Curse of the Shadowmage - Mark Anthony [104]
A shriek of ancient hatred shattered the air as a dark shape swooped down from the leaden sky. Mari stumbled backward barely in time to avoid scythelike talons. With a rush of jet-black wings, the shadowy blur sped once more toward the clouds. Mari craned her neck, gazing up to see a shadowsteed whirling high above the throne. Another malevolent cry echoed off hard stone. Another shadowsteed rapidly approached the pinnacle.
Morhion pulled Mari to her feet. "The remaining two shadevari will protect the shadowking while it is taking form," he warned.
Mari gripped her sword. "Then we have to try to kill him." She gazed at the alien creature that struggled before the throne. Its wings were continuing to grow. They pulsated more strongly now. Each throb squeezed dark fluid into the appendages, stretching them like the expanding wings of a newly hatched butterfly. Was there anything at all of Caledan left inside that hideous form?
Morhion snatched the sword from her hand. "This will not avail you." He heaved the weapon off the pinnacle. The only thing that can destroy the shadowking now is the Valesong. We must restore the song, while the shadowking is still taking shape."
"Somehow we have to try to unblock the fissure," Mari responded.
Morhion nodded in agreement. "You must do it, Mari, I will try to distract the shadevari, to give you time to reach the fissure."
Mari paled, biting her lip fiercely. The mage intended to buy her time with his own life. Yet, could it be a worse bargain than the one he had already forged with Serafi?
Ferret cleared his throat nervously. "If we're going to do something, we might want to do it soon." He pointed toward the sky. The second shadowsteed had reached the first, and the creatures were circling menacingly. Morhion moved toward the thief. "Ferret, find a place to hide with Kellen. You must protect the boy at all costs. Do you nderstand?"
Ferret nodded. "I understand, Morhion. I won't say good-bye, but I will say good luck." He laid a hand on Kellen's shoulder. "Come on, kid. Let's get out of here."
"No," Kellen said crossly. "I want to help Morhion. I'm a mage, too."
"Not now, you're not," Ferret countered. "Right now you're a thief, and a good thief always knows when to get his head under cover. Got it?" Kellen gave Morhion a hurt look, then hung his head, "Very well, Uncle Ferret."
K'shar approached Mari. "You will need help in the caves beneath the vale. I will go with you, Al'maren." She Linked at the half-elf in surprise. "Why?"
He shrugged. "You said once that in a different time and place we might have been friends." A grin crossed his striking visage. "Perhaps this is that time and place." After a moment she nodded. "Perhaps it is at that." Morhion gave K'shar an appraising look. "And those eyes of yours are made for seeing in the dark of under-ground tunnels, aren't they half-elf? Or should I say, half-drow?" Only the faintest ripple of emotion crossed the Hunter's calm visage. "I am only one quarter drow, mage. My mother's mother was a dark elf. Though it meant her death, she dared to love a green elf of the forest, and bore him a daughter. As a half-breed, my mother was cast from the underground city of the drow and was forced to live above ground. In the end, she was slain by humans who feared her dark elven blood."
Mari stared at K'shar. Legend told that dark elves were creatures of cunning and evil, and that this was why they had been driven underground. Yet she had also heard rumors of a great drow hero in the Northlands. She found herself wondering if the dark elves were long ago forced underground, not because they were wicked but simply because they were different.
There was no time to consider such matters. Two hideous shrieks rang out over the vale. The