Legacy of Steel

20

The talon returned to their usual routine the following morning: training, service, labor, and guard duty, to be repeated again the following day and every day there after until further notice.

In between duties, they buried Jacson in the hills by his talon-mate, Tamar, in a hole blasted out of the frozen ground by the dragons. They placed his armor-clad body on his cloak and put his weapons beside him. Sara laid the bolt he had taken for her sake in his hand, and, her eyes blurred with tears, she tied her last hair ribbon around his arm-a token of esteem from a lady.

The others left him tokens, too, small remembrances of his presence among them, then reverently they piled the dirt over his grave and stood back and watched the dragons build a cairn of stones over the mound.

Sara fervently hoped she would not have to add any more graves to this lonely hillside.

Two days later Governor-General Abrena returned to Neraka, and after dealing with Torceth and making sure the city's affairs were in order, she sent her goblin to summon the Sixth Talon.

He found Sara and the squires on the practice fields with another recruit talon practicing hand-to-hand fighting. He sidled up to Sara and, bobbing his head, delivered his message.

Annoyed, Sara called in her recruits. She had no desire to see the governor-general and could not imagine what Abrena would want with them.

The goblin shifted nervously when she asked and grumbled, "Don't know. Governor-general say come."

Sara sighed and led the talon after him.

The goblin took them to the general's headquarters in the same house Sara had visited before. She had not been there in some time, since Mirielle liked to spread the honor of squiring her dinners among the knights.

They filed down a long hallway to a large room at the north end of the house. Sara felt her interest revive the moment she entered the room. Everywhere she looked there were maps hung on the dark paneling-ancient maps, recent maps, on parchment, on vellum, and even on bark-of every known part of Ansalon from the new Teeth of Chaos in the north to the massive Ice Wall Glacier to the south. The maps showed trails, high roads, villages, cities, fortresses, ruins, and landmarks.

Then Sara's eye was caught by a large table that stood in the center of the room. On the table sat the most amazing map Sara had ever seen of Neraka and its surrounding environs, from Estwilde in the north, as far east as the Blood Sea, down to Blode in the south and Throt in the west. Instead of being flat, the map was a three-dimensional relief map in bold colors of greens, blues, browns, and reds. Sara could identify the mountains and volcanic peaks around Neraka and Sanction, the towns and villages, the main rivers and ports, the realm of the Khur, and marked in red, the spreading domain of the dragon, Malystryx.

The map captured Sara's attention so completely that she did not pay attention to the four officers standing across the room from the talon.

Only when Governor-General Abrena moved to a side table to lift a wine bottle out of a bowl of snow did Sara look up. She recognized immediately that something of significance was about to occur. The first person she saw was Lord Knight Cadrel, his diseased face shadowed by a hood. In his left hand, he carried the scepter of the order's adjudicator, or judge. Beside him stood a gray-robed sorcerer, a Knight of the Thorn, and a grim-visaged woman wearing the emblem of the Order of the Skull. Three knights, three orders, and the general.

Sara's mental alarms began to clamor.

Mirielle refilled her glass from the chilled bottle pushed it back into the slush, and turned to her audience, all with the graceful, deliberate movements of a hunter. She smiled now and said, "I understand several of your squires requested to take the Test of Takhisis."

Sara stiffened, her internal alarms in full howl.

Six of the seven squires exchanged uneasy glances.

Only Treb stepped forward gladly. "Yes, General. I was supposed to take my test the day we captured the the village."

"Then you will be pleased to know that your involvement in the attack on the village was your test. For your valor, your skill, your adherence to the Code-" and here she quirked an eyebrow at Sara, "-we have found you all worthy to join the Order of the Lily."

Sara was flabbergasted. She stood and stared, too shocked to find the words she wanted to say. This was not how the test was usually applied! She couldn't believe these older knights actually agreed to this. These squires had not completed their training; they had not proven themselves in anything but one botched massacre, nor had they given an accounting of themselves before these ranking knights. What was Abrena looking for, knights dedicated heart and soul to Takhisis or whatever she could get tied by an empty vow?

Suddenly Sara heard the general say, "You will spend your vigil in solitary prayer to the Dark Queen this day. Tonight at midnight, if the priestess deems you worthy, you may take your vows. Please follow Lord Knight Atochia. She will take you to our new temple."

Treb moved first, her enthusiasm glowing in her face as she joined the cleric. Saunder looked at Derrick, then back at Sara. The girls just stared at the floor.

No, Sara thought with all her being, don't go!

But whether they wanted to or not, they had little choice. To refuse at this stage, in front of the general, the adjudicator, and two ranking knights, would be blasphemy and cause for immediate execution.

Derrick knew this as well as everyone else. Nevertheless, he seemed to hesitate. His body swayed slightly, and he could not bring himself to look at anyone. Finally, just as the general's face was hardening into a frown, he moved slowly after Treb. The others fell into line behind him.

Sara's heart lurched. She clenched her hands into iron fists at her sides and concentrated on the pain of her nails digging into her palms. It was all that helped her contain her anger and grief. They aren't ready, her mind cried over and over. They aren't ready!

No, said her heart. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to lose them. Wordlessly she watched them file out of the room to go to the Temple of Takhisis for their vigils.

"Excellent," Governor-General Abrena said with satisfaction. "Knight Officer Conby, please stay. The rest of you may go. I will expect you tonight for the knighting ceremony."

The two officers bowed and departed.

Sara remained frozen in place. She had to steel herself not to cry or scream or vent her rage on the general. Emotions would accomplish nothing but disaster. "Governor-General, I wish to make it clear that I do not approve of testing my talon in this way. They have not completed every phase of their training, and the capture of the village was hardly a suitable test."

"Your complaint has been noted, Conby. Don't worry about them. They'll be fine. They can polish their training during the remainder of the winter with a new leader." Mirielle lifted her glass in a toast. "You have done well with them. You are a fine trainer. I have watched you since your return to the order, and I am pleased with your work and your progress. Therefor-" she strode to her map and gestured to Sara to come closer, "-I have a task I believe would suit you well and help the knighthood. I want you to go to Solace and visit the Tomb of the Last Heroes."

If she had said, "I want you to go to the Abyss," Sara could not have been more surprised. She knew her jaw dropped open, but she could do nothing but stare at the woman's intent face. "Why?" she croaked.

The general did not answer right away. Instead, she sipped her wine and gazed into a distance that went far beyond the surfaces of her map.

For the first time since Sara met Mirielle, she saw the general's calculating, self-assured mask slip slightly askew to expose a faint shadow of the uncertainty that lay beneath. Wondering, Sara moved to the table and let her eyes roam over the map. On it, she saw Mirielle's ambitious plans for Neraka mapped out for the next several years, including expansions in the outer ring, more permanent barracks, a new headquarters, improved training facilities, and the new temple built atop the ruins of the old Temple of Darkness. Beyond Neraka, Sara saw towns and villages marked in black in an ever-increasing sphere of influence.

"What you see here," Mirielle said abruptly, waving her long fingers over the map, "is a plan for the future, for the survival of the knights, and for the glory of our Queen. But without Takhisis's Vision… I feel empty. Do you know what I mean?"

Sara didn't, but she nodded anyway. She had not allowed herself to be sucked into the order so far as to receive the dark goddess's Vision, nor had Lord Ariakan ever suggested it. But she had talked to enough knights to know that the true magic of the Vision was that it was different for every person who received it and that it revealed each person's individual path to death or glory in Takhisis's grand scheme. Apparently, when Ariakan died and Takhisis fled the world during the Second Cataclysm, the Vision had faded from the minds of their knights.

Mirielle continued to sip her wine and stare at her map. She did not seem to notice Sara's silence. "The odd part is that I do not remember what the Vision was, only that it was once a part of me. Now it is gone, and I feel its loss every day." She swiftly straightened and turned her golden eyes on Sara. "That is why I want you to go to the tomb. I am hoping you will find a sign, a faint hope, a vision, something that will tell us that Queen Takhisis might return. Even if it is not in my lifetime, I would like to know that what we do here will be well received by our Dark Queen. Will you do this?"

Sara did not hesitate. This was her ticket out of Neraka. She would go to the Tomb of the Last Heroes to see Steel's resting place, but she would not return. The squires would be knights by tomorrow and would no longer need her. She had the information she wanted and permission to leave. "Yes, I will go as soon as you wish," she replied. Then a stubborn little wish prompted her to say, "If the talon is knighted this night, may I take them with me as an escort?"

Mirielle shook her head. "Too many people would attract attention. Take one. Then if something happens, perhaps one of you will make it back with news."

"When do you want me to leave?"

"As soon as the weather clears. My patrols tell me there is a snowstorm in the mountains west of here, and it is expected to come this way."

Sara saluted and left Mirielle studying the map on the table. As she came to the door, she noticed a metallic shield that had been polished to a mirrored sheen hanging on the wall. A glimpse of her reflection peered back at her from its bright surface. Sara grimaced. Her face had aged in the few months she had been hero. She couldn't remember when she had looked so old and tired. More wrinkles had appeared on her forehead and around her eyes, and the blond coloring had faded from her hair, returning it to silver gray. She sighed wearily. She was too old to be a spy, running around Neraka pretending to be a knight. The effort had worn her out. It was time to go.

Sara thought about avoiding the knighting ceremony that night. She could hardly bear to face her failure or to see her squires received into the knighthood she loathed. Yet the thought of disappointing the young men and women with her absence proved stronger than her own weaknesses. Shortly before midnight, she gathered with the other knights before the Temple of Takhisis Mirielle had built just outside the old temple compound.

The storm from the mountains had made swift progress, and already a stiff wind roared among the black towers. A heavy blanket of clouds obscured the stars and turned the night darker and more forbidding. The cold grew intense.

A few snowflakes were beginning to fall when the waiting knights heard the clear notes of a trumpet on the gathering wind. Governor-General Abrena appeared in the courtyard of the temple, and the knights gathered in a circle around her. She threw her arms wide to greet the storm. Torches flared in the gusts that swept between the stone buildings. The yellow light danced on the knights' armor and threw shadows skittering across their faces.

The knights raised their arms with Mirielle and began a chant to their goddess.

In just a few moments, the men and women of the Sixth Talon would emerge from the temple where they had spent the day in prayer. If the priestess deemed them worthy, they would be invested in the dark knighthood and granted the status and rights of full Knights of Takhisis.

The snow fell harder.

In the growing storm, Sara lifted her arms beside the knights, but she only mouthed the words of the song of praise. Her eyes remained fixed on the door to the temple. She wasn't certain what she dreaded most, that all seven squires would emerge and be knighted, or that any of them had refused and been put to death.

The cold seeped into her bones and made her shiver.

The trumpet sounded again, ending the knights' chant. A silence settled over the courtyard, and all eyes turned to the temple. Someone flung open the door from the inside. A priestess in robes of black emerged. The wind whipped her long black hair about her face and sent her robes snapping. "They have been accepted," she cried in a high, clear voice.

Well, of course they have, Sara thought cynically. Abrena said take them, and Takhisis was not around to argue.

In single file, Derrick, Saunder, Kelena, Kazar, Marika, Treb, and Argathon emerged from the temple, each carrying the skull-shaped helm of a Dark Knight. In full armor, they knelt before Governor-General Abrena.

Sara closed her eyes, not wanting to see the black lily of death and the bloody axe that adorned each black breastplate. She listened, her teeth clenched so hard her jaw ached, as the general heard the initiates' blood oaths that joined each squire body and soul to the cause.

Using her own sword, Governor-General Abrena touched the blade to both shoulders of each squire and named them Knights in the Order of the Lily.

Sara did not stay to see more. Before the trumpet sounded dismissal, she turned her back on the ceremony and fled into the rising storm.

The wind and snow were bad enough within the city walls, but outside the main gates, the cold took Sara's breath away. The snow, driven in horizontal sheets, struck her like needles of ice. She pushed forward toward the ring of tents she knew to be out there in the wild, swirling darkness. Only for brief instants, when the gusts parted the curtains of snow, could she see faint glimpses of torchlight from the camps.

Sara pushed on into the blinding storm while the wind roared its wild melodies around her. Her cloak whipped around her, sometimes wrenching at her neck as the wind tried to pull it off. Other times it wrapped around her legs so suddenly it made her stumble.

It seemed the cold and the winds, the noise and the smothering, scratching snow would last forever. But at last Sara saw the dark humps of the tents through the blinding snow, and she stumbled gratefully into the meager windbreak provided by the camp. The guards, huddled in the shelter of a low shed, merely nodded to her.

She worked her way across the open quadrangle to the talon's section of the camp. In the whipping snow and darkness, she did not see Cobalt until she fell over his tail.

Sleepily the blue dragon lifted his head from beneath his wing. He lay curled around Sara's tent, his big body protecting her shelter from the ravages of the wind. Already a thin layer of snow blanketed his blue hide. He blinked at her. "Are you all right?"

Deeply touched by his concern, Sara threw her arms around his neck. She inhaled his pungent, reptilian odor and felt the slickness of his scales on her cheek. He felt cool to her touch, which accounted for his sleepiness, but Sara knew he could easily sleep out in a storm like this without discomfort. As long as he could feed in the morning.

"General Abrena is sending us to Solace as soon as the weather clears," she told him.

He tilted his head curiously. "What for?"

"To go to the Tomb of the Last Heroes."

"All right," he answered, too drowsy to really care. He nudged her good night, tucked his head back under his wing, and went back to sleep.

Sara made a quick round of the other tents to tighten storm ropes, check pegs, and make sure there was plenty of coal for the braziers. At last she stumbled into her own tent,. She had to stand for a minute, taking deep breaths, before she could peel off her snow-crusted cloak and stoke up the banked embers of her own brazier.

In the ruddy glow of the little brass heater, she boiled water for tea and warmed her numb hands. She heard the newly knighted talon return to camp, but she did not go out to greet them. She could not face them, not yet. She Knew she would have to soon, but tonight she needed the solitude of her own thoughts.

Derrick called to her once, and she stood still, hoping he would think her asleep. Cobalt grumbled sleepily at him, and Sara heard his steps crunch away until there was nothing left but the whining song of the wind and the creak and flap of the tent around her. She hung her cloak to dry, then bundled herself in the warmest clothes she had and crawled under her blankets.

As soon as the storm ended and she could say goodbye to the recruits, she would leave. She would put Neraka behind her forever, tucked away in the dark corners of her mind with her memories of Storm's Keep and Lord Ariakan and Steel Brightblade.