The Captive Flame

To Gaedy

“Oraxes is a good boy at heart,” the sorceress continued, now addressing the officers of the Brotherhood, “but he’s contrary and loves to argue. I think your idea is a good one, and obviously we have ample reason to help. So why don’t you tell us exactly what you intend?”

“I practice a specialized form of magic,” said Aoth. “So I’ll defer to my lieutenant Jhesrhi Coldcreek.”

Jhesrhi was standing against the wall next to Khouryn. Her frown was even more forbidding than usual, a sign that she was uncomfortable. Perhaps because she never liked being the center of attention, or perhaps simply because there were too many people stuffed into the room.

“I’m no expert diviner either,” she said, “but I propose we pool our strength to create Saldashune’s Mirror.”

Oraxes snorted. “We’d need a vessel.”

“We have one.” Jhesrhi waved to the pair of dragonborn filling up a bench. “It isn’t generally known, but Daardendrien Medrash there is the one living person ever to catch a glimpse of the Green Hand.”

And, Gaedy

“Unfortunately,” Jhesrhi continued, “he only saw the killer in the dark, at a distance, and for an instant. But that’s the sort of problem Saldashune invented her ritual to solve. I’ve made the necessary preparations in the conjuration chamber in the cellar.”

The stairs creaking and bowing beneath their weight, they all trooped down to the space in question. By the standards of anyone who’d grown up in Aglarond with its rich tradition of sorcery, it was a miserable excuse for a mage’s sanctum-just a squared-off hole that smelled of dirt like anybody’s cellar.

But Jhesrhi had made the place seem considerably more magical. Floating orbs the size of fists shed a golden glow, while a complex geometric figure made of lines and arcs of blue phosphorescence covered most of the floor. Luminous green handprints spotted the design.

With no role to play in the conjuration, Gaedy

“Where do you want me?” Medrash asked.

“Here.” Jhesrhi escorted him to a circle at the center of the figure.

“Now what?”

“Just stand and remember the moment when you saw the murderer. If your thoughts wander, that’s all right. Simply bring them back to where we want them.”

Jhesrhi then took a position two paces to his right, and-after some discussion and a little squabbling-Aoth and the Chessentan mages chose stations for themselves. Jhesrhi looked around like a conductor making sure all her musicians had their instruments ready. Then she spun her staff through a flourish and started chanting.

Brandishing their own rods, wands, or orbs, her fellow mages joined in, one or two at a time. Remarkably, given that they hadn’t practiced together, the wizards managed to speak exactly in unison. And when the incantation became a responsory, they seemed to know instinctively who should perform the verse and who the refrain.

Gaedy

Medrash had his eyes closed and his steel medallion clasped in one hand. He was whispering too, perhaps a prayer or meditation to aid his concentration. Gaedy

A disk of silvery luminescence appeared near Medrash. At first it was so faint that Gaedy

The disk darkened, as though reflecting a place more dimly lit than the cellar. Stars glittered in a stripe down its center. The borders were the facades of buildings rising toward the sky.

A shadow leaped, or conceivably flew, across the open space between them.

After a few heartbeats it sprang again, exactly as before. Then a third time and a fourth. But it was so tiny and fleeting that even repeated viewings didn’t enable Gaedy

Then, however, by almost infinitesimal degrees, it started slowing down. At the same time, and just as gradually, it grew larger. Closer. Before, the magic had in effect put Gaedy

“They’re doing it,” Khouryn whispered.

Then Medrash grunted and lurched like someone had struck him a blow. A white crack zigzagged through the mirror’s darkness.

After a moment the jagged line disappeared, like the wizards’ chant had repaired the damage. But now the shadow wasn’t drawing any closer, or making its jump any more slowly either. And Medrash was shaking.

“I don’t like this,” Balasar said.

More cracks stabbed across the mirror. The wizards chanted louder still and spun their instruments through circular figures. The wands and other talismans left trails of sparks and shimmers in the air.

The cracks kept disappearing. But they lasted longer than they had before. Then a gash split the scaly hide on Medrash’s forearm. Blood welled forth. An expanding stain on the front of his tunic revealed that something had slashed his chest as well.

“Stop!” Balasar shouted.

The mages kept on reciting. A forked cut burst open among the white studs on Medrash’s face.

“I’ve seen this before,” said Gaedy

“Then come on,” Balasar said.

The three observers strode in among the wizards. If any of the mages even noticed, Gaedy

But Medrash did. He turned his reptilian head so the yellow eyes under the protruding brow could regard them. Praise be to the Great Archer for that, anyway.

“Go to the stairs,” said Balasar, raising his voice to make himself heard above the chanting.

“No,” Medrash said. “I can do this, and it’s my duty.”

“You can’t and it isn’t.” Balasar turned to Gaedy

“Fine,” said the dwarf. He grabbed Medrash’s forearm. Gaedy

Medrash resisted, but more feebly than Gaedy

Unfortunately, the magic resisted on his behalf. The air seemed to thicken around them until it was like they were trying to walk while submerged in mud. Even Khouryn, the strongest soldier in the Brotherhood, had trouble making headway. Meanwhile, Medrash’s hide split and split again, up and down the length of his body, until it seemed likely he’d bleed to death before they hauled him to safety.

As he shoved and dragged, Gaedy