Oh, already four readers. 'winks frantically' Thanks for your encouragement. :D

ChildlikeEmpress: I think having a female self invented main character always tends to be mary-sueish. But I try to keep the girl on a more or less "normal" scale. In D&D terms she is supposed to be a 2nd level rogue and 1st level witch.

About the romance part. I fear you have to wait for that a little while. It will take time. I wanted to write a raistlin-romance but my problem is that I don't think he is likely to fall in love. I doubt he is even capable of. With that opinion of him its not easy to get him involved into romantic issues AND keep him in character. However, its a challenge. I have an plan how to get him there, but poor Raistlin has a long way to go...

For your question, I think that is revealed in this chapter.

By the way, the first chapters are centered around Nima and Dalamar but Raistlin definitely will appear. In the meantime have fun with a kender in the tower of high sorcery in Palanthas...

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Part two - Meet Dalamar the Dark

The shocked girl clumsily got herself into a sitting position and stared at the man who approached her. Now, that he had brought light, she could see that her companion was an elf. A most impressive elf. With dark and handsome features. He wore an elegant black robe and right now he looked at her with a mixture of concern and obedience.

"Shalafi." he repeated. "What happened? Are you all right?"

Dumbfounded, Nima observed the room. What had happened here? Good question. Next one, please. As far as she could see now in the sudden brightness of a light spell the elf had woven, she was not in some place she knew. And the place was certainly not located in her camp. The room looked more like a laboratory of sorts. Dark, stony walls were covered by bookshelves. Boards contained flasks, scrolls, powders, herbs and ritual paraphernalia. This was likely to be an alchemist's room for experiments or a mage's study chamber.

Mages! That was it! The last thing she remembered before all this had happened was a discussion about magic and artifacts. Immediately Nima raised her hand in search for her necklace. But the necklace was gone. At least she found the gem. It lay on the floor right next to her. Hastily she grabbed it and buried it in her fist. It was her talisman after all. Watching the floor more closely she realised that somebody had painted a perfect pentagram on the floor and she sat right in the middle of it. Wearing a black robe. Not good. Definitely not good. Stories sprang into her mind. Bedtime stories the boys told each other. Rumors about dark evil cultists, virgins and sacrifices to unspeakable gods or demons... And pentagrams had something to do with it! And blood, too.

Nima swallowed visibly and stared at the dark man who had reached her by know. Whatever she had expected, he acted otherwise by kneeling down in front of her and grabbing one of her shoulders lightly. He spoke again.

"Master, I heard an explosion from your work room. I heard a cry for help."

He stopped and obviously expected her to explain. Why had he addressed her as master?

"I feel strange." was the only thing she managed to croake. Before she could add something more she coughed. Not once, not twice, it all ended up in a real coughing fit. Nima had no idea where the coughing came from, but her body started shaking showing no intention to stop. It was a frightening experience. The only positive thing was the elf's supporting hand on her shoulder. But instead of helping her, the elf stood up and went over to a huge desk. The helpless kender still suffered from the cough attack. Nima was sure, if this didn't stop the next minute it was going to tear her lungs apart. It hurt. In an instant the elf was on her side again. He hold her protectively and a mug was pressed against her lips.

"Drink." he commanded.

Somehow she managed to deal with this body of hers and get the liquid from the mug into her mouth and swallow it. Soon after the first sips the pain subsided. Both the elf and the girl sighed.

"That was close." she whispered. "But I feel better now."

The Elf nodded.

I still don't know what happened to you, Shalafi." he said, a slight trace of reproach in his soft voice.

"Um... I don't know?" she tried. "I just... don't know... what... has happened. I was there... and then I was here... and everything was so strange... and... I don't know. I hope I didn't break something. I surely didn't intend to. Really. It was probably just... coincidence..."

Nima smiled nervously.

He elf's jaw dropped slightly open. So this was not what he had expected to hear. He muttered something hardly intelligible to himself. Nima only managed to get a few phrases. "Magic" she heard. "Powerful spell"..."Must have affected... mind."

Nima used his moment of distraction to examine herself. What she saw made her shiver. She was not like she used to be. She was taller. The man next to her was a full grown elf and she realized that she was nearly as big as he was. She also felt very different. The skin on her hands shimmered alien in the light of the elf's magical flame. And these hands did definitely not belong to her. They were too big, too clumsy and anyway more like the hands of a human male. The same with her feet. And that strange robe she wore, looked just like the elf's. Who wore such strange robes? Priests probably. And Mages. Nima raised her left hand to feel her face. Definitely not hers, but a stranger's face. A male stranger's probably. So, it really seemed like she was in another persons body. That had to be a dream. But why hadn't she snapped out of it by now? And if something really, really strange had occurred and this was not a dream at all, where in the darkest Abyss was she? And who?

She recapitulated what she had seen so far. There she was, in an eerie chamber with a lot of arcane stuff, wearing a robe and sitting in a pentagram. And another guy who looked handsome and a little sinister was muttering something about spells. So she was very likely stranded in the body of a mage. The girl tried to remember the few things she knew about mages. A line of a popular kendersong came into her mind. Black mages in their halls, cast evil spells and fireballs... But since this was not the appropriate occasion for singing lessons, she went on to other memories. Hrongar, who knew a lot about these things, had once told her that there were several kinds of mages on Krynn. Good ones who wore white robes, neutrals who could be identified by wearing red and the evil folks who were only seen wearing black. Nima cast a glance at her clothing again. Bad thing! Very, very bad thing! Blackrobe! So the "normal" occupant of this body was supposedly a very evil mage. And logically the handsome elf next to her must be... following the same profession.

At this moment Nima realized that he was talking to her. Whatever he wanted, she had to be careful with him. Probably it was not such a good idea to tell him who she was and how she had come here. If he was evil, and all blackrobes were evil, or so rumor had it, he would probably misuse her dilemma for his own selfish interests. He had stopped talking by know. In her confusion she had not paid attention to what he had said. Just for the sake of habit she uttered a phrase that was very common among all kenders.

"I didn't do it!" she sputtered into the blue.

"So you were attacked?" he asked.

Nima had no idea how to answer. Without knowing the topic of the conversation this was a difficult task.

"No... not... not really... I wouldn't call it attacked... it was more like...like..."

"An interference...?" he assisted.

"Yes! An interference! A really nasty interference. Interferences can be so nasty at times!" Nima stated.

The elf seemed once more astonished.

"Um... yes." he said. "And then your spell went wrong, Shalafi?" he tried hesitantly to get useful information out of her.

"Yes..." Nima nodded slowly. "I think this was the point when everything went wrong. Yes. Right. This happens, you know." she told the elf who watched her closely with the same look people normally spared for wounded animals or persons not quite right in their heads. "Magic is so very tricky and just apt to go wrong. That's part of the deal."

"Shalafi, are you really sure you feel all right?"

Nima saw a chance coming. A chance for comfort. And she was not inclined to let it go by.

"I would feel better if I had a bath and a decent meal and a warm bed. Magic makes people hungry."

The elf nodded. "As you wish, master." He rose. "I'll prepare the meal and a bath."

"Thanks! That's very nice of you."

The elf paused, raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head. "I learn and obey, master."

"Oh... Great!"

He turned and was nearly out of the door when Nima realized that she had absolutely no idea where she was or where the personal rooms of her "host" were located.

"Can you help me to my quarters?" she cried at his back. "I... feel still a little weak."

This was not even a lie. The elf bowed slightly.

"Of course." he said.

Instantly he was at her side again. He took one of her arms, put it around his shoulder and supported her body with his other hand on her waist. Slowly they walked out of the room and along a dark pathway. Nima didn't like the building. Everything was dark and gloomy here. Just like mage towers were supposed to be. She didn't dare to thank the elf once again since this didn't seem the appropriate reaction for the man in who's body she was now captured. They went several stairs downwards and passed another hallway when they finally reached a door. They stopped and he let her go. He bowed again and left. Nima stood still for a moment thinking what to do. Since she didn't find any better options she hunched her shoulders and opened the door.