Then he was gone. The gauntlets waited on the floor where he had stood. Alemar walked forward and picked them up.
They were light, lighter in fact than if they had been made of leather or cloth, but the feel was that of cold metal and polished gems. Tiny jewels were strewn like sequins everywhere except the palms. A large gemstone, each of a different type and color, decorated the base knuckle of every finger and thumb. The mail seemed to be made of gold. Alemar tried one on.
The weight increased so suddenly he dropped to his knees, his hand slamming into the floor. The impact dented the stone. At once, the world changed. He could see that the floor beneath him was actually the lid of a well. A few feet below him lay another branch of the pool that ran under Setan, a passage leading away toward what Alemar guessed was the outside. He could see waves of light around Elenya, each one exuding a particular character and intensity. Stretching his new perceptions, he could see the gossamer web of sorcery knit into every crack of the mountain. Even as he watched, its structure was dissipating. The purpose of the magic had been fulfilled; there was no longer any need for the energies to maintain their ancient cycles. It was so potent a work of thaumaturgy that it might take hours for the entire work to vanish. Setan, as Gast had feared, would never again serve the ken as it had for centuries.
He was so mesmerized that he only belatedly realized that he was standing, buoyed up by a strength greater than any he had ever felt. It flowed from the gauntlet, but he could sense that the source, as in the case of his father's belt, came from himself. The gauntlet took that power, magnified it, returned it to him, and then drew off of the increased amount, recirculating the same energy to ever-higher levels. Its principle was much the same as his and Elenya's necklaces, but instead of the strength being squared, it was limited only by what he could physically endure. Unlike his father's belt, it would not enable him to lift boulders. He sensed that it suited itself to its wearer's character. In his case, more than anything else it multiplied his endurance.
"Here," he said, holding out the other gauntlet to Elenya. "No one person could wear both of these."
She came and took it. He watched her go through a similar period of orientation. When it was over, he noticed a phenomenal quickness to some of her movements. She tested it, sheathing her weapon and drawing it again, spinning, flipping, and simply running. She uttered a laugh of pure enjoyment.
"The Dragon doesn't stand a chance," she said.
He pursed his lips. That, unfortunately, was simply not true. "Come. Let's be on our way."
They retrieved their airmakers from where they had dropped them, found the handle in the dais that opened the hatch, and jumped into the water.
Gast sat at the edge of the pool of Setan, slightly apart from the others who waited for the two who had gone into the citadel. He was almost forgotten now. A knot of several dozen members of the ken, as well as the Po-no-pha who had arrived with Lonal, had surrounded the entrance. Gast could see their angry faces by the torches they held, and he wished for the return of the High Scholar and the latter's calming influence.
Gast wondered how long the vigil would last. When the twins failed to emerge, how many days would they wait? Would they send men inside to find them? He thought not.
The healer's eyes wandered to the mountain's face. Was it his imagination, or was the emblem – the sigil that his apprentice had assured him was that of Alemar Dragonslayer – actually glowing? Though the night was dark, he could clearly see the outline of the convulsing dragon. It seemed to be growing brighter, although curiously, the arrow in its belly remained dim, like the stone it had been carved in.
Suddenly the water of the pool bubbled. A moment later, two heads broke the surface. The Po-no-pha beside him jumped up. Gast shouted with joy.
The twins clambered out onto the tile at the pool's edge, only a few yards from Gast. They stood naked, shivering, and marked by wounds, their skin pale in the starlight. They were alive! God had been merciful.
As the twins drew off the strange devices covering their heads and dropped them back into the water, the crowd of warriors and priests rushed to the site. But even as the twins turned to face the charge, all present stopped short and gasped.
The emblem in the mountain blazed. The figure of the dragon moved, became three-dimensional, a phantasmal bluish outline – abstract, obviously not real, but more terrifying by that fact. It spread wings wide and pounced toward Alemar and Elenya.
Both twins raised the strange gauntlets they wore. A nimbus of orange light surrounded them. The dragon veered off, uttering an angry cry. It circled three times, then streaked away into the northwestern sky. Toward Elandris.
"He knows," Alemar said.
As everyone's disorientation faded, the Zyraii pressed forward, surrounding the twins on three sides. Angry voices murmured. Gast sighed. The westerners had come so far and done so much. His countrymen had always been their greatest obstacle. Including himself.
"Stop!"
The voice sounded old and wavered, but it carried. At once, every Zyraii present halted in his tracks. They all knew the speaker, and when he spoke, all in the land listened.
The old man came forward, black robes rustling. He was the only member of the ken in the nation who wore black. He went straight to Alemar and Elenya, his stride bold and steady in spite of his advanced years.
"Give me your names," he told them. "Your true names."
"I am Alemar, of the dynasty of Alemar," came the reply. "My sister is Elenya."
Gast saw the old priest's shoulders shift, as if the burden of his entire life's work had been removed in one moment. Black cloth whirling, he turned to the crowd.
"Let them go."
Silence. Then all members of the ken backed swiftly away. The Po-no-pha hesitated.
"You heard High Scholar Esidio," Lonal said from the forefront. "His word is law." The warriors obeyed, some grudgingly, though in truth the priesthood had more reason to be offended at the violation of the sacred site.
"Let no one hinder their path from our land. If any should molest them, they and all their clan will be banished from Zyraii forever." In a softer, worried voice Esidio added, "They are the hope of all Tanagaran. Without them, the desert will be blackened, and our people killed or enslaved."
The crowd backed even farther away. The only ones left near the twins were Lonal, Esidio, and Gast. The latter produced the twins' clothing, which they gratefully put on. Esidio went to Alemar and Elenya and grasped them both firmly, as if to be sure they were real. "I have waited a long time for you."
"We owe you our lives," Alemar said.
"No. The debt is not to me," Esidio said somberly. He turned to Lonal. "I wish your father had lived to see this day." Without another word, he turned and walked back toward the community. The crowd parted quickly. Esidio had been one of the kindest, and most good-humored, high scholars within memory. He had never before threatened countrymen with banishment, the greatest punishment of all.
"God seems to let you get away with anything," Lonal told Elenya.
Alemar saw that it was time to look the other way. He helped Gast untie his bonds. "I feared for your life, master."
"As did I. But blood is not spilled in Setan, and no Hab-no-ken in history has ever been put to death. It would have taken some time for them to decide what to do with me. Esidio cooled their tempers. He seemed to be expecting all this."
"The aura around him was unlike anyone in the entire group," Alemar murmured.
"Eh?"
The young man held up his gauntlet. "I'll explain later. Whether God is on our side or not, the sooner we are away from here, the better." He nodded toward the still observant assemblage. "They are only part of it. Gloroc knows we are here. That was his spell that attacked us when we came out of the pool. He must have known about this relic for some time, and set an alarm. I found the body of one of his servitors inside."