Journey into the Void Read Online Free PDF Page A

plan to kidnap the young king out from under the nose of a Vrykyl! How like him to convince a wise and sensible elven Dominion Lord to go along with him.
    â€œMaybe this time, you’ve learned your lesson,” she said to him, although she was not very hopeful. Nor, on second thought, did she want to be.
    She glanced back toward the door. If only Ulaf would come!
    Alise could not use her healing magic on Shadamehr. She had cast a Void spell in order to rescue him and his companions from the palace guards, and now she was tainted by the foul essence of the magic that can only destroy, can never be used to save or create. If she tried to heal him using her Earth magic, the spell would crumble beneath her fingers like a burnt biscuit.
    Ulaf might be able to help Shadamehr, for he was also a skilled Earth mage. She couldn’t count on him, though. He was out searching for the pecwae and, even if Jessan found him in time and sent him to her, she doubted if Ulaf could heal this wound.
    The magic of the gods could not save Shadamehr, but the magic of the Void that had wounded him might.
    Alise brought to mind the loathsome spell.
    Void magic is dangerous and destructive, not only for its victims, but also for the magi who casts it, for the magic of the Void demands a sacrifice—a bit of a magi’s own life essence to power the spell, making the spell-casting painful and debilitating to the user. Even the simplest spell causes lesions and pustules to erupt on the skin, while more powerful spells can inflict such pain that the sorcerer falls unconscious or dies.
    Prohibited from using the healing arts by the terrible nature of their magic, Void sorcerers had developed spells that could transfer a bit of the sorcerer’s own life essence into the body of another in order to save him. The spell was said to have been perfected in ancient Dunkarga, a land where Void magic is widely accepted. The spell was not often used, and then only under the most dire circumstances, for if the spell was badly cast or the sorcerer made a mistake, the result could be fatal for both caster and patient.
    Above all, the textbooks cautioned, “The spell should never be cast by a sorcerer who is by himself, without someone else on hand to assist him. For in order to cast the spell, the sorcerer must place himself in physical contact with the person who is to receive the benefits. When the spell is cast, the Void magic drains the life essence from the sorcerer, sends it flowing into the body of the patient.
    â€œThe caster must know when to halt the spell and break contact, and this is where an assistant is necessary. As the life drains from him, the caster grows weaker and weaker. If the caster falls unconscious, while still touching the victim, the spell will continue to drain the caster until it steals away his life. Thus, this warning: Never cast this spell alone! Two sorcerers at least should be present—one to cast and the other to break contact should the spellcaster fall unconscious.”
    Alise had never used this spell. She had studied it, of course, but she had not committed such a terrible spell to memory. She loathed the use of Void magic. She did not mind so much the pain of the spell-casting, although that was bad enough, or the disfiguring pustules and lesions. She hated the way the magic felt inside her, as if maggots were feeding on her soul.
    But she didn’t have any choice. Shadamehr’s skin had gone gray. His breathing had altered from rapid, shallow breaths to struggled gasps. He shivered with the cold, his body writhed in pain. His nails were blue, his flesh chill, as if death had already claimed him.
    Alise looked over her shoulder toward the door.
    Never cast this spell alone!
    She saw the words printed large in the books, heard her tutor warn her over and over. If only Ulaf would come!
    But he wasn’t going to. She admitted that to herself. Ulaf was out searching for the pecwae, perhaps facing