looked as if it would turn to civil war.
A great good that will do, Talon thought. The wyrmlings will rejoice to see it.
Daylan Hammer whistled loudly, to capture folks attention.
The emir held his hands up, begging for quiet, seemingly as baffled by the outcry and clamor as Talon was. He tried to dispel the rising tide of rage. 'I do not propose to be your leader,' he said. 'I led a nation once, a proud nation that was larger than all of your eastern realms combined. Where is it now? I will tell you: I led it to ruin. The wyrmlings destroyed it.'
Talon wanted to argue. It was not the emir s fault. Tuul Ra had been but a youth at the time when his father died in battle, and his people had been refugees fleeing the wyrmling horde. The war that destroyed them had been waged for centuries, and Tuul Ra had inherited his defeat. She remembered even as a tot how her father had said that the emir 'did a miraculous job of fighting an unwinnable war.'
Apparently, others knew the truth, too, for some cried, 'No! That is not how it was.'
The emir was a hero in Talon s mind. He had dealt savage blows to the wyrmlings against all odds. He d captured the wyrmling princess, and thus forestalled last night s attack for more than a decade. He was such a hero Talon believed that his name would be remembered in the Halls of Eternity.
But the emir called the protesters to quiet. 'I will tell you who should lead you,' he shouted. 'Your prince- Areth Sul Urstone.'
There was silence for a moment. The naysayers had not expected that. Their prince had been taken captive by the wyrmlings years ago, and it was believed that he was still held in the dungeons of Rugassa.
'He can t lead us,' Connor Madoc shouted, striding from the crowd to confront the emir. 'If he s even alive, what s left of him-a gibbering shell of a man? The wyrmling torturers will have made a wreck of him.'
'I doubt it,' the emir said resolutely. 'All who knew Prince Urstone doubt it. The prince that I knew was the best man that I have ever met. If all men were such as he, there would be no need for prisons or judges or barristers, for there would be no crime. All men would dwell in peace and deal honorably and courteously with one another. All husbands would love their wives, and hold to their wives alone. All children would love and emulate their fathers, for their fathers would be worthy of their love. There would be no need for armies, for there would be no wars.
'Can you imagine what kind of world that would make? So much of our labor is only a waste. We wage an endless war against the evils among us, and it drains our every resource-our time, our wealth, and even our very hope.
'But that s the kind of man I knew-a good man, a just man. Perhaps he is just a memory. Perhaps you re right. Maybe he has been tormented beyond all reason, and his mind has gone to waste. He might now be nothing more than a maddened animal, craving his own death.
'But I hope for something better. There was a firmness in Areth Sul Urstone that put iron to shame. Never have I known a man of stronger resolve. I believe that he resisted his torturers through these years. I have been told that upon the shadow world, his shadow self was great indeed, and that he was a king beloved of his people more than any other. It is said that even the earth loved him, and granted to him great powers to protect his realm. Thus he was called an Earth King.
'It is my hope that now that the worlds have combined, he may become such once again. I believe that he still lives, and it is my intent'-Emir Tuul Ra s voice suddenly turned to a snarl, as if terrible passions had long been building inside and only now fought their way free-'to bring him home!'
At that some of the older men cheered and raised their battle-axes and danced in celebration. Some of the older women swiped tears from their eyes.
But Talon felt little. She had never known the prince. He d been captured when she was just a toddler. Most of the younger generation had never met him.
She had met his shadow self, of course-the Earth King Gaborn Val Orden. But how much like him could Areth Sul Urstone be? Areth Sul Urstone was from a world that had never heard of Earth Kings.
The Wizard Sisel hoped that with the binding of the worlds, the Earth Spirit would grant that title to Areth s shadow self. But Talon wasn t sure if that would happen.
'What would you have us do,' Drewish Madoc shouted at the emir, 'squat here in the field while you plot some mad rescue? We should get going. We should devise some fortification, prepare for battle. The wyrmlings will be upon us after dusk.'
'What fortification would you suggest?' the emir asked. 'Shall we dig a trench and build a nice little battle wall? How will that help us, when the wyrmlings took Caer Luciare-one of our greatest fortresses-only hours ago? It would be madness to fight them, and there is nowhere to run.' He jutted his chin toward Daylan. The immortal stood calmly. 'But Daylan Hammer has a plan for escape, one that is not without its own risks. I will let him tell you of it.'
Daylan stepped forward a few paces. 'As you know, our passage is blocked to the north. With the colliding of the worlds, a great sea is emptying and filling the River Dyll-Tandor. It has flooded to the north and the east, and it is filling the valleys to the west. We cannot escape in those directions. The mountains to the south might seem the only logical choice, but you all know the dangers. The weather there is likely to be harsh, even at this time of year. But there is another danger: with the great change that has been wrought, the mountains themselves will be unstable. Landslides are common enough in the wet season, they will be far more likely now. I do not think we should venture south.
'That leaves only one hope. You folk of Caer Luciare have no memory of how the worlds were formed. Among the wyrmlings it is taught that the Great Wyrm formed the world, and that is half-true.
'But a better world than this existed once, a world so pure and beautiful that your imaginations cannot do it justice. The Great Wyrm tried to seize control of it, and in the battle that ensued, the One True World splintered into millions and millions of lesser worlds.
'Your world is but a shadow of that perfect world, as many of you now know. And these shadows were wrought by Despair.
'But the One World, the netherworld, still remains. It is diminished from what it once was, but it exists. I can open a door into it, if you desire to enter.'
'And who will lead us,' Drewish Madoc demanded, 'you?'
'I have no desire to lead these people,' Daylan said.
'Damn you, I think you do!' Drewish growled.
'Please,' the emir said. 'Let us not quarrel-I beg you. Let us not choose a leader until after I bring my friend home.'
The Madocs could not easily mount an argument against that, not without seeming churlish. But their expressions showed that they wanted to.
Talon studied Connor Madoc, and inwardly she fumed. Her father had warned her of the danger posed by that man. Dozens of times he had tried to lure her father to his side with petty bribes and flattery.
Daylan said, 'I must warn you that even the One True World holds its risks. Still, it is much like your world, and you will not have to abide there long. There may be dangers ahead, but compared to the certain destruction that awaits us if we stay here, the risks are worth taking.
'I intend to open a door into that world, and over the next few days you can march at your leisure. In time, I will open another door to this world, and we can enter somewhere far away from here, beyond the knowledge of the wyrmling hordes.'
For an instant, the crowd was stone silent. But they could not remain silent for long. Daylan Hammer was offering hope where only minutes before there had been none, and now Talon whooped in triumph. All of the rest of the people joined into the shout.
'Let us see this world first!' Connor Madoc clamored to be heard above the crowd.
Daylan Hammer shrugged in acquiescence, then begged use of a staff from the Wizard Sisel; the wizard complied.
Daylan touched the ground with the tip of the staff, and then swung it into a high arc, as if tracing the path of a rainbow.
When he brought the staff back to the ground, he stood for a moment, muttering an incantation. He raised his staff again and began drawing a rune in the air with its tip.
The air around the company suddenly seemed to harden: that was the only way that Talon could describe it.
