Magic caused the war. Magic is forbidden. Magic will save us. The Relic Guild is the award nominated first book in The Relic Guild trilogy.
It was said the Labyrinth had once been the great meeting place, a sprawling city at the heart of an endless...
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From the study, Van Bam had taken Clara and Old Man Sam to a conference room within the Nightshade. Hamir the necromancer was absent, and the three of them sat at one end of a long conference table, with the Resident positioned in the head chair. Clara sat to his left and stared across the table's polished wood at Samuel. Samuel held her gaze evenly, and she felt her anger brewing.
The old bounty hunter had already explained what had occurred out in the Great Labyrinth after Clara had fled the courtyard; how Marney had summoned a wild demon to take Charlie Hemlock away, and how she herself had then been abducted. Van Bam had listened attentively, making very little comment. After Samuel had finished, no one had spoken for several moments. Both the old bounty hunter and the Resident confused Clara: in the study they had acted like enemies, but now they seemed less cagey with one another, as if they were comrades who had shared a long history. Their attitudes towards Clara had also changed. She no longer felt like an unwanted guest; less like a victim and more like a discovery, a catalyst for a situation she did not understand. And these changes in attitude had occurred with the mere mention of one name; a name that cast a long shadow from the Labyrinth's past.
Clara looked to the Resident. 'What's going on?' she asked, surprised by how calm her voice sounded. 'Marney can't have been taken by Fabian Moor.'
Van Bam turned his metallic eyes to Samuel. They looked at each other without speaking.
'The dead stay dead,' Clara stated.
'Clara,' replied Van Bam, 'I suspect that once you truly comprehend with whom you have become embroiled, then ignorance might just seem the preferable option.'
When Clara replied, her voice was resolute. 'I'll tell you what I understand. Marney saved my life tonight –' she looked pointedly at Samuel – 'twice, it appears. I don't doubt she had her own reasons, but people don't exactly stick their necks out for me very often. If she's in trouble, I want to help.'
Samuel and Van Bam shared another look, and then Samuel rose from his chair and bowed his head at Clara. He walked behind the Resident, around the conference table, and came to her side.
'You've suffered tonight, and you don't know why,' he said. 'You want answers, and that's only right. But if you want to help Marney, Clara, you need to trust us. Trust me.' He took a seat beside her. 'Give me your hand.'
Clara stiffened. 'What?'
Samuel unclipped a small kit bag from his utility belt and unzipped it. 'Tonight, out in the Great Labyrinth, you scratched Charlie Hemlock's face,' he produced a slim scalpel and a tiny glass phial from the bag, 'deep enough to draw blood. Let me see you hand, please.'
The only thing Clara offered the old bounty hunter was a glare.
'Clara,' Van Bam said coolly. 'If Charlie Hemlock was employed by Fabian Moor, then he has information that is of vital use to us. If there is any hope of helping Marney, Hemlock needs to be rescued from a demon. Time is a factor. Please, do as Samuel asks.'
