Dragons of Autumn Twilight dc-1

by Margaret Weis

  "Tas is meeting us at the lake," Tanis replied.

  "Lake?" Flint's eyes grew wide in alarm. "What lake?"

  "There's only one lake around here, Flint," Tanis said, trying hard not to smile at Sturm. "Come on. We better keep going."

  His elvensight showed him the broad red outline of Caramon and the slighter red shape of his brother disappearing into the thick woods ahead.

  "I thought we were just going to lie low in the woods for awhile." Flint shoved his way past Sturm to complain to Tanis.

  "We're going by boat." Tanis moved forward.

  "Nope!" Flint growled. "I'm not getting in any boat!"

  "That accident happened ten years ago!" Tanis said, exasperated. "Look, I'll make Caramon sit still."

  "Absolutely not!" the dwarf said flatly. "No boats. I took a vow."

  "Tanis," Sturm's voice whispered behind him. "Lights."

  "Blast!" The half-elf stopped and turned. He had to wait a moment before catching sight of lights glittering through the trees. The search had spread beyond Solace. He hurried to catch up with Caramon, Raistlin, and the Plainsmen.

  "Lights!" he called out in a piercing whisper. Caramon looked back and swore. Riverwind raised his hand in acknowledgement. "I'm afraid we're going to have to move faster, Caramon-" Tanis began.

  "We'll make it," the big man said, unperturbed. He was supporting his brother now, his arm around Raistlin's thin body, practically carrying him. Raistlin coughed softly, but he was moving. Sturm caught up with Tanis. As they forced their way through the brush, they could hear Flint, puffing along behind, muttering angrily to himself.

  "He won't come, Tanis," Sturm said. "Flint's been in mortal fear of boats ever since Caramon almost accidentally drowned him that time. You weren't there. You didn't see him after we hauled him out."

  "He'll come," Tanis said, breathing hard. "He can't let us youngsters go off into danger without him."

  Sturm shook his head, unconvinced.

  Tanis looked back again. He saw no lights, but he knew they were too deep in the forest now to see them. Fewmaster Toede may not have impressed anybody with his brains, but it wouldn't take much intelligence to figure out that the group might take to the water. Tanis stopped abruptly to keep from bumping into someone. "What is it?" he whispered.

  "We're here," Caramon answered. Tanis breathed a sigh of relief as he stared out across the dark expanse of Crystalmir Lake. The wind whipped the water into frothy whitecaps.

  "Where's Tas?" He kept his voice low.

  "There, I think." Caramon pointed at a dark object floating close to shore. Tanis could barely make out the warm red outline of the kender sitting in a large boat.

  The stars gleamed with icy brightness in the blue-black sky. The red moon, Lunitari, was rising like a bloody fingernail from the water. Its partner in the night sky, Solinari, had already risen, marking the lake with molten silver.

  "What wonderful targets we're going to make!" Sturm said irritably.

  Tanis could see Tasslehoff turning this way and that, searching for them. The half-elf reached down, fumbling for a rock in the darkness. Finding one, he lobbed it into the water. It splashed just a few yards ahead of the boat. Tas, reacting to Tanis's signal, propelled the boat to shore.

  "You're going to put all of us in one boat!" Flint said in horror. "You're mad, half-elf!"

  "It's a big boat," Tanis said.

  "No! I won't go. If it were one of the legendary white-winged boats of Tarsis, I still wouldn't go! I'd rather take my chances with the Theocrat!"

  Tanis ignored the fuming dwarf and motioned to Sturm. "Get everyone loaded up. We'll be along in a moment."

  "Don't take too long," Sturm warned. "Listen."

  "I can hear," Tanis said grimly. "Go on."

  "What are those sounds?" Goldmoon asked the knight as he came up to her.

  "Goblin search parties," Sturm answered. "Those whistles keep them in contact when they're separated. They're moving into the woods now."

  Goldmoon nodded in understanding. She spoke a few words to Riverwind in their own language, apparently continuing a conversation Sturm had interrupted. The big Plainsman frowned and gestured back toward the forest with his hand.

  He's trying to convince her to split with us, Sturm realized. Maybe he's got enough woodslore to hide from goblin search parties for days, but I doubt it.

  "Riverwind, gue-lando" Goldmoon said sharply. Sturm saw Riverwind scowl in anger. Without a word, he turned and stalked toward the boat. Goldmoon sighed and looked after him, deep sorrow in her face.

  "Can I do anything to help, lady?" Sturm asked gently.

  "No," she replied. Then she said sadly, as if to herself, "He rules my heart, but I am his ruler. Once, when we were young, we thought we could forget that. But I have been 'Chieftains Daughter' too long."

  "Why doesn't he trust us?" Sturm asked.

  "He has all the prejudices of our people," Goldmoon replied.

  "The Plainsmen do not trust those who are not human." She glanced back. "Tanis cannot hide his elven blood beneath a beard. Then there are the dwarf, the kender."

  "And what of you, lady?" Sturm asked. "Why do you trust us? Don't you have these same prejudices?"

  Goldmoon turned to face him. He could see her eyes, dark and shimmering as the lake behind her. "When I was a girl," she said in her deep, low voice, "I was a princess of my people. I was a priestess. They worshipped me as a goddess. I believed in it. I adored it. Then something happened… " She fell silent, her eyes filled with memories.

  "What was that?" Sturm prompted softly.

  "I fell in love with a shepherd," Goldmoon answered, looking at Riverwind. She sighed and walked toward the boat.

  Sturm watched Riverwind wade into the water to drag the boat closer to shore as Raistlin and Caramon reached the water's edge. Raistlin clutched his robes around him, shivering.

  "I can't get my feet wet," he whispered hoarsely. Caramon did not reply. He simply put his huge arms around his brother, lifted him as easily as he would have lifted a child, and set Raistlin in the boat. The mage huddled in the aft part of the boat, not saying a word of thanks.

  "I'll hold her steady," Caramon told Riverwind. "You get in." Riverwind hesitated a moment, then climbed quickly over the side. Caramon helped Goldmoon into the boat. Riverwind caught hold of her and steadied her as the boat rocked gently. The Plainsmen moved to sit in the stern, behind Tasslehoff.

  Caramon turned to Sturm as the knight drew near. "What's happening back there?"

  "Flint says he'll burn before he'll get in a boat-at least then he'll die warm instead of wet and cold."

  "I'll go up and haul him down here," Caramon said.

  "You'd only make things worse. You were the one that nearly drowned him, remember? Let Tanis handle it-he's the diplomat."

  Caramon nodded. Both men stood, waiting in silence. Sturm saw Goldmoon look at Riverwind in mute appeal, but the Plainsman did not heed her glance. Tasslehoff, fidgeting on his seat, started to call out a shrill question, but a stern look from the knight silenced him. Raistlin huddled in his robes, trying to suppress an uncontrollable cough.

  "I'm going up there," Sturm said finally. "Those whistles are getting closer. We don't dare take any more time." But at that moment, he saw Tanis shake hands with the dwarf, and begin to run toward the boat alone. Flint stayed where he was, near the edge of the woods. Sturm shook his head. "I told Tanis the dwarf wouldn't come."

  "Stubborn as a dwarf, so the old saying goes," Caramon grunted. "And that one's had one hundred and forty-eight years to grow stubborner." The big man shook his head sadly.

  "Well, we'll miss him, that's for certain. He's saved my life more than once. Let me go get him. One punch on the jaw and he won't know whether he's in a boat or his own bed."

  Tanis ran up, panting, and heard the last comment. "No, Caramon," he said. "Flint would never forgive us. Don't worry about him. He's going back to the hills. Get in the boat. There are more lights coming
this way. We left a trail through the forest a blind gully dwarf could follow."

  "No sense all of us getting wet," Caramon said, holding the side of the boat. "You and Sturm get in. I'll shove off."

  Sturm was already over the side. Tanis patted Caramon on the back, then climbed in. The warrior pushed the boat out into the lake. He was up to his knees in water when they heard a call from the shore.

  "Hold it!" It was Flint, running down from the trees, a vague moving shape of blackness against the moonlit shoreline. "Hang on! I'm coming!"

  "Stop!" Tanis cried. "Caramon! Wait for Flint!"

  "Look!" Sturm half-rose, pointing. Lights had appeared in the trees, smoking torches held by goblin guards.

  "Goblins, Flint!" Tanis yelled. "Behind you! Run!" The dwarf, never questioning, put his head down and pumped for the shore, one hand on his helm to keep it from flying off.

  "I'll cover him," Tanis said, unslinging his bow. With his elvensight, he was the only one who could see the goblins behind the torches. Fitting an arrow to his bow, Tanis stood as Caramon held the big boat steady. Tanis fired at the outline of the lead goblin. The arrow struck it in the chest and it pitched forward on its face. The other goblins slowed slightly, reaching for their own bows. Tanis fitted another arrow to his bow as Flint reached the shoreline.

  "Wait! I'm coming!" the dwarf gasped and he plunged into the water and sank like a rock.

  "Grab him!" Sturm yelled. "Tas, row back. There he is! See? The bubbles-" Caramon was splashing frantically in the water, hunting for the dwarf. Tas tried to row back, but the weight in the boat was too much for the kender. Tanis fired again, missed his mark, and swore beneath his breath. He reached for another arrow. The goblins were swarming down the hillside.

  "I've got him!" Caramon shouted, pulling the dripping, spluttering dwarf out by the collar of his leather tunic. "Quit struggling," he told Flint, whose arms were flailing out in all directions. But the dwarf was in a complete state of panic. A goblin arrow thunked into Caramon's chain mail and stuck there like a scrawny feather.

  "That does it!" The warrior grunted in exasperation and, with a great heave of his muscular arms, he pitched the dwarf into the boat as it moved out away from him. Flint caught hold of a seat and held on, his lower half sticking out over the edge. Sturm grabbed him by the belt and dragged him aboard as the boat rocked alarmingly. Tanis nearly lost his balance and was forced to drop his bow and catch hold of the side to keep from being thrown into the water. A goblin arrow stuck into the gunwale, just barely missing Tanis's hand.

  "Row back to Caramon, Tas!" Tanis yelled.

  "I can't!" shouted the struggling kender. One swipe of an out-of-control oar nearly knocked Sturm overboard.

  The knight yanked the kender from his seat. He grabbed the oars and smoothly brought the boat around to where Caramon could get hold of the side.

  Tanis helped the warrior climb in, then yelled to Sturm, "Pull!" The knight pulled on the oars with all his strength, leaning over backward as he thrust the oars deep into the water. The boat shot away from shore, accompanied by the howls of angry goblins. More arrows whizzed around the boat as Caramon, dripping wet, plopped down next to Tanis.

  "Goblin target practice tonight," Caramon muttered, pulling the arrow from his mail shirt. "We show up beautifully against the water."

  Tanis was fumbling for his dropped bow when he noticed Raistlin sitting up. "Take cover!" Tanis warned, and Caramon started to reach for his brother, but the mage, scowling at both of them, slipped his hand into a pouch on his belt. His delicate fingers drew out a handful of something as an arrow struck the seat next to him. Raistlin did not react. Tanis started to pull the mage down, then realized he was lost in the concentration necessary to a magic-user casting a spell. Disturbing him now might have drastic consequences, causing the mage to forget the spell or worse-to miscast the spell.

  Tanis gritted his teeth and watched. Raistlin lifted his thin, frail hand and allowed the spell component he had taken from his pouch to fall slowly from between his fingers onto the deck of the boat. Sand, Tanis realized.

  "Ast tasarak sinwalan krynawi," Raistlin murmured, and then moved his right hand slowly in an arc parallel to the shore.

  Tanis looked back toward land. One by one, the goblins dropped their bows and toppled over, as though Raistlin were touching each in turn. The arrows ceased. Goblins farther away howled in rage and ran forward. But by that time, Sturm's powerful strokes had carried the boat out of range.

  "Good work, little brother!" Caramon said heartily. Raistlin blinked and seemed to return to the world, then the mage sank forward. Caramon caught him and held him for a moment. Then Raistlin sat up and sucked in a deep breath, which caused him to cough.

  "I'll be all right," he whispered, withdrawing from Caramon.

  "What did you do to them?" asked Tanis as he searched for enemy arrows to drop them overboard; goblins occasionally poisoned the arrowtips.

  "I put them to sleep," Raistlin hissed through teeth that clicked together with the cold. "And now I must rest." He sank back against the side of the boat.

  Tanis looked at the mage. Raistlin had, indeed, gained in power and skill. I wish I could trust him, the half-elf thought.

  The boat moved across the star-filled lake. The only sounds to be heard were the soft, rhythmic plashing of the oars in the water and Raistlin's dry, wracking cough. Tasslehoff uncorked the wineskin, which Flint had somehow retained on his wild dash, and tried to get the chilled, shivering dwarf to swallow a mouthful. But Flint, crouched at the bottom of the boat, could only shudder and stare out across the water.

  Goldmoon sank deeper into her fur cape. She wore the soft doeskin breeches of her people with a fringed overskirt and belted tunic. Her boots were made of soft leather. Water had sloshed over the edge of the boat when Caramon had thrown Flint aboard. The water made the doeskin cling to her, and soon she was chilled and shivering.

  "Take my cape," Riverwind said in their language, starting to remove his bearskin cloak.

  "No." She shook her head. "You have been suffering from the fever. I never get sick, you know that. But"-she looked up at him and smiled-"you may put your arm around me, warrior. The heat from our bodies will warm us both."

  "Is that a royal command. Chieftain's Daughter?" Riverwind whispered teasingly, drawing her close to him.

  "It is," she said, leaning against his strong body with a sigh of contentment. She looked up into the starry heavens, then stiffened and caught her breath in alarm.

  "What is it?" Riverwind asked, staring up.

  The others in the boat, although they had not understood the exchange, heard Goldmoon's gasp and saw her eyes transfixed by something in the night sky.

  Caramon poked his brother and said, "Raist, what is it? I don't see anything."

  Raistlin sat up, cast back his hood, then coughed. When the spasm passed, he searched the night sky. Then he stiffened, and his eyes widened. Reaching out with his thin, bony hand, Raistlin clutched Tanis's arm, holding onto it tightly as the half-elf involuntarily tried to pull away from the mage's skeletal grip. "Tanis…" Raistlin wheezed, his breath nearly gone. "The constellations…"

  "What?" Tanis was truly startled by the pallor of the mage's metallic gold skin and the feverish luster of his strange eyes. "What about the constellations?"

  "Gone!" rasped Raistlin and lapsed into a fit of coughing. Caramon put his arm around him, holding him close, almost as if the big man were trying to hold his brother's frail body together. Raistlin recovered, wiped his mouth with his hand. Tanis saw that his, fingers were dark with blood. Raistlin took a deep breath, then spoke.

  "The constellation known as the Queen of Darkness and the one called Valiant Warrior. Both gone. She has come to Krynn, Tanis, and he has come to fight her. All the evil rumors we have heard are true. War, death, destruction…" His voice died in another fit of coughing.

  Caramon held him. "C'mon, Raist," he said soothingly.

  "Don't get so worke
d up. It's only a bunch of stars."

  "Only a bunch of stars," Tanis repeated flatly. Sturm began to row again, pulling swiftly for the opposite bank.

  6

  Night in a cave. Dissension. Tanis decides

  A chill wind began to blow across the lake. Storm clouds rolled across the sky from the north, obliterating the gaping black holes left by the fallen stars. The companions hunched down in the boat, pulling their cloaks tighter around them as the rain spattered down. Caramon joined Sturm at the oars. The big warrior tried to talk to the knight, but Sturm ignored him. He rowed in grim silence, occasionally muttering to himself in Solamnic.

  "Sturm! There-between the great rocks to the left!" Tanis called out, pointing.

  Sturm and Caramon pulled hard. The rain made sighting the landmark rocks difficult and, for a moment, it seemed that they had lost their way in the darkness. Then the rocks suddenly loomed ahead. Sturm and Caramon brought the boat around. Tanis sprang out over the side and pulled it to shore. Torrents of rain lashed down. The companions climbed from the boat, wet and chilled. They had to lift the dwarf out-Flint was stiff as a dead goblin from fear. Riverwind and Caramon hid the boat in the thick underbrush. Tanis led the rest up a rocky trail to a small opening in the cliff face.

  Goldmoon looked at the opening dubiously. It seemed to be no more than a large crack in the surface of the cliff. Inside, however, the cave was large enough for all of them to stretch out comfortably.

  "Nice home." Tasslehoff glanced around. "Not much in the way of furniture."

  Tanis grinned at the kender. "It will do for the night. I don't think even the dwarf will complain about this. If he does, we'll send him back to sleep in the boat!"

  Tas flashed his own smile back at the half-elf. It was good to see the old Tanis back. He had thought his friend unusually moody and indecisive, not the strong leader he had remembered from earlier days. Yet, now that they were on the road, the glint was back in the half-elf's eyes. He had come out of his brooding shell and was taking charge, slipping back into his accustomed role. He needed this adventure to get his mind off his problems — whatever those might be. The kender, who had never been able to understand Tanis's inner turmoil, was glad this adventure had come along.