The Rose and the Skull

27

Despite the Cataclysm, which shook the land to its foundations, and the Chaos War, which shook the world to its core, robbing it of both its gods and its magic, the Whitestone Glade had endured virtually unchanged, a strange and magical place. The monolithic pale white stone and the meadow surrounding it had been held a blessed sanctuary by the people of this land. No matter the weather, in winter as well as in summer, the weary found rest there, the tormented peace.

For the Knights of Solamnia, the Whitestone Glade was their most sacred place. Legend stated that Vinus Solamnus had received his celestial vision of an order of honorable Knights at Whitestone Glade and that the gods themselves had sanctified it. Certainly some of the most important decisions concerning the fate of Krynn had been made here. It was here during the War of the Lance that a dragon orb was destroyed and the dragonlance was revealed, thus directing the course of the war from certain disaster to eventual victory. When the power of the dragonlance was demonstrated, the stone itself was split to its core. There were some who mourned its defacement in such a vulgar and melodramatic display, but the magic of the Whitestone had not been harmed. It bore its wound like a proud old soldier, with dignity. A few even claimed it was more beautiful than before.

It was natural that the survivors gathered there, as the moon shone down, filling up the glade as though with silver water. In the distance through the trees, numerous fires burned a deep golden red. It would have been a magical sight, with a sylvan loveliness, were it not for the knowledge that each pillar of smoke and each merry flame was a house, or a barn full of the summer's harvest. Slowly, singly or in weary pairs, Knights straggled into the glade and collapsed near the Whitestone, where a group of Knights had gathered around a bonfire. One or two stood guard, but there seemed little need for a watch any longer.

"They are gone," Valian commented as he bandaged his wounded arm. Blood ran from a cut on his brow, and his armor was rent in a half-dozen places. "I imagine they're half way to Xenos by now."

Liam rose and stood quietly for a moment near the Whitestone, weighing his thoughts. Everyone looked at him expectantly, even the dark elf. Lady Meredith sat in the grass with most of her battered armor strewn about her, a bloody sword lay across her knees. Ellinghad Beauseant stood at the edge of the firelight, warily keeping watch in the night. With a towel and a bowl of watered wine, Lady Jessica cleaned a ghastly slash to the ear of the Lord High Warrior, Sir Quintayne. Nalvarre assisted her, directing her efforts with his bandaged hands. He'd fought at the stables, protecting the horses, wielding a quarterstaff with deadly purpose, but staves against swords is rarely a fair contest, and the wounds he sported on hands, head, and chest bore this out.

Compared to the skirmish in the stables, the fighting in the courtyard had been horrendous, bloody, a tragedy in the annals of the Knighthood. No clear lines were drawn. Knights of Takhisis had fought alongside Knights of Solamnia, but against other Knights of Takhisis and Solamnia. Lord Tohr, wielding the terrible magic of Nightbringer, the black mace once owned by Dragonhighlord Verminaard, wreaked havoc among those opposing him. The heaviest fighting had taken place at the postern gate, as the forces under Liam tried to prevent the forces of Tohr from escaping. There Valian had proved himself, winning Liam's ultimate trust by capturing Nightbringer and bringing the trophy from the battle. Nightbringer, and its owner's right hand, now lay in the grass near the fire. Thus wounded, Lord Tohr had fled into the night.

Unfortunately, most of the Knights loyal to Tohr escaped with him. Liam's forces pursued them into the forest, where the Dark Knights and their allies set torch to barn, cottage, and crib. Over half the castle's garrison had been lost this night and for nothing. Nothing was resolved. Many had died fighting, but many, many more fled, joining Lord Tohr and his promises of glory. Quite a number of these were blooded Knights – a terrible blow to the Solamnic ranks – while those few who'd come over from the Knights of Takhisis didn't even begin to replace the Solamnics lost in the battle, much less those who'd gone over to Lord Tohr.

To say that the battle resolved nothing was perhaps not entirely true. It had concluded the question of who would lead the Knights of Sancrist Isle-no one. Gunthar's dream of a single united order had died, and the Knights of Solamnia were reborn from the ashes (a little worse for wear, it was true).

Quintayne impatiently brushed aside Lady Jessica's hesitant ministrations and pointed at Tohr's hand, lying on the grass. "There's your coat of arms," he said, laughing, to Valian. "Severed hand and mace on a field of red."

Valian stared back at him with his cold, blue eyes until Quintayne's laughter nervously subsided. "I hardly think this is the time for morbid jokes," he whispered.

"Quite true, Valian. Now is the time for hard decisions," Liam said, staring up at the waning moon. "What shall be our next move? As Valian said, Tohr and his allies will be fortified within Xenos before the next night falls. They are probably dispatching wyvern couriers for reinforcements this very moment. They'll want to strengthen their position and hold it, and with Pyrothraxus guarding their rear, they could very well succeed. Should we pursue and try to catch them?"

"We'd never find them. They are scattered throughout the forest, I'd imagine, following a hundred different trails to Xenos," Valian said. "Such a hunt would be fruitless and only serve their needs by causing us to waste valuable time."

"Let's not forget that we ourselves gave the Knights of Takhisis the citadel at Xenos, and now the people there will suffer for it," Ellinghad said from the edge of the shadows.

"And what do you suggest we do?" Quintayne asked.

"It's obvious what we need to do," Ellinghad said. "Raise the alarm, muster our forces from all over the island. Lay siege to Xenos as soon as possible and drive out the Knights of Takhisis before they have time to prepare."

"Xenos was our gathering point should anything go wrong," Valian said. "Lord Tohr had it provisioned to withstand a siege of many weeks, long enough for reinforcements to arrive from Ansalon. There are secreted several wyverns in the cellar; they are ready to carry messages at a moment's notice. As you can see, they are already prepared."

"Then we have no time to lose!" Ellinghad urged.

"Have you forgotten about poor Uhoh?" Jessica cried. Quintayne snorted derisively.

"I believe Jessica has a point, " Lady Meredith said. "We cannot leave the draconian stronghold in a position to molest our lines of supply. They are sure to send agents to wreak havoc among the civilian population. The draconians might even attempt to strike here, at the heart of the Knighthood."

"That's not my point at all," Jessica argued. "My point is that Uhoh is trapped in that awful place because of what he knew about Lord Gunthar's death. As soon as the draconians learn what has happened here, they'll kill him for sure."

"What's the point of rescuing him?" demanded Quintayne.

Nalvarre leaped to his feet, his face a scarlet color beneath his beard. "The point is, if not for that gully dwarf, you'd be handing over control of this Knighthood to the Knights of Takhisis tomorrow morning, right here in this very place, and willingly!" A cool white hand reached up and touched his arm. He seemed to start, then glanced down at Lady Jessica. The color slowly drained from his face. "I'm sorry," he said to the Knights, "but I do not think you should forget the noble service Uhoh Ragnap has performed for you."

"Yet Lady Meredith is correct. The draconian stronghold is a threat to us," Liam said.

"Not so grave a threat as the Knights at Xenos," Ellinghad said.

"That is what we have to decide," Liam said. "Do we lay siege to Xenos before the Knights of Takhisis can bring in reinforcements, or do we first go after Uhoh and attack the draconians?"

"Let's not forget about Pyrothraxus," Valian said. "There is some arrangement between the draconians and the dragon. After all, he did attack Isherwood in an attempt stop us from bringing the gully dwarf's tale to light."

"Quite right," Liam said. "Quite important."

Everyone grew silent as the leader of the Knights of Solamnia considered his options. Liam paced slowly before the sacred stone, his brows knit, his hands clasped behind his back. The air in the glade stirred with a fresh breeze from the north, sending shreds of smoke swirling like wraiths across the open meadow. Minutes crept by. The Whitestone brooded over the scene like a pale giant, his face turned to gaze at the heavens and the pale white moon coursing overhead.

Suddenly, Liam stopped and knelt beside the Whitestone. He ran his fingers through the grass at its base, being careful not to actually touch the sacred stone. With a small smile, he plucked something from the grass and stood up. By this time everyone was watching him. He turned his face to the moon.

"He missed a piece," he said to the sky and laughed.

He held out what he had found in the grass for all to see. It glinted in the moonlight. "Do you know what this is?" he asked. No one answered.

"It is a piece of a dragon orb," Liam said. "The dragon orb shattered here at the Council of Whitestone almost forty years ago. The elves and the Knights of Solamnia were at the brink of war over the orb, while the armies of darkness were sweeping across Krynn. A very dear friend of Lord Gunthar's was at that council, and it was he who saw what needed to be done, and he did it.

"He smashed the orb that day, destroying the prize for which the Knights and elves would have fought each other, much as we did here tonight." Liam paused, looking back toward Castle uth Wistan. "After he had smashed the orb, he said rather bravely, 'We kender know we should be fighting dragons, not each other.' With the prize no longer tempting them, the Knights of Solamnia and the elves turned their attention to winning the war against the armies of Takhisis.

"That hero's name was Tasslehoff, and he was only a small person, not very important to anybody except his nearest friends."

Liam thought for a bit, staring but without seeing the tiny crystal shard lying in the palm of his hand. "Kender aren't the only small people in this world," he said. "There are also the gully dwarves, a race that seems even less important than kender in the grand scheme of things.

"I will tell you one more story, and then I'll shut up. I know I am boring you with all this history, but we humans forget our history all too easily. And I do have a point to make," Liam said.

"This is the story as Gunthar told it to me. He learned it from Sturm Brightblade.

"It was during the War of the Lance. A group of heroes had been sent to the fortress of Pax Tharkas to divert the dragonarmies from their attack on Qualinesti. Inside the fortress, the group became separated. Tasslehoff Burrfoot and the wizard we know as Fizban were alone, and they discovered that a certain helpless, and to all appearances worthless, gully dwarf had been doomed to feed a dragon, quite literally, as he was fated to be the dragon's supper. Now the wise thing for Tasslehoff and Fizban would have been to find their way back to the others to help organize the resistance against the dragonarmies. They chose instead to rescue the gully dwarf. Why? Not because it was the wise thing to do. In fact, it was foolish, and it almost cost them their lives. What they didn't know, and what the other heroes didn't know, was that the group's plan had been discovered and a trap laid to capture them all. It was Tasslehoff and Fizban's foolish quest to rescue a gully dwarf that disrupted those plans and eventually led to the mission's success.

"They rescued Sestun, not because it was wise or militarily sound. They did it because it was the right thing to do."

Liam grew quiet then, looking in turn at each of the gathered Knights. He cleared his throat, his voice little more than a whisper. "We'll give them time to barricade themselves inside the fortifications at Xenos, and then we'll lay siege to the place. However, the wyvern riders from Xenos will never reach Ansalon alive."

"How can you be so sure?" Quintayne asked.

"The silver dragons. They guard the island ceaselessly. Now that we are openly at war they'll not allow anything to escape."

"We saw them at Castle Isherwood. When they came Pyrothraxus fled. So that means it will be days before the Knights at Xenos realize their messengers haven't gotten through," Valian said excitedly.

"Correct," Liam answered.

"That gives us time to plan, time to coordinate our assault," Quintayne said.

"And time to deal with the draconians," Meredith added with a grin.

"And rescue the gully dwarf," Liam added. "He is, after all, a hero. If he were human, we'd not hesitate to rescue him."

Lady Meredith rose and crossed the grass between the fire and the Whitestone to stand beside Liam. "That's right, Liam," she said, her voice choked with emotion. "You are absolutely right."

"But what about Pyrothraxus?" Valian asked.

"Pyrothraxus has retreated to his lair at Mount Nevermind. The silver dragons assure me that he will remain there for some time. It seems they surprised him at Isherwood and gave him a lesson he will long remember," Liam said.

"How do you know all this?" Quintayne asked.

"Since the War of the Lance, the master of Castle uth Wistan has ways of contacting the silver dragons. When I became Lord High Justice, Lord Gunthar showed me many of them. I have been in contact with them this night. Some of them were here tonight, during the fighting, though I doubt any of you recognized them, and more were watching." His eyes strayed to the starry heavens.

"If not for the silver dragons, Pyrothraxus would have long ago driven us from Sancrist," Liam continued, whispering. "We owe them more than anyone knows. It was through Lord Gunthar's careful diplomacy that so many have stayed here on Sancrist, guarding the heart of the Knighthood, while their fellow dragons retreated to their lairs in the Dragon Isles, abandoning humanity to the new dragons from across the sea."

"As long as they are holed up in Xenos, the Knights of Takhisis are harmless." Quintayne agreed, "Meanwhile, let's deal with Castle Slagd, the draconian fortress."