For a few moments, no one moved and no one spoke.
“What are you doing, my lords?” one of the Angdar asked. It was hard to tell whether he was mocking them, threatening them or whether he was merely curious. All the Angdar appeared to have a detached attitude to what they were witnessing.
Then Savenya appeared from an alcove behind them and as they realized she was there, a change came over them. Something in their eyes faded and their shoulders slumped.
Savenya walked towards Keld and his companions. “These lords are out of their room and are armed,” she said to the Angdar. “Kill them.”
Before any of them moved though, Keld stepped forward. “You can kill us if you wish,” he told them, ignoring Savenya. “But if you do, you shall remain here as Savenya’s servants. Is this what you wish?”
“They wish to survive, Lord Keld,” Savenya told him, her voice cold. “And to survive, they must obey.”
“For fear of retribution from you?” Keld asked. “You’re trapped here. You can’t change into your dragon form and while you’re still strong in your present one, the Angdar will be stronger still. And as you can see, they outnumber you too.”
“If any harm falls on me,” Savenya warned, speaking for the Angdar’s benefit, not Keld’s, “then Ilvenghaast and Orleich will destroy those responsible. All of those responsible.”
“Ilvenghaast and Orleich are dead,” Keld told them. “We can show you their corpses.”
“Charming,” Savenya said and then turned back to her soldiers. “Do you honestly believe these three men could overwhelm dragons?”
The Angdar didn’t answer.
Savenya scowled. “Let me put it this way then. If you don’t kill these lords, then you will answer to me right now!”
The Angdar then moved to the pillars throughout the room and picked up weapons from the stacks underneath them.
Then Keld realized something. For years, the Eirahir had patrolled the wild lands of the north east, killing any Angdar they could find and so while the Angdar had little love for Savenya, they had even less for him and his companions.
“Oh, hell,” he said.
With Kaodas and Asmundyr at his side, he turned and ran for the stairs, realizing that in all likelihood they wouldn’t reach them. And they didn’t.
The Angdar moved in from all sides. Unable to escape, Keld and his companions formed a small circle, protecting each other’s backs. In a detached manner, Keld noticed that Savenya had slipped away. Then one of the Angdar took a step towards him. Since the creatures knew the advantage was theirs, they weren’t in much of a hurry.
Then the sound of breaking glass rang through the room and several small dragon–like creatures came flying inside, hovering about the ceiling. Shrieking at the Angdar, they dived towards them, pecking at them and clawing at their faces, tearing flesh as they did so. Some of the Angdar tried to swipe at the creatures but they were too fast, darting back towards the ceiling and out of reach.
“What are these things?” Kaodas exclaimed.
“I think they’re the dragonets Natooka mentioned,” Keld replied. “But whatever they are, they just saved our lives. Come on!”
He then led the way through a nice little corridor the creatures had opened through the ranks of the Angdar and they resumed their headlong race down the stairs.
They passed several more floors of the fortress and while it was possible that Savenya could have been hiding on any of them, it seemed that her plan was to escape from the fortress altogether. And when they reached the gate, they saw that she had. Lying in the dusty entrance was her velvet dress.
With a sigh, Keld stepped outside and looked around.
“Keld!”
Nearly jumping out of his skin, Keld looked up and saw Natooka astride a gold dragon.
“Did you find Savenya?”
“Both of her companions are dead,” Keld replied, “but it looks like she escaped.”
He dashed back to the gate and picked up the dress to show her. “We found this.”
“So she’s changed.”
“Yes.”
“We didn’t see anything though,” Natooka said. “Hold on.” On her dragon steed, she soared over their heads and down over the cliff behind the fortress, circling the mountain several times.
Keld then saw a much larger dragon circling overhead as well. It was hard to make out in the moonlight but it also appeared to have a golden hue. Clearly a lot of things had been happening while he’d been locked away.
“Nothing,” Natooka said as she reappeared. “Where could she have gone?”
“I don’t know,” Keld replied. “Maybe we should search the fortress.”
“Maybe.” Natooka sounded doubtful.
“Speaking of which,” Keld told her, changing the subject, “there are a lot of Angdar in there and they’re pretty angry.”
“More good news,” Natooka called back. “Well, don’t worry. Ramonda is already on that.”
“Ramonda?” Keld asked. And he and the others looked up to see the larger gold dragon return and blast a stream of fire through the windows that the Angdar were behind.
“I’d better get back and help get all those women and children to safety!” Natooka shouted.
Then she and the dragon soared up towards the ramparts of the fortress.
In the dark up above Keld and the others, Savenya clung to the bricks of the fortress walls, wedged in a small corner. Then, once the woman and her dragon left, she climbed back down and eased her way over the edge of the cliff face. Slowly but steadily, she made her descent.
Scrambling up and down steep rocky slopes had been a useful skill for her in the past, helping her to escape larger dragons unnoticed. Now, once again, it had saved her life.
XVII. Enemy Unwatched
The meeting was held in the mountains above Kalishar where Karafae had made his dwelling. Two weeks had passed since Savenya was driven from Wyvern’s Peak.
“All right,” Ramonda announced. “Before we begin, let’s first make sure we have dealt with our other concerns.”
She picked up some papers that had been prepared for her after Savenya’s escape and proceeded to read. Despite what some in the group had thought, the dragons of I’estre were quite literate. But considering their long lives of peace and contentment, it should have been more surprising if they weren’t. Ramonda looked at the first item. “Harvindar.”
“I told him we were free to go our separate ways,” Elenskaer replied. “And he told me he wanted to explore the Southern Lands.”
“He won’t cause trouble down there, will he?”
“I doubt it,” Elenskaer said. “I’ve told Karn before, but Harvindar’s honorable in his own way. Also, he’s afraid of doing anything that might anger Karn since he was the one who killed Dominicon.”
“Very well,” Ramonda said, making a note of it. “We’ll assume we won’t be hearing from him again. Now, the remaining Angdar at Wyvern’s Peak.”
“I met with them,” Baine said. “Those who survived won’t go anywhere near Arahir or Valahir again. They’ve retreated back to the Ogjenskarrat.”
Ramonda nodded. “Good. Now, has everyone in the Greater Realms been informed about the present situation?”
Queen Haadeiya addressed that one for the group. “Well, the other civic leaders and I have discussed this and everyone in all the major cities should know by now as official messengers were employed to spread the news. As for the villagers, we’ve been working on that too. Shaala’s been helping us by summoning messenger falcons and even going herself to various places around the Greater Realms with Helina.”
She paused. “We decided not to use the dragonets yet because, given a lot of people’s recent experience with larger dragons, they might startle them. However, we’ve mentioned the dragonets in the messages along with you and your companions, of course.”
“Well, I think that’s everything,” Ramonda said. He turned to Kaolin. “How are the women Savenya’s companions kid
napped?”
Kaolin sighed. “I don’t know. As well as can be expected, I suppose.”
Beside her, Keld squeezed her hand.
Ramonda bowed her head. “I hope they can soon put what happened behind them.” She paused before addressing the group once more. “Now, let’s talk about Savenya.”
“Is it possible,” Queen Heptapshu asked, “that she simply returned to Drach’nsvoiya?”
“Possible, yes,” Ramonda said. “But from what I’ve learned of her from all of you, unlikely. Now, I can’t propose any real solution for finding her but I think we can guard ourselves against her if we can inform each other quickly if anyone sees her. Karn, if you, Shaala and Elenskaer keep watch at Cirreone, you can contact other dragons or mages if you see her, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll be our eyes and ears in the east. Helina, I’ll station you at Olcenberg. You can liaise with the governing council there and keep watch over Illisden, Carcasia, Ungvemhaast and Un’vari. Haitarus, you can stay in Saharei. It’s possible that Savenya may try to cause trouble in the Southern Lands. And Baine, you and Nera can stay here.”
“Sounds good to me,” Baine replied, giving Nera a smile.
“And finally, I’ll go to Wyvern’s Peak and keep watch over the northern lands,” Ramonda said. “Now, we also have fifteen dragonets with us and they wish to help. So for the duration of our vigil, seven of them shall act as messengers for you all if you need urgent aid. King Kaodas. Lady Kaolin. Lord Asmundyr. Queen Heptapshu. Queen Isabelle. Lady Daphne. Queen Haadeiya. When you all return to your homes, a dragonet will go with you. In the meantime, the other dragonets will continue scouting out the Greater Realms to see if Savenya can be found.”
Savenya however had no plan. She sat in the ruins of her fortress overlooking the ashen waste of her temporary home, a good imitation of Drach’nsvoiya. Somehow, its dull barren landscape appealed to her mood right then, and while the fortress she’d found here was very different from Wyvern’s Peak, it had a similar feeling to it in some respects as both places had been built by men of similar character.
However, where Askenroth had been proud and boastful, whoever had made this had been crafty and practical, a survivor. Askenroth’s fortress had towered over the lands, proclaiming his might to all who saw it. This fortress though, Kharadaan as it was called, was crude, a series of rooms and tunnels carved out of a mountain of rock. The fortress of Wyvern’s Peak stood atop a mountain but Kharadaan was a mountain. And while it had fallen into disrepair after its final abandonment, it could never be wholly destroyed.
Savenya sat naked in one of the caves, cooking the meat of a wild goat she had killed, turning it over the fire she had made. It wasn’t civilization, but then again, she had tried her hand at that and had failed. She still missed it though. The softness of her bed. Those velvet dresses. She even missed sparring with Kaolin and the others.
Angrily, she played about with the fire, prodding sticks into it to make it spark. It had been a mistake trying to govern whole lands. She knew that now. It was pointless work, taking a tribute to feed those awful Angdar creatures that she was better off without. Also, she didn’t feel too bad about losing Ilvenghaast and Orleich. They’d been brutes anyway, especially Orleich. He hadn’t known what to do with civilization and had broken the rules of conduct she had set out for them all.
As Savenya turned the meat that hung above the fire, she tried to clear her thoughts and focus on what it was she really wanted. She’d been thinking about it for two weeks now and in a way, she’d been wondering about it far longer than that. She enjoyed the space she had at Kharadaan but she didn’t plan to stay there. She just needed time to plan her next move. She also wanted companionship, and the black dragons and wyverns she had found in this new land were pretty pathetic on that front. And black dragons just didn’t taste the same any more either.
Wyverns had been interesting to her for a little while, especially as they had been oddly non–existent around that peak that carried their name. They seemed to be the Greater Realm’s native equivalent of a dragon species and they would have been wholly unremarkable creatures – scraggly and ungainly vermin – if it weren’t for the interesting fact of their stinging tails. For a little while, Savenya had contemplated rounding up a group of the things, along with a few black dragons and attacking those who were responsible for her current predicament. The only problem however was that she didn’t know who they were, or where they were either for that matter.
There had been other dragons at Wyvern’s Peak, a large gold and a slightly smaller one and then there had been all those silver creatures that looked like dragons in miniature. Then someone had let Keld, Kaodas and Asmundyr out of their prison. And Kaolin must have got out as well.
She shook her head. There was no way she could have known anything like that was going to happen. Clearly, she had underestimated the people of the Greater Realms.
She wondered then whether perhaps the best thing would be for her to go to Elenskaer or Karafae asking for aid but the idea of crawling to them on her belly repulsed her.
Then the answer struck her. She would make her way through the Greater Realms in her human form since the people who had driven her from Wyvern’s Peak, if they were still hunting her, were hunting a striped ruby dragon.
She smiled to herself, pleased with this resolution. The only thing that remained was to decide where to go. She had to go somewhere where there were people and the means to travel because, as much as she preferred her human form, it made traveling slow work. She needed access to horses, ships and the like.
As she ate her dinner, she contemplated the problem more and then late in the night, she took off for one last flight in her dragon form and headed far to the south–east, to the land of Hadras.
This land had once been home to the Lia’shael people, a people of olive complexion who had lived off the bounties of the sea. In the first great war of the Greater Realms, they had been driven from that land to the peninsula of Aracea, where Cirreone lay. Then most of them had fled farther west after the wars with Strahd had broken out.
Afterwards, Hadras had been largely forgotten. The massive armies that the fallen mages of the first war had brought with them were long gone, the fortress of Argon that they had built near the mountains of that land was now just a relic from another era, and any evidence of the original Lia’shael inhabitants of Hadras had been lost. Living among the many peoples of places like Kalishar and Ensari, they had no interest in returning.
However, after the defeat of Marshal Artaeis, a handful of settlers from Kalishar had traveled there and now there was a scattering of small villages along the coast. It was at one of these villages that Savenya changed into her human form.
After making sure there was nobody watching, she walked to the shore of the sea, waded into the water and completely soaked herself. Then she rolled about in the sand and then lay on her front, turned her head to one side and shut her eyes.
She remained there until morning and as the sun grew hot on her skin, she heard the voices of village men as they ran down to the beach.
“Ah, it breaks my heart when the sea claims the life of another innocent traveler,” one of them said.
“Search the beach. There may be more bodies.”
“I doubt it. There’s no wreckage from the boat. I’d say this poor lady’s been swept a long way from wherever she was.”
One of the men sighed. “Well, I suppose we’d better clean her up and give her some kind of fitting ceremony. A few words, throw the ashes into the sea, something like that.”
“This is awful.”
“Yes.”
Savenya then felt hands grabbing hold of her and she was turned over onto her back.
“She’s alive!” one of the villagers exclaimed, and Savenya felt hands brushing her cheeks as though the men were trying to wake her. It was time.
She coughed, weakly at first and then with a little more force. Th
en she shuddered, shivered a little and allowed herself to open her eyes, perfecting a confused and bleary gaze. She looked around and said nothing.
“Are you all right?” a concerned suntanned face asked her. “What happened?”
“My ship...” Savenya stammered. “I paid for a crossing to the Southern Lands.” She affected a dizzy spell and leaned forward, forcing tears. “There was a storm. We had to swim...” Then she cried, heaving her shoulders and sobbing.
“It’s all right,” someone told her, an arm around her. “You’re safe now. Look at that sky. Not a cloud! And the sea’s as flat as a mirror. You’ll be all right now.”
“The poor thing must be exhausted,” another man said, shaking his head. “Come on. Let’s get her inside. Let my wife take a look at her. She’s got this trick of putting herbs or what–have–you in a heated bath. I reckon that’s just what this young lady needs.”
XVIII. The Path Ahead
Over a month passed and then as autumn arrived in the Greater Realms, Queen Haadeiya saw a dragonet alight on the ground before her. Her own dragonet companion, who she had grown quite fond of during their time together, went to greet the newcomer and she followed.
“Hello, my friend,” she said, giving the arrival a piece of dried meat that she kept handy for the dainty creatures. The dragonet gobbled it down and rubbed his head against her thigh affectionately. Smiling, Haadeiya patted him and reached down to remove the message that had been tied to his leg.
“Oh,” she said after she’d read it. She then took a little sip of water from a cup on her table, folded the letter and slid it under the cup.
“What’s that about?” one of the Ulak nearby asked her.
“Ramonda sent it,” she said. “She’s calling off the vigil. And she’s leaving.”
“Savenya’s been found then?”
“No,” Haadeiya replied. “But Ramonda thinks there’s no need for us to worry about her any more. Besides, we can’t keep looking over our shoulders forever. There comes a time when we just have to get on with our lives and Ramonda says that time for us has come and gone.”
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