Tanis felt inclined to agree with the mage. ‘We’re all scaring ourselves over noth—’ he began. Suddenly there was a rending crash. Stone and rubble, mortar and timber clattered down around them. They scrambled for cover as a huge, clawed foot plunged through the debris, its talons gleaming in the light of Raistlin’s staff.
Helplessly seeking shelter beneath broken beams or under the casks of ale, the companions watched in wonder as the gigantic claw extricated itself from the rubble and withdrew, leaving behind it a wide, gaping hole.
All was silent. For a few moments, none of the companions dared move. But the silence remained unbroken.
‘This is our chance,’ Tanis whispered loudly. ‘Caramon, see what’s up there.’
But the big warrior was already creeping out of his hiding place, moving across the rubble-strewn floor as best he could. Riverwind followed behind, his sword drawn.
‘Nothing,’ said Caramon, puzzled, peering up.
Tanis, feeling naked without his sword, came over to stand beneath the hole, gazing upward. Then, to his amazement, a dark figure appeared above them, silhouetted against the burning sky. Behind the figure towered a large beast. They could just make out the head of a gigantic eagle, its eyes glittering in the firelight, its wickedly curved beak gleaming in the flames.
The companions shrank back, but it was too late. Obviously the figure had seen them. It stepped nearer. Riverwind thought—too late—of his bow. Caramon pulled Tika close with one hand, holding his sword in his other.
The figure, however, simply knelt down near the edge of the hole, being careful of its footing among the loose stones, and removed the hood covering its head.
‘We meet again, Tanis Half-Elven,’ said a voice as cool and pure and distant as the stars.
8
Escape from Tarsis. The story of the dragon orbs.
Dragons flew on their leathery wings above the gutted city of Tarsis as the draconian armies swarmed in to take possession. The task of the dragons was completed. Soon the Dragon Highlord would call them back, holding them in readiness for the next strike. But for now they could relax, drifting on the super-heated air currents rising from the burning town, picking off the occasional human foolish enough to come out of hiding. The red dragons floated in the sky, keeping in their well-organized flights, gliding and dipping in a wheeling dance of death.
No power on Krynn existed now that could stop them. They knew this and exulted in their victory. But occasionally something would occur to interrupt their dance. One flight leader, for example, received a report of fighting near the wreckage of an inn. A young male red dragon, he led his flight to the site, muttering to himself about the inefficiency of the troop commanders. What could you expect, though, when the Dragon Highlord was a bloated hobgoblin who hadn’t even courage enough to watch the takeover of a soft town like Tarsis?
The male red sighed, recalling the days of glory when Verminaard had led them personally, sitting astride the back of Pyros. He had been a Dragon Highlord! The red shook his head disconsolately. Ah, there was the battle. He could see it clearly now. Ordering his flight to stay airborne, he swooped in low for a better look.
‘I command you! Stop!’
The red halted in his flight, staring upward in astonishment. The voice was strong and clear, and it came from the figure of a Dragon Highlord. But the Dragon Highlord was certainly not Toede! This Dragon Highlord, although heavily cloaked and dressed in the shining mask and dragon-scale armor of the Highlords, was human, to judge by the voice, not hobgoblin. But where had this Highlord come from? And why? For, to the red dragon’s amazement, he saw that the Highlord rode upon a huge blue dragon and was attended by several flights of blues.
‘What is your bidding, Highlord?’ the red asked sternly. ‘And by what right do you stop us, you who have no business in this part of Krynn?’
‘The fate of mankind is my business, whether it be in this part of Krynn or another,’ the Dragon Highlord returned. ‘And the might of my swordarm, gives me all the right I need to command you, gallant red. As for my bidding, I ask that you capture these pitiful humans, do not kill them. They are wanted for questioning. Bring them to me. You will be well rewarded.’
‘Look!’ called a young female red. ‘Griffons!’
The Dragon Highlord gave an exclamation of astonishment and displeasure. The dragons looked down to see three griffons sweeping up out of the smoke. Not quite half the size of a red dragon, griffons were noted for their ferocity. Draconian troops scattered like ashes in the wind before the creatures, whose sharp talons and ripping beaks were tearing the heads from those reptile-men unlucky enough to have been caught in their path.
The red snarled in hatred and prepared to dive, his flight with him, but the Dragon Highlord swooped down in front of him, causing him to pull up.
‘I tell you, they must not be killed!’ the Dragon Highlord said sternly.
‘But they’re escaping!’ the red hissed furiously.
‘Let them,’ the Highlord said coldly. ‘They will not go far. I relieve you of your duty in this. Return to the main body. And if that idiot Toede mentions this, tell him that the secret of how he lost the blue crystal staff did not die with Lord Verminaard. The memory of Fewmaster Toede lives on—in my mind—and will become known to others if he dares to challenge me!’
The Dragon Highlord saluted, then wheeled the large blue dragon in the air to fly swiftly after the griffons, whose tremendous speed had allowed them to escape with their riders well past the city gates. The red watched the blues disappear through the night skies in pursuit.
‘Shouldn’t we give chase as well?’ asked the female red.
‘No,’ the red male replied thoughtfully, his fiery eyes on the figure of the Dragon Highlord dwindling in the distance. ‘I will not cross that one!’
‘Your thanks are not necessary, or even wanted,’ Alhana Starbreeze cut off Tanis’s halting, exhausted words in mid-sentence. The companions rode through the slashing rain on the backs of three griffons, clutching their feathered necks with their hands, peering apprehensively down at the dying city falling rapidly away beneath them.
‘And you may not wish to extend them after you hear me out,’ Alhana stated coldly, glancing at Tanis, riding behind her. ‘I rescued you for my own purposes. I need warriors to help me find my father. We fly to Silvanesti.’
‘But that’s impossible!’ Tanis gasped. ‘We must meet our friends! Fly to the hills. We can’t go to Silvanesti, Alhana. There’s too much at stake! If we can find these dragon orbs, we have a chance to destroy these foul creatures and end this war. Then we can go to Silvanesti—’
‘Now we are going to Silvanesti,’ Alhana retorted. ‘You have no choice in the matter, Half-Elven. My griffons obey my command and mine alone. They would tear you apart, as they did those dragonmen, if I gave the order.’
‘Someday the elves will wake up and find they are members of a vast family,’ Tanis said, his voice shaking with anger. ‘No longer can they be treated as the spoiled elder child who is given everything while the rest of us wait for the crumbs.’
‘What gifts we received from the gods we earned. You humans and half-humans’—the scorn in her voice cut like a dagger—‘had these same gifts and threw them away in your greed for more. We are capable of fighting for our own survival without your help. As to your survival, that matters little to us.’
‘You seem willing enough to accept our help now!’
‘For which you will be well-rewarded,’ Alhana returned.
‘There is not steel nor jewels enough in Silvanesti to pay us—’
‘You seek the dragon orbs,’ Alhana interrupted. ‘I know where one is located. It is in Silvanesti.’