Dragonlance 03 - Dragons of Spring Dawning (27 page)

“Oh, Caramon!” she whispered breathlessly. “Let’s be happy! Please! I—I know that—that sometime we’ll have to leave. We’ll have to find the others and return to the world above. But for now, let’s be alone, together!”

“Tika!” Caramon clasped her, crushing her to him as if he would mold their bodies into one, single, living being. “Tika, I love you! I—I told you once that I couldn’t make you mine until I could commit myself to you completely. I can’t do that—not yet.”

“Yes, you can!” Tika said fiercely. Pushing away from him, she looked into his eyes. “Raistlin’s gone, Caramon! You can make your own life!”

Caramon shook his head gently. “Raistlin’s still a part of me. He always will be, just as I’ll always be a part of him. Can you understand?”

No, she couldn’t, but she nodded anyway, her head drooping.

Smiling, Caramon drew a quivering breath. Then he put his hand beneath her chin and raised her head. Her eyes were beautiful, he thought. Green with flecks of brown. They shimmered now with tears. Her skin was tan from living outdoors and more freckled than ever. Those freckles embarrassed her. Tika would have given seven years of her life for creamy skin like Laurana’s. But Caramon loved every freckle, he loved the crisp, curling red hair that clung to his hands.

Tika saw the love in his eyes. She caught her breath. He drew her near. His heart beating faster, he whispered, “I’ll give you what I can of myself, Tika, if you’ll settle for that. I wish, for your sake, it was more.”

“I love you!” was all she said, clasping him around the neck.

He wanted to be certain she understood. “Tika—” he began.

“Hush, Caramon …”

A
fter a long chase through the streets of a city whose crumbling beauty seemed a horror to Tanis, they entered one of the lovely palaces in the center. Running through a dead garden and into a hall, they rounded a corner and came to a halt. The redrobed man was nowhere to be seen.

“Stairs!” Riverwind said suddenly. His own eyes growing accustomed to the strange light, Tanis saw they were standing at the top of a flight of marble stairs that descended so steeply they had lost sight of their quarry. Hurrying to the landing, they could once more see the red robes fluttering down them.

“Keep in the shadows near the wall,” Riverwind cautioned, motioning them to the side of the stairway that was big enough for fifty men to walk down it abreast.

Faded and cracked murals on the walls were still so exquisite and life-like that Tanis had the fevered impression the
people portrayed there were more alive than he was. Perhaps some of them had been standing in this very spot when the fiery mountain struck the Temple of the Kingpriest.… Putting the thought out of his mind, Tanis kept going.

After running down about twenty steps, they came to a broad landing, decorated with life-size statues of silver and gold. From here, the stairs continued down, leading to another landing, leading to more steps, and so on until they were all exhausted and breathless. Still the red robes fluttered ahead of them.

Suddenly Tanis noticed a change in the air. It was becoming more humid, the smell of the sea was strong. Listening, he could hear the faint sounds of water lapping against stone. He felt Riverwind touch his arm, pulling him back into the shadows. They were near the bottom of the steps. The red-robed man was in front of them, standing at the very bottom, peering into a pool of dark water that stretched out before him into a vast, shadowy cavern.

The red-robed man knelt by the side of the water. And then Tanis was aware of another figure; this one in the water! He could see hair shining in the torchlight—it had a faint greenish cast. Two slender white arms rested on the stone steps, the rest of the figure was submerged. The figure’s head lay cradled on its arms, in a state of complete relaxation. The redrobed man reached out a hand and gently touched the figure in the water. The figure raised its head.

“I have been waiting,” a woman’s voice said, sounding reproachful.

Tanis gasped. The woman spoke elven! Now he could see her face, the large, luminous eyes, pointed ears, delicate features.…

A sea elf!

Confused tales from his childhood came back to Tanis as he tried to follow the conversation of the red-robed man and the elven woman, who was smiling at him fondly.

“I’m sorry, beloved,” the red-robed man said soothingly, in elven, sitting down beside her. “I went to see how the young man you were concerned about was doing. He’ll be all right, now. It was a close one, though. You were correct. He was certainly intent on dying. Something about his brother—a magic-user—betraying him.”

“Caramon!” Tanis murmured. Riverwind looked at him questioningly. The Plainsman could not, of course, follow the elven conversation. Tanis shook his head, not wanting to miss what else was said.

“QueaKI’ ICHKeecx,”
said the woman in scorn. Tanis was puzzled, that word was certainly not elven!

“Yes!” The man frowned. “After I made sure those two were safe, I went to see some of the others. One of them, a bearded fellow, a half-elf, leaped at me as if he would swallow me whole! The others we managed to save are doing well.”

“We laid out the dead with ceremony,” said the woman, and Tanis could hear the ages-old sorrow in her voice, the sorrow of the elves for the loss of life.

“I would have liked to ask them what they were doing in the Blood Sea of Istar. I’ve never known a ship’s captain foolish enough to dare the maelstrom. The girl told me there’s war going on above. Maybe they had no choice.”

The elven woman playfully splashed water on the redrobed man. “There’s
always
war going on above! You are too curious, my beloved. Sometimes I think you might leave me and return to your world. Especially after you talk with these
KreeaQUEKH.”

Tanis heard a note of true concern in the woman’s voice, though she was still playfully splashing the man.

The red-robed man leaned down and kissed her on the wet, greenish hair shining in the light of the sputtering torch on the wall above them. “No, Apoletta. Let them have their wars and their brothers who betray brothers. Let them have their impetuous half-elves and their foolish sea captains. As long as my magic serves me, I will live below the waves—”

“Speaking of impetuous half-elves,” Tanis interrupted in elven as he strode rapidly down the stairs. Riverwind, Goldmoon, and Berem followed, though they had no idea what was being said.

The man turned his head in alarm. The elven woman disappeared into the water so swiftly that Tanis wondered for a moment if he might have imagined her existence. Not a ripple on the dark surface betrayed where she had been. Reaching the bottom of the steps, Tanis caught hold of the magic-user’s hand just as he was about to follow the sea elf into the water.

“Wait! I’m
not
going to swallow you!” Tanis pleaded. “I’m sorry I acted the way I did back there. I know this looks bad, sneaking around after you like this. But we had no choice! I know I can’t stop you if you’re going to cast a spell or something. I know you could engulf me in flames or put me to sleep or wrap me in cobweb or a hundred other things. I’ve been around magic-users. But won’t you please listen to us? Please help us. I heard you talking about two of our friends—a big man and a pretty red-haired girl. You said the man nearly died—his brother betrayed him. We want to find them. Won’t you tell us where they are?”

The man hesitated.

Tanis went on hurriedly, losing coherence in his efforts to keep hold of this man who might be able to help them. “I saw the woman here with you. I heard her speak. I know who she is. A sea elf, isn’t she? You are right. I am half-elven. But I was raised among the elves, and I’ve heard their legends. I thought that’s all they were, legends. But then I thought dragons were legends, too. There
is
a war being fought in the world above. And you’re right. There always seems to be a war being fought somewhere. But this war won’t stay up above. If the Queen of Darkness conquers, you can be certain she’ll find out the sea elves are down here. I don’t know if there are dragons below the ocean, but—”

“There are sea dragons, half-elf,” said a voice, and the elven woman reappeared in the water once more. Moving with a flash of silver and green, she glided through the dark sea until she reached the stone steps. Then, resting her arms on them, she gazed up at him with brilliant green eyes. “And we have heard rumors of their return. We did not believe them, though. We did not know the dragons had awakened. Whose fault was that?”

“Does it matter?” asked Tanis wearily. “They have destroyed the ancient homeland. Silvanesti is a land of nightmares now. The Qualinesti were driven from their homes. The dragons are killing, burning. Nothing, no one is safe. The Dark Queen has one purpose—to gain dominance over every living being. Will you be safe? Even down here? For I presume we are below the sea?”

“You are right, half-elf,” said the red-robed man, sighing. “You are below the sea, in the ruins of the city of Istar. The sea
elves saved you and brought you here, as they bring all those whose ships are wrecked. I know where your friends are and I can take you there. Beyond that, I don’t see what more I can do for you.”

“Get us out of here,” Riverwind said flatly, understanding the conversation for the first time. Zebulah had spoken in Common. “Who is this woman, Tanis? She looks elven.”

“She is a sea elf. Her name is …” Tanis stopped.

“Apoletta,” said the elven woman, smiling. “Forgive me for not extending a formal greeting, but we do not clothe our bodies as do you KreeaQUEKH. Even after all these years, I cannot persuade my husband to quit covering his body in those ridiculous robes when he goes onto the land. Modesty, he calls it. So I will not embarrass either you or him by getting out of the water to greet you as is proper.”

Flushing, Tanis translated the elven woman’s words to his friends. Goldmoon’s eyes widened. Berem did not seem to hear, he was lost in some sort of inner dream, only vaguely aware of what was happening around him. Riverwind’s expression did not change. Apparently nothing he heard about elves could surprise him anymore.

“Anyway, the sea elves are the ones who rescued us,” Tanis went on. “Like all elves, they consider life sacred and will help anyone lost at sea or drowning. This man, her husband—”

“Zebulah,” he said, extending his hand.

“I am Tanis Half-Elven, Riverwind and Goldmoon of the Que-shu tribe, and Berem, uh—” Tanis faltered and fell silent, not quite knowing where to go from here.

Apoletta smiled politely, but her smile quickly faded. “Zebulah,” she said, “find the friends the half-elf speaks of and bring them back here.”

“We should go with you,” Tanis offered. “If you thought I was going to swallow you, there’s no telling what Caramon might do—”

“No,” said Apoletta, shaking her head. The water glistened on her hair and sparkled on her smooth green-tinged skin. “Send the barbarians, half-elf. You stay here. I would talk with you and learn more of this war you say could endanger us. It saddens me to hear the dragons have awakened. If that is true, I fear you might be right. Our world will no longer be safe.”

“I will be back soon, beloved,” Zebulah said.

Apoletta reached out her hand to her husband. Taking it, he raised it to his lips, kissing it gently. Then he left. Tanis quickly translated for Riverwind and Goldmoon, who readily agreed to go in search of Caramon and Tika.

As they followed Zebulah back through the eerie, broken streets, he told them tales of the fall of Istar, pointing out various landmarks as they went along.

“You see,” he explained, “when the gods hurled the fiery mountain onto Krynn, it struck Istar, forming a giant crater in the land. The sea water rushed in to fill up the void, creating what came to be known as the Blood Sea. Many of the buildings in Istar were destroyed, but some survived and, here and there, retained small pockets of air. The sea elves discovered that this was an excellent place to bring mariners they rescued from capsized ships. Most of them soon feel quite at home.”

The mage spoke with a hint of pride which Goldmoon found amusing, though she kindly did not allow her amusement to show. It was the pride of ownership, as if the ruins belonged to Zebulah and he had arranged to display them for the public’s enjoyment.

“But you are human. You are not a sea elf. How did you come to live here?” Goldmoon asked.

The magic-user smiled, his eyes looking back across the years. “I was young and greedy,” he said softly, “always in hopes of finding a quick way to make my fortune. My magic arts took me down into the depths of the ocean, searching for the lost wealth of Istar. I found riches all right, but not gold or silver.

“One evening I saw Apoletta, swimming among the sea forests. I saw her before she saw me, before she could change her shape. I fell in love with her … and long I worked to make her mine. She could not live up above and, after I had existed so long in the peace and tranquil beauty down here, I knew I no longer had a life in the world above either. But I enjoy talking to your kind occasionally, so I wander among the ruins now and then, to see who the elves have brought in.”