"It looks quiet," Sir George whispered. "For what it's worth, I don't sense any dragons."
"There's no sense delaying it, I suppose," Thelvyn said. "I have to go in there alone and search the place. I'm the only one who can do it in relative safety."
"I'm going with you," Sir George insisted. "I'm not afraid of dragons."
"Under no circumstances," Thelvyn told him firmly. "There's no reason for you to risk your life. You stay here and keep anyone else from going inside until I say it's safe."
Thelvyn knew Sir George would come running at the first hint of trouble, but he hoped to be able to deal with any problem he encountered before the old knight could get there. He intended to enter not through the main doors, which stood invitingly open, but at the north end of the palace where the guards were barracked. He thought that he could get in through the back entrance gate unseen, which was unlikely if he entered through the front.
He wasn't surprised to find that the north gate stood open. At least one dragon would have had to come that way in order to deal with the small garrison housed there. There was no sign of anything amiss in the yard, but the door to the garrison had been blasted to splinters and the barracks inside was scattered with broken bodies. The dragon had attacked swiftly, catching the men totally unprepared. They probably hadn't even had time to raise an alarm. Thelvyn moved through the barracks quickly, knowing that the objective of the invaders was farther within.
He didn't expect the dragons to be anywhere upstairs, where the corridors were too small to allow their passage. The king's private chamber and his suite were both located downstairs, close to the center of the palace. Thelvyn moved as quietly as possible, holding his sword before him in both hands so that he could swing it around quickly to face any sudden attack. The palace was in complete darkness, as if every lamp and magical light had been deliberately snuffed out by some powerful spell. Although Thelvyn could still see despite the darkness, his helmet restricted his vision somewhat. He had to keep turning constantly to see off to the sides.
The king's suite and his private chamber were both empty. There was no sign of an attack. The dragons must have found Jherridan in some other part of the palace, unless he had somehow been able to get himself to safety. Thelvyn recalled that Taeryn had said Byen Kalestraan and some other wizards were here, or at least they had been at the beginning of the attack. Perhaps the Fire Wizard had managed to get the king to safety before the dragons got inside. In that case, the dragons might be in the palace even yet, still quietly seeking their prey.
Turning slowly at a juncture in the hallways, Thelvyn became aware of the movement of a dark figure in the side passage and stepped back quickly into the concealing shadows. Whoever it was, he was certain it hadn't been a dragon. Then he remembered that the first attack against him had been by dragons who had magically assumed human form. Restricted by their great size, these dragons might also be taking enchanted form in order to move more freely through the passages of the palace. On the other hand, it could be the Fire Wizards or someone from the palace trying to find the king in the darkness. Thelvyn would have to be careful.
His second guess proved closer to correct. When he leaned forward to peer around the corner, he saw that it was Sir George, walking softly with his sword in one hand and the vicious-looking pike on his wrist raised ready to stab. Thelvyn pulled the old knight around the corner.
"Nice of you to wait outside the way I asked," Thelvyn remarked quietly.
"I saw a dragon look out through the front door," Sir George explained. "He was standing inside in the shadows, but I can see fairly well in the dark. He seemed to be expecting someone, so I thought I should see what he was doing. I also thought you'd want to know there are dragons in here."
"That's just what I wanted to hear," Thelvyn said sourly. "To make things worse, I can't find the king. Taeryn said that Kalestraan was here. I hope he found Jherridan and they were able to sneak out."
"Would they have left?" Sir George asked. "It would be tust like Jherridan to want to stay and fight."
"Yes, but Kalestraan knows that he can't fight dragons, and he's also a pretty experienced sneak. With any luck, those two are running through the streets of Braejr on their way to the Academy. Just the same, I have to look. What are the chances that these dragons might be taking enchanted form to search the palace?"
Sir George had to consider that briefly. "Shape-changing is a specific talent in drakes, but a latent one in dragons. I'm used to it, but most dragons aren't. They don't know how to fight with weapons. Frankly, they don't even know how to walk upright very easily. Changing forms only makes the situation that much worse for them."
"So you're telling me that you don't think that they have assumed another form?"
"I don't consider it likely, no. There might be dragons in human form in their company, if they anticipated the need. They might have slipped in earlier to evaluate the situation, to find out where the guards were, perhaps even to locate the king. That's why you need me. I can recognize dragons on sight, and I might even be able to sense their presence before I see them if they're close enough."
"Let's get on with it then," Thelvyn said.
He thought it would be best to approach the larger chambers and halls of the central area of the palace from above. From the second floor, they could look out from the galleries on areas such as the great hall, the reception hall, the throne room, and even the vast entrance hall just inside the main doors. The second level was the location of the private chambers of a few servants and administrators who lived within the palace. At most, there were no more than a dozen of them.
On the second floor, they found additional signs of dragon attacks. Many of the doors had been blasted apart, just as Thelvyn had seen in the garrison. Most of the rooms had been occupied, and they saw that the bodies of the slain crushed and tossed aside. But something puzzled Thelvyn from the outset. The victims had obviously been crushed or hurled against the walls hard enough to kill them, which would require strength far beyond that of a man. And yet dragons could have pushed through these passages only with the greatest difficulty, and they never could have gotten through these small doorways to get at their prey. Even more puzzling, the attackers seemed to have known which rooms were occupied, ignoring most of those that stood empty. He was beginning to suspect that something terrible was inside the palace besides the dragons, something with uncanny tracking abilities.
As Thelvyn saw more and more of that quick, precise destruction, he began to feel vaguely afraid. He wasn't afraid for himself, knowing he was secure within his armor. Instead, he felt the strange, tenuous fear that something was very wrong, something he did not understand. He was becoming possessed with the need to hurry, to confront the enemies hidden in the depths of night and drive them away with the darkness. The most important thing now, he knew, was to not give in to such impulses, which would only lead him into making mistakes.
The end of the corridor brought them to a short passage that led to the gallery above the north side of the great hall. Thelvyn paused at the doorway and moved forward slowly until he could look over the parapet of the gallery into the hall below. Something large was moving in the hall just below him, a black form that was indistinct in the darkness. He was sure it wasn't a man, and yet it wasn't nearly large enough to be a dragon. Whatever it was, Thelvyn knew it must be the creature that wreaked such violent death through the corridors of the palace.
"Down," Thelvyn insisted softly, pointing downward with one forefinger. "I have to find out what that thing is."
"It could be a wyvern," Sir George suggested, although he seemed uncertain. "A large one can be very nasty. And being dragonkin, they can be swayed to submit to the will of a true dragon."
They reached to a small stairway that led down to the first floor, almost directly across from the great hall. When they reached the bottom, Thelvyn moved cautiously forward, trying to stay within the deep shadows of the stairwell until he could lean forwar
d far enough to see around the corner. The unknown creature was moving away from them along a wide corridor that led toward the larger open areas near the middle of the palace. All he could see was a large, dark form. It certainly looked like a dragon from behind, but it was hardly half the size it should have been.
He decided to follow, staying close to the wall, while Sir George slipped along quietly just behind him. Thelvyn was determined to discover what this creature was, to confront it and destroy it or force it to flee. After a time, it came to ihe vast entranceway before the main hall. This area was more open, with pale moonlight streaming in through the windows and open doors. When Thelvyn came to the same place, he carefully avoided the moonlight, retreating into a dark alcove next to the wall on the side of the entrance. Peering toward the corner, he discovered that the mysterious creature had turned toward the main doors.
Thelvyn's couldn't have been more surprised. It was indeed a dragon, a gold dragon in appearance, although its exact breed was uncertain. He knew enough about dragons that he was able to tell the difference between a male and female, but this small dragon seemed to have the qualities of neither. When he drew back to let Sir George take a quick look, he suddenly had a terrible thought.
"Could it be a child?" he asked softly. "Would the dragons be desperate enough to send half-grown children because they're small enough to make their way through die corridors of the palace?"
Sir George took a quick look., When he turned back, he looked shocked. "I ... I don't believe it. The only thing dragons treasure more than their own lives is their young. They would never risk such a thing."
"It certainly looks like a gold dragon," Thelvyn insisted.
"You've never seen a young dragon. There's something about the appearance of that one that doesn't seem quite right. It looks like a gold, but it has characteristics of the red dragons as well. It's quite a bit smaller than a gold, but it's not any smaller than some of the white or blue dragons."
"Then you're satisfied that this isn't a child?" Thelvyn asked.
"It couldn't be," Sir George assured him. "A child wouldn't have the same proportions as an adult, as this one appears to. It would be shorter in the neck and muzzle, with a smaller crest and tiny horns. I'm not even satisfied that it's a real dragon. Something doesn't feel right."
Thelvyn knew he had to do something to drive these raiders from the palace, but he was determined not to risk slaying or seriously harming a child. It made him think of Kharendaen, although he had no idea why. He decided to do whatever he could to frighten this dragon away. Holding his sword before him, he stepped out from the shadows.
That proved to be a mistake. The small dragon had been peering out the main doors, careful not to allow itself to be seen from the outside. Suddenly it whipped around to face him, then paused to stare for a moment as if considering its tactics. Thelvyn hesitated when the dragon did not attack immediately, still uncomfortable at the thought of harming what appeared to be a child.
At that moment, a second small dragon charged out of the darkness from Thelvyn's left, catching him completely by surprise. Defending himself almost by instinct, he quickly his sword around and aimed it almost directly in the dragon's face. The first bolt discharged violently into an invisible shield, ripping apart the magical barrier so that the second shot struck the dragon just above its large, glittering eyes. Stunned by the blow, the dragon collapsed in midstride. Carried by the speed of its charge, it slid heavily across the smooth stone floor and crashed into Thelvyn where he stood, throwing him violently back against the wall behind him and pinning him there with its weight.
Thelvyn struggled free of the bulk of the stunned dragon and turned back to face the other one, but he was too late. The dragon struck him in the side with force enough to send him sliding across the smooth stone floor, knocking the sword from his hand. Before he could pick himself up, the dragon was on him again, trying to pin his arms behind his back. Thelvyn was startled by the tactics. In previous encounters, dragons had never once attempted to capture him. Unfortunately, it proved to be perhaps the best tactic the dragon could have used against him. The magical shields of his suit could protect him from blows or crushing force, but it had no ability to give him the extra strength he would have needed to break the dragon's hold. Lacking any weapon or even the freedom to use one, he was utterly defenseless.
The small dragon knew it had the advantage over him, aware that Thelvyn was now a helpless prisoner. Turning him over on his back, the dragon held his arms tightly in one handlike claw while it used the other to probe the clips that held his helmet in place. The mechanism eluded the dragon for a moment. Its claw was too large to get a good hold on the small clips, but it was finally able to snap open first one and then the other, pulling loose his helmet and tossing it aside. For the first time since he had become the Dragonlord, Thelvyn had been defeated by a dragon. It needed only to twist his exposed neck, and the problem of the Dragonlord would be solved once and for all.
Suddenly the dragon straightened, roaring in pain. Thelvyn took advantage of the distraction to break free from its hold, and he rushed to collect his sword. When he turned, he saw that Sir George had driven the pike he was wearing on his left cuff deep into the dragon's belly. He had chosen an especially vulnerable opening between the leathery plates. Taking firm hold of the handle of the pike with his other hand, Sir George braced himself to draw the weapon back as the injured dragon pulled away, staggering back on its hind legs for a moment before it fell heavily over on its back. Sir George had accomplished the seemingly impossible. He had slain a dragon single-handedly.
Thelvyn looked around quickly. The dragon he had stunned was recovering and seemed ready to renew the attack. Instead of charging, however, it held back in the deeper shadows of the far side of the room, sitting up on its haunches to use its claws to form arcane gestures. Thelvyn realized that the dragon was trying to fight him with magic, not the usual subtle magic of the dragons but the gestural spells of mortal wizards. For a moment, Thelvyn was almost curious enough to want to discover what the dragon was doing, but he knew he dared not risk it. He lifted his sword and stunned the dragon, which once more collapsed to the floor.
Thelvyn glanced around quickly, probing the shadows. Although no other dragons had come to the attack, he felt certain there were more dragons somewhere in the dark passages of the palace. He would have to move quickly now and go on the offensive.
"This is strange. Both of these dragons—even the one you merely stunned—are dead," Sir George said. "Even an immature dragon should be heartier than that."
"This is strange all the way around," Thelvyn said. "When it had hold of me, that dragon didn't seem to be as strong as a dragon should be. And that second one was about to use mortal magic, I'm sure. I'm rapidly becoming convinced that these aren't real dragons at all, just as you said. I suspect they might be wizards in enchanted form, and I can guess who."
"Remember, we were warned about something like this only a few hours ago," Sir George said, then suddenly grabbed him by the arm. "Look!"
The dragon Sir George had slain was changing shape, its form shrinking rapidly until it became that of a man. By his features and his thick red hair, he appeared to be of the Flaem and almost certainly a Fire Wizard. Thelvyn saw that he had guessed correctly.
"Alessa was right," he said. "I have to move quickly now. If the king is still alive in here somewhere, I'll have to hurry to I have any chance of rescuing him. This time I want you to stay back and watch yourself. Things are going to get nasty now. I'm sure that they must have some surprises in
store for me, or they wouldn't still be waiting around."
He hurried to the largest corridor leading into the southern half of the palace, certain now that his enemy must be somewhere in one of the larger halls where he had not yet looked. Knowing that he did not face true dragons but wizards, he couldn't imagine what manner of trap they might have arranged for him. The wizards had always overestimated their own
abilities, and he was counting on his guess that they had probably underestimated him. He suspected he had no reason to be afraid, but he would have to be very careful.
As he came around a corner, he saw a pale light coming through the open doors of the throne room. Again he hesitated, approaching the doors cautiously from the shadows along the inside wall until he was able to peer carefully around the edge of the door. A massive ball of pure, clear crystal, nearly two full yards across, stood on a tripod of black iron. The light was coming from the crystal itself, a steady glow of cold, glaring white, yet dim enough that the corners of the room remained in shadows. Behind the crystal, standing on the dais of the throne, was the largest gold dragon he had yet seen that night.
Holding his sword before him, Thelvyn stepped through the door into the throne room. He noticed that there were two other dragons in the room, hiding in the deep shadows on either side of the door, where he hadn't been able to see them before. Another crushed body had been tossed carelessly to one side of the wide throne dais; Thelvyn suspected it must be King Jherridan.
Holding his sword higher, he advanced several steps along the carpeted runway leading to the throne, the massive crystal ball standing directly in his path. He knew that the crystal was almost certainly a device to amplify magic, adding greater strength or endurance to normal spells or enhancing the effects of a magical artifact. That warned him that any attack against him would likely be magical in nature; all he could do in turn was to trust the powerful enchantments of his armor.
The two smaller dragons moved in behind him, cutting off his only escape, while their leader stepped down from the dais to stand directly behind the vast crystal. Thelvyn stood ready, knowing that the attack would come at any moment. Then he saw Sir George peering around the end of the south gallery, waiting for the chance to remove the king to safety. Somehow Thelvyn had to delay a few moments longer.
D& D - Mystara 02 Dragonking of Mystara Page 24
