Seth Siletta plan

  "What do we do?" Tanu asked.

  Gavin laughed grimly. "We give up. There is no way past Siletta. I couldn't conceive of a better guardian. Even if you held the horn to protect yourself from the poison in the air, she's still a dragon, with teeth and claws and a majestic aura of terror. She saw me. She's ready for us. Besides, who knows how long the unicorn horn would protect you? All magical items have limitations. Siletta is a living fountainhead of the most potent venoms ever known. "

  "We're pinned between a hydra and a poison dragon," Dougan muttered.

  "We need to figure this out," Trask said. "She could emerge at any moment. "

  "I'll take care of her," Seth said.

  "Don't be ridiculous," Tanu replied.

  Seth scowled at the dismissal. "I'm not. I have a plan. I'll need Kendra. "

  "What do you mean?" Trask asked.

  "We won't use the horn just to keep us alive while we fight Siletta," Seth said. "We'll use the horn to kill Siletta. "

  "How so?" Kendra asked.

  "When Graulas was helping me get the horn, I suspected that he wanted it for himself. But then he told me that his diseases had become so much a part of him that curing them would probably kill him. If this dragon has poison blood and poison flesh, wouldn't the horn kill her?"

  "Maybe," Gavin said thoughtfully. "But I doubt the horn contains enough energy to counteract so much poison. Unicorns possess tremendous purity, but we have no unicorn, just an old horn. You'd be pitting the power of a discarded horn against a live dragon. "

  "We have Kendra," Seth argued. "She's like a battery full of magical energy. If she holds the horn, she'll keep it charged. And of course I'll have to go with her or the dragon terror will freeze her. "

  The adults exchanged glances.

  "It might work," Gavin admitted.

Chapter 25