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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As Van Bam stepped away, he tapped his cane against the floor and whispered a word Clara didn't catch. The cane's glass flashed green. There was a low hum and the air surrounding the mirror shimmered. The rest of the room wavered, as if veiled by water. The sound of Clara's own breathing was loud in her ears, as if she was trapped within a bubble.
Clara looked back at the mirror; she cast no reflection in its dull and faded surface.
Magic!
Van Bam had taken a seat at his desk. He sat facing the invisible door to his study, his glass cane lying on the desktop before him. The more Clara looked at this man, the more familiar he seemed: his smell, the sound of his voice, the way he cocked his head to one side ... but she had never seen him before in her life. Had she?
In that moment, Clara felt warmth inside her head and breast, as if Marney's box of secrets had cracked open a little. It reassured her that Van Bam meant her no harm, even if he was a magic-user, even if his aide had scared her half to death. Even if he did speak in riddles.
All her life Clara had heard the tales and legends of Labrys Town from before the Genii War. Back then, treasure hunters ran an illegal but booming trade. They snuck out into the Great Labyrinth and travelled through the doorways to the Houses of the Aelfir, searching for artefacts and magical relics which they could steal and smuggle back into Labrys Town. The black market had been a serious problem for the Resident and the Aelfir in the old days, as wealthy collectors would pay vast sums of money for stolen Aelfirian antiques.
There were still some denizens nowadays who liked to call themselves treasure hunters. Nobody took them seriously, not even the police; after all, even if they found a way past the boundary wall, the only place left to search for treasure was the Retrospective, from which no one returned. However, before the Genii War, treasure hunters had caused so much trouble for the Resident that a special organisation was created, a group of agents whose purpose was to counteract the illegal trade in Aelfirian artefacts, to recoup the stolen merchandise and deal harshly with those involved. These agents were the only humans permitted to use magic; their identities were kept secret, and they were known as the Relic Guild. But like so much else, the Relic Guild had disappeared after the war. No one had heard from them for decades.
Why had Van Bam mentioned it? What truth?
In his chair at the desk, the Resident shifted. 'Remember, Clara,' he said, his voice clear and insistent inside the mirror's bubble, 'make no sound. Do not move.'
With a faint click, the door appeared in the wall. It swung open, and a man stepped into the study. Through the bubble, Clara's view of him was distorted. Then the water effect shimmered and shifted, finally smoothing to allow Clara a clearer view of the room and Van Bam's visitor.
A little shorter than the Resident, the man had broad shoulders, and was dressed in simple black garb and a long brown coat. His face, though strong and not unhandsome, was heavily lined with age and sported a white goatee beard. His lips were drawn into a grim line.
