building walls to block off side streets. “It all leads into the middle of town, just like we planned,” Paxina explained.
“Like a spider’s web,” Riverwind said, nodding with approval. “Once they get in…”
“They’re going to have an awful time getting out again,” the Lord Mayor finished. Suddenly, she grabbed his arm. “Watch it!”
Riverwind stopped and looked down. Stretched across the street right in front of him was a strong, thin cord.
“Trip wire,” Paxina explained. “You’ve got to watch very carefully where you walk around here.”
The old Plainsman stared at the nearly invisible wire. There was no way the ogres would see it when they came charging through. “What’s it connected to?” he asked.
“This one? Nothing,” Paxina answered. “Doesn’t need to be. See, the front wave of ogres come barreling down the street, and they hit this. Boom, they go down.”
“And the ones behind trample them,” Riverwind said, nodding.
“You got it. Of course, there are trip wires on other streets that
Carefully, Riverwind stepped over the trip wire. Walking more slowly, his eyes never leaving the ground before his feet, he followed the Lord Mayor farther down Greentwig Avenue. At last, they came to a dead end. A wall, twenty feet high, stretched across the middle of the road between two four-storey rowhouses. Riverwind stared at the blank, forbidding edifices surrounding him, then looked back the way they’d come.
“I thought you said every street led to the center of town,” he said.
“Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration,” Paxina replied. “Actually, a few of them end up like this. Look up.”
Riverwind followed the kender’s pointing finger and regarded the roofs of the buildings. He was silent for a moment, then lowered his gaze back to Paxina. “There’s nothing up there,” he said.
“Not now, there isn’t,” the Lord Mayor replied. “Not much point until the attack comes. But when the ogres come down this street, those rooftops will be covered with kender.”
“An ambush?”
“Yup. We’ve got them all over town.”
Riverwind stared thoughtfully up at the rooftops, a smile spreading across his face. Then Paxina led him back down Greentwig, around a corner, and along another street with the unlikely name of Furrynose. Along both sides of the street, kender were busy tearing the houses apart. They threw bricks and boards onto carts, which other kender hauled away. Most of the buildings had been stripped bare, with only a skeletal frameworks left; others lacked even that, and nothing remained but foundations and fronts.
“There’s streets like this one all over town, too!” Paxina shouted above the din. “We’re taking the materials and using them in other places.”
They moved on, turning off Furrynose onto Elbowpoke Way, where Riverwind stopped short. Ahead, dozens of small catapults, the same devices the kender used for target practice with their hoopaks, lined the street. Instead of clay discs, however, the catapults were loaded with small straw dummies. As Riverwind watched, the arms of several catapults sprang forward, hurling their payloads into the air. The dummies flew surprisingly far, soaring over walls and landing on rooftops.
“One of the Councillors, Pudgel Goosedown, came up with these,” Paxina said. “He said he got the idea from the gnomes-apparently, catapults are all the rage at Mount Nevermind.” As she spoke, one of the catapults misfired, slamming its dummy into a wall. “We’re still trying to get the kinks worked out,” she added.
Wincing, Riverwind followed her past the catapults, and on down the street.
They followed Elbowpoke Way as it wound through town, past many more deadfalls and trip wires, until finally they reached the middle of Kendermore. The kender had been very busy here. Dozens of houses had been leveled to create a large, empty quadrangle. “And this,” Paxina declared, “is where it all comes together.” She made a grand, sweeping motion with her arm, indicating the houses along the edges of the yard. “The day before the attack, we’re going to soak all of those with oil and pitch. When the horde gets here, we’ll have a good, old- fashioned bonfire. Goodbye ogres.”
Riverwind nodded solemnly, struggling to take it all in. There didn’t seem to be a single part of Kendermore that hadn’t been turned into some sort of death trap. “I hope it works,” he asked said solemnly.
“If it does,” Paxina replied blithely, “boy, are we going to have a whopper of a story to tell!”
Smiling, Riverwind glanced around the courtyard. At the far side, a crowd of kender were gathered around one of the tunnel entrances, bidding one another farewell as they waited for their turn to leave the city. “And the Flight?” he asked. “I haven’t seen Catt in a few days. Things are going as we hoped?”
“Better, actually,” Paxina answered. “We should be down to the last ten thousand by sunrise on the day after Mark Year. Not bad, eh? Whoever’s left behind will join the fun here. When the call went out for volunteers, we got more than we needed. A lot of my people really want to stick around and see the end of Kendermore.”
They stood together, admiring the kender’s handiwork, for a few minutes. Then Paxina cleared her throat awkwardly, breaking the silence. “So,” she said. “what about you and Kronn?”
“We leave for Blood Watch tomorrow,” Riverwind said. “You’d get lost in the tunnels without Kronn,” Paxina said. “I’m glad you’re taking him with you. I’d go too-if I didn’t have my own job to do.”
Riverwind nodded. Paxina had taken charge of the defenses after the death of Brimble Redfeather. She would stay and fight, stay and die if need be.
“Are you sure you want to stay behind?”
“Yes,” she replied earnestly. “Kendermore is my home. Besides,” she added with a smile, “I’m not afraid.”
When Riverwind came home that night, he found Brightdawn and Moonsong waiting for him. They stood in the front hall, side by side, their arms folded across their chests. Stagheart was behind them, still haggard and weak from his wounds.
The old Plainsman looked at his daughters and immediately understood the look in their eyes. “No,” he said before they could open their mouths to speak. “You’re leaving with the Kender Flight.”
“That’s our choice to make,” Brightdawn answered curtly. “Just like it’s yours to go to Blood Watch.”
When Moonsong spoke, her voice was more gentle. “Father,” she said, “all the healers in Kendermore are staying. Anile told me. The people who’ve already left don’t need us-but the ones who stay behind will. My place is with them-I can’t just leave.”
“You shouldn’t have come in the first place,” Riverwind said wearily. “You should have stayed in Que- Shu.”
“Be that as it may,” Moonsong declared, “I am here.”
“I will stay with her,” stated Stagheart, his face a mask of pride and regret. “I failed to protect her before; I will not make that mistake again.”
Riverwind sighed. “Very well,” he said. “Your mother would do the same, Moonsong, if she were in your place.” He turned to face Brightdawn. “And you? You’re not a healer.”
She gazed at him, her eyes fierce and clear. “I will go with you to Blood Watch.”
The old Plainsman slumped, bowing his head. Tears burned in his eyes. “Child,” he whispered, “please..
“Listen to me,” Brightdawn said fiercely. “Do you remember when we left Que-Shu? I told you I didn’t know what my place was in this world. I know, now-it’s with you, Father.”
Riverwind stood silently for a moment, trembling. Brightdawn stepped forward and rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. After a moment, he looked up at her and smiled, his eyes full.
“Goldmoon and I raised you to do what you knew in your hearts was right,” he said softly. “I will not tell you otherwise now.”
There were no more words. He gathered his daughters in his arms, unable to hold back his tears.
The hot wind ruffled Riverwind’s feathered headdress as he stood with Kronn and Brightdawn in the center of town, outside an entrance to the tunnels. Before them was a crowd of kender, who had set aside their work to bid them farewell. Paxina, Catt, and Giffel stood at the front, Moonsong and Stagheart beside them. Moonsong held
