Staggering to their feet, they made their way out of the lean-to and across the deck, not an easy task since it was listing steeply to port.
'What is it? What's happened? Where are we?' demanded Tanin, rubbing his eyes.
'We've arrived!' announced Dougan, smoothing his beard in satisfaction. 'Look!' He made a grand, sweeping gesture toward what was — at this time — the prow. 'The Isle of Gargath.'
The brothers looked. At first all they could see was a confused mass of split sail, dangling ropes, broken beams, and gnomes waving their hands, arguing furiously, and shoving each other about. The motion of the ship through the water had ceased, due, no doubt, to the presence of a cliff, which had bashed in the fig urehead, part of the hull, and snapped the mast of the sail in two.
His face grim, Tanin made his way through the wreckage, followed by Sturm and Palin, several bickering gnomes, and the dwarf. Reaching the prow, he clung to the side and stared out past the cliff toward the island. The sun was rising behind them, shedding its bright light upon a stretch of sandy beach that curved out of sight to the north, vanishing in a patch of gray fog. Strange-looking trees with thin, smooth trunks that erupted in a flourish of frondlike leaves at the top surrounded the beach. Beyond the wide sandy strip, towering above the trees and the cliff face upon which the boat now rested, was a gigantic mountain. A cloud of gray smoke hung over it, casting a pall upon the beach, the water, and the ship.
'The Isle of Gargath,' Dougan repeated triumphantly.
'Gargath?' Palin gaped. 'You mean — '
'Aye, laddie. The Lord himself followed the Gray-gem, if you remember, when it escaped. He built a ship and sailed after it as it vanished over the western horizon, and that was the last anyone on Ansalon ever heard of him. His family figured he had dropped off the edge of the world. But, a few years back, I happened to be drinking with a group of minotaurs. One thing led to another, there was a game, as I recall, and I won this map off of them.' Reaching into the pocket of his red velvet coat (now much the worse for wear and salt water), Dougan pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Tanin.
'It's a minotaur map, all right,' Tanin said, setting it down on the listing rail and smoothing it out, trying to keep his balance at the same time. Sturm lurched over to see, and Palin crowded next to him, bracing himself on the Staff of Magius. Though it was written in the uncouth language of the man-beasts, the map was drawn with the precision and skill for which minotaurs are grudgingly renowned by the civilized races of Krynn. There was no mistaking the continent of Ansalon or, much farther to the west, a tiny island with the word «Gargath» written out to the side.
'What does that mean?' Sturm asked, pointing to an ominous-looking symbol next to the island. 'That thing that looks like a bull's head with a sword stuck through it.'
'That?' repeated Dougan, shrugging nonchalantly. Snatching the map from Tanin, he rolled it up hastily. 'Some minotaur doodle, no doubt — »
'The minotaur 'doodle' for danger,' Palin said grimly. 'Isn't that right?'
Dougan flushed, thrusting the map back into his pocket. 'Well, now, laddie, I believe you may be onto something there, although I personally don't put much stock in what those savage creatures might take it into their heads to draw '
'Those 'savage creatures' have marked this island with their strongest warning!' Palin interrupted. 'No minotaur ship will land anywhere bearing that mark,' he added, turning to his brothers.
'And there are few things in this world or the next that minotaur fear,' Tanin said, staring at the island, his face dark.
'What more proof do you need?' asked Dougan in a soft voice, following Tanin's gaze; the dwarf's dark, bright eyes were filled with hunger. 'The Graygem is here! It is its power the minotaurs feel and fear!'
'What do you think, Palin?' Tanin turned to his youngest brother. 'You're the magic-user. Surely you can sense it.'
Once again, Palin felt the thrill of pleasure, seeing his older brothers, the two people he looked up to in this world most with the exception of his father — or maybe even more than his father — looking at him respectfully, waiting his judgment. Gripping the Staff of Magius, Palin closed his eyes and tried to concentrate and, as he did so, a chill feeling clutched his heart with fingers of ice, spreading its cold fear through his body. He shuddered, and opened his eyes to find Tanin and Sturm regarding him anxiously.
'Palin — your face! You're as pale as death. What is it?'
'I don't know…' Palin faltered, his mouth dry. 'I felt something, but what I'm not sure. It wasn't danger so much as a lost and empty feeling, a feeling of helplessness. Everything around me was spinning out of control. There was nothing I could do to stop it — »
'The power of the gem,' Dougan said. 'You felt it, young mage! And now you know why it must be captured and returned to the gods for safekeeping. It escaped man's care before, it will escape again. The gods only know,' the dwarf added sorrowfully, 'what mischief it has wrecked upon this wretched island.'
Wagging his black beard, Dougan held out a trembling hand to Tanin. 'You'll help me, lads, won't you?' he asked in heartfelt, pleading tones, so different from his usual braggadocio that Tanin was caught off guard, his anger punctured. 'If you say no,' continued Dougan, hanging his head, 'I'll understand. Though I did win the wager, I guess it was wrong of me to get you drunk and take you prisoner when you were weak and helpless.'
Tanin chewed his lip, obviously not welcoming this reminder.
'And I swear by my beard,' said the dwarf solemnly, stroking it, 'that if you say the word, I'll have the gnomes take you back to Ansalon. As soon as they get the ship repaired, that is.'
'IF they get the ship repaired!' Tanin growled at last. (This appeared unlikely. The gnomes were paying no attention whatsoever to the ship, but were arguing among themselves about who was supposed to have been on watch, who was supposed to be reading the gnomes' own map, and the committee that had drawn up the map in the first place. It was later decided that, since the cliff hadn't been marked on the map, it wasn't there and they hadn't bashed into it. Having reached this conclusion, the gnomes were able to get to work.)
'Well, what do you two say?' Tanin turned to his brothers.
'I say that since we're here, we ought to at least take a look around,' Sturm said in low tones. 'If the dwarf is right and we could retrieve the Graygem, our admittance into the Knighthood would be assured! As he said, we'd be heroes!'
'To say nothing of the wealth we might obtain,' Tanin muttered. 'Palin?'
The young mage's heart beat fast. Who knows what magical powers the Graygem possesses? he thought suddenly. It could enhance my power, and I wouldn't need any great archmage to teach me! I might become a great archmage myself, just by touching it or… Palin shook his head. Raising his eyes, he saw his brothers' faces. Tanin's was ugly with greed, Sturm's twisted with ambition. My own face — Palin put his hand on it — what must it look like to them? He glanced down at his robes and saw their white color faded to dirty gray. It might just be from the salt water, but it might be from something else…
'My brothers,' he said urgently, 'listen to us! Think what you just said! Tanin, since when did you ever go in search of wealth and not adventure!'
Tanin blinked, as if waking from a dream. 'You're right! Wealth! What am I talking about? I never cared that much for money — »
'The power of the Graygem is speaking,' Dougan cried. 'It's beginning to corrupt you, as it corrupted others.' His gaze went to the gnomes. The shoving and pushing had escalated into punching and tossing one another overboard.
'I say we should at least investigate this island,' Palin said in a low voice so that the dwarf would not overhear. He drew his brothers closer. 'If for no other reason than to find out if Dougan's telling the truth. If he is and if the Graygem IS here and if we could be the ones to bring it back…'
'Oh, it's here!' Dougan said, eagerly poking his black bearded face into their midst. 'And when you bring it back, lads, why the stories they tell of your famous father will be kender lies compared to the legends they'll sing of you! To say nothing of the fact that you'll be rescuing the poor people of this island from their sad fate,' continued the dwarf in solemn tones.
'People?' Tanin said, startled. 'You mean this place is inhabited?'
'Aye, there are people here,' the dwarf said with a gusty sigh, though he was eyeing the brothers shrewdly.
'Yes,' said Sturm, staring intently at the beach. 'There are people, all right. And it doesn't look to me,
