Dragonlance Tales II, Vol. 2 – The Cataclysm

whelp.”

Jarvis didn’t look much like the Jarvis I knew. He

looked more like someone else, and I thought maybe I’d

better be going before he threw something at me even if he

did promise not to. But Jarvis only stared at me some more

and then said, “Get out of here,” so I left and didn’t write

anything down at all until now.

I walked around town for a little bit after that, thinking

about what Jarvis had said and wishing I could get

something to eat, because I hadn’t had anything so far, what

with being chased and thrown in jail and starting fires by

accident. I wasn’t getting very far on my assignment, and I

didn’t feel very good at all. I finally got a drink of water

from the town fountain, and that helped a little, so I sat on

the fountain rim and bunched myself up because if was still

a little cold, and I wondered why you were so worried about

Ark finding someone who understood why the gods had

destroyed Istar, and how you would feel if no one ever

understood but Ark and me, and how you would feel if

sometimes even Ark and me don’t quite understand, either,

since the Cataclysm seems to have made everyone so rude-

minded. And I didn’t understand how not understanding

would cause everyone more problems later. Nothing made

any sense then, and it still doesn’t now, but I’m getting

ahead of myself, because it’s boring to be here on the

rooftop, even with the nice view.

Anyway, I was sitting by the fountain when a man

riding a horse came over. He wore a little bit of armor, so I

knew he wasn’t from town even if I didn’t recognize him

anyway, since no one here wears any armor because goblins

never come to the coast and the barbarians aren’t bothering

anybody this year, because they’re all sick. The man looked

like he was very old but very strong, and he had a

moustache bigger and thicker than Jarvis’s, but it was full of

gray hair. He rode his horse up to the fountain and got off

and let his horse drink while he stretched and scratched his

backside and began to rub his horse down. It was about the

time when he pulled a cloth out of his pocket and began

wiping off his armor that I thought he might be a knight,

because only a knight would do that. Nobody else cares

what his or her armor looks like.

Ark had told me a lot about the Knights of Solamnia when

I was younger, and I never knew if he liked them or didn’t

like them, because the knights did both good things and bad

things, but they often did them both at the same time, so I

was pretty confused as to which side they were on. I got out

my papers and pen so I could ask my question, but I saw the

knight pull out a long steel sword with notches and scrapes

cut into the blade, so I decided I would wait a little while

and ask about the weather first instead. Ark always says I

should think first, since I’m not very good at it sometimes,

and maybe I would live longer that way, and right then I

decided that maybe he knew what he was talking about.

The knight glanced at me a few times but said nothing

as he cleaned his armor, every bit of it, then got himself a

drink from the fountain. He acted like I wasn’t really there. I

forgot how hungry I was getting because I had never seen a

real knight up close, and this one smelled like old sweat and

leather and fur and steel. His eyes were like a gray winter

sky, and the more I looked at him the less I wanted to ask

my question, but I knew I’d have to do it anyway for Ark

and you. I was just clearing my throat and was trying to get

the question framed properly, so that I could run if

necessary, when I saw Kroogi walk up from the

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