Blackstaff

He could not detect any evil or any invisible creatures beside himself. His last spell was merely guaranteed to counterspell the first magic cast upon him. The noiseless and invisible mage rose up into the curate's office. The room, like the library below, had light filtering in through theurglass skylights in the ceiling. Unlike the light below, the rectangular room glistened with refracted rainbows of colors on the wood paneled walls. The sparkles came from the eleven crystals hovering in mid-air among an arc of six tall wing-backed chairs, five of which had their backs to him. Four small gems, each about the size of his thumbnail, orbited the others with faster motions, and those were colored brown, umber, orange, and red. The other seven crystals were clear and as long and thick as the wizard's torso. The Nameless Chosen inadvertently spoke aloud in his astonishment, "Kiiratel'Uvaera

"Redemption may come for all, but neither soon nor easily." "We enfold the lost, the missing, the dreaming, the worthy, and the bold." "Many are we but all are one in form and purpose, e'en if we forget that for a time." "Our guise and goal shall remain hidden until the lightning calls to us." "Wake us not to our old selves, as that is the task of that which destroyed us all-greed and power and guile and treachery."

"All our brethren are among us, the faithful of this place, but we waited to tell thee true things." "Thou art more than Mystra's Chosen-the Pentad Chooses thee as well." "We ask you to remember us and keep our works and secrets." "What you see here you may comprehend fully with study of our library and learn the secrets of lives and lores and labors long lost." "We shall await the time when we may be singular yet united." "We charge thee to ready the Realms for our return." "We all take Oacenth's Vow and Dragmar's Promise to heart."

"Until we meet again, we may redeem lives and reclaim lores lost where we find them, e'en if our actions match not our intent." "Until the world can accept our message, we remain hidden, even from ourselves."

"Dutiful one of secrets many, we honor and thank thee for thine service." "Fare thee well, honored son of five faiths." As they spoke, the priests seemed undisturbed as the black oil crept over their faces and into their open mouths, eyes, and noses. Once fully covered, the priests' forms began to shift and merge, regardless of initial height or breadth. Their individualities melted, and features, clothing, profiles, and limbs flowed together into shapeless jet that remained pi

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

29 Uktar, the Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR) Tsarra shook her head to clear her eyesight, and she realized she was sprawled on the floor of the temple between the statue and Khelben. For the first time, there was no disorientation from the vision or any headache. She knew at least the general truth about the sharn. She also awoke angry, then realized it wasn't her rage as much as it was that of her tressym. The avian creature darted in and out, slashing at the sharn… or was it? The creature that batted away at Nameless wore the greasy black skin of the sharn and its limbs ended in the same elongated tri-arms with claws, but it stood on the four legs and body of a strong stallion and had a heavily muscled torso. It seemed more to be a silhouette of a centaur, save for its two oddly distended limbs. The creature advanced on Khelben, and the tressym looped around its front, hissing savagely to warn it off. She sent to the tressym, No, wait. I don't think he means harm. His reaction was to hiss again at the sharn and bare his claws as warning as he flew back to Tsarra. Dangersmell, predator, darkelder wounded, helpless prey! he sent to Tsarra as she stepped forward between the sharn and Khelben. She tried not to flinch when she saw her mentor collapsed on the marble floor. Silver flames and blood alike spilled from a large ragged hole in his robes where his left hip and torso met. Were he a normal man, Tsarra guessed he might have been either dead or, even with expert healers, hobbled for life. Khelben? Tsarra sent to her mentor through the kiira. Can you hear me? How badly are you hurt?