Read Tanis the shadow years (d2-3) for Free Online Page A

that's so complimentary, either."
    "You're a human?" Tanis said, searching the ground for his sword.
    "Your sword is just a little to the right of your hand. Be careful of the blade," Scowarr said. 'Tour eyes will get used to the darkness soon."
    The voice may have come from a human, but its owner had rescued him from the other humans. And enemies tend not to help their foes find a lost weapon, Tanis conceded. He grasped the sword and eased it into his scabbard. He could just make out a figure in the shadows.
    The voice rose to a tenor now but remained whispery. "Come with me, but keep your head down. This is a very narrow tunnel."
    The half-elf followed the shadow into the gloom until there was no shadow, only a voice: "Before those soldiers showed up, the village was so healthy they had to kill one of its citizens just to start a cemetery."
    Tanis was only half listening. "Is this village called Ankatavaka?" he asked.
    He felt, rather than heard, his companion come to a dead stop before him. The voice sank deep again, with a new, irritated rasp. 'That's a joke, boy. Where's your sense of humor?"
    Under the current circumstance, the half-elf thought, a sense of humor paled next to traits necessary for survival. "Please… is it Ankatavaka?" he persisted.
    "Yes," the voice said, obviously annoyed, "and while I'm still willing to talk to you, I guess I should tell you to stay to your left when the tunnel divides." The human re-' sumed walking.
    A few moments later, Tanis fought to keep from getting pinned between the narrowing tunnel walls. "I'm not sure I can squeeze through," he called out.
    The voice seemed to have lost its irritation. "Keep going. If I could, I would happily give you my little shoulders, nickname and alk It's just this sort of activity that they're great for."
    Who cares? Tanis wondered. Actually, the voice was beginning to sound more like a kender than a human; Tas wandered conversationally, too, but the owner of this voice had displayed an unkenderlike tendency toward irritability. Tanis resolved to humor his rescuer. "Does this cave widen eventually?" he asked.
    "The other advantage," the voice prattled on hollowly, "is that I make a rather thin target. As you can see, I like to look on the bright side. If only there were some light. By the way, what is your name7"
    "Tanis Half-Elven."
    "Well, Tanis-may I call you that, or do you prefer the entire title?"
    Tanis puffed with the effort of inching along a passageway designed more for a dwarf or kender than someone of human blood. "Anyone who saves my life can call me anything he wants. And if you don't mind my asking, why did you save my life?"
    The voice, ranging up into the alto register now as its owner became winded, reverted to an earlier question.
    "First of all, Tanis, the tunnel widens again soon and then cuts to the right before there's a sudden drop. You'll fit through just fine. And…" Tanis heard several deep breaths, and the voice dipped back'to baritone. "And as for why I pulled you down here into this miserable dark pit, the answer is simple. I need protection. And now you owe me your life."
    Tanis grimaced in the darkness. Certainly the old mage, breathing out his life on some lakeshore a century in the future, did not have the time left for Tanis to let himself get diverted from the quest for Brandella. And Tanis definitely had priorities of his own. In his mind, however, he could hear Sturm Brightblade quoting the Solamrdc oath, "My honor is my life," and he suspected that his former companion would find the time to help Scowarr, regardless of the consequences.
    Scowarr paused-for dramatic effect, Tanis was beginning to realize-then said, "You know, some people pay their debts when they're due, some pay them when they're overdue, and some never do."
    "That's clever," Tanis conceded.
    "But you didn't laugh," Scowarr complained.
    "I smiled. You just couldn't see me because it's so dark."
    "Not good enough. Anyway," the man persisted, "the