Gully Dwarves & Gnomes by Margaret Weis

Author:Margaret Weis [Weis, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-01-07T20:33:46+00:00

There was a certain elegance about Raistlin’s plan. Tanis acknowledged it with a grin.

“What do you want us to do, Raistlin?”

“Eat.”

Tanis frowned. “What?”

“Eat. Eat everything you can, all the provisions we brought along.” The young mage’s lips twisted in a wry smile. “That should be no trial for my brother, but everyone should eat until he is full.”

“But - “

“Don’t debate with me, Tanis. I know what I’m doing. But, I will tell you why. These are not the shapes of animals that you will be taking on. You will BE these creatures. And the primary need of an animal in winter is to be sure that his belly is full. If that need is not satisfied, all of your other purposes will fall aside. You will have, to a degree, your own minds, but not your own bodies, nor your own instincts. And instinct to an animal is what your mind is to you. Do you understand?”

Tanis did, and he was not certain now that the plan was quite so elegant. “Raistlin, I - “

The young mage raised an eyebrow, offered a mild challenge. “Afraid, Tanis?”

“I’d be a fool if I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you would be. What does it come down to, then?

Can you trust me? You’ll have to answer that. For yourself and for the others. They will do what you ask of them.”

Tanis knew that this was true. It had been proved many times before now. He looked away from the young mage to where his friends sat near the mom-ing’s dying fire.

Caramon, he thought, would not require convincing. He trusted his twin completely. Sturm, speaking quietly with Wren who yet rode his wrist, could be made to understand.

But Flint? There would be a problem. The old dwarf disliked and mistrusted anything that had to do with magic.

As though he heard the half-elf’s thought, Raistlin leaned forward and spoke quietly. “Let Flint be the first. I’ll do it quickly, before he knows.”

“Why?”

“If you give him a chance to argue, we could be here until the day after tomorrow.”

Tanis smiled without humor. It was true. “He’ll be all right?”

“He’ll be fine. You all will be. They trust you, Tanis. Do you trust me?”

Trust was a habit, gained slowly and lost quickly. The habit of trusting Raistlin was still on him, despite the unease Tanis felt now. “I trust you.”

“Good. Then go tell them to eat. The last thing we need is one of us turning on another out of hunger. Most particularly,” he said, smiling as though over some private jest, “my brother.”

I trust you, Tanis thought as he rose to leave, but you do make it hard sometimes.

Raistlin was kind with his choices. And kind in other matters. Tanis knew that when he saw the young mage step silently behind Flint as though the old dwarf was the last thing on his mind. The air around the two shivered, sighed softly, and before Tanis could draw a breath, Flint was gone.

In his place stood a dog who shook himself as though shaking off rain.

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