“No. It caught me by surprise. I’m not responsible for its death, if that’s what you mean.” He frowned. “I just assumed it must have injured itself when it flew me out of the collapsing tower.”
“Reasonable assumption.” The graying officer removed the old cloak. “Help me roll this thing over.”
Tyros stiffened. “The gargoyle?”
“Do it, boy.”
With Bakal doing most of the work, they soon had the creature on its back. The technical side of Tyros couldn’t help but admire the wingspan of the gargoyle and how those wings were attached. Yet all the while he noticed the gaping wound that had finally killed it, a great gash at the back of the neck.
“You see what I mean?” the captain commented.
“No.” One wound looked like another to the wizard. Had something jagged caught the gargoyle as it flew out of the tower?
The soldier sighed. “Save me from school-taught warriors! That gargoyle had its neck torn out from behind, probably while it was in flight with you! You’re lucky you didn’t drop to your death. I’d say the thing lived long enough to flutter to just above the ground, then lost its grip on you. It went a little farther, then died.”
“I was fortunate, then.”
“More than fortunate; your being here comes just short of a miracle. Don’t you understand yet what I’m getting at?”
Tyros despised being talked to as if he were an ignorant child, but he truly did not comprehend yet. “Enlighten me.”
“Oh, I will! See those claws? I checked them out myself, boy! They’d be just about right to do such mayhem. Draconians wouldn’t leave his kind of mess, even if they did decide to use their talons instead of a good blade. Something either similar or exactly like this gargoyle killed the beast as it tried to make off with you.”
“That makes no sense. You’re saying that one of its own kind killed it?”
Bakal nodded. “And therein lies the question command and your superiors are going to have fun with. Bad enough we don’t know why they’d want you, but who, by the Abyss, saved your worthless hide, Tyros?”
Chapter 3
Atriun
The journey to Atriun had been both tedious and difficult. Sailing the New Sea without being noticed had been trouble enough, but the longer they sailed, the more General Cadrio noted hints of insubordination. Zander had dealt quickly and efficiently with those hints so far, maintaining his commander’s power. Still, even Cadrio’s second had commented that matters would only grow worse. The mage’s plan had to show promise quickly. Otherwise the general would have his head on a lance, magic tricks or not.
Near the southern edge of old Solamnia, they disembarked. Leaving Zander in control, Cadrio and his personal guards, all clad in travel cloaks, rode into obscure Atriun.
Once a part of Solamnia but now virtually unclaimed by any country, Atriun consisted mostly of hills, forest, and the empty ruins of a magnificent estate built by an eccentric knight. The riders passed a few ruined peasant houses overrun by nature and what had once been wheat fields. Some fruit trees clearly imported long, long ago from Ergoth dotted the landscape, but for the most part, only ghosts lived here now.
And they could have found no more appropriate dwelling than the Castle of Atriun.
In the dwindling light of sunset, it took on an even more sinister look. What had urged the Solamnic Knight to build such a structure, General Cadrio could not say. The place seemed better suited to the mind-set of one of the Dragon Highlords, even Ariakas himself.
The massive walled castle stood in stark contrast to its empty surroundings, an imperial fortress in a land that had ever been sparsely populated. Had the entire Solamnic brotherhood chosen to depart Vingaard Keep, they would have had to look no farther than Atriun for an appropriate base. Yet Atriun’s wonder had a baleful feel to it that likely would have sent them riding off again, in part because both citadel and surrounding wall had been constructed from a dark, forbidding rock. Cadrio knew of no quarry within five days’ ride where such rock could be found, but it wouldn’t have surprised him if the insane knight had shipped it from far away.
The outer wall stood two stories tall, much higher than this desolate land dictated. The battlements of the wall had been designed to accommodate a vast array of archers. The only entrance to the castle remained a high wooden drawbridge, surprisingly, still up, that, when lowered, would stretch across the deep, algae-encrusted moat surrounding the shadowy edifice. Cadrio pondered the massive effort it must have taken to dig the impressive moat.
Above the outer wall rose the citadel itself, a gargantuan rectangular structure at least four times the height of the wall and flanked by squat twin towers. Across the uppermost levels of the central building ran several large arched balconies worthy of an imperial palace.
Cadrio could see little more of the castle from his present location save for the third and final tower, this one taller than the flanking pair and positioned over the center of the main castle. The general nearly dismissed it, then noticed a glimmer of light flash from within.
“He couldn’t be that ambitious,” Cadrio muttered.
“General! What excellent timing!”
The horses spooked. Cadrio forced his mount to calm, then looked over his shoulder to glare at the ebony-cloaked figure who had not been there a moment before.
“Valkyn! The Queen take you! I’ve killed men for less than that!”
The dark wizard’s smile only stretched further, but his voice carried a deadly chill. “The war has made you a little jumpy, my general! Forgive my enthusiasm. I’d not expected you for another day or two! I thought I’d have to put off the event until then, but now everything can proceed as planned.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” someone in back muttered.
The general ignored the offender. He eyed the mage with suspicion, trying to keep his tone confident. “All well and good, then, Valkyn. I’d like my ships out of the New Sea as soon as possible, so if we can get this done with now, I’ll be pleased.”
The goateed figure shook his head. “Good heavens, no, my general! Not that swift. I must still make some adjustments! This will be a marvel such as has never graced Krynn, I promise you! Tomorrow will do well enough.”
As if Cadrio had any choice. “I’ll be patient … for now.”
“Of course you will … and so will your twin pets.”
Valkyn had detected Murk and Eclipse in the vicinity. The commander silently cursed. He wondered if he had inherited the most inept pair of dragons in all of Krynn. First they had allowed their inexperience and overenthusiasm to set them against two gold leviathans; now they couldn’t even hide from one wizard. Legend had it that such a rarity among dragon kind as twins heralded creatures of great destiny, but for beings already twice the general’s age if not more, the beasts had shown nothing but incompetence.
“They won’t cause any trouble.”
Valkyn chuckled. “Oh, I know they won’t.” Turning, the cloaked mage indicated the castle. “Come. Atriun awaits!”
With a rusty groan that set Cadrio’s teeth on edge, the drawbridge began to lower. The horses grew uneasy again. The commander immediately urged his mount forward, determined not to weaken himself in the eyes of the others. His personal guards followed reluctantly, more willing to fight sword to sword than against magic. Still, if Valkyn had meant them harm, he would have struck before now, not lured them into his sanctum.
Besides, Cadrio would have almost risked the Abyss for a second chance to conquer Gwynned.
The drawbridge creaked under the heavy hooves of the horses. The general finally exhaled when his mount touched solid ground, an exhalation that faltered as he noticed his surroundings.