Dragonmage of Mystara

EPILOGUE

Three years had passed since the Dragonking had defeated the Overlord and brought a sudden end to a devastating war. After the evening of singing on the plateau, the Dragonking had departed for the east, and he had never been seen again. No one seemed to know what had become of the hero to whom they all owed so much. Sometimes people saw a solitary dragon riding the winds over the distant mountains, and they would think fondly of the brave dragons who had, against all expectations, fought so fiercely to protect them from an enemy they could never have faced alone.

Now most of the signs of war had been erased from the Highlands, except for Braastar, which had suffered much during the invasion. It was a generally prosperous time throughout that part of the world. Most folk were grateful for being saved from certain death or enslavement, and they remembered how everyone had set aside his differences to stand together against a common enemy. And so most lands were still at peace, because people had acquired a new respect for how valuable it was.

On a spring morning, when the sun was bright and everyone hurried about his business, two strangers appeared in the streets of Braejr. They were an odd sort, obviously foreigners-one man and one woman, each of them tall and thin but strongly built, with black hair and large eyes. No one had ever seen them before, but they were well dressed if not conspicuously so and obviously of refined manners, and so no one took much notice of them. The Flaem were getting used to not only seeing foreigners but also having them live among them, so a pair of innocent-looking strangers was not a matter of particular concern. Times had changed indeed.

The strangers presented themselves at the home of Sir George Kirbey, a comfortable townhouse in a well-to-do area of the city that was just down the street and around the corner from where he had lived for several years with Thelvyn Fox-Eyes. The old knight had apparently stepped out for a while, and so they let themselves in to wait. Although the door had been locked, the strange magic commanded by the tall, dark man made quick work of that. There was no one at home except for a rather noisy bird, a large green parrot with a long red tail and a beak that might have done credit to a griffon. The parrot sat in its cage in the den, alternately ringing a bell that hung from a chain and then laughing hysterically. It was so unlike Sir George to keep such a thing in his house that they were fascinated by it. But the parrot refused to speak, continuing to ring its bell and then laugh its deep, hearty laugh.

Sir George himself returned only a few minutes later. At first he did not recognize his two visitors, since he had never before seen them in the form they now wore. Then he realized that their features resembled the Eldar of Windreach, and he knew that they were Thelvyn and Kharendaen. He could not have been more delighted, insisting that they sit down in comfortable chairs in the den with glasses of his best cherry liqueur. He prepared himself for a long chat.

Unfortunately, it was immediately obvious that they would have no peace from the bell-ringing bird. Sir George cursed it in some strange language, threw a heavy cloth over the cage, and then removed it to a back room and locked the door. He had only just returned when they heard the distant sound of a

ringing bell followed by an evil laugh.

"You were never one for pets," Thelvyn observed. "Except, perhaps, for an orphan dragon you once raised."

"Oh, that bird is no pet," Sir George declared. "It's the bane of my existence, the punishment for my every sin, the very scourge of my patience. But it was also my inheritance, so what could I do?"

"Inheritance?" Kharendaen asked. "I hesitate to ask what you may have done to deserve it."

"The key to my inheritance, I should say," Sir George explained. He sniffed his glass and sighed, his contentment restored by the sickly sweet scent of the vile cherry concoction. "That red-tailed moron came to me with the compliments of Mage Artacious of Ierendi, a long-time acquaintance of mine and fellow expert and collector of rare antiquities. He passed away earlier this year, and he wanted me to have a cache of ancient treasures he had recently located. Artacious was very fond of puzzles, and also of his little jokes. Only the bird knew where to find the treasure."

"But the bird doesn't talk," Thelvyn observed.

"The bird doesn't like to talk," Sir George corrected him sullenly. "The only sadistic joy in its miserable life is ringing that bell and laughing. It can ring that stinking bell day after day, night after night, for weeks on end and never tire of it. I did everything I could to try to get it to talk. Finally I called in Perrantin, hoping he could suggest something."

"Did Perrantin know what to do?" Thelvyn asked. Both he and Kharendaen were having difficulty hiding their amusement.

"Oh, yes. He took away that damned bell, and inside of two hours, the bird was talking its head off. The only trouble was that we had no idea what it was saying. It took us two more weeks to figure out that it speaks only in an old dialect of the Heldannic clans, a rather uncouth language suitable only for disgruntled Heldannic wizards and obnoxious parrots."

Thelvyn finally gave in and laughed out loud. "Now I know why I've missed you so these last few years."

Sir George frowned. "You sound as if any cause for missing me had escaped you until now. That's not my fault. You had to go away, even though things were finally beginning to settle down enough for us to enjoy ourselves."

"You said you needed to go home and be comfortable for a while," Thelvyn reminded him. "You seem to have found yourself a comfortable home, but I can't tell whether or not you've cut back on your adventures."

"Actually I have," Sir George insisted. "Once the threat of invasion was past, Solveig had a lot of work getting the Highlands back in order, especially with all those people freed from the will of the Overlord who were settling here. Once you were gone, Solveig was the only wayward child I had left in my care. I came back here so she could tend to her business."

He spent some time telling his visitors about Solveig and all that she had done in the last three years. The Highlands had continued to prosper, enjoying an increasingly important place in that part of the world. There was a good deal of trade to the south with Darokin and east with Rockhome, and the Flaem were now on reasonably good terms with all their neighbors except for a vague but growing unease with the Ethengar. The clans had become more aggressive and more hostile to travelers since the war. They had lost a great deal in the burning of the steppes. Even though the land itself had long since recovered, the herds had been decimated, and the Ethengar often turned to raiding as a means for making a living.

Solveig remained the head of the council, keeping the Fire Wizards firmly in line while she encouraged them to make positive contributions. Alessa Vyledaar was still a close friend and supporter of Solveig's, and that did much to maintain unity between the Fire Wizards and the government. Solveig had also been successful at beginning to defuse the hatred the Flaem held for the Alphatians, which in the past had consumed a great deal of their time and resources. Unfortunately, there were signs that the Alphatians were beginning to devote some thought to their old interest in expanding their empire, but that was a matter of more immediate concern for their closest neighbors, such as the Thyatians. Curiously, the Alphatians were also trying to sneak back into their holdings in the Norwold, which just proved that some people never learned their lesson no matter how much it cost them.

Things remained much the same in Rockhome. The rebuilding of the damage from the invasion had long since been completed. The greatest concern now was that King Daroban's health was slowly beginning to fail, and it seemed increasingly likely that Korinn would be the next king. Whether or not his brother recovered enough to be king, Korinn was now quite famous and respected by all, and his brother seemed comfortable in the role of his chief supporter and advisor.

Solveig had settled down and had recently married Darius Glantri, who came to live with her in Braejr in the house that had once belonged to Thelvyn. Kharendaen's lair was still kept ready to serve the needs of dragons visiting Braejr. Sir George believed that the newlyweds were likely to return to Thyatis sooner or later. Solveig had often spoken of returning to her family home in Thyatis.

"What about the dragons?" Sir George asked at last.

"Time passes slowly for the dragons," Thelvyn answered. "To them, it is as if the war has just ended, and their lives are only now beginning to get back to normal."

"Do you think they'll remember the lessons that the Great One wanted them to learn?"

"Oh, they'll remember," Thelvyn said emphatically. "It just might take some time to notice anything. Changes that would take years in some lands might take centuries with the dragons. But some things will never be the same. They've discovered their hidden nobility, and they're finding it harder to act like beasts than they once did. It should be interesting to see what becomes of the Nation of Dragons a thousand years from now."

"If we weren't talking about dragons, I'd be tempted to say that sounds like an awfully long time," Sir George remarked philosophically. "What about the two of you? Have you hatched any eggs yet?"

"Two years ago," Kharendaen said, obviously proud. "Thelvyn always knew that it was a female, but he kept that news to himself. Her name is Therandael. Marthaen and Daresha are watching her now that Thelvyn and I have more to do here in the mortal world."

"I think I'd like to see a little dragon," Sir George mused. "Are you likely to have any more?"

Thelvyn shook his head. "I would have to surrender my Immortality to sire any more children, and that's not practical."

"Then what have the two of you been doing lately?"

Thelvyn glanced briefly at Kharendaen before he continued. "We have been very busy, and we expect to stay busy for a long time to come. That's the real reason why we came. Would you care to make a short journey with us into the wilds tonight? It's been a long time since you've flown on the back of a dragon."

"It has indeed," Sir George said, obviously intrigued. "I look forward to it."

They had a small dinner that night at Sir George's town-house, then returned to the den to talk of old times while they waited for night to fall. Sir George spoke more about his travels and adventures since the end of the war, and Thelvyn listened in quiet satisfaction. While the old knight had made the choice to leave Windreach to return to his old life in the outside world, he had gotten used to the company of dragons and obviously missed them. Once night had fallen, they walked together through the streets of Braejr until they came to the city park. They quickly found a quiet place where Thelvyn and Kharendaen could revert to their forms as gold dragons. Sir George noticed that Thelvyn was already wearing a dragon saddle when he changed form.

The old knight climbed into the saddle, and the two dragons ascended into the night sky as silently as they could, rising unseen out of the city. They turned east toward the Colossus Mountains, flying swiftly over the deeply wooded foothills and then climbing into the heights. At last the dragons found the place they seemed to have been looking for and circled down to land in a small meadow surrounded by the tall pine forest that covered the lower slopes of the mountain.

"You asked what we've been doing," Thelvyn said as soon as Sir George dismounted from the saddle. "Aside from guiding the dragons, I have found a great deal to do. Lately we've spent much of our time traveling secretly around the world watching the growth of civilization and doing what we can to make certain that the future has a place for dragons."

"That's a fairly tall order," Sir George remarked. "I admit that the war against the Overlord taught the world something about trusting dragons, just as it taught the dragons something important about trusting each other. But they still have a lot to learn about acting in a civilized manner. Even if they do, the rest of the world is going to need a long time to learn to accept dragons."

"I expect the task of finding a place in the world for dragons will occupy me for centuries," Thelvyn admitted. "I'm going to need all the help I can get. That's why we're here. I was wondering if you've possibly had enough of being comfortable and are ready for a little adventure."

"Me?" Sir George protested, surprised at the suggestion. "I'm not a gold dragon, remember? I'm just a wayward drake, and therefore not a suitable companion for the Immortal Diamond."

"There are some things only you can do for me," Thelvyn assured him. "And if you still think that only a dragon is worthy of serving me, then keep one thing in mind. Even that is something within my power to grant."

Sir George jumped in sudden alarm, realizing that something had happened to him. Looking down at himself, he saw that he was now a gold dragon. His first reaction seemed to be one of profound confusion. The change had happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that he didn't know what to make of it. At least a dragon form was vaguely familiar to him, after his many years as a drake. He bent his head around, trying to get a better look at himself, and ended up going around in a complete circle like a dog chasing its tail.

"Do I have your interest?" Thelvyn asked, careful to hide his amusement.

Sir George looked up. "Well, yes. I don't want to seem overly critical, but I think you've set a worthy task for us, if a rather difficult one."

Thelvyn did not answer. He did not want to admit that the task that lay ahead for him and his companions would be far more important and more difficult than Sir George could ever guess. Even the Immortals could not clearly see what the future would bring, but some events were inevitable. He could not guess why or when, but he knew that someday in the centuries to come, the dragons would be forced to go war once again.