A low growl from behind her snapped Lynaelle out of her brief distraction, and she knew she could hesitate no longer. She took a final step toward the orc, her dagger still thrust out threateningly. When nothing happened, she nudged the orc with the toe of her boot.
The creature groaned softly and stirred.
"Stop it," the orc mumbled softly, barely loud enough for the girl to hear.
Startled, Lynaelle retreated a step, holding her dagger in front of herself with both hands.
"Kill it now, before it wakes up!" Torixileos roared from the far end.
Lynaelle glanced back toward the entrance to the tunnel and saw one of the dragon's forelegs shoved down the passage, its claws extended, grasping for her. She yelped in alarm and darted forward, terrified of being impaled on one of the deadly talons. In her haste, the half-elf stumbled over one of the orc's legs and went sprawling, landing next to the creature in a heap. Her gloved hand-the one with the magical light still emanating from it- hit the floor of the tunnel right next to the orc's face.
The glare of her spell made it flinch back, and it opened one eye to look at her. The other, she saw, was swollen shut. A gash across its forehead leaked dark blood.
Lynaelle shrieked once and jerked her hand away, scrambling on hands and knees to get beyond the orc. Abject terror lent her speed, but not grace. She slipped and skidded along the frozen floor, barely making any headway.
Behind the girl, the dragon's claw withdrew, replaced by the glaring eye of the beast again. As the orc lifted its head and peered around groggily, Lynaelle moved herself into a seated position with her feet closest to the orc's head. She raised one booted foot, aiming it at the humanoid's face, ready to kick it unconscious again.
"Yes," Torixileos gloated, watching. "Bring the thief to me! Shove it to me so that I may eat it!"
Lynaelle drew her foot back, prepared to pummel the orc, her heart thudding sharply in her chest. Terror was giving her strength. She thought she might just drive the orc down the tunnel to the waiting dragon with one powerful kick.
"Wait," the orc said weakly, looking at her with its one good eye. "I'm not the thief."
Lynaelle froze.
At the far end of the tunnel, Torixileos roared in fury and began to reach in with his clawed foreleg once more.
"What?" the girl said, taken aback.
"The… white," the orc panted, barely able to keep its head up,"… is the thief. My treasure… not his."
The orc sagged down again, unconscious once more. Lynaelle sat back, stunned.
How? she thought. So much treasure has to belong to a dragon. Then a realization hit the girl.
The ice.
Seeing that Torixileos had withdrawn his claws once more and that she didn't have much time, Lynaelle stood awkwardly and took hold of the orc by its collar.
She could hear the dragon drawing in a deep breath, and terror of what she knew was to come drove her.
Dragging the humanoid along the floor, thankful for the slick coating of ice there, Lynaelle scrambled desperately into the treasure chamber. Slipping and sliding, she pulled her counterpart around the corner of the tunnel, out of the direct line of fire, and lay down next to it, against the wall.
As the first arctic blast of the dragon's deadly breath came roaring down the tunnel, Lynaelle took hold of the orc and pulled it atop herself, shielding her body as best as she could from the chilling waves of cold. When the unconscious form was protecting her as much as possible, the girl buried her face in her cloak, hiding away from the frigid tempest that erupted in the cavern.
Even with the orc shielding her, Lynaelle thought she would freeze to death right then and there. Numbing cold washed over her, making her skin and bones ache. She groaned from the pain, her sound muffled by the cloak she wore. Finally, after a moment, the worst of the chill subsided, and she began to listen.
At first, there was nothing but the sound of the orc's breathing. Then she heard the dragon speak.
"Little morsel?"
Lynaelle held very still, holding her breath.
"Little morsel, I know you're in there. I can smell you. Come out, or I will breathe again."
Lynaelle was about to shout, "No!" at the dragon, to tell him to go away, but another sound from beyond the treasure chamber stopped her. It was another voice.
"Torixileos! You would dare?"
The voice was different than the white dragon's, but no less powerful. Smooth and warm like honey, it gave Lynaelle a sudden sense of comfort, like Ambriel's voice used to do.
Torixileos roared again, much louder than ever before, but the dragon's anger was dwarfed by a second roar. The two sounds together threatened to shake the mountain apart, and Lynaelle had to cover her ears with her hands to keep from crying out in anguish. The girl felt several intense thumps, felt the stone floor of the chamber beneath her bounce, and there was silence.
She waited a long time before crawling out from beneath the orc.
Very carefully, the girl examined the creature she had rescued from the white dragon, then she took off her pack and dug inside it until she found a small vial. Propping the orc's head into her lap, Lynaelle unstop-pered the vial and poured a little of the contents into the creature's mouth. It coughed and spluttered a bit, but swallowed most of the potion. Lynaelle carefully administered the rest of the healing draught, making sure nothing spilled.
After a few moments, the orc opened its eyes-both eyes, for the swelling had reduced considerably-and looked at her.
"Hello," the orc said. "Who are you?"
"I'm Lynaelle. Who are you? You're no orc, that's for sure."
The orc smiled.
"True enough," it said, sitting up and standing. "My name is Starglimmer."
Then, right before Lynaelle's eyes, the orc began to change. Its form shifted, bulged, grew larger yet sleeker. Its features transformed into a reptilian face, all shiny in the girl's magical light. The change had taken only a few heartbeats, but where the orc had stood previously, a silvery dragon, not much taller than Lynaelle herself, held himself proudly.
"Do I have you to thank for saving me from Torixileos and protecting my treasure?" the silver asked, his voice a slightly higher and softer version of the mysterious tones Lynaelle had heard challenging the white.
"I did nothing," Lynaelle said softly, shyly. "Only tried to save myself. Something else seems to have arrived and chased the white dragon away. I heard a second voice."
"That would be Mother," Starglimmer said, "coming to check on me. Torixileos wouldn't stick around if she's here. Come on," the dragon added, moving toward the tunnel.
Lynaelle followed the creature, too overwhelmed to speak.
Out beyond the tunnel leading to the treasure, the main chamber was empty, and as the pair moved toward the domed room with the ice shaft, a great form, larger even than Torixileos, dropped through the ceiling and landed elegantly.
"Mother!" Starglimmer said, rushing toward the much larger dragon, a silver that gleamed like a finely tempered blade in the eerie blue glow. "What happened?"
"Torixileos won't be bothering you ever again," the larger dragon said, and it was, indeed, the honeyed voice Lynaelle had heard before. The sound made the girl want to cry with joy, so comforting it was. "What happened?"
"Torixileos was here when I returned from a jaunt," Starglimmer said. "I had been out hunting with the orcs, hoping to catch wind of any raids they were planning. He caught me by surprise, and I barely managed to slip into a place too small for him to follow before I passed out."