To Everything, There Is a Season

Before long they reached a vast open cavern sealed off by a marble wall covered by a series bas-reliefs. The first showed dragons flying through the sky over a desert with a few towers in the background. They seemed happy and content. The second showed a few dragons in spell-casting postures surrounding a gate whose posts were made of trees from which leaves were falling. A larger crowd of dragons surrounded them. Their faces were contorted with hate. The third showed the dragons over a mountain range that could have been the very Shreken Mountains that held these terrible caves. They were screaming in horror and some fell from the sky to their deaths. One of them was futilely trying to open a gate, which this time had no fallen leaves. The fourth showed some sort of ape-men gradually transforming into humans on the right, and a crowd of dragons on the left. A man in weird robes like those Arkon-Vaal was wearing stood on the left and held out his hand to a brutish-looking human. Fred realized it was a dragon in human form, possibly Arkon-Vaal's own father or grandfather. The fifth showed a crowd of still-brutish humans, now wearing clothes, holding up spears and some sort of small weapons that Fred couldn't understand which shot fire. They were attacking a lone dragon which was crying.

The sixth and last showed three armies attacking another gate. The first, on the left, was a human army, clad in some sort of strange armor that Fred had never seen before, surrounding the same gate of autumn trees that the dragons had entered. The second, on the right, was an army of dragons. They surrounded a gate made of trees that were still whole. The third, on the bottom, was an army of people who looked like humans but seemed more refined and elegant, who commanded birds and animasl to attack the center gate. These could only be the Fae, the "Others" Arkon-Vaal had spoken of. They surrounded a gate made of trees weighed down by fruit In the center was a gate made of trees that were bare and encrusted by ice. This, then, must be the "Gate of Frost." A large blank space surrounded that gate, which perhaps would have shown the creatures that came from it if its maker had known what they were.

The door to the cavern, which was shut, was flanked by two large statues of dragons with their mouths open and facing the door. As Fred examined the bas-reliefs, Minestus made arcane gestures with his hands and flames shot from the statues' mouths. The glyphs on the door then began to glow and the door faded away. "You may now enter," said Arkon-Vaal. "There are baths in the antechamber which are enchanted to heal any of your wounds. You will meet the others in due time. The convergence will happen in three days and then you shall be released." He turned toward his son and glared reproachfully. "Minestus, come with me. I think we should have a talk." The three prisoners haltingly entered the gate, while Minestus dejectedly followed his father.

The antechamber of the cavern, whose walls and floor were decorated with mosaics showing what were probably famous dragons from history, had three tubs set into the floor filled with steaming hot water that seemed to be glowing slightly. Another closed door lay on the opposite end of the room. "I'm certainly not going in there," said Astra.

"Nor I," said Fred.

"Relax, I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean to hurt us yet," said Glenda. She dipped her toe in and then eased into the water. Soon she closed her eyes and stretched out her legs. "It's fine," she said. "At least right now."

"So now what?" said Astra.

"Arkon-Vaal said it would heal any injuries you had," said Fred. "You were burned by that chain when I tried to break it [81890]." The scorch marks from the chains were still on her back. "The burns don't seem that bad but you should still be healed before we try to escape."

"All right," said Astra. But she didn't go into the pool. In teh end, Fred slid in before her and suddenly found himself filled with a sense of peace and quiet happiness. After a few seconds Astra followed him. Fred tried to fight off the peaceful feelings that washed over him, for they came from the dragon's magic. He had come here to slay the dragon and he had been stopped in the most humiliating way possible. He wanted to escape and at last complete the task he'd been preparing for all his life. He knew very well that it was foolish to trust the words of a dragon. And yet... what if there was some truth to what Arkon-Vaal was saying? No one in his order had met a dragon since its founding five hundred years ago, except for the creature who was now attacking the Great Kingdom, whatever it might be. And he had heard tales from traders before that there were dragons in the east who were on the side of humankind. Whatever the case he seemed to have little choice now. He talked of escape to Astra to give her hope, and perhaps himself as well. But there seemed to be no possiblity of it given Arkon-Vaal's power. There seemed to be nothing left to do but wait.

At least he didn't have to wait alone. He had Astra, a great warrior who he'd only heard of in stories. From the courage she'd shown when he was breaking the chain he could see that she was every bit as brave as the stories said. And every bit as beautiful as well. It was unfortunate that he hadn't come across in a very good light, as Arkon-Vaal had defeated him within moments. He could only hope he could spend some more time with her when this was over, if it ever was. As for Glenda, she was very beautiufl as well... almost too beautiful. There was something about her that almost made him uneasy. He found himself thinking of the dead bodies he'd seen outside the cave [44524] that Glenda had said were men of her home town, and had almost said something else. He also remembered her odd burst of strength, too great for her slim body. [38444] No, he told himself, it was foolish to think such things when they all needed to stick together.

Astra was feeling peaceful on the surface, but beneath bubbled a deep hatred and anger. That wyrm Minestus hadn't raped her, thank the Gods, or tortured her beyond keeping her chained to a wall for days which felt like months But that was enough. She'd been humiliated and all her greath strength had been useless. It still was. After all, wasn't her current state just a more pleasant kind of imprisonment? And how could she trust a dragon who had treated his cruel and murderous son as if he was no more than an erring child? What would he do to her? And if she never escaped, what would happen to Aqualaria? She was the heir to the throne and without her the queendom would be in great danger. Perhaps she should have thought of that before riding off to slay a powerful dragon alone.

Still, at least she wasn't alone now. From what little she'd knew of him Fred seemed loyal and as strong and brave, a good man to have at watching your back in a place like this. He hadn't fared very well against the dragons but neither had she. And, she thought wryly, he was quite handsome as well and however great his sword may have been he clearly didn't need to compensate for anything. It was a shame she couldn't have met him under better circumstances. Glenda, on the other hand, she was far from sure about. Glenda had glibly avoided answering any kind of question about who she was. An heir to the throne, if she would live long, learns quickly to see when someone is hiding something.

Glenda rejoiced to feel the gentle touch of the warm water and the dragon's magic. She didn't doubt that Arkon-Vaal had been telling the truth, even if he hadn't been telling the full truth. The Winter Gate had opened. She and every one of her people here could feel it in their bones. That was why Arkon-Vaal had had to capture her and kill those her House had sent to save her, for in the treaty drawn up after the great war millions of years ago her people were forbidden to act directly against Winter. A war between Spring and Winter would shatter the Autumn World whoever won, and she did not want that. She loved the bright and transient beauty of this world, the beauty that the dragons who had come so long ago from the Summer World were blind to. If she could hold off the coming of Winter for a little longer she would.

And Arkon-Vaal clearly respected her because he'd covered for her among the humans, even if he had made the ridiculous claim that his race was older than hers. When she'd told him she might have drowned if he had not been such a strong swimmer--indicating to him that she wanted the others to see her as human--he'd told her 'That would have been unfortunate. I'm afraid that I sometimes tend to overlook how frail the human form is in comparison with that of a dragon.' But they both knew that she would not have drowned, for hers was no human form.

So she knew well why Arkon-Vaal had to do what he did. Still, she did not like being imprisoned and kept away from the woods, nor did she like Arkon-Vaal's killing her men. It was a slight against her people, even if they were human retainers who could easily be replaced. So she would not tell him the full truth about the Jotun.

And yet Arkon-Vaal had done her a great favor, even though he had not meant to. He had brought her Fred. Here was a man who truly had great beauty and a great soul. It would be cruel to leave him here in the Autumn World to wither away and perish. Perhaps when she was free she would free him from his human name and life and take him to the Spring World to be hers forever.

Their thoughts were interrupted when one of the doors faded away and a young woman stepped through.

1. Astra recognized her: it was Belinda, her sister.
2. Fred recognized her: it was Rowena, his sister.
3. Fred recognized her: it was Exotica, princess of Allaria.
4. Glenda recognized her: it was Irena, a mercenary she'd met before.
5. No one recognized her. It was a tall, elegant, black-haired woman who was clearly not one of those kidnapped for the spell because she was wearing robes. Robes of the same kind as Arkon-Vaal's. Was this another dragon?

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