you."
"No, it wasn't that," Lucius said. "It was something else. Something cold and dark and... I don't know how to describe it."
Adrianna helped Lucius to his feet.
"Try," Forbeck said.
"I just saw nothing. No, that's not right. It was an empty space. I reached for a new strand, one that, somehow, I knew should be there. But it wasn't."
"Have you used this strand before?"
Lucius thought hard. "No. Never. But I just felt as though it should be there. It's like... someone takes a book from your shelf, but you cannot remember which book they took. And yet you still know it is gone. Does that make any sense?"
"Maybe," Forbeck said. "It is certainly fascinating. Lucius, I have always said you you are something of a mystery to me. Most Shadowmages are confined to the study of just one or two forms of magic. But you are different. You have access to all forms of magic, and I don't know why. My interest, of course, is whether this is something that all Shadowmages should be able to do, but have just forgotten over the ages."
"So what type of magic is it that is formed of nothing?"
"I really don't know. Maybe some strand of magic is missing..."
He trailed off, prompting Lucius to speak.
"Yes?"
Forbeck smiled. "I can give you a legend, for whatever that is worth. What do you know of the Old Races?"
"They built the harbour outside the city thousands of years ago. Apparently. Every now and again we hear about some artefact of theirs in the guild. That's about it."
"The two Old Races formed two great empires, elfs on one side, dwarfs on the other. These two empires were far more advanced than we men have ever been. There are tales of huge towers a mile high, of great magics that could fulfil any desire, of mighty sky ships that, some say, could even voyage to Kerberos itself.
"For millennia, these two empires worked together in peace and mutual prosperity, but something went wrong. Elf began to fight dwarf, and a terrible, terrible war broke out. The land shook and the sea boiled - even the sky itself burned with the magic the two empires unleashed upon one another. The death toll was catastrophic, but still they fought on, each determined to construct bigger and better war machines or destructive spells. In the end, one side went too far. Think on this for a moment. The wizards of Pontaine long ago classified the types of magic: necromancy, natural magic, spells of shadow, elemental forces, and battle magic. Once the wizards had this structure and began classifying individual spells, however, certain issues became readily apparent."
"What issues?" Lucius asked.
"They soon discovered that necromantic castings were naturally more powerful than those rooted in natural forces. In their turn, spells governing natural forces had dominance over shadow."
"That means one wizard will naturally be better than a peer, no matter how hard they both study," Lucius said.
"Well, sort of," Forbeck said. "Effort and raw talent still count for something, I am happy to say. But you have the essence of it. However, think about it in respect to your own abilities."
"If I understand the relationship of magic, then when I face another practitioner, I can gain a natural advantage over him."
"Precisely."
"So why did you not explain this to me before? It might have come in useful!"
"I was interested to see whether this would have been something you discovered for yourself. You may have come across something altogether more fundamental."
"Which is?"
"Well, there are some contradictions with this view of magic. Imagine a circle. We'll call it the Circle of Power. Start with necromancy at the top. It is ascendant over nature, which is next around the circle. Nature, in turn is dominant over shadows. Then follows the elemental forces and battle magic."
"So battle magic trumps necromancy, completing the circle," said Adrianna.
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" said Forbeck. "That is exactly what every master wizard thought for centuries.
"No, it wasn't that," Lucius said. "It was something else. Something cold and dark and... I don't know how to describe it."
Adrianna helped Lucius to his feet.
"Try," Forbeck said.
"I just saw nothing. No, that's not right. It was an empty space. I reached for a new strand, one that, somehow, I knew should be there. But it wasn't."
"Have you used this strand before?"
Lucius thought hard. "No. Never. But I just felt as though it should be there. It's like... someone takes a book from your shelf, but you cannot remember which book they took. And yet you still know it is gone. Does that make any sense?"
"Maybe," Forbeck said. "It is certainly fascinating. Lucius, I have always said you you are something of a mystery to me. Most Shadowmages are confined to the study of just one or two forms of magic. But you are different. You have access to all forms of magic, and I don't know why. My interest, of course, is whether this is something that all Shadowmages should be able to do, but have just forgotten over the ages."
"So what type of magic is it that is formed of nothing?"
"I really don't know. Maybe some strand of magic is missing..."
He trailed off, prompting Lucius to speak.
"Yes?"
Forbeck smiled. "I can give you a legend, for whatever that is worth. What do you know of the Old Races?"
"They built the harbour outside the city thousands of years ago. Apparently. Every now and again we hear about some artefact of theirs in the guild. That's about it."
"The two Old Races formed two great empires, elfs on one side, dwarfs on the other. These two empires were far more advanced than we men have ever been. There are tales of huge towers a mile high, of great magics that could fulfil any desire, of mighty sky ships that, some say, could even voyage to Kerberos itself.
"For millennia, these two empires worked together in peace and mutual prosperity, but something went wrong. Elf began to fight dwarf, and a terrible, terrible war broke out. The land shook and the sea boiled - even the sky itself burned with the magic the two empires unleashed upon one another. The death toll was catastrophic, but still they fought on, each determined to construct bigger and better war machines or destructive spells. In the end, one side went too far. Think on this for a moment. The wizards of Pontaine long ago classified the types of magic: necromancy, natural magic, spells of shadow, elemental forces, and battle magic. Once the wizards had this structure and began classifying individual spells, however, certain issues became readily apparent."
"What issues?" Lucius asked.
"They soon discovered that necromantic castings were naturally more powerful than those rooted in natural forces. In their turn, spells governing natural forces had dominance over shadow."
"That means one wizard will naturally be better than a peer, no matter how hard they both study," Lucius said.
"Well, sort of," Forbeck said. "Effort and raw talent still count for something, I am happy to say. But you have the essence of it. However, think about it in respect to your own abilities."
"If I understand the relationship of magic, then when I face another practitioner, I can gain a natural advantage over him."
"Precisely."
"So why did you not explain this to me before? It might have come in useful!"
"I was interested to see whether this would have been something you discovered for yourself. You may have come across something altogether more fundamental."
"Which is?"
"Well, there are some contradictions with this view of magic. Imagine a circle. We'll call it the Circle of Power. Start with necromancy at the top. It is ascendant over nature, which is next around the circle. Nature, in turn is dominant over shadows. Then follows the elemental forces and battle magic."
"So battle magic trumps necromancy, completing the circle," said Adrianna.
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" said Forbeck. "That is exactly what every master wizard thought for centuries.
Similar Books
