“You won’t bring an end to evil, Sister Hana!” Sister Marsel cried. “Killing the children will only perpetuate it. These children have done nothing. They are innocent. Paladine teaches that every being on Krynn is given the choice of what path to follow-the path of darkness, or the path of light. It is not up to us to take away that choice.”
“There is no choice,” said Sister Hana. “Not for these fiends! They are bom of evil spells cast by dark clerics and wicked wizards. They are made of the eggs of good dragons, whose children were destroyed in order to produce these monsters.”
“What you say is true, ma’am,” Kang said, hoping to keep the woman talking while he figured out what to do. He had little hope of changing her mind. “I could offer excuses. I could say that we were not responsible for our birth any more than you are responsible for yours. I could say that we were never given a choice of what path to walk. From the beginning, we were made to walk the path of darkness. Even as babies, we were forced to fight each other for food, in the belief that this would make us strong soldiers. We were taught to hate, taught to hate humans and elves.
“After the war, I came to realize that it was the hate that was killing us. Hate kills everything. The only way we had a chance to survive was to stop hating and start living. That’s why I think the babies were given into our care.
“Dremon,” said Kang, after a moment’s pause. “Let the sister go.”
“But, sir-” Dremon protested, anguished.
“I said let her go!” Kang roared.
Reluctantly, Dremon released Sister Marsel. She staggered, weak-kneed, and caught hold of a post for support. She stood with head bowed, trembling. Sister Hana watched, suspicious.
“I make you an offer, Sister Hana,” said Kang, unbuckling his sword belt. “I am an officer. Perhaps I was the one who ordered the deaths of your family. Take your revenge on me, and welcome. Only let the children live.”
Sister Hana glared at him. There was no life in her eyes, only dead darkness. The madness of hatred had almost completely devoured her.
“I will give myself into your hands,” Kang continued, desperately. “You may slay me where I stand. I will not try to stop you. Slith, are you there?”
“Yes, sir,” said Slith.
“You are in command. My final order and one that I expect to be obeyed is this: When I am dead, you will take the men and the children and leave. These sisters are to be allowed to remain in this temple in peace. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” said Slith quietly. “I understand.”
“Now take the men out of here, Slith.”
“Sir-”
“That’s an order, Slith!”
“Yes, sir.”
Claws scraped, weapons were sheathed. The draconians slowly and reluctantly climbed back up the stairs. Kang was on his own, he and the children and the human females.
Kang placed his sword and his armor, his boot knife and other accoutrements on the floor. Walking forward until he stood within a sword thrust of Sister Hana, he lowered himself to his knees before her and held out his hands in submission.
“I offer my life in exchange for the lives of the children, ma’am. Let them go. Let them have the choices I never had. I would warn you of one thing, though, ma’am. When I die, my bones will explode. You should order the other sisters to leave now and allow them to take the children to safety.”
Sister Marsel started forward, reaching out her hand toward the babies. Sister Hana blocked her, cast her a vicious glance. “Don’t come near!”
“Don’t do this, Sister Hana!” Sister Marsel begged. “In the name of Paladine be merciful. Or has everything you taught us about Paladine been a lie?”
Sister Hana smiled then. A terrible smile. “Yes,” she cried. “It was a lie. It was all a lie! The god lied to me, didn’t he? He said my children died for a reason, and then he left. He betrayed me, he betrayed them. Death take us. Death take us all!”
She swung the sword.
Kang lunged to avoid the stroke, which would not only kill him but everyone trapped in the cellar, the babies included. He rolled over, to try as best he could to fend off the next attack.
He watched in astonishment to see Sister Marsel jump in front of him. She grabbed hold of Sister’s Hana’s arm, struck her a blow on her wrist. The sword fell to the dirt floor with a dull clang. Sister Hana sank down beside it, sobbing in anguish, her hands clenched.
Sister Marsel gathered up the female in her arms, cradled her, began to rock back and forth, murmuring soothing words.
Kang stood up awkwardly. “Sister,” he began, trying to find words to thank her.
Sister Marsel looked up at him and shook her head. “You better go,” she said. “Take the children.”
Support Squadron carried the children out of the cellar. First Squadron raided the goblin camp, picking up food and weapons left behind by the fleeing goblins. They returned to report that they now had supplies enough to last a month. While the rest of the regiment prepared to march out, Kang and Dremon took the babies into the upper room in the temple and released them from their snug prisons. The babies looked around in amazement at their freedom, then perked up and began to play. Some discovered their wings for the first time and began to jump about the floor, delighting in their ability to fly for a few short hops. Others climbed up on the bunks and took to leaping off, causing Kang’s heart to lodge in his throat. He valiantly fought back the desire to stuff them all back in their sacks again.
The draconian troops allowed the children to play until they were tired, then fed them hot soup made of the remnants of yesterday’s venison. The babies ate well and were now content to return to their sacks, where they soon fell sound asleep.
Late that afternoon the First Dragonarmy Field Engineers lined up in the temple courtyard, prepared to move out, to continue their march. Snow had started falling again, but this time Kang welcomed it. The snow would hide their tracks, throw off pursuit.
Kang had a debt to repay. He could not leave without first thanking Sister Marsel. He found her in the temple, standing before the statue of the platinum dragon.
“How is Sister Hana?” he asked.
“She’ll be all right. The others are with her.” Sister Marsel crossed her arms over her chest, shivered. The fires had gone out. The temple was cold.
“You shouldn’t stay here,” he warned her. “The goblins might return.”
“I know,” she replied. “We should have left long ago, left when the rest of them left. But Sister Hana said that someday Paladine would return and he would be disappointed to find us gone. There’s a village not far from here. They’ll be glad to take Sister Hana in and give her and the others a home.”
“What will you do?” Kang asked curiously.
Sister Marsel smiled wanly. “I need to climb out of my warm fur sack, don’t you think, Commander?”
Kang shook his head. She seemed very young and very fragile to go roaming about a world that was becoming darker and more dangerous every day. It was not his part to say so, however. The choice was hers.
“Good luck to you, Sister,” he said. “And thank you for what you did for us. We are in your debt, all of us.”
“If Sister Hana had carried out her threat, then everything Paladine taught us would have been a lie.” Sister Marsel raised her eyes to the statue. “It isn’t. I know it isn’t. I’m going to find the truth.”
Kang shrugged. He had already found his own truth. He left her standing beside the statue of the platinum dragon.
It was odd, but when he turned around to glance at them both again, the dragon didn’t look all that forlorn.
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Heroes And Fools totfa-2 Page 38
