Dragonlance 15 - Dragons Of A Fallen Sun (27 page)

this to Raistlin once, remarking that a wizard of his expertise

could probably find a way around sleep, which took up a good

portion of one's time with very little benefit that Tas could see.

Raistlin had replied that the kender should be thankful someone

had invented sleep for this meant that Tasslehoff was quiet and

comatose for eight hours out of a day and this was the sole reason

that Raistlin had not yet strangled him.

Sleep had one benefit and that was dreams, but this benefit

was almost completely nullified by the fact that one woke from a

dream and was immediately faced with the crushing disappoint-

ment that it had been a dream, that the dragon chasing one with

the intent of biting off one's head was not a real dragon, that the

ogre trying to bash one into pulp with a club was not a real ogre.

Add to this the fact that one always woke up at the most interest-

ing and exciting part of the dream-when the dragon had one's

head in his mouth, for example, or the ogre had hold of the back

of one's collar. Sleep, as far as Tas was concerned, was a complete

waste of time. Every night saw him determined to fight sleep off,

and every morning found him waking up to discover that sleep

had sneaked up on him unaw.ares and run away with him.

Tasslehoff didn't offer sleep much of a fight this night. Worn

out from the rigors of travel and the excitement and snuffles oc-

casioned by Caramon's funeral, Tas lost the battle without a

struggle. He woke to find that not only had sleep stolen in on him

but that Gerard had done the same. The Knight stood over him,

glaring down with his customary grim expression, which looked

considerably grimmer by lantern light.

"Get up," said the Knight. "Put these on."

Gerard handed Tas some clothes that were clean and well-

made, drab, dull and-the kender shuddered-serviceable.

"Thank you," said Tas, rubbing his eyes. "I know you mean

well, but I have my own clothes-"

"I won't travel with someone who looks as if he had been in a

fight with a Maypole and lost," Gerard countered. " A blind gully

dwarf could see you from six miles off. Put these on, and be quick

about it."

A fight with a Maypole," Tas giggled. "I actually saw one of

those once. It was at this Mayday celebration in Solace. Caramon

put on a wig and petticoats and went out to dance with the young

virgins, only his wig slipped over his eye--"

Gerard held up a stem finger. "Rule number one. No talking."

Tas opened his mouth to explain that he wasn't really talking,

not talking as in talking, but talking as in telling a story, which

was quite a different thing altogether. Before Tas was able to get a

word out, Gerard displayed the gag.

Tasslehoff sighed. He enjoyed traveling, and he was truly

looking forward to this adventure, but he did feel that he might

have been granted a more congenial traveling companion. He

sadly relinquished his colorful clothes, laying them on the bed

with a fond pat, and dressed himself in the brown knickers, the

brown wool socks, the brown shirt, and brown vest Gerard had

laid out for him. Tas, looking down at himself, thought sadly that

he looked exactly like a tree stump. He started to put his hands in

his pockets when he discovered there weren't any.

"No pouches, either," said Gerard, picking up Tasslehoff's

bags and pouches and preparing to add them to the pile of dis-

carded clothing.

"Now, see here--" Tas began sternly.

One of the pouches fell open. The light from the lantern glit-

tered merrily on the gleaming, winking jewels of the Device of

Time Journeying.

"Oops," said Tasslehoff as innocently as ever he could and

indeed he was innocent, this time at least.

"How did you get this away from me?" Gerard demanded.

Tasslehoff shrugged and, pointing to his sealed lips, shook his head.

"If I ask you a question, you may answer," Gerard stated,

glowering. "When did you steal this from me?"

"I didn't steal it," Tas replied with dignity. "Stealing is ex-

tremely bad. I told you. The device keeps coming back to me. It's

not my fault. I don't want it. I had a stem talk with it last night,

in fact, but it doesn't seem to listen."

Gerard glared, then, muttering beneath his breath-some-

thing to the effect that he didn't know why he bothered-he

thrust the magical device in a leather pouch he wore at his side.

"And it had better stay there," he said grimly.

"Yes, you'd better do what the Knight says!" Tas added

loudly, shaking his finger at the device. He was rewarded for his

help by having the gag tied around his mouth.

The gag in place, Gerard snapped a pair of manacles over

Tas's wrists. Tas would have slipped right out of ordinary man-

acles, but these manacles were specially made for a kender's

slender wrists, or so it appeared. Tas worked and worked and

couldn't free himself. Gerard laid a heavy hand on the ken-

der's shoulder and marched him out of the room and down

the hall.

The sun had not yet made an appearance. The garrison was

dark and quiet. Gerard allowed Tas time to wash his face and

hands-he had to wash around the gag-and do whatever else he

needed to do, keeping close watch on him all the time and not al-

lowing the kender a moment's privacy. He then escorted him out

of the building.

Gerard wore a long, enveloping cloak over his armor. Tas

couldn't see the armor beneath the cloak, and he knew the Knight

was wearing armor only because he heard it clank and rattle:

Gerard did not wear a helm or carry a sword. He walked the

kender back to the Knights' quarters, where Gerard picked up a

large knapsack and what could have been a sword wrapped up

in a blanket tied with rope.

Gerard then marched Tasslehoff, bound and gagged, to the

front of the garrison. The sun was a tiny sliver of light on the hori-

zon and then it was swallowed by a cloudbank, so that it seemed

as if the sun were starting to rise and had suddenly changed its

mind and gone back to bed.

Gerard handed a paper to the Captain of the Guard. "As

you can see, sir, I have Lord Warren's permission to remove the

prisoner."

The captain glanced at it and then at the kender. Gerard, Tas

noticed, was careful to keep out of the light of the flaring torches

mounted on the wooden posts on either side of the gate. Instantly

the idea came to Tas that Gerard was trying to hide something.

The kender's curiosity was aroused, an occurrence that often

proves fatal to the kender and also to those who happen to be a

kender's companions. Tas stared with all his might, trying to see

what was so interesting beneath the cloak.

He was in luck. The morning breeze came up. The cloak flut-

tered slightly. Gerard caught it quickly, held it fastened in front of

him, but not before Tasslehoff had seen the torchlight shine on

armor that was gleaming black.

Under normal circumstances Tas would have demanded

loudly and excitedly to know why a Solarnnic Knight was wear-

ing black armor. The kender probably would have tugged on the

cloak in order to obtain a better view and pointed out this odd

and interesting fact to the captain of the guard. The gag pre-

vented Tas from saying any of this except in muffled and inco-

herent squeaks and "mfrts," which was all he could manage.

On second thought-and it was due solely to the gag that

Tasslehoff actually had a second thought-the kender realized

that perhaps Gerard might not want anyone to know he was

wearing black armor. Thus, the cloak.

Quite charmed by this new twist to the adventure, Tasslehoff

kept silent, merely letting Gerard know with several cunning

winks that he, the kender, was in on the secret.

"Where are you taking the little weasel?1I the captain asked,

handing the paper back to Gerard. II And what's wrong with his

eye? He hasn't got pink eye, has he?1I

"Not to my knowledge, sir. Begging the captain's pardon, but

I can't tell you where I'm ordered to deliver the kender, sir. That

information is secret," Gerard replied respectfully. Lowering his

voice, he added, IIHe's the one who was caught desecrating the

tomb, sir."

The captain nodded in understanding. He glanced askance at

the bundles the Knight was carrying. "What's that?"

"Evidence, sir,lI Gerard replied.

The captain looked very grim. "Did a lot of damage, did he? I

trust they'll make an example of him."

"I should think they might, sir," Gerard replied evenly.

The captain waved Gerard and Tas through the gate, paid no

further attention to them. Gerard hustled the kender away from

the garrison and out onto the main road. Although the morning

itself wasn't quite awake yet, many people were. Farmers were

bringing in their goods to market. Wagons were rolling out to the

logging camps in the mountains. Anglers were heading for Crys-

talmir Lake. People cast a few curious glances at the cloaked

Knight-the morning was already quite warm. Busy with their

own cares, they passed by without comment. If he wanted to

swelter, that was his concern. None of them so much as looked

twice at Tasslehoff. The sight of a bound and gagged kender was

nothing new.

Gerard and Tas took the road south out of Solace, a road that

meandered alongside the Sentinel range of mountains and would

eventually deposit them in South Pass. The sun had finally de-

cided to crawl out of bed. Pink light spread in a colorful wash

across the sky. Gold gilded the tree leaves, and diamonds of dew

sparkled on the grass. A fine day for adventuring, and Tas would

have enjoyed himself immensely but for the fact that he was hus-

tled along and harried and not permitted to stop to look at any-

thing along the road.

Although encumbered with the knapsack, which appeared

quite heavy, and the sword in a blanket, Gerard set a fast pace. He

carried both objects in one hand, keeping the other to prod Tassle-

hoff in the back if he started to slow down or to grab hold of his

collar if he started to wander off or jerk him backward if he made

a sudden dart across the road.

One would not have guessed it from looking at him, but

Gerard, for all that he was of average height and medium build,

was extremely strong.

The Knight was a grim and silent companion. He did not

return the cheerful "good mornings" of those heading into

Solace, and he coldly rebuffed a traveling tinker who was going

in their direction and offered them a seat on his wagon.

He did at least remove the gag from the kender's mouth.

Tas was thankful. Not as young as he used to be-something

he would freely admit-he found that between the fast pace

set by the Knight and the constant prodding, tugging, and'

jerking, he was doing more breathing than his nose alone

could manage.

Tas immediately asked all the questions he had been storing

up, starting with, "Why is your armor black? I've never seen

black armor before. Well, yes, I have but it wasn't on a Knight of

Solamnia," and ending with, "Are we going to walk all the way

to Qualinesti, and if we are would you mind not seizing hold of

my shirt collar in that very energetic way you have because it's

starting to rub off all my skin."

Tas soon found out that he could ask all the questions he

liked, just so long as he didn't expect any answers. Sir Gerard

made no response except, "Keep moving."

The Knight was young, after all. Tas felt compelled to point

out to him the mistake he was making.

"The very best part of questing," the kender said, "is seeing

the sights along the way. Taking time to enjoy the view and in-

vestigating all the interesting things you find along the road and

talking to all the peo.ple..lf you stop to think about it, the goal of

the quest, such as fightIng the dragon or rescuing the woolly

mammoth, take~ .up only? small bit of time, and although it's

always very excltmg, there s a whole lot more time stacked up in

front of it and behind it-the getting there and the coming back-

which can be very dull if you don't work at it."

"I am not interested in excitement," said Gerard. "I want

simply to be done with this and to be done with you. The sooner

I am finished the sooner I can do something to achieve my goal."

"And what's that?" Tas asked, delighted that the Knight was

finally talking to him.

"To join the fighting in defense of Sanction," Gerard an-

swered, "and when that is done, to free Palanthas from the

scourge of the Knights of Neraka."

"Who are they?" Tas asked, interested.

"They used to be known as the Knights of Takhisis, but they

changed their name when it grew clear to them that Takhisis

wasn't coming back anymore."

"What do you mean, not coming back. Where did she go?"

Tas asked.

Gerard shrugged. "With the other gods, if you believe what

people say. Personally I think claiming that the bad times are a