We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Dragons of Eternity, the final volume of the Dragonlance Destinies trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, out from Random House Worlds on August 6th.
When Destina Rosethorn and her companions were transported to a time centuries before their birth—to the days of the Third Dragon War—the Graygem of Gargath brought chaos to the battlefield and changed the course of history. Upon returning to the Inn of the Last Home, where their journey began, Destina’s party discovered a world completely changed. The forces of evil now hold sway over their land.
The River of Time is rising, flowing inexorably toward the present day. Destina and her friends must make one last, desperate attempt to restore time’s river to its proper channel. If they do not succeed, the altered past will sweep over the present until no trace of their old world remains.
Tanis Half-Elven arrived at the Inn of the Last Home in the morning just before noon. He had flown on griffinback through a storm, and although he was wet and chilled, he looked about with pleasure. Autumn was his favorite time of year to visit Solace, when the vallenwood trees burned with golden flame. Even now, when dark clouds filled the sky and a steady rain seemed to try its best to quench the fire, the trees still brightened the dreary day.
Tanis had traveled from Palanthas, where he and his wife, Laurana, were trying to arrange a meeting of the Whitestone Council. Tanis was glad to be able to leave, get away from the talking and arguing, scheming and bargaining. The work he and Laurana were doing was good and would mean peace for Ansalon for many years. But the talks were tedious, frustrating, and slow-going.
Tanis had no formal role in the proceedings, which meant he could slip away from the meetings to pay a visit to his friends Tika and Caramon, to congratulate them on the birth of their second child.
He was soaked through and dispirited by the time he reached the inn, but the familiar surroundings lifted his spirits. The inn was warm and crowded and noisy. Tika greeted him with a smile and scolded him for traveling through the storm. She took his cloak to dry by the fire, then led him to his usual table, which was located near the bar so that Caramon could join in the conversation while he worked.
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Tika and her husband, Caramon, were the inn’s proprietors, and she waited on customers while her husband reigned over the bar.
“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Tanis asked, seeing her carrying four plates of spiced potatoes, balancing two on her forearms and holding one in each hand. “You just gave birth!”
“I had a baby, not the plague,” said Tika. “Young Sturm’s down for his nap or I’d let you meet him.”
She moved among the tables, delivering the plates and mugs of ale, then came back to sit down beside Tanis.
“Any word from Tas?” Tanis asked.
“No,” said Tika, sighing. “I miss him. I’d give most of the spoons to have him back. I’m sick at heart with worry that something has happened to him. I never did trust that woman!”
“What woman?” Tanis asked, unable to follow the leap in Tika’s conversation.
“That Rosebush woman,” said Tika. “Wearing that horrid, ugly gem around her neck.”
“Destina Rosethorn,” Caramon called from behind the bar. “You sent us that letter telling us about how you met with Astinus and found out that Destina had gone back in time to the Third Dragon War and taken Raistlin and Sturm and Tas with her.”
“You’ve heard nothing of them since?” Tika asked.
“I haven’t,” said Tanis. “Truth to tell, I’ve been so busy, I hadn’t thought about it. I guess I assumed that since I hadn’t heard anything, all was well and everyone had come back safely.”
Tika shook her head. “We haven’t seen hide nor hair of Tas, and you know he would have come here to tell us his adventures.”
“True,” said Tanis, troubled.
“I’ll go see if your food’s ready,” Tika said, rising.
She returned with a full plate and set it down in front of him.
“Otik’s spiced potatoes—crispy, just the way you like them. Do you need anything else?” Tika asked.
“You were going to bring me a mug of ale…” Tanis reminded her.
“So I was!” said Tika, sighing. “I’m that worried, it slipped my mind. Maybe it’s the gloomy day, but I feel like trouble’s coming. Terrible trouble, and I don’t know what or why. I’ll fetch the ale.”
Caramon handed the mug to Tika, who carried it back to Tanis. She was starting to sit down when she heard a baby crying. “He’s awake from his nap. I’ll introduce you.”
Tika brought the baby to show Tanis, who smiled to see the fuzz of red hair that covered the baby’s head, a match to Tika’s own red curls.
“Meet our little Sturm,” she said. “We thought we would name him after our dear friend.”
“A fitting tribute,” said Tanis.
Tika cradled the baby in one arm and picked up Tanis’s plate. She was heading to the kitchen when she suddenly gasped and dropped the plate on the floor as a column of shimmering air, like waves of heat rising off a sunbaked road, materialized in the center of the inn.
Customers saw it and bounded to their feet in alarm. Some of them ran for the door. Others remained, either too hungry or too curious to depart.
Tanis jumped up from the table, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Caramon handed Tika their older son and stood in front of his family, prepared to defend them.
Reprinted from Dragons of Eternity: Dragonlance Destinies: Volume 3 by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. © 2024 Wizards of the Coast LLC. Published by Random House Worlds, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
