The first, and by far the tallest, was Kazar, a barbarian from the Khur wastelands to the north. His face was comely but too hard and unforgiving to be pleasant. He did not seem pleased by his transfer and answered Sara's questions with curt replies.
Argathon had no idea where he was from originally. He had been orphaned in Jerek during the Second Cataclysm and wandered to Neraka simply because his father, a half-elf renegade and mercenary, had mentioned it a few times when he visited his son. Argathon's elf heritage was apparent in his short, slim stature and fair coloring, but his human blood gave him a trim, blond beard and a tendency to be short-tempered.
The last squire stared at Sara belligerently. "My name is Treb," she said in sharp, biting words. "I am Nerakan, born and bred, and I will take my Test of Takhisis next week."
"Congratulations," replied Sara dryly. She crossed her arms and examined the woman before her. Treb had to be the oldest of the squires, and she was like her name, compact and colorless. Her features were nondescript; her hair was lank and mouse brown. There was nothing drab about her attitude, however. She seemed to be trying to make up for a boring physical appearance with a tough, touch-me-not personality.
Treb's face darkened at Sara's tone. "I did not wish to transfer, but we were all that was left of our unit. Two deserted. The others failed their tests."
"I'm sorry," Sara said in regret. Those who failed the test for knighthood did not survive to try again. Derrick's friend, Tamar, had died that way.
Unfortunately her sympathy was wasted on Treb. The woman spat on the ground. "They were worthless." She raked her cold gaze over the other five squires. "Much like them. They probably won't make it either, and then I can be leader and get some real talent in this talon."
Sara stiffened, her gray eyes turned to granite.
Treb did not heed her silent warning. She went on venting her anger in spiteful words. "Our talon leader was old, too, but at least he knew how to train recruits. That Massard was a drunken bore. He couldn't train anyone to blow her nose."
Sara saw the squires stiffen with growing outrage. She jerked her hand down to stifle them. "And all but three of your talon deserted or died," she remarked. "Those are hardly the results of a good trainer."
Treb snorted indelicately. "I told you, they were worthless. I, on the other hand, could beat any of your children with any weapon, any time."
"Done," Derrick said suddenly, startling Sara. "But not yet. Squires cannot duel for rank. We will both take the test of Takhisis. After we have been knighted, we will fight for the right to be junior officer."
"What?" Sara exclaimed, distressed by Derrick's impulsive challenge. Her cry was lost in Treb's loud acceptance and a chorus of cheers from Saunder, Jacson, Kelena, and Marika. "Be quiet!" Sara bellowed in her most commanding voice.
The talon hastily snapped into silence.
"Now, in case you have all forgotten, you must have my permission to apply to the governor-general for the test."
Treb said smugly, "Knight Officer Conby, that will not be necessary for me. I have already applied and been accepted. My mentor has arranged for me to take the test next Soldai."
"Then I will apply, too," Derrick put in, his tone reasonable. "Knight Officer, you cannot deny me. I am ready."
Sara's fists clenched. No, not yet. Not Derrick. If he passed his test and took his vows, she could lose him just as she lost Steel. He would give his soul to the Queen of Darkness and become one of those she hated. No, she couldn't let him! He was too honorable, too loyal, to be bound up in this evil knighthood. Surely there was something better for him somewhere else in Krynn, if he just took the time to look. But if he insisted on taking his vows now merely to satisfy a matter of pride, he could lose his chance to escape, maybe even lose his life.
Yet what could she do? Sara knew even as she looked at his strong, handsome face that she could not deny him, at least not here, not in front of his companions and especially not in front of Treb and the two new men. It would undermine his authority and be a severe blow to his pride that could drive a wedge between them. She had to play for time so she could have a chance to talk him out of it.
"Squire Yaufre, I am too new to this talon to be assured that you are ready. The Test of Takhisis is no game. It is deadly serious, and I will not take a chance on your life just to satisfy a recruit with more arrogance than sense."
Treb started to interrupt, and Sara cut her off with a fierce motion. "And you, Treb, will remember who commands this talon. Keep your mouth shut, your ears open, and learn to cooperate with your group. Even the Knights of Takhisis must work in unison in battle."
Treb opened her mouth again only to hear Argathon say cheerfully, "Pack it in, Trebbie. You won't get anywhere with this one. She's fought horaxes, remember? After those, you're just a mosquito."
The Nerakan's face burned like embers, and Sara quickly stifled a smile. The woman obviously did not like the nickname or the young man's rejoinder.
"Enough of this. We will discuss this later, Derrick. For this morning, we will go on a flight. Bring your flying gear, bows, a full waterskin, and enough food for a day. No swords."
She watched them break off to their tents to fetch their gear. Why in the names of all the absent gods did the order have to saddle her with three new recruits now? Her position was precarious enough without adding complications like these. She didn't intend to stay in Neraka indefinitely. When the opportunity arose to escape the city without pursuit, she would take Cobalt and go, and if she could convince some, if not all, of the five squires to go with her, she would.
But now Derrick wanted to take his test and be fully knighted in the service of Queen Takhisis. How much of his desire, Sara wondered, was a true calling, and how much was simple availability? Derrick had never expressed a deep devotion to Takhisis or her dark knighthood in Sara's hearing. He wanted knowledge, authority, power, self-reliance. But to devote his life to a missing goddess? Sara was not totally convinced. The problem would be to prove to him that he was not convinced either. She couldn't be blunt and deny him permission without causing a rift in their developing relationship. She had to find a way to show him that the Knights of Takhisis held nothing but darkness for his soul.
Sara drew in a long breath. The strife was too close to her heart. She couldn't think through this dilemma without remembering Steel and her failure to help him. At that time, she'd had help in the guise of Caramon Majere and Tanis Half-Elven, who helped her take Steel to the Tower of the High Clerist to see the tomb of his father, the hero Sturm Brightblade. But none of their efforts, or her pleading, or even the vision of Sturm's ghost had been enough. Steel returned to Lord Ariakan and took his vows.
This time she had nothing to rely on but herself. She ran her fingers through her short hair and thrust her thoughts of Steel aside for now.
She had an idea that might help ease at least one of the talon's problems. While she waited for the squires, she walked to the practice fields and summoned the dragons.
Cobalt came immediately, his presence reassuring to his troubled rider. A third dragon appeared with Squall and Howl, a young but fierce blue named Tumult. He was Treb's dragon, he told Sara loftily.
She had a quick word with them to warn them of her intentions. They squawked a bit until she told the younger ones they could watch from a distance, as long as they stayed out of sight. They agreed to that and were all innocence when the squires arrived to saddle them. The recruits had to ride double, since there weren't enough dragons. Cobalt, being the largest, agreed to carry the last two with Sara.
With everyone mounted, the dragons arrowed into the air. They turned west toward the heart of the rugged Khalkist Mountains. About twenty-five miles into the wilderness, they saw a valley that angled in the general direction of Neraka and wasn't buried too deeply in snow. A small stream flowed under a shield of ice, and trees grew in the sheltered dales. Water, shelter, and fuel. It was what Sara was looking for. She pumped her fist to signal th
e dragons and sent Cobalt gliding down to a landing in the snow. The three younger dragons followed.
"Everyone off," she ordered.
One by one the eight squires dropped off the dragons into the snow and looked around quizzically. The five originals and the new three instinctively splintered into separate groups.
Sara leaned her arms on the saddle. "One of the most important things you need to learn before you become a knight is survival. The second is teamwork. All too often, the skills go hand in hand. If you learn to work together as a team, you will stand a better chance of success. Therefore—" she waved at the dragons to take off, "—I am giving you the opportunity to practice what I preach. Work together and you'll get home. Neraka's that way." And before the startled recruits could protest, she urged Cobalt aloft. His leathery wings grabbed the cold air and sent snow whipping around the gaping men and women.
The big blue looked down at them and chuckled. "They don't look very happy."
Sara shrugged. Their dragons would be close by, out of sight, in case of trouble. She wasn't worried about their abilities to make it back to Neraka, only about their intentions to be knighted too soon. "I'll give them four days. They'll make it if they want to," she commented.
Those four days were the longest Sara ever spent. The other talon leaders laughed when they heard what she had done. Such tactics had been used before, usually to good advantage, and the older knights, who mentored the squires, heartily approved. They didn't like the hurried training they'd been forced to provide any more than Sara did, and they were in full support of anything that helped "toughen" the recruits.
Sara didn't really care what they thought. She was too busy searching her own heart and mind for some course of action. Should she stop Derrick or let him try? What if the others wanted their turn, too? The dilemma nagged at her every minute the talon was gone.
The turn of the new year came during their absence, and it was that night that Sara dreamed of Steel. He had walked in her dreams many times before, usually in the remembered image of the last day she saw him, when he mounted the blue dragon, Flare, and left her behind to face her own grief, loneliness, and sense of failure. This time she saw him in her dream's eye as a young man barely out of boyhood. He was standing in the open space before their two-room dwelling on Storm's Keep. A storm raged across the island, soaking Steel in a drenching rain. Wind buffeted him, but he just extended his arms to greet it and laughed. His long black hair flew around his face like the tatters of a minotaur's sail.
"Come in!" Sara tried to yell over the roar of the wind and the crash of the waves. "Come in before you catch your death."
Steel grinned his crooked grin and shouted back, "Not yet, Mother. Be patient! It isn't time."
There was a tremendous crash of thunder. Sara bolted awake, trembling, the sound still ringing in her memory. The dark tent huddled silently around her. There was no wind or rain or thunder. No Steel.
Tears sprang to her eyes. She scrubbed her face with the rough blanket and pulled the bedding tighter around her. She hadn't cried for Steel in years, but the terrible| loneliness that had held her in thrall in the months after he left returned with fresh, painful vigor. The tears broke| loose and streamed down her cheeks. She buried her face in her blankets and let the tears come. There was nothing else to do. Even after eight years apart, Sara still missed him horribly. She cried for the child he had been, she cried for the years since she had lost him, and most bitterly of all, she cried for his death, which left an empty void in her soul that nothing would ever fill.
Perhaps if she had been able to have children of her own, her loss of Steel would not have been so wrenching. But even during the years she stayed with Lord Ariakan, she never conceived, and Steel became the cherished center of all her frustrated love.
Until this year. Now, in this cold, dark city in a tumultuous, frightening age for their world, she had found a group of young people who stirred her affections like none since Steel, and ironically enough, they didn't even know.
Sara suddenly chuckled at herself. She wiped her face dry and climbed out of bed to stoke her small brazier. A pot of water sat off to the side, where it stayed warm for tea. She brewed a cup of her favorite blend, dried and mixed from herbs in her garden in Connersby.
Back under the blankets, she sipped her tea and pondered her strange position in Neraka and the images of her dream. Steel had never been patient, which made it odd that she would dream of him cautioning her to wait. Perhaps he was right—or rather her inner self that conjured the dream was right. There were times when it was prudent to lie back and see what developed. Things could change in the blink of an eye.
She would bide her time and let events happen as they would. She just hoped that when the time came to jump, she would be ready. Feeling better, she lay back and slept dreamlessly the rest of the night.
18
The squires straggled into Neraka during the afternoon of the fourth day. Squall flew in first to alert Sara, then the other dragons arrived. They, Cobalt, and Sara stood outside the main gates and watched the talon come in.
Sara breathed a silent prayer of gratitude. All eight of the squires were there, walking slowly across the flat plain in a ragged imitation of a patrol. Derrick had the point, and although he limped and had to lean his weight on a walking staff, he steadfastly led his group on the path for home. Saunder and Treb walked the flanks, and Kelena brought up the rear. The rest filled in the gaps, their bows slung over their shoulders.
Sara didn't say a word until the talon was lined up before her. She noted with pleasure that they stood shoulder to shoulder as a group, not as two factions. She doubted that friendship would grow among all eight of them, but they seemed to have found some respect for each other. That was all she asked. "Well done," she said proudly.
As exhausted as they were, every man and woman threw back his or her shoulders and stood a little taller before her-simple accolade.
Sara stood aside. "There is soup, hot wine, and roast meat waiting for you at the camp. You are dismissed."
Irrepressible Jacson whooped his delight and sprinted toward the Red Quarter. Argathon dashed close on his heels. The others followed more wearily. They all looked as hungry as wolves and pale with patches of windburn on their faces.
Derrick gave Sara a twisted grin as he fell in beside her "That was a nasty trick."
She returned his smile with one of her own. "True. Was it successful?"
"Eventually. Argathon is not so bad once he gets to know you, and if it wasn't for Kazar, we wouldn't be here He has an uncanny ability to judge snow. But Treb has ambition and little tolerance. Kelena had to knock her into a snowbank before she would listen to anyone." He scratched some ice from the four day's growth of beard on his jaw. "I never thought I'd be glad to see this place," he muttered.
Sara glanced quickly at him, but his face was unreadable. "What did you learn?"
"Not to trust talon leaders," he chuckled. "Or dragons, We saw them following us once or twice, but they wouldn't come near us. Traitorous wyrms."
She pointed a finger at his limp. "How did you hurt your leg?" she asked.
He grimaced. "I twisted my knee falling down a hill."
Sara sensed there was more to it than that but did not press him. Instead, she merely said, "I'm glad you're back safely."
He leaned into his walking staff and said thoughtfully, "It wasn't so bad, really. We divided our food. There was plenty of firewood and ice to melt for water. The hard part was avoiding frostbite." His crooked grin shone on his dirty face. "We learned a great deal about one another huddled together through those bitterly cold nights. Did you know that Saunder has a dreadful snore, and Treb talks in her sleep, and Kelena hates to be crowded? All terribly useless information."
"That depends on how you use it," Sara said mildly. "If you were the leader of a talon, would you assign Saunder to night guard or day guard? Would you trust Treb with vital information if you knew she could reveal it t
o others in her sleep? Would you send Kelena to a busy city or into the country to gather information? By knowing the people in your command, you can make better decisions that will ultimately be advantageous for all of you. Success improves your reputation. And that," she said, gently poking his arm, "is a good principle to follow wherever you go."
Derrick looked at the squires plodding ahead of him. "Point taken," he said.
They finished the rest of the walk in companionable silence. As soon as they reached the camp, Sara made certain every squire had his or her fill of hot food and drink. She listened to their reports and their conversation and was pleased to see that her earlier assessment was correct. The trek home had been long, miserable, and difficult, but it had forged a bond of mutual experience and a measure of respect among them all—even Treb. They knew now they could face difficult situations and work through them together.
Argathon was the first to hear the crunch of booted feet on the frozen ground. He glanced past the line of tents to see who was coming and hurriedly jumped to his feet. The others were just looking around when a tall, cloaked officer trod with slow deliberation into their midst. His hands were gloved, and his face was shadowed by a cloth hood.
Sara couldn't guess what would bring this particular knight out to their camp. She rose to her feet and saluted. "Good evening, Lord Knight Cadrel. Would you care to join us for a meal?"
The afflicted knight declined. "I came to see for myself that your talon returned intact. That is good. In two days' time, we are sending a new wing out for a training assignment south of here. Your talon has been ordered to accompany it."
Sara tried to hide her misgivings; Treb made no such effort. "but I am to take my test in two days," the Nerakan cried angrily.
Cadrel turned his hooded face toward her. His dark eyes caught the flicker of firelight, then vanished again in shadow. "Wait. You will be tested soon," he said in his gravelly voice.
Legacy of Steel Page 18