Mary Herbert - Legacy of Steel

Overhead, the clouds drew together in a thick canopy and brought a chilly, wet wind whistling by them. Cobalt pushed harder for the coast. With his keen dragon eyes, he could just make out the distant line of land in the thickening mist. His riders paid little heed to the worsening weather. They concentrated on each other and the truth that finally gnawed its way out.

"I don't understand," said Derrick. "Are you not a Knight of Takhisis?"

Sara turned again to face him, and her heart jumped painfully to see him. His shoulders were slumped and his proud face looked bewildered. "No, I am Sara Dunstan. Steel Brightblade was my adopted son, and I spent ten years with the dark order trying to convince him to leave it."

Derrick jerked upright. A cloud of anger scudded across his features. Words and phrases she said became clear and stabbed like knives into his pride. He had respected her, admired her! For nothing but a sham. Without probing deeper into her motives or her feelings, he lashed out with his own bitter hurt.

"You lied to us!" he said savagely. "You spoke of honor and courage, all the while hiding behind a mask of deceit! You're just a filthy spy. All you wanted was information. You probably laughed at us while we worked so hard to earn your approval. We thought you were one of the most honorable knights in Neraka. We wanted to be like you. Like you!" he shouted furiously.

Sara stretched out her hand to him. "No. No, Derrick, it wasn't like that at all."

But he would not listen. His lean face turned cold and hard. His green eyes glittered like brittle ice. "Worst of all, you're a traitor. You betrayed the order and betrayed us. Why are you going to the tomb at all? Or are we? Cobalt" he yelled at the dragon. "Where are we?"

"Just off the coast of Abanasinia," came the reply.

"Good! Put me down at the first land you come to."

Sara started. "No, Derrick. Please listen to me!"

"I've listened to you enough," he said, his tone implacable. "I want off. I'll go my own way."

Sara whipped around to shout at the blue. "Don't land, Cobalt. Keep flying to Solace. Maybe the Majeres will talk to him."

"Sara, I am going to have to land. I can't see where I'm going"

At once Sara saw what he meant. While she and Derrick were talking, the storm had moved in with winter rapidity. Already the dragon was being buffeted by strong winds, and the visibility dwindled rapidly in an approaching squall of flying rain.

Sara bit her lip to keep from crying. There was no choice. Unless the squall blew over, Cobalt would have to land soon. She turned to reason with Derrick one more time and saw him untying his gear and yanking it loose.

"Derrick, I never laughed-"

He cut her off with a vicious gesture. "I don't want to hear it. You'll only lie to me again."

Sara tried desperately to regain some composure, to talk reasonably to him. "The only lie I ever implied was that I was a knight. Everything else was from my heart. I care about all of you. Especially you. You remind me of Steel in so many ways, except I do not see the darkness in you that shadowed his life."

If he heard anything she said, he gave no sign. He continued to collect his things, his bow, his pack, the sword strapped to the saddle. "Do you know what really burns me up?" he said, without looking at her. "It's that Jacson died to save you and your treachery. I hope you're satisfied."

The verbal blow struck Sara brutally hard. She gasped, and her thoughts went cold. Before she could think of something to say, Cobalt informed her, "I see the shore just ahead. Hold on."

Just as he said that, the rain caught up with them and lashed down in a dense downpour.

"Don't go," Sara pleaded to Derrick. "Please talk to me. This is all wrong. You have to understand."

The young knight ignored her. He gripped his belongings in a fierce embrace and braced himself for the landing.

Cobalt came down so fast that the jolt of his landing threw Sara into the high back of the saddle. Twisted as she was, the impetus strained her back muscles and slammed the side of her face into the wooden frame. Blood poured out of her nose. Half-stunned, she tried to right herself to stop Derrick, but he moved too fast. Slick as a weasel, he slid out of his seat, dropped to the ground, and took off at a run.

"Cobalt, stop him!" she cried. Her tears slipped loose and mingled with the blood and rain on her face.

"I didn't see where he went," Cobalt replied. He searched through the pouring cascades of rain and saw nothing but a flat area of fetid bog. "Sara, I think we're on the fringes of the swamp around Xak Tsaroth. We need to move farther inland."

"Not without Derrick," she cried frantically. "We can't just leave him. Xak Tsaroth may be a ruin, but it's full of goblins and other things." Wiping her face on her tunic, she slid down the wet dragon and landed in soft, shallow mire up to her ankles. Cobalt's weight had sunk him to his knees. He was right. If they didn't get out of that spot soon, the dragon could be mired.

She ran forward into the rain, looking desperately for some sign of the knight. There was nothing. All she could see through the driving rain were tall clumps of reeds and copses of twisted black trees intertwined with sprawling vines and underbrush.

"Derrick!" she tried, but her cry was swept away by the wind and lost in the rush of the rain.

"Sara, can we go?" Cobalt trumpeted. "I'd rather fly in the rain than sink in the mud!"

The woman stopped, blinded by tears and the driving rain. "I've got to find him!" she begged.

"Not now. He's gone. I will take you to Solace. You go to the tomb, and I will come back and see if I can find him."

Sara came slowly back, her expression devastated. "I lost him. I lost him just like Steel," she mourned.

"I'll do my best to find him. Maybe he'll listen to me," Cobalt suggested gently. He curled his neck around her back and guided her gently to his side.

It wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to search for Derrick, but she could not selfishly put Cobalt in jeopardy. She took one last look around, checking to see if the rain would ease soon. There was little hope. The storm showed no sign of letting up. In fact, it was getting colder and night would soon be at hand. Sick at heart, she climbed up to the saddle.

As soon as she was seated, Cobalt pulled his from legs free of the mire and spread his wings. He jerked his back legs free at the same time he pumped with his wings and lumbered into the air. Flying low, he skimmed westward toward the Sentinel Peaks.

He did not like flying in this murky weather so close to mountains he could not see. He had to strain all his senses to seek out the terrain below and read its rising and falling. Unfortunately the closer he drew to the mountains, the colder the temperature dropped. Soon the rain turned to sleet, and the sleet gradually soaked through Sara's already wet clothes. She put on her cloak, which helped for a while, but she was badly chilled and shivering uncontrollably. Cobalt knew he had to get her to shelter soon.

Like a great eagle, he warily picked his way between the peaks of the eastern side of the Sentinels. The light grew dim under the lowering clouds, and dusk loomed on the horizon. The sleet turned to snow that whirled around the flying dragon in white streams.

After a short while, he passed over the mountains and flew above a broad strip of flat grasslands. The snow slowed a little, granting him better visibility, and he was able to fly faster. Then he entered the second range of mountains and was forced to slow down to navigate between the towering ramparts.

The way to Solace from the coast was not long by dragon wing, and yet it seemed to take forever to Sara. The cold wind only added to the misery begun by Derrick's anger. She had to find him again, to make him understand. Surely when he calmed down, he would be willing to listen. Cobalt could locate him better than she, and he would bring the knight to the tomb where, in that revered place, she could explain about honor and pride and sacrifice.