And time stopped.

Dalamar sat up, his body tingling. He felt numb, removed from his surroundings, aloof even from his flesh-and this was a good thing, for that numbness held his pain in abeyance. Gradually he pushed himself to his feet, with a sense he was pushing through air that had the viscosity of cold syrup.

His first thought was Kalrakin, as he pushed himself to his feet, and he kept his eyes on the stunned sorcerer. Dalamar felt a red haze across his vision, and he thought it was an effect of the spell. Only after he touched his face did he realize that it was blood, smearing across both of his eyes.

The dark elf's legs staggered weakly. When he tried to raise a hand, he found that he could barely extend his arm before him. He was disoriented, and realized that he was in shock and had lost a lot of blood. If time had flowed on, he might well be bleeding to death at this very moment.

But time had stopped, and this was keeping him alive.

Kalrakin stood in the rubble-strewn hallway like a statue, hands on his hips, his bearded face twisted into a leering grimace as he stared down at Jenna. The Red Robe was likewise still, in the thrall of the spell. To the sorcerer and the enchantress, Dalamar knew, nothing was happening right now-this was merely a nonexistent space between two instants of time.

The dark elf slowly approached Kalrakin. The wild-magic sorcerer was trapped in the moment, but his fist was still wrapped tightly about the Irda Stone. Dalamar would have to leave him alone-if he touched the sorcerer or the stone, the spell would be broken, and time would start flowing again; if that happened while he and Jenna remained in this corridor, he knew they were as good as dead.

Still, the gods had given him the power for this spell, and he would not waste the opportunity. Wrapping a strip of cloth around his head, he tried to stem the worst of the bleeding, though he knew his jaw and shredded cheek were still exposed. There was nothing to be done about that, not for now.

He went to Jenna, saw that she had melted one of the large stones that had pinned her ankle, using a spell to soften the rock. Gingerly he reached down to take her by the arm, and as he pulled her free, she began to respond to the pressure of his touch. She rose to her feet by her own power, though her eyes remained blank, nor did she show any signs of breathing or speech.

But she followed his lead willingly enough as he led her away, through the rubble of the chaotic mess. He guided her down the long passageway to the south tower, carefully taking her around the shattered stones on the great stairway. They climbed until they reached the great circular hall, making a full circumference around the Hall of Mages.

That great chamber occupied most of the interior of the south tower, at least here on the ground level and for nearly a hundred feet above. There was no door into the hall-the mages who gathered there had always used other means to pass through the stone walls that enclosed their most sacred chamber. But the ones there now were trapped by Kalrakin's wild magic.

Teleporting inside was useless, he knew-Kalrakin had said as much, and besides, Dalamar had already expended that spell when he had first attempted to enter the Tower. But there were other means of penetrating stone barriers, other ways a wizard could gain access to a place he needed to go.

But he could only wield one spell at a time, especially in this condition. With a twinge of fear, he waved away the stop -time spell. Jenna woke up, cried out with a shiver, clinging to his arm, gasping in surprise.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"This is the wall surrounding the Hall of Mages," Dalamar explained. "And I need to open a dimension door."

Coryn was ready. This small room, as it had once before, had provided her with a quiet haven, where she could collect her thoughts, gather her courage, and make a plan. She had recovered her nerve. And she had found her favorite, familiar weapons, the simple bow and arrows that had helped her to put food on her family's table for so much of her life.

She decided to start with the teleport spell, and once again the word came to her lips, though it had been a long time since she had studied the enchantment. But that fact didn't seem to matter anymore. Just when she needed the power, it was there, waiting, ready. She arrived unerringly near the second floor landing of the great central stairway of the north tower.

She could see down to the bottom of the great stairway, though much of the flight had been torn away by the blasts of wild magic. Still, the arched hallway leading to the anteroom was visible, from the base of the staircase.

Holding her breath, she started down the steps, listening for signs of Kalrakin or Luthar. She heard a violent commotion some distance away, more walls breaking, stones cracking, and supporting structures collapsing.

Her bow was ready, the string taut. She had an arrow in her hands as she made her way carefully down the steps. As she neared the bottom, she nocked the missile on the bowstring and started to pull the weapon back. She thought of the sorcerer's artifact, and for the first time, the memory of that stone brought the hint of a tiny, hopeful smile to her lips.

She knew the Irda Stone could not stop a sharp, steel arrowhead.

Wild Magic

Dalamar stared at the stone wall. The spell was ready to cast; indeed it was pulsing in his mind, anxious for its release. He raised his hand to make the sign of the dimension door against the side of the great hall.

But the words emerged thick and slurred. His tongue felt like a useless piece of swollen meat. Air escaped through the torn fabric of his cheek, while his lips could not seem to articulate the most basic of sounds. His eyes watered with frustration.

"Here, I'll do it," Jenna said with surprising tenderness. The dark elf watched bitterly as she made the sign and smoothly cast the spell.

Immediately a passage appeared through the thick black stone of the wall. It was a shimmering doorway outlined in blue light, magical but also real. The wall here was some six feet thick, but the dimension door was flat and thin as a piece of paper. It was also visible to those on the other side of the wall.

"Who's there?" growled a thick voice from within that great chamber as soon as the dimension door shimmered into view. A burly dwarf squatted close to the door, his eyeless face cocked in an expression of listening.

"It is I, Willi," Jenna shouted, "coming to get you all out of here."

"A dim door?" The dwarf sounded skeptical. "Don't ya think we already tried that in here? Wit' no luck!"

"The sorcerer's spell bars you from getting out, via teleport or other spells. It doesn't stop us from opening a door on this side of the wall," Jenna explaining, raising her voice in urgency. "And Dalamar is here with me. Now come, all who serve the Three Gods-there is no time to waste!"

Quickly the wizards massed before the door. Willim the Black was the first to step through, nodding to Jenna and Dalamar. "Where is that bastard? I want his spleen for breakfast!" he growled. The half-elf woman in the black robe came next, gliding past Willi. She looked shocked to see Dalamar.

"By Nuitari! What happened to you?" gasped Sirene, her face going pale as she beheld the dark elf's horribly scarred visage.

"Never mind about my petty injuries!" Dalamar snapped, tugging the cowl around to obscure the right side of his face as much as possible. "Get on through the dimension door- and hurry the others behind you!"

"We'll have to leave Adramis," an elder elf, a White Robe named Suwannis, said as he appeared. "He's badly hurt, and we don't dare move him."