"Trap!" Ripple called, running toward him. Trap took two steps in her direction and passed her by thirty feet. He took off the ring and went running back.
"Wait till I tell you what happened to us, " he said, skipping up to join her.
"Save your stories until we get away from here, " Halmarain said as she trotted down the hill. "I sent Umpth to stay with the ponies. We had better hurry, some of the kobolds went that way. "
Trap had forgotten Beglug, but the young merchesti came trotting up to join the others. He growled low in his throat, more a greeting than a threat.
"Want to ride your pony?" Ripple asked him. "Ride?" She raised her hands as if holding the reins and rocked back and forth as if she were on a pony.
"You won't be able to snack on any more kobolds, " Ripple said, "But we'll find you something to eat. "
"Lava Belly eat kobolds?" Grod asked.
The two kender and the little wizard looked around, but they could not see Grod. The little fiend whirled, turning a complete circle before he whined his confusion.
"Give me back the ring, " Trap instructed Grod.
With Halmarain urging them they hurried around the hill to where Umpth was keeping the ponies calm. They were in the saddles and on their way in minutes.
"Oh, just in time, " Halmarain pointed across the hills. In the distance they saw the black-cloaked rider galloping toward a group of five kobolds. The humanoids were shouting and pointing before he brought his horse to a halt.
The six reunited travelers hurried down the side of the hill just in time to keep the black-cloaked figure on the black horse from seeing them.
Chapter 26
"I don't know why they captured us, " Ripple was saying to Halmarain. "They were really strange. When one of the kobolds tried to take one of my pouches, the leader beat him. They weren't allowed to touch us for some reason, and they seemed in a terrible hurry. I asked them where we were going, but they wouldn't tell me. They weren't very nice. "
Ripple's voice, though she spoke softly, carried a little way up the hill where Trap and Grod lay on their stomachs behind some low brush. They were watching for the man in the cloak.
The first question Halmarain had asked of Ripple when the battle was over was if she still had the gate stone. The little wizard turned pale as the kender girl seemed not to know, but a bit of searching in her pouch produced the small, white, slippery rock.
"Me see, " Grod pointed north and Trap looked just in time to see the dark rider appearing at the top of another hill more than a mile away. A few kobolds were strung out behind him in a straggling line, just as they had been when Trap first glimpsed the rider. While the kender and the gully dwarf watched, another two small humanoids joined the group. The black-robed man and the humanoids watched for a couple of minutes and then turned north, toward the city. When they were out of sight, Trap and Grod hurried down the hill.
"They're going toward the city, " Trap told his sister and the little wizard. "He's gathering up the kobolds, and they seemed to be following a trail. "
"Maybe he's following your tracks into the city, " Halmarain said. "That's the most likely place for us to seek shelter. Even if the man in the cloak could go in after us, the guards would never allow the kobolds to enter Solanthus. "
"Let's go, " Ripple said. "I'd like to see the city. "
"But if we did, they'd be watching the gates when we came out and they'd attack before we were a mile away, " Halmarain objected. "We need to leave this area now, while they're still searching. "
"Are we going west again, around the end of the Vin-gaard mountains?" Trap asked. "If we are I hope we stop at Deepdel again and they have another party, though I don't think we should allow Beglug to eat… has anyone noticed? Beglug is getting bigger. Still, he shouldn't eat any more dogs. "
"No, " Halmarain said slowly. "No, we'll go east. "
"I thought you said the wizard that was a friend of your master's lived in Palanthus. "
"They'll be expecting us to travel toward Palanthus, " Halmarain said. "We'll never escape them. No, we'll go where they least expect, in the direction they were traveling. "
"Great! We've been west. Let's go someplace new. But what about a wizard to help open the portal?" Trap asked.
Ripple was not satisfied. "I don't understand, " she complained.
Halmarain sighed. "I'm not sure I do either. There was something strange about your capture. Kobolds don't take prisoners, treat them reasonably well, and transport them long distances unless they are ordered to do so- ordered by someone they have reason to fear. "
"Gee! Wow! You mean someone wanted us to visit them?" Ripple asked. "Why didn't they just invite us, we like meeting people. Why, I can't think of anything I like better. "
"If I'm right, you would not have wanted to meet your host, " Halmarain said softly. "The emanations from the black cloaked man suggest he's undead-a death knight- and that means he was brought back from the dead by a black-robed wizard; their order studies necromancy. I think someone knows you have the gate stone. "
"Undead! Big jiggers!" Trap's eyes widened with interest. "He's died and come back to life. I'd sure like to talk to him. "
"Make good tale, that. " Grod nodded.
"Gee! It would!" Trap said, thinking of his stories of Uncle Trapspringer.
Halmarain glared, appeared to reflect, then sighed. "Who would be more interesting, a death knight or a wizard? Death knights can do magic, but he won't make illusions just to please you. "
"Why can't we just talk to him and then see the wizard?" Trap asked, wondering why the little human was always trying to take the fun out of everything.
"Because if you talk to the death knight first, he will probably kill you and you'll never get to see Orander. "
"Oh, " Trap was dubious, but he had not liked the aura of evil that emanated from the dark rider. "You're sure we'll be able to talk to a wizard? I mean, we could talk to the death knight and he would be so interesting, and we're not. It wouldn't be fair if we didn't get to meet a wizard after we give up the opportunity to talk to someone really interesting. "
"I think I know who raised the death knight. " Halmarain said. "If I'm right we need the help of someone more powerful than the wizard in Palanthus. The trouble is, I know I could count on help if we go north, and I'm not sure of-the one to the east, though he has the most power. "
"Who are these wizards?" Ripple asked. "Why won't you tell us about them?"
Halmarain gazed at the expectant faces of the kender and sighed. "I suppose I'll have to. If I don't I'll never get any peace. I'll tell you what I suspect and why. Perhaps it will help you to understand the danger. When we first saw the death knight, he was leading the kobolds. When they captured you they hurried east, which makes me think he was leading them, but their orders came from someone more powerful than the undead warrior. "
"Who?" Trap asked.
"Master Orander often spoke of a black-robed wizard of great power, Draaddis Vulter, who lives east of here and the wizards who serve Takhisis are skilled in necromancy, an art white and red-robed wizards seldom use. "
"And they were taking us east, " Ripple said.
"If I am right, the death knight is seeking you on orders from Draaddis Vulter. He has great power. We must find a wizard as powerful as Vulter to help us. The only one I know of is Master Chalmis Rosterig. He lives further east than Vulter. Understand, I can only seek the help of the wizards I learned about from my own master. Master Orander used to say Chalmis Rosterig would probably lead the wizard's council one day. He's widely known as one of the most powerful wizards on Krynn, but then so is Draaddis Vulter. "