The mage's face fell serious. "You ordinary people hear of the Test and all the rumors about what goes on." Magius made a cutting motion with his free hand. 'The rumors pale in comparison to the truth."

The Test was the final proof of a mage's ability to cope with the power. It did not matter which of the orders he or she belonged to. All magic-users took the Test.

Magius dropped the tip of his staff to the floor and leaned heavily upon it. "I cannot say what others have gone through, just that some did not survive. I went into the Test with every possible scenario plotted out in my mind. I thought they would send dark elves after me, force me to kill an elderly or ill person. Perhaps, I believed, they would have me stand at the edge of the Abyss and face the Queen herself. I knew some of it would be illusion, but much of it would be very real. Real enough to kill me."

Huma nodded understanding. Word naturally leaked out. Some of the rumors, it seemed, carried elements of truth.

The handsome face broke into a smile, one that seemed mad under the circumstances. Magius laughed lightly, although Huma could not guess what he found so funny. "They fooled me completely. Or perhaps even they do not truly know all that goes on during the Test. I suspect that sometimes the power itself takes a hand. Whatever the case, I was confronted with the one thing I found I could not accept.

"My death. My death in the future."

There was nothing Huma could say to that. He might deny that it was real, try to convince Magius that it had to be all illusion, but what could he say that he himself believed?

"Somehow, I succeeded in surviving. I think that madness was what waited for me if I failed. I fooled them by entering into another type of madness then. A madness created by the realization that what I saw would indeed come to pass. I left the tower, left the Test, knowing my fate and determined to do something about it.

"And I found I could not. Not by the strict bylaws of the Orders. Despite their supposed freedom from restrictions, neither the Red nor the Black Robes offered anything that could assist me. They were still too limited, and I certainly was not cut out to wear the robes of white, as you well know."

Magius chuckled at the last, then sighed. The candles had burned down to nearly nothing.

"With a realization of the restrictions placed upon me by the Three Orders, I decided that I would be forced to step beyond the lines they had drawn in order to-if you'll pardon me for saying so-change the future."

Huma stepped back involuntarily. The wild spells, the outlandish clothing, so different from the austere robes of other mages. He shook his head, not believing that it were possible to do what Magius had done.

"Then and there," Magius was saying, his attention focused inward, "I turned from the formalized, stifling training of the Conclave and became a renegade."

Chapter 10.

"Does it shock you so, Huma? I was young, unbridled. I probably would have left for other reasons. Disgust for the Test, perhaps, which I still find a barbaric way of trimming the dead leaves."

Huma slumped back on the bed. To one brought up under the strict beliefs of the knighthood, all magic-users were untrustworthy. A renegade was considered blacker than even the Black Robes, for he would meddle with spells even they would balk at using.

Magius read the look and smiled ruefully. "A renegade is only what he makes of himself, Huma. There are very few, since it is hard to escape the notice of the Conclave, but some of those few are very good people. Not powerful enough, sometimes. Had they taken the Test, most of them would have perished. While they live, they do what little they can to help others. Of course, there is always the other side."

"Galan Dracos."

"Yes." Magius had gone pale. "Even the Queen's dark clerics fear him. She needs him, though."

The knight stiffened. "You know a lot."

"I-I heard much of him as I traveled. I thought he might be the one to aid me, to give me protection. He has no fear of the Three Orders."

There was motion in the next room. Magius stepped back into the shadows. "I do not think we can continue our discussion for now. Try to understand that everything I've done is for good reasons. We'll talk later."

Magius melted into the darkness. Leaping up, the knight put a hand into the shadowy corner. Only walls, as he suspected. Whatever portal Magius had opened had just been closed.

With a snarl, Kaz burst into the room. "I heard him! Where is he?"

Startled by the ferocity of the minotaur, Huma stepped back. "What is it, Kaz?"

"This is a trap, as I suspected! My ax is gone! My daggers are missing!"

"What are you talking about?" Huma reached for his own sword, which hung near the bed. Only- The sheath hung as before, but it was empty now. Hurriedly, Huma went through his belongings. Like Kaz, he was missing all his weapons. They had disappeared even while the two old friends had talked.

Huma put a hand to his head. The room was becoming terribly hot. He felt flushed. Kaz was suddenly by his side, supporting him.

"What has he done to you? Are you ill?"

"I'm fine." He waved his sympathetic companion away. "It's nothing."

Huma had been a fool. He had believed that the past still counted, when now it was all too obvious that the mage had been lying. The inconsistencies, the overlengthy explanations, left more questions than they answered.

Huma reached for his armor. "We're leaving-somehow."

Kaz helped him suit up.

The hallway was apparently unguarded, although the knight was sure that unseen servants watched their every move. He wondered how far Magius would allow them to go.

"I don't like this," Kaz muttered. He, far more than the human, distrusted the workings of any magic-user.

They reached the long, spiral staircase without incident- which only served to make them that much more cautious. Huma reached out and touched the bannister with one finger. When he felt nothing, he dared to grip it. He took a step downward. Another. A third. Kaz followed as closely behind as his huge bulk permitted. Their pace quickened unconsciously.

On the sixth step down, Huma blinked. He was no longer on the step, but back at the top of the staircase. Five steps below, Kaz whirled about, searching for him. Before Huma could warn him, the burly easterner set one foot down on the sixth step. Huma had only a quick glimpse of Kaz before the latter vanished, to reappear beside him a moment later.

"More tricks," muttered Kaz.

They tried again, achieving the same result. Each time, the one who put a foot down on the step never noticed the shift. It was magic of the most complex and subtle nature.

They were trapped in some loop. Huma quit first, realizing the folly. Kaz continued for some time after, hoping there might be a way out. In the end, though, the minotaur joined Huma in the corridor.

"What now?"

Huma dropped the pack he had been carrying and undid the empty sheath. "Nothing. We won't be going anywhere, it seems."

"We cannot stay here!" The red glare was returning to the giant's eyes.

"Have you any ideas? There are no windows, and the walls are solid. At least for us."

"We could climb down to the corridor."

Huma picked up the empty sheath and walked over to the stairway. He lifted the object over the rail and dropped it.

The sheath disappeared.

While Kaz looked on, Huma turned and pointed to the floor. The empty sheath lay behind them. "We wait. We have no choice." The minotaur's shoulders slumped in defeat.

There came a time when sleep forced itself upon them, despite their attempts to stay alert. Thus it was that Huma dreamed. Dreamed of Gwyneth and a mountain. Dreamed of a silver dragon in flight. Dreamed of evil spellcasters and gods battling. They all mixed together so randomly that he was never really sure what the dream was about or how it even began.

It ended abruptly, he knew, for it ended when the voice broke through his sleep.

"Wwaaaakkee."

It took Huma several moments to realize that the sibilant whisper was not part of his dreams. Rather, it was a misty servant with a summons.

"Maaassteerr. Wiiissshhheess. Sssspeeaakk."

Huma rose and Kaz, hearing the elemental, did likewise.

"Hhuuumaaaa. Ooonnnly."

"I will go with him whether your master likes it or not! Now lead on, or I'll inhale you!"

Whether or not the air elemental actually understood the minotaur's words, it drifted toward the stairway. Huma followed, with Kaz close behind. The elemental led them downward. There was some hesitation on Huma's part when they neared the level that had repulsed them earlier. He took a single step. This time, much to his surprise, he found his progress unimpeded. The aerial servant hovered near him, as if impatient to move on. Huma continued down, slowly at first, then more quickly as it became obvious that Magius had set no traps.

A loud shout of anger caused him to quickly look up at the level above. While Huma's back had been turned, Kaz had attempted to follow the knight. Much to the minotaur's annoyance, the spell still held him in thrall.

Wordlessly, Huma turned and followed the servant down the twisting stairway and through corridors unseen the day before. These halls were much more like the grove, darker than it seemed possible, in some places. Now and then, things flitted in the flickering light of the few torches. Only when they passed these torches could Huma be sure that he was still following the servant.

"Maaassteerr."

Huma did not understand at first, for the room he entered was as dark and gloomy as all the corridors had been, and he could see no evidence that it was inhabited. Then he noted the sound of something moving.

A single word was uttered, and the room was lit by the staff of Magius. The sounds Huma had heard were those of the mage rising from a chair. As the other turned around, Huma's mouth opened in complete shock. To his eyes, Magius seemed nearly twice as old as he had appeared earlier. One would have never believed that the two men were of the same age.

"Huma." The magic-user's tone almost begged for friendship. All the anger that Huma had contained within him began to melt away as he studied the sudden deprivation of vitality.

"Magius, what-?"

"I know. I leave you with more questions and fears each time we meet. I'm afraid I can't change that even now, although I will attempt to clear up a few difficulties. First, I want you to see this."

The mage led him into an adjoining room, where Huma found himself facing the earth elemental that had led them through the grove. Something lay before the living mound, something unnervingly familiar.

Huma recognized it. "A dreadwolf."

It was bent at awkward angles, and Huma realized that one limb was torn away. Odder still, it was petrified. Reaching down, he verified the thought. It was like touching a rock.

The sightless eyes still seemed to watch him. Huma turned to Magius for explanation.

"There were three more, but they perished in the grove. Somehow, battered and torn as it was, this one made it to the field, where he," Magius indicated the earth elemental, "finished it. The damage is done. Galan Dracos knows where I am and probably knows that you are here as well. I have no choice."

Huma listened, unsure what Magius was leading to.

"Come with me." They returned to the other room, and Magius walked over to a wall on which hung a high, gold-trimmed mirror. It was oval, decorated in elaborate scrollwork. Magius tapped the staff on the floor and said, "Show me."

"There. The peak in the center." A huge mountain loomed in the foreground. Recognition came swiftly. It was the same mountain so prominently displayed on one of the two great tapestries. "When I was tested in the tower, I saw that-the mountain. I remembered it well, for it was the final site conjured. I did not know it was real until I found this place, and the tapestry in the hall. When I saw it hanging on the wall, I knew there was more truth to the scenes in my Test than even my instructors knew. This mountain means something to the war. It conceals something. It is the one puzzle I cannot fathom. I don't even know its exact location, but it is west of here-southwest possibly."

He turned to Huma and held out the knight's weapons, though his hand had been empty moments before. "The minotaur also has his weapons back. The elemental will lead you to the underground passages and to horses that I have kept for emergencies."

The tower suddenly shook.

Magius whirled around and stared at the mirror. "Show me!"

The mountain scene vanished, to be replaced by a visual of the citadel, surrounded. A huge, black dragon with a rider. Other dragons, red, nearby.

"Moons of Krynn!" Magius smiled bitterly. "Am I worthy of the attention of Crynus himself?"

"Crynus!"

The mage looked at Huma and the bitter smile deepened. "Oh, yes, you two have met. Had I the time, I would tell you much of importance concerning him and the Black Guardsmen. As it is ..." The tower shook again and the ceiling began to crumble.

"Arion!" In summons to the spellcaster's urgent call, the misty servant formed before them. 'Take them to the stables! Hurry!"

"Maaasssteerr."

"Magius, let me help."

"Help me?" The mage smiled. "I once stood at the side of Galan Dracos. I was second only to him among his gathering of mages. It will take more than dragons to stop me."

A powerful gust of wind thrust Huma through the doorway even as he pondered how truthful Magius was being. Not just about his abilities, but his reasons. Would Huma ever know for sure?

"Huma!"

"Kaz!"

The minotaur came bursting down the dark corridor, heedless of any threats. True to his word, Magius had returned the minotaur's weapons, including the huge battle ax.

The massive warrior's first words were quite predictable. "What madness has he brought upon us now?"

"Only the warlord, six dragons, and Paladine knows what else."

More masonry crashed down.

Kaz raised the ax high over his head. "By my ancestors for thirty generations, I will not die crushed under rock!"

"Fooollss! Fooolooowww!"

'That thing-"

"-is our guide out of here! No more words!"

They hurried after the air elemental, which now seemed to possess startling speed. It was glowing slightly silver now, so there was no chance of losing it in the dark corridors.

The stable proved to be more like a cave with ventilation. There were half a dozen horses, ranging in all sizes, but all well-muscled and sleek. While the two chose their mounts, the air elemental vanished.