by Matt Forbeck
"Greffykor said you would,” Zanga said. "Once more, his wisdom is proven.”
The shrouded woman turned to say something in Draconic to the other islanders, and a cry of joy went up among them. It pleased Kandler to see them smiling. They seemed far less dangerous.
"So,” Kandler said, "can you tell us how to reach this Greffykor? ”
"No,” Zanga said, beaming with excitement. "It is a dangerous journey through unfamiliar territory. There are no roads. It must be approached by air.”
Burch pointed a finger toward the airship overhead. "I think we got that angle covered.”
"I know,” Zanga said, her eyes wide and her smile growing larger. "That’s what makes this all so wonderful.”
"How’s that?” Kandler asked. The woman’s glee confused him. He wondered if they might not have been better off getting into the fight. At least with swords drawn he knew what to expect.
"Because I will take you there myself.”
Zanga said this not as a request or an order, but as a matter of fact, as if she had chosen to comment on the particular shade of blue in the sky.
"Fantastic!” said Espre. As the words left her mouth, though, she spied the sour look on Kandler’s face and winced. "That’s not a good thing?”
Kandler forced a smile onto his lips. "It’s a very gracious offer,” he said, "especially from someone we just met, but I would guess that Zanga’s people need her here far more than we would.”
The shrouded woman laughed. "You do not know much about Seren life,” she said. "Most days the biggest challenge put before me is to divine the weather. Sometimes I need to prepare a poultice or set a broken bone, but all are well here now. Unlike in Khorvaire, we have few sicknesses here. We live by the sea, and by the grace of the dragons it and the jungle provide all that we need. For what we want, we sometimes go to war against our neighbors, but at the moment we are at peace.”
"Sounds nice,” Burch said, eyeing the long, sandy beach and the tropical trees that lined it. "When this is all over, I might think about shacking up in one of those huts.”
"Still,” Kandler said to Zanga, "Burch here is an excellent navigator. If you just point him in the right direction, I’m sure we’ll be able to find the way.”
Zanga frowned. "Without a Shroud of Scales aboard, the first dragon that sees you will knock your little airship from the sky.”
Kandler grimaced. "Perhaps we could borrow the shroud from you for the trip. I wouldn’t want to—” He could tell from the look on Zanga’s face that this path led nowhere.
"A Shroud of Scales is more than the garment,” she said. "It is the person inside of it. Without me, my shroud is just a set of scales.” She gave Kandler a shrewd look. "You cannot fool the dragons. They see everything.”
That was just what Kandler feared most.
"Very well,” he said, surrendering. "I would be delighted.”
Chapter
43
The sun hung low in the western sky, out over the open waters of the Dragonreach as the Phoenix scudded along the Seren shoreline. As they rounded the southwestern tip of the island, a breathtaking mountain range hove into the eastern horizon. The rays of the setting sun painted the white-rock mountains a breathtaking panoply of reds, oranges, and purples.
"Beautiful, isn’t it?” Sallah said as she joined Kandler where he’d been standing alone at the airship’s bow. The breeze ruffled her curly, red hair, teasing it out in long spirals behind her as she faced into the wind.
Kandler nodded. "In most cases, I’d be thrilled about the sunset for an entirely different reason.”
"So we could approach this dragon under cover of night?” She looked back at the ring of fire encircling the airship. "This may be a wonderful way to travel, but we won’t be sneaking up on anyone.”
Kandler smiled at her and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "I’m glad you found me,” he said.
"There aren’t many places to lose someone on a ship this size.”
"I meant in Mardakine.”
Sallah stared out at the mountains. "I know what you meant.”
Kandler let the comment lie for a moment, then said. "I wanted to thank you for coming along with us.”
"I told Espre I would honor her decision. I am true to my word.”
"You didn’t have to do that. You could have gone back to Thrane empty handed, or you could have tried to kidnap her and stolen her away to Flamekeep.”
Sallah gasped. "You know, I hadn’t thought of that.” She saw Kandler’s stunned look and smiled. "I’m only joking—of course I thought of that.”
Despite himself, the thought of Sallah considering going to any means to accomplish her goals impressed Kandler—although not as much as the fact that she’d chosen the high road instead.
"I’m a Knight of the Silver Flame. I’ve been trained since birth to become the best of my Order, and I have never failed in my missions.”
"How many missions have you had?” Kandler couldn’t resist the urge to needle the woman a bit. She rewarded his efforts with a sly smile.
"That’s not the point.”
"Then what is?”
"That this was the first mission given to me by Jaela Daran directly from the Flame itself, and you presented me with two options: kidnap an innocent girl and succeed or travel with her instead and watch her die.”
Sallah grew quiet. She bowed her head and closed her eyes. "I had my orders, and I defied them.”
"Why did you do it? ”
Sallah sighed and stared out at the darkest part of the sky. There in the east, the stars had begun to come out.
and Kandler could see traces of the Ring of Siberys there. He could see seven of the moons already, and the night was still young.
"Being a Knight of the Silver Flame is about far more than just following orders,” Sallah said. "We serve as a shining example of what is right in the world. We inspire others to reach for the heights we have attained and maintain. We follow a higher moral code so that we may become closer to the Flame’s purity with both our actions and our words. Kidnapping an innocent child doesn’t fit with that, no matter what the excuse.”
Kandler gazed at the woman. She seemed more beautiful than ever. "You might want to tell that to Te’oma,” he said.
"She wouldn’t make much of a knight.” Sallah gave Kandler a half smile and moved closer to him. "I’ve learned a great deal on this trip.”
"About what?”
"The world. Myself.”
"Any of it good?”
"I learned what I like in a man.”
Kandler smiled into the darkness. "The Order must not have left you a lot of time for men.”
"Not much,” she said, moving closer to him.
"You think if you had the chance to see even more of the world that you might change your mind?”
"About the world?”
Kandler leaned in and kissed Sallah. Her warm, soft lips bore unspoken promises that he knew would have to go unfulfilled for now.
"No,” she whispered into his ear. "I don’t think I would.”
"I thought you didn’t want to have much to do with me.” "That would have made life easier I’m sure. I’m not here on this airship because of you. Espre is my main concern.
Just because I haven’t convinced her to come with me to Thrane yet doesn’t mean I never will.”
"Hope means a lot to you.”
"I prefer to call it faith. The Speaker of the Flame sent me here for a reason. I may not yet entirely fathom what it is—or which way my path lies—but I have faith that it will work out for the best if I remain strong and pure and dedicated to my beliefs.”
"The best for you, or the best for your Order?” Kandler thought of the other knights they’d lost along the way: Gweir, Levritt, Brendis—even Sallah’s father, Deothen. Had dying been the best thing for them?
"They are one and the same thing. I have dedicated my life to the Silver Flame. It is my cause, and anything that adva
nces it—even my own death, should that be called for—is in my interests.”
Kandler rubbed his chin. "So where do I fit into all of that?”
"Wherever you would like.” Sallah’s smile turned coy. "Are Knights of the Silver Flame allowed to marry outside of the Order?”
"You’re getting a little ahead of yourself, I think.” "Humor me.”
"All right,” she said. "I’m living proof of such marriages. My mother grew up on a farm outside Flamekeep. She served as the innkeeper in her father’s inn until she met my father.”
"Did your mother convert to the faith?”
"What makes you think that she wasn’t an adherent of the Church?”
"Most innkeepers I know are agnostic.”
"Fair enough.” Sallah paused. "No, she never did. It was what drove them apart.”
"They ended their marriage?”
"The Church doesn’t permit such things. A matrimonial vow is until death. They chose to live separate but faithful lives.”
"That must have been hard on you.”
Sallah lowered her eyes. "We all have our burdens to bear.”
"Am I to be your salve?”
Sallah raised her chin and gazed at him. "I’d like that.” Kandler took her in his arms, and they kissed again. When they parted, he said. "Why tell me all this now? Right before we’re about to go meet with a dragon?”
"If we survive this, I want for us to be together. I thought you should know that.”
"You don’t think we'll survive this.” He peered deep into her eyes.
She did not flinch. "No, and I couldn’t stand the idea of dying without telling you how I feel.”
"I’m glad you did,” Kandler said.
"Truly? ”
"I’ve been standing here at the bow for the past few hours, trying to figure out just how I could find a way to tell you the same thing.”
The justicar took the lady knight in his arms.
"Land ho!” Monja called from the bridge.
Sallah and Kandler broke apart. "She must have been a pirate in a previous life,” said Kandler.
"Do you believe in such things? Multiple lives?” Kandler grinned as he walked back down the deck of the airship with her, hand in hand. "No more than I believe in anything else.”
As they approached the bridge, Kandler turned his head to port to see what Monja was pointing at. Off in the distance, he spotted a series of floating lights. In the darkness, he would have thought they were a little more than a tightly clustered constellation of stars. When he looked at them closely, though, he saw that they moved.
He turned back to call out to Zanga, who stood on the bridge between Monja and Espre. "Is that where we’re going?” he asked.
The shrouded woman nodded. "That is the observatory of Greffykor.”
"Observatory?” said Burch, who’d been helping Te’oma cook up a hot meal over the firepit on the main deck. "What do dragons observe?”
"Everything!” Zanga said.
"Then I guess he’ll know we’re on our way,” the shifter said, "and I hope he has something better to eat than this. I'm getting tired of leftover soarwing.”
Chapter
44
Kandler felt strangely numb as the Phoenix approached the observatory. The idea of meeting with a dragon and perhaps learning more about what he might be able to do to save Espre thrilled him. At the same time, he feared that the dragon might slaughter them all. The two notions canceled each other out and left him with nothing.
As the ship drew closer, the observatory stood out like a silver spike stabbing from the top of the mountains. The light of the moons shimmered on its glittering surface, and a series of large glowing balls swirled about the place for a moment then froze in place. These luminescent spheres seemed to be made of crystal wrapped in bands of silver. Runes had been cut all the way through these straps of metal, and the light shone through them, spelling out mystic words Kandler knew he would never comprehend.
"There are thirteen spheres,” Zanga said from her perch on the edge of the bridge, "one for each of the moons. These have three bands of metal crossing them, one along each axis.”
"What are the runes?” Espre said.
They’d gotten close enough that Kandler thought he could almost recognize some of them. Beyond them, the tower loomed larger than ever. It stood at least a hundred feet above the tallest of the mountain peaks, and frost and ice crusted its smooth-carved walls. Kandler wondered how cold it would feel inside, far from the airship’s warming ring of fire.
"Each band has thirteen runes. Those on the first stand for the thirteen moons again. Those on the second represent the thirteen planes of existence. On the third, they depict the thirteen dragonmarks.”
Kandler’s gut flipped. "I thought there were only twelve dragonmarks.” He hoped Zanga could not hear the deception in his voice.
"You forget the Mark of Death," Zanga said.
The justicar gave his stepdaughter’s shoulder a squeeze and stared up at the tremendous structure. It swept up from the mountains as if part of the toothy peaks and then lanced far out above them. This close, the walls seemed to have been made from gigantic columns of rock drilled from some distant quarry and then dropped here atop the mountain, their inward-sweeping tops tipped toward each other until they almost touched.
The gaps between the columns seemed to have been mortared with pure silver. Spaces showed in these long lines, forming tall, thin windows that glowed with a bluish light. The top of the tower seemed to be open to the air, although it was impossible to tell from the low angle of their approach. The light emanating from the top could have come from a ragingbonfire, although it shared the same hue as the illumination that spilled out through the sides of the tower, particularly through the solitary arched entrance.
This gaped like a toothed maw about a quarter of the way down from the tower’s top. A long, stone platform jutted out from the arch, resembling a wide, flat tongue. Monja, who had the airship’s wheel, aimed the craft straight for it.
"Where is the dragon?” Xalt asked. The warforged strained his neck to see through the tower’s entrance. He had stuck close to Espre since they’d left Seren behind. The thought that the girl had such a protector at her side at all times relieved Kandler. It freed him up to think about more than just standing between her and danger.
"He waits for us inside,” Zanga said. She dropped her shroud over the front of herself again, disappearing underneath it.
"Have you ever been here before?” Sallah asked.
"Once. Right after my mentor passed the shroud to me. It was . . . sublime. I will not spoil the experience with more words. Soon enough, you will share in it yourself.”
Burch emerged from the ship’s hold with a double armful of crossbows, plus four quivers full of bolts, and some thin rope of elven make. He set them down on the deck with care, and arranged them in a row. Kandler counted four standard crossbows—plus a smaller one that looked like it would be a good fit for Monja—as well as two coils of rope.
When the shifter noticed the others watching him, he winked at them. "Can’t be too careful,” he said.
"Those toys cannot harm Greffykor,” Zanga said. "Your bolts will bounce off his scales.”
"Who said I’d aim for his scales?” Burch said, needling the shrouded woman. "Anyhow, these aren’t for your armored god in there.”
"Then who?”
"Like I said, you can’t be too careful.”
Burch picked up the small crossbow and one of the larger ones. He laid the first at Monja’s feet, along with a quiver of bolts. He gave the second to Xalt, who murmured his thanks as he checked the weapon’s action. Then the shifter handed
one coil of rope to Kandler and kept the other for himself.
Burch vaulted back down to the deck and slung his own crossbow and a stuffed quiver over his shoulder. Then he picked up the other one and glanced around, confused.
"What happened to Te’oma?” he asked.
Kandler scanned the ship but saw no sign of the changeling. He cursed softly for not having kept a closer eye on her. Then he peered over at Zanga to see how she would react. Her shroud made her impossible to read.
"I am worried,” Zanga said, her light tone belying her words. "Not for Greffykor’s safety, but for your friend’s.”
"Will this anger the dragon?” Espre asked.
The shroud rustled as Zanga shook her head. "I am sure he foresaw this as well. We could not surprise such a student of the Prophecy as this.”
"Let’s hope you’re right,” Kandler said as they neared the landing platform.
The Phoenix slowed as she approached the platform. It had been built to accommodate dragons, not airships, and it showed no mooring lines or gangplanks.
"Just slip in over the platform,” Kandler told Monja. "We’ll take a ladder down.”
The halfling smiled. "I’ll try not to set the place on fire.”
Kandler patted her on the back. "We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
He strode over to the starboard rail and unfurled a rope ladder over it. Then he slipped down it to the platform below.
The long expanse of stone seemed as solid as the mountain peak over which it hung. Kandler put his hand on his sword but did not draw it. He reminded himself that he was here to talk, even if they were meeting with a dragon.
Sallah came down after Kandler, then Espre, Xalt, and
Zanga. With a quick wave to Monja, who had to keep her hand on the ship’s wheel, Burch brought up the rear. Each of them—with the exception of Burch and Zanga—shivered in the cold. Away from the airship’s ring of fire, the chill of the heights began to work its way into their bones.
"Shouldn’t we knock?" Sallah said as she crept toward the brightly lit opening.
From here, Kandler could see one large room inside the tower. It seemed to occupy the entire floor—which sprawled as far across as an open field—and the ceiling was too high above to see through the arched entry. A wide hole gaped in the far side of the floor, no railing around it.
Strange apparatuses, most of which stood taller than a human, lined the walls of the room, some atop carved tables or ornate cabinets large enough to hide a wagon inside. Kandler couldn’t guess as to their purposes, but he could see that they had been built for a dragon to use. Even if he knew what to do with the things, he wasn’t sure he could get them to activate or move.