Master of the five Magics

here. All else is the pettiness of dull history and not the fabric of the sages.'

'But I could have faltered along the way,' Alodar protested. 'Had I not acted correctly at each step, what then of your plan to save us?'

'To defeat the demon prince, the need is for the archimage,' Handar said. 'No less will do. Not one who claims to know all the crafts, not one who is willing to learn them. But one who possesses the attributes that make a great master of them all. We had to take the risk that someone capable of being the complete master would be present at Iron Fist when it fell.'

'But in no craft am I master, let alone five,' Alodar protested. 'I studied thaumaturgy for a few years, alchemy for half of one more. With each art my knowledge and experience is less than the one before. I have controlled a few simple imps and exorcised one or two more. Yet I would fear Balthazar or the tower demons, let alone their master.'

'It is not their power on which you should dwell,' Handar said. 'That is as they would wish. It is their will that must be your focus, independent of how they manipulate the natural elements at their disposal. Such is the way with Balthazar and with the prince as well.'

The wizard paused and then continued slowly. 'I understand some of what you feel, but events have proceeded all too quickly. I could wish to see you develop more fully in my craft, to build the confidence needed before you were distracted by the task for which you were groomed. But tomorrow precludes such an option. And master in the arts or not, we have no other candidate. You are the best that mortal men at this junction can offer.'

Alodar looked around the circle, his mouth suddenly dry. He saw all eyes staring his way awaiting his decision. He felt a touch on his arm and turned his head to see Aeriel at his side. Numb with the weight of what was asked of him, he looked at Vendora and thought of how hard he had struggled for the prize of possessing her. He ran his tongue across his lips and visualized his dream of the triumphant march of the hero. He brushed his hand by his side and then suddenly looked across at Cedric.

The warmaster returned his stare, cool and steady, 'I said to wear the sword so that it did honor to us both,' Cedric said. 'I have no cause to wish it back.'

Alodar glanced at Aeriel standing quietly beside him, only dimly aware of the pain her grip sent through his arm. He looked back at the wizard and read the truth of all that Handar had said.

'Is it so certain that I alone have walked this path for you?' Alodar asked.

Handar nodded silently.

Alodar filled his lungs with a rush of air. 'It is not for this that I have quested,' he said. 'But I have offered my life once already and that was merely for a queen. How can I sacrifice less for what you ask?'

'It is as I knew you would say.' Handar tossed Alodar the crystal of metal.

'But when and how should I use it?' Alodar asked. 'Now, just before the attack, during the battle, or only if all seems irretrievably lost?'

Handar slowly shook his head. 'That is for the archimage to decide,' he said softly.

PART SIX The Archimage CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Master Times Five

'THAT should be enough curing,' Alodar said as he dropped the formula-laden scrap to the ground. The potter grunted and slowed the spin of his wheel to a halt. Alodar peered into the large barrel. Guided by overhead torchlight, he scooped out the last of the small, dripping pumicestones. He felt the rubbery coating that had been flung against the inner walls of the barrel and nodded with satisfaction at its dryness.

Pressing all that goldenrod for the milky sap had taken time, and he had been forced to try four times for the desiccation to activate properly twice. But otherwise these crude potato barrels would not be watertight.

'Put it on the wagon with the other,' he said, 'and take them down to the stream to be filled. Grengor has a party building a dam and will sound alarm if anything stirs on the other crest.'

The potter waved his understanding, and Alodar pushed the details from his mind. His thoughts raced forward to the next task to be performed in the little time remaining before dawn. After the council had broken up, he had talked with Handar for another hour about what to expect when he tried to conjure the demon prince. Each question had led to two more; when the wizard finally broke off, Alodar was no more sure of his course of action than when he began. But he could not tolerate the frustration of waiting and plunged into a whirlwind of activities, manipulating the things that he could understand, seeking ways to combine the virtues of the five arts, to scrape together the meager resources at hand into potent weapons for the battle. The bog illusion was prepared and the demon for the barrels must wait until the proper time. What next could be done with the bits of board and metal that remained in the camp?

'I did not expect to find you still about.' Handar's voice cut through Alodar's reverie. 'Let the thaumaturges and alchemists among the refugees handle these tasks. If anyone is to get his rest tonight, it should be you.'

'I cannot stand idly by while others rush forward for our cause armed only with their swords,' Alodar protested. 'I have spent the evening formulating a means by which we can match the length of their line to ours.' He waved at the departing potter. 'And something to halt the ones that might break through.'

'I also have been busy,' the wizard said. 'On the wings of djinns, I returned to the tower. I awoke two sleeping comrades from tombs like my own. Their power is not as great as mine but it will be used tomorrow. More than Balthazar will be wrenched from his study of other worlds to struggle against his brethren.'

'These other places?' Alodar asked. 'Several times you have mentioned them. What have they to do with us?'

'Though I have never seen one,' Handar answered, 'the demons speak of many worlds parallel to theirs, some in fact inhabited by men like ourselves. And on some of these the crafts by which men lifted themselves from savagery are different from those we use here. There the five arts have fallen into disrepute, their principles forgotten or distorted, their place taken by other skills similar in nature but guided by different laws. The truth of thaumaturgy remain only in a few imperfectly remembered spells; instead, a huge edifice of complex postulates has been erected to explain the nature of space and time. Impatient with the uncertain success of alchemy, they replaced it with another art. The beautiful symmetries of magic became a thing unto themselves, symbols to be manipulated and arrayed, their underlying significance lost. The skill of the sorcerer to enchant fell away, and the practitioners concentrated instead on small changes in character of those with whom they dealt. And whole populations cope with devils and imps by turning their backs on them and dismissing their existence as primitive superstition. Places such as these are not threatened by demonkind, or if so, care little for the consequences of the interaction. And perhaps this indifference is what draws the prince's attention to us. I do not know. I only can hope that you will find the means to turn it in another direction.'

'There will be little time for another meal tomorrow,' a second voice, brittle with strain, interrupted the conversation. Alodar turned to see Aeriel approach from up the slope. She thrust a still-steaming piece of fowl into his hand. Her face was tight, and she avoided his glance and lowered her head, Alodar frowned and gently placed his fingertip under her chin. He raised her face to his and saw tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes.

The wizard cleared his throat. 'I will attend to the others of my craft,' he mumbled and disappeared into the darkness.

'Do not grieve yet,' Alodar said after a moment. 'Handar and the others will aid our cause. And when the time comes I will also be ready.'

Aeriel opened her mouth to speak but then stopped and sighed uncertainly. 'My tears are not for what may happen at the worst,' she told him softly. 'If that is to be our fate, then we will share it. It is the possibility of victory on which I ponder. And I am troubled about how I truly feel about it.'

'But if we win the battle, it will mean the war as well,' Alodar assured her. 'All demons gone, and the ones they control restored to their former dispositions.'