Korinn seemed to have that same authority, but Thelvyn was not yet certain that the dwarves would continue to be so willing to cooperate once their memory of the invasion had faded.
Of the others, King Celedril of Alfheim could decide his own counsels without challenge at home, and he was obviously supportive of the alliance. Lord Derrick of Darokin was also supportive, as Darokin had been during the previous summer. The Traladaran representative didn't seem to understand all of what he heard, but he was willing to vote with the majority, perhaps to spare himself the strain of making decisions in matters that were mostly beyond him. The delegates from the Emirates of Ylaruam and the Jarldoms of the Northern Reaches were still alarmed that the burning of the steppes and the invasion of Rockhome had occurred so near their own lands. Their lands were controlled by loosely allied factions that were often at odds over old feuds and rivalries, and Thelvyn wondered how much of an organized defense they were capable of assembling.
The Heldannic Freeholds had failed to send a representative, giving the Thyatian messenger a rather haughty reply about their confidence in their ability to defend themselves. The Ierendi representative was cautious in his support, believing that his island kingdom was far from the actual danger. The delegate from the Minrothad Guilds was also disinterested, but he followed the Thyatian vote as a matter of politics.
Which was all very much just as Thelvyn had expected. The only unpredictable element in all of this was Ambassador Ser-ran, the Alphatian representative. Thelvyn found his position on the alliance to be most surprising. As he had been warned earlier, Ambassador Serran was very friendly and eager to please, and insisted that his people were willing to follow the Dragonking without hesitation. Thelvyn wondered if the Alphatians simply found it easier than most of the others to understand just how desperate the situation really was. They had fought the dragons the year before, provoking a long war that they had no hope of winning. Thus they saw any enemy the dragons feared as being very fearsome indeed.
Under the circumstances, Thelvyn had no problem convincing the council to follow his plans for the defense of their world. They had already known that they would have to arrange for their own defense as much as they could. That meant they needed to be ready to endure a sudden invasion at any time and hold out long enough for the dragons to gather an army and respond. The places where Thelvyn wanted to establish garrisons of hundreds of dragons were in the very lands where they would be most welcome. The northeast garrison was the city of Windreach itself. The garrison in the forgotten city of Darmouk was also convenient, and another garrison in the mountains of western Thyatis was no problem. Only a couple of hundred dragons could be spared to give Alphatia some peace of mind.
Thelvyn felt certain that the next attack would come in the west. The Masters had been active in the Highlands in the years since the Flaem had first come into this world. He was suspicious that the Flaem would once more play some key part in the Masters' plans for a major invasion. For that reason, he planned to move several hundred dragons into the mountains of the Highland Frontier and southern Wendar. Yet another garrison would be located in the wilds of northern Darokin, near Lake Amsorak. The delegate from Darokin said that he would try to have soldiers from his own country moved into their northern forts, to aid the Highlands when the invasion came. King Celedril of Alfheim promised a couple thousand elvish rangers, to be stationed in the elvish holdings in the southern Highlands.
'Then you really do believe that the Masters will attack here next?' Solveig asked quietly after the council concluded and the other delegates were left to speak among themselves.
'Perhaps not next,' Thelvyn explained. 'They could make other, lesser attacks in other parts of the world, to draw away our strength and throw us off our guard. But I feel certain that the Masters will invade the Highlands soon. The Highlands have been central to their plans for more than a hundred years, even before they sent the Flaem into this world. And the Highlands have been central in my own destiny since before I was born. The Masters have to deal with me before they can secure any conquests in this world, and this is where they will find me.'
'That's very reassuring,' Solveig commented sarcastically. 'The Highlands seem to be your chosen battlefield. Now I remember why we threw you out a year ago.'
'The Flaem need me,' he insisted. 'They remain especially vulnerable to the control of the Masters. They can't escape deep involvement in this conflict, and only the dragons and I can protect them. Even if I leave, the Masters will use the Flaem to draw me back. I feel sure of that.'
'Then I know what I have to prepare for as well,' Solveig added. She glanced up at the dragon. 'Considering how we've seen the Masters operate, I have good reason to suspect that we have at least one traitor in our midst-probably not in our company, but near enough to report any plans we begin to implement.'
Thelvyn nodded. 'I agree. In fact, I'm counting on it. I'm playing the same trap that has worked for us once already, saying things I want the Masters to hear whenever I suspect the presence of any possible spy. I am baiting them to attack here in the Highlands. Why subject other lands to needless destruction when the final battle must be here anyway? I want the Masters to know that I am waiting for them.'
'Do you have any idea who the traitor could be?'
He glanced around at the delegates, talking together in small clusters near the open outer doors of the reception hall. 'I suspect Ambassador Serran, or at least someone of high authority in Alphatia. Remember that, like the Flaem, they are not originally of this world. Many of their policies of conquest can now be interpreted as a prelude to the invasion of the Masters. Have you asked yourself why they were so determined to wage a hopeless war against the dragons last year, even to the point of launching a doomed invasion fleet after they had been forced to surrender once before? They drew the dragons out of hiding. The dragons have always kept to themselves, and their gathering places have always been closely guarded secrets. Because of their war with the Alphatians, most of those secrets were betrayed.'
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Daylight faded slowly, the brilliant sapphire blue of day growing deeper and deeper, becoming a dark indigo that in turn faded slowly to black as the first stars of night appeared in the east. The light seemed to draw back from the rugged, forested hills below the Colossus Mountains, as if retreating after the sun, already set beyond the wild lands of the west.
The deepest shadows of night gathered first beneath the trees, turning the still, almost mysterious silence of the day to the brooding, fearful darkness of night. But in the wilderness east of Braastar, to one side of a crude, long-forgotten road, a single point of light shone with a soft, silver radiance like a star that had fallen from the sky. Hidden in the darkness beneath a spreading oak, lost in the shadows, a pair of small, carved stones stood an equal distance to either side of the small light. Other pieces of shattered stone lay half hidden in the grass and fallen leaves; the tree itself was only beginning to recover from being damaged by fire in some recent disaster.
Suddenly the point of light flared and rushed outward in a luminescent ring, like the wave from a stone dropped into a
pool of liquid silver. The ring of light raced outward, expanding quickly to form a wide oval like a doorway into the night. The cold wind of an alien world whipped through the portal, dry and heavy with dust. Then, with a sudden rush of icy air, a dark form hurtled out of the depths of the portal, at first only a blurry shape that expanded rapidly. In the final instant, it leapt out from the passage, fully formed, an amber dragon of great strength and stature, with plates of armor almost like translucent gold.
The dragon stepped forward, making room for a ruby dragon that followed close behind. Then, while the second of the pair stood guard at the gate, the amber dragon stepped forward to stand in the partial opening in the forest beside the road. For a moment, it paused, its head cocked as if listening, and then it rose up on its hind legs with its great neck stretched to its limit, lifting its head as high as it could. It looked first one way and then the other, searching the night sky. Satisfied, it dropped back down and turned to face its companion, nodding its head. The ruby dragon disappeared back inside the portal, drawn away in an instant, while the amber dragon turned back to watch and listen.
Only a moment passed before other gemstone dragons began to come through the portal, one by one in rapid succession. They separated at once, moving out quickly in all directions, as if they were desperate to hold and protect the worldgate from discovery and danger. A vanguard of more than twoscore gemstone dragons came
