"But I have been seeking wizards of any robe for months!" Jenna objected. "The only one I came up with was you! How can the three of us possibly hold a Conclave?"
Coryn removed the third of her gifts, the slender magic wand. "There is one last reward that I was given, an enchantment that will send the summons of our gods across the world. It is a spell that has never been cast before, and can be used only once-we will need a laboratory, a hot oven, and many unusual components."
"We can do it in Palanthas," Jenna offered quickly. "I have most anything we could need there-certainly my own laboratory is well stocked."
"And the casting of this spell?" asked the dark elf, his eyes glittering with excitement. "After we have done our preparations, how will we work the magic?"
"We must go to the top of the highest mountain on Ansalon," Cory explained, the words flying from her lips as if she had known the answer all her life. "The spell must be cast when the three moons of magic are all full, and all near zenith."
"The Night of the Eye, of course! "Jenna whispered. "The high conjunction of Krynn's magic."
"Tomorrow night," Dalamar said anxiously, "which doesn't leave us much time."
"No, and that is why we must hurry." Coryn climbed to her feet. She saw the mules were tethered nearby, and Dolly nickered familiarly as she went up and scratched the animal between the ears. "I see that the saddlebags are already packed," she noted cheerfully, nodding to Dalamar. "As you suggest, we will use work space at your house," she said to Jenna, who smiled her agreement-as if there was nothing unusual in taking such a suggestion from one who had, a few days ago, been her servant girl.
"Enough talk-let's get going!" said Dalamar, taking another moment to admire his book before he slid it into one of the pockets of his robe.
The other two wizards nodded as Coryn raised the wand, and the sparkling power of magic pulsed in the air around them.
Chapter 20
The Night of the Eye
The wand teleported all three of them, plus their mules, to the plaza before the great house in Palanthas. Jenna quickly rummaged through Dora's saddlebags, loading Dalamar, Coryn, and herself with an assortment of wooden boxes, pouches, and several of the red, leather-bound spell books.
Rupert didn't seem surprised to see them. With his usual dignified air, he held open the front door as the three wizards approached the manor.
"Please have Donny see to the animals," Jenna said to her longtime servant. "We have to get right to work."
"Very good, my lady. And welcome back."
"Thank you." Jenna was already past him and moving toward the stairway with purposeful strides.
"And to you, too, miss," Rupert said to Coryn as she closely followed Jenna. He bowed his head, apparently admiring the pure white material of her robe. "It would seem that congratulations are in order. Well done."
She smiled, embarrassed and pleased. "Thank you… Rupert." She looked around at the sound of rapid footsteps to see Donny coming from the back of the house. He skidded to a stop when he saw her, his face slack with awe.
"You're a wizard, now?" he gasped.
She smiled at him. "Yes, but I'll still take your help, next time we need to go to the market."
"But"-he looked crestfallen-"you got a white robe? Not red?"
"Sometimes you get a better painting when you use more colors," Jenna called out obliquely, from the stairway. "Now stop staring and help us, Donny-we have important work to do."
Dalamar, a stack of Jenna's books teetering in his arms, staggered toward the wide stairway. Coryn, a box tucked under each arm and several leather pouches clutched in her hands, followed Jenna to the second floor. The girl was startled when, at the top of the stairs, she got her first glimpse of the Red Robe's grand laboratory. It was one very long room occupying two wings. Many arched doorways connected portions of the lab to the hallway, and a broad terrace flanked both outer walls, which were lined entirely by tall glass windows. The whole space was bright and cheery, even at sunset.
Dalamar, brushing by with his load, scolded her for gawking. Coryn set down her load and rolled up her sleeves as she followed the enchantress into the room and a far recess of the lab.
"Now, what can you tell me about this spell?" the older woman asked.
Cory took the wand from her outer pocket and held the slender reed of wood in her hands. It was pliable-she could bend it nearly into a circle if she wanted-but very strong. And she knew just from touching it lightly that the knowledge and power was there, contained within, ready to be used.
"We'll need high heat; we have to melt glass. And we also need to blow the glass. Each of us must make one globe. Let's see… we'll need platinum dust, dried kelp-golden kelp. And…"
She rattled off a list, which Jenna scribbled down as quickly as the younger woman could talk. On the list were platinum, numerous coal- and charcoal-type components, pure alcohol, and others. But each of the three brews would have distinct characteristics-Coryn's required bat's eyes, while Jenna needed those of a blindfish. Dalamar's recipe didn't call for any eyes, but required something just as rare-the stinger of a giant scorpion.
"Good," Jenna said in satisfaction as Coryn finished the list. "Would you please help Donny with the books while I start collecting everything? Besides what I have stored here, we'll need most everything from Dora's load."
Coryn nodded and hurried back downstairs. The volumes were heavy, but she and Donny went down and up several times. Her face was red by the third trip. Dalamar had a fire raging and now closed a pair of flat steel doors cut into the sides of a cast-iron furnace-the largest firebox or oven Coryn had ever seen.
Jenna caught her eye and indicated a large book on the table, laid open to a page of arcane inscriptions. It was one of her personal tomes, not one of the ones Coryn had unloaded from the mules and carried upstairs.
"Hmm. I was just doing a little reading while you were bringing things up," the Red Robe explained. "I learned a few important things-unfortunately, though, nothing I learned seems to be good news."
Coming to peer over her shoulder, Coryn noticed an illustration of a small, pale stone on the open pages. The drawing was rendered in black ink, but, using great swirls and arrows, the mage who had made the drawing had indicated the power of the artifact.
"Yes, that looks like the Irda Stone, the one that Kalrakin had." Squinting at the strange symbols, she was surprised to realize that she could read the writing, though this was the first time she had ever seen such script.
"It is an artifact dating back to the Age of Dreams, isn't it?" Dalamar asked, coming over to join the women in examining the tome. His robe was already thick with coal dust.
"Yes." Jenna summed up what she had learned thus far for the other two. "It was created out of chaos-its power is very attuned to wild magic and has a parasitic effect. As you observed, it allows the one who holds it to absorb the power of any spells or magic-any enchanted weapon-that is used against it. Not only is the spell negated, but the Irda Stone actually draws from the spell and fuels the power of the one who wields the stone. And when Kalrakin wants to cast a spell, the energy stored within the stone will multiply the effect of his casting. To an unimaginable extent, depending on how much magical power the stone has had a chance to absorb."
"So I actually bolstered his magic when I cast the fireball, and the stone absorbed the lightning bolt? I made him stronger?" Coryn was dismayed to remember her losing battle with the sorcerer.
"You had no way of knowing what was happening, but yes, that's what transpired," Jenna said bluntly. "We're starting to understand what we're up against."