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circle of yellow light. The rest of the library was pitch-black. At night in the Great Library of
Palanthas, there was no gray only light and dark. Astinus was in his private study down the hall,
not to be disturbed.
"Isn't there something we can do?" Marya finally asked, not seeming to expect an answer.
So she was aware of him. Olven had not read the latest passage, the one that Marya had recorded.
But he remembered his own feelings of helplessness after inscribing his most recent segment
ofHederick's current schemes.
"We are doing something, Marya," he said, affecting a confidence he certainly didn't feel. "We're
recording the actions of a madman. The world will judge him, even if we can't. Remember our oath
of neutrality."
"Yet you've read Eban's work on Hederick's a. aood," Marya returned. "Hederick wasn't always evil.
Look at the things that happened to him when he was still an innocent child. He was just...
adapting."
Olven shrugged. He remembered something his mother used to tell him when he was railing against
the world's injustices. "Bad things happen to a lot of people," he quoted now. "The choice between
good and evil is still a personal decision."
"But can't we stop him, Olven?"
The dark-skinned scribe was well aware that Marya knew the answer to that question as well as he
did, but he spoke anyway, partly to remind himself. "We can't influence history. We can only record
it. We are scribes. We must remain neutral. Remember the oath, Marya."
"But someone has to stop him, Olven!"
"If the gods mean for Hederick to be stopped, someone will stop him."
Marya was silent for a few moments. "Someone tried for years his sister. Yet Ancilla seems to be
no more effective against Hederick than ... than we are, Olven. By the gods, I wish I were there in
Solace!"
Olven watched her steadily but said nothing. At last Marya sighed and rose from the chair. Without
another word, she handed him the quill and left the Great Library.
Chapter 10
Tarscenian!
The wispy voice jolted Tarscenian out of a doze. He'd found himself a new hiding place among the
ferns and trees, and was waiting for nightfall. "What is it, Ancilla?"
Hederick dropped the Diamond Dragon.
Tarscenian sat up. "You have it?"
I could not lift it!
The whisper was thick with disappointment. The voice, which had never been potent, faded even
more.
lam constrained. I can call up a formidable Presence, but no corporeal body. With a simple panic
spell, I was able to stop Hederick from immediately retrieving the Dragon himself and was also able
to control him enough to help him make a fool of himself. But...
Tarscenian missed the next few words, so quiet had the voice become. Then it returned, slightly
revived.
But then that high priest of his rushed up the stairs and straight through me with the artifact! It
broke my spell, Tarscenian. I am weaker than ever, by Paladine's laoe. I had the power of forty
mages, and what good did it do me?
Tarscenian heard nothing but the sighing of wind for a long time, then another whisper.
What will I do, Tarscenian?
"Rest, my dear," Tarscenian whispered. "Leave Heder-ick alone. Gather your strength. Leave this to
me for now." He rose and belted on his sword. "It is time for me to explore Solace. Rest, Ancilla."
I suppose I...
Then nothing.
"Ancilla?"
An agitated Tarscenian waited for nearly an hour, until the moon Solinari was rising in the sky, red
Lunitari slightly behind. There was no further word from Ancilla, and Tarscenian's worry and
impatience grew at last to unbearable bounds.
Finally he pulled up the hood of his cloak and set out for Solace.
Chapter 11
Most of the treetop pillage had settled into the stillness of night-time, but one section of Solace
never slept. This was the part of Solace where the northern refugees congregated with talk and
activity, day and night.
Solace's lodgings for travelers had long since filled. Nearly every resident had found sleeping space
on the floor for one or two visitors for a hefty price, of course. Refugees who had arrived more
recently had been forced to set up camp on the damp forest floor, bereft of the protection that a
vallenwood perch would afford.
Hood up, Tarscenian stalked unnoticed through arguing humans, dwarves, and elves. Even a few
centaurs walked the paths, although none of the hoofed creatures ventured up onto the bridge-
walkways, of course. The presence of the solitude-loving centaurs in a population center was a sure
sign that something was gravely amiss onKrynn.
Tarscenian stepped carefully around puddles and mud and muck. The light of the moons did not
penetrate through the vallenwood canopy to the forest floor; torchlight was the rule in the refugee
section. The torch smoke burned his eyes, which were already strained from piercing the darkness.
The smell was unbearable the refugees dumped their wash water and garbage wherever they cared
to.
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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