Thelvyn was all for leaving at once, considering the seriousness of the situation following the new attacks. Kharendaen would have accompanied him immediately without complaint, but Sir George begged for a night in a real bed, especially since it was already late. Kharendaen was still a bit put out with Solveig over converting her lair into a stable for the griffons. Although she didn't say anything, Thelvyn knew that she preferred to sleep in her true form.
Sir George and the two dragons left Braejr at dawn the next morning, departing early because they had to go out into the street before they could change form without upsetting the griffons. Darius Glantri would be returning to Thyatis that same day, taking Korinn back to Dengar on his way. Darius intended to return once he had reported to Emperor Cornelius. Korinn would do his best to soothe the fears of the dwarves and assure them that the dragons were not preparing to make war upon them.
Still, Korinn doubted that King Daroban would be ready to place any strong faith in the Dragonlord even yet. Most dwarves would not be willing to trust the Dragonlord until that trust was proven by deeds that they could see for themselves, and they would insist that King Daroban continue to prepare for war.
The flight north along the Aalban River to Braastar was a fairly brief one. In the past, during the five years that Kharendaen had served as the companion of the Dragonlord, she had often flown this far on her morning hunt. The hilly region on the eastern side of the river was heavily forested and still quite wild, the only inhabited areas being those close to the city of Braastar. Farther south, the lands east of the river were said to belong to the elves, although even Kharendaen had seen elves in those rugged woods only rarely. The lands in the shadows of the Colossus Mountains were untamed and not entirely safe, all the more so farther south because of the ominous proximity of the Broken Lands.
Soon they came to the wooded area south of Braastar where they had been told to search for the worldgate. The two dragons descended until they were passing just above the treetops, slowing their speed and drifting on the cool morning wind. Sir George leaned well out from his saddle, looking down from Kharendaen's neck.
"How are we supposed to fmd this thing?" Thelvyn asked. "You used to fly over this forest often enough. Did you ever sense anything unusual?"
"Not that I recall," Kharendaen replied. "You yourself know that there are many places of old magic throughout the continent. Some are good, some are evil, and some are simply so old and forgotten that they are nothing more than shadows of their former power. Dragons sense many such things in their flights, so many that you must simply ignore those that do not threaten you. Worldgates are rare things, best left alone, and they are not commonly connected with the duties of a cleric. As such, they are outside my own experience."
"If the Fire Wizards are still using it, they must have some way of getting there," Thelvyn said. "Murodhir said he placed the collar in a wagon the Fire Wizards had brought, and that he tried to follow them. The first thing, obviously, is to find that road."
After drifting back and forth over the trees for a time, they came upon an old forest road that seemed to be the one that Murodhir had described. Thelvyn was somewhat surprised, since he had suspected that the renegade dragon had not been telling the truth. They followed the road eastward for several miles as it led deeper into the wild, rugged lands below the towering Colossus Mountains. When the dragons caught glimpses of the road through the trees, they saw only a simple dirt path beaten by the hooves of horses and the wheels of wagons, obviously little used but not yet overgrown by the forest. Since there were no settlements this far to the east of
Braastar, there was no practical purpose for having a road here.
Thelvyn suddenly felt a faint touch of magic somewhere below, and he turned sharply to circle back. Although the road continued on toward the mountains, he thought they should investigate this place before searching even farther into the wilderness. There was nothing to be seen, not even a small clearing in the forest to show that this might be the place where an entire race of wanderers had arrived from another world. Still, the gate would have been opened from the other side, and the wizards working their magic would have had no way to know where their portal would lead. It would have been just as likely to open here, in the middle of the forest, as anywhere.
"I think this might be it," Thelvyn told his companions.
He descended quickly through a break in the roof of the forest, moving quickly out of the way so that Kharendaen could follow him down. They folded away their wings and cautiously approached the area where they could sense the alien magic, pausing while they were still a safe distance away. The road made a sudden, inexplicable loop to avoid passing beneath the broad branches of a single massive oak tree. A pair of curious carved posts of gray stone, not unlike mileposts, had been set several yards apart beneath the tree, half hidden in the deep grass and the litter of leaves and twigs.
"Your flying skills are improving," Sir George observed, having no apparent interest in leaving his place in Kharen-daen's saddle.
"I'm getting a lot of practice," Thelvyn said absently, then moved slowly closer to the pair of small stone posts. "If this is the gate, then those might be markers or even a part of the gateway."
"The gate would have been opened from the other side before they were set in place," his mate explained, staying back in the road with the old knight. "They might have been set to help to direct or focus the worldgate after it was opened. The first question we must deal with is to discover how we can open the gateway."
Thelvyn stepped forward a bit more boldly, standing so that he was facing the space between the two stones. He sniffed the Grass tentatively. "Someone has been through here recently, perhaps within the last few days. A Flaem, I'd say. They have a distinct scent."
"You are learning quickly," Kharendaen said approvingly.
"I'm still getting used to having such a sharp sense of smell," Thelvyn said, then turned his head to look at her. "I am not particularly concerned about getting through the gate. Alessa said that it would probably respond to our will, and I am inclined to trust her on that. My concern is for what we may find on the other side. If the traitor Fire Wizards are waiting for us, surely they would have set a trap in case their secret was discovered."
"What kind of trap could harm a dragon?" Sir George asked.
"I have no wish to find out the hard way," Thelvyn said as he moved to one side to examine one of the stone posts. "Considering that they probably have the Collar of the Dragons on the other side of this gateway, I imagine that they must be very concerned about dragons coming through after them."
"We could pitch Sir George through first to see what happens," Kharendaen suggested. "Or we could open the gateway and do what we can to detect any traps."
"Open the gateway," Sir George said as he dropped down from his saddle. "Remember, I was once a master thief. The ability to detect traps is second nature to me."
Thelvyn turned his head to face the area between the two gray stones. A moment later, a great oval of blackness seemed to leap out of the shadows beneath the tree. The far end of the gateway could be seen deep within the oval of blackness, as if it were a tunnel to some other place, but very distant and indistinct, as if viewed through the wrong end of a spyglass. Sir George waved the two dragons back a safe distance, then approached the center of the gateway and stood motionless before it, as if deep in thought.