Tales of Uncle Trapspringer

'And I have to take Alchviem's books and open them for the other wizard.' The little wizard stared at the kender who still appeared to be unconvinced. She sighed and explained. 'As wizard's go, I'm not exactly on the top rung of the ladder. I'm just learning my art. The first spell I learned was one of reading magic, but that only allows me to read it. I can't use the more powerful spells… not yet.'

'You can make more salt men,' Trap suggested hope-fully.

Halmarain continued as if he had not spoken. 'I know the command to open the books; I can read them, but it would take a wizard with far more power to use what I can read. If and when we find one, even he may not have the knowledge of Alchviem, so we need to take the books with us.'

'You've stopped saying 'I' and you've started saying 'we,' ' Ripple pointed out. 'Are you inviting us to come with you?'

'I've just realized I can't do it alone,' Halmarain said with a sigh. 'It will even be dangerous to take that monster through the city, There's nothing like the merchesti on Krynn. Some idiot will realize it's an abomination and try to kill it. People often try to destroy what they don't understand.'

'You could disguise him,' Ripple said.

'That's a good idea,' Halmarain said, nodding, thinking out loud. 'We'll do that, but the journey will still be too hard and too long. I don't want to try to make it alone. The easiest way to reach Palanthus would be to travel west to Gwyntaar and take a ship from there… but the crew would soon see through Beglug's disguise. We'll need to travel overland, by horseback, ponies, I think.'

'I love riding,' Trap announced.

'I hope so,' Halmarain said. 'I can't saddle a pony, and even if I could, I could never get that monster onto a saddle. That's why you must go with me.'

'We stay,' Umpth announced. 'New This Place now.'

'Plenty good food.' Grod added. 'All stay This Place.' The kender now understood that the gully dwarf was using his race's term for home. 'Last This Place knocked flat.'

'You're right. This would make a good place to live,' Ripple said brightly. 'That is, if you want to stay here, but think of all the things you'll miss seeing, and now that I think of it you can't stay here, because you couldn't get out to get more food, and I don't think starving would be interesting at all, but maybe Beglug could teach you how to eat wood and rocks… wonder how they taste?'

The gully dwarves traded speculating glances, scratched different parts of their bodies, and appeared to come to some sort of agreement.

'We go with them,' Umpth told Grod.

'Find new This Place.' Grod agreed

'I won't travel with gully dwarves,' Halmarain snapped.

'Gee, I don't see why not,' Trap said, staring across at Umpth and Grod. 'I think they're nice, and they did help clean up the laboratory, and even if they do eat a lot-'

'You're just being mean. You know you like them, or you wouldn't have asked-did you ask them to help clean up after Orander fell through the portal? I forgot. Anyway, since we promised to help find them a new home after their old one was knocked down, we have to stay with them.'

'You must go with me. I need you to take care of the merchesti. Even if I could watch him day and night, that monster doesn't like me. And I need you to look after it while I study my spells.' She met Trap's eyes in the manner of a person squarely meeting an unpleasant subject. 'I can't make the journey and look after it alone, so if you don't go with me I'll have to kill it before I leave.'

'No!' Trap was outraged.

'If its dead, I can travel with a caravan, the way I did when I came south.'

'Oh, Trap, we'll have to go or she'll kill Beglug!' Ripple cried.

'We'll go with you, if you promise not to hurt Beglug,' Trap said. 'Actually, we'd like to see Palanthus. Would we see other interesting places?'

'We'll stay away from cities,' the wizard said. 'We'll stay away from as many people as we can.'

'Thorns and thistles, that sounds boring,' Trap announced.

Halmarain took a deep breath, puffing herself up like a frog. Then her look turned cagey. She folded her little hands and stared up at the ceiling.

'Then I suppose you don't want any magic.'

'Magic?' Ripple was instantly diverted.

'Aglest clan got magic,' Umpth announced, but neither the kender nor the wizard paid any attention to him.

'If you help me get Orander back from the other plane, he will reward you with all sorts of magic,' Halmarain replied.

'What kind of magic?' Trap asked. 'Will he teach us spells?'

'No, you wouldn't like that,' Halmarain said. 'You'd have to study magic and you'd find that boring. He might take something… like he took my staff and put magic into it.'

'Show us! What will it do besides make light?' Ripple asked.

'Well, I don't like to clean the scullery,' Halmarain said. 'And it takes too much time, so Orander gave the staff some special magic that I haven't learned.' She spoke a word of command. In an instant the cups, spoons, trenchers and pots were clean and they lifted off the table, sailing to their appropriate storage areas. With a clatter and clang, the pots hung themselves back on their hooks, the trenchers stacked themselves on the shelves and the spoons dipped, handles down, to stand in a crockery pot.

'Wow! Big jiggies!' Ripple jumped up from her stool and ran over to look at the clean pots. 'If I make more pudding will you do that again?'

'Orander will think up something far more interesting for you if you help to return him to Krynn,' the little wizard said as Ripple returned to her stool. She sat staring at Halmarain with sparkling eyes.

'Then I'll go,' Trap said. 'I want a-'

Ripple gave a yelp and threw herself halfway across the table as her stool collapsed. Beneath her swinging feet, Beglug chewed on one leg of her stool.

'Kender want,' Grod prompted, reminding Trap he was about to make a request.

'I forget,' Trap said, sliding off the stool to assist his sister. He took the remains of her former seat and used it to coax Beglug to the hearth. Then he pushed another stool under his sister.

'We'll have to disguise the merchesti,' Halmarain said. 'If we're going to send it home, we don't want it to attract too much interest here on Krynn.'

'We won't let anyone kill him,' Trap assured her.

'Maybe he'll catch the eye of someone who wouldn't want to kill him,' Halmarain suggested slyly. 'They might want to steal him, put a chain around his neck and pull him from town to town. Somebody could make a lot of money by exhibiting him to the curious.'

'That would be cruel,' Trap was shocked at the idea.

'If we're not careful, he will attract attention,' the little wizard repeated her warning.

'So will a wizard,' Ripple said with a grin.

'If the citizens learn I'm a wizard I'll be in more danger than the fiend,' Halmarain said. 'And my size-well- some consider me a freak.' Her eyes darkened over some memory. 'Children like to throw stones at what they don't understand…' Her voice trailed off in sadness.

'But that's not fair,' Trap said. 'We'd never throw anything at you, we like you, except when you're mad, but I don't think-'

'I know, we can all go as animals,' Ripple announced.

'Wow! Great! I want to be a bird,' Trap said, falling in with his sister's idea. 'Halmarain can put a spell on me so I can fly. That would be fun.'

'We could all fly,' Ripple agreed. She held out her arms and flapped them. The gully dwarves looked doubtful, but they mimicked the female kender.

'No, I can't do flying spells,' Halmarain said.

The kenders' hopes were dashed for only a moment before Trap's natural enthusiasm rose again.

'I know! We could be horses!'

'Then we could travel very fast,' Ripple urged. 'Could you make us horses?'