Summer of Flame

A/N: I gave the full truth in bits and pieces, but now the answers come out...

I also made Usha a bit stronger than she was in the books. Her whiny-ness needed a tune up.

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Chapter Ten

Divided Attention

Raistlin awoke again to another room although not one nearly as well appointed as the last. In fact... it was more like a prison cell made for high ranking personage than a room. Checking the door to find it locked confirmed it, as well as the small window cut high into the wall that also sported a set of thick steel bars. He sighed. Likely he was some other Nightlord's prize now. He walked back to the thin cot and sat on it as it was the only furniture in the room other than the small table and chair.

The room had a cloistered feeling and Raistlin found himself drumming his fingers in impatience after the first hour of waiting. Finally the door clicked as someone used the key to open it and swung open. Two grey robed wizards, a black robed cleric and Lord Ariakan walked in. "For a while I thought you had forgotten about me," remarked Raistlin.

"Hardly," snorted Ariakan. "More like trying to figure out what to do with you after you murdered our last Nightlord."

"Murdered?" Raistlin repeated. "She captured me, forced me to her room, then when my Sight took over touched my shoulder. Please excuse me, but it is hardly my fault when I react to a threat after I begin to come out of a Sight induced dream."

Ariakan seemed to muse on this, then he said, "I rather suspected that to be the case when I consulted with the new Nightlord and our Lord of Skulls. It was not the Vision, I know, but I am still curious as to what your Sight told you."

"As you should be," agreed Raistlin. "Chaos has returned and sworn his vengeance on his
children's creation to punish their 'disobedience'. Unless we stop this silly war between you and the Solamnics, and everyone else, all of creation will be destroyed."

Ariakan's eyebrows looked like they were almost part of his scalp, so high had they climbed. He turned to the Lord of Skulls and asked, "Does this ring true to you?"

"No and yes," said the High Cleric of Takhisis. "No, given the source. Yes, given it would explain the Vision's recent muddiness. But there is no proof. My suggestion is to send Lord Majere with an escort to Palanthas, to his Tower and into the Abyss. Either that will bring us ultimate victory when our Dark Queen enters Krynn, or the answer as he says when the answer comes from the Gods themselves."

"Excuse me," interjected Raistlin. "Do I get a say on the matter at all?"

Lord Ariakan nodded in thought. "It is not the most well thought out plan I have heard. A bit thin I would say. Who would go with him if I agree?"

"His own nephew, Steel Brightblade," suggested the Nightlord.

"Sir Brightblade?" Ariakan narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "I heard the last Nightlord suggest him, and only because I am sure that she thought he would fail and in that way I would be forced to put him to death. How do I know this is not the same trick?"

Raistlin sighed and leaned back against the wall, although taking in the entire argument, but he pointed out, "In case you have forgotten, only a white robe cleric and a black robe wizard can open the portal to the Abyss. After the last attempt, no white robe cleric will ever help me do that, no matter the reason."

Ariakan nodded, "Yes, a rather useless attempt, doomed to failure. Like the last time I heard a Nightlord suggest it, like she wanted it to fail."

"...Which she did, my Lord," admitted the Nightlord. "I do not want it to fail. But it is the last resort we have. With the Vision muddied beyond understanding, it is the only chance we have."

Raistlin closed his eyes, and saw an open portal. Opening them again, he said, "I'll do it, but not for you nor your Dark Queen. I will do it to prove what I say is the truth because only in proving it will you believe me and do as I suggest."

The cleric and the wizards left, and Ariakan made a move to leave, but stopped and turned to him, "You could have teleported out with your nephews, I understand. And, judging by the damage done in the former Nightlord's chambers, you could have beaten all the brutes and our Knights with what spells you have left. Why allow yourself to be taken, because I know you did."

Raistlin stood and walked over to Ariakan, "If you knew that the only way a message that would save millions of others could be delivered was to be captured, as distasteful capture is, would you?"

Ariakan thought for a moment, then understanding dawned, "You knew you would brought to me first."

"Actually, I didn't," admitted Raistlin. "I had a pretty good hunch that you would want to meet me, but I did not know for sure. Either way, I had to tell someone with enough honor that they would not be able to stand idle while they knew destruction for all was coming. You, fortunately, were not the only person."

"Steel," breathed Ariakan.

Raistlin nodded, "I knew that if I told my nephew Steel he would be sure to tell you. Whether or not you and he believed the message was secondary. Proof would have come soon enough that you would have hopefully had enough time to prepare for a war with far more purpose than the one you fight now."

* * *

Dalamar emerged from the teleportation from Wayreth in the central chambers (that, before the Cataclysm had been the Conclave chambers) of the Tower in Palanthas. Jenna was waiting for him, her class long since dismissed. She allowed herself to enveloped into his arms and submitted willingly to his kisses as he trailed from her mouth and down her neck. A few moments later, she pulled back and said, "I didn't call you back for that, although I do wish I did."

"Oh?" he asked, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. "And here I thought you called me back to cheer me..."

"Oh, it all depends on how you take this," she answered. "I remember you saying about a year back that you wished you had a key to take over the Tower once and for all. I think I found it."

His eyebrows truly lifted, "You killed Raistlin Majere?"

"Oh no!" she laughed. "As far as I know, the Dark Knights still hold him captive." She turned mischievous, "Let's just say a legend we all thought a lie is perhaps true. I have someone you may want to meet..."

Jenna led him up the spiral staircase to a dining room that he usually reserved for high ranking guests in the Tower, as seldom as it happened it never hurt to be prepared, and opened the door where a young woman waited, leaning on the sill. She turned around upon his entrance and he found himself speechless in shock. Jenna smirked, "Dalamar, this is Usha of Selesia. Lady Usha, this is Master Dalamar."

Dalamar managed to rein in his shock at the sight of Usha. The young woman looked about
perhaps twenty to twenty five years old, but that was not what had surprised Dalamar. It was her hair and eyes; her eyes were a shade that were unmistakably a metallic gold, like Raistlin's, and her hair was platinum silver white (again, reminding Dalamar of his Shalafi...). Her skin was far paler, but was still possessing a distinctive golden tint. "All the Gods of Krynn," he whispered, then recovered. "Lady Usha, an honor."

She nodded cooly, seemingly unaffected by his surprise. Then again, mused Dalamar, given how distinctively unique she looked she was probably well used to the reaction. "You are Dalamar?" she asked, and he noticed the peculiar, but not unattractive accent to her soft voice. She handed him a scroll with a stylized but graceful bold sigil that sealed it. "I bear a message from the Protector of the Irda."

Dalamar sucked in breath. Well, so that part of the legend happened to be true to form as well. It was strange as she also held no claim. Perhaps... she didn't know? He took the scroll and opened it, noticing that it was more than a few pages long, and began to read it with a short, but polite, "Thank you, my Lady."

Jenna began to ask the subtle questions while Dalamar was listening, but still reading, "So, Lady Usha, was your journey long? Is this your first time to Palanthas?"

"It was... long enough," she answered. "And it is my first trip to Ansalon. I have never left Selesia before now. If there was a time when I was not on the Isle of the Irda, I do not remember it."

Dalamar and Jenna looked up at this, and Dalamar asked in stunned disbelief, "You've never been off the island?"

Usha shook her head, "There was no need, and I was too young to leave. I didn't really want to, but the Decider thought that it was best if I delivered the message to you and no other. I am not too sure why, however..."

At that she turned her attention back to the window. Dalamar looked at Jenna in surprise, and Jenna was equally surprised. Dalamar had a sneaky suspicion on why Usha had been chosen, but until he was sure he was not going to voice it. It would likely scare her away and if it proved true Dalamar had a use for the young woman. He smiled as he read the Protector's letter. As he read, soon the smile fell off and a feeling of dread came over him. For the second time in one night, he swore, "By all the Gods of Krynn!"

The two women turned to him and saw his pale face. Dalamar turned to Usha, "When were they planning on cracking the Greygem open?"

"Right after I left," she answered in puzzlement. "I saw the red glow from the island that meant that they succeeded."

Dalamar went to the northwestern window and threw it open to see the red glow in the sky. Cursing again, he handed the scroll to Jenna to read. Her hands flew to her mouth in horror, "How could anyone be so stupid?!"

"I am afraid I don't understand..." pointed out Usha.

Dalamar walked to the mirror of communication and chanted low for a second, then said,
"Raistlin Majere."

For a long moment, there was no answer. Dalamar could hear the waterclock, and then he tried again. Still nothing. He slammed a hand against the wall in frustration. "Perhaps he is unable to answer?" mused Jenna.

* * *

For the second time in as many weeks, Raistlin found himself on dragonback. This time, he did not ride as a prisoner, but as a passenger as the quickest of the blues carried him and a Dark Knight to Palanthas.

Once in sight, the dragon slipped down and landed outside of the city walls and out of sight. Steel and Raistlin slipped unseen in the night to the wall. Raistlin pointed out, "There is no way inside now that the cities of Ansalon are expecting your attack."

"There is always a way in so long as you are prepared, Uncle," responded Steel as he walked around to the outer wharf to knock on a door in a set pattern.

A moment later the door slid open for a gnarled old woman, a fishmonger if Raistlin did not miss his guess, to regard them, "I'm closed for the night."

"But the best fish is at night," said Steel. "And the dark moon is high."

The door opened and Steel entered quickly, pulling Raistlin through as he did. The fishmonger closed the door. "The last time I saw you, you were not in the company of one of them," her thumb pointed at Raistlin in disdain. "I didn't think Skull Knights skulked around."

"I am not a Skull Knight," answered Raistlin in equal disdain, his voice barely above a whisper. "I am not a Knight at all."

Steel frowned, "Knight of the Thorn Desdemona Mareht meet the Master of Past and Present, Raistlin Majere."

"A pleasure to see you again, Des," whispered Raistlin with a slight smile.

After Raistlin had betrayed the Companions in the War of the Lance, he had worked with Mareht in Neraka and therefore they went back farther than Steel realized.

Her eyes widened as she recognized him. "By Takhisis's five heads," she whispered, then turned to Steel. "Tell Ariakan the next time you see him that he sure knows how to pick them."

She turned and led them to the back, then pulled up the cellar door, "The route has changed marginally as the Knights nearly found the route. Go left then right instead of what it was before."

Mareht clicked and a large black raven landed on her arm. Touching Raistlin, she got the raven to sit on his shoulder. "Qeris knows the route if you get lost."

With that he and Steel entered the cellar and went from there to the sewers. As they walked Raistlin pointed out, "Using the sewers in this part of the city is risky."

"And why is that?" asked Steel impatiently.

"Because there are undead down here," answered Raistlin and at Steel's shocked look he sighed. "Not too major unless you go further down in the sewers to the old dwarven city that is down there."

Almost as an afterthought and in a whisper he said, "I should know..."

* * *

The four sat in an inn, having just arrived after a harrowing journey from Solanthus. While they attracted a good deal of stares they were left alone for the most part. The minotaur, as it was his job to protect her, kept an eye on the dark-skinned elf bard that was performing on a small raised stage. She was collecting a fair amount of coin. The draconian looked up and asked, "She's got a pretty enough voice, I'll grant her that."

The huge minotaur shrugged his massive shoulders, "She gets a lot of attention where ever we have gone. I think at first it's because she is so exotic she attracts the attention."

"So, do you believe her claim?" asked the cleric they had found in Silvanesti.

"Sometimes I think I might," admitted Yz. "I have to admit that she's handy in a dungeon crawl with her sight. I've never seen anyone who can see that well in pitch darkness."

The Aurak draconian looked up in consternation and Yz amended, "Excuse me, I've never seen an elf with her dark sight before."

The Silvanesti cleric looked up, "That's because we shouldn't. That kind of sight is only for those who spend vast amounts of time underground."

Xan, the draconian, said, "Like this 'Underdark' she pines so much about?"

The other two looked at him blandly and the cleric sipped her tea again. "So, what are we going to do next?"

"I have no idea," mused the draconian. "It all depends on where the songbird wants to go. After all, we're her guardians."

The minotaur snorted at this. It was a well known fact that if not for the presence of the two elves, as unusual the so-called Drow was, that the minotaur and the draconian would have been either jailed or executed in a great many places and many times over.

Shortly thereafter there was a scuffle outside that the Silvanesti heard through the window she sat by and told the other two about. As they went outside and into the alley where Windstar had heard the scuffle, they heard, "That damn crow bit me!"

"It's a small bite," chided a deeper voice.

The second seemed to sigh deeply, "Let's just get going."

They walked out to see the three standing there. For a moment, the draconian, minotaur and Silvanesti stared at the Dark Knight and the Black Robe wizard. The wizard, on his left ear, sported an openly bleeding wound that was clearly a bite mark. For a moment the two unusual groups stared at each other. Steel began to draw his sword, but the wizard stay his hand with a gesture, and turning to the bard's group asked, "You aren't going to report this, are you?"

"It depends on," answered Yz. "What in the name of Paladine are you doing here?"

The Dark Knight slid his sword back in his sheath, "None of your business, minotaur."

"Wait just a second!" protested the Black Robe. "I may be your prisoner still, but it is my right to warn people of the grave danger all of Krynn is in."

The draconian looked from the Dark Knight to the Wizard, but it was Yz, who had dreams of following in his hero Kaz's footsteps, who asked the Wizard, "You are this man's prisoner?"

"Yes," answered the Knight. "We captured him in Kalaman when he teleported his Solamnic
Knight nephews away."

Yz drew his sword, and Xan held his staff before him while Windstar drew her scimitars. Yz drew himself up to his full height of ten feet and said, "Then I cannot allow you to keep him any longer as it is my duty to free him."

The Dark Knight began to draw his sword but the wizard stepped in between them, "Stop this. We waste time debating semantics. It matters little on whether I am prisoner or not so long as I complete my mission, and for now the Dark Knight is fulfilling that for me."

Yz creased his brows, and Windstar asked, "You do not say this out of duress, sir?"

"No, I do not," answered the wizard. "You have my word as a Majere on that."

Yz and the cleric sheathed their weapons and Xan asked, "A Majere?"

In awe, Yz said, "Yeah, and if I'm not mistaken by the black robes, he's Raistlin Majere."

The Black Robe inclined his head slightly, "You are not mistaken at all. I could escape the Dark Knight at any time, but I choose not to because I have need of him. Besides, he is my nephew as well. It would pain me to see him killed over my own freedom."

"Majere, you waste time talking to them," said the Dark Knight. "We must continue or we risk discovery."

Raistlin nodded in agreement and said to the other group, "Perhaps we will meet again."

With that the two disappeared into the gloom and the three looked at each other in surprise. Even Xan had heard of Raistlin Majere and he said, "Too bad the bard wasn't able to meet them. That would have made for an interesting tale..."

* * *

Raistlin led Steel through Palanthas and past as many of the patrols as he could until they had to dart onto a lawn and behind a tree to avoid another. Raistlin noticed with slight amusement that Steel appeared very uncomfortable hiding. Perhaps his honor was getting in the way. A few moments later he learned the real reason when a low voice asked, "Who is there?"

Raistlin turned in surprise to regard the large white tiger and its ward, the Revered Daughter Crysania. They were on the grounds of the Temple of Paladine. Strange, he mused. I don't seem to be as comfortable as Steel...

Then again, he had never even noticed entry onto the grounds. He was neither comforted nor made uncomfortable. "Revered Daughter," greeted Raistlin.

"Raistlin..." she breathed. "We heard word that Kalaman fell and that you, again, sacrificed yourself for the good of your family and of others. I never thought you had lived through it."

"He nearly didn't had he not surrendered when he did, madam," interjected Steel softly. "His capture was fortunate for us."

"Surrendered?" her brows creased, then she drew in a breath. "You are a prisoner of the Dark Knights. That is the darkness I sense with you: a Knight of Takhisis."

Raistlin sighed, and nodded, then remembered that she was blind and said, "Yes, Crysania. I am still a prisoner of the Dark Knights."

"But you are still here?"

"He is required to open the Portal to the Abyss, otherwise he will be sacrificed to our Dark Queen for his betrayal," answered Steel coldly. “As he has repeatedly told us, unless he has help there is no way he can do so and it is likely that this will be the last time you see him in this life."

Crysania swallowed, "Raistlin?"

"It's true."

She looked down at the ground, "You mean to ask the same of me as you did before."

"No," said Raistlin. "Our coming here was accidental as we were trying to avoid the patrols."

She looked up with horror on her features. "You mean you were going to accept your fate as a sacrifice?! I cannot allow it. Please... let me..."

Raistlin held her shoulders and sighed as he kissed her softly on her lips. She could tell by the way it was that he was doing it to memorize every detail as if it would be the last time he would ever do it. "Crysania," he whispered as he simply held her. "Forget me and move on. I cannot let you be hurt again by asked the same thing I asked over twenty years ago when we walked through the portal the first time... I will not. If it is to be that I die this day on the edge of a sword in sacrifice to prevent Her entry, then let it be."

Finally he released her and backed away. Tears flowed down her cheeks, "Raistlin..."

"The last time I said this I left you for dead, this time let me say it so that you may live," he said. "Good bye Crysania. Live on without me and find happiness."

With that Steel turned and left, the patrols long since passed on. They walked through the streets until they reached the Shoikan Grove. Raistlin stood there for a long time remembering the last time he had walked through the Grove when he had taken the tower as his own. Steel stood there, locked in fear due to the magic that permeated it. Finally Raistlin stepped foot in the grove and a thin path showed itself. Steel followed his Uncle through the Grove.

Finally they reached the Gate and Raistlin pushed it open and then heard the ringing sound of the mage alarms going off. Cursing, he said, "That's the last thing I wanted was attention paid to this task."

"Or perhaps you planned it this way," snarled Steel. "There is no way into the Abyss, and you told Lord Ariakan that you had no intention on dying. I think you tricked me, Uncle."

Raistlin lifted a brow, "You think so little of a Majere's honor?"

"I think little of a Black Robe’s honor, Uncle!" Steel drew his sword on Raistlin.

"I would put that sword back in its sheath, Dark Knight," came Dalamar's voice. "The
Guardians of the Tower may take that as a threat on their Master."

A few moments later the courtyard was filled with spectral minions, mostly surrounding Raistlin, but also surrounding Steel. For a long tense moment, it seemed that Steel would lunge for his uncle but finally Steel sheathed the sword and the minions disappeared. "That's better," said Raistlin. "Now, if you would simply listen to reason, I had every intention on following through on my word, whether or not it came to my death. I rather hope it doesn't though."

"I am beginning to wonder," snarled Steel. "Now, let's get this over with."

Raistlin inclined his head and led Steel into the Tower with Dalamar close on his heels, "Shalafi, before you do whatever you have to do with this Knight, may I take a moment of your time?"

Pausing for a second, Raistlin regarded Dalamar, "What is it?"

"I think you should read this," Dalamar handed him a scroll and watched as Raistlin read it once, then twice, then three times to make sure it was what he thought he read.

Handing the scroll back to Dalamar, "I rather suspected something like that had happened."

Steel looked from one to the other, "I don't understand."

Taking a deep breath and releasing in a sigh, Raistlin answered, "It is as I told your Lord Ariakan. Chaos, Father of the Gods, has been released from his prison. I was just not sure on how it occurred."

"Now you are?" asked Steel.

"Oh yes," answered Raistlin, turning to Dalamar. "How long ago did you receive this?"

"Just yesterday, Shalafi," answered Dalamar. "Do you know what it means?"

"Yes," answered Raistlin. "Unless we can defeat Chaos, all of creation will be destroyed. Krynn is not the only world in danger, but all others as well."

There was a long moment of silence as the other two men digested this information. "And you would know this how?" asked Steel.

"Because I am Guardian to a trust, of an artifact that could be key in hisdefeat," said Raistlin. "Or in the least, his reimprisonment. But it still remains to be seen what the Gods will want done, what plans they may have and how we can all assist in that plan for to survive we will have to."

"What artifact is this?" asked Dalamar in sudden interest.

"One that you could never bear unless you make some very interesting changes in your life," remarked Raistlin drily. "As it was, it was nearly stripped from me but necessity threw me back in the game."

"Necessity?" asked the two.

"No one else could bear it, and my predecessor has other responsibilities," answered Raistlin.

Dalamar remarked, "I think I missed something here, but I think a follow in general."

"Indeed, you did, Apprentice," mused Raistlin. "I carry an artifact called the Blue Star, the symbol and essence of the Shattered God, and the Greater Balance of Law and Chaos. In short, that makes me something called a Miiro."

Raistlin watched his apprentice's eyes go wide in surprise and say, "That's what Gilthanas meant by when he said that you said on the wall of Kalaman, 'We have no time for this'. You meant the war between the Dark Knights and Solamnia. You knew Chaos had been released."

Raistlin and explained, "Precisely, and if Gilthanas was there, Tanin probably told you that upon being in sight of Kalaman, I collapsed and when I got there I began to convulse. The moment I collapsed was the moment Chaos was released. My seizure was the moment he awoke and burned the isle of the Irda to nothing but a charred rock. In that moment, my still mortal body nearly was killed when the Blue Star began to channel the other Fragments through me. No mortal, while still a mortal, can ever be a God. Our frail bodies cannot handle it, that I realized in the Abyss when I challenged the Dark Queen. I am particularly blessed, or cursed, depending on how you see it, to be able to be a little more than mortal, but not fully a God as no greater God can stand on any prime material plane without ripping the very fabric of time and space to shreds."

"And that's what happened on the Isle of the Irda," breathed Dalamar. "By all the Gods of Krynn..."

"We had better hope that they have a plan..." mused Raistlin as they continued up the stairs.

None of them noticed the woman who followed the sound of their voices, her face growing paler with every word of Raistlin's explanation. She had followed, worried for Raistlin and not wanting him to offer up his life too early. After he had left the garden of Paladine, an old man with a ratty hat had told her that unless she followed, Raistlin would be killed at the end of Steel Brightblade's sword and his purpose would not come to pass as it was not his time.

Now, she was more worried for all the people of Krynn.

The white tiger, Tandar, led the blind Crysania up the stairs far enough behind the three men that they could not see her but close enough that when Raistlin opened the door of the lab that she could run inside before the door was closed.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, they stopped and she heard the heavy oak door creak open. Tandar led her up the stairs and past two astonished faces. Tandar knocked the Dark Knight aside and Crysania leapt up the last step and into the lab as the door closed behind her. She knew that neither Dalamar and the Knight had entered with her as they had been stopped by Tandar.

For a long moment all she could hear was her own ragged breathing and the sound of the
waterclock. She could not hear Raistlin at all, nor any other sound out of the ordinary. Finally, he spoke in his usual whisper, although she caught the clear dismay, "Why didn't you listen to me?"

"I nearly did," she stated. "But a mutual friend told me that unless I came you would die by Steel's hand, and it was by far not your time yet."

"A mutual friend?" he asked in vague confusion.

"An old man by the name of Fizban?" she asked lightly.

She heard him groan, and the slight creak of wood as he leaned on the chair. It was strange, although she could no longer see, she could still place where everything was in the lab and by listening almost see what he was doing. Walking up to him, she said, "Think of it this way. Where as before you did it in defiance of the Gods, now we do it with the Gods blessing."

"Crysania," he began, "I can sense that Chaos in somewhere in the Abyss. That makes the place a least a hundred times more dangerous than it was the last time. What if I can't protect you?"

She held his hand, and was pleased when he did not pull away, "Then it is my time, and if I have to die, then at least let me do it standing and in service of the Gods and to protect all of creation."

He gave her hand a squeeze as he led her to the Portal and pulled off the shroud. "What the..." he said in shock.

"What is it?" she asked. "Is it not still here?"

"It is, but it is already open," he said, putting his hand through the Portal to the Abyss. "It looks as if the attention of all the Gods are already elsewhere...”