important message for me. Just think! An Important
Message. Kender all over Ansalon had been told to give it
to me if they ran into me. This was the Important
Message.
“Meet me at the Silver Dragon Mountain during this
anniversary. Signed, FB.”
I must say that I thought the message a bit confused,
and I still think it probably lost something over having
been passed around by so many people. But my friends
assured me that was exactly how they’d heard it or close
enough as not to make any difference. I knew right off
who FB was, of course, and you must, too. (Tanis did. I
could tell that from the groan he gave when I mentioned
it.) And I knew where the Silver Dragon Mountain was.
I’d been there before, with Flint and Laurana and
Gilthanas and Theros Ironfeld and Silvara before we
knew she was a silver dragon herself. You remember that
story, don’t you? Astinus wrote it all down and called it
Dragons of Winter Night.
I was puzzling over this message and wondering what
anniversary it was talking about, when the kender who
gave it to me said that there was another part to it.
“Repeat the name Fizban backwards three times and
clap your hands.”
That sounded like magic to me and I am extremely
fond of magic. But, knowing Fizban as I did, I thought it
wise to take precautions. I told the other kender in the cell
with me that this message was from a rather fuddled old
wizard and that the spell might be Quite Interesting and
that maybe I should wait until we were all out of jail in the
morning.
But the other kender said that, while it would be a
shame to blow up this nice jail, if I did blow it up, they
didn’t want to miss it. They all gathered around and I
began.
“Nabzif, Nabzif, Nabzif!” I said quickly, kind of
holding my breath, and I clapped my hands.
Poof!
Once I cleared away the smoke, I discovered I was
holding a scroll. I unrolled it quickly, thinking it might be
another spell, you see. But it wasn’t. The other kender
were considerably disappointed and rather miffed that I
hadn’t blown up either the jail or myself. They went back
to comparing jails in other parts of Solamnia. I read what I
was holding in my hands.
It turned out to be an invitation. At least I think that’s
what it was. It was hard to tell, what with all the burn
holes and smudges and smears of what smelled like grape
jelly.
The writing was very pretty and elaborate. I can’t copy
it, but this is what it said (I’m including smudges and
blots):
A CELEBRATION OF THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
(Blot) OF THE DRAGONL (smudge)
TO BE HELD AT THE
SILVER DRAGON MOUNTAIN
YULETIME.
HERO OF THE LANCE
YOUR PRESENCE IS MOST EARNESTLY REQUESTED.
WE HONOR THE KNIGHT OF SOLAMNIA
WHO FIRST DID BATTLE WITH THE (blob, blot),
SIR (smear and tarbean tea-stain) OWER
It was signed LORD GUNTHAR UTH WISTAN.
Well, of course, this explained everything (not
counting the blots). The knights were holding a
celebration in honor of something, probably the War of
the Lance. And, since I’m one of the Heroes, I was invited!
This was incredibly exciting. I put off my visit to Lord
Soth (I hope he understands, if he reads this), let myself
out of jail with a key I found in my pocket, and headed
immediately for Silver Dragon Mountain.
It used to be you couldn’t find Silver Dragon
Mountain, but after the War, the knights turned it into a
Monument and fixed the roads so that they could get to it
easier. They left the Ruined Keep ruined. I traveled past it
and wandered through the Woods of Peace awhile, then I
stopped to admire the hot springs that boil just like Tika’s
tea kettle and I crossed the bridge where I saw the statues
that looked like my friends, only they were just statues
now. Probably because of the Monument. And then I came
to Foghaven Vale.
Foghaven Vale has a lot to do with the rest of my