Chapter 21 Chapter 20 Electricity for Electricity, Fire for Fire

Cadderly had no idea where he was; this luxurious, carpeted room bore no resemblance to the subterranean Trinity Wall of rough rock.Gold-leaf trimmings and richly woven tapestries hung thickly across the walls, all depicting Talona's image or her symbols.The ceiling was carved and decorated with exotic wood that Cadderly could not identify.There are ten chairs in the huge room with backs and seats carved into the shape of teardrops, and any one of them seems to be worth as much as a dragon's hoard: , and is covered with silk from top to bottom.The whole sight reminded Cadderly of some nobleman's palace in the far reaches of Calimport, or the private chambers of a lord in Waterdeep.

Until he looks deeper.The song of Denir came into Cadderly's mind without consciously ordering it, as if his god was reminding him that this was no ordinary room and its occupants were no ordinary people.So Cadderly understood that this is an extradimensional space, created by magic, and every detail is woven by magic energy. With Denir's song blaring in his head now, Cadderly looked more closely at the nearest seat.He recognized the gems as variations of magical energy, and saw that the smooth silk was nothing but a uniform field of magic.Cadderly remembered an experience in the tower of the wizard Belisari, when he fought an illusioned tauren in an illusioned tunnel.Later, the young priest retaliated in his own way, reaching down the tauren's throat and taking out a heart he had created with his own illusion.

Now, in this unfamiliar and apparently dangerous environment, Cadderly needed a boost of self-confidence.He focused on the seat again, grabbing the magic field that held it up, deforming it, stretching it, and flattening it. "It's better to have a table here," he announced aloud, guessing that the master here, Aballister, could hear every word he said.The seat had become a smooth wooden table with thick curved legs carved with eyes, candles, and rolled scrolls—symbols of Cadderly's god and his brother god Oghma. Cadderly looked towards the only obvious exit from the great room: a wide hallway supported by carved arches above, directly opposite the wall he had somehow passed through.He changed the song of Denir slightly, searching for objects invisible to the eyes, or other pockets of other dimensions hidden in this pocket of space, but there was no trace of Aballister.

The young priest walked over to the table he had just made, feeling the smooth surface under his hands.An inspiration—a divine inspiration, he mused—washed over him, and he smiled, and then summoned his magic, pointing at the closest piece of tapestry, and reweaving its pattern.He recalled the magnificent tapestries in the great halls of the Moezhi Library, pictured every detail of it in his mind, and turned the one before him into an almost identical replica.A seat next to him turned into a writing desk, with an inkwell engraved with ancient Denierian script on the inside.The second tapestry became a scroll of Oghma, the deity's holiest prayer text replacing the previous one—the wicked Talona and her poisonous dagger.

Cadderly felt power springing from the images he created, as if his work brought him closer to his god, the source of his strength.The more he changed the room, the more the place resembled a sanctuary in the Moezhi Library, and the young priest's self-confidence grew.With each image he created in praise of Denir, the holy song sang louder in Cadderly's head and heart. Suddenly, Aballister—it must have been him—was standing at the door of the ornate hall. "I've made some... improvements," Cadderly announced to the exasperated magician, sweeping his arms wide.His bravado might hide his nervousness from his enemies, but Cadderly could not deny the wet sweat covering his palms.

Aballister moved abruptly, clapped his palms together, and called out a magical word that Cadderly could not recognize.In an instant, those newly added religious decorations disappeared without a trace, and the room returned to its original appearance. The movement of the magician, and the sudden flash of anger from the man who was apparently quite in control, tugged at Cadderly's heartstrings, tugging at the fringes of his consciousness from afar. "I will not allow iconography of false gods to adorn my private chambers," said the magician, his voice even. Cadderly nodded, allowing a relaxed smile to appear on his face; there was no point in arguing either.

The magician walked to the entrance, his dark robe trailing mysteriously behind him, his empty eyes fixed on the young priest. Cadderly turned to keep facing the man, studying the dangerous wizard's every movement, while the song of Denir played in his thoughts.He has found and listed several defensive spells, ready to be launched. "You're a real problem to me," said Aballister, his voice wheezing, his throat sore from forcing so many powerful spells over the years. "However, it is also a great help." Cadderly focused on the tone of his voice, not the content of his words.Something in his tone reminded Cadderly of something vaguely: the vision of Caladon emerging, long ago.

"You know, I might have missed the funniest part," Aballister continued. "I could have sat here comfortably, with my mighty armies conquering the peoples of this land at my disposal. I could have ruled - and I would have loved to - but so could the act of conquest... …evocative. Don’t you think so?” "I'm not interested in gaining at other people's expense," Cadderly said. "No, you have!" cried the magician at once. "No!" the young priest answered more quickly. The magician laughed at him. "You're quite proud of what you've accomplished so far, of conquering your enemies to come to my door. You've killed many lives, Cadderly dear. You've killed people. Can you deny the good feeling of doing that? That A sense of power?"

These words are ridiculous.At the thought of killing, the act of killing, Cadderly felt extremely disgusted.However, if the magician had said this to him weeks ago, when the guilt of killing Barjin still weighed heavily on his shoulders, those words would have been powerful.But not anymore.Cadderly had been able to accept the trials that fate had thrown him, the role he was suddenly forced to play.His soul no longer lamented the death of Barjin, or any other enemy. "I did what I was forced to do," he replied with confidence from the bottom of his heart. "This war should never have started, but if it must go on, I will win it."

"Very well," said the magician with satisfaction. "And you think justice is on your side?" "Yes." Cadderly Howe answered confidently without hesitation. "Are you proud of yourself?" Aballister asked. "I'd be happy if this land was safe," Cadderly replied. "It's not a question of personal pride. It's a question of morality and, as you say, justice." "Such haughty certainty," said the wizard with a chuckle, more to himself than to Cadderly.Aballister put a bony finger to his tightly pursed lips, and studied the young scholar intently, his gaze sweeping every inch of Cadderly's body.

This gesture looked strange to the young priest, as if for some reason, the man expected Cadderly to crave his affirmation, as if the magician's judgment of Cadderly's ability would be to Cadderly's. is an important thing. "You are like a proud young rooster among a group of foxes." The magician announced slowly. "Confidence and intelligence that are fleeting in a flash will soon disappear in a pool of blood." "The point should be something bigger than my personal pride," Cadderly said gravely. "The point is your personal pride!" Aballister snapped back. "And mine. What is the meaning of this painful process we call 'life' but our individual accomplishments? What is there but what we will pass on to posterity?" Those words made Cadderly wince, wondering how a man smart enough to be a magician could be driven by such narrow motives, and only think about himself. "Can you ignore the tragedy you have caused?" the young priest asked in disbelief. "Have you not heard the cries of the dying, and the wails of the victims?" "They don't matter at all!" growled Aballister, but the intensity of the denial convinced Cadderly that he had hit a sensitive spot; perhaps, beneath the man's apparent selfishness, there was A trace of conscience exists. "I'm the one that matters!" Aballister said angrily. "My life, my purpose." Cadderly was dizzy.He had heard these words before, and the tone was exactly the same.Kaladon reappeared in his mind, but the image was blurred, disappearing into a vortex of... what?Cade wondered.Long distance? When he raised his head again, he found that the magician was chanting a spell, one finger was waving in the air in front of him at the same time, and the other hand was stretched out to the side, holding a small metal rod. Cadderly cursed himself for being stupid enough to let his guard down.He sang songs at top volume, frantically trying to build up his defenses before the mage blasted him to pieces. A bolt of lightning struck, blinding Cadderly.Words stuck in his throat. "Very good!" the magician applauded, seeing his own lightning strike absorbed by the blue light surrounding the young priest. Cadderly, with his eyesight restored, assessed the condition of the protective shield and found that this blow alone had weakened it to a dangerous degree. A second lightning strike thundered and landed at Cadderly's feet, scorching the carpet around him. "How many times can you block?" the magician called, turning to fury in an instant.He said the spell for the third time, and Cadderly knew that his shields would not be able to fully deflect the force of this attack. Cadderly reached into his pocket and produced a handful of enchanted seeds.His attack must be fast, interrupting the magician's spell.He yelled an ancient magic word and flung the seeds across the room, causing a burst of flames to burst forth. The surging flames covered everything, but Cadderly would not be so foolish as to think that such a simple spell could defeat his foe.As soon as the seed is out of his hand, he begins another new spell. Aballister stood shaking with rage.The room around him was smoldering, and behind him a magical tapestry burst out with many small flames, hissing and bursting sparks along the creases.However, he appeared to be unharmed; the areas immediately surrounding his body were also undamaged. "Bold!" the magician snapped. "Don't you know who I am?" The utterly unbelievable madness in the magician's eyes startled Cadderly, bringing up distant memories and blurry images, and making the young priest feel very small.Cadderly had no idea why—what unknowable influence did this magician have over him? "Your magic blocks lightning." Aballister laughed loudly. "But what to do with the flames?" A small flaming orb streaked through the air, and Cadderly, distracted, couldn't undo its magic in time.Fireballs engulfed the room save for the space Aballister defended, and Cadderly, glowing green, managed to repel the attack with the same defensive spell that held off the flame-breathing of the elder dragon Varun. But the aftermath of the magician's spell is the more insidious part.Smoke billowed from the tapestry; magic continued to be unleashed, and sparks shot from every direction.Each spark detonated a new green or blue blip on Cadderly's shields, wearing them down even further.Besides, the young priest had no spell against the smoke that stung his eyes and made it impossible to breathe. Cadderly could hear Aballister chanting the spell again.In sheer reflex, the young priest threw his clenched fist forward and yelled "Fett!" A blast of flame shot from his ring just in time for Aballister's next blast. lightning. The attack shattered the blue sphere, piercing through and striking Cadderly in the chest, sending him slamming backward against the burning wall.His hair flew wildly, and the back edges of his blue robe and wide-brimmed hat smoldered against the hot wall. The smoke then cleared enough that he could see Aballister again.The magician stood there unharmed, his bony face contorted with rage.What magic did he have that could penetrate the magician's seemingly indestructible protective sphere?thought the young priest suspiciously.Cadderly had always known that a wizard's magic was a more destructive force than a priest's spell, but he hadn't expected that Aballister's defenses would be so difficult to penetrate. Confusion swelled in the young priest, but he drove his fear away by concentrating on the sweet harmony of the song.He quickly created the reflective field he had used against the Manticore; his only chance of success - was to bounce the magician's magic back at him. Aballister moved faster, wagging his bony fingers again, and uttered a few quick ancient words.Green glowing magical energy spurted from his fingertips and rushed across the room.The first blow went deep into Cadderly's shoulder, causing a sharp pain.But the young priest stubbornly maintained his concentration and activated the glowing magic field, while the second and then the third magic missile seemed to disappear for a moment, and then reappeared, flying in the direction they came from go back. Aballister's eyes widened in surprise, and he instinctively began to dodge aside.But just like when Cadderly cast the defensive shield before, the magic energy was absorbed by Aballister's defensive sphere. "Damn you!" cried a frustrated Aballister.The small metal rod swung out, bringing out another bolt of lightning, and Cadderly, still coughing from the smoke, still stunned and in pain from the previous blow, tried to get out of the way. The lightning struck the reflective magic field, bounced back and slammed into Aballister's defensive sphere, sending sparks of various colors flying in all directions. "Damn you!" Aballister snarled again. Cadderly noticed his frustration, and wondered if the wizard had run out of offensive magic, or his defensive orbs were about to fail.The young priest, under constant onslaught, struggled to hold on to this glimmer of hope, using Aballister's apparent distraction against the pain and helplessness.He tried to tell himself that God Denir was with him and that the odds weren't overwhelmingly against him. Another hiss of searing lightning struck, this time at a rather low angle, burning a gash in the carpet along the way and scurrying under Cadderly's shield.The young priest felt the explosion under his feet, felt himself suddenly soaring, spinning in the air. "A shield of little use!" cried Aballister, his voice confident again. "Also please tell me, how does it deal with high-angle attacks?" Lying on the ground, Cadderly struggled to shake off the numbness from the blow, and at the same time realized that he was not far from death.He focused his thoughts on the magician's last question, and saw the magician holding the metal rod and chanting again, but looking at the wall next to him. Desperate thoughts filled the young priest's heart, and for a moment, the instinctive desire to survive made him no longer feel pain.He heard the song of Denir, and remembered that he had let a bridge fall in Caladon, and that in the rocky valley he had turned a wall into a living thing that bit.He frantically sorted out the material components that made up the wall behind him. Aballister's lightning hit the side wall and bounced to the right.Cadderly seized the stone on the wall behind him with magical energy, tore out a slab, and reassembled it. The lightning bolt hit the rear wall, where it should have bounced exactly to destroy Cadderly, but the surface of the wall had changed, and it was now at a different angle.After the ejection, the lightning flew towards the opposite side of the room, hit the magician's defensive ball again, and turned into a burst of colorful sparks without causing damage. Cadderly was still lying on the ground, eyes closed, absorbed in the song more intently.More magic missiles came, leaping over the field of magic reflection and diving in to scald and pound the young priest.The sacred song urged Cadderly into its sweetest rhythm, the rhythm of healing magic, but Cadderly knew that if he spent time tending to his wounds, it would only invite more attacks from the mage. He forced the song in the other direction, heard his own voice hoarse with pain, and thought he must be suffocating from the smoke in his nose.Another magic missile slammed into his face, burning his cheek like it was burning straight to the bone. Cadderly chanted with all his strength, followed the song to the fire elemental domain, grabbed a levitating fireball from it, and shot a flame at the magician. Cadderly could not see what was happening, but he heard Aballister's cry of pain, and the sound of retreating footsteps on the stones of the corridor at the back of the room.The smoke was still thickening, trying to choke him. He must get out of here! Cadderly tried to hold his breath, but found he was out of breath.He tried to catch the song, but his mind was too numb, too filled with chaotic images of his own dying.He kicked his feet, turned and crawled on the ground, clutching at the edge of the broken carpet, pulling himself forward blindly, hoping he could remember the correct path out of the room.