Dragonmage of Mystara

CHAPTER FIVE

Thelvyn knew he would have only a brief time to reach the fortress and find the Collar of the Dragons. Sooner or later the four strange dragons would figure out that he and Kharendaen had circled back. He couldn't predict whether they would return at once to the fortress or stay at the gate, knowing that Thelvyn and his companions would have to return there eventually, since it was their only way home.

At least Thelvyn had not been taken completely by surprise. He had suspected that their mission would not be as easy as it had seemed, but he never expected to have to fight dragons in this world. He no longer had any idea who their true enemy was, the Fire Wizards or the alien dragons. Nor could he guess whether all the enemy dragons guarding the fortress were now somewhere in the wild behind him, or if more might still be waiting within the fortress. He would have to be cautious, but he also needed to move as quickly as he dared.

At least he had sprung the first trap prematurely. If all four of the alien dragons had attacked together, neither he nor Kharendaen might have escaped. But who were these strange

dragons? Did they obey the Fire Wizards? Had they been expecting him? And had they been behind the recent attacks in his own world? He had many questions and no time to consider the answers, but he suspected that he would soon understand many things much better than he had. And if his suspicions proved true, he would demand an accounting.

Following the tracks in the sand that were already beginning to disappear under the relentless wind, he returned quickly to the place of the first attack. He paused a moment, giving Sir George a chance to see him in the expectation that he would want to be certain of his friends and enemies before showing himself. He also wanted to have a look about in the fearful possibility of finding the old knight's broken body. Sir George showed himself a moment later, emerging from a deep shadow amid the boulders.

"I'm glad you finally remembered me," he complained, hurrying to Kharendaen's side.

"You were probably safer here than you would have been with us," Thelvyn told him. "But we must hurry now. The alien dragons are probably at the worldgate waiting for us to show up, but they won't wait long."

"But won't we have to face them eventually?" Sir George asked as he pulled himself back into his saddle.

"Not if we can help it. I hope that we can raid their fortress while they're guarding the gate, then escape through the gate when they come looking for us at the fortress."

Sir George looked skeptical but said nothing. Thelvyn had to agree with his companion's cynical assessment. Thelvyn knew any number of things could go wrong with his plan, but he still hoped for the best. He paused just long enough to rise up on his hind legs and lift his head to look around. He had wondered if the alien dragons would take to the sky to search, but he saw nothing. The fortress was only a little more than a mile from where they now stood. He hoped to be inside its forbidding walls very soon.

Dragons moved in an ungainly manner on the ground, but they could move along at a very quick pace and surprisingly quietly when they needed to. The land rose slowly as they approached the high point of land where the fortress stood, and they had to cross an open stretch of ground before the terrain became even more rugged during the last few hundred yards. At least it would hide their final approach. Thelvyn was both startled and immediately suspicious to see that the main gate of the fortress stood invitingly open, the massive wooden drawbridge lowered and the iron-bound portals within drawn back so that the soft golden light of lamps spilled out into the night.

Indicating that Kharendaen should follow at a safe distance, he stalked slowly along the last few yards of the road before inching carefully toward the open gate, creeping like a great cat, with his legs bent so that his deep chest was almost touching the ground. He edged forward until his slender nose was almost within the doorway, as if he meant to poke his head inside. Then, without warning, he suddenly leapt forward, hurtling himself ahead with an abrupt lunge of his powerful hind legs. His leap carried him well past any enemy that might have been lurking just inside the gate.

Thelvyn landed on the smooth stone floor of a vast chamber just within the gate and turned quickly to look for any enemy that might attack after that first moment of surprise. The purpose of this chamber was not immediately clear to him. It seemed to be like a great hall or large reception room rather than a courtyard or enclosed stables. There were few furnishings, and the light came from magical lamps set along the walls. Stairs at either side led up to a wide balcony on the second floor, although the stairs were exceptionally wide, long, and shallow-stepped. But there was no sign of any defender. Kharendaen slipped through the gate a moment later, lifting her head to look about.

"Everything here seems to be built to the proportions of dragons," Thelvyn explained. "Look at those stairs, the doorways, the height of the ceiling. I'm inclined to believe that those strange dragons are the true masters of this world."

"But Alessa didn't say anything about dragons being native to this place," Sir George said. "That's not something she could have simply overlooked. All she said was that this was a stronghold of the Fire Wizards."

"Yes, she did, didn't she?" Thelvyn agreed thoughtfully. "Now, why do you suppose she neglected to mention something like that? We'll have a little talk with Alessa Vyledaar when we return to our own world. But for now, let's locate the collar and get out of here."

"The collar is straight ahead," Kharendaen said, staring intently toward a wide corridor that led directly inward from the gate. "I sense its magic, and I can remember the distinct presence of the powers of the collar from the times when I have seen it in Windreach."

"I'm almost surprised that the collar is still here, considering how the circumstances have changed," Thelvyn said, having sensed the magical presence she described. "Follow me. We still have no idea who else might still be lurking about this place."

"Not traitor Fire Wizards, at least," Sir George commented.

No attempt had been made to hide or safeguard the Collar of the Dragons in any way. Thelvyn followed the sense of its remarkable magic straight into the heart of the fortress, hurrying past many dimly lit chambers of great size. From what he could see, there seemed no doubt this was indeed a fortress or stronghold and nothing more. While everything was built to the scale of dragons, there were few furnishings, with no carpets on the cold stone floor and no tapestries or other decorations hung on the bare walls. Even the dour forts of the dwarves were more hospitable. Thelvyn smiled to himself, thinking that even the Fire Wizards of the Flaem showed better taste.

His search came to an abrupt end as the wide corridor led to the doors of the largest chamber he had seen yet, near the very center of the fortress. Thelvyn slowed to approach the doorway cautiously, then stopped just outside the chamber to look around. This chamber was truly vast in its proportions, the ceiling so high that he could have flown around it in a tight circle. Thelvyn guessed that this was a place where magic was learned and practiced, for great shelves of books lined the walls, and there were couches and reading stands much like those he had seen used by the dragons of Shadowmere. Objects he knew to be associated with magic also stood on the shelves and on stands, and on the walls hung weapons and samples of rare plants and the preserved bodies of strange creatures, the odd

trophies of explorations or perhaps conquests.

In the center of the room stood a simple stand of dark stone, nothing more than a long cylinder of smooth marble supported on a heavy wooden frame. Perched atop the stand was the Collar of the Dragons. Thelvyn had never seen the collar nor even heard it described in clear detail, but he knew immediately that this was the object of his quest. The collar was made of large golden plates hinged together so that it could change shape with the movements of a dragon's neck. A row of large, hollow triangular plates along the top were shaped to fit over the ridges of a dragon's crest. The plates of the collar were adorned with a wealth of jewels.

Thelvyn refrained from rushing forward to claim the collar just yet. He had become aware that one of the alien dragons was crouching close to the wall beyond the doorway to his right, ready to spring out as he stepped through- He pretended not to notice, seeming to keep his attention focused on the collar. He waited for a long, tense moment, letting his enemy become apprehensive with uncertainty. Then he darted forward in a sudden, unexpected move, catching the alien dragon by the neck and dragging him down.

Thelvyn almost lost the battle as quickly as he had seized the initial advantage. Having little experience fighting in his dragon form, he was unaware that he should have seized his opponent's neck with his jaws and left his hands free to pin the arms of the other dragon, preventing him from thrashing and pulling free. The alien dragon was about to twist away when Kharendaen rushed forward and hauled back on his tail, pulling him off balance so that Thelvyn could get a better hold. Sir George jumped down from his saddle so that Kharendaen could help subdue their enemy without worrying about his safety.

The alien dragon acted surprised to face two intruders, and he suddenly relented, lying passively on his back and panting heavily. Thelvyn kept his entire weight on his foe's chest to prevent him from using his breath weapon. While the first of the strange dragons they had fought had possessed armor like plates of ruby, this one appeared to be made of amber. He was also larger, fully as big as Thelvyn, who was rather large for a young gold. Nor did he seem to be a creature constructed and animated by magic; they could see that he was definitely a male, and a golem would not have had a sex.

"Talk to us," Thelvyn insisted in a firm voice. "You've obviously had dealings with my world, so I suspect that you must know the language of either the dragons or the Flaem."

"I know your speech," the alien dragon said, speaking the language of the dragons with an odd accent. "I know thee as [he Dragonlord who was and the Dragonking who will never be. But I may say nothing to thee."

"That's a very ancient form of the dragon language," Kharendaen said quietly, looking perplexed.

"The gemstone dragons have held no propinquity with thy coarse breed for a long age of my world or thine," their prisoner continued.

"Gemstone Dragons?" Thelvyn repeated. "Are you the masters of this place and not the servants of the Flaem?"

"In truth, are we known as the Masters," the gemstone dragon declared fiercely, seemingly offended by the suggestion that it was a servant of the Flaem. "We serve none but the Overlord. All others here are slaves."

"He's trying to delay us," Kharendaen warned. "He has summoned others to his aid. We dare not waste time on words, as important as it may be to know the answers to these mysteries."

"Nor shall I reveal to thee what thou desires most to know," the alien dragon added, glaring angrily at them. "Although such knowledge will serve thee not, for thou and thy companions will never depart from this place."

Indeed, they had already delayed too long. Thelvyn was taken by complete surprise when a fireball suddenly exploded against his shoulder and the back of his wide neck. His armor spared him any real damage, but it hurt enough to distract him, and the force of the impact knocked him off balance. In the confusion, his captive was able to struggle free. The amber dragon jumped clear and then turned back quickly to attack, leaping forward with its jaws spread wide to gain a fatal hold on Thelvyn's exposed neck. Kharendaen hurtled herself to his defense, darting her head and neck beneath the amber dragon's own neck and then thrusting herself upward with her powerful hind legs to toss her larger opponent heavily onto its back.

Kharendaen pressed her attack before Thelvyn could react, driven by a dragon's boundless fury at seeing her mate harmed. She leapt on the fallen amber dragon while it was still struggling to its feet, striking it so hard in the chest that it was hurled backward. A second fireball exploded against the stone floor where she had stood only a moment before, but she seemed not to notice as she flung herself forward to the attack once more. The amber dragon struck the floor hard, and Kharendaen was on it in an instant, landing on its chest with her entire weight, stunning it. Taking advantage of the amber's momentary helplessness, she lunged forward with her muzzle to gain a death hold on its neck.

Thelvyn had finally recovered from his fall and was rushing to his mate's side, fearful for her safety. Her full attention was focused on the amber dragon, but Thelvyn spotted another alien, a second ruby dragon, entering the chamber through a doorway on the far side of the room, followed by five human figures, who immediately took cover. Even as Thelvyn leapt across the floor, the ruby dragon arched its neck, thrust out its head sharply, and unleashed another fireball that exploded across Kharendaen's left shoulder at its juncture with the wing. Kharendaen immediately released her grip on the amber dragon and roared out in pain. The blow to her wing was a painful one, so that she lifted her head and roared.

This time it was Thelvyn who experienced the dark fury at seeing his mate come to harm. He saw the ruby dragon's companions emerge from hiding to prepare their own attack. From their distinctive, high-collared robes, he guessed they must be Fire Wizards. Desperate to protect his mate, he rushed to Kharendaen's side and turned the heavy armor of his shoulders and back to the attackers. A brief hail of magical missiles caromed harmlessly off his armor, although a couple tore through the delicate sails of his folded wings. Hardly noticing the burning pain in his battle rage, he turned his head away to protect his eyes from the missiles.

The last of the unseen bolts rebounded from his armor, and he immediately lifted his head, anticipating the next attack.

The ruby dragon had drawn back its head and was inhaling air to use its flaming breath. Roaring in fury, Thelvyn leapt up and rushed at the gemstone dragon as fast as he could move, closing his eyes and ducking his head at the last moment as a sustained blast of dragonfire washed over him. A hastily summoned spell to repel flame protected him from the worst of the fiery blast.

He ran headlong into his enemy, using his weight and speed to knock the ruby dragon back toward the stone wall behind him, even though the fierce impact stunned his neck painfully. Keeping his head lowered, he drove his horns deep into the ruby dragon's chest, finally catching between the dragon's ribs. Thelvyn was thrown off balance and crashed hard against the wall, his long neck twisted awkwardly. He righted himself with considerable effort, finally pulling his horns free so that he could press his attack, but the ruby dragon was already dead.

Indeed, the battle was over. Sir George, who always seemed to be forgotten during a fight, had quietly slipped around through the side corridors until he was able to enter the hall behind the traitorous Fire Wizards. While Thelvyn was occupied with the last of the alien dragons, Sir George suddenly appeared and slew a pair of the wizards before they even knew what was happening. The remaining three wizards had found themselves between the flames and Kharendaen's wrath. She was sitting up one her haunches with a wizard clasped tightly in each hand. The third was lying on the ground with her tail firmly over his back.

"I wish I had seen more of that fight," Sir George said. "I'm glad to be in the company of such gentle, peace-loving clerics."

"Dragon clerics," Kharendaen amended coldly, although her words were meant more for her captive wizards. The pair she held looked properly impressed and intimidated; the one under her tail seemed to have fainted. The youngest was a tall man in his middle years with white streaks in the deep red of his hair and beard. The other two wizards were considerably older and rather frail-looking.

"Now, listen carefully, Fire Wizards," Thelvyn said in the Flaemish language. "I will offer you two choices. If you tell me what I want to know, I'll let you run back to your Masters. Otherwise I'll wring your precious necks. Choose now."

"No. . no, Dragonlord," the youngest of the wizards gasped. All three appeared to have been stricken with the greatest terror. Even the one on the ground had revived and began to cry out. "The Masters will never let us speak. They'll force us to die first, an unspeakably horrible death."

"But your Masters are not here, are they?" Thelvyn asked. "And unfortunately for you, I am. Tell me now, do all Fire Wizards serve their bidding?"

"No!" the youngest wizard shrieked, holding his head as if it were suddenly filled with searing pain. The other two seemed to be stricken as well. "The Masters see and hear all we see and hear, and they punish as swiftly. I can say no more!"

Thelvyn frowned, moved to a reluctant pity. "Let them go."

Kharendaen quickly set the two wizards on the ground, but they were already filled with such intense pain that they sank heavily to their knees, gasping for each labored breath. They could no longer suppress their cries of agony. Their faces began to turn blue, and they started to bleed from their ears, noses, and mouths.

"You. . you must free our people," the youngest wizard cried out, then screamed as if he had been caught in a blast of dragonfire. With that, all three collapsed in lifeless heaps. The Masters had decided to silence them with a swift death.

"I think I've seen enough of this place," Kharendaen said softly, moving close to her mate's side to rub her cheek against his neck.

"Yes, we've delayed here long enough," Thelvyn agreed as he stepped over to the stand that held the Collar of the Dragons. "Since it seems that the Masters do indeed know what their servants see, then it follows that they must know where we are."

"One moment," Kharendaen interrupted when he sat up on his haunches to reach for the collar. "This hardly seems the proper time and place for the Dragonking to receive the token of his authority. But in such ceremony as we are allowed, permit me as a senior cleric of the Great One to place the Collar of the Dragons upon your neck, so that you will receive that which your father set aside for you in the half-forgotten past."

Moving quickly but deliberately, she released the clasps that held the collar closed and lifted it from its stand. Then, while Thelvyn stood motionless with his long neck extended, she fitted the crest plates of the collar over the ridges of his crest and closed the clasps. The weight felt strange to him, but the plates of the collar adjusted perfectly to follow every movement of his neck. The collar seemed to have been made to fit him. Kharendaen lowered her head to rub her cheek affectionately against the front of his deep chest.

Standing unnoticed to one side, and much to his mortification, Sir George was moved to tears. He alone, a humble mandrake, had been wimess to the Dragonking receiving the Collar of the Dragons. It meant more to him than he had expected.

"Ceremony aside, we must be gone," Thelvyn said. "My hope is that the Masters are already on their way here to protect their fortress, leaving the worldgate unguarded. They will most likely return through the main gate, and that means that we must find some other way out of this place. If we must fight again, remember that I cannot change form to become the Dragonlord while I'm wearing the collar."

"From what I've seen, you don't need the Dragonlord anymore," Sir George said as he pulled himself up into Kharen-daen's saddle.

"If we become separated again, you go on to the worldgate," Thelvyn told him firmly. "Any attack will most likely be directed at us, and we are better able to deal with it."

Thelvyn led the way through the doorway in the back of the hall. The small, dark back passages where they found themselves did not provide as direct a path as the corridor that had brought them into the heart of the fortress. He had no clear idea where to go at first, except to head outward until they came to a door or other large opening where they could escape from this place. The problem was that the fortress was very large, and he recalled seeing only a few windows and one main gate from the outside. But when he suddenly came upon a wide stairway leading upward, he had an idea of how he could find the quickest and possibly the most unexpected way out. He only had to trust that he would be able to discover a way out of the fortress somewhere above, or they might become

trapped in the worst of all places.

They had climbed seven floors when they came upon a wide, dark chamber with windows and a doorway that stood open on the far side to an enclosed balcony. At first Thelvyn didn't recognize the significance of such a place, like a deep pocket cut in the side of the fortress more than a hundred feet above the ground. There was no rail or parapet to offer protection from attack. Kharendaen knew it at once as a ledge where dragons could land or leap out into flight. As such, it wasn't the safest place for them to be.

The two dragons moved cautiously to the front of the ledge and looked out across the desolate lands surrounding the fortress. The ledge faced toward the south, and their sharp eyes were able to locate the stone arch of the worldgate among the boulders and ravines along the top of the cliff above the sea of sand to the east. They could also see several gemstone dragons flying toward the fortress, responding to the invasion of their stronghold. Fortunately they were headed toward the main gate, just as Thelvyn had anticipated, although he noted there were more of the strange dragons than the four that had pursued them earlier.

"As soon as they're within the fortress, we'll have our best chance to escape unseen," Thelvyn said. "We'll need to fly very low and fast. Can you handle that?"

"I am unharmed," Kharendaen insisted. "But I am concerned about you. If all that flame did not burn you, it certainly left you in need of a bath."

"No, I'm not burned," he said, bending his neck to examine himself. The portions of his armor that had endured the blasts of dragonfire did indeed look singed, although it was apparently only soot and dust. "I have a few small holes in the sails of my wings from those magic darts. Is that likely to interfere with my ability to fly?"

"It shouldn't, as long as it's not too painful."

Thelvyn had been too distracted with the business at hand to notice his pain, although the small tears in his wings did sting somewhat. Cautiously he extended his head well out from the opening of the ledge, but he could no longer see any of the gemstone dragons outside the fortress. "We must go,

and quickly. Stay close behind me."

His wings half spread, Thelvyn leapt out from the ledge, then nosed over so that he was descending almost straight down, allowing his fall to build speed. Although his experience and trust in flight was growing quickly, he still couldn't do something like this without feeling a rush of fear. At the last possible moment, he spread his wings and came out of his steep dive, hurtling just over the tops of the dunes in the shadow of the cliff. Glancing back briefly, he could see that Kharendaen was following about two lengths beyond the end of his tail, while Sir George was holding on for his very life with the hook on his left wrist caught over the front edge of his saddle.

Thelvyn had forgotten about the fierce winds that constantly howled across the dunes, and the two dragons had to fight the sudden, fitful gusts that threatened to smash them against the face of the cliff. Fortunately their flight was a short one, at least at such a speed. Following his instinctive sense of direction, Thelvyn lifted his wings to catch the wind beneath the sails, lifting him sharply up over the edge of the cliff, where he looked down upon the stone arch below.

He had been hoping that his speed would give his attack the element of complete surprise, since he had guessed that the gemstone dragons wouldn't leave the worldgate completely unguarded. His instinct had proven true; he hurtled up over the cliff almost as close to the stone arch as he could come, rising steeply to give himself room for an attack run before descending sharply toward the pair of alien dragons left to guard the gate. The nearest of the two, a gemstone dragon with armor like jade, saw Thelvyn only at the last moment as he plunged from the sky like an eagle swooping toward its prey, all four of his legs braced stiffly for the impact. The weight of the gold dragon crashed squarely into the middle of the jade dragon's long back, snapping his spine and crushing his ribs. Thelvyn pressed his attack just the same, learning from his recent mistakes, and he lunged forward to take the jade dragon's neck in a death grip.

Kharendaen followed through Thelvyn's attack as best she could, although she could not descend upon the second of the alien dragons as Thelvyn had while she still had Sir George in her saddle. Instead, she passed swiftly just over his head, snapping him in the face with the whip of her tail. The blow was enough to cause the crystal-plated dragon to stagger back on his haunches, holding his face in his claws during that first moment of blinding pain. That gave Kharendaen the time she needed to circle back and land a short distance away, folding her wings tightly while Sir George leapt down from his saddle and ran for the protection of the nearby boulders.

The crystal dragon blinked, finding it hard for a moment to focus on her. She stood facing him a few yards away, crouching low on all fours with her head held low, a deep growl rumbling in her throat. Responding to the threat, the crystal dragon dropped down from his haunches to stand on all fours, but he was still dazed and unsteady. The gold dragon seized the moment to dart in, driving her head beneath his chest and heaving him up across her shoulders, then using the power of her hind legs to toss him backward, a tactic that she had used with success only a short time earlier. Dragons were vulnerable for a moment just after being thrown onto their backs, and that held true for this alien race of dragons as well. The crystal dragon struggled to roll away, but Kharendaen threw her own weight across his chest to pin him down. Unseen and forgotten during the last desperate moments, Thelvyn darted in from behind to crush his neck.

"Ah, thank you," Kharendaen said as she gingerly climbed off the body of the crystal dragon and stepped away. She looked very tired.

"Sir George! It's time to go home," Thelvyn called, then turned his head when the old knight stepped out from behind a boulder. "How can I close this gate so that they can't use it again?"

"You can't," Sir George explained. "You can destroy this particular worldgate, of course. But they can always open another one to take its place."

"I suspect they already have many gates into our world," Thelvyn said. "But it will make me feel better to close this one behind us, even if only for a short time."

"Can you destroy it from the other side?" Kharendaen asked.

"I can try," he said. "Go on through. I'll be just behind you,

I promise you."

He glanced toward the stone arch, and the gate responded at once to his will, a pit of black opening swiftly in the center of that great oval of carved gray stone, showing them a remote view of spring sunlight dancing on grass beneath trees. Kharendaen stepped into the darkness and was drawn away, suddenly emerging as a distant image beneath the trees. She glanced back only briefly, then quickly stepped out of the way.

Alerted by some vague sense of danger, Thelvyn glanced over his shoulder to see at least half a dozen gemstone dragons approaching, driving themselves swiftly over the stony, windswept land with long, powerful thrusts of their wings. They would be upon him in moments, which meant that he would be given only one chance to close the worldgate and escape pursuit. He impressed his will even more firmly upon the gateway, until he felt that the innate magic which cause it to function had become his own. Then he stepped into the gate.

The passage fought him from the first moment, not actually pushing him back into the world he had just left but seemingly reluctant to permit him to pass through. For a moment, he felt a twinge of panic as he wondered if the gemstone dragons were trying to hold him back with magic, but then he became increasingly certain that the hesitation was in the gate itself as it fought being tom apart behind him. Now he could only wait and fight back the fear that the passage would collapse too soon and leave him trapped between worlds.

Then, in the final moments, he was suddenly thrust forward with violent force, almost as if the worldgate sought to expel him. He was hurled out into his own world so powerfully that he was tossed a short distance across the grass beneath the trees before he lost his balance and fell heavily. A great flash of flames exploded just over his head, and fragments of broken stone were hurtled through the forest for nearly a hundred yards. The collapse of the worldgate had shattered the stone arch, drawing the debris through the gate as it closed.

Thelvyn opened his eyes and looked upward, not yet daring to move. The large oak that stood over what had been this end of the worldgate had been caught in the flash of fire, and the leaves of the nearest branches were already burning furiously.

Kharendaen cast a spell to suppress the flame. After this second assault on it, the tree was beginning to look the worse for wear. Thelvyn sat up on his haunches and shook his head, then glanced back at his mate. Fortunately she had stepped to one side of the worldgate to make room for his arrival, and the destruction had missed her.

"Well, it worked," Sir George said as he dropped down from his saddle. He looked no less worn and abused than the two dragons.

Thelvyn took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "I believe we should remain here for a time, to be certain that the gemstone dragons don't attempt to pass through into our world."

"I haven't the strength to fly anywhere in any event," Kharendaen agreed, sitting back on her tail with her long neck sagging wearily.

"If I could find the strength, I'd hunt down Alessa Vyledaar and skin her alive with a dull knife," Thelvyn said darkly, his ears laid back. Then he shrugged helplessly. "Not that it matters. Considering what we saw of those wizards that attacked us, my suspicion is that she had no will of her own."

"I wasn't certain if that wizard was trying to answer your question or if he was simply crying out," Kharendaen said as they walked slowly together to sit in the shade of a nearby tree. "Clearly the wizards were under the will of the strange dragons they call the Masters. But didn't he say not all the wizards are under their command?"

"He did say that," Thelvyn replied. "I'm sure Byen Kalestraan was under their influence as well, whether he was aware of it or not. That alone now explains his strange, often contradictory actions, which I could never begin to understand before. I think the destruction of so many of the wizards and the escape of the rest brought a serious interruption to the schemes of the Masters, since they no longer had anyone in Braejr under their influence. As near as I can tell, Alessa didn't come under their control until fairly recently, just in time to lead us into a trap they had prepared for us."

"How do you figure that?" Sir George asked. He was still shaking sand out of his clothes.

"Because that explains the other mystery," Thelvyn said.

"Solveig swore to us that Alessa had come over to our side, and I have no reason to doubt Solveig's judgment. But later we found Alessa to be as suspicious and sneaky as any Fire Wizard ever was."

"But why didn't they try to control us?" Sir George wondered.

"The only reason I can think of is that we are all three dragon-kin," Thelvyn said, looking perplexed. "I find myself with certain suspicions about the true history of the Flaem. I suspect that some time in the distant past, they wandered into the world of the gemstone dragons-or were brought there- and came under the influence of the Masters. And I also suspect that the Flaem didn't continue on into our own world through their own will. I think they were sent by the Masters as advance scouts to establish a presence, to secure and evaluate the power of the Radiance, and to evaluate the strength of their enemies in our world."

Kharendaen shook her head slowly from side to side. "The Masters knew an ancient form of the language of the dragons. Obviously they had some past contact with our world long ago."

"Can you guess how long?" Thelvyn asked.

"Not accurately," she admitted. "At least three thousand years ago. Possibly as long ago as five thousand or more."

"That is bothersome," Thelvyn agreed as he stared aimlessly at the ground, lost in thought. He frowned. "That leads me to wonder if the gemstone dragons were once related to the dragons of our own world, but then they were changed by the magic of an alien world. Except for their rather remarkable armor, their general shape was more or less the same as ours."

"That seems unlikely, but not impossible," Kharendaen said, obviously troubled by the idea. "I think they've changed too much in a short time for that to be likely. Unless something very strange has happened to them."

"Obviously the Masters know a great deal about the dragons of Mystara," Sir George commented. "Since it was never used in any way, was the theft of the collar meant primarily to forestall the coming of the Dragonking? That dragon did refer to you as 'the Dragonlord who was and the Dragonking who never will be,' at least if his kind has their way. And they directed all of Byen Kalestraan's efforts to destroying you. It seems obvious to me that they want to prevent you from uniting the dragons. Why? Because the dragons alone have the power to stave off their invasion of our world?"

"That seems obvious now," Kharendaen agreed. "The Great One himself warned us of this, didn't he? He said that the Dragonking alone could unite the dragons against an enemy only they can fight. It would seem that he has anticipated the coming of the Masters since he created the Collar of the Dragons for the Dragonking more than three thousand years ago, which is also about the time the gemstone dragons might have come into our world."

"We're beginning to understand a lot of things now," Thelvyn said. "We seem to have two choices now that I have the Collar of the Dragons and can claim the authority of the Dragonking. Should we go at once to Windreach and have the dragons begin preparations for war immediately? Or should we go back to Braejr while we're still so near, to reveal the conspiracy of the Masters, break their control of the Flaem, and set to rest the fears that the recent attacks were the work of dragons?"

"I suggest that we go to Windreach at once," Kharendaen said. "The time has come for the Dragonking to establish his own following, so that you will have the power and authority to face the Masters. And I believe that we should be very sure of ourselves before we return to Braejr. The Masters have used the Flaem to surprise us once already. Perhaps the Great One will speak to us again and tell us more that we should know."

Thelvyn nodded, if with some misgivings over facing the dragons in their own element. But that was a confrontation he could not avoid much longer, now that matters had suddenly become so desperate.

"Then we go on to Windreach tonight. But first we must rest and hunt. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," he commented, then realized what he had said. He turned his head to glare at Sir George. "Don't you dare say a word."

The old knight closed his mouth and tried to look innocent.