Beliac looked across the room to where Alodar lay and then stared at the two spheres still sitting in the small box on the table. 'I know not in what foul practice this neophyte engages,' he said, 'but it is without my council or direction. I have had no discourse with him since he was in this chamber over a month ago. I say as you that he should be punished for his deeds. Bring forth the mirror of inversion and let us be done with it. His crime is none of mine.'
'Ah, but it is, Beliac,' Lectonil persisted. 'I would not have acted so precipitously this night had I not first solved the riddle of that last meeting when your follower was present. Bring in the other one and let us confront them,' he said turning to the doorway.
Duncan was abruptly pushed into the chamber, a look of bewilderment on his face. Following him came another black-robed magician.
'Fulmbar,' Beliac said in surprise as his peer entered.
'Yes, Beliac,' the magician replied with hate dripping from his voice. 'With the aid of Lectonil's acolytes, I am free at last of your bondage of this past month. And I have told them all of your conduct the last time I sat in this chamber. It is true I would have voted against you that day, but in the past I supported you as the issue merited. And had you stood by the honor of the master, I might have followed your cause yet again. But your deeds with the neophyte have cleared my indecision and firmed my resolve. I anxiously await the council vote on the form of your de-elevation.'
'But wait,' Beliac interrupted, with a shade of panic beginning to tinge his voice. 'I acted in the desperation of the moment and no ritual magic was used in what I did. A minor transgression worthy of small censure at the most.'
'Enough of the pleading, Beliac.' Lectonil waved the protest aside as the rest of the magicians began to file in. 'The case against you is tight. Your neophyte was caught in mid-ritual, working your will. Tell us now what you had planned, else your punishment will be all the harder.'
'But…' Beliac's eyes rapidly searched the faces of his peers for signs of sympathy. 'I know nothing of the dabbling in which this neophyte engages.'
'Very well, then,' Lectonil said. 'Perhaps the neophyte himself will not be so guarded. What do you say about your deed tonight?'
'I work with the pair of spheres before you,' Alodar answered, as he slowly rose to his feet. 'The one is smooth and the other circumscribed by one great circle.'
The assembled magicians followed Alodar's extended hand to the table. 'Could they be spheres of protection?' one of them gasped. 'Most rare and valuable objects indeed. The work of an eon before they were truly formed and ready.'
'By the laws, Beliac, this is most undisciplined! The uninitiated should not traffic with such potencies. He might start one to activate before he knows what he is doing.'
'As for example, by striking a triangle of discord,' Alodar said, holding out the small instrument he had used minutes before.
Lectonil's mouth dropped when he saw what was in Alodar's hand. He reached out to touch the first sphere and then quickly withdrew with an involuntary yelp.
'They have started,' he said, eyes suddenly wide. 'Quickly man, how long have you been at this? We must know how much time remains.'
Alodar frowned in puzzlement over the magician's sudden concern. He reviewed the steps that remained and the significance of each.
'But of course,' he said aloud at last. 'The power within the spheres has already been disturbed from their mold. Either we run the spells to completion or they will explode of their own volition with cataclysmic force.'
Several of the magicians broke their ranks behind Beliac and began to jostle one another for position in the doorway.
Lectonil retreated a step in hesitation and then called after the fleeing members of the guild.
'Wait,' he said shakily. 'We must stay and resolve what to do. We cannot abandon the spheres. Their release will damage our chambers beyond repair and perhaps our heritage below as well. The ritual must be worked to completion.'
'Then stay and work it yourself,' the magician closest to the door yelled out. 'It is you who burns most with the fire to confront Beliac with his deeds.'
Lectonil backed another step from the table, but then stopped.
'Hold your positions,' he commanded with more composure. 'We can handle the situation with but little danger to ourselves. Bring forward the acolyte. He should know enough to complete what must be done.'
Two of Lectonil's followers thrust Duncan forward to face the master.
Lectonil's face parted in a cruel smile. 'So you wish the status of the magician, do you, Duncan?' he asked. 'Then you can show your proficiency to us by completing the ritual of Cantor on these spheres. Surely you have memorized what is to be done.'
Duncan's eyes darted to Beliac and back to Lectonil. 'I have studied it, master,' he said. 'But the events of this evening jumble my thoughts. I recall it not. I have had no time to prepare. Please, we know not how much time is left; let us flee.'
'Then for you it will be the mirror,' Lectonil cut him short. 'Unless you search your memory and are successful in the recall.'
'But I cannot,' Duncan protested falling to his knees in frantic supplication.
'Each minute you waste is one less to complete what is to be done,' Lectonil said harshly. 'Be about it, man, or you doom yourself surely.'
Duncan eyed the pack leaning next to where Alodar stood. With trembling hands, he opened the top flap and began to extract the necessary equipment.
'And the time?' Lectonil addressed Alodar again. 'How long ago did you start?'
Alodar drew his tongue across a mouth suddenly dry as the impact of the situation sank in. 'A full five minutes,' he said. 'At least that much before the wailing stopped me from going further.'
'Quickly, the glasses.' Lectonil gestured and one of the magicians opened a drawer in the table. 'That leaves twenty remaining.' He watched as a sandclock of the appropriate size was set beside Duncan.
'Now we proceed with caution as follows,' Lectonil said 'Repair to our chambers until the crisis is past. Guard Beliac until the issue here is resolved. I will remain on the stairwell, watching these two as they proceed. If all goes well, you can rejoin me here. If I judge that insufficient time remains, I will incapacitate them with the gloves of thunder and retreat out of harm's way before the explosion tears the apex asunder. In either case, we will deal with Beliac's treason then.'
The magicians mumbled their acquiescence and began to file out of the chamber. Alodar's eyes jumped from Lectonil to Beliac and back, hoping to see an opportunity. Beliac also watched the magicians file out. Suddenly, when four were already on the stair, he bolted forward and shouldered his way in front of those remaining.
'Magicians loyal to the new ways, follow me,' he shouted. 'We are outnumbered, but they will feel our sting before we are done.'
Lectonil turned to the startled black robes who remained. 'After them,' he shouted. 'Subdue them and repair to the chambers as planned.'
The magicians pounded down the stairs after the ones who fled. Lectonil looked at Duncan and Alodar and then backed down the stairs until he stood only waist high in the room. As he took his place, a blue flash reflected upwards through the opening, followed by a rolling boom and an anguished scream. In an instant, the walls rocked and vibrated with an answering spasm of subsonic rhythm.
'A gem of blue blindness and the oscillator of life,' Lectonil muttered. 'It seems that both sides armed themselves well for our confrontation. But no matter, acolyte, tend to your duty.'
Another flash burst upwards. Duncan jarred loose from his panic and began to work the magic with the gear from Alodar's pack. With eyes half closed, he rattled off the next steps of the ritual and executed them quickly. The triangle Sang again, three beehive hitches were woven together, feet stomped in a complicated rhythm. Alodar watched fascinated as the acolyte, immersed in his recall, jerked his hands faster with each step, blurring them together in his haste.
As Duncan worked, the chamber rocked and rumbled with the attacks and parries that flew about the library below. Lectonil steadied himself in the stairwell and occasionally glanced down the spiral, frowning at the
