Mari ran a hand nervously through her thick auburn hair. 'I'm not sure, Tyveris. I'm afraid it does.' She added grimly, 'I trust that you will let Kadian go-'
'Wait!'
It was Kadian. Mari regarded the thief in surprise. The fear had not left his gaze. 'I haven't told about the man,' he said hoarsely.
'The man?' Mari asked.
Kadian nodded. 'I saw him as the guards were dragging me away. He was standing in a dark corner, but the torchlight fell on him for a moment.'
Morhion moved forward. 'Describe this man,' he demanded.
'He was tall, I think, with dark hair. His face reminded me of a wolf's, and he was wearing a cloak'-Kadian's brow furrowed in concentration-'a dark blue cloak, the color of a midnight sky.'
Mari gazed at Morhion in shock. As ever, the mage's expression was emotionless, but a strange light glittered in his cold eyes. He turned to her and asked, 'Mari, have you anything with you that belonged to Caledan?'
The mage's question caught her off guard. 'Yes,' she answered after a moment. 'I have this.' She showed him the braided copper bracelet she wore on her left wrist. Years ago, Kera had given it to Caledan, and later he had given it to Mari as a symbol of their love. 'May I borrow it?'
Mari nodded, hastily slipping off the bracelet and handing it to the mage. He set the bracelet on the stone floor, and within the circle of metal he placed a small bit of white fleece drawn from one of the myriad pouches at his belt. Standing, he held out his arms and chanted in a guttural tongue. The bracelet flared brightly, and the fleece vanished in a puff of smoke.
Mari gasped. Before her stood Caledan. Had the mage summoned him with his magic? After a moment, she realized it was not Caledan at all. The figure did not move in the slightest, and if she concentrated she found she could see right through his body. An illusion.
'It is he!' Kadian hissed, reaching through the bars to point at the phantasmal Caledan.
Mari stared at the thief in shock. 'This is the man you saw in the darkened corner? Are you certain?'
Kadian nodded frantically. 'I will never forget his face as long as I live. It's him, all right. Except the eyes aren't right. They were deeper, and ancient… so terribly ancient, I thought they would drive me mad.'
Morhion said nothing, but banished the illusion with a wave of his hand. He retrieved the bracelet and handed it to Mari. The metal felt nauseatingly warm as she slipped it on her wrist once more. 'I think we have what we came here for,' she said huskily. 'Tyveris, call the gaoler. Tell him to release Kadian.'
'No!' the thief cried desperately. 'Ask him to wait until the dawn. I beg you. Let me stay here tonight, where it's safe.' He shuddered, gripping the iron bars with white-knuckled hands. 'Don't you see? The shadows come out at night…'
Mari nodded in sad understanding. Kadian would never be a thief again. She led the way out of the dungeon, finding that she herself was not so eager to face the night.
Midnight found Mari and Morhion sitting by the fire in the Dreaming Dragon's deserted common room, piecing together what they knew. Though the Zhentarim beneath the Barbed Hook had indeed been plotting to take over the city, they had not masterminded the brutal murders. The Zhents had simply been victims like all the others. And Mari was beginning to suspect that she knew who their killer was, though it was a conclusion so terrible she could not bring herself to consciously consider it.
Morhion regarded her with piercing eyes. 'You are thinking the same thing that I am, aren't you, Mari? There is only one answer to our mystery.'
She shook her head fiercely. 'It can't be,' she said hoarsely.
'Can't it?' Morhion's quiet words pierced her like knives. He reached beneath his shirt and drew out something hanging on the end of a silver chain. It was a small ruby. A faint light flickered erratically in the center of the gem.
'What is it?' Mari asked in fascination.
'I fashioned this pendant with a drop of the dark substance I discovered in the Zhentarim hideout,' he explained. 'Its enchantment is such that it will glow if it comes near to the source of magic that conjured the shadow creatures.'
'But it's glowing now!' Mari protested.
'It has been glowing ever since I entered the inn,' Morhion replied, 'though only weakly. However, the mean-ing is clear. The source of the magic that conjured the shadow creatures was here in this inn, but now it has gone.' His eyes bored into her. 'There are only two who have ever dwelt in this place who have power over shadows, Mari. One is still here, but the other is not. There is only one conclusion. The person responsible for the murders is…'
At last, Mari whispered the word she had feared.
'Caledan.'
Morhion nodded gravely. 'He had ample opportunity. And consider the victims. Each was despicable in some way. Perhaps, unaware that he was even doing it, Caledan was passing judgment and sentencing them to death with his shadow magic.'
Mari gripped the arms of her chair. She felt ill. 'But what does it mean, Morhion? What is happening to Caledan?'
'I think that the ghosts know,' a voice said quietly.
Both Mari and Morhion turned in surprise to see a slight form standing on the edge of the firelight. 'Kellen,' Mari said after a moment. 'You should be in bed.'
'I know,' he replied. 'But this is more important.'
Mari studied his serious face. Kellen had a way of listening to conversations without being noticed. She wondered how much he had heard.
As if he had somehow intercepted her unspoken question, he said, 'I heard enough, Mari. I know that my father's shadow magic is… changing.'
Morhion peered intently at the boy. 'What did you mean about the ghosts, Kellen?'
'I think Talek Talembar and Kera knew what was happening to my father and were trying to warn us.'
Mari tried to swallow the cold lump of dread in her throat. 'Warn us? Warn us of what?'
Kellen gazed at her with his calm, intelligent eyes.
'My father is becoming a shadowking.'
Five
It was the dead of the night. High in his tower, Morhion pored over the time-darkened book lying open on the table before him. He took a pinch of silvery dust from a clay jar and sprinkled it over the yellowed parchment. The faded ink began to glimmer with an unearthly blue light. Quickly, before the spell dissipated, Morhion read the spidery runes written in a long-dead tongue. As the glowing runes dimmed, Morhion sighed and leaned back in his chair.
'Worthless.' he murmured in disgust.
In the hours since he had left the Dreaming Dragon, Morhion had researched all he could concerning the history of the Shadowking, hoping to find something that might refute Kellen's terrible conclusion. So far he had found nothing.
In a silver dish, Morhion burned an incense of mint, hyacinth, and sage. He breathed in the fragrant smoke- it would help keep him alert-and turned back to the book. It was a copy of an ancient tome, called Mal'eb'dala in the lost language Talfir; this translated into common-speak as The Book of the Shadows. The original book had been destroyed in a battle between two powerful mages an eon ago. This volume was an old replica. It contained passages that had been miscopied in or entirely omitted from the more recent copy in which Morhion had first read about the myth of the Shadowking. The book Morhion now held had been stolen by the Zhentarim warrior Ravendas from the library in Elversult when she began her search for the Shadowking's crypt. Morhion had
