by Jeff Inlo
"Come out here now! If I have to, I'll come in there and drag you out. We have something to say to you, and you're going to listen."
The shadows within the portal swirled with greater agitation, and the distorted essence of the ghoul broke through the dimensional gateway.
"The delver is becoming quite belligerent," Baannat sneered.
"I just wanted to remind you that I can handle you in this realm or yours."
"One day we'll have to see if that's still true."
"We didn't come here to trade threats," Enin interrupted.
The slink ghoul glared at the once powerful wizard and then broke into nearly uncontrollable cackles. When Baannat finally restrained himself, he mocked Enin's very presence.
"Ah, the powerful wizard reduced to nothing. I find that amusing. You couldn't even come see me yourself. You had to rely on the power of another, one significantly weaker than what we once were. There was a time we could cast in two perfect circles of white magic. I am now a broken shadow, but I rule over nonexistence. And you, you are a mere mortal who couldn't create a magical spark to start a campfire. Our paths are strikingly similar."
"Only in your mind."
"And what else is it that you wish to place in my mind?"
"We came here to tell you about Ansas."
"You don't think I already know?"
"Actually, I think you do know," Ryson stated.
Baannat disregarded the delver and kept his attention fixed on Enin.
"Why come all the way here and summon me to tell me something of such insignificance? I don't think you're consumed over my well-being. Let's face it, you're probably thrilled Ansas is no longer trapped in my realm. Yet you come here anyway. Why would you offer me this courtesy?"
"It's not a courtesy," Enin acknowledged. "Consider it more like a revelation. You sent Ansas to us because you knew his magic created paths for Reiculf to follow. If you kept Ansas in your realm, Reiculf would have been able to follow those paths right into your sanctuary. You didn't give up Ansas to fight Reiculf, you did it to save yourself."
"I never attempted to deny my desire to keep my realm free from Reiculf's grasp."
"The problem with that is I don't believe you thought we'd win," Enin declared. "I think you wanted Reiculf to use Ansas' magic to ultimately destroy me, maybe destroy us all."
"I've always believed the battle between us would continue," the slink ghoul admitted without reservation. "We have had many contests in the past."
"That may be, and it should be apparent that you lost again. Now, I didn't want to come here just to gloat, but Ryson felt you needed to hear something."
"And what is that?" Baannat questioned, as he finally offered his full attention to the delver.
"Ansas made a choice," Ryson replied. "He chose to accept confinement with Reiculf rather than come back to you."
"And you thought that was a smart decision? You came here to embarrass me?"
"Actually, no... on both accounts. I don't think it was a smart decision. I don't think you can erase a mistake by making another one. Ultimately, that's what I think Ansas did, but it was his decision to make. As for embarrassing you, I wouldn't waste the time."
"And yet, here you are. What could possibly be the purpose for you to return here to tell me something I would have figured out for myself?"
The moment had come for Ryson to explain exactly why he requested Enin and Jure to bring him to that spot, to confront Baannat as he had confronted Reiculf.
"Because you needed to know I'm not like Ansas. He can't let go of what happened, but I can. I won't run from my mistakes... or try to deny them, but I won't let them haunt me, either. That's the real reason I'm here."
"I'm confused, delver. It sounds like you wish to blame me for something."
"Blame? No, though I'm certain you're not blameless. Your intentions were far from honest when you returned Ansas to us. You went to a lot of trouble. You put Ansas' essence back in his body and then gave him to us under the pretense of helping us. But you didn't want to help us. You wanted to use Ansas against us, against me... and against Enin."
"If that's true, then it appears I succeeded. Enin is now powerless. I might only be a shadow of what I once was, but he is nothing."
"No, he's not nothing. He has all of his wisdom and experience to draw upon. He can still help us, because that's what he does."
"Very noble," the slink ghoul sneered, "but I will still claim victory."
"And that's exactly why I'm here."
"You wish to debate my claim?"
"No, the exact opposite. I wanted you to know that your intentions and your assertions don't matter to me... and they never will. Maybe you wanted to use Ansas to get at me, maybe you just wanted to save yourself. Maybe you think you've beaten Enin, and maybe you think somehow you've beaten me, too. I don't know, and I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, it's not what matters."
"And what does matter?"
"That I can look past both you and Reiculf. I can move forward without fear, without anger, even without guilt. By looking through the past, I saw what was ahead of me. It's a greater prospect than I ever imagined. It's there for all of us, and that's why your ultimate promise of nonexistence is so terribly empty."
"And that is why you came here?" sneered the slink ghoul. "What do I care for your pathetic opinions?"
"Because they're the kind of beliefs that keep you locked away, just as Reiculf is locked in his realm. That's why I'm here. Not to gloat, not to argue, but I needed to lock that door. I'm done with you now, so go back to your emptiness and stay there."
Ryson turned away from the slink ghoul and ended the conversation.
"Jure, send him back where he belongs and close that portal."
"With pleasure," the wizard agreed.
Jure's hands came together and a ring of white magic rolled off his fingers. The energy slipped around the essence of Baannat and pulled the slink ghoul into the portal. As the ghoul disappeared, the gateway snapped shut behind him.
"Are we done here?" Enin asked of the delver.
"You tell me," Ryson responded. "You heard what I had to say, and you heard Baannat. How do you feel about all of this?"
Enin was quick with an answer.
"Like a large weight has been lifted from me," Enin replied with the hint of a smile. "Despite all the magic I used to control, there were always limits to what I could do, barriers just like the ones that held Reiculf in his place and Baannat in his."
"And do you understand why I had to come here?"
"I see it as a profession of a greater understanding," Enin revealed. "I don't think you were forgiving Baannat. It's more like you made it clear there was nothing left to forgive. You've moved on to more important considerations."
"And what about you?"
Enin finally took a moment to consider all that had happened. The loss of his magic was not as great a burden as he once believed, and he spoke with certainty about his future... and the future of Uton.
"I see things regaining balance. Reiculf put the land in great jeopardy, mostly because of mistakes made in the past. But those errors now remain in the past, and we have a brighter future ahead of us. Uton may be safer now than ever. I may not be what I once was, but I see things more clearly. Sy has returned to protect Burbon. I doubt anything could harm your home now. Jure and Holli will help protect Connel. The city is in good hands. And you... well, you keep moving onward, don't you?"
Moving onward.
The notion summed it up very well for the delver. He had covered so much ground, and though at times it seemed as if he was retracing old trails, he kept finding new ones. Ryson looked out across the bleak lands below and then up at the stars that glowed in the gray sky of the dark realm. He thought of Sy returning to protect Burbon, and then he considered his own soul. It was a spirit that could not be confined.
"I'm a delver," Ryson affirmed with pride. "I'm supposed to keep moving."
A Final No
te from the Author
While I always dedicate my books to my wife, Joan, I also have to offer her my thanks for the underlying idea of this story. She pointed out that Ansas' notes could lead to significant turmoil if they ended up in the wrong hands. I hope I did the idea justice.
I also hope that Sy Fenden's return will be viewed in a positive light. Initially, I didn't plan on bringing him back, but the story just unfolded in a manner which called for Burbon's guardian. There are times a story takes on a flow of its own and I try not to fight it. This was one of those times.
If you have a comment or question about any of the Delver Magic books, please feel free to send me a note. Also, please let me know if you encounter any difficulty with the formatting. Contact information can be found on my web site at www.sitelane.com. Please consider my other novels, including Soul View, Soul Chase, Counterproductive Man, When Do I See God? and Alien Cradle.
Jeff Inlo lives in New Jersey, USA with his wife, Joan, and their dog, Jilly.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Epilogue