Shadow Mage (Blacklight Chronicles) (6 page)

The vile smell of charred flesh stung Talis’s nostrils and he turned his head away from the terrible sight. He couldn’t believe this be happening, especially here in this sacred building….

“The gods! Appease the gods!” many wizards shouted in unison. Other wizards shrank back as more lightning bolts and shadow blasts slammed into those vocal wizards. Screams and shouts of terror ripped across the chamber.

Mass panic possessed the room, and the crowd quickly devolved into a riot. The wizards and guards shoved people aside, trying to flee the room, caring little about stamping on fallen ones. Talis backed to the wall and collapsed, unable to take his eyes off the scene. He fought back tears welling in his eyes and stifled a whimper as a burned and bloodied man shambled around the room, eyes glazed over. Then more cries of the dying and those in pain, shrieks and wails as the gods struck more wizards down.

Then the barrage ceased as if the sacred force had left the chamber. Talis could heard sobbing and moaning and pleas for help. Frightened of displeasing the gods, he kept quiet and stumbled over bodies littering the floor, wincing when flashes of light illuminated the wreck of charred and trampled bodies. He had to find his father.

Mistress Cavares came hobbling over, a look of shock and disbelief in her eyes. “Talis, you must leave this place quickly. I fear you’ll only find refuge within the Temple of the Sun.”

Talis shook his head, refusing to retreat. “We need to get help for the injured. I can’t leave now…not after all this.” He glanced around the room, and cupped his hand around his mouth. “Father! Where is he? I saw him just a moment ago….”

“Over here,” Mistress Cavares said, and led him around the room to where the Elders had once stood. They stepped around a pile of bodies, a few still pleading for help.
 

Talis recognized Mara’s father, Viceroy Vellar Lei, cringing in the corner. The old man stiffened as he saw Talis, and raised himself up, jabbing a finger at Talis.

“You! You caused all this… Your meddling in the dark arts brought the displeasure of the g—” Elder Vellar glanced in fear at the ceiling for a moment, then turned and glowered at Talis. “I’ll see you bleed for this. Guards, guards!” He scanned around as if expecting his men to arrest Talis, but none remained in the chamber.

“Talis,” groaned Father, his voice was muffled from being underneath a pile of bodies.

Talis rushed over to where he’d heard Father. He carefully pulled aside an old, dead elder, and felt his heart drop as he saw his father’s face panting heavily, eyes wide and panicked. How could they trample on their own people?

“Are you alright, Father?” Talis scanned his father for injuries, hoping he hadn’t been struck by the gods.

“My leg… I think my leg is shattered.” Father winced as Talis pulled a slain wizard off of him.
 

“It will mend…I’ll ask the healer to tend to you. Thank the gods you’re alive.”

“My life is not important, Talis…but yours is. You must survive all this, you must keep the Storm family name alive.”

“Guards!” shouted Elder Vellar, limping over to the entrance, casting angry eyes at Talis.

“You have to leave.” Mistress Cavares clasped Talis’s shoulder. “If you stay, I fear for your life…and the lives of others. We must avoid bloodshed between the Royal Houses. There’s a way of escape over there, behind the fifth pillar…a crane’s head…pull it and a tunnel will open for you.”

“She’s right,” Father said, fixing his gaze on Talis. “This has gone too far in the wrong direction. You’ll be safer in the temple.”

“But what about you? What about the others?”

“I’ll be fine. And as for the others…” He glanced around the wrecked chamber. “The gods have spoken their displeasure. Go now, son, go quickly.”

Talis opened his mouth to object, but his father raised a hand to stop him. “You must survive, don’t hesitate, go now!”

After he bowed hurriedly to his father and Mistress Cavares, Talis ran towards the fifth pillar. He could hear the marching of guards outside the chamber and the shouts of Elder Vellar Lei. The crane’s head was old and resisted pulling, but Talis finally yanked it far enough out until a stone doorway opened. He dove inside and glanced around for a way to close it, and found another extended crane’s head. He shoved it back in the wall and the door sealed shut.

Talis sighed and allowed himself to rest against the stone wall. What had just happened? Did the gods attack the Order, did they really kill Master Viridian? All because Master Viridian had tried to banish the darkness. The image of his old master’s charred body flashed in Talis’s mind. He found his heart racing as he leaned back, listening to the muffled sounds of soldiers’ boots clacking against stone floors outside. This was the end of their peaceful city. Certainly House Storm and House Lei would be officially at war… And Mara, how would she take all this? Would he ever see her again?

The tunnel was completely dark and the air smelled of dust and rat droppings. Talis summoned a tiny amount of Light Magic, enough to faintly illuminate spiderwebs and rats scurrying down the tunnel. Where did the tunnel lead? Talis suspected it was built years ago to protect against the peoples’ suspicion of magic.
Always have a way of escape
, Master Viridian had said. Talis couldn’t believe he was really gone. His old master dead…slain by the gods. It was so sudden and unexpected. He thought of Zagros, Lord of the Underworld, and frowned, believing he was behind all this….
 

Why did Mistress Cavares have to create a trap and summon the gods? Maybe when the gods came they stayed around and followed Talis to Naru. Or maybe only the dark gods.
 

Talis reached a winding stone stairwell leading down and around, ancient runes engraved in each step. He must be somewhere near the massive walls of Naru on the north side of the city. The way had to lead outside. He thought he knew all the secret entrances, but here was one hidden right inside the Order.
The same Order that wanted to put him to death,
thought Talis.
 

At the bottom of the stairwell Talis followed a narrow corridor. Beams of late afternoon light stabbed the stone wall through slits. He was deep within the northern wall. He peered through one of the slits and gazed out over the vast Nalgoran Desert. The northlands, barren and cold, filled with memories of their expedition. He shuddered, picturing Rikar and Zagros and the Underworld, but forced himself to continue on.

He reached a dead end, with the only exit through a narrow archway leading to a ledge outside. Talis stared down. The cliff fell more than two hundred feet to the desert below. How was he supposed to escape? Off to the left, the Temple of the Sun shone under light piercing through the clouds. He could feel the magic of the black crystal from here. It was close enough for Talis to channel its power. But he doubted he could survive such a fall without knowing the flying spell that Master Jai had refused to teach him.

A sudden gust blasted Talis, pushing him back then pulling him dangerously close to the edge. His heart pounded and a chill prickled his skin. One more inch forward and he’d fall to his death. Or would he? Since Mistress Cavares had taught him to control the wind, could he use it as an ally and help soften his fall? Then an image flashed in his mind. The characters on the rune for slow fall. Even though he didn’t have the rune with him, he was determined to try and write the characters on the ground and cast the binding spell anyways. A sudden thrill went through him. What if it worked?

He bent down and traced the characters on the sandy floor. Focusing his intent, he cast the binding spell over the symbols for slow and fall. Nothing happened. The wind picked up again and blew the stone floor clean. He sighed, and wracked his memory to recall any hint that Mistress Cavares might have given him in the past. Out of the corner of his eye the Temple of the Sun sparkled. Maybe if he drew from the power of the black crystal, the binding spell might be strong enough to work.

So he tried again, desperate to escape to a place of safety. He drew the characters, summoned the energy from the black crystal, and focused with all his willpower to cast the binding spell. The characters glowed faintly, shimmered, and disappeared. Did it work? Talis stepped onto the spot where he’d cast the binding, and felt a prickling along his feet and ankles. He jumped up, and sighed in relief as he fell slowly to the ground.

He glanced out again at the Nalgoran Desert. Fixing his eyes on the Temple, he steeled himself and leapt off the cliff.

Talis didn’t realize that by binding the spell to sand, the slow fall spell wouldn’t last very long. He started plummeting fifty feet above ground, his stomach lurching up to his throat, and quickly thrust out his palms towards the ground and cast the wind spell Mistress Cavares had taught him. Twenty feet from mangling his body on protruding rocks at the base of the cliff, the wind spell caught purchase on the ground and pushed him up and away from the mountain. He cast the spell several more times until he finally landed and rolled on the soft sands of the Nalgoran Desert, his heart pounding in his chest.

He let out a sigh of relief, amazed he hadn’t died, and looked up wonderingly at the towering cliff and walls. Had he really been crazy enough to jump from way up there? Thankfully he survived the fall, survived the insanity of the gods slaying most of the wizards of the Order, and he now wondered what lay ahead for him….

As he started for the green hillside capped with the Temple of the Sun, Charna, his pet lynx, padded over to greet him. She yowled like she knew something was amiss. Charna loved the Temple and spent most of her time sleeping in its shady corners, and hunting field mice and rabbits at night in the surrounding meadows. But when Talis came around she devoted herself entirely to him.

Tired and hungry, he wished he’d brought food. If only he’d kept more supplies at the Temple. But probably the only food around was what Charna hunted. No matter; if it came to that, he’d be forced to hunt for food as well. He had to stay close to the Temple for fear of arrest or attack from House Lei’s guards or even by the Order itself. But no one would dare try to touch him here, with the power of the black crystal, would they?

Later on that night, after searching unsuccessfully for food in the temple, Talis climbed to the top of the Temple to his favorite spot with a clear view of the stars. He often slept here at night, bringing a blanket to ward off the evening cold. The Huntress, the Great Bear, the Treasure Box. The gods and mythological figures gleamed in the black sky. Were the dark gods pleased with all the mayhem they’d brought to Naru? He couldn’t believe Master Viridian was really gone, and slain in such a horrific way. The night chill sank into his bones and sent a shiver through his body.

“Thank the gods, Talis…I prayed I’d find you safe here….” Mara hoisted herself up and over the wooden beam and ambled towards him, the air around her seemed tense and concerned.

“Mara! I can’t believe you made it out of the city. It’s all such a mess…such a sad and horrible day. Your father is furious with me. Are you angry at me…because of your uncle’s death?”

“Ralakh Lei? He’s was a drunkard and a glutton…I’m not surprised the gods chose him to die. No, I’m not angry at you, surprised yes, but not angry. I’m upset with my father, causing so much trouble, accusing you of killing my uncle. It was an accident, wasn’t it?”

“Mistress Cavares was teaching me Rune Magic…out in the swamplands.” Talis told her the story, shaking his head in disbelief. “I can’t understand any of what’s happened. Master Viridian dead? We’ve woken something into our midst, something better left alone….”

“The gods… But how could he die like that?”

Down in the Temple courtyard, Talis heard grunts and curses that sounded like Nikulo.
 

Talis stared down, and spotted Nikulo scratching Charna’s chin. The lynx purred so loud Talis could hear it all the way up on the rooftop. “Need some help getting up?”

“I’d prefer you coming down. It’s cold outside and I’m starving. My devout parents decided it was necessary to fast to appease the gods. The idea!”

Talis and Mara spidered their way down the Temple’s beams, and jumped onto the courtyard. Nikulo’s face held a pathetic grin like a sheep dog begging for his fair share of roasted mutton.
 

“I might have some food, but we’ll need to hunt in the morning.”

“Anything, really.” Nikulo rubbed his now round and protruding belly. The rigors of the trip hadn’t lasted long after he’d returned.

Talis stoked a fire at the hearth in the workroom, and rummaged around until he found some stale bread. Nikulo accepted the gift and crunched sloppily.
 

“All this sneaking about isn’t going to work for long. You guys got lucky this time, probably because of all the confusion.” Talis picked up a rune from the worktable. “We need to master the portal spell. Then we’ll have the freedom to move around without anyone knowing.”