The companions continued along the trail for about an hour after lunch, moving more quickly since the thickest part of the jungle had been left behind. Just as they thought they had left the swamp, however, the firm ground came abruptly to an end. Weary, sick with the smell, and discouraged, the companions found themselves wading through the muck once again.
Only Flint and Tasslehoff were unaffected by the return to the swamp. These two had ranged far ahead of the others. Tasslehoff soon “forgot” Tanis’s warning about drinking only a little of the brandy. The liquid warmed the blood and took the edge off the gloomy atmosphere, so the kender and dwarf passed the flask back and forth many times until it was empty and they were traipsing along, making jokes about what they would do if they encountered a draconian.
“I’d turn it to stone, all right,” the dwarf said, swinging an imaginary battle-axe. “Wham!-right in the lizard’s gizzard.”
“I’ll bet Raistlin could turn one to stone with a look!” Tas imitated the mage’s grim face and dour stare. They both laughed loudly, then hushed, giggling, peering back unsteadily to see if Tanis had heard them.
“I’ll bet Caramon’d stick a fork in one and eat it” Flint said.
Tas choked with laughter and wiped tears from his eyes. The dwarf roared. Suddenly the two came to the end of the spongy ground. Tasslehoff grabbed hold of the dwarf as Flint nearly plunged headfirst into a pool of swamp water so wide that a vine bridge would not span it. A huge ironclaw tree lay across the water, its thick trunk making a bridge wide enough for two people to walk across side-by-side.
“Now this is a bridge!” Flint said, stepping back a pace and trying to bring the log into focus. “No more spider crawling on those stupid green webs. Let’s go.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for the others?” Tasslehoff asked mildly. “Tanis wouldn’t want to us to get separated.”
“Tanis? Humpf!” The dwarf sniffed. “We’ll show him.”
“All right,” Tasslehoff agreed cheerfully. He leaped up onto the fallen tree. “Careful,” he said, slipping slightly, then easily catching his balance. “It’s slick.” He took a few quick steps, arms outstretched, his feet pointed out like a rope walker he’d seen once at a summer fair.
The dwarf clambered up after the kender, Flint’s thick boots clumping clumsily on the log. A voice in the unbrandied part of Flint’s mind told him he could never have done this cold sober. It also told him he was a fool for crossing the bridge without waiting for the others, but he ignored it. He was feeling positively young again.
Tasslehoff, enchanted with pretending he was Mirgo the Magnificent, looked up and discovered that he did, indeed, have an audience -one of those draconian things leaped onto the log in front of him. The sight sobered Tas up rapidly. The kender was not given to fear, but he was certainly amazed. He had presence of mind enough to do two things. First he yelled out loudly, “Tanis, ambush!” Then he lifted his hoopak staff and swung it in a wide arc.
The move took the draconian by surprise. The creature sucked in its breath and jumped back off the log to the bank below. Tas, momentarily off balance, regained his feet quickly and wondered what to do next. He glanced around and saw another draconian on the bank. They were, he was puzzled to notice, not armed. Before he could consider this oddity, he heard a roar behind him. He had forgotten the dwarf.
“What is it?” Flint shouted.
“Draco-thing-a-ma-jiggers,” Tas said, gripping his hoopak and peering through the mists. “Two ahead! Here they come!”
“Well, confound it, get out of my way!” Flint snarled. Reaching behind, he fumbled for his axe.
“Where am I supposed to go?” Tas shouted wildly.
“Duck!” yelled the dwarf.
The kender ducked, throwing himself down on the log as one of the draconians came toward him, its clawed hands outstretched. Flint swung his axe in a mighty blow that would have decapitated the draconian if it had come anywhere near it. Unfortunately, the dwarf miscalculated and the blade whistied harmlessly in front of the draconian who was waving its hands in the air and chanting strange words.