"I would have picked a better spot. There are only birches and scrub trees around here. Give me a good oak or redwood grove any day," Andoralson grumbled, mostly to himself. The others were far ahead and off the path, catching up with Gamaliel and Evaine.
The ranger discovered the sorceress and barbarian standing in front of a small, crumbling stone cottage. Half the structure was caved in, and chairs and tables had obviously been tossed out of windows and doors.
Evaine picked up a chair leg and sighed. "I guess if you leave your home often enough, things like this are bound to happen." Her tone was emotionless, but shock at the destruction showed on her face.
"It was ogres, about a week ago, from the look of the tracks," Ren announced. Two blackened ogre skulls, already picked clean by wildlife, confirmed his report. "Looks like these two were blasted by lightning."
Evaine smiled grimly. "I expect my guards and warding spells probably blasted quite a few of them as they invaded. I hope what they found was worth the effort."
"Allow me to enter first, miss. Enemies may lurk within. I will alert you when I know your home is safe." Miltiades bowed low to Evaine, and the sorceress nodded. His courtly manners were hard to resist.
At the paladin's signal, the group entered what remained of the small tower. Almost everything had been tossed out of the lower room. On a small pedestal in the center of the chamber rested a piece of parchment. Evaine read the note aloud:
" 'To the former owner of this structure. My troops have destroyed this place at my orders. I am the new ruler of these lands. You may join my armies forming on the Moonsea or you may die. Know, however, that great rewards await those who serve me. No wizard who is not in my service will be allowed to live in my domains.' " She grimaced. "It's signed by Lord Marcus."
"He's on to us!" Talenthia cried. "He knows we killed his werewolves!" The druid began wringing her hands and pacing the room.
"Oh, be quiet. He does not know we killed them." Evaine fairly glowed with rage. "The gall of that man." Suddenly, her tone became icy and determined. "Well, Gamaliel, you and I must pay a visit to this Marcus to discuss what has happened to our home. Maybe we'll do a little tower-smashing of our own."
Andoralson calmed his cousin. "I think you can count us in on your visit," he said quietly.
"Oh, I think we'll all be in on that party," Ren agreed. "Will you still be able to cast your spell to find the pool?"
"I'm sure I can. I don't think there's much to worry about," she said, striding to the east wall of the chamber. It looked fairly solid. "Especially if the attackers were ogres. If so, they wouldn't have been able to find this."
With a wave of her hand, a sparkling green outline of a door took shape on the wall. The door frame crackled with sparks and energy; the light pulsed with a faint, rhythmic drumming noise.
Evaine smiled at the rest of them. "Please excuse the drumming sound. The noise you hear is the enhanced sound of my heartbeat. I've been told it's quite disturbing to friends entering my spellcasting chamber for the first time. We'll be entering a pocket dimension. Naturally, I attached the room to my lifeforce when the chamber was created. Please come in." She and Gamaliel walked through the strange door.
Ren and Miltiades looked at each other, then cautiously walked in behind her. Talenthia and Andoralson stood in amazement outside the magical chamber, inspecting the energies filling the door frame.
"I didn't see any walls large enough for this huge chamber when I walked around the tower. I don't think I would have missed such a bulge, do you?"
Andoralson chuckled. His cousin could control weather and heal the worst injuries, but she was still naive about wizardly magic. "I expect that the bulge, as you call it, is a magical enchantment I've never been able to master. Dimensional magics are fascinating. I wish I could cast spells like this, but I haven't a clue as to the control necessary for such energies. I once tried to create a chamber the size of an egg, and I couldn't cast another spell for a week. This chamber is bigger than most peasant cottages. And attaching her lifeforce to a pocket dimension is tricky business. I bet the entire chamber shrinks if she's injured or sick." The druid couldn't hide his admiration for the chamber.
Talenthia stood mesmerized by the emerald crackles of energy pulsing like a heartbeat. Looking into the green chamber, she could see the others listening to Evaine. But to her senses, the room seemed far too unnatural.
"Go ahead," she murmured. "I think I'll stand guard here. You can never tell when those ogres might be back."
"Sure, Talenthia. That's probably a good idea." Andoralson sensed his cousin's uneasiness. As he entered, he found Evaine explaining the next step in casting the location spell.
"And if you'll give me a lock of your hair, Ren, I'll be able to use your energies to connect more directly with the pool of darkness. I'll read my notes on the spell tonight and cast the magic early tomorrow. Now, let's make camp in what's left of my home while I see what I can find in the wreckage."
Ren tried to help Gamaliel set things right, but the vast amount of destruction made it a useless effort. The tower would need to be completely rebuilt, and unless powerful magics or master stonemasons were employed, Evaine's home would never be restored.
Miltiades volunteered his services to help Evaine salvage her belongings and hunt for missing items. The undead paladin's quiet nature helped the sorceress channel her anger and her sense of loss.
Andoralson and Evaine called upon numerous spells to secure the first floor. The wooden doors and shutters were mended, the stones sufficiently melded to hold the walls in place. It was no guarantee of safety, but at least it would keep out some of the wandering creatures of the woods.
The companions were all exhausted by the time they rolled out their blankets in front of Evaine's fireplace. Despite the day's unpleasant surprises, everyone slept soundly, safe inside the stone walls.
As the cloudy sky began to lighten with the morning, Evaine was completing her spell preparations. Everyone but Talenthia gathered in the casting chamber to watch the sorceress. She set up many warding spells around the perimeter of the room. Andoralson added to the protections with some spells of his own.
"Never hurts to be too careful," the druid explained, smiling to Evaine.
Around mid-morning, Evaine set up the magical brazier. To her great relief, the flame lit instantly upon removing the platinum cap. She began casting the pool-finding spell with a passion in her eyes and voice. Her powers were strong within her own pocket dimension.
Evaine lay the quartz crystal on the enchanted flame and spoke lengthy arcane passages, her voice rising and falling rhythmically. Reaching for the crystal, she laid it on the cloth in her lap and lapsed into concentration.
Her mind's eye easily left her body. Her essence rose above the ruined tower to survey the land for miles around. This time, the magic of the brazier, Evaine's strong center of power, and Ren's link to the pool combined to create a faint light forming a path. The magical light began at the tower and cut over the forest and into the inky blackness just a few miles ahead.
Evaine chose to ignore the light at first. Instead of following its path, she directed her essence toward the smaller patch of darkness. The large mass of blackness had grown so enormous since the last time the sorceress cast her spell that the two evil auras were now only miles apart.
She gathered her strength to pierce the smaller of the ebony mists. The darkness was permeated by intense evil. The sorceress's instincts screamed at her not to touch the vile cloud, but she fought against her will to tap the blackness and learn more about its nature. Then she turned her attention to the larger field. Although she was wrought with fear, she knew that she had to compare the two black fields. Approaching the larger cloud, Evaine learned the painful truth-that their evil natures were exactly the same.