The Dragons at War by Margaret Weis
THE DRAGONS AT WAR
Edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Dream of the Namer
Michael Williams
2. People of the Dragon
Mark Anthony
3. Quarry
Adam Lesh
4. Glory Descending
Chris Pierson
5. A Lull in the Battle
Linda P. Baker
6. Proper Tribute
Janet Pack
7. Blind
Kevin T. Stein
8. Nature of the Beast
Teri McLaren
9. Even Dragon Blood
J. Robert King
10. Boom
Jeff Grubb
11. Storytellers
Nick O’Donohoe
12. The First Dragonarmy Engineer’s Secret Weapon
Don Perrin and Margaret Weis
13. Through the Door at the Top of the Sky
Roger E. Moore
14. Aurora’s Eggs
Douglas Niles
Introduction
Margaret Weis
It is storyteller’s night at the Inn of the Last Home. Tika began the institution in order to boost sales during those cold winter nights when people would much rather stay home near the fire than venture out into the ice and snow.
They became enormously popular and now, periodically, she and Caramon send invitations to the most renowned storytellers in Ansalon, offering to pay room and board if they come share their tales.
This evening, the Inn has a fine collection of bards.
Caramon stands up on a keg of ale to be seen over the crowd, and makes the introductions.
“First, I’d like to present the old-timers like me,” Caramon says. “These friends date clear back to the time of the War of the Lance. Just raise your hand when I call your name. Tasslehoff, put your hand down. We have tonight: Michael Williams, Jeff Grubb, Nick O’Donohoe, Roger Moore, Doug Niles, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman … Where’s Tracy?”
Caramon peers out into the crowd. There are shouts of laughter when Hickman is discovered wearing mouse-colored robes and accusing everyone of stealing his hat.
After the noise subsides, Caramon resumes. “A few of our bards this evening are making return appearances. Please raise your hands. No, Tas, that doesn’t include you. I-Wait a minute! What’s that you’re holding in your hand? That’s tonight’s cash box! Tas! Give me that!”
General confusion. Caramon clambers down off the keg.
Tas’s shrill voice rises in protest. “I was just keeping it safe, and a good thing, too! There’s a lot of shady-looking characters in this crowd tonight.”
“No, that’s just Roger!” calls out Michael Williams.
When order (and the cash box) are restored, Caramon introduces the bards who have told stories here before: Janet Pack, Linda Baker, Mark Anthony, and Don Perrin.
“Finally,” says Caramon, out of breath and red in the face, “I am pleased to introduce several bards who are newcomers to Ansalon. Everyone please welcome Adam Lesh, Chris Pierson, and J. Robert King.”
The newcomers are warmly welcomed and advised to keep their hands on their purses.
Caramon bows to thunderous applause and returns to his place behind the bar. Tika makes a final call for ale.
Come, friend. There’s room on this bench next to me. Sit down. Order a mug and be prepared to laugh and cry, shudder and shiver.
Tonight, our storytellers are going to talk about The Dragons at War.
Dream of the Namer
Michael Williams
I
The song of the high grass,
the twinned lamps
of the arcing moon,
the whisper of stars
and the darker moon
we must always remember-
these are the guides
on the first of the journeys
to a time past remembrance,
past the words for time
into the Namer’s country
where we venture in dreams.
The time of the walking,
the Namers call it:
the time of the breath,
the forgotten time
when the lamps of the moons
wink out in an instant
and we steer by the dark
unforgettable light,
by the lost heartbeat.
It is the dream
of the Namers’ time,
the convergence of visions,
when the moon and the wind
the strung bead
and the parables of sand
unite in a story
we do not remember
until we have traveled its country.
II
On the eve of the wars,
the signs and omens
bright as mirages,
I walked in a dreaming,
through an emptied country
bloodied with iron and sunlight,
and there in the dream
I asked three times