Shadow Mage (Blacklight Chronicles) by John Forrester Page A

kinds.”
    “Yet you don’t know Light Magic or Shadow Magic?”
    The sorcerer furrowed his brow, and averted his eyes from Talis. “I’ve never been inclined to learn either art. Let’s just keep it at that, shall we?”
    Something was odd in the tone of Palarian’s voice, but Talis didn’t push the sorcerer further. He followed the old man into another chamber, down a stone spiral staircase, and into the vast expanse of the main collections chamber. Piles of vellum scrolls were stuffed into wooden cubbies filling an entire wall from floor to ceiling twenty feet up.
    “How is it you know your way around the archives so well?” Talis wondered who Palarian was and what he really wanted….
    Palarian sniffed. “I arranged to meet the master builder who designed much of Naru, including the archives. He was most gracious to lend me a copy of the blueprints.” The way the sorcerer said this made it sound like the master builder had no choice in the matter.
    The old man trudged down a long narrow corridor, to an area of the archives off-limits to Order apprentices. The way split left and right, but the sorcerer lifted a wooden trapdoor, and ducked down inside another staircase. This was all new to Talis. He’d heard there were many hidden and locked chambers within the archives, but they’d been warned by the Masters to avoid even thinking of what might lie within. Not that that had stopped Talis from being curious.
    Mara placed her hand on Talis’s shoulder as they descended the steep stairwell, stone steps placed irregularly as if to trip unfamiliar feet. They wound their way left and right, straight, and curved left again until they finally reached the bottom, following the sorcerer down another narrow stone corridor.
    They reached a dead end.
    “What do we do now?” Mara said, peeking around Talis.
    Palarian remained quiet for a moment, as if lost in thoughts. “This wasn’t in the blueprints.”
    “The Masters probably changed it after the builder left Naru,” Talis said. “Be careful about touching anything.” Since Talis had learned about magical wards, he suspected their use by the founders of the Order of the Dawn. Or even more recently, by Mistress Cavares….
    “You might have warned me before we went down here.” The sorcerer’s voice held a tinge of fear. He stared down the corridor behind Talis.  
    “What is it?” Mara glanced back, following Talis as he turned around.  
    “We’re extremely vulnerable down here,” Nikulo said, twisting around uncomfortably. “What exactly are we looking for, anyways?”
    “The Dark Archives…” Palarian raised his hands, still staring down the corridor where they’d come from. “So why shouldn’t have I touched anything?”
    “Magical wards…I’m guessing one of the wizards might have set them, as traps or to warn of intruders. If this is a forbidden area, that’s what I’d do.” And Talis guessed that’s what Mistress Cavares would do as well.
    “If someone comes down here they’ll find us…it’s too narrow.” Mara squeezed herself against the wall.
    “How long would it take before they’d arrive?” The sorcerer’s hands trembled as he aimed them down the corridor.
    “Ten, maybe fifteen minutes at the most.”
    They waited in silence, staring down the corridor and listening for any hint of movement. But no one came after what seemed like an hour.
    “Safe?” Mara said, and glanced up at Talis.  
    He nodded, and turned back to the dead end. “Search for any levers or loose stones.”
    “I doubt they’d make it that easy.” Palarian searched the stone wall. Talis joined in, but the surface revealed nothing. Mara and Nikulo found nothing either after minutes of searching.
    “So what do we do now?” Mara said.
    “I wish I could say I had a spell to aid in this, but I can’t think of anything.” The sorcerer frowned at the wall. “Any direct elemental assault would most likely be guarded by magic.”
    Talis had an idea.