The slug, sensing success, slithered forward, dragging its pulsating gray body through the door. Goldmoon cast a fearful glance at the huge monster, then ran to Tanis. Riverwind stood over them, protectively.
"Get away!" Tanis said through clenched teeth.
Goldmoon grasped his injured hand in her own, praying to the goddess. Riverwind fit an arrow to his bow and shot at the slug. The arrow struck the creature in the neck, doing little damage, but distracting its attention from Tanis.
The half-elf saw Goldmoon's hand touch his, but he could feel nothing but pain. Then the pain eased and feeling returned to his hand. Smiling at Goldmoon, he marveled at her healing powers, even as he lifted his head to see what was happening.
The others were attacking the creature with renewed fury, attempting to distract it from Tanis, but they might as well have been plunging their weapons into a thick, rubbery wall.
Tanis rose to his feet shakily. His hand was healed, but his sword lay on the ground, a molten lump of metal. Weaponless except for his longbow, he fell back, pulling Goldmoon with him as the slug slid into the room.
Raistlin ran to Fizban's side. "Now is the time for the casting of the fireball. Old One," he panted.
"It is?" Fizban's face filled with delight. "Wonderful! How does it go?"
"Don't you remember!" Raistlin practically shrieked, dragging the mage behind a pillar as the slug spat another glob of burning saliva onto the floor.
"I used to… let me see." Fizban's brow furrowed in concentration. "Can't you do it?"
"I have not gained the power yet. Old One! That spell is still beyond my strength!" Raistlin closed his eyes and began to concentrate on those spells he did know.
"Fall back! Get out of here!" Tanis shouted, shielding Laurana and Goldmoon as best he could while he fumbled for his longbow and his arrows.
"It'll just come after us!" Sturm yelled, thrusting his blade home once again. But all he and Caramon accomplished was to enrage the monster further.
Suddenly Raistlin held up his hands. "Kalith karan, tobaniskarf he cried, and flaming darts sprang from his fingers, striking the creature in the head. The slug reared in silent agony and shook its head, but returned to the hunt. Suddenly it lunged straight forward, sensing victims at the end of the room where Tanis sought to protect Goldmoon and Laurana. Maddened by pain, driven wild by the smell of blood, the slug attacked with unbelievable speed. Tanis's arrow bounced off the leathery hide and the monster dove for him, its mouth gaping open. The half-elf dropped the useless bow and staggered backwards, nearly stumbling over the steps leading to the throne of Kith-Kanan.
"Behind the throne!" he yelled, preparing to hold the monster's attention while Goldmoon and Laurana ran for cover. His hand reached out, grabbing for a huge rock-anything to hurl at the creature! — when his fingers closed over the metal hilt of a sword.
Tanis nearly dropped the weapon in amazement. The metal was so cold it burned his hand. The blade gleamed brightly in the wavering light of the mage's staff. There wasn't time to question, however. Tanis drove the point into the slug's gaping maw just as the creature swooped in for the kill.
"Run!" Tanis yelled. Grasping Laurana's hand, he dragged her toward the hole. Pushing her through, he turned around, preparing to help keep the slug at bay while the others escaped. But the slug's appetite had died. Writhing in misery, it slowly turned and slithered back toward its lair. Clear, sticky liquid dribbled from its wounds.
The companions crowded into the tunnel, stopping for a moment to calm their hearts and breathe deeply. Raistlin, wheezing, leaned on his brother. Tanis glanced around. "Where's Tasslehoff?" he asked in frustration. Whirling around to go back into the hall, he nearly fell over the kender.
"I brought you the scabbard" Tas said, holding it up. "For the sword."
"Back down the tunnel," Tanis said firmly, stopping everyone's questions.
Reaching the crossroads and sinking down on the dusty floor to rest, Tanis turned to the elf maid. "What in the name of the Abyss are you doing here, Laurana? Has something happened in Qualinost?"
"Nothing happened," Laurana said, shaking from the encounter with the slug. "I… I… just came."
"Then you're going right back!" Gilthanas yelled angrily, grabbing Laurana. She broke away from his grasp.
"I'm not either going back," she said petulantly. "I'm coming with you and Tanis and… the rest."
"Laurana, this is madness," Tanis snapped. "We're not going on an outing. This isn't a game. You saw what happened in there-we were nearly killed!"
"I know, Tanthalas," Laurana said pleadingly. Her voice quivered and broke. "You told me that there comes a time when you've got to risk your life for something you believe in. I'm the one who followed you."
"You could have been killed-" Gilthanas began.
"But I wasn't!" Laurana cried defiantly. "I have been trained as a warrior-all elven women are, in memory of the time when we fought beside our men to save our homeland."
"It's not serious training-" Tanis began angrily.
"I followed you, didn't I?" Laurana demanded, casting a glance at Sturm. "Skillfully?" she asked the knight.
"Yes," he admitted.
"Still, that doesn't mean-"
Raistlin interrupted him. "We are losing time," the mage whispered. "And I for one do not want to spend any longer than I must in this dank and musty tunnel." He was wheezing, barely able to breathe. "The girl has made her decision. We can spare no one to return with her, nor do we dare trust her to leave on her own. She might be captured and reveal our plans. We must take her."
Tanis glared at the mage, hating him for his cold, unfeeling logic, and for being right. The half-elf stood up, yanking Laurana to her feet. He came very close to hating her, too, without quite understanding why, knowing simply that she was making a difficult task much harder.
"You are on your own," he told her quietly, as the rest stood up and gathered their things. "I can't hang around, protecting you. Neither can Gilthanas. You have behaved like a spoiled brat. I told you once before-you better grow up. Now, if you don't, you're going to die and probably get all the rest of us killed right along with you!"
"I'm sorry, Tanthalas," Laurana said, avoiding his angry gaze. "But I couldn't lose you, not again. I love you." Her lips tightened and she said softly, "I'll make you proud of me."
Tanis turned and walked away. Catching sight of Caramon's grinning face and hearing Tika giggle, he flushed. Ignoring them, he approached Sturm and Gilthanas. "It seems we must take the right-hand corridor after all, whether or not Raistlin's feelings about evil are correct." He buckled on his new sword belt and scabbard, noticing, as he did so, Raistlin's eyes lingering on the weapon.
"What is it now?" he asked irritably.
"The sword is enchanted," Raistlin said softly, coughing. "How did you get it?"
Tanis started. He stared at the blade, moving his hand as though it might turn into a snake. He frowned, trying to remember. "I was near the body of the elven king, searching for something to throw at the slug, when, suddenly, the sword was in my hand. It had been taken out of the sheath and-" Tanis paused, swallowing,
"Yes?" Raistlin pursued, his eyes glittering eagerly.
"He gave it to me," Tanis said softly. "I remember, his hand touched mine. He pulled it from its sheath."
"Who?" asked Gilthanas. "None of us were near there."
"Kith-Kanan…"
10
The Royal Guard. The Chain Room
Perhaps it was just imagination, but the darkness seemed thicker as they walked down the other tunnel and the air grew colder. No one needed the dwarf to tell them that this was not normal in a cave, where the temperature supposedly stayed constant. They reached a branch in the tunnel, but no one felt inclined to go left, which might lead them back to the Hall of the Ancients-and the wounded slug.