Stalking Darkness

about it, of course, but so—Ah, here it is!”
    He spread a large chart out on a polished table and peered down at it. “He was interested in the movements of Rendel’s Spear, you see.”
    “A comet?” asked Seregil.
    “Yes.” The astrologer pointed to a series of tiny symbols arcingacross the chart. “It has a synodical cycle of fifty-seven years. This is the year of its return. He helped me calculate the date of its appearance.”
    Seregil leaned forward eagerly. “And you have it?”
    The astrologer referred to his parchments again. “Let me see, going by the observations recorded in Yrindai’s Ephemeris, as well as our own calculations, I believe Rendel’s Spear should be visible on the fifteenth night of Lithion.”
    “That gives us just over two weeks, then,” Micum murmured.
    “Of course, it will remain in the sky for nearly a week,” Leiteus added. “It’s one of the largest comets, a most impressive display. Of particular interest both to Nysander and myself, however, is the fact that this cycle of the comet coincides with a solar eclipse.”
    Seregil shot Micum a meaningful glance, then asked, “Would that also be considered a synodical event?”
    “Certainly, and one of the rarer variety,” replied the astrologer. “I assumed that’s why Nysander was so curious about it.”
    “Eclipses are unlucky things,” Micum noted. “I once knew a man who went blind afterward.”
    “It’ll be a doubly unlucky day with the comet in the sky,” Seregil added, though to Micum’s ear he sounded more pleased than alarmed. “ ‘Plague stars,’ I’ve heard these comets of yours called, bringers of ill fortune, war, disease.”
    “That’s true, Lord Seregil,” Leiteus concurred. “The College of Divination has already sent word to the Queen, advising the suspension of all trade on that day. People should keep to their homes until the evil influence passes. Such a conjunction has not occurred in centuries.”
    “And do you have a date for that?” asked Seregil.
    “On the twentieth.”
    “Was there any other sort of information Nysander seemed interested in?”
    The astrologer stroked his chin. “Well, he did ask me to calculate if such a conjunction had occurred before.”
    “And did you?”
    Leiteus smiled. “I didn’t have to, actually. As every Skalan astrologer knows, it was that very same conjunction that heralded the beginning of the Great War six hundred eighty-four years ago. So you see, Lord Seregil, your talk of unlucky ‘plague stars’ does have some basis.”
    •  •  •
    Leaving the astrologer with assurances to send word of Nysander, Micum and Seregil headed back to the city.
    “I admit, it makes some sense if you accept that Nysander’s right about Mardus aiming for that conjunction,” Micum said as they rode.
    “He is right, I’m sure of it. Think about it, Micum. There haven’t been any major incidents between Skala and Plenimar for twenty years, yet all of a sudden Plenimar decides to launch another war of aggression, just as they did in the Great War. And the old Overlord, who opposed such a war, conveniently dies just in time for his hawkish son to take the throne? And there’s the same conjunction? And the attack on the Orëska? And if that whole business does all revolve around some rite or ceremony having to do with their Eater of Death, then what more propitious time could there be than during the conjunction?”
    “But what is it all for?” Micum growled. “Those odds and ends that Nysander was guarding, what does Mardus want with them? If the Plenimarans need them that badly, and now, just as war is breaking out again—”
    “That’s just it, though. Nysander said he wasn’t the first Guardian. His mentor, Arkoniel, was before him, and the wizard before him. Who knows how long Orëska wizards have been watching that same hidey-hole in the vaults? Those things could date all the way back to the Great War. You’ve heard the legends of necromancers and walking dead from that time, and everyone knows it was the wizards who finally turned the tide.”
    “You mean to say that the Plenimarans are going to use those things to summon the power of this god?”
    “Something like that.”
    They both rode in silence for a long moment.
    “Well, we’d better get moving,” Micum said at last. “If you and Nysander are right, then we’ve only got two weeks to find this mysterious temple, if it exists, and a long way to go to get there.