.

Huma felt a warmth on his chest. Involuntarily, he clutched at it. A familiar object seemed to fall into his hand.

"No!" he shouted on impulse. "I will not fall to your dark charms! You cannot ever know love or life and I want no part of you. My love is for another!"

He felt a jolt beneath him, as if Gwyneth had caught herself. He had no more time to think of her, because the Dragonqueen once again clutched his thoughts.

You might have known joy such as no man has ever known. You might have commanded my armies, for no warrior has proved more resourceful, more adaptable, and more determined than you. You could have been second only to me, and I would have rewarded you beyond your expectations.

A horrible wind rose up. The silver dragon was nearly swept against the mountainside, and Bolt and Kaz fell behind. Huma gripped the Dragonlance with one hand and fingered the medallion of Paladine with the other. With both of them, he was able to maintain hope.

Very well! You have rejected me. You have opened the doorway to your own destruction-and that of the one you love.

Unable to know love, the Dark Queen was all too familiar with hate.

"Huuummmaaa!"

The knight turned back briefly and saw Bolt being forced to land on a rocky ledge. Kaz was clutching the saddle, desperately.

This is between us now, oh, so mortal Knight of Solamnia! You will beg for forgiveness for all you have done! You will plead with me for an end to the agony, but it will not be until the end of eternity that I may even consider granting it.

Huma recalled the choice made by Galan Dracos: oblivion of body and soul rather than the tender "justice" of the Queen of Darkness. This from one who had no compassion, who had cruelly tortured Magius, and who had sent thousands to their needless deaths. In the end, there had been only fear for Dracos, fear at the thought of being at the mercy of his mistress.

First will I batter your physical form to jelly-but you will not die. Then I will take your mind and reveal to it the full dark beauty of my domain. Madness will not save you. I will not allow it. Then I will take your love and treat her to only the finest of my-entertainments-while you helplessly watch, Huma had seen wonders and terrors that few men had faced, and only his belief in Paladine and the justice and good the god represented had saved him. Each time, that belief had strengthened him. Huma had come to love Krynn as much as Paladine, and he was willing to sacrifice all for the sake of the world if it meant the defeat of darkness.

Rather than urge Gwyneth back, Huma pressed her on.

The silver dragon obeyed. She would not abandon him.

You are fools. Bigger fools than Dracos, who believed he could become a god. His escape to oblivion saved him from my tender mercy. What will save you?

It was as if a curtain had suddenly been drawn away. The Dragonqueen stood watching, her beauty breathtaking and terrible at the same time.

Each head of the gigantic dragon mocked him. Five in all, and each one representing one of her children. Cunning and cruel green. Tenacious white. Powerfully destructive red. Unpredictable black. Dominating blue.

They swerved sinuously back and forth, as if weaving a hypnotic spell. Never did their eyes leave Huma. Never did a single head pause in its movements.

The Dark Queen was well over sixty feet of pure power. Each movement was grace and strength incarnate. In each movement, no matter how subtle, she revealed the foolishness of daring to forestall her will.

Now you see. Now you know.