The Return of the Dragonhawk

Chapter 38 -- Hopes and Fears

Alyn sat down heavily on the bench in front of Drawyn's house, suppressing a groan as her joints twinged. Though she was blessed with a strong and healthy body, it did not have the stamina of her youthful self. At times, she felt so weary that she wondered if her rejuvenation spell had failed, and she was becoming a crone once more.

She stared at the stars. Her life at Praxenkyr seemed so long ago and far away that it was no more substantial than an ancient fable.

Gundar had displayed a warrior's composure when Alyn told him that they must flee from Abbelard. He nodded without questioning and assembled what was needed with lightning speed while she stood numb and helpless.

For the first few days of their exile, they camped in the wilds bordering the Amethyst Mountains. She started at every sound, expecting to be discovered at any moment. Gundar built a shelter, hunted food, protected her from the wild beasts, and taught her the art of cooking with a smokeless fire. Before the translation spell faded, leaving them with only minimal comprehension of each other's speech, she told him as much as she could devise on the spur of the moment about her new identity as the widow Eyra, his mother-in-law. He would henceforth be known as Tir and was never to give himself away by using the Northern language. He smiled at her choice of names and told her that Tir was the most esteemed hero in the Urtime of the Northlands.

The silent days in the forest healed Alyn's spirit sufficiently to ponder her situation, but not enough to restore faith in her own judgement. She vacillated endlessly between this plan and that. She was sure of only one thing: the Tirena S'Alyn must disappear without a trace. Her very existence was a threat to the world she had fought so hard to preserve. She thought of doing away with herself, but was prevented by the thought that Gundar would likely consider himself obligated to follow her to the Realm of Mysteries.

Before they ventured near the highroad, Alyn coiled her hair around her head in the fashion of Peregrian matrons and fashioned a heavy mourning veil from her underskirt to hide her face. She cut Gundar's hair so that his Northern origin was less obvious -- an indignity to which he submitted with a noticeable lack of good will.

Helion was the closest haven, and probably the safest. She and Gundar broke camp and travelled the highroad by night to the Condor Way bridge. She muffled the hooves of Gundar's horse and waited for the bridge to be lowered. When the moment came, she mounted behind Gundar and tried to use the invisibility amulet to get across, meaning to return later for her own horse. One of the bridge guards had the Sight, and they were detected and turned back. Alyn tried again, with the same result. She was afraid to make any further attempts. If they were captured, she might have no recourse but to give up her anonymity.

As they made their way back towards the Great Crossroads, Alyn thought heavily on their options. If they decided to take refuge in Dys, Gundar would have to leave his horse behind. When she fled Praxenkyr, she had chosen Cloudy for his speed, his stamina, and his ability to pass Utor's magical barrier; but Gundar's steed had not even a drop of Akynadarian blood.

Crossing the Great Brige into Akynadar would be simple, since it was not guarded by mages. If they successfully braved the unpredictable mercy of the raiders who had taken over the roads, they would have the choice of making their way to Horak and sailing to Helion, continuing to the Great Wall and the Southern Dominions, or making their way eastward to Eelor Kato. The new settlement seemed ideal for her purpose -- if she could only find it.

Her choices became even more complex when they came upon an abandoned toddler, too young to speak, crying by the roadside. After comforting him and feeding him with scraps of their rations, she could not bear to leave him behind for the wild beasts. Ignoring Gundar's disapproval, she put the child in the saddle in front of him, and gave him to understand that this was now his son Elekandro, named after a literary hero whose exploits had thrilled her as a child. From then on, they travelled in the daytime, buying whatever they needed as the opportunity presented itself. After a few hours of glowering, "Tir" took very well to fatherhood.