Tanis the shadow years

26

Travelling at night was unheard of; the roads could be deadly. A person could just as easily fall into a ditch and break a leg in the darkness as fall into a pack of thieves. Tanis, Brandella, and Scowarr had no choice, however. They had to brave the blackness. With only one torch to light their way, they set out to the east. They hadn't gotten far, though, before Brandella ordered, "Stop!" "What is it?" Scowarr asked anxiously. His light brown hair stood up in bunches all over his head. Tonight he looked more like a comedian than the savior of Ankatavaka.

Brandella gestured. "Lean the torch closer to Tanis."

The puzzled half-elf stood still as Little Shoulders dipped the torch in his direction.

"Just as I thought: blood," Brandella said reproachfully. "How come you didn't tell me?"

"I…"

She cut him off, saying, "Never mind. I know. You didn't want to worry me. Or the wounds don't hurt. Or some other silly excuse. Well, we're stopping right here and now and cleaning those wounds so that you don't die on us."

"There's no time-" Tanis attempted again.

"Quiet!" she ordered. This was no introspective weaver; Tanis saw the Brandella who had rained arrows on the attacking humans-was it less than a day before? "You risked your life for me; the least I can do is risk my future for you," she said briskly. "We're stopping!"

There was no use arguing. Tanis let her inspect the cuts and clean them with yet another piece of cloth-this one gleaned, under protest, from Scowarr's new suit.

"At least the cuts no longer bleed," Brandella said, working so close to the wound that Tanis felt her breath on his skin. "Still, I wish we had salve."

"It's all right," Tanis assured her. Her hands were warm, and her touch was gentle-that was medicine enough for the half-elf.

Finally, Brandella declared them able to continue on their way. They marched throughout much of the night, stopping only for the weaver to check occasionally on Tanis's wounds. Eventually, though, exhaustion began to overwhelm them.

"We'll make better time in the morning if we get some sleep before dawn," Scowarr suggested after he tripped and fell over a boulder on the side of the trail. He rubbed the shinbone he'd barked against the granite.

"He's right," conceded Brandella.

Reluctantly, Tanis agreed. They found a flat, grassy stretch of ground just off the trail and settled in for a short rest. Scowarr offered to take the first watch.

He promptly fell asleep.

Tanis bolted awake. A sound had penetrated his slumber. Blinking his eyes in the gray misty dawn, he saw that the torch had gone out. He sat up and listened again, wondering what had awakened him. Was it an animal in the brush? Could it simply have been a dream? Had Scowarr snored too loudly7

"Snored!" Tanis expostulated softly. "Scowarr!"

The slender human only shifted and murmured. The sound that had awakened him came again from farther down the trail, echoing in the cavernous forest. It was a scream, faint but unmistakable.

"Get up!" Tanis cried, leaping to his feet and grabbing his sword.

"Huh?" Scowarr mumbled. He stared with glassy eyes. "I wasn't asleep!"

Brandella rose cautiously to her feet. She could have been a deer, her feet moved so silently through the glade. She said nothing, but her eyes were questioning.

"Follow after me, but keep quiet," Tanis said. "Don't show yourselves if you can help it." And with that, Tanis took off at a dead run down the trail.

He left the scabbard behind; his exposed sword glowed red with anticipation. Trees flashed by as he raced down the path. The screaming was louder now. He was getting close, and he slowed. The cries seemed to be coming from just beyond the bend.

The trail turned, and so did he-right into a band of four goblins who were attacking the dwarf, Mertwig, and his wife, Yeblidod. She was screaming, and pelting the orange creatures with rocks. Mertwig was bleeding, but he continued to battle the beasts. However, there were simply too many of the creatures for the game dwarf. He swung his powerful battle-axe, yet it was not enough. He had been stabbed several times, and a long. broken goblin tooth protruded from his right leg. Nevertheless, he fought on.

Tanis charged into the goblins, shouting curses at them with every swing of his blade.

The creatures, who tended to enjoy a fight as long as the odds were heavily in their favor, didn't seem to mind a second opponent. Two to one weren't bad odds, after all, and the exhausted dwarf was ready to fall.

The tallest of the goblins, a dirty orange monster with lemon yellow eyes, stood closest to Tanis. It swiveled to face the half-elf, holding a broadsword in one hand and a club that looked suspiciously like a human thigh bone in the other. With a simple flick of his wrist, the tall goblin threw the club directly at Tanis's head. It flew end over end, and Tanis used his sword to split the bone in half- the long wayl

The startled creature who had tossed the club snorted ' and muttered a word in goblin. Tanis, who spoke a few phrases of the goblin tongue, smiled humorlessly. The word had been "Luck!" The goblin swung his sword at the oncoming stranger, obviously expecting Tanis to foolishly run right into the cutting edge of his blade. Tanis kept coming. Luck, indeed.

Tanis did run into the arc of the swinging edge of the goblin's sword, but he deftly parried the blow. Stepping in close, he swung his balled fist into the creature's throat. The goblin fell to the ground, choking.

Seeing this, the three others abandoned their fight with Mertwig to take on the surprising new threat. Two of the goblins came at Tanis, one beast swinging a battle- axe in its long arms, the other goblin a bloody broadsword. The third began to circle around behind the half-elf, holding a hatchet.

It was soon close behind Tanis, hatchet raised and ready-when it fell over sideways, a large rock striking it hard in the side of the face, smashing cheekbone and nose.

Brandella had thrown the granite missile.

Scowarr ran to the downed goblin to make sure it didn't rise again. He kneeled over the dazed creature and asked, "Are you the kind of unlucky goblin who, if it rained soup, would only have a fork in your hand?"

The creature didn't laugh. It couldn't. Its throat was cut. The eyes, dull in death as in life, rolled back in their sockets.

The two remaining goblins bared their sharp fangs; the intruders had evened the odds. Tanis took advantage of the goblins' surprise to impale his sword in the belly of one of them, but the hideous being grabbed hold of the blade and wouldn't let go. As the dying creature twisted away from Tanis, it pulled the sword out of the half-elf's hand. At the same moment, the other goblin struck Tanis a glancing blow with his battle-axe, hitting him in the same spot on the shoulder that Kishpa had cut. Tanis winced in pain and backed away, nearly tripping over a tree root.

The goblin bandit pressed its advantage and swung again. Tanis jumped out of the way but this time lost his footing and fell. The final goblin grinned-until Mertwig's battle-axe struck him from behind, crushing his skull.

"A lot of nerve, ignoring me like that," the dwarf spat at the dead bandit at his feet. Then he sat heavily on the ground with a groan.

Yeblidod ran to him.

Tanis pulled the tooth out of Mertwig's leg, and then Yeblidod used her healing powers on her husband. At least, she tried. The dwarf was badly hurt; that he had fought so nobly and for so long was a testament to his brave heart. That he lived at all as the sun rose over Krynn was due entirely to Yeblidod.

"You saved my life a second time," Tanis humbly told the dying dwarf. Mertwig shook his head and coughed. Smears of blood appeared on his lips. "You stood up for me… twice" he finally rasped. "You were there… when I needed… needed help most. I won't forget."

"Shhhh," soothed Yeblidod. "Rest."

The trees, swathed in early morning mist, waved serenely overhead, contrasting with the anguished scene below.

"What are you doing out here on the path to Solace?" Brandella asked Mertwig's wife.

"Self-exile," the matronly dwarf replied as she bathed her husband's burning forehead with a wet cloth. "Canpho insisted on a trial, and Mertwig would not abide the insult. We left last night."

"Just like that7" she asked. "After so many years?"

"Yes," Yeblidod answered reservedly, green eyes soft above the slightly humped nose. "I didn't want to go, but it was Mertwig's wish. We packed what we owned, put it in a handcart, and left."

"But your cart…" Brandella asked, looking confused. She squinted into the mist at the gaily painted handcart.

'That's not…" Tanis interrupted. "Their cart went into the sea when they were trying to rescue Scowarr and me."

Yeblidod flushed slightly. "A neighbor and friend lent us her cart. We still have friends in Ankatavaka, whatever Mertwig may believe," she added sadly.

The three sat quietly for a moment, watching as Mertwig's eyes fluttered shut in apparent sleep.

"You can't continue on," Tanis suddenly told the dwar- ven woman. "Mertwig is too ill. You, yourself, have been through an ordeal. You must go back to Ankatavaka. His pride is less important now than his life."

Mertwig's eyes flew open again. "No!" he wailed. He grasped at Tanis's hand. "I won't go back."

"Why?" asked Brandella.

The dwarf looked away. "I have no friends… no friends… left in Ankatavaka," he said breathlessly.

"Of course you do," insisted Brandella. "What about Kishpa?"

He shook his head with an infinite sadness in his eyes. Brandella's eyes filled with tears. So did Yeblidod's.

"Kishpa and you have been so close for so long-and it has come to this," the weaver said in hushed tones. The two women rose and walked a short distance away, arms around each other's waist. Mertwig watched them go.

"Where is the human?" asked the dwarf, grasping at Tanis's hand.

"Scowarr's standing watch. Why? Do you want to speak with him?"

Tanis made a move to rise.

"No," Mertwig objected hoarsely. "Just you. Alone. While I can."

Tanis leaned closer. "What is it?"

Mertwig pressed his lips together and scrutinized the half-elf. "I can't… can't tell Yeblidod… or Kishpa… not anyone," he wheezed. "But I… I have to." 'Tell what?" Tanis asked, keeping his voice soft.

"The truth. Before I die. I can't… can't carry it to my… my grave."

Tanis began to protest, then stopped. It was obvious that the dwarf wouldn't survive much longer. "I'm listening," said Tanis gently.

"I am guilty… guilty," Mertwig said, and shuddered. "I stole… stole to buy… to buy the glass ball. I lied. But I couldn't admit admit it. Not in front of… Yeblidod. Do you understand?"

Tanis was about to answer when Scowarr skidded to a stop right next to him.

"Someone is coming!" he announced, nearly incoherent in his excitement. "I think it's Kishpa. We've got to go!"

Tanis held up his hand to stop Scowarr. He turned back to Mertwig to tell him that he understood. But the old dwarf was dead.