Delver Magic: Book 04 - Nightmare's Shadow

by Jeff Inlo

  Baannat could sense the spell and knew it would point out the one true exit. He burned with rage and fought furiously against the delver's hold. He pushed and pulled, and although he gained momentary success, he could not break completely free. Every time he managed to loosen the delver's hold, the ghoul found his arms grabbed and yanked back into place or his legs knocked out from under him. He could overpower the delver with strength, but he simply could not compensate enough for Ryson's speed and agility.

  At first, the space around Enin did not react to his spell. The gray emptiness remained still and unbroken, but Enin pressed forward. Within long moments, he sensed a light pulse. He latched upon it and forced the magical energies to reveal themselves. The shadows around the portal eventually parted, revealing the gateway, and Enin willed his essence right to the brink of the rift.

  He did not go through, not completely. He would not be the first to escape. Instead, he held himself at the very edge, spilling just enough of himself through the shadowed veil that he could see into the dark realm. Standing in the portal, in the thinnest of space between existence and nonexistence, the wizard focused first on his body. He knew that's not what Ryson intended—the delver wanted his wife sent to immediate safety—but Enin had sound reason for delaying.

  The wizard did not wish to take anymore of Ryson's inherent magic for he could not be sure what consequences that might hold. He had taken enough to find a path to freedom and it was now time to regain the magical power that was beyond the prison rift. He reconnected to his mortal being just enough to once more retrieve a portion of his magical abilities. He created a clear link to power that he could now pull into Baannat's realm. The separation was ended.

  Reenergized, Enin also took silhouetted shape in the gray shadows. His body still remained in the dark realm, but his connection to it solidified his spirit. He called on all the magic available to him. Without further delay, he cast a spell to remove Linda's essence from Baannat's plane and to place it back into her body.

  In the dark realm, Linda stirred. She felt stiff and sore. Her movements were forced. Even her breathing felt heavy and uneven. Trembling uncontrollably, she recalled the past horrors of the shadowed existence with Baannat. Her memory of the event remained crisp and clear. Instinctively, she checked her arms and chest for wounds from claw slashes. She found nothing, but even as her body remained unmarked, her mind would always carry the scars of torment. She pulled herself up to her feet and stood before the shadow portal. She looked into its center and she could actually make out the outline of Enin's form.

  "Stay where you are. I will bring Ryson to you shortly," the wizard offered in a mental message that Linda could hear, but not with her ears. It was more of a distant memory that suddenly came into the forefront of conscious thought.

  It was going to be alright. She knew it. Ryson had found a way to save them... to save her. Despite what she had gone through, she realized the world was not as dark as it could have been. There was hope even when none should have existed.

  Back within the gray emptiness, Ryson retained his hold on the slink ghoul. He fought against every move Baannat made. Even as the ghoul would break free, it only lasted for the slimmest instant. With deliberate quickness, the delver would regain his grip and bind Baannat to his person.

  Despite the struggle, he managed to take several glimpses at the glowing form he knew to be Linda. When he saw that light fade out of the shadows, relief rushed over him, but he had to be sure.

  "Is she safe?" Ryson called out.

  "She is," Enin replied.

  "And we can still get out of here, right?"

  "Of course."

  If he could have exhaled a heavy sigh of relief, he would have, but his essence did not retain sufficient physical existence. Instead, Ryson released Baannat with a heavy shove and then stood ready to react to any attack the ghoul might throw at him.

  The ghoul did not respond. Instead, Baannat crouched, waiting for his foes to make the next move.

  "What do we do about him?" Ryson demanded. "I don't want him to ever get away with anything like this again."

  Enin understood and agreed, but with the magic flowing freely through him, he gained a greater insight into their situation. He had thought Baannat had cheated death, but now he believed he saw a clearer picture. The powers of good and evil fought a constant battle. There was both a place for angels as well as demons, but the emptiness of Baannat's creation served a new purpose. The dark realm had its monsters. Uton had its heroes. The inhabitants of both realms chose their paths and met their destinies. Now there was a final home for those that chose a life of pure evil.

  "That may not be up to us," Enin admitted.

  "I don't like that answer," Ryson responded with gritted teeth.

  "What would you have me do? Kill him? We tried that once before and it didn't work. I'm not even sure we could kill him here. He's not really alive."

  Baannat snarled but otherwise remained quiet. He could sense that Enin had regained a substantial portion of his magical powers. There was little he could do.

  "You can't just obliterate him?" Ryson asked.

  It was not a foreign concept to the wizard. He even attempted it once before, before the war had started, but he was surprised the delver would offer it as a possible solution. He wondered if Ryson understood the significance of the request.

  "I could try, but is that what you want?"

  Ryson honestly considered the question. He remembered the shags he himself killed, how hundreds of them lay dead in the desert. They died at his hand. It caused him more than simple regret. It left a heavy burden of guilt within. He didn't want to kill, but the decision was forced upon him... by Baannat. The delver thought of all that Baannat had done, the terror he caused. For him, the answer was clear.

  "Absolutely."

  "That may be, but is it wise? Wanting something done is not the same as accepting the wisdom of a decision."

  "Leaving him around isn't that smart."

  Unable to disagree, Enin stepped up to Baannat and peered into the depths of the ghoul's essence. He saw the horrors of pure evil. It pained the wizard to see such inherent cruelty. Unfortunately, he saw more. The ghoul was beyond life and death. His evil soul festered into the remnants of what was left of his physical presence. The line between mortal and immortal had been blurred to a point of no return. Enin saw eternity within the core of Baannat's existence. He didn't understand how such an entity could exist, but he couldn't deny the truth of the situation.

  "I'm afraid he is beyond obliteration. He is here to stay."

  The thought left Ryson cold. Even in a place of nothingness, he felt the icy dread of leaving the slink ghoul capable of further havoc.

  "We can't just leave him here. He'll just start it all over again."

  With that said, Enin looked around at the gray shadows of nothingness. He sensed a growing connection between the emptiness and the slink ghoul. They were becoming intertwined, and Enin knew it. With that knowledge came a possible answer.

  "I'm not so sure."

  "You have an idea?" Ryson pressed.

  "Not an idea, more of an understanding."

  Baannat finally questioned the wizard.

  "An understanding of what?" the ghoul hissed with a mocking disgust.

  "Something you might not yet see yourself, but you will."

  "And what is that?" Baannat demanded with a sneer.

  "This place that you have carved out for yourself...it is becoming a part of you... and you a part of it. In essence, you have chained yourself to this emptiness."

  "Is that supposed to concern me, brother?"

  Enin would not accept that title, certainly not any more.

  "I never have been, and never will be your brother. Even you will eventually admit that. You used to talk of the similarities between us. They will all end when I leave here. You, however, will not be so lucky."

  "You think I'm trapped here? Then go ahead and leave. I will see
you again soon."

  Ryson didn't quite understand what Enin was saying, and he pointed out his own assumptions.

  "He's right. This isn't a prison. He was able to leave before. He showed up in Uton disguised as Lief. He was in the cave in the dark realm."

  "And he still can penetrate the outer worlds," Enin confirmed, but then he quickly offered a shred of hope, "but there are limits. This plane was created when you destroyed the vessel he made to capture his evil magic. He dwells in it as a sanctuary from true existence, but he is also now bound to it. He can never exit this place completely. He is, in fact, chained to this place forever. When he reaches beyond, he can influence, but he can't directly assault. It may not be the perfect prison, but it will be sufficient."

  "How can you say that? He took my sword away from me in the cave."

  "He used magic on a magical artifact. That was all. Did he cast any spell of power against you? Did he cause you any direct harm?"

  "He did in here. He tried to fry me with his magic."

  "That was here. I'm talking about limits on what he can do outside this realm."

  "He was able to send an army of dark creatures into Uton. They captured Linda and threw her in here. He ordered them to attack the algors. He'll do it again."

  "No he won't"

  Without explaining further, Enin released more of his magical power. White energy crackled about him and then poured out of the shadow portal.

  "What did you do?" Ryson asked.

  "I altered the portal that links the dark realm to our home. He used that portal to send his minions against us. I will not allow it to be used in such a way again."

  "You lie!" Baannat screamed. "You have no power over that portal. It is mine now."

  "Not anymore. I made the mistake of creating a rift in the echo of Heteera's incomplete portal. You were able to usurp that portal since you stood in a realm of nonexistence, but I stand here as well. I now have infinitely more power than you, and I reclaimed the spell and removed its flaws within reality. The portal is still open, but it is fully under my command, not yours. It no longer moves in and out of existence. We shall use it to leave this place, and then I shall close it for good."

  "Can't he open another one?" Ryson wondered aloud.

  "No, he can't, and he knows that. He could possibly convince others to do so, but I am not quite done."

  Enin cast out even more energy, and once more magical waves flew out of the rift and throughout the dark realm.

  "What did you do now?" Ryson asked.

  "You worried about Baannat's influence over the dark creatures. I have just restricted that influence. I brought awareness to the creatures of the dark world. Limited awareness to be sure, but a new understanding nonetheless. Baannat didn't control any creatures with his magical energy. He confused them into believing he had something they greatly desired. I just cleared the shadows of their minds to give them this one revelation. The realm of Baannat will no longer hold any of their desires. In fact, every creature that is born to the dark realm or to Uton will inherently know of Baannat and the truth of his territory. Even monsters will shun this place. They will know the truth. This place is more painful than the dark realm. This is not a sanctuary. This is a place for the condemned."

  Enin then turned his glare upon the slink ghoul.

  "It is a suitable home for you, and so you shall remain here. We both know your power to leave here is limited, and now even the dark creatures know of your treachery. You will be cursed by all. Those who you will be able to influence will be the lowest of the low. That is your fate. I hope you can accept it."

  "So you make me king of nothingness?" Baannat hissed. "What if I refuse?"

  "You can't."

  Enin then called for Ryson.

  "It's time for us to leave."

  As Ryson stepped to the portal, he heard Baannat scream in rage. He turned just fast enough to see the ghoul lashing out at him. He ducked under the strike and used Baannat's own momentum to redirect him deeper into the gray shadows.

  When he followed Enin through the shadow rift and back into the dark realm, he could hear Baannat shouting curses, but the echoes of the shrieks simply faded into the emptiness.

  Chapter 34

  Linda rushed to Ryson's side, helped him from the ground, and then threw her arms around him. She pulled him to her as tight as she could. For all the agonizing moments she spent trapped—unable to move and unable to speak—in a plane of nonexistence, she found more comfort than she could imagine in that first embrace. She did not want to let go.

  Enin stood on his own as the full power of near infinite magical energy refreshed him almost immediately. With his strength growing, he stepped with great purpose to the gateway of emptiness, and he used that power to correct one of his many mistakes. Two perfect circles of white energy formed around his hands. He released them at the shadow portal and allowed both rings to encircle it. With one immediate flash of bright light, the circles of magic tightened about the rift and forced it to close in on itself.

  Carefully inspecting the space, he ensured all remnants of the portal to Baannat's realm were gone. Satisfied, he called for Linda and Ryson.

  "We must not linger here. We have to go quickly."

  "We should be okay," Ryson offered. "The path was cleared when I came in."

  "It won't be for much longer," Enin warned. "Many of the creatures here will sense my power, some will seek to escape out the portal to Uton, others will attack."

  "I thought you said Baannat wouldn't be able to control them any more."

  "He can't, not all of them as an army anyway. They know his promise is nothing more than a lie. Even monsters will reject Baannat's realm. But it also means they are once more left to their own devices. They will attack me as a powerful invader hoping to feed on my energy. And they will see you two as a possible meal."

  Ryson acknowledged and accepted the new threat and he put Linda's safety first.

  "Can you transport her to the portal?"

  "Yes," Enin nodded.

  "Do it."

  Linda refused, maintaining her hold on the delver.

  "No, I don't want to leave you again!"

  Ryson understood. He didn't want to leave Linda, either. He, however, had one more task to complete.

  "No one is leaving anyone, but I have to move fast."

  "Why can't we transport together?" Linda demanded.

  "Because I have to get my sword. I'm not going to leave it here. It's part of elflore."

  Linda shook her head. She didn't want to risk losing him over an object—a weapon—even if it was part of the legends.

  Ryson placed his hand on her chin and pulled her face to his so he could look her in the eyes.

  "I'm a delver. I'll be alright. I promise."

  Linda let out a heavy sigh as she released her grip. Yes, he was a delver and she couldn't keep him from venturing into danger. That would always be part of their lives. She had accepted that simple fact long ago, and despite Baannat's lies, she would never hold that against him.

  Ryson placed his attention on the wizard.

  "Enin, get her out of here, now."

  "And you must move at your best speed," the wizard declared as he guided Linda next to him.

  "Don't worry. I will."

  Ryson watched them for only a moment. That was all the time it took for Enin to cast the spell and transport himself and Linda to the portal between the dark lands and Uton.

  Once they were gone, Ryson raced into the cave and followed the path back to where he destroyed the vessel... back to where Baannat relieved him of the Sword of Decree. He found it right where it had been left—on the ground, dark with no light for the blade to reflect.

  He snatched it up in his hand. He did not sheath it over his back. Instead, he held tight to the weapon, waiting for some new insight. Nothing. There was no message from the sword—no task that needed to be completed and no direction for action.

  Ryson wasn't surpris
ed. He had made the right decisions. He had saved Linda and Enin, saved himself as well, but any doubt about Baannat's fate was now also removed. The ghoul was a prisoner of his own twisted sanctuary and that was where he would stay forever.

  With the sword still in hand, the delver ran out of the cave and back toward the portal. As he did, the silence that existed when he entered the dark realm had dissolved into the raging shrieks of conflict. Crashing explosions and pounding concussions reverberated over the gloomy landscape. Shouts of both humans and goblins rang out in the distance. More alarming, he could hear the unmistakable buzzing of a caelifera swarm.

  Bounding over the twisted landscape, he eventually caught glimpses of the giant locusts shifting about in dizzying patterns of mayhem. He knew they were flying over the portal and he pushed himself to run even faster.

  Once he broke over the last bluff separating him from the portal, he could see the scene clearly. He watched Enin standing at the front of the rift, casting spell after spell at a vast collection of monsters. Linda was not with him—Ryson spotted her past the portal and standing in relative safety in the badlands of Uton—but neither Enin nor Linda stood alone.

  Linda was surrounded by heavily armed guards from Burbon. Sy Fenden directed their attacks into the dark land. From the Uton side of the portal, they fired their long bows in coordinated patterns, forcing goblin war packs into retreat.

  Enin stood upon the dark lands with Holli and another magic caster, the one who saved the algors from the thrastil. Obviously guarding the portal, Enin focused his crushing spells on the caelifera, wiping dozens from the sky with each incantation. Jure targeted creatures in the distance, keeping them at bay with floods of black water and driving rainstorms. Holli kept both spell casters protected with a shield of pure green energy. Not a single bolt from a goblin crossbow could penetrate the barrier.

  On both sides of the portal, Ryson noted the presence of dozens of cliff behemoths. Those who stood upon the lands of Uton threw any monsters back into the rift that dared to crossover. The ones in the dark realm knocked away goblins, gremplings and bloat spiders. They cleared a path for Ryson, which he quickly crossed to reach Enin's side.