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The Blue Star	By : sinaline Category: A through F > Dragonlance Views: 1900 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the book(s) that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
A/N: This chapter holds a bit more romance for Raistlin. I tried for a different twist on the whole Irda daughter thing...

Chapter Nine

He could honestly say he wasn't sure what was worse; the blistering heat of the desert or the cold that was so deep and so penetrating that it sucked all life out of the surroundings. At least in Solace it trees survived and the cold wasn't so biting as to instantaneously freeze any part of the body not covered thickly in the leather or oiled to prevent windburn.
Raistlin leaned against the wall of ice, looking at the walls of the glacier as they extended high into the mountain. He was not far from his destination and he could sense that very, very soon that it would reach its conclusion... in whatever way that went.
He honestly wasn't sure of which way it was going to go, but he would be damned if he got this far to die.
The paths to climb seemed to be cut into the ice into near perfect stairs and seemed like they had been used recently, and often. The snow was packed into near solid ice and the ice was chipped here and there. He reached the top of the stairs and sucked in a gasp at the sight that met him.
Icewall Castle was a building of stone and ice. The ice lent it a shimmering air that glittered in the sunlight that managed to get through the thick clouds overhead. He was sure that in the summer months that the sun would have a blinding effect on it as it would reflect off the near crystalline structure. He walked across the frozen courtyard and into the main gate, pushing open the door as he did so.
Raistlin walked through and into the inner courtyard where the stone was curiously not ice covered...
The door slammed shut behind him and he sucked in another startled breath at the garden within.
Where outside it was cold, unforgiving and deadly inside was near tropically warm and full of life. A fountain bubbled up fresh and clean water, and an expansive garden that could only mean one thing to Raistlin stood within the castle walls.
This one thing meant another wizard of considerable power and skill- and he had walked right into the trap like an innocent fly herded by a wolf spider. He cursed, and was surprised as a newly, and all to familiar, accented rich voice said, "Now, now, Raistlin, that is no way to greet your mother in law."
He turned around to gaze at the wizard that had neatly trapped him.
It was Reylanna.

Marion Uth Maleste reined in Avanti as the southern desert savannah turned into scrub land. In this scrubland she could clearly see the large black charger freely wandering around grazing on the scarce grass he could find. She whistled and he twitched an ear, "So, your new master has wandered from the desert..."
She dismounted Avanti and walked over to the nervous horse, hand held up non-threateningly as she managed to touch his nose, then finally calmed him enough to be able to scratch his head. "Easy, boy, I bet your more than a bit hungry. Go a bit farther North, there is an oasis where you will find water and food."
Darkmist tossed his head then began to gallop North with Avanti guiding him. She sighed, then began her own trek South.

Reylanna walked around Raistlin as if taking stock of him. Raistlin, in the warmth of the castle, had stripped himself of the heavy winter leathers and furs. He was now dressed in his red robes as he leaned on the Staff of Magius in her study. An untouched glass of wine was in his hand as he stared into the fire. She finally nodded her head, "I was a good judge of your strength, you know. My daughter is quite taken with you and I would like to see your return to our tribe, if only to father more sons like the one you have already given her."
He looked up at her in surprise, "I have not been gone long enough."
"Oh, but you have fathered a child, a son actually, who while still in Xahira's womb, will be like no other. Strong like his desert brethren, but built in a wiry and lithe fashion. As intelligent and strong of mind like his father," said Reylanna, also staring into the fire, her black robes lending her an even more mysterious, if threatening, aura. "Imagine, Raistlin, a child strong both in body and mind with your bloodline and mine in the magic, and the added benefit of the Fragment of Miiro."
He turned to face her as a coy smile slipped slowly into her features, her red lips undoubtably painted that way by some plant in her garden making her olive skin seem dusky in the firelight. "I do know something of it, my son."
"I am not your son."
"No, but you have married my daughter, by arranged marriage or not, that makes you my son by marriage," the smile widened as she spoke, knowing that the strands of her web had finally tightened beyond the point of escape by her quarry. "And that makes you mine. And now, you have given me a grandson. You can never be rid of me, Raistlin Majere."
Raistlin turned back to the fire and Reylanna sidled up closer to him, "My husband likes you like a brother. He rejoiced when I suggested giving Xahira to you, only his reasons were so innocent. He honestly thought that by tying you to him he would gain a son and that he would give you a measure of stability. 'A moment of respite from your terrible burden' as he called it! But I can give much more than an innocent virgin girl's prize in marriage. I can give you ecstasy not only in body and mind, but in the magic."
"And what of your people and your husband?" demanded Raistlin. "What of my own wife, now that I have one to call my own?"
"Jafir can be taken care of, Raistlin..." she walked over and sat in one of the richly embroidered chairs. "In fact, it is already in motion. Think of it this way, not only do you again save one of Jafir's harem, but as right of marriage to his eldest child you would be the new Sheikh. With me as your second wife and my daughter as your head wife, imagine the power! You would be Sheikh of Sheikhs in a matter of a few short years!"
For a moment, Raistlin was sorely tempted. Then he remembered Jafir. Granted, Jafir had not been totally honest with him in the beginning but it was not for selfish gain but out of sacrifice for his clan and for his family... not to mention other families. He had also accepted Raistlin with no qualms. Besides two others, Meggin in Solace and the herbalist in Haven, he had no one else he could honestly say that about...
...besides Caramon...
But Caramon had been raised to believe that his duty was to watch over him. He had not had the opportunity to actually decide whether he liked Raistlin or not like the others.
Something within Raistlin buried beneath the ambition uncoiled itself.
"No," he said quietly, closing his eyes for a moment as he said it.
"What?" came her even, quiet voice.
He turned to face her and more firmly, "No."
For a moment Reylanna was speechless, then before he could have enough time to counter her, he found himself flung into the opposite wall with enough force to knock him senseless.

A sudden feeling that she would soon be needed for the finality of the test about to come caused her to pause. She knelt on the ground, her hand over her heart. "Armor of the Blue Star protect its Guardian..."
Within moments, her olive skin had turned golden, her black hair the silver white and her hazel eyes a rich gold like her skin. With another moment of concentration she was airborne...

Raistlin came to with the sensations of his feet freezing while the rest of him shivered in the extreme cold. A few moments later he realized why as he found himself hanging upside down in an ice-rimed cavern with his feet encased in ice and hardened snow to hold him there. "I thought she was bringing me a tasty morsel, but I would spend too much time trying to get the gristle out from between my teeth if I were to eat you..."
He blinked and turned his body so he could see the speaker. He came face to eye with the massive white dragon. The dragon blinked and sighed, "You're not even good for my children. So... what am I to do?"
A female, and from the look of it, egg heavy white dragon. "Don't eat me?" quipped Raistlin.
She looked up at him, folding her forelegs and leaning her head on them. "That would certainly look to be the situation. But I am very hungry..."
"I saw an encampment of Thanoi to the North West of here. I could show you where they are..." Raistlin suggested, mentally going through what little memorized spells he had, and thinking, For the first time in my life, I'm very, very glad I'm the skinny twin...
For a moment she thought about it, then said, "Or, you would escape. Not that it would matter much. You die here, I'll freeze you in case I got desperately hungry and eat you then, or I'll let you down and you keep me entertained until my children hatch, and they would eat you."
"Hmm," Raistlin thought about it. "I'll take the 'let me down' part. The blood is rushing to my head I rather suspect I'll faint shortly... although, the minute you right me I'll faint anyway. I'm freezing to death, the blood is rushing to my head, and when you put me down the pressure change will force me into shock. Either way, if I'm going to die, I think it will be shortly..."
He closed his eyes and then heard the shuffled movement, then, as he did faint as he had warned her, he felt himself drop into her claws and be laid on the soft snow. "We White Dragons may not have much in the way of body heat, wizard, but what little I have you are welcome to..." was the last he heard as the enveloping bulk of her lifted him and let him lie under her wing, but on her soft and bulging scaled belly.
A few hours later he awoke to a feeling of being much warmer and more comfortable. The White Dragon had built using bits of leather and worn bones a type of 'nest' for him against the cold and had even summoned a magical fire to warm him. She kept herself as far away from the fire as she could, but he could see that she slept within easy grabbing distance. He sat up slowly, drawing his thick robes around him, still slightly chilled from the hours spent hanging upside down. Her keen hearing woke her and she ambled over, the egg-heaviness of her making her more than a bit slow and pondering. It was then he realized that she was not just a big dragon, she was huge. "How old are you?" he asked.
A rumble was his answer, and he presumed it was a draconic laugh when she answered, "Now, did anyone tell you that it is terribly rude to ask a lady her age?"
"Yes, but my social skills tend to be rather blunt," he answered.
"Ah, and I have been lacking as well. I am Stormraven, and you are...?"
"Raistlin Majere," he answered. "Of the Order of Red Robes."
The dragon settled so she could look him in the eye. "Red? As in a neutral? Now, why would Reylanna have thrown you to me?"
"We had a... disagreement where I refused to marry her," answered Raistlin.
The dragon then and truly laughed, a loud sound that Raistlin had to wince at hearing as the entire cavern shook. "Now that would be the reason! That Reylanna has been refused so many times and each time she throws her would-be suitors to me. The last was a boor, but I think that I like you. You seem... somewhat different, Raistlin," she said then lowered her massive head so that he could actually almost see over it. "I don't suppose you could lure those Thanoi here, could you? I'm so very hungry..."
"What happened to eating me?" he asked, startled.
"You are different. You and I have something in common, and so I don't see you as 'food' anymore. But... if you would like to cement this new friendship, could you please find me some real food? Not that drivel Reylanna feeds me?” the dragon piteously begged.
Strangely surprised, Raistlin promised, "I shall do what I can... but... can you fly?"
"I can, but Reylanna cast wards on the entrance of my lair reinforced by the power of Nuitari himself and built up the wall so that only those smaller than a large horse could enter. I cannot break the ice because of Nuitari's power, and the wards would kill my children if I tried," she explained. "But you can..."
"Lady, I have no idea where I am..." he explained, but then bowed his head and walked to the entrance that she had indicated.
Touching the ice, he tapped it. It was indeed magically imbued as Stormraven had told him, and he could sense the inherent evil nature of the magic. This Reylanna had made sure that her prize could not escape while insuring that there was a method for food to get in. Finally Raistlin walked out into the cold and got him bearings.
A large walrus man pointed to him and he realized why the encampment was there as he ducked back in. The Thanoi had made their camp around the lair, thinking that the dragon was dead because of the amount of ice around it, in order to eventually plunder her horde. Raistlin could hear the chase as the Thanoi warriors followed him in. Finally he found himself in the cavern, except it was empty...
When the Thanoi charged in Stormraven hungrily swept down on them and slew the hunting
party completely. Eating her fill, which took out most of the Thanoi bodies, she then used her magic to freeze the rest to store them for later. She turned red rimmed eyes to Raistlin and with a toothy grin said, "Thank you, Raistlin Majere, for feeding me the best I have been fed since imprisoned. Reylanna kept me hungry and without enough strength to call on my Dark Queen to bend the renegade to my will. But you have freed me..."
Raistlin felt the powerful magic as the ice wall keeping the White Dragon within the fortress fell and as she swept out. He crept out in and in dark fascination watched the carnage that befell the Thanoi encampment as the Dragon killed those that attacked her and dragged in, still screaming, those who had ran out of fear.
The power he had witnessed was intoxicating, and he followed her in and watched as she slowly encased those survivors in ice while they still lived. "Ah, my sweetlings, my children... you will have fresh meat when you hatch. And impressed upon your very minds will be the mortal who saw to it that you were able to be laid..." she turned to him and gestured. As consciousness fled against the too difficult pull of the magical sleep, he heard, "I prefer to lay my eggs in private, Raistlin..."
The sun was twinkling in when he next awoke, still blessedly warm, and gazed out in wonder at the transformation before him. One corner of the empty cavern was filled with at least fifteen off white eggs the size of a fully grown man, but the White Dragon was no where to be seen. He walked over to one egg and put one hand against the warm, and still soft, shell. What felt like a pulse in his palm almost made him feel... well... the fact that according to Stormraven that these eggs would have never been laid unless with his intervention gave him a certain amount of satisfaction.
A rich voice startled him out of his reverie, "I am glad that you feel affinity for them, Raistlin."
He turned to see a pale white woman with skin and hair the color of snow walk towards him and then lay one slim hand on the egg he had touched, "They recognize their foster parent, and welcome him."
"Stormraven?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes, I am she," said the woman.
His surprise turned to shock as he realized that she wore no clothing. He averted his eyes and looked back at the eggs. In vague amusement, she asked, "What's wrong? Am I not attractive?"
"No, Stormraven, you're quite beautiful, but you are also quite naked," he said, clearing his throat.
"Naked?"
"You're nude, undressed," he said. "You ah..."
She smiled, "Ah, and this makes you uncomfortable, no? I thought you wore those robes because of the cold, not out of modesty. I am sorry, is this better?"
He turned to see her dressed in a black dress than served to cover her, although obviously not to keep her warm. Not that she had to worry about freezing to death... "In answer to your earlier question, I am very, very old," she said. "In your human equivalent, I am venerable. But dragons are immortal, or mostly so. We are the true children of the Gods and while we White Dragons are not the brightest candles in the draconic family, we are far more intelligent than you humans. With time we become wise as the Wizards of High Sorcery, and as skilled. A few of us have joined the ranks of the Wizards as Black Robes... although... there have been exceptions..."
"You're not telling me that there have been evil dragons that have been White Robes, are you?" asked Raistlin in disbelief.
"No, but I am telling you for a race that is inherently evil, there have been a few dragons closer to Neutral than they were Evil, and they are the longest living members..." she trailed off. "I can imagine you see where I lead with this?"
"You're one of them," he said. "That's why you didn't kill me, isn't it?"
She nodded, "As I grew older, and wiser, I began to realize that my cousins were a stupid lot. I found myself isolating myself more and more until I finally had enough and moved off into solitude. As I grew even older, I learned magic and finally the spell that allowed me to change my form. You see, most dragons have the ability to change form into that of something else. The White Dragons do not although we can learn magic that will enable that."
"So..." he said. "You're a wizard..."
"Yes, in fact, I even watched over your Test, Raistlin," she smiled as he looked at her in shock, and with a small nod. "Yes, I saw you kill the illusion of your twin brother, thinking that he had somehow taken what made you special. I felt for you and vehemently opposed Par-Salian's decision to 'brand' you the way he did... I have something to show you, my wizard."
He walked numbly to her food stores and pointed to a figure in the ice, "This is the reason Reylanna imprisoned me..."
In the ice Raistlin recognized Xahira.

Marion landed a few short feet away from Icewall Castle, recognizing the layers of magic as she did so. Drawing her double bladed sword as she recognized something of a chaotic nature, she walked cautiously around the outer wall.

Raistlin turned on the Dragon, "You killed Xahira?!"
"A long time ago, Raistlin," soothed Stormraven. "Reylanna found me out a short time after you
left the Tribe. Or rather, I found her out when I saw her leave my 'father's' tent. I pursued her, and soon found out that she was heading here."
Raistlin's eyes widened in shock and bile rose. "It was you the entire time? You're the Xahira I married? This one has been dead the entire time?"
She chanted for a moment, and he recognized the language of magic, and then her form changed into the desert girl, "But don't you recognize me, my Prince? Do you still love me like you did before you knew what I truly was?"
The eggs... "What about that?" he gestured to the eggs.
"What about them?"
He turned to see the snow drift away, revealing that the faint gold tinge to the mostly white eggs. "Our children will be very strong, and blessed with the same free will to choose their way of life. You have given them that," Stormraven/Xahira took his chin in her hand and turned his face so that he faced her. "When she had discovered my trick, she trapped me in here so that I could not feed enough to lay our eggs," her eyes lit with a furious rage, "Our sons and daughters will be powerful indeed, Guardian. Think of it, not only will they be strong in magic and in body, but carrying dragon blood in their veins, and having a dragon heritage! Magic that comes naturally, and with the gift of the Miiro as well!"
Raistlin shook. He didn't know which way to turn or which way to jump and in his mind he could clearly see two paths. One led into darkness, but held a great power that he could not fathom. The more he gazed down that path the more he heard whisper, If your armor is dross...
He pulled himself out of that path and pushed the White Dragon in woman form away, clutching at his head as he did so, moaning, "No... stop... leave me alone..."
Stormraven knelt down as he fell to his knees still moaning as if in great pain. She laid a compassionate hand on his head and stroked his hair, "My poor, poor husband..." she neatly opened his spell component pouch and took out a handful of rose petals. "Ast simulran krynawi."
Raistlin sighed then fell into the deep slumber, again forced into it by magic. Whatever spell resistance he had melted like butter on a hot summer day and he collapsed into the woman's arms, sleeping in her embrace. She picked him up, wrapping him in the blankets she had taken from the Thanoi, and then carried him back to the corner of the cavern that she had made specifically for him to warm him. "The poor dear," she murmured. "The stress has finally gotten to him..."
She didn't realize how close she was to the truth...
Raistlin's dreams, while still magically forced into a slumber so deep that dreams should not have occurred, were tormented. He relived his Test at the tower of High Sorcery, only now in the place of Caramon was Xahira. As he watched her burn at his own hands, he heard, "I thought you loved me..."
He stilled for awhile, and Xahira, as she had come to be known, stroked his hair in worry. It had been over twelve hours since she had cast Sleep on him, and he should have awoken by now...
Dreams.
He could not keep them at bay. He was aware that he nearly awoke a few times during his slumber, and of someone trying to soothe him with a cool, yet strangely warm, touch to his brow and murmured words that while beyond his understanding the tone was clearly meant to comfort.
But he found no comfort here.
Xahira waited, her knees tucked up under her head and her arms wrapped around him as she watched her human sleep. Finally, her draconic senses picked up on the change in breathing as he finally fell into the sleep he should have had.
Finally, the aim of the dream came clear as he followed her down a stair to a deep blue well. Friends are never as they appear... but still friends... can you accept a hand that cares for you because they chose to, not because they have to?
Raistlin fell into the well, and darkness that was deep and blissful surrounded him.

Marion walked into the garden as the door slammed shut. A woman's voice said, "My, this must be my week. Not one, but two Guardians fall into my trap... welcome Lady Uth Maleste. I have been waiting for you for a very, very long time..."
Turning to face Reylanna, she said, "Where is Raistlin Majere, Reylanna?"
"Dragon food by now," answered the Dark Elf. "A pity your successor was such a failure...
Something within the older Guardian broke and felt a bit of despair. It had not been intended to end this way....
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The Blue Star