After only a few days' study, Raistlin had already learned from his reading that the staff gave the possessor the ability to float in the air as lightly as thistledown and that, if used as a club, its magic would increase the force of a blow, so that even someone as weak as Raistlin could deal considerable harm to an enemy. These were useful functions, but Raistlin was quite certain the staff was far more powerful. The reading was slow going, for the language was a mixture of Solamnic, which he had learned from his friend Sturm Brightblade, and Common and a slang used by soldiers and mercenaries. It would often take Raistlin an hour to figure out the meaning of a single page. He read again a passage, which he was certain was important, but one that he had yet to understand the meaning of.
We knew the black dragon was nearby, for we could hear the hissing of solid rock dissolving in the deadly acid of the foul wyrm's spittle. We could hear the creak of its wings and its claws scrape against the castle walls as it climbed over them in search of us. But we could see nothing, for the dragon had cast upon us some sort of evil magic, which quenched the sunshine and made all dark as the wyrm's own heart. The dragon's plan was to come upon us in the darkness and slay us before we could battle it.
Huma called for torchlight, but no flame could we kindle in the thick air, which had been poisoned by the fumes from the dragon's deadly breath. We feared that all was lost and that we would die in this unholy darkness. But then Magius came forward, bearing light! I know not how he accomplished it, but the crystal of the staff he bore drove away the darkness and let us see the terrible monster. We had a target for our arrows and, by Huma's command, we launched our attack...
Several pages detailed the killing of the dragon, which Raistlin skipped over impatiently as information he would probably never need to know. no dragon had been seen on Krynn since Huma's time, and there were those who were now saying that even then they were only creatures of myth. That Huma had made it all up in order to glorify himself, that he'd been nothing but a showman, a self-aggrandizing liar.
I asked a friend how Magius had caused his staff to shine whith such a blessed light. The friend, who had been standing near the wizard at the time, said that Magius spoke but a single word of command. I asked what the word was, for I thought it might be of use to the rest of us. he maintained that the word was "shark," which is a type of monstrous fish that lives in the sea and bites men in twain, or so I have heard sailors tell. I do not think he is right, for I tried the word myself, secretly, one night when Magius had left his staff propped up in a corner, and I could not make the crystal light. I can only suppose that the word is a foreign one, perhpas elvish in nature, for Magius is known to have dealings with their kind.
Shark! Raistlin sniffed. Elvish! What a fool. The word was obviously spoken in the language of magic. Raistlin had spent a frustrating hour in the Tower trying every phrase that he could think of in the arcane tongue, every word that bore even a remote resemblance to "shark." He had about as much luck causing the crystal atop the staff to light as had that long-dead and unknown soldier.
A burst of laughter came from downstairs. Raistlin could distinguish Caramon's booming guffaw among the shriller voices of the women. At least his brother was pleasantly occupied and not likely to barge in and disturb him.
Raistlin turned to look at the staff. "Elem shardish," he said, which meant, "By my command," a standard phrase used to activate the magic in many an artifact.
But not this one. The crystal, held fast in a golden replica of a dragon's claw, remained dark.
Frowning, Raistlin looked down at the next phrase he'd noted on his list. Sharcum pas edistus, another common magical command, which meant roughly "Do as I say." The command did not work either. The crystal gleamed, but only with a beam of reflected sunlight. he continued on through the list, which included omus sharpuk derli, for "I will it be so," to shirkit muan, which meant "Obey me."
Raistlin lost patience. "Uh, Lunitari's idish, shirak, damen du!"
The crystal atop the staff burst into brilliant, radiant light.
Raistlin stared, astonished, and tried to recall what he'd said, the exact words. His hand trembling, his gaze divided between the wondrous, magical light and his work, he wrote down the phrase, Uh, Lunitari's idish, shirak, damen du! and its translation, Oh, for god's sake, light, damn you!
