'It's dead,' Morhion said without looking up, his voice haggard. 'He's dead.'
Mari choked back tears. They had saved the world from the darkness of a second shadowking. Yet it was no victory to her. Caledan was gone, and she felt utterly hollow. Reluctantly, her eyes moved to the fallen shadowking. The dark body, once gleaming with sinuous life, now seemed merely a shell, the horned countenance a mask.
'I'm sorry, Mari,' Ferret said softly, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder.
She gave the thief a grateful look, then limped toward Morhion. Reaching down, she gripped the mage's hand, pulling him to his feet. 'Come,' she said, leading him away from the throne. 'Let's be gone from this place. There is nothing left for us here.'
'Wait.'
Mari looked up in surprise. It was Kellen. In his small hands he clutched the obsidian pipes, the instrument forged by Caledan's shadow magic.
'I would like to play a song for my father.' A sharp pang pierced Mari's chest. For the second time now, she realized, Kellen had witnessed a parent destroyed by the dark magic of a shadowking. Yet his round face was calm, like a cherub carved of alabaster.
Somehow, Mari knew, this child was stronger than any of them.
'Of course,' she murmured.
Kellen approached the fallen figure before the throne and lifted the glossy black pipes to his hps. For a moment he hesitated. A hush fell over the crater. Even the Valesong seemed to recede into the distance. It was as if the blasted land itself held its breath, waiting for him to play. Then play he did.
A melody rose from the pipes, gentle, mournful, and achingly beautiful in its simplicity. The voice of the pipes was so sweet and expressive that it seemed almost human, and Mari half-believed that, if she listened carefully, she could hear words in the music:
The Winter King lies sleeping Beneath the barren briar- All mantled in snow, And crowned below,
With berries red as fire.
The Winter Queen stands weeping Above her pale lord's rest- Awaiting the Spring, In garb of green. To bear her away on his breast.
So skillful was Kellen's playing that it took Mari several moments to realize the song was one she knew. A time-honored ballad, 'The Winter King' was one of the first songs learned by an apprentice bard. Mari shivered; the ballad seemed especially poignant in this desolate place.
Ferret let out a gasp. 'Did you see that?' Mari and Morhion stared in shock. The shadowking moved.
No-that wasn't quite it. The limp body of the creature had twitched, but not of its own volition. It was as if something had moved beneath the dark skin. The shadowking moved again, and its torso expanded. For a terrified moment, Mari feared that it was breathing. Then she realized that whatever was struggling was not beneath the corpse of the shadowking. It was inside of it.
Kellen lowered his pipes. 'Cut it open!' he cried, 'Hurry!'
Ferret reacted immediately. The thief leapt forward brandishing his dagger, and slipped the tip of the blade beneath the scaly skin of the shadowking's belly and tore a jagged opening from navel to throat. A flood of dark, gelatinous ichor poured out. Inside the husk of the shadowking, something struggled. Something alive.
'I don't believe this,' Ferret rasped. 'Mari, Morhion Help me!'
The thief plunged his hands into the slime and began to pull. Mari and the mage rushed forward to aid the thief. It was hard to get a grip on the slippery thing. Finally, as one, the three gave a heave. They nearly tum-bled backward as a slime-covered form burst free of the shadowking's body.
For a stunned moment, Mari could only stare. Then she approached the thing, kneeling beside it. Hesitantly at first, then with growing urgency, she used her bare hands wipe the dark ichor away. She uncovered naked arms, a bare chest, and finally… a face. Gasping, she backed away. Two eyes fluttered open-faded, familiar green eyes. For a moment they stared in wild confusion, then they settled on Mari.
'Hello, Al'maren,' a hoarse voice whispered. It was Caledan.
They built a fire in a small hollow at the base of the pinnacle, but Caledan did not think he would ever feel warm again. Mari had cleaned the worst of the slime from his gaunt body, and they had wrapped him in blan-kets and moved him close to the fire. Still he shivered. But toothy grin lent life to his haggard visage, and the light in his green eyes, though feverish, was bright and keen. Actually, I've been meaning to drop a few pounds for a while now,' he said wryly, scratching his bony ribs. 'I just didn't realize it would require such drastic measures.' Absently, he ran his hand over his chest, wincing as his fingers brushed the oozing, star-shaped wound above his heart. Although it was the shadowking who had been burned by the molten Shadowstar, Caledan bore the brand.
'I don't understand, Caledan,' Mari said softly. 'It seemed that the song Kellen played helped free you from the shadowking. But I know that song, 'The Winter Ring.' Half the apprentice bards in the Heartlands caln play that tune. There's nothing magical about it.'
Caledan shook his head. 'No, there isn't.' His eyes grew distant. 'You see, as I journeyed toward the Shadowstar, and then on to Ebenfar, my memories became dimmer and dimmer. As the shadowking grew within me, little by little it obscured who I was, like weeds choking a garden. I began to forget myself-my friends, my history even my…' He swallowed hard. '… even the people I loved most.'
Mari clapped a hand to her mouth but made no comment.
'That's why I decided to leave something of behind, for you to find,' Caledan went on. 'Something that, if I did forget myself entirely, might be able to remind me of who and what I was. 'The Winter King' was the first song I ever learned to play on my pipes as a child. I figured that, if it couldn't help me remember myself, then nothing would. The problem was, I couldn't let the part of me that was the shadowking know what I intended. I had to find a way to leave behind my message without letting the other discover what I was doing. And I did. I wasn't certain anyone would understand what I was doing'-he smiled at Kellen-'but someone did after all.'
'Of course!' Mari said. 'The signs you left behind!'
Kellen nodded solemnly. 'The signs were clues to a song. I didn't understand, though-not until I saw the last sign, the dark pipes.' Kellen ran a thumb over instrument. 'The pipes made me think that my father wanted me to play something, but I didn't know what. Then I thought about all the other signs, and suddenly was so clear. If I took the first letter of each of the signs-face, eyes, fist, and all the others-they were the notes of a song. I didn't know what would happen when I played it, but I knew I had to try.'
Caledan gazed thoughtfully at the boy. 'I am glad you did, Kellen. I was lost in a dark place. I thought I would be lost forever. But when I heard the music, it was like a light drawing me back. And I did remember. The first thing I remembered was you.' Kellen ran to his father. Caledan encircled his son tightly in his arms.
'Don't ever leave me again, Father,' Kellen said sternly.
'I won't,' Caledan said fiercely. 'I promise.' Morhion did not wish to interrupt the reunion between father and son. However… 'It is growing dark,' the mage said. 'and this vale is filled with dire magic. We should be moving-if you are well enough, Caledan.' The bard nodded and let Mari help him slowly to his feet. 'I think I can manage to-' His words were cut off by a howling gust of wind. A hazy form stepped out of thin air, crimson eyes blazing. Cold dread filled Morhion. In all the strange events, he had forgotten about…
'Serafi,' he whispered. I will not show fear! he vowed inwardly, though he could not keep his body from trem-bling as the spectral knight drifted closer, 'Your quest is over, mage,' the ancient spirit hissed. 'Our pact is fulfilled. Now it is time for you to pay me my due.' Morhion stared hatefully at the malevolent apparition.
'So be it,' be spat. 'No!' Mari screamed, interposing herself between spirit and mage 'No, Morhion! You can't!' Serafi's laughter echoed all around. 'I am afraid the mage has no choice in the matter. For the second time I
have helped him save his precious friend. Now his body is mine!' He raised his gauntleted hands. A sudden burst of frigid air knocked Mari roughly aside. Ferret hurled a dagger at the knight, but the blade passed harmlessly through his smoky form.
'What is going on?' Caledan cried.
'I made a bargain with this spirit for his help in finding the Shadowstar,' Morhion said simply. 'The price was my mortal body.' The mage was beyond terror now; beyond pain. He wished only for the end to be swift. Wistfully he gazed at his friends, lastly at Mari. 'I shall miss you all.'
