"What happened? Who did this?"
"An ambush," Riverwind answered, grimacing in pain. He drew breath haltingly. "Draconians. Waiting for us at the gate. Don"t worry. The refugees are safely hidden. I left Elistan in charge..."
"Hush, don"t talk. I"ll sort this out."
Riverwind seized hold of him with a b.l.o.o.d.y hand. "That dwarf, the one in the helm, he tried to make us admit we were here to invade..." Riverwind sank back, breathing hard. Sweat beaded his brow and ran down his face.
Tanis put his hand to Gilthanas"s neck, felt for the life beat. The elf lord needed care.
Hornfel managed to shout down the other Thanes and obtain some semblance of order. The dwarf guards started their tale by relating first how the kender had escaped and knocked them out (they glossed over this fairly quickly), then, in mounting rage, they stated that when they"d regained consciousness, they were set upon by four Theiwar. The next thing they knew, the Tall (Tanis) was cutting loose their bonds and insisting on seeing Hornfel.
Hornfel glowered at Realgar. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I will tell you, Thane," said Tanis, rising to his feet. "The Theiwar wanted our guards out of the way so they could poison us."
"That"s a lie," Realgar snarled. "If someone tried to poison you, human, it was not me or my people. As for these guards, my men caught them drunk on their watch and decided to teach them a lesson."
The guards were vehement in denial. One leaped at Realgar, and his companion had to drag him back.
"We have evidence to prove our claim," said Tanis. "We have the poisoned mushrooms and the bodies of two Theiwar who came to gloat over their handiwork, and we have further evidence of an even more serious matter than the attempt on our lives, great Thanes."
"What of our evidence?" Realgar demanded, pointing at Riverwind. "This human and those with him admit that they are with an army of humans and elves planning to invade our realm."
"If he or any of those with him said this, they did so to escape the pain of their torment. Look what has been done to them!" Tanis said. "Is this how men of honor of any race treat their captives?
"I bring you this warning, Thanes of Thorbardin," Tanis continued grimly, "there is an army prepared to invade your realm, but it is not an army of humans. It is an army of the Dark Queen"s dragonmen."
"He would have us believe this wild tale to distract us so that he and his humans can take us unaware! I, for one, will not waste my time by staying around to listen to this human"s lies. I must go prepare my forces to repel the human army"s invasion-"
Realgar started walking toward the door.
"Stop him, Thanes!" Tanis warned. "He has betrayed you. He is in league with these dragonmen and their evil master, Lord Verminaard. He has opened the gates of Thorbardin to them."
"Realgar," said Hornfel sternly, "you must remain to answer these charges-"
"You are not High King, Hornfel!" Realgar retorted. "You can"t order me about!"
"Guards, detain him!" Hornfel commanded.
Realgar opened his palm, exhibited a ring of black jet, and slipped it on his finger. Foul-smelling smoke billowed out from the ring, driving back the soldiers, who began to gasp and cough. Realgar disappeared.
"The Theiwar is telling the truth, Hornfel," Rance stated. "These humans and their friends the elves are the real danger. Don"t listen to the lies of this Tall."
"I have proof!" Tanis countered. "My friends and I have captured one of the dragonmen. They are bringing the monster here so that you can see for yourselves!"
"I will not wait," said Hornfel decisively. "I will go see for myself. You will come with me, Half-Elven."
"I will come, Thane," Tanis answered, "but first I must see to my friends. Their injuries are serious. They need healing care."
"I have already summoned physicians," Hornfel said. "Your friends will be taken to the Houses of Healing, but," he added in grim tones, "you will all remain prisoners until I have determined the truth of what is going on."
He left the Court of the Thanes, and Tanis had no choice but to accompany him. The other Thanes decided to go with them, including Rance, who was starting to think that he, too, had been betrayed by Realgar.
The Highbluph came along, but only because he was under the mistaken impression they were all going to lunch.
Chapter 20.
Flight. A swim. War Beneath The Mountain.
The draconian lay sprawled on the floor. Caramon stood over him, sucking on his bruised knuckles.
"That thing has a hard skull," he complained. "What I want to know is why we just don"t kill it and show the dwarves the body? It would be a lot easier."
"I take back everything I said about your intelligence, my brother," Raistlin said. He was feeling sick and weak, the aftereffects of his spell casting, and that put him in a bad temper.
"Huh?" Caramon was puzzled.
"There wouldn"t be a body to show," Sturm explained patiently. "You remember what happens if we kill one of these things. They either blow up, turn to dust, or-"
"Oh, yeah, right. I forgot." Caramon thumped himself good-naturedly on the head.
"We should go now," Raistlin said. "Tanis has had time enough to speak to the Thanes."
"The sight of this beauty should make the Thanes sit up and take notice," Sturm said. "Bring over the table, Caramon, and help me hoist him onto it."
They had tried to lift the draconian, but the monster"s wings made carrying the creature awkward. Caramon came up with the idea of knocking the legs off the table and turning the wooden board into a make-shift litter. He now hauled it over and set it down next to the unconscious draconian.
Grunting at the effort, he shoved the draconian over on his belly, so that the wings would not be an impediment. The draconian had kept his wings close to his body in order to cover them with the robes, but when he"d been hit by the sleep spell, the wings had relaxed and now flopped out on either side. Between Caramon and Sturm, they heaved and wrestled the creature onto the wooden table top.
"This thing weighs as much as a small house!" Sturm gasped.
Caramon, who could probably have picked up a small house had he been inclined to do so, nodded in agreement and wiped sweat from his face. Not only was the draconian heavy, it was wearing armor beneath its robes, as well as a sword. Sturm removed the weapon and tossed it aside.
"We have to haul this demon-sp.a.w.n clear to the top of the Life Tree?" Caramon asked, shaking his head. "Uh, Raist, I don"t suppose you could-"
"No, I could not," Raistlin snapped. "I am already weakened from the spells I"ve cast this day. You must do the best you can."
"You take the head," said Sturm to Caramon.
The big man bent down, took hold of the table with the monster on top of it and, with a grunt, lifted it off the floor. Sturm took hold of his end, and they managed to maneuver table and draconian out the door.
"Wait!" Raistlin ordered. "We should cover it with a blanket. We"ll draw enough attention to ourselves as it is, without being seen hauling a monster through the streets."
"Hurry up!" Sturm gasped.
Raistlin grabbed up two blankets and draped them over the draconian.
"I"ll walk ahead of you," Raistlin offered, "to clear the way."
"You"re sure that won"t take too much out of you?" Sturm said bitterly.
Either Raistlin did not hear him, or he chose to ignore him. He preceeded them through the street, the light of his staff shining brightly.
Sturm and Caramon had to stop every so often to rest and shift position to ease cramps in their backs and shoulders. They made relatively good time until they reached the populated parts of Thorbardin. At the sight of the Talls, dwarves immediately surrounded them and demanded to know where they were going and why.
Raistlin managed to find a dwarf who spoke enough Common to carry on a limited conversation. Raistlin explained that one of their number had been taken ill, and they wanted to transport him to the upper levels, where he said they had been told there were Houses of Healing.
The dwarf wanted to take a look at the sick Tall, and he reached for the blanket. Raistlin laid his hand on the blanket-covered head.
"You don"t want to touch him," he said softly, in his whispering voice. "We fear it might be the plague."
The dwarf fell back, glaring darkly at the companions, and crying out a warning to the other dwarves, who regarded them with even more distrust than before, if that were possible.
"What did you tell them?" Sturm demanded. "By the looks of them, they mean to kill us all!"
"Never mind," said Raistlin. "We"ll sort it out later. For the moment they"ll stay clear of us. Keep moving."
The dwarves gave them a clear path, but they fell in behind them, forming a grim and silent escort. The companions arrived at the lift, and this presented their next problem.
"The table won"t fit in the bucket," Caramon pointed out.
"Dump the draconian into the bottom," said Sturm.
"They are watching us," Raistlin warned. He gestured to the crowd of dwarves growing larger by the moment. "Be careful to keep the monster covered."
He climbed into the lift. Sturm and Caramon tilted the table and the draconian slid off, landing in a heap at the bottom of the bucket. Raistlin hurriedly arranged the blanket over him. As many dwarves as could fit crowded into a second lift and rode up alongside them, keeping an eye on them.
Sturm sank back against the side of the bucket, ma.s.saging his shoulders. Caramon flexed his hands and then arched his back, trying to ease a kink in his muscles. Raistlin kept watch on the dwarves in the lift. The dwarves kept their eyes fixed on him.
None of them noticed the faint quivering of the blanket covering the draconian until it was too late.
Grag had come to his senses to find himself being hauled off to some unknown destination by his enemies. He had continued to feign unconsciousness, biding his time, and cursing the Theiwar, who had managed to bungle everything. The draconian would have to reveal himself for what he was, and that was a pity, but it couldn"t be helped. Grag had to return to his command and let Dray-yan know what had happened, so they could alter their plans accordingly.
Being dumped into the bottom of the bucket gave Grag his chance. Flinging off the blanket, he leapt to his feet. His first care was to fell the wizard. An elbow to the gut rendered him harmless. The wizard gasped in agony and crumpled. The two warriors were reaching for their swords. Grag whirled about, catching both of them with his lashing tail, knocking the knight backward and nearly flipping the other out of the lift.
Grag would have liked to have settled the score and finished off these three humans, especially the knight, but he didn"t have time. He jumped onto the edge of the bucket and perched there for a moment, getting his bearings. He looked down the lift shaft to see the base of the Life Tree far, far below. His idea had been to try to coast down on his wings, but the shaft was narrow, and he feared he might strike his wings on the stone sides and damage them.
The dwarves in the second lift were raising a ruckus, pointing and shouting and bellowing in horror at the sight of the monster. Those dwarves waiting for the lift on the next level, hearing the commotion echoing up the shaft, saw the draconian poised on the edge of the bucket, wings spread, tail twitching. One quick-thinking dwarf seized the control lever, shoved it in place, halting the lift.
Grag jumped out of the bucket when it was still swinging. He landed on his feet on the ground and came face-to-face with Hornfel and Tanis.
Hornfel took one look at the monster, drew his sword and ran to the attack. Tanis looked into the lift, saw Caramon helping Raistlin to his feet, and Sturm trying to extricate himself. Seeing they were all right, Tanis went with Hornfel. The Daewar Thane, Gneiss, was slower off the mark, but soon caught up with the Hylar and the wild-eyed Klar. Shouting a piercing battle cry and swinging an enormous axe, he ran to join them. The soldiers were startled at the sight of the monster, but inspired by their Thanes" courageous example, they rallied and raced after them.
Grag had no intention of fighting. He was outnumbered, and besides, this was neither the time nor the place. He cast a quick look around and saw what appeared to be a garden with a balcony overlooking the lake. Grag took to his heels. Using his wings to skim over the ground and any obstacles in his way, he easily outdistanced the pursuing dwarves.
Arriving at the balcony, he leapt on it and teetered there a moment, while he figured out where he was in relation to where he wanted to be. He glanced back at his pursuers, spread his wings, and jumped off.
Grag was at the top level of the Life Tree when he leaped, and his training in jumping from the back of a dragon proved invaluable. He could not fly, but as he had learned when jumping off the dragon, he could use his wings to slow his descent. He located the Theiwar wharf from the air, and though it was far off to his left, he could maneuver a little in the air in order to land in the water as near the Theiwar realm as possible.
Glancing up, Grag saw the dwarves peering over the edge of the balcony. More dwarves-hundreds of dwarves-were down below, staring up at him.
So much for their plans for secrecy.
Grag shrugged and gave his wings a twitch. As a commander, he was accustomed to sudden and unexpected shifts in battle. He couldn"t waste time bemoaning mistakes made in the past. He had to think about the future, decide what to do and how to do it, and he had determined his next course of action by the time he was half-way down. He struck the water with a large splash.
Draconians don"t like water, but they can swim if they have to. Grag set out for the Theiwar side of the lake, propelling his scaly body through the cold lake with powerful strokes of his strong legs and using his arms to dog-paddle.
Grag reached the wharf and pulled himself, dripping, out of the water. He tore off his robes, leaving them in a sodden heap on the dock.
Then, loping and flying, he headed for the secret tunnels where his army waited for him.
"Is that one of the monsters of which you spoke?" Hornfel leaned over the balcony, watching the draconian drift through the air as gently as a falling feather.
"These draconians are powerful beings," said Tanis, "capable of using magic as well as steel. Their armies have conquered large sections of Ansalon. They have driven the Qualinesti from their lands and seized Pax Tharkas and our land of Abanasinia."
"Where did these fiends come from?" Hornfel asked, horrified. "I have never seen or heard of the like of them before!"
"They are new to Ansalon," Tanis replied, shaking his head. "We do not know what sp.a.w.ned this evil. All we know is that their numbers are great. They are intelligent and fierce warriors, as dangerous dead as they are alive."
"And you believe they have invaded Thorbardin? Perhaps there is only this one..."
"They are like mice," said Sturm. "If you see one, there are twenty more hiding in the walls."
"You"re bleeding," said Tanis.
"Am I?" Sturm lifted his hand to his face, bringing it back smeared with blood. "The creature"s tail hit me." He shook his head ruefully. "I am sorry he got away, Tanis. He fooled us completely."
"How are Raistlin and Caramon?" Tanis asked, looking worriedly about.
"Raistlin had the worst of it. He took an elbow to the gut. He"ll have a belly ache for awhile, but he"ll be all right. The draconian nearly knocked Caramon out of the lift. He"s more shaken than hurt, I think."
Tanis turned to see the twins coming toward him. Raistlin was slightly stooped and his breathing was ragged. His expression was one of grim determination.
"Are you all right?" Tanis asked in concern.
"Never mind me," Raistlin returned impatiently. "What are we going to do about Flint and the hammer?"
Tanis shook his head. He"d seen Raistlin grow faint and nearly pa.s.s out over a stubbed toe, yet after suffering a blow that would have sent stronger men to their beds, he could brush it off as though nothing had happened.
Caramon came trialing up after his twin. He looked at Tanis and winced.