nearly destroyed them, while the gemstone dragons withdrew and continued their own war in secret.'
The Great One rose, sitting up on his haunches as if the memory of that time still filled him with concern. 'At that time, the Immortals, especially Terra, became convinced they must intervene to save the dragons and stop the war. I had withdrawn to the ancient forests as a cleric of Terra. Terra conceived a plan that seemed to her the only hope to put an end to the conflict. Terra sponsored me, and in a relatively short time, she succeeded in making me the first dragon Immortal. To make a long story short, I eventually defeated the first Dragonlord, that being the only way to force him to listen, and then we joined forces together with the wizards of Blackmoor against the gemstone dragons. Subsequently the gemstone dragons were defeated and escaped through a world gate.
'We were aware from the first that the gemstone dragons had only retreated, and we suspected that they would withdraw for a time to gather new strength, then return. We had to be certain that the dragons would always be ready to face them. The wizards of Blackmoor had created the Collar of the Dragons, and I created a prophecy so that, if the gemstone dragons did indeed return, my chosen hero could use the collar to claim the unquestioned support of all dragons.'
'I would not yet call their support unquestioned,' Thelvyn remarked.
'No, I fear not,' the Great One agreed regretfully. 'We had always anticipated that when the time came, both a Dragonking and the new Dragonlord would be chosen, but unforeseen problems necessitated that you should be both Dragonking and Dragonlord. I had been suspicious of the Flaem since they first came to Mystara. When I became certain that they were secret agents of the gemstone dragons, and after enlisting the aide of Terra and other sympathetic Immortals, I made the arrangements to bring my chosen hero into the world. You possess nearly Immortal powers: those that you have inherited from me, the most powerful enchantments of ancient Blackmoor, and the authority of the Dragonking.
'Ever since the gemstone dragons left our world, they have been regaining their strength, gathering new powers, and collecting slaves from many worlds. They must have captured the Flaem during their wanderings from world to world, and they hoped to use the rivalry between the Flaem and the Alphatians as the means to prepare for their invasion of Mystara and to secure the power of the Radiance. They had known of the Radiance for some time, and were disappointed to find that its power is quite limited in range.'
The Great One paused and rose to his hind legs so that he stood above them. 'Sir George Kirbey, I summon you to stand before me.'
For a moment, Sir George looked like a child who had been caught doing something wrong. The two dragons stepped aside so that he could approach the Great One, but he did so with obvious reluctance and considerable apprehension.
'Do not fear,' the Great One said. 'You have served very well indeed, but you represent a problem as you are. You cannot accompany Thelvyn among the dragons in human form, nor are you of much use as a flightless drake. Therefore I have a gift for you, which you may consider payment for services above and beyond what was expected.'
Suddenly Sir George became aware of a strange sensation in his left arm, at the end of his wrist, where his hand had been severed long ago. The feeling was not one of actual pain but rather an intense tingling, a nagging sensation such as had often driven him to distraction in the first months after he had lost his hand. Fearful that something was wrong, he struggled to release the buckles and pull loose the straps that held the leather cuff and its attached hook to his wrist. Then, as he watched in amazement, the end of his arm began to grow longer, eventually forming a new hand. Once the moment of discomfort had passed, he watched his hand with wonder and delight as it slowly began to respond to his will.
'Now you must go,' the Great One said to Thelvyn. 'The parliament is expecting you. Now is the time to declare yourself as the rightful Dragonking. Be resolute in your claim, for
the time of compromise is past.'
*****
Marthaen stood at the front of his ledge before the assembled parliament, watching the dragons as they argued fiercely among themselves. As First Speaker, he knew he should do something to maintain order, but the parliament was almost beyond his control, and he thought it best to allow the members to vent their fury before he called them back to order. He was aware of his sister Kharendaen standing behind him; he had tried his best to ignore her for as long as he could.
But he knew that he would be forced to relent eventually. At last he turned and followed Kharendaen down the short passage from his ledge to the main corridor beyond. Thelvyn waited there, boldly wearing the Collar of the Dragons within the Hall of the Great One itself. Sir George Kirbey stood nearby, looking both startled and very pleased with himself at the same time.
'I don't know if this is the proper time,' Marthaen said before any of the others could speak. 'As I expected, the dragons are hesitant. They still fear the Dragonking, who is still also the Dragonlord and to them their most dangerous enemy. And they are reluctant to go to war in the defense of others. Since the Masters appear to be dragon-kin, that also causes them some concern. I'm afraid I will need more time to convince them to accept you as Dragonking.'
'I'm not sure you could ever convince them,' Thelvyn replied. 'If they are ever going to accept my leadership, it will have to be me who convinces them.'
'Perhaps so,' Marthaen agreed with great reluctance. 'Go down the stairs and follow the passage almost directly below where we stand. That will lead you out onto the floor of the Hall of Parliament and directly to the speaker's dais. You can address the parliament from there.'
He turned and strode back out onto his ledge, leaving Thelvyn to find his way to the parliament floor. The dragons were still arguing furiously, and Marthaen despaired of ever getting them to set aside their fear and suspicion long enough to listen. But time had become too critical for such nonsense. If the Immortals had invested so much effort in making Thelvyn Fox-Eyes the Dragonking, he was not about to argue.
'Silence!' he declared, startling the dragons. They turned to stare at him. 'Silence, I say! I demand that you stop chattering and screaming like frightened wyverns and maintain the dignity and wisdom that befits this assembly.'
The dragons muttered among themselves but finally fell silent, staring in astonishment when they saw Thelvyn step out onto the floor below them and advance toward the speaker's dais. He was wearing the Collar of the Dragons, and that by itself was enough to leave them shaken and uncertain. One of the oldest and most important legends of their people had indeed come to life, for the Dragonking stood before them. Thelvyn carried himself with the supreme dignity and confidence that dragons instinctively respected, as if to prove that he had earned the right to wear the collar.
Marthaen sat back on his haunches, smiling to himself with grim satisfaction. Now that they could actually see Thelvyn standing before them, the dragons could see that the legend of the Dragonking was no longer a matter of debate but a reality. They could no longer find it easy to deny his existence. Marthaen watched the red dragons carefully, certain that Jherdar would never allow the issue to be resolved easily. The red dragon would undoubtedly think that the hated Dragonlord was trying
to usurp the place of the beloved Dragonking.
Thelvyn advanced to the speaker's dais and seated himself in a pose of great dignity, sitting upright with his long tail curled around his legs. His neck was drawn back in a proud, graceful curve. He paused for a long moment, then began to speak. 'Marthaen has spoken to you of the gemstone dragons, who were once of our own kind. The Great One has told me about how he and the first Dragonlord fought the gemstone dragons long ago and drove them from our world. He has told me how the gemstone dragons have prepared their invasion for centuries, and how the Immortals have planned to counter it by having me serve as both Dragonlord and Dragonking and lead the dragons in the defense of our world.'
'You know that I fought with you against the renegade Murodhir,' Jherdar said, growing impatient. 'I told you then that I would rather see you wearing the Collar of the Dragons than have it remain missing. But I cannot lightly accept that you seem so eager to lead us into war when we do not yet know even the strength or the intentions of our enemy.'
'I have not yet summoned the dragons to war,' Thelvyn replied. 'But we must prepare for its likelihood.'
'These gemstone dragons may have attacked our world, but they have not yet done us any harm,' the red dragon responded.
