"You look better this morning," he observed after eyeing Sara from head to foot.
She agreed. She felt better, too, better than she had in a long while, filled with energy, enthusiasm, and an inner joy that simmered in her gray eyes. Something had happened to her during the night that she could not entirely explain-yet. She needed some time to think it all through.
"I walked around the tomb this morning at first light," Caramon said. "The tomb is sealed, as always. If there were any footprints by the door, those kender of yours trampled all over them."
Sara laughed, and Tika, watching her, thought twenty years fell away from her face.
"It doesn't matter if I was in the tomb or not, Caramon," said Sara. "What matters is that Steel gave me his message and his star jewel for a purpose. That jewel has always symbolized one's love for another, an unspoken pledge of mutual protection, and it is now up to me to put it to use."
Caramon looked puzzled. He glanced at Tika, who merely shrugged her shoulders. "What are you going to do?" he asked.
"First I am going to summon my dragon and go find my companion before he does something stupid. When I think through the rest of it, I'll let you know." Impulsively she leaned over, gave Caramon a kiss on the cheek, hugged Tika, and flew out the swinging doors before they knew what blew by them.
"Was that the same woman we brought in last night?" Caramon asked in wonder.
24
Outside Sara paused to throw on her cloak and fill her lungs with the crisp morning air. From her vantage point high in the vallenwood tree, she could see most of Solace and out to the fields beyond where the tomb glistened in the early sunlight.
The Inn of the Last Home was the largest building in Solace and sat nearly forty feet off the ground in the secure branches of a tremendous vallenwood tree. The Majeres had taken loving care of the inn and its tree over the years, and their attention had been rewarded by a steady stream of customers that came to enjoy Caramon's brown ale, Tika's inestimable cooking, and the excellent service.
A broad set of stairs wound down the convoluted tree trunk to the ground, and Sara went down as fast as her legs could carry her. A euphoria of joy, of power, of direction energized her muscles and sent her racing across the snowy fields. Without stopping, she pulled the dragon-scale thong out of her tunic, clasped her hand around it, and sent her mental summons winging out to find Cobalt.
She wanted to go to the Tomb of the Last Heroes to see it in the daylight while she waited for her dragon to come, so she turned her racing steps toward the tomb. She felt so strong, she ran three times around the large building before coming to a breathless halt on the stone steps.
In the clear morning light, the marble building gleamed as pure and white as the new-fallen snow around it. Nothing looked different. The gold and silver doors still shut in the darkness behind them, the small lamps still hung on the wall, the names of the dead still made their dark lines against the flawless stone. Yet something had changed in Sara. She felt it and relished the change. The emptiness she had carried within her for almost nine long years was gone. The purposelessness she had dragged with her like an empty shell had cracked off and fallen away. Steel loved her and forgave her; Steel had given her a reason to continue.
Excited voices drew her attention away from the tomb and she turned to see two small figures dashing toward her. Badger and Lemmi grinned from ear to pointed ear to see her.
"Sara!" they shouted. The two kender were dressed warmly against the winter cold in fur jackets and thick leggings of brilliant yellow. Their cheeks glowed apple red and their eyes, she noticed in the daylight, were summer green. They looked so bright and cheerful, she laughed to see them.
"When can we see your dragon?" Badger wanted to know before she could draw breath to say hello.
"In just a few minutes, I hope," Sara replied. "He's on his way."
"You're calling him here? Just outside of Solace? He's on blue, isn't he?" Lemmi asked. "Is he mean?"
Badger bared his teeth and imitated a rather highpitched dragon growl. "Of course he is, you doorknob. He's a blue. They're all evil."
Sara held up her hand. "Well, some are worse or better than others. Cobalt was badly injured last year and almost died. He is much calmer and more mellow than when I knew him years ago. He may wait to say hello before he eats you."
Badger's eyes widened with excitement. "Could he give us a ride first?"
"I'll have a talk with him. He may be grateful for what you did for me. If he's in a good mood, he just might."
Both kender looked delighted with the suggestion and settled down to wait with Sara for the dragon's arrival.
"Did you know your dagger is missing?" Lemmi asked after a moment of quiet.
Sara glanced down at her belt and noticed for the first time her empty sheath. A little suspicion jiggled in her thoughts. "Well! I wonder how that happened. I must have mislaid it. I don't suppose you know where I could find another one to take with me while I look for my friend."
"Oh, I've got one!" Badger offered, pleased to be of help. He searched through his pouches and pockets and belt loops until he found what he was looking for. "Here, you can have this one. I found it somewhere. It's a very nice one," and he handed Sara a dagger that looked exactly like her old one.
The woman shook her head. What would Krynn be like without the irrepressible, sticky-fingered, guileless, child-hearted kender?
Lemmi suddenly pointed her finger toward the east and exclaimed, "There he is!" and out of the rising sun came a dark shape winging fast on the rising breeze.
Large wings rustled overhead, and a gust of wind nearly knocked the kender over. The ground trembled as the big dragon settled to the ground.
"Sara!" he trumpeted. "Are you well? What's happened? Your summons came so fast and so strong, it nearly knocked me out of the air."
Taking a running leap, she sprang up his leg and into his saddle before she explained. "Yes, I'm fine, Cobalt. We're going to find Derrick. I think I know where to look." She threw her arms around his neck. "I am so glad to see you."
Her eyes happened to glance down at the two kender, and she saw the crestfallen looks on their faces. "We'll be back soon," she called down, "and I promise I'll talk to him."
Their expressions brightened considerably, and they waved as the dragon pushed off into the air.
"Talk to me about what?" he asked suspiciously.
"About taking them for a ride," Sara said. She had to purse her lips hard to keep from laughing.
"Absolutely not!" the blue roared, pumping harder toward the mountains. "I will not carry those little pick-pockets. They're worse than children, and I hate children."
Sara ran her hand down his neck to placate him. "Hear me out first, then you can decide." Knowing her experience and her decisions would affect him, too, she told him everything that happened from the moment he dropped her off on the hillside.
He listened quietly from beginning to end, his ears cocked back to catch every word. They were over the mountains and approaching the swamp before she finished. He stayed quiet for some time after, his mind carefully ruminating over her tale.
Whether he believed it or not did not matter to him. What made him accept her story was the change he sensed in her, in her voice, in her happiness, in the new strength he felt coursing through her. Cobalt had long ago given up any thought of serving Takhisis. When the dark goddess abandoned the world and his first rider died, a part of Cobalt died, too. Or rather, with Sara's arrival, a part of him was reborn. Now he cared only for her, and for her he would give his life if he needed to. If she said her adopted son left her a legacy and she intended to use it, then by all the powers of Krynn, Cobalt knew he would stand with her.