"I suppose that I do command considerable influence," he answered guardedly. "The problem is that I don't dare use my influence for the wrong reasons. As the Dragonlord, I have a responsibility only to the dragons and to making certain that they keep the truce. I don't dare let the dragons get out of hand or do anything that might upset them. You must recall how desperate we were five years ago when it seemed that there was nothing we could do to save ourselves."
"Yes ... I remember that entirely too well," Jherridan agreed. "Are you telling me that your involvement in a war with Alphatia could upset your own balance of trust with the dragons?"
"That's exactly the point," Thelvyn agreed. "Like it or not, the dragons are a greater danger than Alphatia could ever be. At least you would have a chance against the Alphatians."
Mage Kalestraan was immediately suspicious. "Are these your own opinions, or are you just letting the dragons frighten you?"
"Kharendaen has agreed that I must not become involved," Thelvyn insisted. "I consider her opinion on this matter one to be respected."
"I must agree," Jherridan said thoughtfully. "I understand the importance of your position, and I dare not interfere. Therefore, that is all to be said on the matter."
Kalestraan looked dissatisfied, but he said nothing. For his part, Thelvyn felt relieved that it had gone so easily. Apparently the king really did understand the importance of Thelvyn's duty as the Dragonlord, as long as he was reminded from time to time. Mage Kalestraan obviously did not understand, but Thelvyn had expected that. Even during the time of the dragon raids, the wizard had been willing to use any tool or ploy that might work to his advantage, no matter how dangerous the consequences.
Kalestraan rose and bowed low. "If you will forgive me, I really must be getting back to the Academy. I am sure the two of you can make sense of this matter without me."
Thelvyn thought that Kalestraan sounded rather put out with the situation, which had not gone quite as he wound have preferred. But he was trying very hard to conceal his annoyance, and King Jherridan seemed not to notice. He was consulting a map that hung over the mantel, no doubt contemplating each of the nations of the west and whether Thyatian influence might draw them into the alliance. Thelvyn waited in silence, even after the wizard had gone. He wasn't used to exercising political influence, much less winning his point in debate. This round had been easier than he had expected, but he knew better than to think that future conflicts would be as easy.
"Well, that is encouraging," Jherridan said at last. "Now I wonder what we should do next."
"I'm not sure, but I should think that the next move is up to Emperor Cornelius," Thelvyn ventured. "I'm sure there isn't very much you can do to encourage him to make up his mind, and I know that it wouldn't be wise to try to pressure him. Cornelius is a clever and subtle man, but very open and direct for a man of such power."
Jherridan smiled. "If you're discreetly trying to tell me not to try to bully or manipulate this man, I will consider myself warned. Frankly, my thoughts are aimed in quite another direction just now. I was thinking that, as the king of the Flaemish Realm, I bear a certain responsibility to our allies to do more than merely shout and plead for war with Alphatia and then sit back and allow our new friends do our fighting. You have carried diplomatic messages on such matter for me in the past. Has such an accusation been made?"
"Not to me," Thelvyn said. "But I daresay that some of our would-be allies must have considered it. I myself have wondered just what the Flaem could actually contribute besides a token presence."
"We must think of something," the king said. "To speak practically, for the sake of our own honor and prestige and to prove our willingness to fight this battle, we must do something to prove our usefulness. There must be something we can do that will either make the efforts of our own forces more effective or else leave the Alphatians more vulnerable to attack."
"The Alphatians are your ancient enemies," Thelvyn reminded him. "Perhaps the time has come to send your wizards to search through all of your old books. Just don't, for pity's sake, let them do anything that might destroy this world. It would also be useful if those wizards could find some way of keeping the Alphatians from doing the same."
"You needn't be overly concerned about that," Jherridan explained. "Much of our more powerful magic was lost in the time of exile. That's why the Fire Wizards assembled that great library of theirs, to try to rebuild some of their former power. I suspect that the Air Wizards of the Alphatians must find themselves in much the same situation. So far they've used only the most simple of magical weapons in their conquests. I know how hungry they've been for power, and I believe that they would have used any weapon they had."
"That's a great relief to me," Thelvyn admitted. "Aside from my duty as Dragonlord, I have no wish to participate in events that might lead to such great destruction."
Jherridan laughed. "I hope you trust me to have better sense than that. My complaint with the Alphatians is not so great that I want to see them destroyed at any cost. My first duty is to the protection of my people."
Thelvyn said nothing more, but he was somewhat reassured to hear that. He had lived among the Flaem all his life, and he knew just how obsessed they were about their hatred of the Alphatians. In truth, he had always suspected they would do anything to defeat their ancient enemy. He had already known that they didn't possess very dangerous powers. If they had been able to command such magic, they would have certainly used it during their desperate battle with the dragons five years ago.
CHAPTER THREE
Pale morning sunlight was beginning to color the sea far to the east, but the encircling walls of the Alphatian stronghold would remain in the shadows for some time yet. The Alphatians had built the largest of their hidden strongholds on the shore of a small bay, in the shape of a horseshoe with its narrow inlet facing northeast. The bay was sheltered and deep enough for ships to come right up to the newly laid stone piers. Large portions next to the natural cliff lining the bay had been enclosed in grey stone quarried from the nearby mountains, the deep caves of the cliffs serving as chambers and cool storage rooms. A massive chain could be drawn across the entrance of the bay, forbidding the passage of enemy ships.
Farmlands had been cleared in the fields and meadows above the bay, although most of the folk who had come to live in that cold, desolate land harvested timbers to feed Alphatia's insatiable need for ships. Shipwrights worked in the shelter of the large caverns along the bay, sliding the finished hulls out onto the beach for fitting before they
were launched into the icy water and sailed away to their homeland in the east. At any time, even in the dead of the long, bitter winter, no fewer than two dozen ships were under construction, ranging from round-bellied merchantmen to long, sleek galleys for the Imperial Navy.
Norwold had suddenly, albeit secretly, become an important part of the Alphatian holdings because of the abundance of timber in the ancient forests and the rich ores to be mined from the mountains. The settlements were fortified and heavily defended strongholds. The Alphatians had worked hard to firmly establish their colonies before the inevitable day when the hated Thya-tians discovered their work and contested this new incursion on the continent of Brun.
Given time, the Norwold settlements could supply the wealth of material needed to support Alphatian conquests farther south, drawing in the Northern Reaches and the Heldannic lands to form a new Alphatian protectorate. The empire would finally possess a firm hold on the mainland, next drawing in the Steppes before finally crushing the despised Flaem far to the west. Darokin, Rockhome, Alfheim, and Traladara would each fall in turn, forming a ring of conquest that would leave Thyatis cut off like an island.
The one thing they had never counted upon in all their carefully laid plans was that the seemingly empty lands they claimed belonged to an enemy they had never anticipated and in fact had never yet seen, an enemy infinitely stronger and more dangerous than they.
Marthaen crouched
in the hills above the stronghold, watching patiently as the dragons crept into position. The Alphatians were not to be caught completely unprepared. Dragons had been attacking lesser settlements and ships all that spring, so the Alphatians in Norwold had known they were under siege for some time now. Marthaen had his own purposes in destroying one of the major holdings, mostly to prove just how dangerous and determined the dragons were but also perhaps as a means to get the Alphatians to talk.
He turned to Jherdar, who was also watching over the top of the hill. "We might as well wake them up. Lead your dragons around and create a diversion. When the wizards raise their defenses, I will lead our own sorcerers against them."
The red dragon nodded. "We will keep them occupied."
Jherdar drew back, then turned and withdrew into the dark forests behind them. Marthaen watched him for a moment until he became invisible among the thick stand of trees. He would have expected Jherdar to be wild and fierce, eager and impatient for the destruction of their enemies. Instead, the leader of the red dragons had been subdued, even deferential, since the theft of the Collar of the Dragons that previous winter. Jherdan had apparently recognized that this was not merely a fight but a war, something almost beyond the experience of the dragons and something they had never done particularly well. The big red dragon was always ready for a battle, but he knew that he was dependent upon Marthaen to guide him in finding the wisest course of action.
Only a few short minutes passed before Jherdar and a score of young red dragons began their diversion. They flew in low over the waves, hurtling as swiftly as they could fly along the coast before turning sharply and sweeping down within the circle of the small bay. Although they were relatively few in number, the dragons seemed to fill the sky like an invading army as they darted back and forth in a quick, unrelenting attack. For the moment, they ignored the two small galleys tied up at the main pier, turning their flames against the newly constructed ships lining the beach awaiting their final fitting. Next they directed their flames against the flat stone walls of the outer face of the stronghold itself, but to no effect. The doors and shutters of the windows, made of stout timbers lined with sheets of bronze, were meant to keep out the fierce cold of the northern winter.
But this first assault was only a feint. Scouts had been watching the Alphatian settlement for some time, and the dragons knew that wizards had arrived from their distant homeland to help with the defense of their colonies. The Air Wizards needed a brief time to prepare themselves before they could summon the full strength of their defenses. After several minutes, the gentle sea breezes grew quickly into a fierce gale, whipping the water of the bay into a storm-tossed spray of mist. The terrible winds began to converge over the center of the bay, forming swiftly into a great vortex that expanded outward until it formed a wall encircling the ring of the bay, raising with it a sheet of sea-water whipped into a fine mist.
The dragons tried to escape while they could, but the winds were too fierce for them to fly through, threatening to snap their wings and sweep them away. The curtain of water had frozen into tiny splinters of ice, as sharp as knives. Far above, the encircling winds drew inward, eventually enclosing the entire bay within a great cyclone. The attacking dragons dived at the wall of spinning ice, raking it with their flames, but the magical winds were so swift that the wall of ice instantly resealed itself.
While Jherdar's young reds kept the Alphatian defenders distracted, scores of dragons moved stealthfully out of the shadowed forests into the open lands on the cliffs above the bay, watching and waiting patiently. In their company were several of the largest and oldest dragons to be found in Windreach, among the most powerful of all dragon sorcerers and possibly the most powerful masters of magic in the world.
Once they were ready, the dragon sorcerers joined their wills and magic into a single entity under Marthaen's control. They began cautiously at first, exploring the spells of the Air Wizards, beginning with only the lightest and most elusive touch but then with increasing authority as they came to understand what they faced. A spell such as the defense being used by the Air Wizards needed constant tending, and that power could not only be followed back to its source, but also turned back upon itself. Dragon magic was more like that of the Immortals, offering their sorcerers the ability to accomplish things that other wizards did not dream possible.
A new battle began for the possession of the stronghold, an unseen battle of magic and will. Marthaen had been impressed at first by the skill and power of the Air Wizards, but after all, they were only mortals. Like all folk who tried to measure themselves against dragons, they were vastly overmatched. Once Marthaen had explored and understood the web of magic the Alphatians had raised to enclose their settlement, he summoned the will of his companions to wrest control of their magic away from the Air Wizards. The struggle was brief and the end inevitable as Marthaen seized command of his foe's own magic. He did not break the spell but sent it hurtling like lightning back at the Air Wizards. Within minutes, most of the Alphatian wizards were slain by the powerful blast of the counterspell.
With the magical defenses stymied, the wall of wind began to break apart, scattering a deadly hail of the splintered ice in all directions. The dragons had anticipated this and kept close to the ground until the deadly hail ceased. Then they moved swiftly to the attack before the Alphatian defenders could regroup. Marthaen leaped into the air with long, powerful strokes of his wings, circling around tightly as he descended swiftly into the center of the small bay. Jherdar and the first group of warriors were just ahead of him, directing their fury against the central portion of the Alphatian stronghold. They landed on the piers and, standing upright on their hind legs, employed the powerful whip of their tails to batter the stones of the fortress before using their foreclaws to rip it apart. The dragons belched blasts of flame through the openings, sending archers and pikemen scattering.
Finally Marthaen himself landed on the main pier. Standing on his hind legs, the gold dragon was an immense and majestic vision of terror to the Alphatian defenders. Slowly, ponderously, he approached the double main doors of the stronghold, then reached over his shoulder to draw the massive sword he wore between his wings. The blade glittered in the stark brilliance of the morning light, a twin-edged length of bright steel as long as three men. The other dragons paused momentarily in their destruction, turning to watch their leader in cold expectation. The only sounds were the snapping and crackling of burning timbers.
Then Marthaen lifted his great sword in both front claws t and swung it with all his tremendous strength against the
main entrance to the fortress. The massive timbers shattered in an explosion of sound as the iron bands that had supported them twisted and snapped, leaving the ruined doors hanging loosely upon broken hinges. Marthaen bent his long neck to peer inside the wrecked doorway. Alphatian defenders now drew back fearfully from the gaze of his glittering eyes.
"Send forth your leader!" he boomed.
A tall man in armor of leather and steel stepped out to face the mighty dragon. The Alphatian warrior did not lack for courage, even though he now confronted what was surely to him the most terrifying of all nightmare visions. Marthaen stepped back as the proud soldier came to the shattered doorway.
"I am Marthaen, the lord of dragons," he proclaimed. "Remember me well. Before we complete the destruction of this settlement, I will grant you a brief time to escape in the ships that we have spared. If any dare to return to this place, they will be destroyed as well."
"I will not refuse your compassionate offer," the warrior answered, "but I am curious why you allow us to escape."
"My intention is not to destroy you, but to drive all your people from these lands," Marthaen said. "The dragons will not accept any less. If your leaders wish to parley for a truce, then you know what we demand of them. They must not expect that we can be convinced to accept anything less. Otherwise, when we are done here, we will continue our attacks upon Alphatian ships at sea
and any other settlements and eventually bring the conflict to your own lands."
"You apparently have some bitter complaint that I do not understand."
"That is not your concern," Marthaen told him. "Tell your leaders that the dragons demand all that belongs to them, and we will see if they understand. Leave now."
The Alphatians needed no further encouragement. Without pausing to collect their treasures or even many supplies, they laid down their weapons and filed out from the burning stronghold. Taking stock of the numbers of the settlers, the dragons pushed out a pair of seaworthy hulls from where they were still being fitted on the beach, pulling the ships by ropes over to the pier. The farmers and craftsmen were loaded into these ships, which were towed behind the two galleys. The surviving soldiers and many of the shipwrights addressed themselves to the oars, hauling the small fleet out of the bay and into the open sea as quickly as they could.
After the ships had departed, Marthaen withdrew to the end of the main pier, leaving the final destruction of the settlement to the younger dragons. The battle had ended sooner than he had anticipated, and there had been more survivors than he had expected. He was secretly glad that the dragons continued to be subservient to his will by permitting so many of their enemies to escape.
"Do you believe that the Alphatians will be prepared to parley after this?" Jherdar asked, stepping out onto the pier to join him.
"I do not expect it," Marthaen admitted. "They will probably need to think about it for some time, which is why I am making my demands clear now."
"Then we will continue our attacks on their ships and settlements?"
"That is the best way I know to encourage them," he said, then glanced up as he saw a young gold dragon circling down swiftly toward him. He sighed as he saw that it was Kharendaen. "Please excuse me. A storm approaches that I must somehow endure."
"Then I take leave to seek my own shelter," Jherdar said, glancing over his shoulder cautiously. There were few dragons he feared, but he had a deep respect for the young cleric.
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