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"I cannot say for certain ... but only suggest that, if I had come as far as you, I would find a way to finish
the rest of the journey."
"You are right, brother. I must go."
Leth and Gilthanas left the grove before the dawn, crawling through the meadow to the trees of the
forest proper. Above them they could barely make out the white shapes of the three griffins, still perched
on their limbs.
They were about to climb the tree when a nearby exclamation startled them.
"Let go! Stop that!" A voice, the musical tones of a female elf, jolted through the night.
"Here, now," growled a deep, unquestionably human response. "You know these woods are off
limits you'll be speaking to the captain, you will."
"No!" Now the elven voice was shrill with terror.
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Before Gilthanas could react, Lethagas, sword in hand, bolted through the darkness. The prince heard a
sharp oath, followed by a gurgling grunt. He had just risen to follow when Leth came back, leading a
disheveled but very pretty white-haired elf woman by the hand. She wore leathers cut similarly to that
of a Kagonesti elf. "C'mon!" he whispered. "Get to the griffins!"
"Thank you you saved my life!" gasped the female. Abruptly she pulled Leth to her, and their lips met
in a fierce, crushing kiss.
"We've got to get out of here!" Gilthanas hissed urgently.
Only after another few seconds of taut embrace did the elf woman release Lethagas. She looked at him
with pure adoration, while Leth, for his part, seemed unsteady on his feet. He was breathing hard, and his
face was locked in a giddy grin.
Somehow, the pair held hands while they climbed the trees to the griffins. They paused for another
passionate kiss before mounting the three flyers. The feathered creatures flew away before further sounds
of alarm rose from below.
"I am called Alla," said their new companion, addressing Lethagas. "And I owe you my life ... everything
that I have."
"Why were the guards attacking you?" demanded the young elf, his voice tight with rage as he
remembered the scene.
"I... I was trying to enter the sacred grove and honor my father," Alla replied. "But that is forbidden by
the Dark Knights. They would have killed me!"
"You are safe, now, with us," Leth declared gallantly. Riding three abreast, the trio of elves on their
griffins flew over the sea toward the Isle of Sancrist.
The Abduction: Whitestone Glade, 28sc
"Do you think they still watch over us?"
I had been waiting for this question ever since I took on the duties of preparing and then testing Sir
Willam for advancement in the Order of the Sword. As part of my effort to get to know him, I had
assigned myself to share his watch in the Whitestone Glade, one of the most holy sites in Ansalon. Until
just a few years ago, we had believed magic had fled, but then a young Rose Knight named Linsha
Majere believed that the intervention of the gods themselves saved her from an attacker in the Glade.
This night, the winter wind blowing through the barren forest seemed particularly harsh, and the young
Knight probably needed the conversation to take his mind off the cold.
"What do you think, Willam?"
His eyes wandered across the Whitestone Glade before us. The massive stone glinted under the light of
the pale moon. "I don't know. My father taught me to honor the gods whether they are present or not.
Anything less would be a violation of the Measure: Just because the gods are absent doesn't mean we
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should stop honoring them or obeying their strictures. But do you think they're really gone?"
"Well, you've heard of Lady Linsha's experience in the Glade. She believes it came from the gods, not
from within her. I'm inclined to believe her because of two things. First, she was taught to master the Final
Gift of the gods at the feet of Goldmoon herself. Second, she is a Rose Knight and I consider her honor
to be beyond question."
"I would never question her honor, Sir, nor the truthfulness of her statement. Lady Sheryl beat me
soundly on the training field to defend her friend's honor when she suspected I was doing that very thing,
and I do not want to repeat the mistake with the Knight who may sponsor me for admittance into the
Order of the Sword. I just can't help but wonder. Much changed in the wake of the gods' departure. Can
we truly be certain that we guard a holy site?"
"We can't," I said. "All we can be sure of is our own beliefs and the Measure. If you learn to be true to
those and to uphold their standards, you will serve effectively as a Knight of the Sword."
"Just once," Willam muttered. "I'd like to see the stars flash as they did for Vinas Solamnus. I'd like to
know that there really is something greater than us that isn't a dragon. I would really like to have a sign
that they are still out there and that our service to them means something."
"If there is proof, Willam," I said, "then what does belief matter? We cannot pretend we know the minds
of gods, nor will we ever be certain that they will again give us proof of their existence beyond life itself
and the Final Gift of mystic magic that they bestowed upon the world."
"Takhisis still whispers to the Dark Knights. Or so they claim."
I shrugged. "If you wish to believe the Dark Knights, Willam, then you have your proof that the gods are
still active in the world. If you seek hard enough, maybe you'll find your own proof. Or maybe it's right
here in this Glade."
He looked back at the stars. "What do you believe, Sir Gavin?"
"What I believe is unimportant. Yourbeliefs are what matter. I will tell you this: I believe in the good of
the Knighthoods. I believe that our duty to oppose Evil in all its forms, the duty that Paladine, Kiri-Jolith,
and Habbakuk charged Vinas Solamnus with, is still ours. The gods do not need to impress me with
priestly parlor tricks for me to know that.
Willam gave me a thoughtful look, then fell silent.
I looked at the Whitestone. I hate thinking about the gods, because it always starts me thinking about the
Orders when I was a child. I grew up during an age of revival for the Solamnic Knighthood. The ranks
were swelling with new members and the gods were again guiding them forward. I dreamed of being like
my father, a Sword Knight, a holy warrior who in his youth had brought the will of Kiri-Jolith to the
remnants of the dragonarmies all across Ansalon. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]