Part 26 (2/2)
Knucklebones left her new fa, she kissed his cold hand and said, ”I'ht You've done so much for so many But you sacrificed your beautiful sword!”
”That suits hting to last a lifetime
From now on, I'll work to heal, and keep peace We've many warriors, but only one shaman, and I'll be busy And happy But will you be?”
The thief sht I've a new family I'm back in the thick of business, just like in Karsus, and it'll be busier fro! And-”
Warht nodded, but jerked awake
”And what?”
”And-” Knucklebones blushed ”And I'll be busy tending our first child”
”Our first” Suddenly awake, Sunbright hugged her till she squeaked ”Oh, Knuckle'! The first of many, we hope Some to ride the plains, and some to walk the woods Others to work the mountains, or follow trade routes”
”And one child to becoht sluain ”Oh, no It's such a burden, I wouldn't wish it on any child
But I suppose ”
”It will be so,” Knucklebones sue
The tundra never did heal, for the empire lands, drained of life by the alien Phaerireed of the archwizards, declined slowly like a forest of dying redwoods After the End of the End, the last vestiges of the Netherese Empire were sed by sand to become Anauroch, the Great Desert The Narrow Sea dried year by year, eventually disappearing, so the High Ice and Sunbright's tundra receded into a rocky wasteland
With the tundra died the Rengarth Barbarians' way of life, but under the guidance of Sunbright and Knucklebones, and their descendants, the Rengarth lived on, though they eventually changed into- But that's another story
About the Author
Clayton Emery has been a blacksmith, a dishwasher, a schoolteacher in Australia, a carpenter, a zookeeper, a far other things He was an ainning technical writer for ten years His novels include Tales of Robin Hood; Shadow World 1: The Burning Goddess and Shadow World 3: City of assassins; the Whispering Woods trilogy for Magic: The Gathering; the Robin & Marian stories in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and other works He lives in New Hampshi+re with his wife and son, and has played the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS gaistered trademark owned by TSR, Inc BIRTHRIGHT is a trademark owned by TSR, Inc