"Well," she said to Cobalt, crouched beside her. "Do we stay here, sneak in, or knock on the front door?"
Cobalt suddenly lifted his head and swiveled around to look at the ridge behind them. His nostrils flickered, and he grunted, "I think we'd better knock."
Sara sprang to her feet, her hand automatically reaching up for her sword strapped to her back. She didn't see what disturbed the dragon at first, but then she spotted them, a squad of draconians loping across the top of the ridge toward them.
"Wyrmsbreath, that was fast!" she muttered irritably. "Where did they come from?"
"Do we fight?" Cobalt asked hopefully.
"No. Not yet. Since they know we're here, that rules out secrecy." She untied her blue-black helm from the saddle and pulled it decisively over her silver-blond hair. "Come on. We'll knock. You are now the mount of one Knight Warrior Sara Conby."
"Knight Warrior?" Cobalt snorted. "Last time you were an officer."
"I don't want to push my luck," she said briefly. Ignoring the rapidly approaching draconians, she climbed to the saddle. Cobalt spread his wings and leapt aloft.
Ever alert, the dragons flying above the city spied the blue immediately and abruptly veered toward him.
Cobalt paid scant attention. Huffing to himself, he glided over the ridge until he was over the squad draconians. There were six of the big brutes, all heavily armed and clad in crude black tunics. They turned their reptilian heads upward to glare at the dragon.
He chuckled to himself, a sound Sara always found disconcerting. Forewarned, she tucked her seat deeper into the saddle, wrapped her hands around the leather of the padded horn, and leaned forward. Cobalt suddenly snapped in his wings and dived straight for the draconians.
Their mouths fell open to reveal yellow, snaggled teeth, then surprise turned to fear, and they stood rooted to the ground as the dragon plummeted toward them. The blue sent a blast of dragon lightning scorching into the ground beside them. The draconians suddenly found their feet and scattered in all directions. As skillfully as an eagle, Cobalt swept over their heads, altered his wing angle, and pulled up into a smooth ascent.
Sara's head snapped back from the force of his turn. Bemused, she rubbed her neck while he spiraled upward. She would have bet any number of steel coins he was grinning.
Satisfied with himself, Cobalt veered back toward Neraka and all at once came snout to snout with three suspicious dragons. Three more quickly circled behind him and effectively cut off any escape. Three of the blues carried helmed riders-knights, by the look of their armor. They waved lances at Sara and gestured fiercely toward the city.
Sara and Cobalt understood the message. Meek now, the blue dragon followed their escort into the valley and winged downward toward the approaches to the teeming streets of Neraka.
10
The dragon escorts led Cobalt to the broad, open field in front of the main gate and landed on either side of him their stance threatening, their yellow eyes hooded in suspicious stares.
Two of the three riders slid off their mounts and strode with wary purpose toward Sara.
Sara closed her eyes for just a heartbeat, a silent prayer on her lips. She had no idea if any god or immortal being could hear her, but this time she did not care if it seemed foolish to pray to an empty firmament. She had to put her hopes and fears into some form of expression that let her soul reach out beyond her own limitations to something more potent, more powerful than she. She would command her own actions and decisions, but if some deity wanted to throw a little luck her way, she just wanted him to know she would be grateful.
She then swallowed once to sooth the dryness in her throat and slid off Cobalt to the parched, hard-packed ground.
The two knights stopped in front of her. Their hands rested on their sword hilts. Their armor gleamed from hours of careful polishing; their weapons were honed and in good repair, and their boots were new.
Sara felt her stomach lurch from a flash of memory that exploded in her mind like a crack of lightning; two knights, wearing armor decorated with the skull and the lily of Takhisis, walking up the path to her house-Lord Ariakan and his guard coming to take her son away.
Sara stiffened her back and saluted with a mix of feigned arrogance and stifled hatred. "I would like to see your commander," she demanded before the other two could say a word.
They exchanged a glance. Their gaze slid to Cobalt, then back to Sara, their eyes unreadable behind their own helms.
"Your sword, please," one ordered.
Sara handed it over grudgingly. "Take care of it."
"This way." The man indicated the main gate with a gloved hand.
Sara nodded curtly. After a quick pat to Cobalt's neck, she followed her guide to the massive gateway leading into Neraka's fortified inner city.
Cobalt yawned to show his curved teeth to the other dragons, flipped his wings neatly to his sides, and made himself comfortable in the sun to wait.
At the gateway, the knight stopped Sara with a curt signal. The huge iron gates stood open like the maw of some great stone beast. On the battlements, horns blared a signal to the guards, and flags of black and blue fluttered in the wind.
The captain of the guard left the gatehouse to meet Sara's escort. He ran his eye speculatively over her riding gear, her sword in the knight's hand, and the lily brooch that gleamed on her cloak.
"This dragon rider wishes to see the general," the guard informed him.
The captain, a human mercenary of muscular proportions, jerked his head toward the interior of the fortress, "The general is in the temple square."
The guard behind Sara pushed her forward through the iron gate.
Sara immediately wished she could turn around and go home. The view of the city from the heights had shown her the temple ruins, a fortress, and the helter-skelter growth of buildings and tents inhabited by a busy, motley populace. What it did not prepare her for was the squalor, the stench, and the rowdy crowds.
Neraka had been captured and held by the Solamnic Knights for a while, and they had made some effort to rebuild and strengthen the walls, erect permanent buildings, and clean the streets. Unfortunately most of their good efforts had vanished in the three years since the Knights of Takhisis moved back.
The narrow streets were jammed with decrepit wooden edifices and hastily erected buildings that looked ready to collapse at the first hearty sneeze. Humans, tall brutes blithely ignoring the winter cold, draconians of every description, ogres, goblins, and hobgoblins clogged the walkways and passages. Some marched in guard patrols or ran about looking purposeful. The majority crowded into the countless brothels, bars, and gaming rooms and engaged in brawls at every opportunity. Gully dwarves scampered underfoot like rats, eating the refuse in the streets and stealing anything that wasn't tied down. Among the crowds, Sara also saw slaves of every race that had been brought to serve the denizens of the city and provide for any need or pleasure.
A chill queasiness crept through Sara. Although the sun was shining, none of its warmth and little of its light seemed to get past the high walls. The air inside the fortress was still, cold, dank, and gloomy.
She and her escort hurried along the paved road through the Queen's Court and into Temple Square. Automatically Sara's eyes went to the ruins of the evil temple At one time, the black, twisted Temple of Darkness rose like an obscene growth out of the barren earth of the Neraka vale, until the Heroes of the Lance, aided by the gemstone man, Berem, brought about its destruction.
Thirty-four years later the ruins remained as a tremendous crater in the temple compound. The innermost walls round the Temple Square were nearly leveled in the blast that had turned the temple into a cloud of shards.