able to steal a few hours' sleep; and Mellison always fanned a blaze into light for her mistress's predawn awakenings. Though the young woman participated in none of the battles, her observations of Laurana's campfire councils have provided us with key insights into the development of the campaign.
The first of these discussions occurred on the field below this very tower, and it is here that Mellison gives us a picture of Laurana's council of war. Present were the elf woman, the two Knights of the Crown — Sirs Patrick and Markham — who served as her chief lieutenants, and two unnamed knights of the other orders. Mellison refers to them, in her childlike hand, as 'Lord Sword' and 'Sir Rose.' Gilthanas — Laurana's brother and proud prince of the Qualinesti elves — also attended.
(Incidentally, Your Grace, the letters sent by Gilthanas to his brother Porthios provide us an additional primary source on this campaign, especially as it was seen from an elven point of view.)
Of course, the context of the meeting is well known: the dragonarmy known as the Blue Wing had been blunted (but not destroyed) in the Battle of the High Clerist's Tower. These troops, under the command of the Dark Lady — the Highlord Kitiara — and her general, Bakaris, had fallen back upon Dargaard Keep, where they represented a significant threat. The good dragons had arrived here following that battle, on the day preceding Laurana's council of war. These mighty serpents, of gold and silver, brass, copper and bronze, had at last ended their exile from the war. Brought to Palanthas by Gilthanas and the great silver dragon called Silvara, they were anxious to exact vengeance against their evil cousins.
Though the numbers of dragons and troops in Laurana's force equaled a mere fraction of the total evil forces, she had the advantage of concentration — all of her forces were here, in the pass, while those of the enemy — the Red Wing, portions of the Green and White Wings, and the remnants of the Blue Wing — were scattered over Solamnia from Vingaard and Caergoth to Kalaman and Neraka. Also, a huge reserve army under the command of Emperor Ariakus himself had spent the winter encamped in Sanction. Recent rumors placed the dragonarmy on the march, however, though Laurana and her captains had no idea of its location or destination.
The time was night, a council fire flared high. Mellison reports that its light was reflected in gold and silver gleams from the massive dragons crouched just beyond the human commanders.
'We can hold them here forever!' stated Sir Rose, opening the council. 'With the dragons and the men of Palanthas to back us up, the knights will form an unbreakable wall!'
'Hold them, indeed,' agreed Sir Patrick. 'If they dare to attack again, we'll butcher them to the last scale- faced draconian! Don't you agree, general?' Grudgingly he turned to Laurana for confirmation. Of the Crown Knights, he had been most reluctant to accept her leadership — yet the orders of Gunthar Uth Wistan had thus far proven sufficient to steel him to his duty.
'I have no intention of holding them here, or anywhere!' declared Laurana, with that shake of her head that set her golden hair flowing about her shoulders.
'What is your plan?' inquired Markham, with his easy grin that somewhat lightened the tension.
'We attack.' Laurana spoke the two words, and then paused to fix her eyes on each of her listeners. She seemed to grow in stature as the firelight flared across her fair skin, her almond-shaped eyes. 'The Army of Solamnia will advance under the wings of the good dragons, seek out the dragonarmies, and destroy them!'
'Leave the pass unguarded?' sputtered Sir Rose. 'After this great victory, you risk throwing everything… the lives, the — '
Laurana's reply was sharp and bitter. 'I know very well the cost in lives!' she snapped with enough force to shut the mouth of the grizzled veteran. For a moment she closed her eyes. Mellison saw the sharp pain of memory etched across Laurana's face. Gilthanas placed a comforting hand on his sister's arm, but she shrugged it away. She took a breath and continued.
'Nothing could be more wasteful of those lives than for us to cower here, behind these walls, and give the dragonarmies time to concentrate their scattered forces. No, my captains, we won't wait for them to act. It is time this war came back against those who began it!'
'Where do we go, then?' inquired Sir Rose. 'Do we advance south, toward Solanthus? Or eastward, to threaten the occupation forces at Vingaard? Both of these courses allow us this fortress as a base. Too, they keep the Vingaard River as a strong barrier between us and the bulk of the enemy — the option to fall back in the event of…' He did not complete his speculation; something in the general's eyes silenced him.
'Vingaard,' Laurana announced. 'But not as a threat — 1 mean to liberate it. As to the river, I want this entire army across it within a week.'
'Beyond the Vingaard?' Patrick was shocked, but his eyes measured the elf woman with surprise and new appraisal. 'Into the heart of the dragonrealms?'
'The dragonarmies will meet us there, in force,' Markham said cautiously. 'Do you intend to draw them into a battle? Destroy them on the field?'
'That will be an historic moment!' Lord Sword declared, his face flushing and his long mustaches bobbing at the prospect. A fierce light entered his eyes. 'To drive our lances into the faces of those beasts, for once — instead of merely standing our ground!'
Laurana smiled, too, but it was a grim expression to Mellison. She thought it made the elf woman look much older. 'Yes — I will draw them into battle. The first of many. Once we've crossed the river, I don't intend to rest until we reach the gates of Kalaman!'
'Kalaman!' Sir Rose sputtered so much that his mustaches floated out from his mouth. They all knew that the distant city was in desperate straits, following a long winter of isolation and siege. Still, hundreds of miles of enemy territory lay between themselves and Kalaman.
'You're mad!' barked Patrick.
Laurana allowed the insult to pass, but this time her brother stepped forward. 'The good dragons give us a striking force that you knights can't begin to imagine!' countered the tall elf. 'We cannot waste them!'
'What about Dargaard?' asked Markham, turning to Laurana. 'That's a powerful bastion across your path — the Dark Lady is there in force, together with the dragons of her Blue Wing. The ogres of Throtl are supported by green dragons, and they're certain to mass against your south flank.'
'I intend to ignore Dargaard, for the time being. The ogres we'll meet, and defeat.'
'They'll have the Green Wing to support them. And Emperor Ariakus has sent the Red Wing from Neraka as a reinforcement. Too, we don't have any idea where the reserve army has gone,' argued Sir Rose.
'We have dragonlances,' cried Gilthanas. 'We can meet these serpents in the skies, finally, and defeat them!'
'The weapon, so far, has only proven itself in the closed confines of the tower!' Patrick growled back.
'That is true,' Laurana agreed. 'But I don't intend to fight all the dragons at once. That's why it's so important that we MOVE!'
'But a major river crossing!' objected Patrick. 'You can't imagine the difficulties! And if we're caught with the army divided — '
'Our dragons will screen the crossing. And I intend to reach the Vingaard too quickly for anything but a token force to stand in our way.'
'But there's the fortress itself — Vingaard Keep has a massive garrison!' persisted Patrick. 'Anywhere we cross puts us in easy reach of a counterattack!'
'That brings me to the next part of the plan,' Laurana announced, pausing to make sure she had the attention of all the men. 'Vingaard will be liberated — tomorrow.'
The knights, to a man, stared at the general in amazement. All knew that Vingaard Keep was three days' ride by horse.
At this point, the Council's voices grew hushed and confidential, so the rest of the conversation is lost to Mellison's diary — and to history. The results of this historic and clandestine conversation are known.
The following dawn, the skies over the High Clerist's Tower were filled with dragons — their metallic colors dappling the ground with moving reflections of the brilliant sunrise. Laurana, astride the huge gold dragon Quallathon, led the way. A wing of griffon cavalry, mounted with elven bowmen and lancers — lately arrived from Southern Ergoth — flew beside the great serpents. Altogether, two hundred of the half-hawk, half-lion beasts accompanied an equal number of dragons soaring southeast toward Vingaard — eighty miles away across the flat plain. Their bodies blackened the sky.
At the same time, the army moved out. Led by the knights on horseback, accompanied by the blue-garbed troops of Palanthas and a large and growing force of irregulars recruited from Solamnia and Ergoth, the soldiers of
