The magic reverberated, hummed, grew stronger and stronger. The white-hot fire burned bright. The intense heat drove back those gathered around the totem. The skulls of the dragons now had eyes of white flame.
In the heavens, thunder rolled. The New Eye glared down on them.
Dark clouds, thick and black, shot through with bolts of orange and red, bubbled and boiled and frothed. Tendrils of destruction twisted down from the storm, raising dust clouds and uprooting trees. Hail pelted, smashed into the ground.
"Do your d.a.m.ndest, Takhisis," cried Palin to the thundering, angry voice of the storm. "You are too late."
The black clouds blanketed Sanction with darkness and rain and hail. A gust of wind blew on the totem. Torrential rains deluged the city, trying desperately to douse the magic.
The rain was like oil on the fire. The wind fanned the flames. Mirror could not see the fire, but he could feel the searing heat. He staggered backward, stumbling over benches, backed into the altar. His groping hands found purchase, cool and smooth. He recognized by touch the sarcophagus of Goldmoon, and it seemed to him that he could hear her voice calm and rea.s.suring. Mirror crouched beside the sarcophagus, though the heat grew ever more intense. He kept his hand upon it protectively.
A ball of fire formed in the center of the totem, shining bright as a lost star fallen to the ground. Light, bright and white as starlight began to shine within the eyes of the dragons. The light grew brighter and brighter until none of the living could look at it, but were forced to cover their eyes.
The fire grew in strength and intensity, burning purely and radiantly, its luminous brilliance so dazzling that Mirror could see it through his blindness, saw bursting, blue-white flame and the petals of flame drifting up into the heavens. The rain had no effect on the magical fire. The wind of the G.o.ddess"s fury could not diminish it.
The light shone pure white at its heart. The skulls of the dragons shattered, burst apart. The totem teetered and swayed, then fell in upon itself, dissolving, disintegrating.
The New Eye stared into the white heart of the blaze. Blood-red, the Eye fought to maintain its gaze, but the pain proved too much.
The Eye blinked.
The Eye vanished.
Darkness closed over Mirror, but he no longer cursed it, for the darkness was blessed, safe and comforting as the darkness from which he"d been born. His trembling hand ran over the smooth, cool surface of the sarcophagus. There came a ringing sound as of shattering gla.s.s, and he felt cracks in the surface, felt them spread through the amber like winter ice melting in the spring sun.
The sarcophagus broke apart, the bits and pieces falling around him. He felt a soft touch on his hand that was like ashes drifting on the wind.
"Goodbye, dear friend," he said.
"The blind beggar!" a voice like thunder rumbled. "Slay the blind beggar. He has destroyed the totem! Malys will kill us! Malys will kill us all."
Voices cried out in anger. Footsteps pounded. Fists began to pummel him.
A rock struck Mirror and another.
Palin watched, exultant, as the totem fell. He saw the sarcophagus destroyed and, though he could not find Goldmoon"s spirit, he rejoiced that her body would no longer be held in thrall, that she would not longer be a slave of Takhisis.
He would be called to account. He would be made to pay. He could not avoid it, could not hide, for though her eye might have been blinded, Takhisis was still master. Her presence in the world had not been banished, merely diminished. He remained a slave, and there was nowhere he could hide that her dogs would not sniff him out, hunt him down.
He waited to accept his fate, waited near the crumbling ruins of the totem, waited beside the pitiful sh.e.l.l of flesh that was his body. The dogs were not long in coming.
Dalamar appeared, materializing out of the smoking ruins of the burning skulls.
"You should not have done this, Palin. You should not have interfered. Your soul faces oblivion. Darkness eternal."
"What is to be your reward for your service to her?" Palin asked. "Your life? No"-he answered his own question-"you cared little for your life. She gave you back the magic."
"The magic is life," said Dalamar. "The magic is love. The magic is family. The magic is wife. The magic is child."
Inside the temple, Palin"s body sat on the hard bench, stared unseeing at the candle flames that wavered, fearful and helpless, in the storm winds that swept through the room.
"How sad," he said, as his spirit started to ebb, water receding from the sh.o.r.eline, "that only at the end do I know what I should have known from the start."
"Darkness eternal," Dalamar echoed.
"No," said Palin softly, "for beyond the clouds, the sun shines."
Rough hands seized hold of Mirror. Angry, panicked voices clamored in his ear, so many at once that he could not possibly understand them. They mauled him, pulled him this way and that, as they screeched and argued between themselves about what to do with him. Some wanted to hang him. Others wanted to rend him apart where he stood.
The silver dragon could always slough off this puny human guise and transform into his true shape. Even blind, he could defend himself against a mob. He spread his arms that would become his silver wings and lifted his head. Joy filled him even as danger closed in on him. In a moment, he would be himself, shining silver in the darkness, riding the winds of the storm.
Shackles clamped over his wrists. He almost laughed, for no iron forged of man could hold him. He tried to shake them off, but the shackles would not fall, and he realized that they were not forged of iron, but of fear. Takhisis made them and she clamped them on him. Strive as he might, he could not transform himself. He was chained to his human body, shackled to this two-legged form, and in that form, blind and alone, he would die.
Mirror fought to escape his captors, but his thrashings only goaded them to further torment. Rocks and fists struck him. Pain shot through him. Blow after blow rained down on him. He slumped to the ground.
He heard, as in a dream of pain, a strong, commanding voice speak out. The voice was powerful, and it quelled the clamor.
"Back away!" Odila ordered. Her voice was cold and stern and accustomed to being obeyed. "Leave him alone or know the wrath of the One G.o.d!"
"He used some sort of magic to destroy the totem!" a man cried. "I saw him!"
"He"s done away with the moon!" cried another. "Done something foul and unnatural that will curse us all!"
Other voices joined in the accusing clamor, demanded his death.
"The magic he used is the magic of the One G.o.d," Odila told them. "You should be down on your knees, praying for the One G.o.d to save us from the dragon, not maltreating a poor beggar!"
Her strong, scarred hands took firm hold of him, lifted him up.
"Can you walk?" she whispered to him, low and urgent. "If so, you must try."
"I can walk," he told her.
A trickle of warm blood seeped down into the bandages he wore around his eyes. The pain in his head eased, but he felt cold and clammy and nauseous. He staggered to his feet. Her arms wrapped around him, supported his faltering steps.
"Good," Odila whispered in his ear. "We"re going to walk backward." Taking a firm grip on him, she suited her action to her words. He stumbled with her, leaning on her.
"What is happening?" he asked.
"The mob is holding back for the moment. They feel my power, and they fear it. I speak for the One G.o.d, G.o.d, after all." Odila sounded amused, reckless, joyful. "I want to thank you," she said, her voice softening. "I was the one who was blind. You opened my eyes." after all." Odila sounded amused, reckless, joyful. "I want to thank you," she said, her voice softening. "I was the one who was blind. You opened my eyes."
"Let"s go after him," someone shouted. "What"s stopping us? She"s not Mina! She"s just some traitor Solamnic."
Odila let go of Mirror, moved to stand defensively in front of him. He heard a roar as the mob surged forward.
"A traitor Solamnic with a club, not a sword," Odila said to him. He heard the splintering of wood, guessed that she had smashed up one of the benches. "I"ll hold them off as long as I can. Make your way behind the altar. You"ll find a trapdoor-"
"I have no need for trapdoors," Mirror said. "You will be my eyes, Odila. I will be your wings."
"What the-" she began, then she gasped. He heard her drop the club.
Mirror spread his arms. Fear was gone. The Dark Queen had no power over him. He could see, once again, the radiant light. As it had destroyed the totem, so it burned away the shackles that bound him. His human body, so frail and fragile, small and cramped, was transformed. His heart grew and expanded, blood pulsed through ma.s.sive veins, fed his strong taloned legs and an enormous silver-scaled body. His tail struck the altar, smashed it, sent the candles tumbling to the floor in a river of melted wax.
The mob that had surged forward to kill a blind beggar fell all over itself trying to escape a blind dragon.
"No saddle, Sir Knight," he told Odila. "You"ll have to hang on tight. Grasp my mane. You"ll need to lean close to my head to be able to tell me where we are going. What of Palin?" he asked, as she caught hold of his mane and pulled herself up on his back. "Can we take him with us?"
"His body is not there," Odila reported.
"I feared as much," said Mirror quietly. "And the other one? Dalamar."
"He is there," said Odila. "He sits alone. His hands are stained with blood."
Mirror spread his wings.
"Hold on!" he shouted.
"I"m holding," said Odila. "Holding fast."
In her hand was the medallion that bore on it the image of the five-headed dragon. The medallion burned her scarred fingers. The pain was minor compared to the pain that seared her when she touched the dragonlance. Clasping the medallion, Odila tore it off.
The silver dragon gave a great leap. His wings caught the winds of the storm, used them to carry him aloft.
Odila brought the medallion to her lips. She kissed it, then, opening her fingers, she let the medallion fall. The medallion spi-raled down into the pile of dust that was now all that remained of Malys"s monument to death.
Mina"s followers witnessed the breathtaking battle. They cheered to see Malys fall, gasped in horror as Mina fell in flames along with her foe.
Desperately they waited to see her rise again from the fire, as she had done once before. Smoke drifted up from the mountain, but it brought no Mina with it.
Silvanoshei had watched with the rest. He started walking. He would go to the temple. Someone there would have news. As he walked, as the blood flowed and his stiff muscles warmed, he came gradually to realize that not only was he still alive, he was free.
People milled about in the streets, shocked and confused. Some wept openly. Some simply wandered aimlessly, not knowing what to do next, waiting for someone to come and tell them. Some spoke of the battle, reliving it, relating over and over what they had seen, trying to make it real. People jabbered about the moon and that it was gone and so was the One G.o.d, if the One G.o.d had ever been, and that now Mina was gone too. No one paid any attention to Silvanoshei. Everyone was too caught up in his own despair to care about an elf.
I could walk out of Sanction, Silvanoshei said to himself, and no one would lift a finger to stop me.
He had no thought of leaving Sanction, however. He could not leave, not until he knew for certain what had become of Mina. Arriving at the temple, he found a huge throng of people gathered around the totem and he joined them, staring in dismay at the pile of ashes that had once been the glory of Queen Takhisis.
Silvanoshei stared into the ashes and he saw what he had been, saw what he might have been.
He saw the events that had led him to this point, saw them with his soul that never sleeps, always watches. He saw the terrible night the ogres attacked. He saw himself- consumed with hatred for his mother and for the life she had forced him to lead, consumed with fear and guilt when it seemed that she might die at the hands of the ogres. He saw himself running through the darkness to save her, and he saw himself proud to think that he would be the one to save his people. He saw the lightning bolt that sent him tumbling into unconsciousness. He saw himself falling down the hill to land at the base of the shield and then he saw what he had not been able to see with mortal eyes. He saw the dark hand of the G.o.ddess lift the shield so that he could enter.
Staring into the darkness, he saw the darkness staring back at him, and he realized that he had looked into the Dark Queen"s eyes many times before, looked into them without blinking or turning away.
He heard again words that Mina had said to him on that first night they had come together. Words that he had tossed aside as nonsense, meaningless, without importance.
You do not love me. You love the G.o.d you see in me.
Everything his mother yearned for, he had been given. She had wanted to rule Silvanesti. He was the king of Silvanesti. She had longed to be loved by the people. They loved him. That was his revenge, and it had been sweet. But that was only part of the revenge. The best part was that he had thrown it all away. Nothing he could have done had the power to hurt his mother more.
If the G.o.ddess had used him, it was because Takhisis had gazed deeply into the eyes of his soul and had seen one eye wink.
21.
The Dead and Dying.
Razor"s strength gave out while they were still airborne. He could no longer move his wings, and he began to twist downward in an uncontrolled dive. Gaidar had the terrifying image of sheer-sided, jagged rocks stabbing upward. Razor crashed headlong into a small grove of pine trees.
For a heart-stopping moment, all Gaidar could see was a blur of orange rocks and green trees, blue dragon scales and red blood. He squinched his eyes tight shut, gripped the dragon with all the strength of his ma.s.sive body, buried his head in the dragon"s neck. Buffeted and jolted, he heard the rending and snapping of limbs and bones, smelled and tasted the sharp odor of pine needles and the iron-tinged smell of fresh blood. A branch struck him on the head, nearly ripping off his horn. Another smote him on the back of his shoulder. Shattered branches tore at his legs and arms.
Suddenly, abruptly, they slammed to a halt.
Gaidar spent a long moment doing nothing except gasping for breath and marveling that he was still alive. Every part of him hurt. He had no idea if he was seriously wounded or not. He moved, gingerly. Feeling no sharp, searing pain, he concluded that no bones were broken. Blood dribbled down his nose. His ears rang, and his head throbbed. He felt Razor give a shuddering sigh.
The dragon"s head and upper portion of his shattered body rested in the pine trees that had broken beneath his weight. Disentangling himself from a nest of twisted, snapped branches, Gaidar slid down off the dragon"s back. He had the woozy impression that the blue dragon was resting in a cradle of pine boughs. The lower half of the dragon"s body-the broken wings and tail-trailed behind him onto the rocks, leaving a smear of blood.
Gaidar looked swiftly about for Malys"s carca.s.s. He saw it, off in the distance. Her corpse was easy to located. In death, she made her final mountain-a glistening, red mound of b.l.o.o.d.y flesh. Smoke and flame drew his eye. Fire consumed the death dragon, the flames spreading to the scrub pine. Farther down in the valley lay Sanction, but he couldn"t see the city. Dark thunderclouds swirled beneath him. Where he stood, the sun shone brightly, so brightly that it had apparently eclipsed that New Eye, for he could not see it.
He did not take time to search for it. His main concern was Mina. He was frantic with worry about her and wanted nothing more than to go off immediately to search for her. But the minotaur owed his life to the heroics of the blue dragon. The least Gaidar could do was to stay with him. No one, minotaur or dragon, should die alone.
Razor was still alive, still breathing, but his breaths were pain-filled and shallow. Blood flowed from his mouth. His eyes were starting to grow dim, but they brightened at the sight of Gaidar.
"Is she .. ." The blue dragon choked on his own blood, could not continue.
"Malys is dead," Gaidar said, deep and rumbling. "Thank you for the battle. A glorious victory that will be long remembered.
You die a hero. I will honor your memory, as will my children and my children"s children and their children after."
Gaidar had no children, nor was there any likelihood he would ever have any His words were the ancient tribute given to a warrior who has fought valiantly and died with honor. Yet Gaidar spoke them from the depth of his soul, for he could only imagine what terrible agony these last few moments were for the dying dragon.
The blue dragon gave another shudder. His body went limp.
"I did my duty," he breathed, and died.
Gaidar lifted his head and gave a howl of grief that echoed among the mountains-a final, fitting tribute. This done, he was free at last to follow his aching heart, to find out what had happened to Mina.
I should not be worried, he told himself. I have seen Mina survive poisoning, emerge whole and unscarred from her own flaming funeral pyre. The One G.o.d loves Mina, loves her as perhaps she has never before loved a mortal. Takhisis will protect her darling, watch over her.
Gaidar told himself that, told himself repeatedly, but still he worried.
He scanned the rugged rocks around the carca.s.s of the dragon. Chunks of flesh and gore were splattered about a wide area, the rocks were slippery with the mess. He hoped to see Mina come striding toward him, that exalted glow in her eyes. But nothing moved on the rocky outcropping where the dragon had fallen. The birds of the air had fled at her coming, the animals gone to ground. All was silent, except for a fierce and angry wind that hissed among the rocks with an eerie, whistling sound.
The rocks were difficult enough to navigate without the blood and blubber. Climbing was slow going, especially when every movement brought the pain of some newly discovered injury. Gaidar found his pike. The weapon was covered with blood, and the blade was broken. Gaidar was pleased to retrieve it. He would give it to Mina as a memento.