Thrall - Christie Golden [84]
“I was not alone in my fight,” Thrall said quietly. “But I know one who is.”
Kalec looked at him curiously, and Thrall explained. “There is one I left behind in order to do as Ysera asked. I would see her again, whatever happens in this world.”
Now the blue dragon nodded. “I understand,” he said. “I hope you will, Thrall.”
“I know I will. I am certain of it.” He eyed Kalec. “But I think… you are not so certain.”
Kalec frowned and turned away, pacing. “You fell partway through the fight, Thrall,” he said quietly. “You did not see what followed.” He fell silent, and Thrall waited patiently.
“This being, this—Chromatus, as I heard the Twilight Father call him… do you understand what he is?” Kalec asked.
“You called him a chromatic dragon. Desharin told me of such creatures. He said they were all dead.”
Kalec nodded his bright blue head. “So we thought. They are nothing natural, Thrall. They are creations. Made things. And this one—I have never heard of him before, but he was clearly Nefarian’s success, and his greatest one. Never have I seen a beast with five heads.”
“Five heads,” mused Thrall. “Each one the color of a different flight.” It was a hideous image, one he could not seem to banish, hard as he tried.
“Five heads,” repeated Kalecgos in growing horror. “That’s it. Thrall, chromatic dragons never lived very long. But maybe that was the secret Nefarian learned: five heads, five brains. Perhaps this is what makes Chromatus so powerful, even though… even though he seemed weak.”
Now Thrall could not hide his astonishment. “Weak?”
Kalec turned and locked gazes with him. “Weak,” he repeated. “He stumbled; he faltered. Sometimes his wings would not bear him. And yet my flight was unable to stand against him and the twilight dragons. He defeated me, Thrall. I am an Aspect now, and I am not being arrogant to say that, barring other Aspects, no single dragon should be able to defeat me. But I had to order retreat, or he would have killed me and my entire dragonflight. We brought everything we had to bear against him. And he was weak.”
Kalec was, Thrall knew by now, someone who attempted to think positively. He did not give in easily to negative emotions such as anger or despair. And still Thrall noted resignation and worry and, yes, hopelessness in his mien and voice.
Thrall understood why. “He was not at full strength for some reason,” he said. “And when he is finally healed…”
Kalec’s blue eyes held a universe of pain. “It does not seem as if anything will stop him,” he said quietly.
“No,” Thrall agreed thoughtfully, “not any one thing.”
“We are scattered at a time when we most need unity,” Kalec said. “This Chromatus at the head of the twilight dragons… he will defeat—he will obliterate—both me and my flight if we approach him a second time without reinforcements.”
“Ysera and Nozdormu will come,” Thrall said confidently. “They and their flights will join you.”
“It won’t be enough,” Kalec said dully. “We need the reds. No… more than that, we need the Life-Binder herself. My flight was frightened, Thrall, and I admit it: I was too. To see such a thing, to know you cannot win…” He shook his head. “We need the hope she could bring us, but she has none even for herself. And without her, I truly believe we will fall.”
“I will speak to her again,” Thrall said.
“She did not listen to you the last time,” Kalec said, uncharacteristic bitterness poisoning his pleasant voice. “She will not listen this time. We are lost, Thrall, and… I do not know what to do. I am an Aspect. I have… new insights, new ways of understanding things. It is hard to explain. I am more than I ever was, and yet in so many ways I feel that I have not changed. I feel that I am simply Kalecgos, and I do not know what to do.”
Thrall walked over to his friend and placed a large green hand on Kalec’s shoulder. “It is that humility in your heart that turned the hearts of your flight