Dragonlance 16 - Dragons Of A Lost Star (30 page)

He was sitting with his chin in hand, trying to decide which inn he was going favor with his presence for dinner when he saw someone he knew enter the front gate. It wasn’t Gerard, but someone even better. Tasslehoff jumped to his feet with a glad cry.

“Goldmoon!” he shouted, waving.

Respectful of Goldmoon’s white robes that marked her a Mystic of the Citadel of Light, one of the city guards was providing her a personal escort into the city. He pointed in a certain direction. She nodded and thanked him. He touched his forehead to her, then returned to his duties. A small and dust-covered figure trotted along at Goldmoon’s heels, hard-pressed to keep up with her long strides. Tas didn’t pay much attention to this other person. He was so glad and so thankful to see Goldmoon that he didn’t notice anyone else, and he forgot all about Gerard. If anyone could save him from Dalamar and Palin, it was Goldmoon.

Tas raced across the crowded highway. Bumping into people, and nimbly avoiding the long arm and grasping hands of the law, Tasslehoff was about to greet Goldmoon with his usual hug when he stopped short.

She was Goldmoon, but she wasn’t. She was still in the youthful body that had been so detestable to her. She was still beautiful, with her shining silver-gold hair and her lovely eyes, but the hair was straggly and uncombed, and the eyes had a vague and distant look about them, as if she wasn’t seeing anything close to her but was staring at something very far away. Her white robes were mud-stained, the hem frayed. She seemed tired to the point of falling, but she walked on determinedly, using a wooden staff to aid her steps. The small, dusty person kept up with her.

“Goldmoon?” Tasslehoff said, uncertain.

She did not pause, but she did glance down at him. “Hello, Tas,” she said in a sort of distracted way and continued on.

Just that. Hello, Tas. Not, My gosh, I’m glad to see you, where have you been all this time, Tas? Just, Hello, Tas.

The small and dusty person was surprised to see him, however. Also very pleased.

“Burrfoot!”

“Conundrum!” Tas cried, at last recognizing the gnome through the dust.

The two shook hands.

“What are you doing here?” Tas asked. “The last time I saw you, you were mapping the Hedge Maze at the Citadel of Light. By the way, the last time I saw the Hedge Maze it was on fire.”

Tasslehoff realized too late that he shouldn’t have sprung such terrible news on the gnome in so sudden a manner.

“Fire!” Conundrum gasped. “My life quest! On fire!”

Stricken to the heart, he collapsed against the side of a building, clutching his breast and gulping for breath. Tas paused to fan the gasping gnome with his hat, still keeping one eye on Goldmoon. Not noticing the gnome’s distress, she kept on walking. When Conundrum showed signs of recovering, Tas grasped his arm and pulled him along down the street after her.

“Just think,” Tas said soothingly, aiding the gnome’s staggering steps, “when they start to rebuild, they’ll come to you because you’ve got the only map.”

“That’s right!” Conundrum exclaimed on thinking this over. He perked up considerably. “You’re absolutely right.” He would have halted on the spot to drag the map out of his knapsack, but Tas said hurriedly that they didn’t have time, they had to keep up with Goldmoon.

“How do you two come to be here in Solanthus, anyway?” Tasslehoff asked, to distract the gnome from thoughts of the blazing Hedge Maze.

Conundrum regaled Tas with the doleful tale of the wreck of the Indestructible, how he and Goldmoon had been cast up on strange shores, and how they had been walking ever since.

“You will not believe this,” Conundrum said, lowering his voice to a fearful whisper, “but she is following ghosts!”

“Really?” said Tasslehoff. “I just left a forest filled with ghosts.”

“Not you, too!” The gnome regarded Tas in disgust.

“I’m quite experienced around the undead,” Tas said with a careless air. “Skeletal warriors, disembodied hands, chain-rattling ghouls . . . Never a problem for the experienced traveler. I have the Kender Spoon of Turning given to me by my Uncle Trap-springer. If you’d like to see it—”

He began to rummage in his pouch but stopped abruptly when he came across the bits and pieces of the Device of Time Journeying.

“Personally, I think the woman’s mad, unhinged, loony, deranged, bricks missing, spilt marbles, that sort of thing,” Conundrum was saying in low and solemn tones.

“Yes, I suspect you’re right,” said Tas, glancing at Goldmoon, sighing. “She certainly doesn’t act like the Goldmoon I once knew. That Goldmoon was pleased to see a kender. That Goldmoon wouldn’t have let evil wizards send a kender off to be squashed by a giant.” Tas patted Conundrum’s arm. “It’s awfully good of you to stick with her, look out for her.”

“I have to be honest with you,” said Conundrum, “I wouldn’t do it except for the money. Look at this, will you?”

Glancing around to make certain no pickpockets were lurking about, the gnome pulled from the very bottom of his knapsack a large purse that was bulging with coins. Tasslehoff expressed his admiration and reach out to take a look at the pouch. Conundrum cracked the kender’s hand across the knuckles and stuffed the purse back in his sack.

“And don’t you touch it!” the gnome warned with a scowl.

“I don’t think much of money,” Tas said, rubbing his bruised knuckles. “It’s heavy to carry around, and what’s the good of it? I have all these apples with me. Now, no one’s going to clonk me over the head for these apples, but if I had a coin to buy the apples, they’d hit me over the head to steal the coin, and so it’s much better to have the apples. Don’t you agree?”

“Why are you talking about apples?” Conundrum shouted, waving his hands in the air. “What have apples got to do with anything? Or spoons for that matter?”

“You started it,” Tas advised him. Knowing gnomes and how excitable they were, he decided it would be polite to change the subject. “How did you come by all that money anyway?”

“People give it to her,” Conundrum replied, shifting the hand-waving in Goldmoon’s general direction. “Wherever we go, people give her money or a bed for the night or food or wine. They’re extremely kind to her. They’re kind to me, too. No one’s ever been kind to me before,” the gnome added wistfully. “People always say nasty, stupid things to me like, ‘Is it supposed to smoke like that?’ and ‘Who’s going to pay for all the damage?’ but when I’m with Goldmoon, people say kind things to me. They give me food and cold ale and a bed for the night and money. She doesn’t want the money. She gives it to me. I’m keeping it, too.” Conundrum looked quite fierce. “The repairs to Indestructible are going to cost a bundle. I think it was insured for liability only and not collision—”

Tas had a feeling the subject was veering off into a boring area, so he interrupted. “By the way, where are we going?”

“Something to do with Knights,” Conundrum replied. “Live knights, I hope, although I wouldn’t bet on it. You can’t believe how sick I am of hearing about dead people all the time.”

“Knights!” Tasslehoff cried joyfully. “I’m here for the sai thing!”

At this juncture, Goldmoon halted. She looked up one street and down another and appeared to be lost. Tasslehoff left the gnome, who was still muttering to himself about insurance, and hastened over to see if Goldmoon required help.

Goldmoon ignored Tas and instead stopped a woman who, to judge by her tabard marked with a red rose, was a Solamnic Knight. The woman gave her directions and then asked what brought Goldmoon to Solanthus.

“I am Goldmoon, a Mystic of the Citadel of Light,” she said, introducing herself. “I hope to be able to speak before the Knights’ Council.”

“I am Lady Odila, Knight of the Rose,” the woman replied and bowed respectfully. “We have heard of Goldmoon of the Citadel of Light. A most highly revered woman. You must be her daughter.”

Goldmoon looked suddenly very worn and weary, as if she had heard this many times before now.

“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “I am her daughter.”

Lady Odila bowed low again. “Welcome to Solanthus, Daughter of Goldmoon. The Knights’ Council has many urgent matters before it, but they are always glad to hear from one of the Mystics of the Citadel of Light, particularly after the terrible news we received of the attack on the citadel.”

“What attack?” Goldmoon went exceedingly pale, so pale that Tasslehoff took hold of her hand and gave a sympathetic squeeze.

“I can tell you—” Tas began.

“Merciful goodness, it’s a kender,” said Lady Odila in the same tone as she might have said, “Merciful goodness, it’s a bugbear.” The Knight detached Tasslehoff’s hand, placed herself in between Tas and Goldmoon. “Don’t worry, Healer. I’ll deal with it. Guard! Another of the little beasts has broken in. Remove it—”

“I am not a little beast!” Tasslehoff stated indignantly. “I’m with Goldmoon . . . her daughter, that is. I’m a friend of her mother’s.”

“And I’m her business manager,” said Conundrum, bustling up importantly. “If you’d care to contribute money—”

“What attack?” Goldmoon demanded desperately. “Is this true, Tas? When did it happen?”

“It all started when— Excuse me, but I’m talking to Goldmoon!” Tas said, wriggling in the grip of the City Guard.

“Please, leave him alone. He is with me,” Goldmoon pleaded. “I take full responsibility.”

The guard looked dubious, but he could not very well go against the express wishes of one of the revered Mystics of the citadel. He looked to Lady Odila, who shrugged and said in an undertone, “Don’t worry. I will see to it that he is removed before nightfall.”

Tas, meanwhile, was telling his tale.

“It all started when I went to Palin’s room because I had decided that I would be noble and go back in time and let the giant squish me, only I’ve changed my mind about that now, Goldmoon. You see, I thought about it and—”

“Tas!” Goldmoon said sharply, giving him a little shake. “The attack!”

“Oh, right. Well, Palin and I were talking this over and I looked out the window and saw a big dragon flying toward the citadel.”

“What dragon?” Goldmoon pressed her hand against her heart.

“Beryl. The same dragon who put the curse on me,” Tassle-hoff stated. “I know because I went squirmy and shivery all over, even my stomach. So did Palin. We tried to use the Device of Time Journeying to escape, but Palin broke it. By that time Beryl was there, and a lot of other dragons and draconians were jumping out of the skies, and people were running around screaming. Like that time in Tarsis. Do you remember that? When the red dragons attacked us, and the building fell on top of me, and we lost Tanis and Raistlin?”

“My people!” Goldmoon whispered, half-suffocated. She swayed unsteadily on her feet. “What about my people?”

“Healer, please, sit down,” Lady Odila said gently. Putting her arms around Goldmoon, she led her to a low wall that encircled a splashing fountain.

“Can this be true?” Goldmoon asked the Knight.

“I am sorry to say that, strange as it may seem, the kender’s tale is a true one. We received reports from our garrison stationed on Sancrist Isle that the citadel was attacked by Beryl and her dragons. They did an immense amount of destruction, but most of the people were able to escape safely into the hills.”

“Thank the One God,” Goldmoon murmured.

“What, Healer?” Lady Odila asked, perplexed. “What did you say?”

“I’m not certain,” Goldmoon faltered. “What did I say?”

“You said, ‘Thank the One God.’ We have heard of no god coming to Krynn.” Lady Odila looked intrigued. “What do you mean?”

“I wish I knew,” said Goldmoon softly. Her gaze grew abstracted. “I don’t know why I said that. . . .”

“I escaped, too,” Tas exclaimed loudly. “Along with Palin. It was quite exciting. Palin threw the pieces of the device at the dra-conians, and it made some truly spectacular magic, and we ran up the Silver Stair in the smoke of the burning Hedge Maze—”

At this further reminder of his life quest going up in smoke, Conundrum began to wheeze and sat down heavily beside Gold-moon.

“—and Dalamar saved us!” Tas announced. “One minute we were on the very edge of the Silver Stair, and then whoosh! we were in the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas, only it isn’t anymore. In Palanthas. It’s still a Tower of High Sorcery—”

“What a little liar you are,” said Lady Odila. She sounded almost respectful, so Tas chose to take this as a compliment.

“Thank you,” he said modestly, “but I’m not making this up. I really did find Dalamar and the Tower. I understand it’s been lost for quite a while.”

“I left them to face the danger alone,” Goldmoon was saying distractedly, paying no attention to Tas. “I left my people to face the dragons alone, and yet what could I do? The voices of the dead called to me. . . . I had to follow!”

“Do you hear her?” asked Conundrum, prodding the Knight with his finger. “Ghosts. Ghouls. That’s who she’s talking to, you know. Mad. Quite mad.” He rattled the money pouch. “If you’d like to make a donation . . . it’s tax-deductible—”

Lady Odila regarded them as if they were all suitable candidates for a donation, but seeing Goldmoon’s fatigue and distress, the Knight’s expression softened. She put her arm around Gold-moon’s thin shoulders.