The Vilhonese sorceress studied the dark archways lining the chamber. 'Which of these leads back to the college, I wonder?' She turned in a slow circle, examining each. 'I count ten portals, including the one we just stepped out of.'
'I'd guess that six of the nine that are left would transport us to other shrines,' Aeron mused. 'I suppose we'll have to take our chances. It stands to reason that Oriseus would build at least one portal from the college to this place, for convenience if nothing else.' Rooting through the pouch at his hip, he found a small piece of chalk and stepped over to the umber archway they'd emerged from. He made a small mark on the floor to identify it, and moved to face the next portal to the left. 'Ready?'
Holding Dalrioc's scepter at the ready, Aeron stepped through. His stomach dropped away alarmingly, and he found himself standing in a stone shrine much like the one he'd just left. At first he thought that he'd made a mistake and returned to the place where he'd been imprisoned, but this one was subtly different; there was a reddish hue to the rock, and as he glanced above the walls at the horizon beyond, Aeron thought he could see dark treetops.
'Same arrangement, different place,' Melisanda observed. 'Should we try to help the mages caught here?'
Aeron hesitated. 'Time may be crucial, but it wouldn't hurt to have an ally. Let's see if anyone here is able to help us.' They circled the seven-sided structure, but all the mages there were trapped in the stone.
'Maybe we'll have better luck on the next one.' Aeron plunged into the darkness again, and found himself back in the chamber of the Shadow Stone. The sinister light hurt his eyes, and he could almost hear a high-pitched whining or vibration that seemed to resonate in his bones. Gritting his teeth against the sound, he marked that door too and moved on to the next. 'Let's try it again,' he said, pushing into the dense web of gloom.
This time, Aeron found himself standing on a windswept hilltop by a vast white-frothed lake. The waves thundered and crashed below him, and he could taste rain in the air. 'Where in Faerun-?' he began, quickly turning about to see what else was near.
The hill overlooked a great city about a mile away, barely visible through the fog and murk. Fires burned here and there within its walls, and a powerful fortress watched over the city like a brooding giant. They weren't in the Shadow any longer; the unnatural chill and sense of wrongness that pervaded the other plane were absent.
Melisanda stepped out of thin air behind him, followed by Baillegh. A large slab of stone marked with a string of Madryoch's old runes served as the base for the portal, and Aeron recognized it as the same stone through which he'd first entered the plane of shadow. Apparently, Oriseus had moved it and modified it to create its portal as needed.
'What is this place, Aeron?' Melisanda asked.
'I'm not sure.' As he studied his surroundings, he realized that the city below them was under siege by a huge army. Angled trenches encircled its walls in ring after ring, and crude war engines sat in revetments beyond the siege lines. The army's camp lay in between the hilltop and the city, a sprawling sea of dirty tents and muddy lanes. One large pavilion caught Aeron's eye; it was marked by a crimson dragon standard, the banner of House Corynian. 'Wait, I think I know. This is where Soorenar's army must be. That's the standard of Dalrioc's father.'
'I've seen the city,' Melisanda added. 'That's Akanax itself.'
'So Oriseus has a way to keep an eye on his ally's war.' Aeron glanced around in concern. 'We'd better not linger here. Some of Oriseus's followers must be nearby, using their magical talents to help Soorenar with this siege.'
He started to turn away, leading Melisanda back to the rune-marked slab, but Baillegh suddenly whined and tugged at his tunic. 'What? What is it, Baillegh?' Aeron said, kneeling by the hound. The dog turned and looked down toward the camp, prancing anxiously.
'What's troubling the hound?' Melisanda asked.
'I think she's found Eriale's scent,' Aeron said, standing slowly. 'She's the archer I told you about, my foster- sister. When Oriseus and his servants overwhelmed us, they took her away.'
'Do we go after her?'
'We have to return to the college,' Aeron said. 'Damn! I don't want to leave her in their hands, but we have to deal with the Shadow Stone first.'
'Agreed,' said Melisanda. She put her hand on Aeron's arm. 'Come on. The best way to help your sister is to kick Oriseus's legs out from under him.' She offered her hand to Aeron, who joined her on the stone slab. Together they braved the dark veil again, returning to the chamber of the Shadow Stone.
They found two more shrine sites after that, each with seven wizards trapped beyond hope of release. The sixth door they tried was different. Aeron stepped through and found himself standing in the center of the Council Room, the great chamber within the Masters' Hall where the ruling masters had once met. It served as the seat of authority within the college walls; Aeron was not surprised that Oriseus had chosen to forge a portal between the Shadow Stone's chamber and the Council Room. The only thing that marked the portal from this side was a circle of magical symbols on the floor, painted with faded red-brown pigment.
'We're back in the college,' Melisanda breathed as she appeared. 'Where to-Aeron, look out!'
Aeron started to turn, just as a crackling sphere of magical energy slammed into his side and detonated. He doubled over in pain and surprise, catching a glimpse of someone in a gray tunic rising from the row of oaken seats and bolting for the door. Melisanda barked out a spell that slammed the chamber door shut before the novice reached it, while Aeron clapped one hand over his injured side and raised the iron scepter. He barked the weapon's command word; the freezing ray caught the mage in mid-stride and crumpled him to the floor.
'Aeron! Are you hurt?' Melisanda knelt by his side and pried his fingers away from the injury.
'It's not that bad,' he grimaced. 'It was a novice's spell. Thank Assuran he wasn't a more skilled mage, or he could have surprised me with much worse.'
Melisanda looked up at him. 'You're bleeding, but not badly, and you're burned, too. Let me see if I can bind it.' She tore a long strip from her ruined cloak and wrapped it around his side. Aeron tried not to wince.
When she finished, they checked on the novice who'd attacked them. He was a swarthy Untheri. The ray from Dalrioc's scepter had frozen him to death in a single sweep. 'Do you recognize him?' Melisanda asked.
'No. Oriseus must have posted him here to watch this portal.' Aeron shook his head. 'We'd better assume that the novices and students serve Oriseus without question. Come on-we need to get to the library. I've got to check some references.'
Aeron dragged the fallen novice out of sight and carefully tried the door, peering into the corridor beyond. He retreated immediately. The Council Room was at the center of the Masters' Hall, and several students hurried past in the spartan hallway beyond the chamber. 'We're going to have a hard time reaching the library undetected,' he whispered. 'I dressed as a servant to slip in before, but I'm sure that Oriseus will have told his people to watch for that now. Any other ideas?'
'Invisibility seems like a practical alternative,' Melisanda suggested. 'As long as they're not expecting us, it should work just fine.'
'All right. Let's-' Aeron stopped as he detected a slow, deliberate ripple in the weave of magic. He glanced back toward the portal, where a black vapor had appeared above the rune circle. 'Someone's coming through!' he said. 'Quickly, Melisanda!'
The Vilhonese mage started her spell. Aeron blocked her from his mind and forced himself to relax, working the charm of invisibility. He reached down and pulled Baillegh close by him to cover her as well. It was becoming more difficult to control the spells he cast; in the heat of his battle with Dalrioc, desperation had lent him strength, but now casting a spell he knew as well as this one required far too much of his energy. Melisanda struggled even more before she faded from view.
They vanished just in time. From the darkness stepped Oriseus, with two other wizards in tow. Aeron held himself still, scarcely daring to breathe; magical invisibility was very useful, but a competent mage could easily dispel it if he thought to search for such a simple illusion. He felt Melisanda's unseen hand tighten on his arm in panic as she, too, tried not to make any suspicious movement.
'Assemble the masters and the students on the point at sundown, Helrios,' Oriseus said to one sorcerer. He was the slender Mulhorandi abjurer Aeron had encountered in the chamber of the Shadow Stone. 'Unless I miss my guess, we should be able to proceed by midnight at the latest.'
'What of the novices?' Helrios asked.
