"As you have already guessed, I renounced my own Immortality for a time in order to become your father. By that means, you were predisposed to the Hidden Path. The way has always been open to you, as long as you remained constant in your worthiness. Still, the final decision must remain your own. That too is ordained. Because you did not choose to take this path, you alone have the right to choose whether you want to take the final steps at the end of your path. Do you wish to take the final test?"
"I do," Thelvyn agreed. "My being here testifies to that."
The darkness closed about them, so that Thelvyn could no longer see the walls of the citadel. Glancing up, he could see stars shining in die night sky, and he knew they were no longer within the ancient fortress. Now the forest surrounded them, the edges of tall pines barely visible in the deep, moonless darkness. As he watched, others stepped out of the forest to join the dragons, but they remained quiet on the edge of the clearing. The Immortal Terra stood behind the Great One, and he also saw the bearded Kagyar, lord of the dwarves, and the elf-king Ilsundal. They had come to witness the ascendancy of their chosen champion. He realized now the chance they had taken in trusting in the compassion and devotion of a dragon, a trust they must be anxious to see vindicated.
"You must answer these questions," the Great One said. "First, by what great deeds are you worthy to become an Immortal and an advocate of the dragons?"
"I have served as the Dragonlord," Thelvyn answered, although he was certain the events of his life must be well known to those gathered here. "I have been a king among men and among dragons. Twice I have helped the dragons to avoid a war that would have only served the purposes of their enemies, and I have united the dragons in battle against their true enemy."
"You have served well and wisely," the Great One told him. "Now, what gift have you brought in honor of your service?"
Thelvyn was startled and confused. He recalled now those things that he had learned from the dragon clerics of
Shadowmere during the previous winter. One who wished to present himself for ascendancy as an Immortal must prove his worth by his deeds, and he must bring to the meeting a treasure of immeasurable wealth that he has made or acquired as a gift for his sponsor. Thelvyn had never considered himself a candidate for Immortality, and so he had not prepared for this meeting. Suddenly he was afraid that he would fail.
"I have brought with me only the Collar of the Dragons," he said at last, still uncertain. "But the collar belongs to the dragons, and it is not mine to give. All that I can offer as a gift is my own life, all that I have been and might have been, all that I have done and might have done, all the love and companionship that I have known and might have known."
The Great One nodded. "You could offer no greater or more beautiful gift, for dragons value their lives above all treasure, and thus the offer of their lives is the greatest treasure they can give."
The Great One paused a moment, glancing briefly at his companions, as if to see if anyone wished to challenge his judgment. Thelvyn suspected it was not enough for the Immortals to simply choose for him to become one of them. Perhaps it was a part of the magic itself, or perhaps just to circumvent any challenge from hostile Immortals, but he had to satisfy all points of the tests or he could not proceed. The fact was that he had not brought an actual gift, but the others seemed to think the offer he had made was acceptable.
"There remains only the question of the Seven Tests, each of which must have been satisfied by the deeds of your life," the Great One continued. "You have proven your honesty and trustworthiness. Certainly you have proven your dedication to your service, and no one could have been more persistent in the face of adversity. You have proven your bravery, and also your mercy. You have proven your wisdom. And above all, you have shared these noble gifts with your people, teaching the dragons that they, too, can be wise and even great. You have changed the lives of your people for the better for all time to come, and that above all else is the most important deed required of one who would complete the path to Immortality."
Thelvyn became aware of some subtle change within himself. The pain and weariness of recent days was gone. He felt young again, stronger than he had ever been, so full of life and energy that he felt as if he could leap halfway to the stars before he even spread his wings. His mind was clear and alert, his heart was overflowing with delight. He knew he had begun his final great journey, leaving behind his mortality to become a creature of magic.
The others vanished into the darkness, leaving the two dragons alone in the clearing. Thelvyn's right to ascend to the status of an Immortal had been established, and now the time had come for him to complete his journey. The Great One's form began to glow, becoming transparent as he, too, prepared to depart.
"To complete the process of becoming Immortal, you must continue now into the outer planes" the Great One told him. "Spread your wings and fly, and the proper way will be opened before you. As you travel through the places I will show you, I will explain things you must know."
The image of the Great One faded away into the darkness, and he was gone. Unhesitatingly Thelvyn spread his wings and leapt into the night sky. He climbed rapidly, ascending almost straight up toward the stars in a way that no living dragon ever could, as if he had become almost as light as the wind itself. He found that he was rising swiftly above the dark forest of a mountainous land far different from the place where he had been, for there was no sign of the Citadel of the Ancients or the peak where it stood, or of the valley where he had left his companions. This was the place of dreams, that strange land of illusions where the Great One brought his clerics to speak with him, the place where Kharendaen had taken him on the night he confronted the dragon that became himself.
"There are many planes of existence," the voice of the Great One said, speaking to him out of the darkness. "Many are natural in their origin, as old as time itself, entire universes like our own that exist side by side like the pages of a book, each bearing its own story. There are also lesser planes created by magic, many that we Immortals have opened by ourselves and made our own."
As Thelvyn flew, a shaft of pure silver light, like a beam of intense moonlight, although no moon had yet risen in this world, reached down from the stars to intercept him. He continued to climb into the light, which became brighter with each passing moment.
"A place of your own has already been prepared for you," the Great One continued. "Your home plane is created from your memories, from your desires and your hopes. And so it will always seem to you like a perfect place, your own personal world that is a reflection of what you wish the real world could be. It is as large as you require it to be, as small as a stand of woods or a quiet valley, or as immense as an entire world. It is shaped by your own will, so you can adapt it to suit your needs."
The light had grown steadily to a blinding intensity until Thelvyn could see nothing but the light itself. Suddenly he realized he was passing through a swirling white mist like the inside of a cloud. A moment later the mist parted before him, and he found himself gliding gendy on the wind above a land very much like the one he had just left. But this appeared to be a more northerly land than the Great One's place of dreams, a place where forests of towering pines carpeted the deep valleys between high, stark ranges of stone and vast peaks crowned with white snow. He felt a slight bite of cold in the wind, just enough to be brisk and refreshing.
He became aware of the shapes of dragons riding the winds of the distant heights, chasing and playing through the forests, or sitting on high ledges to watch the night. Then he became aware that they were only the images of dragons, nothing more than ghosts. They became more clear and distinct as he watched them, until he could see gold dragons or dragons of great and noble breeds that did not yet exist in his former world.
"This is the home of your heart, a world of dragons you wish in your heart could exist, where good and noble dragons can live in peace and contentment. Through your influence, some portions of the t
rue world may someday resemble your vision. Later, when your present task is done, you will return to this place and adapt it to your will. You will make yourself a great castle, where you will live with four gold dragons who will attend you, earning their tides by proving their worth."
"Any four dragons?" Thelvyn asked.
"As long as they are worthy to serve you," the Great One answered. "Do not forget that you are an Immortal. While your service remains to me and to the cause of all dragons, the golds and the other noble breeds will look to you as their champion, and certain clerics of my own order will elect to devote their special interests to you."
The shaft of silver light reached down to envelop him once again, and he moved into the light as it grew in intensity. Then the mists parted, and he found himself in a very different world, a place of still, deep, magical forests. He knew this was the home world of the Great One, although he did not have to be told that, remembering the sacred place of the Great One in the forest of Alfheim. He recalled now that Kharendaen had once told him the Great One had been a cleric loyal to the Immortal Terra, who had sponsored him. This was the place where the Great One was most at home, in the ancient, mysterious forests whose existence predated the coming of men.
A great palace stood on a hill that rose out of the dark woods, waiting vast and silent just beyond the place where the mist had parted. Thelvyn didn't change direction, settling into a slow glide that led him directly toward the main gate, which opened to receive him as he approached. For a moment, he sailed along a wide, dark passage that led in time to an immense chamber. This was the Hall of the Great One, although it felt more like a place of woodland magic than a castle of cold stone. The walls and ceiling were lost in darkness; great stone pillars were carved in the likeness of the towering trunks of forest giants, and light curtains of green hung like leafy branches.
He paused, seeing that the Great One waited for him.
"There is much yet to explain, and I must speak quickly," the Great One began at once. "The Overlord is on the move, and the time of your final confrontation is at hand. But there are words I wish to impart to you before you return to your world."
The Great One joined him, sitting down on the stone floor and then lowering himself to recline his full length with his neck raised. "As you know already, until now I have now been the only dragon who ever attained the status of an Immortal. There has always been much that I have wanted to do for our people, but I have only very recently become powerful enough to begin acting upon policies of my own. There are two situations that I have desired to act upon, by two different but related means.
"First, I have always been distressed that dragons have been relegated such minor roles in the events of the world. On the whole, they are the most intelligent, the most magically gifted, the strongest, and among the longest-lived of all creatures. In them are combined elements of monsters, mortals, and Immortals. They should be counted among the major races, equal to men, elves and dwarves, and yet they have been little more than animals, the pawns of both mortals and Immortals. Dragons are routinely slain by the designs of mortals and the Immortals guiding them, for their treasures, for the magic artifacts in their keeping, or simply to magnify the reputation of the slayer.
"In part, the problem is due to the fact that dragons have so few advocates and little representation among the Immortals. This is doubly odd, since dragons may become Immortal comparatively easily by the Hidden Path, a path to Immortality that is almost unique to dragons because of their dual nature as both mortal and magical beings. By the Hidden Path, a dragon can be selected in advance-predestined as it were-to be a candidate for Immortality, since he should not even be aware that he is following the Hidden Path until the time of his final quest. So your purpose is not merely to fight the Overlord. I have long needed you to help me unite the dragons and to stand with me as their advocate and to prevent the other Immortals from using them as pawns in their policies.
"The problem is also in large part with the dragons themselves, for even the lawful dragons can be solitary and fierce, even violent, creatures, and few have been motivated to seek the world outside of their own narrow lives. My presence unified to a limited degree, but I have always sought to change the character of the dragons to make them more sociable, much as Kagyar altered the nature of the dwarves. You have already done much to continue the process of unifying and civilizing the dragons."
"I, too, have seen that need," Thelvyn admitted. "I could ask for no more honorable task than to help the dragons to realize the nobility that I see in them."
The Great One nodded. "To that end, you are now to become Diamond, the first dragon ruler, lord of all lawful dragons. Since until this time the only lawful dragons have been the golds, your subjects will be joined by new races of lawful gemstone dragons, the crystal, sapphire, and ruby, once they are freed from the will of the Overlord. In time, I will also create two new dragon rulers: Opal, ruler of the neutral dragons; and Pearl, ruler of the chaotic dragons. Their presence will help to guide the races of dragons into the future that has been planned for them, for while the primary need of the dragons is for law and guidance, they must also maintain the greater balance, with chaos tempered by neutrality. But of the three, Diamond will always be wisest and most powerful."
"But what about the Overlord?" Thelvyn asked. "Can I defeat him?"
The Great One hesitated, considering the question carefully. "You can defeat him if you are very careful. Since he has come into our world, we can see him now, and we understand his secrets better than previously. The huge, terrible creature you see is not his true self, only a manifestation of his will and magic. That is why you can break his will by knowing his true name, since knowing it disrupts the spells that allow him to function through his manifestation. Knowledge of his true name tells you how to stop him, but you must not only stop him but also destroy him. I do not yet see how that knowledge will help you to accomplish his destruction."
Thelvyn sat for a moment, trying desperately to make sense of the problem. "Perhaps what you have said does tell me what to do … or at least how to begin. When will I be ready?"
"You are ready now," the Great One told him. "Look at yourself."
Only then did Thelvyn realize how he had changed. He had assumed his new form as a lesser Immortal so slowly and sub-rly that he hadn't even been aware of the transformation. Now he understood why his new name was Diamond. His appearance now was that of a great dragon very much like the gold he had been, but with scales that glittered like cut diamonds. He had become the very thing the gemstone dragons had tried to make of themselves, so that they were only pale and incomplete copies of himself.
"Go now, but be careful," the Great One said. "Do not try to rely only upon your new powers to defeat your enemy, for the Overlord is very powerful. You must be patient and clever."
CHAPTER TWENTY
As soon as the Overlord began to suspect the dragons were in retreat, he ordered his forces to press forward. He had been trapped by the cleverness of the Dragonking once before, and therefore he proceeded cautiously, sending out the Masters to search out the dragons. He learned that the dragons were attempting to hold a defensive line along the western spur of the Wendarian Mountains, but they were evasive and seemed reluctant to fight. Now he could use the Masters to keep the dragons occupied farther to the east, giving the rest of his vast army the opportunity to advance quickly.
Of course, the one thing that the Overlord could not know was that the Dragonking was gone, having already departed for the distant west. Without the Dragonking, and with his lieutenants, Marthaen of the golds and Jherdar of the reds, away as well, the dragons had scattered into many small bands to hold out as best as they could. They would attack the gemstone dragons that hunted the mountains any time they had the element of surprise and a clear advantage in numbers, but otherwise they were content to flee or hide from their enemies.
And so they passed that first day and into the restless night, whi
le the Overlord became increasingly bold. Yet even now he did not become reckless. He couldn't forget that the Dragonking was still out there somewhere, and that nothing would be certain until the Dragonlord was defeated. He was totally unaware that, on that same night, Thelvyn had been transformed into the dragon ruler Diamond.
Marthaen and his companions returned to the mountains the next morning. They had flown all night and looked rather the worse for wear after such a long journey, but there was no time now for rest. The main camp was still in the same place, on a remote, wooded plateau in the eastern edge of the mountains. Dragon couriers began seeking him out at once, and he soon had a fairly clear report of all that had happened in his absence. With no better idea of what to expect, Marthaen knew only that he had to maintain the best defense that he could for an uncertain amount of time, possibly several days.
Once he had heard the reports, he called together his chief advisors, Jherdar of the red dragons, Thalbar of the blacks, the cleric Kharendaen, plus many lesser kings and queens among the dragons who had gathered as quickly as they could. His younger sister had proven herself to be one of the most capable and clever fighters they had, although he was concerned that she might be reaching the limit of her strength. Sir George had invited himself to attend the council, and Marthaen was desperate enough that he was not about to deny the devious but resourceful mandrake.
"The Overlord obviously knows something is up," Marthaen said as he sat back on his tail. "I would like to know if he is just pressing the advantage while it seems to be his, or if he thinks that we have been forced to retreat."
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