Richard Baker - The Shadow Stone

"We're back in the college," Melisanda breathed as she appeared. "Where to-Aeron, look out!"

Aeron started to turn, just as a crackling sphere of magical energy slammed into his side and detonated. He doubled over in pain and surprise, catching a glimpse of someone in a gray tunic rising from the row of oaken seats and bolting for the door. Melisanda barked out a spell that slammed the chamber door shut before the novice reached it, while Aeron clapped one hand over his injured side and raised the iron scepter. He barked the weapon's command word; the freezing ray caught the mage in mid-stride and crumpled him to the floor.

"Aeron! Are you hurt?" Melisanda knelt by his side and pried his fingers away from the injury.

"It's not that bad," he grimaced. "It was a novice's spell. Thank Assuran he wasn't a more skilled mage, or he could have surprised me with much worse."

Melisanda looked up at him. "You're bleeding, but not badly, and you're burned, too. Let me see if I can bind it." She tore a long strip from her ruined cloak and wrapped it around his side. Aeron tried not to wince.

When she finished, they checked on the novice who'd attacked them. He was a swarthy Untheri. The ray from Dalrioc's scepter had frozen him to death in a single sweep. "Do you recognize him?" Melisanda asked.

"No. Oriseus must have posted him here to watch this portal." Aeron shook his head. "We'd better assume that the novices and students serve Oriseus without question. Come on-we need to get to the library. I've got to check some references."

Aeron dragged the fallen novice out of sight and carefully tried the door, peering into the corridor beyond. He retreated immediately. The Council Room was at the center of the Masters' Hall, and several students hurried past in the spartan hallway beyond the chamber. "We're going to have a hard time reaching the library undetected," he whispered. "I dressed as a servant to slip in before, but I'm sure that Oriseus will have told his people to watch for that now. Any other ideas?"

"Invisibility seems like a practical alternative," Melisanda suggested. "As long as they're not expecting us, it should work just fine."

"All right. Let's-" Aeron stopped as he detected a slow, deliberate ripple in the weave of magic. He glanced back toward the portal, where a black vapor had appeared above the rune circle. "Someone's coming through!" he said. "Quickly, Melisanda!"

The Vilhonese mage started her spell. Aeron blocked her from his mind and forced himself to relax, working the charm of invisibility. He reached down and pulled Baillegh close by him to cover her as well. It was becoming more difficult to control the spells he cast; in the heat of his battle with Dalrioc, desperation had lent him strength, but now casting a spell he knew as well as this one required far too much of his energy. Melisanda struggled even more before she faded from view.

They vanished just in time. From the darkness stepped Oriseus, with two other wizards in tow. Aeron held himself still, scarcely daring to breathe; magical invisibility was very useful, but a competent mage could easily dispel it if he thought to search for such a simple illusion. He felt Melisanda's unseen hand tighten on his arm in panic as she, too, tried not to make any suspicious movement.

"Assemble the masters and the students on the point at sundown, Helrios," Oriseus said to one sorcerer. He was the slender Mulhorandi abjurer Aeron had encountered in the chamber of the Shadow Stone. "Unless I miss my guess, we should be able to proceed by midnight at the latest."

"What of the novices?" Helrios asked.

"We'll need them to complete the ritual. They may not be much in the way of sorcerers, but where else can we find seven more on short notice? Keep the rest close at hand, in case we need to repeat the last step more than once."

The Mulhorandi nodded. "It shall be as you command."

"Good. I trust you to see to the details." Oriseus turned and faced the other wizard, a tall Chessentan woman in the tabard of a student. "Locate Dalrioc for me. I need him back here by an hour before sundown, at the latest."

"My lord, do you know where-"

"No, I do not. That's why I'm sending you," Oriseus snapped irritably. "Check the seventh platform. He may be there. Or try Akanax. Dalrioc fancies himself a warlord."

The student bowed without another word and stepped back into the dark curtain, while Oriseus and Helrios strode to the door. Aeron sighed in relief-they'd marched past without a look to the side. But abruptly Oriseus halted, turning to look at the last seat on the oaken table. White frost gleamed on the back of the chair, and danced in a sparkling pattern against the stone wall.

"What's this?" Oriseus muttered. He peered about, his dark eyes flickering out to search each corner of the room. "Where's Brennan? He's supposed to be here."

Helrios followed the trail of frost. Very quietly, Aeron guided Melisanda away, circling toward the chamber door. The Mulhorandi master suddenly grunted. "He's here, my lord. Dead."

Oriseus stormed over to the dark corner where Aeron had hidden the novice's body, his face darkening. "It seems we have a mystery on our hands," he said. "Here is Brennan, frozen to death with a spell or enchantment not unlike the scepter favored by Dalrioc Corynian, who happens to be missing at the moment. What do you make of it, Helrios?"

The Mulhorandi put his hand to his chin, thinking. "Dalrioc returned before he was supposed to and slew Brennan? Dalrioc's temper is quick, but what offense did Brennan offer to merit this response?"

Oriseus scowled. "One novice more or less is no loss, but I don't care for improvisation. I will look into this myself, I think." He wheeled and stalked out of the chamber, leaving Helrios to consider the frozen corpse.

Aeron did not hesitate. He reached down with one hand to take Baillegh by her collar and caught Melisanda by the arm with the other. As the door swung shut, he pulled them through and into the hallway beyond. Oriseus turned right to speak to the students and masters who awaited him; Aeron turned left and pulled Melisanda toward the servants' passages. Hoping that no one would notice a single door opening by itself, he slipped into the narrow hallway paralleling the main corridor and made his way to the servants' exit. He and Melisanda stumbled together as they blundered down the steps and out into the courtyard, unable to see their own feet.

"Aeron, look." Melisanda's voice whispered in his ear. Her voice was sick with fear. "The sky, it's all wrong."

He glanced up. Faint streamers of purple light twisted through the sky, each meeting over the tower. There were seven of them, arrowing toward the center from distant points spaced equally on the horizon. It's the magic trapped by the outlying shrines, Aeron realized. All the magic of Chessenta, channeled to this one point! But now it's visible in the real world. Beside him, Baillegh whimpered softly. Aeron watched for a long moment, his breath caught in his throat. "The flow of magic wasn't visible before."

"Do you remember what Oriseus said in the Council Chamber? About assembling the students and novices at dusk? Oriseus must be close to finishing his spell."

"I think you're right," Aeron said. "We're running out of time."

They found each of the library's doors locked and sealed with heavy chains. Aeron circled the building again, double-checking each entrance, but all had been secured against intrusion.

"Great." Aeron returned to the side door they'd first tried. "I have a spell that might disarm any magical traps here and open the door, but I'll lose my spell of invisibility if I cast it."

"Go ahead. I'll keep watch," Melisanda said. "At least we don't have to worry about anyone inside if Oriseus has decided to keep the other wizards out of here."