Elminster_ The Making of a Mage - Ed Greenwood [145]
"Rise, Helm," Elminster said quietly, putting a hand on the old knight's forearm.
The old knight got up, turned to his men, and said, "Kneel if you be a true knight of Athalantar… for this is Elminster son of Elthryn, the last free prince of the realm!"
"A magelord?" someone asked doubtfully.
"No," Elminster said quietly. "A wizard who needs your help to destroy the magelords."
They stared at him unmoving-until, one by one, they caught Helm's furious glare, and went to their knees.
Elminster waited until the last knee-Anauviir's-touched the leaf-strewn ground, and then said, "Rise, all of ye. I am prince of nothing at the moment, and I need allies, not courtiers. I've learned magic enough to defeat any magelord, I believe-but I know that when any magelord gets into trouble, he'll call on another… and in a breath or two I'll have forty or more of them on my hands."
There were mirthless chuckles, and the knights unconsciously moved forward. Helm saw it in their faces and felt it himself: for the first time in years, real hope.
"Forty magelords is too many for me," Elminster went on, "and they command far too many armsmen for my liking. The elves have agreed to fight with me in the days ahead, to cleanse this land of the magelords forever-and I hope to find other allies in Hastarl."
"Hastarl?" Anauviir barked, startled.
"Aye… before this tenday is out, I plan to attack Athalgard. All I'm lacking is a few good blades." He looked around at the scarred, unshaven warriors. "Are ye with me?"
One of the knights raised hard eyes to meet his. "How do we know this isn't a trap? Or if it isn't, that your spells are strong enough not to fail once we're in that castle, with no way out?"
"I held that same view," Ruvaen's voice came to them from overhead, "and demanded that this man prove himself. He's slain two magelords so far this day-and another mage works with him. Have no fear of their magic failing."
"An' look you," Helm added roughly, "I've known the prince since the day the mage royal's dragon slew his parents, an' he vowed to me-a boy an' all, mind-that he'd see the magelords all dead someday."
"The time has come," Elminster said in a voice of iron. "Can I depend on the last knights of Athalantar?"
There were murmurs and shufflings. "If I may," Anauviir said uneasily, "one question… how can you protect us against the spells of the magelords? I'd welcome a chance to hew down a few magelings and armsmen-but how'll any of us ever get close enough to have that chance?"
"The elves will go to war beside you," Ruvaen's voice came again. "Our magic will hide or shield you whenever we can, so you can stand blade-to-blade against your foes at last." There were rumbles of approval at this, but Helm stepped forward and raised his hand for silence.
"I've led you, but in this every man must choose freely… Death is all too likely, whatever grand words we toss back and forth here." The old knight spat thoughtfully into the leaves at his feet, and added, "Yet think you: death is coming for us if we say no and go on cowering in the forest. The magelords're wearing us down, man by man… Rindol, Thanask; you know all of us who've fallen… and not a tenday passes that the armsmen aren't seeking us in every cave and thicket we run to. In a summer, or two at most, they'll have hunted down us all. Our lives are lost anyway-why not spend them to forge a blade that might actually take a magelord or two down with us?"
There were many nodding heads and raised blades among the knights, and Helm turned to Elminster with a grin that held no mirth at all.
"Command us, Prince," he said.
El looked around at them all. "Are you with me?" he asked simply. There were nods, and muttered "Ayes."
Elminster leaned forward and said, "I need ye all to go to Hastarl-in small groups or pairs, not all together where ye may attract notice or be all slain together by a vigilant mage-lord. Just outside the wall, upriver, is a pit where they burn bodies and refuse; traders often camp near it. Gather there before a tenday's out and seek me or a man who gives his