by Jeff Inlo
"I guess that's it then." Sy then called out to the delver. "Ryson! Anything up there?"
"Nothing at all."
"Give it a good look, as far as you can see."
"It's clear."
"Good, because you're going to have to come down here now."
The delver glided down the rocks as if they were a simple staircase. When he reached the floor and found the cave entrance, he understood what they faced.
Leaving Sy at the entrance, Ryson took the lead. Just like Holli, he could see the light in the distance and he made that his objective. Moving much quicker than before, he bounded through the narrow tunnels of the cave. When the light ahead became substantially brighter, he paused to consult Holli.
"It's just up ahead and around that bend. What do you suggest?"
"I sincerely doubt that stealth will be of any value beyond this point. It is your speed we must rely on now. I can feel the magic growing in intensity. I believe the vessel is near. If it is in your hands to destroy it, do so now, without hesitation."
"Alright, cover my back. I'm going in."
Just as Ryson took tighter hold of his sword, once more the overwhelming sense to leave that realm hit him with unquestionable certainty. He knew they should not be there. It was clearly a mistake. The consequences of their actions were not yet known, and thus could not be communicated to him through the sword, but he understood that misfortune would certainly follow in some form.
Unfortunately, at that exact same instant, the sword decreed the device had to be destroyed without delay. He knew the vessel had grown in power, had successfully hunted many creatures in the realm, and continued to crave the magic twisted by unspeakable acts and held within grotesque monsters. Without question, he knew the danger of this device, what horrors rested within it. He also knew with absolute certainty that the sword was capable of destroying the object, and he was now close enough to succeed toward that end. His path was clear and necessary, and just as there would be consequences for remaining in the dark realm, there would be dire results if Ryson did not act.
The divisive forces that pulled him in distinctly opposite directions were so powerful, he almost fell over. Had it not been for his delver grace and speed, he probably would have tumbled to the ground.
Instead, he forced a decision and rushed forward. He broke around the corner in a blinding flash. Just ahead of him in a direct line waited the spirit of Lief Woodson, standing beside the mutated shell of monster skins that now held an immense reservoir of corrupted magical energy.
The elf ghost simply stared at the flash of movement that was the delver. The spirit said nothing. Further, he made no move against the attack. He simply stood motionless, a pale expressionless apparition, until he smiled.
Holli Brances could not hope to keep up with the delver, but she still possessed the speed of an elf guard. She bounded around the bend and watched the scene unfurl before her. The delver was only a blur of motion, but she could see the sword in the delver's hand. It was pulled back and ready to strike.
Holli caught a glimpse of Lief's smile, saw expectation and desire in his expression. At that moment, she knew. Lief wanted the vessel destroyed. He expected this moment and delighted in its coming.
"Ryson! NO!" but her cry came too late.
The deformed collection of monster hides did not cringe from the attack, made no attempt to avoid the blow. If anything, it leaned into the strike, welcoming the blade and the end of its twisted, agonizing existence.
The Sword of Decree cleaved the vessel in two. Once the two separate sections of skin peeled away, they broke from the energy they once contained and slid eerily like snakes until they wrapped themselves around Lief's spiritual shadow. The magical energy that was held within the device remained intact—floating in the air like a condensed bubble of sheer power—but only for a moment.
The ghostly form of Lief Woodson threw his arms around the energy, pulled it into his core. He absorbed every ounce of power. His shadowy figure seemed to burn like an exploding star, but then diminished back to its previous state. He grinned with even greater amusement at the delver.
"Thank you, Ryson Acumen, for doing what I could not, for making me whole once more. Ironic, considering it was you who ultimately split me apart. Regardless, the energy is now mine and I intend to use it."
The conflicting messages from the sword ceased abruptly. No longer was Ryson fed the understanding of two mutually exclusive missions. As the turmoil released its grip on his mind, another understanding began to filter through from the Sword of Decree, but it was never given the chance to come clear.
The grinning apparition waved his hand and the weapon was pulled from the delver's grasp. The spirit would not take hold of the sword, but flung it behind him far from Ryson's reach.
"You no longer deserve the honor to carry such a weapon," the spirit announced as if rendering a verdict.
Looking into Lief's face, Ryson felt only more confusion.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I no longer have to answer to you, Ryson Acumen. And without that sword, you no longer have the answers before you. Time for you to figure it all out on your own."
Holli, however, felt no confusion. She sensed danger and relied on her instincts. She pulled at the delver's shoulder.
"We have to get out of here now. Now!"
Ryson didn't want to leave Lief—the vessel had been destroyed, but something was now very wrong. The spirit of his friend was not at peace, not ready or apparently even willing to leave this twisted place. Ryson couldn't simply abandon the elf ghost, not like this.
And yet, the delver could not dismiss a lingering warning, a distant echo dragging through his thoughts. A wisp of the sword's last image remained in his mind, but he could not pull it out into clear thought. He considered making a dash to the sword, to obtain a clearer understanding of the consequences they now faced. Holli held him tight, but he could slip free if necessary.
He gave one last look into the apparition's eyes and somehow he knew if he stayed there any longer, they would all die.
Ryson threw his hand up to his own shoulder and grabbed Holli's wrist. He then pulled her away in a flash of speed that was beyond the elf's to move. He rushed them away from the spirit and back down the path from which they came.
"Run as fast as you can," the laughing voice of Lief called after them. "It won't do you any good. You can't outrun me now. I can attack you without even moving."
Before they reached the cave entrance, however, they heard another voice from the opposite direction.
"Ryson! Holli! Get back here!"
It was Sy's voice calling from the cave entrance, and despite the captain's bravery, the tone carried more than urgency, it carried fear.
Chapter 9
"Something's coming at us topside."
Sy couldn't see it, couldn't look above the ledge of the ravine, but he could feel the rumble in the distance.
Ryson didn't even have to hear the warning. The delver already knew.
"Sounds like an entire army. Godson, there must be thousands."
"We have to return to the portal," Holli advised. She remained calm, but her tone was no less urgent than the others.
Ryson pointed to the path they had previously taken down into the gorge. "You two get going. I'm going up top to see what we're up against."
Sy and Holli did not argue, they turned and moved quickly toward the sloping path that would lead up and out of the ravine.
Ryson scampered up the rock wall and pulled himself onto flat ground that served as the ledge for the chasm. As he broke clear of the cliff wall, he almost didn't want to look. The roar was now deafening and it sounded as if more than an army was rushing toward them. It sounded more like the entire realm was collapsing. What he saw made him almost wish it was.
The desolate loneliness of the barren plains before him was broken by the tumultuous charge of monsters too numerous to count. They filled the landscape before him
in numbers Ryson never thought possible. The land was now alive with movement—a twisted and angry furor—but alive nonetheless. The dark creatures that made it their desire to avoid Lief and his vessel, no longer held to such a wish. They didn't have to. The vessel was gone. They could sense that. They sensed other things as well. A whisper of knowledge floated to their ears. They knew of invaders to their lands and they hungered for them.
Legions of goblins rolled forward like a massive wave. In some areas, it seemed as if they scurried atop of each other for lack of space to run upon the ground. They moved toward Ryson's position as if he had called them out personally. All the while, they shrieked and screeched and their calls echoed over the land in tune with the rumble of their charge.
Within their ranks, he saw rock beetles and shags—natural enemies ignoring each other—focused not on one another but clearly on the delver at the edge of the ravine. It was a race to see which of them could reach the prized flesh of delver, elf and human.
On the moderate hillsides off to Ryson's right, the outlook was not much better. Creatures of various sizes—bloat spiders, gremplings and rogens—moved with the same apparent desire. They were all headed toward Ryson as if being called upon to greet him with overwhelming enthusiasm, even if they only wished to enthusiastically eat the delver.
The skies were alive with much the same movement. He saw hook hawks and razor crows far off in the horizon, and though they posed no immediate threat of attack, their speed in the air would quickly erase any distance that offered the mere suggestion of safety.
More alarming was the proximity of a giant winged caelifera—basically an enormous locust that had a taste for living flesh as opposed to the decaying plants of a twisted land. It was the most dangerous of the monsters charging forward, and it was the closest to the ravine. Dodging that monster was going to be trouble, especially for Sy.
He looked over his shoulder. The only comfort he could find was that the path back to the portal remained clear, but he wondered for how long. He believed these creatures were being summoned to this place, perhaps even ordered to keep any of them from escaping. He didn't wish to suspect Lief of such treachery, such viciousness, but something was clearly provoking the attack.
Further considerations of Lief's intentions would have to wait. The caelifera could move at great speed and any hope of avoiding it was quickly diminishing. Ryson dashed along the ledge of the ravine and then halfway down the slope to meet Holli and Sy before they came out into the open.
"We have a problem. Our path back to the portal looks clear so far, but we've got creatures coming at us from every other angle.
"Then let's..." Sy started, but Ryson cut him off.
"There's a caelifera already within striking distance."
"Blast," Sy responded. He had fought such a creature only once before. It had attacked Burbon and killed several of his men. It took Enin's power to destroy the thing, but Enin was not there. He didn't like the odds, but he knew the situation. "We can't stay here, so we have to move no matter what. The two of you listen, don't slow down because of me. No sense in us all getting killed."
Ryson wouldn't give in.
"No one's getting killed. Holli, can you cast something to cloak him? You don't need to make him disappear completely, just something that will make him less obvious so it focuses on us instead."
"Illusion is not my power, but I can try."
She cast a quick spell and suddenly Sy seemed to fade out of existence. He was not totally invisible, but he appeared like a dim shadow. It was an unnatural sight when the guard captain spoke.
"Did it work?"
"Not bad," Ryson responded.
"Better than I hoped," Holli agreed, "but that won't cover any sounds he makes or his scent."
"Maybe that's enough to confuse it," Ryson hoped. "Sy, try to follow in Holli's tracks, but don't get yourself killed trying to keep up. Just move as fast as you can. Holli, if it turns away from me, you're going to have to distract it until I can get its attention again. We don't have any more time, so let's go. "
The delver sped back up the slope. The caelifera was almost directly overhead by the time Ryson hit open ground.
"This is going to be rough," Ryson whispered to himself. He broke into an all out sprint, cutting to his left and right, all the while keeping one eye on the giant flying insect above and the other on the path ahead.
Wanting to keep the monster's attention, he called out in grunts, clicks, and whistles—anything to hold the creature's interest and keep it from looking back on easier targets.
The winged insect took the bait and began swooping down in several attempts to grab the delver. Its thin wings beat ferociously against the wind giving it both speed and agility in flight. At times it hovered in midair, other times it darted back and forth, left and right. It tried to anticipate the movements of its intended prey as it made sudden dips to the ground, but each time it came up empty.
Ryson bit back at tremendous terror. He did not believe he had ever been so close to death before, a death that would have been beyond any nightmare ever experienced. If the caelifera gained a hold of him, he would not be able to break free. Without his sword, he had no hopes of fighting off any attack. He had only a dagger and that would be insufficient against such a foe. Unable to resist, he would be pulled apart by the powerful legs that would take hold of him, or he would be crushed and chewed by vicious mandibles before being swallowed, probably half conscious.
The creature came close on several occasions, but Ryson managed to alter his path at the last instant. He had only his agility to depend on, and normally that would be enough against any creature. Speed on the ground, however, did not compete well against speed in the air. His quick movements compensated somewhat for the disadvantage, but eventually his timing would fail. It was only a matter of time.
He did not wish to die, not in that fashion or in any manner on that day. It might have been a noble sacrifice, a desire to give his friends a chance of survival, but he found little comfort in that consideration. Instead, he thought of Linda. He would be abandoning her, not by choice, but he would be leaving her nonetheless. He wished he could avoid his plight, but he could not see how.
Regardless, he fought on, would not make it easy for the caelifera. He charged over the ground with every bit of his fury, not holding anything in reserve. Eventually, he moved at a speed that he never thought possible. Amazingly, he even opened up some space between himself and the monster, but the gain was only temporary.
The winged creature adjusted its path, speared through the air to a point ahead of the delver and then turned back on its prey. It had successfully cut Ryson off and waited in front of the delver's path.
Just at the caelifera was about to make its final attack, a handful of goblins swept across its face as they shrieked in both fury and fear. It seemed as if they were falling out of the sky, plunging from above but from no apparent hilltop or mountainside. It looked almost as if they were flung deliberately in front of the monster.
Ryson took advantage of the momentary distraction and retreated in a flash. He spotted Holli and Sy in his wake. Holli had pulled to a halt as Sy continued to run to meet her.
The giant locust now cared little for the delver as the falling goblins proved much easier prey. They could not control their movements as they fell, and the caelifera plucked two out of the air. The giant winged insect flew off into the distance to enjoy a simpler meal, but perhaps much less tasty.
Ryson stopped in front of the elf.
"You did that didn't you?"
"The goblins to our rear were close enough for me to seize. I simply moved them through space in the most efficient manner and dropped them in a more suitable location."
"Thanks."
Sy reached them. He was still somewhat of a shadow, but his form was becoming clearer. Holli's spell was fading. He struggled through heavy breaths, but directed them onward.
"We can't slow down. Hook hawks are sti
ll coming in."
"At least we can fight those," Holli offered, "but you are right. This is not the place to rest. The portal should be close by."
"I'll take point," Ryson shouted, as he took off in another blur. He didn't even appear winded.
As he pressed forward, however, he could not locate the gateway. He recognized the spot where they first entered the dark realm, even found their initial footprints exiting the portal, but the rift itself was nowhere to be seen.
Holli and Sy came up to meet him and shared in his distress.
"The portal has faded out of existence," the elf shouted. "The sorceress warned us she lacked the control to make the rift permanent."
Ryson nodded. "Yeah, she said it would continuously appear and disappear."
"Any idea of the length of time?" Sy asked.
"None," Ryson admitted.
Sy then looked back at where they had been. The horizon was now filled with monsters of every type, as were the skies.
"Not good. Options?"
"If we run from this spot, we run to our death," the elf stated in an emotionless revelation. "I can cast a spell for a new portal, but it would require much more time than we have. They would be on us before I could even begin."
"Barriers to slow them down?" Ryson asked of the elf. "Can you buy yourself time?"
"No spell available to me can stop that many, not even slow them down."
"We go down as best we can," Sy announced. He noticed Ryson no longer carried his sword, and without question or hesitation, he removed two short war blades from under his coat and handed them to the delver. Eyeing the horde, he unsheathed his long sword.
Holli took hold of her bow and the three comrades stood shoulder to shoulder. She knew they had no chance, as it seemed as if every dark creature of elflore had been called against them and appeared willingly in droves.
It appeared their time had come.
"To the other side and the next adventure," she said, accepting her fate as would a true elf guard.
Sy and Ryson simply nodded in unison. They would fight, but they also knew they would die.