"Ah, d.a.m.n," the guard continued, ignoring Giles's words. "Henry, the Imperial Lord has returned. I don't suppose we'll have as much merriment after our shift, now."

Cecily caught her breath and turned to look over her shoulder. Giles glanced back as well, his gaze drifting upward to the tallest tower in Dewhame Palace. Despite the distance, no one could mistake the silhouette of dragon wings as they landed.

They had run out of time.

Giles urged Apollo into a gallop once they left the guards' sight, splashing through the watery roadways of the city. The taverns were full-which fortunately left the streets empty, and they encountered only a few chairs and one carriage. Moonlight danced along the wet walls of the rounded buildings, played in the spray from the numerous fountains, and lit their way brightly enough that Giles did not fear for the horses' footing.

He headed for Bristol, one of the few ports with an opening through the magical barrier for trading with the outside world. Even though the Rebellion had the loyalty of a few captains and their ships, the port was so heavily guarded that Giles had worried about getting Cecily safely aboard the Argonaut, the small sloop that Sir Robert had arranged for her escape.

If the elven lord flew ahead of them and alerted the authorities, they didn't have a prayer.

He soon discovered he would not have to worry about it.

Breden of Dewhame would not allow them to get that far.

They had ridden for barely an hour when Cecily shouted and pointed above. "Those are not natural storm clouds."

He looked up. Where had they come from? A dark gray ma.s.s cut off the glow of starlight, gathering with unnatural speed. Soon, the storm clouds would block the moonlight and the horses would be at risk on this rutted road.

Breden had called a storm to hinder them until he caught up with his daughter himself.

A sudden glow lit the darkening night, and Giles turned to see Cecily holding the scepter within her hand, the top of it ablaze with those small flashes of lightning. She held it forward, illuminating their way.

Giles urged Apollo to a faster gait.

Thunder rumbled within those ominous clouds and a deluge of rain showered down upon them.

Giles cursed and slowed his mount yet again, glancing over at Cecily. Flashes from her scepter echoed in her eyes, wide with fear as they gazed into his own. Water plastered her hair to her head, poured down her face in a translucent sheen. He could see the outline of her legs within her sodden skirts.

The only woman he had ever known who looked even lovelier soaking wet.

"We cannot outrun them," she cried.

His chest squeezed at the terror in her voice. "The h.e.l.l we can't! Keep the water from our heads, dry the road before us."

A glimmer of hope shone in her eyes and she nodded, waving the scepter before her. The rain abruptly stopped stinging Giles's head and shoulders. The horses' hooves no longer made squelching sounds in the muddy road, but pounded dry earth instead.

"That was so easy," she called. "The scepter-"

Thunder drowned her words and before them, just beyond the invisible dry barrier she'd created, the ground exploded with a burst of jagged light. Belle squealed and Apollo's legs abruptly tried to go in the opposite direction, his rump nearly lowering to the ground. Both horses then spun in circles for a moment, and Giles saw Cecily staring upward.

He followed her gaze and saw Breden and his dragon, Kalah, fly through the storm clouds just above their heads. Despite his dismay, Giles could not help but admire the beauty of the dragon. Kalah's gleaming scales rippled with blues of a thousand shades. Enormous wings battled the winds, the scalloped edges fluttering, the heavy tendons with a tracery of black outlining the rippling muscles. Like the head of the scepter, jagged light streaked from his open jaw.

Giles turned and met Cecily's gaze. She did not appear to notice the beauty of the beast in her terror.

"Giles, your sword!"

He drew his blade, surprised that it resisted his hand. It actually appeared reluctant to engage in battle- Another streak of light crackled down from the sky from the maw of the dragon. Apollo reared. Giles held up his sword in defense. His blade reflected the lightning and sent it sparking back up to the dragon, who snorted as it unerringly hit his snout.

Breden of Dewhame screamed something, the dragon shook its head, and the elven lord held up his hands, which began to glow brighter and brighter.

Apollo and Belle finally stilled, their sides heaving with the exhaustion of fright. They did not know which way to run.

Cecily stared at him with terrified eyes. "He's gathering the power of the storm within his hands."

"I know. At least the dragon won't help him."

"Nor stop him. Giles, I don't know if I can do this. Breden... he is my father, after all. And I don't want to use this thing." She shook the scepter, the tip of it now ablaze. "The power of it is like a drug, one that I may lose myself in."

He could not bear the agony in her voice. On her beautiful face. He leaned over and stole a kiss, wishing he had the time to do it properly. "I am your protector, now and always. You know that means I love you?"

She nodded without hesitation, the wind whipping midnight hair across her face, her eyes filling with sudden tears. Perhaps she had realized it before he had managed to discover it himself.

Giles turned Apollo back in the direction they had come. "Ride on to Bristol," he commanded. "Don't let Breden have the scepter."

"I won't leave you."

Giles could feel the power the elven lord called. It shivered in the clouds above them, crackled in the air around them. He fancied he could even smell it, sharp and pungent like the stuff used to bleach wool. Even without the scepter, the Imperial Lord held formidable strength.

"Now or later, what's the difference?" he shouted back. Her face fell but he hardened his heart. Giles could think of no other way to keep her safe.

He smacked Belle on the rump. Now with a direction to run, the horse did not hesitate, blindly galloping forward. Apollo started, fighting the reins to turn and run after Belle. But Giles fought his head and kicked his flanks, lowering his upper body over the horse's neck.

And Apollo ran through the curtain of rain in the opposite direction, leaving Belle far behind.

Giles squinted upward. Breden's hands now appeared to be on fire with jagged streaks of lightning. Kalah flew back and forth, trying to decide which horse to follow. Giles wished he'd had a chance to talk with the dragon, to enlist the beast's aid. But perhaps Kalah had decided which path to follow, for the dragon did not pursue Cecily and the scepter.

Breden cursed and railed as the dragon swept downward after Giles. They now flew close enough for Giles to hear the elven lord's words. "The scepter, you stupid beast! Follow the girl!"

Kalah ignored the elven lord and spat a stream of lightning, the bolts bouncing harmlessly on the road behind Giles. Apollo ran faster.

Either Kalah had bad aim, or he was purposefully missing his target. But it looked like Breden of Dewhame would not.

Giles held his sword aloft, while his devil-blade fought to return to its scabbard. "Coward," he yelled at it. "Just because we can't win this fight is no reason-"

And then the world exploded around him.

His sword flew from his hand with the impact. He could see naught but white light. The hair on his head and arms stood up as a shaft of energy surged through his body. Giles's ears rang as he fell. And fell. In such dizzying slow motion that it was a relief to hit the ground.

He struggled to stay conscious, crawling to his knees. He had to put up a better fight than this. Cecily needed more time to get away.

Giles staggered to his feet, blinking his eyelids to banish the whiteness. He could not find Apollo. Better that the loyal beast had kept running.

His ears kept ringing. It took him a moment to realize the sound came from his sword, which lay in a patch of gra.s.s near the side of the road. He tried to leap toward it, and fell, mud splashing his face, covering his knees. By the time he held his sword in his hands again, he felt the buffet of wind from the dragon's landing.

Giles turned and faced Cecily's father.

Breden stayed atop his mount, his hands still glowing, but not as strongly as they had before he'd loosed that blast upon Giles. "It seems I have to kill you before Kalah will fetch my scepter. I'd be amused to know what you did to annoy him."

Giles stared into unearthly blue eyes, as brilliant as Cecily's but so cold they glittered like ice. The elven lord wore an embroidered coat of blue, with a scarlet waistcoat beneath, as if he entertained at some lavish ball. Lace tumbled down his throat and danced in the wind about his sleeves. His white hair sparkled with tiny silver flashes, as if stardust had been sprinkled within it. He looked almost as beautiful as his daughter.

Giles needed to keep him talking. It would give Cecily more time to get away. "Why don't you ask Kalah?"

One white brow rose. "The beast is oddly reticent tonight. But I daresay I have a more pressing question than that. What happened to my champion? Or did his human blood finally prove what an oaf he is?"

"Didn't your demon tell you?"

"I'm afraid that once my pet told me my scepter had been stolen, I lost my temper. It felt... glorious."

Sweat popped out in Giles's hand and he clutched his sword tighter. The coldness of the elven lord rivaled Mor'ded of Firehame, who at least had some humanity within his soul.

"I defeated Fletcher," said Giles. "Just as I shall defeat you."

Breden threw back his head and laughed, the sound like some musical notes of a dirge. "Ah, I wish I had more time to play with you, human. But I must retrieve that which is mine. Although, yes, let us see about this sword of yours."

And without warning, a bolt of lightning flew from his fingers at Giles-the full force of the charge that had unseated him within that single beam. His devil-blade managed to deflect a portion of it back at the elven lord, but the dragon lifted a wing and shielded the elf.

Giles wished Kalah would make up his mind about whom he was helping, here.

Pain shot down Giles's arm and it dropped to his side, his sword falling from numb fingers onto the muddy road. His devil-blade hissed as it fell, steam rising from it as the rain doused the metal. He almost felt sorry for it.

"You animals," said Breden, shaking his elegant head in mock sympathy. "When will you learn that the talismans you craft for protection will never stand up to an elven lord's power? I find it most amusing though. Rather like one of your monkeys trying to defend itself with a branch."

Giles fisted his left hand, for he wanted nothing more than to clutch his right and howl with pain just like the animal Breden accused him of being. The skin of his palm had blackened and the raindrops that fell upon it lanced him like shards of ice.

He had to keep the elven lord talking. Had to buy Cecily more time. But his brain felt addled and his ears kept ringing.

"What difference is there between my sword and your scepter? Talk about waving around a stick..."

Thunder cracked above and shook the very air. Giles thought he heard the pounding of hooves in the aftermath. Had Apollo returned to his master? But he could not look around. He dare not take his gaze away from the elven lord's cruel blue eyes.

"I can see why Kalah wants you dead," said Breden. Lightning zigged from one black cloud to another. The elf lifted his hand toward it as if gathering flowers for a posy and it flew to him, dancing about his hands. "Despite how amusing it is to find a human foolish enough to spar with me, I grow bored. 'Tis our ever-present burden, you see. After centuries of existence, life lacks any sort of challenge." He tossed the swirling ball of lightning straight at Giles.

Someone screamed.

Not Giles, for he'd been ready for the attack. Indeed, he leaped up and forward using all of the elven strength he possessed. As a result, the fireball barely grazed him, setting the tails of his coat ablaze but not altering his course a whit. He flew over the dragon's great head and hit Breden bodily, both of them grunting as they tumbled in a heap down Kalah's tail.

Breden's body burned hotter than an open forge. Giles rolled away from him, dousing the flames of his coat on the flooded road in the process.

A delicate hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up into familiar blue eyes.

"Dammit."

"Are you hurt?"

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be far away... safe."

Cecily held the scepter in her other hand, the thing glowing an unearthly blue, crackles of light at its tip. "When will you understand that we can never be-?"

"So, it is you," said Breden of Dewhame.

The elven lord had regained his feet. Giles struggled upright as well, although he could not stand so steadily.

Cecily jerked as if his words had the weight to strike her down. Then she lifted her chin and glared at him. "h.e.l.lo, Father."

"Of course it had to be you," continued Breden. "Only a human who sprang from my very loins would have the audacity-or the power-to steal my scepter."

Giles did not mention that Fletcher had managed to touch the thing. That knowledge might be to the Rebellion's advantage.

"You've led me a merry chase, girl." Breden's eyes glittered with-had he been human, Giles would have said that a bit of pride shone in those blue depths.

"Hiding your power of the sky," continued the elven lord, "has been a clever move. I'm sure I would have sensed a false storm and found you years ago. But alas, it seems you have found me, have you not? 'Tis a pity that I will have to destroy you. This is the most fun I've had in ages."

Cecily blinked at this little speech and Giles's heart ached for her. He knew she had harbored some small hope that her father would welcome her with open arms. That he would not be the monster everyone made him out to be.

"She can use it," said Giles. "The scepter accepts her. I suggest you let her go."

The rain ceased. Only its sudden absence reminded Giles of it.

Something flickered within Breden's eyes. Doubt? Or could it possibly be fear?

"Kalah," he commanded. "Get it for me."

The dragon shifted, scale sliding along scale with a grating slither. Those enormous eyes looked oddly similar to the elven lord's, but the color had been sliced into sections with jagged silver lines, like some badly cut pie. He shook out his great wings with a spray of moonlit water, and then folded them neatly against his sides.

Cecily, who had faced her father with a brave face, blanched as the great beast settled his gaze upon her.

"I think not," said Kalah, his voice sounding like boulders tumbling down a hillside. "You must prove it is your right to wield it, mad elfling." And he picked up his foreleg, studying his talons like a human would inspect his nails, dismissing the three of them with arrogant disdain.

Surprise crossed Breden's handsome features. And then anger. And then antic.i.p.ation.

Giles stepped in front of Cecily. "I won't let you touch her."

The elven lord laughed, a melodic evil sound, and raised his hands up to the sky. The boom of thunder and the resulting lightning shot straight into his hands, making them glow.

"No," cried Cecily, ducking under Giles's arm and facing her father, avoiding Giles's attempts to shove her back behind his body. "I do not want this thing. I... I hate it!"

White brows rose.

"I shall give it to you. Just let him go. Let the man go."

"Perfect," barked the elven lord. "True love! Time and again I have seen it weaken you humans, and yet you still allow it to control your actions. Come now, Daughter, do not make this too easy for me." And with a flick of his wrist, a bolt hit Giles in the gut, knocking the air from his lungs and sending him flying backward.

Giles lost his vision yet again, but this time he saw nothing but blackness. Cecily's touch upon his forehead felt far away, and the sound of her voice seemed to echo in his head.

"Don't do this, Father. Don't force me to acknowledge my true powers. You will not like the results."

"You can't," spat Breden. "You might have elven blood running through your veins, but you're too human, my girl. Nothing but a sniveling coward of an animal, too frightened of that which you don't understand. It will be humankind's downfall."