by Jeff Inlo
"We have removed all his slaves," Ansas confirmed, "but there is more to be done."
Before anyone could object, the sorcerer ended the spell that animated Scheff's corpse. When the body of the elf collapsed, he called out a message to Uton, back to Enin who was still monitoring their progress through his teleportation spell.
"Enin!" the sorcerer shouted into the air. "Withdraw the dead elf!"
Instantly Scheff disappeared from Demonspawn.
"All the links Reiculf might have utilized have now been removed," Ansas announced.
"Then let's get out of here before Reiculf takes control of the demons and sends them back after us," Ryson advised.
"Leave?" Ansas remarked. "No, we can't leave. It is time for us to face Reiculf."
The declaration stunned them all, especially Ryson who wished to remove his vulnerable wife from any possible harm.
"Are you insane?" the delver asked.
"I am many things," Ansas declared, "but I assure you, I maintain my sanity."
"We're done here!" Ryson stated firmly. "We've done everything we needed to do. All Reiculf's pawns are dead. He's contained again. We don't need to face him. We leave him here!"
"Do we? And what of your wife?"
Ryson's eyes narrowed with both mistrust and anger.
"What about her?"
"Do you think Reiculf will let her live?"
"If we get out of here, he won't have a choice."
"You don't understand, do you?" Ansas looked around and was surprised at their lack of foresight. "None of you do. Reiculf's magic may be contained once more in Demonspawn, but what about the demons? Do not forget what he is. He is the master of all demons. He may not be able to reach out of this realm and kill Linda himself, but there are many creatures that will do his bidding, hunt her down."
"Why would he do that?" the delver questioned harshly.
"The woman is a threat to him. She has stood upon the grounds of Demonspawn and survived. Reiculf will order any demon in Uton to find her and kill her."
The revelation struck them all, and it could not be denied. Demons had left their breeding grounds before; some still lurked in the shadows of other realms. Others would leave in the future. While Reiculf could not reach out with his magic, he retained his authority over every creature with demonic blood.
The pronouncement hit Ryson the hardest and he stalked menacingly over to the sorcerer.
"You knew this from the beginning, didn't you?" Ryson wanted to reach out and strangle the sorcerer, but his mind raced with one detail after another. "This is what you planned all along. You set us up. It wasn't just Macheve you came here for, you wanted to face Reiculf. It's your ultimate challenge."
"Of course it is."
"You filthy... why didn't you tell us this from the beginning?!"
"As I told the elf before, it would be pure foolishness to reveal all my plans at once. If I explained every step of my plan, every intention, do you think Reiculf would have sent Macheve here, to the outskirts of Demonspawn to face us? Of course not. He would have kept her close and we would have been forced to venture into his sanctuary to face them both. Now, we only have to face him. You see? There are things that have to be kept secret."
"And are there more secrets you're keeping from us?" Jure demanded as he entered the argument clearly disgusted by Ansas' ploy.
"If there are, it doesn't change the circumstances we face. We are here in Demonspawn, and we must deal with Reiculf."
"No, not like this," Holli stated with the edge of authority. "This is not the time or the place for this discussion. We can always return here."
"No, you can't," Ansas replied with surprising confidence. "Have you forgotten? I have removed the animation spell from Scheff, and Enin has pulled the corpse back to Uton. If you leave, you cannot return without my help, and I assure you, I will not be willing to assist you again."
"I knew we couldn't trust you," Jure growled.
"Congratulations, but now you must all settle on a harsh reality, and I advise you to do so quickly. And before you get any absurd ideas, remember there is nothing you can do to me which will alter my plans. I was trapped in a realm of nonexistence with Baannat before I was released into your care. The slink ghoul expects to retrieve me once this is over. In Baannat's realm, I am separated from my magic and he can torture me endlessly. I have already faced that, so I assure you, there is not a single threat you can make which will alter my plans."
"You would force us all to face Reiculf in Demonspawn?" Holli asked, hoping to determine just how far the sorcerer was willing to go.
"Of course not. I am here to win, and that would be a foolish move."
The elf guard needed to understand the full scope of their predicament. Even as they stood within the breeding grounds of demons, it seemed the sorcerer had manipulated them into a trap to suit his own desires. Before she could determine their next move, she needed to know the extent of Ansas' deception.
"Then explain your intentions, and as you advised, do it quickly!"
"The delver and I will travel to the center of this realm. Reiculf has not only used my understanding of energy to his own benefit, he has also used pathways created by the remnants of my magic. He has, in effect, stolen from me. I will take back what is mine."
"And why must the delver travel with you?" Holli demanded.
"Because only his connection is strong enough to his wife to allow us to reach the center while the rest of you remain here. I would take the woman, but Reiculf would kill her on sight. No, it must be the delver. The rest of you will stay here and protect her in case the daokiln makes another attempt to attack her."
"And we're just supposed to go right along with this plan of yours?" Jure challenged with growing frustration and fury. He then turned to Holli. "I say we leave him here and the rest of us go back to Uton. If he wants to face Reiculf, let him do it alone."
The threat did nothing to change Ansas' stand.
"I can accept that," the sorcerer stated calmly, "but can the delver? Will he leave knowing his wife will always be in danger?"
"And how can he trust you to do anything to save her?" Jure countered. "For all we know, you may be working with Reiculf!"
"Come now, even you can't believe that by now. I just destroyed his last pawn. How would that endear me to the daokiln?" Ansas turned his attention back to the elf guard. "It seems you have assumed authority over this endeavor. The situation you face is very simple, allow me to go forward to the daokiln's sanctuary. I will confront Reiculf. While the delver is needed for me to reach the center of this realm, it will suit his purposes as well. He will wish to witness the conflict so he can be certain any future danger to his wife is ended."
"And if I refuse?" Holli challenged.
"Then return to Uton this instant. Even though Reiculf will be contained, our victory will be a hollow one. Baannat will demand the return of my essence, and the delver's wife will live in constant jeopardy."
Before Holli could weigh the choice any further, Ansas attempted to sway the argument to his own advantage.
"There is one more thing to consider; Enin has not teleported us out of here. He knows what is happening. Scheff's removal is proof of that. If he felt I was a threat to you, he would have recalled us all to Uton."
Holli would not give such a claim more importance than it was worth.
"That does not mean he approves of your plan. He is allowing us to make our own decision. That has always been his way."
"Then I suggest you make that decision. Will you leave here, or will you send Ryson with me to face Reiculf?"
"That is not my decision to make," Holli stated.
"It's mine," Ryson responded immediately, before the elf could even look toward him.
"Very well, then make it." the sorcerer pressed.
"I'm going to talk to Linda first."
"We do not have time for sentimental..."
"Be quiet, Ansas," Ryson stated softly but with a
glare so intense the sorcerer stopped in mid-sentence.
Ryson led Linda away from the group, but before he could speak, she already knew the answer.
"You're going to do this, aren't you?"
"You know me too well," he replied, "but there's something else I need to say."
He knew he didn't have the time to explain everything completely. He wanted to describe his feelings and emotions in detail, but that would have to wait as well. All he could do was focus on the hope that was within him, a hope in an existence beyond the reach of demons... even a daokiln.
"I saw something here... I actually saw my own soul. It was more than seeing a ghost, or even being separated from my body. I saw what it really was. It's impossible to explain, but it's my future... our future... everyone's future."
The revelation shocked Linda and she wasn't sure what it meant. For a brief moment, it took her mind off what Ryson was about to do.
"You saw this here? Are you sure?"
"Actually, I am. It sounds absurd, but I'm starting to understand most of this. We don't have to be afraid of this place."
"If that's true, maybe we should do what Jure said... just leave."
"No, that's the one thing we can't do. We can't run from it and we can't ignore it. I think Ansas is being truthful about some things, not everything, but the demons are a threat to you. We don't want to live with that over our heads, and I don't think we have to. I'm pretty sure I know how to stop this."
"Can you tell me?" Linda asked, not sure if she would understand, or even wanted to know.
"No, not here, and we don't have time. Just don't worry. Trust me. You kept us safe while we were here. Now, you have to let me keep you safe."
"What can I say? You let me make my decision. I have to let you make yours."
She hugged him just as she did before they left the Borderline Inn. Again, she didn't wish to let him go, but she knew she had to.
Ryson and Linda walked back to the others. Instead of speaking to Ansas, the delver gave his answer directly to Holli.
"I'm going with him. You need to keep Linda safe."
"We will not let anything happen to her," Holli answered with a nod, accepting the delver's decision without debate. "Enin will also be able to monitor what happens to you no matter where you go. When you are finished with Reiculf, he will bring us all back to Uton."
"That works for me," the delver agreed.
Once more, Ryson ignored Ansas. He stepped over to the cliff behemoth and looked up into the giant's serene eyes.
"I give you a lot of credit. You accept things without having to see them. That's almost impossible for me, but I saw something here, something that reminded me of our talk back in Burbon. It probably won't surprise you, but I need to ask your advice. You came to Burbon to keep me from Reiculf. That's how this all started. Now, I'm about to walk into the daokiln's den. Am I making a mistake?"
Dzeb did not question what the delver saw. Instead, the giant offered exactly what was asked of him.
"A mistake? No. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge have always been your goal. You have searched for truth, and that is wise in itself. That which you seek is of greater profit than silver or gold. It is a testament to your worthiness. But that is only half the battle. You have always looked for truth in your own eyes, your own senses. Even if you have been offered the gift of proof, that will not always be the way. Eventually, you will have to believe in something beyond what you can sense."
"Maybe that's true," Ryson allowed, "but I don't think I have to deal with that today. I believe I know what to do, but I'm worried what might happen if I'm wrong."
"If you make a wrong turn, Godson will correct you."
"I was hoping for something a bit more specific. If I'm going to face Reiculf, I was looking for anything you might have to suggest on what to do."
Dzeb paused, but only for a moment. He offered what he believed was necessary for the delver to hear.
"You seem to already have a plan."
"I do," Ryson admitted.
"And is this an idea of your own making or is it a blessing of knowledge from Godson?"
At first, Ryson believed the answer was obvious, but as he considered it, he found himself in a quandary. He stood in a realm of demons, but he had seen something which offered hope beyond the eternal despair surrounding them all. Were the thoughts that followed of his own making or were they a miracle of insight? The consideration stunned the delver and left him without a clear answer.
"How would I be able to tell the difference?"
Dzeb smiled broadly.
"The fact you are unsure is enough. Go. While I first came to your home to save you from the daokiln, it is not for me to save you from yourself."
Chapter 30
Ansas did not teleport himself and Ryson directly into the heart of the daokiln's lair. Instead, he rode the waves of hostility pouring across every layer of the dimension. The sorcerer's control over ebony magic allowed him to fly. He called on the strength of alteration, and by constantly switching and reversing the tendencies of natural movement, the sorcerer defied the prevalent forces of the realm.
He used his magic to take hold of the delver, and the two of them flew across the hazy layers of Demonspawn. With the intention of reaching its center as quickly as possible, Ansas soared across the gray sky almost as fast as Ryson could run.
Teleportation might have been faster, but the sorcerer did not wish to create an abrupt disruption that might affect Enin's spell, the one which kept them somewhat protected from Reiculf's magic. Retaining a state of magical transition remained essential until the sorcerer could carve out his own haven within the daokiln's realm.
Ryson was not prepared for what he faced; not for Reiculf's overwhelming presence and not for the prevailing sense of doom at the heart of the grim existence. He might have previously stood upon the loose and shifting soil of Demonspawn and battled pure demons in frantic conflict, but that was at the very edge of the nightmare. The differences between the outer regions and the daokiln's inner sanctuary were vast, but much more so in feeling than in appearance.
In many ways, the innermost core of Demonspawn appeared much like the region they had left. The dingy light was nearly identical, though it pulsed with an unsteady beat closer to the daokiln. The ground looked the same—dusty and dark, like finely ground coal. Beyond Reiculf, there was no sign of life, and there was no beauty in the stark existence, just an emptiness bereft of hope and dignity. The surrounding landscape was completely desolate with no grand or even gloomy castle to mark the home of the realm's master.
While it might have looked similar to the outer regions, the space surrounding the daokiln was noticeably different in nature. The air felt thick and heavy as they broke through the final screens that separated Reiculf's den from the rest of the realm. When they landed, the ground seemed hard but also unstable. Ryson wondered if it would break beneath them, just as it had when Jure's spell opened chasms to swallow the dieruhnes.
Though Ryson finally stood at the center of Demonspawn, the gray shadows of incompleteness that defined the realm appeared more prevalent than they had in the outer lands. The surging banks of gloom billowed like sheets of linen caught in unsteady winds, and they restricted his view in every direction. The gray walls flowed with great agitation, and they reacted to the intruders with a desire to close upon them from every angle.
The delver felt trapped, and a looming sense of calamity strangled out any shred of hopefulness. With the darkness dancing all about him, he sensed desperation reaching toward him, choking off any escape, and threatening to eventually crush him in despair.
The one thing the shadows could not block was the form of Reiculf. While the surging gloom and gritty soil yearned to swallow the delver, make him part of the desolation, the daokiln stood apart as a distinct entity. The demon master was the focal point of that dismal existence, and all the obscurity of the realm could not diminish his wicked standing.
In a manner with which Ryson could not comprehend, Reiculf's gray exterior contrasted sharply with the surrounding shadows. Though the colossal beast's presence flooded the entire region with scornful hate and angry retribution, he stood out as a separate malady. Despite the grayness which filled both the realm and the daokiln's massive form, they did not overlap. Reiculf was a creature so devoid of concepts such as home and refuge that his very essence rejected his own sanctuary.
Ryson found the daokiln frighteningly overpowering. While he had seen and battled demons and beasts of all shapes and sizes, he never encountered a creature of such profound malignance. Reiculf's sheer animosity made the delver sick, but Ryson could not shut off the curiosity that made him a scout and an explorer. He stepped up to the vast entity comprised of every harsh emotion, and he scanned the beast with a delver's eyes.
What he saw was astounding, and while the existence of such a complete horror crushed his soul, it also allowed him to hold to the shred of hope that brought him to the daokiln's asylum. The budding truth was becoming more apparent, and Ryson believed he had not placed his life in the confines of false confidence.
Reiculf vibrated with fury before the delver, but it was more than just anger and hate that resonated through the daokiln. The delver's quick eyes caught glimpses of the past within each tremor. Reiculf did not exist in time as Ryson once understood it. The beast was not part of the present, but rather an ever growing representation of the past. Just like hearing an echo across a wide canyon, Ryson could see images of the creature's recent history flowing within the gray mass of what was the daokiln's body.
It was very similar to when he witnessed the past image of himself in his trail across the outer regions of Demonspawn. But for Reiculf, the past silhouettes were much more pronounced, and some of the shadows were actually sharper than his form appeared in the present light of his lair.
Ryson would have examined the daokiln further, but the booming voice of loathing shook him from his trance.
"I expected you both," the daokiln growled, but he kept his attention squarely upon the delver. "The decision to come here was made before you even entered my realm. The moment your mate agreed to the sorcerer's plan was the moment your fate was sealed. You are much too predictable."