Shadow Mage

by John Forrester

  After waiting almost half an hour, Talis gestured Nikulo towards the stairwell. Nikulo nodded, and they stalking upstairs. Talis paused and listened. Everything was quiet above. Charna dashed out ahead of them, and they chased after her.

  The temple was a wreck of charred and smoking beams. The image of the destroyed old Temple of the Sun flashed in his mind’s eye. Talis felt a knot ball up in his stomach. How could his own people do this? Disrespect the Goddess Nacrea in a way so hideous and appalling. He frowned as he scanned around the temple complex, spying the once beautiful fountain now kicked over. The water from the spring spilled around the broken base.

  “At least they’ve left.” Nikulo shielded his eyes from the setting sun. The day was worn and tired, as if all the energy of the city had been expended on the assault of the temple.

  Talis spied a swirling smoke trail rise from the upper part of Naru. Most likely his father’s guardsman were fighting with House Lei. More bloodshed. He sighed and wished it would all just end. In many ways he blamed himself for casting the binding spell on the ward in the swamplands. None of the fighting would have happened if Ralakh Lei were still alive.

  A silver portal appeared, interrupting his thoughts. Palarian strode through, eyes shining with pride. In his arms he clutched several ancient-looking scrolls. But his face quickly darkened as he surmised the situation.

  “Did you protect the crystal?”

  Talis nodded somberly, and narrowed his eyes at the sorcerer. After all that had happened, all he could think about was the crystal and its power? Talis wanted to murder him. He told himself he would after the sorcerer freed Mara. If he could get to him.

  “Teach me your spell, old man, and I’ll summon your way home. You’ll let Mara go free?”

  “I’m afraid it’s not that easy.” Palarian squinted at Talis as if trying to look through him. “You have hateful eyes towards me. Don’t judge me so harshly, young wizard. I never intended to harm your girl. Desperate times call for desperate maneuvers.”

  He sniffed the air and his face paled. “I’m afraid we’ve not much time, I sense something…ill.”

  “What do you mean not that easy? I’ll only help you if you let Mara go.”

  “No, no… you’ll help me regardless. I can’t have you obliterating me. Now hurry up, take me to the crystal!”

  Talis stared into the sky where the sorcerer had glanced. He blocked the sun and squinted. Was that a dark cloud approaching from the south? His heart dropped, speeding up to double time. Could it be another Jiserian attack, now at the worst possible time?

  Palarian yanked Talis’s arm and dragged him towards the stairwell.

  “But, wait, I think I spotted—”

  “I clearly said we have no time! And for you that means you have no more time, if you want to save her. If I die she dies. Now quickly, let’s go!”

  At the chamber of the black crystal, Talis caught sight of Mara gazing at him questioningly. Charna padded up alongside, and hissed at the old man. The sorcerer unfurled four scrolls and spread them out over a stone block. He tapped a spot, his finger twitching.

  “Here is the binding for the south, and over here the north…here’s the west binding. This one took me quite awhile, but I finally found the east binding as well. Your Order’s ridiculous archives have no categorization! Can you believe that?”

  Palarian spun around, searching the chamber. “Where are the blank runes? We need runes. Do I have to do everything myself?” The old man flourished several runes from within his robe’s sleeves, and handed them to Talis. From a newly-formed mist the sorcerer withdrew an gold inscribing tool.

  “Yes, only the finest for these bindings. Gold, yes, shadows and gold. Silver would be prudent, but we have no time.” The sorcerer pointed out two ancient characters on the scroll. “Scribe!”

  An enormous boom sounded above and the gongs of Naru struck, warning of an attack. The Jiserians were here. Talis felt the old man’s leathery hands twist his head back to the task of inscribing the rune.

  “Focus, focus! We have four more runes to scribe.”

  Talis cleared his mind and completely gave himself to memorizing the rune characters. If he was ever to save Mara, he had to try and recreate the bindings and the World Portal spell. Her life depended on it.

  He finished all four directional runes. The sorcerer flashed a quick smile. “Excellent, you’ve done well. Now the final rune. Fatso! The Tandria Scroll please.”

  Nikulo scowled at the old man and handed over the scroll.

  “These characters are tricky, if you only look once or twice you’ll see the wrong character. Stare a third time and the true form will appear. Remember, often scrolls are scribed with magic, with tricks like these.” Palarian watched Talis inscribe the final rune. “Good, now cast the bindings. Simply picture south when you bind north, and east when you bind west…you get the idea. Now go! No, place them in their cardinal directions. Yes, that’s right.”

  Outside the droning and booming sang out as if it possessed the whole sky. Talis suppressed the urge to glance up the stairwell, knowing he had to finish the bindings quickly.

  When he completed all four directions, he went to place the World’s Portal rune, but Palarian clasped his arm. “Wait…this kind of portal requires something special. Since you’ve never been there before, you need another set of runes to guide the spell.”

  The sorcerer carefully removed four runes from a leather satchel at his waist. “I’ve been saving these for a very long time. He kissed each rune with his dried, wrinkled lips, and placed them on the ground.

  “Now, position your rune above these four. Blink seven times to glimpse the true characters. That will suffice, now close your eyes and picture those runes, they’ll guide your mind to that world, that world far away beyond the stars. Good… Now cast your binding.”

  Talis did as commanded, and ensured he’d memorized the rune characters for the destination. Palarian stepped on the magical ward, and an enormous World’s Portal the height of the chamber appeared.

  The sorcerer smiled like a mischievous boy who’d been caught in a lie. “Do not follow through the portal.” He flicked a wrist and the cocoon entrapping Mara spun around and flew inside the World’s Portal. Talis cried out, and reached to grasp for her, but she was already gone.

  “I’ll be waiting on the other side.” Palarian glowered at Talis. “If I see you come through before the portal closes, I’ll let the cocoon eat her up. I swear it.”

  The old sorcerer turned and leapt inside the World’s Portal, and Talis clenched his fist until his arm went numb.

  13. AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE

  A splintering sound echoed through the stone chamber. Talis spun his head around and stared in horror as a massive crack grew along the center of the black crystal. If the crystal shattered, he’d never have a chance to save Mara.

  “Close the portal!” shouted Nikulo.

  “How?” He’d never actually closed portals before, they just usually did so on their own. Talis could feel a dry, dusty wind smelling of cinnamon and smoke blowing from the other side of the portal.

  “I don’t know, just try anything before the crystal shatters.”

  So Talis closed his eyes and pictured the four runes of the portal’s destination. He imagined wiping away the runes, and after awhile he felt the wind die down. He opened his eyes and saw that the portal had disappeared.

  Talis and Nikulo gaped at the crystal, watching to see if the splintering would continue. After a few seconds it stopped, but the crack had spread over most of the crystal. If they’d waited half a minute longer, they would’ve been too late.

  “She’s gone.” Talis sunk to the ground, wishing Palarian would’ve taken him instead of Mara.

  “We still have a chance of finding her.” Nikulo aimed his chin at the scrolls still sprawled out on the stone slab. He ran a hand along his neck. “And…I don’t want to die, Talis.”

  A series of booms and explosions echoed dow
n the stairwell. The Jiserians were here. Talis and Nikulo raced up the stairs and gazed at the sky filled with inky-black stains: Jiserian sorcerers and necromancers in flight. The invaders remained far away to the south, apparently trying to keep their distance from the now destroyed temple. Was the Jiserian invasion timed with the assault on the temple? Talis frowned, thinking of Viceroy Lei and their ailing king, suspecting a traitorous alliance.

  “Let’s try something,” Talis said. “Go down and watch the black crystal while I attack the Jiserians. Yell if any cracks or splinters expand or if new ones appear.”

  Nikulo nodded, and darted down the stairwell. After Nikulo yelled he was ready, Talis focused his mind on a group of Jiserians clustered far to the south. He drew in the power of the setting sun and held in the energy until it built up to a unbearable frenzy. Through his palms he released an enormous blast that lit up the sky around the Jiserians in a blinding flash.

  “Stop!” Nikulo shouted, his voice echoing up the stone stairwell. “It’s splintering!”

  Talis inhaled the air of the failing sun, and gazed across the scene of his city under siege. Streams of spiraling black mist rained down from the skies onto city walls and buildings and towers. Lightning and fire and storm shot up from the city in response. Already puffs of smoke from scattered fires throughout Naru rose into the air. Could he really leave his city unprotected now, at the time when they needed him the most?

  Then he thought of Mara, entrapped in that hideous cocoon, and the sorcerer… Talis clenched up his fists until he could feel his neck flushed and tensed. He would kill him, murder him for what he’d done to Mara. Taking one last look at Naru, he turned to face the stairwell, and rushed down, having made up his mind. He had to save her, no matter what. And whatever poison Aurellia had infused in the Tandria Scroll, there had to be a cure. Saving Mara was far more important than fighting the Jiserians.

  When Talis reached the bottom, Nikulo stood staring at the splinters spidering across the black crystal. “Do you remember all the runes and the sequences?”

  “For yours and Mara’s sake, I hope so.”

  “That last attack was too much for the crystal… Did you do enough damage to repel the Jiserians?”

  Talis shook his head, remembering the scattered clouds of sorcerers attacking from various positions over the city. “But if it’s good news, I believe Viceroy Lei’s formed an alliance with the Jiserians.”

  “I wouldn’t doubt that he’d do such a thing. Hard to believe that traitor is Mara’s father.”

  Another splinter area inside the crystal rang out a sick sound like the fracturing of a tree limb.

  “We better hurry!” Talis scanned the four scrolls spread out on the stone block, then glanced around quickly, searching, his heart thumping fast.

  He realized he had no empty rune tablets.

  “I’m so stupid! How could’ve I left all my empty runes inside the workshop upstairs?” He lifted the gold inscribing tool that Palarian had left.

  Nikulo sighed, and tapped the side of his head. “Just open a portal to Mistress Cavares’s workshop, and be quick about it! You do have lots of portal runes, right?”

  Talis nodded, and bent down to place the rune. He cast the binding spell, pictured Mistress Cavaves’s workshop, and without looking at Nikulo, stepped once and entered the portal.

  Instead of being dark, flickering shadows danced off the stone walls of her chambers, halos of candlelight scattered throughout the room. Mistress Cavares sat on her old leather chair, gazing into the crackling fire.

  “I knew you’d come back. Forget something?” She jerked her head towards the worktable.

  “They obliterated the Temple of the Sun. Why would the Order do that?”

  Master Grimelore cleared his throat, and joined Master Jai to saunter over to the fireside. Their eyes were kind and fierce as they stared at Talis.

  Mistress Cavares exhaled sharply. “The other wizards aren’t in the Order anymore. We’re all that’s left. Those traitors…hungry for power and influence. Willing to sacrifice our king, claiming devilish deeds are justified in the name of seeking peace? Nonsense.”

  “The Jiserians are above….”

  “Let them come! I pity the poor fool who tries to enter these chambers. I fear not our enemies.” She glanced at Talis. “Don’t worry, they won’t destroy our beautiful city. Viceroy Lei has assured us of that…once the king is dead and he’s named supreme ruler.”

  “But where will you go? You can’t stay here forever.” Talis handed her a portal rune. “Here, take this.”

  A smiled curled up the corner’s of her lips, and she coughed a chuckle. “So kind, boy, you were always kind. If only the others were more like you, we’d live in a different world. Where kindness not cruelty reigned. Will we find this world someday?”

  She pushed herself up, and clapped her hands together. “Time is short. You’re leaving us, are you not? I see it’s true. Well, before you go, I’ve packed supplies for you, and brought you your father’s sword. And Master Grimelore has something for you.”

  Talis accepted the backpack and his sword, and bowed deeply to Mistress Cavares. “Thank you for remembering me.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something inside the fire in the hearth. Talis swore he glimpsed Rikar’s tortured face screaming. But when he looked again, there was nothing.

  “Is everything all right, young master? Did the flames show you something?” Master Grimelore was somehow now standing next to Talis, his hand on his shoulder. “The flames can be cruel sometimes, take what you see with a good portion of doubt.”

  Talis glanced up, studying the wrinkles spread across Master Grimelore’s forehead. How he had aged so quickly….

  “It’s all too much…but I know I’ve got to keep moving on. So much depends on me, I know that now.”

  “We’ll manage here, somehow, don’t fret about that.” Master Grimelore removed a honed clear crystal from a leather satchel. “You’ll need this where you’re going. It’s simply a shard, found in the Akesian Mountains many years ago, but it will bring you much needed power.”

  Talis bowed, and received the shard from Master Grimelore. The energy within felt clear and cool and sharp like hundreds of needle pricks on your hand.

  “The black crystal has cracked and splintered.” Talis studied Master Jai. “The hated crystal will most likely shatter if I successfully cast the World’s Portal spell.”

  “You must find a new crystal, young master.” Master Jai strode forward and took Talis’s hands. “Our city and your family depend upon that. Without it we are vulnerable.”

  “I will try.”

  Mistress Cavares motioned Talis off towards the north. “You must go. Return to us, with your friends safe. And if you can, bring us a new crystal, whatever the gods deem for us, we will accept this time.”

  Talis bowed, and ran over to the worktable and scooped up several handfuls of empty rune tablets. He glanced one last time at his masters, placed the portal rune and cast the binding.

  He caught Nikulo’s eyes as soon as he stepped through the portal. A line of sweat dripped down his friend’s brow. “I thought you might not make it back.”

  After Talis spread nine empty runes onto the stone block, he placed four on each cardinal direction, and one in the center, and four below it. He grasped the gold inscribing tool, and began with the first rune for the northern direction. Nikulo helped point out the right location on the first scroll, and then they moved on to the south, the west, and the east. The scrolls only validated what Talis already memorized.

  Another hideous crack, louder and booming this time, snapped across the chamber.

  “We’ve got to hurry,” Nikulo whispered, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

  Talis shook his head. “Doing this right will keep us from being obliterated by a miscast spell.”

  The World’s Portal rune characters were the most archaic of them all, and Talis had selected a larger rune
tablet for the spell. At last he carefully inscribed the four destination runes, and sighed, inspecting his work.

  “Is it ready?” Nikulo peered over to study the runes. “They look really similar the other runes Palarian had— I can’t tell the difference.”

  “Okay…let’s begin.” Talis started by casting the bindings for the cardinal directions, remembering to picture opposite directions for each rune.

  Enormous cracks and splintering sounded from within the black crystal. Talis was about to glance back, but he kept himself from looking. He raised himself up and stared at the five runes assembled before him. The cardinal runes had turned to blue flame etched on the stone floor.

  Talis quickly looked at Nikulo, and after his friend smiled and nodded, took once last look at the four destination runes. He closed his eyes and cast the final bindings, holding a clear image of the archaic characters.

  In his mind’s eye he saw darkness flashing over a silver-grey sea, undulating across an endless horizon. Clawed hands reached out to grasp Talis, hands to choke, hands to scratch. Then a fire spread across a desolate plain, building up higher and higher until it was a wall covering the sky. The dry, flaky earth crumbled upon itself, and broke away into the blackness underneath.

  And the wind poured hard, striking Talis with a force so strong it stretched back the skin on his face and caused his eyes to water. When he opened his eyes he saw the World’s Portal open and churning and tearing, like wild dogs ripping flesh.

  The black crystal shattered in a brilliant explosion of light and darkness, millions of pieces smashed back by the force of the wind rushing through the portal. Nikulo clenched Talis’s arm and yanked him forward, limping, dragging, then crawling inside.

  Talis inhaled and stared up at the grey misty sky.

  The air smelled like smoke and cinnamon.

  14. CHANDRIX

  Charna raised her elegant head and sniffed the warm air, her nose twitching. The lynx’s golden eyes, deep and filled with wisdom, gazed at Talis. Then her tail twitched and she turned and leaned forward as if prey lay somewhere out past the bleak rocky landscape.