Read Dragonlance 15 - Dragons Of A Fallen Sun Online
Authors: Margaret Weis
"I'm sorry, Tas," Palin said finally, and his voice was tight as
the lines on his face. "1 was upset. I was frightened. Jenna was
quite angry with me. After you left, she said she didn't blame you
for running. She was right. I should have explained things to you
calmly and rationally. I shouldn't have yelled at you. After what
I saw, I panicked."
He looked down at Tas and sighed deeply. "Tas, I wish there
was some other way. You have to understand. I'll try to explain this
as best I can. You were meant to die. And because you haven't died,
it is possible that this is the reason all these terrible things that have
happened to the world have happened. To put it another way, if
you were dead, the world might be the world you saw the first
time you came back to my father's funeral. Do you understand?"
"No," said Tas.
Palin regarded the kender with obvious disappoinment. "I'm
afraid I can't explain it any better than that. Perhaps you and
Goldmoon and I should discuss it. You don't need to run away
again. I won't force you to go back."
"I don't want to hurt your feelings, Palin," Tas returned, "but
you can't force me to do anything. I have the device, and you
don't."
Palin regarded the kender with deepening gravity, then sud-
denly and unexpectedly he smiled. The smile was not quite a
whole smile, more a quarter-smile, for it lifted the comers of his
thin lips and didn't come anywhere near his unhappy eyes, but it
was a start.
"That is true, Tas," he said. "You do have the device. You
know yourself what is right. You know that you made a promise
to Fizban and that he trusted you to keep that promise."
Palin paused, then said quietly. "Were you aware, Tas, that
Caramon spoke at your funeral?"
"He did?" Tas was astonished. "I didn't even know I had a fu-
neral! I just figured there probably wouldn't be much of me left,
except a bit of goo between the giant's toes. What did Caramon
say? Was there a big turnout? Did Jenna bring cheese puffs?"
"There was an immense turnout," Palin said. "People came
from allover Ansalon to pay their respects to a heroic kender. As
for my father, he called you' a kender among kender.' He said
that you exemplifed all that was best in the kender race: you were
noble, self-sacrificing, brave, and, above all, honorable."
"Maybe Caramon was wrong about me," Tas said uneasily,
glancing at Palin out of the comer of his eyes.
"Maybe he was," Palin said.
Tas didn't like the way Palin was looking at him, as (if he were
shriveling into something icky, like a squished cocktoach. He
didn't know what to do or say-an unusual feeling for him. He
couldn't recall ever having had this feeling before, and he hoped
he never would again. The silence grew stretched, until Tas was
afraid that if one of them let loose, the silence would snap back
and smack someone in the face. He was therefore quite thankful
when a commotion sounded on the stairs, distracting Palin and
easing the tense silence.
"First Master!" Lady Camilla called. "We thought we heard
your voice. Someone said they saw a kender come up here-"
Reaching the head of the stairs, she caught sight of Gold-
moon.
"First Master!" The Knight stopped dead in her tracks and
stared. The Citadel guards bunched up behind her, staring and
gaping.
This was Tas's opportunity to head for freedom again. No one
would try to stop him. No one was paying the least attention to
him. He could slip past them all and run away. Almost certainly
the gnome Conundrum had some sort of sailing vessel. Gnomes
always had sailing vessels. Sometimes they had flying vessels, as
well, and sometimes they had vessels that both flew and sailed,
although this generally resulted in an explosion.
Yes, thought Tas, eyeing the stairs and the people standing
there with their mouths open. That's what I'll do. I'll go. Right
now. I'm running. Any moment now. My feet will start to run.
But his feet had other ideas, apparently, because they stayed
pretty much firmly attached to the floor.
Perhaps his feet were thinking the same thing as his head. His
head was thinking about what Caramon had said. Those words
were almost the very same words he'd heard people say about
Sturm Brightblade, about Tanis Half-Elven. And they'd said those
words about him! Tasslehoff Burrfoot! He felt a warm glow in the
vicinity of his heart, and, at the same time, he felt another kind of
glow around his stomach. A much more uncomfortable glow, a
sort of gurgling glow, as if he'd eaten something that disagreed
with him. He wondered if it could be the oatmeal.
"Excuse me, Goldmoon,1I Tas said, interrupting the gaping
and staring and general stupidity that was taking place around
him. liDo you think I could go inside your room and lie down?
I'm not feeling very well."
Goldmoon drew herself up. Her face was pale, cold. Her voice
was bitter. I'll knew it would be like this. I knew you would look
upon me as some sort of sideshow at a fair."
"Forgive me, First Master,"Lady Camilla said, her own face
crimson with shame. She lowered her gaze. "I beg your pardon.
It's just. . . this miracle. . ."
"It is not a miracle!" Goldmoon said in sharp tones. She lifted
her head and something of her regal presence, her noble spirit,
flashed from her. I'll am sorry for all the trouble I have caused,
Lady Camilla. I know that I have brought pain to many. Please
carry word to all in the Citadel that they need worry for me no
longer. I am well. I will come among them presently, but first I
want to speak to my friends in private.1I
"0f course, I will be happy to do whatever you ask, First
Master," Lady Camilla said, and though she tried her best not to
stare, she could not help but gaze with astonishment at the amaz-
ing change that had come over Goldmoon.
Palin coughed meaningfully.
Lady Camilla blinked. "I am sorry, First Master. It's just-"
She shook her head, helpless to put her confused thoughts
into words. Turning away, yet with one more backward glance, as
if to reassure herself that what she saw was real, she hastened
down the spiral stairs. The Citadel guards, after a moment's hes-
itation, turned to run down after the Knight. Tas could hear their
voices loudly exclaiming over the "miracle."
"They will all be like that" Goldmoon said in anguish, re-
turning thoughtfully to her chambers. "They will all stare at me
and exclaim and wonder." She shut the door swiftly behind them,
leaned against it.
"You can hardly blame them, First Master," said Palin.
"Yes. I know. That's one reason I kept myself locked inside
this room. I had hoped that when the change first happened it
would be . . . temporary." Goldmoon gestured. "Please sit down.
We have much to discuss, it seems."
Her chambers were plainly furnished, contained a bed made
of a simple wood frame, a writing desk, handwoven rugs upon
the floor, and a large number of soft cushions scattered about. A
lute stood in one comer. The only other article of furniture-a tall
standing mirror-lay toppled on the floor. The broken gla~ had
been swept into a neat pile.
"What happened to you, First Master?" Palin asked. "Was this
transformation magical in nature?"
"I don't know! I wish I could find an explanation!" she
said helplessly. "The transformation occurred the night of the
thunderstorm."
"The storm," Palin murmured and glanced at Tas. "Many
strange things happened during that storm, seemingly. The
kender arrived the night of the storm."
"The rain drummed on the rooL" Goldmoon continued, as
if she hadn't heard. "The wind howled and beat against the
crystal as if it would smash it in. A brilliant lightning flash lit
up the entire room more brightly than the brightest sunshine. It
was so bright that it blinded me. For a time, I could see nothing
at all. The blindness passed in a moment. I saw my reflectiort in
the mirror.
"I . . . I thought a stranger was in the room. I turned, but there
was no one there. It was then, when I turned back, that I recognized
myself. Not as I had been, not gray and wrinkled and old, but
young. Young as on my wedding day. . ."
She closed her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"The crash they heard below," Palin said. "You broke the
mirror.
"Yes!" Goldmoon cried, her fists clenched. "I was so close to
reaching him, Palin! So near! Riverwind and I would have been
together soon. He has waited so patiently. He knew that I had im-
portant tasks to perform, but my work is done now and I could
hear him calling to me to join him. We would be together forever.
I was going to walk again with my beloved at last and . . . and
now... this!"
"You truly have no idea how this happened?" Palin hesi-
tated, frowning. "Perhaps a secret wish of your heart. . . some
potion. . . or magical artifact. . ."
"In other words, did I ask for this?" Goldmoon returned, her
voice cool. "No, I did not. I was content. My work is finished.
Others have the strength and heart and will to carry on. I want
only to rest in my husband's arms again, Palin. I want to walk
with him into the next stage of being. Riverwind and I used to
speak of that next step on our great journey. I was given a glimpse
of it during the time I was with Mishakal, the time she gave me
the staff. The beauty of that far distant place. . . I can't describe it.
"I am tired. So very tired. I look young, but I don't feel young,
Palin. This body is like a costume for the masquerade, the face a
mask. Except that I can't take it off! I've tried and I can't!"
Goldmoon put her hands to her cheeks, pressed on them. Her
face was scarred and now Tas, shocked, knew the cause. In her
desperation, she had endeavored to claw away the smooth,
supple flesh.
"Inside I am still old, Palin," Goldmoon said, her voice hollow
and ragged. "I have lived my allotted life span. My husband has
traveled on before me, my friends are gone. I am alone. Oh, I
know." She raised her hand to forestall his objections. "I know
that I have friends here. But they are not of my time. They. . .
don't sing the same songs."
She turned to Tasslehoff with a smile that was sweet but so
sad that the kender's eyes filled with tears.
"Is this my fault, Goldmoon?" Tas asked mournfully. "I didn't
mean to make you unhappy! I didn't!"
"No, kenderken." Goldmoon soothed him with her gentle
touch. "You have brought me cheer. And a puzzle." She turned to
Palin. "How does he come to be here? Has he been roaming the
world these thirty years when we thought him dead?"
"The kender came the night of the storm by using a magical
device, Goldmoon," Palin said in a low voice. "The Device of
Time Journeying. A device that once belonged to my father. Do
you remember hearing the story of how Caramon traveled back
in time with Lady Crysania-"
"Yes, I remember," Goldmoon said, flushing. "I must say that
I found your father's story very difficult to believe. If it hadn't
been for Lady Crysania's account-"
"There is no need to apologize," Palin said. "I admit that I
myself found the story difficult to credit. I was able to speak to
Dalamar about it years ago, before the Chaos War. And I talked
to Tanis Half-Elven. Both confirmed my father's tale. In addi-
tion, I read Par-Salian's notes, which spoke of how the decision
to send my father back into time came to be made. And I have
a friend, Mistress Jenna, who was present in the Tower of High
Sorcery when my father handed over the device to Dalamar for
safekeeping. She had se~n the device before and she recog-
nized it. Above all, I have my account to serve as ~tness.
Tasslehoff has with him the magical device my father used to
transport himself through time. I know because I used it
myself."
Goldmoon's eyes widened. She drew in a breath, soft as a
sigh.
"Are you saying that the kender has come to us from the past?
That he has traveled through time? That you traveled through
time?"
"Tasslehoff," Palin said, "tell Goldmoon what you told me
about Caramon's funeral. The first one. Be brief and concise as
possible."
Since neither the word "brief" nor the word" concise" are in
the kender vocabulary, Tasslehoff's story was considerably in-
volved and extended, taking many little detours and side trips,.
and once losing himself completely in a morass of words from
which he had to be patiently extricated. Goldmoon was a most at-
tentive listener, however, seating herself next to him on the floor
amongst the cushions and never saying a word.
When Tas spoke of how she and Riverwind had attended
Caramon's first funeral together; her husband gray and stooped,
the proud chieftain of the united tribes of the Plains, accompa-
nied by his son and daughters, grandchildren and great-grand-