filled with dread. Even the old woman looked momentarily startled. Still, Tazi tried to talk to her.
'Please,' she pleaded, 'tell me what you can. I'll give anything to save Fannah.'
The Calishite was barely distinguishable from the miasma that occluded the whole market. She raised a hand toward Tazi and called out to her.
The sound was all but swallowed up by the mist, but two words made it through: 'Fannah,' and, '… daughter.'
Tazi finally placed where she had seen such birdlike gestures before. Fannah made them as well.
'Ibina il'Qun!' Tazi shouted against the vapors, but Fannah's mother, along with the Dark Bazaar itself, had vanished.
Tazi found herself staring at a rock wall.
Ciredor had expertly transported himself to the tunnel his scrying had revealed as the precise location of the Dark Bazaar and Thazienne Uskevren.
'How easy this all is, little Tazi. You can't hide from me in my mistress's domain,' he said confidently.
Ciredor was deep in the Muzad, in the same chamber as the Dark Bazaar. The mist was thick and whispered to the dark mage. He moved through it and thought he heard Tazi just a little ahead of him, but with every step he took the fog swirled more and more forcefully. He could see vague outlines and hear the low murmur of conversation, but nothing was clear to him.
As he approached what from a few feet away looked like a congregation of people, Ciredor found that he had merely passed through a collection of shadows. He knew they were near, but everything was just out of his reach. The necromancer started to grow impatient.
'Why won't you illuminate the way?' he beseeched the ether.
Almost on cue, a light glowed dimly off to his left. His confidence returned, and he licked his lips in expectation. He knew with unerring certainty that that was the direction he was supposed to go.
'Thank you, Shar,' he whispered reverently.
Ciredor nearly flew toward the light, but as soon as he reached it the glow winked out only to reappear to his right, just a few steps away.
It must be my excitement, he told himself. It has me dizzy.
He adjusted his course and went to the glow's new location, but just as before the fickle light disappeared only to be found behind him. He whirled around, his fury growing.
'What trickery is this?' he demanded.
He attempted to scry the light, but every effort he made failed.
Finally, the radiance glowed softly within a tiny pocket of the chamber and he followed it grudgingly. The closer he got to it, the more the contents of the grotto were illuminated. From a short distance away, he thought he saw Tazi talking to another woman but the scene was blurry, as though Ciredor were watching something transpire underwater.
He could barely discern the two shadowy figures, though he knew something had changed hands between them. He wasted no time. Ciredor stormed into the middle of the tableau and made a lunge for Tazi, but his hands passed clean through the woman, and that image flashed out of existence just like the will 'o the wisp that had led him on the fruitless chase.
Ciredor pounded his fist into the wall behind the trading stall and shouted in fury. The whispering grew louder, and as he stepped from the grotto into the center of the foggy maelstrom, the sounds were all around him, tantalizingly close, but he could see no one.
Ciredor spun around the chamber and howled in rage. The scream echoed on and on.
CHAPTER 10
'There you are,' Steorf called to Tazi in a relieved tone.
'What?' she asked, completely disorientated.
Tazi turned from the rock wall and saw Steorf standing beside her. There was no trace of the entrance to the Night Market anywhere. Steorf laid his hand on her arm with some concern.
'Are you sure you're ready for this?' he inquired.
Tazi stared at him with no comprehension on her face.
'What are you talking about?' she asked.
Steorf looked at her closely and explained, 'I want to come with you. I don't want you to do this with only that thing as your guide.'
He motioned to the space behind Tazi and the realization dawned on Steorf that the Gray Caller was gone.
'Where did he go?' Steorf demanded, adding, 'I knew there was something wrong.'
'How long have I been gone?' she inquired.
'Gone?' Steorf repeated in a perplexed tone. 'You turned away from me just a moment ago.'
'I've been there already,' she told him, finally understanding his confusion. 'I must have wandered for hours in the Dark Bazaar.'
'Are you sure you were really there?' Steorf wondered with a touch of skepticism.
'Yes, and I know what Ciredor is planning,' she told him single-mindedly. 'I still don't know exactly where he is, but I have a fairly good idea. We need to go… now.'
Tazi could see that he was still a little confused.
Remember, she told herself, he's still recovering from that battle and hasn't caught up with me. I've had time to rest.
'We need to return to the Temple of Ibrandul immediately and free Fannah,' she told him.
'You know what Ciredor wants?' he challenged.
'Like Eb told us, he's taking souls. Now we know why: He's taking them to give as a gift to Shar.'
'The spiders… the aranea…' Steorf murmured.
'What about them?' Tazi inquired, curious but clearly anxious to be on the move.
'I noticed they all bore the same symbol. I knew I should have recognized it then. The black disc rimmed in purple is Shar's holy symbol,' he explained, then grew quiet.
'I know you're tired, but we need to get back as soon as we can,' she prompted him.
'What should we do about Asraf?' Steorf asked, pointing to the dead novice's body.
Tazi was ashamed to acknowledge to herself that she had forgotten Asraf's noble sacrifice. She glanced down at his young face and was momentarily saddened. When she looked at Steorf, she knew exactly what he was thinking and what he was willing to try, regardless of the cost to himself. She touched his face fleetingly.
'No,' she told him, shaking her head, 'we can't do anything for him other than respect his wishes. He felt this was what his god wanted and demanded of him and we have to honor it.'
With that, she knelt and carefully wrapped Asraf's jellaba over his body.
As soon as she stood up, Steorf made a pass with his hand and ignited the Child of Ibrandul's body. Unlike the spider he'd burned earlier, this fire left no odor. Both Tazi and Steorf maintained a solemn silence as the flames lit the chamber. Finally, Steorf broke the stillness.
'That's another one Ciredor owes us,' he vowed.
'Let's stop him before there can be any others,' Tazi replied.
Tazi and Steorf made a thorough check of the cavern and retrieved all their weapons. When they were sure they had everything, they started back the way they had come. Nevertheless, they both noticed rapidly that without the Children of Ibrandul to aid them the journey back was more tricky.
'I hate to admit it,' Tazi said, 'but it was a little easier with those Children and their Dark Path spells.'
