AII was ready. At Gunthar's signal, two knights entered, . bearing a golden stand and a wooden chest. A silence that was almost deathlike descended on the crowd as they watched the entrance of the dragon orb.

The knights carne to a halt, standing directly in (rant of the Whitestone. Here, one of the knights placed tl!e golden s card` upon the ground. The other set down the chest, unlocked it and carefully brought forth the orb that was back to its origin site, over two feet in diameter.

A murmur went through the crowd. The Speaker of the Su shifted uncomfortably, scowling. His son, Porthios, turned t_ say something to an elflord near him. All of the elves., Gunth muted, were armed. Not a good sign, from what little he kne of elven protocol.

He had no choice but to proceed. Calling the meeting . order, Lard Gunthar Uth Wistan announced, "Let tine Coon cf V"dhitestane be:gin:'

After about two, minutes, it was obvious to Tasslehoff things were in a real mess.. Before Lord Gunthar had even c eluded his speech of welcome, the Speaker of the Suns rose-.

"My talk will be brief;' the elven leader stated in a voice that matched the steely gray of the storm clouds above him. "The Silvanesti, the Qualinesti, and the Kaganesti met in council shortly after the orb was removed from our camp. It is the first time the members o? the three communities have met since the Kinslayer wars." He paused, laying a heavy emphasis on those last words. Then he continued.

"We have decided to set aside our own differences in our perfect agreement that the dragon orb belongs in the hands of the elves, not in the hands of humans or any other race upon Krynn. Therefore, we come before the Council of Whitestone and ask that the dragon orb be given over to us forthwith. In return, we guarantee that we will take it to our lands and keep it safe until such time-if ever-it be needed:"

The Speaker sat down, his dark eyes sweeping aver the crowd, its silence broken now by a murmur of soft voices, The other Council members, sitting next to Lord Gunthar, shook their heads, their faces grim. The dark-skinned leader of the Northern Ergoth people whispered to Lord Gunthar in a harsh voice, clenching his fist to emphasize his words.

Lord Gunthar, after listening and nodding for several minutes, rose to his feet to respond. His speech was cool, calm, complimentary to the clues. But it said-between the linesthat the Knights would see the elves in the Abyss before they gave them the dragon orb.

The Speaker, understanding perfectly the message of steel couched in the pretty phrases, rose to reply He spoke only one sentence, but it brought the crowd of witnesses to their feet.

"Then, Lord Gunthar," the Speaker said, ''the elves declare that-from this time on-we are at war!"

Humans and elves bath headed for the dragon orb that sat upon its golden stand, its milky white insides swirling gently within the crystal. Gunthar shouted For order time and again, banging the hilt of his sward upon the table. The Speaker spoke a ie4v words sharply in elven, staring hard at his son, Porthios, and finally order was restored.

)3u t the atmosphere snapped I_ke the air before a storm. Gunklrar talked. The Speaker answered'. The Speaker talked. Gunthar answered. The dark-skinned mariner lost his temper and made a few cutting remarks about elves. The lord of the

Silvanesti reduced him to quivering anger with his sarcastic rejoinders. Several of the knights left, only to return armed to the teeth. They came to stand near Gunthar, their hands on their weapons. The elves, led by Porthios, rose to surround their own leaders.

Gnosh, his report held fast in his hand, began to realize he warn"t going to be asked to give it.

Tasslehoff looked around despairingly for Elistan. He kept hoping desperately the cleric would come. Elistan could calm these people down. Or maybe Laurana. Where was sheT There'd been no ward of his friends, the elves had told the kender coldly. She and her brother had apparently vanished in the wilderness. l shouldn't lave left them, Tas thought. l shouldn't be here. Why, why did this crazy old mage bring me7 I'm useless! Maybe Fizban could do something? Tas looked at the mage hopefully, but Fizban was sound asleep!

"Please, wake up!" Tas begged, shaking him. "Somebody's got to do something!"

At that moment, he heard Lord Gunthar yell, "The dragon orb is not yours by right! Lady Laurana and the others were bringing it to us when they were shipwrecked! You tried to keep it on Ergoth by force, and your own daughter-"

",Mention not my daughter!" the Speaker said in a deep, . harsh voice. "I do not have a daughter:'

Something broke within Tasslehoff. Confused memories of

Laurana fighting desperately against the evil wizard whoj guarded the orb, Laurana battling draconians, Laurana tiring her bow at the white dragon;. Laurana ministering to him sari tenderly when bed been near death. To be cast off by her owl people when she was working so desperately to save them,~ when she had sacrificed so much …

. -

"Stop this!" Tasslehoff heard himself yelling at the top of his voice. "Stop this right now and listen to me!" ~

Suddenly he saw, to his astonishment, that everrjone haac stopped talking and was staring at him.

Now that he had his audience, Tas realized he didn.'t ha ^ any idea what to say to all of these important pecVie.But knew he had to say something. After all, he thought, this is fault-I read about these damn orbs.. Gulping, he slid off ~~' bench and walked toward the Whitestone and the two host' groups clustered around it. He thought he saw-out of the corner of his eye-Fizban grinning from under his hat.

"I-I . . ." The kender stammered, wondering what to say. He was saved by a sudden inspiration.

"I demand the right to represent my people;' Tasslehoff said proudly, "and take my place on the advisory council:'

Flipping his tassle of brown hair over his shoulder, the kender came to stand right in front of the dragon orb. Looking up, he could see the Whitestone towering over it and over him. Tas stared at the stone, shivering, then quickly turned his gaze from the rock to Gunthar and the Speaker of the Suns.

And then Tasslehoff knew what he had to do. He began to shake with fear. He-Tasslehoff Burrfoot-who'd never been afraid of anything in his life! He'd faced dragons without tremb;ing, but the knowledge of what he was going to do now appalled him. His hands felt as if he'd been making snowballs without gloves on. His tongue seemed to belong in some larger person"s mouth. But Tas was resolute. He just had to keep them talking, keep them from guessing what he planned.

"You've never taken us kenders very seriously; you know," Tas began, his voice sounding too loud and shrill in his own ears, "and I can't say I blame you much. We don't have a strong sense of responsibility, I guess, and we are probably too curious for own goad-but, I ask you, how are you going to find out anything if you're not curious?"

Tas could see the ;Speaker's face turn to steel, even Lord Gunthar was scowling. The kender edged nearer the dragon orb.

"4Ire cause lots of trouble, I suppose, without meaning to, and occasionally some of us do happen to acquire certain things which aren't ours. But one thing the kender know is-'

Tasslehoff broke into a run. Quick and lithe as a mouse, he sipped easily through the hands that tried to catch him, reaching the dragon orb within a matter of seconds. Faces blurred ar ound hinn, mouths opened, shrieking and yelling at him. But they were too late.

Ir, one swift srnocth movement, Tasslehoff hurled the dragon ors at the huge, gleaming Whitestone.

The round, gleaming crystal-its insides swirling in a3itation-hung sus~emded in the air for long, long seconds. Tas wondered if the orb had the power to halt its flight. But it