Silver Dragon (26 page)

"
Long story," the wizard said. "But no problem as long as he can keep his wits about him."

Alto clenched his fists and released the
m, fighting to keep the fire in his belly from overtaking him. He knew that Kar was right, but he also knew that he needed the sword if he was going to avenge Patrina. Without it, he was weak, his body tired and failing.

He looked around the table when he heard a gasp and saw Aleena sitting there with her cheeks so pale they seemed bloodless. He’d seen her in front of the palace and been surprised. Her hair was shorter than he remembered but it looked like she was growing it back out. More surprising was the armor she’d worn and the sword at her side. He couldn’t imagine how she’d managed to trade a tankard for a sword but she’d managed it. She’d told him she could fight. Wanted to go with him
, too. Now it looked like she was trying to prove it. He looked away from her, more convinced than ever that she was a foolish girl.

"
Some background then," Kar said when the silence stretched on long enough to grow uncomfortable. "Our side, at least."

Sir Amos nodded.
"That would be welcome."

"
There’s a force of mercenaries in the mountains working with goblins and ogres to overrun the northern reaches," Kar began. "In the spring, we stumbled across this while trying to stop goblin raiders. We found Lady Patrina already imprisoned by men wearing the uniforms of Kingdom soldiers."

Sir Amos nodded.
"This much I know. Your friends played an unadvised and unexpected but essential role in helping to reclaim Highpeak."

Kar frowned.
"I was here, too. Without my magic, that gate would have never been opened!"

Sir Amos held up his hand and offered an apologetic smile.
"Of course, I meant no slight to you."

Kar snorted through his nose and then continued as though nothing had been said.
"It was a quiet summer, leading us to find our own fortune for a time. We journeyed north and east, through Kelgryn lands in hopes of rediscovering long-lost dwarven mines and the treasures contained within."

Mordrim coughed at this point, earning everyone’s attention.

"I see you found a dwarf, at least," Sir Amos chuckled. Mordrim’s brow creased with a frown.

"
On the way, we had many adventures," Kar amended. "Alto became separated from us but found and befriended a unicorn. They made it to Holgasford before us and once there, Winter–the unicorn–became Lady Patrina’s steed. She was soon kidnapped again by the same forces that took her earlier last year. Alto went after her and rescued her, but by then they’d reached the mines."

"
The long-lost and buried mines?" Sir Amos interrupted.

"
Not so lost or buried, it turns out," Kar chuckled. "Our mutual enemies had reopened them and were using them to forge weapons and armor for their forces. We met up Alto, with Jarl Teorfyr and his men at our side, and fought our way into the mines. Alto once again became separated and—"

"Father," Karthor interrupted the wizard. "You're leaving out a good deal."

"It's called an eagle's eye view," Kar said with a scowl. "No need to drag this out into details!"

Sir Amos shook his head. "Karthor, your service to Saint Leander has been without blemish. Indeed
, you are favored by the holiest among us, though there may be some who fear your rapid rise amongst the ranks. Insofar as I am concerned, your words and thoughts are welcomed here. Please, fill in the details that you see fit."

"Rapid rise?" Kar sputtered.

"Most men his age would be cloistered in prayer chapels and library nooks as acolytes. To receive the icon of Saint Leander and be deemed worthy of the title of priest is an accomplishment unseen in ages amongst the church." Sir Amos turned to glance at Aleena. "It would seem that many changes are coming to the church these days. Changes I deem to be good. But with change, there will also be resistance and fear."

Karthor nodded. "My thanks, Sir Amos. What my father failed to mention was that Lady Patrina's capture was no more than a ploy to allow them to capture Alto. When he rode after them
, he rode into a trap and he was captured as well."

"This is worthy news," Sir Amos said. "Speak on."

"With the aid of people in the north—"

Garrick spoke up and interrupted the priest. "I couldn't let them take Patrina," he said.

Karthor smirked. "Yes, well, whatever the cause, Garrick and his clan helped free them, though Alto was sorely injured by the cold. His hands and feet, I am told, were all but useless."

Sir Amos glanced over at Alto and saw his hands on the table. "They seem well enough now."

"The shaman of their clan communed with Alto and Saint Preth. Alto was challenged and found worthy of having them restored."

Sir Amos leaned back with wide eyes. "You spoke with a saint?"

"He claimed to be a reflection of Saint Preth," Alto said.

"But still, you are no priest. You're not even a follower of Saint Preth, are you?"

"Preth respects strength and valor," Garrick growled.

Sir Amos nodded. "No shortage of that in this room, I suspect. Very well, continue your story."

"When we joined them in the mines, we became separated from the Kelgryn because Alto insisted we find a way to destroy the forges. We found Mordrim languishing in a cell below. He'd come trying to find his ancestor's mines in hopes of restoring them. He helped us find a way out when we realized we were outnumbered and could not possibly stop them."

"What of the stories I heard of a mountain falling upon them?"

Karthor smiled. "What we could not do, Alto did. He sacrificed himself by forcing one of their leaders into an underground river. They were swept away, lost forever or so we thought. We used the distraction to escape. Alto escaped the river deep underground and managed to upset the molten rock beneath the mountains so badly that it built up until the pressure was so great it caused an earthquake. The mines were collapsed and the mountain forever changed."

"And again you survived to tell the tale," Sir Amos looked at Alto and said.

Alto returned his gaze evenly and said nothing.

"So what next?" Sir Amos glanced between the wizard and the priest.

"Alto returned home," Karthor said. "And he learned that Sir Beck, the Knight of the Silver Dragon that he'd tried to drown, had escaped as well."

Sir Amos glanced at Aleena before turning to Alto. "I believe I know this part of the story. Your farm burned and your family killed?"

Alto tightened down on the flames raging within him. He needed to be out doing something, not sitting and talking about what was already done.

"And now you seek revenge?"

"Justice," Alto said.

"Justice is bringing the men who caused this to happen before a proper court granted such
jurisdiction," Sir Amos said.

"I intend to see her stand before the saints and plead their own case," Alto said.

"Her?"

"There is more to this than you've been told. More than Kar and Karthor or anyone here knows," Alto said. "I've spent weeks in the wilds learning it and our time grows short."

"Then tell us what you know so we can act all the sooner," Sir Amos said.

"I killed a giant last night," Alto said, earning a gasp from Aleena and
a wide-eyed look from Sir Amos and Celos. "He was overseeing a band of ogres that were building a stone wall in the mountain passes. They're securing the mountains in preparation for going to war. We have until the spring equinox, then they will come."

"A giant? It's been generations since they've had any involvement in the affairs of men," Sir Amos wondered aloud.

"Her armies are led by a giant."

"Again you speak of a woman. Who is this woman
who could lead so many fey forces?"

"The Knights of the Silver Dragon have pledged themselves to her. She is Sarya, a dragon. The same dragon that last troubled this land hundreds of years ago."

"Sir Gareth's foe lives?" Celos blurted out.

Alto nodded. "She lives but she grows old and weak. She seeks to
use a magical ritual to put her soul into something called a construct. It is why they've been digging up silver, something about that metal being strong enough and able to hold enough magic to allow her to put her spirit in this statue and bring it to life so she can live forever."

Kar slapped the table with his hand. "Of course!" He shook his head and muttered several arcane things that made no sense to anyone at the table.

"To stop her, I have to find her and kill her before she becomes a silver dragon," Alto said.

"What of Baron Mackay and Highpeak?" Sir Amos asked.

Alto nodded. "If I can avenge Patrina while I'm here, I will. If I do not, Jarl Teorfyr will be forced to march against Highpeak."

Sir Amos nodded. "I have some questions. I see the nefarious plotting you've uncovered, but why do they hunt for you? Lady Patrina I can understand. Every father has a special place in his heart for his daughter." Sir Amos paused and offered a sad smile. "I suppose I don't need to explain to you what the pain of losing family can drive a man to do."

Alto was silent long enough to cause Sir Amos to glance at the others. The warrior buried his thoughts and memories of his family deep and answered the knight's question. "I don't know, other than because I killed Barador, Sarya's first general."

"They're afraid of him," Kar opined. "Now more than ever! If Alto can singlehandedly score such victories
, Sarya must fear that we will all rally around him and make her conquest that much more difficult." The wizard cocked his head as though he'd just discovered a new thought.

"Why the conquest? Why make an army out of it if her goal is to become immortal?" Sir Amos asked.

"Magic!" Kar gasped. "She needs more magic and she plans to get it through sacrifice."

"I don't follow," the knight admitted.

"No, I don't expect you would. I just figured it out myself. The power and skill required for such a ceremony would be incredible. Creating a regular construct is attempted only by the greatest of wizards. To create something that dwarfs everything else ever imagined would require a team of wizards and more power than they could ever hope to wield."

"Hey!" Mordrim muttered at the wizard's use of the word, 'dwarf.'

Kar waved the man silent. "Power can be taken from a sacrifice. The energy released in death is considerable, but the magic she needs is far beyond that. There is no way so many people would be willing to give their lives so that she could live forever. No matter what promises she made to them about their afterlives."

"Heresy," Sir Amos muttered.

Kar shrugged. "For the blindly devout, any belief that clouds reason is possible."

Sir Amos's eyes narrowed at Kar's implication. "So you mean to say this massing of forces and pending war is nothing more than her bid to gather the life energies of those slain on the battlefield?"

"Yes. Well, no. Not entirely." Kar chuckled. "I mean, I'm sure that having her own kingdom is probably on her list of things to do. She tried it three hundred years ago and failed; now she seeks to kill two birds with one stone."

"And if she succeeds in becoming a dragon made of pure silver,
there's nothing that can stop her," Sir Amos amended.

Kar shrugged. "Oh, there's ways to stop anything. Mind you
, they're difficult and would probably be harder to arrange than what she's been doing, but with magic all things are possible."

Sir Amos leaned back in his chair again and clasped his hands in front of himself on the table. "I've heard enough, I think. Allow me to pray on this and I will render my judgment."

Alto snorted, earning an inquisitive look from the knight. Before he could stop himself, Alto asked, "So you have the right to pass judgment?"

Sir Amos nodded. "I do. I
'm a paladin, son. I've been granted the right by Saint Leander and it is further recognized by King Harold. Now if you'll excuse me, I promise my answer shortly."

Alto scowled and looked away as the knight rose from the table. He vowed silently that one day he would have the right to make such decisions without question from others.

Less than half an hour passed before the door opened and Sir Amos returned to the room. He looked at Alto and asked, "Would you like to accompany Lady Patrina's body back to Holgasford?"

Alto considered the knight's offer. It would take a week or more to get there, but then he'd be outside the
Kingdom and free to do as he wished. He'd also be more than a hundred miles to far to the east to do anything about Sarya. "I have more pressing business to attend to," Alto responded. "A fleet of mercenaries sails from the south. Teorfyr will need to be focused on dealing with stopping them. If he learns of Patrina now, it will destroy him and the northern half of the Kelgryn realm."

"I've heard of this fleet," Sir Amos said. He nodded. "Very well
. The Knights of Leander shall stand ready and reinforce Highpeak until we hear otherwise."