"I suspect that the Masters had the Fire Wizards trap him somehow," Thelvyn added. "I'll have to be wary of traps as well."
They all fell silent again as they filed out the main door of the Hall of the Great One, descending the broad steps down into the court paved with large, smooth stones. Thelvyn lifted his head and sniffed the cool morning air. The sun had not yet begun to climb above the rim of the crater, and the city remained in deep shadows. He saw a few dragons drifting on the morning wind above the towering buildings and halls of Windreach, their smooth white stone still appearing pale gray in the shadows. Other dragons could be seen sitting or reclining on the ledges of their lairs along the inside wall of the old volcano.
"I know you need me here," Thelvyn said, turning back to the others. "We'll be back in just a few days, I promise you."
He crouched low and then leapt into the air, his wings snapping out and catching the wind with long, quick strokes. Within a couple of moments, he had gained enough speed to turn and begin to circle while he waited for his mate to join him. Kharendaen moved in close beside him, and they turned to fly westward over the city, building speed before they began to ascend in a wide spiral as they climbed over the outer wall of Windreach. They were just coming over the ragged edge when they moved into the morning sun, warm and bright above the ragged expanse of white clouds that hid most of the wilderness of Wendar far below.
By leaving early in the morning, they hoped to reach Braejr about two or three hours after nightfall. It was a long, difficult flight, especially since they had made the same journey in the other direction only a couple of days earlier. The two dragons had eaten their fill of venison and warm bread before they left, so they shouldn't be hungry.
Thelvyn had to admit that he would have liked a little more time to explore Windreach, having had only a portion of the previous afternoon to look about the city. He found that he liked the company of dragons more than he thought he would, at least now that they were coming to think of him as something other than their deadly enemy. Indeed, dragons of every breed were now eager to serve and to please him, even if most of them had still had to hide an almost instinctive fear of him. He even had his own lair now, not in the outer ring of the city but high in the towers of the Hall of the Great One, near the lairs of the clerics of his order. In fact, his accommodations were quite kingly, with an entire suite of apartments and young dragon clerics and one of the Eldar at hand to serve him and his mate.
Now that Thelvyn was more or less officially recognized as Dragonking, he was beginning to feel the weight of that responsibility, just as when he had been the king of the Highlands the previous summer. He didn't much feel like the lord and master of a nation as much as he felt like what he had always been, a defender. He saw his duties as the Dragonking as being not very different from what he had known as the Dragonlord, except that he now had far greater authority to direct others in assisting him. He certainly wasn't about to attempt to rule the Nation of Dragons himself, even if that authority seemed to be inherent in his rights as the Dragonking. He had already made it clear that he expected the parliament to retain its authority as the governing body of the
Nation of Dragons, although he would now become a pan of the parliament.
He appreciated the enormity of the task before him, arranging the defense of his world against an enemy even the Immortals feared. Having convinced the dragons to follow his leadership, he now had to convince all the other nations of the world to defer to him as well. He felt daunted to have to begin his reign as the Dragonking in such dire times, but that was the nature of his duty, the chosen defender in a time of desperate need. Becoming the Dragonking had never been intended as a gift that was his to enjoy, but a grave responsibility that he had been born to fulfill.
Night had long since fallen when the two dragons descended over the city of Braejr. Thelvyn led the way down, trusting in his developing sense of direction, and he landed quietly in the dark street just outside Solveig's house. He had hoped to avoid disturbing any griffons that might be stabled in the warehouse. There was indeed a griffon in the stables, and it made a few angry noises as the dragons landed, but nothing compared to what had occurred on earlier occasions. In fact, their arrival had so quiet that Solveig didn't come out of the house to investigate until they were almost finished removing their saddle and harness. Darius Glantri joined her a moment later.
"Have you finally moved in here?" Thelvyn asked the young Thyatian.
"No. Actually, I've been waiting for you to return," Darius explained. "I expect that you have a great deal to tell us."
"Far more than you could have ever expected," Thelvyn said, pausing a moment to leave his sword and harness in a safe place before he changed form. Only a dragon could have lifted that sword. "But we can talk about it inside. We've spent the entire day in flight, and we could use some hospitality."
"Yes, of course," Solveig agreed, hurrying to assist Sir George with his travel bags. "Let me give you a hand."
"I appreciate the thought, but you're actually too late for that," Sir George said, showing her his newly acquired left hand.
"My word," Solveig said, obviously surprised. "How did you manage that?"
"As it happens, it was a gift from the Great One for having made myself so useful to the Dragonking."
Solveig led them into the den and had Taeryn fetch something from the kitchen. She even located a bottle of cherry liqueur for Sir George in the cabinet. He was greatly pleased, complaining that the real problem with a life of adventure was being required to do without so many civilized comforts. He had actually enjoyed a great many comforts while in Wind-reach, since the Eldar had been pleased to fetch anything that the companion of the Dragonking wanted, but there had been no cherry liqueur.
"Then you did succeed in finding the Collar of the Dragons?" Solveig asked impatiendy as soon as everyone was seated.
"Oh, yes. We finally found the collar," Thelvyn said. "I left it in the care of the dragons for now."
"Was it where Alessa said it would be?"
"Yes, it was," Thelvyn answered guardedly. "However, she sent us right into a trap. Fortunately for us, the trap was sprung a little too soon. We were able to find the collar and escape, although we had to fight for it."
"A trap?" Solveig was obviously confused and concerned. "Alessa set a trap for you? Is she working for the traitor wizards?"
"We discovered who was behind the attacks throughout this part of the world a few nights ago. They control Alessa's mind and will, just as they controlled Byen Kalestraan before her. In fact, before the Flaem came into this world, the entire race were their slaves."
Thelvyn saw that it was time for some detailed explanations of all they had discovered during the last few days, although he was satisfied to leave the tale for Sir George to tell. He felt the old knight related the events of their battles with the gemstone dragons in overly heroic terms, but he resisted the temptation to interrupt. Both Solveig and Darius saw the full implications of what they had learned. They looked very concerned, and even a bit frightened.
"Well, that certainly explains a lot," Solveig remarked when she had heard the full account. "I suppose the first thing to do is to send the city guard to arrest Alessa and the other senior wizards before they can disappear."
"No, I want to wait on that," Thelvyn insisted. "The Masters don't regard Alessa as an ally but as a slave, a resource to be exploited for as long as she might be useful and then tossed aside. They'll undoubtedly want her to discover everything she can about what I learned about the Masters and what my plans are. With any luck, I might be able to use her to feed the Masters a little false information that might work to our advantage. Then I want to try to break their control over her, to see if she can tell us anything else that might prove useful."