Delver Magic Book I: Sanctum's Breach

by Jeff Inlo

  Chapter 31

  "She faded away just before the other spirits took off." Ryson made his explanation to Lief as the elf sat up on the drying ground in the sunlight. The algors sat beside him, using their healing powers to chase away the exhaustion, to repair his injured ankle. Holli stood watch over them all, never convinced that the danger had simply ceased to exist. Her eyes darted about the summit as well as down the slopes while the delver continued his retelling of Shayed's departure.

  Ryson was torn with emotions and his words betrayed the swirling confusion within him. There was joy, as much as he tried to deny it. There was also much pain. Ingar had been vanquished, the sphere destroyed, but the death of two more brought guilt to any sense of triumph. He found it difficult to retell the story to Lief, could not look in his eyes when he spoke of Mappel's death, but the elf had urged him to continue. He could do so only with hollow words, proclaiming victory as if it were equal to defeat. He now spoke of Shayed's last words with but a hint of comfort.

  "She said the magic was pure and the taint of poison gone. I can sense she's right. Something about the air feels different. Not the way it was before the quake, but less threatening."

  "The taint of poison has been removed, do not doubt that." Lief stretched to test his rejuvenated muscles and to illustrate his returning strength. "I would not have lasted this day if it had remained, but the poison is gone from my body as well." The elf paused, scanned the mountain top as if to confirm an assumption. "What about Dzeb?"

  Ryson shrugged, indicating he understood so little about the cliff behemoth. His tone carried the same uncertainty. "He left just as the sun rose, started climbing down the mountain like nothing ever happened. He told me to say good-bye to everyone for him. That was it. I don't..."

  Dust kicked up from Lauren's heels choked off his words. She looked upon the delver blankly, ignoring the elves and the algors.

  The delver noticed many things in that moment. Her nervous actions disappeared as her arms hung steadily at her sides. Her eyes, though void of emotion, could focus without distraction upon her objective. The confusion, the denial of what she had become, had washed away. There remained hundreds of decisions to make, decisions only a magic caster faced and foreign to a delver, but the acceptance of her own abilities now seemed anchored in this changing reality.

  When she spoke, any uncertainty focused not upon what she was, but where it would lead her. Her words carried conviction, if not true direction.

  "You were wrong, Ryson Acumen," she began bluntly but without anger. "I did make my decision within Sanctum. I can no longer turn back. I am a magic caster, a sorceress. I don't know where that will lead me, but I know you had a hand in my decision. I am also aware you saved me from Ingar. I hope you understand it is difficult to be grateful when you can't be sure if living will be a blessing or a curse. I can only guess that someday I will know that answer. If we meet again, I will either thank you or kill you."

  She read his mind before he could respond. "The reason for your actions doesn't matter. I know you didn't mean to curse me, if that is what you've done. Again, it doesn't matter. Do you really think I will care about your intentions if the magic corrupts me? I only give this to you as a warning. I now take the name of Tabris. If in the future that name becomes infamous, I suggest you sleep lightly. Do not bother to escort me down the mountain. I will find my own way."

  She turned about, leaving him with the same blank face. Ryson could only stare into her back as she slowly walked off to a path down Sanctum's slope. He put a hand to his head and rubbed his eyes. As his fingers rode up his forehead and brushed his hair back, he looked toward Lief with his own growing fatigue.

  "Do not fret," Lief said almost cheerily. "She has a long path to travel. Even the greatest wizards do not become powerful within a few seasons. She has much to learn, and without other magic casters to teach her, she will indeed have to find her own way. It will be a very long time before she becomes a true threat, and she may never become a threat at all. She may use her powers for the service of the land. If not, she might cause her own undoing while researching a spell. It is not that I wish that, it is only that we can not say what direction she will take. It is not worth your worry."

  "Easy to say," Ryson sighed. "With all that's happened I don't need something else to worry about." He looked down at the ground and kicked at the dusty rock with the toe of his boot. "You have to remember, this is not going to be an easy time for me as it is. The magic is going to turn Uton upside down. The people I know, the place I call home, neither are going to adjust well to what's going to happen now. I really don't need to hear her tell me that someday she might want to kill me."

  "You speak as if the magic will bring nothing but harm to the land. That is not the case." Lief spoke with more authority now. The algors had completed their work and now stepped aside to let the elf stand. "Look at me. I was near dead, the algors have used the magic to heal me."

  "It was the magic that almost killed you," Ryson reminded.

  "True, but it was not the magic which injured my ankle, yet that is healed as well."

  "What about Tun, and Stephen?" Ryson looked over toward the two fallen forms where Matthew and Jon prepared them for burial. He then looked to the clump of ash which was all that remained of Mappel. He spoke of the elder elf in a pained whisper. "What about Mappel?"

  The cheer left Lief's lips, but not his resolve. "Mappel died to save the elves, to save the land of Uton. He will be missed, but his memory will not be lost on useless sorrow. I can not change the things that have happened here. I do not wish to. The sphere is destroyed. The threat to us all is ended. Mappel is now as much a part of the legends as Shayed herself. I can not, will not deny him that."

  "I wish I could see it that easily," Ryson confessed. "But right now, I see friends that have died and a great deal of uncertainty."

  It was Holli who seized upon this statement. "Uncertainty leads to questions, and questions need answers. Is that not what a delver lives for?"

  Lief nodded. "Those are words you should cling to. True enough, the land is changing. You will live a life to see things you might never have dreamed of. What you have grown to expect is vanishing even faster than before. Pure magic is a powerful thing. It can be used in so many ways. No one truly knows what the magic will bring, but I would think it is a wonderful time to be a delver."

  Ryson was not given a chance to respond as Lief turned his attention to the approaching Jon and Matthew.

  The reader spoke in quiet somber tones. "Jon and I have decided to let Sanctum serve as the final resting place for Stephen and Tun. We will carry them inside through the breach and into the delver tier. Jon has told me there is no danger for us there. Upon our exit, Jon will see to the destruction of the tiers, collapsing the entire internal structure. He will then seal all points of entry. Sanctum will no longer hold secrets of danger, but serve as a monument for those who gave their lives to overcome it. We hope that you will consider joining us and allowing it to be Mappel's monument as well."

  Lief turned to Holli who nodded her head. He bowed his own head in deep consideration before giving his answer. "It seems only fitting. Let human, dwarf, and elf rest together in a place which once symbolized their mistrust for one another."

  Saying nothing else, Lief walked somberly to Mappel's remains. He emptied his arrows to the ground and used his quiver as an urn for the ashes.

  Matthew watched silently as Holli stepped respectfully to Lief's side. Jon returned to the still form of his brother, and the reader was left beside the delver with only the algors looking on.

  "And what about you, Ryson? What will you do now?"

  The delver choked back his growing anguish. "I'd like to stay to see the mountain sealed for good," the delver expressed. "I remember when Lief told me how representatives from all the races gathered up here during the first seal, when the sphere was first entombed. I've thought about that image a lot since the
n. It looks like we're about to seal the mountain again, but for different reasons. Back then, they were moving apart, I think now we're moving together. I'd like to be a part of that."

  "You have earned that right, as have all that are here now," Matthew remarked respectfully, "but what of after Sanctum is sealed? What then?"

  Ryson scanned the landscape from high atop Sanctum. He could see for leagues. The land was open to him, inviting. "I guess I'll start by taking the algors back home. I want them all to make it back safely. We've had enough death. After that, I have to keep a promise and return to Burbon. I have to tell someone about what happened here, about everything. After that, I don't know. It's like Lief said, the land is changing. I'm going to have to help explain things. People may not believe what I have to say, but they won't be able to dismiss what they've already seen." He stopped to consider his own proposals, stopped to contemplate just how many options were open to him. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, he let a smile cross his lips. "You know, I'm not happy with how things ended here. We're going to bury people I've come to know and respect, but Lief may be right about something else. It may just be a wonderful time to be a delver."

 

  A Final Note from the Author

  Thank you for reading my work. I have tried to make these ebooks available in as many formats as possible. If you encounter any difficulty with the formatting, please let me know. Contact information can be found on my web site at www.sitelane.com. If you enjoyed this book, please consider my other novels, including When Do I See God? and Soul View.

  Jeff Inlo lives in New Jersey, USA with his wife, Joan, and their two dogs.