Dragons Of Winter Night Part 37

"Indeed you will!" the officer said through teeth clenched in pain. The sound of galloping hooves was lost in the darkness.

"Bring in the bodies," Sturm ordered.

Cautiously, the knights opened the gates. Several rushed out to cover the others who gently lifted the bodies and bore them inside. Then the guard retreated back into the fortress and bolted the gates behind them.

Sturm knelt in the snow beside the body of the headless knight. Lifting the man's hand, he removed a ring from the stiff, cold fingers. The knight's armor was battered and black with blood. Dropping the lifeless hand back into the snow, Sturm bowed his head. "Lord Alfred," he said tonelessly.

"Sir," said one of the young knights, "the other is Lord Derek. The foul dragon officer was right-he is still alive."

Sturm rose and walked over to where Derek lay on the cold stone. The lord's face was white, his eyes wide and glittering feverishly. Blood caked his lips, his skin was clammy. One of the young knights supporting him, held a cup of water to his lips, but Derek could not drink.

Sick with horror, Sturm saw Derek's hand was pressed over his stomach, where his life's blood was welling out, but not fast enough to end the agonizing pain. Giving a ghastly smile, Derek clutched Sturm's arm with a b.l.o.o.d.y hand.

"Victory!" he croaked. "They ran before us and we pursued! It was glorious, glorious! And I-I will be Grand Master!" He choked and blood spewed from his mouth as he fell back into the arms of the young knight, who looked up at Sturm, his youthful face hopeful.

"Do you suppose he's right, sir? Maybe that was a ruse-" His voice died at the sight of Sturm's grim face, and he looked back at Derek with pity. "He's mad, isn't he, sir?"

"He's dying-bravely-like a true knight," Sturm said.

"Victory!" Derek whispered, then his eyes fixed in his head and he gazed sightlessly into the fog.

"No, you mustn't break it," said Laurana.

"But Fizban said-"

"I know what he said," Laurana replied impatiently. "It isn't evil, it isn't good, it's not anything, it's everything. That"-she muttered-"is so like Fizban!"

She and Tas stood in front of the dragon orb. The orb rested on its stand in the center of the round room, still covered with dust except for the spot Tas had rubbed clean. The room was dark and eerily silent, so quiet, in fact, that Tas and Laurana felt compelled to whisper.

Laurana stared at the orb, her brow creased in thought. Tas stared at Laurana unhappily, afraid he knew what she was thinking.

"These orbs have to work, Tas!" Laurana said finally. "They were created by powerful magic-users! People like Raistlin who do not tolerate failure. If only we knew how-"

"I know how," Tas said in a broken whisper.

"What?" Laurana asked. "You know! Why didn't you-"

"I didn't know I knew-so to speak," Tas stammered. "It just came to me. Gnosh-the gnome-told me that he discovered writing inside the orb, letters that swirled around in the mist. He couldn't read them, he said, because they were written in some sort of strange language-"

"The language of magic."

"Yes, that's what I said and-"

"But that won't help us! We can't either of us speak it. If only Raistlin-"

"We don't need Raistlin," Tas interrupted. "I can't speak it, but I can read it. You see, I have these gla.s.ses-gla.s.ses of true seeing, Raistlin called them. They let me read languages-even the language of magic. I know because he said if he caught me reading any of his scrolls he'd turn me into a cricket and swallow me whole."

"And you think you can read the orb?"

"I can try," Tas hedged, "but, Laurana, Sturm said there probably wouldn't be any dragons. Why should we risk even bothering with the orb? Fizban said only the most powerful magic-users dared use it."

"Listen to me, Ta.s.slehoff Burrfoot," Laurana said softly, kneeling down beside the kender and staring him straight in the eye. "If they bring even one dragon here, we're finished. That's why they gave us time to surrender instead of just storming the place. They're using the extra time to bring in dragons. We must take this chance!"

A dark path and a light path. Ta.s.slehoff remembered Fizban's words and hung his head. Death of those you love, but you have the courage Death of those you love, but you have the courage.

Slowly Tas reached into the pocket of his fleecy vest, pulled out the gla.s.ses, and fit the wire frames over his pointed ears.

13.

The sun rises.

Darkness descends.

The fog lifted with the coming of morning. The day dawned bright and clear-so clear that Sturm, walking the battlements, could see the snow-covered gra.s.slands of his birthplace near Vingaard Keep-lands now completely controlled by the dragonarmies. The sun's first rays struck the flag of the Knights-kingfisher beneath a golden crown, holding a sword decorated with a rose in his claws. The golden emblem glittered in the morning light. Then Sturm heard the harsh, blaring horns.

The dragonarmies marched upon the Tower at dawn.

The young knights-the hundred or so that were left-stood silently on the battlements watching as the vast army crawled across the land with the inexorability of devouring insects.

At first Sturm had wondered about the knight's dying words. "They ran before us!" Why had the dragonarmy run? Then it became clear to him-the dragonmen had used the knights' own vainglory against them in an ancient, yet simple, maneuver. Fall back before your enemy...not too fast, just let the front lines show enough fear and terror to be believable. Let them seem to break in panic. Then let your enemy charge after you, overextending his lines. And let your armies close in, surround him, and cut him to shreds.

It didn't need the sight of the bodies-barely visible in the distant trampled, b.l.o.o.d.y snow-to tell Sturm he had judged correctly. They lay where they had tried desperately to regroup for a final stand. Not that it mattered how they died. He wondered who would look on his body when it was all over.

Flint peered out from a crack in the wall. "At least I'll die on dry land," the dwarf muttered.

Sturm smiled slightly, stroking his moustaches. His eyes went to the east. As he thought about dying, he looked upon the land where he'd been born-a home he had barely known, a father he barely remembered, a country that had driven his family into exile. He was about to give his life to defend that country. Why? Why didn't he just leave and go back to Palanthas?

All of his life he had followed the Code and the Measure. The Code: Est Sularus oth Mithas- Est Sularus oth Mithas-My Honor Is My Life. The Code was all he had left. The Measure was gone. It had failed. Rigid, inflexible, the Measure had encased the Knights in steel heavier than their armor. The Knights, isolated, fighting to survive, had clung to the Measure in despair-not realizing that it was an anchor, weighing them down.

Why was I different? Sturm wondered. But he knew the answer, even as he listened to the dwarf grumble. It was because of the dwarf, the kender, the mage, the half-elf.... They had taught him to see the world through other eyes: slanted eyes, smaller eyes, even hourgla.s.s eyes. Knights like Derek saw the world in stark black and white. Sturm had seen the world in all its radiant colors, in all its bleak grayness.

"It's time," he said to Flint. The two descended from the high lookout point just as the first of the enemy's poison-tipped arrows arched over the walls.

With shrieks and yells, the blaring of horns, and clashing of shield and sword, the dragonarmies struck the Tower of the High Clerist as the sun's brittle light filled the sky.

By nightfall, the flag still flew. The Tower stood.

But half its defenders were dead.

The living had no time during the day to shut the staring eyes or compose the contorted, agonized limbs. The living had all they could do to stay alive. Peace came at last with the night, as the dragonarmies withdrew to rest and wait for the morrow.

Sturm paced the battlements, his body aching with weariness. Yet every time he tried to rest, taut muscles twitched and danced, his brain seemed on fire. And so he was driven to pace again-back and forth, back and forth with slow, measured tread. He could not know that his steady pace drove the day's horrors from the thoughts of the young knights who listened. Knights in the courtyard, laying out the bodies of friends and comrades, thinking that tomorrow someone might be doing this for them, heard Sturm's steady pacing and felt their fears for tomorrow eased.

The ringing sound of the knight's footfalls brought comfort to everyone, in fact, except to the knight himself. Sturm's thoughts were dark and tormented: thoughts of defeat; thoughts of dying ign.o.bly, without honor; tortured memories of the dream, seeing his body hacked and mutilated by the foul creatures camped beyond. Would the dream come true? he wondered, shivering. Would he falter at the end, unable to conquer fear? Would the Code fail him, as had the Measure?

Step...step...step...step...

Stop this! Sturm told himself angrily. You'll soon be mad as poor Derek. Spinning abruptly on his heel to break his stride, the knight turned to find Laurana behind him. His eyes met hers, and the black thoughts were brightened by her light. As long as such peace and beauty as hers existed in this world there was hope. He smiled at her and she smiled back-a strained smile-but it erased lines of fatigue and worry in her face.

"Rest," he told her. "You look exhausted."

"I tried to sleep," she murmured, "but I had terrible dreams-hands encased in crystal, huge dragons flying through stone hallways." She shook her head, then sat down, exhausted, in a corner sheltered from the chill wind.

Sturm's gaze moved to Ta.s.slehoff, who lay beside her. The kender was fast asleep, curled into a ball. Sturm looked at him with a smile. Nothing bothered Tas. The kender'd had a truly glorious day, one that would live in his memory forever.

"I've never been at a siege before," Sturm had heard Tas confide to Flint just seconds before the dwarf's battle-axe swept off a goblin's head.

"You know we're all going to die," Flint growled, wiping black blood from his axe blade.

"That's what you said when we faced that black dragon in Xak Tsaroth," Tas replied. "Then you said the same thing in Thorbardin, and then there was the boat-"

"This time we're going to die!" Flint roared in a rage. "If I have to kill you myself!"

But they hadn't died-at least not today. There's always tomorrow, Sturm thought, his gaze resting on the dwarf who leaned against a stone wall, carving at a block of wood.

Flint looked up. "When will it start?" he asked.

Sturm sighed, his gaze shifting out to the eastern sky. "Dawn," he replied. "A few hours yet."

The dwarf nodded. "Can we hold?" His voice was matter-of-fact, the hand that held the wood firm and steady.

"We must," Sturm replied. "The messenger will reach Palanthas tonight. If they act at once, it's still a two-day march to reach us. We must give them two days-"

"If they act at once!" Flint grunted.

"I know..." Sturm said softly, sighing. "You should leave," he turned to Laurana, who came out of her reverie with a start. "Go to Palanthas. Convince them of the danger."

"Your messenger must do that," Laurana said tiredly. "If not, no words of mine will sway them."

"Laurana," he began.

"Do you need me?" she asked abruptly. "Am I of use here?"

"You know you are," Sturm answered. He had marveled at the elfmaid's unflagging strength, her courage, and her skill with the bow.

"Then I'm staying," Laurana said simply. Drawing the blanket up more closely around her, she closed her eyes. "I can't sleep," she whispered. But within a few moments, her breathing became soft and regular as the slumbering kender's.

Sturm shook his head, swallowing a choking thickness in his throat. His glance met Flint's. The dwarf sighed and went back to his carving. Neither spoke, both men thinking the same thing. Their deaths would be bad if the draconians overran the Tower. Laurana's death could be a thing of nightmares.

The eastern sky was brightening, foretelling the sun's approach, when the knights were roused from their fitful slumber by the blaring of horns. Hastily they rose, grabbed their weapons, and stood to the walls, peering out across the dark land.

The campfires of the dragonarmies burned low, allowed to go out as daylight neared. They could hear the sounds of life returning to the horrible body. The knights gripped their weapons, waiting. Then they turned to each other, bewildered.

The dragonarmies were retreating! Although only dimly seen in the faint half-light, it was obvious that the black tide was slowly withdrawing. Sturm watched, puzzled. The armies moved back, just over the horizon. But they were still out there, Sturm knew. He sensed them.

Some of the younger knights began to cheer.

"Keep quiet!" Sturm commanded harshly. Their shouts grated on his raw nerves. Laurana came to stand beside him and glanced at him in astonishment. His face was gray and haggard in the flickering torchlight. His gloved fists, resting atop the battlements, clenched and unclenched nervously His eyes narrowed as he leaned forward, staring eastward.

Laurana, sensing the rising fear within him, felt her own body grow chill. She remembered what she had told Tas.

"Is it what we feared?" she asked, her hand on his arm.

"Pray we are wrong!" he spoke softly, in a broken voice.

Minutes pa.s.sed. Nothing happened. Flint came to join them, clambering up on a huge slab of broken stone to see over the edge of the wall. Tas woke, yawning.

"When's breakfast?" the kender inquired cheerfully, but no one paid any attention to him.

Still they watched and waited. Now all the knights, each of them feeling the same rising fear, lined the walls, staring eastward without any clear idea why.

"What is it?" Tas whispered. Climbing up to stand beside Flint, he saw the small red sliver of sun burning on the horizon, its orange fire turning the night sky purple, dimming the stars.

"What are we looking at?" Tas whispered, nudging Flint.

"Nothing," Flint grumbled.

"Then why are we looking-" The kender caught his breath with a sharp gulp. "Sturm-" he quavered.

"What is it?" the knight demanded, turning in alarm.

Tas kept staring. The rest followed his gaze, but their eyes were no match for the kender's.

"Dragons..." Ta.s.slehoff replied. "Blue dragons."

"I thought as much," Sturm said softly. "The dragonfear. That's why they pulled the armies back. The humans fighting among them could not withstand it. How many dragons?"

"Three," answered Laurana. "I can see them now."

"Three," Sturm repeated, his voice empty, expressionless.

"Listen, Sturm-" Laurana dragged him back away from the wall. "I-we-weren't going to say anything. It might not have mattered, but it does now. Ta.s.slehoff and I know how to use the dragon orb!"

"Dragon orb?" Sturm muttered, not really listening.

"The orb here, Sturm!" Laurana persisted, her hands clutching him eagerly. "The one below the Tower, in the very center. Tas showed it to me. Three long, wide hallways lead to it and-and-" Her voice died. Suddenly she saw vividly, as her subconscious had seen during the night, dragons flying down stone halls....

"Sturm!" she shouted, shaking him in her excitement. "I know how the orb works! I know how to kill the dragons! Now, if we just have the time-"

Sturm caught hold of her, his strong hands grasping her by the shoulders. In all the months he had known her, he could not recall seeing her more beautiful. Her face, pale with weariness, was alight with excitement.

"Tell me, quickly," he ordered. Laurana explained, her words falling over themselves as she painted the picture for him that became clearer to her as she talked. Flint and Tas watched from behind Sturm, the dwarf's face aghast, the kender's face filled with consternation.