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"A table would look better here," he announced, figuring that his host, Abaltister, could hear his every word And so the chair beca supports carved with eyes and candles and rolled scrolls, the syhma

Cadderly looked to the only apparent exit frorand roo directly opposite the wall he had sohtly, searching for invisible objects or other extradin of Aballister

The young priest moved to the table he had created, felt its smooth polish beneath its hands He smiled as an inspiration - a divine inspiration, he ic and reached out to the nearest tapestry, reweaving its design He recalled the reat hall of the Edificant Library, pictured its every detail in his mind, and made this one a n"arly exact replica

A chair beside hi desk, complete with an inkwell lined with Deneirian runes A second tapestry becah the forer

Cadderly felt his strength swell froes of his own creations, felt as if his as od, his source of power The more he altered the room, the more this place came to rese priest’s confidence soared With every ie of Deneirian worship he created, hts and in his heart

Suddenly Aballister - it had to be Aballister - stood at the opening of the ornate hall

"I have made somei his arht have hid his nervousness from his enemy, but Cadderly couldn’t deny the moisture that covered his palms

In a sudden ether and cried out a word of power that Cadderly did not recognize I the roo about the wizard’s er from the obviously controlled es of his consciousness from a distant place

"I do not approve of the icons of false gods decorating my private chambers," the wizard said, his voice steady

Cadderly nodded and brought an easy s

The wizard walked to the side of the entrance, his dark robes trailing out aze locked fully on the young priest Cadderly turned to keep hierous wizard hts Already several defensive spells were sorted out and in line, ready for Cadderly to release thereat discomfort to me," Aballister said, his voice a wheeze, his throat injured froreat benefit"

Cadderly concentrated on the tone of the voice, not on the specific words Soain froes of Carradoon, of long ago

"I ht have ht have sat back here in co the peoples of the region under ue - but the conquest, too, can be delicious Do you not agree?"

"I have no taste for food gotten at the expense of others," Cadderly said

"But you do!" the wizard declared i priest was even quicker to retort

The wizard laughed at him "You are so proud of your accoht you to my door You have killed, dear Cadderly Killed le of that act, the sense of power?"

The clai, had brought nothing more than revulsion to Cadderly Still, if the wizard had spoken to hi killed Barjin hung thick around Cadderly’s shoulders, the words would have been devastating But not any more Cadderly had come to accept what fate had placed in his path, had coer did his soul mourn for the dead Barjin or for any of the others

"I did as I was forced to do," he replied with sincere confidence "This war should never have started, but if it must be played out, then I play to win" ��

"Good," the wizard purred "With justice on your side?"

"Yes" Cadderly did not flinch at all with the confident reply

"Are you proud of yourself?" Aballister asked

"I will be glad when the region is safe," Cadderly answered This is not a question of pride It is a question of morality, and, as you said, of justice"

"So cocksure," the wizard said with a soft chuckle, er to his pursed lips and studied the young priest intently, scanning Cadderly, every inch

It seeh this man expected Cadderly, for soh the wizard’s esti to the youngercock in a yard of foxes," the wizard announced at length "A flash of confidence and brilliance that is quickly lost in a pool of blood"

"The issue is bigger than rimly

The issue is your pride!" Aballister snapped back "And my own What is there in this misery that we call life beyond our accoacy we shall leave behind?"

Cadderly winced at the words, at the thought that any h to practice the art of wizardry, could be so singularly driven and self-absorbed

"Can you ignore the suffering you have caused?" the young priest asked incredulously "Do you not hear the cries of the dying and of those the dead have left behind?"

They do not rowled, but the intensity of the denial led Cadderly to believe that he had struck a sensitive chord, that perhaps there was some flicker of conscience under this man’s selfish hide "/ aoals"

Cadderly nearly swooned He had heard those exact words before, spoken in exactly the say one, lost in the swirl of of what? Cadderfy wondered Of distance?

He looked up again to see the wizard chanting and waggling the fingers of one hand in the air before hi a small metallic rod

Cadderly silently berated hi out the song with all his voice, frantic to get up his defenses before the wizard fried him

The words stuck in Cadderly’s throat as a lightning bolt thundered in, blinding hi his blast absorbed into blue hues around the young priest

Cadderly, his vision returned, took le attack had thinned it dangerously

A second blast roared in, grounding out at Cadderly’s feet, scorching the rug about him

"How ed He took up his chant for a third time, and Cadderly knew that his protection spell would not deflect the full force of this one

Cadderly reached into his pouch and pulled forth a handful of enchanted seeds He had to strike fast, to interrupt the wizard’s spell He cried out a rune of enchant a series of popping, fiery explosions

All i flah to doubt that his simple spell had defeated his foe As soon as the seeds left his hand, he took up a new chant

Aballister stood tree All the room about the wizard s the folds of a h, and the area immediately around him was unscathed

"How dare you?" the wizard asked "Do you not knoho I am?"