Dragonmage of Mystara

stayed just long enough to pick the lock on the door before Thelvyn sent him away to guard the hall and do whatever he had to do to prevent anyone from approaching. There was too much danger that Sir George would himself be vulnerable to the control of the Masters, or to any vengeance they might force Alessa to take upon Thelvyn. It was safer for Sir George and better for Thelvyn that he kept his distance.

Thelvyn listened at the door for a moment, certain that he heard voices speaking softly somewhere inside. Cautiously opening the door just a crack, he paused a moment more to listen. He could hear Alessa's voice and also that of someone else, a soft voice that almost purred in a deep, throaty rumble, a voice he had learned to associate with dragons. But the strange voice also seemed dim and remote, muffled somehow, which was not surprising, since there could hardly have been a

gemstone dragon in the room.

Opening the door a little more, he looked inside. As he had expected, Alessa was alone. The room was fairly dark, the only light coming from a single lamp, beside which Alessa was standing still and motionless, as if staring out the window into the night. Her right hand was raised so that she was lightly touching a red jewel that was pinned to the breast of her wizard's robe. Thelvyn couldn't see it clearly, since she was turned mostly away from him, but he recalled that it was a wizard's token, a cheap broach made from what appeared to be colored glass. She had been speaking, her own voice lifeless and remote, and then the strange voice answered her from out of the very air somewhere near her. To Thelvyn, it seemed as though it were speaking inside his head somehow.

There is no cause for alarm, the voice was telling her. You have done your best. It was not your fault that he escaped our trap.

'It is my duty to serve,' Alessa said. Her voice was flat and emotionless, and Thelvyn could not tell if her words were intended as a promise or a plea.

Unfortunately, your service to us must come to an end, the unseen speaker continued. I thought they had no suspicion of your involvement, but it seems I was wrong. The only way that you can serve me now is by preserving my secrets.'

Thelvyn understood what that meant, having seen wizards put to death so that they could not betray the Masters. He knew that he would have to move quickly. He had planned to find some magical way to break the hold the Masters had over Alessa, but now he decided, like Sir George, to use a much simpler solution. Several years ago, Sir George had taught him a spell, a form of protection that he had never found a use for because it required him to be in physical contact with the person he wanted to stun. Moving with the quickness and grace of a trained swordsman, he leapt across the room and grabbed Alessa by the neck. At the same moment, he uttered the words to the spell. She collapsed into unconsciousness, never even aware of his presence.

Not trusting that the spell would be enough to isolate Alessa from the command of the Masters, he took hold of the jewel and ripped it free of her robe. At the same time, he flooded the jewel with his own will, forcing back the presence that occupied it until he was able to employ another spell to isolate the crystal from all other magical influences. The pale light inside the red crystal flared brilliantly for a moment, then died quickly as he clutched it in his hand.

He braced himself, knowing the attack would come. A moment later, the alien presence returned to the crystal, trying to force its way past his will. Thelvyn had expected something like that. If they could control him, they could force him to betray himself and his friends, or they could even destroy him as they had slain the enslaved wizards in their own world. He had been aware of the risks from the first, but he had to test his will against that of the Masters so that he would know if he could fight them on their own terms.

The attack surged forward with such confidence that Thelvyn prepared himself for the worst, concentrating firmly upon his own willpower. Even so, he was barely able to hold his own in those first moments by devoting the full power of his resolve to fighting the vague presence. Finally the deepest magic of his very being seemed to respond on its own, raising an insurmountable barrier of power to shield his mind from his mysterious attacker. For a brief instant, he could feel the alien will pressing against his own, and he sensed that his unseen opponent was struggling to summon every last iota of its power to throw against him. Suddenly the force of the alien will faded quickly and was gone.

'Are you quite finished?' he asked the crystal, not quite sure what else to say.

I am finished with you. . for now, the strange voice echoed inside his head. Perhaps I have underestimated you. You are surprisingly clever.'

'And lucky,' Thelvyn said, refusing to be taunted into any debates.

And most assuredly lucky, the alien voice agreed. It would seem we are both at a disadvantage, since each of us knows little about the other's situation. But I know a good deal more about you than you know about me. I have been watching you since long before you ever became aware of me.

'That may be true,' Thelvyn answered cautiously, 'but as you are also well aware, everything about me and all that I am was designed to fight you. Your return has been anticipated for centuries. You are not going to find me unprepared.'

True in part, perhaps, but only in part. You try to threaten me, and yet your words only prove how little you actually know and how unprepared you really are.

'You sound very sure of yourself,' Thelvyn said evenly. 'You seem determined to keep making that mistake, and I don't see it as my place to correct you. But I must remind you that the Dragonlord and the Great One defeated you once before.'

Whatever happened long ago did not involve me and is not my concern, the voice replied scornfully. You cannot oppose me without the support of the dragons. And you have no idea of my strength.''

'We can only see,' Thelvyn answered vaguely. He was growing suspicious of new traps, especially since his enemy was willing to speak for so long after losing control of the red crystal. This seemed like a good time not only to break the contact but also to destroy the jewel before it could do any more harm. After looking about the room quickly, he carried the jewel over to the dark fireplace and set it on the cold metal grate, then stepped back. While he had little experience in trying to direct his will, he had found the crystal easy enough to control so far. A strong response was probably essential to such a magical artifact, which had to link the minds of its users across worlds. The small crystal flared with a sudden brilliant red light before flashing a blinding white. The crystal itself was shattered into dust, and the gold broach was half melted.

Responding to the sudden flash of light, Sir George rushed into the room to discover what had happened, then paused just inside the door. Thelvyn was bent over the fireplace, prodding the remains of the crystal with a poker. Alessa remained in a crumpled heap on the floor.

'Are you all right?' Sir George asked.

'I'm fine,' Thelvyn insisted, setting aside the poker. 'Let's see if our slumbering beauty is ready to wake up and talk to us.'

Alessa was slow to come around. Sir George bent over her and worked at her for a couple of minutes. When she finally started to respond, she recovered fairly quickly. Sir George helped her to sit up, and she rubbed her eyes.

'My word, I feel dizzy,' she said.

'That should pass quickly enough,' the old knight told her. 'How does your head feel otherwise?'

'Not too bad,' she insisted weakly. 'Did someone hit me?'

'It was the only way to save your life,' Thelvyn told her. 'The Masters somehow have a way to command their victims to die-very painfully, I might add. I've seen it happen with some of the missing members of your order. I had to get you instantly into a state where you were unresponsive to their commands.'

'Oh, my,' Alessa said, surprised and contrite as she began to realize what had been going on. 'I suppose I should thank

you.'

'If you don't mind, I think we should go back to Solveig's house,' he said. 'We can explain a few things to you on the way.'

Alessa's carriage was brought around again, and Sir George used the ride back to Solveig's house to explain things from their own perspective. The more Alessa learned about the situation, the more furious she became. She had grown to take her role as the defender of the Flaem very seriously. Sir George and Thelvyn hadn't yet had