Lord Toede

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Book: Read Lord Toede for Free Online
Authors: Jeff Grubb
Tags: Science-Fiction, Fantasy
the central bolt. Only when her back
     was turned did Groag see Toede's face immediately cloud and small lightning bolts of anger
     dance beneath his deeply creased brows. The only Toede present, realized Groag, was the
     one that had always inhabited that body.

Dragonlance - Villains 5 - Lord Toede
    Chapter 3
    In which Our Protagonist and his faithful companion go berry picking and attempt to part
     company with the kender way of life, in the process discovering the merits and perils of
     bungee diving and white-water rafting. The kender's full name was Taywin Kroninsdau, at
     least that's what Toede thought she said when she made introductions, making mention of
     Kronin's name. Thankfully neither Kronin nor Talorin were immediately at hand to discern
     his true identity, and Toede hoped no one caught the early part of his self-identifying
     rant. Taywin seemed perfectly agreeable to calling him Mr. Underhill. Were the kender to
     figure out who they really had tumbled upon, they might try to ransom him. And that old
     scaleflint Gildentongue would probably rather leave him there to rot than part with one
     sliver of steel.
    As it was, Taywin Kroninsdau nodded brightly (she was the type of semi-sentient who did
     everything brightly) when he introduced himself as Mr. Underhill and gave no sign that she
     doubted his words. Their hut had a kender guard posted outside, a sleepy sort who seemed
     lazy even by kender standards, who was to accompany them along with Taywin. Toede and
     Groag had their chains lengthened so they could take shortened, hopping strides, with
     about ten feet of chain connecting them. Taywin led the way, the large basket in hand. The
     two chained hobgoblins were reduced to skipping
    to keep up with her. The amused kender guard, armed with a particularly wicked-looking
     spear, brought up the rear, alongside a shag-muzzled, honey-colored mastiff. Taywin
     introduced the guard as Miles and made Toede shake hands politely. Introductions were not
     made to the dog. The sought-after fruit hung from low, dense raspberry bushes that flanked
     a small river, the probable outflow of the lake Toede had seen earlier (the presence of
     which had forced him to stray into kender territory). The tumbling water was too small to
     do the name “river” proper justice, and too large and energetic to be considered a mere
     stream or creek. It was a whitened cascade of water about twenty feet across, thundering
     over falls and cresting in hydraulics, the latter being great standing waves three feet
     higher at the top than at the base. The spray from the water hung like a low fog, and the
     omnipresent dampness encouraged the bushes to bear fruit throughout the warm months. Toede
     was still seething inwardly with the indignation of his plight. It took a full ten minutes
     for him to switch from planning imagined revenge on all kender to assessing the situation
     for possible escape. The water looked too rough for a chain-bound swimmer, but could throw
     off the scent of a party of dogs. The spray would dampen any clear sight or bow shot past
     a hundred feet, and the thunder of the cascades meant that any survivors would have to
     crawl for help rather than count on being heard crying out in pain. The girl seemed like
     no real problem, and the guard was not particularly watchful. Toede realized he would have
     to take him out quickly, before the dog reacted. After which, there was the matter of
     Groag. Toede sighedthere always was a weak link in any plan. They had been spirited out of
     the hut before making any real decisions as to escape, so he had to act and hope that
     Groag would pick up on the momentum. More likely another large mountain would hit the sea
     of Istar, Toede reflected bitterly as they skipped glumly alongside the water. The path
     was only wide enough for a single creature, and in places was devilishly slick, even for
     those not hampered by iron

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