by Jeff Inlo
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“You know, I woke up this morning with a bad feeling that I just couldn’t shake,” Sy Fenden said as he gazed out into the rolling hills just outside the walls that surrounded Burbon. Standing in the tower, he could see the edges of Dark Spruce Forest and he wondered what new problems his town would now face. “You say this Tabris is a powerful sorceress. Is she as powerful as you?”
Enin stood between Ryson and Holli and he answered Sy directly. “No, but do not misunderstand. I am somewhat of an anomaly. I don’t wish to sound as if I’m boasting about myself, but my abilities with magic are on a different scale. You should never use them in gauging the strength of a potential threat.”
“I’m not.” Sy stated flatly. “I’ve always listened to everything you said and I understand you’re in a different league, but the first thing I need to know is if this Tabris is also an anomaly. Now, that I know she isn’t, I still have to get a better idea of what we’re facing. Does she have the power to destroy this town on her own? I mean, if you weren’t here protecting us.”
Enin took a moment to consider the question against what he knew of the town’s defenses. “She could cause considerable damage. She has a natural ability with wind and storm, and thus she would be difficult for you to fight. She has a great reserve of magical energy and she has been practicing for many days now. Still, she would have to overcome much to destroy the whole town. She could destroy the walls and towers with wind spins and tornados. Many of the buildings she could obliterate or set afire with lightning. She would be difficult to strike from a distance with bows or slings since she could deflect many with a wind shield. Your forces, however, would now be prepared for such an onslaught. If you accepted the losses to the structures and simply remained patient, you could wait her out. She would eventually tire and then your men would indeed be able to take her. She could not hold out against you indefinitely.”
“Alright so she can’t just waltz in here and flatten us with a wave of her hand. That’s somewhat good news.” Sy took another moment to gaze out over the wall and across the lands that surrounded Burbon. “Considering what you know of her powers, is there anything that immediately comes to mind that we can do to better our defenses against her?”
“I honestly do not think she would attempt a frontal assault. She would waste much of her energy and she would stand to gain very little.”
The news was welcome, but Sy wanted to make sure there was nothing overlooked. “I appreciate that, but I’d still like to cover my bets. What do you think, anything else we can do or not?”
Enin joined Sy in looking out across the land. “The best thing to do is remember that for the most part you would see her coming. Her power is not in shadow or illusion. It is doubtful she would try to cloak herself. The strength of her magic is force, not deception. Understanding that a woman walking alone toward the town would not necessarily be a woman in distress would be the first step in guarding against her. Also, she would have difficulty with barriers. Well, difficulty in passing them without using magic. With the magic, she can pretty much break through any section of the wall, but it’s not like she can fly over them like I can. That takes a skill she does not yet possess. Nor can she slip past them in secret, as her power is not in shadow.”
“You’re telling me she can get through our wall, but she’d have to blast through it.”
“Exactly,” Enin said.
“So if she does show up with malice in mind, she’ll have to expel magical energy to get around any type of barriers we put up. She has—how did you put it?—‘great reserves of magical energy’ I think is what you said, but you also said we can wear her out. The more barriers she has to bust through, the sooner she’s going to run out of energy.”
“Correct.”
Sy nodded and again looked to the surrounding hills. “I was thinking of putting up a new set of bulwarks. Now might be a good time. The traders aren’t going to like another obstacle to deal with, but that’s the way it goes.”
Sy took a moment to calculate in his mind where the best position for a new barricade would be and how long it might take to construct it. He grunted a few unintelligible words to himself about work details and wood from Dark Spruce.
“There are a few other things that I need to know,” Sy continued as he turned back to face Enin, Holli and Ryson. “You say that just this morning you sensed this Tabris had joined Sazar and, as you put it, turned down a path toward evil.”
“Yes, that is what I said,” Enin admitted.
“Well, I have to admit this has me somewhat confused, so I need a bit of clarification here. If I’m not mistaken, you said that Tabris was the one that made Yave into that storm. That didn’t sound like a right benevolent action. In fact, if you weren’t here when that happened, Yave would have killed Ryson here and maybe destroyed the whole town. I would have thought that action would have basically been considered an evil act on its own. Why is it you think that this morning there’s something different about her?”
“When she turned Yave into a storm, she did so with indifference,” Enin explained. “It was not her intention to cause harm to anyone. It certainly wasn’t a decision that showed compassion or kindness, but it was truly Yave that was dictating the path of wickedness in that situation. For all intents and purposes, Tabris has been, to this point, neutral. She was not good, nor was she evil. She simply studied her craft in the desert. When she converted Yave to a storm, she did so solely for the purposes of experimentation with her own power. Today, however, she made a decision that altered her neutrality. Of that, I am certain.”
“Well, I can’t say I follow you on that one. You’ve talked to me about this balance stuff on several occasions and I think you’re seeing things way beyond my comprehension. Still, I will never dismiss your judgment on these types of situations.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I do, however, have another question that regards our friend Sazar. This serp I know is trouble. He’s been bad news since the first time we encountered him. He led a fairly significant goblin force into Pinesway just a few days ago. Now, he’s joined forces with a powerful sorceress. This I know isn’t good news for anyone. Still, he doesn’t come across as one that would want a partner. From what I know of him, he seems to like being in charge. I’m guessing the sorceress is far more powerful than he is. Why would he risk joining up with someone who could order him around and there would be nothing he could do about it?”
Enin shrugged. “That, I can not say. I have never been very good at understanding what motivates those that choose a path of evil.”
“Not even a guess?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“How about either of you?” Sy asked as he looked to Holli and Ryson.
Ryson spoke out first. “I just know what I learned from the sword when I was in Pinesway. He wanted to take over the town to turn it into some kind of breeding ground for his minions. The sword made it pretty clear to me though that if I put the scare into the goblins, Sazar would lose out. I honestly believe I did exactly what I had to in order to kill that plan. I don’t think the goblins are going back to Pinesway anytime soon.”
“Alright, he wanted to expand his army by taking over an abandoned town. That failed so he joined up with a sorceress. I’m still not seeing the connection.”
Holli offered her own view point. “It may be that he lost much of his forces to Ryson’s attack and he had no other alternative but to find an ally. It may not be something he wanted to do, but perhaps he felt it was necessary. Or perhaps it was the sorceress that pressed the alliance and the serp truly had no choice. How could he fight her if she is as powerful as Enin says and he had just lost the majority of his own forces?”
Sy raised an eyebrow at the point. Quickly, he came up with a question to test the theory. “Enin, do you know where they are now?”
“Yes, they are in the desert.”
“This is where Tabris created her home, so to speak, so s
he could practice, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I don’t think Tabris forced the issue.”
Enin displayed puzzlement and questioned the conclusion even as Holli appeared accepting of it.
“Why do you think that?” the wizard asked.
Sy answered rather matter-of-factly. “Well, if they are at Tabris’ home, then we have to assume that Sazar sought out the sorceress and not the other way around. Otherwise, how would Sazar have gotten all the way to the Lacobian Desert so fast?”
“I see,” Enin agreed. “Yes, it makes sense. If Tabris sought out Sazar they would be in Dark Spruce right now.”
“Anyway,” Sy continued, “what we have so far is that Sazar probably ventured out to the Lacobian and met up with Tabris. He might have been looking for any magic-caster or he might have been searching for her in particular. We can’t be sure of which. Sazar met Tabris who is a very powerful sorceress in her own right. Something happened which led to Tabris making a decision to turn from being a neutral practicing magic-caster to being an ally of a serp we know we can’t trust and we know wants to cause some serious trouble. At this point, we really don’t know why he joined with the sorceress or what they might be up to at this very moment. That’s how I understand the situation. Am I missing anything?”
“That sums it up very well,” Enin responded.
Ryson perked up as he considered everything Sy just said. “Enin, when we were in Dark Spruce, you cast a spell that would allow you to see into Pinesway. When I came to your house this morning, Holli had just cast a spell to see me at the door while she was in another room. If you can do that, why don’t you cast a spell that would let you see into the Lacobian Desert right now and maybe we can get an idea of what those two are up to.”
Sy looked to Enin expectantly. “Can you do that?”
Enin frowned. “Not as of yet. I am still trying to figure out the proper way to bend light without an anchor point as well as avoiding detection.”
Sy shook his head. “I have no idea what you just said. You seem to be able to cast some spells to let you look into other places, why not now?”
“Previously,” Enin began to explain, “when I saw into Pinesway, and even when Holli watched Ryson from a distance, we both used a sight spell that requires an anchor. My sight spell into Pinesway used my web spell as the point of contact, thus I had already established a magical connection with certain aspects of the ground at Pinesway. When Holli cast her spell, she used me as the contact and I allowed her to use my sight. For me to look into Tabris at this moment, I would have to utilize a similar anchor, but I have no connection point. I could try to make one with a long ranged energy spell such as striking a point near her with wind or lightning. Unfortunately, she would immediately sense my spell. What good is spying on someone if they know you are watching? It would be better if I could actually see into that part of the desert without casting another spell first. What I am hoping to do one day is to bend light toward me so that I can actually see with my own eyes by simply capturing light from a great distance. The spell needs more work at the moment, but I am getting closer.”
Sy looked intently at the wizard as he seemed to be playing with another thought in his mind. Enin wondered what the captain of the guard was contemplating.
“What is it?” Enin asked.
“You just said you could shoot a long ranged spell into the Lacobian to make some kind of magical connection. You said you could cast a wind spell or maybe lightning.”
“That is correct, but Tabris would notice it immediately.”
“What I have in mind wouldn’t matter. If you know where they are and can hit them with some kind of lightning blast, then why don’t you, and we can all stop worrying about this matter?”
Enin’s expression turned to a gray mask of bitter disappointment. “You want me to just wave my hand and snuff them out like putting out a candle?”
“If you can, yes. That’s exactly what I have in mind,” Sy admitted.
Enin looked at Sy and then shook his head. “You know I get a bit tired of this,” he said with a huff. “Just because I know where Sazar is right now, I suppose you think I should send a massive bolt of energy at that spot. It doesn’t matter that I can’t pinpoint it exactly. All I need to do is make the bolt large enough to make sure it kills him and hopefully Tabris, too.”
Enin paused to look into Sy’s eyes. When he saw agreement in the Captain’s expression, the wizard continued explaining his own disappointment.
“Do you really think I can do that? Well, I probably could, but I won’t. I won’t because I would destroy everything around them as well, the innocent and the guilty. There is life in the desert, just like there is life in Dark Spruce and just like there is life right here. An act like that has great consequences, and I’m not ready to take that step, that’s a step toward disregardd—power without responsibility. Do you really want me to be like that? And if so, why stop there? I can protect every person in Burbon right now by simply sending out a destructive force that will kill every shag, river rogue, vampire and goblin within sight of the town limits. It would also kill every bird, every fox, every deer and every traveling merchant that happens to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Beyond that, there’s the whole concept of balance that you seem to be forgetting. What happens when I start indiscriminately removing creatures because of their choices? Do I become the ultimate slayer of all things that don’t choose the path we want them to choose? And where do you think this evil will go, just disappear? I can tell you it doesn’t work like that. For every evil creature I destroy, that evil will find a new home, most likely a more diabolical one. No, it’s not a matter of can or can’t. I won’t do this.”
The mood became somewhat uncomfortable as Enin folded his arms across his chest and continued to look at Sy with something less than defiance but something more than disappointment. The captain acknowledged the moment with a will to move on.
“Very well, I’m sorry I asked. I’ll try not to do it again.”
“I would appreciate that.”
“I guess then there’s not much we do about this,” Sy stated. “Sazar and Tabris are out in the desert and we can hope they stay there. I’ll start planning the new bulwark and inform all the guards of what we know. Other than that, we just have to hope we don’t see any trouble from them.”
Holli agreed with the assessment. “It is a sound decision. If we do not go looking for trouble, we have a better chance of avoiding it. It is also best to remain prepared in case it comes looking for us.”
Ryson jumped in quickly to shift the focus to a point of his own. “There’s something that’s been bothering me about all this and I realize now what it is. I remember that when I was in Pinesway, Lief showed up as I told everyone. Problem is he said he was going to be hunting the dark creatures. I guess he thinks that’s going to keep him occupied now that he’s been banished from his camp. But basically, he’s taking just the opposite approach we’ve decided on, he’s out looking for trouble. Anyway, he said if he ran into Sazar he would take care of him. He had the kind of look in his eye that indicated he might not just wait to run into him accidentally, that he might go out of his way looking for him. If he does that now, he’s going to run into not only Sazar but Tabris as well. He has to be warned about that. I don’t think I would sleep well if I knew something happened to Lief because of Sazar and Tabris, especially if I knew I could prevent it.”
“So you’re going to take off after the elf and try and find him and warn him?” Sy asked with a raised eyebrow.
“That’s the plan,” Ryson said, but then realized Sy looked more than slightly apprehensive. “You don’t seem happy with this, what’s up?”
Sy continued to press with a suspicious tone. “You’re not using this as an excuse to scout out the Lacobian and to find out what Tabris and Sazar are up to now, are you?”
Ryson answered firmly, without a hint of anything but sincerity. “That’s
not my intention at all. In fact, the truth is I have no desire to go anywhere near the Lacobian. The only way I’m going to end up there is if Lief is somehow tracking Sazar and has gotten that far, but I really don’t want that to be the case. I’m hoping he’s still in Dark Spruce somewhere. Even if Lief is in the Lacobian, I’ll try to get to him before he gets anywhere near Tabris and Sazar. That way, I won’t have to go near them, either. I have no intention of getting involved with this sorceress.”
“Let’s hope none of us have to get involved with her.” Sy added. “Are you going to leave now?”
“In a moment,” the delver replied. “I have to go tell Linda what I’m up to first. I promised I would. And Enin, the dogs will have to wait for that run.”