Brothers Majere by Weis, Margaret

Shoulders hunched to try to block out the noise, Earwig bashed the dark cylinder against the side of the box again.

Caramon felt himself losing consciousness. His neck was thick, but the hands were strong and were slowly cutting off his air.

Earwig, looking at his friend, saw the warrior’s mouth gaping open, his eyes bulging from his head.

“Break!” the kender commanded frantically, and hit the tube against the box once again. The bottom of the tube gave way, and a smaller tube slid out. Inside it was a band of gold.

“Oh, no!” Earwig groaned.

Kender aren’t afraid anything, but this one had definitely had his fill of rings.

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I have to do something, though. They’re killing, Cara-mon. He shook the tube and the ring rolled out into his palm.

What do you want of me? boomed a voice.

“You again!” Earwig muttered.

The hands near him curled into fists. One swung at him. Earwig ducked. The air whistling past from the force of the blow nearly knocked him down. He looked at Caramon. His friend had lost consciousness and was hanging limply in the grip of the hands that were slowly hauling the big man up into the air.

Earwig looked back at the ring.

“I want out of here!” he cried.

Put the ring on your thumb, Yowr Dark Majesty, and the gate will open.

“Well, I’m not a Dark Majesty, but there’s certainly no time to go and find someone who is. Here goes!” said Earwig and shoved the ring onto his thumb.

“No!” shrieked a terrible-sounding voice, and it seemed to the kender that five voices were actually screaming at once. “It is not the time! I do not have the power of the Eye!”

A blast of air hit the kender, knocking him flat on top of Caramon. The darkness rushed past him, and then the street rushed past him and then buildings and ugly creatures rushed past him, all seeming to be going somewhere in a tremendous hurry. Oddly enough, however, they all seemed to be going backward.

And then the rushing ceased.

Earwig, feeling tumbled and upsidedown, didn’t know for a minute if he was on his head or his feet. In actuality, he was on Caramon. And Caramon was lying on a white stone street.

Earwig knelt down and put his small hand over Cara-mon’s heart. It was beating strongly. He could feel the warrior’s chest rise and fall, breathing in air. But the big

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man was unconscious. Earwig could hear sounds of fighting quite near him— horrible screams and shrieks.

“Like a bunch of cats in barrel,” said the kender. Looking around, he saw the magical lights—dim but shining. He saw the arcade and the inn where Catherine had kissed him.

“We’re back!” he said, slightly disappointed. “Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.”

Settling down beside Caramon, waiting for the warrior to regain consciousness. Earwig admired his new ring.

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CHAPTER 27

wtjat if 1 wene to tell you ttjat / aM Not iNten-ested in an alliance with the Dark Queen?” Raistlin asked softly.

Shavas raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “You think you will gain that much power without Her Dark Majesty making some attempt to stop you?” The woman began to laugh. ‘This is one of the reasons you are so incredibly attractive to me, Raistlin. You fear nothing.”

” Those who live in fear fall prey to their own disquiet.’ ”

“Yes. Eyavel would be one of your favorite authors. ‘And you, gentle reader, must follow in my path, for I am

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the way you must know.’ Ali Azra, another of your favorites” Shavas set her half-emptied brandy glass down on the sideboard. “The wizard knew where to turn, who to worship. Like him, you could find great power. And great pleasure.”

The woman removed her gown, twisting open the buttons one at a time, twenty-three in all. She shrugged her shoulders with a slow, graceful movement. The silk gown fell to the floor. Firelight gleamed on her white skin, casting a ruddy glow that emphasized the shadowy curves of her body.

She moved near him. Reaching up, Shavas touched Raistlin’s face with the tips of her fingers.

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