Margaret Weis - Dragons of Spring Dawning (Dragonlance Chronicles, Book 3)

Insane, desperate rage twisted Taniss face. Somehow hed make Raistlin listen to reason! Somehow they would all use this strange magic to escape! Tanis started forward, then stopped. From nowhereseeminglyhad come a small silver dagger, long concealed, fastened to the mages wrist by a cunningly designed leather thong.

All right, Tanis said, breathing heavily. Youd kill me without a second thought. But what about your brother? Caramon, stop him!

Caramon took a step toward his twin. Raistlin raised the silver dagger warningly.

Dont make him come near me, Tanis, Raistlin said. I assure you. I am capable of this, truly. What I have sought all my life is within my grasp. I will let nothing stop me. Look at Caramons face, Tanis! He knows! I killed him once. I can do it again.

The War of the Lance nears its end for good or for evil.

DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES
Volume Three
DRAGONS OF SPRING DAWNING
1985 TSR, Inc.
Cover Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast LLC

All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Published by Wizards of the Coast LLC. W IZARDS OF THE C OAST , D RAGONLANCE , D UNGEONS & D RAGONS , D&D, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries.

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Cover art by Matt Stawicki
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-65600

eISBN: 978-0-7869-5439-1

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v3.1

To Angel and Curtis, my children, my hope, and my life
Tracy Raye Hickman
To the Commons Bridge Group, University of Missouri, 1966-70:
Nancy Olson, Bill Fisher, Nancy Burnett, Ken Randolph,
Ed Bristol, Herb the fry cook,
And in memory of Bob Campbell and John Steele, who died in Viet Nam,
And to the rest of that wonderful group
of mismatched friends
this book about friends is fondly dedicatedMargaret Weis

Kitiara, of all the days these days
are rocked in dark and waiting, in regret.
The clouds obscure the city as I write this,
delaying thought and sunlight, as the streets
hang between day and darkness. I have waited
past all decision, past the heart in shadows
to tell you this.

In absences you grew

more beautiful, more poisonous, you were
an attar of orchids in the swimming night,
where passion, like a shark drawn down a bloodstream,
murders four senses, only taste preserving,
buckling into itself, finding the blood its own,
a small wound first, but as the shark unravels
the belly tatters in the long throats tunnel.
And knowing this, the night still seems a richness,
a gauntlet of desires ending in peace,
I would still be part of these allurements,
and to my arms I would take in the darkness,
blessed and renamed by pleasure;

but the light,

the light, my Kitiara, when the sun
spangles the rain-gorged sidewalks, and the oil
from doused lamps rises in the sunstruck water,
splintering the light to rainbows! I arise,
and though the storm resettles on the city,
I think of Sturm, Laurana, and the others,
but Sturm the foremost, who can see the sun
straight through the fog and cloudrack. How could I
abandon these?

And so into the shadow,

and not your shadow but the eager grayness
expecting light, I ride the storm away.

W hy, look, Berem. Heres a path. How strange. All the times weve been hunting in these woods and weve never seen it.

Its not so strange. The fire burned off some of the brush, thats all. Probably just an animal trail.

Lets follow it. If it is an animal trail, maybe well find a deer. We ve been hunting all day with nothing to show for it. I hate to go home empty-handed.

Without waiting for my reply, she turns onto the trail. Shrugging, I follow her. It is pleasant being outdoors today, the first warm day after the bitter chill of winter. The sun is warm on my neck and shoulders. Walking through the fire-ravaged woods is easy. No vines to snag you. No brush to tear at your clothing. Lightning, probably that thunderstorm which struck late last fall.

But we walk for a long time and finally I begin to grow weary. She is wrongthis is no animal trail. It is a man-made path and an old one at that. Were not likely to find any game. Just the same as its been all day. The fire, then the hard winter: The animals dead or gone. Therell be no fresh meat tonight.

More walking. The sun is high in the sky. Im tired, hungry. Theres been no sign of any living creature.

Lets turn back, sister. Theres nothing here.

She stops, sighing. She is hot and tired and discouraged, I can tell. And too thin. She works too hard, doing womens work and mens as well. Out hunting when she should be home, receiving the pledges of suitors. Shes pretty, I think. People say we look alike, but I know they are wrong. It is only that we are so closecloser than other brothers and their sisters. But weve had to be close. Our life has been so hard.

I suppose youre right, Berem. Ive seen no sign Wait, brother Look ahead. Whats that?

I see a bright and shining glitter, a myriad colors dancing in the sunlightas if all the jewels on Krynn were heaped together in a basket.

Her eyes widen. Perhaps its the gates of the rainbow!

Ha! Stupid girlish notion. I laugh, but I find myself running forward. It is hard to catch up with her. Though I am bigger and stronger, she is fleet as a deer.

We come to a clearing in the forest. If lightning did strike thisforest, this must have been where the bolt hit. The land around is scorched and blasted. There was a building here once, I notice. Ruined, broken columns jut up from the blackened ground like broken bones sticking through decaying flesh. An oppressive feeling hangs over the place. Nothing grows here, nor has anything grown here for many springs. I want to leave, but I cannot.

Before me is the most beautiful, wonderful sight I have ever seen in my life, in my dreams. A piece of a stone column, encrusted with jewels! I know nothing about gemstones, but I can tell these are valuable beyond belief! My body begins to shake. Hurrying forward, I kneel down beside the fire-blasted stone and brush away the dirt and filth