It was not, although the thing was rolling around and screeching horribly in its death agony, and the elements seemed ready to join in. Suddenly, the creature stiffened, its back arched, its wings sprawled, and, for a brief moment it almost looked as if it were gaining new strength, but it was the last brilliant blast of energy before it collapsed into a stinking, smoldering heap.

Wind and fire seemed to rise into the air, and a bright ball of energy suddenly sailed skyward and was quickly gone. A wind swept through, forming something, of a whirlwind over the still smoking body of the creature, then seemed to pause in the air.

“You… you killed her… killed her…” it moaned to him.

He stared at the secondary creature that had led him to her. “And what of it, elemental? Would you avenge her, you bag of hot air?”

The whirlwind seemed suddenly agitated. “No, no!” it responded. “We like the saga, we do, we do…”

’ “Then you shall pledge yourself to me through these wastes!” he shouted. “You shall bind to me, the killer of your mistress, until I leave your domain!”

“We bind… we bind…”

“Very well, then. Stand watch, while I sleep, and let no harm come to me or my horse while we rest, or you shall die the true death of dissipation!”

“We obey… obey… ”

He moved as far away from the stinking body as he could and prepared his bedroll. He settled down, but still could not quite rest.

“Elemental! A gentle breeze away from me, so I do not smell the odor of that carrion!”

Instantly a very light but steady breeze came from behind him and the air cleared. He was impressed. Air elementals were more useful than he would have thought. But he was still too keyed up, perhaps too overtired to sleep. He needed to relax himself after the events of the evening.

“Well, blowhard, you say you like the saga.”