Tanis the shadow years

Tanis sat up, shocked, against the dank cave wall, and Scowarr hastened to add, "Oh, he didn't intend to hit me with it. And he didn't. But he inspired dozens, then scores, of them to do the same. Can you imagine it?" Scowarr's face glowed hotly with the memory of his fear and shame. "They didn't like my jokes, so they decided to kill me. They thought that was fu

That's when he spotted a ship anchored just down the coast in the harbor of the elven village. Small fishing vessels, lying heavy in the water, ferried boatloads of citizens to the waiting ship.

'They're evacuating," Tanis said sadly. 'The humans must be massing a huge army to make elves flee their homes."

Scowarr joined the half-elf at the cave mouth. The human was a full head shorter than he'. "Yes," Scowarr said, "that skirmish you were involved in was only the begi

Another wave broke high on the cliff and covered them with green foam. Scowarr, thin clothes clinging to his spare frame, shivered.

Tanis feared that the tu

"Can you climb?" asked Tanis.

Scowarr recklessly stuck his head out of the cave and looked up. Tanis lunged for a fistful of the human's shirt to keep him from tumbling into the sea and hauled the man back in. Scowarr appeared unaware of his close call, although his eyes were round with Tanis's suggested escape route. "Now I know why you don't laugh at my jokes," Scowarr said. "You're mad."

"It's not as far as it looks. Maybe thirty feet," said Tanis. "Besides, there are tree roots sticking out of the rock face," he added. "We can use them for handholds."

"You go first," insisted the fu

It hadn't occurred to Tanis to do anything except go first, so he carefully dug his foot into the rock ledge at the side of the cave mouth and began to climb. He found a crevice for his right foot, a small outcropping to grab with his left hand, then a bush growing out of the rock face in which to steady his left foot, then another crevice for his right hand, and so it went until he was halfway to the top. The sea continued to rise, the deadly waves beating against the cliff until Tanis feared for the safety of the man waiting below.

'The water is up to my waist!" cried Scowarr, his voice drifting up to Tanis on the surf-soaked wind. "I'm coming! Don't fall, or youH knock me in, too!"

"At least he's managed that a

"… which could certainly put a damper on things!" the human sang triumphantly.

Tanis stifled a groan.

The half-elf continued to climb, his hands cut from grabbing the sharp-edged rocks, the blood mixing with his sweat to make everything he touched slick and slippery. Still, he worked his way closer to the top, hand over hand, foot over foot, edging toward safety. He settled his left foot on a tree root. His right foot rested on a protruding rock. He held on to a fossilized piece of driftwood with his left hand, and then reached for a grayish bush with dying flowers with his right.

The bush didn't hold.

The plant came out of the sea cliff wall in a rush of broken clods of rock, dirt, and rotten roots. The dirt flew in Tanis's face. He lost his balance, and both feet slipped off their moorings…

7

"No!" shouted Scowa

Tanis's arm felt as if it were going to rip right out of the socket. If only he could find some halfway solid footing. But the more he struggled to find a place for his feet, the greater was the strain on his arm.

"I'm lowering it," the woman called out. "It's coming down on your right. See it?"

He saw it-a thin, pink shawl dangling in the wind.

He grabbed it with his free hand. The shawl, and other shawls of red, blue, purple, and yellow to which it was tied, went taut.

Breathlessly, Tanis called out, "What's your end tied to?"

"A cart," came the reply. "I put stones under the wheels, but it's sliding toward the edge of the cliff. The cart's too light, and I can't hold it. Hurry!"

Tanis heaved himself up the multicolored rope of shawls as if he were climbing a vine in the forest.

"Hurry!" the woman pleaded. "The cart's sliding faster!"

Hand over hand, Tanis struggled. His arms ached, and his mouth was as dry as the loose dirt that kept breaking away from the rock face.

But he was getting close to the top. Just a few more heaves up the makeshift rope…

The half-elf looked up, hoping to see a hand stretched out to help him. Instead, he heard a scream and saw the cart coming over the top of the cliff. He wasn't going to make it!

The cart tumbled over the edge, smacking into Tanis, who had been a mere few feet below it when it fell.

Stu