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Red on Red	By : Sylviana_of_Qualinost Category: A through F > Dragonlance Views: 4499 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonlance or any of the characters. DL belongs to Wizards of the Coast and Weis and Hickman. No money is made from these installments.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Chapter 6: Captured and Separated.

The wizard's name was Caine Blacksworth and he was a renegade black robe. As is usually the case with black robes- and renegades- Caine had his own alternate agenda. He did not care for the plans of Terris and his ambitions to take over Hope's End. What he did care about were the eggs- the metallic dragon's eggs that were the reason behind the initial attack on the town. Unknown to all, he had been secretly directed by Ariakas to keep an eye on the new upstart commander Uth-Matar and Immolatus in the event that things should go awry and the eggs were not claimed.
Things did go awry and the eggs were not claimed. Unfortunately Caine had lost track of the woman and the dragon-mage in the commotion during the attack when the mercenaries of the Mad Baron decided to betray Kholos' troops. The black robe was able to trace Kitiara to what appeared to be a temple to one of the ancient Gods, whose power still shrouded the place in protection against his kind. He could not follow, but he could watch. Ultimately there was not much to see, but there was enough to be felt. There was a point at which a deep rumble shook the earth, seemingly stemming from the mountain range behind the city. And soon after that Caine had seen that strange red-robed mage with golden skin and white hair emerge from the temple with his brother.
After doing some investigating, Caine was able to piece together roughly what happened. The dragon-mage was killed, either by Kitiara or the mysterious red-robe- although the renegade wizard thought it must have been something of a joint effort. There must have been a safety mechanism inside the temple which activated a landslide on the opposite side of the mountain range, which ultimately blocked access to the cave wherein the eggs lay hidden. Kitiara subsequently curtailed back to Sanction and Ariakas, leaving Caine with the unfortunate job of figuring out where the now sealed passage to the eggs lay.
The mission, in essence, seemed pointless, but Caine was reluctant to go back to Sanction in failure. So he had stuck around with Terris' band of deserters looking for an opportunity to present itself. Finally, when the mercenary troop was sighted in a nearby village and heading towards the woods, Caine got his chance, for sighted among the soldiers was a gaunt, golden-skinned red-robe. The renegade wizard was certain that there could be no two men matching that description. In getting his hands on this peculiar mage, Caine would at last have the answer to the demise of Immolatus and possibly a key to reclaiming the lost dragon eggs. Being able to deliver the eggs to Ariakas would significantly boost Caine's standing in the dragon-army.
The trap was easy. The bandits baited the scouts of the mercenary troop, leading them to a place where they saw what was intended- a small portion of the deserter force hiding out in the woods. But Caine had counted on the red-robe's intellect and hoped to use it against him. He figured that the other mage would smell foul play and separate from the main group, wanting to stay aloof and warn the others should an ambush be discovered. The rest was easy enough- there was only one location that would strategically make sense for the red-robe to go to as a look-out- the hill on the southern side of the woods.
Caine had hid and waited and his patience had paid off. Intent upon observing the hidden bandits on the other side of the road, the mage and his companions did not notice the black-robe until the first tendrils of magic could be felt upon the air. Caine received a shock when he realized that in his absorption with the golden-skinned young man he had failed to identify the elven woman as another magic user. That has almost been his undoing, for she had been able to sense the magical casting before her companion and had she been able to trace it to its source he would have lost his concentration and possibly miscast his spell.
Yet Caine had been lucky- they did not notice him and soon enough it did not matter. Spell casting his eyes first so that his own magic black out did not affect him, the renegade wizard shrouded the world in darkness, rendering his targets useless.

***
The last thing Raistlin remembered after the darkness swallowed him was a hard knock on the head. After that a natural kind of fainting darkness engulfed his mind and he was no longer aware of anything at all.
He came too sometime later with agonizing slowness, his head still spinning from the impact of the blow. The first thing that struck him was that he was tied around a tree trunk, his spell components and his Staff nowhere in close proximity. And neither were his companions. Raistlin was alone.
No, not alone, he realized upon hearing a rustle of leaves near him. A rustle caused by someone walking in robes. Slowly, painfully, Raistlin lifted his head to look at his captor.
“So, you awaken,” spoke an impassive baritone voice, laced with a familiar Solamnic accent. The man it belonged to must have been well over six feet, with long blond hair and a strong, Solamnic jaw-line. Steel-gray eyes peered out from heavy set brows which seemed perpetually furrowed. The man wore mustaches, in mock imitation of the Solamnic knighthood, except his were of the same length as his abundant hair, flowing out to the waist. The robes which adorned his well sculpted, if relatively lean, figure, were black. “I am called Caine Blacksworth.”
Regardless of his obvious disadvantage, Raistlin could not help but smirk cynically.
“A Solamnic wizard? I am making some odd acquaintances these days.” he said with equal parts disdain and wonder. “I thought Solmania is not keen on wizards.”
Cain Blacksworth's face remained stoic, an ironic sign of his heritage.
“No they do not,” he answered coolly, “but we are not here to discuss cultural taboos.”
“Oh no? And here I thought you went through all this trouble of capturing me because you needed a sympathetic ear,” Raistlin retorted, purposefully baiting his foe.
A strong hand came down in a whiplash to strike Raistlin across the mouth, drawing blood.
“You would do well to keep your smart mouth closed until spoken too,” Caine ordered.
“Or what? Will you make me suffer, black-robe? Oh, no -you need me for something. Otherwise you would not go through all this elaborate trouble in order to have me here at your disposal.” Raistlin knew he was walking a thin line, however, he could not help but be curious about this strange wizard. “So tell me,” he pressed on. “where are the mercenaries? And where are my companions?”
Caine's face took on an amused cast.
“Oh don't worry, young man,” he said in his emotionless Solamnic drawl, “nothing will happen to them. The brigands will have had your small group surrounded by now. But Terris is smart- he will not kill them, but rather he will try and persuade them to join his cause. And with three hundred men already at his command, it is doubtful that any smart mercenary will refuse that offer. As for your friends, they are also safe. I am keeping them as an insurance for your good behavior and answers to my questions.”
“How do you know I care enough to behave?” Raistlin's eyes narrowed.
Caine Blacksworth looked at him thoughtfully, studying those squinting hour-glass pupils.
“Because you have not pulled your apathetic act together yet,” Caine said after some observation. “You know you are different and that your friends- none of them- accept you completely. But nevertheless, you do care. Your heart is kind behind your mask. It will be sometime before you learn that in order to truly free your heart from the burden of that care you must leave everyone behind and strike out on your own. That is the path to true power, little mage.”
Raistlin looked grim as something rang true in the black-robe's words and struck home. No bitter and biting remarks came to mind. He just sat still shivering from the slight chill in the air, blood from his mouth trickling down his chin and neck, golden-eyes strangely expressive.
“But enough of that,” Caine waved a hand in Raistlin's direction and slowly bent down, coming to sit cross legged on the ground opposite the younger mage. “You are right to say that I did not bring you here to get sentimental. I want answers, little mage. I want to know how you defeated the wizard Immolatus and I need to know what you know about his mission here.”
“How... how do you know that I had anything to do with killing Immolatus?” Raistlin whispered, but his words lacked defiance.
“That should matter naught to you.” An unpleasant smile spread across the pale face of the Solamnic wizard. “Now, tell me all that you know.”

***
Out of the three other companions, Silviana was the first to wake. Herself, Caramon and Scrounger were overtaken by a sleeping spell, cast swiftly after the cloud of darkness. Raistlin, inadvertently, was the only one to escape the magical sleep, for he tripped in the dark and rolled out of the way of the casting. As a result, he got clubbed in the head instead.
When she came to her senses, Silviana found that she too was bound to a tree, the forms of Caramon and Scrounger on either side of her. But Raistlin... Raistlin she saw nowhere. Her heart began to beat in a panicked rhythm, clenching painfully inside her chest. Thoughts of her failure invaded her head, which made tears begin to form beneath her eyelids. Silviana squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lips, so as to not make any sound.
Never in her life had she been in any life threatening situation, the majority of it having been spent in the safety of Qualinesti. Now faced with a grim possibly of dying ignominiously, Silviana was terrified. What she considered to be her failure was like a knife in her gut, jabbing and twisting relentlessly.
You fool, you damn fool! She thought in anguish while trying desperately to stifle heart-wrenching sobs. You have known nothing of this world and of its cruelties. You came unprepared into man's dominion, armed only with conceit and a false self-assurance that even you did not believe in. And the truth is, you know nothing! NOTHING and now everyone you were with will suffer as a consequence.
Yet eventually her anger at herself started to burn away the feelings of failure and self-pity. Letting the fury rise, Silviana braced herself, fists clenched against the restraints that bound her to the tree. She might have been unable to prevent them from getting into this predicament, but she sure as hell was not going to let her insecurities get in the way of them escaping. Wiggling fiercely, Silviana jabbed an elbow hard into Caramon, who was still snoozing to her right side.
With a start, the warrior woke and looked around. Noting the obvious disappearance of his twin, Caramon let out an agonized moan. Silviana jabbed him with her elbow once more.
“Quiet,” she hissed through clenched teeth, a dead calm beginning to settle over her as the beginnings of a plan began to take shape. Although the mage who cast the magic on them was missing, there were guards posted some distance away from the tree. Silviana could make out the shapes of three armed men in near proximity from where they were tied up, none of whom seemed to be paying very much attention to the captives.
And most importantly, she could see the Staff of Magius propped up alongside Caramon and Scrounger's weapons against a nearby tree.
The half-kender too had come around at this point and, noting the gravity of the situation, spoke quietly.
“Raistlin's gone,” he commented under his breath matter-of-factually. “and we don't know what befell the rest of the group. What's the plan?” his eyes settled expectantly on the elf-woman and Silviana could have laughed at this evident placement of herself in the leadership role.
Taking a deep breath, Silviana looked to the big warrior, taking into account his incredible biceps.
“Caramon,” she began urgently, “how fast can you break through the ropes binding us?”
Caramon looked up at her, determination livening his eyes.
“Two, maybe three minutes.”
Silviana nodded and looked over at Scrounger.
“I will try to summon Raist's staff to me and have it in hand as soon as the bonds are broken,” she continued, “once we are freed, I want you to use all your speed to run and grab up the other weapons. There are only three of them here- I see no other auras in the vicinity. If we do this quickly, we can overpower them – and go in search of Raistlin.”
Scrounger and Caramon nodded solemnly and Silviana released a breath she did not know she was holding. Looking once more towards their guards to make sure they were inattentive, Silviana gave the signal and Caramon began to strain his considerable girth against the binding ropes, the veins in his neck and arms popping mercilessly.
The elf-woman turned her attention to the Staff. She knew she was taking a gamble, for it was in the nature of such artifacts to bind themselves to their master- which would mean that the Staff would not obey her commands. Nevertheless, she had to try. Making her mind blank, Silviana reached out mentally for the Staff. She encountered a strange sort of evasive energy about the artifact which made it hard for her to focus. It was akin to trying to grasp a fish out of a stream using only bare hands, the Staff slipping and sliding deceptively out of mental reach. Silviana's vision became distorted as the fickle Staff subverted her attempt to make contact.
Please, Silviana thought in exasperation, he is in trouble and might die if we do not find him! Help me so that I may bring you to your master!
The reaction was instantaneous as the energy around the Staff changed from evasive to determined, the semi-sentient object springing up easily from its resting place at the tree and flying fast towards Silviana. Just at that moment, Caramon succeeded in snapping the bonds which held them captive, the ropes leaving brutal friction wounds along his arms and chest. Silviana was able to outstretch her arm just in time to catch the plummeting Staff of Magius firmly in her right hand. Scrounger was on his feet and lunging for their weapons in the same moment that their captors noticed the commotion and sprung into action themselves.
“Shirak!” Silviana used Raistlin's command word without hesitation, exhilaration flooding her as she felt the raw power inside the wood begin to churn in response and the crystal ball in its dragon's claw burst into sudden light. Their attackers were momentarily blinded by the unexpected brightness, giving Scrounger the opportunity to toss Caramon his sword. The big warrior caught it in one hand and rushed one of the men, striking him a death blow before he had time to realize what was happening. The half-kender himself had drawn a long dagger and ran to engage the second bandit, who fumbled with his still sheathed weapon and stumbled backwards in his haste. Scrounger's blade found the soft skin of the man's throat and cut deep, leaving him to fall lifeless.
Only one man was left and he was faster than his comrades had been at getting his bearings. Targeting Silviana, the bandit drew a short sword and ran towards her, blade poised to kill. Caramon released an angry snarl and hurried to intersect him before he reached the elf-woman, but he was too far away to reach him in time.
Joined with the Staff, Silviana felt more powerful than ever in her entire life, magic singing in her veins and the words to a dozen different spells running in her mind. A confident smile bloomed on her full lips as she watched the enemy soldier approach her. Her arm, as though lead by the Staff, rose and made an elegant and thorough sweep that was deadly in its efficiency. The Staff collided with the man's head at full force, the power of the blow enhanced greatly by its magic. Silviana heard the snap of bone- the man's neck breaking- and a lifeless corpse fell at her feet.
After a moment, the intoxicating effects of the magic wore off and Silviana gasped in astonishment, never having experienced anything quiet like it. Oh, but to feel and command such power forever! She stroked the wood of the Staff lovingly, envying Raistlin. Then her eyes fell to the body that lay stretched out on the ground before her, neck bent at an unnatural angle and the smile slowly fell from her lips. Silviana had never killed before and she felt now a keen abomination of her nature as a healer. Somberly she looked to the Staff again and envied Raistlin no longer. No, to give in to such power had a nasty price- the losing of one's self.
“Silviana,” Caramon shook the elf-woman out of her reverie. There was a definite respect in his voice that was not present there before. “What now?”
At that moment Scrounger ran up.
“I found a trail!” The half-kender was saying excitedly, orange hair bobbing wildly. “There were tracks – marks made by a wizard's robes. The boot prints are heavy, made by a large man. It must be that enemy mage who cast this spell on us. He is due north-east of here.”
Silviana nodded.
“And if we follow him- we will find Raistlin,” the elf-woman walked to where the rest of their confiscated things lay, picking up her and Raistlin's component pouches and attaching them to her belt. She also retrieved her bow and arrows and secured them at her back. “We deal with a dangerous enemy- one who will not be taken off guard as easily as these men. We must proceed with utter caution.”
With that, the three set off upon the trail, Scrounger leading them, Silviana in the middle and Caramon bringing up the rear and not making a sound despite his considerable arsenal of weaponry.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Red on Red