Shadow Mage (Blacklight Chronicles) (12 page)

“You didn’t!” Nikulo grinned, and glanced up the stairwell. “He’s going to jump like he’s shat fire!”

“I’d pay gold to see that.” Talis glanced over at Mara. “I hope she can’t hear us.”

Mara raised her hands as if to say, What’s going on?

“Better to let her hear about it later, I think.” Nikulo waved to Mara.

The water slowed back to a trickle, and Talis could hear shouts echo down the stairs. Some unlucky guardsman had probably been ordered to scout the damage. Boots clapped tepidly against stone. Talis and Nikulo dragged Mara’s cocoon off to the corner, away from the line of sight.
 

“Let them think we’ve gone through the portal,” Talis whispered.

“Then what do we do when they come down in force?” Nikulo frowned.

“I’ll think of something.”

Nikulo shook his head and muttered something that sounded like
pig’s arse
. Talis gave Nikulo a two-fingered marching man’s salute (also known in some parts as beggar’s rear gushing revenge). Nikulo displayed his tongue and made an obscene gesture. Talis was about to up the insult ante when he caught sight of Mara’s disgusted face. She pointed behind them.

A quad of elite guardsmen with banded leather across broad bare-chests marched around the shadow portal. One spotted Talis, and whistled for the others to flank around. Talis grinned and motioned them closer. He was feeling feisty.
 

“We’re not here to kill you, young master.” The first guardsman hefted a dual-bladed great axe, and twirled it around like he was anxious to use it.

“Well then put your weapons down and find some ale at a tavern to nurse your problems.” Nikulo fingered his temple, and the guardsman’s face struggled for a moment. His eyes flipped around in his sockets and he spun around and tackled two of his allies, and they all went tumbling inside the shadow portal. The remaining guardsman fled up the stairs.

“Do you think they’re getting tired yet?” Talis contorted his lips in a gesture of doubt.

“The wizards are certainly spent. And I imagine after seeing that last guardsman flee like a donkey’s fart, the rest will find their paltry egos crushed.” Nikulo bared his teeth and clapped arms with Talis.
 

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.

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 down 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.