Kat also left a few minutes later. Ethan stretched out on the bed, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't quiet his mind sufficiently for sleep to come. Frustrated, he took a random book from the shelf and started reading. It was a compilation of dwarf poems that he found difficult to understand. The imagery was confusing and largely unfamiliar. By the time he finished the third poem, his head was throbbing.

Birger returned just as his evening meal arrived.

"Jonas has regained consciousness," he told him. "It looks like he'll recover."

Ethan sighed with relief and thanked him for the good news. He suggested that Birger join him for dinner, but he politely refused, saying that he still had things to do.

Kat came in a few minutes later, a plate in one hand and a cup in the other.

"Markus is still sleeping," she said, plopping herself down at the table.

After they finished eating, Ethan told her that he was still tired. Reluctantly, Kat left, though not without first making him promise to have breakfast with her in the morning.

It took some time, but eventually he managed to drift off. His dreams were troubled: filled with dragons battling dark fire while dwarf cities burned in the distance. He woke twice with heart pounding and the roar of the flames and the cries of dying dragons still echoing clearly in his mind.

The next morning after breakfast, Birger arrived to say that the king and his council wished to see Ethan. Kat asked to come along with them, but Birger quickly told her that this could not be allowed.

Outside in the hallway, they b.u.mped into Markus. His friend looked rested and in good spirits following his much needed and well-earned sleep.

"Mind what you say," he warned Ethan. "I get the feeling that the king would like nothing more than to have a good excuse to hand us over to the Empire."

"King Halvar would never do that," Birger protested. "He is a dwarf of honor."

Markus shrugged. "Whatever you say. But I know when someone's plotting something. And I could see it in his eyes."

Birger sniffed and muttered a curse.

"I'll be careful," Ethan promised.

As they approached the council chambers, even before the doors had swung open, Ethan could hear loud angry voices coming from within. Then, the moment he stepped inside, all went disturbingly silent. King Halvar was standing with his hands planted firmly on the table. His face was red and his mouth twisted in anger.

"Ah," he said, not masking his disdain for Ethan. "The son of Praxis Dragonvein has arrived. All hail, the bringer of our doom." He pointed to the empty chair at the far end of the table. "Sit."

Such was the malice and judgment bearing down on him, Ethan had difficulty looking the king in the eye. "Forgive me, Your Highness. But I didn't come here to bring doom."

"Of course you did," Halvar retorted. "Did you not come here seeking our aid? Are you not asking my people to honor your father's request?"

"It was not a request," countered an elderly dwarf woman. Though the years showed in the creases on her face and gray in her hair, her voice was commanding and her posture regal. "It was an oath. Do not pretend it is otherwise."

"And you, Lady Thora, do not presume to educate me in history," the king shot back furiously. "I know full well what King Vidar promised. And I also know that many of you believe the arrival of Praxis Dragonvein's son heralds the coming of our deliverance. But I ask you this: Is it worth risking all we have? Is it worth the lives of our children? We know what will happen if we defy Shinzan. It will be the end of everything."

"Then you are content to have us living as slaves?" barked a dwarf with a close cropped blond beard and long braided hair. "Shinzan is not mortal. He will never die. We cannot pretend we can simply outlast him. I say that if the choice is between a slow death and a quick one, I'll take the edge of a sword."

This was met by nods of agreement from four others.

"You speak like a courageous fool, Lord Olaf!" shouted a dark haired woman opposite him. "Have you no sons or daughters? Do you believe in your heart that our children would wish to follow us to their end?"

Olaf glared. "My sons would be proud to follow me if it meant dying with honor."

"And could you watch them die?" Halvar interjected.

Olaf slowly nodded. "If I must. My heart would break, but at least they would die as I have never lived...as free dwarves."

"You don't know what you are saying, my dear friend." The king's voice had become soft and reserved. "If the consequences were merely death at the point of an Imperial sword, I too might be swayed to fight. But that is not what would await us."

Reaching under his chair, he picked up a small, red-leather bound book and placed it on the table. He opened it with great care. "This is the journal of King Vidar, given to me by my father on the day of my coronation. I have read it many times. But only once did I read his final entry. I have tried many times, but have never been able to read it again."

A hush fell over the room.

"Ethan Dragonvein, son of Praxis. I will read it to you now. What you are about to hear was written moments before King Vidar was slain within these very halls by Emperor Shinzan. Once you have heard it, I hope you..."

He paused to cast his eyes over the a.s.sembly. "I hope all of you, will consider the cost of your actions here today."

He bowed his head for a moment, then began reading aloud.

Fourth Day of Red Harvest This will be my final entry and final minutes as king. I will attempt to give as full an account as I can, but my time is short. Shinzan is coming and there is no escape.

After two days I have managed to drag myself back to the manor. My left leg is shattered beyond any hope of repair and my left arm is all but useless. But these injuries are trivial compared to what I have witnessed.

My beautiful city is lost and her people all but extinct. In our arrogance we thought our mighty gates could withstand any foe. The armies of the Emperor have broken against them like waves on rocks for three years, and for three years we believed this made us invincible.

When the humans fell, I should have known that we would soon follow. I should have heeded the words of my dear friend, Praxis. He was always the wiser of us. He urged me to form an alliance with the Council of Volnar. But I was too proud; too blinded by arrogance. Then, when word of his death came, it was too late. The mages were being exterminated, and I was helpless to intervene. For this I am deeply sorry. I abandoned my friend and his people to their fate, and for that I am ashamed.

At this moment, I am sitting in my bed chamber beside the window looking out at countless pillars of black smoke. They serve to remind me that it was my actions - and my inaction - which have brought us to this end. When Shinzan arrived fifteen days ago and demanded that we open the gates, I all but called him an addle-brained fool. The entire Council of Volnar could not have hoped to breach our defenses, and his vast armies had failed utterly. What threat could he pose to us? I stood atop our great wall and mocked him openly. His face was covered, but I remember feeling as if he was smiling up at me. I should have known in that moment I had made a terrible mistake. With a single wave of his hand, Shinzan smashed our mighty gates to ruins. It took only seconds.

Had he wanted to, he could have taken the city in a day. But his wrath was beyond reckoning and his cruelty unimaginable. Our soldiers did everything they could to stop him. But Shinzan unleashed magic the like of which, even after having seen it, I still find hard to believe. In an instant, a thousand stout dwarves fell screaming to their knees, blood pouring from their ears, while Shinzan simply watched and laughed. It took them more than an hour to die, and they were all begging for death until their final breaths.

Even though in my heart I knew it was useless, I then ordered every soldier in the city to push him back. But it was as if I had sent children to slay a dragon. Wave after wave fell to his power. Never had I conceived that magic could be used to such horrific effect. Some were torn apart by unseen beasts, while others had their eyes and tongues set aflame so they could neither see nor cry for mercy. Five hundred of my finest soldiers died with their blood boiling inside their veins. There were no quick deaths. Not a single one. I pray that the spirits of my people can find a way to forgive me.

Those who fled only prolonged their end. Shinzan sealed the city, trapping all who still remained. I sent word of our surrender and begged his mercy. But when my messenger returned he fell face down at my feet, screaming in agony, then burst into flames before my eyes. When the flames died away the words 'No Mercy' were scorched into the very rock where the body had been only moments before.

For the next two weeks Shinzan continued his monstrous work, wandering through the city and killing everyone he encountered. Those who thought they had escaped his notice found that they were only being toyed with. I will not describe the horror they suffered. It was as if murder to him was nothing more than a source of amus.e.m.e.nt. His laughter boomed and echoed, mingling with the screams and pleas of his victims.

It mattered not if they were male or female...old or young. All were objects of his murderous desire. I watched helplessly as my people were being slaughtered. He knew I was there. He knew I followed him as he casually strolled through the streets. I even heard him humming. I think he did this only to taunt me. To make me pay. Again and again I tried to attack him, if only to have him kill me and end my own suffering, but he wouldn't allow me to get close enough. He wanted me to watch. Now the city is quiet. He has saved me for the very last. This is my punishment for defiance. I welcome it.

Should these words manage to escape the hands of Shinzan, know that I am sorry I have failed those who looked to me for protection. I am to blame, and no other. The door to the manor is smashed and I can hear him coming. In this last moment I know only one thing. I deserve what is about to...

Halvar closed the book and set it down. Tears were welling, not only in his eyes, but in those of several others sat around the table. "Shinzan must have killed him before he was able to finish writing that final sentence."

He looked hard at Ethan. "Are you prepared to do battle with that? Are any of you?"

There was a long and heavy silence. It was Lady Thora who spoke first.

"My King," she began. Her voice trembled slightly, but her back was straight and her head held high. "I do not question your love for our people. Nor would I have you suffer the fate of King Vidar. You have been a wise and just ruler. There is none who would dispute that."

She paused while the entire council nodded in agreement. "I am as frightened by what I have just heard as I think the rest of us are. To face such enormous power and evil is enough to wither the heart of the bravest dwarf. But we cannot continue as we are. You must know this."

"What I do know is that I am charged with the protection of my people," Halvar responded. "And harboring the son of Praxis Dragonvein is certain to bring death to us all. There is no oath that can be sworn by anyone that will make me ignore my duty."

"But do not forget that we are seeing the fulfillment of the prophecy," Thora countered. "That alone is enough to give us hope. When you read from King Vidar's journal I was deeply moved. But not by the horrors he witnessed. It was by the regret he felt for abandoning a friend and ally. For not joining in the fight sooner. Would you make the same mistake?"

"We have no allies," Halvar said. His tone was hard and unyielding. "The humans now serve Shinzan, and as for the elves...they serve only themselves. You might claim to see prophecy in what has happened. I do not. One tiny dragon is not enough for me to abandon my reason. The prophecy says that the dragons will herald the return of the mages and the fall of Shinzan. I have seen no dragons, have you? Also, the prophecy clearly states that five mages are needed before freedom is restored. Five. Not one."

Thora sat back down and sighed.

"I would like to hear what the son of Praxis has to say," Olaf interjected. "It is his fate we discuss here as well. What say you? Are you willing to fight this evil?"

"Indeed," agreed Halvar. "What say you? Surely you have heard enough by now to know where you stand."

A host of grim faces turned to Ethan in antic.i.p.ation. He cast his eyes around the table. Some softened their expressions as he looked into their eyes, but others turned colder. He had no idea what to say. These people were debating the future of an entire race. And everything hinged on him. For a moment he felt dizzy from the weight of it all and needed to grip the arms of his chair to steady himself. After taking a deep cleansing breath, he rose slowly to his feet.

"First, I want to thank you," he said. His voice trembled slightly, but he managed to keep his composure. "Birger saved my life. And after he brought me here, instead of killing us, you allowed me and my friends to stay. Without your kindness, I don't know where we'd be right now. Probably dead."

He cleared his throat. "As you know, I've only recently arrived in this world, so all of this is very strange to me. I don't know anything about magic or dragons, and there are no dwarves or elves where I come from. But I do know about evil. And in my world we fight it to the end. Even when it looks like it can't be defeated.

"You say you want to know what I think. But I can't really tell you. This is all too big for me. I can't decide what the best thing to do is. Stuff like that should be left to generals...and kings. What I can tell you though, is how I feel in my heart."

His gaze fell directly at Halvar and his nervousness melted away. "On Earth, my people were faced with a great evil. His name was. .h.i.tler. He didn't have magical powers like Shinzan, but his armies were said to be unstoppable. And for a while it looked like they were. But you know what? The freedom loving people of Earth joined together...and we b.l.o.o.d.y stopped him. We took the beaches at Normandy and we pushed that b.a.s.t.a.r.d back.

"A lot has happened to me since I arrived on Lumnia. I've seen things I could never have imagined in a million years. And to tell you the truth, most of it scares the h.e.l.l out of me. But that's all right. I've been scared before. Fear didn't kill me in France, and it won't kill me here. You all want to know what I plan to do. Well, I've been wondering that myself, and I've come to realize something. No matter how I look at it, I only have three choices."

He raised a finger. "First off, I can hide - though it doesn't look like there's anywhere I can go where Shinzan won't find me." A second finger rose. "Second choice is to run. Well, I've already tried that, and I can't seem to run fast enough to get away. Anyhow, you can't run forever. Eventually the road ends."

The two fingers dropped beside the others to make a fist. "The third option is to fight."

He straightened his back and held his head high. "Your Highness, I'm an Airborne Ranger. That may not mean anything to you, but it means a whole lot to me. It means running and hiding is not an option. I keep thinking about the Airborne motto rendezvous with destiny. I used to think I knew what that meant: that whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. That our destiny is unavoidable and we should accept it with honor. But the more I see, the more I think I was wrong. What it really means is that our destiny is out there waiting for us. We can choose to avoid it. Or we can have the courage to meet it head on...even if it means dying."

He looked at each member of the a.s.sembly again. The cold stares were now fewer in number. "Whatever you decide here today, I will understand. I know that you have families and friends you want to protect. This can't be an easy choice. But know that if you want to fight, I'll fight with you. If not...then I guess I'll fight alone."

He sat down, folded his hands on the table, and allowed his gaze to settle on Halvar.

The king's jaw clenched. "Thank you. Unless someone has a question for...Lord Dragonvein, we still have much to discuss."

Ethan stood and bowed. "Your Highness, I would like to see Jonas, if that's all right."

Halvar waved his hand. "Very well, go. Birger can take you. But only you."

Ethan bowed once again before leaving the chamber.

"That was very interesting," Birger said as they exited the manor. "I think you might have even changed a few minds."

"I wasn't trying to. I just said what I was feeling."

"And that's what did it. My father always said that you can only change a person's mind if you speak from the heart."

"Sounds like a smart guy," said Ethan.

"He was. And very wise."

"So he's dead?"

Birger nodded. "For many years now." He gave Ethan a sideways look. "I've been wondering lately if he would have thought I was right to bring you here."

"And what did you decide? Would he?"

Birger shrugged. "Perhaps. I know what he would say though. He would tell me that if I acted with pure intent, then I should be satisfied with what I have done." He chuckled softly, a faraway smile on his face. "Of course, then he would tell me that even the well-intended can make foolish decisions. He was always good at confusing me when I asked him for answers. I used to think he did it just to annoy me. But now I understand that he wanted me to work it out for myself. He was wise enough to know that I had the solution within me the entire time. I just needed to realize it."

Ethan thought of his own father on Earth. He had been kind and gentle...in his own way. What would he say about this? He laughed inwardly. He'd never have believed it. He was far too grounded for the notion of magic, elves, and dwarves. Of course, Ethan had always thought that he had taken after the man in this respect. But now he didn't even know what his real father was like. The little that Jonas was willing to divulge had left him with an incomplete picture. It was no wonder the circlet had hurt him.

When they arrived at the house there were two guards standing outside, talking casually. Upon seeing Ethan they stepped aside and stood smartly to attention. He glanced at Birger, who only smiled and shook his head.

"What was that about?" Ethan asked, once they were inside.

"You're staying in the king's manor," Birger explained. "And it's no secret that you are the son of Praxis Dragonvein. Rumors about the prophecy being fulfilled are already spreading."

"I have a feeling King Halvar isn't happy about that."

"I don't imagine so. But you mustn't judge him too harshly. If it wasn't for him, my people would have starved by now. The little Shinzan gives us in trade for weapons and tools isn't nearly enough. So King Halvar has made deals with human smugglers and merchants to provide us with what we need. And he does this at great risk to himself. If the Empire found out, things would go hard on him."

"What would they do?"

"Demand that he step down and turn himself over to the Emperor."

"Would he agree to this?"

"If he didn't, they would blockade the mountain and cut us off completely until he did. King Halvar would not be able to watch his people starve to death, so refusal wouldn't be an option for him. He may be flawed and stubborn, but his love for his people is without bounds."

Ethan could hear the sincerity in Birger's tone. Even so, what Markus had said to him earlier still resonated. The king was plotting something. And from what Birger just told him, there were no lengths he would not be willing to go to if he thought it would keep his people safe.

The door to Jonas' room was open. Ethan poked his head in and saw him sitting in his bed, reading. He smiled and put down the book.

"How are you feeling?" Ethan asked.

Jonas sighed. "Like an old fool. I should have known that d.a.m.n dwarf device would hurt me."

"If you had answered their questions, nothing would have happened," Birger chided.

"They had no reason to know such personal things," Jonas said. "I told them what they needed to know. That Ethan is the son of Praxis Dragonvein, and I was his father's servant. That should have been enough."

"The king has his own ideas about what is or is not enough," Birger told him. "I would suggest you get used to that fact."

Jonas curled his lip and crossed his arms. "They can ask me as many questions as they want. But I will not answer unless they are relevant. My personal affairs are my own and belong to no one else. Not even the king."

"No wonder you're not allowed in the manor," teased Ethan.

"I am perfectly happy here, thank you." He paused. "Have you seen Kat?"

"She's with me and Markus. She asked about you."