and was pointing at the draconians, reciting his spell. Flaming Sturm put his hand on Flint's shoulder. "Go back to Tas. He
darts leaped from his hands. One of the creatures fell over, needs you now. There are draconians roaming the streets. We'll
clutching its burning chest. Flint leaped on another, beating it be all-"
oven the head with a rock, while Sturm felled the other dracon- ^, Laurana screamed, a terrifying, pitiful sound that pierced
ion with a blow from his fists. Sturm caught Elistan in his arms r Sturm like a spear. Turning, he caught hold of her just as she
as the man staggered forward. The cleric was carrying a started to rush into the debris.
woman. "Laurana!" he cried. "Look at that! Look at it!" He shook her
"Laurana!" Gilthanas cried from the doorway. in his own anguish. "Nothing could be alive in there!'
Dazed and sick from the smoke, the elfmaid lifted her glazed ! "you don't know that!" she screamed at him in fury. tearing
eyes. "Gilthanas?" she murmured. Then, looking up, she saw away from his grasp. Falling onto her hands and knees, she
the knight. tried to lift one of the blackened stones. "Tanis!" she cried. The
"Sturm;' she said confusedly, pointing behind her vaguely. stone was so heavy, she could only move it a few inches.
"Your sword, it's here. I saw it-" Sturm watched, heartsick, uncertain what to do. 'Then he
Sure enough, Sturm saw a flash of silver, barely visible had his answer. Horns! Nearer and nearer. Hundreds, thousands of horns beneath the rubble. His sword, and next to it was Tanis's. The armies were invading He looked at
sword, the elven blade of Kith-Kanan. Moving aside piles of tan, who nodded in sorrowful understanding. Both men
stone, Sturm reverently lifted the swords that lay like artifacts hurried over to Laurana.
within a hideous, gigantic cairn. The knight listened for move- "My dear;' Elistan began gently; "there is nothing you can do
ment, calls, cries. There was only a dreadful silence. for them. The living need you. Your brother is hurt, so is the
"We've got to get out here;' he said slowly, without moving. kender. The draconians are invading. We must either escape
He looked at Elistan, who was staring back at the wreckage, his now, and keep fighting these horrible monsters, or waste our
fare deathly pale. "The others?" lives in useless grief. Tanis gave his life foe you, Laurara. Don't
"They were all in there;' Elistan said in a trembling voice. let it be a needless sacrifice:'
"And the half-elf . . :' , Laurana stared up at him, her face black with soot and filth streaked with tears and blood. She heard the horns, she heard Gilthanas calling, she heard Flint shouting something about Tasslehoff dying, she heard Elistan's words. And then the rain began, dripping from the skies as the heat of the dragonfire melted the snow, changing it to water.
The rain ran down her face, cooling her feverish skin.
"Help me, Sturm;' she whispered through lips almost too numb to shape the words. He put his arm around her. She stood up, dizzy and sick with shock.
"Laurana!" her brother called. Elistan was right. The living needed her. She must go to him. Though she would rather lie down on this pile of rocks and die, she must go on. That was what Tanis would do. They needed her. She must go on.
"Farewell, Tanthalas;' she whispered.
The rain increased, pouring down gently, as if the gods themselves wept for Tarsis the Beautiful.
Water dripped on his head. It was irritating, cold. Raistlin tried to roll over, out of the way of the water. But he couldn't move. There was a heavy weight pressing down on tap of him. Panicking, he tried desperately to escape. As fear surged through his body, he came fully to consciousness. With knowledge, panic vanished. Raistlin was in control once more and, as he had been taught, he forced himself to relax and study the situation.
He could see nothing. It was intensely dark, so he was forced to rely on his other senses. First, he had to get this weight off. He was being smothered and crushed. Cautiously he moved his arms. There was no pain, nothing appeared broken. Reaching up, he touched a body. Caramon, by the armor-and the smell. He sighed. He might have known. Using all his strength, Raistlin shoved his brother aside and crawled out from under him.
The mage breathed more easily, wiping water from his face. He located his brother's neck in the darkness and felt for the lifebeat. It was strong, the man's flesh was warm, his breathing regular. Raistlin lay back down on the floor in relief. At least, wherever he was, he wasn't alone.
Where was he? Raistlin reconstructed those last few terrifying moments. He remembered the beam splitting and Tanis throwing Laurana out from under it. He remembered casting a spell" the last one he had strength enough to manage. The magic coursed through his body, creating around him and those near him a force capable of shielding them from physical objects. He remembered Caramon hurling himself on top of him, the building collapsing around them, and a falling sensation.
Falling . . .
Ah, Raistlin understood. We must have crashed through the floor into the Inn's cellar. Groping around the stone floor, the mage suddenly realized he was soaked through. Finally, however, he found what he lead been searching for-the Staff of Magius. Its crystal was unbroken; only dragonfire could damage the Staff given him by Par-Salian in the Towers of High Sorcery.
"Shirak;" whispered Raistlin, and the Staff flared into light. Sitting up, he glanced around. Yes, he was right. They were in the cellar of the Inn. Broken bottles of wine spilled their contents onto the floor. Casks of ale were split in two. It wasn't all water he had been lying in.
The wage flashed the light around the floor. There were Tanis, Riverwind, Goldmoon, and Tika, all huddled near Caramon. They seemed all right, he thought, giving them a quick inspection. Around them lay scattered debris. Half of the beam slanged down through the rubble to rest on the stone floor. Raistlin smiled. A nice bit of work, that spell. Once more they were in his debt.
If we don't perish from the cold, he reminded himself bitterly. His body was shaking so he could barely hold the staff. I-3e began to cough. This would 6e the death of him. They had to get out.
'Tanis," he called, reaching out to shake the half-elf.
Tanis lay crumpled at the very edge of Raistlin's magic, protective circle. He murmured and stirred. Raistlin shook him again. The half-elf cried out, reflexively covering his head with his arm.
"Tanis, you're safe," Raistlin whispered, coughing. "Wake up:'
"What?" Tanis sat bolt upright, staring around him. "Where-" Then he remembered. "Laurana?"
"Gone:' Raistlin shrugged. "You threw her out of danger-"
"Yes . . :' Tanis said, sinking back down. "And I heard you say words, magic-"
That's why we're not crushed:' Raistlin clutched his sopping wet robes around him, shivering, and drew nearer Tanis, who was staring around as if he'd fallen onto a moon.
"Where in the name of the Abyss-'
"We're in the cellar of the Inn;" the mage said. 'The floor gave way and dropped us down here;'
Tanis looked up. "By all the gods;' he whispered in awe.
"Yes;" Raistlin said, his gaze following Tanis's. "We're buried alive:'
Beneath the ruins of the Red Dragon Inn, the companions took stock of their situation. It did not look hopeful. Goldmoon treated their injuries, which were not serious, thanks to Raistlin's spell. But they had no idea how long they had been unconscious or what was happening above them. Worse still, they had no idea how they could escape.