Delver Magic Book III: Balance of Fate

by Jeff Inlo

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  Once Linda left for home, Enin prepared Holli for two trips he now planned to take this day.

  “We might as well take advantage of this opportunity to test your new spells. First, we are going to see Tabris in the Lacobian desert.”

  “Before we go,” Holli interrupted, “there is something I have to ask. It is something I actually suspect. You were very quick to tell Linda that she had little to worry about Ryson being killed by Tabris. I must admit I was surprised by that. I have always been of the belief that very little is certain in this land, there are no guarantees. It is something I had to live by while being an elf guard. We took nothing for granted so we could be prepared for anything. Yet, you seemed to have no difficulty offering certainty to Linda. Right now, we know Ryson is looking for Lief and it is not without reason that Lief could be looking for Sazar. That possibly could bring Ryson right to Tabris. Ryson is very skilled as a delver, but by your own admission, this sorceress is also very powerful. Is there something you know that allows you to be so certain that Ryson is safe from Tabris?”

  “Safe? No, not safe. He may indeed have to face her. Of that, I am not certain.”

  “But you are sure Tabris can not kill Ryson, that he will not be taken away from Linda by the sorceress.”

  “Yes, Ryson has a destiny he must still face. I can see that in him. It is something he can not avoid. Thus, it would be impossible for Tabris to do anything that would keep him from that destiny.”

  “Do you wish to tell me what that destiny is?”

  “No.”

  “Very well, but why not tell Linda what you just told me?”

  Enin smiled at Holli. “You learn about people quickly, don’t you? In the short time we have been together, I’m becoming more grateful that you are here. The truth is that I thought of doing just that, thought of telling Linda the real reason she need not worry at this time. Then I thought how do I word it? Do I tell her I see a destiny for Ryson that he must meet, and in order to meet it he must obviously be alive? Whatever way I thought of saying it, it just didn’t sound right. It might have even scared her more than the thought of Ryson facing Tabris. What would I have accomplished then?”

  “Very little,” admitted Holli.

  “I also have to remember that the magic is very different with Linda. I’m sure you’ve noticed that.”

  “I noticed the first time I met her,” Holli replied. “She has no reception to the energy whatsoever. In fact, I believe her essence actually repels magical energies.”

  “Your perceptions are right once more. If I cast a spell at her, used every ounce of my energy, it would not affect her in the least. Magic simply can not enter her being. She may not acknowledge that she’s aware of this, but I think deep down she senses it. It’s kind of like everyone is in a rain storm and everyone is dripping wet, except her. She’s completely dry and she doesn’t know why. Because of that, she has a deeper fear of magic.

  “It doesn’t make sense really. She shouldn’t fear it at all. She’s basically immune to it. But since she can’t touch it in anyway, she can’t gain even a shred of understanding about the energy. So what do I do by telling her that the magic allows me to see certain things that must come to pass? I only make her fear the magic even more. No, it’s much easier to simply go off and throw a warning at Tabris than to explain to Linda why the sorceress is not a true threat. If that makes Linda feel better, than it is time well spent. It may also serve a few other purposes.”

  “May I ask what they might be?”

  “You may ask, and I will answer because you’re going with me to two different places today and I want you to know why. When we talk with Tabris, I want to get a better feeling for her. I want to see if I can figure out why she chose to join up with Sazar. I also want to let her know that we here in Burbon are aware of this. It’s a pretty good idea not only to warn her off from trying to hurt Ryson, but while we’re there we might as well tell her to stay away from Burbon. As powerful as she is, she still won’t want to cross me. This Sazar is a brazen creature, he moved on Burbon after the dwarves attacked. He might have new ideas of how to take the town. I want to let them both know it’s not really something they want to pursue. Finally, I also need to get a sense for something else. I need to know if someone else might be involved in this alliance of Tabris and Sazar, and if I can get near Tabris, I might be able to sense something.”

  “Who is this someone else? Can you tell me?”

  “You will be meeting him in our second trip. His name is Baannat. I am not completely certain of what he truly is, though I have my ideas. He is a very powerful sorcerer, that much I do know. He is nearly my exact duplicate in what I can do with the magical energies. He is also very evil.”

  “That’s not very settling.”

  “Well, yes and no. It’s never settling to have something that evil being that powerful,” Enin admitted. “By the same token, evil has to exist for the balance of things in this land to work. I hope I am on the side of ‘good’. That being the case, there would need to be an equivalent power on the side of evil. I believe this counter balance exists in Baannat. If he did not carry this power, it would be carried by others. With Baannat, I know where he is and I believe I can counteract whatever evil he might attempt. As long as I don’t try to intervene in this land and try to force my own concept of ‘good’ on everyone, that will keep Baannat from intervening is his way. If he did, he would tip the balance and I would have the opportunity to act. If he does nothing, and I do nothing, the balance is maintained. I’ve tried to explain this to others without actually mentioning Baannat, and for the most part I get rather perplexed looks. What do you think of what I just said?”

  “I think I will be extraordinarily careful when you bring me to meet this Baannat.”

  “Yes, of course you would, that’s what you would say. But what of balance, what do you think of that?”

  “I think I know far too little to have any valid opinion on that matter.”

  “That’s a very careful response as well.”

  “Yes, it is.” Holli hummed in agreement.

  “Now, before we go to meet Tabris, I want you to understand how this will work. We will go to the Lacobian first and deal with the sorceress. I will go first and you will follow quickly after with a spell I will advise you of in a moment. When we are finished with Tabris, I will cast a spell that will bring us back here together. I do not wish to leave you alone in her presence even for a moment. When we have made our return, I will advise you on our trip to Baannat’s realm. Does this all sound reasonable to your elf guard senses?”

  Holli asked a quick pointed question before answering.

  “Will we simply drop out of the blue on Tabris?”

  “For the most part, yes.”

  “If she is startled or agitated by what she might view as an invader, she might respond in kind. Will you be prepared to defend yourself against her if she does?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “This spell I am to cast that will bring me there as well, I have no idea what state it will leave me in. Will you be able to protect me as well?”

  “Again, absolutely.”

  “Then I have no reservations at the moment to your plan.”

  “This is great; see how well we can get along.” Enin beamed with a glowing smile. “Now, let us first address the spell I want you to cast. We have talked about it before. By now you should be much attuned to my energy.”

  “I am.”

  “Good,” Enin smiled, “because that’s how you will follow me to Tabris. I will cast a spell I have showed you before—a spell that allows me to move across time and space. This will bring me to Tabris in a very short period of time. While I believe you could cast the same spell, it would take almost all of your energy and there is another way to accomplish the same thing with much less power. I want you to cast an animal tracking spell, say of a wolf, one that will allow you to track my path. I will leave a wake of energy th
at will allow you to ride the waves of my movement as long as you are focused on my energy. The tracking spell is the vehicle that will allow you to do just that, but it will be my force that actually moves you. Imagine that you will cast the spell of the cart and I will cast the spell of the horse. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, actually I do.”

  “Excellent, then let’s get started. Remember to ride the waves of movement I leave behind for you, that way you save energy. All you have to do is follow in the wake.”

  Enin’s smile grew broader as he turned his palms upward to face the sky. Two circles of pure white graced his hands and quickly rushed upward in an arc toward the heavens. His form quickly shimmered into a blurry fog and then disappeared.

  “I guess he has faith I can cast the tracking spell,” Holli murmured to herself.

  Holli closed her eyes and focused on the head of a wolf and then its muzzle. She thought of air flowing into the nostrils as she waved her own hands. An octagon outline of green formed at her fingertips. She kept her hands still as the green energy took the shape of a wolf’s head that almost immediately darted upon the remnants of Enin’s arc.

  Holli felt her body being carried, not by her energy, but by Enin’s. She simply had to focus on the trail. She kept her eyes closed as she concentrated deeply on her own spell, fixing an image of a wolf in her mind. The trail itself moved with great speed and force and it mixed with her own magical energy as it carried her through space and time. She felt the wind in her face and the temperature turn both cold and hot all around her.

  Holli remembered the Lacobian desert from her past treks through it with Ryson Acumen. It was a harsh land, loose sand splashed over hard, sun-baked rock. The blazing sun seemed to dry every inch of her body and wash out her keen elf vision as the distance seemed blurred in a twisting, super heated haze. She remembered how the air blasted her lungs like the opening of a furnace door and she hated thinking about those memories. Thankfully, however, it was the dormant season and she hoped the place she landed would be somewhat less hostile.

  When Holli felt the movement stop and the land came into a new focus around her, she looked around in startled amazement. Her surroundings were, in fact, nothing like the desert she remembered and more like the green lush forest of her elf camp. More perplexing, however, was that the surrounding plants and trees appeared to be in a stage of enjoying the late spring as opposed to being in a phase of dormancy. She knew that Tabris’ magic created this environment, but it was no illusion. The sorceress controlled the power of the storm and obviously used it to make her Lacobian desert home more comfortable.

  As the elf acquired her bearings, she realized she was near a still, crystal clear pool of water surrounded by several trees as well as indigenous desert boulders. The air she breathed felt cool and damp in her lungs as opposed to the searing hot dryness she expected. Enin stood one step ahead of her and faced a sorceress that appeared very tense and wore a suspicious expression that seemed to darken her features.

  Enin had already begun speaking when the sounds of this place became clearer to Holli’s ears.

  “I’m not here to interfere with your decision,” Enin was saying. “It’s yours to make as are the consequences that you will ultimately face. It is simply not my place to try to guide people down one path or another.”

  “But you find it your place to invade my home,” Tabris sneered.

  “Invade your home? Hardly.”

  “What then?” Tabris demanded. “I did not invite you here. You came here on your own and I don’t want you here.”

  “Tabris, what you want is irrelevant to me.”

  “So you think you can ignore my wishes?”

  “I can. I am here for the sake of others. It is their wishes and their well-being that I am most concerned—Ryson Acumen for one. The delver is under my protection and my watchful eye. Burbon is also under my protection, as you must already know. I will not take kindly to any action on your part that might put my home or my friends in danger.”

  “So you come here to offer threats!” Tabris cursed.

  Enin grew tired of the sorceress’ angry banter. “I am not going to waste time with you displaying my powers or challenging you to a duel. You are extraordinary powerful. One of the most powerful I have seen to date. Still, you are no match for me. A dozen of you are no match for me. A hundred of you are no match for me. It is no insult to you and not meant to be one. I am not boasting, and I am not threatening. You and I both know that if I wanted you removed as a threat from this land I could do so with a mere bat of my eye and there is not a thing you could do about it.”

  “Then why are you here?” Tabris asked with a more accusing tone.

  “You faced a choice in which direction you are going to travel, a choice between good and evil. You chose evil. It was your choice to make and you will live with whatever comes of that decision. The delver, however, will not suffer from that decision.”

  The sorceress, while understanding that she was no match for Enin, still remained confrontational.

  “Because you say so?”

  “No, because fate says so. My time here serves no real purpose in this regard save one. There are those that think the delver needs protection from you. They want me to warn you to do him no harm. What they do not understand is that I do not have to protect him. He is protected by his own destiny. Those that are concerned, however, would not understand that. They want me to deliver a message to you and I am doing so. I do this only for their benefit. You and I both understand that my warning truly means nothing to you. But you do understand the power of fate, don’t you?”

  Tabris grimaced.

  “Yes, you do. You will not harm him because you now know you can not harm him, and I see in you that you will not waste your time in useless endeavors. You should thank me for saving you time and energy.’

  “I will not thank you for something I would have discovered on my own.”

  “Then perhaps you will thank me for this. I also know of your partnership with Sazar. The people that guard my home are also aware of it. I do not like this Sazar creature and I don’t want him threatening Burbon. I may not like to act forcibly on matters, but I am always entitled to defend my home. In that regard, I do not alter the balance, instead I maintain it. If Sazar, or you for that matter, decides to attack Burbon, I will ensure that you fail in the most devastating means available to me.”

  Tabris simply glared.

  Enin turned his back on her and addressed Holli. “Your tracking spell was perfect. Well done. My purpose here is complete. Now please allow me to take us both back home together.”