Shadow Mage (Blacklight Chronicles) (9 page)

“You don’t know.” Palarian shrugged and suppressed a yawn. “I suppose I could give you my word.”

“And how do we known your word even means anything?” Mara said.

“Well, there’s a way to bind one’s word to magic, a harmful spell for instance would strike, if you break your word.” The sorcerer pushed out his lower lip thoughtfully. “Do any of you know the art of runes?”

Talis felt his heartbeat thump ahead erratically. He tried to keep his face stony, but the sorcerer picked up on something.

“So, you do know the hidden art. Rare, very rare to see in wizards these days. There was a time, quite a long time ago actually, when Rune Magic was all the rage. Now you’d be hard-pressed to find a runemaster in a kingdom.” Palarian sighed, and rubbed the back of his hand across his lips. “I’ve learned a thing or two about runes over the years….”

“Follow me.” Talis grunted, and led the sorcerer inside the Temple, summoning an orb of Light Magic to guide their way. If the old man had something to teach him concerning the use of runes, he was more than happy to learn. Shadows sprung to life as Talis sent fingerlings of flame to light the many candles scattered around the workroom.
 

Palarian’s eyes went wide as he caught sight of all the runes spread across the worktable. He lifted a rune too quickly for Talis to stop him. “So much for worrying about how we’ll get inside the archives. You surprise me boy, you do. Who taught you the portal spell?”

“Err, no one exactly taught me, we”—Talis gestured to Mara and Nikulo—“sort of figured it out.”

“You did most of the work.” Mara sauntered up alongside Talis, until he felt her hand brush lightly against his wrist, sending a shiver up his arm.

“Let’s just say we solved a puzzle.” There was no way Talis was going to tell this stranger a thing about his interactions with Aurellia. Palarian knew too much about him already.

“I suppose that’s good enough.” The sorcerer crinkled up his forehead and frowned. “Since you can open a portal, and I assume you’ve been inside the archives before, we should be ready to go.”

“You forgot something…” Talis pointed at a rune with a Fire Magic spell inscribed. A quite specific spell afflicting one’s internal organs. Like a kidney roast. “Teach me how to bind your word to that rune. If you break your promise….”

“I wouldn’t want that to happen.” The sorcerer rubbed his stomach, an unpleasant expression lingering on his face. “The binding is quite similar to any other rune binding, except I say my words of promise, and you bind them through your intent to the rune. Easy enough?”

Talis nodded uncertainly. “I’ll give it a try.” He placed the rune on a chair, and closed his eyes, waiting for the old man.

“I, Palarian, do humbly swear before the gods old and new, roaming the skies and ruling the deep, that I will bring no harm to the Order of the Dawn temple archives, nor steal, nor bring any ill deed to the archives. If I do, may the spell inscribed on this rune strike me down.”

At the completion of the old man’s words, Talis focused his mind on the binding spell, drawing the sorcerer’s intent foremost to his thoughts, and pushed them inside the rune tablet. He opened his eyes just as the rune dissolved into dust, and left a shimmering silver ghost atop the chair.

“Could we perhaps test it on a mouse first?” The sorcerer shrank back a bit as he stared nervously at the chair.
 

“How could you even
think
of doing something to harm a poor innocent mouse.” Mara scowled at him.

Palarian glanced left and right, as if searching for an escape. “I suppose you know what you’re doing?”

“Not really.” Talis stared blankly, remembering he’d just cast his first rune binding a few days ago.
 

“You’re not inspiring much confidence.” The old man ran his fingers along the top of the chair, and pulled it around. “Glass of wine to pair with my roasting?”

Nikulo chuckled, and filled his glass. Palarian gulped down the red liquid and exhaled. “Here goes….”

His face paled as he sat, the chair croaked in response. Nothing happened, at least from what Talis could see on the outside. The sorcerer cleared his throat, flashed a quick nervous smile, and stood.

“Well, then, it appears you’ve done at least one thing right in your casting. Shall we proceed to the portal spell? I’m fed and slightly drunk and ready for adventure.”

Talis took the portal rune from the old man’s hand. He also grabbed a few extra runes laying on the table he’d crafted before. Near the edge of the workroom, he positioned the portal rune on the floor.
 

“Before you cast,” Nikulo said, “consider one thing. The Order of the Dawn is in a bit of a mess now, and any interaction with them would be perilous. Tread carefully inside. I don’t want to fight my fellows at the Order.”

Talis agreed, especially after all that had happened. “We should be very quiet inside.”

“I know of something better. Better to go in unseen and unheard, don’t you agree?” Palarian brushed his fingers against each other and mumbled to himself. “Who is first?”

Mara frowned. “You’re going to make us invisible?”

“Precisely. Are you ready, my dear?” Palarian aimed his fingers at her.

“Wait, let me go first,” Talis said.

“You don’t need to be so chivalrous,” Mara said. “Ladies first, after all.”

The sorcerer nodded, and flicked his wrists. Mara vanished.

“Did something happen?” she said.

“I can hear you but not see you.” Nikulo reached out to the space where Mara once stood. “Hey, don’t touch me there, you pervert.” Talis heard a slap, and the back of Nikulo’s hand went red.

Talis chuckled as Nikulo blushed. “I didn’t mean to do anything, really.”

“Liar.” Mara started giggling.

“Will we be able to see each other when we’re all invisible?” Talis said.

“Yes, of course. But others unaffected by the spell will not.”

Talis spun around as something tickled the back of his neck. The next moment someone pushed behind his knees, and he started tumbling down. But just as he fell, he caught that someone’s wrist (he knew it was Mara), and she landed on top of him.

“Cute, Mara.” He could feel her squirming on top on him, but he held her with one arm, and tickled her with the other.
 

“Stop it!” she gasped, and squirmed even more, squealing and shrieking the more he tickled. Talis couldn’t help but notice that she only slightly tried to resist him. It was almost like she enjoyed staying put where she was.

Palarian cleared his throat. “Perhaps we continue now? Are you next, young master?” He flicked a finger at Nikulo, and he disappeared in a vaporish flash. “Cast the portal spell, if you’re finished tickling her.”

As Talis rose, he let his hand slide down her arm until he grasped Mara’s hand, and lifted her up. He spun around and faced the rune setting on the floor. He closed his eyes, pictured a favorite corner in the archives, and cast the spell.

The swirling silver and black portal sprung to life in front of him, a dark eye inviting them inside. The sorcerer flicked his wrists at Talis and himself, and Mara and Nikulo reappeared, ghostly this time, as the world went grey. The sorcerer raised his hands towards them.

“One last spell, so others won’t be able to hear us, but we’ll be able to talk amongst ourselves.” He cast the spell and it was done.

Talis motioned Palarian and Nikulo towards the portal. Mara clasped hands with Talis, and pulled him through.
 

Instead of finding the archives dark and cold, as one would expect at this late hour, they discovered the chamber illuminated by a pale-blue magical light, and filled with the low murmurs of voices deep in conversation. Talis held his breath for fear of being discovered. Mara pulled him over to where Nikulo and the sorcerer stood against a wall lined with paintings of dour-faced wizards from years past.

“They can’t hear us,” Mara said. “You can breathe now.”

Palarian nodded in agreement, and pointed towards a gathering of wizards from the Order. Talis recognized Master Jai, Master Grimelore, Mistress Cavares, and several other older members he had seen from the assembly earlier that day.

“We must tread carefully, a cautious approach in dealing with the boy will yield us the best results.” Master Grimelore clapped his hands together, startling Talis.

“I disagree,” Master Jai said. “I’ve seen the boy in action and it’s a terrible sight to see. If we don’t act decisively, I fear disaster will once again strike our city… Perhaps they will lash out again?” He lowered his voice at the word “they.” Talis thought maybe he was referring to the gods. Were they talking about attacking him directly at the temple?

Mistress Cavares cackled softly. “You’re a fool. You think you’re a match against the power of the black crystal? You feel confident of your new found dark power… Yet what you fail to realize is that the boy possesses mastery over a greater art, which you lack. And he’s on the road to discovering another, thanks to my little lesson out in the swamplands. Quite unfortunate that House Lei decided to pursue an unannounced hunting expedition in the same area. Poor Ralakh Lei. Couldn’t have happened to a more suitable pompous ass.”

“Be wary of your choice of words, Mistress Cavares.” Master Grimelore frowned. “These walls have ears.” The other wizards nodded, and narrowed their eyes at her. “You understand that with Master Viridian and many of the wizards gone, House Lei will most likely impose its will on the city.”

Talis wanted to protest, but kept himself calm. House Lei ruling Naru? Why would the king and House Storm ever allow it?

“Yes, indeed. With the king ill over the news of Master Viridian’s death, the shock is taking its toll on the king’s already weak heart. And there are rumors that House Lei is preventing the healers from doing their proper work on the king.”

“What!” Mara said, and curled her fingers in anger. Talis looped his arms around her waist to keep her back.

Palarian put a finger to his lips. “Be calm, child,” he whispered. “The magic subdues sound greatly, but I imagine these sensitive wizards can feel waves of emotions around them.”

Talis knew it to be true. He’d seen Master Jai sense anger, intentions of violence, and lies. Out of the corner of his eye, Talis swore he glimpsed Mistress Cavares glance over in their direction. But then she turned back to the other wizards and continued talking about what to do now that the Order was weakened.
 

After a few minutes, the wizards of the Order finished talking and left the room, the pale-blue magical light following them out until the chamber went dark. Talis could hear Mara breathe softly next to him, but other than the ghost images of the wizards talking moments before, he couldn’t see a thing.

“Do you think they all left?” Mara said, and placed a hand on his back.

“We’ll need to see without creating light,” Palarian whispered. It sounded like the sorcerer rubbed his fingers together, and the next moment the room was visible in a kind of ghostly grey and silver light.

“Much better… Where did you learn all those spells?” Talis glanced at the old man.

“Oh, I’ve have years to pick up bits and pieces here and there from very talented wizards and mystics of all kinds.”

“Yet you don’t know Light Magic or Shadow Magic?”

The sorcerer furrowed his brow, and averted his eyes from Talis. “I’ve never been inclined to learn either art. Let’s just keep it at that, shall we?”

Something was odd in the tone of Palarian’s voice, but Talis didn’t push the sorcerer further. He followed the old man into another chamber, down a stone spiral staircase, and into the vast expanse of the main collections chamber. Piles of vellum scrolls were stuffed into wooden cubbies filling an entire wall from floor to ceiling twenty feet up.

“How is it you know your way around the archives so well?” Talis wondered who Palarian was and what he really wanted….

Palarian sniffed. “I arranged to meet the master builder who designed much of Naru, including the archives. He was most gracious to lend me a copy of the blueprints.” The way the sorcerer said this made it sound like the master builder had no choice in the matter.

The old man trudged down a long narrow corridor, to an area of the archives off-limits to Order apprentices. The way split left and right, but the sorcerer lifted a wooden trapdoor, and ducked down inside another staircase. This was all new to Talis. He’d heard there were many hidden and locked chambers within the archives, but they’d been warned by the Masters to avoid even thinking of what might lie within. Not that that had stopped Talis from being curious.

Mara placed her hand on Talis’s shoulder as they descended the steep stairwell, stone steps placed irregularly as if to trip unfamiliar feet. They wound their way left and right, straight, and curved left again until they finally reached the bottom, following the sorcerer down another narrow stone corridor.

They reached a dead end.

“What do we do now?” Mara said, peeking around Talis.

Palarian remained quiet for a moment, as if lost in thoughts. “This wasn’t in the blueprints.”