Reghar the Fang felt thoroughly abandoned. Betrayed. Most of all, humiliated.

The Fang crouched a few yards from the front of the keep, his back pressed against a stone wall. A thick fall of ivy concealed him from any who might chance to walk past. Although the air around him was heavy with heat and humidity, Reghar shivered.

Why hadn't he seen in time the trick Terjal Rakmir had played against him? And the power unleashed upon him! Enough to pitch him completely away from where he'd last stood. One of them was indeed strengthening the other's power--but which one? Just before he was hurled away, Reghar had seen Aiya Lindsmund's phantom image become limned with a hazy glow. If she possessed the ability to amplify spell power, then he must find some way to take that talent from her.

But his own spell energy had been greatly depleted during the battle. He remembered the many times Grafter--that traitorous old man, where was he now?--had reminded him that his rage was his greatest strength, so long as he was able to control it. Now, his emotions of virulent hatred and utter despair were all that Reghar had to wrap round himself. There had to be something more...

Reghar eased his head back against the wall, feeling the smooth rounded tips of the stones push against his neck and shoulders. He closed his eyes tightly.

And searched. Until he found it.

White Rage had somehow stumbled close enough for Reghar to snatch at the beast's consciousness. At first the creature's confused mind batted Reghar away, perhaps feeling betrayed as well. But the Fang sent his own consciousness deeper into White Rage, finding that niche where his voice had lived within the beast...

And was met suddenly with a barrage of searing complaint...

...you abandoned me to wander through the lands searching for food any food nothing to chew no blood or flesh the winter spearing my hide with ice of my making though my power is waning no fire left in my breast I'm set upon by villagers as I wander torn and hungry and tired need flesh to eat...

Reghar tried to stem the flow of White Rage's tirade, but the words continued to come. Worst of all, connected so, Reghar felt the beast's torment, felt the ache of hunger pricking deep in his belly as the beast's own, felt the wounds upon the beast's hide. In one final burst of power, the Fang sent a single message:

You will be fed when you come to me. This I promise.

Reghar felt the beast instantly brighten, starvation having surely driven away any distrust. White Rage was closer now. Very close. He sensed the direspawn running with renewed vigor, soon the beast would come crashing through the foliage of the swamp. Reghar sat up and folded his arms tightly against his chest, hemorrhaging the last of his power and sending it to White Rage.

Hurry! Fly!

Soon the ground beneath him began to rumble and Reghar parted the ivy with trembling hands.

White Rage had arrived.

###

Terjal and the others had gathered together in the main chamber when they felt the earth roar beneath their feet.

"I'll wager," Darman shouted to Terjal above the rumbling, "that our snaggle-toothed, fire-breathing beast is back."

"I'd guess," Terjal called back, "that you're right." He moved cautiously to the double wooden door, cracking it open till a sliver of light shone through. He saw White Rage charging toward the keep in a loping stride. Shutting the door quickly, Terjal turned to the others. "Well, it looks as though we'll be given one last chance to defeat this direspawn."

Darman drew his crossbow, fully nocked. "One chance is all we'll need."

The other Blades drew their respective weapons--even Arjas took up his scimitar. Terjal, Aiya and Shankal drew together in conference.

"In a few moments," Aiya began, "the direspawn will be pawing at the door. Beyond shielding and brute strength, does anyone have any creative ideas?"

Shankal spoke up. "Fortunately there's still enough standing water about for my purposes."

Terjal drew a small copper cube from the folds of his robe. He saw concern flare briefly in Aiya's eyes at the sight of it, but she said nothing. "I was saving this," Terjal said, cradling the cube in his palm for all to see, "for just the right time. And now it's come."

"What is it?" Shankal said, looking closely at the object, which appeared no more important than a child's trinket.

Aiya answered, "It is a cube used to contain a large sum of spell energy." Looking at Terjal levelly, added, "Using such a device is a very risky venture unless the user is a powerful conjurer. More than one spellcaster has been blown to pieces by the powerful surge of magic contained within the cubes. Terjal, when did you have time to prepare this cube?"

Terjal smiled warmly. "After our last encounter with the direspawn. Once we were fully rested at Cloudreach, I prepared the cube. You were sleeping at the time."

"But why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry--as you are now."

Aiya frowned slightly, tilting her chin a little in defiance. "I'm not worried, only slightly vexed that you chose not to inform me of such preparations. But you are, after all, a powerful conjurer. My concern is whether you've still enough spell energy within you to offer protection from the surge."

"If I have enough time to prepare myself."

Shankal gave a wary glance to the door, as the three Blades waited for Terjal's signal. "There won't be enough time." Grinning, he added, "But that shouldn't stop us."

###

White Rage smashed through the door, splintering it into a explosion of tiny wooden spears. The beast reared its head back as it prepared to loose flame upon its attackers.

Terjal and Aiya flung a spell shield around themselves and the Blades--Shankal having dashed past the beast to ready his own spells. But White Rage released only a small dribble of smoke from its fang-lined jaws. Terjal and Aiya exchanged quick glances. For a moment, the beast cocked its massive head, obviously surprised at its loss of fire-breathing ability.

Terjal saw his chance to prepare for absorbing the cube's energy. Aiya gave him a brisk nod and joined the Blades and Shankal in battle against the beast.

As he moved away from the others, Terjal watched Aiya hurl a ball of spell energy from her fingertips.

###

Aiya heard Shankal shout from behind the beast. "Drive it out into the courtyard! My water spells are ready!" In answer, Aiya sent more orbs of spell energy to pelt the beast; it had its effect as the creature wheeled backward. A wall of steaming water loomed up behind the beast, crashing down upon its massive head.

Just before Aiya drove the direspawn backwards, the Blades had begun battering the beast with their various weapons. Several arrows from Darman's crossbow had pierced White Rage's hide, parting its fur like spikes stuck into snow. The First Blade had thrown his crossbow aside and had taken up a short spear with which he began to stab at the beast. Strandholt circled round White Rage, slashing it with his poleax as if he were threshing wheat.

Arjas, even with his knee fully healed, seemed to be having a problem keeping his balance. Aiya watched in horror as the Blade ventured too closely to the beast's lashing claws. In a blur of white, a claw struck at Arjas, flinging him against the torn wall of the keep. Arjas slid down the wall, his hand releasing his scimitar. Dazed, he tried to crawl on his hands and knees toward his weapon, but fainted before he could reach it.

Aiya, feeling her own spell power diminishing, bolted for the now prone Arjas. She saw that he was still breathing and not seriously injured. In one fluid movement Aiya took up Arjas's scimitar and ran toward the beast. Now that the threat of fire from the direspawn's maw was no longer of concern, she and the Blades were able to get close to the beast. In clean strokes Aiya slashed the scimitar against the beasts legs.

From the corner of her eye she saw Shankal directing more water against the beast. Suddenly, the creature turned toward the aquamancer, its claws outspread. Ignoring the relentless attacks from the others upon it, White Rage bent toward Shankal, taking the aquamancer's throat between its paws. Aiya leapt against the beast, digging the scimitar's curved point into the creature's side.

As the beast continued to strangle Shankal, Aiya watched helplessly as life drained away from the aquamancer. Aiya grunted as she frantically hacked away at the creature's claws, hoping to persuade the beast by force to drop the aquamancer in time.

But it was too late.

Shankal's hands, which had been trying feverishly to pry the paws from his throat, loosened and slipped until they were hanging uselessly by his sides. With a howl of triumph, White Rage threw Shankal's slack body away.

With a scream of anguish, Aiya slid from the beast and began to swipe the scimitar against its flank with all the power left in her body. No matter how much she and the Blades pummeled the beast, the creature would not falter.

As Aiya continued to parry back and forth, she saw Terjal standing in the shattered doorway. His body glowed with a nearly blinding golden light and his gait was unsteady as he walked toward White Rage. "Everyone!" he shouted. "Move clear! Now!"

Aiya and the Blades obeyed the conjurer's orders, watching from a short distance as Terjal stood directly before the beast. White Rage, perhaps sensing the buzz of energy behind it, turned to face its last opponent. Aiya held her breath as the creature bent toward Terjal, its jaws open and salivating.

Then, closing his eyes and stretching his arms outward, chest puffed as if offering himself to the beast, Terjal released the bundled energy within him.

A searing river of fire, heat and energy surged from Terjal's chest in a slender cone, engulfing White Rage in a boiling rain. As the energy glazed the beast in a bath of golden-red shimmer, Terjal moved away. Spying Shankal's body, Terjal ran toward the aquamancer and dragged him towards the others.

White Rage shuddered violently as the energy began to seep into him. The beast pawed at the air fitfully, its massive head turning from side to side. With a final protest of agony, the beast threw back its head and loosed a mournful bellow and--

Exploded. Shards of fur-riven flesh shot through the humid air in a gruesome shower. Direspawn blood pelted every surface in its path, and entrails steamed hotly in a puddle where White Rage last stood.

When a final spray of gore had settled, Aiya dropped to her knees and sighed. The others answered her with weary sighs of their own.

###

Reghar had been directing White Rage from behind his shield of ivy, thankfully unseen by the others. He hadn't expected the beast to lose the ability to breathe fire, nor had he expected the ferocity with which Aiya Lindsmund and Terjal's Blades fought the creature. He had also forgotten how completely his own senses became inter-twined with the direspawn's tactile sensations.

The repeated, relentless attacks upon White Rage had distracted Reghar with the pain of the beast's many injuries. Only when Reghar directed the direspawn to snatch the aquamancer did the Fang feel some satisfaction. Reghar felt a surge of pleasure as he watched through the beast's eyes the light leaving the aquamancer's eyes, delivering the water-conjurer into death's hands.

But the victory had been short-lived. Once again it was Terjal Rakmir who spoiled what was left of the Fang's plans. Reghar watched helplessly as White Rage exploded in a hail of bloody meat. And in that instant, also, he realized that the tenuous control he'd had over his own direspawn, Creeping Lust, had been severed completely. The last thought received by him from the creature was: escape.

The Fang had to get away.

Reghar knew he couldn't spell travel out of the Grip--his energy was now thoroughly depleted; nor could he re-enter the keep with Terjal and the others nearby. Which meant he had to walk out of the Grip--or ride, providing he could find an available mount.

Carefully, he crept away from his aegis of ivy, his hands feeling along the wall as he watched Terjal and his party conversing in the distance. Late afternoon was quickly greying to twilight and he would have to find some animal to carry him out of this swamp soon. As he stepped carefully over vines and pieces of rotted wood, he heard the whinny and snort of a horse in the distance. His heart leapt with hope as he followed the animal's sound.

In a small clearing stood six horses and two pack mules tethered randomly to tree trunks. Quickly, he untied the horse nearest him and swung up onto the animal's back. Snapping the reigns sharply, Reghar spurred the horse forward. He had no idea how exactly to exit the Grip, save to ride in a straight line.

But he did know where he was going.

He would ride to Quitonne to find another ally.

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