Part 4 (1/2)

With that, he retired to great applause.

”What a short memory he has,” Sturm remarked. He smoothed the long mustaches that were the hallmark of a Solamnic knight and Sturm's pride, along with his father's sword and armor, the only legacy his father had left him. ”Elves and a dwarf helped save his miserable life!”

”And a kender!” Tas added indignantly. a kender!” Tas added indignantly.

”Maybe Elistan will remind him of that,” Tanis said, as the Revered Son of Paladine stepped forward.

”The G.o.ds of good hold back the darkness,” Elistan stated, ”as they hold back the snows that must soon blanket this valley, but winter will come and so too will the forces of evil.”

Hederick interrupted him.

”If, as you say, Revered Son, your G.o.d, Paladine, and the other G.o.ds of Light have protected us in the past, can't we be a.s.sured that they will continue to protect us in the future?” the High Theocrat asked.

”The G.o.ds have helped us, that is true,” said Elistan, ”and they will continue to help us, but we must do our part. We are not babes in arms, whose every need has to be met by the parents. We are grown men and women. We have free will, a gift given to us by the G.o.ds. We have the ability to make choices-”

”And we choose choose to remain here in this valley,” said Hederick. to remain here in this valley,” said Hederick.

This drew a laugh and applause.

Flint nudged Tanis with his elbow. ”Look there,” he said urgently, pointing.

The Plainsmen were leaving. They had turned their backs on the speakers and on their fellow refugees and were walking out of the grove. Riverwind and Goldmoon remained, seemingly reluctant to leave, but then, with a shake of his head, Riverwind walked off. He said something to Goldmoon, but she did not immediately follow him. She sent her searching gaze through the crowd until she found Tanis.

Goldmoon looked at him long, and he saw in her sad smile an apology. Then, she, too, turned her back and went to be with her husband. Both left to join their people.

By now, everyone in the crowd was watching the Plainsmen depart. Some cried, ”Good riddance,” but others stated that it was a shame to let them leave in anger. Elistan tried to say something, but the clamor in the crowd drowned him out. Hederick stood in the background, smiling contentedly.

Raistlin was at Tanis's elbow, plucking at his sleeve. Tanis could smell the fragrance of dried rose petals emanating from the young mage's pouch of spell components that he wore on a belt around his waist. Tanis could also smell the scent of decay that lingered about Raistlin, a scent the sweet perfume of roses could never quite mask. Rose petals were not the only spell components the mage carried. Some were far less pleasant.

”Something is wrong,” Raistlin said urgently. ”Don't you feel it?”

He gave a sudden hiss. His hand seized hold of Tanis's arm, the long, slender fingers digging painfully into Tanis's flesh.

”Raistlin,” said Tanis irritably,”this is no time for-”

”Hus.h.!.+” Raistlin raised his head, as though listening. ”Where is the kender? Quickly! I need him!”

”You do?” Ta.s.slehoff cried, amazed. ”Excuse me,” he added importantly, stepping on Flint's toes. ”I have to get by. Raistlin needs me-”

”You have the sharpest eyes among us,” said Raistlin, grasping hold of the kender. ”Look into the sky! Swiftly. What do you see?”

Tas did as he was told, craning his neck and peering up into the sky, nearly tumbling over backward in the process.

”I see a white cloud that looks like a rabbit. There, do you see it, Caramon? It has long ears and a puffy tail and-”

”Don't be ridiculous!” Raistlin snarled, giving Tas a shake that snapped his head back. ”Keep looking!”

”It might help if I knew what I was looking for,” Tas pointed out meekly.

”That mage s.h.i.+vers my skin,” said Flint, scowling and rubbing his arms.

”It's not him,” said Tanis. ”I feel it, too. Sturm!” he called, looking about for the knight.

Sturm had been standing in the shadows of an oak, keeping himself apart from the others, especially Raistlin. The serious-minded knight, who lived by the code, Est Sularas est Mithos Est Sularas est Mithos, ”My honor is my life,” had grown up with Raistlin and his brother, and though Sturm liked Caramon, the knight had never liked nor trusted his twin.

”I sense it as well,” Sturm said.

An uneasy silence had fallen over the crowd. People turned this way and that, searching for the cause of the p.r.i.c.klings of fear that tingled in their arms and raised goose b.u.mps on their flesh. The Plainspeople had halted and were gazing skyward. Riverwind had his hand on the hilt of his sword.

”This reminds me of something!” Tanis said suddenly.

”Xak Tsaroth,” Sturm murmured.

”There!” Ta.s.slehoff cried, pointing. ”A dragon!”

It flew far above them, so high that the huge monster was reduced in size to a child's toy-a deadly toy. As the people watched in terror, the dragon dipped its wings and began to descend, winding downward in slow, lazy circles. The morning sun flashed off red scales and shone through the thin membrane of red wings. The fear that is part of a dragon's a.r.s.enal swept over the crowd. Primal fear from a memory of time's beginning. Deep-rooted fear that wrung the heart and made the soul shudder.

”Run!” Hederick shrieked. ”Run for your lives!”

Tanis understood the terror. He felt the desire to flee, to run anywhere and nowhere in a desperate, panicked need to escape the horror, but he could see that running was the last thing they should do. Most of the people were standing beneath the trees, concealed from the dragon's sight by the overspreading branches.

”Don't move!” he managed to shout, though he had to struggle to breathe through the suffocating fear. ”If no one moves, the dragon might not see us-”

”Too late,” said Sturm. He gazed upward at the beast. ”The dragon has seen all there is to see, and so has the rider.”

The dragon had flown closer to them. They could all see the rider accoutered in heavy armor and a helm decorated with horns. The rider sat at his ease in a specially designed saddle on the dragon's back, between the wings.

Pandemonium broke out. Some people went racing for the caves. Others collapsed weeping and s.h.i.+vering, onto the gra.s.s.

Tanis couldn't move. He could not take his eyes from the rider. The man was huge with muscular arms that were bare, despite the cold. His helm covered his face, yet Tanis had no trouble recognizing him.

”Verminaard!” Tanis gasped, forcing out the name through clenched teeth.

”That's impossible!” Sturm said. ”He's dead!”

”Look for yourself!” Tanis returned.

”He was dead, I tell you,” Sturm insisted, yet he sounded shaken. ”No man could survive such wounds!”

”Well, this one did, apparently,” Flint said grimly.

”Remember that he himself was a powerful cleric, serving an all powerful G.o.ddess,” said Raistlin. ”Takhisis might well have restored him to life.”

Someone barreled straight into Tanis, nearly knocking him down. The person shoved Tanis aside and kept on running.

Panic had seized hold of nearly everyone. People went haring off in every direction. Women screamed, men shouted, and children wailed. The dragon flew lower and lower.