Crossroads 04 - The Dragon Isles

 
          
 
He felt himself swept over the glorious
landscape, the towering mountains, the lush glades, the verdant forests. Past
the main isles and out to sea again, to a temple wreathed in fire and light.
Within the temple, at the crest of land, sea, and sky shone a brilliant
blue-white diamond— twice as large as a man’s skull.

 
          
Mikal
Vardan’s heart beat faster as he beheld it.

 
          
Then
he blinked, and die images faded from him eyes.

 
          
’’They’re
real,” Mik whispered.

CROSSROADS

¥

The Dragon
Isles

STEPHEN D.
SULLIVAN

 
          
THE
DRAGON ISLES

 
          
®2002 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

 
          
All
characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or
dead,
is purely coincidental.

 
          
This
book is protected under the copyright laws of the
United States of America
. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of
the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express
written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

 
          
Distributed in the
United States
by Holtzbrinck
Publishing.
Distributed in
Canada
by Fenn Ltd.

 
          
Distributed
to the hobby, toy, and comic trade in the
United States
and
Canada
by regional distributors.

 
          
Distributed worldwide by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and regional
distributors.

 
          
Dragonlance
and the Wizards of the Coast logo are registered trademarks of Wizards of the
Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.

 
          
All
Wizards of the Coast characters, character names, and the distinctive
likenesses thereof are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

 
          
Made in the
U.S.A.

 
          
The
sale of this book without its cover has not been authorized by the publisher.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that neither
the author nor the publisher has received payment for this “stripped book.”

 
          
First
Printing:

 
          
Library
of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001097184 987654321

 
          
US
ISBN: 0-7869-2827-1
UK
ISBN: 0-7869-2828-X 620-88626-001-EN

 
          
Visit
our web site at www.wizards.com
 

 
          
DEDICATION

 
          
To my children, Julie & Kendall—

 
          
May your lives be filled with wonders
beyond measure and
 
treasures beyond
price.

 
          
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 
          
Thanks to Tracy Hickman and Margaret
Weis
 
for many reasons: Firstly, for creating
this world,
 
secondly for allowing me to play in it
as an author
 
(after spending years as a “mere”
cartographer),
 
thirdly for your many years of support
and
 
encouragement, and finally—and most
importantly—
 
for your many, many years of friendship.

 
          
Special thanks to my readers
Si
advisors, Kiff Scott
Si
 
Ed Henderson, for getting me through
the rough spots.

Contents

The Prophecy

PART I

DREAMS & PROPHECIES

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

PART II

THE DRAGON ISLES

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

PART III

THE LOST TEMPLE

Thirty-One

Thirty-Two

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Four

Thirty-Five

Thirty-Six

Thirty-Seven

Thirty-Eight

Thirty-Nine

Forty

Forty-One

Forty-Two

Forty-Three

Forty-Four

Forty-Five

 
 
 
         
Sunlight
streamed over the aquamarine ocean, reflecting from the whitecaps and filling
the air with dazzling color, as the Dragon Isles rose majestically from the
sea.

 
          
Wreathed
in fire, they came, but quickly cooled. In an instant, green life took root and
covered them to all hut the highest, cloudcapped peaks. Fish surrounded them
and animals swarmed to their fertile shores. Soon the isles teemed with life.

 
          
The
azure sky flashed like lightning. A thousand brilliant stars hung in the
heavens—silver, orange, yellow,
red
, golden.
No, not stars ... metallic dragons.

 
          
They
swarmed over the isles, changing the shape and nature of the land. They pushed
up mountains, felled forests, and altered the course of rivers. They built
mighty edifices and founded settlements. The good peoples of the world swarmed
to their shores.

 
          
The
people shaped the land now as well. With the help of the dragons, settlements
became towns, and towns became cities. Metallic dragons
soared
the skies, and noble ships plied the crystal blue ocean.

 
          
Temples
sprang up—some dedicated to lost gods,
others to the glory of the isles themselves. Treasure flowed into the temples
and the towns and the cities, and the Dragon Isles became wealthy.

 
          
To
protect the isles, a mighty enchantment was raised: the Veil. A special
treasure-filled temple was built for the spell at the top of a volcano in a
remote corner of the archipelago. The fires in the belly of the isle and the
plumes of ash rising to the heavens connected the enchantment to the world
below and the sky above: earth, air, and fire, surrounded by water.

 
          
At
the sacred mountain’s base, a second, devotionary temple rose up beneath the waves
of the placid sea. The dragons and the free peoples of the isles gave their
sweat, money, and magic to the effort. A great, bejeweled key in four pieces
was made to seal the pact—one piece for each element: diamond for earth,
emerald for water, opal for air, and ruby for fire. The dragons set a monstrous
blue- white diamond at the upper temple’s summit—above a hoard of treasure—to
commemorate the deed.

 
          
Stone
guardians, each in the shape of dragons with glittering diamond eyes, rose from
the sea bedrock. The Veil arced up between them, suffusing earth, sky, and sea.
The spell set the isles apart from the world—only those who knew its secret,
dragons and favored mortals, could pass its defenses.

 
          
The heart beats at the source

           
Of bastions unveiled

           
Portends the final course

           
And stands alone unfailed

           
Who seeks to find the
isles,

           
Amid
the turbid seas

           
Sail
north beyond known lands

           
To
dragon gods appease

 
 
         
'Neath
gaze of
Palatine

           
On late
midsummer eve

           
Then trace the chart divine

           
The pathway to receive

           
Beyond the palace walls

           
Where heavens meet the deep

           
Lie gleaming dragon halls

           
Your destiny to keep

           
To seven cities’ light

           
By silver water course

           
Before the second night

           
Discover then the source