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Summer of Flame	By : sinaline Category: A through F > Dragonlance Views: 1891 -:- 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
- 5
- 6
- 7
A/N: This will end the “Wanna Bet” arc, but this isn’t the end of the story. There are a few chapters after this encompassing the “Summer of Chaos”.
Can we say the words: Raistlin’s little secret is out...

Chapter Five:

The Scales of Balance

Raistlin, Tanin and Dougan paused outside of the door. Raistlin was visibly gritting his teeth, and Dougan asked, “It’s there, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, let’s get this over with,” Dougan opened the door.
Tanin wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but what he saw was definitely not it. Even Raistlin creased his brows in obvious surprise, then they looked at each other and smiled. In the center of the room set upon a stone pedestal was the greygem. It was a gem that not only constantly changed its shape and size, but also the amount of its facets, as if it could not stay in one constant form.
The three of them walked into the room. “Who’s there?” croaked a voice.
Raistlin turned to the voice, “I am the Guardian of the Greater Balance. What has gone on here?”
“The Greygem cursed me!” exclaimed the voice, now a strange trilling sound.
The form shuffled over and the three men had to look in disbelief and horror at what they saw. If the Greygem could not hold its shape, it at least remained a gem. This... thing... could not hold definite shape, nor a size, and constantly changed its form. In one horrible moment, Raistlin realized that this was Lord Gargath.
* * *
Caramon packed his things and saddled the horse while Tika watched. She handed him the
package of trail bread and he kissed her. “You will write?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said. “And I’ll bring them back to us.”
He then mounted the horse, adjusted his sword belt and rode off from Solace, headed for
Solanthus where his friend Tanis Half-Elven resided with his wife Laurana and their son Gilthas.
* * *
The three companions from the Miracle looked at Lord Gargath in shock. “What happened to you?” asked Tanin.
“As I said, I was cursed by the Greygem,” his form shifted again, this time to a centaur. “Now, as it has a chaotic nature, I cannot even... oh, take this curse from me!”
Raistlin stepped towards the gem and it pulsed. In response, Raistlin’s skin changed to the golden color. He heard Gargath hiss in surprise, as he was now a feline, “You’re not a White Robe at all! You’re Raistlin Majere!”
“I am the Guardian,” stated Raistlin evenly.
He turned in surprise as the door opened, and the women from downstairs piled in, now dressed in their culture’s warrior dress and fully armed. With a frown, Raistlin turned to face them. The leader, the eldest woman that had taken a liking to Raistlin, said, “Step away Dark Wizard.”
“No.”
They advanced, but Dougan jumped in, “Now, now. You’re being called by the Greygem. Don’t let it affect you.”
“And why should we?” asked the woman. “If you take it we have to go back to our former lives.”
“Then let me make a wager,” Dougan pointed to Raistlin. “I bet that this wizard can throw my warhammer so that it does not hit the ground.”
The woman looked at Raistlin, “No magic?”
“Without magic,” agreed Dougan. “Now, if Raistlin here can do it, you go have to go back to your village and work things out with your men.”
“And if he doesn’t?” asked the woman looking Raistlin up and down. “If he doesn’t we get to keep him.”
Raistlin jumped in at this point, “Ah, Dougan...”
“Agreed!” and Dougan shook her hand, the deal sealed.
Raistlin and Tanin looked at each other, a little more than worried. Raistlin, for his part, was getting seriously disgusted with being pulled into bets by Dougan. Tanin was more worried about being stuck on Gargath Isle for the rest of his life. Dougan pulled Raistlin aside, “Now, here is what I want you to do...”
“...How could you get me involved in another stupid bet?” snarled Raistlin.
“We can’t lose?” retorted Dougan. “I want you to start here and take three steps and throw. Trust me, my boy, you won’t be stuck here.”
“I had better not be!” was Raistlin’s sharp reply.
Raistlin rubbed his hands and picked up the warhammer with both hands, grunting with the effort it took to even lift the bloody thing. Taking one step, then spinning it to use the momentum of the hammer in the throw, he took two more steps and when the hammer was at the lowest point let it go.
It arced up in the air and Raistlin bent over to catch his breath from the exertion. He looked up and watched as it spun through the air.
Even he could see that it wasn’t going to land on the floor at all given how he had thrown it.
For a moment, the Greygem shrank as if sensing the blow to come. The hammer arced down and the impact of the hammer on the Greygem was enough to send both flying into Dougan’s hands. With a smile and flourish he brandished both, “Well, ladies, I guess it is back to your village for you!”
A small groan escaped the leader’s lips and she pinched Raistlin’s bottom. He stood straight up and glared at her, but she only smiled. “Too bad, you might have liked being my love slave!”
With that the women left. Raistlin walked over to Gargath, who had, when the Greygem had landed safely back in Dougan’s hands, had changed back to normal. “I trust you learned your lesson when it comes to powerful artifacts?”
“Oh yes,” said Gargath as he stood. “Thank you for freeing me!”
Raistlin nodded, clapped Tanin on the shoulder and said, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
* * *
A few days later, they stood on the beach as the gnomes paddled the landing boat to the beach to pick them up. Dougan, Tanin, and Raistlin boarded the dinghy and went back to the Miracle. Raistlin, with a sigh, headed back to their shared quarters and climbed into bed. Tanin did the same after bathing.
Raistlin remained awake, listening to his nephew’s snore. It had taken almost a full week to finish the Gargath mission and he was tired. The slow return to Palanthas, which was where Dougan swore the Miracle was headed next, would serve as a time for Raistlin to rest and recover his lost spells. Granted, not that he had needed any in the end, but the trip in and out tended to wear even the best memorization.
With that, he joined his nephew in sleep.
* * *
Caramon allowed the stabler to take his horse as he boarded the ship that would take him across the short jaunt (comparably to other journeys, anyway) across the Straits of Schallsea. It was a two day journey in itself, if one ignored the four days it had taken to get to Crossing.
Two days later, he was in Solanthus. (Which, unbeknownst to him, was the same day that Tanin and Raistlin had re-boarded the Miracle and on their way back...)
He knocked on his friend’s door and a human servant opened the door, “How may I help you?”
“I need to talk to Tanis,” said Caramon urgently. “Tell him that it’s about the Majeres.”
The door closed in his face, but a few moments later the door opened to Tanis’ anxious face, “Did you say... Caramon! What a surprise! What’s wrong?”
Trust Tanis, even though surprised, to be able to tell at a moment’s glance that something was very wrong. He ushered Caramon into the foyer of his home and said to the servant, “We’ll be fine.”
The servant nodded and walked away. Tanis led Caramon into a study and leaned on his desk, “What’s wrong?”
Caramon handed him Uth Wistan’s note. As Tanis read it, his hands went to his mouth, “Missing?”
“Yes, missing. I need your help. We have to find them,” cried Caramon. “Tika was beside herself with worry.”
Tanis nodded his agreement, his face growing serious, “Of course I’ll help you. So, according to this we start in Thonvil?”
“I was thinking Palanthas...”
* * *
Sturm had been in the Tower for three weeks and no sign of either Tanin or Raistlin. Dalamar had assured them that if either had died, they would have known by now. Even still, it was a difficult task to simply wait. Using a little bit of money, and the charming Yeris or Meilena for company, he had gone shopping for some clothing that was a bit more suitable for wearing around Palanthas.
In so doing, he saw Crysania in the marketplace, “Lady Crysania!”
He saw the two wizards hang back, and knowing that their beliefs were different than Crysania’s, he bid them farewell and agreed to meet later at Mistress Jenna’s shop.
Crysania’s brows knit at his approach, “Your voice is familiar...”
“It’s Sturm Majere, Revered Daughter,” and he bowed, even though he knew she could not see him.
The relief was plain on her face, “Paladine be praised! I was so worried when I had heard that you had been kidnapped...”
She leaned close, “Where is Palin and Tanin?”
“Uh... I haven’t seen them in three weeks,” he admitted. “Palin thought it would be better to only have two...”
“Oh, then you know as well,” she said. “I am deeply grieved to have heard about the passing of your brother, Sturm. So, you were left behind?”
The unspoken question was, of course, Then where were you staying the entire time? Sturm answered both, “Yeah, Uncle Raistlin left me as his guest in his Tower. Oh, but it’s not so bad. I get to stay in his rooms and I’m treated like a prince. Granted, I would like to know when they’re coming back...”
Crysania nodded in sympathy when another voice, this one relieved, was heard, “Sturm! Thank all the Gods in Krynn!”
Crysania and Sturm turned, and Sturm was very happy, and also ironically very alarmed, to see his father and Tanis run up to them. Caramon picked his second eldest son up in a heartfelt hug. “I’m so relieved!” he cried into his son’s hair. “Where are Palin and Tanin?”
“Uh...” Sturm was not sure what to say.
Raistlin had told him not to say anything, but how could he explain how he had gotten to the Tower? Crysania, thankfully, supplied the answer, “Dalamar scryed him, teleported him. He did not have the strength to teleport the other two, however. But he assured me that they are safe. Sturm has been staying in the Tower of High Sorcery for the past three weeks. I only just saw him today, isn’t that right, Sturm?”
“Oh... yes...” agreed Sturm lamely.
Tanis’ eyes knit. “He’s been staying where?”
Then two women wizards came running up, and the one in red robes said, “Oh, there you are, Sturm. We’ve been looking all over for you. You were supposed to meet us... oh... hello...”
Sturm blushed deeply, “Father, Tanis, Crysania, this is Meilena of the Order of Red Robes, she from Valkinord, and Yeris of the Order of Black Robes, from Haven. Meilena, Yeris, this is my father Caramon Majere, and his best friend Tanis Half-Elven, and Revered Daughter Crysania.”
The two wizards bowed slightly, and Yeris said politely, “How do you do?”
The two men looked at her, then at each other. Tanis, who gained his speech a bit quicker, “We are well, and you, fair Wizard?”
“We are as well,” answered Meilena. “Ah, Dalamar is expecting us at the Tower...”
She trailed off as she saw another that was quite obviously related to Sturm, and the thin man with the Staff of the Magius. Her mind went blank for a moment, and the others turned to regard the two approaching young men. Caramon seemed to breathe easier, and he cried out, “Oh, my sons, I was so worried when you were assumed missing in action.”
He enveloped them both in a hug, first giving his eldest son a kiss on the cheek, then his third son. He released them and they walked back to stand in the group. Tanis had to stare a little at Palin. He could not put his finger on it, but there just was not something quite right with Palin. He watched as Palin smiled and even hugged his father back, then watched as they milled about.
Of course, Meilena had finally found her voice, “Sirs... Dalamar is likely...”
Palin whipped around to regard Meilena, and Tanis, with an eerie sense of deja vu, watched as he said in a quiet voice, “Give Dalamar our regards, but we must be going.”
The tone left no room for argument and Tanis suddenly placed it, but his mind screamed in denial. He had seen Raistlin die. A doubtful side of himself whispered, No, you did not see him die, you saw him face the Dark Queen and fall to his knees moments before the Portal closed... but you did not see him die... There just was no way that it was... Then their eyes locked, and Tanis knew the truth. For a moment he was stuck speechless. Raistlin was not only without the curse of the hourglass eyes, but also looked normal. He was as powerful as he had been when he had died... but somehow sadder as well.
Not to mention that he actually let himself be hugged and even hugged back. He blinked in surprise. “Ah...” he began and the Majere’s all looked at him. “Can we discuss something in private?”
* * *
Tanis paced Crysania’s study as he sought to make sense of it. Caramon watched, as did ‘Palin’... no... god dammit, it was Raistlin. But for how long...? Finally he stopped and glared at Raistlin, who had the grace to pale and look away. “How could you do it?” he demanded of Crysania, never taking his eyes from Raistlin. “‘Dalamar scryed Sturm’, my ass, respectfully, of course, Revered Daughter.”
“It’s not her fault...” began Raistlin.
“Oh, how we can change, right?” Tanis turned on Raistlin.
Caramon stood up and said, “What is going on?”
“Caramon, would you look closely at ‘Palin’ and tell me what you see, what you honestly see?” Tanis stressed the name, as if it was not the real name.
Caramon was not a stupid man. He tended to think things through more, and therefore gave off the impression of being a touch slow, but given the right push, he tended to figure things out. He stared at Raistlin, then gasped, “BY ALL THE GODS?! Raist? Is... is it really you?”
Raistlin sighed and said, “Yes. It’s really me... I couldn’t tell you.”
“Why?” demanded Tanis and Caramon at the same time.
“Would you believe that I did not have the heart to? And quite frankly, I still don’t, but now I guess I must,” Raistlin got up and looked out the window. “Caramon... oh... my brother...”
Raistlin looked down, the regret etched into the lines on his face. “I’m sorry I failed you.”
This admission was like a bucket of ice water being dumped on both Tanis and Caramon.
“Raist...”
“Caramon... Palin died during his Test. I was not fast enough to save him when the Dark Queen interfered. And for that I am deeply sorry,” he turned back and watched Caramon sink into the chair heavily. “But, just so you know, never once did he beg for his life nor did he compromise his beliefs in good. You would have been so proud of him... I know I was.”
The last part was so quiet that even Tanis with his hearing had almost not heard it. The mood in the room quickly dropped, and Caramon asked, “So it was you the entire time. You, who Tika and I put to bed that night. You we nursed back to health after the bandit attack. You... oh... I should have known when you cast Meteor Swarm.”
“You saw not only what you wanted to see, but also what I wanted you to see,” said Raistlin gently. “This time, however, instead of using you, I was trying to spare you the pain of grief. If I was wrong, I am deeply sorry.”
Tanis decided to stay on the sidelines of this. So far, after finding out he was Raistlin, Tanis had been surprised to see the old Raistlin... the Raistlin before the Test. While he had always been quiet, before the Test he had been more humane, more compassionate. This was the side Tanis was seeing again.
And he was really glad to see it. A part of him missed the quiet, introspective, but highly intelligent planner of their group. Raistlin looked up at Tanis. “I am sorry for what I have done to you as well, old friend.”
“Well, we have you back now,” said Tanis. “And that’s what matters. If its any consolation, if you don’t feel comfortable at your Tower anymore, we have a spare bedroom in Solanthus.”
“Thank you Tanis, but that won’t be necessary,” Raistlin said as he looked over to his brother. “I know where my home is.”
Caramon’s eyes widened and he smiled, while still grieving for his son, he now could celebrate his brother’s new lease on life.
* * *
The two brothers and the Uncle sat mounted on horses on one fork in the road. Caramon and Tanis sat at the other. With one final wave they split company, Raistlin and his nephew’s heading first for Vingaard, then for Kalaman. Tanis and Caramon headed back to Solanthus where Caramon would then depart for Solace again.
Caramon was not really sure what he would tell Tika. He didn’t want the truth to be hidden anymore, but also dreaded telling her the horrible truth of what truly happened to Palin. Tika had always blamed Raistlin for Caramon’s fall to dwarf spirits, and with her temper she would probably hunt Raist down...
* * *
Next Chapter - Part Two - The Summer of Chaos
- 5
- 6
- 7
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Summer of Flame