The southeast, however, was a different matter.
Not that there was anything yet to see that way, either; the scouts had gauged the army at several days’ march away, and Castle Archuran yet stood in the army’s path. Still, there were dire rumors among the troops. Some even said the dragons had returned, darkening the skies with their wings as they had done in Huma’s day.
Most of the knights scoffed at this notion, but Edwin’s face darkened as he considered it. His fellows put little stock in the old legends, but he had long believed, at risk of being branded a fool, that many of the tales were true. Edwin honored the memory of Huma Dragonbane, though few others did these days. If Huma was real, then so were the dragons-and where were they?
Edwin wondered if the answer to that question mightn’t come all too soon.
He looked down the wall’s crenelated length. At last he spotted the figure he sought, standing near the Southeast Tower. The man stood rigid, his back to the castle wall, his blue cloak whipping in the wind. The other knights gave him a wide berth as they paced the battlements, none pausing to exchange comradely greetings or banter with the down knight. Edwin sighed and started toward the knight, singing a few verses from an old Solamnic war song as he went:
To Hanford came the Hooded Knight,
With cloak of gold and steed of bay,
His sword a-flashing silver-bright,
A-thirsting for a wyrm to slay.
The Lord of Hanford welcomed him,
For woe and grief were his domain:
The dragon they named Angethrim
Had long since been the townsfolk’s bane.
For many years the wyrm had flown,
His breath afire, his jaws oped wide,
Thrice monthly when the red moon shone;
Those few who stood against him died.
Edwin had never been much of a singer, but what he lacked in talent he more than made up for with zeal. The other knights smiled and saluted as he passed. It did his heart good to see them cheered so, when grimness was the order of the day.
There were many more verses to the song, and Edwin would have sung them all, but the dour knight silenced Edwin with a glance. That man was not cheered by the song; rather, he stiffened at the young knight’s approach. Edwin stopped a respectful distance away.
“You do no one any favors, speaking of dragons so,” the knight said.
Edwin shrugged. “‘Tis but a song, brother, to raise the men’s spirits.”
“It sows fear,” returned the knight. “Let the dragons remain children’s stories.”
“But what if-” Edwin caught himself, but not in time.
With a rattle of armor, the brooding knight turned away from the plains and glared angrily at Edwin.
The young knight endured his brother’s piercing gaze for a moment, then looked away.
“You were about to say what if the rumors are true?” stated the older knight, his face drawn into a scowl, as usual.
Edwin looked at him in surprise. “Yes, brother, I have considered it. ‘Rumors rarely blossom without the seed of truth,’ so the saying goes.”
The older knight glanced back at the barren plains. “But even if there are dragons among the foe, what good does it do to remind the men? They’re nervous enough as it is. Putting dragons in their dreams only makes things worse, whether the dragons are real or fancy. I want an end to such nonsense!”
Edwin bowed his head, stared fixedly at the flag-stones. “Yes, Derek,” he said wearily. In his thirty years, he’d said those words more often than he could recall.
Lord Derek Crownguard turned his head, then laid a gauntleted hand on Edwin’s arm. “I don’t mean to be harsh, brother,” he said. “This war wears on us all, and I worry for the men’s morale. Too much talk of dragons could break them.” He paused, glancing up and down the wall to make sure none could hear. “Ofttimes, I wonder if Lord Gunthar’s men haven’t been spreading those stories with just that in mind.”
Edwin nodded, still staring past his brother. It was well known that there was more love between knights and goblins than between Derek Crownguard and Gunthar Uth Wistan. Both had long desired the coveted position of Lord Knight of the Knighthood, and the years of rivalry had built up a wall of stone between them.