"We were aware from the first that the gemstone dragons had only retreated, and we suspected that they would withdraw for a time to gather new strength, then return. We had to be certain that the dragons would always be ready to face them. The wizards of Blackmoor had created the Collar of the Dragons, and I created a prophecy so that, if the gemstone dragons did indeed return, my chosen hero could use the collar to claim the unquestioned support of all dragons."
"I would not yet call their support unquestioned," Thelvyn remarked.
"No, I fear not," the Great One agreed regretfully. "We had always anticipated that when the time came, both a Dragonking and the new Dragonlord would be chosen, but unforeseen problems necessitated that you should be both Dragonking and Dragonlord. I had been suspicious of the Flaem since they first came to Mystara. When I became certain that they were secret agents of the gemstone dragons, and after enlisting the aide of Terra and other sympathetic Immortals, I made the arrangements to bring my chosen hero into the world. You possess nearly Immortal powers: those that you have inherited from me, the most powerful enchantments of ancient Blackmoor, and the authority of the Dragonking.
"Ever since the gemstone dragons left our world, they have been regaining their strength, gathering new powers, and collecting slaves from many worlds. They must have captured the Flaem during their wanderings from world to world, and they hoped to use the rivalry between the Flaem and the Alphatians as the means to prepare for their invasion of Mystara and to secure the power of the Radiance. They had known of the Radiance for some time, and were disappointed to find that its power is quite limited in range."
The Great One paused and rose to his hind legs so that he stood above them. "Sir George Kirbey, I summon you to stand before me."
For a moment, Sir George looked like a child who had been caught doing something wrong. The two dragons stepped aside so that he could approach the Great One, but he did so with obvious reluctance and considerable apprehension.
"Do not fear," the Great One said. "You have served very well indeed, but you represent a problem as you are. You cannot accompany Thelvyn among the dragons in human form, nor are you of much use as a flightless drake. Therefore I have a gift for you, which you may consider payment for services above and beyond what was expected."
Suddenly Sir George became aware of a strange sensation in his left arm, at the end of his wrist, where his hand had been severed long ago. The feeling was not one of actual pain but rather an intense tingling, a nagging sensation such as had often driven him to distraction in the first months after he had lost his hand. Fearful that something was wrong, he struggled to release the buckles and pull loose the straps that held the leather cuff and its attached hook to his wrist. Then, as he watched in amazement, the end of his arm began to grow longer, eventually forming a new hand. Once the moment of discomfort had passed, he watched his hand with wonder and delight as it slowly began to respond to his will.
"Now you must go," the Great One said to Thelvyn. "The parliament is expecting you. Now is the time to declare yourself as the rightful Dragonking. Be resolute in your claim, for
the time of compromise is past."
*****
Marthaen stood at the front of his ledge before the assembled parliament, watching the dragons as they argued fiercely among themselves. As First Speaker, he knew he should do something to maintain order, but the parliament was almost beyond his control, and he thought it best to allow the members to vent their fury before he called them back to order. He was aware of his sister Kharendaen standing behind him; he had tried his best to ignore her for as long as he could.
But he knew that he would be forced to relent eventually. At last he turned and followed Kharendaen down the short passage from his ledge to the main corridor beyond. Thelvyn waited there, boldly wearing the Collar of the Dragons within the Hall of the Great One itself. Sir George Kirbey stood nearby, looking both startled and very pleased with himself at the same time.
"I don't know if this is the proper time," Marthaen said before any of the others could speak. "As I expected, the dragons are hesitant. They still fear the Dragonking, who is still also the Dragonlord and to them their most dangerous enemy. And they are reluctant to go to war in the defense of others. Since the Masters appear to be dragon-kin, that also causes them some concern. I'm afraid I will need more time to convince them to accept you as Dragonking."
"I'm not sure you could ever convince them," Thelvyn replied. "If they are ever going to accept my leadership, it will have to be me who convinces them."
"Perhaps so," Marthaen agreed with great reluctance. "Go down the stairs and follow the passage almost directly below where we stand. That will lead you out onto the floor of the Hall of Parliament and directly to the speaker's dais. You can address the parliament from there."
He turned and strode back out onto his ledge, leaving Thelvyn to find his way to the parliament floor. The dragons were still arguing furiously, and Marthaen despaired of ever getting them to set aside their fear and suspicion long enough to listen. But time had become too critical for such nonsense. If the Immortals had invested so much effort in making Thelvyn Fox-Eyes the Dragonking, he was not about to argue.
"Silence!" he declared, startling the dragons. They turned to stare at him. "Silence, I say! I demand that you stop chattering and screaming like frightened wyverns and maintain the dignity and wisdom that befits this assembly."
The dragons muttered among themselves but finally fell silent, staring in astonishment when they saw Thelvyn step out onto the floor below them and advance toward the speaker's dais. He was wearing the Collar of the Dragons, and that by itself was enough to leave them shaken and uncertain. One of the oldest and most important legends of their people had indeed come to life, for the Dragonking stood before them. Thelvyn carried himself with the supreme dignity and confidence that dragons instinctively respected, as if to prove that he had earned the right to wear the collar.
Marthaen sat back on his haunches, smiling to himself with grim satisfaction. Now that they could actually see Thelvyn standing before them, the dragons could see that the legend of the Dragonking was no longer a matter of debate but a reality. They could no longer find it easy to deny his existence. Marthaen watched the red dragons carefully, certain that Jherdar would never allow the issue to be resolved easily. The red dragon would undoubtedly think that the hated Dragonlord was trying
to usurp the place of the beloved Dragonking.
Thelvyn advanced to the speaker's dais and seated himself in a pose of great dignity, sitting upright with his long tail curled around his legs. His neck was drawn back in a proud, graceful curve. He paused for a long moment, then began to speak. "Marthaen has spoken to you of the gemstone dragons, who were once of our own kind. The Great One has told me about how he and the first Dragonlord fought the gemstone dragons long ago and drove them from our world. He has told me how the gemstone dragons have prepared their invasion for centuries, and how the Immortals have planned to counter it by having me serve as both Dragonlord and Dragonking and lead the dragons in the defense of our world."
"You know that I fought with you against the renegade Murodhir," Jherdar said, growing impatient. "I told you then that I would rather see you wearing the Collar of the Dragons than have it remain missing. But I cannot lightly accept that you seem so eager to lead us into war when we do not yet know even the strength or the intentions of our enemy."
"I have not yet summoned the dragons to war," Thelvyn replied. "But we must prepare for its likelihood."
"These gemstone dragons may have attacked our world, but they have not yet done us any harm," the red dragon responded.
"Haven't they?" Thelvyn demanded. "The Masters have tried to implicate us for their attacks on other lands, with the intent of forcing us into war with those who are not our true enemies. The Masters were behind the theft of the Collar of the Dragons. There was a time when you were very eager to punish those who stole the collar, but you do not seem so eager now
. Are you in sympathy with our enemies now that you know who they are, or is it that you fear them?"
There was a loud muttering among the dragons when they heard Thelvyn's bold accusations. Marthaen watched apprehensively. Thelvyn wasn't about to compromise himself to placate the red dragon. He couldn't afford to. He had to earn the loyalty of the dragons even if he must fight Jherdar for it.
"I am not in sympathy with our enemies," Jherdar answered coldly. "Nor do I fear them. You are young and hardly even know
what it means to be a dragon. You are too eager to go to war."
"I am not eager for war," Thelvyn insisted. "And I am not proposing that we carry the battle into their world. We would be at a distinct disadvantage if we tried to fight them on their own ground. But at the same time, we can put them at a disadvantage when they invade our world. We must be prepared to defend not only ourselves but our world, wherever the Masters attack. If we wait until our enemy brings the war directly to us, we will have already lost."
"Never!" Jherdar shouted, crouching in fury at the front of his ledge. "If the enemy comes to us, then we will fight in our own defense, but never for a world that hates and despises us."
Marthaen tensed, moving closer to the front of his ledge. He could see that Jherdar, caught between his anger at the other races of the world and his fear of the Dragonking, was desperate enough to challenge Thelvyn for the leadership of the dragons. Dragons were forbidden to fight within the city of Windreach and were required to take their challenges into the wild, but Jherdar looked furious enough to forget the law. It had happened before in the past, and Marthaen's duty as First Speaker was to insure that there were no fights on the floor of parliament.
"Yes, we will fight to defend the other nations of the world," Thelvyn said patiently but firmly. "We have no choice. What hope do we have if we allow the Masters to turn people who should be our allies into their slaves? Are we to wait until they besiege Windreach? What would you have us do?"
"We are fools to fight in the defense of those who hate us," Jherdar insisted stubbornly.
"And do you believe that I am eager to do so?" Thelvyn demanded. "I was their champion for five years before they chased me away in contempt, and now they beg for my protection. If anyone has cause to be angry with our world, surely it is I. But I will defend them just the same, because in so doing, it is my best chance to defend the dragons as well."
"Then defend them alone," Jherdar said coldly. "That is your appointed task. The Immortals supposedly gave you all the power you need as both Dragonlord and Dragonking."
"If I must fight alone, I will," Thelvyn answered in a voice that was as cold and hard as ice. "Do you think that I have forgotten the injuries I received from the dragons when I was forced to oppose you for your own good? I will defend you if I can, but if you prefer to act like a coward, then you deserve to be enslaved."
Jherdar was obviously stung. The dragons tended to forget the price that Thelvyn had been required to pay for the sake of his duty, especially the grief and pain they had caused him. But Jherdar could not allow Thelvyn's attack on his pride to pass unchallenged. He drew himself up in cold fury. "Even you may not talk to me that way."
"Then stop wasting my time with your foolish talk," Thelvyn answered him boldly. "You have said nothing but words of cowardice and irresponsibility. Challenge me now, or follow me as your rightful king. I will accept no other choice from any of you."
The silence that followed was absolute as the dragons waited tensely. All arguments were at an end, for Jherdar could do nothing now but accept the Dragonking or challenge him. Thelvyn had seen that this debate could lead nowhere but to compromise on his own part or a challenge of his authority, and so he had issued the challenge first, a bold move that surprised the dragons and impressed them tremendously. Thelvyn had fought and defeated gemstone dragons, and he knew that he could defeat Jherdar.
He waited calmly for his answer. In the end, it was his obvious confidence in himself that convinced Jherdar. The red dragon laid back his ears and sat back. "I am not a coward, and I will not be disloyal when the Great One calls me to serve his chosen one. If you will lead well and wisely, I will follow you. Tell us what we must do."
Jherdar's capitulation startled the other dragons, and they lifted their heads and moved out to the edge of their ledges to stare in astonishment. But their fear and anger had passed, and they waited in curiosity to hear what the Dragonking had to say.
"You have said that I do not know the strength of our enemy," Thelvyn began. "But I can infer at least this much: The Masters tried to conquer this world once before, and only the combined power of the Dragonlord and the Immortals succeeded in driving them into exile. They've had thousands of years to gather their strength, and they've returned at a time of their own choosing. Our only advantage is that they have to bring the battle to us, coming into a world where they have no strongholds of their own. We don't dare allow them a single victory."
The dragons once again muttered anxiously among themselves, but Marthaen thought Thelvyn had finally gotten them to face the full implications of the danger they faced. The Immortals had chosen them to defend their world because they alone had any hope of defeating this enemy. Their only choices were to do their best to fight an enemy that might yet prove too powerful for them, or to be defeated by their own stubbornness.
"With any luck, we can still be ready for them," Thelvyn continued. "To be prepared for the worst, I propose an alliance between the dragons and the other nations of our world against the invaders."
Jherdar opened his mouth to protest, then laid back his ears as he reconsidered and sat back on his haunches. He glanced over at Marthaen.
The gold dragon nodded slowly. "He is the Dragonking. I will follow him."
Jherdar considered Marthaen's words and nodded. The crisis of confidence was over, and the dragons would follow the Dragonking's leadership. They had doubted that he knew how to be a dragon, and he had proven himself by facing down Jherdar's challenge as one dragon to another. Marthaen realized now that the very confrontation he had been trying to avoid had been the only way that Thelvyn could have convinced the dragons that he was capable of leading them.
He decided that he would never tell Thelvyn that Jherdar had been under pressure from the representatives of the red, green, and black dragons to challenge him in combat. Then again, Marthaen wouldn't be surprised if Thelvyn had known after all. The new Dragonking seemed to know more about being a dragon than even Marthaen had expected.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kharendaen helped Thelvyn remove the Collar of the Dragons and return it to its stand in the Hall of the Great One, where it had waited for the coming of the Dragonking for centuries. Marthaen, Jherdar, and Sir George Kirbey watched in silence from just beyond the two-stepped dais leading up to the stand. By nature of being first speaker, Marthaen, like Kharendaen, had the right to approach the collar, although neither of his two companions dared to pass the magical barriers that guarded it. The spells of protection were said to bring instant death to anyone who was not allowed access to the collar.
"I would feel better if you kept the collar with you," Marthaen said to Thelvyn. "I have no idea what powers it is supposed to bring you, but I would prefer that you had its protection."
"If I wore the collar, there would be times when I might need to remove it to change form. If that happened, I would never feel the collar was safe. This is the only place I would ever dare to leave it. I still have the powers of the Dragonlord
to protect me."
Having secured the collar on its stand, Thelvyn and Kharendaen descended the steps. They planned to leave for the west at once, and they were both ready for travel. Kharendaen was already wearing her saddle, since Sir George would accompany them. Thelvyn wore his harness, which now included a double-edged sword of draconic proportions, with a blade more than five yards long, much like the one Marthaen always wore when he traveled. Indeed, it had been Marthaen who had insisted u
pon giving it to him, saying that such a weapon was fitting for a true leader of dragons. In his Eldar form, Thelvyn was well trained in using a sword, but he had no idea if this ability held true in his dragon state.
"We expect to reach Braejr late tonight," Thelvyn explained to Marthaen and Jherdar as they walked together toward the stairs. "Matters being what they are, it will be best for us to enter the city in the dark. It would probably be best to summon representatives of the various nations to Braejr using the Thyatian griffon riders, until we can convince everyone that we are not their enemy."
"For all the good this alliance is likely to do," Jherdar grumbled. "I'm still not sure what the other races can do to help us fight the Masters."
"If nothing else, they'll have to bear the responsibility of defending themselves," Thelvyn said firmly. "If we send out dragons to guard every city and large town in this part of the world, there won't be anyone left to fight the Masters. Our first concern is to make it clear to everyone who their true enemy is, so that the dragons are free to move about wherever they want without worrying that the people we are trying to defend will attack us."
They all fell silent while they descended the wide spiral staircase leading down to the ground level of the Hall of the Great One. Dragons were not built for going down stairs, so they had to descend carefully in single file.
"We will begin to summon and instruct the dragons at once," Marthaen said when they finally reached the bottom and started toward the main door. "The bands of dragons in the wild will be told to watch for any sign of our enemy, and an army will be gathered and prepared. However, the dragons would be more eager to serve if they could see the Dragonking for themselves."
"Kharendaen and I can go to Braejr in your place," Sir George suggested to Thelvyn.
"Thanks for the offer, but we still have a traitor to turn out," Thelvyn said. "I want to try break the influence the Masters have over Alessa Vyledaar so that she can tell us what she knows. And that might be something that only I can do."
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