Dan Parkinson. The Gates of Thorbardin
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("DragonLance Saga Heroes II" #2).
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DragonLance Heroes II Trilogy
Volume II
***
The Gates of Thorbardin
written by
Dan Parkinson
Dedication
Stories grow from stories told,
So no tale's ever ended
While there's yet new among the old.
It's thus that lore's extended.
The Gates of Thorbardin is dedicated to whomever finds
the gnomish island-vessel, or solves the mystery of
Garon Wendesthalas, or tells the whole tale of Caliban
and Kolanda, or can chronicle the entire Battle of Waykeep.
Part 1
The Dream Chaser
Chapter 1
Even here, in this cold crevasse split deep and
narrow into living mountain stone... even here, where
he could go no farther, where his aching body squeezed
so tightly between serrated walls of cutting stone that his
back was raw and bleeding... even here, where no
roads came and the only trails were paths of small things
passing....
Even here, he knew they would find him.
At least one of them would come, drawn by the scent
of his blood - would come up through the riven rock and
find him cornered. There were too many of them on the
slopes below, too well spread as they hunted upward, for
all of them to miss him where he hid. One would come.
One would come to kill him.
He had watched them coursing the field like a hunter's
pack. From a ledge where the tumbled stone lay gro
tesque in the shadows of the sheers above, he had seen them lose his scent. They had spread wide, casting about
almost as wolves might, seeking movement, great blunt
noses dipping to sweep the ground and rising to test the
air, thick, sleek tails swishing graceful arcs as they
wound and curved through the diminishing brush of the
mountain slope. Long and lithe, immensely powerful
and as graceful as dark zephyrs on the wind, they moved
upward in silent unison, missing nothing as they came.
Sunlight on the black fur rippling over mighty muscles
was a tapestry of iridescence.
How many were there? He hadn't been able to tell.
They were never all in sight at once. He'd judged that
there were thirty down there, seeking him. But it didn't
matter. Of the hunting cats he had seen, one would be
enough.
Hunger had knotted his stomach as he turned upward
again, seeking a place to go to ground. Or a weapon. His
hands craved the touch of a weapon - any kind of
weapon. He had then found a palm-sized rock with a cut
ting edge and balanced it in his hand. It was no proper
weapon, only a sharp stone. But to hands long
comforted by the tools they held, it was better than noth
ing at all.
Clambering into tumblestone mazes, he'd used his
rock to cut a strip from the leather kilt he wore, and concentrated on binding the strip about the rock to make a
grip that would fit his hand. He stumbled, fell against a
spur of stone, and felt it gash his shoulder. Warm blood
ran down his arm, bright droplets spattering the rock be
neath his feet. He paused for only a moment, looking at
the blood, and raised one eyebrow in ironic salute. Then
he had moved on.
Above the tumblestone rose the sheer faces of rock
cliffs, and among the cliffs he had found the crevasse,
and now he waited there. He had seen them coursing up
through the mazes, had seen the one that paused and
sniffed where it found the droplets of his blood. One, at
least, would find him here. That one had the scent and
would not lose it again.
The crevasse was a great slit, deep into the standing
cliff. Far above was open sky, but the walls were sheer,
with no place to climb. For a time the cut had run on, in
ward and upward, even widening at one point, where a
tiny cold spring dripped from a sandstone cleft to pool in
the sand below then disappear into the rising ground. He
had stopped there for a moment, trying to quench a
thirst that tortured him. Then he had gone on, and could
almost feel the hot breath of the hunting cat closing in be
hind him. From the spring, the crevasse wound back into sheer stone, narrowing as it went. Finally he could go no
farther. He had pushed himself into the final rift as
tightly as he could, holding his breath, and he felt the
cold rock scraping at his flesh.
He tilted his head to peer upward. Far above was sky,
and its path was wider than the cleft that swallowed him
front and back. Using the rock walls as pressing surfaces,
he raised himself a few inches, bracing with his elbows at
the rock before him, with his feet at the rock behind. His
breath was a cloud of steam, hanging in the cold, still air
around him, condensing on chill stone as he worked.
By inches he crept upward, levering himself between
two surfaces. A foot, then three, then seven he climbed,
using his forearms thrust ahead of him - then his hands
as the chimney widened above. When he could no longer
climb, when his outthrust arms would not reach farther
and give purchase, he looked down. He was fifteen feet
above the bottom of the crevasse and could go no higher.
He was still within reach of a hunting cat, he knew.
Any one of the great beasts, as tall at the shoulder as he
was at the ears, could leap this high. His chest heaving,
his breath a cloud in the shadows of dark stone, he clung
and waited. He could go no farther.
"Come on, then, pouncer," he muttered. "You have my
scent and you know where I am, so you are the chosen one. Come along, now, and let's get it done. I'm tired."
Tiny clickings echoed up the split, needle tips of great
claws tapping at stone as the beast padded nearer. Now
he could hear its breath, the deep-chested, rumbling purr
of a huge cat closing on its prey.
Shadows shifted in the cleft, and he looked upward.
High above, where the walls opened upon sky, some
thing moved. A face was there, tiny and distant, looking
down at him. It was there, then it withdrew. Someone
was atop the escarpment, above the rended cliffs, some
one curious enough to look down and see what was hap
pening below. But whoever it was, it meant nothing to
him, here. All that mattered in this moment was that he
was here, the cat was coming... and in a place far away
Jilian waited for him. He had promised her he would
return.
In the cold mist of his breath, he now saw her face. Of
them all, she was the only one who had truly believed
him. The only one with faith in him. He had told her
about the dreams. He had told several others, as well,
but of them all, Jilian believed.
Rogar Goldbuckle might have believed about the
dreams, but not about their portent. Goldbuckle had lis
tened, stood for a time in thought, then shook his head. "Who's to know what a dream means?" he had sighed.
"I've had dreams, too, Chane. But that's all they were.
Just dreams."
It had been worse when he told Slag Firestoke what he
wanted to do. Old Firestoke was not fond of him anyway
and was not happy about an empty-pursed orphan
spending time with his daughter. It had been Jilian's idea
to tell her father about Chanc's premonitions, in the hope
that Firestoke might outfit him for his quest. He didn't
need much. Just warm clothing, arms and provisions,
and a few of Firestoke's hirelings to accompany him.
"Thorbardin is in jeopardy," Chane had told him. "I
know it, and in dreams I've been told that I must find the
key to save it."
"Dreams!" Firestoke had rumbled, glaring at him.
'You're daft as a warren-bat."
"I know I'm right," Chane had insisted. "I don't know
exactly what I'm to find, but I'll know when I find it."
Firestoke had laughed at that, a cruel, victorious
laugh, "So you come to me for money? Well, you can
wait until your whiskers rust. You won't see a brass coin
from me, Chane Feldstone. Now get out of my house
...and stay away from my daughter! She'll have better
than the likes of you." Then, it seemed that old Firestoke had changed his
mind. At the time, Chane believed that Jilian had per
suaded him... and Jilian had believed it, too.
The cat sounds were closer now, momentarily hesitant
while the big beast tasted the air. Chanc clung to his
braced position and felt chill beads of sweat among his
whiskers.
She probably still believes it, he thought. How would
she know that her father's villains accompanied me to the
edge of the wilderness, then waylaid me?
They had beaten and pummeled him, enjoying the
sport. They had taken his weapons, his coins, his boots,
his warm clothing. Everything that Firestoke had pro
vided, they took - and everything else he had, as well.
"Don't come back to Thorbardin," they'd told him.
"Our sponsor doesn't want to ever see you again."
And they had harried his trail, to make sure he didn't
turn back. Day after miserable, hungry day they had fol
lowed him, until he had crossed beyond Thorbardin's
realm into the wild lands.
Hunger weakened him, and he felt his braced arms
trembling. The purring rumble of the great cat was very
near, just beyond the final bend in the chasm. He took a
deep breath. "Come on, you blasted cat," Chanc said
aloud. "Come kitty-kitty-kitty, you tarnish-pitted carnivore. Come on and get it over with!"
Then it was there, thirty feet away, a sleek, stalking
predator of midnight black. Gold eyes spotted him, and
it paused, ears flattening back atop an ebony head as
wide as his body.
Its mouth opened wide to clear front fangs the size of
daggers. Its purr became a low roar, and it bunched its
massive body, long tail twitching. Then it charged...
two long bounds and a leap, front paws reaching for its
prey.
In the last instant, he released his hold and dropped. A
heavy paw the span of his own hand brushed his head.
Needle-sharp claws cut shallow furrows from his hair to
his brow. Then he was below it, and he heard the heavy
thump as the cat wedged itself into the slanting cut where
he had been.
He fell, rolled away, scrambled upright, and caught its
writhing tail in both hands, pulling himself upward. Feet
braced against stone, he climbed and swung himself to its
rump, dodging its thrashing hind claws. Hands full of
black fur, he pulled himself forward. The cat's roar be
came a howl of rage. Its head came up and turned, great
teeth glinting as he grabbed the cat's head and threw him
self over its shoulder, clinging for life. The cat shrieked. He heard the snapping of bone.
For an instant he dangled between clawed paws that
had ceased to move, and felt the hot breath of the beast
on his face as its lungs emptied themselves. It did not
breathe again. Its neck was broken.
Feeling weak with hunger and exertion, he pulled him
self atop the beast once more, sat there long enough to let
his muscles stop trembling, then raised himself above it,
feet braced against rock faces on either side. He began
prying the cat loose from the grip of the stone. When fi
nally the huge body was free, he dragged it back to
where there was a little space, rolled it onto its back, got
out the wrapped shard of rock and set about dressing and
skinning the body.
He had almost completed the task when a voice behind
him said, "Take the tenderloin. Best part of a cat."
He turned, crouching. The person who stood there, a
few yards away, was nearly his own height, but slighter
of build. He was beardless, though the great mane of his
hair had been caught up in leather wraps at one side and
was looped around his neck like a fur collar. He leaned
casually on a staff with a fork at its end, and gazed sar
donically at the skinned beast on the ground. "I don't be
lieve I ever saw a body go to so much trouble for his
supper," he said. "You are a mess. Blood all over you, and I expect some of it's yours."
The newcomer was looking him over unabashedly,
and Chane glared back. "A kender," he growled. 'You're
a blasted kender."
"So I am," the newcomer said, feigning surprise. "But
then you're a dwarf. I guess everybody is something.
Chestal Thicketsway's the name. You can call me 'Chess'
if you want to. Why did you lead that cat in here, any
way?"
"Because I couldn't think of any better way to kill it,
and I'm hungry."
"So am I," the kender grinned. "Did you notice the lit
tle canyon back there, with the spring in it? I'll get a fire
started there, if you'll bring the meat. And don't forget
the tenderloins... and the backstrap. Those are the best
meat, you know."
* * * * *
By evening firelight, the little spring canyon in the cleft
seemed almost a homey place. His belly full of roast
hunting cat, sage tea, and a bit of hard cheese that the
kender had produced from his pouch - he said he had
found it somewhere - the dwarf pegged down the catskin and began to work the flesh from it, using his edged
stone as a scraper, while the kender watched curiously.
All through supper the kender had chatted sociably, not
seeming to care that his companion rarely answered ex
cept for an occasional grunt or growl. Chestal Thick
etsway was not bothered by that, it seemed, He enjoyed
the sound of his own voice, and rarely ran out of new
ideas and opinions with which to amuse and amaze him
self.
But as the dwarf worked steadily over the staked
down hide, scraping, rubbing, and dressing it, Chess
gradually went silent... or nearly so. He sat by the fire
and watched in lively curiosity, now and then muttering
to himself. "Not that," he said. "Wrong color." Then,
"No, I don't think so. It is far too big." And, "Well, possi
bly for formal occasions, but hardly for every day."
Finally the dwarf turned to glare at him. "What are
you muttering about?"
"I'm trying to decide what you plan to do with that
pelt," the smaller person explained. "So far I have pretty
well eliminated any ideas of a tent or a rug, and I can't see
a dwarf flying a black fur flag... unless, of course, he
plans to take up taxidermy, which is an unusual occupa
tion for dwarves as far as I have seen. If you were a gnome, now -"
"I need a coat," the dwarf said gruffly, returning to his
scraping.
"- You might have some notion of lacing poles into it
to make a flying machine, or punching holes in it to sift
gravel for a -"
"Shut up," the dwarf said.
"- sliding stairway. What?"
"I wish you would be quiet. I'm trying to work here."
"I can see that. Why don't you make yourself a coat?
You could certainly use one, I'd say. Maybe some boots,
too. Most dwarves I've met prefer bullhide boots with
iron soles, but just some simple fur boots would be better
than those rags you have bound around your feet. I don't
think I've ever seen a worse-dressed dwarf than you. I've
seen goblins with better attire. Did you lose your clothes
somewhere 7"
"They were stolen...."
"And aren't you supposed to carry a hammer or an axe
or something? Most dwarves are pretty tight-fisted
about tools and weapons. I'd say you have a story to tell.
How about your name?"
"What about my name?"
"Do you remember it?"
"Well, of course I remember it!" "What is it?"
"Chane Feldstone."
Chane turned back to his pelt, growling. When it was
cleaned to his satisfaction, he put more wood on the fire
and went to retrieve the two longest teeth from the car
cass of the cat. They were the center incisors of the upper
jaw, and like incisors they were sharp along the edges.
Unlike incisors, though, they tapered to keen points at
the ends... and unlike the teeth of most creatures
even creatures as large as the hunting cat - they were
nearly ten inches long.
He worked at them for a time, wrenching them this
way and that with strong hands, until finally they were
loose enough for him to pull them out of the jaw. Chane
carried them back to the fire and laid their root ends in
the flame to clean them while he cut hardwood for grips
and lengths of thong for binding.
"Most dwarves prefer metal daggers," the kender
pointed out. "Most dwarves don't care for ivory."
"This is the best that's available right now," Chane
snapped. "It will do until I can find something better."
"Things aren't hard to find," Chess agreed. "People are
always leaving things just lying around -"
"Don't you have somewhere to go?" Chane asked. The kender leaned back against a rock, cupping his
hands behind his head. "I thought I'd have a look around
that valley down there... the one the cats chased you
out of. It's called Waykeep, or some such thing."
"The valley?"
"Or some part of it. No one seems to know very much
about it. Hardly anyone goes there."
Chane looked at the great pelt, pegged out for curing,
and at the daggerlike fang he was fitting with a handle. "I
can see why," he said.
"Actually, I was on my way to Pax Tharkas, but I got
sidetracked," the kender admitted. "There's a lot to see in
these mountains. And a lot not to see. Did you notice
that valley the cats came from, how it just sort of fades
out of sight when you try to see it? Pretty mysterious if
you ask me."
Even if you don't ask, Chane was thinking.
"I had a nice talk with a hill dwarf a few months ago.
He'd lost an amulet and I helped him find it, and when I
showed him my map he said the blank space between the
west ranges and the Vale of Respite must be the Valley of
Waykeep. He doesn't know anything about it, except it
doesn't show on maps and nobody goes there. Especially
wizards. So that's why I'm sidetracked and not on my
way to Pax Tharkas. You don't look like a hill dwarf. You look a little different. Are you a mountain dwarf?"
"I'm from Thorbardin," Chane said, paying scant at
tention to the chattering kender. The more the creature
talked, the more glassy-eyed he felt. It was like trying to
listen to twenty or thirty anvils, all at once.
"Is that why your beard grows back that way?" Chess
stared at him in bright-eyed curiosity. "Do all Thor
bardin dwarves have swept-back whiskers?"
"No, but I do. It's just the way they grow." He looked
up from his work, thoughtfully. 'What kind of maps do
you have?"
"Oh, all kinds," the kender spread his hands. "Big ones
and little ones, some drawn on linen, some on
parchment - I even have one drawn on a... no, I used
to have that, but I don't now. I ate it." He glanced at the
remains of their meal.
"Maps of what?" Chane growled.
The kender blinked at him. "Places. That's what maps
are. They're pictures of places. I make a lot of maps. Of
places. When I go home to Hylo someday... that's
where I'm from, did I tell you that?"
"I don't know." The dwarf's scowl was becoming
fierce. "What places?"
"- I'll be able to show everybody where I've been." The kender blinked again. "What places would you
like?"
"I don't know, exactly," Chane sighed. "I've never seen
it... except in dreams. But it's outside of Thorbardin
...someplace beyond Northgate."
The kender shifted his voluminous belt-pouch around
so that it rested on his lap, and began rummaging inside
it. The pouch seemed to have endless capacity, and the
dwarf stared at the horde of treasure the kender's busy
hands brought to light. Bright baubles of countless
kinds, small stones, bits of twine, an old turtle shell, var
ious metal objects, a wooden cube, an old and battered
bird's nest - this the kender stared at for a moment, then
tossed aside - a broken spoon, a scrap of cloth.... The
treasures went on and on.
Then Chess drew forth a fat sheath of drawings and his
eyes brightened. "Ah," he said. "Maps." He thumbed
through them. "If the place you want to see is north of
Northgate, that means it's east of here," he explained,
then looked up, glanced at Chane and pointed. "East is
that way."
"What do the maps show to the east?" Chane squinted,
trying to see what the drawings said.
Chess looked up, surprised. "Nothing," he said. "I thought I told you about that. The first thing east of here
is the Valley of Waykeep, and it isn't on maps. Maybe I
can draw one on the way."
"I don't want to go to the Valley of Waykeep," the
dwarf snorted.
"If you want to go east, you do," Chess said amicably,
then reached into his pouch and drew out another shiny
bauble. "How about that?" He held it up and gazed at it
in surprise.
"How about what? What is that?"
"It's that hill dwarf's amulet. The one I helped him
find. He must have lost it again. That's where I found it
the first time, too. Right in here, under the troll's sandal.
What do you know!"
Chapter 2
"What kind of dreams was it? I mean the one
where you saw a place outside of Thorbardin, and now
you want to find it?" Chestal Thicketsway scrambled to
the crest of a stone ledge and squinted, peering at misty
distances. Fogs and low clouds seemed to span the Valley
of Waykeep, a trough of sun-dappled gray mist miles
across and tens of miles in length. He noted again how
the valley seemed to just... lose itself from sight, even when one stood directly above it and looked down.
Chane Feldstone hoisted himself to the ledge-top, a
black-clad dwarf burdened by black packs slung from
each shoulder. The dead cat had provided more than a
meal. It had provided a good, black fur coat, two packs,
and a supply of smoked meat. "It was just a dream," he
said. "At least that's what almost everybody tells me.
Maybe they're right, too. But it's my dream, and I don't
think that's all it is."
"Well, what do you think it was?" The kender shaded
his bright eyes, gazing at the distant, craggy mountains
that rose above the mists several miles eastward, across
the valley.
"I think it was a message," Chane sighed. "It's like a
dream that I've had a hundred times over the years, only
this time it seemed to almost make sense, and there was
this face - I felt like I should know who he was, but I
can't quite grasp it. He told me that I had a destiny and
the fate of Thorbardin depends on me, and he showed
me a place where I must go."
'Why?"
"I don't know. He didn't say, but it must have some
thing to do with the helmet, because that's what I always
dream about." The kender glanced around at the dwarf, raising an
eyebrow quizzically. "What helmet?"
"The same one I always dream about. Ever since I was
half-grown."
"A helmet," Chess breathed. "Gee, I usually just dream
about butterflies and leeches and things. I don't think I
ever dreamed about a helmet," He raised his forked staff,
twirled it in his hngers for a moment, then tossed it into
the air and caught it, still twirling, as it fell. "Dreams are
important, though. My cousin dreamed he was a door
mat one time, and a week later an ogre stepped on him."
Chane stared at the twirling staff. "What is that thing,
anyways"
'What t" Chess blinked and stopped twirling the stick.
"Oh, this? It's a hoopak. Tell me some more about your
helmet dream."
"Well, it's just a dream. I've had it now and then, most
of my life. I dream I'm in a place I've never seen before,
and there's something there. Sometimes it's a locked chest,
sometimes a bag, sometimes a pile of stones or a wooden
box. But I open it, and there is an old helmet inside. A war
helm, with horns and a spire, cheekplates, noseguard...
it always looks the same, and every time I start to put it on
my head there is a voice that says, " 'No, not now. Not yet. When the time comes, you will know.' "
"Is that all?" the kender frowned in disappointment.
'That isn't very exciting."
"That's all of it," Chane admitted. "Or it was until a
few weeks ago, when I started having that dream almost
every night. But now it's different. There's a great, high
bridge, and nothing at all beneath it. I cross the bridge,
and then I find the helmet. I start to put it on, and there is
someone there with me. A warrior, like the old Hylar
warriors back in the time of the great war. He looks at me
and says, 'The time approaches. Thorbardin is at risk.
Chane Feldstone, you must become who you are and
who you are meant to be. It is your destiny.' " Chane
growled and scuffed a fur-clad foot against the stone.
"Old Firestoke laughed when I told him about it."
"Is he the one who chased you out of Thorbardin?"
"Nobody chased me out of Thorbardin!" Chane rum
bled. "I went because I wanted to go. But his villains beat
me up and robbed me and told me never to come back."
"Why do you suppose they did that?"
"Because Slag Firestoke is a miserable old rust-pit, and
he wants Jilian to marry somebody wealthy or famous."
"I don't suppose you are either of those?"
"No, I'm not. But I'll go back when I'm ready, and I'll
go on my own terms, and Slag Firestoke can go to corrosion for all I care."
"But you're going to find the helmet first."
"I intend to try. Maybe it was just a dream, but I want
to find out."
"Maybe the helmet will make you rich and famous,"
the kender suggested.
Still seething at the recent memory of betrayal and hu
miliation, Chane squinted and peered at the misted val
ley. The kender was right about one thing, he decided.
The valley seemed to try to hide itself, as though it didn't
want company. But to reach the mountains east of there
he would have to cross it.
They had seen no further sign of the big cats. If the
beasts lived in the valley, they had obviously gone home
during the night. In the distance, beyond the mists,
morning sun haloed the caps of tall peaks that jutted up
ward like lizards' teeth. At one point, somewhat to the
north, there was a gap that might be a pass.
"Does your map say what's beyond those next moun
tains?" he asked.
"Another valley," the kender said. "It's called the Vale
of Respite. And beyond it are more mountains. Some re
ally big ones. According to one of the maps, the northern
gate of Thorbardin is over there someplace. I've never seen that. Have you?"
"Not from outside," Chane admitted. He growled
again, thinking about Firestoke's "armsmen" - actually
just a gang of toughs, the sort who were all too common
in some of the warrens and even parts of some of the clan
cities in the undermountain domain. Firestokel The old
rustbucket had made Chane believe that he was helping
him, outfitting him for a journey, providing armed com
panions... and had betrayed him. What must Jilian
think? Thinking of Jilian he became so melancholy that
he went back to thinking about her father instead.
'Yes, by the Great Anvil!" he growled. 'Yes, I will go
back, and maybe I'll shove Slag Firestoke's pretensions
right down his throat."
"Being rich and famous might help," Chess allowed.
He shifted his pouch to a more comfortable position at
his belt, gripped his hoopak, and scuffed an impatient
foot. "Look at it, will youl I never saw a valley so reluc
tant to be seen."
Chane picked up his packs. "Maybe it's a spell."
"I don't think so," the kender said. "I heard magicians
don't like to come here because it makes them itch or
something. The hill dwarf told me that." He glanced at
the fur-clad dwarf, then tipped his head to study Chane
critically. Clad entirely in black cat-fur, the only parts of the dwarf that were visible were the top half of his face
swept-back whiskers nearly as dark as the cat fur cov
ered everything below his nose - his hands, and his
knees between kilt and boot-tops. Chess decided he
looked like a dwarf in a black bunny suit.
Chane stepped to the edge of the ridge and looked
down. Rough, fissured rock fell away in a vertical drop,
and through the mists he thought he saw water below.
Wings beat the air, and a dark shadow flitted across
the ledge. They looked up. A large bird, as black as mid
night but with iridescent flashes where sunlight caught
its sleek feathers, had swooped down from somewhere
above and now rested on a gnarled snag just overhead. It
preened itself, shifted its footing on the snag, and cocked
its head to stare at them with one golden eye. "Go away,"
it said.
Chane blinked. "What?"
"It said, 'go away,' " the kender repeated. "I never
heard a bird say 'go away' before, have you? For that
matter, I've never heard a bird say a word of any kind
except once, when a messenger bird in the service of
some wizard got lost in a crosswind or something and
landed on the flagstaff at Hylo Village. It talked for five
or ten minutes. Nobody knew what it was talking about, but half the folks in the village were invisible for several
days afterward." He paused, remembering. "Lot of things
got misplaced about then. Old Ferman Wanderweed
never did find his front door -"
"Will you be quiet?" Chane snapped. "This bird just
talked to us."
"I know that. It said, 'go away.' I told you."
"But birds can't talk!"
"Generally not." Curiously, the kender raised his
forked staff and poked at the bird. It glared at him, first
with one eye and then with the other, and shifted its posi
tion on the snag. "Go away," it said again.
"Do you suppose that's all it knows how to say?"
Chess wondered aloud. "Just, 'go away'? If I were teach
ing a bird to talk, I think I'd come up with something bet
ter than -"
"Go away or keep the Way," the bird said.
"That's much better," Chess nodded.
"What does it mean by that?" Chane glared at the bird,
which glared back with a malicious yellow eye.
"Go away or keep the Way," the bird squawked. "Go
away or keep the Way! Go away or keep the Way!" Hav
ing had its say then, the bird glared at them one more
time, relieved itself on the snag, spread wide wings, and launched itself out over the valley.
They watched it shrink to a dot in the distance, then
Chane settled his packs on sturdy shoulders and stepped
to the edge of the cliff again.
"You're still going?" the kender asked.
"Of course I am. Why not?"
"You heard what that bird said."
"I don't take orders from birds. Are you coming?"
"Sure, but I bet there's an easier way down than where
you're heading." Turning away from the sheer ledge, the
small creature started off, down the far slope, angling
away from the ledge.
Chane frowned and called after him, "That isn't the
way the bird went."
Chess glanced back. "So what?"
"The bird said, 'keep the Way.' Maybe we're supposed
to follow it."
"I thought you didn't take orders from birds."
"I don't, but I'm open to suggestions when they lead in
the direction I want to go."
"Well, I'll meet you in the valley, then," Chess said.
"This looks like a nice, easy path around this way. A per
son could get hurt climbing down that cliff."
"Suit yourself." The dwarf shrugged, eased himself
over the sheer ledge, and found handholds and acceptable, if precarious, holds for his feet. As a mountain
dwarf, climbing was second nature to him, and he had
little patience for detours.
The sheer face was almost vertical, but it was rough
and broken, and Chane could find purchase. As he low
ered himself below the edge, he saw the kender strolling
happily away, down the easy slope to the north.
It was eighty feet to the bottom of the rock, as nearly
as Chane could judge. Slow going, but he kept at it,
working his way down with the stubborn dexterity of his
kind. Born in Thorbardin, largest kingdom of the moun
tain dwarves of Krynn - and maybe the only one, for all
Chane knew - swarming over rock faces was as natural
to him as delving caverns and tunnels. Dug from the bed
rock of a mountain range, Thorbardin was more than a
city. It was an entire complex of cities, all deep within the
mountains. And it had many levels. In one way or an
other, Chane had been climbing rock all his life.
The dwarf was nearing the bottom when he heard
shouts and scuffling above. A rain of pebbles pelted
Chane. He looked up to see the kender flinging himself
over the ledge, seeming to fly out into thin air for a mo
ment before he twisted around, thrust his forked staff at
the face of the cliff, wedged it into a crack, and swung from it. Above Chess a great black head with feral yel
low eyes looked down. A big, padded paw with ranked
claws extended and swatted downward, trying to reach
him. The kender pulled himself hand over hand to the
rock face, clung there, released his staff, and thrust it
into another crack farther down. "The bird was right," he
called. "I think I'll try it your way."
Chane let himself down another set of holds, and sud
denly it was raining gravel again. From above came the
sound of splintering rock, and another yell. The next in
stant, Chane was knocked from his holds as the kender
landed on him. A tangle of arms and legs, pack, pouch,
and forked staff, the kender and the dwarf thumped onto
the slope at the foot of the cliff and rolled downward,
gathering momentum a black-and-motley ball heading
for the maze of tumblestone below, leaving a cloud of
dust in its wake. Through the fallen rock they went,
threading this way and that among boulders as the rise
and fall of the slope guided them. They bounded off a
boulder, careened from another, shot through a hole in
the base of two coupled stones, and zoomed off a lower
ledge. Water glinted below, rising to meet them, then
closed over them with a splash.
The kender surfaced, bobbing like a cork. He sput
tered, blinked, and headed for the nearest solid surface a jutting creek bank a few feet away. Reaching it, he
pulled himself up, water sheeting from him. "Wow," he
said. "Your way down is certainly faster than mine."
When there was no answer, he looked around. There
was no sign of the dwarf. The surface of the stream - a
deep, cold little river no more than twenty feet wide
shivered with converging ripples and resumed its flow.
He looked downstream, then upstream. No one was in
sight. He waded out as far as he could and began thrust
ing about beneath the surface, poking here and there
with his hoopak.
Nothing.
"Now where did that dwarf get off to?" Chess mut
tered. He waded in another step, fighting the current,
and prodded deep into the stream, finding nothing but
water.
Several yards downstream, near the bank, waters
parted and a pair of black cat-ears emerged, followed by
a black head-pelt and then the face of Chane Feldstone,
dripping wet. The dwarf got his whiskers above water
and blew out a long-held breath, then plodded up the
shallows and out of the creek.
"What are you doing over there?" Chess snapped at
him. "I was getting worried. I didn't know whether you could swim."
The dwarf turned, glaring at him with hot-eyed fury.
"I can't swim! I had to walk." He sat down to empty wa
ter out of his boots and his pack, then put them on again
and stood, plodding toward the kender with the look of
mayhem in his eyes. "Why did you jump on me up there?
If you can't scale cliffs, why don't you just stay off of
them?"
"I didn't jump on you," Chess said. "I fell on you. It's a
different thing entirely. It...." He looked past the
drenched dwarf and pointed. "Do you know that you
have a following?"
Where thickets began, fifty yards downstream, four of
the great black hunting cats had emerged. Ears laid back,
eyes blazing with feline anticipation, they padded to
ward the pair, their rumbling purrs like distant thunder.
"Don't talk about it," Chane said. "Run!"
They ran up the creek bank, across a gravel bed, and
onto meadowgrass where thickets converged ahead of
them. The kender, in the lead, dove into the thickets, as
quick and as limber as a rabbit taking cover. The dwarf,
slower of foot, felt hot breath on his back as he bumbled
into a viny wilderness that clawed and pulled at him
from all sides. With one arm up to protect his feet, he pushed on, short, brawny legs making up in power what
they lacked in speed. Directly behind him he heard cats
circling, testing, slinking into the thickets by hidden
ways, spreading to flank him on both sides, converging
to head him off. Chane tripped and sprawled, suspended
for a moment in a nest of thorny brush. He pushed on
and stumbled again, and abruptly a fork of seasoned
hardwood was in his hand. He gripped it and followed as
it pulled him forward another step, then two.
"Come on!" the kender shouted. "We don't have all
day!"
With Chess pulling and his own legs pushing, Chane
burst from the entwining thickets and rolled onto clear
ground. He could see nothing except a mass of vines and
thorns in front of his face. He tried to stand, tripped over
vines tangled around his face, and fell again. Behind
him, to the right and left, were the rumbling purrs of big
cats. He braced himself for their attack, and waited.
And nothing happened.
Near at hand, the kender said, "Well, how about that!
I think we've found the 'Way.' "
Pulling and cutting at Chane's cloak of vegetation, the
kender cleared a viewport for him. He looked around.
They were near the center of a wide, open path that led
into forest. The path's surface was black gravel, its stones glinting in the spangled light like bits of coal. And
alongside the path were several of the huge hunting cats,
glaring and whining, padding this way and that along
the verge of the gravel.
"They don't want to come onto the path," the kender
said. "I guess this is what the bird was talking about." He
turned his attention again to clearing thorny vines from
Chane, pulling and slicing at them, discarding them by
lengths and armloads. "You really are a mess," he noted
cheerfully. "Given a little time, I'll bet you could grow
berries."
Chane's arms were free then, and he set about untan
gling himself, shrugging off the kender's attempts to
help.
"This works pretty well for that," Chess said, holding
up the implement he had been using. Chane stared at it
a dagger made from a cat's tooth.
"What are you doing with that?" he demanded.
'That's mine."
"Is it I" the kender looked at it closely. "I found it some
where, while we were rolling down the hill. Do you sup
pose you lost it?"
"Give it back!"
"All right." Chess handed over the knife. "If that's how you feel about it, here. It's all right. I still have another,
just like it."
Above the blackstone path an iridescent raven
wheeled, circled, then flew off to the north as though
showing them the direction to take.
Other eyes also watched the bird, but not directly.
High on a wind-scoured crag, among the peaks east of
the Valley of Waykeep, a man knelt beside an ice pool,
gazing intently at its surface. A dark bison-pelt robe
pulled tight around his shoulders shielded him from the
cold, only here and there exposing the color of the long
robe he wore beneath it - a robe that had once been ver
milion, but whose hood, cape, and hems now were faded
to the red of twilight. The color blended, in the shadow
of his hood, with unkempt whiskers the gray of winter
wind.
In the ice pool was an image: two beings on a black
path where black cats prowled the edges and a black bird
beckoned above. The image wavered and misted as an
errant wind scattered hard, dry snow across the ice.
Without looking up, the man raised a long staff with a
crystal device at its peak. Sunlight glinted in the crystal
and concentrated through it to glow on the surface of the
ice. The misted surface smoothed itself, melted, and re
froze bright and clear. The two in the valley were on the move, following the bird. Like a deadly honor guard,
great black cats plodded along both sides of the pathway,
flanking them.
The image shifted then. In the ice was a great, vaulted
chamber hewn from living stone. Dim and deserted, the
chamber contained various structures and articles, larg
est of which was a great dais upon which rested a crypt.
Here and there on the shadowed walls hung paintings, all
done in the finest dwarven style. The view held on one
painting and seemed to approach it as the vision magni
fied: a fighting dwarf in emblazoned armor, leading a
charge of dwarven warriors across a blasted mountain
scape. Again the vision grew, focusing on the face of the
dwarf in the lead.
Peering closely into the ice, the man studied the fea
tures of that face - wide, strong dwarven features of a
face that had known power and had known pain; wide
set, intelligent eyes that had seen much of life and had
cherished most of it; a face chiseled for patience, twisted
now in fury as he led his armies in final assault.
The man studied the features as he had in many view
ings, then twitched his staff. The view changed again,
back to the black pathway in the Valley of Waykeep.
This time the vision moved close, sighting on the irritated, frowning face of a dwarf in black furs with cat ears
atop his head.
Just as he had studied the face in the painting, the man
at the ice pool now examined the features of the dwarf in
the valley below.
Chapter 3
The blackstone path wound and curved as it
wandered deeper into the Valley of Waykeep. It twisted
and turned oddly, often for no apparent reason. Some
times it nearly doubled back on itself, so that the trav
elers found themselves walking southward within easy
reach - sometimes even within sight - of where they had
just passed going northward. Then again, it would
straighten for a time, only to abruptly veer off to the east
or west, as though circling around some obstacle that
neither the dwarf nor the kender could see.
At times the path narrowed, becoming only six or
eight feet wide. In these places the big cats gathered along
its edges - sometimes a dozen or more, rumbling and
purring in feral anticipation - and the two were forced to
go in single file, running a gauntlet of swatting, searching
claws as the animals balanced just at the borders of the path and strained forward, trying to reach them.
"These creatures are most decidedly unfriendly," Chess
mentioned as he dodged a huge, needle-clawed paw. As
it whipped past him, he rapped it sharply with his
hoopak. "Bad kitty!" he snapped. The cat's responding
growl was thunderous.
Just behind him, Chane ducked as a cat swatted at
him. "Stop stirring them up," he ordered the kender.
"You're just making matters worse."
"I don't know why they have to be so surly." The ken
der shrugged. "Maybe they don't get fed regularly. I
wonder why this path twists and turns so much. Doesn't
it seem odd to you that a path should go to so much trou
ble to go aroun'd things, if there aren't any things to go
around? I'll bet we've walked ten miles so far, and ha
ven't gained more than a mile or two. You see, there it
goes again." He pointed with his hoopak. Ahead, the
black road turned abruptly to the left and disappeared
into forest. "Do you see any reason why we shouldn't
just go straight ahead?"
"I see about a dozen very good reasons," Chane
snapped, counting cats.
"I mean besides them. What do you suppose is ahead
there, that this path doesn't want us to see?"
Chane felt an extended claw graze his boot-top and skipped away from it, then ducked as a cat on the other
side tried to knock off his head. He spun, lost his bal
ance, and sprawled, pellets of black gravel sheeting
ahead of him. The cats there dodged aside, retreating.
Chane got to his knees and scraped at the gravel with his
hand. The gravel was spread evenly over a smooth sur
face, as though it had been swept. It was only inches
deep, with bare dirt below. He gathered a handful of
gravel and tossed it toward a cat. The cat veered aside, as
though panicked.
"They don't like this stuff," Chane muttered. "I think
they're afraid of it."
Chess had come back to watch. "Well, then, that's
easy," he said. "All we need to do is move the road."
"Move it how?" Chanc's brows lowered in disgust.
"I don't know," Chess shrugged. "You're a dwarf.
You're supposed to know about things like moving
gravel. How would you do it?"
"If I wanted to, I'd use a skid. Something flat and
heavy to drag it from one place to another. But we don't
have a skid."
"Then maybe you could build one," Chess suggested.
"There are all sorts of things around here to use."
Chane sighed, looking off into the forest beyond the path. Yes, there were plenty of materials, readily availa
ble. There also were plenty of giant black cats just itching
for one of them to step off the path and within reach.
"Sure," he said. "That deadfall log over there could be a
dragsled, with vines attached. But it's over there, not
here."
"Then go get it," the kender said. "Just a minute,
though. I'll see if I can give you a little space." Without
hesitating, he stepped to the edge of the path, lifted his
staff and brought it down between the ears of a cat.
While that one still was recoiling, Chess thumped two
more of them, prodded a fourth one in the ribs, then
moved away along the path, his feet flying, swerving on
and off of the carpet of black gravel. All of the cats on
that side bounded after him, snarling and spitting.
"Hurry'" he shouted.
For a moment, Chane stood stunned, staring after the
departing chase. "Rust and tarnish!" he muttered. "That
kender is crazy." Then he hurried off the path to gather
materials for a dragsled skid. "I don't know why I'm do
ing this," he grumped as he dragged things back to safety.
"It wasn't my idea to change the road. It was his."
Still, when the kender reappeared at the curve in the
path, strolling along with a pack of angry cats pacing
him, Chane was already binding vines to a log and weighting it with stones. Chess came to watch him work,
peering over his shoulder. "Do you think it will work?"
he asked.
"Of course not," Chane snapped. "I'm just doing this
for practice."
"What's wrong with it?"
"To start with, in order for a skid to move gravel,
somebody has to get out in front of it and pull it. And
whoever does that is going to be eight feet past the edge
of the path before the gravel load gets there."
"That could be a little chancy," Chess admitted, look
ing around at the patrolling cats. "But if you don't pull
too fast, I can come along behind you and..."
"Me pull?"
"It's your skid," the kender pointed out. "Besides,
you're bigger than me. Anyway, I can follow along and
throw gravel out ahead of you, enough to keep the cats
back while you reroute the road."
"I don't see anything wrong with just leaving the
blasted road where it is!"
"We've already been over that," the kender said.
Considering the circumstances of its construction, the
skid worked fairly well. The black gravel on the path
was only a few inches deep, with ordinary clay below, and when Chane put his shoulders to the tow-vines and
dragged the sled, it plowed up a growing mound of black
pebbles in front, and left bare clay behind.
'That's perfect," Chess grinned. "Just head for the
curve, and keep going straight ahead when you get there.
I'm right behind you."
"That's comforting to know," the dwarf growled.
When he came to the curve, Chane was barely mov
ing. The load of gravel ahead of the skid had grown so
that it took all his strength to move it. He hesitated at the
edge of the path, confronted by cats. Then showers of
black gravel began to fly over his shoulders, some of it
pelting him from behind as the kender flung enthusiastic
handfuls as fast as he could. The cats snarled and
snapped, but backed away. "Take the weights off the
skid," the dwarf called.
"Why?" Another handful of gravel flew, one fair-sized
pebble catching Chane on the cheek as he turned.
"So it will spread the gravel instead of scooping it!
Don't argue, just do it!"
Chess removed the weights, then resumed showering
gravel as Chane took up his harness again.
By the time the skid was exhausted, the pathway south
of the curve had a bare clay stripe angling from its center to the turning edge, and a new black path the width of
the strip extended fifty feet into the forest. Chess scam
pered back and forth along the new path, peering off into
the forest. "Nothing interesting yet," he said, finally.
"We'd better go back for another load."
The second stripe taken from the main path extended
the new road another fifty feet, and the third stripe put
them well into the forest, almost out of sight of the road
where they had been. Poised at the very end of the
gravel, the kender peered and squinted, looking ahead.
"There is something over there," he pointed. "But I can't
see what it is. It's something big, though. Another load,
and we should be there."
"Another load and we'll have wiped out the original
path back there," Chane pointed out.
"Oh, come on. Where's your spirit of adventure? Just
one more haul."
They started back, and Chane was almost at the clear
ing when he stopped. "Now see what we've done," he
grunted. Ahead, black cats were crossing the main road
freely. Whatever the black gravel did to stop them, there
wasn't enough left on the skidded section to work.
The kender studied the problem solemnly, pursing his
lips as his pointed ears twitched slightly in thought. Then
he shrugged. "It's all right. We weren't going that way, anyway."
"We can't go back, either," the dwarf pointed out. "We
might want to, you know. We...." He paused, then
caught the kender by the shoulder.."That business you
did before, leading the cats off... can you do that
again?"
"I suppose so. Won't be as much fun the second time,
though. Things like that get to be routine after a while."
"I don't care," the dwarf said. "Just do it."
The kender shrugged. "I guess one more time won't
hurt. Come along, kitties. Time for another run." Poking
and prodding at snarling predators, Chess circled the
stump of the road, gathering more than a dozen cats on
the far side. With a final swat of his staff, he took off
around the curve, great cats bounding after him. Left
alone, Chane wrapped his harness over his shoulders
and set about replacing gravel on the main road. Some
time passed before the kender returned, a long line of ir
ritated cats slinking along abreast of him. When he saw
what the dwarf was doing, Chess shouted and ran to
ward him. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "We
need that gravel. Why are you putting it back?"
Panting, Chane slipped out of his vine harness and in
spected his work. The road here was not as neatly graded as it had been, but it was black again and hemmed in the
cats. "Because we don't need it any longer," the dwarf
said. Picking up his pack, he strode to the east verge of
the road and walked off into the forest. Behind him,
across the road, the cat pack snarled and rumbled, un
able to cross.
"Well, come on," Chane glanced back. "Let's see what
it was that you wanted to look at."
It might once have been a machine, in some incredibly
ancient time. Or it might have been a building. Perhaps
even both. Now it was a great heap of rubble and broken
metal things, slowly surrendering to the landscape. Trees
hundreds of years old grew from its crest, vines and
brush obscured its slopes, and a carpeting of forest leaves
and grassy loam was well along toward burying it.
Chane and Chess wandered over and around it, peer
ing, poking, and prying.
"This looks like part of a wheel," the kender chattered.
"But why would anybody make a wheel fifteen feet
across? Wow! Look at those things sticking out of the
mess. What are they, drills? They're as big around as
and here's some old, rusty chain. Must have weighed a
ton per link when it was still good iron. I wonder what
this was, over here. A furnace of some kind? Did you no
tice that all these stones scattered over here are square? They might have been paving blocks. What do you sup
pose this thing was when it was something?"
"I haven't the vaguest idea." Chane was digging
through a reddish heap of vaguely-shaped rust tumbles,
raising a cloud of thin red dust that settled on his black
furs like rust-colored snow. After several minutes he
straightened, holding up a long, slim object to have a
better look at it. It was a rod, nearly six feet long, gnarly
and misshapen from centuries of rust. He knew by its
heft, though, that there was good metal within it. He set
it aside and began digging again.
For some time the kender explored the ancient heap,
his bright eyes shining in wonder at each new mystery.
He moved things here and there, on the thought that
whatever all this was the outside of might also have an
inside, and somewhere there might be an entrance. Find
ing none, he scampered here and there over the surface of
the thing, tugging and pushing at everything that pro
truded, seeing what would move. Where a broken shaft
of heavily corroded metal angled upward, he cleared
away broken stone, then braced his feet and pulled at the
stub. Deep beneath him, something groaned and large
parts of the mound shifted slightly. Beyond the crest, the
dwarf shouted, then appeared at the top. "Sorry about that." Chess waved at him. "I guess what
ever this was, it doesn't work any more."
With a warning scowl, the dwarf went back to what he
was doing. Chess continued his exploration. Near one
edge of the mound, tugging away a rock, he found a
thick, ragged sheet of green-black stuff that might once
have been bronze. Wiping it with his tunic, he saw letters
on its surface and sat down to read them aloud. Most
were corroded beyond recognition, but here and there a
few words could be partially deciphered:
"... velous Wallbreacher, equipped with secondary
ar ... iple-geared self-propel ... ba ... not
included..."
And elsewhere, "... Model one of -"
"Gnomes," Chess said, nodding at the revelation. He
climbed to the top of the mound. Beyond, Chane was
moving stones around, arranging them in a circle. Chess
cupped his hands and shouted, "Gnomes!"
The dwarf raised his head. "What?"
"Gnomes!" the kender repeated. "This was a gnomish
machine of some kind. I found its label."
"What was it supposed to do?"
"I don't know. But gnomes built it, so it probably
didn't do anything right." Chane turned away and resumed the moving of
stones.
For a bit longer, Chess explored the ancient wreckage,
then he brushed down his tunic, shouldered his pouch,
picked up his staff, and went to find the dwarf. "This was
interesting," he said. "Now let's go on, and see what else
there is to find."
"I'm busy," Chess grunted, setting a block of stone atop
another.
"What are you doing?"
"I found some usable metal. I'm setting up a forge to
work it."
"Oh." The kender walked all the way around the circle
of stone, wide-eyed. "What do you want to make?"
"A hammer, of course. The only thing I know of that
can be made without a hammer is a hammer, though it
won't be a very good one, without a hammer to work
with."
"A hammer," Chess nodded, taken with the logic of it.
"Then what?"
"What?"
"What are you going to make once you've made your
hammer?"
"Another hammer. Once I have a rough hammer to
use, I can make a perfectly good hammer with it. Then, if that rod there will stew out and take a temper, I'll make a
sword."
"Is this part of your plan for becoming rich and
famous?"
"I don't have any such plan," the dwarf growled. "I
don't have a hammer or sword, either, so first things
first."
"I have a feeling this is going to take a while."
"It will take as long as it takes."
For the rest of the day, Chestal Thicketsway prowled
about, exploring the silent forest, becoming more and
more impatient. At nightfall he returned to the wreckage
heap, took fire from Chane's now-operating forge and
made a meal of cured cat meat and bark tea, then went to
sleep to the sound of dwarven craft echoing in the night.
At first light of morning, the kender awakened,
stretched, and strolled over to watch the dwarf again.
Chane now had a serviceable - if crude - hammer, and
was using it to make a better hammer from a chunk of
iron he had found.
Finally the kender had seen enough. "I'm going on
ahead," he said. "I want to see what else is interesting
around here."
"Have a nice trip," Chane said without looking up. "Yourself, as well," Chess replied. He started off,
northward, then turned back and made several trips
back and forth between the mound and the black road
where great cats prowled the far border.
Chane was thoroughly engrossed in what he was do
ing. The good hammer was taking shape nicely, and he
had scraped away enough age from the long rod to see
the metal beneath, and to taste it. It was good steel. It
would make a blade... maybe more than one.
The kender paused once more beside the forge. "Luck
with your quest," he said.
"You, too," Chane glanced up. "See you."
"Sure," Chess waved and headed north. Long after he
had gone, the dwarf looked up from his work and his
eyes went thoughtful. Entirely ringing him and his forge
was a circle of black gravel scattered on the ground. The
kender had left a shield for him, in case any of the hunt
ing cats found a way to cross the road or to go around it.
Chapter 4
Through that day and most of the next, Chane
worked at his forge in the forest. In a buried firepit he
coaled bits of hardwood for the bed of his flame, and a
foot-bellows of sapling lengths and catskin fed it to a pulsing glow. His first hammer was no more than a lump
of iron remelted, skimmed clean and shaped in a clay
mold. But with its help he crafted a second one - a ham
mer that even a Hylar prince or Daewar merchant in the
finest halls of Thorbardin might have envied. For though
Chane Feldstone - orphaned and without a known
lineage - had been relegated to the lowly ranks of com
mon delver and sometimes outsman in the teeming realm
within the Kharolis Mountains, still the high crafts came
to him easily when he turned his hand to them.
Often through the years of childhood he had watched
others of his age go off to apprentice at the trades of me
talsmithy, stonecutting, and other such high callings.
Sometimes he had been envious that those so chosen had
someone of note to sponsor them. His hands had longed
for the feel of good tools, and his heart had yearned for
the chance to do such works as those more fortunate
would one day do. Still, he had not been alone in his cir
cumstances. Among the seven cities of the undermoun
tain kingdom there always were thousands of children
without access to great name or the comfort of wealth.
Children of the warrens and the ways, the offspring of
warriors who didn't come home or traders lost to the
outlands, orphans and waifs of all sorts. It was the way of the dwarves of Thorbardin that these children be
cared for and receive at least some basic education so
they would never lack for work or the basic needs.
Chane had grown up like the rest, and had learned a
host of lesser skills that served him well. Only, there had
been times - times all through the years when some se
cret part within him raged and strove for recognition.
Times there had been....
When he was yet a youngster, inches short of his full
growth of four feet six, Chane had been employed to
clean the smithing stalls of the ironworker, Barak Chi
selcut. A piece of nickeliron had been cast aside, and
Chane retrieved it, put a high polish on it and returned it
to the master.
"A nice bauble," old Chiselcut had said, approving.
"So you enjoy metals, youngster?"
"Yes, sir. I like the feel of good metals, and the sound
and taste."
"Then keep this," the old dwarf told him. "Play with it
at the forge and anvil, if you like. But mind you get your
work done first."
For weeks, Chane had shaped the bit of nickeliron,
late in the sleeping hours when no one else was about,
and the small dagger he crafted from it had so pleased
Barak Chiselcut that the shopmaster gave the youth some brass and ebony with which to make a handle for
it.
"You have skill at making weapons, Chane," Chiselcut
told him. "Maybe some ancestor of yours was a crafts
man. It's too bad you don't have a known lineage. But
then, most orphans don't. Keep the dagger, and keep
learning. Having craft is more important than knowing
who you are."
For fifteen years Chane had carried and cherished the
knife, and sometimes at odd moments it seemed to whis
per to him, "Look at me, Chane Feldstone. I am no ordi
nary dagger, and you are no ordinary dwarf. See your
reflection in my steel. Perhaps someday your reflection
will tell you who you really are."
He had looked at his reflection and wondered. Even
then, in the years before his shoulders broadened and his
whiskers grew, he had been aware that he looked subtly
different from most of those around him... not quite
typical of the ordinary day-to-day Daewar he met in the
trade centers. In some respects, he even resembled the
Hylar dwarves - not that it made any difference, since
there was no more likelihood of his tracing lineage
among the Hylar than among the Daewar. A foundling is
a foundling, anywhere in Thorbardin. It was in those years, too, that the dreams began. The
same insistent dream, over and over, sometimes no more
than a week apart. The mysterious place, the mysterious
container, and the old, horned battle helmet that he held
in his hands but somehow never managed to place upon
his head.
The years had passed, and he had come of age and
found work with Rogar Goldbuckle, the trader. He had
served as a packer and sometimes as an outsman, going
beyond Southgate to help with the gear and goods of
trading parties bound for Barter or some other gathering
place of merchants. Chane had made the journey to Bar
ter himself once. He had met elves and humans, gnomes
and kender. He had seen the rising and setting of the sun,
had seen the moons in the night sky, had felt the vastness
of outside, a world not contained beneath mountains.
Back in Thorbardin, full of worldliness and wonder,
Chane had walked as tall as any dwarf for the first time
in his life. And it had been then that he'd met Jilian. Jilian
Firestoke. His eyes grew moist now, remembering how
she had made his heart melt... and how he had worked
to win her affections. He had known from the first that
her father despised him, but that hadn't seemed impor
tant. Jilian knew her own mind, and what Slag Firestoke thought about anything didn't seem to matter....
Until the dream had come again, this time with ur
gency. This time the dream had spoken to him of destiny,
and he couldn't help but believe it.
And old Firestoke had used the opportunity to teach
Chane who he truly was - a lowly foundling who had
reached beyond his grasp.
The nickeliron dagger was gone now. It was one of the
things Slag Firestoke's thugs had robbed from him when
they drove him into the wilderness. Maybe Jilian was
gone as well. Chane was certain that Slag Firestoke
wouldn't tell his daughter what he had done, so all Jilian
could know was that Chane had gone away and not
come back. Maybe she even thought he was dead. He
was still tempted to head right back for Southgate, to
give those toughs a taste of honest iron, and to shake
Slag Firestoke until his teeth rattled. The devious old
rust-bucket.
But the dream called. There was something he was
supposed to do, and he knew deep inside that he could
not return to Thorbardin until he had done it... or at
least tried his best.
"Become rich and famous," the kender had said. Chane
rumbled his irritation at the thought. What could a ken
der know about anything? The new hammer shaped itself on his makeshift anvil.
Four pounds would be its weight. His hands told him
that, and he knew there was no mistake. A head that was
a shaping maul at one end with a tapered balancing spike
at the other. A hammer that could bend the strongest
drawbar or shape the daintiest filigree... and could
serve as a formidable weapon should the need arise. He
put the final touches to it, tempered its face and its spike,
and set it on a shaft of sturdy darkwood, with rawhide
lashing for the hand to grip. Then he fashioned a thong
to carry it, took a deep breath, and looked around for
the metal that would make a sword.
A man stood a few feet away, leaning casually on a
staff, watching the dwarf. Chane had no idea how long
the man had been there. He had not heard him approach.
But the faded red robe beneath the bison-pelt cape told
him what the man was, and the dwarf felt a twinge of dis
taste... distaste and more than a bit of caution. A wiz
ard.
"I see nothing wrong with becoming rich and famous,
Chane Feldstone," the wizard said in a voice as thin and
as cold as winter wind. "It is a proper approach to some
worthwhile goals."
The dwarf frowned at him, backing off a step. "Have you been listening to my thoughts? If you have, you
know it wasn't me who said that, it was some kender."
"There'd be no need to read the thoughts of one who
speaks them to himself while he is working, Chane Feld
stone."
"How do you know who I am? I didn't tell myself my
name."
"Oh, I know of you, Chane Feldstone," the wizard
said. "I might even know more of who you are than you
do."
"Who are you, that you know about me?"
The man sighed, bowing his head, and whiskers of
sleet gray bobbed as he nodded. "I have been called
many things, young dwarf. Some call me Glenshadow
the Wanderer. If you want a name for me, that will do."
He stepped doser to the still-glowing forge and spread
his hands as though to warm himself. He glanced at the
new hammer. "Have you set a crest or a device upon
that? Have you named it or made it yours?"
Again the dwarf edged away, but he took the hammer
from his belt and turned it in the light. "I've only initialed
it. See for yourself. What device would I use?"
The wizard squinted at the hammer. "Ah, yes. I see. C.
F. Chane Feldstone. It is truly your hammer, then." "What do you want of me?"
"Why, I am going with you. I thought you would
know that."
"Why would I have known any such thing?"
"You're right, of course," the man admitted. "Well, first
we must go see the Irda."
"The who?"
"The Irda."
"Why?"
"We will know more about that when we get there.
Come along, now."
"Come along nothing!" Chane's whiskers twitched
with exasperation. "I have a sword to make."
The wizard looked at the ancient, rusted metal bar.
"That isn't the stuff of your sword, Chane Feldstone.
There's better along the way. Come on, now. This valley
is not a happy place for me, and I don't want to spend
more time here than I have to."
Chane shook his head violently, clenching his teeth in
frustration. "I don't know what you're talking about,
and I don't want to go!"
"I think you had better," the wizard said quietly.
"Why?"
"Because of them." The wizard tilted his head to one
side, gesturing." Chane looked where the man indicated, then sucked in
a whistling breath, grabbed his pack, and ran, barely
aware that the robed man was pacing him alongside. Be
hind them came a leaping, bounding, slinking flood of
huge black cats.
The wizard was half again as tall as Chane, and when
he lifted his hems and sprinted, he left the dwarf in his
wake. "This way!" he called. "The road curves back, just
ahead!"
Chane ran for all he was worth, but with each step the
cats were closer behind him, their deep, rumbling purrs
mounting like the roll of charging drums. When he felt
their breath warming his back he clasped his hammer in
one hand, his cat-tooth dagger in the other, skidded to a
stop, and spun around. The dwarf crouched and roared
a battle cry. As he faced them, the cats hesitated. Other
cats coming up behind collided with the leaders. In an in
stant the glade was atumble with clawing, spitting cats,
swatting at one another, sidling and rearing, grappling
and rolling. Chane raised his hammer and started for
ward, set to wade in among them, but a hand caught him
by the nape, turned him, and shoved.
"Run!" the wizard snapped. "This is no time for
games!" The logic of that statement was inescapable. Chane
ran. Beyond the glade was forest, and beyond the forest
the blackstone path. They arrived there with cats pound
ing at their heels, and the dwarf strode back and forth
along the edge of safety, growling as ferociously as the
frustrated predators that strained toward him. Finally
Chane got his temper under control, slung his hammer at
his belt, and turned to the wizard. "How do you suppose
those cats got across the road? They were supposed to all
be on the other side."
The man shrugged disinterestedly. "An ancient ques
tion, that. Why does a cat cross the road?"
"Rust and corruption!" Chane glared at him. "That's
chickens, not cats! And don't change the subject. What I
asked was how they got across."
"Oh, that. You left your log skid back there. Someone
simply moved the gravel again."
"But who would -" the dwarf's face went dark with
fury. "You! You did that! Why?"
"Would you have come along with me otherwise?"
Chane tried to say something, could think of nothing
appropriate, and merely sputtered.
"No need to apologize," the wizard said. "Any dwarf
worth his salt would rather cook iron than travel. It's
your nature. You might have dawdled there for weeks, when you should be seeking the Irda. You do want an
swers to your questions, don't you?"
"I don't have any questions!"
"Of course you do." The wizard drew himself up to his
full height, and the gray eyes above his gray beard
seemed to focus on something far away. "Everyone has
questions." At first, Chane had thought the man looked
old. Now he realized it was not old he looked, but...
ageless. 'You can learn to be what you've always been,"
the wizard said, "if you've the gift of knowing. But you
can't learn from whence you came 'til you learn where
you're going."
Chane felt a chill creep up his spine. "Are you working
a spell, wizard?"
"Oh, mercy, no," the man said, turning away. "Didn't
your little friend tell you? Spells are dangerous and unre
liable here. This is the Valley of Waykeep."
* * * * *
For days Jilian Firestoke had watched the ways of the
Daewar city, going often to the market centers at the
tenth and thirteenth roads and finding excuses even to
visit the bustling ware-room district near the eleventh road gate, where goods from other clan cities in Thor
bardin were gathered and traded. She had ridden a cable
train to the east warrens, where Chane Feldstone worked
the fields sometimes when neither Barak Chiselcut nor
Rogar Goldbuckle had employment for him.
Wherever she went, she had asked about Chane, but
no one had seen him lately. Maybe, some suggested, he
had gone to carry dispatches for Rogar Goldbuckle to his
commodity camp west of Thorbardin in the Kharolis
Mountains. But, no, one of Goldbuckle's guardsmen had
said that he was sure there had been no dispatches lately,
and since Goldbuckle was preparing for a pack-trip to
Barter, he would carry any such messages himself.
She had become more worried by the day. It was not
like Chane to just disappear without telling her where he
was going, Yet, since the day she had taken him to see her
father - she had been sure her father would help him, but
he had flatly refused - Chane had been absent. Someone
said they thought Chane might have gone back again,
alone, to talk with Slag Firestoke. But her father said he
hadn't seen the whelp again and, furthermore, didn't
want to.
Jilian had only recently - as they said in the polite
sectors - "come of age," and had no shortage of admirers among the young male dwarves of Thorbardin. A petite
and sturdy four feet three, with the wide, subtly chiseled
face of a dwarven angel and a curvaceous shape that
even the most modest of clothing could not hide, it was
natural that she should have suitors. And she did. They
came by the dozens, and Slag Firestoke busied himself in
vestigating the family lineage and financial means of
each one. But he was wasting his time. Jilian had already
decided. Even when young males of the noble-blooded
Hylar clans stared after her in the market, with open
mouths and enchanted eyes, she was no more than
amused. In Chane Feldstone she saw something that no
one else seemed to see, but that didn't matter. She saw it,
and had no intention of letting him get away.
And she had told her father so, in no uncertain terms.
In that straightforward way of hers that always seemed
to infuriate him, Jilian had made it clear that she would,
by Reorx, decide for herself what male she wanted. And
she had, by Reorx, decided it was Chane Feldstone.
It wasn't that Chane was the most handsome young
dwarf she had seen - although his broad shoulders, his
somber, wide-set dark eyes, and the way his near-black
whiskers swept back in feral lines along each sloping
cheek reminded her of old pictures she had seen, paint
ings of the fierce Hylar warriors of ancient times. It wasn't that he was the most entertaining; at times, when
the mood was on him, Chane was nearly impossible to
talk to, and seemed to lose himself in dark, hidden
thoughts that he wouldn't - or couldn't - express.
He was, in fact, a waif.
Orphaned in some manner that left no clear record of
his lineage, Chane was a bit of an enigma to those whose
duty it was, or whose inclination it was, to keep track of
people in the dwarven realm. Clearly a citizen of Thor
bardin, he yet had no definable status except that of or
phan and common worker.
But now Jilian was worried. He had simply disap
peared, and no one had seen him. And when she had
asked her father to make inquiries, old Firestoke just
sneered and said, "Good riddance. He's nothing but an
upstart who's never learned his place."
She would have argued with her father, except for the
arrival of that bunch of rough-looking armsmen who
were waiting to see him on some sort of business and
wouldn't go away until they had. By the time they were
gone, Jilian's anger at her father had jelled. She didn't
want to argue with him. She didn't want to talk to him at
all. In fact, she had hardly seen him since the incident,
having gone about her own business and staying out of his sight when he was at home.
Until today.
With communication at a minimum in the Firestoke
quarters, certain necessities such as paying the tap fees
and keeping the larder stocked - things Jilian normally
did - had piled up so that she had to do something about
it or face such problems as late penalties on water and oil
bills. So she had gone to her father's chamber for the
money she needed, and found that he was away on busi
ness.
For the first time in months Jilian had opened the old
dwarf's private locker.
Now she stood over the locker, holding a dagger in her
hands - a small, nickeliron dagger with an ebony-and
brass hilt. It was a dagger she had seen many times, but
not in her father's things. It belonged to Chane Feldstone.
Chapter 5
Chestal Thicketsway had been a little miffed that
the dwarf had abandoned what promised to be an inter
esting exploration in favor of playing with fire and iron
and such things. But, in the way of all kender, he hadn't
stayed miffed very long. The world held far too many
new and fascinating things to see for any kender to dwell for long on any one subject... even such a novelty as a
fugitive dwarf who could kill a giant cat with his bare
hands and make himself a bunny suit.
Before he had gone a mile, Chess found a new fascina
tion. The forest of this valley, what he had seen of it so
far, was an ancient forest. The gnarled and twisted hard
wood trees, some still wearing their fall colors though
many now were bare, spoke of ages of time, while the
deep loam beneath them, under a thick carpet of fallen
leaves, whispered of countless generations of such trees
that had grown and fallen before them. Thousands upon
thousands of years have passed here, the forest seemed
to say, and nothing of note has occurred. Nothing here
has changed.
And yet, where the rolling lands came down to a little
rock-bound stream, the forest did change. Across the
stream was a different sort of forest, younger and less
brooding. The kender crossed, climbed the far bank, and
prowled around, looking at everything. The trees were
large here too, but younger and more varied. The forest
here spoke of hundreds of years... but not of thou
sands.
"It burned," something said... or seemed to say.
Chess was not sure whether he had heard words or imagined them. He looked around and there was no one
there. He was alone.
"It might very well have," he told himself. "This might
once have been a forest fire, and all the old trees burned
and the ones here now grew later."
"Much later," something seemed to say.
"I beg your pardon?" The kender turned full circle,
holding his forked staff at the ready. There was no one
there, nor any sign that anyone had been there - at least
in a very long time. The only sound was the fitful breeze
rustling the treetops. He squatted, peering under the
nearby bush, then walked in a wide circle, looking be
hind trees and under stones. There was no one anywhere
about.
Perplexed and curious, he went on, turning often to
look behind him. He wasn't sure at all that he had heard
anything, but he didn't remember thinking the words
that he had seemed to hear until after he seemed to hear
them. Talking to himself was nothing unusual for Chess.
As a traveler, he was often alone, and even in company
he often preferred to talk to himself. But he didn't recall
ever not being in complete charge of one of his own
conversations.
The younger forest - he thought of it now as Afterburn Woods - rose away before the kender, and he kept
traveling more or less northward, recalling from time to
time that his original purpose - at least the most recent
one - had been to go east across the valley with Chane
Feldstone, to see if the dwarf could find his dream
helmet.
The forest thickened, then broke away, and the black
road was before him, curving in from the east to wind
northward again. The path almost immediately lost it
self in the forest as it curved once more, again to the east.
"I wonder what it's trying to stay away from now," the
kender muttered.
"Death and birth," something nearby seemed to say.
Chess spun around. As before, there was no one there.
"Death and birth?" he repeated.
"Birth and death," something almost certainly said.
This time Chess strolled about, squinting as he peered
upward. Maybe the talking bird has come back, he
thought. But there was no sign of it anywhere. Besides, it
had talked - clearly and without mistake. Whatever was
talking here just kind of seemed to talk. It wasn't the
same.
With a grunt of exasperation, he put his hands on his
hips and asked, 'Whose birth and death?"
"Mine and theirs," something seemed to respond. "Theirs and yours?" As the kender asked the question,
his bright eyes were darting from one side to the other,
looking for a clue as to who was talking to him.
For a moment there was silence, then the silence whis
pered, "Death and birth. Go and see." And a few yards
away, just where the trees began, there was a brief shift
ing of light - as though the air there had moved.
"Probably something truly dreadful over there some
where," Chess decided. "Maybe even a deathtrap for
kender. I guess I had better go and see."
He turned his back on the black road and entered the
verge of forest where the odd shifting of air had been. A
few feet into the woods he saw it again - a little way
ahead and beckoning.
"Ogres, maybe," the kender told himself cheerfully. "A
beckoning vesper to lead the unwary into a nest of ogres.
Or hobgoblins, perhaps? No, probably not. They aren't
smart enough to think of something like that." He paused
for a moment, searched in his pouch, and withdrew a
sling - a small, soft-leather pocket with elastic loops at
tached to either end. He secured the loops to the ends of
the fork on his hoopak, kicked around in the fallen
leaves until he found a few good pebbles, then hurried
on, following where the vesper had been. He went on, not seeing the strange air-shift again, but keeping to its
original direction.
After a time the forest broke away, and Chess found
himself on a low, broken ridge with a clearing extending
from its base. A great shallow bowl of ground, broken
here and there by groves of trees and grassy knolls, the
clearing extended into distances where herds of animals
grazed. Beyond them, forests rose toward the tumbles
and steeps of the valley's east wall.
Nearer, though, in the bottom of the bowl, was a wide
field of what looked like ice - flat around the edges, but
distorted within by many random shapes and lumps that
seemed to grow from it.
The kender scrambled down the ledge and approached
the field of ice. All around it, the air was cold and silent.
"Old," the silence seemed to say.
"Right," the kender agreed. He knelt at the edge of the
field and rapped at it with his staff. The stuff looked and
sounded like ice, and when a sliver of it broke away he
tasted it. It was ice. "It's ice," he said.
"Fire and ice," the silence seemed to say. "Old."
Encouraged, Chess wandered out onto the ice. A few
steps brought him to the nearest of the weird shapes - a
tangled mound of crystals and spires higher than his
head and twenty feet long. He knelt, looking into it, seeing twisted dark shadows inside. He rapped at it with the
heel of his staff. Little cracks formed, then a hole, larger
than his head, appeared in it as bits of ice fell away. In
side was a blackened tangle of burned branches, and a
mist like ancient woodsmoke rose from the hole. He
stuck his head through for a better look. Inside the ice
was a burned tree.
"Fire and ice," he said to himself. It looked as though
the tree had burned and toppled, then been caked with
ice while it still burned.
All around were other interesting ice mounds. The
kender wandered among them, peering here and there,
his eyes wide with the pure delight of a kender amidst a
mystery. Sometimes he could not see what the ice held,
but sometimes he could. One small lump contained a
dead dwarf - a short, thick-set body armored with mail
and visored helm. A bolt from a crossbow had pierced
him. He lay across an emblazoned shield, preserved by
the ice so that the blood of his wound was still bright red.
Hill dwarf, the kender thought. He looks as though he
might have died just minutes ago.
"Old," something seemed to say.
Chess stood and turned away, but stopped as some
thing in the flat ice underfoot caught his attention. He knelt again, brushing at the surface. Just beneath it,
things glittered and shone. He went to work with his
staff.
Breaking away the shallow ice, he found a broad
sword, its edge notched by combat but still as shiny as
when it was new. He lifted it, then set it aside. A good
dwarven weapon, it was too heavy and awkward to suit
a kender. But there were other interesting things there, as
well. One by one, he lifted out a pewter mug, a string of
marble beads, and a little glass ball. He looked them
over, then moved on. Under other ice mounds were
other dead dwarves, some standing, some kneeling and
some fallen. Dwarves with hammers and swords, frozen
in mortal combat. Hill dwarves and mountain dwarves,
locked now in solid ice in a battle that would never end.
"What ever could they have been fighting about?" the
kender wondered.
"The gates," something seemed to say.
Chess peered all around, shading his eyes. He saw
nothing anywhere that looked like gates. "Gates? What
gates?"
"The gates of Thorbardin," the silence seemed to say.
"That dwarf should have come with me," the kender
muttered. "I'll bet he never saw anything like this." At the thought of Chane Feldstone, Chess looked back
the way he had come. The dwarf had said something
about wanting a sword. Chess snooped for a while
longer, then decided there was nothing to see here that
was more unusual than what he had already seen. He
went back to where he had left the dwarven sword,
hoisted it on his shoulder, and started back, more or less
retracing his steps. Chess had in mind to leave the sword
somewhere that the dwarf would be likely to pass - if he
came north at all - so he decided he would retrace his
steps to the black road.
"So long," something seemed to say.
Chess turned, looking all around, yet no longer ex
pecting to see someone. "Oh, yes," he said. "So long to
you, too."
The silence seemed puzzled and suddenly very sad.
"So very long," it seemed to say.
Chess didn't know what to say to that, so he said noth
ing and went on his way. The sun sank below the valley's
west wall, and the forest became a shadowy place. Here
and there, little mists formed above the leaf mold to drift
vague tendrils among the trees. Chess wandered, paus
ing to look at a bright stone, a bird's nest, a scattering of
bones where some predator had fed. Whatever caught
his eye, he inspected. Whatever came to hand, he picked up. Whatever appealed to him - if there was space for
it - went into his pouch. It was the way of all the kender,
and Chestal Thicketsway was no exception.
In evening shadows, somewhere near where he ex
pected to find the black road, he came across another
gnomish artifact - an ancient, fallen construct that might
once have been a catapult, except that no one could con
ceivably have operated a catapult so huge and complex.
He walked around and through the overgrown wreck
age, trying to imagine how the thing might once have
looked - a huge, impossibly complex machine standing
at least a hundred feet tall on four gigantic wheels with
spiked iron rims... endlessly intricate systems of pul
leys and gears, levers and winding mechanisms, steam
boilers and windvanes... and probably half a hundred
whistles, bells, and ratchet-rattles.
Little was left of it now. What had been wood was en
tirely gone. What had been stone was rubble. What had
been iron was designs of rust imbedded in the ground.
But he traced it out, and could surmise what had hap
pened. Here an army of gnomes had built a siege engine
and had set it off. Possibly it had thrown a missile, but
definitely it had thrown itself. The entire machine had
climbed up onto its throwing arm, flipped over and landed on its back. And there it lay to this day, what was
left of it.
Such a long, long time ago. So inconceivably old.
"Ages," something seemed to say.
Chess jumped, then turned full circle again, squinting
into the twilight. "I thought I had left you back there," he
snapped.
"All the ages since the first," the breeze whispered.
"Old. Very old."
"Well, I can see that," the kender agreed. "Are you fol
lowing me?"
"With you," something whispered.
"Why?"
"By your doing," the voice that was no voice said.
"By my -" Chess strode to where he had set the dwar
ven sword and picked it up. "Aha!" he said. Then he
raised a puzzled brow and rubbed at his cheek. "Funny,
though. I'd heard that magic doesn't work right in this
valley."
"I don't," something very wistful seemed to say.
It was growing dark, and there was nothing more to
see here, so Chess set the sword on his shoulder and
headed west. The black road should be near now, he de
cided.
The forest became deeper and more shadowy, and the kender stopped abruptly, his pointed ears twitching.
Somewhere to his left, things were moving, coming his
way. Among the shadows were darker shadows, big
shadows flowing and bounding toward him on great
padded paws... shadows that purred as they came, like
the rumbling of distant thunder.
"Oops!" Chess said, and ran.
* * * * *
In evening's dusk, Chane Feldstone and Glenshadow
the Wanderer rounded a curve of the black road and saw
ahead of them a conclave of cats. Feral eyes and dagger
teeth glinted where the brutes prowled and crouched at
each side of the path, while a small figure danced and
darted from side to side, shouting threats and taunts. As
the two approached, the taunter saw them and waved.
"Hello!" he called. "I wondered where you were! Who's
that with you?"
"There's that kender," the dwarf told the wizard, then
turned. Glenshadow had stopped. The man stood now,
holding his staff before him as though to protect himself.
Chane cocked his head, the tilting ears on his cat-cape
cap giving a quizzical look to his scowl. "What's the matter? It's only a kender."
"There's more," the wizard said. "But I can't see..."
"More? I don't see anybody except a kender. And of
course a bunch of cats, but that's no surprise."
"Not a person," the wizard said slowly, looking one
way and then another, peering into the gloom. "No, not
a person, but an... an event."
The dwarf growled, deep in his chest. Kender and wiz
ards... birds and hunting cats... Chane was begin
ning to miss the sensible, logical life of Thorbardin. Out
here, it seemed, no one ever really made sense. "What
event? I don't see any event."
"It hasn't happened yet," Glenshadow said softly. "But
it wants to."
"Needs to," something seemed to say in a voice that
was not a voice.
Chane felt a chill crawl up his spine as he whirled
around, looking for the source of the sound. He felt as
though he had heard a voice, but his ears had not. The
mage behind him had raised his staff higher, but he didn't
seem to see anything, either.
The kender trotted up to them, grinning. "I see you've
met whatsit," he said. "I think he comes with the sword."
He lifted a dwarven broadsword from his shoulder and extended it, hilt first. "Here. I found this for you. Now
you can stop complaining about not having a sword."
Surprised, Chane took the sword and held it in both
hands, turning it over, squinting in the poor light.
"Of course, there's a ghost or something attached to
it," Chess said brightly. "But I can't see how that would
matter. Who's that with you? He looks like a wizard."
"He is, I guess," the dwarf said. "Haven't seen him do
any magic, but I'd just as soon he didn't, anyway." He
lifted the sword to his mouth and tasted its blade. "Old,"
he muttered. "Good steel, though. And it doesn't look
old.
"It's been on ice," the kender explained. "Wthat's wrong
with your wizard? He looks like he's seen a ghost."
"I don't know what's wrong with him." Chane busied
himself, slicing a strip of cathide from his cape to make a
belt for the sword. "He said he saw an event."
"Well, I've seen a few of those." The kender nodded.
"But I try not to let them bother me. Pretty good sword,
huh?"
"A fine sword," the dwarf agreed. 'Thank you. Where
did you get it?"
"I found an old battlefield, over east of here. There's a
lot of good stuff just lying around. And frozen dwarves
all over the place, too. Probably nobody you know, though. They've been there a long time. Maybe the ghost
is a dwarven ghost. I've never met any sort of ghost be
fore, so I don't know. But if he bothers you, just ignore
him."
As one coming out of a trance, the wizard Glensha
dow shook himself and lowered his staff. He stepped
close to them, leaned down, and squinted at Chane's
sword, then turned to the kender. "Not a ghost," he said,
in a voice that was like winter. "And not fixed to the
sword, either. It follows you, Chestal Thicketsway."
The kender blinked. "What does?"
'You picked up more than a sword on that battlefield,
kender. You picked up an unexploded spell."
Before Chess could respond, Chane pointed down the
path. "The cats are gone," he said.
Then on an errant breeze, coming from somewhere
ahead, all three of them heard a sound that seemed to
float among the treetops and drift down like crystal
snow. The mage seemed to stiffen, the kender's eyes went
huge, and even the stolid, pragmatic dwarf felt the sound
take hold of his heart and tug at it.
Somewhere off there, to the north, someone was sing
ing. The voice was more lovely than anything Chane
Feldstone had ever heard. Chapter 6
Though it had no king - no regent had acceded to
the throne since the death of King Duncan two centuries
before - the fortified realm of Thorbardin, deep beneath
the surface of the central Kharolis Mountains, consid
ered itself a kingdom. And without a king, it fell upon
the Council of Thanes to sit as a Board of Regents, decid
ing such matters as were not governed within the sepa
rate cities and warrens that made up the undermountain
realm.
Seven cities lay within the bedrock of the mountains,
each a major community in its own right, as well as three
farming warrens, two Halls of Justice, and a massive for
tification at each of the realm's two main gates.
In the more than three centuries since the great Cata
clysm that had forever changed the continent of Ansa
lon, the dwarves of Thorbardin had mostly abandoned
the manning of Northgate. The Cataclysm had left the
northern approaches virtually inaccessible, providing
better security to the north than even the massive gate
that plugged the mountainside there ever had.
For a century, rumors had persisted about a secret way to Thorbardin from the north, and the dwarves had kept
the fortifications there operational. Chaos and pestilence
had followed the Cataclysm, and for most of that cen
tury the threats to Thorbardin from outside were fright
eningly real. Plague and famine had spread across the
known world, migrations were under way across the
continent, and no unfortified place could long survive.
But then the gates of Thorbardin had faced their hard
est test... and held firm. The bloody Dwarfgate War
raged through the Kharolis Mountains, hill dwarf armies
pitted against those of the mountain dwarves - cousin
against cousin, like against like. Those outside were de
termined to break through to the inside of Thorbardin,
incited, some said, by the evil archmage Fistandantilus,
whom many held to be the most powerful magician the
world of Krynn had ever known.
Against these forces, Thorbardin had fought a defen
sive action. Then, under King Duncan and his sons
with Prince Grallen leading the Hylar dwarves - the
armies of Thorbardin went out to carry the fight to their
enemies, right to the mountain called Skullcap, lair of
the great wizard himself.
What came to pass then - the tragic end of both armies
in one last, terrible act of magic by Fistandantilus - was
now old history. Of those who might be old enough to remember, few cared to.
But through it all, the shattered north portal had held,
as had all of Thorbardin's defenses. More than two cen
turies later, the undermountain kingdom still stood.
Concerns about threats from outside were no longer
acute. In very recent times there had been unsettling ru
mors, of course - rumors the traders brought, about mi
grations of goblins and ogres to the north, about whole
villages disappearing in distant places beyond the north
ern wilderness. Some suspected that, far off somewhere,
armies were being amassed, and there were whispered
comments about "Highlords" and infamous plots. Some
one had even claimed to have seen a dragon, but no one
believed that. There were no dragons, not anywhere on
the entire world of Krynn. It was common knowledge.
There were rumors, and a few were concerned, but life
went on in Thorbardin as it had for two hundred years.
Some trade had been restored - not as in the fabled past,
before the War of the Gates, when open trade roads had
linked Thorbardin with Pax Tharkas and other realms
but some trade with other places and other races outside.
Time had passed, and the old legends of a secret gate
somewhere passed also into oblivion. The old tales of
untold evils that might yet lurk about the blasted and glazed grotesqueries of Skullcap Mountain to the
north - the legends of the glory of King Duncan and the
noble Prince Grallen - grew dim.
It was not in the nature of mountain dwarves to dwell
upon the past. And certainly, in the teeming cities of
Thorbardin, few cared to reflect upon such antiquities.
Under the Kharolis Mountains, Thorbardin was what
it had always been - hundreds of square miles of busy,
bustling, squabbling, and delving dwarfdom, where the
past was past and the problems of any one person were
seldom of concern to many others.
And this was the reality that Jilian Firestoke faced. No
one knew where Chane Feldstone had gone, and no one
except her really cared, either. However, she was sure
now that she knew where Chane had gone, and certain of
the mischief her father had engineered.
And so, as was her custom, Jilian made up her own
mind.
"I am going outside," she told her neighbor, Silicia
Orebrand. "I intend to go and find Chane Feldstone and
bring him home. There is just no telling what sort of mess
he may be in out there."
The stocky Silicia's eyes went wide with horror. "Out
side? Do you mean outside, outside?" "Of course I mean outside," Jilian said. "Chane's dream
told him to go and find an old helmet, because Thor
bardin was threatened and it was up to him to save it. So
I know that's where he went. And my own father, tarnish
his whiskers, put him up to it and then betrayed him. I
know all about it, you see. So I am going outside to find
him."
"But Jilian... outside? Nobody goes outside! I've
never heard of such a thing."
"Tarnish, Silicia. Don't be silly. Of course people go
outside. Traders, scouts, metallurgists... lots of people
ga outside. Even Chane has been outside before, helping
Rogar Goldbuckle load his packs. He told me about it."
"But can you? I mean, go outside? Is it allowed?"
"I asked Ferrous Spikemold. He knows about such
things. He said anybody who wants to, can go outside.
There is no law against going outside. It's just coming
back in that gets sticky."
"Did you tell him that you were thinking about going
outside 7"
"No, I don't see how that's any of his business. And
you know what a gossip he can be. I just asked him in
general, about people going outside. He said anybody
can, if they want to."
Silicia frowned. "But, Jilian, you've never been outside. I mean... out? I bet in your whole life you've
never seen the sky except from the Valley of the Thanes. I
know I certainly haven't. I've never even dreamed of
such a thing. Why, they say there are all sorts of awful
things out there - ogres and goblins, warrior elves, hu
mans. By Reorx, they say half the world is overrun with
humans these days. Jilian, are you feeling well? I can't
imagine thinking such a thing. Outside?"
"Outside," Jilian said firmly. "And it will serve my fa
ther right if I never come back."
"But, Jilian, dear..." Silicia paused, then fired her
best shot. 'What will people think?"
"Oh, tarnish what people think. I'm going, Silicia, and
that's an end to it. All I ask is that you look in on my fa
ther from time to time and see that he pays his tap fees
when they are due. The old ruster hasn't a brain in his
head when it comes to household duties."
"Well, of course I would do that, dear." Silicia still was
blinking rapidly, only half-believing what she was hear
ing. "But how would you even know where to look for
your young man, dear? Outside is... well, it's just aw
fully big!" She shuddered, just thinking about it.
"Oh, that. Well, at least I know where to start. I have a
map of where he was last seen." "A map?" Silicia blinked again, awe following awe.
"How could you possibly have a map? Did your
father... 2"
"I haven't even told him about this yet. And I'd appre
ciate it if you didn't, either. No, I saw the armsmen he
sent to drive Chane away. I didn't know who they were
at the time, but I remembered later. Then I saw one of
them again, at the tinsmith's stall, and I followed him
and got him to draw a map for me."
"An armsman? A warren ruffian? Why would he have
done that for you? Jilian, you didn't..."
"Oh, nothing like that, Silicia. Don't be silly. No, I just
followed him until I caught him alone in a cable-shaft,
then I crept up behind and hit him in the head with a pry
bar. Then, while he was unconscious, I chained him to a
cable-wagon track. When he woke up I told him that if
he would draw the map for me I would give him a chisel
to cut himself loose. So he drew the map. He was very
willing, because we could hear an orewagon coming."
Silicia goggled at her, totally at a loss for words. Fi
nally she shook her head and sighed. "Do you have
everything you'll need for such a journey?"
"I have some warm clothing and a pack and wa
terskin. And my map. I suppose a company of armed
fighters might be good to take along, but I can't afford anything like that."
"Well, of course not!" Silicia snapped. "The wages
people charge these days, just for single escort through
the markets. There's no telling what you'd have to pay to
get an escort to go... ah... outside." She looked
around at the walls and cabinets of her great room.
Swords and shields, hammers and pikes were displayed
and stacked in various places. Her husband, Stonecut
Orebrand, prided himself on his collection. "At the very
least, I suppose you should take a weapon or two."
"I couldn't take your husband's -"
"Tarnish! He's lost track of what he has, anyway.
What he doesn't know, he'll never miss." She went to a
corner cabinet and poked around in it, emerging with a
small, double-edged sword and a sheathed dagger. "Take
these," she said. "My Brother gave them to Stoney one
time, in a fit of generosity, but I don't think he's even
looked at them in years. He doesn't think much of my
brother, you know."
Jilian took the sword from her and squinted at it curi
ously. "This is heavier than a prybar," she noted.
"Have you ever used a sword before, Jilian?"
"Well... not really. Have you?"
"No. It can't be very complicated, though. One just swings it, I suppose."
"Like swinging a prybar, do you think?"
"Maybe with two hands, though. The handle is long
enough for both of your hands. Here, stand in the middle
of the room and swing it around a bit. Then you'll be
used to it if you ever want to fight with something."
Jilian helped Silicia slide the furniture out of the way,
then placed herself in the cleared area and lifted the
sword, gripping it carefully with both hands. Though
shorter than most of the swords in Stonecut Orebrand's
collection, the weapon still was only six inches shorter
than Jilian was, and much of its weight was forward, to
ward the point, in the dwarven style. Being a sturdy
dwarven girl, Jilian had no trouble lifting it, even hold
ing it out at arm's length, but it did tend to off-balance
her a bit. "What should I swing it at?" she asked.
Silicia went to a corner and brought back a candle
stand with a foot-long taper set in it. "Cut the candle,"
she suggested.
"All right. Stand back." Jilian placed herself with the
candlestand to her left, sighted on it, raised the sword
and swung... and gasped, then clung for dear life as the
sword seemed to take charge. It whisked past the top of
the candle and kept going as the momentum of the cut becaine centrifugal force. Like a spinning top, Jilian
twirled around and around, her feet a blur, trying to
keep up with the sword in her hands, trying to keep her
balance as she spun.
On its second rotation, the sword clove through the
candle. On its third it bisected the oakwood candlestand.
On its fourth it cut the legs off the stand and took two
candles out of a hanging chandelier on the other side of
Jilian. Silicia shrieked and dived for cover as the rate of
spin increased and the twirling Jilian began to move.
Four more revolutions and the sword eviscerated an herb
pot, beheaded a chair, bisected a hanging tapestry, and
embedded itself firmly in a doorframe. Jilian blinked in
amazement, while momentary dizziness subsided, then
wrenched the weapon free and stared at it. "Goodness!"
she said.
Silicia peeked from behind a stone bench. "Are you
finished, do you think?"
"I think so." Jilian looked around. "Oh, rust! Look at
the mess I've made."
Silicia came from hiding to gaze in wonder at the
sword in Jilian's hand. "I don't think you need any more
practice. I believe you've mastered the skill, don't you?"
"I suppose so, but look what we've done to your nice
room! Oh, Silicia, I am sorry." Silicia walked around the room, pursing her lips as she
surveyed the damage. "It's not so bad, really. I never
liked that candlestand, you know. And that awful tapes
try! Honestly, I have thought about making a pair of
framed needleworks out of it..." She came to look at
the sword again. "By the lusters, I never realized how
much fun a person might have with one of these. I won
der if some of the ladies might like to jrganize a class."
Jilian nodded. "I believe I will borrow this, if you're
sure Stonecut won't mind."
"Not in the slightest. It's as much mine as his, anyway.
Now, you take it, and the dagger, too, and you have a
nice time with them. We could rent a hall," she continued
with her own thoughts, "and practice to music. Some of
the girls could certainly use the exercise...."
After her visit with Silicia Orebrand, Jilian went to see
the trader, Rogar Goldbuckle.
"You are going where?" he squinted at her in disbelief.
"Outside," she repeated. "I want to find Chane Feld
stone and bring him home. He may be lost and starving,
or something."
"You?" the trader still couldn't believe what he was
hearing. 'You can't go traveling around out there. Don't
you know what could happen to you?" "I plan to take a sword," she said, to put his concerns to
rest. "I'm remarkably good with a sword. But what I
wondered was... well, since you have dealings with
people outside, maybe you could tell me who to talk to
out there, to help find him."
"Don't talk to anybody outside!" Goldbuckle
snapped. "Don't trust anybody or anything out there!
Rust and corruption, girl, you have no idea -"
"I have a map," she said. "But it will only show me
where he was last seen. He may not be there any more, so
I might need to ask about him." A new thought occurred
to her. "I don't suppose you have any trading parties go
ing northward, do you? I might just go along with them,
as far as the wilderness. That's where I'll start looking."
Goldbuckle eased himself back to a bench and sat
down with a thump. The girl before him was as lovely a
young dwarf-maiden as he had ever seen, and he had al
ways thought of her as very practical and sensible, the
times she had come to shop his bazaar or to deliver pur
chase orders for her father. But now...
"I don't have any parties going that way," he said
weakly. "Nobody goes to that wilderness. There hasn't
been a trade route through there since before the Cata
clysm, and even then it was chancy. Of course, that
crazy Wingover has been up that way. He wagered he'd go to Pax Tharkas and back, if I'd give him a commis
sion. Plan of a fool. But, of course, he is a fool, to begin
with."
"Wingover? What an odd name." Jilian pursed pretty
lips. "Maybe that's who I should talk to. Where can I find
him?"
"Well, not anywhere in Thorbardin, certainly. He'd
never be allowed within twenty miles of the gate."
"Why on Krynn not? What did he do?"
'You don't understand, girl," Goldbuckle shook his
head. "Wingover isn't a dwarf. He's... well. I've traded
with him a bit and learned to trust him. But he's... well.
He's a human."
Jilian stared at him, amazed. 'What would you trade
from humans? I mean, I know there used to be some
trade, but aren't humans - ?"
"Unreliable, yes. As a rule. Also unstable and gener
ally unpleasant. Of course, one can make some allow
ances, considering how short-lived they usually are...
Girl, have you ever seen a human?"
"Of course not. I've never been outside of Thorbardin.
But I've heard about them. Chane has seen several, when
he's gone out to carry reports or messages for you, and
he talks about them. He even saw an elf once." "Yes, I know," Goldbuckle sighed. "All sorts show up
at barter camps, but such places are no place for a girl
like you. I swear! Why, I shudder to think of -"
"Chane is out there, somewhere. And he's visited these
barter camps before, at your employ, after all."
"That's different! Chane can take care of himself.
You -"
"That's the other thing I wanted to talk about. He may
need the money he earned from you. If you'll give it to
me, I'll give it to him... when I find him."
Chapter 7
For miles, the black path would and curved
through dense forest. Then, past one final, long curve, it
broke out of the forest and extended arrow-straight
across a mounded plain where little vegetation grew
only mosses and spindly, scattered shrubs. The light of
the moons Lunitari and Solinari - the first nearly over
head, the second just above the crags of Westwall
bathed the scene in eerie red and white highlights
beneath a spangled sky.
"More ruins," Chestal Thicketsway declared, pointing
about. "There might have been a city here once. Maybe
the Cataclysm -" "Much older than that," Glenshadow the Wanderer
said. "Oh, far older than that. Ages old. The legends say
it was a city in the Age of Dreams."
"Legends say?" Chane Feldstone growled. 'You're a
wizard. Don't you know?"
"Not without a powerful spell for time-seeing," the
winter voice rasped. "And I'll cast no spells in this place.
Strange things happen to magic here."
Near them, somewhere close, something seemed to
agree... something that lamented the fact.
"It's said there was a city in this valley," the wizard con
tinued. "And in the city was a king, who captured and
held in bond the source of all magic. The king's name was
Gargath."
"How could he capture the source of magic?" Chess
asked, excitedly. "Do you suppose it is still here?"
"No. Only the place where it was once held, and the
device that held it. A god-wrought thing called Spell
binder. It still has power, though. Power enough to con
fuse and bind even the highest orders of spell."
"Misery," something voiceless seemed to say.
"Is that what's wrong with my spell?" Chess asked,
looking around. "He's bound?"
The wizard nodded. "Most likely." "He certainly doesn't seem to be very happy about it,"
the kender noted.
"He?" the dwarf grumped, "What do spells know?
They aren't people." He looked up at the wizard. "How
much farther do we have to go?"
"Not far," Glenshadow said. "Are you tired so soon?"
"Of course I'm not tired! But I have things to do and I
don't see how all this is -"
"It is," Glenshadow assured him. 'You want to find the
helm, as you dreamed. This is how you must begin."
The dwarf scowled. 'What does this have to do with
you, though I It's my dream. What makes it important to
you?"
"It might be important to a great many people," the
wizard sighed. "In ominous times, significances take on
new meanings. I have my own reasons for helping you
fulfill your destiny, Chane Feldstone... if you can fulfill
it."
"If it's important to you, then why don't you just go
and find the helm, and let me get back to Thorbardin?
I'm not fond of having no roof over my head."
"Of course you aren't. You're a mountain dwarf. But
it's your dream, Chane Feldstone. Not mine."
"Corrosion," the dwarf muttered. "It's like trying to get a sensible answer from that kender. What do you mean
'ominous times?' "
"There have been omens. Some have interpreted
them, and some believe them. Some think that devasta
tion is about to fall on these lands. Some say it has al
ready begun. Invasion. War. The worst of imaginings."
Chane stopped, staring up at the man. "When?"
"Soon," the wizard said. "Some say within five years.
Some say within the year."
"But... why?"
"I think there will be further omens," Glenshadow said
softly, his voice as chill as a winter's night. "Then, per
haps, we will know."
Ahead of them, the path approached what might have
been a huge, open gate in a great wall, except that what
ever gate might once have been there was long since
gone. All that remained was a ragged cleft in a long, high
structure of broken stone which ran off to left and right
into moon-shadowed distance. An ancient wall, sun
dered here and there to rubble. Near the wall, just off the
dark path, was a separate mound of rubble that looked
familiar. It was like the mound they had found back in
the forest - a clutter of what might once have been vari
ous things all connected together, with stumps and odd
shapes protruding from it. "Another gnome machine?" Chess wondered. "What
do you suppose it was for."
"Old," the wizard nodded.
"Very old," something unseen seemed to agree.
"A siege engine," Glenshadow said. "They kept build
ing them until they got through the wall."
"Who did?"
"Gnomes. Who else?"
"What did they want?"
"What Gargath had. The source of all magic."
"I never heard of a gnome using magic," the kender
pointed out.
The wizard frowned and seemed to shudder. "We had
better go on," he said.
Beyond the wall the path pitched steeply downward
and entered a forest so dense that the light of the moons
was only a patchwork through interwoven branches.
"I'd just as soon make camp here," Chane said, then
went silent as the singing voice came again, this time
much nearer. Someone just ahead was singing in a lan
guage none of them knew. The singer's tonal range was
tremendous, the voice so utterly lovely that it caught
their breaths and tugged at their hearts.
A siren? Chane thought and realized it didn't matter. The voice held him in thrall, and he couldn't have turned
away if he had wanted to.
Beyond the trees ahead was a glow of firelight, and the
voice seemed to be coming from there. They hurried on.
The slope lessened to level ground, and the trees ended
abruptly at a circular clearing. The black gravel of the
path ended at a clean-swept expanse of black flagstone
paving - a circular band of ebony stone nearly one hun
dred yards across. Thick, short pillars of red granite
stood like sentinels around the circle at brief intervals,
and within the circle of black was a circle of white, then
another of black. The concentric pavings narrowed to
ward the center, where stood a tall, cone-shaped mono
lith with a small, dim object at its apex. The firelight
came from wood fires set in wide sconces at the four
points of the compass, on the inside faces of the sur
rounding short pillars.
The travelers stood where they had stopped, peering
around, trying to see detail in the erratic light.
In the semi-darkness around the circle, shadows
moved. "Cats," the dwarf noted. "Dozens of them. They
must live here."
The kender peered into the gloom, then straightened
and pointed. "Wow! Look at that one!"
Chane looked. A breeze flared one of the flames, and his eyes widened. Beyond the paved clearing, cats were
everywhere. And among them was one, huge even by
comparison with the others. Half again the size of the
rest, it stood staring directly at the dwarf, great golden
eyes thoughtful in a massive indigo head capped by a
flowing, snow-white mane.
The wizard seemed to pay no attention. He gazed in
stead at the monolith, his eyes ranging upward toward
its top. The crystal device on his staff no longer looked
like a crystal. Its luster was gone, and it was a dull,
opaque gray in color. "The temple of Gargath," he mut
tered. "Where the graygem was entrapped."
"What?" Chane glanced around.
"This is where it happened," Glenshadow said, as
though talking to himself. "Up there... is the Spell
binder."
"Woe," something voiceless mourned.
The impatient kender had scampered away, out to
ward the edge of the paving for a better look at the huge,
white-maned cat. When it noticed him, he backpedaled,
reversed his course, and went to have a closer look at the
obelisk. He disappeared beyond it.
"There's somebody here," Chane decided. "Somebody
keeps these fires, and somebody made that song." He looked toward the hut beyond the obelisk. "Maybe..."
Then he turned again, alerted by movement close by. A
creature like nothing he had ever seen had stepped onto
the pavement. She was far taller than Chane, taller even
than the wizard.
Her skin was the color of midnight and caught the light
in patterns of indigo and ebony that flowed sensuously
over a face and form beautiful almost beyond beauty.
Her hair was silver-white, long and flowing, and the sin
gle garment she wore - a brief tunic caught at one shoul
der and falling to her sleek thighs - seemed to be woven
of spider silk.
Chane stared, open-mouthed, stunned by her beauty
as he was stunned by her song. Never had he heard such
a voice - the power of thunder and the gentleness of
summer clouds resonated in perfect balance as she
seemed to sing to each of them separately, yet all at once.
Never had he heard such a voice, and never had he seen a
creature so hauntingly lovely, or radiating such intense,
patient power. The dwarf had the feeling that she could
crush him with a touch if she chose... or could touch as
softly as a butterfly landing on a petal.
Behind and above Chane, the wizard whispered,
"Irda." Almost without changing, her song became speech.
"Welcome again, man of magic," she crooned, "to the
place where magic fails. Is this the one? The Derkin
descendant? Holder of the destiny?" Great eyes in an eb
ony face turned to Chane, perusing him with a gaze very
like the gaze of the great cat moments before.
The dwarf's heart thumped as he realized they were the
same eyes. "Shapechanger," he breathed.
"Of course she is a shapechanger," the wizard said. "I
told you, she is the Irda. She can take many forms."
"Welcome, small warrior," the Irda crooned. "The
moons have promised that you would come, following
the path of your -"
Another voice, far less enchanting, shattered the spell:
"Come look at the back of this thing!" Chestal Thick
etsway called. "There's something like a stairway, and
...hello? Who is this?" The kender scampered toward
them, then stopped and blinked as the Irda turned to re
gard him. "Wow!" he finished lamely.
"This one is no Hylar kin," the Irda chuckled.
Chess blinked again and gave the tall, stunning crea
ture a slow gaze from top to toe and back. His lips pursed
in a low whistle. "Wow," he said again. Then, "Chestal
Thicketsway's the name. I'm a kender, from Hylo. What
on Krynn are you?" "Inquisitive," the Irda murmured. "I am Irda, little
one."
"I wondered what you'd look like," Chess nodded.
"My great-uncle, Tauntry Rimrunner, used to talk about
the Irda. I must say, you don't look anything like an
ogre."
Chane whirled on the kender, offended and as
tounded. "What a thing to say!" But a hand on his shoul
der stopped him.
"Ogres and the Irda," Glenshadow whispered, leaning
close, "a long time ago, they were the same people...
before ogres became ogrelike and ugly. They aren't at all
the same any more."
"The cats are gone," Chess noted suddenly, turning to
look all around the clearing.
'They won't bother you again," the Irda said. "They
have seen you with me, and I've assured them. They've
gone now to patrol the valley. Waykeep likes its privacy."
"Those cats are a pretty effective way of discouraging
visitors," Chane noted.
"Come to my home," the Irda beckoned, turning away.
"There is sweetnog for refreshment, and we can talk in
comfort." She headed for the hut among the trees, and
they followed. Chane paused for a moment as he passed the mono
lith, and looked up toward its top. A strange feeling
gripped him, an intuition that raised the hackles on his
neck and sent a shiver down his spine. Just for an instant,
he felt as if something atop the monolith had spoken to
him... something that awaited him, that called out to
him. He felt as if he had been here before, though he
knew he had not. And the feeling of the place was like the
feeling of his dreams.
"Is this the place?" he muttered, to himself. "Is this
where I find the helm?"
A large, gentle hand rested on his shoulder, and he
jumped, then looked up at the Irda, standing beside him.
'What you seek is not here, Chane Feldstone," she
crooned. "But here is where you will begin your search."
Again she led the dwarf away, and he noticed that her
movements - the sense of great strength in her easy,
graceful stride; the lithe, sensuous ripple of smooth mus
cle beneath shining ebon skin - reminded him of the
flowing grace of the great cats that were her companions.
* * * * *
"In ancient times, in the Age of Dreams, this was a place of men," the Irda told them. "And magic was un
known on Krynn. So say the oldest legends. Then, from
the realm of gods, came the graystone gem, and with it
magic... and chaos. Some say the god Reorx gave to
King Gargath the means to trap and hold the graystone.
Whether or not that is so, Garath did capture it with a
device of two crystals - one to find and hold it, the other
to counter its magic."
"That's what the wizard said," Chestal Thicketsway in
terrupted, sipping from a goblet of warm, sweetnog the
'Irda had provided. "Only he said there was one
crystal -"
"Hush," Glenshadow snapped. "Just listen."
"Gargath held it for a time," the Irda continued. "Then
it was lost when the city was besieged by gnomes, with
great siege engines."
"So that is what those junkheaps are," the kender com
mented.
This time it was Chane who hushed him. The dwarf
reached across the table, grasped the kender's tunic, and
lifted him off his stool. "Just shut up and listen!" he de
manded.
The Irda continued undaunted. "One legend has it that
when the graystone was freed, its magic caused some of
the gnomes to become dwarves and kender, thus originating the two races."
"Rubbish," Chess snapped. "No kender's akin to
dwarves, and we sure didn't come from gnomes."
"Rust and corruption! Chane chimed. "Dwarves were
here first. Everybody knows that."
"Will the two of you shut up!" Glenshadow rasped, his
voice the stuff of blizzards. "Just... shut up!"
"But I've been slandered," Chess said.
The wizard's eyes glinted like ice. He pointed his staff
at the kender and muttered, "Thranthalus eghom dit -"
and suddenly went silent. Though Glenshadow's lips
continued to move, no sound came out.
'That was a mistake," the Irda said, sympathetically.
"The anti-magic in this place is very strong."
"Very strong," something unseen echoed.
The kender stared at the wizard. "What's the matter
with him?"
Chane leaned close, seeing the stricken look in the
man's eyes. "I think he tried to cast a spell," he suggested.
"It must have backfired. He's hushed himself."
The kender cocked his head. "I wonder how long he'll
be like this."
"I don't know." Chane shrugged. "It's his spell. Speak
ing of which, I wish you'd find a way to hush yours." "My what?"
"Your spell. The one that's following you around. It's
spooky to hear something complaining all the time when
there's nothing there."
"Be wary of that spell," the Irda said. "Its power is so
great that it must happen, eventually."
"You've met my spell?" The kender grinned. "Actually,
I guess it isn't mine, but it has become attached to me."
"I know of it," the Irda nodded. "It has been in this val
ley, waiting to happen, for two hundred years. Ever since
dwarves fought near here in the Dwarfgate Wars."
"111 bet that's where all those frozen dwarves came
from," Chess noted.
"This was where Fistandantilus first interceded," the
Irda told them.
Chane shuddered. "Fistandantilus? The archmage? He
was here?"
"Here first, then at the final battle, two ranges west of
here, on the Plains of Dergoth," the Irda told the dwarf.
"That's where Grallen's army was wiped out," Chane
noted. "I've heard that story all my life."
"Both armies were wiped out by the fourth and great
est of the elemental spells Fistandantilus cast," the Irda
said. "The first three spells were cast in the preliminary
battle, here in the Valley of Waykeep. Elemental spells. The first was fire, the second ice..."
"Burned forests under ice," the kender breathed. "I saw
that. What was the third one?"
"No one knows," the Irda shrugged. "It became en
trapped in the anti-magic of this place, and hasn't hap
pened yet."
"Woe and misery," something voiceless said.
"You mean him?" Chess looked around, needlessly. "I
mean, it?"
"Your unexploded spell," she said calmly.
"Wow," was all that Chess could say.
Chane tapped the tabletop with his goblet, growing
impatient. 'What does all this have to do with me and
my dreams?"
The Irda studied him, her eyes luminous. "I told you
that there were two crystals in Gargath's device. Only
one remains up there now. It is called Spellbinder. Its
presence is the reason that magic often fails in this valley.
The other crystal, Pathfinder, was found by Prince Gral
len of the Hylar -"
"Grallen? But he died in the Dwarfgate War."
"Grallen, son of Duncan, King - the last king - of
Thorbardin. The wizard knows of your dreams, Chane
Feldstone. What is the thing that you have dreamed of finding?"
"An old helm," the dwarf said. "A battle helmet, with
horns and a crown-spire."
"And a crystal at its brow?"
"Well, yes. A sort of green gem."
"That green gem is Pathfinder, Chane. The helm is
Grallen's, and your dreams have been more than
dreams. Grallen learned something about Thorbardin on
his way from here to his last battle, at Zhamen - what is
now called Skullcap Peak. He learned that there is a lost
entrance to Thorbardin, and had he lived he would have
found it and sealed it. But he died. At present, armies are
amassing in the north... their forward units already in
vest key areas in many of the nearer lands."
The Irda paused and a shadow crossed her face.
"There will be war. The ogres know, and what they
know I also know. Very soon, Thorbardin will be sur
rounded by devastation. That is why you have dreamed,
Chane Feldstone. Your dreams are Grallen's spirit, call
ing to you, trying to tell you what must be done. You are
to find Grallen's helm and take up Grallen's quest. You
are to seal Thorbardin's lost gate."
The kender smiled, his bright eyes gleaming with ex
citement. "Wow," he breathed. "I'm really glad I came along."
Chane simply stared at the Irda, at a loss for words. Fi
nally he asked the only question he could think to ask:
"Why me?"
Glenshadow tried to speak, rubbed his throat and
tried again. "You..." the wizard croaked. He coughed,
scowled, and tried to clear his throat. In a hoarse voice
just above a whisper he said, "Because you are Grallen's
kin, Chane Feldstone. You are the last of the line of Dun
can, King of Thorbardin."
Chapter 8
"Zap," said Chestal Thicketsway, as much to break
the silence as for any other reason. Almost a minute had
passed since Glenshadow's pronouncement, and nobody
had said or done anything since. The three creatures
around the kender seemed frozen in place - the dwarf
standing stunned, trying to understand what he had just
been told; the Irda remote and infinitely patient, wait
ing; the wizard bleak-eyed and gloomy as though he had
spoken the prophecy of his own doom.
When none of them reacted to his word, Chess
shrugged and prowled about the little building's interior,
looking for anything that might be interesting. "Zap," he said again, to himself. "I'll call him Zap. Good a name as
any for a spell that hasn't happened."
"Need to happen," something grieved.
"Well, I'd just as soon you detach yourself from me be
fore you do," the kender said. "I don't even know what
kind of spell you are."
"Old," something mourned.
'You've made that clear." Chess peered into a shallow
cabinet containing many pigeonhole shelves. Shadows
made it hard to see what the shelves contained, and he
reached toward them, then withdrew his hand when he
felt the Irda's eyes on him. He turned. "Just looking," he
grinned. "Maybe I should go outside and look around."
Kenderlike, the thought immediately became the
action. Chess strode to the door of the hut, pushed it
open, and darted out, closing it behind him.
From his first glimpse of this place, the place of the
Irda, Chess had been fascinated by the tall obelisk in the
stone-paved clearing. Now he went to it again, directly
to its north face where he had found handholds and toe
holds leading upward. He had intended to see where they
went, but seeing the Irda had made him forget that, mo
mentarily.
The marks in the north face of the monolith weren't really a stairway, only a series of shallow indentations
set at regular intervals up the precipitous stone face. For
a curious kender, however, they were ladder enough.
Chess slung his hoopak on his back and started climbing.
In the distance, in moon-shadowed forest beyond the
Irda's clearing, he could hear the rumbling purr of cats on
patrol. And somewhere far away, a hint of sound carried
back on errant breezes, a raucous bird-voice cawed, "Go
away!"
The hand-and toeholds went up and up, and Chess
clung and climbed. Near the top, he could look out and
see the moon-bathed tops of the forest, the dark walls of
the valley beyond to east and west. Then, abruptly, there
were no more indentations in the face of the cone. With
the top of the monument almost within reach - no more
than ten feet above - there was only sheer, smooth stone
and nothing to cling to. Chess hunted around for some
thing that his fingers could grasp, his toes brace into, or
his hoopak reach. There was nothing. In frustration he
clung there for long minutes, then sighed and accepted
defeat.
"Isn't that just how things go?" he muttered, beginning
a reluctant descent. "Probably the most interesting thing
in this whole place is right there on top of this spire, just sitting there waiting to be looked at. Naturally the stairs
don't go quite far enough. I wonder what it is, up there
...might be something valuable, if a person could just
reach it. What kind of ladder heads for the top of some
thing and then just stops, just that much short? What
kind of sense does that make?"
"All things have reason, little one." The voice was the
Irda's voice, low and incredibly sweet. Chess nearly lost
his hold, turning to look. She stood just below, watching
his descent.
The kender scrambled the rest of the way down the
cone, dropped light-footed to the pavement, and turned.
"I thought I'd take a look at what's up there," he said.
"But I couldn't get to the top. What is up there, any
way?"
"Spellbinder," she said.
"Pain and desolation," something seemed to whine.
Chess glanced around, knowing there was no one
there to see. "Hush, Zap," he snapped. Then, to the Irda,
"Is it something the gods left lying around?"
The Irda only smiled. "Spellbinder has been
forgotten." She nodded. "But what the gods discard,
eventually find purposes again."
"Woe and misery," Zap's voiceless voice mourned.
The Irda half-turned, raising her head. She seemed to be listening to something Chess couldn't hear. And there
was something odd about the light. The fires still flick
ered in their sconces on the ring of stones, but feebly
now, as if their fuel were giving out. The rose and silver
glow cast by the moons Solinari and Lunitari had
changed, too. The light glistening on the dark, lovely
face of the Irda was almost a bloody light.
Chess stepped from her shadow to look into the sky,
and saw a sight he had never seen before. The red and sil
ver moons hung above the wall of the valley, only a
handspan apart, but the silver moon was only a crescent.
As the kender watched, the crescent diminished as
though a blackness had come from the north and was
eating it away. Narrower and narrower the crescent
grew.
"What is it?" Chess wondered. "What's happening?"
Soft light shone from the Irda's hut, and there were
footsteps. A moment later the dwarf and the wizard were
beside them, also staring at the strange sky. 'What's hap
pening to the white moon?" the dwarf rumbled.
Glenshadow raised his staff, useless in this place of
anti-magic, and pointed it. "Dragonqueen," he hissed.
"The black moon shows itself, and eclipses the white."
"Dragonqueen?" Chess stood on his toes in his excitement, staring. "Do you mean the moon or the goddess?"
"They are the same," the Irda said. "By any name, they
are the same. Queen of Darkness, Dragonqueen, Nilat
the Corrupter...."
"Tamex the False Metal," Chane growled. "The evil
one."
"She of the Many Faces," the kender chirped. "I've
never seen the black moon's shape before - only a hole in
the sky where it hides stars. It's a disk, like the other two.
Look, it's almost covered the white moon.... It has
covered it!"
Where the white moon had been was now only a dim
ring of brighter stuff in the sky - a hairline circle of radi
ance, encompassing darkness. The black moon had cov
ered the white one.
At that instant Glenshadow's staff came to life. The
crystal in its head, which normally resembled blue ice
but which had looked like dull chalk since entering the
Valley of Waykeep, blazed brilliant red as if all the lumi
nance of the red moon had condensed in it. A beam of
crimson shot from the staff to burn for an instant on the
forehead of the astonished dwarf... only for an instant.
Then the beam danced away, up the side of the conical
tower, right to its top, where it rested, a ruby brilliance at
the monolith's peak. Chane Feldstone stared at the ruby light with eyes not
quite the same as his eyes had been before. Without a
word he walked to the base of the monolith and found
the handholds and toeholds that the kender had found
before.
The rest were still staring at the eclipsed white moon,
unable to tear their eyes from the omen. Little by little,
the dark moon continued its transit, and a crescent of
white reappeared - the opposite crescent, emerging.
"The next omen," Glenshadow's voice was as thin and
cold as windblown snow. "A portent of great evil."
Something voiceless and terribly sad seemed to say,
"The time comes," and Chess glanced around.
"Hush, Zap," the kender said. "Spells should be seen
and not heard. Look, Chane... now where did the
dwarf go?"
Again the Irda tilted her lovely head, as though listen
ing. Glenshadow glanced at her and frowned. 'What is
it? What do you hear, Irda?"
She shook her head, silver hair dancing in the light
that again came from two moons. "Evil," she sang softly.
"In the north an evil lives, and one of evil sings. Ogres
gloat and goblins march... and I hear the sound of
WlllgS. 'Where in blazes did that dwarf get off to?" Chestal
Thicketsway was prowling the clearing, peering here
and there. He looked upward then, and blinked. "Oh.
There he is. Chane! You, Chane Feldstone! What are you
doing up there? I already tried that. You can't get to the
top!"
The others looked, too. High above them, moving
with the steady, solid rhythm of a climbing mountain
dwarf, Chane was approaching the top of the monolith.
"You're about to run out of ladder!" the kender
shouted. "Take my word for it, that's a waste of time.
You can't get to the -"
The Irda moved close to him and rested a graceful,
powerful dark hand on his head. "Be quiet, small one,"
she sang softly.
The white moon was whole again, but now the red
moon was diminishing as the black orb began to occlude
it. The rose tint of the moonlight dulled, becoming more
silvery. Above, Chane Feldstone had reached the last of
the fingerholds and hesitated.
Again the crystal on Glenshadow's staff winked
alight, this time a cold white light as if the white moon's
glow focused in it. A single shaft of white light shot up
ward, bathing in hard luster the hammer slung on the dwarf's back. Clinging to the cone, Chane loosed the
hammer, braced himself and swung its spike-end against
the stone above him. He struck again, and a black shard
fell, bouncing once on the slight slope of the monolith,
ringing as it struck the pavement below.
Snagging the hammer in his belt, the dwarf reached
up, found purchase in a new handhold, and retrieved the
hammer to cut another one.
"Why didn't I think of that?" the kender chuckled.
"Here I was thinking about slings and pulleys or some
such."
The red moon was nearly eclipsed now, but still Glen
shadow's staff glowed, and strong white light bathed the
top of the spire where the dwarf worked. Abruptly,
Chestal Thicketsway remembered the nature of his un
seen companion - the spell that had somehow associated
itself with him. He glanced around nervously. "Wizard,
the light... does this mean that magic is working here
again?"
"No magic of mortals," the wizard breathed. "Nor any
that I can sense or understand."
"The gods are not bound by the limits they set," the
Irda whispered. "Only Krynn-magic is captured in Spell
binder's net."
"Ashes and woe," something voiceless mourned. "I'm glad to hear that," the kender sighed. "I'm not in
any hurry to find out what happens when Zap gets un
bound."
Atop the tall cone, Chane cut another hold, then a fi
nal one, and pulled himself up for a look. The top of the
monolith was a shallow cup, no more than four feet
across, with objects lying in it. The largest was a small,
broken statue apparently carved from alabaster - a
weathered and eroded representation of a man with a
beard, face turned upward, one outthrust arm intact, its
hand holding a two-inch oval of dark red crystal. The lit
tle statue, which would have stood no more than three
feet tall, lay on its back. Part of its other arm lay beside
it, but the hand was missing.
The other object in the bowl was a metal ball the size
of Chane's fist - deeply rusted, but still showing clearly
the dent of ancient impact. A green bronze plate was im
bedded in the ball, and Chane bent close. The enhanced
light of the white moon showed him part of the inscrip
tion: Size four siege projectile, specific for use with supe
rior flipshot...
Gnomes, he thought.
He swung a leg over the lip of the cup and extended a
hand, meaning to set the little statue upright for a better look. But suddenly the red crystal pulsed and hummed,
the statue's fingers fell away, and the crystal dropped
into his hand. As Chane closed his own fingers around it,
it stilled. He knew then, beyond question, why he had
climbed the cone. The crystal had called him. He was to
take it.
Vaguely, in the dwarf's mind, a face appeared - a face
much like his own, the bearded face of a mountain
dwarf. But not his own face, though there was a strong
resemblance. The face was more stern than Chane's, and
bore the scars of battle. And it looked out at him from
the curved portal of a studded, horned helmet with a sin
gle ornament - a crystal that might have been a twin of
the crystal in Chane's hand except for the color. The hel
met's stone was green.
"Grallen?" It was his own whisper that asked it.
The face in Chane's mind seemed to nod, to encourage
... then it faded.
Feeling more confused than ever before in his life,
Chane Feldstone secured the red crystal in his pouch,
slung his hammer on his back, and eased down to the
new holds he had cut. Step by step, hold by hold, he low
ered himself down the face of the monolith. Above him,
the enhanced light faded and the spire's peak was only that - a stone monolith in moonlight.
At the bottom, they gathered around him, the kender
chattering questions, the wizard trying to get a word in,
the Irda kneeling to look closely at his face. She peered,
then pointed at his forehead. Glenshadow bent to look.
On the dwarf's forehead, above the bridge of his nose,
was a red spot, almost the shape and tint of the red
moon.
In the Irda's hut, over mugs of spicy drink, Chane told
them what he had found. He brought out the crystal to
show to them, but when Glenshadow touched it, it
burned his fingers. The kender also had been reaching
for it, but he withdrew his hand quickly at the wizard's
cry of pain.
"I expect you'd better hang on to that," Chess said
prudently.
The two visible moons were ordinary moons again, as
they had been before the omen, but there was a darkness
in the northern sky - an absence of stars where there
should have been stars. The black moon hung there, not
seeming to move, and Glenshadow shuddered when he
looked in that direction. The Irda sat outside her hut,
facing northward, her head thrown back as one who
listens intently.
The lamplight and the sweetnog were soothing. Chane felt himself nodding, then yawned and lay his head on
the table. The kender was already asleep.
* * * * *
Chane and his companions weren't the only ones who
watched the omen of the moons. A hundred miles north
west, in the glades of Qualinost, the elves of Qualinesti
saw it and sent rangers to spread the word. Something
was forecast that demanded study. Evil was afoot.
Eightymiles due west of the Valley of Waykeep, mages
at the Tower of High Sorcery also watched the dark
moon occlude first the white and then the red. Councils
were called - councils at which the wearers of white
robes and those who wore red were much more in evi
dence than the wearers of black.
North of the wilderness, at the great pass city of Pax
Tharkas, people lined the battlements to watch the
moons in wonder.
And twenty miles from the ancient temple of Gargath,
across the ridge line separating Waykeep from the Vale of
Respite, ranks of armed goblins spread across the north
end of a fertile valley, awaiting orders for their advance
southward, where unsuspecting villages lay sleeping among the moonlit fields. Among them, aloof and
haughty, were some far larger creatures - ogres who had
come from their lairs to join the goblin horde, knowing
there would soon be sport for them.
On a brushy rise above the goblins' dark camps a lone
figure stood, looking into the sky. Moonlight of two col
ors shone on a horned helmet and emblazoned black
body armor. The faceplate of the many-horned helm was
a hideous metal mask, a demon-faced device from which
dark, searching eyes peered.
As the occlusion of the visible moons began, the figure
unfastened and removed the faceplate. The moonlight
revealed the face behind it: a woman's face, stern and
dark-eyed. A face that might have been beautiful, had it
chosen to be, but that had made other choices from
which there had been no turning back.
As the dark moon of Krynn eclipsed the first of the vis
ible moons, the woman drew a thong from beneath her
breastplate, a thong from which was suspended a dark,
misshapen lump. "Caliban," she said.
The voice that responded was a dry, husky whisper,
heard within her ears - an ancient, querulous voice.
'Why does she call me now," it breathed. "She does not
need me here. There is nothing here that she cannot do
for herself." The woman frowned. "Caliban, the moons. What
does it mean?"
'"The moons,' she says," the dry voice had whispered.
"She wants to know the story of the moons."
"Tell me!"
"It is another of the Queen's omens," the husky voice
rasped. "She tells the Highlords that the time is almost at
hand for their invasion of Ansalon, and she tells what
ever gods may notice that she claims this time and this
world as hers. She warns them not to interfere."
"Another omen," the armed woman snapped. "Is there
a message there for me?"
"Ah," the dry voice said. "She seeks messages for her
self."
"Tell me!" the armor-clad woman ordered.
"If there is a message for her, it is only this: she has
promised the Highlord that she will take and hold access
to the fortress Thorbardin. The Queen will not tolerate
any who fail in what they promise on her behalf."
"I will not fail!" the woman said sharply. "Even though
I have nothing but... these -" she swept her free arm
contemptuously, indicating the dark camps of the wait
ing goblin horde "- to assist me. I asked the Highlord for
a strike force. He gave me stinking goblins. But I will succeed. Thorbardin will fall when he is ready."
"She has no need to tell me of this," the dry voice said.
"It is her concern, not mine. Now she will let me rest until
there is a better reason for me to awaken."
"I will do what I choose!" she started to say, then
hissed through clenched teeth as tiny lightnings laced
from the dark thing to sting her hand. Quickly, she
dropped it back into the shelter of her armor. She could
feel it pulsate slightly as it came to rest between her
breasts.
"Omens," she muttered. "I need no omens to accom
plish what I set out to do."
Her gaze fixed then on the sky, not where the moons
were telling their story, but westward, where the line of
ridges that formed the valley's east rim stood like jagged
teeth against the night sky. There, far in the distance be
yond the ridges, was a crimson glow - a light that was
neither moonlight nor firelight, but that hung in the sky
beyond the mountains like an echo of Lunitari's light.
Between her breasts the dark thing moved, and again
she heard the dry, ancient voice. "Ah, but there is a mes
sage for her, it seems. Someone else is abroad this night,
seeking the lost way to Thorbardin." Full daylight lay on the valley when Chane Feldstone
awoke. For an instant he didn't know where he was. He
blinked and looked around. The hut was wide open,
shutters thrown back and door standing ajar. Cabinets
stood open and empty, and the cool breezes of autumn
wafted through, carrying the sounds of birdcall and
small creatures - sounds that Chane abruptly realized he
hadn't heard since coming into this strange valley in the
wilderness. Near the door, the wizard Glenshadow lay
asleep on a rush mat.
Chane stretched and stood, feeling stiff from sleeping
at the table, his hammer still slung on his back. Recalling
the night before, he fumbled with the lashing on his
pouch and looked inside. The red crystal was there, se
cure. He touched his forehead, then brought his hammer
around, using its polished surface as a mirror. The red
spot was still on his face, just above his nose, but it was
less vivid now, less noticeable. Still, his mind was full of
information that he knew had not been there before.
He looked around at a small sound. The kender was
just strolling in through the open door.
"The Irda is gone," the small creature said sadly. "I
can't find her anywhere. And I guess she took her kitty
cats with her, because I didn't find any of them, either."
'Then I guess she was through here," Chane said, assembling his packs and straps. "It doesn't matter,
though. I know which way to go from here."
Part II
WINGOVER'S WAY
Chapter 9
There was a time once, rumor had it, when trade
routes had linked the realms of Ansalon in a more or less
reliable fashion from Palanthas and Vingaard Keep in
the north, through Solamnia, Abanasinia, and Pax
Tharkas, all the way south to Thorbardin. And maybe
even beyond.
Wingover had heard the stories and felt that they
probably were true, though he had never met anyone
who could confirm them. He had seen a good bit of the
known world in his forty or so years and had dealt with
all kinds of people. He knew the value that the elves of
Qualinost put on grains and foodstuffs from Solamnia.
Mountain-bound Thorbardin traded for grains and
spices, as did his own homeland of Abanasinia. And he
had seen in Abanasinia and Solamnia among those who could afford them - plenty of tools and weapons
created by the dwarves of Thorbardin, as well as fine tex
tiles from Qualinost.
Fibers and fabrics, feathers and furs... comestibles,
combustibles, and exotic baubles - every land he had
seen in his travels possessed an abundance in some com
modities and shortages in others.
Somewhere in the past there had probably been exten
sive trade all over Ansalon. But trade now - and for all
the lifetime Wingover and those he knew could
remember - was erratic and hazardous. "It's the way of
the world," he himself had said more than once. "There's
always someone more determined to make a killing than
the rest are to make a living."
"Poor, ravaged Krynn," some poets called the world.
But Wingover had no real quarrel with the nature of
things. It was the only world he had ever known, and in
some respects the very combativeness of its races aided
him in his endeavors. Their aloofness, their distrust of
one another, made the commodities they all sought even
more precious. Sometimes Wingover hired out as a trail
guide, sometimes as an escort for traders. And some
times, as now, he carried a pack himself - usually on a
bet.
This time the bet was with the mountain dwarf trader, Rogar Goldbuckle. Over tankards of ale at the Inn of the
Flying Pigs in Barter, Goldbuckle had wagered that
Wingover could never make it alive from Barter to Pax
Tharkas and back, carrying a pack of goods from his
agents at Pax Tharkas.
The return on the sealed pack would be small com
pared to what it would cost Rogar Goldbuckle to pay his
gambling debt.
It had been no mean adventure, this journey.
Wingover had chosen his routes with care, going north
to Pax Tharkas by one route and returning by another to
avoid ambushers and other unpleasantries of the wilder
ness. He had ridden alert and slept with his senses awake,
and still there had been incidents - the cave ogre that had
almost killed him on a mountain trail somewhere near
Wayreth Forest; the landslide that had blocked his path
just south of Pax Tharkas; the band of murderous
thieves that had picked up his trail on Regret Ridge and
pursued until he was forced to teach them some man
ners; the flooded ford that had forced him to change
course. It was that flooded ford that led him into the hid
den valley where the bird had screamed a warning at
him, and where he had barely escaped with his life when
a pack of huge hunting cats chased him. All that, and goblins, too.
Wingover shook his head now in perplexity. Why
were there goblins south of Pax Tharkas? He had never
heard of goblins in these lands. Other places, of course,
but not here. It reminded him of the talk he had heard in
Pax Tharkas - dire rumors, all hazy and confusing, of
omens and prophesies, of strange sightings in remote
places.
There were even rumors of people somewhere to the
north who swore they had seen dragons.
And just the past night - a double eclipse of the
moons. Wingover had heard philosophers and stargaz
ers speculate on such things, but he had never before seen
such a sight. It had almost cost him his horse and his
pack. Geekay had spooked at the sight and pulled loose
from his halter, and Wingover had chased the animal for
a half-mile before catching him.
Did it mean something? He thought of Garon Wendes
thalas and wondered where he was. Elves usually knew
more about such phenomena than most people. Maybe
he would see the elf in Barter, and could ask him about it
then.
Wingover twisted about in his saddle, easing the fa
tigue of travel, and pulled his elkhide jacket tighter about
him. The horse was rounding a bend in the sloping trail, and a fresh wind had sprung up. It was cold at this alti
tude, even in early autumn.
Cold and - he noticed abruptly - strangely quiet. He
looked around. The usual daytime sounds of the moun
tains, the chittering of small creatures, the myriad calls
of cliff-birds, had gone silent. The only sound was the
wind sighing forlornly.
Without seeming to have noticed - one learned such
skills if one would survive in the wildernesses of
Ansalon - Wingover eased his sword around so that its
hilt rested across the vent of his saddle, inches from his
hand. Eyes that missed little scanned the landscape,
searching for anything out of place or out of order.
Wingover's eyes were as pale as the frost on his reddish
whiskers, and as alert as those of the darting shoal-kite
for which he was named. He studied the rising stonefall
to his left, the bouldered slope falling away to the right,
the gametrail winding out of sight ahead, and
stretching around as one too long a'saddle - his own
backtrail. Nothing caught his eye, nothing out of the or
dinary, and yet the silence hung and all his senses re
sponded to it.
Angling near a wide cleft in the stonefall, he reined the
horse into cover and stopped, listening. At first there was nothing to hear, then from somewhere came a faint
scuffling sound, as of shod feet creeping through gravel.
Many shod feet. And now the errant wind carried a smell
that alerted him. It was an odor he recognized. A cloy
ing, unpleasant odor.
Wingover frowned, testing the air. Goblins again!
What were goblins doing this far south?
Again he heard the furtive, scuffling noises, and this
time he heard metalic sounds as well - little clinks as of
weapons being drawn. Silently he dismounted, slipping
his animal's reins into a crack in the rock. He freed the
lashes behind his saddle and righted the flinthide shield
there, pulling its strap onto his left arm, gripping the gui
don with hard fingers. Sword drawn, Wingover
crouched, slipped from the cover of the rocks, and
sprinted forward on soft-soled feet, following the game
trail. Just ahead someone was in trouble.
Fifty yards from where the man had dismounted, the
dim trail topped a ridge and disappeared. Crawling the
last few feet, Wingover looked beyond. The game trail
veered away to the right, following a slope. Some dis
tance away it made a switchback turn, angling down
ward toward a distant, meadowed valley. On the trail
below, a single walker strode along - a tall, lithe figure clad in furs and leathers against the cold. Wingover
could not see his face, but he knew his race. Distance and
angle could not hide the lean, graceful form, the gliding
stride of an elf.
The elf turned slightly, surveying the landscape, and
Wingover recognized him. An old friend. Garon Wen
desthalas. The elf carried a pack and a bow, and
Wingover suspected he was going to Barter as he was.
But on the brushy slope between them, crouching in
cover and watching the elf approach, were goblins
armed, armored goblins waiting in ambush. He counted
eight that he could see and cover where two or three
more might be.
Wingover crouched, waiting. There was no question
what was about to happen. For whatever reason goblins
might have - curiosity about what was in the elf's pack,
perhaps, or simply for sport - the goblins were ready to
pounce on the elf, to bring him down with their weapons.
Garon Wendesthalas has been taking care of himself
for a long time, Wingover told himself, slitted eyes
studying the goblins. The goblins may wish they had
never met this elf.
Still, he told himself as goblin faces turned toward one
another, wide mouths grinning in wicked anticipation,
what are friends for, if not to interfere? With a shrug he got his feet under him, howled a battle
cry as wild as any goblin could ever have heard, and
plunged down the slope, directly into the crouched
goblins' ambush.
With gravity doubling the speed of his long legs,
Wingover descended on them and through them, spin
ning completely around as he pierced their line. His
sword was a flashing rage, singing around him, first
bright-bladed and then suddenly dark with goblin
blood. A goblin head bounced from a rock and rolled
down the slope ahead of him. Two more goblins died be
fore they could turn, one severed from shoulder to
breastbone, one cloven through the back, through ribs
and spine. Another raised an axe and was bowled over
by Wingover's flinthide shield. Still another tried to lift a
short sword and failed because he had no arm.
In an instant of howling fury, the man was through
them and beyond, flailing for balance as he plunged on
down the slope. "Goblins!" he shouted. "Ambush!"
Directly below now, the elf dropped his pack, brought
around his bow, drew, and let fly. The arrow whisked
past Wingover, and somewhere above and behind the
man a gurgle and a thud sounded. At a glance he saw the
severed head of the first goblin, bouncing merrily along beside him.
A thrown axe sailed past Wingover, embedding itself
in loose stone just at the elf's feet. Another of his arrows
flew to answer it. On the path, Wingover braced his legs,
skidded and somersaulted to a jarring halt... then got
his feet under him again and dodged as a bronze dart
whisked past him from uphill.
"Good morning," he shouted to the elf, then filled his
lungs, let loose another battle howl, and headed back up
the slope. The elf was right behind him.
The slope above was a confusion of goblins - most of
them dead or dying, but some still very much alive. For a
moment some of these scrambled, clawing upward, try
ing to climb the slope. But one, a creature slightly larger
than the others and heavily armored, shouted guttural
orders and regrouped them.
Going uphill was far slower than coming down had
been, and now Wingover and the elf found themselves
facing a ready enemy who held the higher ground.
Darts and thrown stones landed about them.
Wingover held the lead, wielding his shield to deflect
what he could. But a dart scored the human's leg, leaving
a bloody gash. Two goblins hoisted a huge stone between
them, raising it above their heads.
Behind Wingover, the elf said, "Drop." He dropped, half-covered by his shield, and the elf
loosed an arrow. It took a goblin full in the throat. The
second one staggered back under the sudden weight of
the stone, and fell.
With a hiss, the goblin leader lifted the fallen creature
to his feet and gripped the back of his neck with one
strong hand. In the other he held a heavy broadaxe.
Pushing his companion ahead of him he charged down
on Wingover, who was just scrambling to his feet. Before
he could get his shield up, the goblins were on him. His
sword impaled one, but the weapon was wrenched aside
as the leader flung the expendable one forward and
raised his axe in both hands.
Dropping sword and shield, Wingover flung himself
upward and grappled the creature. Goblin stench seared
his nostrils as he gripped the axehandle, struggling to
keep it from completing its swing. Goblin teeth snapped
at his throat, grazing the skin. Claws of a goblin hand
raked his face, going for his eyes, and a hard-soled boot
flailed at his legs. He twisted, thrust, and threw the gob
lin onto its back, going down with it. Instantly, the
locked pair were rolling and bouncing down the slope,
grappling and pummeling as they went.
The broadaxe, jarred free, skidded down the slope ahead of them and came to rest on the trail. The rolling
combat landed beside it, the goblin on top, going for
Wingover's throat. With a heave, Wingover threw the
creature over his head, spun, and leaped just as the gob
lin struggled to hands and knees. Straddling the creature,
the man got his toes under the base of its brass chest
plate, hooked his fingers under the back-plate, and put
all his strength into prying them apart. Held by stout
straps, the two pieces of armor closed like a trap around
the goblin's neck. Wingover strained harder. Clawing at
the man's booted feet, the goblin staggered upright, reel
ing and struggling to breathe as the clamp tightened at its
neck. Its face seemed to swell, its eyes bulged, it stag
gered and fell, carrying the man with it. A broadaxe de
scended and crunched into the ground, barely missing
both of them, and Wingover's hold slipped. He heard an
other of the elf's arrows pierce armor somewhere near.
Panting, he stood. On the ground, the goblin gasped
for breath, then rolled and came to its feet, wild eyes
glaring, taloned fingers reaching.
"I've had enough of this," Wingover decided. With a
long stride he ducked the goblin's arms and drove a hard
fist full into its face. The creature toppled like a felled
tree and lay still. Stone clattered, and Garon Wendesthalas came down
the slope. He glanced at Wingover, then crouched beside
the goblin. "Alive," he said. "One of them got away, up
the hillside. He was out of reach before I could bring him
down."
"I left my horse up there," Wingover panted.
"Well, if that goblin is going to find him, it already
has. What are they doing here? I haven't heard of goblins
in these lands... at least not any time lately." The elf
looked up quizzically. "And by the way, good morning
to you, too, Wingover."
"Hope you didn't mind my crashing your party," the
man said.
"Not at all. There were plenty to go around. Frankly,
I'm glad you showed up. I knew they were here - smelled
them a ways back - but I didn't know how many, or ex
actly where they were. But I still can't imagine what
they're doing this far south."
"That's what I want to know, too." Wingover squatted
on his heels, tilting his head to study the wide, feral face
of the unconscious goblin. Dark blood seeped from its
nose and mouth. "Maybe he'll tell us about it, if he wakes
Up.
As though on cue, the goblin stirred and groaned.
Garon knelt and lifted one of the creature's eyelids with his thumb. "He's coming around. Let's peel this armor off
of him. He'll be more talkative without his shell."
"Whatever you say. You've dealt with goblins."
"When I had to." The elf glanced at Wingover, melan
choly elven eyes curious. "I gather you made it to Pax
Tharkas?"
"Made it, and the pack I'm bringing back will cost Ro
gar Goldbuckle a fine purse. But then, the bet was his
idea."
'What if he decides to pay you in kind, by freeing you
of your debt of service to him?"
"He won't. Goldbuckle's a wily old dwarf, and he
won't put money ahead of collectible service. But then, I
don't mind. He staked me when I needed it most... I
owe him a service whenever he decides to call on me.
Probably wind up some day fighting a trader's duel with
somebody too big for an old dwarf to handle."
They stripped the goblin of his armor and threw it
away. No human or elf would ever willingly put the
smelly, tarnished armor next to his own skin.
Garon Wendesthalas used strong rope to bind the
creature hand and foot, then drew a slim, needle-pointed
dagger and set its hilt in a crack in the stone path, the
~1;:v'e pointing straight up. As the goblin regained consciousness, hissing and cursing, the elf rolled him over
onto his belly, dragged him forward, and lifted his head
so that his right eye was directly over the dagger's point.
Wingover watched, fascinated. "What are you doing!"
"Creatures of darkness cherish their eyes," the elf said.
Holding the goblin's round head in a strong grip, he said,
"Tell us now, goblin... why are you here? Who sent
you?
"You can fry in molten stone, elf!" The goblin tried to
twist away and could not. "I won't tell you anything.
I'll--"
Gyron shrugged and pushed the head down. The gob
lin's scream was a shrill hiss, echoing from mountain
side.". Matter-of-factly, Garon raised the round head and
repositioned it. "This is a little something that elves have
learned the hard way from goblins," he told
Wingover. Then to the goblin he said, "You still have one
eye left. Who sent you here?"
The creature writhed and whimpered. "I can't say! I
can't!"
Grim-faced, Garon Wendesthalas pushed the crea
ture's head down until eye touched knife-point. "Yes,
you can," the elf said. "Who sent you?"
"I can't... ahh! Darkmoor! The commander! I an
swer to the - !" Abruptly the goblin stiffened. Tiny bolts of lightning writhed along its body, twisting in bright
weaves around arms and legs, a dancing fabric of blue
bolts as fine as spider lace. The bolts lasted only for an
instant, then the goblin's pale, flabby body went rigid,
the wide spike-toothed mouth opened and heavy, dark
smoke gusted from it.
The creature went limp. Garon pulled the body away
from the dagger and rolled it over, his long, elven face
twisting in disgust. "Dead," he said.
"So I see," Wingover shrugged. "You didn't kill him,
though."
"No. He truly couldn't say more. He had a spell upon
him, and it killed him rather than let him tell us anything
else. Do you know anyone called 'Commander' or
'Darkmoor?' "
Wingover shook his head. "It isn't a goblin name.
Doesn't sound dwarven, either. It might be elven, but
what kind of elf would associate with goblins?"
"It sounds to me like a human name," Garon said. He
glanced at the man, wide eyes thoughtful. "Maybe the
question is, what sort of human would associate with
goblins?"
"I guess I'd better go see about my horse and pack. Are
you bound for Barter?" The elf nodded. "There have been a lot of rumors
lately, about trouble in the north. And omens. Did you
see the eclipses7"
"Yes. And I thought about you, Garon Wendesthalas. I
thought maybe you could tell me what it means."
"Maybe nothing," the elf said. "Or it might mean that
something very bad is about to happen." He looked
around at the grim carnage of the goblin encounter. "Far
worse than this. Maybe we'll learn more at Barter. It's the
place to listen, if there is something to be known."
Climbing the slope, Wingover collected his sword and
shield, and paused to study some of the dead goblins
there. A scouting party, he decided. But scouting for
what? And for whom?
The horse was where he had left it, skittish and wild
eyed but still reined within the cleft of rock. Several
yards away, though, was the sprawled body of another
dead goblin. Its skull had been crushed.
"Don't blame you a bit, Geekay," Wingover reassured
the horse. "I don't like goblins, either."
When Wingover came down the trail, Garon Wenndes
thalas was waiting for him. The human dismounted.
"Sling your pack up here with mine," he told the elf. "I'll
walk with you." Wendesthalas tied his pack to Geekay's saddle skirt
and turned away, his long stride setting a brisk pace.
Wingover walked beside him, leading Geekay, and
found himself thinking about the manner of the elf's in
quisition of the goblin. He glanced at the lithe, almost
human ranger pacing him. In many ways, it seemed to
Wingover, the race of elves could be the gentlest of the
people of Krynn. And in many ways the wisest. Yet there
was nothing gentle and seemingly little wise in Garon's
treatment of the goblin.
Is it possible for me to really understand him or his
kind, the man wondered. Can any race ever truly under
stand any other?
He mulled it over for a few minutes, then decided.
Probably not.
Wingover turned his thoughts to another race. He had
a gambling debt to collect from Rogar Goldbuckle. Not
that the dwarf would try to cheat him. Such was not
Goldbuckle's way. Still, dwarves could be full of
surprises.
Chapter 10
Thouqh it had started only as a seasonal en
campment, a meeting place for those of various races whose lot it was to go abroad and trade commodities to
supply their various realms, Barter now was a bustling
little town. Resting in a sheltered valley west of Thor
bardin, it was a truce village, a place of respite from
whatever conflicts and hostilities might be currently go
ing on around it. A motley collection of low stone
cubicles - favored by the mountain dwarves - log struc
tures where hill dwarves could find comfort, shacks,
shanties, tree houses in the few trees large enough to con
tain them, mud huts, and a few airy elven lofts, Barter
catered to any who were willing to trade in peace.
Here elves, dwarves, humans, and occasionally ken
der walked the same paths and sat at the same tables with
robed sorcerers and outlaw clerics. Here voices might
be - and often were - raised in hot discussion, but out
right violence was not condoned. Here even the bitterest
of enemies stayed their hands and held their tempers.
For Barter was Barter. As in any place and any time,
no matter what grand intrigues may be afoot, no matter
what wars might be raging across the lands, still there
had to be a means of trade and a place to do it. As in all
places and all times, each people had need of what the
others had in plenty, if only for the building of weapons
to fight against one another. In Barter, it was said, even an ogre could come and
trade - provided he didn't act like an ogre.
Technically, Barter lay within the realm of the
dwarves, though whether its origin was from mountain
or hill dwarves' settlements none could say. And this was
as it should be, for the bands and tribes of humanity had
been scattered far and wide, and many were wanderers,
while of all the other races the dwarves had the most to
trade, the most need to trade, and the greatest under
standing of how essential trade was. Being in the dwar
ven realms also gave some measure of protection to the
place, as neither mountain nor hill dwarves was amena
ble to having their lands entered by those who sought
trouble.
As they neared the settlement Wingover recalled the
simple rules of the place. "Don't kill anybody," he chuck
led. "It isn't allowed."
The faint trail they followed wound down into a val
ley, toward Barter, and within a mile of the village they
were among cleared fields on a gentle slope, with the
village visible ahead. Wingover pointed toward a large
pavilion draped with red and yellow awnings. "The
mountain dwarves are here," he said. "That's Gold
buckle's stall."
Just ahead, on the trail, an odd object was moving toward the village - a triangular white thing more than a
dozen feet from end to end and half that in width, it had
the appearance of a giant spearhead, creeping along on
spindly-looking narrow wheels that glinted in the sun
light. Garon Wendesthalas studied the thing ahead, then
shook his head and pointed, questioning.
Wingover shrugged. "I haven't the vaguest idea what
it is. I've never seen anything like it."
They went on, and within a few minutes were close
enough to see more details of the creeping thing. More
than a spearhead now, it resembled half a bellows, parti
ally closed. A series of slender ribs extended back from
the forward point, all covered over with a layer of white
fabric pleated so that each fold at the rear draped at least
two feet below the rigid supports. Near the rear was a
thing like a wicker basket, two or three feet across, set
into the fabric so that only the top of it was clearly visible
from behind. Narrow, slightly bowed poles slanted out
ward below the basket-thing, each tipped with a wheel
that was nothing more than a metal ring braced from a
hub by thin, gleaming wires. Beyond, someone was
walking, only his feet visible, the rest of him hidden by
the forward point of the contrivance.
"Maybe it's some kind of a rollable tent," Wingover suggested.
"Half an umbrella?" the elf wondered.
"That big? Nobody would build an umbrella that big.
And why does it have wheels?"
"Maybe because it's too big to carry."
They came closer, and a suspicion arose in Wingover's
mind. He swung into his saddle, touched heels to the
horse, pranced ahead, and pulled up alongside the
strange thing. It was longer than he had thought, possi
bly as much as twenty feet from point to rear, and while
its trailing end was no more than three feet high, its long,
slim point was well above his head as he sat in his saddle.
He walked the horse alongside and leaned down to look
below the thing's edge. He sighed and straightened. "Just
as I thought," Wingover chuckled. "A gnome."
The thing stopped moving. Its point lowered a bit as a
metal shaft swung down to take its weight, and its owner
stepped out to look up at the horseman. He stood belly
high to Wingover's horse, and had a bald head sur
rounded by long white hair that blended into a silvery
beard. That trait would have made him look very old
...had he been human. "Ofcoursel'magnome," he said
in a voice that sounded thin and irritated. "That'sone
thingtheycan't takeawayfromme. Bobbin'sthename. I'meverybitasmuchgnomeasanyofthem, thankyou. Who
areyou?"
The question was so imperious, and came from such a
small creature, that Wingover couldn't suppress a smile.
"If I understood you correctly, you want my name,
which is Wingover," he said. "But don't take it out on me,
whatever you're boiling about. It isn't my fault."
"Of course not," the gnome said more slowly as he
calmed down. "It isn't anybody's fault. These things just
happen. Though they could have been a little kinder
about it, in my opinion."
"Who could? And kinder about what?"
"Everybody. The Transportation Guild, the Master
Craftsgnome... the whole colony. Kinder about getting
rid of me, is what they could have been. If it had hap
pened at home, I'd have had my say about it. But no.
'Out in the colonies,' they said, 'this sort of thing can't be
tolerated. Good of the colony,' they said. 'Best just to
send the poor soul packing off into the howling no
wheres, than to chance his infecting anyone else.' So out I
went. Kit, klacker, and Krynnbook, as they say. Speak
ing of which, I sincerely hope my map was right. That's
supposed to be the village of Barter just ahead. Is it?"
"It is," Wingover nodded. Garon had come up to them,
and the man turned. "I kind of thought there'd be a gnome under this thing," he said. "And here he is. His
name's Bobbin." He waved a casual hand. "That's Garon
Wendesthalas. He's from Qualinost."
Bobbin nodded curtly, then turned to Wingover again.
"How much for the use of your animal?"
'The use of... for what?"
"To pull my soarwagon. What else?"
"This thing? You look like you're doing all right, pull
ing it yourself."
"I don't mean now, I mean later. Does your horse run
fast?"
"As fast as I need him to, when I need him to,"
Wingover replied cautiously.
"Good," the gnome said, and ducked under his con
trivance, then turned and peered up at the human again.
"I'll look you up when I need you. 111 supply the rope, so
don't worry about that."
Without further conversation, the small creature
hoisted the nose of his contraption and trudged on to
ward Barter, towing the thing as he went, only his feet
visible beneath it.
"Did you find out what that thing is?" the elf asked.
"He didn't say, just called it his soarwagon. But it
doesn't matter. Whatever it's supposed to do, it probably won't. I've seen gnomish things before."
"Odd," the elf said softly. "I think that's the first time
I've ever seen just one gnome. Usually, where there is one
there are dozens."
"I gather he's an outcast," Wingover said. "He was part
of a colony, but they kicked him out. He isn't too happy
about it."
"That explains it, then. But I wonder why." They re
sumed their pace toward Barter, but the elf remained
thoughtful. "Did you notice the wheels on that thing?"
"Yes. Very nicely made. That's a novel idea for wheels,
to use wire spokes. Light and practical." Wingover hesi
tated, then turned. "I see what you mean. Usually if
gnomes set out to put wheels under something that
weighs ten pounds, they'll wind up using fifteen or
twenty wheels and each wheel might weigh a ton...
then there'll be traction devices, and who knows how
many clutch and brake assemblies, and whistles and
bells and adjustable levers to adjust the adjustments, and
the whole thing won't move an inch under any circum
stances."
"Or it might throw itself off a mountain, or dig itself
into the ground," the elf added. "Whatever that thing is,
it doesn't look like any gnomish thing I've seen."
Barter was busy. First snow shone on the high peaks of the Kharolis Mountains, late harvests were being com
pleted in the valleys, and people everywhere were pre
paring for winter. The trading taking place now would
be the last until spring for most who came, and the vil
lage was bustling with activity. Dwarves, elves, gnomes,
kender, and humans walked the ways and gathered at
stalls and pavilions. Bards, acrobats, jugglers, and elixir
hawkers plied their trades. Warriors, farmers, crafts
men, and clerics rubbed shoulders with wizards and
rangers, and the usual volatile peace of Barter held sway.
At any streetcorner, at any moment, there might be a
dozen separate swindlings, thieveries, fair deals and foul
going on simultaneously, but weapons were kept
sheathed and no blood flowed.
"I see the Inn of the Flying Pigs is still in business,"
Wingover noted. "I'll be there when I've done my busi
ness."
"I'll be around." The elf nodded and started on his way.
"Give my regards to Goldbuckle."
Some travelers were staring in fascination at the three
pigs above the inn. On Rapping wings, they saiied about
in lazy circles and figure-eights, as cheerfully content
with their lot as any pig with wings might be.
Wingover grinned at a gaping newcomer. "The innkeeper did a favor for a wizard once. No one knows
what it was, or who the spellcaster was, but the wizard
repaid him by making that unique sign to advertise his
place. The pigs fly around up there every afternoon for a
few hours, and it's good for his business. Just be a bit
careful when you walk beneath them."
Wingover left his horse with a liveryman and made his
way to the pavilion of the mountain dwarf trader, Rogar
Goldbuckle.
The pavilion, with its red and yellow awnings, was
one of the largest in Barter, for Goldbuckle and his party
did most of the outside trading commissioned by the
Daewar merchants in Thorbardin. The pavilion was a
large rectangle, with tended stalls on three sides. There,
dwarves wearing Goldbuckle's colors offered the finest
of Thorbardin commodities - gemstones of many kinds,
pyrites and hewn stone, minerals in powder or granule
form, prized funguses famed for their taste, burning
stone to fuel hearths in winter, huge varieties of hand
carved trinkets and decorations, and - of course - some
of the finest arms and armor available anywhere in
Ansalon.
Within the pavilion's fourth side were the counting ta
bles, and there Wingover found Rogar Goldbuckle. The trader raised a bushy eyebrow at sight of the human and
said, "Well, it looks to me as though you are still alive.
Did you give up the idea of going to Pax Tharkas by way
of the wilderness?"
"Give up, nothing," Wingover chuckled. "I've been
there and back, and I'm ready to collect on our wager.
But first, it will cost you a mug of ale to hear about it,
Rogar Goldbuckle. And none of your trade swill, either.
Bring out your own supply."
"Trade swill indeed!" the dwarf snapped. "I handle
nothing but the finest, and each barrel better than the
rest."
Despite this claim, though, Rogar Goldbuckle brought
out his own stock and led the man to a quiet corner
where there was a table and benches. He poured golden
ale into a pair of fine silver goblets, and for a time they
sat together in silence, enjoying the potent beverage.
Only when Wingover had drained his goblet and licked
his whiskers in appreciation did the dwarf get down to
business. 'You promised proof," Goldbuckle said. "What
kind of proof do you offer?"
With a wink, Wingover slid his pack from beneath his
bench, hoisted it, and set it on the plank table between
them. "Check the seal," he said. "It's from your own con
signee in Pax Tharkas. And it's unbroken." The dwarf inspected pack and seal, grumbling as he
went over it. "It was a stupid wager anyway, and had I
been sober at the time you'd not have duped me into it.
How much was it, again?"
'You know very well how much it was," Wingover
said. "Now pay up. And what do you mean, 'duped?' It
was your idea, as I recall."
"I was just trying to do you a good turn," Goldbuckle
snapped. 'You had nothing constructive to do, so I
thought I'd give you an opportunity for a pleasant out
ing."
"Pleasant outing? When was the last time you tried to
cross that wilderness, you old charlatan? I made it there
and back, but it's not something I'll do again for a while.
What with thieves and waylayers at every turn, and
cave-ogres... and cats."
"Cats?"
"Cats. Oh, yes. And goblins. Why are there goblins
this far south, Rogar? Have you heard anything?"
"You actually saw goblins?" the dwarf's eyes nar
rowed. "There have been some rumors, of course,
but -"
"Not only saw them, but fought them. Garon Wendes
thalas and I. He was on his way down from Qualinost, and a band of armed goblins set a trap for him. I hap
pened along and spoiled the party. Half a day from here,
or not much farther. Where the trail comes down from
Grieving Ridge."
"But -" Goldbuckle's eyes widened. "But that isn't
even the wilderness. That's well within Thorbardin's
realm."
"That's what I thought. Garon and I think they were a
scouting party, but that's about all we could learn. The
one that we kept alive - or tried to - had a spell on him.
It killed him before he could tell us anything, except a
name. Darkmoor. Do you know about anyone by that
name? Or anyone called Commander?"
The dwarf shook his head.
Wingover shrugged. "Maybe we'll never know what
it's all about. What are these rumors you mentioned?"
"Oh, just odds and ends. Someone said that goblins
were seen in upper Dergoth recently, and several people
have mentioned seeing more ogres than usual. They said
the ogres seemed to be laughing sometimes, as though at
a great joke."
"What's a joke to an ogre could be bad news for any
one else," the man noted. "What else?"
"Well... they say that some of the plains tribes in the northern lands have begun migrations southward, with
tales of strange happenings in the Khalkists."
"What sort of happenings?"
"Oh, people disappearing and that sort of thing."
"People disappear all the time."
"But not usually whole villages ... even whole
tribes."
"Not usually, no."
"Tarnish," the dwarf rumbled. "It's an uncertain world
we live in, Wingover, and troubling times. I've heard a
dozen predictions, just since I arrived here, that Ansalon
will be overrun by war within two years. Some say less
time than that. The seers have been studying omens and
comparing notes, along with some of the mages. But not
one has any idea who, or what, may be involved in the
war if the time should come. Ah, me. What's a poor
trader to make of it all?"
Wingover grinned at the dwarf. "Every profit the mar
ket will bear, as usual. Speaking of which, I'm ready to
collect on our bet, in case you've forgotten." He held out
his hand, palm up.
"Corrosion!" Goldbuckle snapped. 'That's a lot of
money. Do you think all I have to do is snap my fingers
old
Wingover nodded. 'You old skinflint, that's no more than petty coin to you, and you know it. So hand it over,
and I'll stand the first round at the Flying Pigs. Garon
will meet us there, and we can compare goblin stories
and sinister rumors."
Still the dwarf hesitated, and Wingover crossed his
arms on the table. "If you're thinking about trying for
double or nothing, forget it," the human said. "Of
course, now, if you'd like to just keep your coins and
cancel my debt of service instead...."
"I can't do that," the dwarf muttered. "Oh, very well!"
Without looking around he raised a sturdy arm and
snapped his fingers. Within seconds a counting clerk was
at his side. The trader whispered to the young dwarf, and
the clerk scurried away to return moments later with a
fair-sized leather purse. The bag made a resounding, sat
isfying whack when Goldbuckle slapped it down on the
table.
"Ill-gotten gains if ever I saw such," the dwarf rum
bled. "But I've never been one not to pay a just debt."
"I never doubted it for a minute," Wingover assured
him. "By the way, what's in the pack I brought you?"
"Money," Goldbuckle said, blandly.
"Money?"
"A year's accumulated proceeds from my ventures at Pax Tharkas. You'd be amazed at how difficult it is to
make shipments of coin these days, Wingover."
The human's mouth hung open in disbelief. 'You
you had me set out through the wilderness with your
year's fortune in a pack? Do you know how much I'd
have charged you to take that responsibility? Even if I
took it all?"
"Of course I know," the old dwarf said blandly. "It re
ally was far cheaper to make a bet of it."
'You scoundrel! You... you..."
"Try, 'bedamned old thieving dwarf,' " the dwarf sug
gested. "Some good human swearing might make you
feel better."
Wingover sputtered, steamed, and finally subsided.
There was no way around it. He had been fairly and
thoroughly swindled, and had gone along with it whole
heartedly.
Finally he sighed, retrieved his gambling winnings,
and thrust them away in his tunic. "Well, at least it's
over," he said. "I've had enough of that wilderness to last
me for a time."
"About that," Goldbuckle said.
"What about it?"
"Well if you recall, I said I couldn't release you from
your debt of service. The reason is, I have assigned your debt to a... ah, friend of mine."
"Assigned? To whom?"
"Her." Goldbuckle nodded, looking past the man.
Wingover turned, and his mouth fell open. A yard
away, standing patiently, was as stunning a young dwar
ven girl as he had ever seen. Not much more than four
feet tall, she had the wide, strong face of her kind, with
large, wide-set eyes and a smallish, full-lipped mouth
nicely set between a button nose and a stubborn little
chin. And she wore a broadsword strapped to her back.
"This is Jilian," Goldbuckle said. "Jilian Firestoke.
Don't bother trying to talk her out of what she has in
mind. It can't be done."
Chapter 11
"May the moons fall on me if ever do business
with a dwarf again!" Wingover bellowed as he strode
along Barter's main pathway, causing heads to turn in cu
riosity. Many paused to stare after the tall, angry man
who wore the boots and leathers of a ranger or barbar
ian, but whose sheathed sword and flinthide shield sug
gested a warrior... and at the striking young dwarven
girl - hardly more than half his stature - who tagged after him, scampering to keep pace with his long strides.
The sight, to most, was another entertainment in a vil
lage that offered many entertainments.
"How you feel about it doesn't matter," the dwarven
girl shouted at the man's stiff back. 'You must take me to
find Chane. Rogar Goldbuckle said you would."
"It's a fool's errand," Wingover snapped. "First he
cheats me out of an honest fee, then he sends me on a
fool's errand. May the curl-winds carry me away if ever I
do business with a -"
"It shouldn't be a difficult trip," the girl puffed, wishing
he would slow down. "At least, I don't imagine it is. I
have a map, you know... of where Chane was last
seen."
Wingover stopped abruptly and swung around, tow
ering over her. 'You're crazy," he snorted. "One lone
dwarf - and a girl one at that - out in that wilderness'!
You wouldn't live an hour. Don't you know what's out
there?"
"Not really. I've never been out of Thorbardin before.
But how bad could it be? People do go there sometimes,
don't they? Oh, look!"
"What?" He glanced around.
"There's a gnome! That is a gnome, isn't it? I've never seen a gnome before. They're very small, aren't they?"
"So it's a gnome," Wingover snapped. "The world is
full of gnomes. Just like the world is full of elves, and this
part of it is mostly full of dwarves... what do you
mean, small? That gnome is nearly as tall as you are." He
set off again, heading for the Inn of the Hying Pigs. "I'll
tell you a few other things the world is full of, that aren't
nearly so pleasant. Goblins, for one. And things worse
than goblins, too. There are hobgoblins and trolls -"
"I have a sword," the girl pointed out, calmly.
"And ogres," he continued. "Thankfully not as many
of those, but there are some. What you should do is go
back home and -"
"Oh, look!" she said, interrupting, and pointed. "Look
over there!"
Nearby, a dark bird had flapped from the sky, de
scending to light on the shoulder of a wizard. Now it was
talking to him, its beak just at his ear but its voice clearly
audible to those around... though it spoke a language
few among them understood.
The wizard listened intently, then raised his staff and
muttered something. Atop the staff a milky globe
seemed to swirl with bright color, and a loud hum came
from it. It sounded like bees. Abruptly there were other wizards hurrying toward him, pushing and bustling
through the crowd. As some of them reached him he
said, 'The omen is confirmed. It was seen from the
Tower of the Orders. Nuitari crossed the orbits of So
linari and Lunitari. Both were edipsed, each in its turn."
The ensuing babble of excited discussion wasn't lim
ited to the robed sorcerers, but spread rapidly through
the crowd.
"What does that mean?" Jilian asked Wingover. "Are
they talking about the moons? What did they do?"
"They eclipsed," the man said. He strode on toward the
Inn of the Flying Pigs... three long strides, then he
tripped and sprawled full out on the ground. All around
there were cheers and laughter. Wingover raised himself,
shaking his head. Jilian stood over him, her sword in
both hands. He stared up at her. "Did you trip me?"
"I certainly did," she said, returning the sword to its
sling.
He got to his knees and dusted himself off, glaring at
her. With him on his knees, they were nearly face to face.
"Why?"
The triumphant slight smile on Jilian's wide, pretty
face was enough to bring choking sighs from a number of
young male dwarves nearby. "Because you have been be
having rudely," she said. "And because if we are to have any sort of discussion, you shall have to slow down."
"There's nothing to discuss," he snapped. "I told
you -"
"Well, you really have no choice, anyway. And the
sooner you realize that, the happier we both will be."
Wingover muttered horrific curses in several lan
guages, and got to his feet. "If you aren't the most obtuse
button I ever -"
"Jilian," she said, coolly.
"What?"
"My name is Jilian. Not Button. But you don't need to
apologize. You can call me anything you like, as long as
you help me find Chane Feldstone like you promised."
"I didn't promise any such thing!"
"Thereyouare!" a voice behind Wingover said. The
human turned as the gnome trotted forward, waving at
him. "Thermodynamics, Iheardyoubellowingfrom
clearacrossthesquare. Ijustwantedtotellyou, I'llbeready
withinthehour."
Wingover stared down at the little creature, blankly.
"It'sme," the gnome said. After noting the confused
look on Wingover's face, he took a deep breath and
spoke more slowly. "Bobbin. Oh, I know. Humans al
ways say if you've seen one gnome you've seen them all. Somehow I thought you might be above that sort of
thing. But it doesn't matter. A deal's a deal, right All
right. There is an open meadow just off there, beyond
those huts. Meet me there. And bring your horse, of
course. Don't worry about rope. I have some." With
that, the gnome turned and hurried away in the direction
he had pointed.
Wingover stared after him, feeling dazed.
"What was that all about " Jilian asked.
"I haven't the vaguest idea."
Somewhat disoriented and thoroughly cranky,
Wingover once more headed for the flying pigs, which
were just ahead now, gliding in happy circles above the
inn. The man walked more slowly, though, and cast cau
tious glances at the dwarven girl and her sword.
The place was busy, as usual. During trade seasons,
Barter was always busy. A few tables back, though,
Garon Wendesthalas sat alone. The elf stood as they en
tered, and beckoned to Wingover. As they approached
he said, "Well, did Goldbuckle pay you off without a
quarrel?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Wingover snapped.
"Did you learn anything about the goblins?"
"Not much. Just a lot of rumors about all sorts of
strange things. How about you?" "About the same. But I have a problem. I'm heading
north again tomorrow. Goldbuckle called in his debt."
"More trading packs?" the elf asked.
"Escort service." He turned a surly thumb toward Ji
lian, who stood just behind his hip. "This is Jilian Fire
stoke," Wingover said sourly. "I'm to take her out to find
a missing dwarf. Jilian, this is Garon Wendesthalas."
"Oh, my." Jilian looked up at the tall, melancholy be
ing. 'You're an elf, aren't you? I'm pleased to meet you."
They sat down to mugs of cool ale, and the human and
the elf compared what they had heard. Neither had any
thing definite to report, only various versions of the
same stories. Something very ominous was happening
somewhere far to the north, but nobody had any very
clear idea of what it was.
Jilian listened for a time, then said, "That sounds a lit
tle like Chanc's dream. It told him that bad times are
coming, and that it's his destiny to protect Thorbardin.
That's why he's out looking for a helmet."
Garon looked at her, then at Wingover.
The human spread his hands and shook his head.
"That's why I'm going back north," he grumped. "Be
cause some dwarf had a dream about a helmet."
"Oh, not just one dream," Jilian corrected. "He's had the same dream for years. It's only lately that it told him
what he is supposed to do. It's his destiny."
"Then why do you want to interfere?" the elf asked.
"Oh, I don't want to interfere, just... well, he proba
bly needs help. The guards who went with him came
back, and I learned they had robbed him and left him
alone in the wilderness. But we'll find him, and he'll be
all right. Rogar Goldbuckle says Wingover is a very re
sourceful person... even if he is human."
"Resourceful. Hmph!" Wingover snorted dismally.
"I'm resourceful, all right. A resource that old villain has
mined to its limit."
Someone jostled against Wingover, then tugged at his
sleeve. He turned, to find the gnome there, looking
peeved.
"I thought you had gone to get your horse," the small
one griped in slow clipped words. "My soarwagon is
ready and waiting, and we'll lose our light soon. Come
along, now. We have to hurry."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Wingover
began.
"What are you supposed to be doing?" Jilian asked.
Wingover shrugged. "I don't know. Nobody has told
me." 'You're supposed to be pulling my soarwagon with
your horse," the gnome explained. "What could be sim
pler than that? Come along, now. There isn't much
time."
"I'll come and watch," the elf said. "Where did you
leave your horse?"
Without much choice in the matter, Wingover was
hustled from the Inn of the Flying Pigs to the stables
where his horse waited, then across town to a clear
meadow, where a marvelous thing sat glowing in late
sunlight.
When first they had seen the gnome's contraption, it
had vaguely resembled a flat parasol, folded. It was no
longer folded, now, and no longer resembled a parasol.
More than anything else, it looked like a huge, spread
winged seagull sitting on spindly wheels in the meadow.
Great, delicate wings of white fabric extended thirty feet
on each side of the basketlike contrivance in its center,
and its pointed nose had become a square framework of
dainty metal rods. Fabric covered four sides of the bas
ket's six, with the front and rear remaining open.
The gnome scampered on ahead of them and was
busily tying one end of a long, thin rope to the thing's
nose when the dwarf, human, and elf arrived. All
around the meadow, but holding their distance, people of several races waited, curious to see what might
happen next.
"Polish and shine!" Jilian chattered as she walked
around the contrivance. "Isn't this pretty? What is it?"
"It's my soarwagon," the gnome said. "Please stand
back. You, bring your horse around here in front, and get
mounted. I'm almost ready."
What is it supposed to do?- Jilian asked.
"It's supposed to fly," the gnome snapped, momentar
ily losing his composure. He sighed and took a deep
breath. "That's why I brought it here. To let people see it
fly, so I can sell it and make some more of them. I intend
to go into the soarwagon business."
"Well, we know what it won't do," Wingover told the
elf. "Fly." He did, though, lead his horse to the front of
the contrivance, and stepped into the saddle. "Don't
worry about it, horse," Wingover muttered. "That thing
will fall apart in about ten steps, then we can get on with
what we came for." The gnome scampered to him,
looped his rope, and raised it. "Here, attach this some
place, but just as a slip. Give me the other end. I'll release
it when I want loose from you."
Obediently, with an ironic grin, Wingover slipped the
rope through his pommel-clasp and pulled it until the free end came clear, then handed that end back. "Just out
of curiosity," he asked the gnome, "why did your colony
drive you away?"
The gnome glanced up. "Because I'm insane, is why.
Insanity can't be tolerated, you know." Bobbin hurried
back to his machine, carrying the loose end of the rope,
and climbed into the basket between its wings.
"Insane," Wingover told himself. "I should have
known."
"Well," the gnome shouted at him, "let's go. Just go as
fast as you can, and as soon as I'm airborne I'll unhitch us
and take it from there. That's all I need you for."
"Insane," Wingover breathed. 'Ye gods." He looked
back at the gnome in the fabric-and-metal gull.
"Go!" Bobbin shouted. "Go!"
With an oath, Wingover snapped the reins and dug
heels into the horse. The animal surged, took up the
slack, and stretched out to a belly-down run. Behind
him, Wingover heard a shout, but he didn't look back.
The rope sang in his open pommel, and he heard its end
snap free. He listened for the sounds of wreckage astern,
then ducked as something huge and white whispered
past him, just overhead. With another oath, he veered
the horse aside, hauled on his reins, and watched in as
tonishment as Bobbin's soarcraft gathered speed. It receded with distance, then raised its nose and rose into the
sky. All around the meadow were cheers, applause, and
shouts of surprise.
The soarwagon climbed higher and higher, flashing
bright in the slanting sunlight. At some distance it dipped
a wing, circled gracefully to the left, came about, and cir
cled above the village, high and tiny in the sun. It looped
and soared, dived and turned, as gracefully as a giant ea
gle riding the air currents of a mountain range.
With his mouth hanging open in disbelief, Wingover
walked his horse back to where the others waited, and
dismounted. Jilian Firestoke was jumping up and down,
clapping with glee as she watched the beautiful machine
perform high overhead. Garon Wendesthalas stood in
brooding thought.
"I can't believe it," Wingover said, shaking his head.
"That thing actually works! It flies!"
"I'm not that surprised," the elf said. "I heard what
Bobbin told you, about being insane."
'What does that have to do with it?"
"It's the whole point. He really is insane. An insane
gnome. What he invents works."
"But they drove him out."
"Well, of course they did. They had to. Can you imagine what might happen if some great, monstrous gnomish
engine were to have one part in it that works perfectly,
among all those other parts that don't? A thing like that
could be devastating. It could wipe out a colony."
Wingover thought about it, staring at the Hying ma
chine in the sky. "I see what you mean," he said at last.
For a time the soarwagon cavorted over Barter, then it
began to descend and headed back toward the meadow.
It slowed, came to within ten feet of the ground, then
suddenly shot upward again, climbing away, regaining
speed.
Again it approached, and again, and each time it
whisked away aloft. On the fourth pass, as it crept by di
rectly overhead, seeming almost to hang in the evening
air, Wingover cupped his hands and shouted, 'You've
proved your point, Bobbin! You can come down now!"
"Ican't!" the gnome's exasperated voice came back,
growing fainter as the soarwagon once again gained
speed and began to climb. "Itgoesupallright,butI
can'tgetittogodown!"
"He may be insane," Wingover told the elf, "but he's
still a gnome."
In evening dusk, after giving up on ever seeing the
gnome land, the three went back into the village. Jilian had lodgings at Rogar Goldbuckle's camp, and
Wingover would sleep in the stable loft.
"You're leaving in the morning?" Garon asked.
"Apparently so," the human said. "On a blamed fool's
errand."
"111 go part way with you," the elf offered. "There's
nothing more to learn here, and I've sold my goods."
"Glad to have you along," Wingover told him. "Any
special reason?"
"There might be more goblins," the elf said darkly.
Chapter 12
Jilian Firestoke's map - obtained under duress
from a ruffian in a Thorbardin tunnel - was not so much
a map as a sketch of landmarks with a wavy line mean
dering among them. When she finally persuaded
Wingover to look at it, on their second day of travel
northeastward from Barter, he squinted at it, turned it
this way and that, then scratched his head.
"Is this all you have to go on?" He turned it again. "You
can't find anybody with this. It has no coordinates.
Nothing to trace from... what is it supposed to be a
map of?"
They had stopped to rest on a small meadow that was little more than a wide shelf on the side of a mountain,
but a place where Wingover's horse could graze and the
travelers could drink from a tiny spring that flowed from
porous stone to trickle down the rocky slope where it fed
a shallow pool. As usual when they halted, the man and
the elf spread along the trail, Wingover going ahead to
where he could see for a distance, Garon falling back to
keep an eye on the trail behind them. It was an unspoken
agreement, simply a thing that two travelers, wise in the
ways of wilderness country, would do.
Wingover squatted on his heels and spread Jilian's map
on the ground. "It doesn't even have an orientation," he
said. 'Which way is which?"
She stood behind him, to see over his shoulder. 'You
can tell that from where the X's are." She pointed. "One
of them is the Southgate of Thorbardin, and the other is
where those ruffians last saw Chane Feldstone."
'That doesn't tell me anything," Wingover sighed.
"Even if we knew which X was which - and we don't
all that would tell us is that this edge of the map - or this
opposite one - should face north. But how far apart are
the X's?"
"About six inches," Jilian shrugged. "We can measure it
if you -" "I don't mean that. I mean how far is this supposed to
represent in real distance?"
"The distance from Southgate to the northern wilder
ness," she explained, wondering again at the man's inabil
ity to remember simple things. "However far that is."
He sighed again, shaking his head. 'That might be
twenty miles, or it might be fifty. Gods, girl, there isn't a
boundary, you know. There isn't some kind of line
drawn across the mountains with signs that say, 'This is
Thorbardin's realm and that side is wilderness.' The wil
derness is anywhere beyond where the latest patrol pe
rimeter happens to be, and that changes all the time.
Didn't the person who drew this give you any idea of
what to look for... or where?"
"He wasn't very happy with me," she admitted. "He
had a bump on his head and was shackled to a wagon
track at the time. All he said was, 'This is Southgate and
that's where he got away from us. We supposed the cats
would get him.' "
"Cats?" Wingover looked up sharply. "What kind of
cats?"
"I don't know. He just said cats. Oh, and he said a bird
told them to go away, so they went. Does that help7"
"Cats." Wingover opened his pouch and withdrew his own maps, found the one he wanted and studied it.
'There is a valley, north of here, that seems to go almost
due north and south." He paused and considered the
map. "I wandered into it, but I didn't get a chance to ex
plore it. There were cats there. Big, black cats half as
high as my horse. If your young dwarf has gone there, I
don't expect you'll find him." The human laid the maps
side by side, looked at them together, then turned Jilian's
map around. "That could be it, I suppose. I saw the val
ley at the other end, but it would have come out
about -" He pointed at his own map "- about here."
"Then that's where we must go," Jilian said. "Is it very
far?"
"Not far," the man said. "A day from here, maybe. But
that isn't where we're going."
"Why not?"
"Because of the cats. Look, Button, I said I'd help you
find that X. But if your dwarf went there, we might as
well just turn back."
"But if that's where Chane went, then that's where we
must go. You promised, you know."
"How many times do I have to tell you, I promised no
such thing?" He stood and put his map away, handing Ji
lian's back to her. "You know, your father probably has
people out looking for you by now... or does he even know you're gone?"
"He knows I've gone to look for Chane," Jilian
snapped. "I told him I was going to."
"And he didn't stop you? Somehow I can't imagine
that, unless -" He looked down at the wide, pretty face,
a suspicion dawning. "Where does he think you are look
ing?"
Jilian looked at her feet. "All over Thorbardin, I sup
pose. I didn't tell him I had talked to his ruffian."
"Ye gods," Wingover breathed. "And Rogar Gold
buckle?"
"Well... I told him that I had told my father I was go
ing to look for Chane Feldstone, and that my father said,
'Go right ahead. Look all you want to.' I suppose he
might have taken that to mean that it was all right for me
go to outside. But what difference does that make? Now
that we know where Chane is, all we have to do is go and
find him. That valley might be where Chane is, but how
will you know for sure if we don't have a good look at
it?"
Wingover sighed. "Because of those cats. No one in his
right mind would -"
"Oh, rust! Will you stop harping about cats? If that's where Chane went, then I'm sure he has attended to any
cats that might be there, so you don't need to worry."
Wingover gritted his teeth. "Talking to you is like talk
ing to a wall! Can't you understand, Button? If one of
those cats found your dwarf..."
Jilian turned away, then paused. "I see people," she
whispered, gesturing toward the edge of the clearing
where the mountain fell away. Excitement glowed in her
eyes. She pointed again, and Wingover sprinted toward
the ledge and dropped flat just short of it, to crawl for
ward to where he could see beyond. Jilian was right be
hind him, and he saw at a glance that Garon had spotted
the activity and shifted his position to where he could see
up and down the trail.
At first, there was nothing in sight below, only steep
mountainside dropping away toward the hazy depths of
a canyon between slopes. Then he saw movement, and
focused on it.
Far below, tiny with distance, a line of creatures
moved along a faint trail, going southward. Sunlight
flashed on armor, and Wingover's breath became a hiss.
Goblins. A small party of them, with a taller figure
leading them - a figure wearing dark, glistening armor
and what seemed to be a horned helmet. Human? Elf?
He couldn't tell. Reaching for his pouch, Wingover brushed an elbow against a stone, which in turn rolled
over, balanced for a moment on the shelf's edge, then
fell, bouncing down the slope. The human muttered a
curse, then found his spyglass and brought it to his eye.
Dwarven-made, it was a brass tube with lenses and a
quartz prism - not as precise or as delicate as some el
ven glasses he had seen, but well-crafted and adequate
for his purposes.
Adjusting its focus-ring, he sighted on the company
below and frowned, trying to count them. Not all of the
goblins were in sight at one time since parts of the faint
trail were hidden by ridges and features in the mountain
side. But there were a dozen or so. And these were better
armed and more heavily armored than the ones
Wingover and Garon had encountered north of Barter.
They moved with a discipline and precision he would not
have expected of goblins.
Easing his glass along the line of goblins, Wingover
studied the taller figure in front. Dark armor, richly
made: lacquered steel breastplate; epaulettes embla
zoned in gold; oiled, fine chain; shin-and armguards of
polished bronze; a plain black oval shield; embellished
sword hilt exposed from bejeweled sheath. The figure
carried a light footman's lance or javelin, as well; Wingover could not tell which.
The helmet was multiply horned, and bore a strange
and unique mask that was fashioned to resemble an ani
mal's face, but like no animal Wingover had ever seen.
As he looked, the figure halted, raised a hand to halt
the goblins following, and turned. The hideous mask
turned to watch a pebble bound across the path, then
looked up - directly at Wingover.
With a shock, he realized that the being below saw him
clearly, that the shadowed eyes behind the grotesque
horned-lizard mask were staring at him intently, as
though his spyglass worked both ways. Wingover low
ered the glass and edged back, away from the ledge,
making the girl retreat with him.
"What is it?" Jilian whispered. "Who are those
people?"
Garon came and knelt beside him, leaning out just
once for a glance down at the lower path. "Goblins?"
Wingover nodded. "And someone else leading them.
Someone taller. We had better be on our way."
The elf glanced down again. "Out of sight now," he
said. "Did they see us?"
"The leader did. But it would take a day to get from
there to here. That leader... I've never seen a face-plate designed like that."
"Describe it," the elf said.
Wingover described it, and the elf listened in thought
ful silence, then nodded. "A dragonmask," he said. "The
mask, the helm... the face of a dragon."
"There are no dragons," Wingover said. 'That's just
old legend."
"There were dragons on Krynn," Garon corrected.
"Not legends. They were real. And somewhere, I sup
pose, they still are real."
"Well, that was no dragon down there." The man
headed for his horse, gathering pack and saddle as he
went. "But whoever it was knows we're up here, and
those were real goblins. So it's time to move out."
They made camp that night on a mountainside miles
away, north and a little east of where they had rested.
Wingover made good use of his maps and his skills to put
distance behind them, and they were exhausted when fi
nally he called a stop. But it was a good place to rest - a
sheltered cove between broken ridges, where a small
cookfire would not be seen, but where a guard on the
ridgetop above could see for miles in any direction.
Wingover and the elf took turns standing guard.
Wingover was not ready yet to trust Jilian Firestoke with
such a responsibility. Morning's sun found the travelers awake, packed, and
on their way, threading a narrow ledge-trail. When they
stood atop the next pass, Wingover halted them and
pointed. 'There's your second X, Button. Off there
where the peaks still shadow the land between. Just
about where those mists begin. That's where Chane Feld
stone was seen last, if your armsman was right. A mile or
two beyond should be where that valley begins... the
one with the cats."
"Good," the dwarf said happily. "We can be there in
time for lunch."
Wingover started to argue, then stopped. Jilian was
standing, hands on hips, gazing up at him with deter
mined bright eyes that held not a hint of compromise.
He sighed. "Oh, all right. We'll go to where the valley
begins. You can take a look from there, then we'll circle
and search the ridges. But if we see so much as a cat
whisker along the way, we turn back."
"I've never met anyone so obsessed with cats," Jilian
scoffed. "I think they're sort of cute."
"You haven't seen these cats," Wingover snapped. He
took up the horse's reins and led off. When they had cov
ered a mile, the trail pitched steeply downward, dividing
just ahead into two faint trails. One ran straight ahead, the other branched off to the right. Wingover glanced at
his map.
"That goes to the Vale of Repsite," he said, pointing to
the right-hand path. "Two or three days' travel from
here. If I were your dwarf, that's where I would be."
Probably resting his sore feet in some village over there,
the human thought, but did not say it. Probably cozying
up to some hill dwarf's daughters... if he's still alive.
Garon Wendesthalas stood in thought, looking at the
forked trail, then back the way they had come. "I think
I'll leave you here, Wingover," he said finally.
"Why?"
"Oh, just to sit and watch the traffic. Maybe we'll meet
farther along, somewhere."
Wingover scratched his bearded chin. "It's those gob
lins, isn't it?"
"They might be coming along here." Garon shrugged,
then a cold smile spread across his elven face. "I still have
plenty of arrows, and nothing better to do."
"That's why you came, isn't it?" the man said, perhaps
a bit sadly. "You said there might be more goblins."
"Have a nice outing, Wingover." The elf turned away.
"Maybe we'll meet again." In the somber elven eyes, just
as they turned from him, Wingover saw something cold and determined. Something deadly. This elf had a pure
hatred for goblins.
"I hope we do meet again," he said.
Another mile down the trail, Wingover turned to look
back. There was no sign of the elf... but then, there
wouldn't be. No one was likely to know he was there un
til he was ready to show himself.
Distant movement caught Wingover's eye then, and
he peered westward. The man shaded his eyes. Far in the
distance, something was moving.
As Wingover's eyes adjusted to the distance the object
grew from a small speck of white to a bigger speck of
white. It was coming rapidly in their direction.
Wingover stared, then saw a shadow below the thing
and realized that it wasn't on the ground. It was in the
air, flying.
It took shape, and its shape was that of a spread
winged gull, soaring aloft on air currents.
'Ye gods," Wingover muttered. "It's that crazy gnome."
Within moments the soarwagon was abreast of
Wingover and Jilian, coming about in a wide, graceful
turn fifty feet above the trail and a few hundred yards
ahead. As it turned it settled and slowed, until it seemed
almost to hang in air, fifteen feet above the surface. In
that position it crept upslope toward them, rocking gently from side to side. When it was near, they could see the
white hair and irritable-looking face of the gnome sitting
in its basket.
He peered out at them and raised an arm to wave.
"Ho, there! It's me! Bobbin! Do you have anything to
eat?"
"We know who you are!" Wingover shouted. 'What
are you doing way out here?"
"I got caught in a crosswind!" the gnome responded. "I
don't know where I am, but I'm hungry! Do you have
food?"
"I can make you a nice sandwich!" Jilian called. "Do
you like cold roast elk?"
"Did you ever get that thing to land?" Wingover
shouted.
The gnome glared at him, fighting to control his rock
ing craft, now just fifty feet away and no more than
twenty feet above. "If I had come down, do you think I'd
still be up here? A roast elk sandwich would be just fine,
thank you. With raisins, preferably. And I could use
some cider, but water will do if that's all you have. I'll
drop a line, and you can send it up. Where are you go
ing?"
"We're going to see if Chane Feldstone is in that valley ahead," Jilian told him, pulling food from the travel
pack.
"We are not," Wingover snapped. "We're just going to
the rim of it. That's all."
"He thinks there are cats in there," Jilian explained to
the flying gnome. "He worries all the time about cats."
"Do they have wings, like the innkeeper's pigs?" the
gnome wondered.
Jilian giggled. "Of course not. They're just cats."
"Very big cats," Wingover added.
"Seems to me you need a scouting service," the gnome
said. "After I eat, I guess I could go fly over the valley
and look around for you, if you'll tell me what you're
looking for."
"Chane Feldstone," Jilian said. "He's a dwarf, about
this tall and very handsome -"
"Cats," Wingover said. "We're on the lookout for cats."
For a moment the gnome didn't answer. An air current
had caught his soarwagon, and he was struggling to hold
it in place. His controls seemed to consist mostly of
strings that ran from the basket to the fabric panels of the
thing's boxy nose, strings that controlled the angle and
pitch of the panels. The soarwagon rocked, bucked, and
settled into position again, twenty feet above them. Bob
bin peered down, his gnome-face ridged with irritation. "I don't mind looking around," he said. "It isn't as
though I had anything better to do right now."
Chapter 13
"I'll bet you never saw anything like this before,"
Chestal Thicketsway said happily, turning full circle to
scan the breadth of the ice field with its jumbled, vague
shapes, frozen in combat. "Just look at this! Didn't I tell
you? Bumps! Ice-bumps, everywhere you look. And in
side every bump are frozen dwarves... still fighting,
except they don't move any more."
Chane Feldstone didn't answer. With haunted eyes he
looked around, needing to see what was here but not
wanting to. To one raised in the sheltered delves of Thor
bardin, the Dwarfgate Wars were just old legend
stories of the defense of Thorbardin's gates in a time of
great crisis, tales of heroes who had manned the gates
and the pathways beyond, who had fought at King Dun
can's order so that Thorbardin could live.
These are some of them, Chane thought, approaching
a great, jumbled mound of ice rising from the ice field - a
chaotic feature, like a miniature mountain range twice
his height and fifty to a hundred feet across in any direction. Within the ice, dark shadows hinted at shapes. He
knelt in front of a sheer plane of ice and rubbed at it,
smoothing and clearing its face. Polished, the ice was
transparent.
The dwarf leaned close, peering within. Just inside,
only a few feet away, two dwarves were locked together
in combat, hammer against sword, shield to shield,
straining each against the other - violence captured just
as it had been the instant the ice had covered the combat
ants. Beyond these two were others, receding into vague
translucence. A dwarf on the ground held a shield above
him, desperately fending against a slicing blade frozen in
descent. Another, arms outspread, flailed motionless for
balance, frozen in the act of falling over the body of a
dwarf cleft from shoulder to midriff by some lucky blow.
Within the ice, the spilled blood remained crimson on the
black ash beneath.
These are some of those who went out to defend Thor
bardin's gates, the dwarf thought. And these are who
they fought. Which are which, though? Did even they
know? There might be a hundred or more locked in com
bat, just within this one mound of ice - dwarves who
came out from Thorbardin, and dwarves who fought to
go within. All dwarves, and all alike now in frozen
silence. No one ever returned to Thorbardin to tell of this bat
tle, he realized. No one ever went anywhere from here.
They are all still here. Encased in ice, with ashes under
foot.
Three spells did Fistandantilus cast. The words echoed
in Chane's mind. The first was fire, the second ice...
Fire and ice. Chane turned away from the ice window,
feeling very cold.
"Isn't this great?" The kender hurried past, chattering
his enthusiasm. "Dwarfcicles! Imagine! There's one over
there you should look at. That little tall lump... there
are four dwarves really going at it. One of them has an
axe and he's fighting the other three. Better hurry... but
then again, I suppose he'll last as long as the ice lasts,
won't he? Wow, this is like a museum of statues, with
frosty windows!"
The dwarf turned to glare at the kender, but Chess was
already heading off to look at more lumps.
Chane growled, and the growl became a sigh. I don't
want to be here, he told himself. I don't want to look at
this. And yet, he went on, from mound to mound in the
field of frozen death, peering here, kneeling there for a
better view within the ice, searching. And through it all
he felt the faint tingling of the little red spot on his forehead - the mark of the red moon - driving him on.
None who were on this field when those spells were
cast ever left here, Chane thought glumly. They're here
still. Yet, according to the old stories, Grallen did not die
in this place. The son of King Duncan died in this ancient
war, but not here. Somewhere else, sometime later. An
other battlefield, somewhere. The place where Fistan
dantilus cast his last and greatest spell, they said. Chane
tried to remember all he had heard of the old legends.
Where had that final battle been? He wasn't sure... ex
cept that it was somewhere other than here. East of here,
he seemed to recall. A place called Skullcap.
Grallen, warrior prince of the Hylar, who had learned
a secret in his final hours, had learned of a secret way
into Thorbardin, too late to find and defend it.
Had Grallen been here, then?
The red spot on Chane's forehead tingled. Yes, he felt,
Grallen had been here... and gone on. But to where?
Again in his mind he saw the image, of a face not un
like his own, the face that the dream - or the red moon
had shown him. Grallen, son of Duncan. Chane's own
ancestor. Could that be true?
Everywhere, ice. Ice whose convoluted shapes con
tained dwarves frozen in combat. In some of them, the
frozen shapes struggled amid dark swirls of smoke that were kept as still as they were. What kind of mage had he
been, this Fistandantilus? What kind of sorcery had
availed him, that he could have done this? Yet, the leg
ends said, what he had done later was far worse.
The kender skipped past again, as happy as a child
with a roomful of new toys. "See anybody you know?"
he asked Chane. "Wonder what they were fighting
about..." He hurried on, toward a new mound that he
hadn't yet explored. Then he paused, thoughtfully, and
turned back. "Have you thought about taking that ham
mer and breaking some of them out of the ice? I mean,
just to see if they'd go on fighting?"
Chane rounded on him, furious. "I wish you'd just
shut up! You might at least show a little respect."
"Then don't break them out." The kender shrugged. "It
was just a thought, anyway." He went on his way.
"That kender would rob a graveyard and not think
twice about it," the dwarf muttered. Still, the question
was intriguing. Were they really dead in there? Or were
they only suspended? He thought about it and decided he
didn't want to know.
Chane went on, searching this way and that, not sure
what he was looking for except that the tingle on his fore
head became more pronounced as he worked his way eastward. Something here, it suggested, would tell him
where Grallen had gone all those long years ago.
As he knelt beside another clustered mound - inside,
dwarves with pikes held their ground against dwarves
with swords and axes - the kender appeared again from
somewhere and stopped beside him. "Find anything
yet?" Chess asked.
"More of the same. I don't know what I'm supposed to
find. I almost wish that wizard had stayed around.
Maybe he would have had an idea."
"If he had, it seems like he'd have mentioned it."
"Did he say anything about where he was going!"
"Up on a mountain. Said he couldn't see down here.
He didn't say which mountain, though." The kender
shaded his eyes, gazing into the distance. "What do you
suppose that is?"
Chane looked up, saw where the kender was pointing,
and gazed in that direction. "I don't see anything."
"I don't either, now. But I thought I saw a big white
bird." Chess squinted, then cocked his head. "There it is
again. See? Way off there to the north. I wonder what
that is."
Chane saw it too, then - a white, winged shape gliding
over the forest, miles away. It looked vaguely like a giant seagull. "I don't know," he said. "But whatever it is, it's
not what I'm looking for." He stood, glanced around,
then headed east again, toward a very large mound of ice
some distance away from any others.
Chess watched the distant white thing for a few min
utes, then tired of that. He couldn't tell what it was, and
it didn't show any sign of coming close enough for a bet
ter look. He climbed one of the mounds - beneath his
feet, vague dwarf-shapes did perpetual, motionless
battle - and looked around. "Now what?" he wondered.
"Go west," something voiceless seemed to say.
"I wasn't talking to you, Zap," Chess scolded. "I was
talking to myself. Besides, the only reason you want me
to go west is to get far enough from that Spellbinder
thing the dwarf has so that you can happen. Right?"
"Right," something mournful agreed.
"I've been west, anyway," Chess added.
"Woe," Zap grieved.
"I wish that dwarf would find what he's looking for,"
the kender muttered. "I'm ready to go see something
new." He started down from the ice-mound, then ducked
as a huge shadow swept over him. Clinging to the ice, he
looked up. The white thing was no longer far away. It
was directly overhead now, spiraling downward,
slanted wings carrying it in great descending circles as it came lower and lower. Fifty feet up it leveled out, seemed
to stall, then crept toward him and hovered just over
head. A head appeared alongside one wing, and a voice
floated down. "Hey! Are you from around here?"
"Of course not!" Chess called back. "I'm just visiting.
What is that thing?"
"It's my soarwagon. It still needs a little design modifi
cation but I'm working on it. Right now, though, I'm
looking for cats. Have you seen any cats?"
"Not lately," the kender admitted. '"There were some
dandies around here when I first got here, but they've all
gone now. Are you going to come down?"
"I can't." The flier shook his head. "Ground effect, I
think. Do you have any foods"
"A little. Dried meat and flatbread. Why?"
"How about raisins? Do you have raisins?"
"I don't think so."
"Well, whatever you have will just have to do," the
flier called. A rope began to descend from the white
thing, with a small basket tied to its end. "How about
sending some up?"
Chess dug around in his pack. There were all sorts of
things in it, mostly just odds and ends he had picked up,
and in most cases he didn't recall where or why. The kender found dried meat and a few flatbreads he had picked
up in the Irda's hut. The basket descended on its rope,
and when he could reach it Chess deposited some of what
he had in it. The food was hauled upward.
"Why are you looking for cats?" Chess called.
"Some people wanted to know about them. Man
called Wingover. He's sure this valley is full of cats, so I
came to see. I haven't found any."
"They're the Irda's cats. She went away, and I guess
they went with her. You're a gnome, aren't you?"
"I am. Bobbin's the name."
"I'm Chestal Thicketsway. Do you know anything
about old gnomish engines? Like siege engines from ages
back? There are several of those off that direction, but I
couldn't tell much about them."
"Neither can I," Bobbin said. "I'm insane."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Not your fault. Another thing that Wingover and his
bunch asked about was a dwarf. Any dwarves around
here?"
"Hundreds," Chess waved his arms around him.
"Everywhere you look, but they're frozen under the ice.
Been there a long time."
"No, the one I'm looking for is more recent. Dwarf named, er, Chain something -" The gnome pointed.
'Who's that?"
Chane Feldstone had appeared from behind a distant
mound, and was hurrying toward the kender and the
soarwagon.
"He's a dwarf," Chess said. "He might be the one.
Name's Chane Feldstone. What do they want him for?"
"I don't know. Does he always dress like that? What is
that outfit? A bunny suit?"
"Catskin," the kender explained.
A vagrant wind whispered across the ice field and
made the white bird dip and bobble. The gnome did
something, and abruptly the flying thing shot high in
the sky, so high that it was only a winged dot overhead.
Slowly it seemed to steady, then started going in wide
circles.
Chane reached the mound where the kender stood.
"Who is that?" he demanded. "What is he doing up
there?"
"His name is Bobbin. He's a gnome."
"What is he doing?"
"Looking for cats."
"Up there?" Chane squinted upward, trying to follow
the circling path of the flying thing. "What is he riding?"
"Something unreliable, it seems to me," Chess said. "All he said was that some people sent him to look for
cats and he hasn't seen any. Oh, and somebody named
Wingover asked about you."
"Me?"
"Might be you. Do you know him?"
Chane scratched his beard. The name did sound famil
iar, as though he might have heard someone mention it
sometime. Then he remembered. "Wingover's a human.
Rogar Goldbuckle thinks he's crazy."
"No, it's the gnome who's crazy. He said so himself."
"Why would Wingover ask about me? I don't even
know him."
"Maybe you're becoming famous," the kender sug
gested. "Look, the gnome is coming down again. Every
time he goes in one of those circles he gets lower. Wow!
That looks like fun."
"Fun," something voiceless said.
Chane jumped and looked around, then clenched his
teeth. "I wish that spell would stop talking," he growled.
"It makes me nervous."
"Shut up, Zap," the kender said offhandedly. 'You just
want to get away from the Spellbinder."
"Need to," Zap whispered.
"Oh, he's going away," Chess sighed. "Your spell?"
"No, the flying gnome. See? He's heading south. Oh,
well. Easy come, easy go."
"It doesn't matter," Chane said. "I found something, fi
nally." He walked away, back in the direction he had just
come. The kender climbed off the mound and scampered
after him.
The large mound was east of all the rest, and well
apart from them. It was a grotesquely shaped mound of
ice more than a hundred feet long, stretching from north
to south in a shallow curve. Even from a distance, the
shadowy figures inside were visible as dark silhouettes
a line of armed dwarves in defense position, fighting to
hold off a force twice their strength.
"It looks like a rear-guard action," Chess decided.
"It does to me, too. But what I found is beyond it."
Chane led the way around one end of the long mound,
then part way back along its opposite side. He stopped
and pointed. "See?"
The kender looked, blinked and looked again, then
shrugged. "See what? The end of the ice field? The slope
beyond? That range of peaks?"
"The path," Chane said. "Look. It looks like a faint
green trail, heading east. Can't you see it?"
"I don't see anything like that. Are you sure you -" He stopped and stared at Chane. "Do you realize that the
red spot on your forehead turned green for a moment?"
Chane raised a tentative hand to touch his forehead.
His eyes widened, then he opened his belt pouch and
took out the Spellbinder. He took a deep breath. "Well,
the gem's still red. I thought for a minute maybe it had
turned green, too."
The crystal was still red, but something seemed to
pulse dimly, deep within the stone. With each pulse the
faint green trace of an ancient trail renewed itself to
Chane's eyes.
"It's showing me where Grallen went from here," the
dwarf said. "He went east."
"Where Pathfinder went," something voiceless
whined.
Chane jumped. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that.
What did it say?"
"It said, 'where Pathfinder went,' " Chess repeated.
"Zap, what are you talking about?"
Where nothing was, something sighed. "Spellbinder's
other," the unfired spell whispered.
Chapter 14 High on a Mountain slope, where biting winds
came down from the snows, Glenshadow the Wanderer
paused in his climbing to inspect the head of his sorcerer's
staff. No longer chalky, it was again a cold, flawless
stone of swirling transparencies.
The wizard pulled his collar tighter against the chill
and raised the staff a foot or so. He muttered a word, and
the stone burst into cold, bright light. He nodded,
doused it with a word, and looked around. Some dis
tance away, a large, serrated stone lay against a jagged
cliff, half-buried in wind-blown snow. He raised the
staff, pointed it at the stone, and uttered other words. A
tight beam of silver light shot from the gem and struck
the boulder, which exploded into shards, some of them
bounding away down the mountainside.
Satisfied, Glenshadow climbed again until he came to
a high place where patches of ice lay like white pools in
the weathered stone.
He gazed into a small ice-covered pool. "Master of the
tower," Glenshadow said in a voice as cold as winter's
winds, "Grallen's descendant has the Spellbinder, and
has begun his search for the helm. Is there word of the
outlaw?"
"The Black One lives," said the ice-image that formed on the frozen pool. "Though he was certainly put to
death long ago, there is no doubt now that he lives. His
magic is known. Other searchers have tasted it, just in re
cent days."
"Can you tell me where he is, then, or must I continue
to follow the dwarf?"
"He is somewhere to the east," the hooded image said.
"Nearer to you than you are to me, but though his magic
is sensed he goes hidden... shielded somehow from our
seekings. If you would find him, you must go with the
dwarf."
"Does the outlaw know yet of the dwarf and his
quest?"
"We think he knows that something is amiss." The ice
image told him. "The Black One is pledged to a quest
against the dwarven realm of Thorbardin. This much we
know, from those of our order in the Khalkist Moun
tains. Two died and a third was horribly burned just to
bring us the information. Tell me, does the dwarf know
his purpose?"
"To go where the Hylar Grallen went." Glenshadow
said and nodded. "To seek the helm of his ancestor,
which alone might save Thorbardin from infiltration by
its enemies. He has an artifact - an ancient god-stone,
the twin of the one his ancestor wore on his helm. One stone will lead him to the other, and thus to the helm."
"And should he find this helm... will he then know
where Thorbardin's weakness lies?"
"If his ancestor Grallen saw the secret gate, then the
stone in the helm may also show it to its next wearer.
Both are god-stones, as was suspected. Their magic is be
yond sorcery."
"Then the thread is not frail," the ice-pool said. "If the
dwarf poses a threat, the Black One will know it. He sees
more clearly now than when he was alive... before he
was put to death. Follow the dwarf, Wanderer, if you
would find the Black One; the Black One will surely seek
him. Follow the dwarf toward shattered Zhaman, if you
would seek again to destroy the outlaw mage." A pause,
and then the faint voice asked, "Did you see the omen,
the eclipse of the moons?"
"I saw it. What does it mean?"
'14one knows for sure," the voice said. "But all the
omens point to a great darkness from the north. Evil has
its pawns a'play, and moves across the gaming board.
Beware."
The pool darkened, cleared, and was simply a pool of
ice. Glenshadow shivered, drew his bison cloak more
tightly around his shoulders, and again touched the ice with his staff. This time the image that appeared was of
the valley from which he had come. Chane Feldstone and
the kender stood at the edge of a patterned ice-field and
looked eastward.
"Toward shattered Zhaman," the mage whispered. "He
follows Grallen's path, toward the resting place of Gral
len's helm."
He started to turn away from the pool, then stopped.
Another vision had formed there, coming without call.
In inky blackness swirled indistinct shapes, coalescing at
the center in a pattern that become a face... or not
quite a face, just the ghostly outline of one; but one that
Glenshadow had seen before, long years ago.
And a voice as dry as dust - a voice that seemed shriv
eled with hatred and age - hissed from the image. "He
seeks me, does he?" it said. "The puny red-robe would
try again to do what he thought he had done before'
Hee-hee. He asks the ice whether I know there is an ob
stacle in my way. A puny obstacle it is, too. A dwarf.
Only a dwarf. Did I know before, he wonders? No mat
ter. I know now." Giggling, the dry voice faded and the
ice cleared. Long after the vision was gone, Glenshadow knelt by the ice, shaken and unsure.
"Caliban," he muttered. "Caliban."
* * * * *
Viewed from the south, the valley was a long, deep cut
among towering mountains. Miles wide and many more
miles long, deep enough that fall foliage still livened the
forests below, it swept away to the north. The valley was
straighter than most Wingover had explored, and inter
esting to his explorer's mind because, while its sides were
crested by precipitous cliffs, its approach from due south
was a long, fairly gentle slope.
It seemed to almost offer itself as a route, and
Wingover found that irritating. He had seen the great
cats who lived in this valley, and he knew the valley was
a trap. He wondered if any who had entered there had
ever come out again.
The man was moody and irritable as the hours passed,
tired of waiting for a crazy gnome in a sailing contriv
ance, who probably would never return anyway. He
brooded upon the fates that had brought him to be here,
back out in the wilderness again, pursuing an impossible
quest - to find one lost dwarf in ten thousand square
miles of barely explored territory. It didn't help Wingover's attitude that Jilian Firestoke
seemed to have decided that it was her responsibility to
fill the idle hours with constant chatter. He had heard a
dozen times now about Chane Feldstone's dream, and at
least a half-dozen times about the perfidy and downright
churlishness of Jilian's father, Slag Firestoke. He had
been belabored by gossip - most of it meaningless to
him - about the feud between the Tinturner and Iron
strike families, which had kept the fifth level downshaft
neighborhood of Daewar in an uproar for months; about
how Silicia Orebrand's sister was not on speaking terms
with any of the Silverfest Society members; about the
uncouth mannerisms of Daergar dwarves who seemed to
think they owned the Fourteenth Road; and about the
scandal that had risen when Furth Undermine accused
the East Warren overseers of bribing the executor of the
Council of Thanes.
"Far stars, Button," Wingover finally erupted, "doesn't
anybody get along with anybody in Thorbardin? To hear
you talk, I'd think the intrigues and hostilities outnum
ber the population by five to one."
She blinked in surprise. "Oh, it isn't like that at all,"
she said. "Thorbardin is the nicest place imaginable. Re
ally. I've just been telling you the juicy stuff because that's what most people prefer to hear. But then, most
people - at least most people I know - are dwarves.
What do humans like to hear?"
"Silence, occasionally," he snapped.
For long minutes, he had his wish. Jilian sat facing
away from him, her sturdy little back arrow-straight.
She had tried to entertain him. Now she made a point of
ignoring him, which, for his part, Wingover liked better.
Soon, though, she asked, "Do you mind if I tell you
one other thing?"
"I knew it was too good to last," he said. "What?"
She pointed. 'The gnome is coming back."
He saw it, then - the gliding, erratic flight of the
gnome's machine, coming toward them, low over the
valley's forested floor.
"It's about time," Wingover snorted.
The white kite came closer, rising as it neared the
climbing slope, seeming to shoot upward on wind cur
rents until it was a tiny thing far overhead. Then it
dipped its wing and began the wide circling that they had
seen before. It seemed that, once up, the only way the
gnome could come down again was by this tedious pro
cedure.
The soarwagon circled and descended, circled and de
scended, and finally crept to a halt hovering just a few yards up - but in the wrong place. It was a quarter of a
mile from them, above a jagged cliff where the valley's
west wall began.
"What is he doing?" Wingover growled. "Why doesn't
he come over here?"
"He's probably trying to," Jilian said. "I don't think his
machine really works all that well."
"It's a wonder it works at all," Wingover pointed out.
For a moment, the soarwagon hovered where it was.
Then with a shudder it shot upward again, and the cir
cling began all over. This time the gnome seemed to have
corrected his navigation, and when next the thing hov
ered it was just above Wingover and Jilian.
Bobbin leaned out, his face pinched with irritation. He
looked from one to another of them, then settled on
Wingover. "I'm back," he announced, "It's me... Bob
bin. I'm here."
"I know you're here," Wingover called back. "I can see
you. Did you find anything?"
"Quite a lot of valley, with various things in it. Several
miles north, there's a ring of stones with a thing in the
center that looks like a really big thermodynamic inflec
tor, though I'm sure it isn't that. There's a sort of little,
broken statue on top of it, and paving all around. Then there's a hut, though if anyone lives there he wasn't at
home, and there is a winding black path that goes off in
both directions from it. I saw a river and enough trees to
make a woodnymph think she'd gone to paradise, and
several nice meadows that I could have landed in... if I
could land. And an ice field covered with lumpy shapes,
and what's left of an old wall - older than I can calculate
from up here, but I imagine it was old before anybody I
know was old enough to understand old -"
"How about cats?" Wingover called.
"How about what?"
"Cats! That's what you went to look for. Cats!"
"No. No cats. One kender, but no cats. Though I did
see someone wearing a bunny suit made out of cathide, if
you can believe anything a kender tells you. What do
you want cats for?"
"I don't want cats! I just wanted to know if you saw
any!"
"Well, I didn't. Some bison, here and there, and a few
elk, though..."
"How about Chane Feldstone?" Jilian called. "Did you
see him?"
"Does he wear a bunny suit?"
Jilian had started to shout something else at the gnome, but suddenly his invention was off again, shoot
ing away in a sharp climb that carried it toward the dis
tant peaks to the west.
The girl sighed, then slung her pack and her sword. "I
guess that settles that," she said. "We'll just have to look
for ourselves. Are you ready?"
"Hold on, there, Button," Wingover snapped. "I'm in
charge here, remembers I decide where and when we go."
"Then decide," she said and headed for the valley.
They camped that evening in a clearing well within the
valley, where a chuckling little river flowed cold from the
mountains to the west, and a strange, black-gravel path
wound aimlessly northward through deepening forest.
At day's final hour, Wingover scouted ahead and
found nothing to alarm him except an odd emptiness
about the valley. "It's strange," he told Jilian when he re
turned. "It's as if this place has been lived in - but isn't
now. Recently vacated. I had the same feeling once when
I stumbled across a village of the Parwind people on the
plains. At least it had been one of their villages; the tents
had all been folded and the people were gone. That place
felt the way this place feels. It's as though the area had ac
customed itself to being home to someone, and now it
doesn't quite know what to do with itself."
Jilian gazed at the man thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Humans are very strange people," she decided, and set
about cooking their supper.
A shadow flitted across the twilight clearing and a
sharp, high-pitched voice called from overhead, "I'm
hungry! How about sending up some supper?"
Bobbin and his soarwagon were with them again.
Wingover looked at the contrivance hovering above the
camp and shook his head. He had seen gnomes from time
to time, but he had never encountered a mad one. He
cupped his hands and called, "I want to know about this
valley."
"What about it?" the gnome called back.
"Everything that you see that might be useful to me.
Like how far north does it go, and are there dangers
ahead, and where does it come out?"
"It's a big place. I haven't seen the whole thing."
"How about scouting for dangers, then?"
"I can do that, if you ask me nicely. What sort of dan
gers are you looking for?"
"Any that might be there. Like cats."
"There aren't any cats. I already told you that, but I
don't suppose you remember. There's a wizard on a
mountainside off there somewhere, but he's miles and
miles away. And a kender and a dwarf in a funny suit, east of where you are... or north, I'm not sure. And
way off over there I saw a bunch of people crossing over
from the next valley. They're really a mess, all cut up like
they've been in a fight, and carrying their wounded. Re
ally a mess, it looked to me. I -"
The soarwagon pitched, nosed up, and shot toward
the sky, the exasperated shout of the gnome trailing back
from it, "Save me some supper!"
* * * * *
Bloody, battered, stripped, and staked out on the cold
ground, Garon Wendesthalas was only vaguely aware of
those who stood over him. For hours, the goblins had
tormented him while the one in the lacquered armor
their leader - stood quietly and watched. Torture after
torture they had applied, gleeful in their sport, stopping
just short of breaking his bones or drawing enough blood
to kill him. The leader wanted information from him.
Did he know of a mountain dwarf somewhere near, a
dwarf who might have Hylar featuresl Where was the
dwarven girl they had seen traveling with him? And the
human, who - and where - was he?
The elf had not uttered a sound throughout. Nor had
he let his attention fix on the pain they inflicted. Instead, he drifted in his mind, remote and aloof, savoring mem
ories, recalling pleasant times... remote and unreacha
ble. He had removed himself to such distance that he was
barely aware of the goblins around him. But he knew the
leader now. A human female, Kolanda Darkmoor. Corn
mander, the goblins called her. And he knew that
someone - or something - else was with her, though he
had seen no one. Distantly, he had heard bits of their
conversation... the woman's voice impatient and quer
ulous, the other's a dry, shriveled husk of a voice that
whispered in tones of venom and mockery. He had heard
her call the other's name. Caliban.
Garon shut out all other awarenesses. In his mind he
walked the patterned forests of the Qualinesti, drank
cool water from a brook, listened to the songs of elves in
a nearby glade....
"We're learning nothing here," Kolanda Darkmoor
snapped, beckoning to an armored hobgoblin. "We've
wasted enough time. This elf will tell us nothing."
"Kill him now?" the creature asked hopefully.
"No, bring him along. He's strong. He will make a
good slave."
"Elf," the hobgoblin snarled. "Make trouble. Run
away, sure -" Kolanda turned fierce eyes on him. "Did I ask for your
opinion, Thog?"
The hobgoblin stepped back quickly, then lowered his
face in submission. "Forgive, Commander."
"Assemble your patrol, Thog. Or what's left of it.
We're going back to Respite. The valley should be re
duced by now, and there are things to do. Bring the elf,
but first cut the tendons in his legs. Then he won't run
away. When we rejoin, put him to work tending one of
the carts."
She turned away, cold and angry. No elf would ever
make a worthwhile slave, but this one would live long
enough to serve her. He had killed nearly half of her pa
trol before they brought him down.
Chapter 15
As the sunset shadows op Westwall climbed the
slopes of the ridge above the Valley of Waykeep, Chane
Feldstone cut a final hold in a rock cliff, pulled himself up
and over the lip of a ledge, and gawked at the kender sit
ting there idly, waiting for him. The sound he had been
hearing for the past half-hour, virtually since he had be
gun to ascend the sheer cliff, was louder and nearer
now - a wailing, keening, heart-rending song of misery with no apparent source.
"You always do everything the hard way," Chestal
Thicketsway chided him. "I guess it's just the nature of
dwarves, to tackle everything headlong no matter how
difficult it is. Do you suppose you just can't help being
that way?"
"How did you get up here?" the dwarf puffed. "It's
taken me half an hour to climb this cliff. How did you do
it so fast?"
"I didn't," the kender shrugged. "I went around.
There's a perfectly good by-path just over there. Easy
climbing, for anybody who'd take the trouble to find it. I
brought your sword and your pack, too. They're over
there on that rock. Do you want to camp here for the
night, or do you want to scale the next cliff? If you want
to do that, I've found another by-path so I can meet you
up there."
Chane shook his head. "What is that awful noise? It
sounds like somebody in pain."
"Oh, that's just Zap." The kender looked around, then
shrugged again, remembering that Zap wasn't really
anywhere to be seen. "It's his latest talent, wailing like a
stricken soul. He's been doing it for quite a while now."
"I know. I've heard him most of the way up. Can you get him to hush?"
"I don't know how. I don't even know what he's wail
ing about. Maybe he misses the valley or the frozen
dwarf place. That's where I found him, originally."
"Well, I wish you'd shut him up. He gets on my
nerves."
Chess turned. "Zap! Shut up!"
The eerie, voiceless wailing faltered, then began again
with new enthusiasm - only now it added occasional
sobs to its repertoire.
"That's even worse," the dwarf growled. "How come
he's following you, anyway? I mean, it. That isn't a per
son, you know. It's just an old spell that never hap
pened."
"I don't know why he follows me, but he... it does.
Zap! I do wish you'd be quiet!"
The wailing, sobbing almost-sound continued. Chane
sighed, stood, and looked around. They were on a wide,
rubbly ledge with another wall of shorn stone ahead.
But, as the kender had pointed out, the wall diminished a
short distance away and a path began there, angling up
ward. Abruptly evening had come, with the setting of
the sun beyond the valley's other rim, but there still was
lingering twilight. "We have time to go on a little farther," Chane decided.
"I wonder if we're anywhere near that green path."
"The one I can't see?" Chess spread his hands. "I
haven't the vaguest idea."
Chane looked one way, then the other, along the
mountain's slope. He rubbed his forehead, feeling the
tingle there, but saw no green trail. Still, he knew from
last sighting that he was somewhere near it. From a dis
tance, it had appeared there was a shallow pass between
peaks above, and the dwarf had assumed that the trail
was going there. But by what route'! He went to his pack,
fumbled around inside it, then looked up. "Where's my
gem?"
"Your what?"
"Spellbinder! Where is it?"
The kender looked thoughtful, then snapped his fin
gers and reached into his own pouch. "Do you mean
this?" He pulled out the red stone, which pulsed with a
steady rhythm as the dwarf reached an angry hand to
take it. 'You must have dropped that somewhere," the
kender said innocently. "I guess I picked it up for you.
Don't bother to thank me."
"What else do you have in that pouch that isn't
yours?" Chane growled.
Chess peered into his pouch. "I don't know. I lose track. Here's a marble of some kind that I found on that
old battlefield. And some nice pebbles, and a toad's skull
...a couple of candles, some twine, an earring, a twig.
What's this? Oh, a pair of nice cat-tooth daggers." He
pulled out one of the daggers. "Didn't you used to have
one like this?"
"I had two like that," the dwarf rumbled.
"Did you? What did you do with them?"
"Give me that!" Chane growled.
Chess handed over the dagger, then closed his pouch.
"If you're going to expect me to replace everything you
lose -"
"Oh, shut up!" Chane stopped abruptly and looked
around. "Well, one good thing. Your spell has stopped
wailing."
The kender listened for a moment, then grinned. "He
has, hasn't he? Thank you, Zap."
"Agony," something voiceless mourned.
With the Spellbinder gem in his hand, Chane pointed.
'There it is. The green line. It goes up the by-path." He
hoisted pack, sword, and hammer. "Are you ready?"
"Look at that!" The kender pointed upward. Over
head, great flocks of birds flew, coming from the high
peaks, winging toward the valley. Birds of all sorts, a migration of panic.
Chane watched them, wave after wave coming past.
"What do you suppose caused that?" he wondered
aloud.
"Whatever it was, the birds are in a hurry," the kender
said. "See those out ahead? Those are pigeons. And mountain kites, and jays, and ducks, and... stand back!" Chess swiftly pulled a pebble from his pouch, fit
ted the sling to his staff, placed the pebble, aimed, and let
go. The pebble streaked skyward, and an instant later a
large bird crumpled in flight and fell, thudding to the
shelf almost at Chane's feet.
"Goose," the kender explained. "I'm getting tired of
dried cat. We'll have this for supper."
Chane gaped at him. "How did you do that?"
"With a pebble. I thought you saw." He picked up the
goose and slung it over his shoulder. "See if you can find
some berries along the way. Snowberries will do.
They're the yellow ones on the thorny vines. Snowber
ries go good with goose." Chess started up the path, and
the dwarf followed, still glancing in awe at the smaller
creature's forked hoopak.
Overhead, the waves of fleeing birds continued to
pass. And now Chess and Chane had company on the
slope. The kender and the dwarf dodged aside as a lithe, furred creature with sharp horns bounded past them. A
few yards farther along they hugged the stone wall as a
line of other creatures, these with heavy coats of thick
wool, surged past them, bleating in panic. At the higher
ledge, where the trail cut back toward the peaks, the two
dived for cover as a pair of panting wolves loped down
the path, followed by several elk.
"Do you suppose winter is coming early this year "
The kender stepped out on the trail to look after the
strange procession, then dodged back as more of the
woolly creatures charged past him.
"They're running from something," Chane said. "I
guess that settles it. We'll camp here. A person could get
hurt going up that path, with everything else coming
down."
Two huge highland bison charged past the ledge and
veered away, following the downward path. Another elk
was right behind them, cavorting in desperation as the
heavier animals blocked its way. Then more of the
woolly creatures. One of them wore a collar with a bell.
"Somebody's sheep," Chess noted. "111 bet there's a
pretty unhappy herder up there somewhere."
"I think we'd better get a little farther from this path,"
Chane decided. "Camping here would be like trying to sleep in a tunnelwagon turnaround. Rust, but the traffic
is heavy."
They trudged along the ledge, away from the path,
rounded a sheer bend, and saw a rubble-slope ahead. Af
ter testing it, Chane began to climb. The kender fol
lowed, carrying his goose. The bird was almost as big as
he was.
They were climbing by moonlight when they reached
a quiet swale higher up - well beyond and above the
noisy switchback with its stampeding animals. "This will
do," Chane said. "I'll make a cookfire back there, behind
that outcrop. You can cook the goose."
"Did you get some snowberries?" Chess asked hope
fully.
"I haven't had a chance. We'll do without."
By the time the goose was roasted, both the white
moon and the red stood above the peaks, giving their di
chromatic glow to the steep slopes and the forest-tops of
the distant valley. The two ate in silence, except for occa
sional outbursts of commentary and chatter by the ken
der, most of which Chane Feldstone chose to ignore. The
dwarf sat deep in thought, occasionally rubbing his fore
head, which tingled when the light of the red moon
touched it. A secret way into Thorbardin, and Grallen had learned of it. Like a third gate, he thought. One that
nobody knew about.
He thought of Thorbardin, exploring in his mind all of
the myriad ways and working clusters of the unde
rmountain kingdom - as much of it as he had seen and
could recall. Clearest to him in memory were the city of
the Daewar, the only home he had ever known, and the
warrens where he had worked for his keep from time to
time - first tending fields, then helping with the constant
delving by which the dwarves sought to expand their un
derground crop lands. Clearly he recalled Twelfth Road,
which he had passed so of ten as a child. Less distinctly he
knew the Tenth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth
Roads, by which Daewar conducted commerce with
other cities of Thorbardin.
Dimly, from one brief visit, he recalled the awesome
Life-Tree, home of the Hylar. Their city was delved into a
giant stalactite above the great, subterranean Urkhan
Sea. As an orphan Chane had possessed the appearance
of Hylar in his build and features, and later even in the
manner in which his beard lay back against his cheeks
rather than hanging resignedly downward. The Hylar,
he had thought as a child, had a fierce and noble
appearance - and undoubtedly some among them had
such qualities, though there were plenty of Hylar who in practice were no more noble than the average Daewar.
Still, Chanc's beard grew in the Hylar manner, and it
did not displease him that it made him look as though he
were standing sturdy and proud, facing down a strong
wind.
The Valley of the Thanes, noblest place in all of Thor
bardin, Chane had seen only once. He wondered briefly
if the supposed "secret way" could lead there. The valley
was sacred to the dwarves, for it contained a magical
floating tomb - final resting place of the great King Dun
can, some said. And the tomb of Grallen, which lay
nearby on the lakeshore, was, after all, the only place in
Thorbardin that was open to the sky. Yet the only ac
cesses to the Valley of the Thanes were three roads from
within Thorbardin itself. And certainly if there were the
slightest passage-point through the Guardian Walls,
somebody within would have noticed it.
Not the Valley of the Thanes then, Chane decided.
And not Southgate, which was the common entrance
to Thorbardin since the Cataclysm, nor likely the mostly
abandoned Northgate, with its shattered portal ledge.
Northgate might be unused, Chane told himself, but it's
not undefended. It was equipped for the same impenetra
ble defenses as Southgate. Possibly some long-forgotten tunnel or shielded pass
breaking through into one of the warrens, or one of the
lower cities? Kiar, Theiwar... Daergar? It didn't seem
likely to him. Surely someone would have noticed.
"There's a creature with long, flexible arms and not a
bone in its body."
Chane looked up. "What? Where?"
"In the Sirrion Sea," the kender said. "Aren't you pay
ing attention? That's what I'm talking about. The Sirrion
Sea. They also say that there is a gigantic island out
there, just far enough from the Isle of Sancrist to be out
of sight, that isn't an island at all. It's really a gnomish
ship, hundreds and hundreds of years old, that was sup
posed to drive itself by a geared rod with a weight atop
it. The reason it's in the sea, they say, is because the
gnomes who built it set out westward and that was as far
as they got before the falling rod buried itself in the ocean
floor. They've been working on it ever since, trying to
iron out all the bugs, and it just keeps getting bigger and
bigger."
With a low growl, Chane Feldstone returned to his
own thoughts. The First Roads One of the Halls of Jus
tice? There was so much to Thorbardin, so many differ
ent parts and places in the kingdom beneath the Kharolis
Mountains. Chane Feldstone had seen so few of them, and almost none of the outside perimeters and capping
peaks that protected the dwarven kingdom.
Chane sighed and tried another tack.
Grallen had learned... so the Irda said... that there
was a secret entrance, and that Thorbardin would be
threatened by invasion because of that entrance. But
where was it'! Grallen had not been in Thorbardin when
he learned of that; he had been outside, fighting in the
Dwarfgate Wars. Grallen had not returned alive, but he
had tried - or at least intended - to find the secret pas
sage and block it somehow.
The dwarf rubbed his chin. Where, then, did Grallen
go? Using his crystal, Chane could see a green line that he
intended to follow. It was, he trusted, Grallen's path.
And yet, where did it lead?
"Five unicorns," Chestal Thicketsway said.
Again the dwarf glanced around, startled. "Where7"
"What?"
"You said 'five unicorns.' Where?"
"Oh, all over," the kender shrugged. "I'm not even sure
I believe him, you know. Capstick Heelfeather has been
known to exaggerate. But that's what he says. He says he
has personally seen five unicorns. So far, I've only seen
one." "I wish that wizard would come back," the dwarf
muttered.
"Why? I thought you didn't like him."
"I don't. I wouldn't trust that mage as far as I can spit,
but he knows a lot of things about outside that I don't
know."
"Is that all?" The kender brightened. "I've been outside
all my life. What do you want to know?"
"Well, to begin with, where exactly was Grallen when
he died?"
"I haven't the foggiest notion," Chess said happily.
"Ask me something else."
Shaking his head in exasperation, Chane went back to
his puzzle. How am I supposed to find a secret entrance if
no one has a clue to its location? he wondered. And even
if there is a secret entrance, and I find it, what am I sup
posed to do about it? Apparently the only one who ever
knew anything about any of this was Grallen, and he
died a long, long time ago and never told anybody...
did he?
Chane shook his head. If Grallen did tell someone
about the entrance, why didn't somebody do something
about it back then? Or since? Why me?
"Dwarves and humans," the kender said. "At least that's what I -"
"Will you please be quiet?" Chane stormed. "Can't
you see I'm trying to think?"
"I'm just trying to tell you, there are dwarves and hu
mans down there."
"Where?"
"On the path, where all the animals were. But the ani
mals are mostly past now, and there are people over
there, going down that path as fast as they can. Some of
them are bleeding, too. I wonder what's going on."
Chapter 16
From the top op a rock outcrop, Chane and
Chess had a view of the path. It was below, and some
distance away, and the moonlight cast eerie shadows
where the slopes rose above it. But it was a view, and
Chane crouched there, staring in wonder at the dark
shapes moving down the cutback slope. Dozens were in
view, people of all sizes. Some were dwarves, and some
were taller - humans, perhaps. Some scampered along
the downward path, turning often to look back. Some
moved more slowly, clinging to one another; some sup
porting others, some being carried.
Behind the first wave of refugees came a small knot of figures brandishing spears and swords, moving slowly.
A few were shouting at those ahead, urging them on.
Others at the rear faced back up the path, their weapons
at the ready.
"Somebody's chasing them," Chess said. "That's their
rear guard. I wonder who's after them."
Slowly the fleeing people made their way down the an
gled by-path, disappearing by twos and threes as they
reached the cutback below and rounded the shoulder
there. Shouts and cries carried upward, distorted by the
spires and tumbles of the mountainside and by distance.
"Let's get closer," Chane decided. "I can't tell anything
from here." He rose and turned to find the kender already
gone, scrambling across tumble-slopes, leaping from
stone to stone, heading for a better view of the path.
Chane hurried after him.
For long moments the dwarf and the kender were out
of sight of the path, but then they emerged on a ledge di
rectly above it and looked down the length of the sloping
angle between cutbacks. The path was empty now, as far
as they could see. But just opposite the two, in a shad
owed canyon from which the path emerged, something
was moving, coming toward the turn. Heavy footfalls
crunched in the rubble of the path. Footfalls... and a deep, harsh voice that broke into cruel laughter.
"See 'em run!" the voice rumbled up from the
shadows. "Blood an' gore. Me, I go an' find me more.
Bash 'ere skulls an' break 'ere bones! Let 'em go? Haw!
Not me. Not Loam!"
The figure that emerged from the darkness was huge
a massive, wide-bodied thing that loped down the path
on bowed, gnarled legs. It carried a huge club in one
hand, which it flailed as though it were a twig.
'%lake 'em run!" the thing bellowed as it passed di
rectly below the dwarf and the kender. "Make 'em fleet
Make 'em die... in agony. Hee, hee!"
It skidded in the rubble, faltered for just an instant,
and changed course, heading down the cutback where
the fleeing people had gone.
"What in tarnish is that?" Chane whispered.
"Ugly, isn't it!" the kender said. 'They're even uglier in
front. Here, I'll show you."
Before Chane could react, the kender stood, drew his
hoopak-sling, and sent a large pebble flying after the
monster. The pebble bounced off the thing's skull with a
distant thud. Howling, the monster slapped a massive
hand to its insulted head and spun around. Moon-red
eyes in a massive, heavy-browed face darted this way and that, then came to rest on the dwarf and the kender.
"Oops," Chess said.
With a roar that reverberated off the mountain peaks,
the great creature started up the path toward them,
swinging its club.
"Anyway," Chess said, "now you have a better look at
it. I'll bet you've never seen an ogre before. Have you?"
"Puny things!" the ogre roared, gaining momentum.
"Throw rock at me? Loam last thing you will see!"
"What did you do that for?" the dwarf growled. "Now
look what -"
"I didn't expect him to be quite so cranky," Chess ex
plained, interrupting. His hoopak-sling sang and an
other pebble - this one larger - smashed into the
advancing ogre's face, full on his wide nose. Dark blood
spurted, then dripped downward, veiling the thing's gro
tesque mouth. The ogre roared again and sprinted to
ward them.
"I think he's really angry," the kender said. "This one's
yours. I'd better look around and see if there are others."
"What?" Chane turned, but the kender was already
gone, leaping nimbly from one rock to another, up
slope, pausing here and there to peer down into the shad
owed pathway below.
"Rust and tarnish!" Chane stared at the advancing monster. The thing was tall enough to reach him with
its club, even from the path below the rock where he
still crouched. And it was coming fast. He fingered the
hilt of his sword, then decided against it and unslung his
hammer.
"Kharas aid me now," the dwarf breathed.
Backing up a step from the edge of the rock, Chane
glanced quickly at its moonlit top, then knelt and swung.
He struck stone with the spike-end of his hammer. Again
he swung. Then the dwarf ducked as a hand the size of
his back appeared above the stone and swung a massive
club that whuffed over him.
Chane's hammer rang again on the surface of the
stone, and again. The great club rose above him and de
scended, crunching into the stone beside him with a
sound of thunder. Again the cudgel was raised aloft, and
this time Chane had to throw himself to one side as it
smashed down where he had been. He rolled, righted
himself, and swung his hammer again. The weapon's
spike sank into stone, making another hole in a precise
line of holes that - he hoped - followed a faint flaw line
in the rock.
Just beyond and below the rock outcrop, the ogre
leaped upward. For an instant its eyes were level with Chane's. The dwarf dodged, and the club descended
again, raising a cloud of stonepowder. The ogre's roar
was a rising, echoing thunder of rage. The club thudded
here and there, searching for Chane... then paused.
The sounds beyond told the dwarf that the monster was
climbing. He sighted on the fault line and swung again.
The top of the ogre's head came into view, then its
eyes. The creature bellowed in huge pleasure when it saw
that the dwarf was trapped there with sheer cliff at his
back and no place to go. The ogre clung to the stone and
raised its massive club. Chane scooped stone dust and
threw it into the huge, grinning, bloody face.
The ogre roared in rage, lost its hold, and dropped
from view. Quickly, though, it started climbing again.
Chanc's hammer rang. The sound of its impact was dif
ferent now, a slight, hollow echo accompanying each
stroke. And the spike sank deeper into the stone with
each swing. Again the massive hand appeared with its
club, and descended a blow that would have flattened
and crushed the dwarf, had it found him. Chane panted,
concentrating on his work. The scrabbling sounds of
clumsy climbing began again, and the ogre's head came
into view.
Chane raised his hammer one last time, whispered,
"Reorx, guide my maul," and brought it down against the stone. The sound of the impact seemed to go on and on,
the ringing strike becoming a deep, low grinding sound
as the fault opened... a hair line that became an inch,
then another inch... then a cleft a foot across, that wid
ened abruptly and crashed away into the walled path
way below, carrying the ogre with it. Chane crept to the
newly sheared edge of the outcrop and looked down.
The pathway beneath was a jumble of fallen stone, its
walled opening filled halfway to the top. A cloud of
stone dust hung above it, veiling the moons' light.
Slinging his hammer, Chane took his sword in hand
and bounded down to the rockfall, searching for open
ings. He found a wide slit, thrust his sword into it, and
prodded as far as the blade would go. Somewhere under
foot, distant-sounding and muffled, the ogre howled in
outrage. Chane went looking for wider fissures.
He was still darting back and forth across the tumble
of slab-stone when the kender reappeared, just above,
crouched on the sheared ledge. "What did you do with
your ogre?" the smaller one asked. "I hear him, but I
don't see him."
"He's under these rocks," the dwarf snapped. "I can't
reach him."
"Well, that's not so bad," Chess shrugged. "That means he can't reach you, either. Of course, if you'd killed him
first, then buried him, you wouldn't have this sort of
problem. Don't you know anything about ogres?"
"This is the first one I ever saw," Chane growled, prod
ding into another crack with his sword. Beneath the
rocks something yelped, and the pile of stone shuddered.
"Well, you may have the chance to see some more, if
that's what you want. There's something else up there
quite a distance away, but definitely up the path. It might
be another ogre... maybe several. They tend to come
in bunches, you know."
"No, I didn't know."
"Kind of like goblins," the kender said. 'You hardly
ever find one goblin without finding a lot of goblins.
Which reminds me, I thought for a minute up there that I
could smell goblins. Have you ever smelled goblins?"
"Not intentionally. What do they smell like?"
"Oh, I don't know." The kender pondered it, finding
the challenge interesting. "They smell like, uh, maybe a
sort of a mixture of fresh manure and dead frogs. I don't
know. Goblins smell like goblins. Anyway, you don't
generally find ogres and goblins in the same place at the
same time. That's why I was surprised to smell goblins."
Chane made a final pass from one end of the rockfall to the other, but found no opening large enough to reach
the buried ogre with more than just the tip of his sword.
The kender, watching him, went to one of the cracks the
dwarf had already tried and inserted the butt-end of his
hoopak, then plunged it downward as hard and as deep
as he was able. Beneath their feet, the pile of stones rum
bled and quaked, and a trilling bellow emerged from var
ious crevices.
"I think he's ticklish," Chess observed.
"I think we should get out of here before he really be
comes irritated," Chane said. Thoughtfully, he reached
into his pack and touched the hard, warm facets of Spell
binder. Instantly the faint, green guideline was there,
leading up the switchback trail, heading for the pass high
above. Yet the kender said there were more ogres up
there, and maybe goblins, as well. Chane realized that he
had never seen a goblin either. He didn't relish the idea of
meeting some of them just now, though. The ordeal with
the ogre had left him shaken.
'maybe the thing to do," he told himself, "is to go after
those people who were running down the path and find
out what they know about what's waiting above."
Chess looked around, frowning. "Don't you want to
see for yourself? I do."
"I'd just as soon know what I'm getting myself into before I get into it," Chane decided aloud. "I'm going to talk
to some of those people. You can go on up there if you
want to."
"Good idea," something soundless seemed to say. "Let's
go."
"Hush, Zap," the kender said. "I know what you're try
ing to do."
"Misery," the spell mourned.
The dwarf glanced around. He was growing accus
tomed to the ditherings of the kender's companion, but it
still bothered him.
"Zap thinks if I take him far enough away from you
and Spellbinder, that he can happen," Chess said with a
shrug.
The dwarf had already started back down the zigzag
trail, so the kender followed him. Chess looked back to
ward the distant heights now and then and wished the
old spell hadn't attached itself to him.
Full morning lay on the valley by the time Chane and
the kender rounded a bluff on the mountain's long slope
and saw people ahead. Where a stream came down from
the heights, two rough camps had been established, a
few hundred yards apart. The larger camp, and farthest
from the rising mountain, was of dwarves. The nearer, smaller camp - no more than a few cookfires and bits of
bedding where injured people rested - held a few dozen
humans.
As the dwarf and the kender neared, those humans ca
pable of holding weapons came out part way and formed
a defensive line, watching the newcomers carefully. In
the dwarf camp beyond, people scurried here and there;
twenty or thirty dwarves soon came at a run to join the
human fighters.
When they were near enough, Chane cupped his
hands at his cheeks and called, "Hello there! Can we join
you? We're peaceful!"
There was hesitation, then a burly human with a full
beard stepped out of the line and called, "Who are you?"
"I'm Chane Feldstone," the dwarf returned. "That's
Chestal Thicketsway. We were on our way up the moun
tain when you passed us. I want to talk to you."
"There were ogres and goblins behind us," the man
said, shading his eyes against the morning sun. "If you
came from there, how did you get past them?"
"We only saw one ogre," Chane called, "and no gob
lins, though there may have been some higher up."
"How did you get past the ogre you saw?"
Chestal Thicketsway danced forward, past Chane. "Chane Feldstone is a famous warrior," he shouted. "He
dumped rocks on your ogre and buried him."
"I'm not famous," Chane hissed at the beaming kender.
He turned his attention to the people ahead. Closer now,
he could see them clearly. Many of them had fresh,
bound wounds, and those huddling in the two camps be
yond were in a sorry shape. "Who are you people?" he
called. "Where have you come from?"
The humans and dwarves and women among them,
Chane noted, of both races - relaxed visibly as the two
strangers came near and they saw that they weren't gob
lins. The burly man lowered his pike and tapped himself
on the chest with a grimy thumb. "I'm Camber Meld.
That's Fleece Ironhill over there." He pointed toward a
gray-bearded hill dwarf standing just ahead of a phalanx
of armed soldiers. "We're chiefs of our people. We
have - er, had - villages a mile apart in the Vale of Res
pite. That's the next valley over. His people are herders.
Mine are growers. Or were." He looked around, blank
eyed. "I guess what you see is all that are left."
Chane stopped just a few paces from the leaders, look
ing from one to the other. "What happened?"
"They fell on us just at daybreak," the dwarven chief
said. "An army of goblins and several ogres. First my vil
lage, then Camber's. We didn't have a chance." "We fought," the man corrected. "For three days, we
fought, first in the villages, then retreating up the slopes.
But there were too many of them, and we weren't pre
pared for defense. There haven't ever been goblins
around here, and not many ogres."
"But there are now," Fleece growled.
Chane stared at them bewildered. "What did they
want? Why did they attack you?"
"Base for the Commander," the dwarven chief said.
"One of my herders hid in a ravine and heard some of
them talking. That's what they said. 'The Vale of Respite
would serve as a base for the Commander.' And they
were taking slaves."
"Is that why they followed you over the ridge?" Chane
asked.
"Ogres followed," the dwarven chief muttered. "Two
of them, at least, though one may have stopped to tor
ture a few of our people who fell behind. The other one
was right behind us."
"Why do ogres follow anyone?" the human leader
snarled at Chane. "To torture, to mutilate, to kill." He
looked at Chane curiously. "But you got him, huh?"
"I didn't kill him," Chane said. "I tried to, but all I man
aged was to bury him under some rock." "We irritated him, though," Chess said helpfully.
The dwarven chief also was gazing at Chane, studying
him. 'You don't look like a hill dwarf," he said.
"I'm not. I'm from Thorbardin."
The hill dwarf sucked in his breath, his eyes narrowing
to slits. He half-raised the axe he carried, then shrugged
and let it down. "Mountain dwarf," he rumbled. "But I
guess that war was over a long time ago."
Chane thought abruptly of the ice-field - only a few
miles away - where two kinds of dwarves remained fro
zen in bloody, ancient conflict. "I hope so," he said.
Chapter 17
The dwarf and the kender rested that nigtt in
the humans' camp. Despite Fleece Ironhill's concession, a
mountain dwarf still was more welcome among humans
than among hill dwarves. What remained in their
packs - a few pounds of dried cat, some rolls of goose,
and a piece of flatbread - they shared. The humans in
turn shared some of the meager provisions they had car
ried in their retreat from the goblin marauders.
It was a sad and sorry camp, as was the dwarf camp
just beyond. Everywhere, there were injured people.
And everywhere there was grief. Chane sat apart for a time, talking with the human
chief, Camber Meld. Then he curled up and went to
sleep, wondering how he was to follow the path of the
old warrior, Grallen, if that path led right into a fresh
nest of armed goblins and bloodthirsty ogres.
Chestal Thicketsway, still wide awake and excited by
the rate at which new adventures were coming along,
roamed about the two camps for a time, then climbed a
hill and sat on top of it, watching the moons creep across
the sky.
In the distance, he could see the hooded fires of the ref
ugee camps, where Chane Feldstone slept. The kender
felt at his side and frowned. He didn't have his pouch
with him. He had left it with his pack, back there at the
camp. And he had his hoopak, but no pebbles. Immedi
ately Chess scouted around and found several good peb
bles. He then felt much more comfortable.
It was oddly quiet, he noticed. Not so much as a
whimper from Zap. Chess's eyes widened, and he
whirled to look again at the distant fires, abruptly realiz
ing that he was a long way from Spellbinder. 'Whoops,"
he muttered. Turning full circle, slowly, speaking dis
tinctly, he said, "Now, listen, Zap, I think we ought to
talk about this. I'm sure we can find a civilized way to.... Zap? Are you listening? I'd really just as soon
you behave yourself for a while longer. There's no reason
to go off half... Zap? Zap! Where are you, anyway?"
Nothing responded. There was not the slightest hint of
the old spell's presence.
"Zap, are you hiding from me?" The kender peered all
about even though he knew that there would be nothing
to see. "Look, if you're tired of following me around,
that's all right with me. No problem at all. I never could
figure out why you were tagging after me in the first
place." He paused and listened again. "If you want to just
head out on your own, I certainly won't hold a grudge.
In fact, that might be the best thing you could do. Just go
along by yourself - the farther the better, of course, and
do your destiny, whatever that is. You might get a real
bang out of that, don't you think?" The kender frowned
at the absolute lack of response. "Zap! I know you're
around somewhere. Where are you?"
Still there was no answer. The kender sat on a rock,
deep in thought. Maybe the spell had come up with a
new tactic, he reasoned. Maybe it would try to convince
him that it was gone, to lull him into taking it to where it
could explode. On the other hand, maybe this was al
ready far enough away for it to explode. Then again, maybe it wasn't here at all. But if not,
where was it? It had been attached to him since the day
on the old battlefield where he had first met it. How
could it be unattached now? Unless....
Chess snapped his fingers and grinned. He had left his
pouch and his pack at the humans' camp. Maybe it
wasn't him that Zap was attached to, but his belongings.
Maybe it was attached to his pouch! That could explain
the awful wailing the spell had been doing, up on the
mountainside. If it was attached to his pouch and Spell
binder had been in his pouch... well, he could see how
Zap might have been pretty unhappy about that.
With a grin, Chestal Thicketsway realized that he had
found a solution to a problem. If Zap was attached to his
pouch, all he needed to do was make a new pouch and go
off and leave the old one. Then he'd be rid of the pesky
spell once and for all. He began to think about the mate
rials he would need for a pouch.
"Hellothere," a voice said. "Isthatyou?"
Chess jumped to his feet, spinning around.
"Up here," the voice said more slowly. "It's me, Bob
bin. Do you have any raisins I"
Overhead, the wide-winged soarwagon floated, shad
owy in the light of the two moons. Chess waved, and the
gnome did something to his controls, bringing the machine lower still.
"I don't have any raisins," the kender said. "Sorry.
What are you doing here?"
"Scouting," Bobbin explained. "I've sort of signed on
as chief scout for the Wingover company... since I
have nothing better to do. I'm looking for danger. Do
you have any?"
"Not right now," Chess admitted. "I had an ogre a
while back, though. That's pretty dangerous. And from
what I hear, there's plenty of danger beyond those peaks,
over in the Vale of Respite. Goblins and ogres have taken
the place over. Those people out there by the fires are ref
ugees. Why don't you talk to them?"
"I've been trying to," Bobbin snapped, "but my
soarwagon needs some adjustment of its aerodynamic
equivalences... which I will attend to if I ever get back
on the ground. I've been trying since early evening to get
to that camp, but I keep winding up somewhere else. I
guess you'll have to give me my report. Goblins and
ogres, you say? And you actually met one of the ogres?
What's his side of the story?"
"I don't know. I didn't stop to chat."
"Well, where's the ogre now?"
"He's up on the mountain, buried under several tons of rock. Chane Feldstone buried him."
"Chane Feldstone? I've heard that name."
"I wouldn't be surprised. He's famous, you know. Not
rich, but well on his way to being famous. I'm helping
him." The kender grinned proudly. 'You can help, too, if
you'll spread the word. Just tell anybody you happen to
see that Chane Feldstone is a famous warrior."
"I suppose I can do that," the gnome agreed. "Where is
Chane Feldstone?"
"He's over there where those people are camped. He's
asleep, though. Burying ogres is tiring work."
"Well, Wingover wants to know what's going on. I
wonder -" The gnome paused, thinking, then said,
"Maybe we could offset the lateral drift ratio in this
thing, if you'd help."
"What do you want me to do?" the kender asked
doubtfully.
"I'll drop a line. You grab it, and maybe you can tow
me over to where those people are."
A length of stout rope snaked downward from the un
derside of the soarwagon. Chess dutifully slung his
hoopak on his back and grasped the rope in both hands.
"Now what?" the kender called.
"Now just start walking, and I'll try to follow along."
Chess shrugged, hauled the rope tight, and started to walk. For a dozen steps, the gnome's craft crept along
above him, obediently. Then it stalled in a draft and
edged to one side. The kender took a tighter grip and
hauled it back toward the proper course.
"This may work out," the gnome called down. "Just
keep going and hold tight to that line, and... oh, cross
current! Hang on!"
Chess clung to the line as the soarwagon nosed up, and
suddenly realized that his feet were no longer on the
ground. He looked down. The hill where he had rested
was falling away below, as was the rest of the world.
Moonlit landscapes widened beneath him, shrinking
away to miniature forests, streams, trails, and ridges.
Higher and higher the soarwagon soared, the bit in its
teeth now and the winds of altitude under its wings.
"Would you look at that," the kender breathed. "Wow!
What a view!"
Above him, the gnome muttered and swore, working
at his controls. "Linkjoint!" he said in obvious annoy
ance. "The zag and the zig have reversed again. I thought
I had that fixed." He leaned out from his basket, squint
ing as he peered downward. "Are you still there?"
"I certainly hope so," Chess assured him. "Otherwise
I'm in a lot of trouble." "Well, don't just hang there gawking! Come up here
and help me. You can hand me my tools."
"How do I get up there?" Chess asked.
"Just a minute. When I get my hands free, I'll winch
you up. Don't go away."
"I wouldn't dream of it," the kender assured him.
Moments passed, then Chess felt the rope inching up
ward toward the belly of the gnome's invention. Winch
teeth rattled above, and the great, shadowy wings
seemed to close down on the kender like storm clouds de
scending. He rotated slowly as he rose, and suddenly
there was a wickerwork surface before him.
"Climb in," Bobbin ordered. "Then hand me that
wobble-wrench. I have to readjust the nose attitude."
Chess climbed into the basket, found and handed over
a strange-looking tool, then resumed his sightseeing.
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know," the gnome snapped. "How should I
know? I never know where I'm going from one minute to
the next. I spend all my time just trying to get from where
I didn't want to go back to where I shouldn't have been in
the first place. Hand me the washer-pull."
An hour passed, and then another, while the gnome
did things to his controls and the kender passed tools. Rising mountainscapes crept by below, cliffs and crags,
moonlit steeps and shadowy canyons. Then high peaks
appeared to either side. Finally, another landscape,
which fell away toward a distant wide valley where fires
burned and smoke clung like fog in the lower reaches,
spread below them.
"I'll bet that's where all those goblins are," Chess said.
"I'll bet that's the Vale of Respite."
The gnome paused to look. "Is there danger there?"
"From what I hear, there is."
"Then I'd better tell Wingover about it - ah! There,
now. Here, Chess, you hold these two strings. Just hang
on to them, and don't let them slip. I think I can turn
around now."
Bobbin drew a pair of strings and let several others
slacken. The soarwagon tipped its wings and soared into
a wide turn, spanning several miles of valley below in the
process.
"Can we go down for a better look?" Chess wondered
aloud.
"What do you want to look at?"
"Whatever's down there. Let's go see." In his excite
ment the kender eased his hold on the two strings, and
the soarwagon's nose pitched downward. Abruptly they
were in a screaming dive, straight down, with terrain rising to meet them.
"Oh, let me have those!" Bobbin leaned over, took the
strings away from the kender, and pulled on them. The
dive flattened out, and the flying machine raced over the
tops of leafless trees toward a pall of smoke just ahead.
"This is a lot better," Chess observed, leaning far out
from the basket for a better view.
The smoke was a thick darkness underlit by the flames
of many fires - burning houses, burning sheds, huts
ablaze, and haystacks smoldering. An entire village was
burning, and in the distance another lay in ash and em
bers. As the flying machine swept over the fires, Chess
saw dozens of goblins below, tending the fires and bring
ing things to throw upon them. A few slit-mouthed faces
turned upward as the soarwagon passed, and gaped at
the contrivance sailing through the smokes. Something
struck the soarwagon's frame and glanced away. The
basket twanged, and Chess glanced around to find a
bronze dart protruding through the wicker, inches from
his thigh.
"Do you suppose we've seen enough?" he asked Bob
bin.
A flaming bolt arced upward ahead of them, and the
gnome veered his machine to the right. "If those people set my wings afire -"
"Those aren't people. Those are goblins."
Another bolt whisked by. Without hesitation, Chess
unslung his hoopak, dug a pebble from his tunic, and
twisted around in the basket to send the stone zinging on
its way. Below and behind them, a goblin howled in
pain.
Bobbin glanced at the hoopak thoughtfully. "I wish I'd
thought to mount something like that on the soarwa
gon," he said.
The kender shrugged. "It's just a hoopak."
They were past the burning village then, and closing
on the second village, which was little more than glow
ing sparks wafting from piles of ash. Chess pointed
ahead. "Aha!" he said. "Ogres."
"Where?" Bobbin leaned to look, and the soarwagon
executed a barrel roll at treetop level. The kender clung
to the basket as the gnome worked frantically to get the
contrivance right side up again. When finally it was fly
ing upright and level, Bobbin said, "Sorry about that."
Chess shook his head. "I have an idea.... You tend to
the navigation, and I'll do the sightseeing."
"How many ogres did you see?"
"Three, I think. Can you turn around and go over again? I'll count them."
"Never mind," the gnome said. "In certain circum
stances an informed estimate is as acceptable as quantita
tive data. I'm going to try to -"
The soarwagon's nose lofted, and the Vale of Respite
fell away behind them as the machine headed for the sky.
Bobbin wrestled with his control strings and muttered to
himself: "Don't know why it does that... only trying
for a reasonable rate of ascent... something about the
angle of trim on the horizontal vanes, I suppose."
When he succeeded in leveling the soarwagon out, it
was approaching the peaks again, heading more or less
west.
"Would you classify what we saw back there as dan
ger?" Bobbin asked.
"It certainly looked dangerous to me," Chess said
brightly.
"Then I expect I should tell Wingover about it. I agreed
to do that, you know."
"Do you suppose you can drop me off on the way?"
"I'll try." The gnome manipulated strings, and the
soarwagon sailed over moonlit ridgetops, then down to
ward the refugee camps a few miles beyond the slopes. "I
think we can -"
A crosswind fluttered the box-kite nose of the contrivance, and it veered aside, then nosed up and headed for
the sky again, straight up and gaining speed. "Oh, no.
Link failure!" the gnome cursed.
Chapter 18
"This is Chane's," Jilian stated, turning the rough
hammer over in her hands. "I'm positive it is."
It was a crude tool, obviously wrought by someone
who had almost nothing to work with. Wingover
crouched beside the primitive stone forge and brushed
his hand across the cold ashes in its firepit, then turned
his attention to a mudstone thing beside it, puzzling over
what it might be. A piece of rock - tough, flaky mud
stone that had been shaped into a rough oval with a flat
top - its sides were bound with sapling withes.
Wingover glanced at the firepit forge again, then realized
that the mudstone thing, bound as it was atop a fallen
log, had served as an anvil. A contrivance beside the
forge might have served as a bellows. Flakes of stone
fallen around the makeshift anvil indicated that someone
had done something here recently.
"Interesting," the man muttered. "Whoever was here
certainly made do with what was at hand. But how can you be sure it was Chane?"
"He made this hammer," Jilian said cheerfully. "See, it
has his mark on it. CF. Just like on his nickeliron dagger."
She handed the tool back to Wingover, and he studied
it. "I thought it might be a hammer," he said. "So we can
suppose that Chane Feldstone did stop here and make
himself a hammer. Why would he have gone off and left
it?"
"Oh, Chane wouldn't have wanted anything as crude
as that," the girl explained, wondering again at the vagar
ies of the human mind. This human seemed quite intelli
gent in many ways, but there were some things he just
didn't seem to grasp. Things any dwarf would under
stand immediately.
The man stood and frowned at her. "Well, if he made it
and didn't want to keep it, what did he do with it?"
"He used it to make another hammer, of course."
Wingover sighed and shook his head. Jilian was prob
ably right, he decided. It sounded like good dwarven
logic.
"The inscription is right there." She pointed. "Right on
top. Here..." Opening her small pack, Jilian brought
out a beautiful dagger with a mirror-bright blade and a
grip of ebony and brass. "Here, see the inscription on this
blade? It's the same as the one on that hammer. I imagine we'll find him just any time now. Don't you think so?"
Wingover didn't answer. He was walking slowly
around the forge site, looking at the ground. He circled it
twice, stopped, and squatted for a closer look at some
thing. Then he circled it again and stopped to look again,
in a different place. "There's no clear trail," he said fi
nally. "He might have gone anywhere from here. But he
wasn't alone. There were others with him - at least one,
maybe more. One was a human, about my size."
She blinked up at him. "How do you know that?"
"The same way you know this thing is Chane's ham
mer, I guess. I know what to look for. It's called reading
signs."
"Outside certainly is different from Thorbardin," Jilian
observed. "In Thorbardin, signs are written on planks or
linen and hung on walls for people to see. They say
things like, 'Trespassers Will Be Mutilated,' or 'Gorlum's
Friendly Furs,' or 'No Aghar Allowed.' "
"Those are signs," the man said. "This is a sign... in
this case, footprints. But they've been here a while, so I
can't tell where the trail leads from here."
"Then let's keep going the way we were going and see
what else we can find," Jilian decided.
He shrugged and stepped toward the horse. "Come on, then. 111 help you up onto Geekay," Wingover said. "I'll
walk and lead for a while. Maybe I can pick up a trail."
"I'll walk, too," the dwarf said, backing away a step.
"I've had enough riding for a while."
"Geekay doesn't mind," he told her. "Ride if you like."
"He may not, but I do. I hurt."
"You hurt?" He glanced around at her. "Where?"
"That's none of your business," the dwarven girl
snapped, her cheeks turning pink.
"Oh, I see," he grinned. "Saddle sores, huh? It won't
last long. I'll bet this is the first horse you ever rode."
"I never even saw a horse until I left Thorbardin," she
admitted. "I don't mean the people there don't have
horses, of course. A lot do, but they don't bring them
into Thorbardin. They keep them outside, in the pas
tures beyond Southgate."
"I know that," he said a little testily. He took up
Geekay's reins and led off, heading north. Jilian followed,
grateful to have her feet on solid ground again instead of
bouncing along on her bottom, behind Wingover in his
hard saddle. Riding a horse was just one of thousands of
interesting new experiences she would have to tell Silicia
about when she returned to Thorbardin.
They had gone nearly two miles and had come into
open, rolling land when Wingover glanced westward, shaded his eyes, and then pointed. Above distant tree
tops, wide wings tilted in a descending turn. Bobbin was
back.
Jilian squinted, shading her eyes as Wingover had
done. "I think he has someone with him," she said.
The flying thing closed until it was directly overhead,
sixty feet above. Two heads appeared at the wicker rail,
silhouettes against bright sky. The one farthest aft cup
ped his hands and called, "Do you have any raisins yet?"
"Sorry!" Wingover shouted. "Still no raisins, but we
have some other food." He beckoned to Jilian. "Can you
get something together to send up to him?"
She nodded and began opening packs. "Right away."
Wingover shouted aloft, "What do you have to re
port?"
There was hesitation above, then the gnome replied,
"Chane Feldstone is a famous warrior!" More dimly, they
heard him ask his passenger, "How was that?"
"Perfect," another voice said aloft. "Tell enough people
that, and he'll be really famous in no time at all. Then all
he has to worry about is how to get rich."
"That's a kender," Wingover noted. 'Where in Krynn
did that gnome get a kender?" he asked, not really ex
pecting an answer. "And what kind of report is that?" He started to repeat his question, but Jilian Firestoke
had jumped to her feet, dancing with excitement. "Have
you seen Chane Feldstone?" she shouted. "That's who
we're looking for!"
"All I know is, he's famous." Bobbin responded. "Oh,
yes, and we saw danger. If that food is ready, I'll try to let
down a line." Without warning the soarwagon lurched,
nosed upward, and shot away, straight up into the bright
sky. In a moment it was a tiny dot, circling wildly, this
way and that.
An hour passed, and part of another, before the flying
thing approached Wingover and Jilian again. This time,
as it completed its final pass, a rope descended from be
neath it and a small figure slid down to the end of the
rope and clung there. He touched down on nimble feet as
the soarwagon again hovered just overhead.
Jilian ran to meet the newcomer, took the rope from
him, and attached a parcel of food to it. A winch creaked
over their heads, and the rope rose as it was reeled in. Ji
lian gaped at the newcomer. She had never seen a kender
before. He was no taller than herself and slight of build.
His clothing was strangely colored, and he had a forked
stick slung at his back. He grinned at her - a friendly,
open grin on a childlike face that was neither human nor elf and certainly not dwarf - but was not so very differ
ent from any of them. What she had first thought was a
beard, she now realized was a great mane of hair coiled
and looped around his neck, resembling a fur collar.
"I'll bet you're Jilian," the kender said. "That dwarf
ah, I mean Chane - has mentioned you several times."
He executed a slight, courtly bow. "I'm Chestal Thick
etsway. I've been helping Chane become rich and famous
so he can go back to Thorbardin and do unpleasant
things to your father."
"Where is he?" she managed to say.
"Your father? I don't know. I haven't seen him. Oh,
you mean Chane? He's out there a few miles... kind of
that direction... camping with a bunch of refugees
from the Vale of Respite. I'll bet you won't even recog
nize him in his new suit. Does he know you're coming?
He didn't mention that to me."
Wingover hurried to them and glanced at Chess. "A
kender," he muttered. Throwing back his head, he
shouted at the gnome above. "What was that about dan
ger? What kind of danger?"
"Ask him!" Bobbin shouted back. "He knows more
about it than I do. I don't suppose you have a number
eleven sprocket on you, do you? I think I'll try to modify
the trim-bracing to see if that will - oh, gearslip! Here it goes again!"
With a shudder, the soarwagon edged off to one side,
dropped its nose, and ran straight at those on the
ground. As one, Wingover, Jilian, and Chess sprawled
face-down. The soarwagon's wire wheels whisked over
them. It leveled out just above the ground and sped to
ward the base of a tall tree a hundred yards away. At the
last moment it nosed up and climbed, clipping twigs as it
shaved the treetop and headed for distant skies. A stream
of angry words drifted back on the breeze.
Those on the ground got to their feet and stared after
the contrivance. 'What was that he was shouting?" Jilian
asked. "What kind of words were those?"
"Gnomenclature," the human sighed. He turned to the
enthralled kender. "My name is Wingover," he said. "I'm
in charge of this expedition... or at least I keep telling
myself that. And I guess if we're to learn anything, it will
have to be from you."
* * * * *
The refugees from the Vale of Respite had moved far
ther west, deeper into Waykeep Valley. Pens were being
built for livestock, and a few huts had been erected for the sick and injured. Exploring parties were ranging out
ward, followed by gatherers gleaning field and forest for
supplies to help last out the winter. And a strong guard
perimeter was maintained to the east, though there had
been no evidence of any further pursuit.
Though he was anxious to be on his way, Chane Feld
stone had put off his quest long enough to build a sturdy
pit-forge and begin the making of tools that the refugees
would need. Scavengers from both the human and dwar
ven camps were sifting through the ruins of nearby an
cient gnomish artifacts, recovering metal to be fired and
beaten into tools and weapons to replace things they had
left behind when the goblin force attacked.
Chane was shaping a serviceable anvil and showing
some of the younger hill dwarves how to cut blade-stock
when the hum of conversation around him died, and he
looked up. And gawked.
Jilian Firestoke stood before him, staring in profound
disbelief. Jilian Firestoke, who was supposed to be safely
home in the Daewar district of Thorbardin. She stood
just yards away, here in the wilderness, dressed in rugged
trail garb and sturdy boots, with a broadsword slung at
her back. Still, beyond all doubt she was the same Jilian
Firestoke who so often filled his dreams. Morning sun
danced in her hair and gleamed in her bright eyes, and Chane simply stared at her.
"What on Krynn are you doing?" she asked. "Those
clothes... I never saw anything like those. And your
cheeks are ruddier than before. You look older, too.
What is that?" She pointed at his face.
Chane groped for words and found none.
"That spot on his head?" the grinning kender beside Ji
lian asked. "The red moon gave him that. It has some
thing to do with the crystal he has. The Spellbinder."
Chane tried again. "J - Jilian?"
"I told you he'd be surprised," the kender chatted.
"Surprised?" A tall man with sword and flinthide
shield came into Chane's shocked and narrowed view.
"I'd say he's speechless."
"Wh - What are you... ah... Jilian?"
"Of course I'm Jilian." The dwarven girl shook her
head. "Chane, you look so strange. Where did you get
that clothing?"
"He hollowed out a kitty cat." The kender giggled. "It
was his first step toward becoming rich and famous."
The words crowding and jostling each other at
Chanc's lips finally sorted themselves out. In a roar that
stunned those facing him and set them back a step, he
said, "Jilian, what are you doing here?" "Why..." She blinked large, startled eyes. "Why, I
came to find you. I found out what my father did, and I
thought you might be in trouble."
Chane's mouth hung open for a long moment, then he
closed it with a snap. His eyes blazing, Chane came
around the forge. He strode to Jilian and pointed a shak
ing finger at her nose. "That is the stupidest thing I ever
heard! Of all the.... Don't you know it's dangerous out
here? You could be hurt! You could be... Jilian, for
Reorx's sake! You have no business outside, much less
out here in the wilderness!"
Her voice shook and her eyes blinked rapidly as she
pointed out, "You're here."
"That's different! I can take care of myself!"
Jilian was silent for a moment, the set of her face
changing from bewilderment to a smoldering anger. She
threw back her shoulders and planted her hands on her
hips. "Well, by all that's rustproof, so can I."
Chane glanced at the kender. "Where did you find
her?"
Chess indicated the man with the flinthide shield. "She
was with him."
Chane pivoted toward the man and raised his ham
mer. "You brought her here? By what right -" "Don't shake that thing at me," Wingover warned. His
hand was at the hilt of his sword.
"I'm here by my own doing, Chane Feldstone," Jilian
snapped. "I thought you'd be glad to see me."
Chane turned from the human. "I am glad to see you,"
he admitted. "But, Jilian, you don't belong here. You be
long in Thorbardin, where you're safe."
"I'm safe here," she said. "You're here. Besides, I
brought you something. I thought you might need it."
"What?"
"This." She drew a dagger from her tunic and handed it
to him, hilt-first.
Chane held the dagger, turning it in his hands, barely
seeing it as a sudden, embarrassing moisture clouded his
eyes. It was his nickeliron knife - the very one he had
cherished for so long, then had lost to the toughs who
routed him from the realm of Thorbardin. 'You...
came all this way to bring me this?"
"Well, yes. You always said it was important to you."
Chestal Thicketsway stepped close to look at the or
nate dagger. "That's pretty," he said.
Chane glared at him. 'You keep your hands off of it.
It's mine."
"I wouldn't doubt it for a minute," the kender said in
nocently. "Besides, I don't need it. I have a matched pair of nice cat-tooth daggers. Why would I need another
dagger?"
Quite a crowd seemed to have gathered, Chane no
ticed. Fleece Ironhill and Camber Meld were nearby,
with a number of their people from the refugee camps.
Also, there was a horse.
"Speaking of daggers," the kender chattered, "I hope
you took care of my pouch while I was gone, because I
think that's what Zap is attached to."
"That thing has been hanging around ever since you
left," Chane noted absently. "So maybe it is your pouch
it's attached to."
"Well, I plan to get rid of that pouch," Chess said.
Near at hand, something silent seemed to say, "Yes,
do. Please."
Several of those present jumped, and some turned full
circle, searching.
"What was that?" Jilian Firestoke asked.
"That was Zap." Chess shrugged. "Spooky, isn't he?"
"It's an unexploded spell," Chane told the girl. "Chess
accumulated it somewhere."
"He wants to happen," Chess explained, "but he can't
because he's too close to Chane, and Chane has the Spell
binder." "Well, when we come to someplace harmless, you can
throw away your pouch and that should put an end to
that," the dwarf said.
"Soon, please," Zap's soundless voice sounded.
"All right," the kender agreed. "But you'll have to wait
until I make a new pouch to keep all my things in. I've
got some pretty good stuff in that pouch, and I don't
want to lose any of it."
For a moment there was silence, then the silence
seemed to weep a thin, bitter wail of frustration.
"Look, I don't know what all this is about," Wingover
said, "but I'd sure like to have a serious talk with some
body."
"You will." A new voice spoke - a voice as cold as
winter's frost. "Tis time you knew where you're going,
man of the far places. Not that you've a choice, any more
than anyone else."
No one, apparently, had seen him arrive. But he stood
among them now, tall and thin, leaning on his staff. Be
neath his bison cloak, the hem of his faded red robe iden
tified him.
"A wizard," Wingover muttered.
"There you are," the kender grinned.
"Glenshadow," Chane Feldstone growled. By reflex, Wingover's flinthide shield drew across his
breast, and the wilderness man glared at the wizard
across its notched edge. "What's that about having no
choice? I make my choices, wizard."
"The moons have made an omen," Glenshadow
breathed. "One here has a mission, stamped upon him
by Lunitari. Others are chosen to accompany him, and a
magic beyond magic binds the bargain." He looked
around, his eyes falling upon the kender, then on Jilian,
and again on Wingover. Finally the wizard raised his
eyes and gazed into the high distances. Far off, against
the face of a mountain peak, Bobbin the gnome's soar
wagon glided in great circles.
"An odd assortment," the wizard muttered. "Very odd,
indeed."
* * * * *
Through waning day and into evening, there were
councils. News was exchanged, stories told and plans
discussed. Camber Meld and Fleece Ironhill recounted
again what had happened in the Vale of Respite, beyond
the Eastwall peaks. An army of goblins, they said. And
ogres among them. Camber Meld's eyes were moist as he
described the sudden, all-out attack on the human village of Harvest - the slaughter, the rout of survivors un
prepared for battle, the blood and the burning. Old
Fleece Ironhill's voice was a cold growl as he told of the
similar struggle at the hill dwarf village of Herdlinger.
The dwarves had been slightly better prepared. They
had seen the smoke above Harvest. But except for the
fighting lasting a bit longer, the story of Herdlinger's fall
was the same.
Chane Feldstone recounted the pursuit of the refugees
by ogres, as he had seen it, and Chestal Thicketsway told
with glee of the mountain dwarf's defeat of the ogre be
neath. The kender also told of what he had seen from
aloft, in the Vale of Respite. Camber Meld and Fleece
Ironhill glanced at each other, their faces stricken. Noth
ing was left of the places they and their people had called
home. There was nothing to go back to.
"How many were there?" Wingover asked. 'You say
an army. How much of an army was it?"
Camber Meld shrugged. "Two hundred. Five hundred.
We couldn't tell."
"Nearly eight hundred," a cold voice from outside the
circle put in. Everyone turned. "I saw it from the moun
tain," Glenshadow added. "Possibly eight hundred gob
lins, at least a dozen ogres among them... and a human leader."
"Where were you, to see all that?" Chane Feldstone
frowned.
The wizard lifted his staff. 'When I am away from
you - and that accursed stone you carry - I have eyes far
better than my own."
"Chane has the Spellbinder," Chess told Jilian. "Magic
doesn't work when it's around."
"A human leader?" Wingover was leaning toward the
wizard, frowning. 'What can you tell me of him?"
"Darkmoor," the wizard spoke almost in a whisper.
"Commander of goblins."
"What can you tell us of him, wizard?" Wingover
asked again.
"Not him," Glenshadow said slowly. "Her. Kolanda
Darkmoor. This much the mirror of the ice could tell me.
This much, and one thing more, the thing the moons in
omen told. It is the intent of someone - who, I do not
know - that the wilderness between Thorbardin and Pax
Tharkas be occupied and held."
"They will come here, then? The goblins?" Fleece
Ironhill looked at Camber Meld, then at the rest. "My
people - our people - will flee no more. But how can we
fight them when they come? We have so few
weapons...." Chane Feldstone stood, looking like one who had
come to a difficult decision. "There are weapons here," he
said. "I will show you where... or he can." He nodded
at Chestal Thicketsway. 'You will have to break them
out of ice, but they will serve." He indicated the old
sword slung to his back. "This is one of them. There are
many more. But I demand a thing of you, on your
honor."
"And that this?" Camber Meld asked.
Those you find here, with the weapons, are to be treated
gently and with respect. They hve had enough of fighting."
PART III
THE FORCE OF GOBLINS
Chapter 19
On a winding trail high on a mountainside, the
group halted its climb at a place where broken rock was
strewn across a hundred yards of trail and onto the rises
above.
"He's gone," Chane Feldstone said. "This is where I left
him, but he isn't here now."
'You should have killed him," Wingover said. "Burying an ogre doesn't mean he'll die. Earth is their natural ele
ment. Probably another one came along and dug him out.
You'll have to be very watchful now. Ogres don't forget a
slight or a defeat. This one won't forget you, Chane."
"Loam," the dwarf muttered. "His name is Loam."
"His buddy's name is Cleft," Chestal Thicketsway of
fered. "I saw him farther up, that day. But I didn't know
ogres helped each other."
"Against anyone else, they will," the man told him.
"They are not pleasant to have as enemies."
Jilian clung closely to Chane, her wide eyes alert and
darting about the mountainscape. She had never seen an
ogre, but she had heard of the creatures. If Chane had
ogres after him, she had a feeling he would need all the
help he could find.
Wingover scanned the skies, wishing abruptly that
Bobbin and his flying whatzit would show up. 'You can
never find a gnome when you need one," he muttered.
Chane glanced around. "Why do you need the
gnome?"
"It would be nice to have some idea what's beyond the
next turn," the man said. "I still think he could scout for
us, if he would just stick around."
"He doesn't have much control of the soarwagon," Chess pointed out. "It just sort of goes where it pleases
most of the time."
Wingover busied himself with trying to calm Geekay.
He kept a firm grip on the animal's lead, scratched its
ears and stroked its nose. The horse had been skittish for
the past hour, and Wingover wasn't sure whether it was
the recent presence here of an ogre, or possibly some dis
tant scent of goblins that worried him. Geekay shared
one characteristic with the elf, Garon Wendesthalas.
Geekay simply did not like goblins.
Thinking of the elf, Wingover wondered where he
was. Probably on his way back to Qualinost by now, he
decided.
With Geekay somewhat mollified, Wingover got out
one of his maps and studied it, then put it away. "We had
better go on," he told them. 'There should be a goat-trail
up ahead somewhere, leading off to the south. We'll fol
low that until we find a better path. I'd guess we're about
three days from safety."
Chane glanced around at him again. "Safety?"
"Thorbardin," Wingover said. "If we make good time
and stay to the high ground, it should be no more than
three days until we run into a border patrol. From there,
it's an easy trip home for you two, and I can head for Barter and start spending Rogar Goldbuckle's money."
"I'm not going to Thorbardin," Chane said levelly. "I
told you, I have something I have to do first."
"Then I'll just take Jilian home." Wingover shrugged.
"Either way, I'll have kept my pledge."
"You won't do anything of the kind," the girl snapped.
"I'm going where Chane goes, and you're supposed to go
along with us."
"Now look, Button, all I agreed to do was to escort
you into the wilderness to look for Chane Feldstone,
then to get you home safely. All right. We've been to the
wilderness. We found Chane Feldstone. Now it's time to
go home. It's as simple as that."
Nearby, the wizard Glenshadow sat on a rock, listen
ing. At Wingover's statement, he shook his head slowly,
but said nothing.
Jilian glared at the man. 'You made a debt of service.
Do you intend to break your pledge?"
Wingover frowned. "I intend to keep it. I just told you
that."
"Well, then, you'll have to wait a while longer because
Chane has to find Grallen's helm. It's his destiny."
The man stared at the dwarven girl, then at the
bearded young dwarf behind her. Two of a kind, he
thought. Each one more stubborn than the other. He turned to Glenshadow, sitting on his rock. 'You talk to
them," he said.
"What about?" the wizard asked, his voice hardly
more than a whisper. "She's right. Chane does have a
destiny. And as I said, you have no choice in the matter."
'%fell, as I said, I make my own choices," Wingover
growled. "East across this ridge is a valley swarming with
hostiles. A person would have to be crazy to go there."
Jilian stepped back and took Chane's hand in hers.
"Then I release you from your pledge," she told the man.
"We will go on without you, and you owe us nothing
more. Good-bye."
Geekay tossed his head, broke his reins free from
Wingover's grip, and pranced a few steps up the path,
past the glowering dwarves. He stood there, facing up
ward and away, snorting and pawing at the rock path.
"You, too?" Wingover snapped. He pointed a stern fin
ger at Chane. "You're going to get everyone killed," he
warned. "And for what? A dream."
"The dream was real," Chane said, his voice level.
"Grallen called me to go and find his helm. Thorbardin is
at stake, and the power to protect the kingdom is in that
helm. But you heard Jilian. You're free to go wherever
you want to go. We don't need you." "And where do you intend to go from here?"
"Where Grallen went. I have the Spellbinder. It shows
me the way."
Wingover took a deep breath, then released it in a
sigh. "That's how it is, then." He strode past them, recov
ered Geekay's lead, and started on without looking back,
though he could hear them following.
After a time, the old trail wound to the right along a
shoulder of the ridge, then switched back, climbing. At
the turn, a faint trail parted from it, leading southward.
The goat-trail. Wingover turned south, leading a reluc
tant Geekay, and walked a hundred yards before turning
to see the others going away, following the climbing trail
upward. At that distance, they looked very small. Two
dwarves, a robed mage, and a kender. Of them all, only
the kender turned to look back at Wingover; Chess gave
him a sad wave of the hand.
"Crazy," Wingover muttered. "They're all crazy."
He shrugged, put a toe in a stirrup, and swung into his
saddle. Ahead lay three days of wilderness, then the rela
tive security of the dwarven realm and the road back to
Barter. And he was free now of the debt of service. He
had been released. It would be good to get back to Barter,
to rest a bit, carouse a bit and spend Rogar Goldbuckle's
wager money.... Wingover turned in his saddle for another look back.
Far off on the climbing slope, Chane Feldstone and Jilian
Firestoke were just disappearing around a shoulder of
rockfall, the wizard plodding along behind them. Higher
up on the slope, the kender was scampering off ahead,
looking for whatever kender looked for.
"By all the moons," Wingover muttered, "I must be as
crazy as they are." He reined Geekay around, touched
heels to the animal, and went to catch up to the others.
When he finally came up to them, near the crest of the
ridge, he reined in. Dismounting, Wingover pointed a
demanding finger at Glenshadow. "There's just one thing
I want to know," he said. "What is your interest in all
this? Why are you with these people?"
"I have my own reasons," the wizard said.
"That's not good enough," Wingover growled. "If I'm
to face danger with someone, I want to know why he is
there."
Chane Feldstone rubbed his whiskers. "That sounds
like a fair question to me," he noted. Wide-set dwarven
eyes studied the wizard. "What's in it for you, anyway?"
Glenshadow sighed and slumped, leaning on his staff.
"A long time ago," he said slowly, "there was a renegade
mage. A wizard of the black who rejected the robes and the order. Three of us went in search of him. One of each
order. We went to find him, to... deal with him."
"Deal with him?" Jilian raised a pert brow. "What does
that mean?"
"A rogue mage cannot be tolerated," Glenshadow said.
"He must be persuaded to return to one of the orders...
or he must be eliminated. We tried to persuade him." He
paused, staring off into the distance. "We tried. And of
the three who went out, only I came back. Caliban's
powers were greater than we had known."
Glenshadow paused again, then added, "Caliban died
in the conflict, as well. And yet, somehow Caliban still
lives. I have set myself the task of completing what I
thought was through back then. Caliban lives, and he is
with those who oppose Chane Feldstone and his quest. I
seek Caliban."
Wingover looked at the mage with hooded eyes. "To
kill him I"
"If I can."
* * * * *
Sunlight lingered on the peaks when the group came
down through a meandering pass and looked out across
the Vale of Respite. In the distance, smoke trailed above
two burned-out villages -- no longer the smoke of destruction, but now the smoke of cookfires where an
army rested, occupying what had been a peaceful valley.
Chane stepped into the lead, raised a hand to halt the
column, and gazed into the distance. His hand closed
around the pulsing crystal in his pack. For a time he sim
ply stood there, the high-mountain wind ruffling his
beard. Then he turned away, and the others gathered
around him.
"Grallen's path leads east," he said. "On and on...
through the valley, and up the mountains beyond. I had
hoped it -- wherever I have to go -- would be closer."
"Toward Skullcap," Wingover said. "I thought as
much."
Chane gasped. 'You know where Grallen went?
"I've heard the stories," the man said. "From Rogar
Goldbuckle, and others. Grallen died at Shaman, or
somewhere nearby. It's called Skullcap, now. That
would be roughly northeast from here." He turned to see
the last of sunlight above the peaks to the west, then
turned back. "Point where it goes, this green trail of
yours."
Chane pointed, due east across the valley.
"Well, that doesn't tell us much," Wingover sighed.
"There's an easy path through the mountains over there.
But it's farther north. Where you're pointing -- that highest peak off there, that's called Sky's End. My map
doesn't show a trail there."
"I can only see what the stone shows me," Chane ad
mitted. "We'll have to cross over, and look from there."
"Easy enough to say," Wingover snorted. "Just cross
over. Of course, there's a little matter of several hundred
goblins and some ogres between here and there. Do you
have any ideas on that score?"
"We have the element of surprise," Chane suggested
uncertainly.
'That's the ticket," Chess said. "We'll slip up on them
and catch them off guard."
"That seems like a lot of goblins for us to attack," Jilian
pointed out. "Maybe it would be better if we just went
around them."
"If we can figure out where 'around them' is,"
Wingover noted. He turned to the wizard. "Don't you
have powers that might help us out?"
"Not here," Glenshadow said. "Not in the presence of
Spellbinder. Here I have only my eyes."
"Your magic doesn't work at all?" Wingover asked.
"It might or might not. And if it did, it would be unreli
able." "A little invisibility might come in handy," the kender
said. "I saw a lot of invisibility at Hylo the time the bird
came from... well, I didn't see it, exactly. What I did
was not see it. That's what invisibility does."
"I wish we had the gnome here now," Wingover said.
"I wonder where he is."
"Right here," a voice came from aloft. Wingover stared
up at the flying contraption, barely ten feet overhead.
"It's me," the gnome said. "Bobbin. Do you remember?"
"Of course I remember! Where have you been?"
"I'm not quite sure. Somewhere northwest, I think.
Where are you going?"
"Across that valley," Wingover shouted. "I'd like for
you to scout for us."
"All right, if that's what you want. But I don't think it's
such a good idea to go across there. There are surly peo
ple all over the place. Look here." He tossed something
over the side of the basket. It rang against stone, and
Chane picked it up. It was a bronze dart.
"Somebody shot me in the hub with that thing," Bob
bin griped. "Would have cost me a wheel, if I still had my
wheels."
Wingover blinked, realizing for the first time that the
flying craft no longer had its delicate silver-wire wheels.
"What did you do with your wheels?" "While I was in the northwest, I found some people -
elves, I think -- with raisins. I traded them my wheels for
a half-bushel of raisins. Fat lot of good wheels do me up
here, anyway."
"Take a look at this," Chane handed the goblin-dart to
Wingover.
The man looked at the object closely. It was a slim
bolt, about eighteen inches long, with a broad, sharp
head and airfoils of shaved wood. Darts were a favorite
weapon of goblins, and they often fired them from short,
stiff crossbows. Wingover started to shrug, then looked
more closely. "This isn't sand-cast," he said. "It looks as
though it has been forged, or turned on a wheel." He
handed the dart to Glenshadow.
"Not goblin work," the wizard judged.
"Well, it was a goblin that flung it at me," Bobbin
called down.
"I'd like to see a few more of these," Chane said. "If I
could compare some of them, I'd know whether they
were forge-turned or ground on a cold lathe."
Chestal Thicketsway snapped his fingers and opened
his large pack. "Like these?" He drew out two more
goblin-bolts.
"Where did you get those?" "The other night, when I was flying with Bobbin, these
came along. I'd forgotten that I had them." He dug deeper
into his pack, lifting out various other things one by one,
to look at them. "I have some pretty good stuff in here. I
should check it more often."
"Lathe-turned," Chane Feldstone pronounced, com
paring the darts. "No goblin ever made these. I wonder
who did."
"Somebody whose purpose was to turn out a lot of
them in a hurry," Wingover said.
"Somebody equipping an army?" Chane asked.
"Somebody who isn't a goblin, outfitting goblins?
That's crazy," Wingover scoffed.
Chane shook his head. "No crazier than the idea of a
human -- a human female -- being in command of a gob
lin force."
"Speaking of females," Wingover said as he looked
around, "where's Jilian?"
Chapter 20
Jilian was tired and cold. Wtile the others dis
cussed plans and situations, she wandered about the
area, looking for a place to rest out of the wind. The pass
here was a snow-dusted trough between rising peaks,
with little cover from the wind's biting teeth. Not far away, though, an outcropping had sheared away in
some bygone age, forming a mazelike rockfall where
slabs of stone lay against one another and dark crevices
beckoned.
She stooped to peer into one of these, a shadowy cave
where slate walls broke the wind. The cave was deeper
than it appeared, and another, darker opening, offset
and aslant, lay beyond it. The wind gusted again as Jilian
stepped into the shelter, leaning down to avoid the rock
above. It was cold within, but not as sharply so as out
side, where the relentless wind played. Her back to the
deeper cave, she crouched there, watching the rest of the
group. She hoped they would make up their minds soon.
It would be a relief to get off this cold mountain pass, to
be moving downward for a time, instead of toiling and
climbing.
Mountain winds sang around the opening in the rocks,
then died abruptly. In the silence Jilian heard a furtive
sound. As she started to turn, the dwarven girl was
seized by massive hard hands. She tried to struggle, but
the strength of whatever held her was immense. She tried
to scream... and could not. She was hauled backward,
beyond the crevice and into the dark cave. A huge, leer
ing face appeared directly above Jilian -- a face twice the size of any she had ever seen, with a wide, grinning
mouth and little glittering eyes set close beside a great
snout of a nose.
"Pretty toy," the thing whispered, a low rumble of
sound at her ear. "Nice for Cleft. Maybe Loam can have
what's left." Crouching, the thing turned and headed
down into darkness, carrying Jilian as a child would
carry a doll.
Jilian's dwarven eyes adjusted quickly to darkness.
Even in her shock and panic, she noted that the tunnel
along which she was carried was of dwarven design. Like
the load-shafts in Thorbardin that led from one level to
another, it was a long, delved curve, spiraling down
ward, turn after turn.
She tried to struggle against the hands that held her,
but it was no use. The monster's hands completely encir
cled her, binding her arms to her sides so that all she
could move was her head and her feet. The pressure of
the thing's grip was crushing. Jilian fought desperately
just to breathe, and her spinning mind registered spiral
after spiral of descending tunnel, its walls echoing to the
thud of the creature's feet.
After a time, the girl twisted her head around, trying
to get her teeth into a huge thumb. The thing glanced
down at her, saw what she was trying to do, and chuckled, a deep, evil rumble of mirth. It shifted its grip
slightly and increased the pressure. Jilian felt as though
her ribs were breaking. Ogre, she thought. This is an
ogre! Maybe the same ogre that has a grudge against
Chane. Maybe it's doing this to get even with him... or
maybe to lure him into a trap!
Jilian made herself hold very still. After she pretended
to go limp, the creature's grip eased slightly. There was a
little more light now, and she could see that the tunnel
widened out, then widened again, becoming a vaulted
cavern twenty or thirty feet across.
A staging area, she thought. Whatever dwarves had
delved this place, in some bygone time, had crafted a ca
vern here -- a place to store and sort things to be carried
up or down the spiral shaft. A resting place. She had seen
such places in Thorbardin. Dim marks on the floor might
even have been the bases of ancient cable-track, though
there was no hardware in the place now. All this she no
ticed in an instant, as the ogre slowed its pace and raised
her higher in the dim light.
"Far enough," the creature rumbled. A mouth like a
yawning slit revealed spike teeth. "Well underground.
Let's see what pretty thing I have found."
Jilian lay limp in its grasp, and let her head loll to one side, feigning unconsciousness. Higher she was lifted as
the ogre peered at her in the dim shaft-light, turning her
this way and that. It relaxed its grip, holding her now
with one hand while the other poked her with large fin
gers. Finally, the ogre took hold of her tunic and started
to tear it away. Close enough, Jilian decided. With a
heave, she freed herself from some of the fingers, twisted
around, and delivered a solid kick, directly into a leering
eye.
The ogre roared as it staggered back and dropped Ji
lian. She hit the cavern floor and scooted away on hands
and knees. Suddenly, though, she remembered that her
borrowed sword was still slung on her back. Ignoring the
monster's roars, she got to her feet and loosed the sword,
then ducked as the ogre's hand whisked past her. She
turned and ran into the descending tunnel beyond the
staging cavern.
In this lower spiral there was no light at all.
Surrounded by complete darkness, Jilian ran as she
had never run before, counting her steps, trusting her
dwarven instincts and the skills of the tunnelers who had
built this place long ago. The lower spiral would be a
twin of the upper... she hoped. She put her faith in the
dwarven passion for symmetry and ran. The thudding footfalls of the ogre echoed off walls around her, and its
rumbling curses were thunder in her ears. The monster
was no more than a half-turn behind, and she wondered
for a moment how something that big could move so
quickly in a black tunnel. Then she recalled something
Wingover had said about ogres. Ogres are at home un
derground. It's their natural element.
Well, it's mine, too, Jilian thought fiercely. And no
ogre built this place. Dwarves did. "You don't belong
here, you ugly rust-heap!" she shouted. "You aren't fit to
use a good delving!"
Behind her the ogre roared again and quickened its
pace.
Again counting her steps, and putting blind faith in the
good judgment of dwarven delvers, she sprinted another
dozen paces, then stopped, turned to her right, and scur
ried forward. In the upper spiral there had been a small
cubicle opening to the left. In the lower tunnel, midway,
there should be one to the right.
It was there. Jilian found the opening and scurried
through, holding her breath as the ogre raced past...
and stopped. For a long moment there was silence, then
she heard its rasping breath, returning. It knew she had
eluded it, and it was coming back to search.
Quickly, Jilian felt around on the floor. Her hand closed on a small, flat stone. She eased herself to the por
tal, edged partway into the tunnel, and threw the stone
upshaft, toward the staging room. The stone rang
against rock wall, and the ogre chuckled in the darkness.
Jilian ducked into the cubicle again as it charged past,
heading back up the tunnel. Then the girl darted out into
the tunnel and ran.
She hadn't gained much. Within seconds the ogre was
in pursuit again and closing. She ran and let dwarven in
stinct guide her flying feet.
Abruptly, she realized that she could see the walls.
There was light ahead, and it was growing. The lower
end of the spiral-shaft was ahead.
Another hundred yards and the tunnel bent slightly to
the left, straightened, and ended. Jilian sprinted between
fallen stones and emerged on a cleared shelf on the side of
a mountain -- a shelf that once had been the terminus of a
path. But there was no path now. It had sheared away in
some long-ago rockfall. It would be a tedious climb, to
get down to better ground, but at least now there was
light.
"So far, so good," Jilian panted, then turned as a thun
derous growl erupted behind her. Only yards away, the
ogre had emerged from the tunnel. It still held a hand over one eye.
"I'm warning you," Jilian shouted, "I'm getting very
tired of this. You'd better go away and leave me alone."
The ogre growled again and started for her. Jilian
picked up a rock and flung it, aiming for the thing's other
eye. The rock bounced off the monster's nose.
"Oh, rust," Jilian swore. "That's only made things
worse." She hefted her sword and squared her stance
sideways to the approaching ogre. "I didn't want to have
to do this," she muttered.
As the monster charged, Jilian braced her feet and
swung the sword with all her strength.
Chapter 21
Atop the pass, the others had split up. Wiwgover
sent Bobbin sailing off westward to have a look at the
backtrail, then swung into his saddle and spurred his
horse down the twisting, perilous path that led away into
the Vale of Respite. Chane Feldstone started after him,
then glanced aside and recognized the cavern behind the
rockfall. "Tunneling," he muttered. Without a backward
look, he dashed into the cavern and ran, his hammer at
the ready. Within a few yards, his nostrils caught the
earthy scent of ogre, and he gritted his teeth. "Jilian," he
whispered. "Ah, Reorx. Jilian...." Chestal Thicketsway was right behind the dwarf, fol
lowed by a whining, complaining, voiceless voice that
seemed to object fiercely to being dragged through sub
terranean places.
The wizard Glenshadow watched them go, then chose
a peak and began to climb. He noticed almost immedi
ately that the crystal atop his staff had cleared as soon as
Chane Feldstone went underground. It was something
important to remember, regarding Spellbinder. Glensha
dow climbed, seeking an ice pool that would give him
seeing eyes.
Down and down the searchers went, the dwarf and the
kender pounding down a long, corkscrew spiral in the
heart of the mountain; the mounted man descending the
slope, looking everywhere, trying to see everything.
In the cavern with the light shaft, Chane found prints in
the dust on the stone floor and paused, then hurried on. Ji
lian was ahead somewhere, with the ogre in pursuit.
As one, Chane and Chess darted into the far tunnel
and continued downward, running as fast as they could
in the darkness. The kender's natural balance and simple
luck were all that kept him abreast of the tunnel-wise
dwarf.
The downward slope eased, and the tunnel began to straighten. Chane put on more speed. Just ahead, he
knew, the shaft should emerge into open air. And if Jilian
had managed to escape the ogre in the tunnel -- how, he
couldn't imagine -- her fate would be sealed when the
monster had room to maneuver. Outside, she would
have no chance.
The tunnel wound slightly to the left, and then there
was light ahead... light and an abrupt, heart-stopping
sound. A shrill, agonized scream reverberated back into
the tunnel from just beyond its end.
Chane put his head down, filled his aching lungs, and
plunged ahead into the evening light. Off to one side, he
heard a horseman coming downslope, rocks clattering
beneath charging hooves.
The dwarf raised his hammer. As Chane skidded to a
halt, the kender bumped into him from behind, then
dashed aside to wield his hoopak.
But there was nothing to attack. Chane and Chess
gathered there, staring in wonder.
Jilian was a spinning top, just beginning to run
down -- a flashing, tilting, dancing blur spewing blood
from the point of an extended sword. Cloven carnage
was just collapsing, almost at her twirling feet. The head
and shoulders of an ogre thudded down on top of a tangled pile of bloody parts, just as the dwarven girl's sword
flashed around again and took off the top of its skull,
above its eyes.
"By the Hammer of Kharas," Chane swore.
"Yuk," Chestal Thicketsway said.
"What in the name of all the gods?" Wingover's voice
came from just upslope. "Jilian? Are you... are you all
right?"
Jilian pivoted a few more times, then got her balance.
Wordlessly the girl lowered the point of her sword and
rested on its hilt as she tried to catch her breath. She
stared at the pile of sliced ogre, then turned away, wrin
kling her nose. At the sight of Chane, she ran to him. "I
knew you'd come," she puffed, "but that... he didn't
give me any time to wait for you."
Chane simply stared at the dismembered ogre, speech
less.
"He was rude," Jilian explained. "He wasn't behaving
well at all."
Chane began to shake his head, slowly.
"That's Cleft," Jilian introduced, pointing at the stack
of ogre parts.
"That's one way to put it," Chess noted. "Although
'sliced' would be a better word. Wow! Look at that! Feet
...shins... knees... hands... thighs... nothing is connected together. Even his head's in two pieces. Wow!"
Wingover had dismounted, and now he, too, stood
and stared.
"I never realized that ogres had two stomachs," Chess
remarked, poking around in the gore of the monster with
a stick.
Chane took Jilian's sword and began to clean it, still
shaking his head. "Were did you learn to use a sword?"
he asked dazedly.
"In Silicia Orebrand's parlor," she said. "It didn't take
much practice. I seem to be a natural. Now aren't you
glad I came looking for you?" She strode to Wingover's
horse, led the animal a few yards away, positioned it be
side a boulder, and said, "Excuse me for a minute,
please." Dropping its reins, she climbed up on the rock
and began unlashing one of the packs.
Wingover was still gawking at the cloven ogre, but
now he noticed Jilian with his horse, and hurried across.
"What are you doing? Those things are mine."
"Then make yourself useful and convince your animal
to stand still," she said. "He keeps sidling away."
Wingover stilled the horse, caught up its reins, and
scowled across the saddle at the dwarven girl. "Those are
my private things. What are you doing?" Rummaging deep in the open pack, Jilian drew out a
long garment of stained white linen. It was longer than
she was tall, but by holding it high and turning to the
edge of the rock, she could study it full-length. "This will
do, I suppose," she decided. "What is it?"
Wingover tried to reach across the saddle, to grab the
garment out of her hand, but couldn't reach it. "Put that
back," he demanded.
"That ogre ripped my clothing," Jilian said. "But what
is this thing, anyway?"
"It's a cleric's robe," Wingover snapped. "I traded some
deerhides for it."
"Why? What did you want it for?"
"I intend to sleep in it! Sometime, if ever I find a quiet
room in a civilized place. Now, let's drop the subject. If
you can use it, go ahead, I guess. Do you want me to -- 7"
"I think I can tend to the fitting." Jilian smiled, folding
the robe and turning back to the open pack to see what
else might be useful. She had help now. The kender had
lost interest in ogre internals and was up on the boulder,
helping her rummage.
'You have some nice stuff in here," Chess told the man.
"There are goblins or something all over down there,"
Chane said, peering down at the valley. 'They're out in
squadrons, patrolling all over the place. We won't be able to go around them."
"Through them, then?" Chess asked, looking up from
a saddlebag.
"I wish we had Bobbin to sort out a route for us," the
man said. "But he went the other way, and there's no tell
ing when he might show up again. By the way, where's
the wizard? I haven't seen him since we came down from
the pass."
"He went up," Chane said.
"I guess we'll just have to find our way, then."
Wingover looked at the sky. "Daylight will be gone in an
hour. I guess we can try to cross by night. It's only a few
miles, straight across... unless we decided to change
our minds and just make for Thorbardin." He had their
attention, and the expressions forming on various faces
brought a grin to his own. "Just checking," he said. "I
wouldn't want to try to slip through a valley full of gob
lins unless I was pretty sure everybody with me is as de
termined as I am."
Chane Feldstone's thoughtful frown didn't relax. The
dwarf stepped closer to the human, looked up into his
eyes, and held his gaze. "I never wanted to get involved
in anything like this. I didn't want to wind up in the wil
derness, or fight ogres and goblins, or be singled out to finish some task that was begun before ever I was born.
But I won't turn back now. I wouldn't if I could. Do you
know why? It's because something very bad is happening
...or is going to happen. I happen to be here, and I hap
pen to have a chance to do something about it. If I don't,
then who is going to?"
"I wouldn't miss it for anything," Chestal Thicketsway
assured Wingover. "And I think that goes for Zap, too."
He glanced around at nothing in particular. "Doesn't it,
Zap?"
"Misery and confusion," something silent seemed to say.
The kender grinned. "That means he can hardly wait
to see what happens next."
Jilian Firestoke peered out from behind a screen of
mountain brush, where she was doing something. "What
Chane said goes for me, too," she said.
"Any further doubts?" Chane asked the man.
Wingover shook his head. "Not a single one."
"Then let's stop talking about it and go on," Chane
snapped.
"Someone is coming." The kender pointed. A moment
later brush parted on the rising slope and the wizard
Glenshadow came into view. He looked haggard and
cold, but his steps were firm. "The valley is full of goblins," Chane told him. "We are
going to try to cross at night."
"I've seen them," Glenshadow said. "They are all over,
and they're moving around. Where is the crystal? Where
is Spellbinder?"
"Right here." Chane reached into his belt-pouch. As
his fingers touched the artifact it pulsed warmly, and
again he saw the luminous green path leading away
across the Vale of Respite, toward the slopes beyond. He
drew it out. It glowed, rosy in the half-light.
"Put it in a hole," the wizard said.
"Why?"
"Because I'm curious about something. Don't worry, I
won't trick you. There. That hole in the rock, put it
there."
Suspiciously, Chane squatted beside the indicated
hole. It was little more than a foot deep, just a pocket
where erosion had widened a crack on the stone. The
others gathered around, curious.
"Go ahead," the wizard insisted. "Put it in there. You
can take it out again in a moment."
Chane lowered the crystal into the hole, rested it on
the bottom, then stood and stepped back. Glenshadow
backed away, his eyes nearly closed. The crystal device
on his staff glowed feebly. "There is an effect," he muttered. "It makes a difference."
Chestal Thicketsway blinked and looked up. A drop
of rain had fallen on his head.
"Are you finished?" Chane asked the wizard. "It's time
to go."
"Yes," Glenshadow noted thoughtfully. "It is time to go."
"What was that all about?" Wingover asked. But the
wizard had turned away.
Chane retrieved the crystal, put it away, and lashed his
pack. Jilian came from the screen of brush, now clad in a
tunic of stained white linen, scaled down to fit her by a
series of clever tucks, folds, and ties. She handed most of
the once-robe back to the human.
Wingover stared at her. "I don't know why I ever
thought that old robe was for me," he said.
Chane took the lead, and they started down the dark
ening slopes, toward the Vale of Respite, where goblins
now occupied what had once been a vale of peace.
When they were gone, something massive came from
the rocks and paused to look at the heap of chilling gore
that once had been an ogre.
He prodded the mess with his toes, then stepped over it
and went to where the dim trail led downward. He
growled, a noise that rumbled like distant thunder. "Cleft was careless," he muttered. "Cleft is dead.
Should have waited for Loam, instead. But puny ones
are still in sight. Loam will have a sport this night."
Without looking back, the ogre took the trail where
the searchers had gone.
Chapter 22
Full night lay on the valley, a nigtht of moons in
crescent pale above the smoke that hung like a layer of
smudgy cloud just at the treetops. Bonfires, dozens of
them, glowed at ragged intervals along the course of the
winding stream that fed the valley from the south. Out in
the meadows, near the treelines that marked the grazing
fields and burned-over stubbles, other fires marked a pe
rimeter. And through it all, suffusing the acrid pall of
smoke, was goblin-stench.
Mounted, Wingover ranged out on the forward flanks
of the little band of travelers -- first warning and first de
fense for the group, should they be discovered. He went
silently, keeping to shadows where he could. Chane Feld
stone led the rest, his hammer ready in his hand, the an
cient path of Grallen visible before him as a faint green
mist.
Chestal Thicketsway was a small, darting shadow, sometimes among them and sometimes not, but never
far away. The kender's sheer, wide-eyed excitement and
curiosity was a source of real concern to the rest, but
there was little enough anyone could do to curb him. A
kender was always a kender.
Had Chess been as tall as a goblin, Wingover might
well have chopped off his head when the kender ap
peared unexpectedly in shadows beside him and said,
"I-"
The sharp sword that whisked past the top of Chess's
head would have taken a goblin at the gullet.
"Oops," the kender said. "Did I startle you? Sorry."
"Keep your voice down!" Wingover whispered. 'What
are you doing here?"
"I'm part of this group, remember?" Chess held it to a
whisper now. "I just wanted to tell you, there are goblins
moving back and forth among the fires. I saw a handful
of them right over there, just a minute ago."
"A handful?"
"Five. They have a dead sheep."
"I wish you'd stay with the dwarves," Wingover
hissed. But there was no answer. Chess was gone again,
off on some adventure of his own. At least, Wingover re
assured himself, the little creature could move silently
when he felt like it. They were nearly a mile into the valley when
Wingover saw movement near the end of a hedgerow a
hundred yards away. He signaled, a downward thrust of
his spread hand, and reined into shadow. The stench of
goblin and smoke was everywhere, and the sky above
was a low, drifting fabric with fireglow on its belly. Only
rarely was any trace of the moons beyond visible.
Crouching in silence, Wingover chanced a glance back
and saw that the rest were out of sight. They had seen the
signal and faded into a clump of trees at the edge of a
field.
At first there was nothing to see, then there was move
ment just ahead. Dark shapes appeared, coming over a
low knoll, directly toward Chane's party. Wingover
counted three silhouettes with wide, round heads, wear
ing inverted-bowl helmets. The glint of weapons showed
amongst them.
The shadows came on, moving quietly, their only
sound an occasional muted clank of metal on metal.
Wingover dismounted and raised his shield an inch,
peering over the top of it, his sword ready. The goblins
were so close that the man could hear their guttural
voices:
"... not much farther. Don't get too close. Want to ring them, not run into them." A few steps more and they
stopped. Wingover saw a tiny flare of light made by a
hooded lamp, its top lifted an inch to light a straw.
They had torches! Suddenly Wingover realized what
they were doing. They were part of an encirclement, pre
paring to flare torches.
Somewhere a hoopak whistled, and one of the goblin
shadows stiffened, gurgled, and fell. The human didn't
hesitate. Still crouching, he launched himself at the re
maining two, clenching his teeth to stifle the battle cry
that built in his throat. Like a darker shadow, Wingover
was on them, and his sword sang softly as it clove be
tween the helm and collar of the nearest one.
Without stopping, Wingover thrust at the remaining
goblin, and his blade rang on metal. In the fitful light he
saw its glittering eyes, wide with surprise, saw its mouth
open to shout alarm. He clubbed the goblin with the edge
of his shield. It crumpled at his feet. Before the hooded
lantern could strike the ground, Wingover caught and
covered it. Then he took a quick look around, raised
himself slightly, and signaled.
In moments the others were with him.
"They know we're here," Chane said.
"They know, all right. Stay close and follow me -
straight out across that field. And hurry!" They moved, trusting to no more than luck to see them
to the next cover. The searchers crept across a narrow
field of stubble, where dead things they could not make
out were beginning to rot, then down a slope into a gully
that would carry seasonal runoff toward the main flow
ing stream.
"Lead," Wingover whispered to Chane. "We need dis
tance, quick!"
The dwarf went ahead silently, and they increased
their pace, staying low in the gully.
Wingover glanced back, looking over the cut just
where it deepened. There, where they had been, torches
were springing alight by twos and threes -- a wide ring of
lights that would have bathed them in glowing fire had
they been there.
He went on, catching up to the rest, counting them as
he passed. There was no sign of the kender. Chane eased
back to cover the rear now, and Wingover led, choosing
the best and most silent route down through the gully.
"How do they know we're here?" Jilian whispered.
"Worse than that, they knew exactly where,"
Wingover pointed out. "They may find us again." He
motioned ahead. "This cut winds around farther on.
There could be an ambush. One of us should scout ahead."
"I'll go," Jilian said, then paused. Just ahead a small fig
ure was running toward them. It was the kender.
Chess reached them and pointed back the way he had
come. 'There are goblins ahead, waiting," he whispered.
"I think they know we're here."
Somewhere behind, there were guttural shouts.
"They've found the dead ones," Wingover said. "If
they didn't know before -- which they probably did -
they certainly know now. How many are ahead?"
"I don't know." Chess shrugged. "A bunch."
"Hold up here," the man hissed, and Chane came for
ward to see what was happening.
"There's an ambush ahead," Wingover said. "They've
found us, and now they'll close in."
Chane turned to the wizard, who had remained silent
for much of the trek. "Do you have any ideas?"
"I can't rely on magic here," Glenshadow rasped. "Not
with you carrying that crystal."
"Not even a little spell?" Chess suggested. "Just some
thing innocent, like conjuring fifty or sixty armed fight
ers to back us, or --"
"Make us invisible," Chane said. "Can you do that?"
"A spell of invisibility? Easily... except for Spellbinder. I don't know what would happen."
'You had the dwarf put that thing in a hole earlier,"
Wingover said. -How about trying it that way? I saw
your staff glow when he did."
"I'm going back down there to look at those goblins,"
the kender said. "Let me know what you decide." He was
gone before anyone could stop him.
"It might not work," Glenshadow said. "Spellbinder's
power is --"
"We'll try it," Chane decided. He looked around, then
crawled on hands and knees to the edge of the gully, ex
plored there for a second, and whispered, "Here's some
thing. Like a small animal's burrow. it's -- ouch!"
"What happened?" Jilian asked.
"Something bit me, then ran up my arm and across my
head. It's gone now, though. This hole is... uh!...
arm's length. I'm putting Spellbinder in here! Try it, wiz
ard. It's our only chance."
A fat drop of rain splatted into the dust at the wizard's
feet, then several more. Faint thunder rumbled over
head, and the murk deepened. "I'll try," Glenshadow de
cided. He raised his staff, its own crystal device glowing
faintly, and spoke sharp words in a language that meant
nothing to the rest.
For a long moment, nothing happened. Then Wingover looked around and drew a sharp breath.
Nearby, Jilian had begun to glow -- a rosy pink light ema
nated from her, haloed about her. And beyond, the oth
ers glowed, too. Even the horse had a fine gray patina
that reflected off the walls of the gully. The man looked
at his own hands. He, too, was shining -- a distinct
yellow-gold glow. Even the wizard was lit... had a
glow on, Wingover corrected. Glenshadow shone a deep
ruby-red, as though light came from within him and car
ried the color of his blood.
Down the gully, guttural voices were raised, and
something small and bright green came racing toward
them from that direction. 'You call this invisible?" The
kender's exasperated cry echoed ahead of him. He skid
ded to a stop. "Wow! You look like lanterns with legs!" he
said, pointing back down the gully. "They'll be here in a
minute. They're yours to play with. I'll go see if I can find
some others."
Like a small, green torch, Chess bounded to the wall of
the gully, up it to the top, and away across open land.
Shouts of pursuit came from where he had gone.
The sprinkling rain that had started moments before
had eased, but now, abruptly, it came again, a soaking
curtain of rain with winds behind it. High lightnings danced, and thunder rolled.
"Now that's more like it," Wingover snapped at the
wizard. "Come on, we have to get out of this gully. Here,
I'll take the horse. Where's Chane? Chane?"
"I'm right here beside you," the dwarf said. "Go on, Ji
lian. I'm right behind you."
Of them all, only Chane was not aglow. He had never
released his grip on Spellbinder.
The rain came harder, a blinding, driving downpour
that began to fill the gully as they climbed to its high
bank. Through the noise of the storm, Chane and the
others heard the voices of goblins coming up the cut,
then the sounds of splashing in water and mud.
Clouds had rolled in above the lingering smoke, hid
ing the dim moons. The rain doused the goblins' fires.
Within moments, the only light in the valley was the
bright glows from the heroes themselves.
"I wish you'd done the second spell first and just
skipped the first one," Wingover told the wizard.
"My spell recoiled," Glenshadow said. "Spellbinder is
too powerful."
'"I mean the rain," the man said, hurrying them along.
"If we can get a little distance, the downpour might help
US.
"I didn't bring the rain," Glenshadow admitted. "You mean it just happened?" Chane Feldstone
growled, a shadow among glowing people. "I don't be
lieve it."
Glenshadow shook his head. "No, it didn't just hap
pen. It's magic... but not mine."
"There are goblins coming from both directions in that
cut." Wingover pointed back. 'When they meet, they're
going to come out. Even in this rain, they'll see us, the
way we're shining. Come on, we'd better run for it."
He lifted Geekay's reins, turned to run, and stopped.
He listened. "I hear something," he said.
The rest turned, listening intently. Rain hissed and
thunders rolled overhead, and through it came the
splashing, shouting menace of goblins converging in the
gully. For a moment there was nothing more, then the
others heard it.
Below the other sounds, lower-pitched and barely au
dible, a rumbling grew, coming from their right, from
higher ground.
"What is it?" Jilian hissed. "That sound."
Then Wingover knew, and he arched a thoughtful
brow. Flash flood. Massed waters filling the lowlands
upstream, overtopping the deep gully, rushing down to
ward the stream somewhere below. "Floodwaters," he said.
"The goblins in the gully," Jilian added.
"They're wearing armor," Chane concluded.
Wingover dropped his reins and ran back toward the
gully. He heard the others coming behind him. By the
light of his own glow he saw the gully's rim, saw heads
coming up over it, and saw a pair of hasty bolts flick past
as he halted, just a few yards from the edge. A flung
stone toppled a goblin backward into the dark cut he had
just left. The rumble had become a roar, and was coming
closer.
Wingover felt a bronze bolt tear at his shield, ducked a
second missile, and howled a chilling war cry as he
charged down on the shadowy figures coming over the
edge. His sword, glowing with golden light, traced rapid
patterns up and down and around, clattering against ar
mor and blades, darkening itself with goblin blood.
Two creatures fell before Wingover, and four more
took their places, coming up from the roaring, water
filled gully. He fended the strokes of two with his blade,
took another cut on his shield, and saw the dark, furred
shape of Chane Feldstone as the dwarf's hammer pierced
a goblin's helmet.
At Chane's side, Jilian was a rosy blur in the dark, a whirling blade with a spinning top at its axis.
The roar from the gully became a crashing, tearing
screech of sound, and a wall of spray swept down the
draw, sparkling in the light of the glowing fighters as it
passed. After the wall of water passed, there seemed to
be nothing left to fight.
How many goblins had there been, there in the cut?
Wingover wondered silently. There was no way to
know. They were gone, drowned and carried away to
ward the main watercourse.
On the bank, a shadow moved and another, darker
shadow sprang toward it. Chane's hammer went up, and
the dwarf rolled another goblin into the torrent. He
stood, staggering, and Jilian caught him as he started to
fall. The dwarven girl raised her glowing face, wide
eyed, and beckoned to Wingover. He reached the two in
two steps and knelt.
Chane was down, his teeth gritted with pain, and by
their own light they saw the bronze bolt standing in his
shoulder. Jilian reached for it, but a glowing, red hand
stopped her.
"Let me," Glenshadow said. "I know what to do."
With Chane's own nickeliron dagger, the wizard cut
out the goblin-bolt, then peeled back the dwarf's fur tu
nic to cut away the rag of linen beneath. He studied the wound. Setting his thumbs at each side of the gash, he
squeezed it closed. "Get me a flame," he told Wingover.
The man fumbled in his pouch for his fire-maker, a
cunning device obtained from hill dwarves long ago. He
fumbled again, then peered into his pouch. "It isn't here,"
he said.
"Never mind," the wizard said. "Jilian, see how I'm
holding the puncture? Can you do that?"
Jilian took Glenshadow's place, and the wizard
reached into his own belt-pouch and brought out a
small, silver object with a lid. "Phosphors," he said. "It
will do as well."
"Phosphors," Wingover muttered, an idea dawning.
But there wasn't time to consider it now.
Glenshadow smeared a bit of paste from the container
over the hole in Chane's shoulder, then took another,
darker substance and knelt beside Jilian. "Let go now,
and get back," he said.
She withdrew her hands, and Glenshadow touched
the second paste to the first with a knife-blade. Suddenly
a brilliance flared on the dwarf's shoulder, and Chane
moaned.
The light subsided as quickly as it had flared. A puff of
white smoke, lifting away to be dispersed by the pounding rain, rose into the air.
"Bandage him," "Wingover said grimly. "We have to
move on. It's still a long way across this valley."
Chapter 23
When Chestal Thicketsway went looking for
more goblins, it didn't take him long to find them. Unfor
tunately, he had momentarily overlooked the fact that he
was glowing bright green.
By the time the kender saw the double platoon of
armed hostiles coming at him across a field, they had al
ready seen him. All he could do was run. Rain danced
and sizzled around him as he fled, every step taking him
farther from his friends and deeper into enemy territory.
He tried dodging into a hedgerow, and realized there was
nowhere for him to hide. In the thickening blackness of
the rainy night, he shone like a green beacon. Even
shielded by the pouring rain, which increased steadily as
he fled from a growing pursuit, his light gave him away.
Sure evidence of that was the sheer number of metal
bolts that whisked and sang around him, coming from
various directions.
The goblins couldn't see him well enough to aim care
fully, Chess realized -- at lease if he kept moving and managed to evade dose contact with any of them. But
the bolts kept coming, and he had to admit that simple
luck would guide some of them his direction.
"This may not have been a very good idea," he told
himself, diving into a wash half-filled with dark, racing
water. A pair of bronze bolts slapped water into the ken
der's face, and he ducked. Soon Chess was fighting an in
creasing current. It carried him one hundred yards
downstream before he made it to the far bank.
His glow preceded him, and as he clambered out of the
wash a grinning goblin charged into the light, brandish
ing a sword. Chess braced his hoopak, thumped the butt
end of it into the creature's face, then brought it around
full-circle. The shaft struck the goblin across the back of
the neck and laid it out.
Chess grabbed up the creature's sword, and his nostrils
twitched at the smell of goblin. He changed his mind and
flung the sword from him, point-first. In the darkness
somewhere close, a goblin gurgled and fell, pierced be
tween breastplate and buckler. Chess didn't wait to see
what would happen next. He turned and ran, following
the course of the filling wash.
All about him was storm -- pouring rain and driving
winds, sheet lightning and rumbling thunder. Chess ran,
and something hung with him, something that was part of the storm. It- seemed to expand, to flex invisible mus
cles. A voice that was no voice said, "Ah!"
"Ah?" Chess panted. "What do you mean, ah? Do you
have something to do with this... aha! You do! Well,
nice going, Zap. Just keep it up, will you?"
"More," something seemed to demand. "Much more."
"Just behave yourself!" The kender dodged through a
small wooded lot, where trees exploded into fiery kin
dling as great bolts of lightning struck them. The thunder
was deafening. Goblin feet pounded behind Chess, pur
suing the globe of bright green light. A bronze bolt
zipped past the kender's ear and buried itself in a tree
trunk.
As Chess dodged past a clump of brush, lightning re
vealed a wedge of goblin-warriors coming at the kender
from ahead, only yards away. Crossbows went up, and
Chess went down, diving flat onto a sheet of water
inches deep. Bolts sang over him and found targets
among the goblins pursuing. Chess rolled aside and set
off at right angles, cursing the bright green glow that
shone about him. "Invisibility," he hissed. "That's some
wizard we found!"
Hazy boles of trees danced past the kender, reflecting
his own green light through the pouring rain, then he was in a cleared field and someone was just ahead. Chess
skidded to a halt, soupy mud sheeting from his feet.
More goblins... and something else. A creature taller
than goblins, wearing dark armor with intricate designs
and a grotesque barbed helmet with a hideous mask. The
creature raised a sword, beckoned, and the goblins
around it charged.
"If you have any more tricks, Zap," Chess breathed,
"now's the time."
"Much more," something silent said.
Lightning crashed and crescendoed, huge brilliant
bolts striking all around. The kender's long hair fell from
around his neck, unraveled itself, and seemed to stand
straight out from his head, a huge crown of dark bristle.
Bolt after bolt of lightning cracked and seared, before
Chess and behind, and in the flashes he saw goblins tum
bling through the air, falling here and there; goblins
thrown aloft; goblins that smoked and sizzled and fried.
A wind smacked Chess aside. The kender's racing feet
barely touched the ground as he flew.
"Wow," he whispered, nearly blinded by his own
streaming hair.
Somewhere behind, he heard a voice -- authoritative
and furious -- shouting orders. She sounds cross, he told
himself. Better keep going. Driven by a howling wind that seemed to try to lift
him from the ground, lashed by huge drops of rain that
stung his back as they flew in almost horizontal sheets,
blinded by his streaming hair and deafened by thunders,
the kender gripped his hoopak and leaped high over a ta
pering rock ledge. Through the tunnel of his hair he saw
trees ahead, lit by stuttering flashes and his own green
glow. He bounded down a sloping bank toward heavy
growth and tried to slow himself, without much success.
Then directly ahead, something huge and ugly raised
itself and spread wide arms, bracing itself against the
screaming wind. An ogre. Chess even recognized the
huge, grimacing features.
Loam.
At gale speed the kender closed on the brute, his eyes
wide. At the last instant, he thrust out his hoopak,
dropped its butt, and vaulted. A tumbling leap carried
him up and past the creature's crushing hands, almost
high enough to clear its head.
Almost, but not quite. Instead, the kender's feet
smacked the ogre's jutting brow. Chess's free hand
caught a tangle of Loam's hair, and the kender completed
his flip upright, standing on top of the ogre's head.
"I can't wait to tell them about this at Hylo," he muttered. "Of course, they're never going to believe it."
Before the ogre could react, wind hit them like a fist
and Chess was thrown tumbling, into a grove of trees.
He got his feet under him and dodged among the trees,
downslope. Behind him he heard a crash and an angry
roar. Loam had run into a tree.
Among the trees, the wind was diffused a little, and
the kender slowed a bit. But then he was in the open
again, on a broad, shoaling bank with raging flood
waters beyond. Wind swept down on him, caught him,
and threw him head over heels into the churning mael
strom.
Tumbling and fighting, the kender bobbed away
downstream. Above him a voice that was not there
seemed to moan, "No-o-o! Other way-y-y!"
* * * * *
Four brightly shining figures and one dark one fled
across storm-blown fields in a murk lighted only by stac
cato flares from above. Sheets of rain hissed around
them, and thunder reverberated. The ground was a flow
ing morass of runoff.
Chane Feldstone led now, holding to the slim green
trace that was their only means of direction in the turbu
lent darkness. The dwarf was a blackness against the dark, staggering sometimes from weakness. He was sup
ported by the rosy-glowing Jilian, who refused to leave
his side. The golden brightness of Wingover, leading a
glowing gray horse, and the ruby-red Glenshadow,
struggled along after the dark dwarven shape.
The worst of the storm seemed to be to the south, a
few miles away at most. The curtained darkness in that
direction was broken by a constant blaze of lightning,
and the gale winds swirling from there carried the sharp,
sweet breath of ozone.
They had tried to persuade the dwarf to ride, but he
would have none of it. Wingover suspected that Chane,
like many of his race, simply disliked horses. Some
dwarves were excellent riders, but not all.
Since leaving the gully, they had seen no goblins -- or
any other living thing. Possibly the kender, going off
alone as he had, had led the main forces away. If so,
Wingover thought, then the gods help the little creature.
He would never stand a chance out there alone.
Two miles of travel brought them to a descending
slope with forest beyond, and beyond that the sound of a
torrent raging. The valley's stream would be out of its
banks by now, a rushing beast that no one could cross.
While Chane rested, with the attentive Jilian chatter
ing at his side, Wingover scouted. When he returned, he had news. Upstream a half-mile was a well-worn path
going east. If there was a bridge, it should be there.
"And if the alert went out, that's where the goblins on
the other side will be waiting," the wizard pointed out.
Chane got to his feet. "We'll weld that joint when we
find it," he said gruffly.
Wingover shrugged. 'Then lead on, Grallen-kin," he
said.
Again, then, they were on the move. The path
Wingover had found veered eastward, downslope and
into forest, beyond which the torrent raged. The little
stream that Camber Meld had called Respite River was,
in normal conditions, a tame and pretty brook. Now,
though, it was rushing, whitecapped black water nearly
a hundred yards across -- but spanned yet by a raised
footbridge wide enough to allow carts to pass from one
side to the other.
Beyond the stream was rainy darkness.
"I'll go first." Chane took a deep breath, drawing him
self up. "I'm the only one who might get a look at the
other side before he's spotted."
Without waiting for argument, the dwarf trotted
down the streaming bank, waded through knee-deep
water to the bridge's ramp, and disappeared in pouring darkness. He was back a short time later, appearing out
of the darkness like a black-furred shadow with a glint
ing hammer in its hand.
"The bridge is sound," he told them. "There have been
goblins on the path beyond, but they aren't there now. I
took a good look around. Maybe the rain drove them to
shelter."
"I've heard that goblins have no love of clean water,"
Wingover noted.
With Chane leading, pale but clear-eyed, they started
across. The bridge shivered with the force of the torrent
below it, and creaked and groaned when the horse was
led onto it, but it seemed secure. The searchers were half
way across when they noticed that the wind had died and
the pouring rain was letting up. The storm was dissolv
ing as quickly as it had begun, and through clouds
above, the visible moons could be seen in crescent.
"Our shine is outlasting our shield," Wingover
growled, not looking at the wizard. In a way, he felt the
blame had to be shared. The mage had at least tried to
give them cover.
Jilian stopped and raised a hand, pointing upstream.
"Look," she said.
Far up the stream, a greenness glowed -- a widening point of light that sparkled the torrent's surface and glim
mered along both banks. Even as they watched, the
green glow grew, coming toward them rapidly.
"The kender?" Chane wondered.
"Oh, rust," Jilian said. "I hope it isn't the poor little
thing's corpse."
"He's still shining," Wingover reassured her.
As Wingover made that hopeful statement, the ap
proaching green light winked out and there was only
darkness on the stream. Jilian gasped.
And gasped again as her own rosy glow dimmed and
failed.
"We're losing our glow," Jilian said.
Wingover's gold radiance held for a moment more,
then blinked off abruptly. Now they were only huddled
shadows on a dark bridge, highlighted by a glowing
horse and a radiant red wizard. The horse's light
dimmed, lingered for a moment, and was gone.
The dark torrent raged beneath the footbridge, and
now there were specks of light upstream. A blaze of
torches was coming along the bank, on the side they had
left. Wingover pointed. "They were following the kender."
"I think it would be a good idea if you doused your
self," Jilian Firestoke told Glenshadow. Still the wizard
shone with a bright ruby glow. "Come on," Chane urged. "Let's get across. They're
coming."
"How about somebody giving me a hand?"
The voice that came from below the bridge was high
pitched and excited. Chane and Wingover hurried to the
edge and peered down into dark, rushing water. They
quickly stepped across to the other side. Just below,
barely visible, Chestal Thicketsway clung to a hoopak
jammed between bridge pilings.
"Give us some light here," Wingover ordered, pulling
Glenshadow to the edge of the bridge. Ruby glow lit
rushing dark waters and the childlike face, grinning up at
them. Chane Feldstone started to crouch above the ken
der, then winced as his wounded arm took his weight.
"Get back," Wingover snapped, pushing the dwarf
aside. "I'll get him." Kneeling, clinging to a bridge sup
port, the man reached down and lifted the drenched ken
der, hoopak and all, to set him on his feet on the
structure. The others stared at Chess. His hair falling
around him, the kender looked like nothing more than a
dark mushroom with a forked stick.
He pulled back long, soggy hair, shook it aside, and
grinned at them. "Hello," he said cheerfully, water cas
cading from him. "Did you know there are just a heck of a lot of goblins out there I I'm glad we stopped shining."
He looked at the wizard critically. "If you intend to go on
doing that, maybe you should go somewhere else."
After watching the torches come closer for a moment,
Chane and his allies could see goblins... and creatures
that were taller. Dragging the glowing wizard with them,
trying to keep him shielded behind the horse, the search
ers scurried for the far end of the bridge and the darkness
beyond. When they were clear, Wingover waved the rest
ahead, except for Glenshadow. "Your phosphors gave
me an idea," he told the wizard. "I think it's time to try it."
Wingover dug into one of his packs and brought out a
pair of hand-length cylinders that glowed silvery in the
faint, murky moonlight. "Phosphor flares," he ex
plained. "I got them from a Qualinesti traveler, Garon
Wendesthalas." He dug deeper into the pack. "I still can't
find my oil striker. Can you light these with that phos
phor thing?"
"I can try. What do I light?"
"This thing here, on each one. It's a fuse." Wingover
hurried to the foot of the bridge and placed a flare on
each side, at the main supports. "Hurry," he said.
The wizard knelt at first one and then the other of the
flares, preparing the wicks. His glow was dimming
slightly, and he squinted in the gloom. "Will this help?" It was Chess, coming back to see
what they were doing. The kender held a small metal ob
ject, which he manipulated with his thumb. A merry lit
tle fire appeared above his hand. But the wizard set the
flares then. Harsh, bright sparks spewed forth, and
Wingover said. "All right, get back!"
They retreated a dozen paces, then several more as
bronze bolts sang past them from beyond the stream.
Suddenly the flares erupted in furious blinding bril
liance, beyond which a flood of armed goblins were run
ning up the far ramp, onto the bridge.
Another bronze dart flew past, and Wingover
snapped, "Put out that light." Then he turned to the ken
der as the little flame went out. "Where did you get
that?"
Chess shrugged. "I don't know. Found it somewhere.
What is it?"
"It's my oil striker!" Wingover growled.
"Is that what it is? Why do I have it, then?"
"I don't know why you have it. Give it back!"
Chess handed the thing over. "You must have dropped
it along the way. Lucky I found it for you. Looks a lot
handier than flint and steel."
"It is flint and steel. With a wick. And oil. I --" Wingover stopped and stared. The flares on the bridge
had done their job. The bridge blazed merrily now, a
wall of fire from edge to edge, barring passage from the
other side. A few wooden planks were even falling away
to hiss in the dark waters below. But on the other side, a
person had pushed through the clamoring crowd of
goblins -- a taller person, wearing gleaming black, orna
mented armor and a horned helmet with a beaten mask.
As Wingover, and now the others, stared across the fire,
the person removed the mask. The wilderness man
caught his breath. For the first time, he saw the face of
Kolanda Darkmoor.
The hideous mask across the bridge was lowered, and
the woman behind it was -- no, might have been -
stunningly beautiful. But she was something else instead.
Wingover sensed absolute evil there. She only glanced at
him, though, for her gaze swiftly locked on Chane Feld
stone. She put her hand to her throat and lifted some
thing from her breastplate.
Chapter 24
"How could you let them get away?" the woman
shouted. "I set a net across this valley, and you... you
sniveling excuse for a troopleader... you let them slip
through!" Thog,aparticularly ugly hobgoblin, and six goblins
cowered before the Commander, afraid to respond.
"Two platoons dead or missing!" The horned helmet
turned from one to another of them, its dragon facemask
seeming to boom with each syllable. "Did any of you
even see them clearly? Do you know how many there
were?"
Thog scuffed his toe and raised hiseyes. "Fiveof the
lighted ones, Commander... but one of them was a
horse."
Furious eyes blazed at the hobgoblin from behind the
mask. "Five, but one was a horse. There were six! Count
ing the horse. I counted them. Why couldn't you?"
When there was no answer, the Commander paused a
moment, shaking with fury.
"Double shifts!" she said then. "Double shifts for ev
eryone until further ordered. Now, get out of my sight!"
The hobgoblin and the goblins turned and hurried
away, almost scrambling in their haste. When they were
gone, she muttered, "And you... I found the dwarf for
you. All you had to do was destroy him. Why didn't
you?"
A dry, twisted voice that seemed to come from within
the Commander's armor said, "Ah... she questions me? Does she dare?"
"I dare question you, yes," Kolanda hissed. "Why
didn't you strike down that dwarf? Why didn't you
strike them all down? I gave you the chance!"
"Magic failed," the voice said. "But there will be an
other chance. Glenshadow knows."
"Glenshadow?"
"Glenshadow," the thin voice repeated bitterly. "He
knows I will kill him when next we meet."
Kolanda Darkmoor walked to a high, clear ridge to
oversee the reorganization of her troops. Though it was
unthinkable that the dwarf with the knowledge of Thor
bardin's secret -- and his companions -- had somehow
managed to get past all her defenses, she let her fury sub
side somewhat and resumed her planning. The dwarf
had to be stopped. She turned and looked at the range of
mountains to the east.
Goblin trackers had reported at morning's first light.
The group had gone almost straight east across the valley
... at least as far as they had been able to track them.
Someone with the group, it seemed, was skilled at cover
ing trail. But they had gone east, and due east lay the
soaring peak of Sky's End. Kolanda knew from her
scouts that there was an old, climbing trail that curved
around the mountain's slopes, but it would be a tedious and difficult journey. It would have been far better for
them to take the pass road, farther north. It crossed
heights more scalable than giant Sky's End, and there
was a bridge beyond that crossed the chasm and led to
ward the Plains of Dergoth. And it was to those plains
that the dwarf must be going, because it was there that
Grallen fell.
Kolanda smiled. Several of the captured humans and
dwarves had died in the process of their inquisition, but
she had a serviceable map and a great deal of informa
tion as a result.
The northern pass would place her on Dergoth well
ahead of the fleeing group.
There was still one other matter to attend to here. The
refugees who had crossed the ridge into the next valley to
the west were still at large, and she wanted them. Only a
small force would be necessary for that.
When the troops were assembled, Kolanda Darkmoor
sent a group to find the fugitives from Harvest and
Herdlinger, and bring back all those fit to be put to work.
The unfit would simply be killed.
"Go south a few miles," she told them, "then cross over
into Waykeep and turn northward. Trap them, subdue
them, and bring back slaves." * * * * *
Bobbin was growing more and more irritated as the
days passed. He was irritated with himself, irritated with
his soarwagon, and irritated with the world in general.
And much of his irritation came of being bored. Except
for sightseeing, there was hardly anything to do when
one was stuck aloft in a contrivance powered by the very
air currents on which it floated. And the soarwagon was
far more responsive to the wind's vagaries than to the
feeble controls the gnome had managed to build into its
structure.
For the past day or so, there hadn't even been anyone
to talk to. Since leaving the pass between Waykeep and
Respite, Bobbin had tried any number of times to return,
but the soarwagon wouldn't go. He kept winding up in
other places, or over familiar places but too high in the
sky to make contact with anyone. And he was running
low on raisins.
In a way, that could be a blessing, he realized, because
it was the half-bushel of raisins that had caused his
present set of problems. The raisin basket -- resting just
in front of him in the soarwagon's wicker cab -- had
shifted and fouled his control lines, and so far he had
been unable to correct them. His lateral and pitch pulls were crisscrossed in some fashion, somewhere beyond
his reach. The result was that he could gain altitude more
or less at will. To descend, however, he had to wait for
the air currents to make proper adjustments on the vehi
cle's forward foils, and hope that the positioning would
hold long enough to get near the ground again before it
reversed itself and climbed. Worse still, he could not turn
left. Only right.
The dilemma was symptomatic of the basic control
problem in the soarwagon's design. In building it, Bob
bin had underestimated the craft's buoyancy and mis
judged the sensitivity of its control surfaces.
The other gnomes were right, he told himself. I am in
sane. Had this contrivance been built in proper gnomish
fashion -- designed by a committee, sublet out among
several guilds, and then assembled by a task force, it
wouldn't have these problems. But then, it wouldn't fly
at all.
The problem of the airfoils and their controls wasn't
insoluble. Within the first week of his plight, Bobbin had
deduced what was wrong and how it could be corrected.
Part of it was the result of something unforeseen, a phe
nomenon that Bobbin simply had not known existed.
The air near the ground was denser and more turbulent
than that higher up, and all drafts within twenty or thirty feet of the ground were updrafts.
Obvious enough, now that he understood it. But he
hadn't known about such things when he had designed
the soarwagon. His assumption had been that air was
air, anywhere.
He had even named the phenomenon of the near
surface currents. Ground effect, he called it. And he had
worked out the control requirements to correct for it.
Only one problem remained. The soarwagon couldn't be
repaired in flight. He would have to land first.
And he couldn't land until it was repaired.
Feeling grumpier by the minute, Bobbin tugged his
strings and helped himself to some more raisins. He
wished he had some cider to go with them. Raisins with
out cider were like a sundial without a pointer. Ade
quate, but hardly timely.
Through a long morning he had been drifting in wide
right-hand circles, while the soarwagon descended from
an abrupt, screaming climb to an estimated twenty thou
sand feet -- a maneuver executed entirely without Bob
bin's assistance. Once at that lofty altitude, the device
had seemed satisfied to begin a slow, languid descent.
Bobbin had set the soarwagon in an easy right-hand
pitch and spent the intervening hours dozing, fuming, and eating raisins.
After Bobbin finished his breakfast and washed it
down with rainwater collected during the previous
night's storm, he looked over the side of his wicker cab to
see if he could identify where he was. He frowned and
shook his head in disgust. A half-mile below was that
same valley he had been trying to leave when his raisins
shifted: the long, wooded valley between ridges, the one
those people had called Waykeep. The place with the
winding black road.
Off to Bobbin's left was the smoke of the refugee
camps, the people who had come across from the next
valley, fleeing an invasion of goblins. Ahead, just a few
miles, was the textured ice-field where he had first met
the kender, Chestal Thicketsway.
An old battleground, the creature had said. The lumps
of ice on the field contained fighting dwarves, frozen in
place. Bobbin saw no reason to doubt it, though why it
mattered was beyond him.
There were people out there now, on the ice. People
moving around. He squinted. Dwarves... and either
humans or elves. From such a distance, it was hard to
tell, except that some of them seemed to have beards.
Humans, then, he decided. Elves don't have beards. Other movement caught the gnome's attention then,
far off to his right, to the south. He squinted, trying to
see details. A large group of... something... crossing
a clearing between stands of forest, coming north. Sun
light glinted on metal. Armor?
The soarwagon's lazy circle brought it over the edge
of the ice field, and Bobbin leaned out to wave. "Some
body'scomingyourway!" he shouted excitedly, waving
his arms and pointing. But he was ton high. The people
down there, dwarves and humans, obviously from the
refugee camps, were intent on the ice itself, and what
was under it. No one looked up, and within moments
the soarwagon was past them, continuing its descend
ing spiral.
Long minutes passed, then the other group was in sight
again below, now dead ahead. The gnome leaned out to
squint at them. He saw them clearly now. Armored gob
lins, a company of them marching in rough phalanx or
der, with a slightly larger figure in the lead -- a waddling,
greenish-colored thing in bright misfitting armor. Bob
bin had never seen a hobgoblin before, though he knew
what they were. If anything, he decided, hobgoblins
were even uglier than ordinary goblins. Without its
bright garb, the thing would have resembled a big, mis
shapen frog. The soarwagon closed on the marching company be
low, lower now, only a few hundred yards up.
Well, Bobbin told himself, I'll circle over those other
people again pretty soon. I can tell them then that there
are goblins coming. None of my business, I suppose, but
then nobody needs goblins.
As he sailed over the marching goblins, Bobbin heard
their shouts and leaned out to look down at them. Cross
bows and blades were brandished at him, and guttural
taunts drifted upward. On impulse, the gnome looked
around for something unpleasant that he could drop on
them. The only thing that came to hand was an empty
line-spool wedged between the raisin basket and the lat
eral courses. He gripped it, pulled it loose... then
grabbed the rails of his cab and hung on for dear life as
the snagged tilt controls of the soarwagon suddenly
broke free and the vehicle responded.
The left wing dipped sharply, the nose went up, and
Bobbin's contrivance came around in a hard turn, climb
ing. Righting itself, the soarwagon pointed its nose at the
sky and shot straight up, then completed a perfect roll
and reversed itself in a blistering dive, directly at the gob
lins below. They stared, shouted, and began to run in all
directions. Bobbin cursed as he fought his lines and eased the dive. But the craft had a mind of its own and re
sponded with a neat half-roll.
Upside down and frantic, Bobbin shot over the heads
of the goblin troops, raining raisins down upon them. By
the time he managed to turn the soarwagon right side up,
he was four miles south and climbing, again coming
about in a wide right-hand turn.
Bobbin clung to his lines, pounded his wicker rail with
a frustrated fist. "Gearslip!" he cursed. "Threadbind and
metal fatigue! You misassembled piece of junk, can't you
behave yourself just once? Stress analysis and critical
path i If I ever get my feet on solid ground again, I'm go
ing to take you apart and make camel davits out of you!"
At a half-mile relative altitude, the soarwagon soared
serenly over the scattered force of goblins, over the inter
vening forests, over the ice field where humans and
dwarves worked to gather old weapons. Finally, it
passed over the huddled encampment beyond, where
refugees tended their children and wounded compan
ions, then raised its nose and climbed.
Bobbin closed his eyes and shook his head. Things
were bad before. Now he was out of raisins.
High above the ridge that separated two wilderness
valleys, and miles north of the pass, the gnome repaired
and rerouted his control lines and prepared to come about one more time. At least now he had controls
again, after a fashion. He could turn east, then south,
and possibly find the people he had lost at the mountain
crossing.
Then movement of an entirely different sort caught
Bobbin's eye, and he raised himself high in his wicker to
peer dead ahead. Something was coming from the north,
coming toward him, a speck against the horizon but de
finitely coming his way... and flying. Where exaspera
tion had been, hope surged forward, brightening the
gnome's gaze.
Flying! Someone else is up here in another flying ma
chine, Bobbin thought gleefully. I'm not alone. Grinning
eagerly, he settled into his wicker seat and lowered the
nose of the soarwagon gently, aiming for the approach
ing flier. Someone to compare notes with! Someone who
might have an answer to my dilemma! Someone else in
the sky!
At a mile's distance, the gnome studied the stranger.
Red in color -- bright, crimson red -- with movable wings
that flapped rhythmically, and a long, trailing append
age of some sort. And legs? Yes, definitely legs. Not
wheels or runners, but jointed legs, like an animal's.
And who was flying it? Bobbin could not see a cockpit or basket, not even someone mounted on a bench.
Closer still, Bobbin moved. Then his eyes began to
widen in incredulous astonishment. The thing looked -
he would have sworn it -- like a flying dragon.
Ridiculous, he told himself. There are no dragons on
Krynn. There were dragons once, they said. Ages ago.
But not now. Not in the memory of anyone living had
there been reports of dragons.
Closer and closer the two fliers came, and more and
more Bobbin had to admit that it did look like a dragon.
A huge, red, flying dragon, coming along the line of
peaks, coming directly toward him.
Fear washed up and down the gnome's spine, a com
pelling, sweating fear that was like cold fingers gripped
him. Then a voice spoke to him. "Who are you?" it
asked, seeming to be right there beside him.
Bobbin gasped and looked around, this way and that,
trying to see who had spoken. The dragon was a half
mile away now, and there was no doubt in the gnome's
mind that it was, indeed, a dragon. Again the voice at
the gnome's shoulder asked, "Who are you?"
"Who are you?" the gnome shouted. "Where are you?"
"You're looking at me," the voice said. "Yes. Me. And
yes, little creature, I am what you think I am. Now, calm down and tell me who you are?"
"Bobbin," Bobbin said. "I... I'm a gnome. Are you
really a... But of course you are. You wouldn't say so if
you weren't, would you?"
"Bobbin," the voice seemed to purr in his ear. "Just
keep coming, Bobbin. You will have no further doubts,
in a moment or so."
Whether it was Bobbin's own numb hands trembling
at the control strings, or some vagrant current of air, the
soarwagon chose that instant to slip to the right, stall,
and go into a nosedive. Suddenly the gnome saw spin
ning mountaintops straight ahead, and somewhere be
hind him the air crackled with fire.
"Oh, gearslip?" he muttered, struggling with his con
trols.
"Aha," the voice at his shoulder chuckled. "A fine
dodge, gnome. You were lucky that time. But you won't
be so lucky again. I can't let you live, you know."
"Why not?" Bobbin tugged strings, wrestling the
plunging soarwagon out of its spin.
"Because you have seen me," the calm voice said.
"That is your misfortune. None who see me must live to
tell of it... not yet, anyway. You see, that could spoil
the Highlord's plan."
"I wouldn't want to do that, I suppose." Bobbin hauled on his lines, and the soarwagon's nose edged a few de
grees down. Bobbin glanced back and gasped. The red
dragon was less than a hundred yards back, wings
folded, gaping jaws displaying ranks of glittering teeth.
The soarwagon screamed into a dive, strained its fab
rics, and flattened out of the descent, its wake currents
spewing a small snowstorm from the icy top of a rock
peak. Behind the contraption the dragon spread great
wings and dodged the pinnacle.
"That was a nice stunt," the deep voice said in Bobbin's
mind. "But awfully chancy."
"I'm insane," the gnome explained.
'What a shame," the dragon voice purred. "Well, you
won't have to worry about that much longer."
Bobbin glanced around again. He had gained some
lead, but now the dragon was winging around, making
for him in a flanking attack. The creature was huge, far
larger in both length and wingspan than Bobbin's
soarwagon. It fairly radiated power and dominance and
a mastery of the air. Its very presence was enough to in
spire an awful fear, like nothing the gnome had felt
before.
"I don't suppose we could come to some... ah...
less terminal agreement?" Bobbin suggested, throwing the soarwagon into a side slip that plunged it directly be
low the dragon. He soared into a climb beyond his pur
suer.
"Don't be ridiculous," the dragon voice was tinged
with anger now... and something else that tingled just
beyond the gnome's understanding. "You might as well
stop this dancing around. You don't have a chance of es
caping, you know."
"I'm sorry," Bobbin said. "No offense intended, of
course, but self-preservation is a difficult habit to break."
He increased the soarwagon's pitch and reached for the
sky. Behind him, the red dragon beat great wings, pow
erful in full pursuit. Yet, somehow, the beast seemed a
trifle sluggish.
Could the creature be tired? the gnome wondered. The
hint in the voice, that subtle something... could it be
fatigue?
"Stop this, now!" the dragon commanded. "I don't
have all day."
"I'm wrestling with my instincts," Bobbin assured it. "I
suppose you've come quite a long way."
"Nearly five hundred miles," the dragon snapped.
"Not that it's any of your business."
"Aerodynamics," Bobbin muttered. "Mass and energy
coefficients." "Stop babbling and come back here!"
"You certainly are big," the gnome remarked, his mind
racing. "I'll bet you weigh a ton."
"Closer to three," the dragon voice sneered.
"Five hundred miles, you said?" He dug out a carbon
marker and did rapid calculations on the trailing edge of
his wing. "At say... twenty knots? That means you've
been in the air for more than twenty-four hours. That's a
long time. Do you have far to go?"
"Not much farther. Now let's get this over with. Turn
around?"
"I'm still having problems with my autonomic re
sponses," the gnome apologized. Glancing around one
more time, he readjusted his lines, dropping the craft's
nose in a sudden forty-five degree dive. He wondered
how much longer he could stay out of the dragon's reach.
Chapter 25
Camber Meld and Fleece Ironhill stood at the
center of a ragged, determined line of refugees, watching
goblins advance across the ice. Twenty-eight fighters
formed the motley line, dwarves and humans, most of
them male but with a few females among them. A few
held weapons of recent make, but most were armed with ancient blades, hammers, axes, and shields broken from
the smoking ice -- weapons that had been dropped or cast
aside by those still under the ice. The two chieftains
looked each way along their ragged battle line, then
glanced at each other. There was nothing more to say,
and nothing now to do except wait for the attack and
hold the line for as long as possible while the helpless
ones -- those in the refugee camps -- made their escape.
It was all they could do. The refugees were outnum
bered four to one, poorly armed and poorly equipped, a
handful of herders and planters against a force of gob
lins. They all knew that the best they might achieve
would be a little time.
The refugees had been exploring the ice field when
they saw the goblins coming from the south, no more
than a mile away. There had been time to do no more
than send a runner to warn the camps, and break out as
many weapons and shields as they could find under the
shallow ice. Wisps of ancient dark smoke, trapped from
trees and grasses caught blazing by the ice, had drifted
from the breaks with each new crack.
Now they waited as grinning goblins, a hobgoblin
leading them, surged across the ice, eager for slaughter.
Crossbows were aimed, and a deadly rain of bronze darts lashed out at the defenders. Shields took most of
the missiles, but two dwarves and a gray-haired man fell.
The goblins shouted as they slung their bows, raised
swords and pikes, and charged.
All along the line, blades struck from behind shields as
the foes closed, and goblin blood steamed and stank on
the ice, mingling here and there with the crimson blood
of humans and dwarves.
The little line of defenders took the first assault and
turned it back, then closed ranks and retreated slowly,
drawing the barely disciplined goblins out of their for
mation and into single -- or more often double or triple -
combat. For long minutes, the skill and sheer
desperation of the defending line held the field. But the
goblins were too many, and the refugee army retreated
again... and again. Camber Meld and Fleece Ironhill
found themselves fighting side by side, and knew that
this would be the final strategy. Hold and retreat, hold
and retreat, until none were left to face the goblins. It
was, simply, a buying of time.
At the edge of the ice field they retreated yet again, no
more than a dozen of them now against at least seventy
goblins. The goblins formed another charge, then
halted. Goblin mouths dropped open, and goblin eyes stared aloft, beyond and above the line of defenders.
Fleece Ironhill glanced around just as something very
fast skimmed over his head and swept upward on wide,
pale wings. He didn't see what it was, nor did he try to
follow it with his eyes. Instead he stared at the second
flying thing, plunging down from above. A huge red
dragon, its mouth opened wide and a rush of fire coming
from it. The dragon flared its wings and soared over the
line of battle.
Without warning, the dragon's fire-breath smote the
ice field behind the goblins.
* * *
Bobbin was in trouble. For a brief time, he had held his
distance ahead of the dragon, the soarwagon diving
earthward on rippling wings. But he had waited too
long, gone too low, and lost his edge. The dragon had
managed to get above him, and now was closing with
deadly speed. The gnome heard the long, deep rumble of
in-drawn breath and knew what it meant.
"Thermodynamics," the gnome muttered, praying that
his final calculation was correct, that the same ground ef
fect that had been his undoing might just this once work
to his advantage. How many times since he had gone
aloft had the soarwagon abruptly shot skyward in a
screaming climb, propelled by the extra buoyancy of the near-ground air?
"Don't change your ways just yet," Bobbin muttered,
taking a firm hold on his lateral controls. The ice field
sped by just a few yards below.
Closing his eyes, he pulled the strings. Behind and be
neath the soarwagon's tail, a torrent of terrible flame
seared the air and flowed in waves of heat across the ice
field, which seemed to explode in great clouds of steam
and soot.
The soarwagon went nearly straight up, a pale sliver
flung by its own dynamics and given added speed by up
rushing air currents ahead of the rising clouds of steam.
Bobbin opened his eyes and looked around. Behind him
was a tiny, distant landscape, where finger ridges of
mountains lay like furrows in a field. And barely visible,
far below, was the red dragon, just coming out of its dive
and beginning to circle to the east.
"How did you do that?" The dragon voice in his ears
seemed genuinely impressed.
"I bounced off the ground effect," the gnome ex
plained. "It's nothing especially new. I've been bouncing
off it for weeks."
"Ground effect?" The voice seemed fainter now.
"That's what I call it. The air near the ground is denser than the air higher up. It's why I can't land."
"You can't land? You mean you can't get down?"
"No, blast it! I can get near the ground, but I can't
quite reach it. Uh... are you coming after me again? I'd
rather you didn't. I have enough troubles without you."
The diminishing voice in Bobbin's ear seemed to
chuckle. "I've heard of gnomes being standoffish, but
you're the first one I've found who was actually stuck up!
But I have no more time for you, so I suppose this is your
lucky day. Goodbye, Bobbin." Again there was a fading
chuckle, then the voice was gone.
The gnome had managed to level out his climb, and
he looked over the wicker rail. In the distance below,
the red dragon was winging for the mountains east of
Waykeep. Bobbin circled and watched until the mythi
cal beast cleared the peaks there and descended into the
smoky mists beyond. Then he sighed and tugged on his
descent strings. He was cold and hungry, and ready to
go down. Apparently the soarwagon was, too. At the
slightest pressure on its vanes, it dropped its nose and
plummeted straight down, its wings rippling and whin
ing.
"Stress and derailment!" the gnome swore, and began
another adjustment on his controls. When dragonfire rolled over the frozen battlefield, the
effects were instantaneous. Ice splintered and fell away,
becoming great spreading clouds of steam mixed with
ancient smoke. Gray mist roiled outward, obscuring the
goblins and the defenders beyond, then drifted upward
on heated drafts. A wide, thick cloud shadowed a fore
shortened land where everything seemed to writhe and
rumble. Goblins retreated, wide-eyed, then turned and
retreated again when the blades of the handful of human
and dwarf refugees drew blood.
The evil minions fell back, turned again, and stopped
in confusion. From the rolling clouds came dwarves,
hundreds of dwarves. Dwarves armed and armored.
Mountain dwarves and hill dwarves with dead eyes in
frozen faces that had not known change in more than
two centuries -- faces that grimaced and twisted in the ex
act ways they had when they fought against one another
in a burning forest at the instant the spell of ice had been
cast by an archmage.
But they were not fighting among themselves now.
Mountain dwarves and hill dwarves stood shoulder to
shoulder, spread out beneath the dark plume of choking
steam. They were silent and relentless, and fell on the
panicked goblins without a hesitation or a sound. The hobgoblin leader screamed, turned to run, and
fell, his helm pierced by Fleece Ironhill's spiked hammer.
Two jibbering goblins following him died under the
sword of Camber Meld. The cooling cloud of dark steam
above was descending now, settling as a dense fog
streaked with ash, slanting before a wind that came
across the old battlefield, carrying the dry scent of ages.
For long minutes there was only silence and the blind
ing mist. Then, slowly, the cloud thinned. Five humans
and six hill dwarves, the last of the combined fighting
force led by Camber Meld and Fleece Ironhill, stood
alone at the edge of a great, blackened plain littered with
bodies, dropped arms and ancient burned stumps. Most
of the strewn bodies were goblins, many of them still
pierced by the weapons that had killed them. And every
where, among and around them, were little heaps of
clothing and armor -- all that remained of the dwarves of
Waykeep, fighters released from an ancient spell for one
last cut, one last thrust, at an enemy.
The refugees looked around in awe. Nothing moved
except the wind... the wind, and a sliver of white far to
the east, something that flew like a bird with still wings,
riding on the air. Something going away. On a forest-shrouded knoll in the Vale of Respite,
some distance south of the encampments of the goblins,
a red dragon burrowed into leaf-mold and slept the sleep
of exhaustion. Even the most powerful of creatures had
its limits, and this one had been in flight for nearly thirty
hours and more than five hundred miles. It had flown
from a lair deep in the Khalkist Mountains to a secret
place near Sanction, then had spanned the entire width
of Newsea, past Pax Tharkas, and now lay in the wilder
ness ranges between Qualinost and Thorbardin, in the
Kharolis Mountains of western Ansalon.
It had chosen the knoll, sent a mind-call northward,
then burrowed in and slept. Through the remainder of
that day it rested, and through the night and most of the
next day. The sleep restored its strength, and the dragon
dreamed the comfortable dreams of one who by birth
right can be absolute lord over anyone or anything that it
cares to dominate... except others like itself, and one
beyond, the one the dragon called the Dark Queen.
The dragon slept for twenty-eight hours, then awoke
briefly to be aware of its surroundings.
The one it had called was there, waiting. The dragon
went back to sleep and dozed for another three hours.
Finally, when it was rested, the red dragon stirred,
shook away the forest leaves, and lifted its huge head. Its long, sinuous body moved, and the beast stretched its
wings deliciously. The dragon felt renewed, restored.
Nearby, a small fire burned, and the person beside it
came to her feet. "Have you slept enough?" she asked
sourly.
"I always sleep enough," the dragon said. "It is you
who should worry about sleep. The Highlord would be
displeased if you should fail in your mission."
"I have not failed," the woman said. "All of the lands
between Pax Tharkas and Thorbardin are in my control
...or will be by the coming of spring. My goblins are in
place, and all that remains is the gathering of slaves to
build some decent fortifications."
The dragon's gaze was mocking. "If that is all that re
mains, why are you aligning your troops to cross over
into the Plains of Dergoth beyond the mountains?"
"A minor matter," she snapped. "It would not interest
the Highlord."
"It might," the dragon purred. "Or would you rather I
just report that you didn't care to discuss it?"
"It's nothing! There is a dwarf who has learned of the
invasion gate to Thorbardin and thinks he can block it. I
simply intend to eliminate him."
"Interesting," the dragon said. "As I recall, you told the Highlord that no one except you and your... ah, co
inhabitant... knew of the lost gate. You assured the
Highlord that Thorbardin will stand open to him when
he comes, and that he can make it his base of operations."
"So I did, and so it will be. Do you doubt me?"
"So many of the best-laid plans," the dragon chuckled.
"Especially those of humans...."
"I will not fail!"
"I wouldn't, if I were you," the dragon whispered. "Is
there anything you would like reported to the
Highlord?"
"Report what you have seen," Kolanda snarled. "I'm
doing my job, so I assume you can do yours."
The woman glared at the dragon, then turned without
a word and walked away. The horned mask under her
arm stared back at the lizard through hollow eyes.
The red dragon watched her go, then stretched luxuri
ously. It would be time soon to spread great wings and
begin the long flight back to the region of Sanction. The
Highlord would be waiting for his report.
The Highlord. One of many Highlords in the north
now, amassing armies, sending out spies and patrols,
plotting and securing lines of march, organizing systems
... petty, mortal creatures preparing for the day the
Dark Queen would unleash them across Ansalon and beyond. They would then secure for her -- once and for
all -- the world she wanted and was fit to rule.
The dragon pondered for a moment whether to report
the gnome in the flying thing who had seen him and
somehow escaped. He thought about it, but decided that
there was nothing to be gained. It was, after all, only a
gnome.
* * * * *
Two days' foot-travel to the east of the dragon's resting
place, Chane Feldstone led a tired and dusty little group
along a winding ledge. Mountain winds sang in towering
crags above them, and mists hid the depths below.
"Do you know where we are?" Wingover asked the
dwarf for the second or third time in an hour.
'Why don't you leave him alone?" Jilian Firestoke
snapped. "Can't you see he's tired?"
Wingover nodded. It was obvious the dwarf was tired.
Still weak from his shoulder wound, he sometimes stum
bled and rarely spoke, though he pushed on with grim
determination. Chane was following -- the rest could
only assume -- the green line that marked the path where
Grallen had gone centuries before.
In fact, Chane's weakened state was why Wingover
kept questioning him. The dwarf was showing signs that to the wilderness man spelled sheer exhaustion -- a flat
eyed stare that never seemed to blink; paleness that came
and went; a rolling, almost drunken pace.
Wingover knew that it was time to stop and rest, and
for the past day or more the man had been looking for a
place to do that. The problem was, except for a pair of
wide places on the trail where bitter winds had chilled
them and the last of their provisions had run out, there
had simply been no place to rest.
Their current trail along the mountainside was one
Wingover had never explored. The human marveled at
the idea that a dwarven prince had once led armies this
way, heading for the final battle of his final war on what
most men called the Plains of Dergoth, though dwarves
more often called the region the Plains of Death.
Wingover snorted as the dwarf in the lead stumbled
again. He handed his horse's lead to Jilian and caught
Chane's good shoulder in a firm hand. "Are you all
right?" he asked, looking into the dwarf's exhausted
eyes.
"I'm all right," Chane growled. 'We have to keep go
ing."
"Do you know where we are?"
"I know where I'm going. The path is clear." "Yes, but do you know where we are?"
"Not exactly. Where?"
"I didn't think so," the man said gently. "Look off
across there... across the gorge, over on the face of the
next peak."
Chane looked, his eyes blank. There was a feature
over there, tiny in the distance but somehow familiar.
"What is it?"
"I don't suppose you've ever seen it," Wingover said.
"At least not from this side, but I thought you might
want to know what you're looking at. That's Northgate."
"North... You mean... ?"
"Exactly," the man told him. "That is the Northgate of
Thorbardin."
"But the green line doesn't go there," Chane said. "It
goes east... I think that's east, anyway. Out there,
across those plains. Toward that lone mountain, what
ever that is."
"Skullcap," Wingover breathed. "The ruins of what
was once the most feared tower of sorcery, Zhaman, lie
there."
Chane sighed. "Then that is where Grallen went. But
the line... it doesn't seem to go all the way. I can't really
see what it does. We have to go on. We have to get
closer." "We have to rest," Wingover said flatly. He shielded his
eyes, peering ahead. Somewhere near, there should be a
place safe to rest. He squinted, then his eyes widened and
breath hissed through his teeth. On the trail ahead, just
where it wound out of sight, a large, black cat stood,
looking back at them. Even as Wingover saw it, the ani
mal turned languidly and slunk out of sight.
Chapter 26
"Cats!"
With a visible shudder, Wingover drew his sword,
gripped his shield, and eased past the weakened dwarf.
He had seen the great black cats of Waykeep only once.
But once was enough. On stiff legs he started toward the
bend, certain that at any moment a bounding, snarling
pack of the giant creatures would appear there, coming
for him. And it would be up to him to defend the others.
Glenshadow's magic would not work in Spellbinder's
presence. Chane Feldstone was hardly strong enough to
stand off cats. Still, Jilian might make an accounting of
herself with that sword she carried. After seeing the re
mains of her ogre, the man was willing to believe almost
anything.
Small feet scuffed just behind Wingover, and Chestal Thicketsway's voice said cheerfully, "What are you
doing?"
"Stay back," the man snapped. "There are cats ahead."
"Cats? Kitty cats or the Irda's cats?"
"Just stay back, out of the way," "Wingover shot a quick
glance back, felt something brush past his legs, and
turned to shout, "Come back here!"
"I'll just take a quick look," the kender said, scamper
ing ahead. "If they're like the Irda's cats, I've seen a lot of
those."
"Ye gods," the man swore and quickened his pace, will
ing the rest to stay where they were. Ahead of Wingover,
the curious kender disappeared around the bend.
Wingover ran, then stopped. Just past the bend, the
trail widened, then widened again, and became a deep,
sheltered cove in the mountainside. Clear, cold water
flowed from a tiny spring and pooled before overflowing
its rock tank and disappearing again into crevices in the
mountain. Conifers grew in abundance, and rich, chill
bleached grass was everywhere. Beside the pool were
several bundles, all securely wrapped in sacking, and the
kender knelt beside the nearest one, untying its straps.
He glanced up, grinned, and pointed. "Look."
High on a rock ridge beyond the cove, several of the
big, dark cats were climbing, going away. Some of them turned to look back, feral eyes seeming to glow in the
pale light, But they only hesitated, then went on. Within
seconds, they were gone.
"Food!" the kender chirped. "Look at this. Biscuits!
And honey, and oats, and cabbage... wow!" With one
pack open, he went on to the next one.
Wingover heard the thump of a staff and turned. Glen
shadow stood a few paces back, cold eyes peering from
the shadows of his bison cloak. 'The Irda," he said. "She
has provided for us. She said that would be done."
"But those cats --"
"Are hers. In a way, I suppose they are her."
"Where is she, then, this Irda?"
The wizard gazed at him for a moment, then shrugged
and turned away. "She is an Irda. I suppose she is wher
ever she chooses to be."
"Irda," Wingover breathed. "Irdas are ogres, from
what I've heard."
Glenshadow shook his head. "No. The Irda is what
ogres may once have been. They are not the same."
'You'd know that if you'd seen her," the kender said.
"Look at this! Raisins. How about that? And cider."
The others had appeared, Jilian helping Chane and
leading Wingover's horse. At the cove, they all stopped and stared. Jilian nodded. "This is more like it. Let's get a
fire going, and I'll make tea. And soup. Don't you think
some soup would taste good, Chane? Here, you sit down
over here. Eat a biscuit while I'm cooking."
'There is danger ahead of us, then," the wizard noted
ominously. 'The Irda knows."
"How does she know any such thing?" Wingover spun
toward Glenshadow, tired and angry, confused and feel
ing as though everyone but himself had a hand in this sit
uation. "Does she use magic?"
"Only a little... of the kind I use, when I can use it at
all," Glenshadow said. "The kind you so despise, though
it is a part' of your world and not always to your disad
vantage. The Irda is a shapechanger. That much is
magic, though natural to her kind. And she is a singer.
Some have said the Irda carry magic in their voices,
though I think now it is simply that they have... such
voices." He paused and considered the point for a mo
ment. "Perhaps they have another magic that is outside
the magic of Krynn. I believe they do, but who can say
for certain. If they do, then it is used entirely for their
own purposes and not for or against any other being. It is
the nature of the Irda."
"You haven't answered my question," Wingover
snorted. "How could such a creature -- as you say -know that there is danger ahead for us?"
"She listens." Glenshadow shrugged. "The world has
many voices, and eyes everywhere. The world itself
knows what passes upon it. It speaks of it to itself, and
the Irda listens. How else could she do what she does...
observe the purposes of the gods' things, the ones that
the gods themselves no longer observe? Who else could
inform the Irda, except the world itself'"
Wingover shook his head, wondering if the mage was
in fact deranged. What he said almost made sense...
sometimes, but not in any way that Wingover could see.
He turned away and went to start unpacking his horse.
"Don't do that," Chane Feldstone shouted, getting to
his feet. 'We have to go on."
"We aren't going anywhere for a while," Wingover told
him. "We are going to rest here until we're fit to travel."
"But I see the path now," the dwarf said, his face going
pale again. "I see where Grallen went, and I have to go
there. Spellbinder -
Jilian Firestoke was at Chane's side then, bracing him
with strong little hands. "The man is right, Chane," she
said gently. "You must rest. Then we can go on. Please,
sit down."
A sheen of sweat had erupted on Chane's forehead, and his eyes seemed glazed. Still, he tried to struggle free.
"Can't you see the path? Can't any of you see it? It goes
down this mountain and out onto the plain, then it dou
bles back... just out there. It turns back and stops. See?
Why can't any of you see?" The dwarf slumped and let
himself be eased down to a sitting position.
"Jilian?" Chane murmured. "Jilian, I think your father
was right. I don't deserve you. But he was wrong, too.
He was wrong in... deciding he could decide. It is for
you to decide, Jilian..."
Chane's voice trailed off, and quickly he was asleep. Ji
lian covered him gently with a wrap from her own pack,
and when she looked up her eyes were moist. "He's so
tired," she said.
Wingover knelt beside the dwarf and touched a palm
to the sweating forehead. Then he stood, nodding. "It
was the goblin dart. It has sickened him. He needs rest."
To Jilian he added, "Chane will be all right. If the wound
were going to kill him, it would have before now."
Leaving Jilian hovering over the sleeping dwarf,
Wingover walked to where the wizard stood, looking
eastward. The mage raised his hand and pointed.
Far out in the distance, where the slopes ended and a
flatter land began, there was movement. Wingover and Glenshadow were too far away to be sure, but they sus
pected who was there. The Commander of Goblins was
ahead of them, and with her was her army.
"They know we're here," Wingover growled. "But if
they didn't follow us, how did they find us"?"
Maybe they don't know exactly where we are," the
bison-robed wizard offered, lowering his hand. "But
they know which way we were going. And they know
why."
"The mage?" Wingover muttered. "The one who died,
but didn't?"
Glenshadow only nodded.
A flash of white in the distance flickered above the
gorge where the path bent around the mountain slope. It
wasn't bright, but the flash was enough to catch
Wingover's eyes. He turned. "It's that gnome," he
growled, pointing. 'Where has he been, anyway ?"
The soarwagon neared the mountainside, skimmed
away, and did a wide turn. As the gnomish contraption
came about for another approach, Jilian Firestoke waved
and Chestal Thicketsway ran to the ledge to watch.
"Tell him to come in and lower his line," the kender
said. "Tell him we have raisins. And cider."
The flying thing approached carefully this time, fi
nally hovering on updrafts just above the cove. The gnome in the wicker seat leaned out and waved. "Hello!"
he called. "Do you remember me? I'm Bobbin."
"I remember you!" Wingover shouted. "What news do
you have?"
"About what?... Ah, yes! You're the one who's look
ing for cats. Well, I saw some, up the mountain from
where you are. But they're going the other way."
Wingover scowled. "We know about the cats! Any
thing else?"
"Well, I saw a dragon. A big, red one. He weighs
nearly three tons and had flown five hundred miles." The
gnome frowned. "He wasn't very friendly."
"A dragon?" The kender danced about in his excite
ment. "A real dragon? Where?"
Wingover shook his head in disgust. There was no tell
ing what the gnome had actually seen... if anything.
Part IV
GRALLEN'S HELM
Chapter 27
Solinari and Lunitari had set hours ago. Beside a
small fire, set far back in a mountain cove, Chane Feld
stone lay in peaceful sleep for the first time in several days. For the moment, the red spot on his forehead was
so dim that it was barely noticeable. Better still, the fire
light reflecting on his cheeks above his beard revealed a
healthy, ruddy color that Jilian attributed to two days of
rest and good food, though among the others were some
who suspected other cures as well.
Glenshadow the wizard had made it clear that, in his
opinion, the dwarf had been in no danger, despite his ill
ness. The red moon, the wizard said, had set Chane a
task.
Glenshadow had been silent after that. He had gone
off by himself to sit in thought. Then, after a time, he had
pulled his bison cloak about him and wandered away on
some path of his own.
He had not returned, though a day had passed.
But as Chane Feldstone lay now, sleeping by the little
fire, Jilian hovering beside him as always, it was the ken
der who saw a thing that needed no reconsideration. He
came with twigs to feed the fire and paused there. Then
he beckoned to Wingover and pointed.
Jilian had fallen asleep. Her head nodded forward,
then rested, moving slightly with her even breathing as
she slept. In the shadows between the two dwarves, their
two hands lay clasped, Jilian's little hand resting in Chane's larger one.
Wingover grinned. 'Yes," he whispered. "That very
likely is what is curing him. Some comforts have more
power than people know."
"Not for me," something seemed to say wistfully, and
Chestal Thicketsway looked up from the new task he
had begun, which was trimming branches off a long, thin
sapling he had found.
"Quit complaining, Zap," the kender said testily. 'You
never had it better than this. I'll bet you never expected
to travel."
"No," the disembodied non-voice seemed to mourn,
"just to happen."
"Well, you weren't happening where you were, either.
So what's the difference?"
Wingover glanced at the kender, curious to see what
the little person was doing. It was the first time he had
seen Chestal Thicketsway concentrate on anything for
more than one hour. Yet, Chess had been working on his
sapling for most of the day. With all of its branches gone
and most of its bark peeled away, it was a slim pole of
fresh wood more than twenty feet long.
With the last of the trimming done, the kender laid the
sapling down near the ledge and looked around. "I need
some string," he said. The man arched a curious brow. "Do you plan to go
fishing?"
"I don't think so," the kender said distractedly. "But I
need... ah, excuse me." He trotted away, heading for
the stacked packs and equipment.
After a time he returned, heading for the ledge. "I
found some thongs," he said. "They're not string, but
they'll do."
Wingover looked after Chess, then called softly,
'What are you making over there?"
"A supply stick," Chess called back. "Gnomes aren't
the only ones who can invent good stuff, you know."
"A supply stick," Wingover muttered, wondering
what it was all about. Then it came to him, and he
grinned. Raisins for Bobbin, of course. The gnome had
shown up twice since they had been here, both times
cursing in gnomic and trying desperately to bring his
craft close enough to the ledge for someone to reach his
lowered line. He kept jabbering about something called
"ground effect," and "ninety degrees to the grade," and
"the gearstripping tiltyness of mountains."
They had raisins for him, and cider -- which seemed to
delight him -- but so far they hadn't been able to deliver
the goods to his supply line. At its nearest, the line had dangled fifteen feet beyond the sheer ledge.
Bobbin was probably getting hungry up there, wher
ever he was.
"Supply stick," Wingover said again. "Well, it just
might work."
"What might?"
The deep voice, strong and quiet, startled him. Chane
Feldstone hadn't moved, but he was awake. His eyes
were bright in the firelight, looking from Wingover to
the dozing Jilian.
"Are you feeling better?" Wingover got to his knees
and leaned for a better look at the dwarf.
"I feel fine." Chane looked around, careful not to dis
turb Jilian. "How long have we been here? I thought we
had gone to... no, it was only a dream, wasn't it I"
"Couple of days," Wingover told him. 'You were
pretty sick. How does your shoulder feel?"
Chane shifted, winced, and sat up, still holding Jilian's
hand. "A little stiff, but it's all right. Are we all here?"
"The wizard's gone off someplace again. I don't think
he cares for the company around here. Chess is over
there, by the ledge, rigging a pole so we can feed the
gnome when he shows up again... if he shows up
again." Chane looked at Jilian, his eyes softening. "How long
has she been sitting here?" Carefully, he eased her down
into a sleeping position, still holding her hand. Then he
freed himself and stood.
"She hasn't been away from your side for more than a
few minutes since we got here," the man said. "But if
you're ready, we need to talk about where we go from
here. Those troops are ahead of us, out there on that
plain. They're waiting for us."
"Maybe it wasn't all a dream, then," Chane muttered.
"I dreamed the soldiers were there, waiting across a rav
aged plain, where the stump of a melted peak rises. A
peak that looks like a giant death's-head."
"It's called Skullcap," Wingover said. "Have you seen
it?"
"No, but now I have. We -- in the dream -- we came
around the mountain and stopped here. This very place.
The air was clear, and in the distance we could see the
spire of Zhaman, about ten miles away on the steppes of
Dergoth. It was so clear. It glittered in the sunlight, a
high, fortified tower standing alone out there, beyond
where our army was gathered... and theirs.
"There were fourteen of us here on the mountainside.
Derek was here, and Carn and Hodar, and old Callan
Rockreave... old Callan." Chane's voice broke, then steadied. "He was my father's most stalwart friend, al
ways at my side as he had pledged to the king. And the
Daewar brothers, Hasp and Hoven Fire --" He paused
again and glanced at the sleeping Jilian. "Firestoke. They
were of her family. I wonder if she knows that my family
and hers once were... no," Chane shook his head. "She
couldn't have known that. Or about me, because she
wasn't born then. Even her father's father wasn't born
then. Odd, isn't it?"
Wingover squatted on his heels, staring at the dwarf,
astonished.
"We were here," Chane sighed. "Then we went from
here, across a stone bridge and onto the steppes of
Dergoth, where our armies waited for us... and their
armies, too. And we fought. Were we in the right? I
didn't even wonder, then. My father had set our course,
and we fought. I led my troops; I can still hear their
shouts when we charged. 'On Grallen,' they shouted.
'For Thorbardin!' You see, human? In my dream I was
Grallen, on the field at Zhaman. Why are you staring at
me like that?"
"The spot on your forehead," Wingover pointed. "It
glows."
"It has done that before." Chane looked up at the red moon Lunitari. "At least now I know exactly why I wear
it."
"But... it glows like red crystal. Like Spellbinder it
self."
"In the dream I wore its other self, just here," he
touched the glowing circle between his brows. "But on
my helm, embedded just above the noseguard. They said
it glowed too, when I... when Grallen wore it. But not
red. Pathfinder is green. The trace I follow is where Path
finder went." He looked toward where Jilian slept beside
the fire. "I'd like to see her safely home, you know. But
home will never be safe, for her or anyone, unless I do
what Grallen intended. The secret has already been
sold."
"Sold?"
"Yes, according to the dream. A human has learned of
the hidden way, and traded knowledge for power. There
was a voice in the dream that told me that. It was as
though Spellbinder itself spoke to me... right here, on
my forehead."
"If you've seen Grallen --" The man rubbed his whis
kers thoughtfully "-- then you know why he was here on
Sky's End. I've wondered about that. I've heard the tale,
you know, from Rogar Goldbuckle and others. But they
said that Grallen and his army went north, from Northgate, and across the Plains of Dergoth to meet Fis
tandantilus in the final battle. What was he doing over
here, so far west?"
Chane nodded. "His army went north and awaited the
archmage on the plains. But I... Grallen, I mean, and a
small force went west first, to unite the skirmishers of
Coal Delvish and the border guards under Melden Cop
pershield. Grallen had word from the king's spies that a
massed army of hill dwarves was preparing to march
from southern Abanasinia. They had to be stopped.
Otherwise the mountain dwarf army at Dergoth would
have been caught between two enemies.
"Somehow Fistandantilus was there, at Waykeep, and
joined the battle, casting spells of fire and ice. Those who
came this way were all that remained from that battle."
"And nobody in Thorbardin knew of that, since no
body came home after Zhaman," Wingover muttered.
"What else did you see? In your dream, I mean?"
The dwarf's eyes narrowed. "Another battle. A greater
one taking place across Dergoth toward the old fortress
standing there. I knew, Wingover. I knew... did I
know then? Did he know that it was the last battle?
"Callan Rockreave led the main assault. I wonder if
any in Thorbardin know that. And Derek Hammerthane carried the king's pennant. Others joined us, too...
joined them, I mean. Some humans among them, who
fought courageously alongside Grallen and the others.
"I... Grallen, I mean. In the dream, he actually took
the tower, then confronted the old wizard in his lair. He
intended to exact an oath from Fistandantilus... or to
kill him. The prince was in a hurry, though, and dis
tracted. He wanted to finish the fight and get back to
Thorbardin because of something the gem above his
noseguard had revealed to him. He was worried, and he
underestimated the old wizard."
Chane paused and closed his eyes. "I saw it in the
dream. The wizard was in a rage. His eyes... there is no
way to describe such eyes. They were not the eyes of any
living thing. They were... evil. Then the wizard smiled
and set loose his final magic. And Grallen... and every
one and everything... were gone."
Chane's voice had gone soft as he spoke, and was
barely audible in the final words. As he opened his eyes a
tear welled in one of them and started to trickle down his
cheek. He snorted, shook his head, and brushed it away.
"Everything ended there, you know. They all died."
The dwarf sighed heavily, glancing around as though
he were just awakening. The kender had come to listen and was holding one end of a long pole with leather
loops on it. Chane realized this was probably the first
time he had ever seen the kender speechless.
"But you said you saw Skullcap," Wingover persisted.
"Grallen couldn't have seen that."
"No. It was as well that he never saw it. It was like the
mountain... melted, changed into something hideous.
Grallen didn't see it, Wingover, but I did. In the dream."
He tapped his forehead. "The stone in Grallen's helm -
Pathfinder -- saw it, and I've seen what Pathfinder saw.
"Grallen must have put his helm aside... or lost it in
the tower or something. But I know where it is now, and
why the green trace out there looks so odd, as though it
doubles back on itself." He walked to the ledge and
pointed, not toward distant Skullcap, but south of there.
"Zhaman's spire," he said. "It was blown entirely away
from the tower, and bits of the upper portions with it.
Grallen's helm -- and Pathfinder -- are there, where the
wreckage fell."
* * * * *
Morning sun was on the peaks of Sky's End when the
soarwagon appeared again, spiraling down from high
above in a series of precipitous loops and tumbles -- for
all the world like a stricken bird falling away from a rap
tor. And as it tumbled closer, Chane and his allies squinted at it. The contrivance seemed to have added
something since its last visit. Thrust upward from its top
side was a slim thing like a narrow mast.
Over the gorge, just out from the cove, the soarwagon
leveled out and its nose-vanes shifted. It hovered on ris
ing mists while Bobbin leaned out to shout, "Get the sup
plies ready! I've solved the problem!"
"What do you mean, you've solved the problem?"
Chess called back. "I worked all day on solving the prob
lem."
"Hurry!" Bobbin tugged the control lines, ignoring the
kender, and eased the soarwagon toward the ledge. As it
had done before, the contraption began to tilt, aligning
itself to the slope of the mountain steeps above. Closer it
came, and closer, and the slender mastlike thing began to
extend from its underside, toward the cove. Chess and
the others could see what it was: Bobbin's rope. But
somehow it was stiff, snaking toward the ledge at an
angle.
"Hurry!" the gnome shouted. "And don't forget the
cider!"
Chess danced about the ledge, his eyes bright with ex
citement. "Look at that! He's made the rope stiff. It's
coming right to us." Bobbin worked his controls and continued feeding out
the rope, doing all he could to settle the soarwagon in
close to the ledge.
"How did you do that I" Chess shouted. "That's really
something! Come on! The raisins and cider are right
here, all lashed together. All we have to do is hook them
...oops!"
The rope had come within five feet of the ledge, almost
within reach. Then, abruptly, it sagged and went limp.
The rope dangled from the flying craft, its hook swinging
fifteen feet out from the cliff.
"Oh, breakdown!" the gnome cursed. "It melted!"
"Melted?"
"Right. I used up the last of my water, soaking it, then
spent the night at least ten thousand feet up, freezing it. I
thought that would work."
"Well, don't worry," the kender called. "Just try to hold
still."
Strutting with pride, Chess brought out his supply
pole -- twenty feet of slim sapling, with loops at its ends.
He attached the narrow-end loop to the raisin-and-cider
pack and lifted it, then began to feed out pole toward
Bobbin's dangling hook.
Leaning over his wicker rail, the gnome watched with worried eyes. "That isn't going to work," he said. "You
can't lever that much weight that far out without a coun
terbalance."
Chess braced himself, struggling to feed out the pole.
The weight of the supplies seemed to double with each
foot of extension. "I may need some help," he admitted.
The others had gathered around him, watching with a
mixture of amusement and disbelief.
"You need more than help," Wingover advised. "There
isn't enough pole there."
"This just has to work," the kender panted, beginning
to stagger at the leveraged weight of the supply pole. "It's
the only idea I have."
With the last of his strength, Chess hauled the supplies
back to the ledge. He carried the pack twenty feet to the
left and ran back. Lifting the butt-end of the pole, the
kender put his shoulder to it.
"Don't!" Wingover started.
"Wait!" Chane shouted.
"Youcan'tdothat!" Bobbin called.
But the kender already had. With a tremendous heave,
Chess swung the pack off the ledge, trying to hoist it out
to the soarwagon's hook. Pack, pole, and kender disap
peared over the edge. Jilian screamed.
Instantly Wingover loosed his sword, plunged its blade deep into a crack in the rock, and swung himself
outward and down. Chane Feldstone jumped over him,
cleared the ledge, and scrambled down the man's length.
The dwarf hung from Wingover's ankle and grabbed
Chess's free hand just as the kender lost his grip on a
snag.
"Got him!" Chane called. "Pull us back up!"
Wingover pulled, but nothing happened. His grip on
his sword held them suspended -- man, dwarf, kender,
pole and pack hanging over the misted gorge -- but no
amount of muscle-wrenching effort would lift them.
"I thought I was the one who was crazy," Bobbin called
from the hovering soarwagon.
Just at the cliff's edge, Jilian had her feet braced and
both hands on Wingover's forearm. Her nails bit into hi!
skin as she pulled. "Let go!" he shouted at her. 'You're
making it worse!"
"Somebody get a rope!" Chane called from below.
"I have a rope," Bobbin mentioned. "A fat lot of good
it does me, now that it's melted."
Jilian scrambled back from the ledge, then turned and
ran, returning with Wingover's horse and a length of
rope from his packs. Working quickly, the girl secured
the rope to the saddle, carried its free end to the ledge, and leaned over to tie it around Wingover's arm.
With Jilian pulling on its headstall, the horse braced it
self and hauled. Wingover appeared at the ledge and was
dragged to safety, snatching up his sword as he came.
Then came Chane and finally the kender. Chess had one
hand firmly grasped in the dwarf's fingers; the other held
the pole's loop.
"Remarkable," Bobbin sighed, watching from the limit
of ground effect.
When finally the pole and packs were safe, Chane
Feldstone released his grips on the man's ankle and the
kender's hand. The dwarf stood up, brushed himself off,
and took the pole away from Chess. "Get out of the way,"
he growled.
Angrily, the dwarf reversed the pole and thrust its
butt-loop out toward the gnome's dangling hook, hand
over hand.
Chess watched for a moment, then shook his head.
'That won't work," he said.
"Why not?" Chane kept feeding out the pole.
"Because then I'll lose my supply pole!"
"What do you want it for?"
"Well, it's for sending raisins and cider out to where
Bobbin can get them."
"And when he has the pole, he'll have the supplies, too," the dwarf rumbled. "Mercy!"
"Oh." Chess backed off, considering the logic of it.
"Well, there is that."
Using the supply pack as a counterweight, Chane fed
the pole out and neatly dropped its loop over Bobbin's
hook. The gnome began to winch in his line, and the
pack slid off the ledge and fell. The heavy bundle of sup
plies swung at pole's end, making the soarwagon dance
in its hover. The contraption held for a moment, then
sensitive vanes reacted to the shifting currents and it
soared away over the gorge, circling and climbing as
Bobbin's angry voice trailed away.
"You're welcome!" Chess shouted, watching soarwa
gon, rope, supply pole, and raisin-and-cider pack dimin
ish into the distance.
"At least he has provisions," Jilian pointed out. "I'm
sure he was getting hungry."
Chapter 28
Hiqh ox a chill slope, where whining winds
drove scudding clouds below and whipped snow from
peaks above, the wizard Glenshadow knelt beside a pool
of ice. The hooded face looking up at him was grim.
"Only a few days ago you were within an arrow-shot of the Dark One, Wanderer. Did you see him?"
"I saw something," Glenshadow replied. "The warrior
woman lifted something from beneath her breastplate.
Something small and dark, it seemed, like an amulet."
"It was the Dark One," the face told him. "You could
have killed him then... or he you."
Glenshadow shook his head. "His magic would no
more work for him than mine for me," he said. "Not in
the presence of Spellbinder."
"The dwarf still carries the stone, then," the voice mut
tered. "Has he seen where it directs him?"
"He sees the trail of Pathfinder, and thus the way to
Grallen's helm. He may know soon where it lies, for he is
on the east face of Sky's End now. All of Dergoth is visi
ble beyond the chasm."
"All of Dergoth... and the woman, Darkmoor. The
Dark One is with her. They are ahead of you, Wanderer.
They await you."
"Then so it must be," Glenshadow rasped, his voice as
chill as the whining winds on the mountain. "Tell me, has
the riddle been tested? The omen of the moons?"
"We think it means there will be war," the ice-face said.
"A war like none Krynn has ever known."
"When?" "Soon. The preliminary games are in play even now
...as you have seen."
"But, a war of the moons? What kind of war must that
be?"
"Of the moons, Wanderer? Or of the gods? We believe
the omens mean a war for dominion. Some say a contest
among gods, to once and for all determine which of the
triad alignments shall rule on Krynn... But, of course,
there are always those who speak of ultimates and finali
ties. Even so, those of the dark robes are gleeful these
days, while those of the white are silent and anxious."
The figure in the ice seemed to shrug. "We shall see what
comes of it all. Most of us are not overly concerned."
The ice faded, went blank. The mirror surface re
flected only cold sky above -- that, and the cold,
thoughtful face of the wizard who knelt beside it.
"Not overly concerned," he muttered, and his cold
words were carried away by the wind. "Not concerned?
It was not only the white moon that was eclipsed, but the
red, as well."
Glenshadow passed the glowing tip of his staff over
the ice pool, and again it shifted. He knew from past tri
als that it would show him nothing of Chane Feldstone
and his companions. It was, after all, only magic. It
could not see within the realm of Spellbinder. But it would show him other things, in other places.
A scene emerged: a sundered plain where goblins
marched, and in the background the blind, leering
death's-head of Skullcap, hideous monument to the
power of magics drawn from Nuitari, the black moon.
"Chislev!" the wizard said.
The ice scene flowed, spanned across miles, and refo
cused on a barren hillside. There, a figure stood
motionless -- a curious, oddly-jointed thing that might
have been a horse... or some woodcarver's interpreta
tion of a horse. It was obviously a carven figure, wooden
with pin-hinged joints like a child's toy. As the ice eye
closed on the figure its carved head turned. Painted eyes
looked at the wizard.
"Which are you?" Glenshadow asked the ice.
"I am Hobby," the carved horse told him. "What wish
do you have?"
"The helm of the dwarven prince, Grallen. Do you
know where it is?"
"I know nothing except what Chislev wills," Hobby
said.
"And I have called upon Chislev and found you.
Therefore it is the will of Chislev. Hobby, where is Gral
len's helm?" The carved horse turned away, seeming to look about
uncertainly. Suddenly its hinged joints came alive, and it
sprang away, running at an awkward, loose-legged gal
lop that seemed slow -- except for the blur of landscape
flashing past. Hobby ran, and the ice image followed it.
Hills sped past, and wild steppes where raw wind flat
tened scrub. The torn and savaged land was seen just in
glimpses by the mage.
The carved horse ran, then slowed and halted atop an
other hill. "There," it said. "Hobby has found it."
The wooden horse looked away, and the ice image fol
lowed its steady gaze. At the foot of the hill was a tumble
of rocks. Great boulders lay here and there in a field of
smaller, broken stones, which stretched across a quarter
mile of barren waste. Only here and there among the
rocks was there indication that they had once been part
of a structure -- a squared corner, a wedge-cut face of flat
stone.
Hobby's gaze narrowed, and so did the scene in the ice
pool. Among the stones, a point jutted up, tilted at a
slight angle, its lower parts buried under sand and de
bris. It was a piece of what must once have been a mighty
structure, now only wreckage among rubble.
A wide crack ran from the covered base part way toward the upright point, and Hobby's painted eyes fo
cused on that crack. In the shadows within the fissure,
something glowed for a moment.
"The helm is there," Hobby said. "Chislev knows
where everything is. Chislev is everywhere that there are
eyes to see." Slowly, the carved wooden head turned to
the right, and in the ice pool the landscape slithered past:
a place of broken lands; a wide, cold marsh with moun
tains beyond. Only a few miles away, a range of giant
peaks rose above the sheer wall of a great cliff hundreds
of feet high, a diff that soared upward from a misted
gorge. And just at the top of the cliff, facing on a narrow
ledge, was a massive, closed gate.
The great northern gate of the undermountain realm
of Thorbardin, still intact though its approaches had
been sheared away for centuries.
Abruptly the picture vanished, and the carved
wooden face of Hobby was again in the ice. "Hobby has
shown what you wanted to see," the horse said.
Glenshadow drew his staff across the ice, and again it
was only ice. He stood, wind whipping the fringes of his
bison cloak, rippling the hems of the faded red robes
beneath.
Far out across the plain, tiny with distance, plumes of
dust arose where armies moved. Glenshadow watched these, deep in thought. Out there, somehow joined to the
woman who led the invaders, was Caliban.
Caliban, the renegade black-robed mage Glenshadow
and two others had hunted down years before... Cali
ban, who chose to fight them rather than accept the rules
of the robed orders... Caliban, whose magic destroyed
two of the three before he himself died.
Glenshadow's cold eyes were as bleak as a winter
storm as he remembered. Caliban had died, but not at
Glenshadow's hand. He had killed himself, rather than
accept defeat. Glenshadow had seen the manner of it.
The black-robed mage, with his own two hands, had
torn out his own heart.
Even across the miles now, he felt eyes upon him and
knew that he was seen. Caliban's magic lived, and was at
work.
The wizard on the mountain raised his eyes toward the
skies. "Hear me Gilean, gate of souls," he said, his voice
like the mountain wind. "Hear me Sirrion Firemaster.
Hear me Chislev, whose carven creatures see what is to
see. World-tree Zivilyn, and Shinare by whose color the
wilderness man shone, hear me. Hear me all who seek
balance in a struggling world, who yearn for order in a
plane whose name is chaos. Two things more do I ask in this life: to see the death of he who died before... and
first, to see what Chane Feldstone sees when he holds
Spellbinder and Pathfinder and looks toward Thor
bardin."
Sighing, the mage looked across distances toward the
place where the dust plumes blew. He knew what the
thing was that Kolanda Darkmoor had raised from her
breastplate -- the thing he had thought was an amulet. It
was what remained of Caliban. It was the wizard's heart.
The Wanderer felt eyes upon him, and sensed a build
ing of magics. He turned his eyes toward the place the
wooden horse had shown him, and muttered a transport
spell.
Winds whipped about him on the mountainside, and
then there was only the wind.
* * * * *
In the final four miles of approach, with Skullcap fully
and horriblyvisible ahead, Kolanda Darkmoor had
fanned her goblin troops out in three long lines. They
had swept the plains for a sign of anyone having passed
as she waited for the reports to come back. Within hours,
a front several miles long had been combed. It was clear
that no one had passed this way recently.
Thoughtfully, then, Kolanda looked back the way she had come. Due west, the bulk of Sky's End rose somber
against the sky. To the south, just visible across the miles,
was the massive mountain wall of Thorbardin, the great
north gate tiny above a sheer cliff of huge proportion.
Northgate was almost never used now because of its
nearly impossible access -- even by the dwarves who
lived beyond it.
Her eyes, shadowed within the grotesque horned
mask that was the faceplate of her helmet, rested on
Northgate for a time. Then they roved downward, seek
ing something she knew was there but had never seen -
the thing her career with the Highlord's forces was based
upon, the thing that would assure her the power she
craved when the Highlords began their campaigns. That
thing was the secret way into Thorbardin.
Command of Thorbardin was to be Kolanda
Darkmoor's reward -- provided she remained in the good
graces of the Highlord of Neraka. She would have com
mand of defeated and occupied Thorbardin, and first
share of the treasures of the realm.
Kolanda could not see the hidden entrance. No one
could, now. But it was there, and she knew the way to it.
It was that information that had gained her the interim
rank of Commander.
She wished she could see the hidden gate now. It would feel good, she thought, to see the route by which
she would lead forces to penetrate and conquer the king
dom of the western dwarves of Ansalon.
It's there, she thought, scanning with her eyes. Just
there... and unknown to those within.
But there was one who posed a threat: a dwarf who
had the means to thwart her plans. He must be de
stroyed. But where was he? Not here yet, certainly. Back
there somewhere, she realized, but coming this way. But
where? The plains were vast, with no significant feature
except the ruined fortress of Zhaman... now Skullcap.
He would be coming to Skullcap, wouldn't he? Where
else would he seek that which he sought?
Shadowed eyes in a hideous mask roved the slopes of
Sky's End. Up there? Where?
It was time to ask Caliban. She turned away, looking
for one of her hobgoblin marshals. None were near, and
the only goblins within call were stupid brutes -- a dozen
or so greasy swamp goblins good only for carrying packs
and spears, and for combing the field after combat to dis
patch the wounded. A pair of ogres squatted nearby,
though, two of four that had come south with her force.
The other two had been missing for at least a week.
She approached the pair and pointed at the nearest one. "You, go and tell the marshals to form here and
await orders."
The huge creature stared at her with cruel, close-set
eyes -- eyes that were above her own even though the
ogre was squatting on its heels. It yawned, baring great
slabs of yellow teeth, and looked away.
Raising her faceplate Kolanda stepped closer and
barked, "You heard me? Do as I say!"
The two ogres grinned at each other, then the one she
had addressed spat on the ground. "Don't feel like it," it
rumbled. "Do it yourself."
With rising fury in her eyes, Kolanda Darkmoor drew
her sword and swatted the ogre across the face with the
flat of her blade. "Obey me!" she hissed.
The grin disappeared from the huge, leering face. The
ogre stood, rubbing its cheek with a hand that was eight
een inches across. It towered over the woman. "Puny hu
man," it rumbled. "Go too far. Maybe I squash you
where you are."
Kolanda reached to her throat and drew a leather
thong from beneath the lacquered metal of her breast
plate. At its end dangled a black, misshapen thing that
resembled a shriveled pear. "Caliban," she said.
A rush of heat sprang from the thing, a tangible force
that made the air around it sizzle. Fire shot from it and struck the ogre in the chest. The creature was thrown
backward a dozen yards. It tumbled, rolled, and
sprawled, then lay still. Vile smoke curled upward from
its midsection, and dead eyes stared at the sky.
Kolanda dropped the dark thing back into her breast
plate and pointed at the second ogre. 'You heard my or
der," she said. "You do it."
Growling deep in its massive chest, the monster
scrambled to its feet, glaring at the woman. It paused for
a moment over the smoking body of its partner, shot a
murderous glance back at Kolanda, then went to do her
bidding. After watching the ogre move off, the Com
mander beckoned to some of the swamp goblins. "Bring
the slaves," she ordered. "Set my pavilion here."
When she was alone, she pulled the dark thing from
her breastplate again, where an angry heat had devel
oped between her breasts. She held it up, gazing at it
with revulsion.
"Why did she wake me?" the thing asked, its voice a
dry, husky whisper in her ear. "Does she need me to deal
with ogres?"
"You didn't have to kill it," Kolanda said. "It might
have proven useful."
"She criticizes me," the thing whispered. "What does she want?"
"I need you to tell me where my quarry is," she said.
"Ah? Needs me, does she? Hee-hee!" The ancient, wiz
ened voice was a whispered cackle. "Needs Caliban, she
does. Very well, Caliban is awake. But she knows the
price."
With a shudder of revulsion, Kolanda dropped to her
knees and held the wrinkled thing before her face. Low
ering her head the woman said, "Caliban lives forever.
Caliban's power goes beyond death. Caliban will never
die again. Caliban offered me his help..." Her voice
trailed off in a choking whisper.
"Hee-hee!" the dark thing rasped. "She has to say it
all."
"Caliban offered me his help," she continued, "and I
accepted. I sealed the bargain with the blood of my own
brother, and thus Caliban owns my soul."
In her ear, the wispy voice chortled and cackled. 'Very
good. She always remembers... as she must. What
does she ask of me now?"
"I cannot see my prey, Caliban," Kolanda said. "See
them for me, and tell me where they are."
"She wants to know where people are," the voice
breathed. "Kiss me, Kolanda." With a shudder, she brought the thing to her lips and
kissed it, then held it against her forehead and looked
again toward Sky's End. She could see them -- the dwarf
and his companions -- across the miles but as if they were
only a few feet away. Caliban's magic magnified the
scene, and she counted them there. A pair of dwarves,
one male and one female; a rangy, bearded man dressed
as a ranger or forester; a horse carrying packs; a kender.
There was something odd about the kender, almost as
though someone else walked beside him, but there was
no one else there to see. They were coming down a steep
trail, toward the gorge that faced the plains. A stone
bridge arched across, just ahead of them.
"They are near the lost gate," she whispered. "But they
aren't all there. Where is the wizard?"
Kolanda raised her eyes and saw him. High on the side
of Sky's End, he stood alone, a cloaked wizard of the red
robes.
The heart of Caliban became hot against her skin.
"Glenshadow!" the husky voice rasped. There was a siz
zling sound, a ringing in the air, a massing of powers to
be unleashed. The figure on the mountain raised his staff
and vanished.
Puzzled, Kolanda Darkmoor withdrew the wrinkled
black thing from her brow and gazed at it. "What is it?" she asked. "Why were you so... ah. Aha, I think I see.
He was one of them, wasn't he! One of those who killed
you?"
The husky voice no longer chortled. Now its whisper
breathed of deadly hatred. "She must hold me aloft now.
I will find him again. I will kill him."
Quickly, Kolanda lowered Caliban. She dropped the
thing back beneath her breastplate and smiled, a cruel
smile on a face that should have been beautiful. "I owe
you no favors, sorcerer," she said. "Our accounts are
square. Go back to sleep."
Caliban stirred for a moment between her breasts, and
then became still. She shuddered in revulsion as she al
ways did. Years before, Kolanda had made her pact, a
pact between herself and the withered heart of an old
renegade wizard, hunted down by wizards of the various
orders. Caliban was a black-robe who had set himself be
yond the bounds and had paid the price. But Caliban was
also a mage who even in death had somehow torn out his
own heart with his two hands, and willed his spirit into
it.
This was Caliban, and this was the pact between them.
As long as she lived, she would keep and use the thing
that owned her. The slaves had been brought forward to set up the
Commander's pavilion. They were mostly hill dwarves,
with a few other creatures among them -- a few miserable
Aghar, an elf shackled and mutilated almost beyond rec
ognition, a few humans. Kolanda Darkmoor watched
the work, wrinkling her nose. So pitifully few, they
were. But there would be more. One day she would have
all the slaves she wanted, to use as she wished.
It was a thing she had learned from Caliban, or maybe
had always known. People are of value only if they are
owned.
She glanced at the slaves again. Among them, the lone
elf was clinging to the rails of a forage cart, staring at her.
Both legs made useless by cut tendons, still he clung to
stay upright and looked at her with eyes that held no ex
pression at all. Drivers goaded him, marked him with
whips, and he ignored them. I should kill him, she
thought. But this was the one who had ambushed her
scouting party -- had cost her half her escort -- and she
wanted him to live and suffer for that.
Among the wounds the elf carried were recent ones.
His face had been battered, and one of his ears was gone.
Bitten off, by the look of it.
Kolanda looked around for Thog, one of her hobgob
lins, and summoned him. "The elf has been beaten again." She pointed at the slave accusingly. "I want him
alive."
"Tried to 'scape," Thog growled. "Han's an' knees, an'
he brained one of th' drivers wi' a rock."
"All right," she said. "Just see that he isn't killed. I'm
not ready to release him yet."
When the hobgoblin was gone, Kolanda once again
drew the withered wizard-heart from her breast and
said, "Caliban."
Instantly he was awake.
"You can tell me where that wizard is now," she or
dered. "But after that we do things my way. And no more
ritual grovel, do you understand? Don't forget, I'm all
that keeps you alive."
"She is arrogant," the thing whispered. "But for now, I
agree. For now."
She held the old heart against her forehead and looked
into the distance.
Later, when the slaves had erected her pavilion, Ko
landa Darkmoor called for Thog again. "Have them take
it down and pack it away," she said. "And get your troops
together. We're moving out."
Chapter 29 The stone bridge across the gorge, at its nar
rowest point near the foot of Sky's End, was old. Not
truly ancient, in the sense that Gargath's monolith and
such constructs as Pax Tharkas and the ruins of Zhaman
were ancient, but it was old. Obviously, it had been built
since the Cataclysm, because prior to that there was no
gorge between the mountain peaks and the Plains of
Dergoth.
Andobviously,it was of dwarven construction. A
high-arched bridge, it was built entirely of stone -- huge
blocks of cut and shaped granite rising a hundred feet or
more in its center as it spanned three hundred yards of
abyss. Its floor was a precise nine feet in width. That was
the same width as the cable-cart tunnels in Thorbardin.
As he approached the structure, Wingover studied it
intently. "I hope you know what you're doing," he told
Chane. "Once we cross the gorge, we're going away
from Thorbardin, not toward it. And there are some
very unfriendly goblins over there somewhere."
"At least I know where to look for Pathfinder," the
dwarf noted. -It s just at the edge of the plains, on a hill
side. Probably not more than three miles from here."
"When you have it, it will lead you back toward Thor
bardin," Wingover noted. "The bridge will be between us and the city, then. I can't think of a better place for those
goblins to trap us."
"What's why I'm going on alone, after we cross the
bridge," Chane said. "The rest of you can wait at the
other abutment, to make sure we can come back."
"I'll do no such thing, Chane Feldstone," Jilian
snapped. "If you go out there, then I'm going too."
"I don't have much choice about it," Chestal Thick
etsway pointed out. "I'm with you, Chane. At least until
I do something about Zap."
"I'll leave Spellbinder here," the dwarf said. "Wingover
can hold it for me. That way you can stay here, too,
Chess. 1 don't know, you might be handy to have around
if Chane has to hold the bridge. I've seen you use that
hoopak."
'Yeah, I'm pretty good with it, don't you think?"
"Isn't that what I just said?"
"No. You said you'd seen me use it."
'You're good with it, so stay here."
"I don't have much choice, if Spellbinder's here. Unless
... I don't suppose you'd want me to hang on to Spell
binder until you get back. That way I could --"
"No-o-o!" something that wasn't exactly a voice
seemed to wail.
"Oh, yeah," the kender remembered. "I don't want to have to listen to that again. Of course, I could leave my
pouch, but then what would I use to carry hoopak
pebbles?"
"Stay!" Chane growled. "All the rest of you, too. I
know where I'm going, and I'll go faster alone."
But Wingover was ignoring the dwarf. Quickly, the
man stripped the packs from his horse, down to just sad
dle and gear. As he swung aboard, he snugged his flint
hide shield to his left forearm in riding mode. Wingover
then pulled his sword around, ready to hand, and looked
down at the glowering dwarf. "When it comes to travel
ing fast, you're about the worst choice we have at the
moment. So it's up to me. Where is that hillside?"
Chane glared up at him. "How do I know you'll come
back?"
"How do you know you would?" the man bristled.
"Do you want my help or not?"
"I never asked for your help," Chane grumbled. "Jilian
did."
Wingover leaned down to match the dwarf's pugna
cious glare with one of his own. "I believe you could ag
gravate the horns off a minotaur, dwarf, but I don't think
you're stupid. Tell me where to find that helm of yours,
or I'll go search for it anyway." Jilian tugged the sleeve of Chane's black fur coat. "Tell
him, Chane. He'll bring it back."
"How do you know he...?" Chane looked around
and paused. "Oh. Well, I suppose you're right. It's just
that humans are so hard to trust."
"Well?" Wingover asked.
"Beyond the bridge is a broken slope, with a trail
winding down through rock outcrop for about half a
mile. The trail is easy to see... or it used to be, any
way, when I...I mean when Grallen saw it. After you
get out of the breaks, you'll see a few low hills ahead,
and the trail will fork around the first one. Take the left
fork. The right leads to the bog." He paused, and
Wingover nodded.
"Past that hill you'll see two more a mile or so away -
little hills that look alike, with a gap between and the
sundered plains beyond. The right-hand hill is where
Grallen's helm is, with Pathfinder. The hillside faces
Skullcap, and the helm's near the foot of the hill. There's
rubble there, so I guess you'll just have to search through
it."
"What if it's buried or something?"
"It isn't buried. But it's in a dark place with a tall, tilted
opening -- like a crack. Jagged, kind of. And where it is, it can't see Thorbardin."
"How do you know that?" Wingover asked.
Chane shrugged. "Because it wants to, and it can't. I
don't know. The Irda said the two gems are god-things,
left over from something a god did. Maybe they are in
terested in whatever that god is concerned about."
"And what god is that?" Wingover said with a frown.
"Assuming, of course, that there really are gods. I'm not
sure I believe any of that."
"I don't know if I do, either," the dwarf admitted. "But
the Irda did. And Reorx is the highest of the gods... if
there are any."
"Reorx? Wingover scoffed. What about Gilean?
And Paladine, and Kiri-Jolith? Reorx isn't any higher
than them!"
"Who?"
"Gilean."
The dwarf nodded. "He's all right, I suppose. I meant
Reorx was greater than those other two you named. I've
never even heard of them."
"You never heard of Paladine? He's the highest
ranking of --"
"He means Thak and Kijo," Chess butted in, grinning.
"A lot of people call them Paladine and Kiri-Jolith."
They both looked at the kender. Chane frowned and snapped, "What are you grinning about?"
"Oh, I was just thinking, for two people who don't be
lieve there are gods, you both certainly have your favor
ites."
"And how do you know so much about it?"
"I listen a lot."
"Pure superstition, anyway," Wingover snorted,
straightening in his saddle. He looked at the rising stone
bridge ahead and lifted his reins.
"I'll be back," he said. "Just hold the bridge for me if
trouble comes."
He touched heels to the horse and trotted it to the foot
of the stone bridge. The horse abruptly turned tail and
tried to throw him off. He clung, cursing, and finally got
the animal under control.
"Maybe he's afraid of the bridge," Chane suggested.
"Geekay has never been afraid of a bridge in his life!"
Wingover shouted. "Or a goblin, either! He's just full of
vinegar from not being exercised."
"Geekay? Is that his name? What does it mean?"
"He named himself. It's Goblin Killer." Wingover
hauled the reins. The horse spun, dug in haunches
down, and hit the bridge at a full gallop. Wingover's di
minishing voice came back to them: "Blast it, horse! Not so fast!"
In seconds the thundering horse had topped out at the
crown of the high-curved span and was out of sight. A
moment later the ring of hooves on stone faded to a dis
tant clatter, beyond the gorge.
"Well, the bridge is still there," Chestal Thicketsway
decided. "I guess it's safe to cross."
"Of course it's safe," Chane growled. "It's dwarven
work." Picking up his pack, he started up the bridge, the
others following after him.
"If a gnome can fly," the kender muttered, "then I guess
a dwarf might miscalculate rocks and things from time to
time."
* * * * *
By the time Wingover got the bridge-spooked horse
under tight rein, they were through the breaks and into
rolling, open country. Holding Geekay to a steady trot,
the wilderness man scanned the lands ahead. A few low
hills lay ahead, about a half-mile away, just as Chane
had said. Wingover eased the reins and headed for them,
looking for signs of a trail.
At first there was none, then in a low place that might
once have been a mudflat he saw tracks. They were old tracks, but still clear - at least three horses, and the
short, wide .prints of dwarven boots. The trail disap
peared short of the hill, but Wingover made left and cir
cled around it, his eyes roving the landscape. Sometimes
he raised his shield to eye-level and peered over the top
edge of it. An old trick, it was a way to see distinct move
ment that might otherwise lose itself in mirage. So far he
had seen nothing, but vagrant breezes carried the stink of
goblins. Wingover knew they were out there some
where.
As much as he watched the land around him, he
watched the ears of his horse. The animal smelled gob
lins, too, and was wary. Its ears swiveled this way and
that, pausing sometimes. When they did, Wingover
scanned in their direction.
The hill was a smooth mound, and as Wingover
passed it he saw two more, just as the dwarf had de
scribed. They lay about a mile ahead, with some draws
and gullys lacing the lower ground between.
Geekay's ears turned, fixed on a direction ahead and to
the left, and a tremor ran along his mane. Wingover
lifted his shield, peering over its edge. Atop a narrow
draw, barely a hundred yards away, something moved.
It looked like a twig twitching in the wind... except that twigs twitch rhythmically, and this one didn't. It
moved, disappeared below the rim of the draw, and re
appeared a few yards away. Its direction was toward the
point where his own path would cross the draw.
So they're waiting for me there, he decided. But how
many?
Wingover reined a little to the left, holding hard
against the bit, then let Geekay have his head. The horse
had never been trained as a warhorse - not as some he
had seen, great steeds in armor, ridden by men in armor,
silent men who had come down from Solamnia once
many years before in search of a fugitive - but Wingover
and Geekay had traveled far together and had been in
some scrapes.
With the bit eased and the scent of goblins in his nos
trils, and with the tug to the left from his rider, Geekay
took the lead. As the horse gathered himself, Wingover
jumped to the ground and headed for the draw at a
crouching run, angling to the right. Behind him, Geekay
whinnied shrilly and galloped away to the left. Fifty
yards... one hundred... then he turned and headed
for the draw.
In the ravine, four goblin scouts paused, puzzled at the
sudden change in approaching sounds. One started to raise his head and another swatted him down. "Don'
look," he growled. "Get us seen. Listen!"
"Runnin' away," another said, pointing back the way
they had come. "That way."
The goblins turned to follow the hoofbeats, but a
blood-freezing howl erupted just behind them. The rear
most goblin didn't even have time to turn. Wingover's
sword flashed across his back from shoulder to waist,
and dark blood spurted. The second turned, tried to raise
his dart-bow, and had it knocked from his hand. With
his sword, the goblin barely countered the human's fol
lowing thrust with a low, chopping swing at his legs.
Metal rang on metal.
The third goblin had his blade out, but the fourth
caught his arm. "Back up," he hissed. "Get room. Use
darts."
They scrambled back, setting darts to their crossbows.
The first dart ricocheted off Wingover's flinthide shield.
The second buried itself in the back of a goblin flung
from the point of a sword. The last two set darts again,
then their eyes widened as the sound of thunder bore
down on them from behind. One turned, screamed, and
bounced off the other as the flashing hooves of a horse
named Goblin Killer descended upon him. The remain
ing goblin was still scrambling to his feet when Geekay swapped ends and kicked. Crushed like a turtle in its
shell, the goblin flew over Wingover's head and re
bounded off a wall of the gully.
"Not bad," Wingover breathed, catching up the reins
of the excited, wild-eyed horse. "Now let's move. It
stinks here."
He scrambled into his saddle. Geekay cleared the rim
at a bound and headed for the right-hand hill ahead,
Wingover wondered where the rest of the goblins were.
He knew there were at least a hundred more, and among
them possibly ogres - as well as a woman in a hideous ar
mor mask that hid a face that should have been beauti
ful.
Atop the hill was a bright green statue of a wizard,
both arms extended to their full length, a motionless staff
in one hand. Wingover blinked at it, then headed for it.
Even from the foot of the hill, he recognized Glenshadow
the Wanderer... even though he was bright green and
motionless.
The wilderness man reined in beside the wizard, gap
ing at him. Even his clothing and his hair were bright
green. Leaning from his saddle, he asked,. 'What hap
pened to you?"
"Take... it," the wizard gasped. "Take what?" He looked the mage over and noticed
that one hand was balled into a tight fist. Wingover pried
it open. In the wizard's hand was a crystal, the twin of
Spellbinder, except for its color. As red as Spellbinder
was, so was Pathfinder green.
Wingover took the crystal, and the green color faded
from the mage.
Glenshadow slumped, trembling. "I - I shouldn't have
touched it," he rasped. "Should have known. Spellbinder
binds magic, turns it against itself. Pathfinder freezes it,
holds it in stasis. It was how Gargath held and controlled
the graystone."
Wingover flipped the crystal over in his hand. "Very
pretty," he said. "All right, they're waiting for us at the
bridge. Can you ride?"
"Can't get through," the wizard said, still trembling.
"The goblins... they're behind you, heading for the
bridge. I saw them from up here. With Pathfinder, I
couldn't move. But I could see... everything. The
dwarf was right. Thorbardin is breached. Here."
Glenshadow stooped and picked up something
Wingover had not noticed until then - an old dwarven
helmet, not elaborate but of fine craft. It was a horned
and spired helm of burnished metal with skirts and a
carven nosepiece. Above the noseguard was a setting. "The gem belongs here," Glenshadow said. "Please put
it back in place."
Wingover took the helmet and turned it, wonder in his
eyes. Grallen's helm. There was no doubt of it. The
dwarven prince of old had been here. He had been inside
the fortress of Zhaman, and only this helm had survived
to tell of it. And it had called out to Chane Feldstone in
dreams.
Carefully Wingover reset Pathfinder in the helm's set
ting. His hard, but gentle fingers refit the brass prongs
that had held it, and for a moment Wingover was
tempted to put it on his head. It would fit, and it might
speak to him... then he changed his mind. This is
Chane's to do with as he must, he told himself. And if
there is one lesson I can learn from this wizard here, it is
not to fiddle with things that are beyond me.
Wingover bound the old helmet with thongs and hung
it from his saddle, then reached a hand to Glenshadow.
"Come up," he said. "The horse can carry double. We've
got to get back to the bridge."
Chapter 30
Because the goblin army was so widely spread, fanned across the plains in three troops, miles apart, Ko
landa Darkmoor decided to move against the people at
the bridge. Even though the wizard might be with them,
the defenders were still only a handful. She ordered Thog
to gather the main force on the central plain to await her
signal.
Thus, when Wingover made his dash from the breaks
to the fork-trail hill, spotters saw him from less than a
mile away. The word of his sighting was relayed immedi
ately.
"We got foragers workin' those gully-washes," the run
ner said. "They'll get him there."
"Groups of four?"
"Like you said," the sprinter noted, "he won' get
through. Jus' one man... they'll get him."
Yet, moments later, the rider was seen again, farther
away and past the washes, heading for the more distant
of the twin hills. Kolanda swore, halted her platoon, and
pulled Caliban from beneath her breastplate. "Caliban!"
she snapped. "See for me now." She held the withered
heart to her forehead without ceremony.
"She is arrogant," the whispering voice said. "She will
require special attention when... ah?" The voice be
came a hiss. "Glenshadow!" "See for me!" Kolanda ordered. "The man on the
horse, what is he doing?"
The view closed on the distant rider, who was swerv
ing to climb the hill, then shifted to the hilltop, Kolanda
stiffened. The wizard there stood immobile, arms out
stretched, and shone with a green glare that seemed to
burn through her skin. She jerked Caliban away from
her forehead. "What is that?"
"She doesn't know what has hurt us," the feathery
voice whispered. The heart vibrated in the Commander's
hand, the air sizzled and trembled, and Caliban loosed a
bolt of pure energy across the miles, aimed at the wizard
on the hill. Then Caliban went cold in Kolanda's palm.
"An element protects him," it whispered. "I could not
reach him."
"Is his magic more powerful than yours?" the woman
snapped.
"She doesn't understand," Caliban whispered. "It is
not his magic. It is something else. Wait... ah. The man
has taken it. Now Glenshadow is revealed. Now I can
fight him. Hold me up. I must draw power from you."
"Wait," Kolanda commanded. "The thing he had, that
the rider has now, is that what the dwarf is seeking?"
"She plays at riddles," the dry voice grated. "Hold me
up." Kolanda felt the familiar tingling in her skin as Caliban
started to restore his energy for another attack, drawing
from her own reserves. Abruptly she dropped the with
ered thing, letting it hang on its thong outside her breast
plate. 'You will obey me," she commanded. "Obey or
find no source for your magic. Without me, you are
nothing. We do this my way. Do you agree?"
"She oversteps," the voice whispered, distant and dry.
"She will pay when the time is right. It must be so."
"Another time, we can discuss it," she said. "But now,
do you agree?"
"How can we fight as two?" the ancient voice insinu
ated. "When I am at rest her armor hides me, and hides
all from me except her. When I am in use, she must hold
me in contact with her; she can do nothing else."
"Do you agree?" Kolanda demanded.
"I agree," the distant, evil voice said. "For now. But
how?"
"Like this," she said. Reaching behind her, the Com
mander loosed the lacings on her breastplate, then pulled
it off and threw it aside for the slaves to pick up and place
in the cart. The blouse beneath it she tore from neck to
waist, exposing her breasts. Caliban hung now in the
cleft between them, and his voice was no longer distant. "I can draw from her heart to fight, as well as from her
head," it admitted.
Immediately, Kolanda felt the tingling again, this time
through her chest, and the surrounding air seemed to siz
zle. "My way," she reminded. "You can have the wizard,
but not at risk of the man and the thing he carries." The
distant vision came again, but only vaguely now that
Caliban was not at her eyes. Still, it was enough.
The wizard was mounting the horse, swinging up be
hind its rider.
Kolanda beckoned a hobgoblin. "Noll," she com
manded, "take the platoon at double-time and go to the
bridge. Take those you find there. Kill them if they re
sist." She motioned the troops forward, and they lined
out at a run, followed by the cart drawn by slaves and by
the swamp goblins searing them with whips to get more
speed from them.
Only Kolanda and her personal guard of six selected
fighting goblins remained. With them at her heels, she set
off at a steady trot toward the edge of the breaks. Where
the trail emerged, she would wait for the two riders com
ing from the hills. Caliban could have his revenge on the
wizard. He could have the other man, too, as far as she
was concerned, but intuition told her that the thing he carried with him must not reach the dwarf at the bridge.
It must not reach Thorbardin, of course, but more than
that she herself must have it.
Whatever it was, it had the power to punish Caliban.
The two men on the horse were still nearly a mile away
when Kolanda Darkmoor and her guards took up am
bush positions along the trail, just where it entered the
broken lands.
Half a mile to the west, Noll and his platoon of goblin
warriors crept through narrow ways among heaped
boulders, approaching the abutment of Sky's End
Bridge. Behind them came the cart, pulled by slaves. In
the same cart Kolanda Darkmoor's lacquered steel
breastplate lay atop bundles of lathed bronze darts, for
aged weapons and supplies, and bits of booty picked up
along the trail. Where it lay, it almost hid a sleek long
bow of elven design and a single arrow... the last ar
row of Garon Wendesthalas.
Weak and battered, beaten and mutilated, the elf
clung to the side of the cart for support as swamp goblins
harried the slaves along. He clung, and his hand was
never far from the bow and the single arrow.
* * * * * Wingover was long since out of sight by the time
Chane and the others had crossed the arched bridge, and
they settled in to wait between a pair of pillars that might
once have been guard towers, flanking the east end of the
bridge. Guard towers or, Chane thought, possibly
counting towers for inspection of wares in transit. Idly,
the dwarf found himself thinking: this might once have
been a trade road. Wingover had spoken of trade roads.
Probably there had been such a road, going out from
Thorbardin to points north by way of Pax Tharkas. Ob
viously there had once been a lot of trade between the
undermountain kingdom and other realms far more
than the modest efforts of Rogar Goldbuckle and other
traders produced now.
Thorbardin itself was full of things not dwarven.
Elvenwares of great beauty were treasured under the
mountains, as were tapestries and feather arrangements,
cunning table services of carved wood made by humans
somewhere, toys and folding screens, vine-laced frames
for paintings, small bits of treasured ivory. Chane had
seen such things all his life in Thorbardin, but had never
thought much about them. Now he realized that they
were relics of some long-ago time when the gates had
been open and roads had been in use for caravans to come and go upon them. Chane thought of it, and felt as
though some grand thing had been lost along the way.
Wars and hostilities and conflicts among peoples had de
stroyed the roads, and put an end to the commerce they
had represented.
This very bridge, this soaring arch across a misted
gorge, might have been part of that same old route from
Thorbardin to Pax Tharkas to the lands of Abanasinia
...destroyed in the Dwarfgate Wars. The bridge might
have been a point of registry for dwarven goods out
bound, and a point of inspection for the treasures of
other places, coming to the dwarven realm. The broken
lands beyond would have made ideal trading grounds. A
hundred camps could be set up within a half-mile, each
in its private corner, and all interconnected by the maze
of stone-walled paths. It would have been a trading ba
zaar like nothing ever seen in Thorbardin, even in the
great centers of the Daewar city.
It was a pity, that such things no longer were.
"If ever there is peace," Chane muttered, "real peace
and cooperation, it will be warriors and fighters who
bring it. For they are the ones who have seen the most of
chaos."
Chess glanced around at him. 'You sound like an elf."
"Or a human," Jilian observed. "That does sound awfully human, Chane."
"I wonder," he said. "I wonder if there's that much
difference."
"I think I'll take a look around," Chess said. "Things
are getting dull around here."
Before he could turn away, though, the kender looked
up and grinned. 'Things may perk up a little, I guess.
Bobbin's back."
Like a speck against the mountainside, rapidly grow
ing, the soarwagon dipped and tumbled toward Chane,
Jilian, and Chess. The kender's supply pole dangled be
low it, horizontal, attached to the hook on Bobbin's life
line. They walked a few steps out on the bridge to watch
its approach, and Chane's foot bumped something pro
truding from the bridge rail. He knelt for a better look. It
was a metal ring the size of the palm of his hand, just
inches above the bridge's floor. He raised his eyes,
searching along the rail. There was another a few yards
away, and another beyond that... and the same along
the base of the south rail. Metal rings were set in the
stone at intervals, as far up the bridge as Chane could
see. He knew what they were. Every cable-cart tunnel in
Thorbardin had such rings at every change in grade.
Such winch rings were used for the hoisting and lowering of laden carts along slopes, by use of pulleys.
Just like in Thorbardin.
But why equip an open-road bridge with winch-rings?
Unless....
Chane stood, gazing past the rising bridge, across the
gorge at the sheer face of Sky's End. They had come
down from a high ledge, along a narrow switchback trail
that approached the bridge from a sharp angle. No
straight approach from the west was possible, because
the bridge footings ran nearly to the sheer, clifflike face
of the cutaway mountain. It had, now that Chane
thought of it, seemed odd that a bridge should end at
right angles to the foot.of a diff, but he had other things
on his mind when they'd first encountered it.
Chane took a deep breath and nodded. Intuition so
strong it was beyond question poured through him.
"I know where it is," he muttered.
Beyond the west end of the bridge, at the foot of Sky's
End's towering cliff, was a rockfall. And behind the rock
fall... it had to be. An ancient tradeway, under the
mountain. A tradeway that would lead to the warrens.
The forgotten entrance to Thorbardin. Forgotten be
cause an old war had brought an end to trade.
"Hello!" Chane blinked and turned. Just a few yards away,
level with the bridge, the soarwagon hovered over the
gorge. The gnome waved at them. "Do you want this
pole back?" he called. "I don't have any use for it, and it's
a clumsy thing to carry around."
"Why don't you just drop it?" the kender asked.
"It's a nice pole, and you might want to send over some
more raisins some time. Why don't you keep it?"
Chess smiled. "All right. Let it down, and I'll keep it."
"Not here," Bobbin said. "I'm afraid to get too close to
that bridge. But I can let it down just past those towers."
The soarwagon edged upward, dipped, and soared
out over the gorge in a wide circle. It settled to a hover
again just past the foot of the bridge.
"I'll go get the pole," the kender said.
Bobbin began lowering the horizontal pole, working
his winch, then paused, looking toward the breaks. He
cupped his hands and shouted, "Did you know there are
goblins here?"
In the instant the gnome took his hand from the winch,
the pole dropped free. In that same instant a company of
armed goblins surged out of hiding just beyond the
bridge abutments and charged.
The pole and the lead hobgoblin arrived at the gap be
tween the pillars at exactly the same time. The creature's midsection hit the pole, jamming it against the pillars,
and he flipped over it and fell. Several goblins fell over
him, and others over them; the pole splintered, and Bob
bin's line broke free. The soarwagon bobbed skyward as
Chestal Thicketsway turned and ran, back up the rise of
the bridge.
"Goblins!" Chess shouted needlessly, for the sprawl
ing, shouting mass of creatures behind him would have
been difficult to overlook.
Chane leaped to Jilian's side, grabbed her arm, and
pulled her to the nearest vertical riser on the bridge rail.
Without a word, he thrust her down behind it.
Chess turned and drew his hoopak sling. As the hob
goblin tried to get to his feet, spilling goblins around
him, the kender bounced a rock off his helmet, knocking
it askew.
Momentarily blinded, the hobgoblin waved his sword
and screeched, "Rush 'em! Cut'm down!"
A goblin free of the rest started to charge, and a whin
ing pebble took him in the eye. He went over backward,
screaming.
Jilian Firestoke had no intention of hiding behind a
vertical pillar of a bridge rail, when there were things to
be done. Holding her sword in launch position she rushed past Chane and headed for the enemy.
Chane started to shout at her, then saw one of the gob
lins beyond her raise a crossbow. He drew his sword and
threw it, as hard as he could. End over end, it flashed in
the sunlight... over Jilian's head and downward. Point
first it hit the goblin's breast armor, and the sheer weight
of it drove it through. The goblin fell, skewered through
the brisket, and his dart sailed out over the gorge.
Jilian swung at the nearest goblin, missed, and spun
around, clinging to her centrifugal blade. The creature's
laugh was cut short as the sword came around again, this
time full across his luring face.
Chane hoisted his hammer and waded in, following
Jilian.
"Fall back!" the hobgoblin shouted. "Fall back! Use th'
darts!" He sprinted for cover as Jilian whirled toward
him. Her blade took the tassel off his helmet, the stock
off his crossbow, and the tail off his kilt before he got out
of range.
For a moment there was scrambling, fleeing goblins
everywhere, then the bridge was clear. Chane dived un
der Jilian's flashing sword to keep from being beheaded.
"Stop now!" he roared, catching her around the waist in
a diving tackle. They tumbled across a dead goblin and
rolled against the bridge rail. "I said, stop," Chane panted.
Jilian picked herself up and smoothed her hair. "I was
trying to. You didn't have to be so grabby about it.
Honestly!"
A bronze dart ricocheted off stone beside the dwarven
girl. Chane glanced around, then grabbed her hand and
headed up the bridge, seeking cover. Darts zipped
around them, and pebbles flew in answer.
The kender was dodging in and out of the cover of
stone uprights, stepping out to use his weapon, then
darting back to cover to reload. But as the dwarves piled
in behind him, he reached into his pouch and his hand
came out empty. He was out of pebbles, and there was
nothing on the bridge to throw.
Chess dug deeper into the pouch. "I've probably got
some things in here that I can shoot."
He searched, found something, and slipped it into the
hoopak's sling just as a goblin peered around one of the
bridge spires. The kender let fly, and his missile burst and
splattered on the creature's face.
"What was that?" Chane called.
"Pigeon egg," the kender admitted. "Not a very good
choice, I guess."
Darts continued to fly and zing around the defenders. "We'd better retreat," Chane rumbled. "Come on. Fol
low me across the bridge."
Chess glanced around, and his eyes widened. "I don't
think so," he said. "Look."
Above and behind them on the bridge stood an ogre
with a huge club in his fist. As the dwarves turned and
saw him, the creature grinned. He pointed his club at
Chane Feldstone. "You see me, dwarf?" he thundered. "I
see you, too. You think Loam don't remember you?"
The darts stopped flying, and goblin cheers sounded
below. The ogre stood, gloating, his stance nearly span
ning the width of the bridge.
"Maybe I can slice him," Jilian offered, but Chane
pushed her back. The dwarf stood, balancing his ham
mer for combat. In return, the ogre licked its lips,
grinned again, and came for him.
Chapter 31
Out on the plains, Thog had gathered the sepa
rate segments of Kolanda's command, and was marching
toward the breaks. From the bridge-trail gap, Kolanda
saw the troops funneling between the distant hills, and
knew there would be little for them to do. It would all be
over before they arrived. Already, she could hear the hoofbeats of the approaching horse. Edging back into
the shadows of a stone slab, the Commander waved her
six guards farther back into their hiding places across the
trail. In moments, the riders would be between them.
"You can have the wizard, Caliban," she muttered.
"The goblins and I will deal with the barbarian."
"Glenshadow," the withered thing at her breast whis
pered. "Caliban has waited a very long time. Glensha
dow will die many times now, before he is released to
death."
Kolanda felt the tingling of magic being amassed, and
was satisfied. Caliban would have no time to think of
other things until he was through taking his revenge on
the red-robed mage. By then, she would have the thing
the wilderness man carried, the thing that would make
Caliban truly her slave.
The horse's hooves clopped on stone, only yards from
the ambushers, and the Commander gripped her blade
and held her breath, counting the seconds. Closer and
closer the sounds came. There was motion beyond the
stone, and a horse's head appeared. Kolanda raised her
sword... and stopped. There were no riders, only a
horse with an empty saddle. Looking straight ahead, the
creature trotted on, seeing none of them... though its ears swiveled toward the goblin guards in hiding as it
passed.
Kolanda stepped out from her hiding place and peered
back the way the horse had come. Nothing. She turned
and stared after the horse. It trotted on up the trail and
disappeared around a turn, its hoofbeats fading.
"They've tricked me," Kolanda breathed. "Well, we'll
see who gets the last trick." She waved at her guards.
"Come out! Follow me, on the double!"
They fell in behind her, glancing at one another in con
fusion, and headed up the trail. At a dark cleft in the bro
ken stone, the rearmost goblin saw the others pass by
ahead of him, then paused as something seemed to move
in the cleft. Slowing, he approached and stepped close to
the darkness. It was the last thing he ever did. Hard
hooves lashed out, with great haunches driving them.
One caught the goblin in the face, the other in the chest.
Geekay stepped out of his hidey-hole, pawed at the
dead thing on the trail, twitched his ears in revulsion,
and looked up the trail where the others had gone. At an
easy trot, he followed.
* * * * *
"It's a thing a man picks up, traveling wilderness," Wingover explained, helping Glenshadow over a fissure.
"Never backtrack yourself without a diversion of some
kind. You don't know what might be waiting for you."
"And you might lose your horse," the wizard rasped.
"Better him than me." Wingover shrugged. "But it's not
likely. We've been around a while. He knows what to
do." The wilderness man paused and sniffed. "I smell
goblins."
"And I sense evil," Glenshadow said. "Magic and evil. I
wish I could see."
The man looked at him, peering into his eyes. 'You
mean you can't see?"
"I don't mean just with my eyes. There are better
ways, you know." He sighed. "It seems I've been blind
forever. The cursed Spellbinder."
Wingover turned the helmet, indicating the green gem
inside. "What about this one? Pathfinder. What does it
do to you?"
"Nothing... unless I touch it. You saw what it does
then."
"Is that because you're a wizard?"
Glenshadow nodded. "The two gems react to magic.
Pathfinder holds it in place; Spellbinder confuses it,
turns it upon itself. It is how Gargath trapped the graystone. At least, such is the legend. I believe it now."
Abruptly Wingover turned away, holding up his
hand. "Hush," he whispered. "Listen!"
Ahead of them, not far away, there was a clamor of
voices. Goblins cheered and cackled.
"They're at the bridge," Wingover said. "Let's go."
With a bound he hurried on, leaving Glenshadow to fol
low as best he could. Running, sprinting, leaping from
stone to stone atop the broken zone, Wingover rounded
a shoulder and saw the bridge ahead. Goblins in force
pressed forward at the foot of it, and a huge ogre with a
club stood halfway up its slope, facing down. Between
were the two dwarves and the kender.
Even at this distance, Wingover saw Chane Feldstone
brace himself for battle... a tiny creature, not half as
tall as the monster he faced, and armed only with a ham
mer. Above it all, the crazy gnome circled in the air on
the wings of a sailcloth kite.
Wingover slung the dwarven helmet at his back, tight
ened the straps on his shield, and raised his sword. By the
time he hit the lower trail, he was moving at a run. His
war cry was a howl of fury as he burst upon the goblin
platoon. * * * * *
Loam advanced slowly toward the waiting dwarf, en
joying the moment, drawing out the sweet satisfaction of
destroying the small creature who had humiliated him.
For long days and long miles, the ridicule Cleft had
heaped upon him after digging him out from the fallen
stone, had rung in his ears. His fury had fermented into a
deep hatred for the dwarf with the cat-fur garments.
Cleft was dead now, and Loam felt no regret, but still the
harsh glee of his fellow's taunts lingered to haunt the
ogre.
Many times in his life, Loam had killed dwarves - as
well as humans and other lesser creatures. He had even
killed two elves, purely for the sport of it. But this kill
would be the sweetest of all. He wanted to make it last.
Just within reach of the smaller being, he feinted sud
denly, thrusting his club forward. The dwarf's frenzied
dodge delighted him, and he chuckled, a deep rumble
like distant thunder. Again Loam jabbed, prodding with
the huge club, this time grazing Chane's head as the
dwarf backpedaled. Was that panic in the little creature's
eyes? Loam's pleasure deepened. He held the club out,
waving it lazily from side to side, taunting, and beck
oned with his other hand. "Little fighter," he chuckled. "See how brave! Can't even make his knees behave.
Think your hammer worries me? Come and try it, then
you'll see."
From the corner of his eye Loam saw the little kender
sidling along the bridge rail, trying to flank him. With his
empty hand he reached out, swatted casually, and sent
the small thing tumbling. "Friends can't help the fighting
one," he rumbled. "Dwarf must deal with Loam alone."
He raised his club higher, threatening, and suddenly the
dwarf darted under it. Loam roared as the creature's
hammer cracked against his kneecap.
Chane ducked between the ogre's legs, whirled
around, and went between again as the monster turned,
getting in another blow at the same kneecap. The ogre's
roar was deafening. Chess darted past, swatting the ogre
across the knuckles with the heavy end of his hoopak
and chattering at the top of his lungs, hurling taunts and
insults that fairly summarized the misbegotten nature of
ogredom.
A tide of goblins had started to flow up the bridge, but
they now hesitated. Beyond the bridge spires a blood
chilling howl sounded, and goblins scattered in panic as
Wingover charged among them, shield pummeling,
sword flashing. A few goblins at the foot of the bridge turned and tried to form a defense, but were cut down by
Jilian in full spin.
At the ogre's feet, Chane managed one more solid
blow with his hammer, this time at Loam's midriff. The
dwarf was then knocked flat by the massive club. He lay
stunned, trying to breathe, and Loam stepped to him. Ig
noring the kender's prodding hoopak, the ogre raised his
club to crush the dwarf.
Chess flailed at the ogre's back, then blinked as some
thing fell across his arm... a metal hook, attached to a
rope. He dropped his hoopak and grabbed the rope. Af
ter throwing it around the ogre's massive ankle, the ken
der set the hook to the rope in one motion. Finally, Chess
straightened and pulled down on the rope as hard as he
could.
Overhead, the soarwagon's sensitive vanes reacted to
the tug. They instantly realigned themselves, and the
craft nosed up, seeking the sky.
Loam's club descended as his feet went out from under
him. The blow rang against stone a foot from Chane's
head, and the dwarf looked up, trying to see clearly. Just
above the bridge, a flailing ogre dangled upside down
from Bobbin's supply line, while overhead the soarwa
gon shivered and trembled, fighting for altitude. The gnome's voice was a screech: "Get that creature off my
line! He's too heavy!"
Chestal Thicketsway picked up his hoopak and dug
into his pouch desperately. The only thing that came to
hand was a small glass ball, something he had picked up
on the old, frozen battlefield in the Valley of Waykeep.
He set it in the hoopak's sling-pocket and sighted at the
hook holding the rope to the ogre's ankle. "Maybe I can
shoot him loose," he called reassuringly.
The glass ball flew, ricocheted off Loam's foot, and
zoomed upward to imbed itself in the wicker of Bobbin's
cab. In the air above Chess, something voiceless seemed
to say, "Ah. Much better."
The kender stared up and around. "Zap? Was that
you?
Enraged and frothing, Loam dropped his club, curled
his body upward, and began clawing at the rope that
held him. The ogre's huge hand grasped it, then hand
over hand, he pulled himself upright and began to climb.
Chess cupped his hands and shouted, "Watch out,
Bobbin! The ogre's coming up your rope! I missed my
shot!"
"Drat and threadbind," the gnome's irritated voice an
swered. "If you want something done right, you have to
do it yourself, I suppose. Now where did I put that wrench? Ah, here it is."
The struggling, bucking soarwagon had edged away
from the bridge and was beginning, little by little, to fall
toward the gorge. Bobbin worked feverishly, loosing
first one lug and then the next, then drew back as his
winch mount broke loose, taking a piece of the soarwa
gon with it. Ogre, supply line, and winch plummeted
away, into the mists of the great gorge. The soarwagon,
suddenly free of the creature's weight, shot upward like a
winged arrow. High above it did a tight barrel roll,
looped about, and headed out over the breaks, toward
the plains.
Chess danced on tiptoes, shouting, "Come back!
You've got Zap!" But it was far too late for his words to
be heard.
Wingover cut and slashed his way through a gaggle of
panicked goblins at the foot of the bridge, the stench of
goblin blood a miasma around him. His battle howl still
echoing from the stone walls of the breaks, he clove
through them, wading in dark gore. Stab, slash, and cut,
his blade was a dancing tongue of death, his shield a dark
battering ram. Goblins fell, and goblins fled. A pain like
searing fire lanced through Wingover's shoulder and
down his shield arm. He lunged forward and spun around.
An armored hobgoblin faced Wingover, its sword red
with blood and poised to strike again. The human tried
to raise his shield, but couldn't. He dodged aside instead,
barely escaping the thrust. The hobgoblin hissed,
feinted, and thrust again. Wingover felt the cut on his
thigh as his own blade descended, leaving a deep dent in
the creature's helmet.
A random thought teased Wingover: the hobgoblin
was hiding. It waited and got behind me.
Again the hobgoblin struck. Wingover managed to
deflect the cut with his shield, and lunged forward, blade
extended. The point ground against metal breastplate
and slid away, and Wingover felt blood dripping down
his cheek. He realized dimly that he wasn't standing any
more. He sat spread-legged and dazed, and the hobgob
lin's wide mouth split in a sharp-toothed leer. Raising its
sword above its head, the creature charged, then stiff
ened and gurgled as Wingover's blade slid between its
breastplate and its buckler.
Slowly, shaking his head to clear the mists, the man
got to his feet and pulled his sword free. Someone was
beside him, helping him. It was Jilian, her eyes wide and
excited. Wingover staggered, then stood. All around
was stench and carnage... and silence. Nothing moved, and the only sound was an odd, distant singing
as of great winds building aloft.
The air felt still and heavy. Where is the sunlight, the
wilderness man wondered vaguely. Why is it so dark?
Feeling dizzy from shock, Wingover raised his head.
Heavy clouds were forming above dense, swirling
clouds to the east, above the Plains of Dergoth; dark
ropes of cloud sweeping outward from the slopes of
Sky's End. Odd, he thought. Odd weather. But his
wounds put thoughts of the clouds aside. He was hurt, he
knew. But how hurt? Jilian tugged at him and pointed.
Beyond the bridge, someone was coming. Shadows
from the swirling clouds interefered, then Wingover saw
clearly. Kolanda Darkmoor. The Commander. Bare
breasted, her woman's body contrasted strangely with
the hideous helmet and the weapons she carried. Goblins
ran beside her. Five of them that he could see, better
armed than the ones he had fought on the bridge. More
disciplined. Crack troops.
Partway up the bridge, Chane met them. Wingover
had to lay down his sword to remove the dwarven helm
from its sling at his back. It was smeared with blood - his
own, he knew.
He handed it to Chane Feldstone. "Here's your ancestor's hat," he said gruffly. "Jewel and all. I hope it's worth
it."
Chane turned the helm in his hands, studying it.
"Well, don't just stand there," Wingover gritted. "Use
it."
"You're hurt," the dwarf said.
"It's nothing much. I'll be all right. But we don't have
time to discuss it. Use the helmet!"
Chane pushed back the cat-eared hood of his black
cloak, and Chess gaped at him. Somehow, he hadn't no
ticed how much the dwarf had changed. The dwarf's
swept-back beard, his intense, wide-set eyes were the
same, but Chane was different now. Somehow the ken
der couldn't see him now as an amusing dwarf in a bunny
suit. He might almost have been someone else entirely.
Chess wondered if the old warrior, Grallen, had looked
like this.
The dwarf set the helm on his head. It fit as though it
had been made for him, and seemed as though none
other had ever been intended to wear it. Grallen's helm
settled over Chane's head, and the green stone above the
noseguard began to glow. Chane seemed to stiffen. His eyes closed, and when he
spoke his voice had changed.
"I, Grallen," he said, "son of King Duncan, rode forth
on the morning of the last battle in the great charge of the
Hylar dwarves. From the Northgate of Thorbardin we
had come, then westward to where the roving companies
encamped, then across Sky's End to the Plains of
Dergoth, to join the main force of Hylar. My troop as
saulted the mountain home of the wizard there. My
brothers fought with courage and valor; many fell with
honor at my side."
They stared at him in wonder. Even Jilian had backed
away, her eyes wide.
"Yet when the tide of battle turned in our favor," Chane
recited, "and I confronted the wizard in his lair, he
smiled, and a great magic rushed from his being: a flame
of power and horror that broke through stone and steel.
"Thus in his rage and despair, he destroyed both his al
lies and his enemies.
"Thus did I die, and thus now I am doomed to live in
the remains of the fortress, now known as Skullcap
Mountain, until the day when someone will take my
helm and return it to the land of my fathers so that I may
find rest."
Clouds seethed and churned overhead, darkening the land. Whining winds aloft echoed in the chasm below.
Chane stood a moment longer as one entranced, then
shuddered and opened his eyes. "Grallen," he said.
He turned to stare at the massive face of Sky's End
across the bridge, and a green light glowed there among
the fallen stone. It looked to the dwarf like light coming
from an open door.
"Go," Wingover said. "I'll hold them here as long as I
can. Go and do what we came for... whatever that is."
Chane hesitated, then nodded. "It is what we came
for," he said. Abruptly he held out his hand. "Good luck,
human."
Wingover took the hand in his good one. "Good jour
ney, dwarf."
Chane turned toward the crown of the bridge and the
mystery beyond, Jilian following. Chess looked after
them, started to tag along, but changed his mind.
"He's probably about to become rich and famous," the
kender muttered. "And probably insufferable. I think I'll
stay."
Just beyond the foot of the bridge, Kolanda Darkmoor
stood, looking up at them. Her stance was a warrior's
stance. A victor's stance. Her eyes behind her steel mask
glittered with anticipation, and something between her breasts glowed darkly. A faint, sizzling sound lingered in
the air.
And then there was no more time. Out past the breaks,
goblin troops raced toward Chane and his companions,
and just beyond the foot of the bridge Kolanda
Darkmoor signaled her guard to advance. Wingover
picked up his sword and braced himself, estimating how
long it would take for the dwarves to reach safety under
the mountain.
Chapter 32
An eerie darkness walked across the land, a
darkness of writhing black clouds that swirled and
coiled, defeating the sunlight. West of the bridge, Sky's
End was veiled, its slopes immersed in flowing darkness.
To the east, the breaks, the low hills, and the vast plains
beyond were a dancing mosaic of deepening shadow. To
ward Skullcap the clouds circled and tumbled in upon
themselves, twisting in clockwise rotation as the de
scending belly of the storm dropped lower and lower, be
coming a funnel miles across. Above the gorge winds
swept down from mountain passes and howled in murky
glee.
Wingover set his sword upright against a stone and used his right hand to lift his left arm, shield and all, until
the flinthide's edge was just below his eyes. With a strip
of fabric from his tunic he tied the useless arm in place,
then retrieved his sword.
The woman in the horned helmet gazed up at him, her
pose arrogant, speculative. After a moment she called, "I
want the thing you brought from Dergoth! Give it to
me!"
Wingover waited.
"You won't kill me," the woman called. "You can't."
Her laughter cut across the wind as she lifted the hideous
mask, letting Wingover see her face.
"I don't know what you want," Wingover shouted.
"You know," the woman laughed. "The thing your wiz
ard had. The thing you brought here. Give it to me!"
Wingover faced Kolanda, trying to hold her gaze,
counting silently. It was only three hundred yards to the
rockfall beyond the bridge. The dwarves should reach it
any moment. Once within that hidden portal, they
might be safe. He didn't know how he knew that, but he
knew.
"You've come too late for that," he shouted. "It's gone."
"Gone? Gone where?"
Above and just beyond the woman and the goblins, a figure appeared on top of a rock. It was Glenshadow. Bi
son cloak whipping in the wind, long hair and beard
streaming, he leaned for a moment on his staff, then
stood erect as the staff's crystal cap winked to life. A
clear crimson beacon blinked to life in the darkening
murk.
"They made it," Wingover muttered. "Spellbinder is
beneath the ground."
On the flat top of a sundered stone the wizard Glen
shadow raised his glowing staff and shouted, "I know
you, Caliban!" His voice carried on the wind like flung
ice, and a brilliant flare of crimson shot out from his staff
toward Kolanda Darkmoor - shot out, and stopped just
short of reaching her, swallowed up in a darkness that
had a voice of its own.
The sibilant, withered voice said, "And I know you,
Glenshadow. You are the last." Blinding light blazed
where the crimson beam ended, and crackling thunder
rolled.
Glenshadow's beam receded, swallowed by a wave of
darkness that rushed toward Glenshadow. Rushed, then
hesitated. Wingover's mind reeled. Which Glenshadow?
There wasn't just one any more. There were three. Then
five. Then a dozen, and more. Myriad Glenshadows, everywhere, all moving in perfect unison as they willed
their magics back upon the darkness centered at Kolan
da's breast.
"Trickster!" the withered voice rasped. "Red-robe,
you'd fight me with illusion?" Blacknesses writhed out
ward, seeking all the Glenshadows. "Die," the voice
whispered.
The blacknesses snaked out, and one by one the image
mages were gone... except one. As Wingover watched
that one grew to gigantic size. Hundreds of feet tall, his
stance spanning the nearby breaks, Glenshadow ab
sorbed the blackness cast at him. It pierced him here,
there, searching, and lost itself in his vastness.
"Illusion," the withered voice hissed. "Can you do no
better than that?" The winds swirled, sizzling, and the
searching blackness grew. Great dark holes appeared in
the fabric of Glenshadow's massive image, and it
seemed to flutter in the wind, dissolving. From one tiny
corner of it a beam of crimson lanced out and smote the
thing at Kolanda's breast, making it shriek and writhe.
It fought back, then, and again the span between them
was colliding energies, crimson and black with blinding
glare between.
Somewhere beyond the bridge, greater thunders
erupted. The stone bridge trembled, keened, and swayed. Somewhere across the gorge a piece of the
mountain was falling.
"Where is the thing I want?" Kolanda shouted again,
her voice rising in anger.
"It's where you can never reach it now," Wingover
called and started forward, limping. A goblin dart
thumped into his shield, clung for an instant, and
dropped away. A pigeon egg splattered on the armor of a
goblin, then a pewter mug took the creature full in the
face. One beside it screeched as a dagger made from a
cat's tooth whistled from the kender's hoopak and lodged
in its throat.
"I've had enough of this," Kolanda Darkmoor spat.
She stooped, retrieved a set and loaded crossbow, and
trained it for an instant on Wingover. "It ends now! Cali
ban, finish it!"
Massed darknesses welled outward, seeking Glensha
dow. The dark magics reached out, then hesitated and
swiftly faded. The crossbow faltered as Kolanda
Darkmoor looked down at the arrow standing in her
breast, piercing the withered heart of Caliban, linking it
forever to her own heart by a common shaft of hickory
Wood.
Beside the north spire Garon Wendesthalas slumped, a goblin's blade piercing his throat. Slowly he sprawled,
his bow sliding from nerveless fingers to lie beside him.
He turned his head and looked up the bridge rise, then
raised a battered hand in final salute to his old friend,
Wingover. He didn't move again;
The winds howled, and hailstones battered the land.
Lightning like spider legs walked across the Plains of
Dergoth and the nearer hills, striking among the goblin
troops there. Staccato and brilliance, darkness and
storm, the bolts danced on winds that screamed and sang
and buffeted the swaying stone bridge.
Chestal Thicketsway clung to a bridge rail and
shouted, "It's Zap! He's happening!"
His shield to the raging wind, Wingover fought his
way to the foot of the bridge with the kender clinging to
him. They fell, rolled, and sought shelter in a storm like
no storm ever seen on Ansalon... at least since the
Cataclysm.
"Three spells cast Fistandantilus,"the Irda had said, "in
the Valley of Waykeep. The first was fire, the second ice.
The third has not yet happened."
Now, the sundered Plains of Dergoth were washed by
storm, as Zap fulfilled his destiny.
* * * * * Rockfall had hidden the old trade portal. What once
had been an iron-framed gate, nine feet wide and twenty
feet high, with cable-cart stays and transfer platforms,
now was a forgotten gap behind hundreds of tons of
tumbled stone. Hidden, but not closed.
With Jilian following, Chane Feldstone crawled
through a cleft among the rocks and entered a tunnel,
which was more a maze that only a dwarf or a curious
kender might have riddled out. Behind them, faint now,
was the rolling thunder of the storm. Chane eased
around a hairpin turn between boulders, then crawled
over a buried slab and under another, following the
green light that seemed to speak to the gem set in the old
helm he wore. On and on they went, and everywhere
was dark, fallen stone with only the green trace to guide
them. Pathfinder pulsed and glowed as the stone maze
wound on dimly. In the pouch at Chane's belt, Spell
binder throbbed a silent song.
Jilian's cheeks were moist with wiped-away tears, her
throat tight with dread and regret. People she had come
to love were now left behind. They would probably die
so that the mission of Grallen and of Chane's dream
could be completed. She had looked back just once, from
the top of the bridge, and felt as though her heart might break. The two had seemed so small back there, so
helpless - a bleeding man and a bright-eyed kender with
his hair coiled around his throat. Just those two, facing
...Jilian had not looked back again.
For the first time in her life, Jilian felt the weight of
mountains above her, the press of the stone through
which they made their way. "Maybe we can go back and
help them," she whispered. "I mean, when you've done
whatever it is you are supposed to do."
Ahead of her Chane squeezed his broad shoulders
through a narrow crevice and took another turn, paus
ing only to make sure that she followed. He said nothing,
though she knew he ached for their friends just as she
did.
Another tight, jagged opening between tumbled slabs,
another turn, and Jilian heard Chane's breath catch in his
throat. He clawed and pulled through a crack, and when
he was beyond it he turned to give her his hand. Greenish
light flooded about him and lit up the cavern he had dis
covered. Chane and Jilian looked around. The light they
saw was Pathfinder's glow, reflecting back from the
delved walls and ceiling of a wide, hewn space. A few
bits of rubble lay scattered among neat mounds of piled
stone. Nearby, an old cable-cart lay on its side. "A transfer terminal," Chane said. He pointed to the
left. A clean, unshattered tunnel led away there, into
darkness. Pathfinder pulsed, and the narrow trail of
green light appeared again, on the dusty floor. It led
straight to a mound of crushed stone, up the side of it to
the top, and stopped at a little cone of green light, with a
red center.
Chane walked to the mound, head-high to him, and
stood a moment, listening to something that only he
could hear. Then he took Spellbinder from his pouch.
The red gem pulsed warmly, its glow the color of Luni
tari's light. Reaching out, he placed the gem on the pile of
stone, where the spot of red shone.
From behind the dwarves, from the buried gate they
had traversed, came a sound of distant, rolling thunder.
Spellbinder's light grew in power, flared brilliantly in the
cavern, then settled into a steady, warm glow that
seemed to fill the air with tiny music.
"Come." Chane took Jilian's hand. "Pathfinder has
brought Spellbinder home. Now we must hurry."
"Can we go back?" she asked.
As though in answer, the thunder grew beyond the
gate and the cavern quaked ominously. Chane headed
for the left tunnel at a run, pulling Jilian along with him.
The thunder mounted behind them. Once beyond the cavern, Pathfinder's steady green
glow lighted a cable-way long forgotten, a finely-delved
tunnel that seemed to go on ahead of them unobstructed.
"Hurry," Chane said. Behind them, the thunder became
the roar of solid stone shearing and the chatter of rock
fall. A cloud of dust obscured the opening of the cavern,
and the faint red light winked out.
"It's sealed," Chane rumbled. "And locked against
magic. That was what Grallen intended to do."
"Where does this go?" Jilian pointed ahead, down the
cable-way.
"It goes where it always went," Chane Feldstone said.
"It goes to Thorbardin."
Once more Jilian looked back. "I'd like to see outside
again... sometime. Do you suppose we ever will?"
"We'll see it," Chane replied softly. "Maybe we'll even
see... them... again sometime,"
At his brow, Pathfinder throbbed a clear green pulse
of reassurance. Chane felt as though Grallen's helm had
just given him a promise.
Chapter 33
On a bright spring day a man came down from the wilderness ranges. He rode a sturdy, battle-wise
horse and had the look of far places about him. In the
main square at the crossroads of Barter he reined in and
dismounted. Not far away, winged pigs circled content
edly above an inn. Some distance beyond, pavilions
spread their bright expanses, a sign of the spring trading
season. Among them was a large, red-and-gold pavilion
that stood amidst myriad stalls and showing tables.
"Goldbuckle is here," the man noted, talking to himself
and his horse in the way of one who has been afar and
long alone. He smiled a sardonic smile, unlashing a pack
from behind his saddle. Inside was Abanasinian ivory,
an exquisite collection of the finest carvings. "That old
thief is going to drool all over himself when he sees this,"
he told the horse. "But it's going to cost him plenty to get
his hands on it."
Leading the horse, he started for the trade pavilion of
the Daewar merchant, then stopped when a high
pitched, excited voice shouted, "Hey! Look who's here!"
Chestal Thicketsway pushed through a crowd of trad
ers and ran toward him. "Wingover! I thought you were
dead or something!" He skidded to a stop, beaming up at
the man. "And Geekay made it, too. Wow! Did you hear
about Chane Feldstone? He's rich and famous, just like I said he'd be. The Thorbardin traders talk about him all
the time. Rogar Goldbuckle has been strutting around
here ever since he arrived, telling everybody how he's a
personal friend of Chane Feldstone. He has the trading
sanction for the Hylar now, too. Gee, everybody
thought you were dead, though. How did you survive
that storm?"
"I -" Wingover started.
"Did you ever see such a storm in all your life? Wow!
What a wind! I saw a boulder as big as a house, just roll
ing along with the wind pushing it. I never saw anything
like that storm. Most people don't believe me when I talk
about it, but that's all right. What did you do, find a hid
ing place? After we got separated, I mean? That's what I
did. I just crawled into a hole and stayed there until Zap
got it out of his system."
"I -" Wingover attempted.
"I'll bet you didn't expect to find me here, either, did
you? I wouldn't be, except that Bobbin couldn't find his
way back without a guide. Every place he'd seen was
from the air, and after Zap knocked him down every
thing looked different. He got lost! Did I tell you... no,
I didn't yet, did I?... Bobbin's building a new inven
tion. It's kind of like an iron fish, and I don't know much
about it. You know how gnomes are. Either they don't tell you anything, or you can't get a word in edgewise.
He says he wants to go and find an ocean as soon as he
gets it ready. Are you going to see Rogar Goldbuckle?
He's here, you know. That's his place over -"
"Chess, I -"
"- there, with all the red-and-yellow drapings.
There's some really neat stuff in there. I found a -"
"Chess -"
"whole sack of bright beads that somebody had
dropped or something, but the dwarves at the gate made
me leave it. That's all right, though. I found some other
things, too, and I can go back and look some more any
time I want to, no matter what they say about -"
"Chestal Thicketsway!"
The kender blinked, startled. "Ah... yes?"
"You haven't changed a bit."