'Oh,' said the kender. There was a pause. 'Here. I found these, too.'
The elf took the offered items with a deep sigh. Thanks,' he said, and all was quiet for a while.
'I used to ask my parents if I could learn to cast magic when I got older,' the kender said. 'My mother said maybe it was a good thing I couldn't, since if you want to become a magic-user, you have to pass a test, and they make you do terrible things in the test. Is that true?'
The elf was silent for perhaps a minute. It was a differ ent kind of silence than merely thinking. The goblin found himself turning his head to hear better, straining to hear more.
The kender poked the elf gently in the side with an elbow.
'What?' asked the elf blankly. 'Oh, the test. Yes, we do have to take the Test of High Sorcery. The test doesn't really make you do terrible things, but you… you have to
… um… go through some terrible things. The bad things just… happen to you. I don't think I want to talk about my test right now. I want to keep my mind clear and ready for tomorrow.'
'Oh.' There was a brief silence. 'Would I have made a good magic-user? I'm thirteen now. Is that old enough to be a wizard?'
The news surprised the goblin. He had seen very few kender in his life, but because they had all looked to be the size of human children, he never thought twice about this kender's age, assuming it was about thirty or so. Thirteen was far younger than he had expected of someone, especially a kender, with so much ability at wilderness survival and lore.
'Thirteen is a little young,' the elf finally commented. 'But a few wizards start not long after that age. Some slightly younger.'
The kender seemed to be thinking hard about something after that. Finally, he blurted out, 'Could you cast a spell for me?'
The goblin blinked in shock. What?
'Well, I could,' said the elf slowly, 'but most of the spells I have right now should be saved for tomorrow night.' He paused for a moment, then said, 'I suppose I could try one small thing. I can relearn a new spell in its place in the morning.'
The kender leaned forward in excitement. 'Really? A real spell?'
He dropped his voice, glancing back at the goblin and minotaur. The goblin closed his eyes, though he figured they'd never know if he was awake or not unless he moved around.
'All right, I'm ready!' the kender whispered. 'You won't set anything on fire, will you? It's awfully dry out here and it hasn't rained in the last five days. Anything but that is fine.'
'Don't worry,' the elf said softly, and he raised his hands. 'IMPILTEH PEH.'
A faint blue light — a tiny ball the size of a fingernail — began to glow in the darkness between the elf's fingers. The goblin caught his breath, not daring to make a sound and reveal himself. He had never seen magic before; either, and the sight of it frightened him as much as it excited and fascinated him.
The elf's fingers began a slow, waving dance around the ball, and the ball responded by moving from one hand to the other, swaying back and forth. In a moment, the ball divided into two balls of equal size, then each ball divided again and there were four, then eight, each rolling to the rhythm of the elf's hands. By the faint, mobile light, the goblin could see the kender's eyes shining.
The elf's hands moved, altering the pattern. The eight blue balls began to chase each other in a small circle, changing colors from blue to violet, then to red, orange, yellow, green, and blue again. The balls began to change colors out of sequence with each other, whirling around between the elf's outspread fingers as he manipulated their magical essence. They formed an oval pattern in the air, chasing each other faster and faster, until they were a single, unbroken cord of golden light that gyrated like a coin rolling on its edge in a tight circle, just before falling flat.
The elf's lips pursed, concentrating on the pattern. The circle began changing shape as it revolved in the air, taking the form of a square, then a triangle, then a five-pointed star. Then its shape altered even more: a flying bird, a leaping rabbit, a swimming fish, all whirling around without sound.
The elf's fingers changed the pattern again. Now it was deep glowing green, a narrowing column that revolved more slowly until it stopped over one outstretched palm and began to grow leaves like a live plant. Each leaf appeared in outline, then filled in with soft color; thorns formed on the main stem. The top of the plant bloomed into a bright red bud, which slowly grew until a rose of crimson light reached up toward the sky.
The elf uttered a soft word, and the plant collapsed into a small ball of pale white light. In moments, it formed a mouselike shape that scampered around on the mage's palm with lifelike curiosity. When it had finished exploring the hand, the mouse stood up on its back legs, did a short dance, took a deep bow to the kender and wizard, and vanished into a dot of light that slowly faded from sight.
It was completely dark now. The goblin had forgotten how to breathe. He slowly shut his mouth, unable to believe it was over. He blinked and resisted the urge to rub his eyes. It was magic. Real magic.
Then he heard the kender sniffle.
He looked at the little figure by the elf's side. Both of the kender's hands were pressed to his face, covering his eyes. The kender suddenly drew in a ragged breath and began to cry.
The elf's arm dropped over the kender's shoulders. 'What's wrong?' he asked in confusion.
The kender leaned into the elf's chest as he wept, his thin body shaking. Long minutes passed in the night as the goblin watched.
'My mamma and daddy told me magic was beautiful,' the kender sobbed. 'They said they had never seen it before, but they knew it was good. They wanted to see it so badly but no one would show them. They told me that humans weren't all bad, and maybe someday a human or an elf would show us some magic if we were patient with them. They didn't think humans would hurt them, but the humans did. The humans hurt them, they hurt my mamma and daddy a lot and I couldn't help them because I was too scared and I hid, and when the humans were gone, I had to bury them and say the goodbye prayers like they taught me. I was too scared to help them, even when they were really hurt bad. I wish I had magic then so I could have helped them. They wanted to see magic so bad.' He shook as he wept, his face hidden in the elf's clothes.
The goblin realized that his hands were clenched into cold, trembling fists. Something burned in his eyes; it was hard to see. Slowly, the goblin unclenched his hands and covered his hot face with them. He hated weakness, he had hated it all his life, and now he was filled with it. He hated himself for it, and it was all the kender's fault — the damned, weak, stupid, wretched kender. Wet streams flowed down the goblin's cheeks, and he bit his lower lip until he tasted blood.
Tomorrow, he thought. Let tomorrow come fast.
No stars were out. A tall fire burned just up the slope of the hill, visible through the thick trees and under- brush. The crickets called from all around.
'So you think you know how to handle that elf girl?' the grinning guard said. 'You think she's not too much of a match for you?'
The smiling guard had turned to face his companion, who was bending over to pick up firewood. The goblin drove his knife into the grinning man's lower back, straight through his leather armor. The guard knew instinctively he was going to die, the pain was so great. He was terrified and tried to scream, but the scream wouldn't come out through the goblin's calloused hand that was clamped over his mouth and face, twisting his head back with incredible force. The man reached back to grab his attacker, but agony filled his head and made him forget everything. The goblin let the body sag to the ground.
'You bet I can handle her,' said the guard picking up the firewood. He crouched down to adjust the load in his arms, reaching for a few more pieces. 'Good redeems its own, they say, and I'm gonna redeem that elf girl before she gets to Istar. She's gonna know the ways of man, and I'm gonna be the head priest. They can have the other slaves. I've waited too long to pass this one up.'
He picked up the last piece of wood, and the goblin slapped his hand tightly over the man's mouth and pulled him into his hard chest. The razor-sharp blade sliced swiftly through his throat. The man knew what was happening, but could do nothing to stop it, and trying to scream did nothing useful at all.
Then it was quiet again in the night woods, and soon the crickets began to chirp. Everything smelled of blood.
The goblin grinned, wiped off his blade, and moved on through the wood. He felt no weakness at all now, not
