“What?” Tayo blinked several times. “The dragon is dead?”
Alex leaned close and spoke a few words into Tayo’s ear. Then, leaning back and looking into Tayo’s eyes, he simply said, “Remember.”
For a moment, Tayo looked puzzled, but as the memories flooded back, he burst into tears. The others quickly busied themselves around the chamber, not wanting to embarrass Tayo by seeing his outburst of emotion. As Alex turned to move away, Tayo caught his arm.
“I am forever in your debt,” he said through his tears. “I can never repay your kindness.”
“Your happiness will be payment enough,” replied Alex with a smile, and walked over to see what Thrang was cooking.
Over the next several days, Tayo’s spirits and health improved greatly. He would laugh and joke with the rest of the company at mealtimes, and would often outdo even Skeld with his joking ways.
“I do not doubt your power, master wizard,” Skeld said to Alex one night. “But are you sure you’ve brought back the right man?”
They all laughed loudly at Skeld’s question, and Alex realized his own sad feelings had melted away with Tayo’s recovery.
Their days were filled with the toil of sorting and dividing treasure, and enjoying the happiness of completing their quest. They had already moved a large amount of the treasure into the first hall above the great hall to be sorted, but there were still mountains of treasure left.
“Let’s all just pick a spot and start filling our bags,” said Skeld one night after a long day of sorting. “It will be winter again before we get through all of this.”
“I never thought I’d hear Skeld say he was tired of counting treasure,” said Tayo, slapping the back of Skeld’s head as he walked behind him.
“Now I
am
sure you brought back the wrong man,” said Skeld, looking at Alex and laughing hysterically.
Weeks passed and finally they were able to start dividing the treasure into individual piles for each of them. Alex noticed that his pile seemed to be growing quickly and one night at dinner, he asked Bregnest about it.
“Well,” Bregnest began in his businesslike tone, “three shares for being a wizard, two for being a warrior, and one for killing the dragon, of course.”
“But I did not sign on as a wizard or a warrior,” Alex said loudly, but with a smile. “I signed on—as you know very well—as a first-time adventurer.”
“Yes,” Bregnest agreed. “However, I have modified the Bargain to take certain events into consideration. This is my right, as your leader. You would not break the agreement, would you?”
“It is your right,” said Alex, his smile fading. “However, I ask that you not change the agreement. I have gained much more than treasure on this adventure, and feel that I have already been very well paid.”
Bregnest looked stern for a moment, but then he smiled and laughed out loud.
“Very well, as you seem so determined to give your treasure away. Hear what I say concerning the division of this trea-sure.” Bregnest spoke loudly so the entire company could hear him. “That portion of the treasure which has already been divided will remain as it is. From now on we will return to the original agreement, by which young Master Taylor will receive two shares out of twenty.”
Alex smiled, but Bregnest went on.
“Also, I will use my right as leader to insist that anything which cannot be divided equally go into our young friend’s share. Further, I will insist that all rewards from the six remaining lost bags he carries will be his alone. I will insist on this, in spite of his desire to share his treasure with the rest of us. How say you all?”
A great cheer went up from the group, and though Alex was not entirely comfortable having so much treasure given to him, he nodded his acceptance to Bregnest.
“Also,” said Bregnest, holding up his hands for silence. “I would ask that Alex accept the honor of carrying the crystal of the White Tower back to the Oracle. Will you accept this honor?”
“I will,” Alex said, bowing.
The rest of the company cheered again as Bregnest handed the crystal of Iownan to Alex. Alex carefully placed the crystal, wrapped in a blue velvet cloth, in his bag and bowed to Bregnest once more.
Sorting the treasure had taken months and dividing it was taking weeks more. As they continued working, Alex noticed that all the crowns, necklaces, scepters, and other items that were obviously one of a kind were added to his pile. Once again he protested to Bregnest, but Bregnest simply smiled slyly.
“Well, they are all of different values and cannot be divided equally,” he said.
Alex tried to argue, but in the end he was forced to accept all of the items as part of his share, though he remained unhappy about it.
When they had finally divided the hoard and were ready to start transferring it to their magic bags, Andy asked the company to gather by his pile. He looked serious, though he smiled at Alex when he stepped up with the rest of the company.
“Tayo Blackman,” Andy began. “You hold the honor of my family. I wish to repay the debt my family owes to you.”
“How will you repay?” Tayo questioned, stepping forward.
“As payment, I offer you my share of this adventure’s
primary treasure.”
“Do you do this of your own free will?”
“I do.”
“I will accept only part of what you offer,” said Tayo, bowing to Andy. “Let all here know that the debt of honor owed to myself is now paid by Anders Goodseed. Will you all witness that it is so?”
“We will,” six voices replied.
“Then witness what I accept, and know that the debt of honor is paid.”
The company watched as Tayo removed a small amount of treasure from Andy’s pile and added it to his own.
“The debt is paid. Your family honor is whole,” said Tayo, smiling and bowing to Andy.
The company cheered and clapped as the ceremony ended.
“A moment, Master Taylor,” said Tayo as Alex turned away. “Another ceremony is in order as I am now in your debt.”
“What?” Alex asked nervously.
“You called me back from the wall,” Tayo replied. “You now hold the honor of my family.”
“Ah, yes,” said Alex, thinking quickly. “However, I only had to call you back because you saved my life. If you had not attacked Slathbog when you did, I would be dead. So I would say the debt is paid, and your family honor is whole.”
“Well-spoken,” said Bregnest with a nod and a smile.
Tayo stood quietly, the old, grim look back on his face. For a moment, Alex wondered what Tayo would say, but then he smiled and laughed.
“Very well, my friend,” he replied. “We will call this debt even.”
The entire company cheered once more, and then they each returned to their own piles of treasure and started filling their magic bags. Alex thought about the honor ceremony. He didn’t understand why Andy had to offer all of his treasure and why Tayo had taken so little. When they took a break from storing treasure, Alex asked Andy to explain.
“Because it was a debt of honor,” Andy replied. “Honor demanded I offer my entire share, but Tayo did not have to take it all. In fact, Tayo increased his honor by taking only a small amount.”
“Then wouldn’t it increase Tayo’s honor even more if he did not accept anything?” Alex asked, still confused.
“He has to take something or it would be an insult,” Andy laughed. “It would be saying that my father’s life meant nothing to him.”
“I guess I understand,” said Alex slowly, knowing he had more thinking to do about honor and what it meant. “I’m happy your family honor is whole.”
They spent days storing their piles of treasure in their bags, laughing and joking as they worked. There was so much treasure Alex began to wonder how big his expanding room could possibly get, and then laughed at himself for wondering.
Once they had all stored their shares, they went down for one last look at the great hall. It seemed even larger now that it was empty, and when the company cheered one last time, their voices echoed wildly around the empty hall. Collecting the rest of their gear, Alex and his friends slowly climbed into the bright afternoon light.
“Your wish is almost fulfilled,” Arconn said to Alex as they walked away from Varlo. “Already the snows are melting. Soon the green of spring will be on this land.”
Arconn was correct as usual. As they marched down the muddy road each day, Alex could see small shoots of green dotting the ground where the snow had melted. By the third day, the snow had almost disappeared, and new green plants were springing up everywhere.
“We still have a long walk back to the horses,” commented Halfdan as they ate their evening meal.
“And a long ride back to Telous,” Thrang added.
“And many happy places to visit, now that we have found success,” said Tayo with a smile.
“And what will you do with your great hoard?” Skeld asked Thrang, laughing. “Young Alex and Andy can’t help you spend it or they’ll never manage to spend any of their own.”
“Retire, perhaps,” said Thrang thoughtfully, then laughed at the worried looks on Skeld’s and Tayo’s faces. “Though perhaps my adventuring days are not over just yet.”
They spent a happy night joking and telling stories, not bothering to keep watch in the wastelands of the dragon. Alex wished they could stay in this newly reborn land forever, but he knew that, like Thrang, he had many more adventures before him.
A
lex and his companions walked along the road out of the wastelands, happy to see that the countryside was returning to life. There was no need to hurry, and they enjoyed laughing and singing together as they traveled. One afternoon, as they approached the edge of the wastelands, they heard horses galloping toward them.
“Shahree!” Alex called out as the horses came into view.
Shahree whinnied loudly at Alex’s call and trotted quickly to his side. He stroked her silver-gray neck happily, and the rest of the company laughed with joy. The other horses galloped up behind Shahree, and Arconn made a point of personally thanking each horse.
“She has been worried since you parted,” Arconn told Alex as he rubbed Shahree’s forehead.
“That makes us even because I have been worried about her as well,” said Alex with a laugh.
They made camp for the night, happy with their success and excited to be going home. Thrang prepared an excellent dinner, and Alex amused his friends by turning the campfire different colors and twisting the smoke into various shapes as it floated into the darkening sky.
The next day, Skeld and Tayo sang several strange and happy songs as they rode. They even managed to convince Andy to join them on a few of the songs, though it took a lot of teasing to do it. Alex was as amazed as the rest of the company to see the great change that had come over Tayo. Alex was glad that Tayo seemed to have taken Elsa’s advice to find joy and happiness in his life.
When they eventually returned to the dark forest, Calysto was waiting to greet them in the same meadow they had left months before. It seemed she had known they were coming long before they arrived.
“You left before the first snows fell and already you have returned,” she said with a smile. “It seems fortune has favored you greatly.”