Dragonlance 15 - Dragons Of A Fallen Sun (60 page)

alize, as time rolled up the kitchen, the brandy flask, and him

along with it, that he had just made a very pithy remark.

"The little weasel," said Jenna, looking at the empty place on

the floor where the kender had once been standing. "So he had

the device all along."

"My gods!" Palin gasped, "what have I done?"

"Scared the oatmeal out of him, unless I'm much mistaken,"

Jenna returned. "Which is quite an accomplishment, considering

he's a kender. I don't blame him," she added, scrubbing her soot-

covered hands vigorously on a towel. "If you had shouted at me

like that, I would have run, too."

"I'm not a monster," Palin said, exasperated. "I am scared! I

don't mind admitting it." He pressed his hand over his heart.

"The fear is here, worse than anything I've ever known, even

during the dark days of my captivity. Something strange and

terrible has happened to the world, Jenna~ and I don't under-

stand what!" His fists clenched. "The kender is the cause. I'm

sure of it!"

"If so, we better find him," said Jenna practically. "Where do

you think he would have gone? Not back in time?"

"If he has, we'll never locate him. But I don't think he would,"

Palin said, pondering. "He wouldn't go back because if he did,

he'd wind up exactly where he doesn't want to be-dead. I be-

lieve he's still in the present. Then where would he go?"

"To someone who would protect him from you," said Jenna

bluntly.

"Goldmoon," said Palin. "He talked about wanting to see her

only moments before he left. Or Laurana. He's already been to see

Laurana. Knowing Tas, though, he'd want some new adventure.

I will travel to the Citadel of Light. I would like to discuss what I

have seen with Goldmoon anyhow."

"I'll loan you one of my magical rings to speed you across the

miles," Jenna said, tugging the ring off her finger. "Meanwhile, I

will send a message to Laurana, warning her to watch for the

kender and if he shows up on her doorstep, to hang onto him."

Palin accepted the ring. "Warn her to be cautious of what she

says and does," he added, his expression troubled. "I believe that

there may be a traitor in her household. Either that or the Neraka

Knights have found some way to spy on her. Will you. . ." He

paused, swallowed. "Will you stop by the Inn and tell Usha . . .

tell her. . . "

"I'll tell her you're not a monster," said Jenna, patting his arm

with a smile. She looked at him intently, frowning in anxiety. " Are

you certain you are well enough for this?"

"I was not injured. Only shocked. I can't say that's wearing

off, but I'll be well enough to make the journey." He looked curi-

ously at the ring. "How does this work?"

"Not all that well anymore, "Jenna wryly. lilt will take you

two or three jumps to reach your destination. Place the ring on

the middle finger of your left hand. That's close enough," she

added, seeing Palin struggle to ease it over a swollen joint. "Put

your right hand over the ring and conjure up the image of where

you want to be. Keep that image in your mind, repeat it to your-

self over and over again. I want that ring back, by the way."

"Certainly." He smiled at her wanly. "Farewe" Jenna. Thank

you for your help. I'll keep you informed."

He placed his hand over the ring and began to picture in his

mind the cry tal rainbow domes of the Citadel of Light.

"Palin:' Jenna said suddenly, "I haven't been entirely honest

with you. I may have an idea where to find Dalamar."

"Good," Palin replied. liMy father was right. We need him."

CHAPTER TWENTYTHREE

THE HEDGE MAGE

The gnome was lost in the hedge maze.

This was nothing unusual. The gnome was frequently

lost in the hedge maze. In fact, whenever anyone in the

Citadel of Light wanted the gnome (which wasn't often) and

asked where he was, the response was invariably, "Lost in the

hedge maze."

The gnome did not wander the hedge maze aimlessly. Far

from it. He entered the hedge maze daily with a set purpose, a

mission, and that was to make a map of the maze. The gnome,

who belonged to the Guild of PuzzlesRiddlesEnigmasRebusLo-

gogriphsMonogramsAnagramsAcrosticsCrosswordsMazes-

Labyrin thsP ar adoxesScrab b leF eminine LogicandPoli ticians,

otherwise known as P3 for short, knew of a certainty that if he

could map the hedge maze, he would find in that map the key to

the Great Mysteries of Life, among these being: Why Is It That

When You Wash Two Socks You Only End Up With One? Is There

Life After Death? and Where Did The Other Sock Go? The gnome

was convinced that if you found the answer to the second ques-

tion you would also find the answer to the third.

In vain the mystics of the Citadel attempted to explain to

him that the hedge maze was magical. Those who entered it

with minds troubled or sad found their cares eased, their bur-

dens lifted. Those who entered it seeking solitude and peace

were not disturbed, no matter how many other people walked

the fragrant hedgerows at the same moment. Those who en-

tered seeking a solution to a problem found that their thoughts

grew centered, their minds cleared of clutter. Those who en-

tered on their mystical journey to climb the Silver Stair that

stood in the center of the maze found that they did not journey

through a maze of shrubbery, but through the maze of their

hearts.

Those who entered the hedge maze with the firm resolve to

map out the hedge maze, to try to define it in terms of X number

of rows and left and right turnings and longitudes and latitudes

and degrees of angles and radiuses and circumferences discov-

ered that here mathematics need not apply. The hedge maze

shifted beneath the compass, skittered out from underneath the

ruler, defied all calculation.

The gnome, whose name (the short version) was Conundrum,

refused to listen. He entered the hedge maze every day, con-

vinced that this would be the day he solved the mystery. This

would be the day he would achieve his Life Quest and p~duce

the definitive map of the hedge maze, a map he would then copy

and sell to tour groups.

With one quill pen stuck behind his ear and another through

the bosom of his robe, rather as if he'd been stabbed, the gnome

would enter the hedge maze in the morning and work feverishly

all during the hours of sunlight. He would measure and count his

steps, note down the elevation of the hedge at Point A, indicate

where Point A converged with Point B, and cover himself in ink

and perspiration. He would emerge at the end of the day glowing

with pride, with bits of the hedge stuck in his hair and beard, and

produce for the edification of any poor unfortunate he could

coerce into viewing his project an ink-spattered and sweat-

stained map of the hedge maze.

He would then spend the night copying the map so that it was

perfect, absolutely perfect, not a twig missing. Next morning he

would take the map into the hedge maze and become immedi-

ately and hopelessly lost. He would manage to find his way out

about noontime, which just gave him daylight enough to redraw

his map-and so forth and so on daily for about a year now.

On this day Conundrum had worked his way through the

hedge maze to about the halfway point. He was down on his

knees, tape in hand, measuring the angle between a zig and a zag

when he noted a foot blocking his way. The foot was encased in a

boot that was attached to a leg that was attached-on looking

up--to a kender.

"Excuse me," said the kender politely, "but I'm lost and I was

wondering-"

"Lost! Lost!" Conundrum scrambled to his feet, overturning

his ink jar, which left a large purple stain on the grassy path. Sob-

bing, the gnome flung his arms around the kender. "How grati-

fying! I'm so glad! So glad! You can't know!"

"There, there," said the kender, patting the gnome on the

back. "I'm certain that whatever it is, it will be all right. Have you

a hankie? Here, borrow mine. Actually, it's Palin's, but I don't

suppose he'd care."

"Thank you," said the gnome, blowing his nose.

Generally gnomes talk extremely fast and mash all their

words together, one on top of the other, in the belief that if you

don't reach the end of a sentence quickly you might never reach

it all. Conundrum had lived among humans long enough to have

learned to slow his speech pattern. He now talked very slowly

and haltingly, which led other gnomes he encountered to con-

sider him quite stupid.

"I'm sorry I fell apart like that." The gnome sniffed. "It's just,

I've been working so long, and no one has been kind enough to

get lost before. . ." He started to weep again.

"Glad I could oblige," said the kender hurriedly. "Now that I

am lost, I was wondering if you could show me the way out. You

see, I have just arrived through magical means"-the kender was

quite proud of this and repeated it to make certain the gnome was

impressed-"magical means that are quite secret and mysterious,

otherwise I'd tell you about them. Anyhow my business is ex-

tremely urgent. I'm looking for Goldmoon. I have a feeling she

must be here because I thought about her very hard just as the

magic happened. My name is Tasslehoff Burrfoot, by the way."

"Conundrum Solitaire," replied the gnome, and the two

shook hands, after which Tasslehoff completed the ruin of

Palin's handkerchief by using it to wipe the residual ink left on

his fingers.

"I can show you the way out!" the gnome added eagerly. "I

have drawn this map, you see."

Proudly, with a flourish of his hand, Conundrum presented

the map to Tasslehoff's view. Drawn on an immense piece of

parchment, the map lay on the ground, covering the path be-

tween the two hedge rows, overlapping on the edges. The map

was bigger than the gnome, who was a smallish, misty-eyed,

dimly smiling gnome with a nut-brown complexion and a long

wispy beard that had probably once been white but was now

stained purple due to the fact that the gnome invariably dragged

his beard through the wet ink as he bent on hands and knees over

the map.

The map was quite complicated, with Xs and Arrows and

Do Not Enters and Turn Left Heres scrawled allover it in

Common. Tasslehoff looked down at the map. Looking up, he

saw the end of the row in which they were standing. The hedge

opened up and he could see the sun shining on several very

beautiful crystalline domed structures that caught the sunlight

and turned it into rainbows. Two golden dragons formed an

immense archway. The grounds were green and filled with

flowers. People dressed in white robes strolled around, talking

in low voices.

"Oh, that must be the way out!" said Tasslehoff. "Thanks all

the same."

The gnome looked at his map and looked at what was unde-

niably the exit from the hedge maze.

"Drat," he said and began to stomp on the map.

"I'm extremely sorry," said Tas, feeling guilty. "It was a really

nice map."

"Hah!" Conundrum jumped up and down on the map.

"Well, excuse me, but I've got to go," Tasslehoff said, inching

toward the exit. "But once I have talked to Goldmoon, I'll be glad

to come back and get lost again, if that will help."

"Bah!" cried the gnome, kicking the ink jar into the hedge.

The last Tasslehoff saw of Conundrum, he was back at the be-

ginning of the hedge maze, measuring his foot with the tape in

preparation to pace off the precise distance between the first turn-

ing and the second.

Tas walked a good distance, leaving the hedge maze far

behind. He was about to wander into a lovely building made of

sparkling crystal when he heard footsteps behind him and felt a

hand on his shoulder.

"Have you business in the Citadel of Light, kender?" asked a

voice, speaking Common.

"The where?" said Tasslehoff. "Oh, yes. Of course."

Quite accustomed to having the heavy hand of the law fall on

his shoulder, he was not surprised to find himself in the custody

of a tall young woman of stern expression wearing a helm of

silver chain mail and a chain-mail shirt that glittered in the sun.

She wore a long tabard marked with the symbol of the sun and

carried a swC5rd in a silver scabbard, girded around her waist.

"I'm here to see Goldmoon, ma'am," Tasslehoff said politely.

"My business is urgent. Quite urgent. If you could just show me

where-"

"What do you have here, Guardian?" asked another voice.

"Trouble?"

Tasslehoff twisted his head to see another woman clad in

armor, except that she was wearing the armor of a Solamnic

Knight. Two more Solamnic Knights walked on either side of her

as she proceeded up the walkway.

"I am not certain, Lady Camilla," replied the guard, saluting.

"This kender has asked to see Goldmoon."

The two exchanged glances and it seemed to Tas that a