The passage fought him from the first moment, not actually pushing him back into the world he had just left but seemingly reluctant to permit him to pass through. For a moment, he felt a twinge of panic as he wondered if the gemstone dragons were trying to hold him back with magic, but then he became increasingly certain that the hesitation was in the gate itself as it fought being tom apart behind him. Now he could only wait and fight back the fear that the passage would collapse too soon and leave him trapped between worlds.
Then, in the final moments, he was suddenly thrust forward with violent force, almost as if the worldgate sought to expel him. He was hurled out into his own world so powerfully that he was tossed a short distance across the grass beneath the trees before he lost his balance and fell heavily. A great flash of flames exploded just over his head, and fragments of broken stone were hurtled through the forest for nearly a hundred yards. The collapse of the worldgate had shattered the stone arch, drawing the debris through the gate as it closed.
Thelvyn opened his eyes and looked upward, not yet daring to move. The large oak that stood over what had been this end of the worldgate had been caught in the flash of fire, and the leaves of the nearest branches were already burning furiously.
Kharendaen cast a spell to suppress the flame. After this second assault on it, the tree was beginning to look the worse for wear. Thelvyn sat up on his haunches and shook his head, then glanced back at his mate. Fortunately she had stepped to one side of the worldgate to make room for his arrival, and the destruction had missed her.
"Well, it worked," Sir George said as he dropped down from his saddle. He looked no less worn and abused than the two dragons.
Thelvyn took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "I believe we should remain here for a time, to be certain that the gemstone dragons don't attempt to pass through into our world."
"I haven't the strength to fly anywhere in any event," Kharendaen agreed, sitting back on her tail with her long neck sagging wearily.
"If I could find the strength, I'd hunt down Alessa Vyledaar and skin her alive with a dull knife," Thelvyn said darkly, his ears laid back. Then he shrugged helplessly. "Not that it matters. Considering what we saw of those wizards that attacked us, my suspicion is that she had no will of her own."
"I wasn't certain if that wizard was trying to answer your question or if he was simply crying out," Kharendaen said as they walked slowly together to sit in the shade of a nearby tree. "Clearly the wizards were under the will of the strange dragons they call the Masters. But didn't he say not all the wizards are under their command?"
"He did say that," Thelvyn replied. "I'm sure Byen Kalestraan was under their influence as well, whether he was aware of it or not. That alone now explains his strange, often contradictory actions, which I could never begin to understand before. I think the destruction of so many of the wizards and the escape of the rest brought a serious interruption to the schemes of the Masters, since they no longer had anyone in Braejr under their influence. As near as I can tell, Alessa didn't come under their control until fairly recently, just in time to lead us into a trap they had prepared for us."
"How do you figure that?" Sir George asked. He was still shaking sand out of his clothes.
"Because that explains the other mystery," Thelvyn said.
"Solveig swore to us that Alessa had come over to our side, and I have no reason to doubt Solveig's judgment. But later we found Alessa to be as suspicious and sneaky as any Fire Wizard ever was."
"But why didn't they try to control us?" Sir George wondered.
"The only reason I can think of is that we are all three dragon-kin," Thelvyn said, looking perplexed. "I find myself with certain suspicions about the true history of the Flaem. I suspect that some time in the distant past, they wandered into the world of the gemstone dragons—-or were brought there— and came under the influence of the Masters. And I also suspect that the Flaem didn't continue on into our own world through their own will. I think they were sent by the Masters as advance scouts to establish a presence, to secure and evaluate the power of the Radiance, and to evaluate the strength of their enemies in our world."
Kharendaen shook her head slowly from side to side. "The Masters knew an ancient form of the language of the dragons. Obviously they had some past contact with our world long ago."
"Can you guess how long?" Thelvyn asked.
"Not accurately," she admitted. "At least three thousand years ago. Possibly as long ago as five thousand or more."
"That is bothersome," Thelvyn agreed as he stared aimlessly at the ground, lost in thought. He frowned. "That leads me to wonder if the gemstone dragons were once related to the dragons of our own world, but then they were changed by the magic of an alien world. Except for their rather remarkable armor, their general shape was more or less the same as ours."
"That seems unlikely, but not impossible," Kharendaen said, obviously troubled by the idea. "I think they've changed too much in a short time for that to be likely. Unless something very strange has happened to them."
"Obviously the Masters know a great deal about the dragons of Mystara," Sir George commented. "Since it was never used in any way, was the theft of the collar meant primarily to forestall the coming of the Dragonking? That dragon did refer to you as 'the Dragonlord who was and the Dragonking who never will be,' at least if his kind has their way. And they directed all of Byen Kalestraan's efforts to destroying you. It seems obvious to me that they want to prevent you from uniting the dragons. Why? Because the dragons alone have the power to stave off their invasion of our world?"
"That seems obvious now," Kharendaen agreed. "The Great One himself warned us of this, didn't he? He said that the Dragonking alone could unite the dragons against an enemy only they can fight. It would seem that he has anticipated the coming of the Masters since he created the Collar of the Dragons for the Dragonking more than three thousand years ago, which is also about the time the gemstone dragons might have come into our world."
"We're beginning to understand a lot of things now," Thelvyn said. "We seem to have two choices now that I have the Collar of the Dragons and can claim the authority of the Dragonking. Should we go at once to Windreach and have the dragons begin preparations for war immediately? Or should we go back to Braejr while we're still so near, to reveal the conspiracy of the Masters, break their control of the Flaem, and set to rest the fears that the recent attacks were the work of dragons?"
"I suggest that we go to Windreach at once," Kharendaen said. "The time has come for the Dragonking to establish his own following, so that you will have the power and authority to face the Masters. And I believe that we should be very sure of ourselves before we return to Braejr. The Masters have used the Flaem to surprise us once already. Perhaps the Great One will speak to us again and tell us more that we should know."
Thelvyn nodded, if with some misgivings over facing the dragons in their own element. But that was a confrontation he could not avoid much longer, now that matters had suddenly become so desperate.
"Then we go on to Windreach tonight. But first we must rest and hunt. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," he commented, then realized what he had said. He turned his head to glare at Sir George. "Don't you dare say a word."
The old knight closed his mouth and tried to look innocent.
CHAPTER SIX
Marthaen opened one eye reluctantly, then closed it again and turned his head away. It was still the middle of the night, and he was in no mood to drag himself out of his warm bed. But Daresha, his mate, pushed at him again, and he opened his eyes to see her narrow face peering down at him.
"Dragons are landing on your ledge," she explained.
"Tell them to come back in the morning," he complained sleepily.
"Tell them yourself," Daresha insisted, pushing at him even more insistently. "Get up, you lazy lizard. The world is about to go to war again. Would someone come knocking at your door at such a time if it weren't urgent?"
Ind
eed, there came an impatient knocking at the door at almost that same moment. Marthaen lifted his head and yawned hugely, then climbed out of his bed and ambled into the main chamber of his lair. He opened the back door just enough to peer out onto the ledge, and he was rather startled to see Sir George Kirbey staring back at him.
"Oh, honestly," the dragon muttered, sighing. "You're the
last person I expected to find loitering on my ledge. I suppose your companions must be just behind you."
Marthaen stepped back so Sir George could hurry inside with his travel bags, followed closely by Kharendaen and Thelvyn. In spite of his outwardly inhospitable mood, Marthaen recognized it was important to get the Dragonking inside before he was seen. Kharendaen paused a moment to rub her cheek against her brother's, as if trying to put him in a better humor before she stepped quickly aside. Thelvyn entered last, bearing himself with the pride and dignity befitting the king of the dragons. Marthaen was so startled to see Thelvyn wearing the Collar of the Dragons that he could only stare.
"Dragonking," Daresha breathed softly from the doorway leading into the bedroom. She lowered her head in a gesture of respect.
"So you found the collar," Marthaen said, then hurried to close the door. "I know it's the middle of the night, but did you have to come here to Windreach unannounced and wearing the thing like some kind of conqueror?"
"I don't seem to have a pocket large enough to carry it," Thelvyn remarked.
"Still, the dragons are going to have to become accustomed to the idea that there really is a Dragonking before they can easily accept your being here," Marthaen said. "I realize Jherdar already knows you have been seeking the collar, but I would have preferred some time after you found it for him to get used to the idea and to try to gain his support before you came here."
"I agree with what you say," Thelvyn said. "But things have changed, and matters are far more desperate than you know."
"I'm aware of the attacks that appear to have been by dragons," the First Speaker answered impatiently. "That makes our situation here all the more uncertain. The dragons are ready to explode into war as it is, and your sudden appearance is only going to upset things all the more."
"I no longer have the luxury of time," Thelvyn said firmly, speaking with a calm authority that put an end to the disagreement. "I'm not here for the sake of power or fame. I have always been a protector, and that is all I remain."
Marthaen paused as he suddenly understood. He bowed his own head as a sign of respect. Thelvyn was no longer the awkward outcast under Marthaen's guidance as he had been since first becoming a dragon the previous year. He was now the Dragonking, wise and confident, and he meant to claim the authority that was his right. He might trust Marthaen as his advisor and friend, but he was now the master.
"There is much that you do not yet know," Thelvyn told him. "The warning that we received from the Great One has proven true. Our world faces a war that only the dragons can tight, and we must move quickly. Kharendaen and I fought and slew four dragons to claim the collar."
"Dragons?" Marthaen looked up sharply, alarmed. "Renegades?"
"We found the Collar of the Dragons in another world, one where the Flaem dwelt for a time before coming here," he explained. "We found it in the possession of dragons who were not of our own race."
Thelvyn and Kharendaen quickly related the events of their brief journey into the world of the Masters, telling Marthaen all that they knew, all that they could surmise or even only suspected about the gemstone dragons. The older dragon listened in silence, staring at the ground with his ears laid back.
"I understand your concern," he admitted when they were done. "And I agree that these strange dragons must have had some contact with our own people at some time in the distant past. But if the clerics remember nothing of such a thing, then I do not know what to say."
"I will speak with Saerna about it as soon as I can," Kharendaen said. "She is the oldest living dragon in the world. Perhaps there are some things she might recall that are not recorded in any book, some legend out of the days of her own childhood about strange dragons. Anything might help."
"It would help more if the Great One would speak with me plainly on this matter," Thelvyn said. "He obviously knows much more than we do."
"Of course, we can't count on his being willing or able to do that," Marthaen said, then looked up at the Dragonking. "I share your need for haste, but I still recommend some caution.
Many of the leaders among the dragons may still be reluctant to give you their support if you declare yourself Dragonking in one breath and call upon them to follow you into war with the next. Especially since you ask them to go to war in defense of a world that fears and rejects them. I will call them to parliament in the morning to give them a brief time to consider what has happened."
Thelvyn had to agree that Marthaen's plan made sense, partly because he no longer had the strength to argue the matter any further. The time that he and his companions had spent in the world of the Masters had been quite brief, actually little more than an hour, yet both Kharendaen and he were very tired from their battles with the alien dragons. They had rested only a brief time before making the desperate flight all the way from the Highlands to Windreach in distant Norwald, beginning that long journey just after noon and arriving a couple of hours after midnight.
Unfortunately, Marthaen was at something of a loss to know where he could keep them in hiding for the remainder of the night. Kharendaen hadn't kept a lair of her own in Windreach for more than a hundred years. As it turned out, Daresha was honored to have the Dragonking and his mate spend the night in her lair, which was only a short walk through the deep inner passages of the ring wall of the city. Sir George had to be content with a cushion thrown on the floor of the main chamber of the lair, but a dragon-sized cushion was easily large enough to serve him for a bed.
The two dragons were awakened by a knock at the inner door the next morning, fortunately not too early. They were both a bit surprised to find that Sir George had gone out somewhere; he had caught some sleep in the saddle during their journey, and had arrived not much the worse for wear. Since he was gone already, they could only hope that he would be able to keep himself out of trouble. It seemed best for Thelvyn to remain discreet about his own presence in the city, so it was Kharendaen who went to open the door.
Their visitors were not dragons but elves, of a race that Thelvyn had once believed to be his own. They were both males and quite tall for elves, or even humans, with powerful builds, black hair, large, dark eyes, and slightly pointed ears. He realized immediately that they must be Eldar, the most ancient race of elves in the world. He had worn their form until the time when he had first taken his true form as a dragon. The younger of the two was pushing a large cart that bore trays of roasted meat, bread, cheese, and drink.
"Your brother Marthaen sent us," the older one explained simply. "We know of your secrets and will respect them."
Kharendaen stepped aside, and the two Eldar entered, bringing in the cart. They paused a moment and bowed in deep respect when they saw Thelvyn farther back in the room, recognizing him even though he no longer wore the Collar of the Dragons. The younger elf bowed once more, this time to them all, then departed in silence.
"I am the wizard Alendhae, a longtime friend of Marthaen's," the remaining Eldar explained. "I am also honored to serve from time to time as his advisor, so he thought it best to send me to attend to your needs while he is occupied with the parliament."
"Yes, I remember you," Kharendaen said. "I was very young when I last saw you. It must have been nearly a hundred and fifty years ago."
"Gold lady, you are still very young," Alendhae told her with the gentle amusement of the old. He turned to Thelvyn. "Dragonking, I am of the Eldar, the ancestors of the elves. Perhaps you have heard of us."
"I had not heard of the Eldar until recently," he said. "But in a way, I know your people well, since I wore the body of your people until recently.
You are all but forgotten in the outside world."
"Yes, even the elves remember us only as a vague legend of their forgotten past," Alendhae said sadly. "We are all that is left of a dying race. There are very few of us remaining, but it has been thus for a very long time. All that remains of our people have lived here in Windreach since the founding of the city three thousand years ago."
"But why do you choose to live with the dragons?" Thelvyn asked.
"Don't you know?" Alendhae asked. "It is said that there is
a very ancient tie between the Eldar and the dragons."
Alendhae insisted upon serving the two dragons before he related the legend of the Eldar and the origin of the dragons, setting their trays before them. While they sat and ate, he poured them large cups of fruit wine as he began the tale.
"It is a very ancient legend and may or may not be true," he began. "The Eldar lived many thousands of years ago. We built great kingdoms of our own at a time when we were alone in the world, long before the coming of men or dwarves. Ours was a race of powerful wizards, far stronger in our magic than the modern elves. In time we became beings partly of magic and partly mortal, like the dragons themselves.
"Then, at the very height of our civilization, our race became so strong in magic, our wizards so infused with power, that we could no longer contain the magic within ourselves. A time of great turmoil came upon us, and our entire race was ripped asunder by our own magic. Many of our more powerful magic-users evolved into the race of dragons, that being the reason why the higher dragon forms retain the ability to assume the Eldar form, just as many Eldar can take the form of a small gray dragon. This would also seem to explain the origin of the drakes, an intermediate form.
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