Curse of the Shadowmage by Anthony Mark Read Free Book Online

Caledan. Perhaps I am. I think we should let this be a parting of ways for us. At least for now.”
    He swallowed hard. “Have I been so terrible, then?”
    Mari turned away, crossing her arms across her chest to hide her trembling. “No,” she said hastily. Then she decided to speak her mind. ‘Yes. Yes, you have, but not in the way that you think. Today, in the Zhentarim hideout … what you did with those creatures … I …” She turned toward him, and only as the words sprang to her lips did she realize how true they were. “I’m afraid of you, Caledan. I think I have been for the last six moons.” She lifted an unconscious hand to touch her cheek. “I’m afraid of who you are becoming.”
    A mirthless smile touched his lips. “It’s funny you should say that, Mari. You see, I’m afraid, too.” He approached, enfolding her in his strong, lean arms. She stiffened for a moment, then melted into his embrace. His whisper was fierce now. “I know I’ve been acting strangely lately. I do feel… different somehow. And the truth is, I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s something I’lf-be able to find out on my next mission. But whatever is happening between us, believe me when I tell you this, Mari. I would never harm you. Do you understand me? Never.”
    “I know that, Caledan.” She held on to him, feeling his hard, muscular body beneath her hands. Yet she could not shake the disturbing sensation that this was not her Caledan she held in her arms, but a stranger. “Perhaps, after we’ve been apart for a while …”
    He pressed a finger softly to her lips, silencing further words. Slowly, he ran his finger down her chin, her throat, to the leather laces that bound her green jacket. He bent down and kissed her. She returned the kiss
    urgently. Their clothes slipped softly to the floor as he bent to blow out the single candle. For a time, fear was lost in the familiar warmth of each other’s touch.
    Later, when she floated drowsily in the misty realm between sleep and waking, she thought she heard him rise from the bed. A softness touched her cheek, a low voice whispered in her ear.
    “Fare thee well, Harper.”
    Perhaps it was just a dream. But in the morning, when she, woke to gray daylight, Mari found herself alone and shivering beneath the bed covers.

Three
    The boy sat at a table high in the mage’s tower, chin on hands, gazing into the multicolored center of a small, pyramid-shaped gem.
    “Tell me, Kellen, what do you see within the crystal?”
    Morhion spoke softly as he paced around the table. His long vest of dusky purple rippled gently as he moved, causing the runes embroidered on its edges to undulate like silver serpents.
    “I see the light of the candles, refracted by the crystal’s facets,” Kellen answered solemnly.
    “Are you certain that is all?” Morhion’s voice was almost hypnotic. “Look deeper, Kellen. Do not be so certain you already know what you will see. Open your mind to unexpected possibilities.”
    Kellen frowned skeptically but leaned over the crystal once more, furrowing his forehead in concentration. “I see … I see …” Suddenly his green eyes widened. His
    voice became a whisper of wonderment. “I see stars, Morhion! Shining against the deepest sea of black. And there are bright moons, fiery comets with glowing tails, and … and a strange orange ball with striped rings around its middle. I don’t know what it is, but I can tell that it is very large. Larger than I could even imagine.”
    A fierce spark glinted in Morhion’s ice-blue eyes. “Yes!” he said quietly, more to himself than to the child. “Well done, Kellen.”
    “It is all so beautiful,” the boy said dreamily. He was swaying in his chair now.
    “Do not lose yourself in the crystal!” Morhion warned sharply. He gave Kellen’s shoulder a hard squeeze, snapping the boy out of his trance. Kellen gave a shudder, then with great effort turned away from the gem. “You must always maintain