Blackness surrounded Gerald as he drifted through the void. Gone were his material worries. Finding food to eat, evading angry barmaids because of your unpaid tab, being chased by red eyed wargs, attacked by all manner of goblins, knocked out and trussed up by pretty knights, and even struck down by a dragon wizard's wrath. All these things no longer troubled him as his spirit rose to a higher plane of existence. But before he could achieve full ascendency he found himself tethered to the world he thought he no longer needed.

Gromberry crepes, Daggerhall mead, the kiss of a girl, and last but not least the longing stare of a pair of saucer eyes, these things and more dragged him back to his mortal shell.

"Wake up you fool, Abyss take you," cursed Aaron as she slammed her glowing white fist into his chest.

"ACK! PFTUI! COUGH! " wheezed Gerald as a jolt of her holy power coursed through him, causing his heart to flutter uncontrollably, and his arms and legs to tremble wildly. His body spasmed for a few seconds before he fell into a more stable but disorientated state. As he recovered he forced himself to look around and saw that he was lying in the dirt outside the breach, but strangely no one was there save Prince Aaron and the corpses of the recently slain."What? What happened?"

"I should ask you the same. Your heart stopped beating, but it was a minor fix. Unlike these other poor sods here, " said Aaron relieved that her holy energy was not spent in vain. "How did you erect that barrier on the log? Why did you challenge that wizard? Where did that other dragon come from?"

Gerald's breath was short, but he managed a chuckle. "There was no barrier…that was just a supreme exhibition of pantomiming. I challenged the wizard, because I thought I could provoke him to land, so that you and Ceto could smack him about. As for the other dragon…wait…what other dragon?"

Aaron pointed upwards into the night sky. It was nightfall, but the sky was illuminated by flashes of blue lightning and great gouts of red flame. High above, Gerald could see two dragons soaring past and blasting elemental energy at each other. The larger of the two, which Gerald thought was Zerd, seemed to be on the defensive as it attempted to keep its distance from the smaller one and threw spells to keep it at bay, the smaller one, a roughly twenty five footer which was a brighter shade of red, was more aggressive and attempted to close in for melee as it breathed flames at its foe.

"I was right! Zerd's a fake dragon, but somehow he attracted the attentions of a real one!" exclaimed Gerald. "Now they're doing some type of territorial battle."

"Perhaps," sighed Prince Aaron. "I guess it's a small comfort to know the cause of one's destruction."

"Eh?"

Aaron waved at the fort's empty courtyard. It was deserted save a few maddened stragglers. He could see Rolf clawing blindly in a corner, attempting to scramble over a ruined wall and he also spotted Lady Tessa sobbing uncontrollably behind some barrels, rolled up in a ball. Beyond those two there was no one in sight. "Look around. After you taunted Zerd, he unleashed a storm of lightning on you. It was all I could do to knock you out of the main blast, but even then the shock stopped your heart. As I was about to drag your lifeless body behind cover, well, its hard to explain, but let's just say all hells broke loose. Everyone that held their ground was overtaken by a terrifying presence. Our people ran mostly into the bowels of the motte, but some were so terrified they jumped into the moat on the opposite side and attempted to swim away. The goblins fared no better, as they simply scattered and fled the field, most likely back to the Dool lands. The next thing I know I looked up and saw Zerd fighting that smaller dragon. I don't know which one will win, but I can tell you who the loser will be."

Gerald scratched his head. "Ooh..you mean us."

"Aye."

"Wait, how long was I out?" asked Gerald.

"About a minute, but it doesn't matter. We're at their mercy now," sighed Aaron." With our full complement of defenders we might have stood a chance, but as you can see everyone was overcome by dragon fear."

"Dragon fear? I've heard of that. So why hasn't it affected you?"

"Because I'm a Paladin of Nirrodin. Because of my pure spirit, we are immune to fear."

"Pure spirit? You tell a lot of lies for someone with a pure spirit."

Aaron's eyes narrowed at Gerald, but she relented and smiled softly at the bard. "Aye, it's true. It seems my entire life has been a lie up to now, but it seems I will be judged soon. Sometimes I question my own moral standing, but in the end, the greater good is all that counts. My deity believes in me, or at least enough to allow me to channel healing energy and to summon Corsair."

Gerald considered her rationalization and shrugged. It was something to debate for another time.

"So why hasn't it affected me? Was It because I was briefly dead?"

"Possibly. Only the most powerful heroes or beasts can resist it. Even veteran soldiers are no match for Dragon fear. I think the remaining giants fled, not because they were afraid, but because they saw everyone else was fleeing, "said Aaron.

Gerald wasn't sure what to do at this point. If there was a time to throw your hands up and run gibbering into the dark, it would be now, but he couldn't leave without Tig, Ceto, and especially Mina, not after promising to keep her safe. "Have you seen which way my friends ran?"

"We didn't run. We're right here!" squeaked a small voice from under some rubble.

"Tig? Are you all right, is Ceto all right? Is Mina with you?" shouted Gerald as he examined what looked like the ruins of one of the storage buildings.

"No," grunted a gruff voice.

"Nein. Mina is not present. We lost sight of her during the barrage of lightning. But both Ceto and I are ok," squeaked Tig. "When the second dragon appeared we took cover, but as you can see we choose poorly. Zerd's lightning must have weakened this building and it fell on us. We should be able to dig ourselves out, unless one of the dragons does that first."

"I will help them," said Aaron. "If I can free them before one of the dragons is victorious over the other, then perhaps the four of us can challenge it."

Gerald aided the Prince but was of little help. While the Prince could easily toss about one hundred pound rocks, and roll to the side rubble weighing even more than that, Gerald was admittedly out of shape, and had trouble moving anything.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to get some tools," said Gerald at last as he eyed the ruins of Eddwardo's Sundries. Surely there must be some picks, shovels, or maybe even saws there to get Ceto and Tig out. Before Aaron could protest, Gerald hopped onto one of the fallen logs, that had been tossed into the moat. Though they didn't reach all the way across, they did reach half way, which was enough for Gerald to tread across after much balancing issues.

Daggerhall was a ghost town now. Everything was burned, smashed, or looted, and often all of the above. Dead goblins and the occasional slain giant were strewn about, with the occasional turkey vulture banner on the ground. Gerald didn't feel much loss for the town though, he was more concerned about the people cowering in the motte or fleeing into the wilderness than this collection of rubble, and if he was going to save them he needed Tig and Armondo freed. He wasn't sure which way Mina ran off to, but he would find her. She had made it this far, and he refused to accept the possibility that she was dead.

The pyrotechnic battle overhead grew closer as Gerald neared the ruined shop, to the point that his skin could feel the fury of the heat, and his hairs were raised by the electricity. He glanced upwards and saw that the smaller dragon seemed to have some of its extremities charred, while the big one appeared to have large bloody wounds on it. The battle would be over soon, though the winner was still in doubt.

When he finally arrived to his destination, he was disappointed to find nothing he was looking for. There was a small gardening spade, and a undamaged plow, but that was it for digging instruments. He supposed that the Prince could summon Corsair, assuming it was unsummoned and not dead, and they could hook it to the plow, but that didn't seem to be a productive course of action.

"Great gawds, how I'm supposed to free Tig and Ceto now," he grumbled.

"Gmrmld? Mm thmt ymu?" he heard nearby.

"Armondo?"

"Gmrmld, mm stmck, gmt me mmt!"

Gerald shook his head, what was it with half orcs and getting inadvertently buried?

"Hang on there buddy, I'll dig you free, err somehow."

With no tools, Gerald wasn't sure how he was going to free Armondo. If the half orc was indeed underground, how long would he last? He guessed he could return back to Aaron, help him free Ceto and Tig, and all of them could go free Armondo, but by then the dragons might have finished each other off and would be going after them. There were no good choices.

As Gerald contemplated this, the titans above had neared the crescendo of their battle. The larger dragon was blasted by a storm of ice, but it simply used the blizzard as cover as it dove through it. The larger dragon did not expect such a dangerous maneuver since ice was supposed to be the bane of fire dragons, but it hesitated to retreat and the smaller one crashed directly into him. Though the larger Zerd dragon should have been able to overpower the smaller one due to its size, that wasn't the case, and Gerald was reminded of what Mina said about the unnatural lack of weight of Zerd's transformed state. The small dragon raked the larger one's wings and belly with all its claws like some great cat, while its fangs snapped shut near the head of its opponent's long serpentine neck.

The larger dragon lost its ability to fly under the assault and the two tumbled out of the sky, with the small one refusing to release its grip.

Gerald ran, and then jumped as the pair crashed into the now flattened remains of Edd's Sundries. The bard picked himself up and glanced back at the two dragons, as they now rolled about the ground, trampling more buildings as they tumbled towards the town square. He should have picked himself up and continued to run, but he was drawn to the battle.

Perhaps because this was the scenario he was waiting for, to witness two dragons joined in battle tooth and claw. This was his tale, his inspiration for the epic ballad he was going o write. Or maybe, he felt a need to bear witness to this. The fall of a titan or the rise of another.

As the larger dragon's struggles grew weaker and finally stopped, the smaller dragon gave its body a vigorous shake before releasing it. The large dragon slowly reverted back to the form of a frail and bloodied old man. The shorter dragon hacked a feeble victory roar before it too fell on its haunches, its fury drained. Gerald saw that it was victorious but it wasn't unscathed. It was missing multiple scales and black charred marks covered its body. He also noticed a small ball of fire orbiting around it, and the beast's sad saucer shaped eyes, and a moment of embarrassed clarity struck him.

"Arrow!" gasped Armondo. Gerald turned and saw a dust covered and bloody half orc standing on a rock with bow drawn. He must have been released when the dragons fell onto his building. "Black arrow! I have saved you to the last. You have never failed me and always I have recovered you. I stole you from my father and he from a dwarf. If ever you came from the forges of the Vorin the true King under the Mountain, go now and speed well!"

"No! Don't! " shouted Gerald, but the stout half orc's shot was true as he released his black metal arrow straight into the dragon before him.