Hammer and Axe dn-2

by Dan Parkinson

  As he searched in vain for Elistan, he saw three strange figures enter and seat themselves in the front row: it was the old mage in his bent and shapeless hat, his kender friend, and a gnome they had brought back with them from Mount Nevermind. The three had arrived back from their journey only last night.,

  Gunthar was forced to turn his attention back to the Whikestone. The advisory Council members were entering. There were only two, Lord Quinath of the Silvanesti, and the Speaker of the Suns. Gunthar looked at the Speaker curiously, knowing he was one of the few beings an Krynn to still remember the horrors of the Cataclysm.

  The Speaker was so stooped that he seemed almost crippled. His hair was, gray; his face haggard. But as he took his seat and turned his gaze to the witnesses, Gunthar saw the elf's eyes Were bright and arresting. Lord Quinath, seated next to him, was known to Gunthar, who considered him as arrogant and proud as Porthios of the Qualinesti, but lacking in the intellgence Porthios possessed.

  As for Porthios, Gunthar thought he could probably comet o like the Speaker's eldest son quite well. Porthios had every characteristic the knights admired, with one exception-his quick temper. Gunthar's observations were interrupted, for now it was time for the voting Council members to enter and Gunthar had to take his place. First came Mir Kar-thon of Northern Ergoth, a dark-complexioned man with iron-gray hair and the arms of I a giant. Next came Serdin MarThasal, representing the Exiles i on Sancrist, and finally Lord Gunthar, Knight of Solamnia. Once seated, Gunthar glanced around a final time. The huge Whitestone glistenedi behind him, casting its own strange radiance, for the sun world not shine today. On the other side of the Whitestone sat the Speaker, next to him Lord Quinath. I Across from them, facing the Council, sat the witnesses upon their benches. The kender was sitting subdued, swinging his short legs on his tall bench. The gnome shuffled through what looked like a ream of paper; Gunthar shuddered, wishing there'd been time to ask for a condensed report. The old magi- . clan yawned and scratched his head, peering around vaguely.

  AII was ready. At Gunthar's signal, two knights entered, . bearing a golden stand and a wooden chest. A silence that was almost deathlike descended on the crowd as they watched the entrance of the dragon orb.

  The knights carne to a halt, standing directly in (rant of the Whitestone. Here, one of the knights placed tl!e golden s card` upon the ground. The other set down the chest, unlocked it and carefully brought forth the orb that was back to its origin site, over two feet in diameter.

  A murmur went through the crowd. The Speaker of the Su shifted uncomfortably, scowling. His son, Porthios, turned t_ say something to an elflord near him. All of the elves., Gunth muted, were armed. Not a good sign, from what little he kne of elven protocol.

  He had no choice but to proceed. Calling the meeting . order, Lard Gunthar Uth Wistan announced, "Let tine Coon cf V"dhitestane be:gin:'

  After about two, minutes, it was obvious to Tasslehoff things were in a real mess.. Before Lord Gunthar had even c eluded his speech of welcome, the Speaker of the Suns rose-.

  "My talk will be brief;' the elven leader stated in a voice that matched the steely gray of the storm clouds above him. "The Silvanesti, the Qualinesti, and the Kaganesti met in council shortly after the orb was removed from our camp. It is the first time the members o? the three communities have met since the Kinslayer wars." He paused, laying a heavy emphasis on those last words. Then he continued.

  "We have decided to set aside our own differences in our perfect agreement that the dragon orb belongs in the hands of the elves, not in the hands of humans or any other race upon Krynn. Therefore, we come before the Council of Whitestone and ask that the dragon orb be given over to us forthwith. In return, we guarantee that we will take it to our lands and keep it safe until such time-if ever-it be needed:"

  The Speaker sat down, his dark eyes sweeping aver the crowd, its silence broken now by a murmur of soft voices, The other Council members, sitting next to Lord Gunthar, shook their heads, their faces grim. The dark-skinned leader of the Northern Ergoth people whispered to Lord Gunthar in a harsh voice, clenching his fist to emphasize his words.

  Lord Gunthar, after listening and nodding for several minutes, rose to his feet to respond. His speech was cool, calm, complimentary to the clues. But it said-between the linesthat the Knights would see the elves in the Abyss before they gave them the dragon orb.

  The Speaker, understanding perfectly the message of steel couched in the pretty phrases, rose to reply He spoke only one sentence, but it brought the crowd of witnesses to their feet.

  "Then, Lord Gunthar," the Speaker said, ''the elves declare that-from this time on-we are at war!"

  Humans and elves bath headed for the dragon orb that sat upon its golden stand, its milky white insides swirling gently within the crystal. Gunthar shouted For order time and again, banging the hilt of his sward upon the table. The Speaker spoke a ie4v words sharply in elven, staring hard at his son, Porthios, and finally order was restored.

  )3u t the atmosphere snapped I_ke the air before a storm. Gunklrar talked. The Speaker answered'. The Speaker talked. Gunthar answered. The dark-skinned mariner lost his temper and made a few cutting remarks about elves. The lord of the

  Silvanesti reduced him to quivering anger with his sarcastic rejoinders. Several of the knights left, only to return armed to the teeth. They came to stand near Gunthar, their hands on their weapons. The elves, led by Porthios, rose to surround their own leaders.

  Gnosh, his report held fast in his hand, began to realize he warn"t going to be asked to give it.

  Tasslehoff looked around despairingly for Elistan. He kept hoping desperately the cleric would come. Elistan could calm these people down. Or maybe Laurana. Where was sheT There'd been no ward of his friends, the elves had told the kender coldly. She and her brother had apparently vanished in the wilderness. l shouldn't lave left them, Tas thought. l shouldn't be here. Why, why did this crazy old mage bring me7 I'm useless! Maybe Fizban could do something? Tas looked at the mage hopefully, but Fizban was sound asleep!

  "Please, wake up!" Tas begged, shaking him. "Somebody's got to do something!"

  At that moment, he heard Lord Gunthar yell, "The dragon orb is not yours by right! Lady Laurana and the others were bringing it to us when they were shipwrecked! You tried to keep it on Ergoth by force, and your own daughter-"

  ",Mention not my daughter!" the Speaker said in a deep, . harsh voice. "I do not have a daughter:'

  Something broke within Tasslehoff. Confused memories of

  Laurana fighting desperately against the evil wizard whoj guarded the orb, Laurana battling draconians, Laurana tiring her bow at the white dragon;. Laurana ministering to him sari tenderly when bed been near death. To be cast off by her owl people when she was working so desperately to save them,~ when she had sacrificed so much …

  . -

  "Stop this!" Tasslehoff heard himself yelling at the top of his voice. "Stop this right now and listen to me!" ~

  Suddenly he saw, to his astonishment, that everrjone haac stopped talking and was staring at him.

  Now that he had his audience, Tas realized he didn.'t ha ^ any idea what to say to all of these important pecVie.But knew he had to say something. After all, he thought, this is fault-I read about these damn orbs.. Gulping, he slid off ~~' bench and walked toward the Whitestone and the two host' groups clustered around it. He thought he saw-out of the corner of his eye-Fizban grinning from under his hat.

  "I-I . . ." The kender stammered, wondering what to say. He was saved by a sudden inspiration.

  "I demand the right to represent my people;' Tasslehoff said proudly, "and take my place on the advisory council:'

  Flipping his tassle of brown hair over his shoulder, the kender came to stand right in front of the dragon orb. Looking up, he could see the Whitestone towering over it and over him. Tas stared at the stone, shivering, then quickly turned his gaze from the rock to Gunthar and the Speaker of the Suns.

  And then
Tasslehoff knew what he had to do. He began to shake with fear. He-Tasslehoff Burrfoot-who'd never been afraid of anything in his life! He'd faced dragons without tremb;ing, but the knowledge of what he was going to do now appalled him. His hands felt as if he'd been making snowballs without gloves on. His tongue seemed to belong in some larger person"s mouth. But Tas was resolute. He just had to keep them talking, keep them from guessing what he planned.

  "You've never taken us kenders very seriously; you know," Tas began, his voice sounding too loud and shrill in his own ears, "and I can't say I blame you much. We don't have a strong sense of responsibility, I guess, and we are probably too curious for own goad-but, I ask you, how are you going to find out anything if you're not curious?"

  Tas could see the ;Speaker's face turn to steel, even Lord Gunthar was scowling. The kender edged nearer the dragon orb.

  "4Ire cause lots of trouble, I suppose, without meaning to, and occasionally some of us do happen to acquire certain things which aren't ours. But one thing the kender know is-'

  Tasslehoff broke into a run. Quick and lithe as a mouse, he sipped easily through the hands that tried to catch him, reaching the dragon orb within a matter of seconds. Faces blurred ar ound hinn, mouths opened, shrieking and yelling at him. But they were too late.

  Ir, one swift srnocth movement, Tasslehoff hurled the dragon ors at the huge, gleaming Whitestone.

  The round, gleaming crystal-its insides swirling in a3itation-hung sus~emded in the air for long, long seconds. Tas wondered if the orb had the power to halt its flight. But it

  DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES

  was just a fevered impression in the kender's mind.

  The dragon orb struck the rock and shattered, bursting into a thousand sparkling pieces. For an instant, a ball of milky white smoke hung in the air, as if trying desperately to hold itself together. Then the warm, springlikebreeze of the glade caught it and swept it apart.

  There was intense, awful silence.

  'She kender stood, looking calmly down at the shattered dragon orb.

  "We know;" he said in a small voice that dropped into the dreadful silence like a tiny drop of rain, "we should be fighting dragons. Not each other."

  No one moved. No one spoke- Then there was a thump.

  Gnoeh had fainted.

  The silence broke-almost as shattering as the breaking of the orb. Lord Gunthar and the Speaker bath lunged at Tas. One caught hold of the kender's left shoulder, one his .right.

  "What have you done?" Lord Gunthar's :ace was livid, his; eyes wild as he gripped the kender with trembling hands.

  "Yore have brought death upon us all!" The Speaker's finget bit into Tas's flesh like the claws of a predatory bird. "You haves5 destroyed our only hope!"

  "And for that, he himself will be the first to die!"

  I3nrthios-tall, grim-faced el5lord-loomed above the cow Bring kender, his sword glistening in his hand. The lend

  stood his ground between the elven king .and the knight, ' small face pale, his expression. defiant. He had known when

  commited his crime ahat death would be the penalty.

  Tanis will be unhappy over what I've done" Tas than sadly. But at least he''II hear that I died bravely.

  "Now, now, now. . :" said a sleepy voice. "No ones going t die! At least not at this moment. Quit waving that swo around, Porthios! Someone lI get hurt:"

  Tas peered out from under a heaving sea of arms and shin arrnar to see Fizban, yawning, step over the inert body of

  gnam.e and totter toward them. Elves and humans made

  Ecr [-,:m. to pass, as if compelled to do so by an unseen force Porthios whirled to face Fizban, so angry that saliva bubbl or, his lips and his speech was nearly incoherent.

  "Beware, old man, or you will share in the punishment['

  "I said quit waving that sword around;" Fizban snapped irritably, wiggling a finger at the sword.

  Parthios dropped his weapon with a wild cry. Clutching his stinging, burning hand, he stared down at the sword in astonishment-the hilt had grown thorns! Fizban came to stand next to the elflord and regarded him angrily.

  "You're a fine young man, but you should have been taught some respect for your elders. I said to put that sword down and I meant it! Maybe you'll believe me next time!" Fizban's baleful gaze switched to the Speaker. "And you, Solostaran, were a good man about two hundred years ago. Managed to raise three fine children-three fine children, I said. Don't give me any of this nonsense about not having a daughter. You have one, and a fine girl she is. More sense than her father. Must take after her mother's side. Where was I? Oh, yes. you brought up Tanis Half-Elven, too. You know, Solastaran, between the four of these young people, we might save this world get.

  "Now I want everyone to take his seat. Yes, you, too, Lord Gunthar. Come along, Solostaran, I'll help. We old men have to stick together. Tao bad you're such a damn fool:"

  Muttering into his beard, Fizban led the astounded Speaker :a his chair. Porthios, his face twisted inpain, stumbled back to his seat with the help of his warriors.

  Slowly the assembled elves and knights sat down, murmuring among themselves-all casting dark looks at the shattered dragon orb that lay beneath the Whitestone.

  Fizban settled the Speaker in his seat, glowered at Lord Quinath, who thought he had something to say but quickly decided he didn't. Satisfied, the old wage carne back to the front of the Whitestone where Tas stood, shaken and confused.

  "You;" Fizban looked at the kender as if he'd never seen him before, "'go and attend to that poor chap:' He Kaved a hand at the gnome, who was still out cold.

  Feeling his knees tremble, Tasslehoff walked slowly aver to Gnosh and knelt down beside nice, glad to lank at something other than the angel, fear-filled faces.

  `Gnash; he whispered miserably, patting the gnome on the cheek, "I'm sorry. I truly am, I mean about your Life Quest and your fat_Wer's soul and everything. But there just didn't wean to be anything else to do:"

  Fizban turned around slowly and faced the assembled group, pushing his hat back on his head. "Yes, I'm going to lecture you. You deserve it, every one of you-so don't sit there looking self-righteous. That kender'"-he pointed at Tasslehoff, who cringed-"has more brains beneath that ridiculous topknot of his than the lot of you have put together. Do you know what would have happened to you if the kender hadn't had the guts to do what he did? Do you? "ell, III tell you. Just let me find a seat here. . . :' Fizban peered around vaguely. "Ah, yes, there. . :' Nodding in satisfaction, the old mage toddled over and sat down on the ground, leaning his back against the sacred Whitestone!

  The assembled knights gasped in horror. Gunthar leaped to his feet, appalled at this sacrilege.

  "No mortal can touch the Whitestone!" he yelled, striding forward.

  Fizban slowly turned his head to regard the furious knight. "One more word;' the old mage said solemnly, "and I'll make, your moustaches fall off. Now sit down and shut up!"

  Sputtering, Gunthar was brought up short by an imperious; gesture from the old man. The knight could do nothing bu

  return to his seat.

  'Where was I before I was interrupted?" Fizban scowled, Glancing around, his gaze fell on the broken pieces of the orb' "Oh, yes. I was about to tell you a story. One of you would have won the orb, of course. And you would have taken it either to keep it 'safe' or to 'save the world: And, ye, it is cap ble of saving the world, but only if you know how to use'*, Who of you has this knowledge? Who has true strength? orb was created by the greatest, most powerful mages of of All the most powerful-do you understand? It was created b those of the White Robes and these of the Black Robes. It h the essence of both evil and good. The Red Robes brought bo essences together and bound them with their force. Few th are now with the power and strength to understand the orb, fathom its secrets, and to gain mastery over it. Few indeed" Fizban's eyes gleamed-".and none who sit here!"

  Silence had fallen now, a profound silence as they llis.tened the old mage, whose voice was
strong and carried above rising wind that was blowing the storm clouds from, the sky,

  "One of you would have taken the orb and used it, and you would have found that you had hurled yourself upon disaster. You would have been broken as surely as the kender broke the orb. As for hope being shattered, I tell you that hope was lost for a time, but now it has been new born-"

  A sudden gust of wind caught the old mage's hat, blowing it

  off his head and tossing it playfully away from him. Snarling in irritation, Fizban crawled forward to pick it up.

  Just as the mage leaned over, the sun broke through the clouds. There was a blazing flash of silver, followed by a splin-

  tering, deafening crack as though the land itself had split apart. Half-blinded by the flaring light, people blinked and gazed in fear and awe at the terrifying sight before their eyes.

  The Whitestone had been split asunder.

  The old magician lay sprawled at its base, his hat clutched in his hand, his other arm flung over his head in terror. Above him, piercing the rock where he had been sitting, was a iong

  weapon made of gleaming silver. It had been thrown by the silver arm of a black man, who walked over to stand beside it. Accompanying him were three people: an elven woman dressed in leather armor, an old, white-bearded dwarf, and Elistan.

  Amid the stunned silence of the crowd, !he black man reached out and lifted the weapon from the splintered remains of the rock. He held it high above his head, and the silver barbed point glittered brightly in the rays of the midday sun.

  "I am Theros Ironfeld ," the man called out in a deep voice,

  "and for the last month I have been forging these!" He shook the weapon in his hand. "I have taken molten silver from the well hidden deep within the heart of the Monument of the Silver Dragon. With the .silver arm given me by the gods,, I have

  forged the weapon as legend foretold. And this I -bring to youto all the people of Krynn-that we may join together and defeat the great evil that threatens to engulf us in darkness forever.