Jeff Crook - The Rose and the Skull

"We also met the leader of the gully dwarves. She knew of a draconian stronghold. It lies somewhere on the north coast of Sancrist. As soon as Lady Alya heard of this, she ordered us to return and warn you, while she continued alone to scout the stronghold," Valian said.

"That seems an odd decision," Liam commented. "As you are an elf, I think you'd make a better scout than she."

"Lady Alya knows how to handle herself," Tohr said. "If she thought Valian was needed here, she'd not hesitate to take the more dangerous assignment."

Liam nodded, but he didn't seem convinced. "In any case, you still haven't told us about Pyrothraxus," he said to Valian.

"Yes, well, we returned as ordered, despite my own objection to Alya's orders," Valian said. Tohr's eyebrows rose in surprise at this admission. Valian continued, "We marched with all speed to Isherwood, but the distance is too great to cross in a single day. We camped for the night, and all throughout the night storms crashed on the mountain peaks surrounding the valley. They sounded like giants battling; the sky was lit up like day. We had little enough shelter. The next morning we found our path blocked by a stream, which had been transformed by the rains into a raging river. We spent all that day trying to find a crossing, and that delay probably saved our lives."

"How fortunate," Trevalyn commented.

"And how do you know it was Pyrothraxus?" Quintayne asked. "Have you ever seen this dragon before?"

"No, but I have seen many red dragons in my time. This dragon was was larger. His wings seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon, covering the whole sky and darkening the sun. And when he breathed…" the elf shuddered. "Such destruction I have never before witnessed. The entire North Tower melted like a candle, with molten stone running like wax down its sides. He then turned his attention on the stable, where horses screamed in terror of the flames. He tore off the roof and plucked out our horses like candies, devouring them whole."

Valian staggered, gripping the table to steady himself. "Forgive me," he whispered.

"You are exhausted," Meredith said. "We will send for food and wine. You need to rest."

"In a moment," he said. "I must complete the tale. As we watched from some distance away, the dragon leveled the castle. What he did not crush, he incinerated with his fiery breath.

"Lady Jessica was shattered, for she truly loved the castle like a home, and she hated to see it destroyed. When we descended to the desert basin where the gully dwarves lived, we'd sent Jessica's retainer, a hill dwarf, and Gunthar's boar hound back to the castle to await our return. Jessica feared they'd been killed by the dragon, either buried under tons of rubble or consumed by the dragon's fire. So it was to our great surprise that the dwarf appeared, burned and bruised but alive, and Millisant was with him. They'd escaped through a bolt hole just as the dragon burned the castle to the ground.

"With the castle destroyed, the dragon seemed content to leave. He beat his great wings, sending sparks and hot ash swirling through the forest. Then, from the south, we saw…"

Liam rose from his chair and held up one hand silencing the elf.

"You are weary, Sir Valian. Tell us quickly what happened after you left the castle, so that we may reach some kind of decision," Liam said. A few of the other Knights shot him questioning glances, but he ignored them.

Valian shrugged and continued. "We walked until we found a village. The people there gave us horses. Although they hadn't seen the dragon, they had sensed approaching danger, and many had already left, heading south away from the lands of Pyrothraxus. We passed many on the road. As we neared Castle uth Wistan, we learned of the vote taking place today, so I rode ahead as quickly as possible. Even so, my horse was once more accustomed to pulling a plow than fast riding. I think Jessica and the others will arrive before nightfall."

With that said, Valian staggered to the empty chair beside Trevalyn and sank into it. He rested his head on his arms. The Thorn Knight eyed him with ill-concealed contempt. Meanwhile, everyone seemed to ponder what they'd just been told. Quintayne stared out the window, his round face wrinkled with thought. Meredith looked from one to another, as though searching the Knights' faces for some clues. Liam fiddled with the pommel of his dagger, his brows knit, while Tohr leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. Trevalyn Kesper yawned.

Finally, Meredith broke the silence. "It seems obvious to me, there is but one thing to do. We must go north. If we do nothing else, we must rescue that poor gully dwarf."

"I doubt very seriously if he is even alive by now," Quintayne muttered.

"It doesn't matter!"

"You two aren't seeing the real threat here," Tohr said in impatience. "You Solamnics would sit at the knife edge of disaster and argue the color of the sky."

"Excuse me?" Meredith said in surprise. "We Solamnics?"

"You heard me," he growled. For the first time since they'd met him, his facade had crumbled. He stood, his fists clenched at his sides. "The real danger is not the draconian stronghold, if it even exists."

At these words, Valian's head lifted from his arms. He eyed his leader curiously.

Tohr continued, "The real danger is Pyrothraxus. If he catches us without leadership, we might as well swing open the doors of this castle and invite him inside."

"Pyrothraxus is no threat to Castle uth Wistan, not yet," Liam interjected.

"How can you say that?" Tohr shouted. "Are you an even bigger fool than… " He paused, swallowing his words.

"Pyrothraxus didn't cross the border for a random attack. His destruction of Isherwood had a specific purpose, to stop Valian and his group. I imagine he thought they were at the castle and his attack would catch them inside, but he didn't know about the storm and their delay," Liam said. "When he is ready to confront us, he'll come here, yes, and strike at the heart of the Knighthood. So why is he threatening the unimportant border outposts?"

"Who can read the minds of these new dragons?" Tohr argued. "After all, he did assault Mount Nevermind without warning. We can't assume this is anything but the precursor to a full-scale onslaught, perhaps with the backing of a full draconian army. Have you thought of that possibility?"

"The draconians! It always comes back to the draconians," Meredith said. "If they are such a formidable army, why go to all the trouble of assassinating Lord Gunthar, and then scurrying around to hide that fact? Why hunt a poor stupid gully dwarf all over Sancrist? It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Nor to me. It's all the more reason to take firm control of this Knighthood here. Otherwise we are in confusion and vulnerable to attack," Tohr said.

Valian spoke up at this point. "Did I hear you say Lady Mirielle has been elected the new Grand Master?" he asked.

"Well, not officially. Lady Alya is still to vote for the Knights of the Lily, but it's a mere formality only," Quintayne said. "She already has enough votes."

"But until her vote is taken, no official proclamation can be made. Someone could still reverse his preference. Sir Valian is the next ranking member of the Order of the Lily; he could vote in her stead and bring closure to this matter," Tohr said.

Valian shook his head uncertainly, his elvish nature preventing a hasty decision. "I need more time to consider," he said. "I did not expect to cast such a momentous vote. I haven't thought my decision through."

"What is there to think through?" Tohr growled. "Your vote is meaningless, a mere formality."

"Then it won't matter if I take a day to think about it. I need time to consider," Valian returned. Though his voice remained calm, his eyes were flashing.