Curse of the Shadowmage by Anthony Mark Page B

with awesome power—power over the substance of shadows. It was a magic that was passed on to his only son, Talek Talembar, who became a bard and a sorcerer in his own right. As the years went by and Verraketh aged not, he became known as the Shadowmage; his kingdom was called Ebenfar.
    “The years turned into centuries, and the magic of the Shadowstar began to transform Verraketh until he was a man and a mage no longer, but a thing of pure and evil magic, which folk in fear named the Shadowking.” Morhion regarded his two listeners solemnly. “I think you both know the rest of the tale. Seeking dominion over all men, the Shadowking forged the Nightstone. But Talek Talembar defeated his father and sealed both Shadowking and Nightstone inside the crag upon which, an eon later, Iriaebor was raised.”
    “So it was from his father that Talek Talembar inherited his shadow magic?” Mari asked.
    “That is so,” Morhion replied. “There is something else I learned, though not directly from the Mal’eb’dala.” He turned to the halfling innkeeper. “Estah, what was the name of Caledan’s father?”
    She scowled, obviously wondering at the purpose of this question. “It was Caledan Caldorien.” “And the name of his father.”
    “Why, Caledan Caldorien, of course,” Estah replied in consternation. “Morhion, you know as well as I that it’s a family name. It’s been passed down from father to son for centuries.”
    “Yes,” the mage replied gravely. “Just like the shadow magic.”
    fChill fingers danced up Mari’s spine. “Get to the point, Morhion.”
    The mage pulled a sheaf of parchment from his belt and unrolled it on the table. He pointed to a series of runes. “This is the name Talek Talembar. It is written in Talfir, the language spoken in these lands a thousand years ago. Later, when folk came from the east, crossing the Sunset Mountains to settle the Western Heartlands, they brought their own language with them. Many of the old names, of both people and places, were still used, but the tongue of the easterners contained different sounds than the speech of the Talfirc. As a result, the old names were bastardized—their pronunciations changed—so they could be written in the new language.”
    Morhion pointed to another line of writing on the parchment. The letters looked vaguely familiar, but Mari couldn’t quite read them.
    “This is ‘Talek Talembar’ as it was written in the language of the easterners,” Morhion explained. “Only it wouldn’t have been pronounced the same as in Talfir. It would have sounded something more like ‘Calen Calendir.’ A few centuries ago, a new wave of immigrants came over the Sunset Mountains from the kingdoms of Cormyr and Sembia. These were our direct ancestors, Mari. They brought yet another language—the one we now speak—and the names of people and places in the
    Western Heartlands were changed once again, this time to conform to Cormyrean writing and pronunciation.” The mage pointed to the final line of writing on the parchment. “This is the Cormyrean version of the name ‘Calen Calendir.’”
    Mari read the words, then looked at the mage. “Caledan Caldorien?” she whispered.
    Morhion’s chill blue gaze locked on her own. “The very same.”
    “But that means that Caledan is a direct descendant of Talek Talembar!” Estah exclaimed.
    Mari spoke, half in a daze. “And a descendant of the Shadowking as well. Of course! It all makes sense now. That’s why Caledan’s shadow magic had the power to defeat the Shadowking. It came from the Shadowking himself!”
    “It must be so,” Morhion replied grimly. “The same magic that flowed in the veins of Verraketh flows in Caledan’s.”
    Mari grappled for understanding. “But if that’s true, why didn’t any of Caledan’s other ancestors become shadowkings?”
    “I believe I know the answer to that,” Morhiftn explained. “Talek Talembar had many descendants, and all possessed the shadow