Armies of the Silver Mage (35 page)

Delin felt tiny slivers of warmth spread through him. The heat from her body ebbed into his own, breaking the growing darkness in his heart. He almost felt alive again, which made his next words all the more painful.

“You shouldn’t be here, Tarren,” he told her. “You have no idea what you’ve become involved in.”

Her eyes narrowed in an accusing glare. “Delin Kerny! I’ve risked my life in one fashion or another trying to reach you in time. Didn’t you know the danger you were in when that stranger man came into town asking questions? I’ve been looking for you to warn you ever since you left Fel Darrins.”

Scarn’s head snapped up. His eyes bore a subtle glow. What else does this girl know, he wondered.

Delin was confused. “What danger? What man? The first trouble we found was after meeting Norgen in Alloenis.”

“Now just a minute. Don’t go blaming me for this. I was minding my own business until you two barged in and got us involved in the middle of a war,” Norgen growled back. Never mind the fact he was coming for the purpose of going to war to begin with.

Dakeb finished drying his hands on a kitchen cloth and stepped in the middle of them.

“Friends, I agree there is much to discuss and many adventures worth telling, but this is not the way to go about it. Eat first. The fate of all Malweir rests in our hands and I’ll not make that decision hastily. Not again. Arguing will not solve the riddles in your minds.”

One by one they made their way to the enormous oak table where they helped Dakeb pass out plates and mugs and served themselves a hearty stew of duck and winter vegetables. Brutal winds howled outside and the snow continued to fall. Finally, once the last plate was pushed back, Dakeb looked each of them in the eye while he carefully measured his next words.

“Centuries ago the order of Mages thought it wise to find a way to store all their knowledge for future generations to build and improve on. So we developed the Crystal of Tol Shere. You see, it held all our wisdom of magic and life. We poured our very souls into it in the dream of making Malweir a better place. But there were flaws we didn’t see. Somehow the crystal became cracked, and darkness crept in. It was unnoticeable at first, but that darkness soon began to corrupt. Sidian, who was a member of the ruling council became too close to the crystal and fell under the darkness. His mind turned to madness and he quietly began subverting our brothers to his dark cause.

“It was only later did we learn his true intentions. He aimed to open the paths to the underworld and release a plague of demons upon us. Our wars were long and bloody, and evenly matched in the beginning. Both orders were eventually destroyed. Only a handful survived the final battles and from them I have heard nothing in all my long years of travel. Only Sidian and I remain.” Sadness lingered in his eyes.

“The crystal was destroyed, or so we thought. The battle here in Ipn Shal shattered it into four equal shards. In fact, it was broken by Phaelor, Fennic, for that was the purpose the Elves built into it. The sword was made to destroy the evil of the crystal and restore order in the world. But it did not destroy the crystal entirely. The four pieces were next to impossible to erase and I hid them in distant parts of the world. The remainder of my life has been devoted to keeping them from Sidian.

“In this I have failed. For he now holds three of the four shards. I was able to recover the last right before he found it and have been in hiding ever since. Regrettably, his agents got too close to me when I was in the south and I was forced to leave the shard with a pair of boys on their way to Paedwyn.”

Delin and Fennic both gasped and looked at each other. Delin slowly reached into his pocket and withdrew the purple stone he’d been carrying for so long.

“You’re the crazy old man from Rellin Werd,” Fennic exclaimed.

Dakeb offered a loving smile. “I regret the ruse, but it was necessary. There was so much I needed to prepare for and I had faith in you when I spied Phaelor. You see, you were already involved, though you didn’t know it. The instant Phaelor chose you, Fennic, was the day you became a part of this eternal struggle and the fate of the world. I wish it were otherwise, but the sword chooses who it will.”

Tarren looked at her love and felt her heart sadden. Dark Mages and war. She had a terrible feeling she was going to lose him forever. Then a thought struck.

“But what about me?” she asked. “What part do I play in all of this?”

Silence filled the kitchen until even the crackling fire became a whisper.

“That,” Dakeb answered in a slow voice, “is a matter I can’t figure out. My heart tells me that you have an important part in the coming days.”

Scarn saw the object of his quest for the first time and felt his throat go dry. After so many days and months searching it was now within his grasp. He forgot the legend the mage just told and focused on how to steal it back and end his affair with the Hooded Man.

Dakeb help the shard up. “This tiny piece of crystal, without value as a gem, is the very key to existence in Malweir. But there is hope. Phaelor is once again in our hands and even young Tarren is here.” He looked at her. “Perhaps you remember a pony in the woods?”

Tarren smiled. All of the doubt and emptiness in her left with the knowledge she’d been watched over since she left Fel Darrins.

“What of the rest of us?” Norgen asked. “And just how much time is left before it becomes too late?”

“Very good questions,” Dakeb replied. “The second is the more easily answered. Time runs out on Winter’s Day. That is the one time of the year Sidian can complete his dark ritual and bring doom unto the world. The crystal must be whole again exactly at midday. Only then will the gate open. That gives us just seven days to reach Aingaard and destroy the crystal once and for all. Your parts in this are unclear at the moment.”

“Know this. Sidian fears you boys. He fears what he can’t control. His agents are scouring the countryside in search of you. They will kill you and steal both sword and stone if they can. We will not let that happen. This is a dangerous time for us all. The

balance is disrupted. Not even the Fates can say who might win or lose.”

Dakeb’s words drowned out for Scarn. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Tarren. His nerves were jumpy. His chest constricted under the pressure. Play it cool, he had to remind himself. Goblins and the occasional Gnaal would serve to keep their suspicions off of him until he found a way to contact the Hooded Man again. His biggest concern lay in Tarren. He saw the way her eyes silently accused him. She knew. She had to know. Scarn decided he needed to get her alone and find out exactly what she knew.

Dakeb calmly finished his spiced cider and covered a belch. The winds howled a little fiercer, desperately trying to bring down the walls of Ipn Shal.

“I must leave you for the time being. Finish your meals and enjoy this reunion. We head to Gren when the storm breaks.”

Hope had once again taken root in the fortress of Mages.

FORTY-SEVEN

It took another full day before the storm dwindled enough to let them leave Ipn Shal. The mood inside the fortress was changed. Reunions were over and it was time for business. They packed their bags and loaded the horses. Tactics and strategies were discussed with interest, for they knew Gren was not going to be forgiving. With the storm gone, they knew it was only a matter of time before Dakeb led them out.

Hallis found the old Mage standing on a snow swept balcony overlooking the courtyard just before dawn. Only a light sprinkle of flurries drifted lazily by. Dakeb had an oddity about him, as if there were a void of life or death.

“What troubles you?” Hallis asked.

“It would be easier to explain what doesn’t bother me. The timing of this doesn’t make sense to me. Why do you suppose he sent his armies forward when he doesn’t have possession of the fourth shard?”

Hallis stood and watched the dawn break. “He must be searching for it. He has to think he’s close to finding it too if matters have gone as far as you say. That would ex-plain the continuous attacks by Gnaals.”

Dakeb turned on him with eyebrows raised. “Would it? I believe there is something more sinister to it. Did you know that the Gnaals were once mages? He discovered a dark lure and changed their very souls, twisting them into the ruin they are today. When he dies, so will they.” He paused for a moment. “These boys will need your protection, Hallis. They look to you for advice and as a role model. We are entering a dangerous part of the journey. The Silver Mage grows stronger the closer we get to Winter’s Day. Even I may not be able to stop him in time.”

Hallis didn’t really want to hear a confession like that from the one man they were trusting to see them through the darkness, but he understood the reasoning. He’d lost track of how many times through the years and different campaigns, sitting alone in his tent or pulling guard in the middle of the night, he felt the same. Soldiering was a difficult and often loathsome business that demanded a constant strain of the mind and body. He’d done his share of killing, but never came to take pleasure from it. Hallis killed only in the name of defense and his country.

Friendships were short in his line of work. More often than not they ended abruptly. People came and went too fast to remember. A military career wasn’t for everyone, in fact only one in twenty decided to make it a lifestyle. A goodly number of those seldom made it longer than five years. Hallis made the mistake of befriending several men over the course of his career and most of them were dead now.

All in all, he had relatively few regrets in life. He had friends sprinkled here and there. A few he even managed to keep track of when he wasn’t deployed or on campaign. It was Chella who kept him healthy and sane. Without her his loneliness would have finished him off already. She was by far the stronger of the two. She had to be. Hallis made a promise to himself that this was it. One way or the other he was going home to his wife for good when this quest finished. But he had to see to the security of Delin and Fennic first. Without them the dream of Averon was ended.

“My sword is theirs for as long as they need it,” he finally told the mage.

He wanted to ask Dakeb what would happen if they simply held the stone here until after Winter’s Day but the answer was painfully obvious. Sidian would come for them in force and wouldn’t stop until they were all destroyed. Going to Aingaard and destroying the crystal first seemed the only way to keep the Silver Mage off guard. Even then it was only a small glimmer of hope.

“Good,” Dakeb replied. “Now come. I believe it is time for us to leave. It has been so long since I was last on a grand adventure.”

“I pray we live to enjoy the tales of it,” Hallis said with a stone voice.

So do I, Dakeb silently agreed

“We’re really going to do this?” Tarren asked after mounting her horse. She’d come so far with one thought in her mind and now that it was accomplished she didn’t know what to do. The one thing she did know was that she wasn’t letting Delin get away from her ever again. Delin reached over and gently squeezed her hand for strength.

Clearing his throat, Norgen said, “best we get this over with now.”

“Indeed,” Dakeb said as both he and Hallis entered the stables. “Time is now as much our foe as the Silver Mage. Make no mistake, friends. There can be no hesitation when the time comes. We must strike the head if we are to win the day.”

“Let’s go,” Hallis said. “We have a long road to travel if we’re to arrive in Gren on time.” He mounted his horse and led them from the ruins of Ipn Shal.

One by one they filed out of the stables and over the shattered drawbridge. The sun was blindingly bright on the pure snow, a stark contrast to the imposed darkness of the old fortress. It was a pleasant enough change made more so by wisps of fading clouds barely gracing the blue sky. The air was suddenly warm again, not enough to enjoy a day outside, but enough to take the chill off until dusk. Ice and snow covered the landscape. Icicles dripped from the fangs of the stone gargoyles and windowsills. Tarren looked at the world with fresh eyes. For the first time life held a certain beauty she’d never noticed.

“It’s almost a shame we’re leaving. This place must be gorgeous in the spring,” she said to Dakeb.

The old Mage pulled his hood over his head and whispered, “once upon a time.”

Scarn was the last to leave the ruins. He held the trail of the formation like he’d seen the other rangers doing before. But mostly he hung back because he needed to think. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to use his anonymity. The girl was a problem and it troubled him to great lengths. A voice in the back of his head whispered dark plans for her. So Scarn plotted and waited for his chance to strike.

Dakeb turned one last time from atop his roan stallion to gaze upon his ancient home. Memories rushed by him. He remembered the foundations being laid and the walls rising higher with the passing days. Children played and sang from the nearby village. Elves and Dwarves visited for advice and wisdom. People of all races came to see if they had the gift of mage blood. But those days were gone now. Empty windows stared back down on him, featureless eyes haunting his every movement. Mocking centuries of failure laughed at him. Dakeb and Sidian were the last of their breed and Dakeb had little doubt Malweir would be better off with both of them gone. He suddenly longed to be with his old friends again. The burning in his heart for the loved ones lost was almost too much at times. Hundreds died for the satisfaction of a fallen brother gone mad. Dakeb cursed the paths that led them to this moment in time.

Winds gripped a partially rotted shutter, forcibly slamming it against the stone wall and an already broken window. Life was gone from Ipn Shal. It had become a hall for vagrant spirits and cobwebs. The knowledge buried inside was dangerous and much more than Malweir was ready to handle. Dakeb wished Thellios were there to offer his counsel on the matter. The problem of the great libraries had to be addressed. But Thellios and all the rest were no more than spirits and fading memories in an aging man.