The passage fought him from the first moment, not actually pushing him back into the world he had just left but seemingly reluctant to permit him to pass through. For a moment, he felt a twinge of panic as he wondered if the gemstone dragons were trying to hold him back with magic, but then he became increasingly certain that the hesitation was in the gate itself as it fought being tom apart behind him. Now he could only wait and fight back the fear that the passage would collapse too soon and leave him trapped between worlds.
Then, in the final moments, he was suddenly thrust forward with violent force, almost as if the worldgate sought to expel him. He was hurled out into his own world so powerfully that he was tossed a short distance across the grass beneath the trees before he lost his balance and fell heavily. A great flash of flames exploded just over his head, and fragments of broken stone were hurtled through the forest for nearly a hundred yards. The collapse of the worldgate had shattered the stone arch, drawing the debris through the gate as it closed.
Thelvyn opened his eyes and looked upward, not yet daring to move. The large oak that stood over what had been this end of the worldgate had been caught in the flash of fire, and the leaves of the nearest branches were already burning furiously.
Kharendaen cast a spell to suppress the flame. After this second assault on it, the tree was beginning to look the worse for wear. Thelvyn sat up on his haunches and shook his head, then glanced back at his mate. Fortunately she had stepped to one side of the worldgate to make room for his arrival, and the destruction had missed her.
'Well, it worked,' Sir George said as he dropped down from his saddle. He looked no less worn and abused than the two dragons.
Thelvyn took a deep breath and sighed heavily. 'I believe we should remain here for a time, to be certain that the gemstone dragons don't attempt to pass through into our world.'
'I haven't the strength to fly anywhere in any event,' Kharendaen agreed, sitting back on her tail with her long neck sagging wearily.
'If I could find the strength, I'd hunt down Alessa Vyledaar and skin her alive with a dull knife,' Thelvyn said darkly, his ears laid back. Then he shrugged helplessly. 'Not that it matters. Considering what we saw of those wizards that attacked us, my suspicion is that she had no will of her own.'
'I wasn't certain if that wizard was trying to answer your question or if he was simply crying out,' Kharendaen said as they walked slowly together to sit in the shade of a nearby tree. 'Clearly the wizards were under the will of the strange dragons they call the Masters. But didn't he say not all the wizards are under their command?'
'He did say that,' Thelvyn replied. 'I'm sure Byen Kalestraan was under their influence as well, whether he was aware of it or not. That alone now explains his strange, often contradictory actions, which I could never begin to understand before. I think the destruction of so many of the wizards and the escape of the rest brought a serious interruption to the schemes of the Masters, since they no longer had anyone in Braejr under their influence. As near as I can tell, Alessa didn't come under their control until fairly recently, just in time to lead us into a trap they had prepared for us.'
'How do you figure that?' Sir George asked. He was still shaking sand out of his clothes.
'Because that explains the other mystery,' Thelvyn said.
'Solveig swore to us that Alessa had come over to our side, and I have no reason to doubt Solveig's judgment. But later we found Alessa to be as suspicious and sneaky as any Fire Wizard ever was.'
'But why didn't they try to control us?' Sir George wondered.
'The only reason I can think of is that we are all three dragon-kin,' Thelvyn said, looking perplexed. 'I find myself with certain suspicions about the true history of the Flaem. I suspect that some time in the distant past, they wandered into the world of the gemstone dragons-or were brought there- and came under the influence of the Masters. And I also suspect that the Flaem didn't continue on into our own world through their own will. I think they were sent by the Masters as advance scouts to establish a presence, to secure and evaluate the power of the Radiance, and to evaluate the strength of their enemies in our world.'
Kharendaen shook her head slowly from side to side. 'The Masters knew an ancient form of the language of the dragons. Obviously they had some past contact with our world long ago.'
'Can you guess how long?' Thelvyn asked.
'Not accurately,' she admitted. 'At least three thousand years ago. Possibly as long ago as five thousand or more.'
'That is bothersome,' Thelvyn agreed as he stared aimlessly at the ground, lost in thought. He frowned. 'That leads me to wonder if the gemstone dragons were once related to the dragons of our own world, but then they were changed by the magic of an alien world. Except for their rather remarkable armor, their general shape was more or less the same as ours.'
'That seems unlikely, but not impossible,' Kharendaen said, obviously troubled by the idea. 'I think they've changed too much in a short time for that to be likely. Unless something very strange has happened to them.'
'Obviously the Masters know a great deal about the dragons of Mystara,' Sir George commented. 'Since it was never used in any way, was the theft of the collar meant primarily to forestall the coming of the Dragonking? That dragon did refer to you as 'the Dragonlord who was and the Dragonking who never will be,' at least if his kind has their way. And they directed all of Byen Kalestraan's efforts to destroying you. It seems obvious to me that they want to prevent you from uniting the dragons. Why? Because the dragons alone have the power to stave off their invasion of our world?'
'That seems obvious now,' Kharendaen agreed. 'The Great One himself warned us of this, didn't he? He said that the Dragonking alone could unite the dragons against an enemy only they can fight. It would seem that he has anticipated the coming of the Masters since he created the Collar of the Dragons for the Dragonking more than three thousand years ago, which is also about the time the gemstone dragons might have come into our world.'
'We're beginning to understand a lot of things now,' Thelvyn said. 'We seem to have two choices now that I have the Collar of the Dragons and can claim the authority of the Dragonking. Should we go at once to Windreach and have the dragons begin preparations for war immediately? Or should we go back to Braejr while we're still so near, to reveal the conspiracy of the Masters, break their control of the Flaem, and set to rest the fears that the recent attacks were the work of dragons?'
'I suggest that we go to Windreach at once,' Kharendaen said. 'The time has come for the Dragonking to establish his own following, so that you will have the power and authority to face the Masters. And I believe that we should be very sure of ourselves before we return to Braejr. The Masters have used the Flaem to surprise us once already. Perhaps the Great One will speak to us again and tell us more that we should know.'
Thelvyn nodded, if with some misgivings over facing the dragons in their own element. But that was a confrontation he could not avoid much longer, now that matters had suddenly become so desperate.
'Then we go on to Windreach tonight. But first we must rest and hunt. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse,' he commented, then realized what he had said. He turned his head to glare at Sir George. 'Don't you dare say a word.'
The old knight closed his mouth and tried to look innocent.
CHAPTER SIX
Marthaen opened one eye reluctantly, then closed it again and turned his head away. It was still the middle of the night, and he was in no mood to drag himself out of his warm bed. But Daresha, his mate, pushed at him again, and he opened his eyes to see her narrow face peering down at him.
'Dragons are landing on your ledge,' she explained.
'Tell them to come back in the morning,' he complained sleepily.
'Tell them yourself,' Daresha insisted, pushing at him even more insistently. 'Get up, you lazy lizard. The world is about to go to war again. Would someone come knocking at your door at such a time if it weren't urgent?'
Indeed, there came an impatient knocking at the door at almost that same moment. Marthaen lifted his head and yawned hugely, then climbed out of his bed and ambled into the main chamber of his lair. He opened the
