"I cannot grant you such power," the Great One explained. "What you are to become depends entirely upon you. There is indeed hope, much hope, but you are still young, and what you are to become will be the work of many long years."
"What of Kharendaen and our child?"
The Great One seemed to share his sadness. "The life you might have had is no longer possible, for you must move on to the place where you belong. You have taught the dragons much in your short time. Not the least the two of you have taught them is just how deeply dragons can love."
Thelvyn turned his head to look at Kharendaen. At first she looked frightened and uncertain, but then she smiled at him and brought her head around to rub her cheek against his breast and along the side of his neck, assuring him that she understood. She understood that only their duty to the dragons and the Great One could come before their own happiness, but that was the price they were now required to pay.
"What must I do?" Thelvyn asked.
"Go to the Citadel of the Ancients, where you first became the Dragonlord years ago," the Great One said. "Wait in the valley below the peak of Dragonwatch Keep. Your companions may accompany you that far, but no farther. When all is ready, I will tell you what you must do next."
Then his form faded, leaving the dragons alone in the night. Thelvyn sat back on his haunches, balancing on his tail, so that he could reach out and draw Kharendaen close to him. For the moment, he was content to hold her tightly.
"I will go with you," Marthaen offered. "You are my king, and it has been my honor to serve you. And when you go on ahead, I will be there with my sister."
"I'm going, too, of course," Sir George declared.
Thelvyn looked at the old knight, smiling. "I wouldn't dream of trying to leave you behind."
"He can ride in a dragon saddle that one of the couriers brought in this afternoon," Jherdar said, then looked up when he realized that the others were watching him. "If you don't mind, I also would like to go with my king."
"I would be pleased to have you," Thelvyn said. "But our company must be limited in numbers. And arrangements must be made for the dragons to keep themselves safely hidden while I am not here to defend them. They must not try to fight the Masters while I am gone under any circumstances."
"I'll see that it is taken care of," Marthaen said. "When do we leave?"
"There is no time to spare," Thelvyn said. "We must leave for the west as soon as possible to guarantee that we reach the Citadel of the Ancients by tomorrow night."
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The dragons lifted over the final ridge and descended into the deep, narrow valley below the peak of Dragonwatch Keep just as the sun was sinking behind the mountains of the End-line Range to the west. The towering bulk of the citadel stood on a ledge high on the side of the peak, nearly level with the dragons when they first came into the valley, although they were careful to keep their distance. For most dragons, the citadel was a place of evil legend, the place where the Dragonlord had slept for more than thirty centuries waiting for his return to the world. They knew now that history had proven very different from the legends, but the tales of death and fear they had heard since the time of their hatching remained to haunt their imaginations.
But for Thelvyn, this was almost like coming home. His life seemed almost to have begun in this place, on the day when he first put on the armor of the Dragonlord. This was where he first began to learn of the prophecies that surrounded him and the duty he was required to fulfill. It was also the place where he had first met Kharendaen. They were events that now
seemed like a very long time ago, a part of a life he would soon be leaving behind.
Kharendaen led the way, since she was the only member of their party who had been to this place before. Of course, both Thelvyn and Sir George had been here once as well, but they had approached by the trails from the south, while only Kharendaen knew the way on the wing. She selected the place where they would wait, descending into the evening shadows deep within the valley, gliding low over the towering trees until she found a meadow beside a swift mountain stream. When Thelvyn landed beside her, he glanced back over his shoulder to see that there was a clear view of the Citadel. Now he knew why she had chosen this place.
Marthaen circled around to land closer to the woods, while Jherdar came down near the edge of the stream. Sir George quickly dropped down from the saddle worn by the red dragon. The old knight immediately turned to stare up at the Citadel of the Ancients, over a mile distant.
"I never thought I'd be coming back to this place," he said. "At least not so soon. Perrantin will burst with jealousy when he learns that he missed this trip. My word, it seems like only yesterday."
Thelvyn glanced at the old knight, smiling fondly. Apparently they had very different views regarding the passage of time in the last few years. His life had changed tremendously in those six years. Sir George was still very much his old self, although somewhat wealthier for his troubles and with his left hand restored, a gift from the Great One. He had had the adventure of his life and more than enough dragons to satisfy him.
"I suppose that we should hunt up something to eat before it gets completely dark," Marthaen remarked, looking around at the rapidly darkening sky. "Jherdar, we should be able to catch a couple of elk in, say, an hour or so."
"Yes, an hour sounds sufficient," the red dragon agreed. "Back in your saddle, worthy knight."
Sir George looked confused. "You don't need me to hunt."
"We need your company more than they do," Jherdar told him as discreedy as possible.
Sir George finally got the hint. He climbed back into the saddle as jherdar lowered himself to the ground. Then the two older dragons leapt into the sky, following the valley southward before they began to rise and move away to the west. With the deep forests of the Sylvan realm only a few miles to the southwest, between the mountains and the coast, they would be able to find good hunting as well as keep themselves away for the promised time. Thelvyn and Kharendaen both had been trying very hard to hide their amusement, but now they sat back and smiled.
"I didn't know your brother was so considerate in such matters," Thelvyn said as he lowered himself slowly to lie down in the soft grass. The long journey from the east had left him weary and in considerable pain, and he had never quite recovered from his fight with the gemstone dragons the evening before.
"Marthaen is finally beginning to recognize that some things are inevitable," Kharendaen said, moving slowly to lie down close beside him. "Although it seems a little late now."
Thelvyn stared at the ground. "Everyone, including myself, lias been assuming that this is a time for farewells. But that seems a little premature. There would be no point in my undertaking this quest if I weren't going to return to fight the Overlord."
"But you cannot stay with me," she complained.
"I cannot stay," he said, "but there might be some other place where we can be together. I don't know where, but there seem to be many possibilities. You loved the person I used to he, before I assumed the shape of a dragon. Will you love whatever person I become?"
Kharendaen did not answer in words. Instead, she rubbed her cheek gently along the side of his neck. "I do not know what is going to happen, but I cannot help but be very anxious all this is over with and we have discovered just what our futures hold. Perhaps we were fools to love so much when we have always known our futures were so uncertain."
"Do you have any regrets?" Thelvyn asked.
"I have no regrets," she said. "But now that the moment is at hand, I find that I do not want our time together to end."