obvious advantage, were beginning to look a little nervous. 'I knew how upset you lads would be, losing all your possessions like this, so I did the only thing I could. I wagered your swords.'
This time the shock was so great that neither Tanin nor Sturm could speak, they simply stared at Dougan in stunned silence.
'I put up the swords and my battle-ax against the magic staff and my hat — I truly wish' — Dougan glanced at the shaken Palin — 'that I'd known the staff belonged to Raistlin of the Black Robes. Even here, they've heard of him, and I likely could have gotten the chief to throw in the armor. As it was, he wasn't all that impressed with what he'd seen of the staff — »
'Get on with it!' Palin cried in a choked voice, clutching the staff close.
'I won!' Dougan spread his hands, then sighed again, only this was a sigh of ecstasy. 'Ah, what a throw that was..'
'So… I have my staff?' Palin asked timidly, brightening.
'We have our swords?' Tanin and Sturm began to breathe.
'Finding that my luck had shifted,' the dwarf said, plunging the brothers into gloom once more, 'I decided to try for the armor again. Figuring what good were swords without armor, I bet the weapons and — ' He gestured bleakly toward the warriors with the spears.
'You lost,' Tanin said glumly.
'But I still have my staff?' Palin asked nervously.
'Aye, lad. I tried to use it to win back the swords, my axe, and the armor, but the chief didn't want it.' Dougan shook his head, then gazed at Palin intently, a sudden, cunning expression twisting his face. 'But if you were to tell him it belonged to the great Raistlin Majere, perhaps I could — »
'No!' snarled Palin, holding the staff close.
'But, lad,' pleaded the dwarf, 'my luck's bound to change. And we're comrades, after all. Share and share alike…'
'This is great!' said Sturm gloomily, watching the last of his armor being carried out of the hut. 'Well, I guess there's nothing left to do now but go back to the ship — »
'The ship?' Dougan appeared astonished. 'When we're so close! Why, Lord Gargath's castle's only a day's march from here!'
'And what are we going to do when we get there?' Tanin demanded furiously. 'Knock on the door in our underwear and ask him to lend us weapons so that we can fight him?'
'Look at it this way, Big Brother,' Sturm muttered, 'he might drop over dead from laughter.'
'How can you joke at a time like this?' Tanin raged. 'And I'm not certain I'm ready to leave yet.'
'Easy, my brothers,' Palin said softly. 'If all we've lost from this fool quest is some weapons and armor, I'm beginning to think we can count ourselves lucky. I agree with Sturm, Tanin. We better head back for the ship before the day gets much hotter.'
'That's easy for you to say!' Tanin retorted bitterly. 'You've still got your precious staff!' He looked over to the chief's hut, where the old man was happily decking himself out in the bright armor, putting most of it on upside down. Then he cast a dark glance at the contrite Dougan. 'I suppose Palin's right,' Tanin said grudgingly, glaring at the dwarf. 'We should count ourselves lucky. We've had enough of this fool quest, dwarf. We're getting out of here before we lose anything else — like our lives!'
Turning, Tanin found himself, once again, facing a ring of spears and this time his own sword, held by a grinning warrior.
'Wanna bet, lad?' Dougan said cheerfully, twirling his moustaches.
'I thought as much,' Palin remarked.
'You're always thinking 'as much' when it's too late to do anything about it!' Tanin snapped.
'It was too late when we first set eyes on the dwarf,' Palin said in low tones.
The three, plus Dougan, were being escorted down the jungle trail, spears at their backs, the castle of Lord Gargath looming ahead of them. They could see it quite clearly now — a huge, misshapen building made entirely of shining gray marble. All three brothers had visited the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth Forest, and they had been impressed and overawed by the magical aura that surrounded it. They felt a similar awe approaching this strange castle, only it was an awe mingled with the wild desire to laugh hysterically.
None of them could tell afterward what Castle Gargath looked like, since the appearance of the castle shifted constantly. First it was a massive fortress with four tall, stalwart towers topped by battlements. As they watched in amazement, the towers swelled out and spiraled upward into graceful minarets. Then the towers melted together, forming one gigantic dome that separated into four square towers once more. While all this was going on, turrets sprouted from the walls like fungi, windows blinked open and shut, a drawbridge over a moat became a bower of gray roses over a still, gray pond.
'The power of the Graygem,' Dougan remarked. ''The power of the Graygem,'' Tanin mimicked sarcastically. He shook his fist at the dwarf. 'I'm getting so sick of hearing about that blasted rock that I — »
'I meant that I've figured out what's going on!' Palin interrupted.
'Well, what?' Sturm asked miserably. 'They don't want us to go, apparently. Yet they threaten to kill us if we try to turn back! They take our clothes…'
In addition to losing their armor and their weapons, he and Tanin had been stripped of their clothes; the chief having discovered that the armor chafed without anything underneath it. Sturm and Tanin, therefore, were now approaching Gargath Castle clad only in loin cloths (having coldly refused the offer of breastplates made of bone).
Palin and Dougan had been more fortunate, the mage having kept his robes and the dwarf his red velvet jacket and breeches (minus the hat). The reason for this leniency on the chief's part was, Palin suspected, Dougan's whispered remarks to the chief concerning the staff. Contrary to what the dwarf had anticipated, the fact that the staff belonged to Raistlin Majere caused the chief to open his eyes wide in terror. Palin also suspected Dougan of continuing to try to drum up a game (the dwarf wanted his hat back badly), but the chief obviously wanted no part of an object of such evil. The members of the tribe kept a respectful distance from Palin after that, some waving chickens' feet in his direction when they thought he wasn't watching.
It didn't stop the warriors from marching him off down the trail at spear point toward the castle with his brothers and the chagrined Dougan, however.
'Put yourself in the place of one of these warriors,' said Palin, sweating in his hot robes but not daring to take them off for fear the warriors would grab them. 'You are under the influence of the Graygem, which is literally Chaos personified. You hate the Graygem more than anything, yet you are ordered to guard it with your life. Because of the Graygem, you've lost your women. Strangers come to take the Graygem and rescue your women, who will undoubtedly be grateful to their saviors. You don't want strangers saving your womenfolk, but you'd give anything to have your women back. You must guard the Graygem, but you'd do anything to get rid of it. Are you following me?'
'Sort of,' Tanin said cautiously. 'Go on.'
'So you take the strangers,' Palin finished, 'and send them to the castle naked and weaponless, knowing they're bound to lose, yet hoping in your heart they'll win.'
'That makes sense, in a weird sort of way,' Sturm admitted, looking at Palin with undisguised admiration. 'So, what do we do now?'
'Yes, Palin,' Tanin said gravely. 'I can fight minotaur and draconians… I'd rather be fighting minotaur and draconians,' he added, breathing heavily, the heat and humidity taking its toll on the big man, 'but I'm lost here. I can't fight chaos. I don't understand what's going on. If we're going to get out of this, it's up to you and your magic, Little Brother.'
Palin's eyes stung with sudden tears. It had been worth it, he thought. It had been worth this whole insane adventure to know that he had finally won his brothers' respect and admiration and trust. It was something a man might willingly die to achieve… For a moment, he did not trust himself to speak, but walked on in silence, leaning on the Staff of Magius, which felt oddly cool and dry in the hot, humid jungle.
Glancing over at the dwarf, Palin was disconcerted to find Dougan regarding him with a wolfish leer on the black-bearded face. The dwarf didn't say anything aloud but, giving Palin a wink, he formed words with his lips.
'Wanna bet?'
