Delver Magic Book III: Balance of Fate

by Jeff Inlo

Chapter 23

  Once Ryson was above ground, he moved swiftly to the surrounding houses. He didn’t expect too many people would open their doors if he simply knocked, especially with the city infested by goblins. Instead, he peered into windows and when he spotted anyone, he quickly and quietly called for their attention. He explained that dwarves were approaching, but this time they were here to attack the dark creatures and no one else. Many he spoke to reacted to this news with downright disbelief, and the delver truly could not blame these people. He told them to sit tight indoors, stay out of the way, and watch for themselves as to who the dwarves would attack.

  He moved as fast as possible but the streets were deserted and most people were reluctant to be seen. He had spoken only to a few when the dwarves began appearing in the streets. Ryson hoped that the citizens of Connel would stay indoors and allow the dwarves to meet the goblins unimpeded. As he watched the progress of the dwarf battle groups, he realized that hope would be met.

  With the dwarves topside and ignoring the humans and their structures, Ryson felt that this was far more proof than anything he could say to those trapped in Connel. He believed Lief and Holli could do enough to warn anyone that might come out on the streets to cross paths with the dwarves, and so he turned his attention to reaching the Church of Godson as quickly as possible.

  He moved near top speed through the backstreets and alleys in order to avoid any dwarf formations. In a blur, he dashed through the darkness and covered the distance in mere moments. He came to a sudden halt at the steep stone steps of the Church of Godson. As he did, he realized there were several small groups of goblins crouched about the doors and corners of the church.

  Leaping forward without hesitation, he never gave these creatures a chance to know he was there. He never drew his own sword, leaving it sheathed across his back. Instead, he pulled a short sword from the grip of a surprised goblin. Using the flat of the blade, he swung it down hard on the tops of their heads. When he completed his path around the entire building, over a dozen goblins lay in unconscious heaps scattered about the church grounds.

  Ryson crept up to the large oak doors at the front of the church and pushed one open slowly and quietly. Carefully peering inside, he saw several people that appeared to be members of the church sprawled uncomfortably about the benches of the church. They all looked tired, disheveled, and most appeared withdrawn, as if they waited for the swing of an executioner’s axe they knew they could not stop. The condition of these people left the delver angry, and he threw open the door with disgust.

  As the door banged open loudly against a wall, the people inside jumped with a start. They looked at the delver with darkened and confused expressions. None of them made a move to approach him. They appeared as if they could not trust what they saw.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you. Is anyone or anything inside here guarding you?” Ryson asked firmly.

  No one answered aloud but many pointed to an open archway that led to a darkened passage. Ryson began to move toward that doorway when a figure stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the church’s main hall. Ryson recognized him immediately even though he was much gaunter than the delver remembered.

  “Hello Edward, or would you prefer me to call you Mayor Consprite?” Ryson asked with an edge of anger to his voice.

  “Thanks to you I’m no longer the mayor, but also thanks to you I now have a position of power among these pathetic people.”

  “Thanks to me?” Ryson asked.

  “Yes, you see you introduced me to the fairy tales of the Book of Godson,” Consprite offered with a sarcastic grin. “I, however, was able to separate the fantasy from the fact in that book. When the Sphere of Ingar was destroyed, I understood better than most what that would mean now that magic changed everything. The book, though humorous throughout, gave me some idea of what to expect. I learned where to find power that didn’t require me to obtain a position such as mayor.”

  “Is that it?” Ryson asked with a near growl. “You suddenly pick up a book, then you turn on the people that believe in that book and you blame me for what you’ve done? I know what you’ve done to the people of this church. I know how you sent them to the desert. You can’t put one ounce of that blame on me. You are totally responsible and you will pay for it.”

  “I’m not blaming you at all,” Consprite retorted haughtily. “Blame implies that I’ve done something wrong, and I’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve simply changed my perspective to be in better alignment with how things now work in the land.”

  Ryson was becoming more disgusted with this man with every word he spoke, but he could not refrain from asking more questions. “And how do you think things work now? How is it that you can possibly justify what you’ve done here?”

  “It doesn’t need justifying beyond me standing here as I am. I have not been affected by the goblins taking over this town. If anything, I’ve benefited from it.”

  “That benefit is about to end,” Ryson stated confidently. “Right now an entire army of dwarves is rushing through the streets to remove the goblin horde. Where is that going to leave you?”

  Consprite actually laughed. “It happened sooner than I expected, but it’s not a surprise. Well, that’s not completely true; the dwarf thing is a surprise. Who would have thought those little bastards would come to Connel’s aid. But it’s no surprise these goblins are going to get their turn at the stake so to speak. They couldn’t tie their shoes without help. Actually, I don’t even know if they wear shoes, never looked down that far. Their faces are bad enough to look at. That Sazar has more power than I would have expected, helped out by the witch in the desert, but I always knew his grasp exceeded his reach, or is it the other way around? I never understood that statement. Anyway, basically he seemed to want way more than he could really handle. Eventually, he was going to be taken down. That’s why this doesn’t change things for me. Whether he and his goblin horde get annihilated or not is immaterial. It leaves me in no different place than I stood before. I don’t need the goblins, just as I no longer need the pathetic people of Connel. You see, I don’t have to worry about being a politician anymore—about saying the right things, making it seem like you’re giving them something for nothing, or bailing them out of a disaster of their own making. The new inhabitants of this land understand one thing and one thing alone, power.”

  Ryson shook his head. “The problem with that is you don’t have any power.”

  “Power is what you make it,” Consprite said smugly, “and I know how to make alliances of power. You see I have a friend now.”

  Suddenly, Ryson sensed something behind him, something that wasn’t there a moment ago. It was almost as if a very angry and evil presence simply appeared in the shadows. As if to confirm that sensation, Ryson felt a sharp tug at his back. Something sliced the belt at his shoulder that kept the Sword of Decree on his back, and the delver felt the sword and sheath pull free. He twirled around in an instant and witnessed a familiar face, a face he did not wish to see again.

  “I see you remember me,” Janindise growled. “When we last met, you used this horrid sword along with the coming dawn to force me into a bargain. Do you remember that as well?”

  Ryson stared angrily into the eyes of the vampire. At first he did not wish to even acknowledge this woman, but his anger was growing hotter still. He realized that somehow the ex-mayor had joined with this vampire and it disgusted him beyond reason. Now, she was here in Connel and causing pain beyond her dark powers.

  “I remember it very well,” Ryson finally responded. “You promised you would only hunt dark creatures. You promised on what was left of your soul you would keep to that bargain and now you are here terrorizing these people. I can only assume you do not honor your word.”

  The vampire’s eyes blazed with hate. “You vermin! I have kept to that bargain and regretted every moment of it! Do you know how long I have drunk the foul swill of rancid blood from goblins, shags, and riv
er rogues?! But that ends tonight. There is much time before the sun rises again, and you no longer have your precious sword to help you.”

  Janindise held up the sword in victorious glee, and then quickly tied it about her own waist. “It will remain sheathed at my side until I find the proper means to destroy it. You will no longer have use of it again.” She peered deep into the delver’s eyes, her own eyes becoming a mesmerizing mirror of the delver’s deepest fears and desires. She pressed all of her will upon him as she now spoke in a more soothing tone. “You no longer need the sword because you have no desire to use it against me, just as you no longer have the desire to hold me to the promise I made so long ago. You wish to release me from that promise now, don’t you?”

  Ryson stared back in cold defiance. Even as the face of this monster twisted into illusions of fear and fantasy, the delver remained firmly attached to reality. “No, I do not! I hold you to that promise. Drink from an innocent at your own peril. You made that bargain to save your life and there’s nothing you can do to make me free you from it.” Ryson stared back even deeper into the cold abyss of Janindise’s eyes. He took no comfort in what he saw there, but he took strength in his own beliefs, his own faith, his own understanding of right and wrong and good and evil. He focused on the faces of his friends, his feelings for Linda and her feelings for him. He took hold of his inner strength and pressed it back against the nightmare in the vampire’s eyes. “You took my will once before. I remember what that was like and I will never, ever let that happen again. If you wish to try harder, you have my blessings. Just like you, I have all night, but unlike you I can last through the dawn.”

  In a scream of rage, Janindise lashed out at the delver. “Very well, but I will not be denied. You will release me from my vow! I made my bargain with you. When I drink from your veins, I will control you despite your strong will. I will make you relieve me from that bargain even if I have to break it first.”

  She reached out with the razor sharp claws of her fingernails, but she found nothing but empty air as the delver leapt clear of her swing. Revealing her own swiftness, she jumped toward him with her hands at his throat, but again she failed to take hold of her target as Ryson easily dodged around her.

  Ryson turned his back to the vampire and hopped up on an empty bench. He then bounded toward a wall and used it to propel himself higher into the air where he grabbed hold of a rafter in the ceiling. He swung himself around as he perched himself far out of reach.

  “You think just because I don’t have that sword that I’m defenseless?” he taunted her.

  Janindise hissed. “And do you think you are safe up there?” She said no more as her body faded into a dark, inky mist. The vaporous cloud floated upward with surprising speed. As it reached the rafters, the vampire’s body solidified once more and now she had a firm hold of the wooden beams. With one quick rocking motion, she launched herself toward the delver.

  The move surprised the delver, but only for a moment. A being that moved with his speed was used to reacting to an ever-changing environment near instantaneously. He dropped low, swinging forward on a single beam, and then released his hold to fall gracefully to the floor. He landed on his feet and bounded over three benches as if they were nothing more than blades of grass. He whirled about and leapt across the entire expanse of the open room and landed at the front door. He stopped and twirled about.

  He shook his head in defiance as he faced the vampire once more. “I was going to take this outside, but I don’t have to. We can stay right here.”

  “Arrogant fool, you have so much confidence in your own speed that you underestimate mine!” Janindise flew from the rafters to the back of the church and the doors where Ryson stood.

  “Speed? You have no idea what speed is,” Ryson yelled and in a flash, barely visible he ran up toward the front of the church and stood right by the altar.

  The vampire turned with another hiss and ran wildly after the delver like the demon she was. “You will release me of my vow and you will then die at my hand!”

  Ryson jumped up into the rafters once more as Janindise barreled into the front wall. As he hung over her head, he called a question down to her. “Just to make sure I understand this, I have to ask. If you ever do get a hold of me, which you won’t, but for argument’s sake, let’s say that you do. Once you feed on me, you will have broken your word. What’s left of your soul is lost. Why bother having me release you of your promise once you’ve already broken it?”

  The vampire looked up and bared her teeth at the delver. The white fangs sparkled in the candlelight of the altar. “It won’t matter if the bargain is broken if you release me of it. It doesn’t matter which happens first.”

  “I think it does,” Ryson countered.

  “I don’t care what you think! I will feed on whatever I like once I am finished with you!”

  “The only thing you’re going to feed on after this night is over is the sun.”

  “You will never survive that long!”

  “I don’t tire, certainly not from being chased by you,” the delver scoffed.

  Janindise leapt with her arms stretched toward the delver. She never reached him. An arrow with a wooden shaft pierced her heart at its very center. The strike sent her sprawling back against the wall. Her eyes widened in disbelief. As she took her last glance of this world, she saw Lief Woodson stepping further into the church with his bow in his hand.

  Edward Consprite stumbled to Janindise’s side. He tried to hold up her body to keep her from hitting the floor, but he lacked the strength. Her body was already cold to the touch as it folded through his arms and sunk to the ground. As Consprite looked down upon his fallen ally, he watched in dismay as her skin began to shrivel and fall loose around her bones. The flesh and muscle behind it decomposed at an unbelievable rate, almost as if her body was deflating. In mere moments, there was nothing but a grey leathery hide that sagged around her skeletal frame. Soon after, even these remains began to disintegrate until there was nothing left but hair and clumps of loose debris that could be easily scattered by the slightest wind.

  Consprite turned to the elf with both sadness and fury in his eyes. His own frame was haggard and his gait uneven, but he stalked toward the elf with evil intentions. The sight was almost humorous until another arrow from Lief’s bow pierced his heart as well. Consprite crumpled to the floor with a low groan and died right there in this Church of Godson.

  Ryson dropped down out of the rafters and on to the floor. He inspected the dusty remains of the vampire as he picked up his sword and returned it to its place on his back. He then moved to the corpse of the ex-mayor. He looked upon the body with a shake of his head. Finally, he looked up at Lief.

  “Thank you,” the delver said surprisingly.

  “Are you not going to argue with me over whether or not it was necessary to kill these two?” Lief asked, almost too perplexed to offer the question.

  Ryson looked about the room, looked into the hollow faces of those that spent the last few days trapped in this church. Though there were traces of joy in being freed, it did little to chase away their extreme exhaustion.

  “No, I’m not going to argue about it. I would have let the sun take care of her. Your way was quicker. As for him, you only get so many chances. He more than abused his.”

  “I am pleased to hear that.”

  Ryson nodded to Holli who was now standing next to him. “Is everything going alright outside?”

  Holli answered without hesitation. “The dwarves have the situation well in hand. They have dispatched the shags and are now closely engaged with the goblins at the outer limits of the city. Lief and I met not far from here. We agreed it would be futile to try to explain the situation to the humans here any further. If they do not believe their own eyes, they would not believe the word of an elf. I do not expect there to be any conflict between human and dwarf, at least not on this night.”

  “What about the cavalry outside the city?�
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  “They have Connel surrounded. They have already dispatched nearly every bloat spider. I doubt they will allow any of the goblins to escape. Eventually they will make it through the webs and enter the city to assist the dwarves.”

  “I guess that takes care of that. That means there’s just Sazar to deal with now.”

  Holli did not answer but looked to Lief. Her expression was not lost on the delver.

  “What is it?” Ryson asked.

  Lief became almost rigid as he began to explain. “I believe Sazar can be left to the dwarves or the human soldiers that enter the city. He is not the true threat here anyway. Instead, I now have another proposal that Holli has forced me to discuss with you. She and I have conferred about it briefly, but she demands that you be included in this decision.”

  “What decision?” Ryson pressed with greater curiosity.

  “It is the sorceress Tabris that is truly responsible for what has happened here. I believe she must be dealt with before she learns of what has happened here. Holli has told me that she knows where Tabris is in the Lacobian Desert. Not only that, she has the ability to bring us there utilizing her own magic powers. That may give us the opportunity we need.”

  “You want to go right now?” Ryson asked with slight amazement.

  “We may never have such an opportunity,” Lief stated grimly. “Very soon she will learn that the goblins have been defeated here in Connel. Once that occurs, she will realize that many will connect her to the crimes that have been committed here. If she does, at the very least she will make stronger preparations for those that may seek her out for justice. She may even decide to leave the area she is at now. If she does that, we will not have the same ability to reach her with such ease.”

  “So exactly what is it you want to do?” Ryson questioned.

  “I would have Holli transport us to a point immediately outside her oasis. I would then move upon her with as much speed as possible in hopes of catching her unaware. I would strike with the same speed and end her as a threat.”

  “So you want to kill her,” Ryson stated as his voice died off.

  Lief controlled any rising anger. He would not argue with the delver openly, but he decided to ask simple questions instead. “Do you think we have the power to capture her?”

  “No.”

  “Do you think she’s a danger to this land?”

  “Yes,” Ryson admitted after a long pause.

  In his own mind, Lief believed that was enough to justify his intended actions. The delver, however, would need more. “More importantly, because I know you don’t wish to act based solely on what someone is capable of doing—which is what you once told me—do you believe she should be held accountable for what she has done?”

  Ryson looked around once more and wondered how many of the people in this church had lost a friend or a family member to satisfy the trials of Tabris. He thought about how many had suffered in Connel beyond these walls over the past few days. He knew Sazar brought the plague of goblins on this city, but ultimately he was enabled by Tabris’ power. If she had not chosen to assist him for her own benefit, he would not be here today. He knew she was as responsible as the serp for all the misfortune that was caused in this place, and yet he was not certain what to say. The delver, however, did not get the opportunity to answer at that moment.

  Enin stepped into the center room as if he walked through a doorway that materialized for his own personal benefit and then faded at his whim. He walked up to the two elves and the delver. “You have done well here. Connel is now free. Sy is well and already within the city limits. The soldiers that ride with him are hunting down the stragglers of goblins, razor crows, and hook hawks. The dwarves are even now returning to their home.”

  Holli could not contain her surprise. “You’ve been watching us all?”

  “Watching and listening,” Enin admitted.

  “Then you heard what Lief just said?” the elf guard asked with a questioning glance.

  “I did.”

  “And what is your opinion of this idea?”

  “It is not for me to say.”

  Lief spoke in a disgusted tone. “Then say nothing and stay out of our way.”

  Enin looked upon the elf with a puzzled expression. “I am not standing in your way. Do what you think you must.”

  Holli could not leave it at that. “And what if I say I must do more than simply bring them to Tabris? What if I say I feel I have to help them in this cause, that I have to do whatever is in my power to stop this sorceress?”

  This caught Enin somewhat off guard. “You wish to battle Tabris? Do you understand the consequences of such a decision? No matter what happens, there will be a shift in the balance. There is great weight in what you intend to do, it will affect many things. You can’t simply do this on a whim.”

  Holli shook her head. “It is not a whim. And as to the balance and the effect, that is how you see it. I have never been able to accept that. What I do is based on what I think is the best course of action. Though I am no longer allowed to protect my camp, I am still an elf guard. That is what I am. I look at this situation and realize that it’s not about the balance of magic power. It’s about what should be done, what needs to be done. You wish to try to break everything down to some kind of philosophical question regarding interference and people’s choice. It is indeed about choice, but it is not as complicated as you wish to make it. It’s about my choice and what I think I should do. Tabris has done great harm here and she will do it again. Even if she doesn’t do it again, she has to be held accountable for what she has done here. She has to be stopped.”

  “You are not powerful enough to defeat her on your own,” Enin said in a warning tone.

  Here Holli became resolute. “Sometimes you don’t need to be more powerful to do what needs to be done. There is more to any battle than that. I will also not be on my own. I will be with Lief and Ryson, if indeed the delver agrees to accompany us.”

  Ryson, instead of answering the questioning glance of Holli, turned a plea to the wizard. “You can stop this right now, Enin. I know you have the power.”

  Enin looked into the delver’s eyes, and though he found it extremely difficult to deny Ryson’s request, he made it clear he could not bring himself to intervene. “Yes, I have the power, but do I have the right? You wanted me to remove the goblins from Connel. And yet, you all seemed to handle that quite well on your own. In fact, the way I see it, much good has come from me not interfering. The dwarves choose to use this opportunity to come to the aid of Connel. The people of this city once believed the dwarves to be their enemies, now they think differently. The dwarves now feel they have restored their honor and have let go of their collective guilt. It seems to me that my decision to stay out of the way was the correct one, but you quickly forget this. Now, you want me to go to the Lacobian and deal with Tabris.”

  Ryson did not give up so easily in the face of Enin’s argument. “But this is different. This isn’t freeing a city, this is just one person, a powerful sorceress. You’re the best equipped to deal with her. You don’t even have to kill Tabris. You can contain her, place her in a magical prison or something. Why can’t you do this?”

  Lief turned on Enin as well. “What say you wizard? You really can not hope to argue with his logic. You of all people know how much a threat this sorceress can be. Are you going to just stand by and let her empower another serp just so she can gain more test subjects for her spells? Or will you finally act?”

  Holli added her own thoughts. “You yourself said Tabris turned to evil. Those were your own words. She has done a terrible thing here and she must not be allowed to simply walk away.”

  Enin felt as if he was being unfairly outnumbered, that those he called friend were now completely disregarding his own understanding of the situation. He appeared shocked and sounded more than angry. A fury was growing in him and it became apparent in his words. “How many times do I have to tell you people? Am I speak
ing some strange language? Is it so very difficult to understand? Really, I want to know. For the love of Godson, it is not that complicated! Why is it you wish me to insert myself into the paths of others? I am not some god that you can come to in order to solve every problem that comes into existence. There are certain things we all must face—events, circumstances, people—life paths that we can not escape. We will face them whether we want to or not. That is destiny. How we deal with these events is our choice. No one dictates these decisions. We make them on our own. We can meet our challenges with honesty, faith, determination, honor, integrity and courage, yes courage. Or we can choose to deal in deception, anger, bitterness, and fear. When we do choose a path, we choose between right and wrong, good and evil. These are decisions of the greatest magnitude and define who we are. If I start to make these choices for you, I stop you from becoming what you were meant to be. Don’t you understand that?”

  Though Ryson and Holli became silent, Lief was not impressed and made his own understanding known. “And how many times do I have to tell you? It’s not just what we do, it’s what we don’t do. We are asking you to act. You are using excuses to avoid such action. That is not a reflection of us, it is a reflection of you. You talk to us as if we are making some kind of unholy request. That is nonsense. We are asking you to do what you are capable of doing and what should be done. When you do not act, there are consequences. Look at this carcass on the floor.” Lief paused just long enough to point to the body of Edward Consprite. “This is the human that attempted to stand in our way when we needed to destroy Ingar’s sphere. Tell me wizard, how many lives would have been saved if I killed this pathetic excuse of a human when I first met him as opposed to waiting until now? How MANY?!”

  The elf would not stop to allow for an answer. His own anger flushed his face and his temple throbbed with a pulsating vein.

  “Now let’s turn to this sorceress. You don’t wish to interfere in the choices of others, so you will let her simply go about her business in the desert. I can not take such a position, not in good conscience. If I do nothing when I have the ability to act, then I am just as responsible for the evil she commits because it could have been avoided if only I did something to stop her. I don’t wish to live with that. That is my choice!”

  Lief was not yet done and now he turned to the delver.

  “And what of you, Ryson? I call you friend, but you have not yet divulged your decision. We’ve actually had this discussion before, and more than once. Only a few days ago, you would not allow me to kill the river rogue. Do you remember? You believed all life had value. Fine. I won’t argue the point, I’ll use it instead. We allowed Consprite to live back before we left for Sanctum Mountain to retrieve the sphere. We could have killed him right there, but you insisted there’s a value in life, even Consprite’s. But what of the lives that have been lost since? Have they no value? How many died because of Consprite? How many from the Church of Godson suffered? How many were tortured by a mad sorceress because he condemned them.

  “And let’s not forget about that sorceress. Are we not responsible for her? We are the one’s that brought her to Sanctum Mountain when we needed to destroy the sphere. As I remember it, she didn’t want to use the magic. Isn’t that what she said to us at Sanctum’s peak? But we convinced her it was necessary.”

  Ryson recalled the event clearly. He remembered how he implored Lauren, who had become Tabris, to use the magic to help get the sphere out of Sanctum Mountain. Still, he also remembered how important it was to get to the talisman and he said as much. “It was necessary. Everyone would have died if the sphere was not destroyed. She used the magic to save everyone.”

  “And now she uses magic to kill,” Lief shot back. “The truth is we have to take responsibility for what we’ve done. Who knows what would have happened if she decided not to use the magic? Who is to say that we wouldn’t have found some other way to stop the sphere? Your friend here says we have to deal with choices. We had a choice then, and we have a choice now. Do we face up to our responsibility that in some way we created Tabris?”

  Lief turned to Enin and fired off his final thought. “One other thing you should consider, wizard. Maybe actions can be right and wrong, good and evil, as you like to profess. But what about inaction? Where do you want to place the decision not to do anything, to stand back and allow things to happen that should not happen? Where is the good and evil in that?”

  “What do you mean?” Enin asked.

  “I mean that certain inaction can be as harmful as any action. It’s not always enough to say that I did not do anything unjust or evil, as you seem to like to put it. I’ve realized that not doing anything can lead to just as much pain and suffering. How many suffered because the elders of my camp did nothing when Petiole was in charge? And now you hold to the same attitude. You are using an excuse of not interfering, but it is the same thing. You point to what has happened here in Connel as justification for your inaction. You want to point to everything good that occurred here and use it to defend how you did nothing. In my mind, that is beyond cowardly. You wish to actually take credit for not acting.”

  “I am not taking credit,” Enin responded angrily. “I only said that my decision not to interfere was the proper one.”

  “And I say to you it is an argument of convenience. It allows you to stand back and remove yourself from what needs to be done. If that’s what you want, very well, but there are others that do not feel the same way.”

  Enin frowned, but said nothing further to the elf. He turned to the delver instead. “What about you Ryson? Do you agree with him?”

  Ryson heaved a heavy breath and replied with all the honesty his heart allowed. “I don’t agree with everything Lief says. When I listen to him it sounds as if he wants to punish people for what they are capable of doing and not what they actually do. That’s not right. But the truth is that’s not what we’re dealing with here. We know what Tabris has done. I don’t know if I am responsible for it or not, but I do know we can’t just pretend it never happened and just leave her in the desert. I wish you would see it that way, Enin. I really do think you are the one best suited to handle this, but if you won’t, then I don’t see any other choice. This may be our best opportunity to stop her.” Ryson paused and looked to both Holli and Lief. “I’ll go with you and do whatever we have to do.”

  Holli did not let any silence stand for long. Instead, she made one last attempt to make Enin understand. “Ryson is correct. There are times we simply must act. You taught me how to use the magic and I’m grateful, but I have to choose how to use it. Isn’t that what you also have been trying to tell us? Based on what I’ve seen and heard, I choose to help them. I will take them to Tabris, and though it will use most of my energy to get them there. I will use what I have left and all the rest of my abilities to stop her and keep her from being a threat in the future. That is my choice.”

  “I see,” the wizard said. “I will not stand in your way. You all must do what you think is right.”

  “I’m not sure if it will be enough,” Holli admitted, “so before I go, I want you to consider something. You once said you were blessed with an understanding of your power. I truly wonder now if that’s true. I can’t accept some of the things you have told me. I understand the importance of balance in many things, but your grasp of it escapes me. You say there is good and there is evil and in order to make sure that all choice is fair, the two must always even out. Based on this notion of balance, you want me to believe that you do not act because it means something evil will happen somewhere else. To me, that makes no sense at all. If everyone has a choice of whether to do right or wrong, good or evil, then it has to be possible that everyone could choose good. If that were the case, there would be no evil.

  “I’ve never accepted your argument that we must know sadness in order to experience happiness, or that we must know pain in order to feel joy. Perhaps I am making things too simple, but I do not think seeking a bala
nce between these things would be in anyone’s interest. It makes more sense to maximize the positive and minimize the negative, focus on what is good and enhance it, deny what is bad and try to eliminate it. This is never how you look at things. You constantly tell me that every good act can be evened out with an act of evil. If that were true, perhaps we would have been better off if we let the sphere destroy us all.

  “Maybe because you are so powerful you have come up with this notion in order to maintain your own reason. I can’t say. I see how powerful you are and I think you have become obsessed with the idea of balance. There are other things, however, you must consider as well. Choosing means taking risks, and when you use balance as an excuse, you insulate yourself from these risks. You are right in not wanting to interfere with people’s lives, but you are not right when you avoid using the gift you have been given simply because you do not wish to take a risk.”

  Holli stopped for just a moment and placed a hand on Enin’s cheek. “Thank you for all you have taught me.” She then turned to Lief and Ryson. “If we are to do this, haste is our best ally. Are you ready?”

  Both nodded.

  “Then prepare yourselves, for we shall be on Tabris’ doorstep in a matter of moments.” She then concentrated on a point in the Lacobian Desert and brought her hands together. A green octagon of pure energy encircled her around her shoulders. She brought Lief and Ryson together with her in her mind and the emerald shape expanded to surround them as well. As she focused on a path through space and time that would bring them to the desert, the green magic shimmered and crackled and then the three were gone.

  Enin looked upon the empty space where they stood only moments ago. He thought of Lief and he was sorry his last words to him were spoken in anger. He considered Ryson and knew that he would survive somehow for his destiny was not done. Finally, his thoughts turned to Holli.

  He did not wish to dwell on their parting for too long as her words struck something within. As much as he tried to push aside what she said, tried to convince himself she did not truly understand, he could not deny the spark of doubt that was now growing inside. Something she said nagged at him because it seemed to generate a tremor in the vast magical energy within him. For an instant, he wished to close the door on that sensation, bury it deeply. He could not, however, bring himself to do so. There was more than a spark of truth in what the elf guard said to him, and at that moment, Enin needed to be honest with himself more than at any other time in his life.

  He focused deep within his own being, searched the magical energies which gave him so much greater understanding of this existence and the next. He struck down at the false perceptions of his own creation and opened himself up to the simple basic truths. He would not allow his own fears and his own doubts to raise barriers against that which he must now truly understand. He recalled his own words that it was his choice on how to deal with moments of destiny. Would he face this moment with courage and faith, or with fear and deception of his own making?

  In a moment of unparalleled awareness, he realized that he now faced his own moment of destiny. He did indeed face choices on how to use his power. He had been correct about Connel, it was not always his right to interfere with the decisions of others, but not all choices involved the same consequences. He also realized he had been wrong about a number of other things. In that realization, he understood there were times when he would have to act, when he would have to fight for what he believed in, when he would have to use his power to defeat evil, not for his own glory, but for the sake of what was right. One such time was before him now, and it was time for him to use his power.