The First Dragon(56)

“No need,” Madoc said, rising to his feet. “Just show me to a forge, and I can take care of it myself.”

He didn’t notice the looks of approval that were traded among the Archons’ faces, but Rose did.

One of the Archons, whom Enoch had introduced as Abraxas, led Madoc to a forge that was as fully modern as any he’d ever used. He had repaired the sword once before, at the beach of the Great Wall at the End of the World, but that time, he had the use of only one arm. This time, with both hands strong and capable, the muscle memory soon returned, and he was hammering away at the sword from underneath a cascade of sparks and steam.

The night passed, and then a full day, before Madoc rejoined the others. “It seems I am always repairing this sword,” he said with a gruffness that wasn’t entirely convincing. “Here,” he said as he handed it to Rose. “Try not to break it this time.”

Again, a gesture made by Madoc was met with approving glances among the Archons, but this time they didn’t escape his notice. “What?” he said with a note of real irritation in his voice.

“There are only ever seven Makers in the world,” Seth answered, “and many years ago, one of our number, the first, the best, was taken from us. We have waited many centuries for another to take his place. And if you wish it, Madoc the Maker, you may join us.”

He stared at the Archons in disbelief, not even entirely certain what he was being asked. But after a long moment, he shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’d like to pretend that it’s at least a temptation, but it isn’t.

“We have come a long way together, to try to make right some terrible wrongs, and I cannot step off that path, and away from my daughter. Not yet. Maybe not ever.”

Instead of disappointment, this announcement brought still more looks of approval from the Archons. “Then tell us,” Enoch said. “What can I do to help you? Why did you come here, seeking me out?”

“We came looking for the Architect of a great tower,” Rose answered, “and we were told that you were the man who built the first city. If you could do that, then surely you might also know how to build—”

“The Keep of Time?” asked Enoch.

“You know it?” Rose asked.

“I do,” he said, rising to his feet. “Come. Walk with me, and I’ll show you.”

♦ ♦ ♦

The companions and the Archons followed Enoch as he took a small trail to the top of a nearby hill, where there was a clear view of the horizon, unimpeded by the great trees and mountains that ringed the valley.

“There,” he said, pointing to the setting sun. “Watch, as it turns to twilight. Then you’ll be able to see it clearly, even from here.”

There were a few thin, high clouds, which followed the curve of the horizon, and the sky was denser, here in the distant past. Not thick, or cloying, but simply . . . richer. The fading light flowed through the sky in wave after wave of ambers and purples, and then, when it finally started to ebb, they saw it.

A pencil-thin line that stretched from sea to sky, lit brilliantly by the last rays of the sun.

“There is your keep,” said Enoch. “It still stands, as it has always stood—and it was built long before my time. If it is the Architect of that tower you seek, you will not find him here.”





Part Five


The Fall of the House of Tamerlane





“It’s like a small Ring of Power,” Charles said . . .





Chapter SEVENTEEN


At the End of All Things



The desert crossing was terrible; the mountain crossing was worse. The great beasts that carried the Archipelago on their backs faltered often, and the great Dragon worried they would not last much longer—and then they were over, and the path eased.

While they crossed the long, narrow bridge that would take them to the Lonely Isle, there to wait again until called upon by those whom the old Dragon had entrusted to make things right, he told stories to his small friend, to better pass the time.

He had not been close to any of the Children of the Earth, not really, not as an angel, and not as a Dragon. But in times of need, the badger had always been there, with loyalty, and bravery, and heart. And the Dragon realized that in this one small example, he could demonstrate why an entire Archipelago was worth the effort to save. If there were five among all the peoples and creatures who were like the badger Tummeler, it would be worth it.

“There had been Makers, and there had been many, many Namers,” the great Dragon explained, “but there is only ever one Imago, and one Archimago, walking the earth together at the same time. The Archimago had vanished into the mists of history—but the Imago, the first in thousands of years, was reshaping the world.