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Crepuscule	By : Skullbearer Category: A through F > Dragonlance Views: 2832 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the book(s) that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Again thanks to Chetwynd for the beta work and the ideas.
Dagmar the Dark: Thank you.
Pen D. Fox: Of course they will be different, Dalamar's too cool to take a backseat on things!
Xelloss-chan: It's Darken Wood in English, thank you for the review.

Crepuscule
Chapter 3- Of Exhaustion
I want to see if you know me
I was born in a rented room
-Northern Soul, The Verve.
By the time Raistlin had reached ground level, he was exhausted. Never tolerant of physical stress even before the Test, the long march, the mad flight and the arduous climb both up and down the vallenwoods had been more than he could stand. As the group marched off towards Crystalmir lake, the mage found himself beginning to lag behind.
He fought down a sigh, now it was a toss up to see who'd notice first. Mercifully, it was Dalamar.
Raistlin opened his mouth to argue, but the Dark elf raised a hand to forestall him. "I haven't forgotten what we talked about in the Sentinel Peaks, nor am I trying to smother you like your brother would, but even you cannot deny that you /are/ having problems and neither are you the only one. Look-" he pointed at Goldmoon, who was leaning heavily on Riverwind's arm- "So let me help you, before we fall behind completely."
Raistlin shot him a half grateful, half exasperated look and let Dalamar put an arm around his shoulders. The soft fabric of the Dark elf's black robes brushed gently against his back.
It wasn't long before the vallenwoods- and mercifully, the search parties- were behind them. Buoyed by his brother's previous attention, Caramon had come over to offer his aid and was repulsed with a snarl from Raistlin.
Behind them, they could hear a vehement argument raging between Tanis and Flint, although the Half-elf spared a moment to scowl at Raistlin, Tanis was planning to use a boat to cross the lake away from the search parties, and the dwarf was point-blank refusing. Raistlin sighed, was /everything/ conspiring against them tonight?
The lake was probably as cold as it looked and this time Raistlin had no problem asking Dalamar for assistance to get into the boat. To get wet was an invitation to get ill, especialy now the temperature was dropping rapidly. A clear night might be beautiful, but it would be very cold. The Dark elf shot him a quick smile- one that clearly said /did the Abyss just freeze over?/- and helped him into the boat before climbing in himself.
Although Raistlin feared they would be caught before they could shove off due to the dwarf's stubbornness, Half-elven was just as eager to leave as they were. After a terse argument with Flint, in which the dwarf snorted that he would rather take his chances with the Theocrat than the boat, Tanis gave up and got in himself.
Raistlin shivered, the cold was getting more pronounced and he huddled back into the welcome warmth of Dalamar's robes. The Dark elf put his arms around him and wrapped them both in his cloak.
"The fool." Dalamar breathed, watching Flint kick his way along the lakeside as they rowed away. Raistlin looked at him questioningly.
"He knows where we're going, where we're going to stay the night, and if whoever's behind the search for the staff was willing to search every house in Solace to find it, they won't have any qualms about how to get the dwarf to tell them what he knows."
Tanis looked sickened at Dalamar's callous words, although he couldn't refute their value. "'Stubborn as a dwarf.'" He snapped, "Flint will tell them nothing, and anyway-" he broke off, staring over the mage's shoulders at the bank.
Flint was charging towards them, waving his arms and shouting. "Hang on! I'm coming!"
Clearly, Raistlin thought, the dwarf had seen the goblins, who were now charging out of the tree line, and reconsidered.
Although he couldn't see the goblins, the amount of torches making their way towards them was daunting. Worse, he could see their light glinting off the sharpened points of arrowheads. Archers.
"I'll cover him." Tanis stood up in the rocking boat and unslung his own bow, starting to shoot arrows into the massing ranks of goblins while Caramon tried to reach Flint before the dwarf went under.
The two mages also got to their feet, staggering slightly at the wild motions of the boat as Tasslehoff tried to row them back. They shared a quick glance, "Aim by the shoreline," Dalamar whispered, his sharp eyes picking out the goblins, "There are a group of archers massing on the right."
Raistlin nodded, sliding his mind into the familiar concentration of spellcasting and reaching into a pouch for the components.
The look on Caramon's face was quite comical when the lead goblin, who had almost caught up with him, was mown down by a double blast of magic. Over on the bank, the arrows abruptly ceased when the archers suddenly decided they could do with a good nap.
The big man finally reached the boat and heaved Flint bodily into it before climbing in himself.
Raistlin had collapsed back down, his chest seizing up again and black motes dancing before his eyes. Gods, he was so /tired/.
Gods...
He was looking over the side of the boat. The water was smooth as glass, broken only by the ripples of the oars and the boat's keel. It mirrored the heavens like some enormous looking-glass, reflecting the mountains, the newly risen moons, the stars... and darkness.
Raistlin blinked, surely that wasn't right. Slowly, he tracked up from the shimmering surface of the lake to the night sky.
Where once stars had spun and shone their cold light, there was nothing.
Raistlin reached out and tapped on Dalamar's arm, there was no need, the Dark elf had followed his gaze and had seen the gaping void in the sky. Nor were they the only ones, Goldmoon and Riverwind too were looking up, whispering in their own language.
Raistlin reached out and caught Tanis's shoulder, tightening his grip when the Half-elf tried to pull away. "Tanis..." Raistlin internally winced at the whispering hiss that was all he could muster and the hitch which promised more coughing.
"What?"
Raistlin didn't bother trying to speak, jerking his head up at the sky. Tanis looked, shrugged, and Raistlin cursed the Half-elf's idiocy. He would have to explain.
Resigning himself to another coughing fit, he snarled at Tanis. "The constellations."
"What about them?"
Was he really as blind as he was stupid? Raistlin tried to ignore the tell-tale tightening of his throat and was about to try again when Dalamar interrupted, "They're gone you blithering idiot." He snarled, obviously irked that Raistlin would have had to nearly choke himself to explain the blindingly obvious.
Raistlin swallowed dryly a few times and forced back the pain in his chest, shooting a thankful look at Dalamar.
The Dark elf continued "There. The constellation of the Queen of Darkness was there. It's gone. And over there, that was the Valiant Warrior, also gone." Dalamar seemed paler in the dim light, and his voice died to a whisper, "Gone to fight her."
Raistlin rested his chin on his hand, nodding. "The rumors." He whispered, "War, death, destruction..." He trailed off as the coughing fit finally seized him. "All true..." The words were choked.
"C'mon Raist," Caramon said soothingly, "It's only a bunch of stars-" It was his turn to break off under the force of the twin stares boring balefully through him. If Raistlin and Dalamar had been intimidating before, it was nothing to how they were now. The loathing written into every part of their expressions was enough to render anyone speechless.
Raistlin didn't speak. With his chest still tightened it would have been impossible, and he was beyond speech anyway. His brother's condecending tone made the idea of throwing him overboard and using him as magical target practice inviting.
Dalamar did speak, and his words were dripping with scorn. "Only a bunch of stars," he sneered. "As opposed to, say, 'only a bunch of mountains', or 'only a bunch of islands'. The moons are the Gods of Magic and the constellations show the other divinities! Only a bunch of stars indeed!"
Tanis was still staring up at the sky as if he'd never seen it before, seeming to have barely heard the exchange.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The boat hit the opposite shore with a crunch of shingle which jerked Raistlin out of the half sleep he had sunk into. Dalamar helped him out of the boat and towards one of the many caves sunken into the cliffs on this side of the lake.
The opening was deceptively small, and just as well, for not only would it be hard for their pursuers to spot, but they might also pass it over in favour of larger caves. Once inside, however, it was large enough to accomodate all of them, though as Tasslehoff remarked, there wasn't much in the way of furniture.
A light rain had started outside, and the dry cave was a welcome respite, especially when a fire had been started and branches stacked to keep out the rain.
Raistlin sat down beside the fire, Dalamar beside him. The coughing spasm he had been suppressing caught up with him and he doubled over, hacking up blood.
It was a relief, when the wracking cough finally ceased, to feel the familiar touch on his back, rubbing slowly. He leant back against it, feeling the Dark elf's hands soothe away the residual tension.
"Come here," Dalamar whispered.
Raistlin was happy to oblige, scooting back until he was almost sitting in the elf's lap and those warm arms were wrapped around him. It was a simple motion then, for Dalamar to brush his white hair away and to press his thin lips against the tender skin of his neck.
Raistlin sighed. Their idea of traveling to Solace had been planned as much to be a break as information seeking. Warm food, good beds, and the opportunity to indulge their passions in each other, something which it could be difficult to find time to do otherwise.
Instead of that, they were here; in a damp cave on a cold and now rather wet night while having to share their sleeping room with the last group of people they would want to. Raistlin didn't have enough energy to spare for anger, but he did feel rather disappointed.
The sound of someone nearby broke him out of his introspection. Goldmoon was standing beside them, holding a cup looking uneasy. Clearly she wasn't sure what to make of the two of them together.
"Can you drink this?" She offered the cup to him. Wine.
The taste of his own blood was still strong in Raistlin's mouth and there was little he wanted more than to wash it out, but the tight band around his chest made drinking anything impossible. He shook his head, fighting back the spasm. Dalamar stroked his back and the pain abated a little.
Goldmoon was clearly unsure, possibly they didn't have same-sex couples in Que-shu, he thought sarcastically, or maybe it was the fact that Dalamar was an elf that disturbed her. She should join up with Caramon and the others, he thought bitterly, they'd get along marvelously. He'd lost count of how many times Caramon had offered to find him a girl if he left Dalamar.
"Perhaps... my staff?" She asked hesitantly.
Raistlin didn't have to see Dalamar to know what he must be feeling at that moment. The Dark elf wanted to believe that the staff could cure Raistlin- how often had he tried to convince his lover to search for a cure?- but no doubt he could remember all too well what had happened when Raistlin had tried to pick up the staff. The human mage's palms ached in sympathy at that thought.
"Perhaps-" Dalamar started.
The effort it took to speak was almost too much, Raistlin's voice was a cracked whisper, interbroken with fits of coughing as he interrupted. "No. The staff will not heal me... as I have told you many times"- the last aimed at Dalamar- "Do not waste it's power... for if it is indeed a blessed artifact... it's power is limited. Do not use it unless you have to..." Another glance at Dalamar, "My body was my sacrifice for the magic. The damage is permanent. /Nothing/ can help."
And by all the Gods, it would spare them both a lot of pain if Dalamar could just resign himself to it as Raistlin had.
The awkward moment was broken by Sturm dragging Flint into the cave. The dwarf had nearly drowned on the voyage over and appeared to be in shock, and Sturm wasn't in an excellent mood either, scowling darkly at the two mages.
Raistlin ignored the knight, he was tired and cold, and despite the lack of privacy he felt quite happy to curl up against Dalamar and go to sleep.
In fact, that didn't seem like such a bad idea at all.
It took only a few short moments to unwrap the bedroll they shared and to climb in together, throwing their cloaks on top of the thin blankets for extra warmth.
Raistlin rested his head on his bundled up robes and burrowed up against the dark elf, who certainly hadn't been averse to turning in himself.
He was just starting to drift off when a fight broke out between Riverwind and Sturm, Raistlin opened one eye and shared first a despairing look with Dalamar, then a lingering kiss.
Argument or no argument, before it was settled he had slid into a sleep as black as the night outside.

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Crepuscule