here. Nothing to do now but see if we can do anything for the wounded.'
Araevin nodded, but first he paced over the remains of the iron circle. He picked up a single twisted piece of metal in his fist.
Where are the high mages? he wondered silently. Have they fallen as well?
Then, with a sigh, he let the debris clatter to the floor, and turned to help with the injured.
CHAPTER 2
15 Alturiak, the Year of Lightning Storms
As the dim sunrise glimmered in the tower's window slits, Araevin gathered with the surviving mages of Reilloch Domayr in the conservatory. The great hall was in no condition to host a meeting of the circle. He left Ilsevele to lead the Tower guards in scouring the grounds for any enemies who might have been left behind by their comrades' escape.
The conservatory was a large, high-ceilinged hall that occupied the entire upper floor of the gatehouse. It was floored with gleaming old oak, and its paneled walls were finished with dark cherry carved in sylvan scenes. The place was used as a recital hall by the bards and music students who drifted through Tower Reilloch. Araevin had attended many recitals there, but had little gift for music himself. He found five mages waiting for him there.
'Welcome, Araevin,' said the Loremaster Quastarte. He was a sun elf of great age, his eyes dark with wisdom in his young-old face, his hair so thin and white it seemed like a nimbus flowing down his shoulders. 'We are all here, then.'
'We are all that remains?' Araevin asked, astonished.
He glanced around the room, unable to keep himself from looking to see if he had perhaps missed one of his colleagues. Beside Araevin, there had been eight others who held the rank of mage. But only five of Araevin's colleagues were there: Quastarte, the wood elf sorcerer known as Eaglewind, the diviner Yesvellde Shaerim, the half-elf battle-mage Jorildyn, and the young abjurer Faelindel.
'I know that Earelde fell,' Araevin continued, 'but where are Olleile and Starsong?'
'Both slain in their Reverie. The invaders broke into their chambers before the alarm was raised,' Quastarte said.
'Aillesel seldaritf, Araevin said softly. 'The Seldarine preserve us. There is no end to the sorrow of this day.' He bowed his head, hesitating before asking his next question. 'The high mages?'
'We have not found Philaerin yet,' said Quastarte, 'but the fact that he was not seen in the battle and has not appeared since leads me to fear the worst. He was not in his chambers.'
The others nodded in agreement. If Philaerin lived, he would have defended the Tower.
'Kileontheal lives, but she is grievously wounded,' Yesvelde said. Yesvelde was a moon elf, with long dark hair and a distant, ethereal manner to her. She carried a sleek cat in her arms, her familiar Versei. Araevin felt thea quick gray shadow of Whyllwyst flicker across his heart, but made himself focus on Yesvelde's words. 'She was struck senseless by a spell of insanity during the fight outside the great hall, a few minutes after issuing her call to the circle. She fled the battle, hurling spells at imaginary foes in the tower halls until she exhausted her power.' The illusionist sighed. 'I had no means to undo the enchantment afflicting her, so I directed the guards to confine her in her quarters and keep her under constant care until we can find a healer for her.'
'Aeramma Durothil is dead,' said Eaglewind. He was a grave and quiet fellow for a wood elf, more at home in the solitude of the forest than in the company of his peers. Araevin sometimes suspected that he was a sylvan creature of some sort who simply wore the shape of a wood elf for the convenience of the others, but he had never pressed the question. 'I found him in the astrolabe an hour after the raiders fled. It looked like he destroyed a number of those who came against him. I found shadows shaped like demons blasted into the walls there.'
'So one high mage is dead, one missing, and one incapacitated,' Araevin sighed. 'And three of us are dead, as well. What of the initiates and the other folk of the Tower?'
The initiates were the lesser wizards and sorcerers, those who were still new in their studies and not yet accounted members of the Circle. There had been fourteen of them.
Jorildyn, a seasoned battle-mage, stepped forward. He had human blood-something that was quite unusual on Evermeet, and regarded with great suspicion in some quarters-and was thickly built compared to the others, with a gray-streaked beard and a gruff manner.
'Four initiates are dead,' the half-elf reported. 'We also lost nine of the Tower Guards and several more of the Tower folk. About twenty are wounded, but all should recover with care.' His face was grim. 'We must see to our defenses at once, and make sure this cannot happen again.'
'We will need a high mage for that, and none are available,' Araevin observed. 'We must suffice, then. Quastarte, you are the eldest among us. I will be content to follow your orders.'
'You are a more skillful wizard than I, Araevin. I would not presume to command you. Or any of you, for that matter. I can only suggest what seems wise to me.'
'Then let us hear what seems wise to you, Loremas-ter,' Jorildyn said, 'and we will take your suggestions as commands.'
Quastarte fell silent, thinking for a moment, then said, 'Very well, then. First, someone must carry word of the attack to the Queen in Leuthilspar, the sooner the better. Does anyone have a spell of teleporting prepared?'
'Not I,' said Yesvelde.
'I am afraid I used mine to return to the tower when Kileontheal called,' Araevin said. 'I cannot ready another for hours.'
'I have a scroll I can use,' said Faelindel. 'I will leave at once.'
The abjurer bowed to the other mages and left the chamber, striding quickly.
'Jorildyn and Eaglewind-take charge of the Tower defenses. I do not think our attackers will return, but we must not be caught off guard again if they do.'
'It will be done,' Jorildyn replied.
'Yesvelde, you are a skilled diviner. See if you can learn who our attackers were, and where they came from. We may be able to organize pursuit, if we can learn these things.'
The diviner bowed her head, accepting her task. 'What of me?' Araevin asked.
'I want you to carefully examine the vaults, armories, and libraries,' Quastarte said. 'The hellspawn and their winged masters did not come here simply for mayhem and murder. They must have been looking for something. You know the vaults as well as I. Determine if anything is missing.' The old loremaster looked at the other mages. 'In the meantime, I will search for Philaerin. If he is not here, perhaps he was cast into another plane or banished to some far realm by our enemies.'
Araevin nodded and replied, 'I will report back at once if I find anything amiss.'
Over many centuries, the mages who had dwelled at Tower Reilloch had accumulated many magical devices: mighty staves, deadly battle-wands, rings that stored or deflected spells, crystal orbs, enchanted cloaks, and tomes of perilous lore. Many of them had been crafted, forged, or scribed by the circle's own sorcerers and wizards, while others were prizes of battle, or long-forgotten artifacts that had been brought to Reilloch for safekeeping. Araevin had created a few of the things himself, since he was a skilled artificer of magical devices, and he had brought even more to the Tower from his explorations of old elven ruins in Faerun. His intermittent research into the magical artifices of lost elven realms had required a careful study of the devices stored in the Tower's vaults.
Some of Reilloch's vaults were buried in the deep foundations, others were hidden high atop isolated towers, and a few were in extradimensional spaces that could be reached only through specific doors or chambers in otherwise innocuous portions of the fortress. Most were protected by spells of sealing and concealment that were virtually impenetrable. The vaults containing the most dangerous items were also guarded by lethal spell traps, terrible sigils that would utterly destroy anyone trying to pass them without knowledge of how to do so safely.
The first two vaults Araevin checked were secure, their spells of closing still intact. Araevin quickly
