Fistandantilus Reborn - Douglas Niles [80]
The symptoms had seemed very much the same as this violent spell, which now caused the kender to make choking sounds, bringing his voice gurgling inarticulately from the depths of his throat. Danyal felt helpless as he watched Mirabeth stroke Emilo’s forehead, then lean down to whisper soothingly into the afflicted kender’s ear.
“Can I help?” Danyal knelt beside the kendermaid, who didn’t raise her eyes from the struggling figure of Emilo.
“I don’t think so,” she whispered. “This happens to him a lot, and the only thing to do is let it pass and to try and keep him safe until then.”
Finally the kender drew a deep, ragged gulp of air, then collapsed limply. His breathing slowed, settling into a normal cadence of sleep.
When Danyal felt Emilo’s forehead, however, his hand came away wet with sweat. The long brown topknot was matted across the kender’s cheeks, and every so often his body would shiver under the assault of violent trembling.
“He’ll need to rest for a short time,” Mirabeth said. “He’ll be confused when he wakes up, but I think we’ll be able to start walking again.”
“I wonder if we should just camp right around here,” suggested the human lad, realizing that they were well concealed by the cloaking evergreens. Even as he asked the question, however, he wished they could have put more distance between themselves and the scene of their escape.
“We should go farther if we can,” the kendermaid said.
A few minutes later Emilo groaned and his eyelids fluttered. Finally they opened and he looked around, his gaze flicking from Mirabeth to Danyal.
“Who-who are you?” the kender asked.
“I’m Mirabeth, and this is Danyal. The man over there is Foryth. We’re all your friends.”
Dan was amazed at the obvious answer, but as he watched, he saw that Emilo really seemed to be absorbing the information. These were things that he really couldn’t recall!
“And me… who am I?”
“You’re Emilo Haversack, a kender,” Mirabeth said frankly. “From one of the oldest, most honorable of the kender clans.”
“What-what happened? Where are we?” Emilo strained to lift himself from the ground, and the pair assisted him into a sitting position.
“We’re in a stream valley in the Kharolis Mountains,” Danyal said.
“You had a spell. We’re waiting for you to get better.”
“I had a spell?” The kender regarded the youth with confusion.
With a serious nod, Danyal replied, “Yes, but you’re going to be all right.”
“Thanks… I…” Abruptly the kender’s eyes rolled back in his head, and with a strangled gasp, he fell backward to collapse upon the ground.
CHAPTER 29
A Strange Malady First Misham, Reapember 374 AC “It got him again!” Danyal cried, patting Emilo’s cheek, trying to draw some response from the stiff, motionless kender.
Once again Mirabeth knelt beside the afflicted fellow, talking to him soothingly. They heard him gasp some strangled, inarticulate sounds, though Dan thought he heard the word “skull” in the midst of the ravings, and finally he drew a deep breath and lapsed into a more relaxed, normal-seeming slumber.
Some time later the kender stirred, then sat up, looking around with a dazed expression.
“Can you walk?” Danyal asked, shivering at the dull look he detected in Emilo’s eyes.
“Walk… yes… yes, I can walk.” The kender’s voice seemed to gain strength from the positive response.
“Good.” Dan turned to Mirabeth. “‘Do you want to lead the way? I’ll help Emilo.”
“I think I should stay beside him,” she said quietly. “Why don’t you see if you can find us a path?”
Foryth brought up the rear as the lad started through the woods, trying to keep his feet on the smooth, winding trail that he could barely see. He felt