After escaping back up the hidden spiral stairway to the surface, Devrik carrying the body of Karina, the group found Erol and Jeb waiting for them. Grover was hunkered down across the Erol’s shoulders, while Cherdon perched nervously on the Jeb’s. The reason for the animals’ anxiety was immediately obvious – soaring up out of the Vale of Rekorgo and then diving back down into it was the magnificent blue dragon Ulsarinas.

As the group moved closer to the cliff’s edge they could see how the gülvini, whether Hovguvai or Gramlini, fled from her attacks in screaming terror – only to be frozen solid, smashed by her massive tail, caught in her cruel talons to be taken up and then dropped from a great height, or rent to pieces by her enormous mouth.

“She doesn’t seem to be eating them, though,” Erol noted conversationally, absently stroking Grover’s fur.

“She probably filled up earlier,” Taeland suggested.

“Yes, it looks like she’s already cleared out the interior – the gates are shattered,” Mariala agreed, her aching head momentarily forgotten.

“Just taking care of the loose ends at this point, I imagine,” Vulk offered, stretching out his arm for Cherdon to transfer to.

“She does seem tidy that way,” Toran agreed.

“Certainly not something you see every day,” Korwin observed. “Even in the Empire.”

“Do you ever really get used to things like this?” asked Jeb, shaking his head in wonder.

“Huh,” grunted Therok, wrapping the cloak he’d lifted off Jardath’s body more tightly around him, against the chill blowing out of the vale below.

Devrik said nothing as he laid the body of Karina down near the cliff’s edge.

♦ ♦ ♦

Two turns of the glass later, Ulsarinas alighted with a weary, but very satisfied, sigh on the clifftop near the Hand .

“Thank you, my little friends, for the lovely advice about this place,” she said graciously, in her deep, sensual and seductive voice. “That was the most fun I’ve had in decades!”

“Thank you, milady,” Korwin replied earnestly. “Your timely arrival provided the critical diversion that allowed us to complete our business here.”

“Did it? Well, it wasn’t really my intention… but if you found it beneficial, I suppose I don’t mind. But was your business successful? You all seem rather… battered since last we met. And this one looks quite dead. A friend of yours?”

“No,” Devrik said before Korwin could speak. “An enemy, but not one who deserved to die as she did, by stealth and treachery.” He stepped up to stand beside Karina’s body. “Your magics are very strong, Lady Ulsarinas… can you revive her?”

The dragon cocked her head as she stared for a moment at the fire mage, then bent down to peer more closely at the corpse, sniffing it and eyeing it from every side. Then she pulled back her massive head, shaking it firmly.

“I’m sorry man of the Flame,” she said. “I can do nothing here… I have great powers of healing, true, but I’m afraid they do not extend beyond the borders of death. And this one is dead indeed. Perhaps, if she were only mostly dead…”

Devrik bowed his head, fists clenched in frustration, and stepped back, saying nothing more.

“But if I cannot do as you ask in this matter,” the dragon went on after a moments thought, “I can at least aid you in your own hurts, weary as I am from my day’s sport.”

With that she again bent her neck down, bringing her massive head level with the group. Her silver-blue eyes glowed with a brilliant light, and her mouth opened to release a silvery-blue mist that settled over them all. They again felt the chill tingle as her magic healed every hurt, absorbed their fatigue, and even evaporated the alcohol from Mariala’s bloodstream.

“There, try not to get so damaged again for awhile,” Ulsarinas said in an amused and indulgent tone, pulling back to her usual great height.

“We may have little choice in that, my lady,” Mariala said, feeling clear in her thinking for the first time in hours. “This was but an outlier of the evil that threatens to bring war, not only to these mountain, but to the entire North. It is our job to oppose it.. although how is not entirely clear at the moment.”

“War! Well, it had better not come here,” the blue dragon said, suddenly peevish. “This was fun, for a day, but I came south for some peace and solitude. I wish to enjoy my new home without annoying distractions.”

“Mmmm, if that is the case, milady,” Korwin interjected smoothly, “this may not prove to be the very best place for you to make your lair. Aside from the very powerful Gray Mage whose base this was, and who is likely to send her forces against you… well, Rekorgo lies fairly close to several human trade routes, especially the Talorin Trail. I fear you may be discommoded fairly often, once word of your magnificence spreads.”

“Have a care, little water mage,” Ulsarinas said coldly. “I sense that what you say is what you believe, but your flattery doesn’t hide the scent of manipulation. I am not a tool to be wielded to your own petty ends – do not let my slight fondness for you lead you to think otherwise!”

“No indeed, milady,” Korwin agreed hastily, turning a bit pale. “But I think ‘manipulation’ is unfair – I can’t deny that I see the advantage you would be in our struggle, but if your own desires are congruent with our needs, is it so wrong of me to hope for your aid?”

“Hmmm… well, you have the wit not to deny it, anyway,” the dragon replied, somewhat mollified. “But I am not yet convinced that our needs and desires are truly congruent. I shall think on it, however.”

With that she spread her tremendous wings, and with a blast of air that staggered the humans she took to the air. Turning, she dove down into the vale, angling towards the shattered Main Gate, into which she quickly disappeared.

“Well, that was as nerve-wracking as ever,” Vulk said, letting out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding.

“Yes, we have to be very careful how we deal with her,” Mariala agreed. “Korwin, she clearly likes you best, but I think you should… minimize the flattery and just be upfront with her.”

“Hey, I’m playing this all by the seat of my tunic,” Korwin snapped. “It’s not like I’ve ever dealt with a dragon before. I’m doing the best I can!”

“I know, I know,” Mariala agreed placatingly. “This affects us all, so I think we should all have some say in it… but at the end of the day  you’re the one with the rapport, and you will always be our liaison with Ulsarinas. We just want to help make it all not so much, um… by the seat of your tunic, yes?”

Mollified himself, Korwin shrugged and  let it go.

♦ ♦ ♦

The Hand decided to make camp near the great stone chimney while they figured out their next move. The smoke had stopped pouring out from it some time ago, the fires no doubt extinguished by Rekorgo’s new mistress. For two days they rested and combed through the material they had taken from Avira’s chambers, and discussed their options.

But before that discussion could take place a minor Korwin-crisis divert everyone’s attention. The water mage, once the others had settle down for the night, had pulled the ring he’d purloined from Karina’s corpse, and examined it closely. An ugly thing, it’s lines subtly unpleasing to the eye, the gem an unsettling shade of violet, it nonetheless seemed to pulse in his hand with an almost subliminal power.

He hadn’t stolen it, of course… merely taken it for safe-keeping in the heat of the moment, while things were still so uncertain. He’d hand it over to the group, naturally, but not until he’d had a chance to plumb its mysteries first. Once he learned what it was, what it did, then he’d share it with his allies… almost certainly…

He was not a fool, obviously, so he didn’t simply slip it onto a finger. Instead he focused his psionic gift of psychometry on it and opened his mind to its history… and it was like coming suddenly on a precipice, a vast gulf of space opening without warning before ones feet. But it wasn’t space, it was time – so much time! His mind reeled, rejecting the immensity that threatened to swallow him whole… a speck in an immensity beyond human comprehension…

Toran, who was on first watch with Vulk, heard Korwin’s strangled cry, and the two sentinels found their companion convulsing on his sleeping roll. The cleric recognized the symptoms, having learned months ago of his Imperial friend’s susceptibility to the falling sickness, and immediately knelt beside him.

“He’s having a seizure,” he told the shocked Khundari. “He’ll be alright, as long as he doesn’t spasm himself into the fire or swallow his tongue. Hold him down while I force this stick between his teeth!”

The seizure slowly passed, and eventually Korwin returned to a hazy, painful consciousness, to find the entire group gathered around him. In his attack he had closed his hand tightly around the ring, so tightly that the others had been unable to prize his fist apart to see what he held. Now his grip loosened, and the ring glinted in the firelight.

“Ah, the ring that Karina was wearing… and seemed so reluctant to give up,” Erol said, frowning. “I wondered where that had got to.”

“And I hadn’t even know it existed,” Mariala said, plucking the bauble from the dazed man’s hand before he could react. “What exactly were you doing with it, Korwin?”

“Trying to – argh,” the Imperial replied, trying to sit up and failing as his head threatened to shatter. “Ugh. I was trying… to read its… history… be careful! It’s powerful… whatever it is… and very, very old… so old… it must be an Ancient artifact… so old…” he trailed off into an incomprehensible mumble.

“It must have caused a psionic backlash,” Vulk said, lifting his friend’s eyelids and peering at his dialated pupils. “Which in turn triggered one of his epileptic seizures… he should be OK, with some rest; although I doubt he’ll be able to use any psionic abilities for awhile.”

“Hmmm,” Mariala said, shaking her head. “I think we’ll leave the rest of the items we recovered alone, until we’re somewhere  a little safer. Don’t you agree/” she asked, looking around at her friends.

“I’m not sure it’s wise to taken unknown, and potentially dangerous, artifacts into a combat situation,” Devrik frowned.

“I agree,” Mariala replied. “All the more reason to travel to Maser Vetaris and his expertise, rather than rushing headlong into battle again.”

And so the debate about their next course was reignited…

It was almost a certainty that at least a few gülvini had escaped the carnage of the dragon, despite Ulsarinas’ best efforts… there were too many small bolt holes and secret escape routes in any hive. Which meant Avira would probably learn of the debacle soon enough. The question was, what would she do? Which way would she jump? And how could the Hand and the Star Council use this to their advantage?

Mariala desperately wished to communicate with Master Vetaris, both to pass on what they had learned to the Council and to get his advice. To that wend, she counseled a return home, to confer and to plan. Devrik, however, was of the opinion that time was of the essence, that Avira would be off balance with this latest blow to her power, and a surprise, focused attack where it was least expected (her home base) might bring her down for good.

The discovery, amongst the papers, scrolls and books from Avira’s chambers, of a detailed Portal map of the entire North hadn’t helped the debate. It showed not only the Portals that were generally known, several of them already used by the Hand, but also a series of secret or hidden Portals. Mariala believed, based on some margin notes and other clues, that Avira had spent years altering documents all across the kingdoms of the North, deleting or destroying references to these Portals so that only she and her allies now knew of them. And there was one just two kilometers from their current location…

Using her spooky note paper, Mariala had learned that Master Vetaris was currently in Zhuran, no doubt working on some plot to disrupt the Usurper’s plans and bring an end to the Tharkian war. Portaling to him would leave them closer to the action here in the mountains than going home, she suggested to her companions. Devrik argued that the delay was really the same either way, and that the element of surprise was steadily slipping away, an argument that made a great deal of sense to most of the others.

The next morning the Hand used the nearby Portal to travel to Zhuran to consult with Master Vetaris…