Talis refused the idea of the old sorcerer dying. He had tried to protect him, and despite being forced to kidnap Mara and lead him into this trap, he sensed the old man had a good heart. So he allowed his anger to rage inside, until it was brimming over inside, the heat and the fire breaking out of the cage that had trapped him.
Aurellia’s eyes glanced nervously at Talis, shifting his focus for one crucial moment, allowing Palarian to strike back with several shadow creatures flying out of his hands and attaching themselves to Aurellia’s figure, gleaming fangs, spurts of blood and ash, growls of fury. Aurellia swung a bloodied arm around, a dark creature gnawing on his elbow, and sent an invisible shockwave howling at Palarian, knocking him twenty feet back against the earthen wall.
When Aurellia was about to raise his hands and fight the shadow creatures eating at his body, Talis listened to his anger, drawing in a vast amount of power from the crystal, and shot out a burst of Light Magic at the dark lord. The light was so strong it illuminated the room in a blinding flash that lingered for an unbearable span of time. Soon the light faded, and Talis’s eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the subterranean chamber.
Aurellia had vanished.
26. THE CRYSTAL
Talis pushed himself to his feet, feeling empty and sore from the powerful outburst of magic. Off in the corner of the room, Palarian stirred, shaking his arms and head like he’d drunk too much wine. He glanced around, a puzzled look on his face.
“Where did he go?” Suspicion flashed in Palarian’s eyes. “Did you see him open a shadow portal or somehow escape?”
“I attacked him with Light Magic while he was focused on you.”
“So that’s where the burst of light came from…I shielded myself from light the moment I sensed the power rising.” Palarian stumbled over to where Talis stood, sizing him up like he’d done something terribly wrong. “Did you actually kill him?”
Talis shook his head, unsure exactly what had happened. “One moment there was an enormous ball of light, and the next moment he was gone.”
Palarian frowned, and slumped back on a chair by the table. “Aurellia…dead?” He mumbled incoherent words, lost in world of his own.
“Are you alright? You were trying to kill each other…I only tried to help.”
“How could he be dead? Not by a burst of light from a young whelp….” The old sorcerer lifted his head suddenly, sniffing the air, then settled his gaze on Talis. “Well, whatever it is you’ve done has given us a moment of opportunity, a way of possible escape. Let’s not waste another moment.”
“But where will we go?” Talis furrowed his brow, uncertain of how to proceed. “And what about my friends?”
Palarian waved away his concerns. “They’re safe…but none of us will remain alive if we stay here much longer. If his loyal Elders find out what you’ve done, if they realize their Master is gone…then watch out.”
The old sorcerer flung his hands forward and a silver portal appeared. He grabbed Talis’s wrist, and pulled him inside. They immediately entered a vast stone room, sunlight streaming in through far windows, with Mara and Nikulo and Charna off in the corner, and a minder dressed in black robes stood scowling at the head of a long, wooden table.
With a flick of his finger, Palarian sent fibrous strands over the minder, engulfing him in a sticky web. The man appeared confused, then dazed, and finally fell asleep.
“Talis!” Mara squealed, racing over to him. Tears spilled from her eyes as she hugged him, and at this moment, nothing ever had ever felt so good.
“We were so worried about you,” she murmured in his ear. “They refused to tell us a thing. We’ve been waiting here for weeks.”
“Weeks?” Talis said, shocked it had been so long. “But it only seemed like a day…inside the Netherworld.” He glanced over at Nikulo ambling over towards them, a grin played nicely on his face. “You’re looking healthy…did Aurellia cure you of the poison?”
Nikulo’s face clouded suddenly, as if remembering a painful memory. “He did, for certain promises… I had no choice.”
“Like swearing allegiance to him?” Talis studied Nikulo, and sat next to him. He told Nikulo and Mara the story of what had happened inside the Netherworld, of his transformation into a dragon, and misadventure leading him to be cured by Aurellia. When he got to the part of the battle between Aurellia and Palarian, Nikulo’s mouth flopped open, and he snuck a glance at the old sorcerer standing by one of the windows, staring out over the horizon.
“So our vow to him is broken?” Nikulo said. “Because Aurellia is dead?”
Talis shrugged, wrinkling his nose at the hint of sulfur in the air. “We’ve got to get out of here…find our way back home.”
“And that means finding a powerful enough crystal to open a portal back to our world?” Mara crossed her legs and leaned forward in her overstuffed chair.
“If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll find a way to bring us back to Naru.” Talis touched two fingers to his forehead, sanctifying the ancient vow.
“What if there’s not a home waiting for us when we return?” Mara whispered, her voice soft and tinged with sadness.
“I can’t believe that’s the case. Between Mistress Cavares, Master Jai, Master Grimelore, and my father, I believe we can rebuild the life we once knew.”
“But my father is a traitor, Talis… It’s unthinkable to me, but how can I disbelieve it? I love him, he’s my father, but how can I go back and face him? I’m so ashamed of belonging to House Lei.”
Talis shook his head, refusing to accept any association of Mara to her father. “You’re not your father, and the Lei family name is more than one man…you can change that, if you want. Think of your history. House Storm and House Lei were allies together over hundreds of years. Don’t let your father ruin the Lei family reputation.”
“And you’ll help me change all that?” Mara leaned forward and held Talis’s hand. He felt a warm fire swirl inside his stomach.
“Of course I will…I’ll do anything for you.”
Nikulo chuckled softly, and pushed himself up from his chair, causing Talis and Mara to shift their gaze towards him. “I know this is all very touching, and I don’t mean to get in the way of young love, but….”
Talis felt his face flush, and sneaking a quick glance at Mara caused him to realize her face was red with embarrassment. She averted her eyes after she noticed him looking.
“Pray tell,” Nikulo said, “how are we going to get back home?”
“I know the way back….” Palarian kept his gaze fixed out the window. “If we have a sufficiently strong crystal, we can open a world’s portal.”
Nikulo frowned. “Why would you help us go back home? You’re the one who kidnapped Mara in the first place, and tricked us into coming here. Didn’t you do it all to return to your own planet?”
“Would you believe me if I said I wanted to make amends for all my misdeeds?” Palarian stared at Nikulo, deep wrinkles on his forehead bunched together.
“No, I wouldn’t.” Nikulo made a ridiculous expression like nothing could make him believe the old sorcerer. “You’re just trying to trick us into getting the crystal for you.”
“Do you have any other choice? I know the runes to the forty-eight planets in the known universe. How many do you know?” The old sorcerer coughed slightly. “Oh, let’s see now…exactly one. And you happen to be on that planet. Silly of you, really….”
“But how do you know there are even suitable crystals on this planet?” Mara twisted up her mouth, as if displeased with the idea.
“My teachers from ancient days—long ago when I was young and naive like you—taught us that this planet was one of the binding planets, rich with hidden crystals needed to port between worlds. Believe it or not, the place you ported into this planet was home to an ancient temple, with a powerful crystal underneath. When those of our planet—from Vellia—banished us to your planet, they destroyed that temple and the crystal.”
/> Palarian pointed at Talis’s backpack. “Shall we hunt for crystals?”
“Well, you did help fight against Aurellia….” Talis still didn’t trust the old sorcerer, but he was right, he didn’t have any choice. Even if he could locate a crystal, it wouldn’t do him any good.
So he swung around his backpack, and retrieved the Surineda Map. “But you have to promise to help us get home. And not only do you have to show us the rune symbol for our planet, you have to show us the symbol for Vellia.”
“Do you want to go and visit someday?” Palarian raised an eyebrow. “We have vast hordes of dragons on Vellia. But I suspect it would be far too dangerous for you, unless you learned how to better protect yourself.”
“I simply want to understand the difference between the runes…so you can’t trick us.”
Palarian chuckled. “I could still trick you, since you’d have to believe my word that this rune represents this planet. Besides, if we find a powerful enough crystal, you should be able to go to your planet, and I should be able to open a portal to Vellia. Simple, right?”
If they could find such a crystal. But Talis remembered the shattering of the old crystal at the first Temple of the Sun, when Aurellia had summoned a world’s portal, and thought that most crystals could probably only sustain one spell. The amount of power channeled through the crystal was too great.
Talis unravelled the Surineda Map, feeling the heat rush into his arms and down his spine. He glanced at Mara and Nikulo, and they nodded back in support. Palarian held an eager, hungry look in his eyes that made Talis feel really nervous about using the map to find crystals. But he told himself he had no choice. This was their only way back home.
In his mind he commanded the map to display a view of the world wide enough to cover the land they’d traveled, and he held the feeling and image of the black crystal, given to him by the Goddess Nacrea. The crystal had a peculiar quality about it, surging and strong, and subtle and soft at the same time. When the picture was clear, he opened his eyes and studied the map.
Nothing. The map displayed no points of light, and no crystals.
“How can that be?” Talis muttered.
Mara shuffled up alongside him, and peered over his shoulder. “Try getting a wider view of the world.”
So Talis closed his eyes again, and imagined zooming the map’s view out twice as far from what it showed, and kept his desire to see crystals firmly in his mind. Far to the south, away from where they’d travelled west to east, a sea appeared along the coastline.
“An ocean!” Mara said, tapping the map.
Palarian grimaced. “The Grey Sea…a very nasty place…far unlike the beautiful oceans of your world. On this world the seas are quite inhospitable to human life.”
“Still nothing,” Talis said. “I’m going to expand the map out even farther.”
Soon the map showed more of the Grey Sea until a golden light pulsed amidst the sea far to the south.
“Bless the Goddess Shade, and her tricks she performs on the world.” Palarian frowned, and rubbed his scraggly chin. “The crystal is inside the Grey Sea….”
27. THE GREY SEA
Even after searching different parts of the world using the Surineda Map, shifting and zooming in and out, Talis still couldn’t find another crystal.
“There have to be more crystals,” Palarian muttered. “This world is seeded with them. How are you commanding the map to find the crystals?”
“I’m remembering the black crystal, and its feeling.”
The old sorcerer snapped his fingers, his eyes lightning up. “That’s the problem! There are many other kinds of suitable crystals. You’ve just not had enough experience with the various other types of crystals. If I had, you could establish a firm image and feeling, and search for them.”
“Well, then we wouldn’t need to search for them.” Nikulo gave Palarian a bland expression.
“We’ve found a crystal, why can’t we try and get it?” Talis glanced at the old sorcerer.
“There are a thousand reasons why you’d never even think about entering the Grey Sea. Ravenous sea monsters the size of this castle, swarms of poisonous jellyfish, sea snakes the length of Naru’s wall… And you still want to go?”
Nikulo shrugged. “Sure, why not? I need more poison to add to my collection.”
An exasperated expression flashed across Palarian’s face. “And how do you propose even going underneath the Grey Sea?”
“Listen,” Nikulo whispered, “we entered the Underworld and met Zagros, Lord of the Dead. Have you been to the Underworld? I didn’t think so. How hard could this Grey Sea be compared to that?”
“Much harder, you fat little whelp.” Palarian scowled at Nikulo. “You think this is all so easy? How can you be so cavalier about life and death. Your friend here almost died inside the Netherworld.”
“What makes you think the crystal is underneath the Grey Sea? Perhaps there’s an island there, or something else.” Talis scanned their eyes for a hint of understanding.
Palarian and Nikulo both breathed heavily in frustration, but they kept quiet, staring at Talis as if his idea might be valid.
“The only way to find out is to look closer at the crystal,” Mara said, and scooted up next to Talis.
Talis closed his eyes again, and asked the map to move closer to the crystal, displaying any islands or anything surrounding the crystal. When he opened his eyes he gasped. The crystal was moving slowly amidst the ocean.
“How is that possible?” Mara said, peering in closer to inspect the map.
“What? Let me see….” Nikulo waddled over to the map, and grunted in surprise. “The crystal is floating on the sea?”
Palarian snorted, and Talis turned his gaze from the map, wondering why the old sorcerer had such a humorous expression on his face. “I’m guessing the crystal is lodged within a giant sea creature. Try your map, command it to show any larger creatures.”
So Talis did what the sorcerer suggested, and to his amazement, the map showed a large dot amongst many other dots.
“There, exactly as I suggested.” Palarian looked up at Nikulo. “How good are you at controlling the mind’s of creatures?”
Nikulo chuckled. “I’m good at poisoning them to death.”
“I doubt that will work,” Palarian said, his expression dripping in sarcasm. “But seriously, can you control beasts?”
“I can try, but no guarantees. The human mind is very different than the mind of creatures.”
“How are we even supposed to get out there?” Mara said.
“Leave that to me,” Palarian said, gesturing towards the open window. “I know how to fly.”
With one smooth gliding motion, the sorcerer swept through the window and floated in the air, gesturing them closer. He snapped a finger at Talis, then Charna, and the poor lynx yowled and hissed as she started rising into the air.
“It’s okay, girl,” Talis said, holding Charna in his arms. He jumped out of the window, and relished in the feeling of weightlessness that came with flight.
“Do we have to fly?” Nikulo muttered, staring uneasily down the steep drop outside the window.
“Feel free to stay…the minder will be waking up soon enough.”
“On second thought, let’s get out of here.” Nikulo motioned for Palarian to cast the spell, and closed his eyes as he flew out of the castle.
Mara followed them out, giggling and flapping her arms like a bird. “This is just like flying in dreams!”
“But unlike in dreams, when you fall you don’t wake up…you splat on the ground.” Nikulo’s face twisted up at the thought.
“Enough already,” Palarian said, frowning. “To move just think where you want to go in your mind.”
The sorcerer raised his eyes towards the clouds and sped off, Talis and Mara and Nikulo chasing after him. The higher they went, Talis thought they would freeze, but realized they were protected by some kind of bubble that kept the cold and wind out. Th
e ground fell away below them as they rose up over the clouds, then out across the puffy landscape, reminding Talis of walking through mist and fog.
They crossed the jagged mountains, pinnacles stabbing up through the clouds, until they swept down over a vast, barren plain that edged the Grey Sea. A wall of black fog hung over the ocean, like a pack of wild dogs feasting on prey.
Before they entered the bleak mass, Palarian paused, hovering in the air, waiting for Talis to come close.
“The map should guide us through that mess… We need to avoid the fog itself as much as possible, ghosts and wights and such. We’ll fly along the surface of the sea, mindful of creatures breaching the surface for a tasty bite of human flesh.”
Talis grimaced at the idea of what lay in store for them down there. He flew over to Nikulo, and handed him Charna, who seemed terrified at the idea of leaving Talis’s arms. As Talis unfurled the Surineda Map, he realized the sorcerer had guided them well this far; directly south lay the crystal, the beast moving slowing through the sea.
Only the fog and the dangers of the Grey Sea lay between them and the crystal. As Talis and the others swept down towards the mottled coast, jets of electrified water shot up from holes dotting the rocky beach. Talis veered away from the scintillating streams, and wondered what kind of creature lived within the holes.
Soon they soared over the pounding waves, whitecaps and sea foam swirling amidst the dark murk of the sea. Massive shapes tunneled under the surface, sending a prickling sensation along his back. Palarian led the group up above the water until fog fingerlings brushed them as they flew, causing an avalanche of screaming voices to ravage Talis’s mind.
Talis instinctively dove away from the fog, trying to ignore the ghostly forms floating along, their eyes gaping holes of blackness. But when he edged closer to the water, a green, scaled head shot out, jaws the size of a castle, the creature’s long neck twisting around, pale eyes guiding towards them.
“Be careful,” Palarian shouted, and Talis lurched up in response. “Let’s pray to the gods that the fog doesn’t descend.”
Shadow Mage Page 18
