The War Of The Lance by Michael Williams, Richard A. Knaak, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman Page A

desperate to keep itself free from the cruel talons of the draconian
     army. We are under the command of a lone Knight of Solamnia, a former townsman named
     Kalend. He's a friend of my older brother's,” she sighed and her voice softened. “Kalend's
     nice, and he thinks I'M wonderful, but that's really not that surprising, because I'm
     ravishingly beautiful.” She sighed again, this time in dejection. “Though I do wish he'd
     stop calling me 'little girl' all the time. Anyway, when I met him on the rampart walls a
     few nights ago, I asked him if we were likely to survive, and he said not really, but if
     the draconians attacked too early or while they thought we were unprepared, we still might
     win. And he said that if he had even one working gnome weapon, we'd stand a chance. And I
     think he meant it,” she added sincerely.
    She went on and on - some about the draconians, some about how dire the situation was, but
     mostly about Kalend, who grew taller and better looking as her story progressed. Standback
     nodded frequently.
    “And so,” she said, resuming the heroic stance, “I left Arnisson that very night. I left
     unseen,” she added, pausing and staring at Standback earnestly.
    “Unseen,” he echoed dutifully.
    “Exactly.” She stared into space. "Stealthily creeping out under the cover of darkness, I,
     alone, crawling through the enemy camp . . .
    She went on again for quite some time, not bothering much about the truth, which was
     actually pretty boring and she was sure no one wanted to hear anyway.
    Standback listened patiently, feeling only a little put out that she had been going on
     like that after making him be brief. When she finished, he said, “But why did you come?”
    “What?” Mara brought herself back to being Queen of
    Thieves. “I came here,” she began boldly, then faltered as she realized how it would
     sound, “to - borrow, or - get, or somehow - take - okay, STEAL some gnome weaponry for the
     war with the draconians.” She was blushing.
    Standback decided that he liked her, but he wasn't sure how sensible she was.
    “Gnome technology is famous throughout Krynn,” Mara added wheedlingly, with some truth.
     FAMOUS and INFAMOUS were fairly close. “There are legends of past great weapons. The
     Knights of Solamnia still speak of your poison gas - ”
    “Yes, well,” Standback said uncomfortably, "it was supposed to make us invisible, you
     know. Still, not a total loss;
    it does wonders for pest control down here. Mostly." He glanced from side to side.
    “Mostly?” Mara jumped as a loud chittering sound flew by her ear. She whirled, but saw
     nothing.
    “We ran out of the original batch lately, so we made a new one. It doesn't seem to kill
     them any more.” Standback ducked as a flapping sound passed near his head. “Lately it just
     makes them invisible.”
    Mara looked around nervously. The tunnel, at the bottom of the crater that formed Mount
     Nevermind, was rough-hewn rock scored by some huge excavating blade and riddled with drill
     holes and iron bolts. Ropes and cables hung every which way, with pulleys, blocks and
     tackles, and crane tracks running the length of the ceiling.
    Though there were no torches, the tunnel was quite bright. Mara gingerly felt the walls;
     they were warm to the touch, but nowhere near hot enough to give off light. “How are these
     tunnels lit?”
    Standback pointed to the glowing fungi on the wall. “We cultivated them for food.
     Fortunately, the ones we cultivated for light are quite tasty.” He mused, “You know, we'd
     like to do more with biological engineering. It's the technology of the future.”
    “Or the end of the world,” Mara muttered. She was beginning to worry, marginally, about
     the wisdom of stealing gnome inventions. However, if the wise and wonderful Kalend. Knight
     of Solamnia, believed in gnome technology... “Could you show me some of your weapons?”
    “I would