“Brukt. I know. Where Dhamon and the glaive are. But I’m not going there. I’m going to where I can learn more about magic and study with Sunrise.”
“You could do that here. Or at home with your wife.”
“You’re right. I could.” A hint of color crept into his face. He glowered at the kender. Then he softened his expression, gave a hint of a smile. “I could study right here, except I don’t want to. We’re going to where there are other good dragons. And while I work with Sunrise, we’ll learn from them. If we can more firmly unite the good dragons, they will present a great challenge to the overlords and offer my father their assistance when the showdown comes. So, you see, I will be helping my father.”
“Sure, your father. Of course, he does pretty well on his own. But your wife and...”
Ulin kept his temper in check. “Blister, do you honestly think I want to be away from my wife and my children? I love them and miss them terribly. But I might not have a wife and children if the overlords continue unchecked and if Takhisis returns.”
“What does your father think about all of this?”
“I didn’t ask him.”
“Maybe you should.”
“Maybe you should mind your own business for a change.” The kender sadly shook her head and stepped aside. “You used to mind other people’s business,” she said softly.
“I still do,” he returned as he walked by.
Blister clucked sadly to herself as Ulin continued down the hallway and disappeared down a flight of steps.
Usha approached her son, holding the skirts of a long green gown to avoid tripping. She started to say something, but he quickly brushed by her, offering her only a hurried goodbye. She’d overheard his conversation with Blister; it was similar to a talk she’d had with him last night. And the ending was the same, though the kender had detained him a little longer. With each passing day, Ulin reminded her more and more of his father and his Great-Uncle Raistlin. Magic was Ulin’s passion, as it had been Raistlin’s. And working against the evil dragons was foremost in his mind right now. She knew her son’s family would have to wait. If they could wait, she thought. And if he lived through this experience to return to them.
“Good morning, Blister. Are they still at it?” Usha put on a cheerful front.
The kender nodded, making a mental note to speak to her later about Ulin. It just wasn’t right, him leaving. Not when she was stuck here with nothing important to do. It was so unfair. “They’re still talking, arguing actually.” She waved a hand toward a doorway at the far end of the hall. “I’ve been trying to talk to Palin, ’bout something important, but he’s too busy”
“Let’s unbusy him, shall we?”
The kender followed Usha, complimenting her gown as they went, asking if Usha had something smaller in that color that she might wear. Her own brown tunic looked rather drab next to Usha’s. All of the kender’s clothes had sunk with the Anvil. She’d fashioned a few things to wear out of blouses Usha had tired of. And to the kender it seemed Usha tired of the all drab colors. Blister thought it unfortunate that the Majeres only kept a small trunk of clothes and personal possessions high in the tower and that the bulk of their things remained back home.
They stopped in the doorway. The large room beyond was round at the far side, following the exterior curve of the tower, and it was cut in the center by a large window. Walls angled off to the right and left, making the room appear pie-shaped. A triangular table was placed in the center, with Palin, the Master, and the Shadow Sorcerer each taking a side. Maps were spread out across the surface, covering almost every inch of the dark marble.
The sorcerers continued to talk, though they noticed Usha and Blister in the doorway. Not even Palin stopped to offer his wife a greeting.
“There!” The Shadow Sorcerer said. The mysterious mage was stabbing at a place on the map that displayed Neraka, Khur, and Blöde. The sleeves of his gray robe were so voluminous that only the tip of a pale, gloved finger edged out to touch the yellowing parchment. He was pointing at a mountain range.
“I was watching the shadow dragon—the rogue dragon who has been killing smaller dragons. Yesterday morning, I saw him slay a large red, not too terribly far from Brukt where Palin’s friends are heading.”
“And where is the shadow dragon now?” The Master’s gaze rested on the parchment. “Do you think he poses a threat to the Kagonesti and the others?”
“I don’t know.” The Shadow Sorcerer’s hood moved back and forth, the visage hidden from Usha and Blister. “It is difficult to determine. But I believe he is the first dragon that Palin’s friends should tend to—after they’ve recovered the glaive from Dhamon and the crown from the Dimernesti.”
“The shadow dragon is not the greatest threat,” the Master argued.
“But he is the most unpredictable, and in that respect the most dangerous.”
Palin glanced at his two companions. “More dangerous now than when you first took notice of him?”
The Shadow Sorcerer’s hood nodded. “He has grown stronger from slaying the large red, the largest dragon I have seen him attack. He has absorbed the red’s energy as did the dragons during the Dragon Purge. Perhaps if your friends do not tend to him first, another purge will begin. There are too few good dragons now, and—”
“I will admit the shadow dragon bears watching,” Palin interrupted. “But my friends can do nothing about him now, at least not without the artifacts. And you haven’t seen him kill a good dragon. Do you know where this shadow dragon is now?”
“Hiding, resting. Somewhere in the mountains.”
“Where exactly?” The Master’s unnaturally soft voice rose. “I do not know.”
The Master’s fingers traced a line from the mountains to Brukt. “Neither do we know exactly where Dhamon Grimwulf is.”
“You lost Dhamon?” Blister put her hands on her hips. “You brought me here to help find him. And I did help. You found him. And now you’ve lost him?”
“I lost track of Dhamon Grimwulf when my attention was distracted by the shadow dragon,” the Shadow Sorcerer said.
“Oh, yeah. That happens.” The kender brightened. “Well, that reminds me why I’ve been trying to talk to Palin.”
The Shadow Sorcerer, ignoring her, turned back to the map. “Now to important matters,” the gray-cloaked mage said.
“Yes, actually this is very important,” the kender offered. “And it matters to me.”
The sorcerers seemed not to hear her. Blister glanced up at Usha, looking for support, but Usha had become engrossed in the map and the discussion.
“I believe Takhisis will appear here,” the Shadow Sorcerer stated. The gloved finger was pointing at a spot in northern Neraka. “At Ariakan’s Rest.”
“I disagree.” The Master stabbed his finger at a location in Khur.
“They’re going at it again,” Blister muttered.
The Master raised his soft voice; it sounded as if it were painful for him to speak. “The Window to the Stars, here in Khur. It used to be a portal between worlds, dimensions, and planes. My divinations point to this area. I mentioned this to Sunrise and to Ulin. It is not too great a distance from Goodlund, the seat of power of the red overlord. I believe if the Dark Queen were to return, she would choose the domain of the most powerful dragon, and that is where Malys rules. So here will mark the downfall of all Ansalon. Or, perhaps if we are fortunate, here will mark where a god has been rebuffed.”
The Shadow Sorcerer batted the Master’s hand off the map. “No. Ariakan’s Rest! Listen to me. Don’t be a fool—there’s too much at stake. Takhisis will return here. The Rest is a mountain cave in the Khalkists. Ariakan, one of the greatest warriors in Krynn’s history, was led to this cave by the goddess Zeboim, his mother, the trail marked by fragile sea shells placed in the snow. It is part of this great land’s history, Krynn’s history. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all about it?”