by Jeff Inlo
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After what felt like an eternity to Ryson, he and Holli finally appeared at the front of the Borderline Inn. The streets were dark and empty, but a few lights burned within the tavern. He raced through the door hoping to find Linda behind the bar. He saw no one. No customers, no Enin, no Linda.
“Linda?!” the delver called out as he raced through the back rooms and kitchen. Again, he found no one.
“The door wasn’t locked, but no one’s here,” he said more to himself then to Holli who had now entered the main room of the establishment. “She usually locks up, so she should still be here.”
Holli took a long moment to make her own assessment of the room and realizing the inevitable, she reached out with her feelings to locate the wizard.
“She is gone. We are too late.”
Ryson turned with both dread and fury toward the elf. “What do you mean?!”
“Enin is no longer here, no longer in this plane of existence. He is with Baannat but not completely. He is somewhere between the two realms, but his consciousness is certainly focused on the evil creature, of that I’m sure. There’s only one way he could accomplish that. He would need an anchor point. Someone would have to be in Baannat’s realm that is allowing him to make contact with the creature. It has to be Linda. She is immune to the magic, so Baannat must be unable to attack her.”
“You have to stop this!” Ryson demanded. “If you know where he is, you can tell him to send Linda out of there!”
“I don’t believe I could get that message to him,” Holli revealed.
“Try!”
Holli nodded as she closed her eyes. She focused on her link with Enin and made every possible effort to create a line of communication. With every ounce of her consciousness, she tried to force her thoughts through space and time to reach the wizard. Nothing.
“I can not reach him.”
“This is insane! Linda can’t survive this. We have to do something.”
“What can we do? It is not like they are just outside this inn. They are beyond us.”
This one comment leapt out at Ryson and gave him hope. “Are they? Are they beyond us, Holli?”
“What do you mean?”
“You can reach them, can’t you? You can cast a spell that would bring us to Baannat’s realm. You know how to get there.”
“I would be putting you in great danger. This is not like fighting a shag or an army of goblins. This creature is immensely powerful.”
“I can’t just let Linda be in there alone.”
“She is immune to the magic, you are not.”
“I don’t care. I have to be there.”
Holli hesitated for only a moment and then through the line of communication she had tried to forge only moments ago, she got her response from Enin.
Send him! Alone!