“I really know very little about the place,” Raistlin said. “Odd bits I’ve picked up in my studies over the years. Flint can tell us more—”
“Yes, but he won’t,” said Flint.
Raistlin opened his mouth to speak again, but he was interrupted. The screen door was once again swept aside, this time with ominous-sounding cracking noises, as though large hands were fumbling at it.
Caramon came blundering inside. “Tanis,” he said worriedly, “have you seen Raist? I can’t find—Oh! There you are.”
He glanced around at the assembly and flushed. “Beg pardon. I didn’t know—”
“What are you doing here, Brother?” Raistlin demanded.
Caramon looked sheepish. “It’s just—You were with me one minute and gone the next. I didn’t know where you went. I thought—”
“No, you didn’t,” Raistlin snapped. “You never think. You have no idea what the word means. I am not a child who dares not venture outdoors without holding my nursemaid’s hand! Who is minding the kender?”
“I… uh… tied him to a table leg…”
This produced a laugh. Raistlin cast a furious glance at his twin, and Caramon retreated to a shadowy corner.
“I’ll just… wait over here.”
“Flint,” said Tanis. “What is Skullcap? Do you know what he’s talking about?” Flint maintained his stubborn, angry silence.
Raistlin was also no longer inclined to speak. Twitching aside the skirts of his red robes, the mage sat down upon an overturned crate and drew his cowl up over his head.
“Raistlin, tell us what you meant—” Tanis said.
Raistlin shook his head. “It seems you are all more interested in laughing at my fool brother.”
“Let him sulk,” Sturm said, disgusted.
Flint flung down his knife and the piece of wood that was now little more than a splinter. The knife clattered on the stone floor of the cavern at his feet. Flint’s eyes, in their maze of wrinkles, blazed. His long beard quivered. The dwarf was short, of stocky build, with big-boned arms and wrists and the strong, capable hands of the master craftsman. He and Tanis had been friends for countless years, their friendship dating back to the half-elf’s unhappy youth. Flint’s voice was gruff and deep, seeming to rise up from the bones of the earth.
“I will tell you the story of Skullcap,” said Flint in fierce tones. “I’ll make it short and sweet. I am a hill dwarf, a Niedar, as my people are known, and proud to be one! Centuries ago, my people left the mountain home of Thorbardin. We chose to live in the world, not under it. We opened up trade with humans and elves. Goods flowed from out of the mountain through us to others. Because of us, our cousins, the mountain dwarves, prospered. Then came the Cataclysm.
“The fall of the fiery mountain on Krynn is generations removed from most of you humans but not from me. My own grandfather lived through it. He saw the rain of fire that fell from the heavens. He felt the earth heave and shake beneath his feet, saw the land split and crack. Our homes were destroyed. Our livelihood was ruined, for no crops would grow. The human cities lay in rubble, and the elves withdrew from the world in anger.
“Our children cried with hunger and shivered with the cold. Ogres, goblins, human thugs and robbers were on the march. They raided our lands, killing many of our people. We went to our cousins who lived beneath the mountain. We begged them to take us in, save us from starvation and the other evils that now stalked the land.”
Flint’s voice grew grim. “The High King, Duncan, slammed the door in our beards! He would not let us inside the mountain and he sent out an army to keep us at bay.
“Then there came among us an evil greater than any we had yet known. Sadly, we mistook that evil for our salvation. His name was Fistandantilus—”
Caramon made a sound, something like a gasp. Raistlin shot his twin a warning glance from beneath his cowl, and Caramon fell silent.
“Fistandantilus was a human wizard. He wore the black robes, and that should have been a warning to us, but our own hearts were black with hatred, and we didn’t question his motives. This Fistandantilus told us that we should be lying snug and safe beneath the mountain, with plenty to eat, and no fear of harm. Using powerful magic, he raised a mighty fortress near Thorbardin and then raised a mighty army of dwarves and humans and sent them to attack Thorbardin.
“The dwarves of Thorbardin left their mountain home and came to meet us in the valley. Long the battle raged, and many dwarves died on both sides. We were no match for our cousins, however. When it became clear that defeat was inevitable, Fistandantilus flew into a great rage. He swore that no dwarf would have his wondrous fortress. He used his magic to set off a blast that blew up the fortress and brought it down on top of him. The blast killed thousands of dwarves on both sides. The fortress collapsed, the ruins forming the shape of a skull, and that is how it came by its name—Skullcap.”
“Seeing this, the Neidar who survived took it as a sign. My people withdrew from the valley, carrying their dead with them. The mountain dwarves shut the gates of Thorbardin and sealed them, not that any of us would have set foot inside them anyway after that,” Flint added bitterly.
“Not if they had begged us! And we still won’t!”
He plunked down on the outcropping of rock he was using as a chair, picked up his knife, and thrust it into his belt.
“Could the key to Thorbardin lie in Skullcap?” Tanis asked.
Flint shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not likely anyone will ever know. The place is cursed.”
“Cursed! Bah!” Raistlin scoffed. “Skullcap is a ruined fortress, a pile of rubble, nothing more. Any ghosts that walk there do so only in the feeble minds of the ignorant.”
“Feeble minds, is it!” Flint returned. “I suppose we were all feebleminded in Darken Wood.”
“That was different,” Raistlin said coolly. “The only reason you think Skullcap is cursed is because it was built by an archmage, and all wizards are evil, according to you.”
“Now, Raistlin, calm down,” Tanis said. “None of us thinks that.”
“Some of us do,” Sturm muttered.
Elistan rose to his feet. “I believe I have a solution.”
Hederick opened his mouth, but Elistan forestalled him. “You have had your turn, High Theocrat. I ask that you be patient for a moment to listen to me.”
Hederick gave a sour smile. “Of course, Elistan. We all are eager to hear what you have to say.”
“Mistress Maritta has stated our dilemma quite clearly and concisely. We face danger if we stay and do nothing but even more danger if we rush off in haste without taking proper care or knowing where we are going. Here is what I propose.
“We send representatives south to seek out the dwarven kingdom to see if we can find the gate, and if we do, ask the dwarves for their aid.”
Flint snorted and opened his mouth. Tanis trod on his boot, and the dwarf kept quiet.
“If the dwarves are willing to shelter us,” Elistan continued, “we can make the journey to Thorbardin before the harshest months of winter set in. Such a journey should be undertaken immediately,” Elistan added gravely. “I agree with Tanis and the others that the danger we face here grows greater with every day that passes. That being said, despite the mage’s suggestion—” Elistan bowed to Raistlin—“I do not think there would be time to make a side trip to Skullcap.”
“You will think differently when you stand knocking on the side of a mountain that will not open,” Raistlin said, his eyes narrow slits.
Before Elistan could reply, Hederick spoke up.
“That is an excellent idea, Revered Son. I propose that we send Tanis Half-Elven on this expedition, along with his friend, the dwarf. Set a dwarf to catch a dwarf, I always say.” Hederick laughed at his little joke.
Tanis was amazed at this sudden acquiescence and immediately suspicious. He’d expected Hederick to take a firm stand against any suggestion of leaving and here he was forwarding the plan. Tanis glanced around the assembly to see what the others thought. Elistan shrugged, as though to say he didn’t understand either, but they should take advantage of the High Theocrat’s sudden shift in position to gain their objective. Riverwind was silent and impassive. He didn’t like the idea of going to Thorbardin. He and his people might still decide to set off on their own. That gave Tanis an idea.