"I'm sorry," he blurted out. "I shouldn't have left like that. "
Her fingers tightened over his. "No, probably not. But I understand why you felt betrayed." She leaned forward to rest her elbows on the edge of the bed so she could see his face. "Derrick, please believe that I never intended to deliberately mislead all of you. I came to like you all much more than I ever imagined, and I saw a great deal of potential in each one of you." She shook her head at the irony of her emotions. "I was hoping that if I stayed just a little longer in Neraka, I could help you see that the Knights of Takhisis cannot offer you what you want, that there is more that you can do for this world then serve a missing goddess."
He gave a grim laugh and threw his arm up over his eyes. "I can't even be good at that. I turned on a partner, Sara. I fought him for mere treasure simply because he disagreed with me and because he challenged me. And I hated it! But I couldn't stop myself. Is that what the Dark Knights have done to me?"
He lowered his arm and met her sympathetic gaze with bitter eyes. "I killed that knight, didn't I?" When she nodded, he gritted his teeth as if in pain. "We shouldn't have fought over something so insignificant. All we wanted to do was dispose of the spoils so the goblins wouldn't get it. But neither of us would budge. A compromise seemed so weak. All I could think of was trying to obey the Code and my oath to the knighthood and how that treasure would help the talon buy new weapons and food."
"What did the Solamnic want to do with it?"
"Give it back to the victims. I told him that would be impossible. Much of the treasure had been there for years. Many of the victims were probably in the walls of that foul hut. He still insisted he knew some of them-like those two girls who fled when we attacked the giant. But he wanted it all! That didn't seem fair. I had fought for it, too."
Even as he tried to explain, Sara heard the edge of anger creeping back into his voice. Derrick heard it, too and bit off his last complaint. "Gods, I sound pathetic. I'll never make a good knight."
"No, I don't think so either," Sara said lightly, and she laid a finger on his lips to stem any response. "Despite what you think now, you are too honorable for Takhisis. You made a mistake, but you have survived to rectify it. Now, since you cannot move from that bed, you will lie there and listen to me. There is something else I think I can offer you."
First, to clear any lingering doubts between them, she explained her reasons for going to Neraka in the first place, then once again she told about her experience in the tomb. Derrick lay still at first, then struggled upright and stared at her in growing wonder.
When she finished, she pulled out the star jewel from her tunic and laid it in his hand. "I am going to use this sign from Steel as a beginning, and I want you to join me I am going to form a third order in Krynn, a legion if you will, of men and women who are dedicated to selflessness and service. We will help where we are needed, and we will strive to do what is right, not what some power-hungry general or antiquated code demands we do. It will have to be a secret order for now, to protect our members. If you leave the Knights of Takhisis, you will be condemned as a traitor, as I am. But if you join me, we will do what we can to help the people of Krynn in a way the Knights of Takhisis and Solamnia never could."
Sara heard a slight sound at the door and swiftly twisted around to see Tika and Caramon standing in the doorway, their expressions frozen in rapt attention. Tika held a forgotten breakfast tray in her hands.
"Great gods of Krynn, Sara," Caramon said slowly. "Is this something you really want to do?"
"More than anything." She rose to her feet and faced her friends. "For the first time since Steel left, I have something to believe in again. This is something I can do for Krynn, not just for me or for Steel. I believe it will work."
Derrick cleared his throat. "You could call it the Legion of Steel."
Sara's fingers touched the star jewel in his hand. "That will do perfectly."
"legion of Steel," Tika murmured. "I like it."
Caramon didn't say anything, and Tika could see his mind was at work. She brushed past him and set the tray of food on a small table beside the bed. She left again to fetch some tarbean tea, and by the time she returned with it, Caramon was still standing by the door.
He seemed to stand a little straighter, and his face glowed from an inner resolution. "It's been done before, you know," he was telling Sara and Derrick. "In fact, both knightly orders began with visions and quests. Why not a third? Stay here, Sara. Make Solace your headquarters. My inn and my aid are yours for the asking."
Tika couldn't have been more pleased. She was an excellent judge of character and circumstance, and something about this whole vision and legacy seemed right. Echoing her husband's enthusiasm, she carried the teapot and mugs to the bed. "You would do well to follow her, young Derrick. You may not find wealth or glory in her service, but you will attain honor and self- respect and perhaps do some good for this war-torn land."
A hint of a smile erased some of Derrick's sadness. "That was all I wanted from the beginning." He held out his hand to Sara, who clasped it fiercely. "If you will have me, I will join your legion… heart and soul."
And so it happened that the Legion of Steel began with one and doubled its size in just one morning. But Sara was not content to leave it at that. She decided to try to increase her numbers-by returning to Neraka.
Caramon and Tika were appalled when she gathered her cloak two mornings later and told them what she was going to do.
Caramon thrust himself between the door and Sara and crossed his arms, an immovable wall. "Sara, don't be a fool! If you go back to Neraka, they will kill you. Then your legion will be nothing more than one wounded renegade boy!"
Sara lifted her eyebrows. "I don't think so," she said mildly. "General Abrena sent me here in the first place She is expecting me to return. I will go back just long enough to talk to the members of the talon. I have a feeling one or two others would make better legionnaires than Dark Knights. After all we have been through together, they deserve a chance to change their minds."
"But how will you escape the city again? You yourself said the fortress is heavily guarded," Tika pointed out.
Caramon jabbed a thick finger at Sara before she had the opportunity to reply. "And how would you keep the ones who do not join from betraying you?"
Tika nodded vigorously and added her own protests. "And how do you know the lord knights have not already learned of your treason? You could be arrested the instant you stepped foot in the city."
"I know, I know!" Sara held up her hands to ward off the barrage of questions. "Or, rather, I don't really know. I am aware of the danger. I've spent more than three months in Neraka! But this is something I have to do. For them. For me. To prove to them that I did not deceive them, that honor can be one's life."
Caramon slowly pulled his lips up in a smile. "Sturm would have liked you."
Tika looked from one to the other and knew the argument was lost. She had rarely known anyone with Sara's persistence, and if Caramon was ready to back down this quickly, there wasn't much point in continuing alone.
"Well," she said, rummaging briskly around the bar, "if you are going, you'd better take some food with you. Don't worry about Derrick. We'll get him back on his feet. Just keep that dragon close to you. I've never seen a blue as devoted as that one." She shouted the last sentence as she walked into the kitchen and returned carrying a small loaf of bread.
Sara watched, bemused, as she packed the bread, a bottle of ale, cheese, and some dried apples in a bag and walked across the floor. "What do you want to do with that pile of boxes from the giant's hoard?"