The Shadow Realm

by James Galloway

  "I say, if we can't detect its source, we need to figure out how it's affecting us," Phandebrass said clinically, scratching the beginnings of a white beard. "If we can't block it from affecting us, we need to counter what it's doing, we do."

  "It must be a mental effect," the Wikuni Priest, Orlen, reasoned in a deep bass voice. "If the Vendari and Master Tarrin and Mistress Kimmie can see, then it can't be a physical spell."

  "Agreed," Dolanna added, "but what kind of mental effect? There are a variety of possible approaches to create this. Illusion, Phantasm, Enchantment, or even Necromancy."

  "What are those last two?" Dar asked.

  "Enchantment is something Sorcerers cannot easily do," Dolanna explained to him. "It is a mental magic that affects mood or personality, but in strong cases, it can affect thoughts. It is the Wizard's form of Mind weaves. If an Enchantment is making us think that it is this dark, then our minds will not believe what our eyes tell us."

  "Necromancy is a forbidden form of Wizard magic, dealing with negative energy," Camara Tal explained. "It's been forbidden for centuries. Necromancy can do anything Wizardry can do, and a whole lot more."

  "Then why is it forbidden?"

  "Because it delves into the realms of the dead," Phandebrass answered the Arkisian. "Necromancy was the magic that raised all the dead in Suld and caused them to fight against us, it was. I say, most people don't like the idea of someone coming along and stealing the bodies of their departed loved ones to use as servants, they don't, so Necromancy is hated by almost everyone. In some kingdoms, it is death to practice it, it is."

  "I don't see how it's different from Wizardry."

  "Wizardry draws positive energy," Kimmie said simply. "Necromancy draws negative energy. There is no spell in Necromancy that is directly helpful or beneficial. All Necromantic spells are destructive, because negative energy can't be used for beneficial ends."

  "I say, good explanation, Kimmie."

  "Thank you," she said to her teacher with a smile.

  "I think I understand," Dar said. "Necromancy sounds creepy."

  "It's not for the faint of heart," Phandebrass told him. "I've studied Necromancy. I can even cast a few of its spells, but I won't go too far. Necromancy subverts the soul and turns the casters evil. I've gone as far as I could go without suffering those effects."

  "Why in the blazes did you do something so foolish!" Camara Tal snapped at him.

  "I wanted to learn about Necromancy, I did," he told her. "So I tracked down a Necromancer and apprenticed to him. He was a sinister fellow, he was, totally enslaved by his power. But he was a good teacher."

  "You are crazy," Camara Tal told him bluntly.

  "We digress," Dolanna reminded them. "We may be able to discern the type of magic it is if we can discover why the Were-cats and the Vendari are immune. There has to be a reason for it."

  "Well then, we must ask what makes them different from us, we do," Phandebrass said.

  "Well, they're both part animal," Dar said.

  "So are the Wikuni," Keritanima told him immediately. "That's not the reason, or the Wikuni would be immune too."

  "Were-cats are magical beings," Phandebrass reasoned aloud.

  "But the Vendari are not," Orlen countered him.

  "I remember something that Tarrin told me long ago," Allia injected. "That the Were-cats and the Vendari originated from magical beginnings."

  Tarrin remembered telling her that, and nodded. "The Were-cats were magically evolved from common cats," he affirmed. "The Vendari are a race that was created by the Wizards of Zakkar."

  "Well, that is a common denominator," Phandebrass mused. "But the magic of that creation is ancient. It couldn't be strong enough to counter this magic, it couldn't."

  "You miss the point," Dolanna said. "The Vendari and Were-cats are not completely natural."

  "Neither are the Wikuni," Keritanima countered. "If we really are descended from the Sha'Kar, then we should look like Allia," she said, pointing at the Selani." Then Keritanima's eyes brightened. "But we did originate from the Sha'Kar," she said quickly. "I think that's the commonality here."

  "What?" several asked at once.

  "The Vendari and the Were-cats aren't descended from the four original races," she explained. "They were created later. If this magic really was set down by the Ancients that hid the Firestaff some five thousand years ago, maybe it's only attacking the people it was designed to attack. Think about it, when the Ancients hid the Firestaff, the Vendari didn't exist, and if the Were-cats did, they probably would never have considered them a threat. Were-cats aren't the kinds to seek the Firestaff, because they'd have no interest in it." She winked at Tarrin. "The humans are one of the first four races. They existed back then. So did the Sha'Kar. And the Selani and the Wikuni are descended from the Sha'Kar."

  "Excellent. You just explained us right back to where we began, Kerri," Dolanna smiled. "We need to determine how the magic is affecting us to counter it. I do not doubt that you are right, but it does not help us figure out how the magic works."

  "Actually, it does," Keritanima said smugly. "If the Ancients laid this down, then it's Sorcery. And Sorcerers can't affect others with Mind weaves outside their own race." She looked at Tarrin. "And if it's Sorcery, then it can be blocked, by a Ward. Think you're up to challenging the Ancients, brother?"

  "You assume that the magic is active, Kerri," Dolanna chided her. "The effect could have been placed on us already, and now we only suffer the weave's lingering effects. If that is so, no Ward can block what has already been laid down."

  "Not a Ward to stop Sorcery, Dolanna, a Ward that totally nullifies all magic," Keritanima corrected. "I think it is an after-effect, or we'd sense the active magic. If we can eliminate the effect once, then we can see if it re-establishes itself or it just goes away."

  Tarrin considered that, and he saw where she was going. The Ward they'd penetrated had been unbelievably complicated, and there was quite a good chance that crossing through it had been what had caused this magical influence. It may have had safeguards within safeguards within safeguards. The Ancients had went to all the trouble to hide the Firestaff all the way out here, it wasn't a stretch to think that they had taken exorbatant precautions to safeguard the island upon which it had been placed. Striking blind anyone who did penetrate the Ward in some way was a good tactic.

  "We can try it. There would be very little chance of anything bad coming of it," Dolanna nodded. "Tarrin, do you think you can do as we ask?"

  "Dolanna, you could do that," he told her.

  "Yes, but I would like you to place the Ward over me, and I cannot create it from the inside," she told him. "It would block my power as soon as I wove it, and I would not have time to set it before it disrupted itself."

  "Good point," he said, stepping back. "Alright, everyone get clear of Dolanna," Tarrin ordered.

  They cleared away from the small Sharadite Sorceress, and Tarrin made contact with the Weave. He was astounded at how rich it was, how easily the power came to him, almost as if it were eager to please him. He had no trouble at all weaving a Ward that absolutely defeated all magic that either tried to cross it or existed within it. Such Wards were very hard to make, for instead of it affecting on things on a border, they affected everything within them as well. Such Wards could only be made with High Sorcery if they were much larger than a broom closet in volume. Tarrin didn't have to resort to High Sorcery for this task, building the Ward just large enough to affect his small mentor, and then setting it so it would only last a moment.

  Dolanna gave out a slight gasp and blinked, then shielded her eyes. "It worked," she announced. "It is daylight again. Now then," she said, stepping forward, removing herself from the effect of the Ward. She looked around, and nodded. "I can still see," she announced. "The Ward removed the effect. You were right, Kerri, it was a lingering effect, not an active spell."

  Tarrin took hold of the Weave again and recharged the Ward so it would last l
onger. "Alright, Kerri, you try," Tarrin told her.

  Keritanima stepped into the Ward's boundary, then she too blinked and squinted. "It works alright," she chuckled, stepping out.

  "Well, let us line up and step through," Dolanna told them.

  One by one, the magicians crossed through the Ward, and regained their ability to see. They all blinked and tried to adjust their eyes to the light, standing in a group to give themselves that moment. Tarrin called over Miranda from where she, Binter, and Sisska were nearby, and she passed through the Ward and regained her ability to see as well.

  "Alright, we found the answer," Keritanima said. "Let's clear everyone up and get moving."

  Keritanima was both right and wrong. The Ward cleared the vision of the magicians. It also cleared the vision of Miranda and Azakar. But it did not clear the vision of the Wikuni sailors after they left the Ward. It let them see while they were within it, but as soon as they stepped out, they were again affected. Only the Wikuni Priest, Orlen, had regained his vision. Jalis, his crew, and the Tellurian engineers all were unaffected by Keritanima's solution, and that baffled the Wikuni queen to no end. She grumbled and began to pace, muttering to herself as she tried to come up with a way to solve the problem.

  "I don't get it," Dar said. "Why would the Ward restore our sight, but not anyone else's?"

  "The question you should ask is what makes us different from everyone else," Camara Tal told him.

  "I say, I do see one common denominator, if we exclude a couple of stray elements," Phandebrass said. "It restored our sight, and we're all magicians in one way or another. It didn't work on the sailors or the engineers, because they're not magicians. But it did work on Azakar and Miranda, and that is where my theory goes astray, it does."

  "Azakar is a Knight," Camara Tal grunted. "That means he has Karas' favor. In a way, he is a magician, mage," she explained. "Knights can't cast spells, but they do have the favor of their god, and that gives then certain magical advantages."

  "Like what?"

  "I don't know, because I've never seen them," Camara Tal said. "I just know that they do. Back before the Breaking, Knights could cast spells. They can't do it now, but I guess that ability gives them just enough magical ability to make the spell Tarrin used work on them."

  Tarrin glanced at Camara Tal. He didn't know that, and he'd never heard anything about it from Darvon or Faalken. Maybe they didn't talk about it because they were lost abilities. Maybe they didn't know themselves. Camara Tal was a student of military history, and Amazar was very close to the land of Sharadar, the one place where the lore of the ancient world hadn't been lost in the Breaking. She'd probably read more in the Cathedral of Knowledge, the legendary library in Abrodar, than Tarrin had ever known in his life. She probably read about that in Abrodar.

  "But that doesn't explain Miranda, it doesn't," Phandebrass said, looking at the mink.

  "I guess I'm just lucky, Phandebrass," she said with a cheeky grin. "That, or maybe Kerri's rubbed off on me a little."

  Tarrin knew why it affected her, and it wasn't something he wanted the others to find out. Miranda was an Avatar, and that link to the goddess that had made her gave her whatever it was that let the Ward affect her.

  "Maybe Miranda has some magical potential we didn't know about," Tarrin said carefully. "That could be it. Want to study Wizardry with Phandebrass and Kimmie, Miranda?"

  She smiled at him. "I'm busy enough as it is, Tarrin," she declined with a chuckle.

  "I say, I didn't consider that," Phandebrass said. "You sure you wouldn't like to try, my dear? It wouldn't be hard to test you."

  Tarrin almost sighed in relief. Phandebrass' attention had been deflected. If the doddering Wizard had really gotten a stick up his craw about finding out, he would find out. He was relentless that way. Tarrin's quick thinking and focused that dangerous obsessive curiosity on another tack, and Miranda's secret was relatively safe.

  "Maybe later, Phandebrass," Miranda said with a cheeky grin. "For now, let's worry about the important things."

  And there were important things. Jalis and Keritanima could be heard screaming at each other a few moments later, as Keritanima tried to get the captain to move the ship forward, but the captain absolutely refused to weigh anchor, screaming that the engineers couldn't see to run the engine, and it was too dangerous for his sailors to try to use the sails. There was no easy solution, because Tarrin couldn't make a Ward to cover the entire ship. It was just too large to try a Ward like that, since it was such a demanding spell in the first place. But Phandebrass came up with a solution that pleased both sides in the altercation. Tarrin couldn't create a Ward to cover the entire ship, but he could make a Ward to cover a large area. So Phandebrass dragged him down to the engine room and had him set the Ward there. It took alot out of Tarrin to do that, but when he was finished, he had set a Ward that made the entire engine room a place where they could see, and had set it so that it would last nearly a whole day. That would be more than enough time for the ship to reach the island.

  The ship weighed anchor under steam and started towards the island, with Allia and Miranda on the lookout for any hidden dangers in the water. Keritanima, Tarrin, Dolanna, and Camara Tal grouped together at the bow and decided that they would land at the extreme southern tip of the island and sweep methodically from south to north. It was a huge island, heavily vegetated with what looked like thick forest, so it was going to take them a very long time to check the island thoroughly. Tarrin seriously doubted that he'd be able to sense the Firestaff's location until they were rather close to it, because of the powerful background magic that clouded his ability to sense magical energy. That too almost seemed designed, as if it had been set that way to prevent someone from landing on the island and quickly determining the Firestaff's location. If that were the case, then Tarrin realized that there were going to be more adversaries than the mythical guardian. The entire island may be populated with creatures placed there to make getting the Firestaff as difficult as possible.

  That was not a very pleasant thought. They'd come a long way, and the last thing Tarrin wanted to endure was putting his friends in danger. But then again, they all knew, even expected, to literally have to fight their way to the Firestaff. It wasn't going to be a surprise for anyone if their initial landing on the island wasn't immediately challenged by some fell beast or monster. The Ancients had gone to some extreme measures to protect that ancient artifact, at least what they'd seen so far, so it was no stretch to assume that they had left behind something other than magical defenses. If Tarrin were hiding it and had unlimited resources, he'd seed the island with all sorts of nasty creatures, making sure to put enough there to where they could breed and keep up their numbers. If he could think of it, he was absolutely positive that the Ancients thought of it first.

  It took them about four hours to reach the southern tip of the island. It was carpeted with forest, a deciduous forest that reminded him of home, trees standing almost right up the waterline, where a very narrow sand beach separated sea from tree. Tarrin was surprised that the seeping of the saltwater into the ground hadn't killed the trees so close to the shore, but they seemed quite healthy. Allia and Miranda guided them into a small, shallow cove, and the ship dropped anchor and killed the fire in the boiler to stop the smoke. They may be in hostile territory, so they had to keep a low profile. Tarrin, Allia, and Miranda scanned all the visible shoreline for denizens, creatures, monsters, enemies, or even animals, and outside of some birds and various rodents, a few wild cat-like animals about the size of a housecat, and one small deer-like mammal, they saw nothing. Certainly nothing that looked dangerous. That bolstered Tarrin just a bit; if such small animals could live and thrive on the island, then there couldn't be an overpopulation of large, highly aggressive animals or monsters preying on them. That certainly didn't mean that they weren't there, but it did mean that there wouldn't be one hiding behind every tree. Unless it was a herbivore, of course. He'd seen a herbivorous
creature on the plains of Saranam that looked like a sloth, but was almost the size of a small cottage, and had claws on its paws that had to be as long as broadswords. Tarrin certainly wouldn't want to have to fight something like that.

  At this point, Jalis and Keritanima had another fight. Jalis was a loyal subject, but when he heard Keritanima ordering longboats for her and her companions, Jalis exploded. He threatened to lock Keritanima in a closet, because he absolutely was not going to let his Queen wander around on hostile, alien soil without every sailor on the ship escorting her for her own safety. Keritanima countered that they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces, so they wouldn't be much more than a hindrance to her party anyway. Jalis wasn't quite so ready to admit defeat, and while the longboats were lowered and prepared, the two of them fought like children. Tarrin was of a mind that this wasn't a good time to go. It was nearly dark, and though he and Kimmie would be comfortable in the night, some of the others wouldn't. They were there, and Tarrin found that he could wait one more night before starting out. It was the safest course of action. But he decided not to tell Keritanima that until she finished her fight. Kerri got cranky when people interrupted her fun.

  "It's nearly sunset, your Majesty!" Jalis bellowed at her. "Or at least I think it is! Very soon now, it's going to be dark even for you! I'm not going to let you blunder around out there in the dark!"

  "So, you're conceding that I don't need an army," she said with a sudden toothy grin.

  Jalis' expression grew dark and grimly contrite at his verbal blunder, then he regathered himself. "You do need an army! There's no telling what kind of monsters are roaming around out there!"

  "Binter and Sisska can protect me," she said confidently. "But maybe you are right about this not being a good time to leave. We should wait until morning, so we'll have a full day to explore the possible dangers before having to worry about another night."