Delver Magic Book III: Balance of Fate

by Jeff Inlo

  #

  Ryson’s pace quickened, hastened by the fact that the goblins were now in full retreat. He chased them down and continued to stab at them with his sword. He warned each goblin he wounded to flee Pinesway and never return.

  At this point, the goblins needed little incentive to run off. No longer did they feel the pressing demands of the serp to take the town and kill its inhabitants. Instead, they sensed the new turmoil in the air brought about by the delver’s counterattack. They noted the retreat of the shags and the hook hawk. Some were even aware of the rock beetle’s quick disappearance into the ground. Most of the goblins were fleeing in retreat even before Ryson could reach their position.

  In a spiraling pattern that continuously circled outward, Ryson became a blur of light that flashed down streets and alleys. From the distance, he appeared like a flaming arrow streaking through the air. He scorched well over two hundred goblins with his sword before he reached Pinesway’s outer limits. When his path led him around the southern portion of the town, he bounded into the warehouse which he believed the serp used as a hideout. As he expected, the building was now empty, Sazar gone.

  Ryson quickly traced markings on the ground and walls and followed them about the open space and back to the door.

  “He was here alright,” Ryson confirmed to himself as he stepped back out into the night air and inspected more tracks on the ground. “He took off when the big shag returned to him.”

  Realizing tracking the serp further into the forest would gain nothing, Ryson dashed off in a direct path toward the town square. With the sword still in his hands, he lit up the areas he moved through like the welcome sight of the sun after a terrible storm. When he reached the town center, he counted many people still hiding under stairs, beneath broken carts, and within darkened, empty buildings. He found Joel sitting on a bench, slightly hunched over, looking very tired and angry.

  “You alright?” Ryson asked.

  Joel looked up at the delver with an expression of sheer disgust. “Not hurt, but real annoyed. Why does a serp attack an abandoned town?”

  “He wanted to take what the thieves here already stole and he wanted a base.” Ryson responded confidently. “He wanted the whole town. He was going to use whatever he could take here to buy more supplies, more weapons, and more food. Then, he was going to make it a haven for goblins he could control.”

  Joel spat at the ground “Ok, and he was going to kill us all because I guess he didn’t want any humans as neighbors.”

  “Would you want to live next door to a goblin?” Ryson offered, almost a little too lighthearted for Joel’s liking.

  “No, I like living next to abandoned houses. No neighbor is the best neighbor.”

  “Be that as it may…”

  A familiar voice called out from the shadows that interrupted the delver in mid-sentence. “Ryson Acumen! There are goblins to your left about to fire upon you!”

  Ryson immediately recognized the voice, but took no time to acknowledge it. He directed his attention to the few people that were slowly moving out into the open.

  “Everyone get down!” he shouted.

  Most everyone dropped to the ground or dove back to their original hiding places, though some remained too stunned over the events of the day to have much comprehension of what was going on around them. A few stood unsteadily on their feet.

  Whirling to his left, Ryson began to spin the Sword of Decree again in hand like a pinwheel. The shimmering, spinning blade had a dazzling affect on everyone that witnessed it. With the sword still twirling, he turned toward his left and the group of goblins that had been ordered to advance on the town square. He leapt in the air and quickly knocked several goblin arrows out of midair. When the first barrage of goblin fire ended, six long arrows sliced through the air in succession, but these arrows came from the opposite direction and all found their mark in a targeted goblin. Ryson leapt across the remaining distance between himself and the surviving dozen or so goblins. He quickly disarmed several of them, knocking the crossbows out of their hands before they could react. Four more long arrows sizzled past Ryson and four more goblins crumpled to the ground.

  Now only half of the goblins remained standing and most of these were now weaponless. The delver stabbed at those that still held their crossbows. They shrieked in pain and he offered another warning to them.

  “Leave this place and never return!”

  Before they could move, yet another barrage of arrows cut into their numbers. Another four goblins dropped from their feet, dead before they could hit the ground. The remaining half dozen goblins turned and ran, spitting and hissing in abject fear for their lives.

  Ryson remained still, allowing them to leave and to hopefully spread his warning. These goblins, however, never escaped Pinesway alive. A final salvo of arrows decimated the remaining creatures.

  Ryson shook his head, but turned to greet the friend he now heard walking toward his position. He returned the Sword of Decree to its sheath over his shoulder, as he put on a tired smile.

  Lief Woodson stalked carefully up to the delver, scanning the area for any more goblins. His bow remained in his left hand and his right stood ready to draw several more arrows.

  Ryson extended his hand and placed it warmly on the elf’s shoulder. He was surprised at the tenseness he felt. The silence became surprisingly unsettling as the elf appeared to almost ignore the delver. If anything, Lief appeared to almost thirst for more targets.

  “Lief, I’m glad to see you and thanks for the warning, but that wasn’t…”

  “Wasn’t what? Necessary?” The elf’s words were cold and seemed in diametric opposition to the blazing hate in his eyes.

  “Well, I’m just not sure if you had to kill them all,” Ryson offered.

  “They are dead and we no longer need worry about what they might do. You should consider that the next time you use your sword upon them. When you strike, make it count.”

  Ryson found the need to defend his actions. “I didn’t want to kill them. I wanted them to fear this place. I don’t want them coming back, or any others for that matter. If they reached the forest, they could tell others and rumors would spread through their ranks.”

  “Enough of them escaped off into the forest for that.” Lief barked. “Too many, in fact.”

  “Well anyway,” Ryson offered hoping to change the tone of the conversation, “I’m glad to see you. Why are you here? How did you know I was here? Did Sy send you?”

  “I have not spoken to your captain of the guard. I was traveling in the woods hunting a river rogue I knew to be in this area. From the distance I could see your sword and I heard the sounds of battle. I joined only a few moments ago. What has happened here?”

  “It was the serp, Sazar,” Ryson answered. “He wanted to control what’s left of this town, use it to entice more goblins to join him.”

  Lief’s eyes seemed to burn even brighter. “If I find this serp, I will end his days. Just as I will end the lives of any other despicable creature I come across.”

  Ryson found the hatred spilling from Lief’s words more than a bit unsettling. “You don’t need to kill him. He’s powerless now. The goblins won’t listen to him. They’re now so afraid of this place that even under his control they won’t enter it. That’s why I didn’t want you to kill those other goblins. The more that get out of here alive, the more will pass on the story of what happened here.”

  “And the more that die,” Lief retorted, “will mean fewer monsters we have to worry about all together. It is time we all started realizing this and all started doing something about it.”

  “What more exactly do you think should be done?”

  “You have to ask?” Lief asked with near disbelief. “It is time to actively meet their threat. It is no longer acceptable to wait and hope for the best, to simply do nothing. It is time we realized that these creatures are a threat and they must be dealt with.” Lief then eyed the delver with an expression that alm
ost revealed suspicion. “You can’t possibly think we should just let these creatures take over?”

  Ryson never thought of simply giving up to the likes of Sazar, that was why he was here. Still, Lief’s answer seemed to swing much too far. “We can defend ourselves certainly, but hunting them down to simply eradicate them isn’t the answer.”

  “Do not tell me what the answer is!” Lief growled. “Trust me, Ryson. This is not the day to debate with me.”

  “It’s not a debate, it’s about unnecessary killing…”

  Lief cut the delver off, allowed him to speak no further as his eyes blazed with a fury that Ryson had not seen before. “You’re right, it’s not a debate! This is no argument and this was not unnecessary killing. It was very necessary. Fire upon you if you do not see! How many did these creatures kill this day? How many did they kill yesterday? How many will they kill tomorrow? You can’t answer any of those questions, but I can answer the last. They will kill no more after today. That is why this is not a debate and I warn you I will not listen to any further of your doubts on the matter.”

  The angry outburst caught Ryson off guard. He stood even more stunned by the tone and the expression than by the elf’s actual words. Finally, he mumbled a question that carried as much concern as confusion. “Are you alright?”

  The elf’s harsh expression faded a little but the emotion in his voice still boiled. His eyes bore into the delver for a moment, but in looking at Ryson, he saw and remembered a friend. The elf bit back his anger enough to offer a limited explanation. “No, I am not alright. I have been banished from my camp, banished by the very same blasted fools that did nothing when Petiole was in charge. Now they feel as if they must redeem their inaction by blaming me. If you are curious as to why I am the way I am now, then I want it to be clear. I hold nothing against you, nothing in any way, but I will no longer listen to anything that defends inaction. Doing nothing when evil is committed is as wrong as committing the evil. These creatures are loathsome monsters that exist to cause others pain. I will not allow them to do so when it is in my power to stop them. Do you understand?”

  Ryson hesitated, he did not want to infuriate the elf further, but he also could not lie. “No, I don’t understand.”

  The elf nearly exploded. He actually turned his back on the delver as he gripped his bow ever tighter. He exhaled heavily and spoke without looking back. “Then, you do not need to understand. As I said before, I hold nothing against you. You have acted far beyond what has ever been asked of you. You do not carry the failings of my camp. You and I will simply have to disagree on the matter, but I will not argue the point with you further. I will not ask for your assistance in what I must do, and you must not try to interfere. I take my leave of you now, and when I find more evil creatures, I will send them back to the darkness that spawned them as well. Good luck to you Ryson Acumen.”

  At that point, the elf simply stalked away into the growing shadows of nightfall.

  Ryson took a quick glimpse around as Lief moved out of sight. He tried to piece together everything the elf just told him, but he could not fully understand the emotions he saw.

  Suddenly, his thoughts of the elf were washed away by the same recurring sense of emptiness he felt out in the forest with Enin. He felt something beyond empty, something beyond hollow. Again, the word ‘dry’ seemed to fit the sensation, even though he could not explain why. Somewhere—and in no particular direction, for the feeling seemed to exist outside of everything physical— somewhere he traced an inexplicable vibration to a source of energy he could not define.

  The sensation and his altercation with Lief left him frustrated. He turned about and looked into the face of Joel Portsmith who had left his seat on the bench to join the delver. For now, Ryson put his mind to the safety of those that remained in the square. There were no goblins left in this area, thus for the moment, they were safe.

  Joel Portsmith nodded to the departing shadow of Lief Woodson and decided to add his own sentiments. “Not that it matters to you, delver boy, but I kinda agree with him.”

  Ryson gritted his teeth. He didn’t know this man well, but he didn’t want to hear any more of this. “Well, he was right about one thing. This isn’t the time for a debate.”

  “Nope, arguing won’t do any good,” Joel allowed. "And I don’t want to stand out here much longer. Thanks for clearing a path for me. I can get home from here.”

  Ryson’s confusion now turned on this baffling man before him. “You’re going home?”

  “Somewhere else I’m supposed to go?”

  “I would think you’d want to go someplace else.”

  “You think wrong.” Joel stated almost too simplistically.

  “Listen, this town still isn’t safe. The place has been abandoned. Just because the goblins won’t come back, that doesn’t mean something else won’t come here looking for a meal, like a shag, or a river rogue, or something else. There are worse things out there in the forest, you know.”

  “There are worse things just about everywhere.”

  “Even so, there’s nothing left here.”

  “My home’s here,” Joel stated firmly.

  Ryson decided to point out a truth he just recently learned himself. “A home is where you decide it is, so don’t tell me that. These are buildings, empty buildings that no one is going to return to, no one with any good intentions.”

  Joel shook his head. “I see where you’re going with this and I really don’t want to hear it. Let’s be honest about this, delver boy, what the blazes else I got left to do, huh? I’m an old man.”

  “Not so old that you weren’t able to survive this attack. You can go to Connel, you can come with me to Burbon. There are cities to the east and coastal towns to the west. You can make a new home.”

  “I’ve already lived on the coast, not going back. And what makes you think I have it in me to start over in Connel or anywhere else for that matter?”

  “You can start over because you made it through this. If you were going to give up, you’d be dead already. What makes you think you can’t make it in a new town?”

  “Don’t want to.”

  “Don’t want to? What is it you want? To stay here and keep fighting off one monster after another? What happens if a shag comes back or that hook hawk? What then?”

  “What then? I’ll tell you what then. I fight them off or I die. What’s the problem?’

  “The problem is dying for nothing makes no sense.”

  “And who says it’s dying for nothing?” Joel demanded to know. “My wife and I came here to live out the rest of our lives. You know what that means, delver boy? It means we came here to die. Same thing, different words. She held up her part of the bargain. Blast it if I’m not going to hold up my end.”

  Ryson looked into Joel’s dark eyes and he remembered Enin’s words before he left Burbon, sometimes you really can’t save people from themselves. And sometimes people don’t want, or even more importantly, don’t need saving. Sometimes people do what they have to do and you just have to let it go.