Kagonesti lh-1

by Douglas Niles

  Darlantan laughed, a sound that was kind and compassionate as well as heartily amused. "I am whichever serves me best at the time," he replied-his typical evasion. "As to this body, there may come a time when your people develop an appreciation of human wizardry!"

  'The House Elves, perhaps-but the Elderwild have no need of humans, nor any desire to learn from them."

  Darlantan nodded, a noncommittal glitter in his eye.

  "Have you flown over the plains?" asked Kagonos, with a look toward the flatland and the distant ogre horde.

  "Aye-in the guise of an eagle, so as not to alarm the ogres. The two armies vie for position on the field. If Talonian is not careful, he will find that Silvanos has him trapped against the Vingaard." "

  "Good. Perhaps the House Elves can win their victory, even without the power of the Bluestone."

  "That is the hope of us all," the human sage replied. "But I fear that the blue dragons will arrive any day-and when they do, it will take more than an army to defend Silvanos and the elven houses." He looked shrewdly at the wild elf, as if he had a premonition of Kagonos's secret news.

  "There is a reason I asked you here," said the Pathfinder slowly. He continued, as Darlantan made no reply. "I believe I have located the Bluestone."

  "This is very good news-if you are right. You have not seen the stone itself?"

  "No-but I have discovered an encampment of ogres near here. They have selected a defensible hilltop, but it is not a place they would normally choose to make a camp. 1 believe they guard something there."

  "That makes a great deal of sense. The Bluestone is the last of the Five Talismans-they will go to every length to ensure that it remains in their hands. The entire army of Talonian, on the plains before us, maneuvers only to divert attention from the real object."

  "And what word of the blue dragons?"

  'They departed inland several days ago. Even if they do not fly at top speed, they will reach the central plain within the next three days. Unless Silvanos has the stone by then, his army is doomed." Darlantan looked to the north, as if he sought a sign of those serpents against the horizon. Then he turned back to the elf.

  "Where is this ogre camp?"

  "Not far from here, though it will be difficult for my warriors to reach. The camp is on an island in a lake, secured within the crater of a high peak. Now, of course, the place is surrounded by snow and ice. I imagine they think it will take any attack a long time to develop."

  "But you will try this attack?"

  "Yes. I have gathered the tribes in the mountains and shall ask all the braves to join me. Can Silvanos prepare to face Talonian and the dragons in time?"

  "I will carry word to him. He has been contemplating dividing his force, seeking shelter in the southern forests- but I'm certain that, with this hope before him, he will stand firm. How long will it take?"

  "Our attack will be made the day after tomorrow-it will take tfiat long to gather the warriors, to climb the outer mountain. It will take another day, perhaps a day and a hjrff, to carry the stone to the plains."

  "It may be that we can reduce that latter delay. I depart at once, for I know that Silvanos will be elated by this news."

  "Will we have time?" Kagonos asked.

  "Only the gods know. If the blues come too soon, I shall try to hold them at bay until the stone arrives-but it will have to be soon, for I cannot stop them all."

  'Then we should go quickly from here and meet again on the field of victory. Thank you for coming to the summons of the Ram's Horn."

  "I could do nothing else-but hold a moment. There is another thing you should know."

  Kagonos waited.

  "Silvanos wants you, wants all your tribe, to join him in the south after the war is won. He would raise you to the status of a house, and bring you into his new nation." Cbe Kagoncsri

  The Elderwild shrugged. "He can ask-but I shall not go"

  "That is as it should be." Darlantan was pleased. "Now, go to the dragongem-and may this accursed business be put behind us! Do you know-even the gods themselves have paid a price in this war?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Three children of Paladine-Solinari, Lunitari, and Nuitari-stole the power of magic, that the dragongems might be made. Those gods have been punished for their theft, in a manner that will soon be made apparent to all."

  "What punishment is of avail against a god?"

  "Look to the night sky, after the last battle-whether the result be for good or ill. There you will see the proof, outlined against the stars."

  Darlantan explained with a slow nod. Long tendrils of silvery whiskers curled outward from his jaw, and now that fringe flickered slightly in the growing wind. That same breeze brought the sounds of a distant pulsation.

  "The drums have begun," Kagonos observed.

  "In three days at the most, Talonian's ogres will be ready to attack. The blue dragons will be near, and the time of resolution falls upon us," agreed the elderly human. Though his body seemed frail, he stood firmly against the force of the wind, and in his yellow eyes glowed a glint of very youthful determination.

  "Good luck, my friend," Kagonos offered, placing an affectionate hand on the man's shoulder. Already the human shape began to change, shifting and expanding into the form of the great serpent.

  "And you," replied the dragon, with a serene dip of his head. "May victory soon be ours."

  The Elderwild turned back to the slope and jammed his feet into the bindings of his skis while Darlantan spread his broad silver wings. In moments, they were flying- one through the air, the other over the snow-as they swept downward from the mountains, toward a battle that would shape the future of the world.

  Chapter 2

  The Mountain

  Three wild elves leaned against the wind, climbing steadily along the knifelike crest of ridge. Sweeping onward in a graceful arc, the mountains rose ever more steeply toward the curve of barren, windswept summit. The tracks of the three climbers dwindled into the distance below, trailing all the way down the ridgeline to the forested foundation of the massif.

  A week earlier, Kagonos had climbed the other side of this mountain to discover the ogre camp within. Today, the Pathfinder chose this route for the second exploratory climb to the top. He remained aware of the mountain as a whole, though from this angle on the shoulder he could neither detect the full sweep of the circular summit, nor see the snow and ice-filled caldron within. A singular, crumbling notch broke that encircling crest at one point, allowing a tiny stream to flow through a narrow gorge, giving outlet to the lake within the mountain's crater.

  Instead of looking over the great slope before him, Kagonos allowed his eyes to sweep outward, inevitably drawn to the descending sweep of the mountains and the dusty plains beyond.

  In the lead of the climbing trio, the Pathfinder paused to catch his breath while he looked under his shoulder at his brothers, who climbed steadily behind and below him.

  Dall looked back, his dark face split by a fierce grin of elation, the circles of his war paint exaggerating the smile into a fierce leer. Behind Dall, Kyrill frowned with intense concentration. Like their elder brother, the two wild elves wore leather breeches and thick, deerskin cloaks to protect them from the biting wind. Still, their hands and heads were bare, except for the whorls of black paint with which the Elderwild warriors had marked their skin.

  The other warriors of the tribe waited, concealed beneath an overhanging cliff in the valley at the mountain's foot while the Pathfinder, aided by his two younger brothers, sought this second route to the summit. Kagonos pushed forward with urgency, knowing that two of them would have to descend with the summons to attack before the rest of the braves ventured onto the slopes.

  After a pause while each elf caught his breath, Kagonos again rose and turned his face toward the crest. One foot after the other, he started upward, following a line that angled toward the right, where the Elderwild had seen a shadow along the mountain's surface. True to his
suspicions, he located a narrow ravine there and led Dall and Kyrill into the scant shelter offered by its cracked and lagged walls. Here they were protected from the wind and more secure from observation by any ogres that might be posted on the heights above. Even though Kagonos had 5-een no such scouts on his first climb, the Pathfinder wasn t inclined to take any chances. "Why don't we just sneak in through the stream outlet?" Dall asked as he joined his brother beside a snow- streaked boulder. Once more the three climbers halted to catch their breath, Kyrill sweeping the snow off a rock and sitting down, while Dall and Kagonos leaned easily against the rough walls of the narrow ravine.

  "That's the obvious route-so it's the only one we can't take," Kagonos replied. "It's essential to approach an enemy from a direction he does not expect you to come."

  "Besides," said Kyrill with a sly grin, propping one fopc on a craggy rock as he leaned against the ravine wall, "the view's a lot better from up here!"

  "No city can offer a vista like that," Kagonos agreed, reverently allowing his eyes to sweep across the expanse of mountains and distant plain. From this height, the silver ribbon of the Vingaard River was barely visible, many miles from the foothills.

  "Why is it that Silvanos and the House Elves seek to hide themselves within walls?" Dall asked, showing the naivete of his youthful eighty-four years. "Are they all cowards?"

  "Most likely," said Kyrill. At two hundred, he had seen enough of life to make him, in his own eyes, an expert on most topics. "Either that, or they're afraid that if they wander into the forest, all their women will come running to us!"

  Suddenly Kagonos felt very tired-tired of war, tired of climbing, tired of watching out for the lives of the brothers who, since the death of his parents early in the war, were the only family he had on all of Krynn. Other warriors, by the time they had earned the right to paint the spirals of paint on their chests, had taken wives. Some even had children, a legacy to extend into future centuries. But for Kagonos there was none of that, not for the centuries since he had become the Pathfinder, the hope of his people.

  "Many geese flew over this spring," Dall said quietly. "The hunting in the fall will be rich, don't you think?"

  "Aye," Kyrill agreed, grateful for the change of subjects.

  "If the war's over, we'll have our pick of the marshes- and 1 intend to find the one where they're packed so close that each arrow will bring down two geese!"

  "Wishful thinking, my keen-eyed brother," Kagonos said, forcing a chuckle. "Though if there is an archer among the Elderwild who could do it, it is you."

  "Do you really think the war will end soon?" Dall asked, shaking his head in wonder. "The shamans say that it might-that the gods will so decree. And for years Balif's legions have pounded Talonian, with the cavalry and griffons of General Quithas riding all across Ansa- lon-but still Silvanos has not been able to win ultimate victory over the ogres."

  Kagonos spat at the mention of Silvanos's commander of cavalry, the renowned griffon-rider himself. "Quithas is not as great as they say. Even he would bleed red blood if cut."

  "But all the tales… I've heard that his legion can ride a hundred miles in a day and then attack an enemy army during the night. And still he wins the battle! Are these exaggerations?"

  "Perhaps, or perhaps not. But no single general, no one army, can stem a tide of evil that has flowed for a hundred and fifty years. And, for all his arrogance, Quithas is but a single elf-even if he does augment his speed by riding a horse, or a griffon!"

  Kyrill could not miss the bitterness in his older brother's tone. "This Quithas… he is the same you met in the mountains, before I was born. The hunter?"

  Quithas sought to kill the Grandfather Ram-he ¦v'nose horn I keep at my side. But I took the Griffon- tamer's weapon-this axe I still carry-and he fled from the valley."

  Eyes wide, Dall looked at Kagonos. "You challenged — .be mighty general-and he fled?" he asked, awestruck.

  Like the wretched cur he is," the Pathfinder replied mmlv, his jaws tightening at the memory. "Though he " is not Silvanos's general at the time-indeed, that was before the war. Though even then, Quithas seemed hungry for strife. He told me that he would one day lead many elves in battle."

  "And so he does-and will, until we can end the war," Kyrill noted.

  "Which might be today!" Dall exclaimed.

  "If we can capture the Bluestone and take it to Silvanos-or to Darlantan," Kagonos agreed cautiously.

  "Are you certain the stone lies beyond this summit?" Kyrill inquired.

  "As certain as I can be. Darlantan thought that my intuition was correct," Kagonos snapped.

  "That's good enough for me," Kyrill said with a shrug.

  "But what if the blue dragons or the army of Talonian destroys Silvanos on the plain? Then what will happen?" Dall pressed.

  "What if the face of Krynn splits apart and we all fall into the hole?" demanded Kagonos. He knew that such questions were part of elven nature, but why could such elves not remain silent? Roughly he forced his temper down. 'Then we die, and evil holds sway across the world! Darlantan says that the blue dragons will not be here for two days, at least. Furthermore, I do not think Talonian can defeat Silvanos. Apparently, the ogre chief has his own doubts-else why would he conceal the dragon talisman so far from the main body of his army?"

  "Perhaps because he doesn't fear the Elderwild," Kyrill said.

  "Then let us make him pay for his mistake," Kagonos replied as he climbed to his feet and turned once more toward the ascent.

  The gorge continued steeply upward, and the three nimble elves leapt over the snow-covered boulders that littered its floor, moving quickly after their brief rest.

  Kagonos, still in the lead, felt a growing sense of disquiet. He wanted to protect his brothers-for many decades he had protected them-from the terrible violence of war. The tribe had dwelled in the forest, moving often, never camping under the open sky, and it had been years since the Elderwild of his or any other band had been swept into a major battle.

  The chieftain's thoughts returned to the present as he saw blue sky yawning beyond the next curve of the gorge. "Careful," he whispered. "We're almost to the top-don't reveal yourself over the horizon."

  Ignoring the chill of the snow, Kagonos dropped to his hands and knees, creeping forward to the crest of the mountainside. At the top, he very slowly lifted his forehead until his keen eyes could see into the vale beyond.

  It was as he remembered. The circular crater in the center of the summit was steep-sided and broad, a dazzling bowl of snow-lined whiteness. A wide expanse of flatness formed the bottom, several hundred feet below. Though it was featureless now beneath winter's blanket, that flat area could only be the frozen surface of a lake. The island rose as a cone in the center, barely two hundred paces from the shore, and atop that rise he clearly saw ogres. In the week since his first discovery, the brutes had cleared away the snow from their camp and had spent some time piling rocks around the perimeter to form an improvised wall. Kagonos saw no sign of any lookouts on the mountain's rim, or even of any organized attempt to keep watch beyond the makeshift wall.

  "They're still here," he told his brothers, before fixing his eyes on Kyrill. His plan, which had begun to form with his first reconnaissance, now fell into place. "Get the warriors and bring them to the top. Dall, bring Chief Bar- calla and the warriors of the Silvertrouts, Whitetails, and Bluelake here. This is where we will make our attack.

  "Kyrill, I want you to take forty braves and circle around the mountain. Go with Chief Felltree and some of hi› Black Feather braves. When you get to that notch over there, wave your sword-let the sun flicker off the blade. I want you to start the attack, to divert the ogres toward the west. Then the bulk of the tribe will come down from this›ide. gaining some measure of surprise."

  Kagonos took his brother's arm and stared into his eyes. Kyrill's face was flushed with excitement, and his hands tensed around the hilt of his weapon. Once again the Elderwild Pathfinder felt
that stab of regret and apprehension, but with action so close he had no choice but to force it away.

  "Kyrill, listen," he ordered tautly. "When you draw close to that island, bring your warriors around the lake and join the attack from this side. 1 don't want the forty of you trying to climb that hill in the face of all the ogres in the camp. Do you understand?"

  For a moment the younger elf looked as though he wanted to argue. Abruptly he nodded, and with a last look at the ogre hilltop, Kyrill turned back toward the gorge and started down the mountain.

  Chapter 3

  Contest in blood

  The ogres continued tbeir disorganized attempts to fortify tbeir hilltop camp, piling boulders into a ring around the periphery of the crest to form a barrier of irregular height and loose, haphazard construction. The makeshift wall had numerous gaps, and nowhere was it higher than the top of an elf's head. Kagonos saw that most of the ogres aiready grew bored with their labors, and dozens of the brutes lolled about their camp or engaged in listless bickering and brawling. This lassitude served to reassure the Eiderwild that the monsters were unaware of the imminent menace to their camp-and to the Bluestone.

  What if he was wrong-what if the stolen artifact was not kept there? Kagonos could only dismiss the thought, unwilling even to consider the prospect, knowing that if it was true, all hope was lost.

  While waiting for his warriors, Kagonos had spent hours scouring, with his eyes, the hilltop camp, seeking some sign of that powerful talisman of dragonkind. He knew that the stone cast a powerful illumination, so that even if he couldn't see the magical gem itself he hoped to catch a glimpse of its emanations. His search had proved fruitless, but that did not change his mind. Very likely, he told himself, the Bluestone was concealed in a cave, or had perhaps been buried somewhere.