Crypt of the Shadowking (36 page)

Caledan reached out and laid a hand on the mage’s shoulder. “Believe it.”

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, a faint smile crept across Morhion’s face.

Caledan bid the mage farewell and let himself out of the tower, stepping into the warm summer night. “Come on, Mista,” he said as he mounted the ghostly gray mare and nudged her into a trot. “Let’s go home.”

*

Morhion sat at his desk, sipping a glass of pale wine. The wooden surface before him was littered with scrolls and parchments filled with scribbled notes. He had been deep in study earlier, but now the parchments lay untouched. They could wait.

“To you, Caledan Caldorien,” Morhion whispered to the silence of his study, lifting his glass. ‘To you, my friend.” He drained the wine and smiled again.

Suddenly, despite the balmy air coming through the window, Morhion shivered. His smile faded as he set the glass down. A shadow appeared before him, and as he watched it gradually began to take shape, its outlines growing clearer.

Fine crystals of frost appeared on the empty wine glass, and Morhion’s breath began to fog in the chilly air. He watched the apparition before him with a familiar feeling of dread.

“It is time,” the dark spirit said in a voice that made Morhion’s blood run cold. “Do not forget the bargain we made beneath the fortress of Darkhold.” The apparition’s eyes glowed a deep, bloody red. “The pact is binding.”