Tanis the shadow years

46

Flint Finefonge was in the lead, long beard swinging with his step and strong, short arms carrying his battle-axe over one shoulder. The others followed close behind. Tanis didn't notice, at first, that they were not smiling. In fact, had he looked closely, he would have seen that their faces showed precious little expression at all.

"I thought you were all spread to the four winds," Tanis called out as he narrowed the gap between them. None spoke a reply, but he didn't wait for one. He immediately shouted, "How did you find me?"

Again, he received no answer.

It struck Tanis that they must be bringing bad news or they wouldn't be so quiet. Even Tasslehoff Burrfoot seemed subdued-odd in a kender. Tas and Flint hadn't stopped once to bicker.

Tanis tried again. "I didn't expect to see you for five years I" he cried.

As the half-elf drew near, he looked his friends over with approval. They might have been bringing bad news, but he had to marvel at how fine they all looked on this particular day. Even with the memory of Brandella echoing in his mind, he realized that Kit had never been more beautiful. She looked exactly as he pictured her in his mind, both regal and wild, her bright brown eyes flashing with adventure, curls of close-cropped black hair creeping from under her helm. He was particularly pleased that Kit had come with the others, because that meant she'd forgiven him for ending their affair that last night at the Inn. Perhaps they could still be friends.

His eyes quickly scanned the others.

Sturm stood straight and proud, his armor gleaming, Caramon walked with his usual swagger, yet he seemed unusually independent of Raistlin-a change that Tanis viewed with approval. The young mage, himself, never looked healthier; in fact, he looked a bit younger. Tanis often remembered those days, when he and Raistlin were closer friends, with great fondness.

With arms spread wide to greet Flint and the others with claps on the back, Tanis cheerfully charged among them. He was met, in return, by Hint's battle-axe swinging at his head!

Tanis saw it coming and thought it was a joke. He didn't react-at least not right away. It was only when he saw that the weapon was coming at him too fast and too hard to be stopped in time, that he demanded, "What's the matter with you?" and tried to duck out of the way. But it was too late. If he hadn't already had his arm up high to slap Flint on the back, he never would have been able to block the descent of Flint's arm with his own. A blunt edge of the battle-axe hit Tanis in the shoulder, numbing him for a moment.

"Are you crazy?" Tanis demanded.

Flint didn't answer. His normally bright eyes were dull. He merely raised his battle-axe for another try at the half-elf's head.

Tanis turned to the others for help. Instead, Kitiara's blade nearly disemboweled him. Barely twisting out of the way, he demanded, "Why are you doing this7" Shaken and confused, he scrambled backward as the companions, eerily silent, advanced upon him, their weapons held high. The sun beat starkly on the scene. The weeds twisted in a slight breeze that did nothing to abate the heat.

The half-elf looked around wildly. "Why won't any of you speak to me? What's happened to you?"

When none answered, Tanis found himself instinctively reaching for the handle of his sword. But he would not draw the blade from his scabbard. These were his closest friends.

Then he realized what was happening.

"Fistandantilus!" he breathed.

The evil wizard had promised him death at the hands of those whom he loved most, if the half-elf and Brandella tricked him. From beyond Life, Fistandantilus had somehow brought his threatened spell to bear. And now Tanis's closest companions had come to slay him. Yet he could not possibly consider fighting them when they were mere pawns of the mage's magic.

He continued to retreat, frantically trying to think of some way to break the spell. Then it came to him: Scowarr! Perhaps more magic remained in the statue; perhaps it could be used to break the spell that held his friends entrapped.

He turned and ran toward the granite sculpture.

His six companions continued their slow and steady pace, following him with an inexorable certainty more unnerving than an all-out charge.

"End the spell!" begged Tanis of Scowarr. "Use your magic to save my friends.-Whatever power was given to the stone of your statue, please use it now!"

The half-elf turned toward his old friends. They had not stopped their advance. They had spread out with the obvious intention of circling the statue and trapping him there.

Clotnik, roused by Tanis's pleading to the statue, opened his eyes and tried, blearily, to see what the danger was. The dwarf wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him. Perhaps he was delirious, he considered. Not trusting his own senses, he did not speak. Instead, he tried to rise and help Tanis fight this new enemy, not understanding that they were the half-elf's friends.

The dwarf got as far as his knees before he toppled over. A cry escaped his lips, and Tanis rushed to his side.

"Stay still," Tanis said, looking back at Sturm and the others. "You'll open your wounds." He would have thrown the dwarf over his shoulder and run, but he knew he wouldn't get far before his friends caught up to them. And with Clotnik in his arms, Tanis wouldn't be free to fight back. Yet even as he thought it through, the half-elf couldn't imagine battling Hint and the others.

The sharp stab of pain that brought Tanis to Clotnik's aid also brought crystal clarity to the dwarf's mind. While the half-elf hovered over him, Clotnik glanced back at what had so troubled him before.

'Tanis!" he cried, grabbing him by the front of his tunic. "Am I crazy? Where are the dead sligs?"

The half-elf looked back. Clotnik was right; the bodies were gone, all except the one that had impaled itself on Scowarr's sword. They had killed seven of the sligs… Tanis finally understood. These weren't his friends who had surrounded him and were coming in for the kill. They were the images of his six companions, gleaned from his own mind. The evil wizard's spell worked through the dead, his only conduit to the living plane. The magic was not as powerful as that which Fistandan- tilus had once possessed, but it was strong enough to destroy Tanis. At least the half-elf knew he could fight these spell creatures. But could he win?

The Caramon image broke from the circle and, with his head held low, ran deliberately at Tanis, trying to smash him against the base of the statue.

The half-elf neatly sidestepped the charge, tripping Caramon as he passed. The big man went down hard but quickly jumped back to his feet. Tanis no longer paid any attention to him, though; the Tas image was already on the attack with his hoopak. At the same time, the images of Sturm and Kit came at him from either side, their blades flashing silver in the sunlight. The Flint image was on the other side of the statue, creeping up behind him. Only the image of Raistlin held back.

Tanis finally reached for his sword, unsheathing it with a flourish. To his amazement, the blade glowed red!

The magic flowed once again from his sword, through his arm, and into his heart. With a lightning flick of his wrist, he cut Tas's hoopak off just above the would-be kender's hand. In the same motion, he parried Kit's lunge at his stomach and kicked Sturm's blade to one side.

Because Tanis was off balance from the kick. Caramon easily grabbed him by the hair and threw him into a crushing headlock. The half-elf countered by jabbing the point of his sword into Caramon's foot. The Caramon image immediately let go and tumbled over in pain, falling right next to Clotnik. The dwarf used the only weapon handy. He raised his brass juggling ball over Caramon's head…

"Don't!" shouted Tanis, unable to separate, even now, that this was not really Caramon.

Clotnik had no such confusion. He ignored Tanis, smashing Caramon's skull wide open with the brass ball. The image of Raistlin's brother twitched several times in death, then slowly turned back into a slig in front of Clotnik's disbelieving eyes. Except for Tanis's words to Clotnik, it was a peculiar battle, indeed, for there were no commands, shouts, oaths, or cries of pain from the remaining companions. Their images did not speak a single word or make a single sound. There were only the clash of weapons and a deathly, otherworldly silence. Even the breeze in the sunbathed village square had stilled. It was as if the village of Ankatavaka-the dead stones, the weeds, the crumbled buildings-held its breath.

Clotnik battered Flint's right knee with an expertly thrown gold juggling ball; Mertwig's son was actually doing more damage than the half-elf. Tanis could easily have finished Flint off after Clotnik crippled him, but he looked at the face of his friend and could not bring himself to do it. He let him slip away, only to counter Hint's ferocious attack again a few moments later.

It was the image of Kit who drew first blood, her blade piercing Tanis in the thigh. It was a minor wound, but it brought home to the half-elf that he could not count on his defensive swordsmanship forever. Even with his enchanted blade, he was not invincible.

Sturm, Kit, and Tas regrouped as Hint was driven back, then came at Tanis all at once. The half-elf steeled himself, driving their faces from his mind, concentrating on their weapons and their bodies.

Sturm and Kit made their thrusts at the same moment. Tanis parried them both with one motion, then slashed at Kit's waist. She didn't scream. But he did. He had to turn away as her image crumpled over sideways.

His reaction left him wide open to Tas, who held a short, curved knife blade in his little hands. Clotnik shouted a warning, and Tanis saw the kender image, its brown topknot swinging just like the original, but it was too late. The blade ripped at Tanis's sword arm. The pain nearly caused Tanis to drop the glowing blade. Grimacing, he flailed with the sword. To his horror, he ran through Tasslehoff Burrfoot. He watched in shock as the kender fell to his knees. Tanis wanted to throw his sword away in shame and self-loathing, but even as he watched, the little kender begart changing into the lifeless form of a slig, four times Tas's size.

The sword of Sturm Brightblade was upon the half-elf before he'd recovered. Even with the help of his enchanted blade, Tanis was at the Knight's mercy. But a silver juggling ball, toseed by Clotnik, struck Sturm's blade, knocking it askew. Tanis brought his own blade to bear on the Knight's throat, just above the breastplate of his armor. Sturm-at least the image of him-was no more. Tanis felt bile rise in his throat.

Flint and Raistlin were the only ones left.

"Fistandantilusl" screamed Tanis, not wanting to kill them, too. "Give it up!"

"No need to shout," said Raistlin, his face expressionless, his voice the whispery, dead-leaf speech of the long- deceased wizard. "You have an odd assortment of friends, all of them good fighters except for this sickly mage. I easily could have had you killed and brought back to my world, but it seems you have had some magical help. I'll see to that interloper, you can be sure."

Tanis smiled. "If I were you, I'd stay clear of Kishpa. He just might be too much for you to handle. Besides, he’ll have some help of his own."

"Who?"

"A great warrior named Scowarr."

Fistandantilus made no reply; Flint and Raistlin simply slumped to the ground, their bodies slowly returning to slig form.

In that same instant, Tanis's sword stopped glowing red. He raised it to the heavens and said, "Kishpa, I'm in your debt."

He sheathed the sword and wearily made his way to Clotnik, who sat propped against the base of the statue. "I'm glad that's over," said the dwarf, using one hand to stanch the bleeding from a reopened wound. "I was running out of juggling balls."