Chapter 4
The next morning, Stephanie woke up with a loud yawn. She looked over on Shadimir's bed and let out a sigh. It was empty.
The doomguide remembered that Shadimir and Alustriel had left shortly after the twins went to bed. She quickly out of bed, threw on a pair of leather pants and one of Shadimir's long sleeved shirts, then walked over to the room across the hall where Jacen and Andreya were still sleeping. Stephanie smiled, then looked into the room next to the twin's. In there, she found Cat and Giogi asleep on the floor. The room belonged to Dalla, who Stephanie hoped was safe.
When she reached downstairs, Stephanie found Jepetto sitting in a chair, playing with a set of puzzle rings. Elros was sleeping sound fully on the floor. "Did you stay up all right trying to solve this?" the doomguide asked the gnome.
Jepetto shook his head. "When Shadimir and Alustriel left, and everyone else went to bed, I found these puzzle rings in my coat pocket. It only took me an hour to solve them. After that, I put them back together and went to sleep. I just woke up about an hour ago."
Stephanie smiled, then heard some soft growls coming from Elros. "I hope Shadimir is all right," she said softly.
The svirfneblin nodded. "So do I," he said with a sigh. Jepetto placed the puzzle rings on the chair, then stretched out his arms.
A soft knock came from the door. Stephanie looked at Jepetto, wondering who it could be. The doomguide walked over and opened the door, seeing saw a tall woman with blue hair and sapphire eyes on the other side of the doorway. She wore silver plate armor with a blue tabard over the front. On the front of the tabard was the symbol of the god Helm.
It took Stephanie a moment to recognize the woman. Tara, its been a long time." The priestess of Kelemvor embraced Tara. "You've become a warrior of Helm."
Taralona, who was actually a blue dragon who worshipped the god Helm, smiled at Stephanie, then looked at Jepetto. "It has been a long time my friends. Alustriel has told me everything."
Stephanie nodded. "Yeah, we're in quite the predicament Taralona. Shadimir and Alustriel are in another world to find a weapon called a Dragonlance."
Tara stared at Stephanie, wondering what a Dragonlance was. The Helmite smiled. "Well, whatever the peril, I will stand by your side."
Wearing their green colored Cloaks of Elvenkind, Shadimir and Alustriel arrived in the world of Krynn the night before. They walked through the fields of Ansalon until they arrived in the small town of Solace.
The few people of Solace who were still awake during the late hours, stared at the undead hunter and the High Lady as they walked through the town. Shadimir noted the different kinds of people he saw. There were elves, dwarves, and humans. There were even a few minotaurs. Once race that Alustriel told him about were kender, a child-like race of Krynn, that stood about as tall as halflings, but were as slender as elves. Alustriel told Shadimir to keep an eye on his belt, because kender were a race of people, who had a problem for "borrowing" people's possessions without even realizing it. Then there was another race of humanoids the hunter saw that had never seen before. They appeared to look like dragons, yet they walked and talked like humans. Alustriel had called them draconians.
For the night, Alustriel and Shadimir rented rooms at an inn named the Inn of the Last Home. The next morning when he went down for breakfast, the inn's proprietor, Laura Majere approached the table Shadimir was sitting at, and asked him how he liked Solace so far.
"Its interesting," was Shadimir's only reply as he watched Alustriel walk down the stairs and sit next to him. Shadimir admired the structure of the inn and watched as the other patrons enjoyed their plates of spiced potatoes.
When Laura went back into the kitchen to grab a plate of potatoes for Shadimir, the undead hunter glanced at Alustriel, who was trying to find her friend.
"Alustriel, it is you," a child-like voice said from the doorway. Shadimir looked at the door, seeing a small kender woman wearing a white cotton dress. If it wasn't for the streaks of grey in the kender's red hair, the hunter would have mistaken her for a little elven girl.
"Juniper Shanklebee," greeted Alustriel as she walked over to the kender woman and gave her a warm hug. After Alustriel let go, Shadimir noticed the High Lady's pendant was now in the kender's hands.
Alustriel looked at the kender with a sly smile. "Oh no, I've seem to have lost my pendant."
Juniper turned to her friend and handed her back the pendant. "Good thing I found this Alustriel. Did you come here for the dragonlance? I always thought you would."
"Yes, do you still have them at your house?" Alustriel asked, tossing a wink at Shadimir.
The kender nodded. "I only have two of them now. My daughter Roxilandra has taken the third one to Palanthus. Why did you need them?"
Alustriel turned to Shadimir. She brought the kender over to their table, and ordered a plate of spiced potatoes. There, Shadimir and Alustriel told Juniper why they needed the dragonlances.
After Shadimir finished telling Juniper about his situation, the kender took him and Alustriel to her house. Juniper had become curious about what a dracolich was, and how it was created. "These dracoliches sure sound powerful, but I think you can defeat them," she commented in her innocent voice. The hunter raised an eyebrow. Alustriel had told him that the kender were known to be fearless and optimistic. He wondered how one would view Fauern and all of it's dangers.
Juniper's small house was located behind the Tomb of the Last Heroes, a burial site where some of Krynn's greatest heroes now rested. It was actually a medium sized wooden cottage with two windows and two bedrooms, along with a living room and a kitchen. The walls and roof were made of strong oak wood.
As they approached the cottage, Juniper had told Shadimir that after the War of the Lance, she had taught at a bard college in Ergoth, then moved to Solace when her daughter Roxi was born. "Roxi and I used to visit the Tomb of Last Heroes all the time. Now she travels with her friends, making her own adventures." When they entered the cottage, the kender then went into another story about the War of the Lance.
Before she could finish her story, Alustriel interrupted Juniper and asked her to get the dragonlances. When the kender left the room, Shadimir noticed several paintings along the walls. Each picture either depicted a beautiful scenery, a person, or a great battle.. One picture that caught Shadimir's eye, was a beautiful oil painting of an elven woman in plate armor riding a silver dragon. The elven woman carried a silver lance in her arms.
"Kender are normally talkative," Alustriel remarked softly," but I think Juniper is especially excited because she has company. With her daughter grown up, she doesn't have many people to talk to."
Shadimir stared at the paintings. "Did she do these?" he asked curiously.
Alustriel nodded. "Juniper is a very skilled painter. She is an artist like you."
The undead hunter blushed, then heard the kender shriek from the other room. Shadimir placed his hands on his belt, holding the handles of his weapons; his light mace and Gabriel, his bastard sword. "Alustriel. Shadimir," Juniper called out. "You need to come and see this."
The High Lady of Silverymoon and the hunter walked into the next room. There were several more paintings hung up on the walls. They saw Juniper holding two heavy lances. The lances were made of steel, and they both radiated a white glow. Standing across from Juniper was the ghost of a beautiful elven woman wearing armor. It took Shadimir a moment to realize that this elven woman was the same one he saw in the painting in the living room.
The ghost's eyes stared at Shadimir. "Who are you?" Shadimir asked, keeping a tight grip on his weapons.
"I am Laurana Kanan, the Golden General," the ghost answered. Holding a sword in her right hand, Laurana sized up the hunter. "So you're Shadimir? Then you must know about Beryl."
"Beryl?" Shadimir asked confused. "Who is Beryl?"
Laurana stared at him. Her ghostly eyes made Shadimir feel uncomfortable. "Beryllinthranox was once the Green Dragon Overlord of Qualinesti. During the War of Souls, my warriors and I defeated Beryl, yet we were also killed in the battle. There have been rumors that Beryl's soul is now active and under the service of a priestess. It is said that she has become an undead creature."
"So you think this Beryl is the dracolich?" Shadimir asked Laurana.
The ghost of Laurana Kanan lowered her sword. "I don't know what a dracolich is, but yes. My warriors and I have been charged to bring her soul back to the afterlife. I offer myself, and my warriors to aid you in your fight."
Shadimir didn't know what to think. He detested necromancers who used the souls of the dead to do their bidding, yet here was a soul of a beautiful elven woman, offering to help him. He wanted to say no, but the silver haired hunter had a feeling that he would need any help he could gather. "It would be an honor to fight by your side," Shadimir answered. "How do we get you and your men to my world?"
The Golden General reached to her side, then handed Shadimir a silver horn. "Blow this horn, and the warriors of Qualinesti will come out and fight by your side." Laurana's ghost looked at Shadimir one last time, then faded away. Shadimir looked at the horn, then placed it under his arm. In his mind, he thanked the gods of both Fauern and Krynn for Laurana's, Alustriel's and Juniper's help.