Crypt of the shadowking - Mark Anthony [95]
He sighed, trying to push the thought out of his mind. He had been stupid to believe that he could fall in love- again. The Harper had her mission, and he had his own. Ravendas was finally going to pay for what she had done to Kera.
He turned his mind back to that windswept day in the Fields of the Dead, when the phantom of Talek Talembar had appeared and spoken to him. He tried to recall the words the ancient hero had spoken-the one clue he had given them to the secret of the shadow song. Talembar had said something about finding the echo of the song in the place where it was last played. Unfortunately, Caledan had no idea where that could be. The history of Talek Talembar in the Mal'eb'dala had been frustratingly incomplete. After defeating the Shadowking, the ancient bard could have traveled almost anywhere in the Realms. He could have played the blasted shadow song anywhere, Caledan thought in frustration. For all I know the secret of the song is somewhere in Sembia, or Thay, or the gods know where.
Yet that didn't really make sense. The purpose of the shadow song was to counter the power of the Nightstone. Why would Talembar have needed it once the Nightstone was sealed in the Shadowking's tomb? Most likely, Talembar had never played the song again. And that would mean that the last place the song was played was in the crypt of the Shadowking itself.
Even if the secret of the shadow song is buried with the Shadowking, I can't see how that really helps, Caledan thought sourly.
He doubted Ravendas was going to let him search around the crypt hoping to hear the echo of the song. Still, he couldn't quite rid himself of the feeling that there was more to Talembar's clue than he gleaned on the surface.
A knock at the door interrupted his concentration, and he looked up. "Come in."
It was Tyveris, filling the doorway with his massive shoulders. For some strange reason, Caledan found that he was almost disappointed it wasn't the Harper.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Caledan, but you may want to come downstairs. Morhion just came back from his tower. There's something he wants all of us to hear."
A grimace crossed Caledan's face. He had hoped his dealings with Morhion were over now that they had returned from the Fields of the Dead.
Caledan stepped into the inn's private dining chamber and found the others already there. While he couldn't say that he had ever seen Morhion excited-he had watched the mage engulf whole bands of attacking goblins in magical fire without so much as blinking an eye-there did seem to be a hard, bright light shining in the mage's usually indifferent gaze.
"I have learned the purpose of the magical crystal I took from the shadevar," Morhion said when Caledan sat down. The mage pulled the opaque gem from his pocket.
"I believe it is a communication device of some sort. By means of the crystal, one might speak across great distances to the one who holds the gem's twin."
"That must be how the shadevar kept in contact with whoever its master was," Caledan mused.
"You want to use the stone, don't you, to speak with whoever will answer?" Mari asked the mage.
Estah scowled. "That sounds rather dangerous."
"Perhaps," the mage said, "but it would not be the first danger I have ever risked. The same would be true for all of you."
All eyes turned to Caledan. Much as he did not care for it, everyone had fallen into the old habit of looking to him as a leader. Even the Harper seemed to be waiting for him to say something.
"Do it," he said to Morhion finally, an edge of steel in his voice.
Morhion lifted the cowl of his robe, concealing his face. He was wearing black, just like the shadevar. The companions watched as Morhion spoke several sibilant words of magic. The crystal began to glow with a pale luminescence.
Suddenly an image appeared in the heart of the crystal. It was the gaunt, severe-looking face of a man with eyes as hard and dark as stones. It took several heartbeats for Caledan to recognize the man. An image of a procession