Chris Pierson - Spirit of the Wind

“I’ve thought of that, also,” Riverwind said. “I will take care of the dragon.”

This time, the Councillors weren’t the only ones to react. Behind Riverwind, his daughters gasped in astonishment.

“What?” Moonsong exclaimed.

“Father-” Brightdawn began.

He glanced over his shoulder. “After,” he hissed.

Dutifully, the twins fell silent. Their faces, however, were pinched with worry as their father turned back to face the yammering Councillors.

“You can’t be serious,” Merldon Metwinger said. “You haven’t even seen Malystryx! She’s immense! I don’t think you could kill her with Huma’s own dragonlance.”

“I don’t mean to kill her,” Riverwind replied. “I know I can’t. But I have an idea how I can hurt her-hurt her so badly she won’t care whether you get away or not. I might be able to buy you time to escape.”

Before anyone-Merldon, the other Councillors, his daughters-could object, he went on. “Yesterday,” he said, “Kronn and I questioned Baloth, the ogre we captured during the assault on the east wall. We asked him about Malystryx, and he told us why she’s waiting so long to attack. Just before the ogres attack, she’s going to lay an egg.

“Therefore,” the old Plainsman finished, “a week before Year-Turning, I will go down into the tunnels. I’ll travel east to Blood Watch and wait for Malystryx to leave her lair on the day of the attack. Then I’ll enter her nest and destroy the egg.”

Riverwind had expected uproar, but instead the kender were subdued, shocked silent by his words.

“I don’t understand,” Merldon Metwinger said at length. “How will that save us? If she leaves her lair, it’ll be too late-she’ll be on her way to the Kenderwood. By the time she gets back and finds out about the egg, we’ll already be roasted.”

“That would be true, for most dragons,” Kronn answered, “but Malys isn’t most dragons-and this isn’t any ordinary egg.”

“What do you mean?” Merldon asked.

Riverwind nodded patiently. “From all I know of them,” he replied, “dragons lay their eggs in clutches-never singly. But Baloth was adamant: Malys has only one. That means something. Either she’s found a way, somehow, to keep from laying more, or she’s going to lay a full clutch, then choose to keep only the strongest, destroying the rest.

“Whatever the case, though, the fact remains that there will be only one egg… and it will be important to her. She’ll take greater care with it than she might with a whole clutch,” the old Plainsman added. “We already know Malys is a magic user, and a powerful one. You only need to look at what she’s done to the Kenderwood to see that. She won’t leave her nest without first forming some sort of link between herself and the egg, so she can be sure it’s safe-and such a spell would be simple for her, compared to the magic it must take to kill an entire forest. The moment the egg is in any real danger, she’ll know, and she’ll forget about everything else. She’ll return to her nest right away to try to save the egg. With that distraction, I’ll buy you time to get away.”

Again, the kender were silent, staring at him in wonder.

“You’d do that for us?” Merldon Metwinger asked softly. “Yes,” Riverwind said. He smiled as he saw the admiration that shone in the kender’s eyes. “I will try.”

The meeting ended soon after, the Councillors chattering excitedly amongst themselves as they filed out the door. Several of them, including Merldon Metwinger, climbed up on the dais and solemnly shook Riverwind’s hand. The Plainsman watched them go, smiling with satisfaction.

“Father!” said a pair of voices behind him.

Riverwind shut his eyes, taking a deep breath to steady himself, then turned to face his daughters. Moonsong and Brightdawn stood side by side, their faces darkened by accusation and betrayal.

“Would you excuse us a moment, Paxina?” he asked.

The Lord Mayor glanced from the old Plainsman to the twins, then nodded, understanding. “Kronn, Catt-let’s go,” she said. Gathering her purple mayoral robes around her, she left the room. Her brother and sister followed.

Moonsong and Brightdawn stared at their father in silence. Riverwind looked away, unable to meet their gaze.

“When you explained the plan to us this morning, you never mentioned anything about going to Blood Watch,” Moonsong said.

Riverwind sighed. “I know. Nevertheless, I discussed it with Paxina and the others last night. Kronn has agreed to go with me, and guide me through the tunnels.”

Despite her best efforts to remain calm, Brightdawn trembled visibly. “Why didn’t you tell us?” she asked.

“I knew you’d try to talk me out of it,” Riverwind answered. “And, what’s more, you might have succeeded. I couldn’t afford to take that chance.”

“Couldn’t afford to let us talk some sense into you?” Moonsong demanded furiously.

“Child, this is something I have to do,” Riverwind answered. “That old Councillor was right-if someone doesn’t do something about Malys, it doesn’t matter whether they beat the ogres or not. The kender will die. I can’t ask anyone else to go to Blood Watch. The danger’s too great. So I’m going myself.”

The twins looked at him silently; then Moonsong turned and walked out of the audience hall. Brightdawn lingered, however. The pain in her eyes was almost too much for Riverwind to bear.

“You should have told me, Father,” she said softly. For a moment, she looked as if she might say more, but instead she turned away and hurried out the door.

Riverwind started after her, but a spasm of pain contorted his face and he stopped. Groaning, he stumbled to a chair and slumped down into it.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, then buried his face in his hands and wept.

Kendermore’s last days passed much too quickly.

As Paxina had predicted, once the Kender Council knew about the plan, the rest of the city learned of it within hours. When the sun rose on the first day after the meeting at City Hall, thousands of kender poured into the streets, making their way to the tunnel entrances that riddled the city. Giffel and the other guards kept the crowds under control while Catt oversaw the drawing of lots. While there were some arguments and hurt feelings over the results, most of the kender accepted their place with good humor. And so, when the blistering sun rode high in the late autumn sky, the Kender Flight began right on schedule.

Several key Councillors, including Merldon Metwinger, went ahead of the Flight to guide those who followed to the agreed upon gathering place-a shallow valley in the plains of Balifor, several leagues west of the edge of the Kenderwood. There, over the next three weeks, the kender would set up a ramshackle tent city and wait for the rest to follow.

For the kender, the hardest part wasn’t leaving their homes-even the oldest of them still felt the yearning for the road sometimes, and the impending attack by Malystryx and the ogres only made that yearning that much stronger. And while there were many tears shed when they realized they had to leave behind most of the interesting things they owned, they were practical about that, too. “There’s always more where that came from,” was a kender proverb-although, of course, every kender who set out through the tunnels did so with full pockets and pouches stuffed almost to bursting.

The hardest part, it turned out, was saying goodbye to friends. The method Paxina and Catt had chosen for choosing who went first in the Flight was fair, but in many ways it was also cruel. Kender who had known each other for years had to bid each other farewell, and while Catt made every effort to move families out together, inevitably some husbands and wives, sisters and brothers, parents and children were separated. Around the tunnel entrances, the air rang with weeping and promises of “I’ll see you soon.”