by Jeff Inlo
Chapter 24
During the last few moments of transport, Holli felt the waves of magical energy that guided them over the land being ripped from her control. Just as she sensed the path becoming distorted before they reached their destination, she found it more difficult to maintain a link to her two companions. She doubled and redoubled her efforts to maintain a path of travel and to keep Ryson and Lief enveloped in her spell. Despite her focus, the disruption increased in intensity as they closed in on Tabris’ oasis. The pain was agonizing and before they hit the sandy rock ground of the desert, she felt her own spell rupture.
Holli hit the ground heavily, her legs absorbing a great force as if she fell from the heights of a tall tree. She bit back a scream of pain as she crumpled to her knees. She had reached her target, the very edge of Tabris’ oasis, but Lief and Ryson were not at her side. She quickly felt her legs for breaks and was greatly relieved to find both were sound. When she tried to rise up, she felt only slight pain in her left knee, but a wave of exhaustion kept her from standing. She looked to her left and immediately spied Ryson a short distance away. She peered deeper into the dark desert night and realized that Lief was much further off in that same direction.
Ryson ran at top speed to Holli’s side. He bent his head low to get a look in her face. “Are you alright?”
“I don’t know what happened. I lost control of the spell at the very end. I don’t think I’m injured, but I feel weak, empty.”
Ryson explained his own experience. “I could feel your presence when you cast the spell and the energy surrounded us. I could actually feel you carrying me and pressing me over Dark Spruce and the rocky hills at the edge of the desert. In that last moment, though, I felt something else, something that was pulling me away from you. Eventually, both forces just stopped and I landed on the ground.”
An angry, bitter voice called from beyond the cold, dry air of the desert. It came from within the oasis and it chilled Ryson much more than the pressing emptiness of the Lacobian. “Is that Ryson Acumen? Is this the one I see? It is! The delver that brought me to Sanctum now tries to invade my home with this pathetic elf witch as his guide. How fitting! If you and your little witch are wondering what happened, let me make it clear. I am what happened. The elf witch came here once before without my permission, did you think I would allow that to happen again without taking precautions?”
Tabris went silent after remembering Holli was the student of Enin, a wizard beyond her own powers. Apprehension exploded within the sorceress as she spotted another figure off to the side. She worried that Enin had somehow eluded her notice, that he shrouded his great magical energy in order to catch her unaware. That concern ended when she saw the shadowy figure raise a bow and fire an arrow at her with deadly intentions. Enin would never have to resort to such a wretched attempt on her life. He had the power to obliterate her with the wave of his hand. This new invader was almost not worth her notice.
Lief had dashed further off into the darkness when he heard the voice of the sorceress. He took a curved path to the very edge of the oasis, away from Ryson and Holli in hopes of being overlooked. When he raised his bow, he believed he had the chance to end this conflict before it truly began. As he fired his arrow, he realized Tabris was now aware of his presence, but he believed it was too late for her. She did not have the time to cast a defensive spell in the instant it would take for the arrow to find its mark. To his astonishment, the arrow flew off its intended path and disappeared into the night air.
“Did you also think I would place myself out in the open without taking a few precautions?” Tabris scoffed toward Lief. “I cast a wind gust shield to deal with your projectiles before you arrived. Anything you send toward me will be redirected harmlessly away. You may fire all the arrows you wish at me, but unless you are standing right in front of me, don’t expect them to hit their target.”
“Then I will stand right before you,” Lief shouted. He leapt forward, and though he could never match the speed of the delver, his elf legs carried him with nimble quickness. Not knowing if the sorceress might cast a spell, he darted to his left and right as he endeavored to make himself a difficult target. He found it more than unusual that Tabris made no attempt to raise her hands to cast a spell of any kind, until his body ran hard into a powerful barrier he could not see. His own speed forward was matched by a nearly identical force pressing outward from the oasis. The impact nearly hammered him into unconsciousness. It certainly succeeded in knocking him off his feet as he fought back the sting of pain that sucked away his breath.
“I recognize that voice as well,” Tabris hummed in amusement. “Isn’t that Lief Woodson? This is too grand for me to believe. I have before me the delver and the two elves that joined me in Sanctum Mountain. And just so you know, there is one more that is with us tonight. He too was at Sanctum, though he did not enter the mountain.”
Lifting her arms in an arc above her head, Tabris focused her power into a crisp diamond of crackling violet energy. She pressed her hands outward and a swirling wave of wind danced through the plants and trees of her oasis. For a brief moment, no one could see the target of her spell until the cradle of wind returned back to Tabris carrying the body of a one-legged man. The spell evaporated just off to the sorceress’ right side and the man dropped to the ground in an unbalanced shambles.
Ryson knew immediately that the form on the ground was that of the Reader Matthew. He watched as the reader grappled with the hard rock to turn over on one side. When Matthew finally raised himself on his lone knee and steadied himself with two hands flat on the ground, the delver called out in concern.
“Matthew, it’s me, Ryson! Are you alright?”
“I’ve been better,” the reader muttered with a weak cough.
“His health will not be a concern in a matter of moments. I can sense through my own spells that Sazar’s forces have been greatly reduced, almost completely eliminated. I imagine you have something to do with that, don’t you delver?”
“We’ve taken Connel back from the serp,” Ryson answered sharply. “You won’t be getting any more helpless victims to practice on, if that’s what you’re thinking about.”
“Shame,” Tabris sighed. “But if that’s the case, then I also no longer need to keep this reader alive. I did so only so he might witness what I have become. I do not think he is happy about it. I don’t know if I’m happy about it, either, but I know who is to blame. The truth is you are all responsible for what I am. Thus, you should all share in the understanding of what that means.”
It was Lief who answered, and he did so with a raging fury from the center of his being. “It is you that will understand that I will not allow you to continue.”
Tabris almost laughed, but she found anger as she looked to Lief. “You have no say at all in what will be allowed. Have you learned nothing by being knocked to the ground? Be aware that my wind gust shield that is so effective against your arrows was not the only spell I prepared in advance. There is a storm barrier that protects my oasis. None of you can enter, but my power can reach out to you.”
Lief jumped to his feet and then twirled about with his bow in hand. He pulled another arrow and fired it at the sorceress. Again, though the arrow pierced the storm barrier, it was easily blown wide of its target by the wind gust.
“You don’t learn, do you?” Tabris asked in slight amazement. “The arrow can enter the oasis because of its very narrow form. It may be able to penetrate the storm barrier, but that same shape allows it to be easily redirected by the power of the wind. As I said, you can not reach me.”
“I can not reach you now, sorceress, but I have patience. Your energy is not limitless. Even now I can tell these two spells draw on your magical essence. You can not keep these shields up indefinitely. They will eventually fall, and when they do, so shall you.”
“As I said before, you can not get to me but I can reach out to you,” Tabris growled. “My energy does not need to be limitless. It only needs to last a
s long as it takes me to dispose of you, as you are nothing but an insignificant insect. Believe me I have far more energy than I need for these shields to last.”
Lief said nothing. He leapt back several paces and then darted to his left. He grasped another arrow and let it fly. Again, the projectile was pressed harmlessly away from Tabris. The failure did not seem to frustrate him at all.
“I have dozens of arrows,” Lief finally shouted. “Each one that I fire weakens you slightly. Each moment that passes drains you even more. I will remain here as long as it takes. Your energy will fade and you will die.”
Tabris scowled. “You only have as long as I wish you to have!” She pressed her hands together in front of her chest and mouthed several words. She then flung her hands forward toward the elf and a bolt of deep purple lightning flew from her body. The streak of deadly energy crackled as it knifed toward Lief. As the bolt made contact with the ground, a dazzling explosion of violet light lit up the desert darkness and a boom of thunder rattled the rocks nearby. Sandy debris clouded the area where Lief stood as the sorceress pulled her arms back to the sides of her body.
A mere instant after the echo of the thunder clap subsided, another arrow streaked toward Tabris. This one came several paces to the right of where Lief had previously stood. As the dust settled, Lief’s outline became more apparent in the darkness.
“That will only hasten the time it takes for you to run out of energy,” the elf baited the sorceress. “Keep it up, do not stop. You said you can reach us from where you stand, but I am beginning to doubt it. With each spell you cast, you grow weaker.”
“Imbecile!” Tabris shrieked. “You have no idea of the extent of my power. I can cast thousands of bolts of that power before I weaken. You can’t dodge forever. You are not faster than the lightning.”
Lief shook his head with obvious scorn toward the sorceress. “I do not have to be faster than the lightning. I only have to be faster than you.”
“Let us see if that’s true.”
Tabris pressed her hands together once more. Indiscernible words crossed her lips that were snarled in anger. As a violet diamond formed at her pressed palms, her body shook and trembled. The magical shape glowed brighter with each passing moment. When she flung her arms toward Lief, the purple diamond exploded from her hands not in one bolt, but in four. The streaks of energy cut across the dry air and pulsated with even more radiance. As they struck the ground, they exploded into much larger blasts of power. These separate fields of crackling energy joined with thin streams of electric arcs, creating a wide field of interlaced magical force. Once the streams surged the four fields together, the entire area exploded in one massive burst.
At first, Ryson could see nothing, his vision spotted from the after effects of the blast. As the flashes died away and his sight quickly cleared, he peered into the enormous smoldering crater that resulted from the explosion. Very little remained beyond Lief’s charred and broken bow, a few shattered arrows scattered among the rocks, and tatters of a burnt and shredded cloak. There was no doubt in Ryson’s mind that Lief’s body had been obliterated by the blast.
“Lief!” Ryson shouted out in agony. He wanted to run to the center of the crater, but his legs would not move. Sorrow kept him frozen, as his mind reeled against the loss of a friend.
Tabris smiled with brief satisfaction. She turned her attention away from the smoking rock and watched in glee at Ryson’s torment.
“I guess I was faster then him after all,” she taunted those that could hear.
The joy in her voice left Ryson beyond angry. His emotions boiled and he nearly shook with rage. He stepped away from Holli to create a clear path between him and the sorceress. He knew he could not reach Tabris at the moment, not while the storm barrier between them still stood, but he also knew that Lief was right. The sorceress could not maintain the energy shields forever. He would only have to wait for the moment they fell, and he knew he could avoid her blasts indefinitely, no matter how large she made them.
“You’re not faster than me,” he growled.
Tabris eyed the delver with caution and quickly placed her hands together. “Careful, delver. Do not do anything rash. No, I am not faster than you, but then again I don’t have to be. At the moment, you can’t reach me, and I will not waste time or energy on trying to strike you. I am aware of your speed. I am also, however, aware of the other elf’s condition. She has many powers, it’s true, but right now she has exhausted her energy. She is no match for me. And then, of course, there is this pathetic human by me. He is also your friend. How easy would it be for me to extinguish his life? How long can you stand there, delver? At what moment will you make a mistake and miscalculate what I might do. Eventually, I will strike you down, just as I struck down your friend.”
Tabris paused for a moment as a devilish grin washed across her face. She took a quick glance at the reader on the ground in front of her and then toward Holli still on her knees. Her smile grew as she made an unholy offer.
“I make a deal with you, delver, one that I’m not going to give you much time to consider and no time to argue. I’m going to cast a single energy bolt spell at where you stand. You will be able to dodge it easily if you so desire, but that would leave us in the same position we are right now. If, however, you accept your fate, allow the bolt to strike you and end your life, I will spare your other elf friend. I will allow the female to walk away. All you must do is surrender yourself to death. Do so and I will even let her escort the reader out of the desert as well. Your life for theirs. It’s a simple bargain.”
Ryson tried to shout out, but Tabris would not listen. She made her offer clear. “There is no argument. I am casting the spell now. You will not get a second chance. If you dodge the bolt, I will kill them both. If you don’t, they will live.”
Tabris pressed her palms together and began to whisper the words of the spell. She watched Ryson intently, wondering if he would fight off the instincts to survive and sacrifice himself, or if he would leap away and allow the next bolts she cast to strike down his friends. The violet diamond returned to her hands as she prepared to finish the spell.
With Tabris’ attention so fixed upon the delver, Reader Matthew was able to struggle up from his one knee. He kept his hands palm down against the cool, grass-covered ground of the oasis. He was already within the barrier that blocked Ryson from reaching Tabris and so he had an unblocked path to the sorceress. With all his remaining strength, he used his hands and his one leg to launch himself toward her. In that brief instant, he caught her totally off guard as he wrapped his arms completely around her.
Tabris’ hands were still locked together at her chest. With the reader’s arms clamped around her and his own body pressed against hers, she could not release her arms. She had just finished reciting the spell but found herself completely unable to release the magical energy that continued to swell between their two bodies.
“Release me, you fool!” she screeched.
Matthew’s arms only pulled tighter around her. “Not today. I told you faith was stronger than magic and I guess I finally have the faith to defeat you.”
Tabris struggled to free her hands, but she could not break the hold of the reader. The glow of the violet diamond doubled, then tripled. It began to swirl and soon it encased both Tabris and Matthew. In one climactic burst, the energy imploded on them both. Tabris’ body was torn apart by the internal blast and the force threw Matthew heavily against a large boulder.
With Tabris dead, the wind barrier collapsed and nothing stood between the oasis and the delver. Ryson sprinted to the side of the reader and dropped to his knees, so he could lift his head from the ground. Something felt very wrong with Matthew’s body, as if it was much too yielding and offering almost no resistance to Ryson’s grasp.
“Matthew? Can you hear me?” Ryson asked, wondering if the reader could even answer.
Matthew’s eyelids flickered, but his sight seemed out of focus. His eyes rol
led about in all directions as if searching for a moving target behind a shifting screen. “Ryson?”
Ryson knew in that moment there was nothing that could save the reader, yet still he wanted to help his friend. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Actually there is,” Matthew offered in a hollow, raspy voice. “Tell Consprite that faith is no fairy tale.”
Ryson bit down on his lip, but managed to tell the truth. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell him. He’s dead.”
“Then I guess he already knows.”
“I’m sure he does,” Ryson replied through a hard swallow.
Matthew’s eyes stopped rolling about. They fixed on a position in the sky and for one last moment there was pure clarity in his vision. “Do you see it? Within the stars, not all of them… but some of them are more.”
Ryson turned his head skyward and looked into the twinkling mass of light overhead. In this darkness, many of the stars seemed to almost mesh together into one mist-like cloud that sparkled with purity. One point of light, however, appeared to separate itself from the rest. It grew brighter, its intensity magnified. It looked almost as if the star was floating down from the sky, gently lowered by a cool desert breeze.
Matthew’s last gaze fixed upon this star and the moment before he died he recognized the face of an old friend imbedded in this light. He could clearly see the features of the interpreter that had died on Sanctum Mountain.
“Stephen?” Matthew questioned as a smile crossed his lips. “It is you! I am ready.”
Reader Matthew died with those words.
As if Matthew’s death was a cue for his entrance, Enin appeared out of the darkness and placed a hand upon Ryson’s shoulder.
“His faith was strong, as will be his reward,” the wizard said.
Ryson wanted to cast off the wizard’s hand, but instead he held on to Matthew. He managed to speak what he was feeling. “You could have prevented this, all of this.”
“No, I couldn’t. It was his time, as it was Lief’s time. I’ve known that for many days now. There is nothing I could have done to prevent it. The important thing is that they met their fates in a way we could all only hope to—with courage, with determination, and with faith. If you wish to be angry with me, you have the right, but don’t diminish how these two chose to meet their own end.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” Ryson admitted in an angry response.
He could not continue. The sadness in his being was suddenly overwhelmed by a familiar feeling, a feeling that was much larger in intensity than it had ever been in the past. The dryness he had felt many times before washed over him in waves. It dove into his core just as it flushed him of every emotion. This time, the sensation did not just vanish. It stayed with the delver and it pointed out a being of great power that was now laughing with hysteria.
Enin did not even have to ask. His own link to the magic allowed him insight into what Ryson was sensing. The wizard’s own spirit grew cold at that which was unfolding before him. He had now realized that while he had indeed been using balance as an excuse, that didn’t mean the concept didn’t exist. He knew the equilibrium had just shifted.
“Baannat,” Enin whispered. He quickly moved toward Holli and placed a hand upon her forehead. He concentrated on opening a connection with the elf and let a fraction of his own energy flow into her. It was enough to restore her.
“You should be able to walk now,” Enin stated.
“What’s going on?” Holli questioned.
“I’m not completely sure, but I would venture to guess that the magical energy that once was Tabris now belongs to Baannat. Magical energy is never extinguished. It is cast out in spells and then it is absorbed once more. He must have known what was going on here and waited for Tabris’ end. When she died, all of the energy that was hers became his. I’m afraid he has used this cataclysmic event not only to steal her energy but to expand his own capabilities. If I’m correct, he is now much more powerful than before.”
“Is this Baannat the one that’s basically your equal in power?” Ryson asked, as he slowly walked over to the two.
“Yes,” Enin answered solemnly. “Unfortunately, this leads to a greater problem. A problem I have been doing all I can to avoid, but I’m not going to avoid it any further.”
“What is it you are going to do?” Holli asked.
“What must be done. In truth, I had already made my decision before I came here to you. You were right, Holli. While balance is important, it must never be used as an excuse, or as something to hide behind. And that is certainly what I have been doing. A greater threat now exists, and it’s a threat that must be dealt with.”
“You just said he is much more powerful than before,” Holli noted. “Is he now more powerful than you?”
“If I am correct about what happened here, then yes, I would bet he is.”
“Can you defeat him?”
“It is not my destiny to defeat him,” Enin stated firmly. He took a moment to look into Ryson’s being and simply nodded his head. “But I believe I can weaken him, and I must at least make that attempt. If I don’t try, I would not be able to live with myself. I have been fearful for too long.”
“Hold on here,” Ryson demanded. “What are you talking about? Now all of a sudden you want to act? You’re almost sounding like Lief, and that’s about as far an opposite as you can get from what you have been saying all along.”
Enin frowned. “The truth is we were both wrong. Lief would go too far, and I would not go far enough. The best solution is as it always is, somewhere in the middle. Balance. The very concept I’ve been using as an excuse not to act, it the very thing I now understand.”
“So you’re going to fight another wizard because you think he is evil?” Ryson pressed. “That doesn’t sound like balance.”
Enin sighed. “I have made many mistakes. I guess that proves I’m still human, and that in itself is a bit of relief to me. I suppose I had to go through this. I was given a gift of so much power, but I still have all the failings I had before. It’s still possible for me to lose my courage, even my faith. The important thing to remember is that even something that is lost can be found. Mistakes are made. It’s how we learn. Anyway, the truth is I now see things clearer. You came here to stop Tabris because she was ultimately responsible for what happened in Connel. That is only partially true. She certainly shared in the responsibility, but now I can sense there was another hand shaping events.”
“Baannat?” Holli wondered aloud.
Enin nodded.
“So he is responsible,” the elf stated with no true surprise.
“I don’t know how he hid it from me, but it is clear to me now.”
“If you know you can’t defeat him, then why will you do this?” Holli demanded.
“For the very reasons you came here,” Enin responded. “I will have no regrets about what I must do this night. I understand things better now. I hope you can also understand. Destiny can’t be stopped, but it can be slowed or sped up. We will turn things faster today, so to speak. I think we already have. Things that might have waited, no longer can.” He paused only for a moment, wondering if he should say what he wanted. In the end, he decided to speak freely about what he was about to do and let the events play out without deception or denial. He looked toward both Ryson and Holli. “What I do, I have decided to do. What Linda does, is up to Linda. What you do, is up to you. Destiny and choice, they can indeed go hand in hand.”
With this, Ryson found concern exploding in his chest. “What do you mean Linda? What does she have to do with this?”
“She must decide that for herself.” It was all Enin said before he disappeared.