“Did they kill it?” said Sorus.
“Well, my father’s friend, the paladin, wanted to kill it. He said it was evil by its very nature but my father thought they could raise it, or turn it over to someone to be raised, and it could be a force of good. There was a big argument,” said Jon. “At least that’s the story I’ve been told.”
“What happened?” said Sorus.
“They agreed to turn it over to someone they knew, a woman who was good with animals. That night the paladin slew the thing in its cage, slaughtered it,” said Jon. “The next morning when my father found out he got into a fight with the paladin but lost and was almost killed. My father’s friend, the druid, Tarragonius, intervened and saved him. After that my father and Tarragonius left the others and set out on their own.”
“Blue dragons are evil, at least that’s the way it is down here in the south,” said Sorus. “I kind of see where the paladin was coming from; I don’t mean to say anything bad about your father,” went on the young brewer one hand spread out as he shrugged his shoulders.
“My father thought about that, and he and Tarragonius talked about it all the time. My father finally decided that maybe there wasn’t such a thing as good and evil.”
“Sure there is,” said Sorus. “Look around, there are lots of evil things in the world.”
“Do they think they’re evil?” said Jon and turned to the boy with a suddenly hard edge to his gray eyes. “Don’t we all do what is in our own best interest?”
“Well, yeah,” said Sorus. “But sometimes I do things that hurt other people and I know that’s wrong.”
“Why is it wrong if it’s in your best interest,” said Jon. “At least that’s what my father would say. I don’t really believe everything he says but sometimes it makes a lot of sense. Let’s say you were starving, would killing and eating your horse be a good thing?”
“Yes,” said Sorus. “Otherwise you’d starve.”
“But it’s not good for the horse,” said Jon.
“The horse is just an animal,” replied Sorus.
“That’s true, but every day you have make decisions about what is good for you and a lot of times that isn’t so good for someone else. For example, Thorius is doing what he thinks is best for him and for the town of Black Dale by trying to get rid of me. I’m doing what I think is best by staying and trying to complete my mission, which one is good and which evil?”
Sorus shrugged, “Well, I guess it depends on who I’m talking to.”
“Right,” said Jon. “That’s my father’s point. Anyway, my father decided to take himself out of the equation.”
“How’s that?” asked Sorus.
“He decided to stop trying to influence other people and remain neutral in all things,” said Jon.
“That’s impossible, how can he be the king of Tanelorn if he doesn’t make decisions?” said Sorus.
“He’s not the king, he’s the Gray Lord,” said Jon. “In Tanelorn people don’t tell other people what to do. People decide what is best for themselves and do it. At first it was just my father, Tarragonius, and a few others but over the years the city grew as other men and women who were tired of fighting, of deciding right and wrong, joined him. Now it’s a city full of people like that.”
Sorus rode along in silence for a long time, “It doesn’t seem like a very efficient system, I mean how does anyone get a well dug if they can’t tell anyone to dig it?”
“They dig it themselves and if someone else thinks it is a good idea they join them,” said Jon. “But, you’re right, it’s not very efficient and sometimes things don’t go so well. Do you know what I’m supposed to say when I meet someone who might be tired of deciding good and evil and would be a good candidate to come to Tanelorn and live?”
“No,” said Sorus and shook his head.
“Tanelorn has few luxuries to offer other than peace of mind. Some have found that allure enough and perhaps you might be among those so inclined,” said Jon looking intently at the young brewer with gray eyes and a firm jaw.
Sorus sat in the saddle for a long time and thought as the two young men rode side by side in silence for several hours until the young brewer broke the quiet, “I think your father might be on to something,” he said and Jon nodded silently.
“What about this mission of yours?” said Sorus. “We’ll be stopping for lunch soon and I’d like to hear about it before we catch up to those two.”
“My father thinks that relics of the Old Empire are influencing people unduly,” said Jon.
“The Old Empire?” said Sorus. “That’s big stuff! There are all sorts of old stone circles that are still magical from those days, people say that Doria was built in those times.”
“My father wants to collect these old relics, store them away so that they can’t influence people, so that people can make up their own minds about things, so their judgment isn’t clouded,” said Jon.
“Why doesn’t he just destroy them then?” asked Sorus.
“Dad would say that he doesn’t have the right to make that decision. I think he’s a little crazy sometimes about neutrality. You have to make a stand somewhere but my father doesn’t think so. So he just collects these things and hides them away.”
“What is it you’re here to collect?” said Sorus, the truth of Jon’s mission beginning to become clear to him.
Jon smiled, “You’re on the right track,” he said. “In the ancient empire there was a great child of the dragons, a king, or something like that and he had a powerful relic called the Staff of Sakatha.”
Sorus shook his head and partially closed his eyes, “Hmm, I’ve never heard of it and there aren’t many reptile men around although there are some way up north in Darag’dal.”
“My father seems to think the staff has reemerged,” said Jon. “I don’t know how my father gets his information, but he is almost always right about these things. He thinks it’s down here near Elekargul somewhere, he wants me to collect it and take it back to Tanelorn.”
“You should just tell Thorius that,” said Sorus. “I’m sure if he knew he wouldn’t be so dismissive towards you.”
“I’m to talk to the First Rider about it and the First Rider only,” said Jon. “My father was very clear on the subject. Those old relics, when you hold them in your hand, when you taste the power they carry, they can corrupt you,” said Jon and his eyes grew dark and cold and his hand clenched at his side. “It isn’t easy to fight off that sort of temptation, that sort of power.”
“Have you held them in your hand?” asked Sorus his voice almost a whisper.
“The Gray Horn and… the Black Sword, Banisher,” said Jon as his body suddenly trembled and a haunted look came to his eyes.
“What are they?” said Sorus, his voice became quieter if anything.
Jon suddenly shook his head and laughed out loud, “Enough of this talk, Sorus the future knight of Elekargul,” he said and clapped the boy on the back. “I hope you brought a small keg of your finest for the journey and my belly rumbles like I haven’t eaten in week.” He spurred his horse which leapt off in a gallop and he called out to the riders far ahead, “Sir Germanius, Mikus, my belly tells me we must stop for lunch!”
Sorus spurred his own steed and quickly caught up with the others as they settled on a spot where a small creek flowed into the Frosty Run River. Nearby bunches of purple flowers interspersed with green grass dotted the landscape and Jon spotted several small gray rabbits that nibbled on the bounty.
“What sort of flower is that?” he asked no one in particular, as he and Sorus unpacked two of the horses, while Germanius filled a kettle with stream water and Mikus gathered wood for a fire.
“Those,” said Sorus as he pointed to the purple bunches. “They call them Aubrieta I think, my mom likes them. They grow around here a lot, near creeks. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” said Jon. “My mother is always telling me that it’s important to know the animals and plants of a region.”
“You have a mother?” said Sorus and laughed aloud. “You talk about that father of yours so much I figured maybe you dropped from the sky or something.”