Red Magic

The slaves continued to stare at the Harpers and Bre

"Damn!" the centaur cursed. "They're not like real people. They've no free will. We've got to get them out of here, Galvin."

The druid looked up into his friend's pained face. "After we deal with Maligor," he said simply, then turned to a slave. "We need to find our way back to the main shaft. Tell us how."

The slave gestured back the way they had come.

"Not that way. Is there another tu

The slaves looked at each other and shrugged. "Hundreds of tu

Galvin whirled and trotted back down the tu

Ahead and off to the right, they heard a series of clinking and thudding sounds, mixed with the cries of the darkenbeasts. The druid began to run through the shaft, intent on discovering the nature of the confrontation ahead.

He rounded a sharp corner and gasped as he spotted a wispy cloud bearing down on him. The cloud hovered, its tendrils becoming arms and legs, and a mass of white forming a fleshy face with a wild tangle of black hair. Maligor willed himself to solidify into his human form as the druid stood, unmoving. The wizard's red robes looked like dying embers in the light of a distant torch.

The Red Wizard's dark eyes held the druid, and with a gesture, Maligor drew the air away from Galvin's face, leaving the druid breathless.

"You'll die, meddlesome Harper!" Maligor spat, weaving his hand in the air, then pointing his fingers at the druid's chest. Red shards of energy shot from the wizard's hand and sunk themselves in Galvin's abdomen.

The druid doubled over in shock, just as Bre

"You!" Maligor roared, remembering the face of the woman in the clearing, the woman who had killed his darkenbeast many days ago with a bolt of lightning. Furious, the Red Wizard directed his next spell at Bre

Galvin struggled to his feet and drew his sword, slashing at the wizard just as Wynter came upon the scene. But the wizard was too fast. With a quick gesture, his fleshly form became intangible, ghostlike, and the blade passed harmlessly through him. Maligor lolled his head back and laughed, a deep, throaty laugh that sent chills racing down the druid's spine.

The centaur charged forward, cleaving his pick through the wizard's intangible chest.

"Harper fools!" Maligor bellowed, becoming solid again and casting a magic daggerlike shard into the druid's chest. "I'll not waste my time on you! The mine and my creatures will kill you!"

Galvin fell to his knees and watched with disbelief as the Red Wizard gestured grandly with his hands, transformed again into a wispy white cloud, and floated down the corridor.

The druid forced himself to his feet and started after the wispy trail, but the centaur's hand held his shoulder. "Don't go after him, Galvin. That's what he wants. He'll lead you to the darkenbeasts-or worse."

Bre

"We have to stay together," she stated flatly. "Otherwise he can pick us off one by one."

The druid nodded his agreement, then glared down the corridor. Dimly, the clang of metal and the cries of the darkenbeasts could still be heard. Galvin strode purposefully toward the sounds of battle.

As the distance melted away beneath their footsteps, the sounds of fighting lessened, then ceased altogether, plunging the mine into an eerie quiet. U

The broken bodies of skeletons and zombies lay strewn about. Their slayers-a mass of darkenbeasts-floated like a thick, black cloud above the hellish battlefield.

Judging from the numbers on the cavern floor, the druid assumed Szass Tam's army had been eliminated at the claws of Maligor's creatures, and the darkenbeasts were stationed here to prevent Bre

Galvin clenched his fists, and for the first time in many long years-since he was a child of seven watching his parents hang-he truly feared death. Alone, Wynter, Bre

The druid feared he would die deep in the bowels of the gold mines. If only he could save Wynter and Bre

Beyond the sea of darkenbeasts, which stretched from one end of the chamber to the other, the walls glistened. Thick streaks of gold flashed in the pale light of crystals whose blue gleam illuminated the room.

Bre

"You and Wynter need to get out of the mines. I'm going to find Maligor and end this," the druid stated softly.

"No!" Bre

"I can get past the darkenbeasts. You and Wynter can't. If you stay here, sooner or later the darkenbeasts will see you. You have to find a way out."

"We won't leave you," she said in hushed tones.

"You have to." The druid glanced up at the centaur. "Wynter, get out of Thay. Take Bre

The centaur nodded reluctantly.

The druid moved a few steps forward, clinging to the shadows of the tu

The druid fell to all fours, his head twitching and his hands and feet quivering.

The enchantress glanced at Galvin, then at Wynter, uncertain of what to do. The centaur held her arm to keep her back, and in an instant, she saw Galvin's face contort.

The bones in Galvin's face cracked and popped as they pushed outward into a fu

The druid groaned again; this transformation was particularly painful and u