Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

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volcano had changed them both. If Mitro escaped
     now, there would be nothing, no one strong enough to stop him.
    Dax couldn’t let him escape.
    The whispers grew stronger, demanding, incessant. For months now, even as he slept,
     the voices had whispered in his ears, a never-ending chorus. Urging him to visit the
     cavern near the heart of the volcano. The heat and pressure there was intense, so
     close to the volcano’s main magma chamber that Dax had never been able to stay more
     than a few seconds at a time. But something was there. Something powerful and fierce. Something that normally did not like to
     be disturbed.
    Something the earth believed Dax needed, because it had been driving him back to that
     chamber again and again and again over the centuries.
    The push was stronger now than it had ever been. Every part of him felt both driven
     and pulled toward that chamber deep in the heart of the volcano. What lay there was
     waiting for him, and he could delay no longer. The strength he needed was there, offered
     up to him if only he had the will to claim it.
    He dispatched the wards surrounding his resting place and shifted into a clear mist,
     traveling swiftly through the lava tubes and fissures in the rock, descending deep
     into the earth until he reached the superheated chamber. A small section of the floor
     on the far side of the chamber had cracked, and molten rock from the adjacent magma
     chamber was spilling into the room, thick and glowing orange. The pool was rising
     rapidly. It wouldn’t be long before the entire chamber was completely filled.
    In the center of the room, its hindquarters half submerged in the deepening magma,
     lay the petrified remains of a dragon. Immense and breathtaking, the creature lay
     curled tightly, wings tucked against his back, tail curled around his body, head resting
     on diamond-clawed forepaws. The entire dragon had crystallized, its body turning to
     ruby and diamond in the intense heat and pressure of the volcano. The dragon’s chest
     was destroyed, crushed. Huge chunks of faceted crystal spilled around the petrified
     carcass.
    The heat rising from the magma made the air around the dragon ripple, distorting Dax’s
     vision until the entire crystallized carcass seemed to tremble and move.
    Take it. Take what remains. Take what is offered.
    The whispers filled Dax’s head, making him dizzy. Before him, the heat waves rising
     from the magma pool seemed to shimmer and take on a translucent fire-red hue, but
     the shimmer was . . . dragon-shaped?
    Dax shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. The image was still there . . .
     hazy, translucent, a dragon formed of insubstantial red mist. He stretched out his
     senses, but could detect no concentrated stench of evil.
    The Old One offers you his strength. You were not ready before, but we have made you
     so. Take what is offered. Without it, you cannot defeat your enemy. Take it. Quickly,
     before it is lost to the volcano. The earth continued to whisper to him, pushing at him to take a chance that could
     result in his death.
    Dax moved closer. The heat from the magma was so intense, he half expected to burst
     into flame at any moment, yet his burnished skin didn’t even blister. Another step
     brought him close to the dragon’s head and a mere five feet from the widening magma
     pool. Now, he could sense the power radiating from the crystallized dragon. Where
     had it come from? He’d been here in this chamber before. He’d found the crystallized
     dragon, half-crushed but still an awesome discovery, but he’d never sensed this pulsating
     energy. It almost felt alive.
    Stepping closer still, Dax reached for the shimmering veil of energy. The instant
     he touched it, a raw, savage wildness roared in response. Power slammed into him like
     an iron fist, plowing into him with enough force to knock him off his feet. He landed
     hard and pain streaked across his back and jaw, which had taken the

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