Douglas Niles: The Last Thane

"The young dragons were born in there?" asked Tarn, his head still whirling. Scions were beings of legend. In fact, most inhabitants of Krynn had never heard of the ancient race.

"Yes. Darlantan, Aurican-all their nestmates," Regal-or Chisel-explained. "And I happen to know that they left behind a single, significant artifact."

Tarn, Baker, and Belicia scrambled up the sides of the nest. Tarn saw that, despite the coating of dust and dirt, the nest was actually woven of metal wire. He cut himself on a sharp rock that was embedded in the metallic surface and was startled to see the facets of a huge ruby. All over the nest was studded with these fine jewels. But he didn't stop to explore, instead he climbed higher until he could join the others in looking into the bowl-shaped basket from the top.

The object inside was spherical, larger than a dragon egg. It glowed and was covered with a sheen of pale silver-platinum.

"The Platinum Egg," said Regal solemnly. "Or The Silver Dragon Sphere. Whichever. Very powerful. Very dangerous."

"Father, what do we do now?" Tarn asked nervously.

Baker turned to his son and there were tears in the elder dwarf's eyes, a curious mixture of elation and sadness pouring from his face.

"Now that we have located the Grotto, found the Platinum Egg? And now that you have seen it too? My son, it's time for you and Belicia to go. I will stay here, for there remains only one thing for me to do."

"We've all got to go!" Tarn insisted.

"No. I'm afraid there's no time to explain. Now, you and Belicia must find your way into the ceiling above Level Twenty-eight, find one of the tunnels the Klar used when they attacked us here."

"Yes, but you-"

"No!" The thane spoke sternly. "This is one time you must obey me!"

Helplessly, Tarn looked at Regal.

"Your father is right," declared his diminutive companion. "It is written: the power of the Grotto will awaken when a true ruler of the dwarves takes the Platinum Egg in hand. And Baker understands-he has proven himself a fine leader and warrior, but he is also a great scholar. This is the power of the Graygem, the power that gave birth to Chaos."

"The true ruler of dwarves is me!" declared Darkend Bellowsmoke as he emerged from the hole in the wall. Several Daergar followed close behind him. The thane wore his black armor with the tusks jutting from his face plate and held a wickedly spiked mace in his gloved hands. Fierce and warlike, he glared around the sacred chamber. "You made a lot of racket with your pounding," he sneered. "Don't you know there are enemies nearby?"

More Daergar spilled into the Grotto, and now they stood in a line along the far wall. Several had crossbows, and these were held unwaveringly upon the four dwarves in the center of the cavern.

"Take aim," said Darkend Bellowsmoke. The thane of the Daergar spoke to his victims calmly. "Now, do you wish to die quickly, or would you prefer to writhe in excess pain?"

He advanced toward the nest. "A platinum egg of great power for the true ruler of the dwarves?" Darkend all but cackled. "Perfect timing! I will take the egg, and my conquest shall be redeemed!"

Tarn tensed, ready to make a leap at Darkend, but Belicia's hand on his arm restrained him. The thane of the dark dwarves scrambled into the nest while Baker and Regal stood helpless off to the side.

"This is a bauble of some size. But what are its hidden powers? Let me see."

Darkend seized the egg and then screamed in such agony that the others fell back as a sudden light pulsed brightly from within his body. Darkend flopped and gasped, pulled and twisted, doing every thing he could to break his grip on the Platinum Egg, but he seemed glued to the stone. His hair stood on end; his mouth worked noiselessly. No sound emerged, but a beam of white, pure light suddenly flashed from the depths of his mortal coil.

The others could only watch as his skin began to burn.

He screamed in unspeakable agony for minutes.

The Daergar warriors didn't wait to see the end. Every one of them fled back through the hole in the wall of the Grotto, running without a backward glance. Finally Dark-end simply shimmered and burst, his armor, mace, and body all vanishing without a trace.

"A false leader of dwarves, that one," Regal murmured dryly, after a long silence.

"Perhaps I should give it a try," Baker said, tentatively stepping around the residue of ashes that was all that was left of his rival.

"Father, don't! You saw what happened!" Tarn said.

"Listen to me, my son. I must try. And you must do as I commanded you. Right now. It is our only chance, the only chance to stop Chaos from destroying Thorbardin forever."

The half-breed was silent, miserably afraid but compelled to agree.

"Go! Take Belicia, the Hylar, and all the Aghar you can quickly find! But get out of here as fast as possible!"

"But-" began Tarn. He stepped closer to his father, spread his hands helplessly. "Come with us! Don't do this. You don't have to do this."

"But I must. I am the last thane. Son, it is time for our paths to part. You must understand this!"

"Your father is right," Regal, who was also Chisel Loremaster said calmly. "Now, go-and quickly! The power of the ancients will be released if your father is successful. And you must be gone!"

"Go upward, out of Thorbardin," Baker commanded his son. The thane turned his attention to Belicia. "Take care, my child, and know that your father was very brave and very proud of you."

"And I was… am proud of him," Belicia said through her tears.

"You!" She took Tarn by the arm. "Listen to your father!"

Dumbly he followed her as they climbed down from the nest, crossed the cavern, and climbed toward the hole in the wall of the Grotto.

Baker and Regal watched Tarn and his woman depart.

"You're doing the right thing," Regal said, patting the thane on the back.

"I know." The thane of the Hylar sighed. It seemed to Baker that his whole life had been building toward this moment.

"Tell me, how did you learn the last lesson?" asked the gully dwarf who was really a scion of the ages.

"It was in my readings, the scrolls left by Chisel Loremas-by yourself," Baker explained softly. He looked around at the Grotto and imagined the great stalactite outside. "The power of the Graygem in this egg is the raw power of Chaos."

"Aye, it is."

"And only that power can match the forces that beset our realm. Only Chaos can reach out to destroy Chaos."

Baker Whitegranite took the Platinum Egg, placed his hands carefully, lightly upon it, his eyes unwavering.

He pictured the great stalactite around him, the shaft of stone that had been suspended here for more than ten thousand years. Perhaps he should have been feeling fear or sadness, but he remained strangely peaceful. His thoughts tinged with melancholy as he remembered the deaths, the suffering, the killing that had been the legacy of his time in the thane's chair.

And he knew that the saga was not complete.

"Do you think they have reached safety?" asked Baker Whitegranite.

"I know they have," Regal replied.

"Reorx forgive me, it is the will of Paladine himself." He murmured a soft prayer and felt the peaceful presence of his god, of the god who watched over all dwarvenkind.

As his grip slowly tightened, he felt the egg of platinum rotate smoothly in its socket. Light welled up, a soothing and cool light that embraced Baker Whitegranite and spread through the Grotto, seeping into the solid stone beyond.

Then it began, first as a slight tremor, a wobbling in the floor, in the walls, in the very air. Cracks spiderwebbed through the walls, and pieces of stone began to break loose and topple from the ceiling.