by Jeff Inlo
"What are these dangers?" Holli demanded. "We were told Linda would be safe."
There was a long silence. Klusac eventually answered, even as he did not completely understand the response.
"Sy said he's confined. There are limits to what he knows and what he can reveal, boundaries he must not cross. If he is to remain Burbon's defender, he must abide by those limitations. The dangers which await you are beyond these walls. They are not his province, but he knows they are there."
Holli finally turned toward Klusac and released a portion of her fury upon the human captain.
"Then why is he using these unknown dangers to keep me from saving Enin?! I cannot accept that Sy would fight me in order to save Linda from dangers he cannot divulge... thus allowing Enin's death!"
"Linda is under his protection," Klusac replied without backing down. "Regardless of what the delver might have said to you, Ryson entrusted Linda to Sy's care. To allow her to leave would mean failing in his duty."
Holli cringed, but she quickly returned her attention to the spirit with a question requiring an answer. Duty was something she understood all too well. It was the very reason she remained so determined to face the pit demon.
"I swear to you I will not let danger of any kind befall Linda. I will uphold your oath as if it were my own. I am not asking you to disregard your duty. I am asking you to understand mine. Will you allow me to protect Linda and still save Enin?"
Klusac almost stepped back as Sy's voice boomed in his mind. The captain quickly recovered and repeated the message for all to hear, but in a more controlled tone.
"He says he cannot pass his responsibilities on to another. They are his own and he shall hold to them."
The declaration astounded the elf guard.
"Is this arrogance in a spirit?"
Sy shook his head but offered no further explanation.
"So you will allow me to fail? And you will allow Enin to die?"
Sy finally looked to Klusac and offered a response.
"You have not yet failed," Klusac repeated the ghost's words, "but you will if you bring Linda into the desert. He says we will all fail. As for Enin, his fate is not in your hands."
"I am his guard... his protector! His fate may not be in my hands, but his safety remains my responsibility!"
Klusac paused one last time, listened intently to Sy's every word, and then repeated them with a sense of both sorrow and resolve... emotions matching those of the ghost from which the message came.
"You will not save Enin in this manner. You will only manage to doom Linda to absolute torment. He will not allow that. If he has to, he will do whatever is necessary to stop you."
Holli hoped to avoid a confrontation, but she would not surrender. She attempted one last tactic, a move of shifting combatants on the battlefield.
"Is this not ultimately Linda's decision," the elf demanded. "She has stated she wishes to hear from Ryson. He is in the Lacobian. Will you allow her to leave so that she may speak with her husband, or will you hold her hostage?"
Klusac glared at the elf, first in disbelief and then in clear annoyance. It was a tactic he believed was beneath the elf, beneath warriors of honor. He was about to reveal such sentiments, but the ghost whispered more tactful words into his mind. Klusac repeated them with a challenging tone.
"Sy states she is not a hostage, but she remains under his protection. It was Ryson who placed her there. If the delver wishes Linda to accompany him in the desert, he suggests you return to the Lacobian and teleport him back to Burbon. Let the delver speak directly about his wishes... and let him hear about the possible consequences."
"I can't bring him here. He must stay in the desert to keep watch over the dathit!"
"Then we seem to be at an impasse," Klusac replied, responding based on his own considerations as opposed to Sy's. "Sy won't allow you to teleport Linda out of the town, and I will not let you physically take her through the town gates."
Until that point, Linda had watched and listened silently, but she found the discussion about her welfare nearly insulting. Her situation was being debated right in front of her, as if she had no say, and she decided she would not be ignored
"And am I supposed to just accept whatever decision you all make for me?"
Klusac was quick to respond.
"No, ma'am, you do not have to accept any decision. If you wish to leave, I will allow it, but it must be by your own accord and not at the demands of another. Are you truly willing to disregard your husband's last known wishes? I was there when Ryson asked Sy to protect you."
"She has already agreed to leave with me," Holli intervened again.
"Is that still the case? Sy claims there is a danger of which Ryson is unaware. Sy remains certain it would be a horrible mistake for her to venture into the desert. She would not only be putting herself in danger, but Ryson as well. Is she willing to take that risk?"
"You can't do this to me!" Linda shouted. "You're all pulling me in different directions and I don't even know what's going on. First you tell me Ryson wants me in the desert, but now I'm told it could hurt him if I go."
Neltus finally saw his opportunity and lunged for it as if he was a starving man searching for a crust of bread.
"Let me save Enin!" Neltus offered loudly.
"You?" Holli and Captain Klusac questioned at the same time.
Neltus was not daunted by their obvious surprise.
"It's the only answer. And you don't have to torture Linda anymore."
"You are the one who teleported us into the desert," Holli growled. "Your reckless act is as much a cause for this catastrophe as my own carelessness."
"Which is even more reason for me to fix it."
"What can you possibly do? Even if you had another dozen enchanted items, you would be helpless against what we face. This is a dathit!"
"No, I don't want to use an enchanted item. And I realize it's a dathit. That's exactly why I can save Enin. It's a pit demon. It sinks to the bowels of the land. Mine was the crimson magic. If anyone could force the demon to release Enin, it's going to have to be a wizard with complete power over the desert."
"You lack that power."
"It can be restored! Tell the spirit to give me back my core. Make that request of him. With my core restored, I can pull the energy from the land in any fashion you desire. If you wish to bend the magic away from the land, I can accomplish that, especially with the help of Jure. There are other ways to battle the dathit as well, ways to use the land as only I could."
The request shocked Holli, almost as much as Sy's refusal to allow Linda to leave. While the elf could not argue with the basis of Neltus' offer, she could not ignore certain underlying facts that led to the coreless wizard losing his power.
"Return your core? Never! Not to save Enin, not to save all of Connel, not even to save the elf camp in Dark Spruce! You would be a danger to everyone and everything! Your core was removed for the same reason Enin's was. Reiculf once controlled your magic. He could do so again."
Neltus was prepared for that very charge.
"No, not really. I was deemed dangerous because Reiculf could use me to capture Enin, but now that Enin doesn't have a core, that danger no longer exists."
Holli remained defiant.
"Through you, Reiculf can extend his influence into Uton. I cannot risk that."
"But it's not a risk. We're fighting a pit demon, not Reiculf himself. How is Reiculf going to get me? We're not going to Demonspawn. We're going to the Lacobian."
"You are careless! With your core restored, it would only be a matter of time. Reiculf is the embodiment of evil. He would find a way to trap you."
"Time? What time? I go to the desert, free Enin, and then we all come back here and Sy takes my core away again. I'm no longer a threat, and Enin is freed."
"You think I will trust you in that regard?"
"Trust? You don't have to trust me. Even with my core back, this ghost can keep me from teleporti
ng away from here. So I can only go where he lets me go. You teleport us back to the Lacobian. Once we're there, surely you and Jure will be able to make certain I do what I promise. Do you think I can escape Jure?"
For one moment, Holli considered the proposal. If his core was restored, Neltus might have been able to overpower her own magic, but the elf guard knew he could not escape Jure. The elder wizard could cast spells to counter anything Neltus might attempt. With Enin's core gone, Jure was the most powerful spell caster known in Uton.
Despite Jure's abilities, Holli was still reluctant to embrace the plan. She remained convinced Linda was the key to success. She looked to the delver's wife, and unfortunately, saw uncertainty in her eyes, not so much over Neltus' claims, but about what she should do. Too many unknowns were casting shadows over any decision yet to be made.
Still, as an elf guard, Holli was trained to avoid indecision. The crux of her dilemma remained with Sy. She turned to the ghost spirit and demanded a clear and concise response.
"Yes or no, will you allow me to teleport Linda to the Lacobian?"
Sy shook his ethereal head.
"You leave me no other choice. I will not place the burden on the delver's wife and force her to decide. Instead, I will risk perhaps everything and request that you return Neltus' magical core. Once Enin is freed, we shall return him to Burbon for you to remove it once more."
Sy looked to Burbon's current captain of the guard. His expression revealed nothing as he communicated his message.
"He will do as you ask," Captain Klusac finally revealed, "but you must remove him from Burbon the instant his core is returned, and the act must be yours. He will not allow Neltus to determine his own fate. Where he goes must be your decision. Once he leaves Burbon, he will be in your care. Sy understands your need to do this, but he insists there are dangers in the desert which he cannot divulge."
"If he cannot divulge them, then I must face them."
"Very well."
Sy, without expressing disappointment or exuberance, finally moved away from the Acumens' doorstep and toward Neltus. He did not glare at the coreless wizard in anger or wave a finger of warning. He looked past the ex-wizard's expectant expression and into the hollow of Neltus' essence.
For his part, Neltus eyed the apparition somewhat suspiciously but with a growing hunger. A small portion of his cowardice began to bubble to the surface, almost caused him to pull away from the ghost captain, but the overwhelming desire to regain sway over crimson energy kept him in place. As the spirit of Sy Fenden stopped directly in front of him, he could sense the pulse of magic, his magic, just beyond his touch, and his longing for the energy grew.
The apparition bent slightly over and placed one ghostly hand through the surface of the ground and into the soil. His other hand speared toward Neltus' chest. In connecting the land with the hollow of Neltus' essence, Sy Fenden recalled every last particle of the dark crimson core he had taken. He restored it to its place of origin without reservation.
Simultaneously pulling his hand out of Neltus' chest and the ground, Sy stood up straight and then disappeared.
Holli, spurred on by the need in the desert and Sy's command to leave as soon as possible, did not wait to gauge Neltus' reaction. She grabbed the crimson casting wizard by the arm and looked to both Klusac and Linda.
"We will return when Enin is safe."
She said nothing more. She raised her free hand and unleashed a spell of teleportation which took her and Neltus from the small town and sent them back to the Lacobian Desert.
Linda, still unsure of everything which had just occurred, looked to Klusac. Due to her immunity to magic, she could never feel the energy, but she was very good at reading expressions. She saw more than uncertainty in the captain's face.
"This isn't going to turn out as she expected, is it?" she asked.
Klusac remained a stoic individual. He had fought in many battles and knew, despite the odds, it was never wise to predict an outcome with any level of certainty. Any number of factors could affect the results of even the most basic confrontation. As such, he was somewhat hesitant to agree with the delver's wife, but he decided it would not be prudent to hide the truth from her.
"I didn't reveal everything Sy said to me. Some of it was not meant for the elf's ears. Sy really is uncertain of what dangers wait in the desert, but he knows they are there. Events which do not pertain directly to Burbon are somehow hidden from his view."
"You already said that... to all of us, including Holli."
"True, but Sy revealed to me that the elf would have to learn that there are things beyond her control. Based on what was going on, that's not something she needed to hear... and Sy agreed. To reveal that would have created doubt in her mind over any decision she might make. I couldn't do that to her."
"But what was she trying to control? It sounded like she was just trying to save Enin."
"True, but she was also trying to fix everything on her own. I know the feeling. When you're in charge, you want to make sure everything goes the way it's supposed to, that everyone is safe. It doesn't always work out that way. Accidents happen whether we want them to or not. Beyond that, some things are meant to happen that aren't accidents. They were just meant to be, even tragedies."
"You think this is going to turn out to be a tragedy?"
"I'm not sure, but I am certain it would have been a mistake for you to go into the desert. It might have even cost you your life. The desert is not safe for you."
Linda did not dwell upon her own safety. Her mind quickly turned to another.
"Ryson's in the desert," she whispered.
Captain Klusac was quick to offer comfort in another fact.
"That's true, but there was something else Sy told me when your delver left for Connel. He said that Ryson's fate was in his own hands once he stepped beyond Burbon's walls. Ryson's been able to take care of himself before. This isn't any different."
Chapter 11
Neltus delighted at the surge of power flowing through his essence. Feeling very much like he did when the magic first returned to Uton, he embraced the warmth of crimson energy crackling within his restored magical core. He began absorbing energy immediately upon his arrival in the Lacobian, and just as it had done in the past, the land spoke to him. It revealed to him the secrets behind every dune, within each crevice, and below the sandy surface. Happily, he reached for it all. He was like a child greedily feeding on heavily frosted cake and gleefully tearing open elegantly wrapped presents.
He could feel the ripples of energy surging through the desert, and there was no place in Uton he'd rather be. In the desolate lands of the Lacobian, there was little to distract him from the crimson energy flowing out of the sand. There was no forest of thick trees filling the open spaces around him, no pools of water glistening in the distance, and no storms swelling in the early evening sky overhead. There was only rock and sand, and he grasped at everything the Lacobian had to offer. He called to the red magic and filled his core with all the energy he could absorb.
Neltus, however, was alone in his delight. Those who had waited for the elf's return believed the rotund wizard would be left in Burbon. They assumed Holli would escort another back to the Lacobian, one who disregarded magic through the aspect of immunity. They expected to see the delver's wife, but she was no where to be found.
Ryson questioned the elf before anyone else could speak.
"Where's Linda?" the delver demanded.
While not wishing to ignore the delver, the elf guard was trained to immediately assess her surroundings. Before responding to Ryson's question, Holli quickly scanned the desert grounds.
Thankfully, the dathit had not escaped. It stood stone still, staring at Enin as if waiting for some stroke of insight. Enin also remained motionless in the giant's palm, conscious but unable to communicate with any of those on the desert floor. Jure had moved slightly away from the others and appeared to be surveying the ground for his own purposes,
probably looking for a suitable place to create the crater which would be cleansed of magic. The algor stood near Ryson, but said nothing upon Holli's return. It just stared at Neltus as if it was trying to unscramble some complex puzzle.
Relieved that Enin was still alive and the dathit still within reach, the elf finally responded to Ryson's question.
"Linda remains in Burbon. The ghost of Sy Fenden would not allow her to leave."
"Sy?" Ryson questioned, astonished by the elf's revelation. "Wouldn't let her leave? Why not? Is she alright?"
"She is safe, and the spirit is determined to keep her that way. He believes there is danger in the desert unknown to us. Sy can not, or will not, identify the threat, but he is convinced it exists."
"Was he referring to the dathit?"
"No, it was another threat. He said you were unaware of it, and you are clearly aware of the pit demon. Whatever it is, he believed it endangered Linda to the point that he would have actually fought me if I tried to bring her here."
Ryson quickly turned to the algor.
"But you said Linda would be in no danger!"
The algor ignored the delver's accusation. He continued to stare at the crimson cored spell caster, and the tailless lizard said nothing regarding Linda's safety.
Jure quickly returned to the side of his companions.
"Sy believes there are dangers hidden in the desert?" Jure wondered aloud. "That's probably true. It's no where near the safest place in Uton, but what could be more dangerous than a dathit? And why would he be concerned about Linda? She's immune to magic. What could possibly harm her out here that we couldn't handle?"
"I am uncertain," Holli revealed, "and the ghost of Sy Fenden offered little in the way of explanation. The spirit only claimed he made an oath to protect the delver's wife."
"Well, I did ask him to look after Linda and Stomps," Ryson revealed.
Jure looked back up at the unmoving dathit and decided further discussion about the delver's wife would have to wait.
"So what do we do now?" the elder wizard asked, looking for new direction. "Without Linda, we can't go ahead with our plan."