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Bardon sat a little straighter. Kale watched the familiar resolve sharpen the contours of
his jaw.
“Sir, I don’t know what it was that Grand Ebeck expected me to learn.”
Paladin smiled the slow, relaxed smile that somehow made Kale trust him and his
wisdom. “I’m not surprised. Often the lessons in life that are the most meaningful are the
hardest for us to sort out. Wulder blessed you with a great potential. He used your parents
to gift you with unique traits. Grand Ebeck saw those inherent talents bound by your rigid
adherence to rules. He threw you out of the austere environment of The Hall so that you
would have a chance to become more flexible.”
Paladin swung his arm around, his sweeping gesture indicating the members of the quest
sitting around the stone kitchen. “In the company of this motley crew, how could you
help but unbend a little?”
Kale grinned as Librettowit and Fenworth harrumphed, Dar and Cam chortled, and
Toopka laughed out loud.
Bardon’s lips spread into a smile, and his body relaxed. “So I was to learn to be more
yielding before I entered a discipline that is unyielding?”
Paladin clapped him on the shoulder. “Precisely! You must learn to be malleable before
you’re formed into an instrument of justice. Otherwise you wield a sword with no mercy,
no discernment.”
Bardon nodded thoughtfully, then glanced at Kale and winked.
You have changed, Bardon!
“And I intend to change even more. In three years I will be a knight, Kale. And if our
paths do not cross again until then, I promise I will seek you out so you can marvel at the
Snitch.”
Kale gasped, and then smiled. He knew the name they had all called him back at The
Hall.
Paladin nodded as if he understood their exchange. “You will need something I believe
our venerable Wizard Fenworth has been keeping for you.” He stretched out his open
palm to the old man as if he expected Fen to hand over the object.
“Oh dear, tut-tut. Where did I put that? Tut-tut, oh dear.” The wizard sat up straight and
began patting his beard and robes. Tiny creatures skittered in all directions. The minor
dragons jumped on the scampering feast of bugs, ignoring lizards, birds, and rodents as
they escaped.
Wizard Fenworth’s hand dug into a fold of his robe. “Aha!” He pulled out a closed fist,
turned it over, and slowly uncurled his fingers. A tiny sword lay across his palm.
Bardon stood, and so did Amara’s leader.
Paladin picked it up between his thumb and forefinger.
“Fen, you constantly amaze me. I believe this would be more useful to our future knight
in different proportions.”
The sword shimmered and grew at a steady, unhurried rate until the hilt became a size
Paladin could wrap his hand around. The silent audience watched the shining blade
stretch out to a gleaming point.
Paladin swished the sword through the air, testing its balance. “A finely crafted weapon.”
He deftly reversed the blade and offered it to Bardon. The young man took it without a
word.
Kale thought she would burst with pride for her friend. She started to enter his thoughts
and congratulate him, but the look on his face stopped her. This moment was too
important to Bardon for her to intrude upon.
Paladin laid his hand on the stunned lehman’s shoulder. “You shall go with Dar to
Wittoom. Sir Dar will train you.”
Kale’s mouth dropped open, and her head whipped around to find the doneel relaxing in a
chair with his legs draped over the arms. She slammed her fists against her hips. “You
really are a knight?”
Dar ran his mouth over the harmonica, making a loud scale of notes trill through the
cavernous kitchen.
He winked at her and grinned, his face splitting almost in two. “Yes, dear Kale, but only
a very little one.”
GLOSSARY
Amara (ä´-mä-rä)
Continent surrounded by ocean on three sides.
armagot (är´-muh-got)
National tree, purple blue leaves in the fall.
ballyhoo bird (b l´-le-hōō)
An insect-eating bird with dappled brown feathers. It is rarely seen, but its distinctive
ballyhoo call is frequently heard in all types of woodland.
beater frog (b ´-ter frôg)
Tailless, semiaquatic amphibian having a smooth, moist skin, webbed feet, and long hind
legs. Shades of green; no bigger than a child’s fist; capable of making loud, resounding
boom.
benders
A game played with a deck of cards.
bentleaf tree
Deciduous tree having long, slender, drooping branches and narrow leaves.
bisonbecks (b -sen-beks)
Most intelligent of the seven low races. They comprise most of Risto’s army.
blattig fish (blat´-tig)
Freshwater fish often growing to a length of two to three feet, voraciously carnivorous,
known to attack and devour living animals.
blimmets (blim´-mets)
One of the seven low races, burrowing creatures that swarm out of the ground for
periodic feeding frenzies.
bodoggin (bō´-d g-n)
A breed of short-haired dog with a large head, short bowed legs, stocky body. Strong
jaws with dewlaps, useful on farms for curtailing vermin.
Bogs, The
Made up of four swamplands with indistinct borders; located in southwest Amara.
borling treee (bôr´-ling)
Having dark brown wood and a deeply furrowed nut enclosed in a globose, aromatic
husk.
bornut (bôr´-n t)
Nut from borling tree.
brillum (bril´-lum)
A brewed ale that none of the seven high races will consume. Smells like skunkwater,
stains like black bornut juice. Mariones use it to spray around their fields to keep insects
from infesting their crops.
broer (brôr)
A substance secreted by female dragons through glands in the mouth. Used for nest
building, it hardens into a rocklike substance resembling gray meringue.
chukkajoop (chuk´-kuh-joop)
A favorite o’rant stew made from beets, onions, and carrots.
cygnot tree (si´-not)
A tropical tree growing in extremely wet ground or shallow water. The branches come
out of the trunk like spokes from a wheel hub and often interlace with neighboring trees.
deckit powder
Yellow crystalline compound used for explosives.
doneel (dō´-n l)
One of the seven high races. These people are furry with bulging eyes, thin black lips,
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