Shadow Mage (Blacklight Chronicles) (5 page)

“Don’t…you don’t understand.” Talis glanced at Mistress Cavares for support but found none. “Can’t you see I’m a royal? I’m Talis of House Storm….”

“You!” another guardsman shouted and marched up next to the first guardsman. This man had an enormous pot-belly from taking in too much ale and mutton. Pockmarks spread across his face like a bad tattoo.

The first guardsman stopped the pockmarked man. “I am Taige, first guardsman to Master Ralakh Lei. Until now.” He glanced at the body. “I have failed my Master…”

Pock-Face leered at Talis. “This one…he’s a troublemaker to young Mara. The Mistress of the House has forbidden Mara from seeing him and yet they still—”

“Cease your words. Talis Storm is famous in Naru…savior of our fine city.” Taige spat on the ground in disgust. “Now answer my question!”

“You forget your station,
guardsman.
As a royal, I don’t have to answer,” Talis said.

“How do you fancy an
accident out hunting?” Pock-Face said. “People get trampled by horses all the time. It would be such a pity.”

“You forget about me…the witness.” Mistress Cavares strode forward and raised a hand.

“Stand down, you old hag.”

“Have you truly no fear of those wearing the robes of the Order?” Her fingers formed a bubble of black mist. Talis winced at the display of dark magic. How did she know this power?

“Sorcerer!” shouted a guardsman. “Traitor!” yelled another. The rest of the men, twenty or so, retreated at the display of magic.

“Return to your gambling dens and whorehouses.” Mistress Cavares seemed to loom taller than her petite figure. “Or would you I rather turn you all into pigs and let you wallow in muck?”

Taige brandished a finger at Talis. “You will be called to answer for this, mark my words. There will be blood on the streets over this, young
master
of House Storm.” He whistled and motioned the other men to help carry the broken body of Ralakh Lei. Talis felt a hard lump form in his stomach. How would he explain this to his family? Worse yet, how would he explain it to the Order?

Mara’s face flashed in his mind’s eye. Would she hate him over the death of her uncle?

After a long march back to Naru, Talis stared up at the four black flags hanging above the gates of Naru. He cringed as he recognized the expression of anger and disgust on the faces of the guardsmen at the entrance to the city. Mistress Cavares strode past him, bold and indignant despite the swarm of soldiers.

“You…Talis of House Storm, you’ve been summoned to House Lei!” yelled the captain of the guard. Talis recognized his helm’s plumage as belonging to Mara’s house guard.
 

“The young master will answer to no one but the Order.” Mistress Cavares eyed the approaching captain and his men with a look that dared them to oppose her.
 

When her words did nothing to stop their charge, Talis thought about fleeing to the temple for protection. As the temple was far away to the north, he couldn’t summon the massive power of the black crystal to aid him in a fight. He waited instead and watched as Mistress Cavares placed a rune on the ground and cast a binding spell.

“If you pass, you’ll wish you never had a crazy idea like crossing a runemaster of the Order.”

The captain raised a hand and ceased their march. He lowered his eyes to the spot on the ground where she had set the magical ward. “What treachery is this, witch? You’ll burn for your use of dark arts.”

Mistress Cavares cackled indignantly. “And now am I a
witch?
Thirty-five years in the Order, and never been treated so poorly.” She lifted her eyebrows, and paused, surmising the crowd gathered around. “You puny blade wielders, holding steel as if it was actually dangerous to a wizard. Isn’t it too
heavy
to carry such a weight around all day?”

When she had spoken the word “heavy,” every guardsman wielding their blades sank to their knees in unison, faces pale and strained, and dropped their swords like it was the heaviest thing on earth.

“Now what weapon do you have left to wield?” Mistress Cavares laughed and covered her mouth shyly. “Men…all grown up but still boys.”

Through the gate marched a unit of guardsmen flying the colors of House Storm.
Father’s men
, thought Talis, feelings of hope and pride rising. Would they be able to keep this nightmare from turning far worse? He recognized Father’s captain of the guard, Rallian, and waved.

“No one is to touch young Master Talis except his father’s guard,” shouted Rallian. “We’re here to escort the boy home.”

“Home?” yelled the captain of House Lei. “As this witch commanded, he must be taken to the Order. We will
help
escort him to the Order’s chambers and see to it that no trickery happens.”

Talis couldn’t believe the feuding between the royal houses had gotten this bad. The air was bristling with the threat of violence. Mara’s father would be furious. There would be blood on the streets tonight, and all because of Ralakh Lei’s death and House Storm’s involvement.
 

Mistress Cavares patted his shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself, boy. I should have undone the spell once I heard horses.” She sighed a heavy sigh. “It is hard to explain…the mood that possesses me after summoning the gods. The gods care little for ways of mortal men, and a good bit of that attitude can rub off on me when they have shown their presence. It’s a merciless and cold feeling.”

Talis understood little of what she was talking about, but nodded as if understanding anyways. She was strange, indeed. He locked his eyes on Rallian and marched forward through the crowd, allowing Father’s men to envelop him. But he wasn’t fooled for a moment that he was actually safe inside Naru. The only place he really felt safe was in the Temple of the Sun.
 

They marched through the lower city, the soldiers pushing their way through a crowd that had formed around the arena. Talis scanned around and spotted several instigators shouting curses at him.
Probably paid by House Lei to start a riot
, Talis thought. Rumors had swirled that Mara’s father had eyes on the throne. King Balmarr Merillia remained silent. Everyone knew he was old and his mind was failing. The stress of the Jiserian siege had taken its toll.

As they left the tunnel to the upper part of Naru, children above tossed cabbages and tomatoes and onions onto the soldiers. An egg landed on Rallian’s silver helm. He glanced angrily around the crowd as if he intended to maim the source of the attack. His eyes found nothing but a scattering group of vagabond boys.

He whistled and gestured for two lines of soldiers to push the crowd back and open up a pathway towards the Temple of the Dawn. The temple dome still remained broken, but many of the administrative buildings and teaching facilities were undamaged. Other deeper, secret chambers, including the Order’s crypts and archives, were locked shut and guarded well.
 

“What have you done?” Master Viridian stood with an expression of contempt and disappointment on his face. “First you bring black magic into our midst, and now this?”

“It’s not black magic—” Talis was interrupted by Master Viridian’s raised hand.

“Enough talk here. Mistress Cavares, he is your pupil, lead him down to the Order’s chambers. We will conduct our interrogation there. House Lei has brought formal charges against Talis.” He frowned at her. “They have provided credible witnesses.”

“Credible?” Mistress Cavares scoffed. “Now those drunkards are credible in the eyes of the Order? My how the wind changes.” She looked at Master Viridian with mistrustful eyes.

“They are members of House Lei, and Viceroy Lei vouches for them.”

Master Jai of the Order motioned Talis inside. “This way, if you please.”

When Talis arrived at the Order’s chambers, he couldn’t help but notice the lack of magical energy compared to the last time he’d visited. The air no longer crackled with power from the old temple crystal. Golden candles lined the stone interior of the vast, underground chamber. Comfort was not an option here. There were no seats or table like the Sej Elder’s chambers. The far side of the room contained seven levels of ranking where wizards now stood and stared accusingly at Talis.

These were familiar faces, those Talis had fought with side by side in the battle against the Jiserians. He thought he still had allies here, but from the expression of suspicion and mistrust in their eyes, he knew all that was gone now.
 

Master Viridian ambled up the stairs to the top level and turned to address those gathered around the room. “We are here to judge the case of murder…murder against one of our own. Ralakh Lei was slain today by the power of dark magic.” He jabbed the air with his finger pointing at Talis. “And this young royal and student of the Order is accused of this crime.”

The crowd murmured and glanced around at each other and at Talis.

“Let me continue.” Master Viridian raised a hand to settle the crowd. “Justice for this kind of heinous crime can be only one thing.” He glanced at Talis with cold, doubtful eyes. Talis remembered Master Viridian’s distant expression after he’d shown him the black crystal and wondered if that was the reason his old master was treating him like this.

When silence returned to the room, Master Viridian focused his gaze on Talis.
 

“The penalty if proven guilty is death…and we will not be lenient.”

Talis felt himself shrink at his former Master’s words.
The penalty is death…
From the time he was a boy, he’d always looked up to Master Viridian. He was the strongest and most powerful wizard in the Order, the only one able to cast Light Magic. That is until Talis had returned, armed with the power of the sun…and the power amplified by the black crystal.
He despises the black crystal and the Temple of the Sun,
thought Talis. But why did Master Viridian hate a temple for the Goddess Nacrea?

“Let all witnesses assembled before the Order hear the testimony of those sworn to defend and uphold the honor of Naru.” Master Viridian stared solemnly at the House Lei guardsmen. Talis recognized them from the swampland. Would these men tell the truth? Talis glanced around, trying to spot a friendly face, and found his father pressing his way through the crowd.

“Talis, you must listen to me,” Father whispered. “Speak the truth or they’ll know, and tell everything that happened. I will be right here with the other Elders.” Father gestured at the Sej Elders gathered to the right. Talis cringed under Mara’s father’s glare, feeling his hatred ooze out from his eyes.

The scribe clapped his hands and called out for the first witness to stand and present. Master Vellar Lei raised his hand and pointed at Taige, first guard to Ralakh Lei, and the guardsman lumbered over to stand before the wizards. He raised his eyes to the wizards, his face tense and fearful.

“This young royal killed my master, killed him with a strange kind of dark magic.” The room echoed with murmurs. “It was a trap I tell you.”

“It was a trap,” Mistress Cavares shouted and wove her way forward through the startled crowd. “A sanctified trap of the gods, created by myself. Who amongst the Order dares challenge the will of the gods? I bear witness that I myself crafted this trap, and summoned the gods… They heard and answered the call. Ralakh Lei was chosen to die by the gods themselves. If you are to blame anyone, blame me. I am his master of runes and teacher of ancient languages.”

Cries of protest and surprised shouts raced through the crowd, and many lifted clenched fists at her in anger.

“I tried to warn him!” Talis said. “I didn’t understand what it was all about. I never intended for the magical ward to kill anyone.”

“Magical ward?” thundered Master Viridian. “You know how to place a magical ward?” He gazed in horror at Mistress Cavares. “You dared teach him this? I asked you to teach him runes and ancient languages. But traps and wards and summoning the gods? Don’t you realize you’ve brought the dark hand of the gods upon us? Leave Zagros and the other dark gods hidden in the shadow realm!”

A loud, shrill hiss suddenly spread across the room and extinguished the candles all at once. The chamber was enveloped in pitch blackness. Terrified voices and shuffling feet told of the chaos all around.

Master Viridian illuminated the room with his hands beaming the radiance of Light Magic. His eyes were alert and flared open in alarm, scanning the room as if something horrible had arrived. Talis followed his gaze, noticing swirling clouds of darkness bubbling beneath the ceiling. What was happening?

“Begone darkness, begone dark gods!” Master Viridian shouted, beams of brilliant light shooting from his palms, attacking the dark clouds. “Let light fill this land and free our city from dark—”

But a barrage of lightning bolts amidst inky-black shadows struck Master Viridian in an instant. He cried out, his eyes flared open in terror. He moaned in pain as sickening jolts of electricity wracked his body in convulsions. Some hidden force lifted him off his esteemed position atop the seventh level, higher into the air, a burning, shining figure illuminating the dark chamber.