Michael Stackpole: When Dragons Rage

The Black nodded solemnly. “He who was Chytrine’s mentor. So young a man wielding such power could be dangerous. He’s mature beyond his years, is he?”

Alyx looked at the apple in the Black’s hand and imagined it in hers. It appeared in her hand, and then evaporated. “I wish he were, but he’s not. His last teacher, Orla, tried to make him grow up, but she died on Wruona. He’s pushed himself hard since then, and worked diligently for the Draconis Baron, but without something to give him direction, I don’t know what he’s going to do. The impact of Orla’s death has yet to sink in, and if he loses control, he could be extremely dangerous.”

The man began to pace. “The Norrington. He was with you, too?”

“Yes. Will.” Alyx smiled. “He’s a thief, and very good at it. He has little in the way of conscience, though one seems to be growing. Peri—Perrine, my sister from the Gyrkyme—thinks he is good-hearted. I trust her judgment. After we escaped from Wruona we went to Loquellyn. The elves weren’t about to let Peri set foot there, but Will made them reconsider. He can be surprising that way. He’s young, too—younger than Kerrigan—and can be very childish. But he’s game in a fight and capable of great cleverness.”

“Cleverness will be important, since he is the key to the prophecy that will destroy Chytrine. We once thought it was his grandfather, or his father, Bosleigh. When they joined Chytrine and became her sullanciri , that focused hopes on someone else.”

Alyx sighed. “We’ve met some of the sullanciri and even killed a few. You know I slew one at Svoin. Resolute later killed Ganagrei south of Fortress Draconis, after we evacuated with refugees. Do you have news of the Fortress?”

The Black Dragon shook his head. “Nothing reliable, except that news from there is rare. That suggests the worst: that Chytrine’s forces have completely laid it to waste. Balancing that, however, is the fact that her armies have not yet moved south, so she still may be searching for the DragonCrown fragments there.”

“Or the defenders so chewed up her army that she needs to wait for reinforcements.” Alexia tapped a finger on her chin. “A mix of the two is also possible. That was a big place, with lots of tunnels and warrens. There could be survivors holding out, still fighting. It might have been broken, but crushing it completely would be difficult.”

The Black faced her. “I shall hope your assessment is accurate. I suspect you will learn sooner than I if it is. But how is it that you are not there?”

“Chytrine allowed Oriosans and noncombatants free passage to the south. I did not want to go, but Dothan Cavarre asked me to safeguard his wife and children as they returned to Oriosa. I didn’t know until earlier today that he had an ulterior motive‘.” Alexia hesitated for a second. “The Draconis Baron had gotten Kerrigan to create a duplicate for one piece of the Dragon-Crown, which was left behind as he smuggled the real one out. Chytrine was deceived, though she still sent troops after us. We held them off—that’s when Resolute killed Ganagrei.“

“There’s nothing wrong with killing sullanciri . How long ago was that?”

“Two weeks? No, only eighteen days. Once we reached Sebcia we got relays of fresh horses and pushed hard to reach Oriosa with Ryhope. When we crossed the border, Kerrigan told us he had the fragment. He also said he’d worked a spell on another fragment. He’s not sure whether Chytrine will detect it, but if not, it will feed her sense of paranoia, and that will be to our advantage.”

The Black Dragon nodded. “It will, very much so.” The figure’s head came up as he turned to regard her. “You did not come here while on the road—despite having left Fortress Draconis and having seen a sullanciri destroyed.”

Alexia blinked. “I didn’t realize there was…”

The Black shook his head. “No, there is no requirement for you to share anything, daughter. What I was leading to was this: these things were quite momentous, and seeking perspective on them would be understandable. It was not until you were out of danger, however, that you came here. What else has happened?”

She frowned. “You told me, when first I met you, that I could trust Crow. When we reached Oriosa his countrymen arrested him. They have him in custody. You knew who he was, didn’t you?”

The dark figure slowly nodded, and clasped his hands at the small of his back. “I have known his identity for a long time.”

“How could you tell me I could trust him? He’s Tarrant Hawkins, the man who betrayed the last expedition sent to destroy Chytrine. Kenwick Norrington became a sullanciri because of him.” Her hands closed into fists. “There are some who say he even got my father killed.”

“You feel betrayed.”

“Yes!” The emotions coursing through her surprised Alexia. She hadn’t completely taken the Black Dragon at his word, but his comments pertaining to Crow had disposed her well toward the man. To find out that he was the most evil man outside Chytrine’s legions had hurt.

“You feel a bit betrayed by me, since I told you to trust him, but more by Crow, isn’t that it?” The Black cocked his head slightly. “You perhaps wonder why he didn’t tell you who he was, and yet you react with the same revulsion anyone would. Yes, Tarrant Hawkins has been painted as an evil man, but you have had experience of him. Is Crow evil?”

“It doesn’t matter. A man cannot change from his past.”

The Black Dragon snorted, puffs of cool blue flame jetting from each nostril. “Then, I would suggest, daughter, that you have a choice of two explanations. The first is that Crow is as evil as Hawkins is in legend, and that Crow managed to deceive you. The second…“

Alexia’s eyes narrowed.“… The second is that Hawkins was as courageous as Crow, and the legends about him are wrong. But, if that were true, why would he allow such lies to be spread?”

The Black’s jaw opened in a dragonish grin. “That was not a choice given to him, Alexia. People saw him as a threat. They neutralized him. He is lucky to yet be alive. Enduring lies is better than lying in a grave.”

“What threat could he have been?”

“He told the crowned heads that Chytrine would come for their realms in a generation, and this was a message they did not want to hear or have heard by others.”

“They knew she would come back?” Alexia raised her fists to her temples. “Amid the Gyrkyme it was supposed that someday Chytrine would return, but no one knew she had vowed to do so. You’re telling me the crowned heads knew she would return and did not prepare? That no one prepared save the Draconis Baron and King Augustus? How could they?”

“A crown on the head does not guarantee brains in the skull.”

“But to ignore the threat is criminal!”

“Yes, but recall they lived in fear. A sullanciri slew Queen Lanivette in Meredo, in her castle, with all of her troops waiting to oppose him.”

She nodded. “Leaving Scrainwood as king, and likely a willing collaborator with Chytrine.”

“Of course, and what other ruler could not fear the same fate for himself and his nation?” The Black’s eyes half-lidded. “For many, the assumption was that if they did nothing, Chytrine would not see them as a threat. What they did not realize was that to do nothing to oppose a tyrant in fact aids that tyrant.”

Alexia opened her mouth for a second, then closed it. “And Crow and Resolute have spent two and a half decades opposing her.”

“They’ve not been alone. And they are trusted.” The Black Dragon began pacing again. “The Draconis Baron would never have allowed Crow to travel with you if he did not trust him.”