Mary Herbert - Legacy of Steel

Although the visit had not persuaded Steel as Sara hoped it would, she had been indebted to the Majeres their trust and help. She stayed with them for several months after Steel returned to Storm's Keep and left only because she did not want to endanger them with her presence. She decided a small, isolated village far from Solace would be safer for them all, so she had wandered to Solamnia and eventually found Connersby. She had not seen the Majeres again until this night.

She was pleased to see they had not changed very much in the past nine years. Tika's bright red hair had mellowed to a rich roan of gray and red, and her face had more wrinkles than Sara remembered, but her figure was still youthful, and her beauty had ripened to a full blush.

Caramon was much the same as ever-bluff, hearty, and softhearted. If the big man was a little rounder in his barrel chest and a little more worn around the face, Sara put it down to the years and to the grief of losing his two oldest sons during the Summer of Chaos.

When Sara finished her plate at last and pushed it away with a sigh of contentment, Tika whisked it away and came right back to the table. The Majeres exchanged a glance between them to see which one would speak first.

It was Tika who refilled Sara's mug and said bluntly. "Sara, we are so glad to see you. But what are you doing here dressed in the clothes of a dragon rider?"

With that simple question, Tika opened a floodgate in Sara's reserve. She had been so careful, so contained while in Neraka, she hadn't realized how much she missed having someone safe to talk to. She wrapped her hands around her mug and said to warn them, "It's a long tale."

"We've the time," Caramon told her.

So Sara told the Majeres everything, from the first night she dreamed of Cobalt to her departure from Neraka. She explained her motives for going, described the squires and Governor-General Abrena, and detailed the garrison at the city.

They listened, fascinated and stunned in turns. Caramon paid careful attention to her information about the dark knighthood and its new leader; Tika listened to the deeper emotions Sara revealed when she talked about Derrick and the squires, and she nodded in understanding.

Sitting by the fire, the two kender sat wide-eyed in delight. This was the best tale they had heard in years.

At last Sara came to the part of her story that happened in the tomb. Her words slowed to a trickle, and her gaze lengthened into the distance beyond the walls of the inn. She told what occurred succinctly and without expressing the changing emotions that ebbed and flowed through her.

"He stood by his own bier," she said softly. "He said nothing more than, 'All we have is each other.' Then he handed me something and was gone. The next thing I remember is waking up outside the tomb."

Tika, practical and pragmatic, eyed their guest dubiously. She knew Sara to be honest, courageous, thoughtful and determined, and she accepted that Sara believed she had been in the tomb and seen Steel. But the mind can be deceiving. Dreams and visions can seem quite real to someone who is exhausted and numb with cold.

Tika glanced at Caramon and recognized the vague look he often got when deep in thought. Caramon was often slow to react, not because he was dull-witted, but because he always looked carefully at things from every angle before making a decision or reaching a conclusion. The slowness of his ponderings often drove some people to make the wrong judgment about his abilities, but once he made up his mind, he often found insights or details other people missed.

To give him time to think, Tika fetched two small glasses and poured hot cider for the kender. She ran a swift eye over the silverware and nearby knickknacks and was relieved to see everything was still in place.

Badger and Lemmi had been so enthralled by Sara's story, their instinctive tendencies to "acquire" things had been stifled. Nothing extra had found its way into the collection of pouches at their belts. Brother and sister sat still in their chairs by the fire pit, their short legs dangling down, their faces bright with curiosity.

Tika smiled at her guests and asked, "When you found Sara, did you see anything different about the tomb?"

Delighted to be involved in such a mystery, Badger nearly fell out of his chair in his haste to answer. "you mean was the door open or any ghosts hanging about? No. The lamp was on the hook, too."

Tika pursed her lips and posed another question. "Did you see any footprints in the snow by the door?"

Lemmi thought for a minute and shook her head. "No. There wasn't any snow by the door. I guess the wind blew it away. Sara was just lying there on the stone."

Sara nodded. "I don't even know how I got out of the tomb, but somehow I must have," she said, with a defiant glance at her hosts. She knew what they were thinking. "I thought at first I dreamed it all. But there is more to it than that. Steel wanted to tell me something, to give me hope for the future. This is what he gave me." She took hold of the steel chain and gently tugged the elven star jewel off her neck. Laying it on the table, she sat back to watch the Majeres' reactions.

Tika clasped her hands together, her eyes huge.

Caramon leaned forward, his face alight with fascination. "That is Sturm's jewel," he observed. "The one Alhana Starbreeze gave him as a gift of her love. I remember that. Sturm gave it to Steel in the tower… much like your vision." He touched the jewel gently with his fore-finger, marveling at its beauty. This was no dream. It felt hard and warm beneath his finger. "When the remnants of the Solamnic Knights returned to the ruins of the tower after the Battle of the Rift, they found the jewel on Strum's bier where Steel had left it. They returned it and put it around Steel's neck before the tomb was sealed."

A thoughtful quiet settled over the small group while everyone stared at the white jewel glittering in the firelight.

"What do you think Steel wanted to tell you?" Tika asked softly.

Sara sagged back in her blankets. The warmth, the food, the feeling of being safe-it had all caught up with her and pulled her down into a deep, soft well of exhaustion. "I don't know yet. I have to put it all together. There is something here I feel is vitally important, but I can't see it yet." Her eyelids drooped and she yawned. "Forgive me," she murmured. "I am so tired."

The next thing she knew, Caramon's strong arms lifted her out of the chair, took her to one of the small rooms reserved for guests, and set her carefully on the bed. She smiled at her friends and fell asleep before Tika covered her with the blankets.

Sometime late in the night, when the inn was dark and silent, Sara sat bolt upright in bed. Her eyes flew open wide in wakefulness and stared, unseeing, into the night. Of course! That's it! she told herself over and over. Her body tingled with the energy of inspiration; her mind raced ahead to the future and to plans for immediate action.

Steel had fought good and evil within himself his entire life until at last he set them both aside and did what he believed was right. Only then did he achieve success, glory, and the peace he so desperately sought for.

She understood that, but she had not made the right conclusion until she looked at the vision of Derrick and the Solamnic Knight from a less personal angle and made the connection.

Each knight represented his order, the good and the evil, the light and the darkness. Their battle in the clearing, as well as her own knowledge of General Abrena's plans, pointed to more conflict in the future. Sara was terribly certain that whatever good the Solamnics might do, the Knights of Takhisis would undo.

There had to be a middle ground. A third party that would not worry about absent goddesses, or strict codes and measures, or ambition and power, or self-interest. A group that would serve the people. Steel's statement echoed her own deep-rooted belief that the destiny of Krynn lay in the hands of its people, working together.