"It's impossible-he is too strong!" another replied.
"The artifact-" yet a third wizard started to say.
"Silence!" Dalamar snapped, and all of them obeyed him. "We will have to change our tactics, and be more clever than this if we are going to take back our tower."
"The Black Robe is right," Jenna said. "The sorcerer has an artifact that protects him from our strongest magical attacks. So gather under the moonlight, my cousins, and let us make a plan."
Chapter 25
Muddy Flagstones
The moons were all high in the night sky. Lunitari and Solinari, just past full, were approaching zenith, while Nuitari was beginning to set. Two cast their light on the world, and all lent their might to the practitioners of the three robes.
But would that might, the power of those three moons, be enough?
Dalamar pushed himself to his feet. He had been sitting with his back against the courtyard wall, studying his spell book and thinking about their formidable foe. Coryn had been sitting nearby, also reading, studying the incantations she had used in the battle with the golem. After a long time she had closed her eyes, and Dalamar noticed she had fallen asleep.
Other wizards were all around, and they, too, were resting, restoring their spells, meditating, or praying. He himself felt no need of rest. There would be time enough to gather their numbers, and that time would be very soon.
The dark elf shook his head to clear away his fatigue. He felt sluggish. He was surprised to see Jenna standing beside him-she had come up completely unnoticed.
"Do you think we should wait until tomorrow?" the red-robed woman asked. "The three of us haven't slept for two nights. And I'm certain those we summoned under the Eye have had no rest since then, either."
Dalamar pointed to the moons. "They are nearly full tonight. Tomorrow they will be fainter, our power weaker. I think we should attack as soon as possible."
"Yes, I agree," she said.
"And I," Coryn said. She had awoken and now climbed to her feet, her expression serious, glaring at the tower as if it were a personal enemy. With visible reluctance the white robe broke her stare to meet the eyes of Jenna and Dalamar, as the other wizards slowly gathered around them.
"Do you have any ideas as to what we should do?" asked the young woman.
"Yes," Dalamar replied. "I suggest we do something unexpected. We should use teleport spells to teleport ourselves into the Tower. Working in pairs or threes perhaps, we can spread out through the interior. When someone encounters Kalrakin we'll rush to that wizard's signal, and perhaps we can take the sorcerer by sheer numbers, if nothing else."
"Other spells are useless against him?" asked a young-looking woman in a black robe. She had large eyes and a very exotic, attractive appearance.
"Yes, Sirene," the dark elf replied. "At least, any spell he can absorb with the Irda Stone. But I don't see how he can counter our teleport spells."
"Here. These will help," Jenna said. She had drawn a small pouch from the depths of her red robe, and now poured the contents into her palm, revealing an array of small, sparkling gems. "Everyone take one of these," she said, handing them around. "If you spot Kalrakin, drop it to the ground. It will alert the rest of us, and we'll come as quickly as possible. Even if the one who drops the stone is killed before others arrive, you will have delivered a key warning-and your life will not have been lost in vain."
Dalamar took one of the stones as Jenna finished passing them out. "Are we all prepared? Let's team up, for safety. I will go to the Hall of Mages with Willim-if that's agreeable to my dwarven comrade?"
"Aye, elf. We go together," growled the eyeless dwarf. "Let's get on with it."
Swiftly the other mages paired up, Jenna joining her old teacher, Rasilyss-they would go to the aerie in the North Tower-while Coryn agreed to ally with old Galarant, the two of them teleporting to the anteroom in the foretower. As best as possible they divided up the inside of the Tower.
"All right," Jenna said. "Good luck-may the gods of magic smile upon us. And let's go."
Several dozen wizards simultaneously spoke the command word for the teleport spell. Magic sparkled and swirled around them. The spell flared and faded, leaving its familiar and slightly disorienting sensation.
After Dalamar cast his spell, he looked around, fully expecting to be standing in the Hall of Mages. He cursed when he saw he was still in the courtyard, with all his comrades. All of the wizards were muttering in dismay and looking around, showing surprise and outright disbelief.
"What is this?" demanded an elder Red Robe.
"Some sort of wild magic curse!" growled Willim the Black. "Bars us from the Tower-we can't even teleport through his damned walls!"
"Ignominy!" declared another mage. "All of the spells failed?"
"All save one," said Galarant. He had been standing beside Coryn; now he was conspicuously alone. "The lass, alone among us, seems to have managed to cast her spell properly and has made it into the Tower."
"That means she's in there alone with that monster," Jenna cried, turning to look at the lofty structure, strangling back her fearful gasp.
"And we're stuck out here," Dalamar said. He wondered how Coryn had succeeded and how much she could accomplish on her own.
He realized, with a frown, that if she prevailed, the future of the Conclave would be white.
Coryn's teleport spell indeed succeeded and brought her unerringly to her chosen destination: the hallway connecting the great anteroom to the nearby kitchen. Immediately she turned through a circle and was relieved to see no signs of activity. She was puzzled when she didn't see Galarant and wondered if he had misunderstood this destination for their spell.
Stones lay on the floor, rubble so thick that it was difficult to take a step without having to kick some rock or gravel out of the way. Gaping holes yawned in the walls. Everywhere the light was dim and murky.
At the other end of the hall, the kitchen seemed quiet and dark; Coryn quietly stepped that way and peered through the door. The place seemed empty, though everywhere there were wreckage and piles of broken dishes.
In her hand Coryn clutched a small gem-the talisman Jenna had given her. Carefully stepping around as much of the rubble as possible, Cory made her way back to the main hall. It was shadowy and still, except where garish beams of light glowed in their alcoves and spilled into the rest of the room.
Three steps into the room she felt her foot sink right through the floor, as if the solid-looking stones were in actuality soft mud. Quickly she tried to spin away, but her feet were suddenly mired. She felt cold, viscous material tug at her ankles and close around her calves, and she made a desperate lunge back toward the hallway. A gleeful voice cried out strange, vulgar words.
She was stuck fast. The gummy stuff hardened around her legs, pinioning her just below her knees; gradually, the material became solid stone. Coryn twisted and pulled, but neither foot could wiggle free. Instead, leaning awkwardly, she was trapped in the midst of her lunge. From behind her came Kalrakin's unmistakable rasp; he almost cackled with delight.
"Ah, my trap has caught a mouse… a most fetching little rodent, indeed!"
She turned her head toward the sound of the voice, but saw nothing-until, an instant later, the tall sorcerer materialized, looming over her, his beard practically quivering with self-satisfied delight.
"Invisibility. Such a splendid little spell-simple wild magic, I assure you! Much better than one of those tedious little spells you are forever squinting at? I was standing here all along, watching you tiptoe around."