Kestrel looked at the last skyskirr for the first time. The deep-set eyes seemed not to focus but dart almost independently about the room. A thick drool ran from one corner of his mouth. With his hands, he picked at his loincloth, removing small pieces of lint that were not really there.
'Mortonzel has seen too much of gently curving horizons,' the third skyskirr continued. 'He has felt for too long the oppressive pull of the great lithon that binds all of you humans. Only occasionally are there winds to caress the full length of his hair.' He turned and poked with the blade of his shovel at the chest of the first. 'Now even the archimage dismisses us for something he says is of greater importance. It is a sign of the great right hand, I say. Let us begone. I feel the sickness of mind beginning to bubble within me as well. Build the flame, Purdanel, and summon the djinn that will return us to whence we came.'
Purdanel looked quickly at the second skyskirr and then around the room. For a moment his eyes rested on Astron, who was slowly turning the pages of the book. 'You may have the volume,' he said. 'It was to be a gift from the archimage but I think it will provide no value in the realm where the lithons fly.'
Without waiting for an answer he grunted and pounded his own shovel twice against the floor. Purposefully, he marched out of the room. The other three skyskirr followed, the last being gently led.
Kestrel shook his head again. Lithons, the great right hand, soaring through the sky-it sounded most bizarre indeed. His intuition had been confirmed. If the skyskirr reacted so badly to the realm of men, then surely he would fare as poorly if transported to where they were from.
But before he could ponder more, a second door opened as quietly as the first. Someone else entered the room.
'I am Alodar, the archimage,' the newcomer said. 'Tell me quickly. What is the news of the sighting of Elezar the golden? Few know even the sound of his name. What is it that you have seen?'
Kestrel jerked his thoughts back to why they had come. He watched the archimage as he approached. Streaks of white ran through fine yellow-brown hair. Furrows of concentration had become permanently etched at the bridge of the nose. The purple robe hung simply over a slight frame. On one sleeve were the logos of all five of the crafts.
Kestrel looked most intensely at the eyes. They were alive with intelligence and a driving will shone through. He felt a surge of doubt about what he hoped to accomplish. The archimage was not one to be either easily fooled or tempted.
'It has been almost thirty years,' Alodar continued. 'Thirty years since our one and only encounter.' The furrow above his nose deepened. 'And the truth of it is that one is sufficient for any man. For all this time, I have hoped there would not be the need for another.'
'There is also the matter of the wizards of Brythia,' Kestrel said carefully. He pointed at Phoebe and her robe that she carried over her arm. 'They are ill-disposed toward this master who has travelled a great distance to seek your aid in clearing her name. Ah, hers and the ones who accompany her as well.'
Alodar stopped his rush into the room and quickly looked about. 'Forgive my lack of hospitality,' he said. 'Find a chair to your liking. It is just that dealing with the likes of Elezar is so urgent that-'
Alodar stopped and his eyes narrowed. 'What demon is this?' he asked, pointing at Astron. 'Which of you have him under control and why is he dressed as a man?'
Astron looked up from the book he was perusing. He threw back his hood and tilted his head slightly in Alodar's direction. 'My will is bound only to the service of my prince,' Astron said. 'I am Elezar's messenger, bidding that you contact him at once through the flame.'
Alodar frowned. 'Elezar can pass through the barrier only after many lesser demons have preceded him. Since our first battle, all wizards everywhere interact with great caution so that never do too many come through to our realm at any one time.'
'Contact only, not passage, is what my prince desires.' Astron stepped forward. 'He is in great peril from his own kind and seeks out aid from the only one he acknowledges as greater.'
'Few enough know even the name of the prince,' Alodar said. 'But perhaps you have somehow learned. If you are truly from the golden one, then you will have knowledge that others would not.'
'His eyes are green but flecked with gold,' Astron said. 'His stature is but fingerwidths greater than mine. Hooded, he, too, could pass unnoticed in the realm of men. His-'
Alodar waved Astron to stop. He slumped into a chair at one of the crowded tables, then looked back at Kestrel with a a weary smile. 'I would much rather handle a squabble among a dozen councils of wizards,' he said, 'or spend more time trying to squeeze one more secret from the lore recorded in this room.' He arched his back and stretched. 'But three decades of running from one crisis to another eventually take their toll. The glamor of being world-saver wears thin after perhaps the dozenth time.'
Kestrel did not respond. He looked out of one of the high windows, but still saw no sign of any imps or djinns. There might be time enough after all. Soon he would learn which of Astron's words were no more true than the fancies that he himself wove. Hopefully from what he discovered he would be able to spin his own scheme to turn aside the Brythian wizards. He glanced at Alo-dar's intense expression, deciding how much his tale should dare.
'If you would assist,' Alodar said to Phoebe, his reluctance apparently shoved aside without a moment's more thought. 'I will light the fire in the hearth and attempt to see if what this demon says is true.' He pointed to a well just outside one of the windows. 'But if he has warped his words, be ready with a full bucket. I will want the flames doused before any great harm can be done.'
Phoebe stepped forward cautiously. 'I-I am not sure that I am worthy, archimage,' she said. 'Although I won the logo of flame fairly, even the small devil who is with us I could not command.'
'I am the one who will challenge Elezar.' Alodar shook his head. 'Such a task I would wish upon no other. I do not need your skills as a master, just a quickness of eye and arm.'
Phoebe let out her breath. She scowled, apparently annoyed at herself for the image that she presented. With a quick nod she scurried to do the archimage's bidding.
Kestrel and Astron watched the archimage deftly bring a simple flame to life in the stone-lined fireplace along the north wall. Alodar left for a moment and then returned with some powder that he flicked into the blaze. The fire immediately billowed and flashed into a rainbow of color.
As Phoebe returned with the water, Alodar pulled his chair directly in front of the growing flames. Making himself comfortable, he stared into their hypnotic dance. For a long moment, nothing more happened and Kestrel shifted his weight from one leg to another. His eyes darted around the room. He wondered about the propriety of taking a second chair for himself.
Then, just as he had about made up his mind to move, the flames flashed green and an eerie voice whispered from out of the hearth into the room.
'Ah, master, you have come.' Kestrel heard a gentle sighing. 'Astron has done well for his prince.'
'He is so weak!' Alodar exclaimed. 'This is hardly the one with whom I wrestled so long ago.'
The archimage paused a moment, then immediately shook off his astonishment.
'What is it you wish?' he said. 'We have decided long ago, Elezar, that the affairs of the realm of men were no longer to be your concern.'
'So they are not,' Elezar replied. 'But I am one prince among many. I maneuver to keep the interests of the others away by your command and have succeeded because of my own great power.'
The fire spit and sputtered.
'My prince has not recovered from his wound.' Astron took a step toward the hearth. 'And by the weakness of his voice I would deduce that he has received another.'
'But consider this, archimage,' Elezar continued, apparently not hearing the voice of his cataloguer. 'If my own power were to wane, who then would keep the other princes from coveting the realm of men as I did myself? And unlike creatures of my kind, you age, master. Are you ready again to undergo the test of wills that you undertook in your prime?'
'What other prince?' Aiodar leaned forward in his chair. 'Who else in the realm of daemon focuses his thoughts in a way that should not be his concern?'
'There is Gaspar,' Elezar said. 'He has proven far more potent an adversary than I did first suspect. My own domain he has ripped from the void. And before his attack a full dozen other princes he had previously allied to his cause. My hiding places in the blackness he has found one by one. The dark node I now occupy is the last. There is little time left before I am overwhelmed. Do as my messenger directs; you can fight to save the realm of men
