"But I'm not," said Vala, approaching from the other side. "And I've been wondering myself. It wasn't any coincidence that we found you camped outside Thousand Faces, was it?"
"You would threaten me?" Malik gasped. "After I risked my own life to save yours?"
"I'd like to know why." Vala rested a hand on her sword. "In my experience, Cyricists are rarely so selfless."
"Don't kill him-I'm going to need him," said Melegaunt, still working his way around the Karsestone. "His presence is no mystery He's investigating my magic for Cyric." Malik's jaw dropped. "You knew?"
Melegaunt peered out from behind the Karsestone. "Do I strike you as an idiot?" The archwizard pointed his chin at Malik's turban. "Pull that off, and you'll find his antlers. Our companion is no ordinary thief-he's the Seraph of Lies."
Galaeron did as Melegaunt instructed and found a pair of small antlers-they looked more like cuckold's horns-then asked, "You knew, and you let him stay?"
"Better the spy you know than the one you don't-and he has proven useful, wouldn't you say?" Melegaunt began to point to spots in a circle about six feet from the Karsestone. "Now spread yourselves out, and we'll call the power we need to save Evereska."
The companions did as Melegaunt requested, leaving a sixth spot open for him. The archwizard grabbed two hand-Ms of silvery magic from the pool, then floated into the air above the Karsestone. He hung the globes about six feet apart and touched a plain copper ring that he wore on his left had to each. A magical light spread upon the orbs, which began to glow with the blinding radiance of the sun. Galaeron turned away with spots in his eyes.
As his vision cleared, he saw a pair of shadows lying on the silvery surface of the pool, both so black and deep they looked at once like solid bodies and empty wells. Galaeron reached to find out which was his, and his fingers vanished in the darkness without creating a ripple on the pool's surface. When he pulled them back, all four digits were missing above the middle knuckle. There was no pain, no impression of heat or cold, no sensation at all. The fingers simply weren't there.
Gasping in alarm, Galaeron spun to berate Melegaunt for not warning him-then saw the translucent shape of his fingers outlined against the brilliant glow of the lights and realized he had been assuming the worst again. Atop the Karsestone, Melegaunt completed a spell he had been casting and noticed Galaeron watching him. "Only a moment now," the wizard said. "All is ready."
Melegaunt stepped off the Karsestone and floated to his place in the circle. He asked the group to join hands, then spoke a few words in a strange language Galaeron assumed to be Netherese. Next to him, Vala hissed in surprise as a tingling stream of energy passed from her hand into Galaeron's, then Malik gasped aloud as the stream passed into him. Galaeron began to feel lightheaded, and growing suspicious, opened his hand.
"Don't break the circle!" Melegaunt commanded. "Let no one break it, or we will all be pulled into Shadow."
Vala clamped down on Galaeron's hand with astonishing strength. 'Trust us, not your shadow!"
Galaeron's two shadows began to grow longer and broader, taking on a shape completely unlike his own. One assumed the form of an armored human with immense shoulders and a narrow waist. A pair of curved horns sprouted from his blocky head, then a pair of yellow eyes appeared in his dark face. The second silhouette was as large as the first, though squarer of body and clothed in swirling robes of darkness. Though it sprouted no horns, its profile revealed a grotesquely square chin and a crescent-shaped mouth full of sharp teeth.
Both shadows sank beneath the silvery surface and disappeared, only to reappear a moment later as huge, murk-swaddled figures. When Galaeron glanced around the circle, he found a pair of similar figures standing in front of each of his trembling companions. He could not quite decide whether he was looking at men or demons.
Melegaunt opened his hands and bowed so deeply that his brow touched the silvery pond. "My Princes, welcome back to Faerun."
"Stand, young brother." The largest, a copper-eyed brute nearly three heads taller than Vala, motioned Melegaunt upright. "That is the heavy magic?" "It is," said Melegaunt.
Paying no mind to the others in the chamber, the rest of the princes waded to Melegaunt's side. Galaeron and the others followed, but stopped a respectful distance away.
"All has gone according to plan?" asked the copper-eyed figure. "We are ready to proceed?"
Melegaunt's face betrayed the barest hesitation. "All has gone well, my lord Escanor, but one matter may trouble us."
The horn-helmeted prince cast an admonishing glance at Galaeron's hip. Galaeron looked down, but did not realize what the dark warrior was staring at until he felt Takari pull his hand away from his sword. "I think that would be foolish, my princep," she whispered.
The murky warrior looked back to Melegaunt without comment. The one called Escanor said, "Yes, young brother?" "I have spoken of one called Elminster," said Melegaunt.
"The gray-bearded Chosen," said the horned warrior. "We have observed him. A powerful ally-or an inconvenient enemy. Which?"
"That is yet to be decided, my lord Rivalen, but I fear unexpected events have turned him a little against us. As you know, his parents were slain by a shadow mage, and that has made him suspicious of us. Only two days ago, he tried to stop us from entering the Dire Wood, and I have been informed by a darksentry that even now he comes after us. I fear he would think to interfere with the Return-and he has the power to do it." Rivalen and Escanor glanced at each other.
"We will need to set matters straight with him before proceeding, that is all," said Escanor. "And these unexpected events?"
Melegaunt motioned Galaeron into the circle. "Galaeron Nihmedu is in a shadow crisis and losing badly" Several princes cast knowing looks at each, and Melegaunt continued, "He has done much to aid our cause. Through no fault of his, he and I opened the Sharn Wall in Evereska instead of Hartsvale." "The phaerimm are out already?" gasped Rivalen.
Melegaunt hung his head. "My fault entirely. I chose a poor place to meet my darkswords, and Galaeron's patrol took us for tomb robbers. They were not to blame." "There is no blame here," said Escanor. "We will adjust our plan, that is all." He looked to Galaeron. "We cannot undo the anguish your people have already suffered, but your home will be saved-have no fear of that."
"The war will be farther south," Rivalen said. "Unfortunate, but no great disaster." "Evereska has a mythal," warned Melegaunt.
Rivalen shrugged. "And it will take a little longer than planned." He clasped Galaeron's shoulder. "But it will be won. On that, you have the word of the Twelve Princes of Shade."
Galaeron's first thought was of what the prince left unsaid. "At what cost to Evereska? It is well and good to slay the phaerimm, but not if you mean to fight the war on elf lands."
Rivalen exchanged a concerned look with the others, then a third prince, the square-chinned one who had arisen in front of Galaeron, stepped forward.
"I know it is difficult during your shadow-struggle, but you must trust us. Evereska will suffer-it has already suffered, as you must know-and we will do what we can to help. But it is the phaerimm who attack your land, not us. We did not set them to it any more than you did."
"But / did," Galaeron said, nearly collapsing beneath the weight of his mistake. "I ordered the wrong spell,"
"You did your duty," said the prince. "You would have been remiss not to attack to your best judgment. Any blame you feel comes from your shadow, no one else. You must ignore it, or you are lost."
The prince's words lifted the burden from Galaeron's heart a little-but not as much as when Takari slipped her arm through his.
"Listen to the murky one, my princep. He is telling you what everyone who was there already knows." Galaeron nodded. "I'll try"