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.Was Siderea’s power still affecting her brain, or were her thoughts her own now? “I have to warn him!”She got up from the table so hurriedly that her chair fell back, clattering noisily to the floor behind her.“Ethanus, I—”“Go,” he said.“Do what you have to.”She began to draw her power to her.Normally she would never do so inside the house of another Magister, but there was no time to waste.Ethanus watched her mold a portal for herself, his expression calm.Unflappable.The world could come crashing down around them all and Ethanus’ heart would not miss a beat.What opposites they were!She leaned across the table and kissed him on the forehead.At least that surprised him.And then she wrapped the portal spell around her and disappeared into the darkness.Chapter 20COLIVAR CIRCLED Tefilat several times before finally moving in.In wide, sweeping circles he flew over the desert surrounding the abandoned city, scrutinizing every grain of sand with his sorcery.Seeking.what? Some kind of trap? A sign that she was currently here, despite Kamala’s assurances to the contrary?Even while he did his reconnaissance, he knew how futile such an effort was.Tefilat resonated with so many residual energies that it was all but impossible to pick out the one or two that might be meaningful.It was as if a hundred witches were there right now, casting all their spells at once.and doing it badly.Fragments of ancient power hung in the air like a dust cloud, making it hard to see anything clearly.Broken spells, failed summonings, frustrated conjurations: the detritus of an ancient war.Looking for signs of trouble here was like looking for signs of shark activity in a storm-tossed, churning sea.When he finally landed, it took him a few seconds longer to reclaim his human form than it should have The last of his feathers did not want to recede, and his skin felt rough where they were finally absorbed.It seemed to him that Tefilat’s effect had worsened since the last time he had visited, many years ago.Or maybe that was just his nerves speaking.At any rate, there seemed to be no one around right now.He scanned the area once more, just to make certain, and then headed toward the city proper.He wrapped sorcery about himself as he went, to discourage prying eyes.Though gods alone knew if such a spell would have any power in this place.The canyon was ancient, carved out by a river the earth had swallowed up long ago, leaving only ghostly memories of water clinging to the narrow bed at its center.Its walls were colorful, with bands of rust, orange, and in one place an odd shade of pink, layered as neatly as masonry in some places, buckling into strange curvilinear patterns in others.He knew from earlier explorations that each stripe had been formed in a previous age, and contained both relics of that age and faint resonances of the things that had lived here then.The concept had fascinated him once, but now his only concern was to make sure that nothing was hidden within the shadowy caves and crevices of the place, besides the inevitable snakes and lizards.But all was as it should be, and there was no sign of any fresh magic that he could discern.Finally he came to Tefilat itself.Though he had been there several times before and theoretically knew what to expect, still the sight of the place awed him.Not simply because of its grandeur, but because it had been created in an age before sorcery, when every magical task had been measured in human life.Or, more to the point, human life with a name attached.The main buildings had been carved directly out of the cliff face and, amazingly enough, had stood the test of time.Had any new witchery been embedded in the stone by recent visitors? Too much faded power clung to the façade for him to be sure.When he reached the widest part of the canyon—the town square, as it were—he stood still for a moment, listening.Just listening.But only silence greeted his ears, broken by the faint susurration of wind in the distance.Kneeling down, he bound a bit of sorcery, molding it twice over just to make sure that he had it right, then he let it sink into the ground around his feet, shutting his eyes as he absorbed the images it was gathering for him.Nomads had passed through here recently.He could see them in their desert robes, richly striped and edged in plaited cord: Hom’ra.He watched as they brought in supplies on the backs of asses and then unpacked them.Heavy amphorae sealed with wax comprised the bulk of the delivery, and baskets of what Colivar guessed to be foodstuffs.There was a sigil on several of the amphora seals that he did not recognize.Interesting.Letting the vision fade, he headed toward the largest building in the complex.It was a two-story structure with columns flanking the main entrance and a frieze depicting a mythological battle scene overhead.He paused for a moment to take in the carved images, his mind applying names to gods and events that the morati world had long forgotten.Then he bound a bit of power to test the entrance for wards—there were none—and to establish one of his own that would be triggered by anyone else entering the building behind him.The place seemed utterly deserted, but one could never be too careful.The temperature dropped as soon as he entered the shadowy interior, becoming almost tolerable by desert standards.He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the relative darkness, resisting the impulse to cool the air further.He didn’t want to use any more sorcery in this place than he had to.The main chamber was empty, but a layer of sand and dust had accumulated underfoot, and footprints had recently scuffed a path across the room, heading toward an interior chamber.Many footprints, he noted.Whatever was happening here had been going on for some time.He followed the path to a rear chamber.Only a trickle of sunlight could reach this far, but it was enough for him to see what was inside.Furniture was stacked along the rearmost wall.The items were rough-hewn and simply made, such as a common laborer might own.Along another wall were the supplies he had seen in his vision.He walked over to one of the amphorae and briefly considered using sorcery to determine its contents and purpose.But the sigil impressed into its seal might well be an anchor for witchery, or even sorcery, so he left it untouched [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]