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THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE — Page 4



      This dragon was almost as large as Brin had been, and was gleaming so brightly in the morning sun that Ed had to squint to look at him.

Corion

      "I don't even know your name, mighty dragon," said Ed as the gleaming dragon came toward him.

      "Corion," growled the dragon. "Not that it matters if you know who it is that kills you. Give up now and I'll be merciful and make it quick."

      "Why must we fight?" angrily replied Ed. "I don't want to hurt you any more than I wanted to hurt poor Asaph and Brin."


      "Everyone knows why we must fight," said the dragon as he spread his gleaming golden wings for the attack. "It is The Way."

      "Then I shall make a better Way," said Ed to himself and said to the dragon, "Well, before we fight, could you stand there in the sunrise a minute?"

      Surprised, Corion paused where he was. "Why should I do that?"

      "Your brother Brin was so beautiful in the sunrise yesterday, I truly hated to kill him. And you're beautiful, too — that fierce beak, the sharp fierce angle of your brow, the sun glinting off your arched wings — you are a sight I never want to forget!"

      "Well," said Corion, arching his neck. "Do you really think so?"


      "It's just extraordinary, the sheen where the sun rides over the shining scales of your great back," Ed said, "It makes waves of color as you breathe, and it is very bright."

      "Well, I had no idea you felt that way," said the dragon, spreading his wings even further and swelling his chest. "Tell me more."

      "I don't have enough words to tell what I see when I look at you," sighed Ed, "but truly I have never seen a dragon so golden as you."

      "It is a nice color, I agree," said Corion. "In fact, if you step around here to see it from the side where the sun is, it's even brighter."

      "Oh my, yes," said Ed as he scrambled around.


      "You know," said Corion, " —long as you're over there anyway, why don't I just let you go on. You seem like a nice enough fellow, even if you are a human, and I'm sure Daylith will be able to keep you from the Stone."

      "Why, thank you!" said Ed. "As a dragon you're certainly very nice yourself, as nice as they come. The sight of you in the sun is a memory I will treasure forever." And Ed happily went on down the road.


      It wasn't long before he came to the next dragon, a great bronze dragon bigger than any he had seen thus far.

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