Dragonlance Tales, Vol. 3 – Love and War

suspiciously. “Who – ”

“My own work,” Raistlin replied. “After you ran off

and left me, what else could I do? Help me to my feet.”

Stretching out his frail hand, the mage caught hold of his

brother’s strong one and slowly rose up out of the pile of

blankets on the stone floor.

“I didn’t know you could do anything like that!”

Caramon said, staring at the fire whose fuel was rock.

“There is much about me you do not know, my

brother,” Raistlin returned. Wrapping himself up warmly in

his cloak, he watched as Caramon hurriedly repacked the

blankets.

“They’re still a little damp,” the big man muttered. “I

suppose we ought to stay and dry them out. . . .”

“No,” Raistlin said, shivering. He took hold of the Staff

of Magius that was leaning against the cavern wall. “I have

no desire to spend any more time in the Forest of Wayreth.”

“You’ve got my vote there,” Caramon said fervently. “I

wonder if there are any good inns around here. I heard that

there was one, built near the forest. It’s called the Wayward

Inn or some such thing.” The big man’s eyes brightened.

“Maybe tonight we’ll eat hot food and drink good ale for a

change. And sleep in a bed!”

“Perhaps.” Raistlin shrugged, as if it didn’t much

matter.

Still talking of what he had heard about the rumored

inn, Caramon picked up the blanket that had hung over the

cave entrance, folded it, and added it to the ones in his pack.

“I’ll go ahead a little way,” he said to his brother. “Break a

trail through the snow for you.”

Raistlin nodded, but said nothing. Walking to the

entrance of the cave, he stood in the doorway, watching his

strong twin wade through the snow drifts, breaking a path

the frail twin could follow. Raistlin’s lip curled in bitterness,

but the sneer slipped as, turning, he looked back inside the

cave. The fire had died almost instantly upon Caramon’s

leaving. Already, the chill was creeping back.

But there lingered on the air, still, the faint fra grance of

lilac, of spring. . . .

Shrugging, Raistlin turned and walked out into the

snow-blanketed forest.

The Wayward Inn looked its best in summer, a season

that has this happy influence on just about anything and

everyone. Great quantities of ivy had been persuaded to

cradle the inn in its leafy, green embrace, thus hiding some

of the building’s worst deficiencies. The roof still needed

patching; this occurred to Slegart every time it rained when

it was impossible to go out and fix it. During dry weather,

of course, it didn’t leak and so didn’t need fixing. The

windows were still cracked, but in the heat of summer, the

cool breeze that wafted through the panes was a welcome

one.

There were more travelers at the inn during these

journeying months. Dwarven smiths, occasionally an elf,

many humans, and more kender than anyone cared to think

about, generally kept Slegart and his barmaids busy from

morning until late, late at night.

But this evening was quiet. It was a soft, fragrant

summer evening. The twilight lingered on in hues of purple

and gold. The birds had sung their night songs and were

now murmuring sleepily to their young. Even the old trees

of Wayreth seemed to have been lulled into forgetting their

guardian duties and slumbered drowsily at their posts. On

this evening, the inn itself was quiet, too.

It was too quiet, so two strangers thought as they

approached the inn. Dressed in rich clothing, their faces

were covered with silken scarves – an unusual thing in such

warm weather. Only their black eyes were visible and,

exchanging grim glances, they quickened their steps,

shoving open the wooden plank door and stepping inside.

Slegart sat behind the bar, wiping out a mug with a dirty

rag. He had been wiping out that same mug for an hour now

and would probably have gone on wiping it for the next

hour had not two incidents occurring simultaneously

interrupted him – the entry of the two muffled strangers

through the front door and the arrival of the servant girl,

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *