Tanis grinned at the kender. “It will do for the night. I don’t think even the dwarf will complain about this. If he does, we’ll send him back to sleep in the boat!”
Tas flashed his own smile back at the half-elf. It was good to see the old Tanis back. He had thought his friend unusually moody and indecisive, not the strong leader he had remembered from earlier days. Yet, now that they were on the road, the glint was back in the half-elf’s eyes. He had come out of his brooding shell and was taking charge, slipping back into his accustomed role. He needed this adventure to get his mind off his problems -whatever those might be. The kender, who had never been able to understand Tanis’s inner turmoil, was glad this adventure had come along.
Caramon carried his brother from the boat and laid him down as gently as he could on the soft warm sand that covered the floor of the cave while Riverwind started a fire. The wet wood crackled and spit, but soon caught fire. The smoke curled up toward the ceiling and drifted out through a crack. The Plainsman covered the cave’s entrance with brush and fallen tree branches, hiding the light of the fire and effectively keeping out the rain.
He fits in well, Tanis thought as he watched the barbarian work. He could almost be one of us. Sighing, the half-elf turned his attention to Raistlin. Kneeling down beside him, he looked at the young mage with concern. Raistlin’s pale face reflected in the flickering firelight reminded the half-elf of the time he and Flint and Caramon had barely rescued Raistlin from a vicious mob, intent on burning the mage at the stake. Raistlin had attempted to expose a charlatan cleric who was bilking the villagers out of their money. Instead of turning on the cleric, the villagers had turned on Raistlin. As Tanis had told Flint-people wanted to believe in something.
Caramon busied himself around his brother, placing his own heavy cloak over his shoulders. Raistlin’s body was wracked by coughing spasms and blood trickled from his mouth. His eyes gleamed feverishly. Goldmoon knelt beside him, a cup of wine in her hand.
“Can you drink this?” she asked him gently.
Raistlin shook his head, tried to speak, coughed and pushed her hand away. Goldmoon looked up at Tanis. “Perhaps-my staff?” she asked.
“No.” Raistlin choked. He motioned for Tanis to come near him. Even sitting next to him, Tanis could barely hear the mage’s words, his broken sentences were interrupted by great gasps for air and fits of coughing. “The staff will not heal me, Tanis,” he whispered. “Do not waste it on me. If it is a blessed artifact… its sacred power is limited. My body was my sacrifice … for my magic. This damage is permanent. Nothing can help. . . .” His voice died, his eyes closed.
The fire suddenly flared as wind whirled around the cavern. Tanis looked up to see Sturm pulling the brush aside and entering the cave, half-carrying Flint, who stumbled along on unsteady feet. Sturm dumped him down beside the fire. Both were soaking wet. Sturm was clearly out of patience with the dwarf and, as Tanis noted, with the entire group. Tanis watched him with concern, recognizing the signs of a dark depression that sometimes overwhelmed the knight. Sturm liked the orderly, the well-disciplined. The disappearance of the stars-the disturbance of the natural order of things-had shaken him badly.
Tasslehoff wrapped a blanket around the dwarf who sat huddled on the cave floor, his teeth chattering in his head so that his helm rattled. “B-b-b-boat. . .” was all he could say. Tas poured him a cup of wine which the dwarf drank greedily.
Sturm looked at Flint in disgust. “I’ll take the first watch,” he said and moved toward the mouth of the cave.
Riverwind rose to his feet. “I will watch with you,” he said harshly.
Sturm froze, then turned slowly to face the tall Plainsman. Tanis could see the knight’s face, etched in sharp relief by the firelight, dark lines carved around the stern mouth. Although shorter in stature than Riverwind, the knight’s air of nobility and the rigidity of his stance made the two appear almost equal.