Suddenly Caledan understood. The creature could see. The shadevar had seen the lightning, and the brilliant illumination had caused the thing pain! Somehow the mage had given the sightless creature the power to see, and it was driving the shadevar mad.
The shadevar stumbled, on the verge of losing its balance. Caledan did not waste more time. He snaked out a hand and grabbed his sword. He thrust it upward into the shadevar's gut. The creature's scaly armor was nearly impenetrable, and the blade did not bite very deeply. But it was enough.
The shadevar slumped forward over the sword point, Caledan kicked out, grunting with effort as he used his foot and the sword to lift the creature above him.
The shadevar's claws flailed wildly, one talon tracing a hot, crimson line across Caledan's cheek. With one last blood-chilling scream it sailed into the ravine.
There it struck a jagged, razor-edged column of granite Even the shadevar's scales could not withstand the impact of the fall. The creature's hideous cry was cut short as the shard of rock was driven through its body. Dark blood sprayed out in a hissing, steaming fountain.
Caledan nearly slid over the edge after the shadevar, but he caught himself at the last moment, wedging his fingers in a crack and dragging himself back up. He lay on his side, panting, gazing down at the shadevar impaled below. The wind tugged at the shreds of its black robe, but this time the creature did not stir. The torrent of blood gushing from its body gradually slowed to a trickle, then stopped, and soon the rain washed the dark stain away. Caledan groaned, his head sinking to the stone in weariness just as the companions reached him.
The shadevar was dead.
The storm was over.
It was late afternoon, and all that remained of the storm were a few ragged shreds of clouds scudding along against the azure sky. Morhion had ridden back down the game trail and into the ravine to examine the shadevar's body Now the mage was returning astride his black gelding.
'The shadevar will not rise again," Morhion said when he reached the others. "The stone driven through its body pierced its heart, shattering the magic that gave it power. Already its body is decaying. By nightfall nothing will be left of it but cinders." The mage drew something from a pocket of his gray robe. "However, I did find this."
In his hand Morhion held an egg-shaped crystal, its myriad facets dim and opaque.
"What is it?" Caledan asked.
"I cannot say," Morhion replied. He muttered several words in the tongue of magic. Suddenly the gem began to glow with a crimson light.
"Magic…" Tyveris whispered.
Morhion nodded solemnly. "I will be able to study it further when I return to my tower." The mage spirited the crystal away into a hidden pocket of his robe.
"Your magic was greater than the shadevar's, Morhion." Mari said. "We saw the creature ready to strike Caledan, and the next moment it was writhing in pain."
The mage nodded, his long, pale hair blowing in the wind. "The shadevari were sightless from the moment of their creation. Their spirits were never meant to be touched by light. I think the lightning burned it from within. I doubt it had ever known such pain."
Caledan regarded Morhion carefully. He could never let himself forget how dangerous the mage could be.
"Do you think there will be more of them?" Tyveris asked. "More shadevari, I mean. We still don't know who sent the thing after Caledan in the first place."
The mage gestured noncommittally. "That even one of these ancient creatures yet remained in the world surprises me. For all we know, we have killed the last of their kind."
"Then good riddance," Caledan growled.
Ferret called to the others then. He had gone off wandering as usual and now was standing by the low heap of rock where they had first seen the shadevar. The little thief was gesturing wildly.
"What is it?" Caledan asked when they reached him.
"Take a look," Ferret said, pointing to the bare rock at the base of the small hill. "It looks like a fissure that's been filled in with stones."
Caledan knelt down and picked up one of the loose rocks. "I think you're right, Ferret." The fissure, filled with a jumble of rocks and dirt, was perhaps a half-dozen feet long and several feet wide. "This has to be it-Talembar's tomb." He started clearing the rubble away from the fissure. Tyveris joined in, flinging huge stones aside as easily as if they were pebbles.
Caledan grinned as Tyveris helped him heave another heavy chunk of granite from the fissure. All of them felt their spirits lifting.
They had been working only scant minutes, however, when Caledan felt a sudden chill. The golden sunlight dimmed as if a cloud were passing overhead, and the wind carried the scent of dry, stale dust to his nose. That was strange after all the rain that had fallen.
"Caledan. Look above you." Something in Mari's voice made the hair on the back of Caledan's neck stand up. He and Tyveris looked up, and both of them froze.
A man stood on the side of the small hillock no more than ten paces away, gazing down at the companions. He was a noble-looking man with a strong, aquiline nose and eyes of pale gray. His attire-a brocaded longcoat over a ruffled shirt, tightly fitting breeches, and high leather boots-was fine, even opulent, but it looked strangely archaic, bespeaking the fashions of another age. Oddest of all were his silvery cloak and his long, onyx-black hair, for neither of these stirred in the brisk wind that whipped across this high, open place.
"By Oghma above, I can see right through him," Tyveris whispered, and Caledan realized he could do the same. The outlines of a gnarled cedar tree were hazy but clearly visible through the man. The loremaster gripped the holy symbol that hung about his neck and muttered a prayer to appease the dead.
Morhion stepped forward, bending slowly in a regal bow.
"Hail, Talek Talembar," the mage intoned in his burnished voice. Caledan stared at Morhion in shock.
With ethereal elegance the spectral man mirrored the mage's bow. The motion was accompanied by a faintly audible sound, like the tinkling of tiny, distant bells. Tatters of mist drifted about the phantom, glowing in the bronze light of the westering sun.
"Indeed, mage," the spectral man spoke in a voice that was so deep as to be thunderous, yet musical at the same time. "It is I, Talek Talembar. Or at least the shadow of one who once was so named."
A look of wonder crossed each of the companions' faces. Caledan felt a shiver ripple up his spine. It was not every day he found himself facing a man who had been dead for over a thousand years.
The phantom nodded his head solemnly toward Caledan. "Greetings, Caledan Caldorien."
A tendril of mist reached out to softly encircle Caledan. He could feel its chill, gentle touch. "How… how do you know me?" He somehow managed to give voice to the words. His breath fogged on the strangely cold air. He realized he was trembling but could not help himself. He had been prepared for uncovering the dusty remains of Talembar's long-dead bones. This… this was something altogether different.
The phantom made a shrugging gesture. "How do I know that it is daylight? That a storm has just vented its anger here? That a thousand years have fled since the day I fell in this valley? I do not know how I know, only that I do know. I know who each of thou art, and even why thou seeketh me, though in truth I could not tell thee how I came to be here, standing before thee. Perchance thy need was great enough to summon me. I must confess to thee, Caldorien, death has proved most mysterious." A faint smile touched the phantom's lips.
Ferret took a timid step forward, though he kept close to Caledan. "You aren't angry that we've… ah, disturbed your eternal rest, are you?" the thief asked in a tremulous voice.