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."Where do we go once we leave this room? Do you know the way out?""Yes," Tas said eagerly."If s through the Shoikan Grove, a really horrible haunted forest filled with undead who want to devour your flesh and hold your soul in torment throughout all eternity.I know.I saw it once, but I never got to go inside.Only Caramon got to go.Some people have all the luck."He paused a moment, misty-eyed, remembering the good times.Then, whistling a dwarven marching tune, he wiped his nose on his sleeve and cheerfully returned to the task at hand.The pick rattled inside the lock.The lock remained locked.Tas frowned, slid the pick back into his kit, selected another, and tried again."Then it doesn't matter whether we get out of here or not.If we can't get through this grove, we're still trapped here!" Usha sounded disheartened.Tas paused to consider."I know the grove keeps people out, but I never heard anything about it keeping people in.Maybe we won't have any problems at all.""Do you think so?" Usha regarded him with renewed hope."If s worth a try." Tas pried away at the lock energetically."The worst that can happen is that skeletal hands will reach up out of the ground and try to grab our ankles and drag us under the dirt, where we'll die in terrible agony."Usha gulped, apparently not seeing the fun in all this."Maybe.maybe we should just stay here after all, wait for Dalamar to return." She returned to her chair and sat down."Got it!" Tas cried triumphantly.The lock made a loud snick.Tas threw open the door.Two cold, disembodied white eyes stared at him from the darkness."Oh, hullo there," Tas said to the undead being, somewhat taken aback at its sudden appearance."Shut the door!" Usha cried urgently."Shut it quick! Before that.that thing comes in here!""It's just a specter," Tas said, and he politely held out his hand."How do you do? My name is Tasslehoff Burrfoot.Oh, I guess you must find it hard to shake hands, seeing as how you don't have any.I'm sorry.I hope that didn't make you feel bad.I know I'd feel really bad if I didn't have any hands.But it's very nice to meet you.What's your name?"The specter didn't respond.The eyes floated nearer.A bone-numbing chill flowed into the room.Usha jumped out of her chair, ran behind it."Shut the door, Tas! Please, please! Shut the door!""It's all right, Usha," Tas called, though he involuntarily backed up a pace or two."Come in," he invited the specter politely."We were just leaving."The unblinking eyes moved inexorably back and forth."We're not leaving," Tas guessed, and he was starting to grow a bit miffed.He had really spent as much time in this room as he wanted.Perhaps the specter was lonely, wanted to engage in some pleasant conversation."You're one of the undead, aren't you? Would you happen to know Lord Soth? He's a death knight and a great friend of mine."The specter's eyes glittered in a decidedly hostile manner.Tas suddenly recalled that Lord Soth, having tricked Kitiara into almost murdering Dalamar, probably wasn't highly revered among those who guarded the tower."Uh, mmm, not really a friend," the kender admitted, backing up another pace or two.As the eyes floated nearer, the temperature in the room fell to an uncomfortable level."More like an acquaintance.He never comes to visit or drops by for lunch or anything.Well, it's certainly been nice chatting with you.Now, if you'll just step aside, we'll slip out and not bother you anymore.""Tas!" Usha screamed.The kender tripped on the trailing skirt of the tablecloth and fell down.The specter hovered over him a moment, then, suddenly, it was gone.The door slammed shut.The chill abated.Usha, shaking all over, crouched behind the chair."What was that thing?""Extremely rude," Tasslehoff remarked, picking himself up and dusting himself off."I admit that most undead I've met aren't very good conversationalists, with the exception of the spectral minions we ran into in Darken Wood, who very obligingly told us their life stories, all about how they were cursed and everything.Only they talked by using Raistlin's mouth.They had mouths of their own-no lips, only mouths.It was truly wonderful.This specter doesn't have any mouth, which I guess is why it never says anything.Would you like to hear the story about Darken Wood? Since Raistlin is your father and all-""I just want to get out of this horrible place!" Usha snapped.She shivered with fear, but she was growing angry, too."Why are they holding us prisoner? I don't understand!""Probably because Raistlin is your father," Tas suggested after considering the matter."Dalamar was Raistlin's apprentice, but the dark elf was also the Conclave's spy on Raistlin, because he was a renegade wizard, and they didn't trust him.Raistlin knew that Dalamar was a spy, and he punished Dalamar by boring holes in the elf's flesh.The bloody holes are still there, and they still hurt him, but don't ask Dalamar to let you look at them, because that puts him in a really bad mood.I know.I did once."After that, Dalamar was going to kill Raistlin when Raistlin tried to come back through the Portal of the Abyss after almost defeating the Dark Queen, which was when Caramon tried to go through the grove and Tanis almost fought with Lord Soth, only he couldn't because I stole his magical bracelet."Tas had to pause here to breathe.Usha stared at him, wide-eyed."This Raistlin.I mean my father.My father did all that! You never told me that part!" She sank back down, limp, in her chair [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]