The Sorcerer rota-3

by Troy Denning

  The dragon let out a crackling bellow and sweeping its long neck around in great serpentine arcs tried to shake free of the swirling dust. The cloud followed wherever its head went.

  Ruha galloped under the undulating neck and streaked for the woods. The beast roared in frustration, sent a blue bolt of lightning cracking over her head, and swung back in Galaeron's direction.

  A tremendous bang echoed across the plain, and Aris appeared beside the dragon's dust-swaddled head, his largest stone-shaping hammer grasped in both hands. He brought the tool down again, staggering the beast and sending a ripple rolling down its neck.

  Galaeron dodged past a wildly lashing claw. He saw the giant raising his arms for another blow.

  "Enough!" he called. "Run!"

  Aris brought the hammer down anyway, this time drawing a dull thud as it cracked the dragon's skull. Galaeron ducked under a madly undulating neck and was nearly unhorsed by the edge of a flailing wing. He glanced back to see Aris vaulting over the dazed beast's back. The giant shouldered aside a wing-buffet and rushed after Galaeron.

  The dragon's dust-engulfed head bobbed uncertainly around, and Galaeron heard a telltale sizzle rising from the thing's throat.

  "Watch your-"

  A blinding fork of energy danced out from the dust cloud, but Aris was already diving for cover beneath the dragon's wing. The bolt struck half a dozen paces behind the giant, spraying dirt and burning grass fifty feet into the air. Aris emerged beneath the other side of the wing and rolled to his feet, then raced for the woods in great booming strides.

  Galaeron looked forward again to find the forest looming ahead like a wall. Ruha and two of the Seven Sisters had already dismounted and were crouching down among the drought-stunted leaves. He angled toward them. The witch rose and pointed at the sky behind him. Not waiting to see whether she was casting a spell or shouting a warning, he broke hard in the opposite direction. He felt a deep throb in his stomach as a pair of huge wings beat the air behind him.

  A pair of enormous rear claws tore into the ground beside him, then the second dragon crashed to its forefeet and spun after him. Galaeron heard the shriek of Ruha's magic bolts and the twang of a couple of bowstrings, but knew the attacks would not even distract the beast. He pulled his feet free of the stirrups and hurled himself from the saddle, flinging his sword off to the side and tucking into a forward roll.

  At that speed the impact felt like it would break bones clear down to his ankles, but Galaeron came up on his feet and somehow ran two steps before failing victim to his momentum. He tumbled headlong across the meadow. The dragon's scaly belly flashed over his head twice then there was only dusky sky and dusty ground.

  Galaeron came to a rest sprawled on his back and gasping for breath, staring back overhead at a wall of blue scales. He heard his horse scream and saw its body spin through the air off to his right, then he felt his own body erupt in pain as he began to slide across the ground. He raised his chin and saw Dove and Storm dragging him by his ankles.

  "Well acted, elf," Storm said. "I thought that 'do something, you useless scold' was an especially brilliant touch."

  Galaeron was in too much pain to tell whether she was mocking him or actually believed he had been performing for the dragon. They reached the forest, where the undergrowth added to Galaeron's humiliation by slapping him in the face with leaves and twigs. The sisters dragged him another fifty paces to where Ruha was waiting. Finally, they stopped and pulled him to his feet, drawing a series of wheezy groans as he struggled to return the wind to his lungs.

  Khelben Arunsun burst through the trees on his horse, then dismounted and sent the beast on its way with a slap.

  He took one look out into the field, and asked, "Can you run, elf?"

  Galaeron glanced behind him. The second dragon, the one that had just missed snatching him from his horse, did not seem to realize where he had escaped to. It was spinning in a slow circle, ripping up huge tufts of grass and sending small boulders bouncing across the ground as it searched for his hiding place. Still engulfed in Ruha's dust cloud, the other one had gone mad with rage. It was feeling its way down the road on all fours, smashing and shredding any living thing it touched. Already it was smeared to the elbows with blood, and it was closing fast on a screaming tangle of horses and handlers.

  Seeing the situation, Galaeron nodded to Khelben and managed to croak, "Perhaps not fast… but I can run."

  "Sure you can," Storm scoffed. "You can't even talk." Taking his far arm by the sleeve, she bent down and hoisted him onto her shoulders. Khelben nodded his approval, then led the way deeper into the forest "Wait!" Galaeron wheezed.

  The archmage didn't even slow down. "What is it?" Though the pain was starting to subside, being slung across Storm's shoulders was doing nothing to put the air back in Galaeron's chest

  The… caravan!" he said. "If s… it's being shredded." "Yes, and it's our fault," Khelben said. "Very unfortunate." "I think Galaeron is asking if you couldn't do something,"

  Ruha said.

  Dove glanced over at Galaeron and asked, "You really aren't asking if we could slay those little lizards, are you?" "This is no time for ridiculous questions," Storm added.

  "Maybe you've noticed we were taken by surprise?"

  "I noticed," Galaeron replied. Either his breath was returning, or his rising anger was giving him strength. "We can't just let them die."

  Khelben stopped and said, "I thought you wanted to destroy Shade." His voice was sharp with impatience, but there was a softness in his expression that seemed to indicate he understood what Galaeron was asking-and why. "I thought you wanted to save Evereska."

  "I do," Galaeron said, "but you can save those people, too." Seeing that he had finally recovered his breath, Storm dropped him to his feet Khelben stepped over, eyes burning with anger, and glared down at him.

  "The Chosen cannot save everyone on Toril." His tone was as anguished as it was resentful, as though it pained him to state this obvious fact. He waved a hand in the direction of the screaming caravanners and continued, "You chose, elf.

  Those few, or the thousands in Evereska and the dozens of thousands across the rest of Faer?n who will perish if we reveal ourselves and your plan falls."

  "But it's our fault," Galaeron said. He was beginning to feel very small and naive. "There must be a way without you revealing yourselves."

  "If there was, don't you think we would have done it?" Storm demanded. "You insult me, elf. I wouldn't do it again."

  She turned and started through the woods, more or less toward the last place Galaeron had seen Aris.

  Khelben lingered long enough to explain, "The deed itself would betray us. How many caravan guards do you know who could defeat Malygris and two old blues?"

  "None."

  "That is the problem," Khelben said. "I assume you are choosing Evereska?"

  With the screams of the distant caravanners ringing through the trees, Galaeron could barely bring himself to nod, but he did.

  "I thought as much."

  Khelben cast a last glance in the direction of the road, then turned and started after Storm. Dove motioned Ruha after him then took Galaeron by the hand and followed.

  "It is a hard lesson," Dove told him, "but one you must learn if you ever hope to live with the power you carry." Though they were running at a near sprint and taking care to do it without rustling leaves or cracking twigs, Dove's words came as easily as if they had been strolling in the gardens of her house on Evermeet. "Babes may be born into this world innocent as rain, but they have blood on their hands 'ere the end of their first year. We all do."

  "A comforting… thought," Galaeron said. Though he was as accustomed to running long distances as anyone, he had to concentrate to remain silent in both breath and step. "Are you trying to make me glad I have no children?"

  "I am trying to help you. Even if you eat only fruit and never set foot on the ground, you cannot live without killing. Something dies that you may live, eve
n if only the worm that will never hatch in the apple you ate."

  "I understand the laws of nature," Galaeron said. "I am still that much of an ell"

  "But not a wise one," Dove replied. "And wise you must become, lest you smother Faer?n in evil through your good intentions."

  She could not have distracted Galaeron more had she sank a dagger into his chest. He caught his foot on a root and crashed to the ground, causing the entire group to stop and whirl around. Khelben cocked his brow, Storm scowled and shook her head, and Galaeron could not read Ruha's expression behind her veil.

  "I beg your leave," Galaeron said as he scrambled to his feet The others resumed their run, and he grabbed Dove's hand to hold her back. "I am listening."

  Dove's expression turned to one almost of pity.

  "And still you do not hear," she said as she squeezed his hand until something popped inside. His whole arm erupted into pain. "You have a lot of blood on your hands, Galaeron. The powerful always do."

  Galaeron raised his throbbing hand. Though he had not seen Dove cast any spells or felt her use any magic, it had turned the color of an open wound. He was so shocked that he barely noticed the broken bone sticking up under the skin behind his index finger.

  "I…" Galaeron did not know quite what to say. He was still too confused to be angry, and even his shadow seemed too stunned to react "I don't understand."

  "No?" Dove shrugged, then started after the others, adding, "When you do, the hand will heal."

  Galaeron took a moment to set the break then, bones still throbbing, he set off after the others.

  The injury proved a useful distraction. As he grew accustomed to the pain, his ire began to rise, and with it his shadow. It took only a dozen steps before he grew so consumed fighting the darkness inside that he no longer heard the screams coming from the road. The thought occurred to him that this was what Dove had intended, though he doubted the pain of a simple broken bone could ever make him forget the anguish of those they were abandoning.

  A few hundred steps later, they came to a small stream where Aris was waiting with Alustriel and Laeral. The two sisters had filled five small vials with water and set them out on a flat boulder along the bank. Four of the vials were already gleaming with a silver aura of magic, and Alustriel was saying a spell over the last. Khelben and the rest of the Chosen went to the boulder and waited for Alustriel to finish. Aris noticed the way Galaeron was holding his hand and frowned in concern.

  "You hurt yourself. Maybe I can-" "Quiet!" Dove hissed. "The dragons are coming." Aris peered up into the forest's darkening canopy and said, "I don't see-"

  Ruha held a finger to her veil and whispered, "Listen." Aris fell silent. Galaeron listened and heard nothing but the distant murmur of panicked caravanners crashing through the dusky woods. It took him a moment to realize that Dove was talking about what they couldn't hear. There were no chirping crickets, no hooting owls, no more screams from the road.

  A faint rustle drifted down through the treetops. Galaeron thought at first that a breeze was coming up, but the rustle continued to grow and soon became the distinct hiss of air rushing over scales. A dragon-shaped darkness appeared to the north and came sweeping through the woods toward them. Galaeron and most of the others scrambled for cover, Alustriel lingering to complete her spell and Aris kneeling beneath the boughs of a great oak. The hissing grew louder, and the darkness came nearer, meandering back and forth, as vast as a lake, swallowing everything in its path.

  Alustriel finished her spell in a hushed whisper, then took up the last vial and lay down in the shadows along the stream bank. Galaeron kept his gaze turned upward, but the canopy was too thick for him to see anything except a tiny smear of sky and a handful of the evening's first stars. The hiss swelled to a whooshing, then the edge of a wing blocked even that small light

  They were plunged into darkness, and Galaeron waited in frozen silence, the throbbing of his broken hand forgotten. He counted one heartbeat, two, a dozen, then two dozen. Finally, the rushing faded to a hiss, and the darkness swept away to the south. He started to breathe again without realizing that he'd ever stopped, and a lone cricket began to chirp somewhere beyond the creek.

  Khelben emerged first, going straight to the boulder to pick up a potion. By the time the others had arrived, he already had the cap off and was raising it to his lips.

  Before he could drink, Alustriel caught him by the wrist and said, "Hold there." She took the vial from his hand and passed it to Laeral. "Perhaps you have no care whether you drink a man's potion or a woman's, but we do."

  Khelben raised a brow. "There's a difference?"

  Alustriel nodded and said, "A pair of bosoms would look as strange on you as a beard would on me."

  She selected another vial that looked just the same and gave it to him. Once Alustriel had passed out the rest of the potions, Khelben raised his hand as though making a toast, and the Chosen drank the magic down.

  The effect was swift, but not instantaneous. By the time they finished their potions, the Chosen had shrunk to the size of elves. They continued to diminish before Galaeron's eyes, their fingers growing so small they had to grasp the vials in their whole hands. Alustriel produced two green pills from somewhere within her cloak. Though they could not have been much smaller than peas, in her fingers they looked more the size of Cormyr's purse-hogging gold lions.

  "Swallow this when you are ready to be rid of us," she said. "There is no hurry except that imposed by your hunger… but in the Lady's name, don't eat! There are some ways I never wish to pass."

  Galaeron reached down to take the pills and said, "Have no fear of that. I doubt Aris and I will be dining at any banquets."

  Galaeron turned to pass the pill along and found the giant staring south into the forest, his brow drawn into a deep furrow.

  "Aris?"

  "The dragon-it's coming back," the giant whispered. "Ten seconds, perhaps twenty."

  Galaeron passed Aris's pill up-he had to tug on the hem of the giant's tunic to get his attention-then looked back to the Chosen. They were still waist-high.

  A faint hiss drifted down through the treetops, and a familiar darkness appeared in the woods ahead.

  "We're not going to make it," Galaeron whispered.

  Khelben looked up at Ruha. The witch paled-at least what little could be seen above her veil-but nodded and began to rub her hands together. Galaeron started to protest, but was reminded of the difficult decisions they had already made when his hand started to throb again.

  By the time he turned to say his good-byes, Ruha was already racing away from them. She murmured a word of magic, and the sound of her whispering feet began to reverberate through the forest. A soft pulse sounded down through the leaves as the dragon flapped its huge wings, then its black shadow abruptly turned and swept off in pursuit of the fleeing witch.

  "Fare you well, my brave friend," Galaeron whispered.

  "You won't be rid of her that easily, elf," Storm said. She stood only about as high his knee, and her voice was little more than a tinny hiss. "Ruha spent her childhood dodging blue dragons. She'll be there waiting when Shade falls."

  "I pray so," Aris whispered. He looked down, then kneeled and extended a hand. "I think I can do it now, if you're ready."

  "I don't think we'll ever be ready for something like this,"

  Khelben said, stepping onto the giant's palm, "but if you can do it now, the sooner the better."

  Aris tipped his chin back, then dangled Khelben over his open mouth.

  "And remember not to chew!" Khelben ordered.

  Aris dropped him headlong into his gullet, then made a sour face as he struggled to swallow without closing his mouth. For a moment, Galaeron thought his friend would choke and send Khelben flying through forest, then the arch-mage's black boots finally vanished into the giant's gaping mouth.

  Aris made a loud gulping sound, then lowered his hand again.

  Laeral and Storm exchanged uneasy glances, and Stor
m waved her sister forward.

  "By all means."

  "You're too kind," Laeral said with a grimace, then she stepped onto Aris's palm.

  She had grown just enough smaller that the giant was able to gulp her down without gagging, and Storm went down even easier. That left only Alustriel and Dove, who-at ankle height-were still too large for Galaeron to swallow.

  While they waited, Dove turned to Alustriel. "You're sure we won't suffocate?"

  "That's what the water breathing magic is for." She looked up at Galaeron and added, "You will remember to drink lots of water."

  Recognizing it as an order and not a question, Galaeron merely nodded.

  "And we won't be digested?" Dove pressed.

  "We're Chosen," Alustriel said. "A little stomach add isn't going to hurt us. And I do have protection-"

  The flicker of a far-off lightning bolt flashed through the forest, followed almost instantly by a muffled crackle. Galaeron glanced over and saw the distant glow of a burning tree.

  "What now?" he asked. At about twice the size of his thumb, Alustriel and Dove were still too large for him to swallow-at least without chewing first "It has to be coming this way."

  "There's only one thing to do." Alustriel waved a tiny arm, and the five vials shattered into sparkling dust. "If you wait here, the dragon will know you want to be caught"

  The steady throb of wings beating air sounded from the direction of the burning tree and began to grow rapidly louder, and the dragon's dark shadow sailed through the forest in their direction.

  Galaeron snatched both Chosen up in his good hand and shouted, "Run, Aris!"

  The giant spun and crashed off to the west. Trying to keep hold of the shrinking Chosen without suffocating or crushing them-in his panic to escape the dragon for a few moments longer, the absurdity of that concern did not strike him-Galaeron turned southward and sprinted along the bank of the stream. He was making it more difficult to capture them both, but he had to try as hard as he could to escape. A dragon that old would know if he tried to make it easy.