by Jeff Inlo
Ryson looked back through the rift. Normally when he looked into a portal, he could see the other side fairly clearly. Sometimes there was a faint mist or even a slightly heavier fog generated by the compression of time and space, but he could usually make out a certain amount of detail through most any gateway.
That, however, was not the case when dealing with a realm of nonexistence. Even though he was on Baannat's side of reality and looking toward a physical plane of existence, the immaterial aspects of his current location blurred the view of the spire peak. With great concentration, he believed he could see the shadows of his three companions, but they were dim silhouettes.
As he examined his surroundings, he also took a moment to consider his own condition.
He had substance and form, but only slightly. He was far more spirit than body, but it was a condition he had experienced before. He had previously entered Baannat's realm to save Linda. In that confrontation, he maintained enough physical presence to strike and hold the slink ghoul. He had forced the ghoul into submission and freed Enin and Linda.
As he recalled the incident, he remembered how he saw them both. His wife and his friend had no substance. It was their essence trapped in Baannat's realm... their spirit. During that encounter, he understood very little of such things.
At the time, he attributed Linda and Enin's condition to the aspects of Baannat's realm of nonexistence. He believed their consciousness had been separated from their body, but he did not search for a deeper understanding.
That encounter, however, occurred before he saw his own soul in its pure form. As he stood once more in emptiness—existing more in ghostly form than in physical substance—he thought of his spirit as a separate entity as opposed to simply a portion of his current state of being.
The questions which spurred his trip to Connel and the Church of Godson swirled through his mind once more. He considered them as he continued to inspect his nearly ethereal form. How, if at all, had seeing his soul altered his concept of existence? Should he allow that new perspective to change his outlook on life? If so, in what way? And how would his future decisions and actions in a physical world affect his spiritual being?
As a delver, he could not ignore the questions. He might be able to bury them for a while, press them aside while he considered more pressing matters, but he could never simply dismiss them, cast them aside as inconsequential. They would remain with him until they were suitably answered, and even then, he believed they would continue to encourage him to seek greater awareness.
Not wishing to take too much time pondering questions with no clear answers, Ryson refocused his energy on finding Baannat. He spoke into the shadow of Vraya's spell in order to give Holli the information he knew she deemed important.
"I can definitely see the edges of the portal, but it's not a clear gateway. I can't really see the top of the spire where you're standing, but I can make out certain shapes."
Holli could not hear the delver's response, but both Vraya and Jure could hear the delver's words through the link of the sorceress' spell.
"He can see the portal on his side," Jure stated, "and to some extent see into this existence. It's probably because of the way the portal was made and how it's being powered. It was created on this side, but my guess is that Baannat wanted to keep it open. The ghoul is feeding it with his magic, so it's connected on both sides."
"Very well," Holli consented. "We can communicate with him and he can find his way back to us. We can continue."
Before giving further direction, Holli formulated the safest strategy to move forward. She remained uncertain regarding the extent of Baannat's involvement. She was also concerned about Ryson's willingness to confront the slink ghoul. She hoped to obtain as much information as possible before any further conflict ensued. After a brief moment of silent contemplation, she conveyed her instructions into the rift.
"Ryson, do not stray from your current position until we know more of what you face. What do you sense?"
It was a simple question, which generated a very simple response.
"Nothing," the delver admitted. "There's nothing here at all. Other than the shadow of the portal, it's completely empty."
Jure relayed the message to the elf guard.
"Is it possible Baannat is hiding from you?" Holli asked.
"I don't think so," Ryson replied. "Where could he hide?"
"Baannat's realm is a paradox," Vraya offered. "It is a place without substance, a space of emptiness, and yet it maintains its position within the layers of other realms. It is a realm of nonexistence where Baannat can exist in his own confused state of limbo."
"I don't see how that helps me," Ryson responded.
"It should, because I'm saying he can't hide from you. If you sense he's not there, then he's not, but it depends on how you're trying to locate him. Are you trying to find him with your eyes and ears, or are you searching with your mind and spirit?"
"I'm trying to find him with everything. I don't see, smell, or hear him, but I know what you're saying about using my mind and spirit. I can sense things differently here, and I don't feel him."
"Then as I said before, he's probably not there."
"But then we still don't know where he is," the delver stated. "I think I should scout around a bit to see if I can find any trace of him."
"You would be wasting your time, searching emptiness."
Holli heard only one side of the conversation. She could hear what Vraya said, but none of Ryson's responses. She asked for details, and once she received them, she offered her advice.
"Ryson, Baannat's realm may have no distinct borders. To venture too far could lead you to a point where you might not find your way back."
The delver was not ready to give up the search. Even if he could not sense Baannat, Ryson believed he could find a trail of the slink ghoul, and any information he could obtain would be useful.
"I'm not going to go far," Ryson responded, "but I need to see if there's anything else here. Even if there's a shred of something that looks out of place, it might help us."
Jure revealed to Holli what Ryson had said, and the elf guard decided against it.
"I ask you to return at once," Holli called into the rift. "The risk is too great. And we have already learned what we need to know. Baannat is not in his realm. If he is not there, he must be in the dark lands. We can track him in other ways. Jure will..."
Holli's request was interrupted by Vraya's sudden outburst. The sorceress stared at the portal and then out over the shadowed grounds below the rock tower.
"No," she gasped in a cry just above a whisper. "Godson, no!"
Holli did not wait for further details or an explanation.
"Ryson! Return at once!"
The delver never had the chance. Despite his speed, he could not outrace the effects of a decision made in Demonspawn. The transformation of Baannat's realm was near instantaneous.
Upon the plateau of the rock tower, the portal fell from the air as if it had suddenly gained weight and could no longer support itself. It dropped down over Ryson's body and almost immediately collapsed. In one flash of absolute alteration, the portal ceased to exist, and Ryson's body was gone.
Chapter 18
Moments before Ryson, Holli, Jure and Vraya had arrived upon the summit of the stone tower, Baannat was plucked from the plateau and hauled before the embodiment of absolute evil. Even as the ghoul could hover in the air of physical domains, the force of hate pressed his incomplete form ruthlessly against the gritty ground. The moment he looked into the shifting gray shadows which surrounded him, he knew where he had been brought. He sensed the presence of the daokiln before he looked upon the incarnation of monumental malice. Baannat did not understand the reason for his arrival in Demonspawn, and the brutal delivery of his somewhat insubstantial form added seething anger to the slink ghoul's confusion.
Had it been anyone or anything else, Baannat would have severely questioned the audacity of th
e maneuver and threatened his captor with harsh reprisals. Few, however, could have snatched the slink ghoul from the tower precipice and pulled him into the very center of Demonspawn. Baannat also knew it was not wise to question the actions of the daokiln. Taking an aggressive stance against the lord of all demons normally led to only one outcome... painful annihilation, and the ghoul still had much to accomplish.
Despite his comprehension of Reiculf's power, the ghoul had no idea of the demon master's plans, and Baannat could not stifle every question.
"Why have you brought me here?" Baannat demanded, but in a somewhat subdued and respectful tone.
"Because I can," Reiculf growled. "We made a bargain. You requested complete control over a pit demon and a doppelganger. I agreed to your request. In return, you promised to deliver the Delver Acumen and his mate. You have failed in that regard."
"I haven't failed," Baannat protested.
The slink ghoul might not have understood the demon lord's intentions, but he knew he had to make his own aims clear. Despite certain setbacks, the slink ghoul remained confident of his success. Baannat fully intended on fulfilling his arrangement with the daokiln, and Enin was the key to his ultimate conquest.
"The pit demon possesses Enin," the ghoul revealed. "I have brought them both back into the dark lands. His foolish friends will sacrifice much to save him. The threat of death is a strong tool against Ryson Acumen. The delver is so concerned about the loss of life, he would risk almost anything to keep Enin safe."
To Baannat's dismay, Reiculf viewed the situation in a different light.
"I no longer care about Enin," the daokiln snarled. "Enin has lost his core. Without his magic, the wizard is powerless and useless to me."
"But he is bait."
Reiculf did not bother to reply. He ignored the slink ghoul as he turned his attention back to the ebony casting sorcerer. The daokiln had been torturing Ansas at will, and the monstrous beast decided to indulge in additional torment as a distraction from the slink ghoul's petty denials.
"Do you see, sorcerer? Even the ruler of nonexistence is nothing to me. I can claim him as my own."
Ansas looked to Baannat with pure disgust. The sorcerer would have enjoyed annihilating the slink ghoul with a wave of ebony power, but he could not spare the energy. He used every trace of magic to brunt the force of Reiculf's assaults and to ease the crushing pain cascading through his body.
He was only marginally successful, but to his credit, the sorcerer would not relent. He held to the conviction that he could outlast the daokiln and overcome the torments of Demonspawn. He professed such beliefs without reservation or hesitation.
"The slink ghoul is the ruler of nothing, and that is all he is worth... nothing. He lacks my resolve."
The assertion amused the demon lord.
"This ghoul once held you captive, tortured your essence. He wishes to do so again. If he is nothing, what does that make you? Less than nothing?"
"It was my mistake which led to my capture. It had nothing to do with his abilities. He will never control me again. I could destroy him now... if it was my wish."
"And I could turn you back over to him in an instant... if it was my wish."
Baannat wondered if that was the reason he had been brought before the master of demons, and he could not contain the exuberant anticipation rising within him.
"You will return the sorcerer to me?" Baannat asked.
Reiculf continued to ignore the ghoul. The daokiln's fury remained fixed on the sorcerer. He extended his thick, muscular arm, and a wave of smoke billowed from his palm. The demon lord sneered with hate as the plumes of heavy ash encircled Ansas and then hardened into a thick shell.
Within the dark casing, Ansas gasped for air even as the walls surrounding him slowly compressed. He could feel enormous pressure building against every fiber of his being. It was as if he was slowly drifting deeper and deeper into ocean waters. The pressure around him increased continuously, crushing him from every angle. He hoped he would lose consciousness, but Reiculf's magic kept him alert and dreadfully aware of the ever increasing torment.
"It is laughable," the daokiln noted with barely a smirk breaking through his twisted expression of malice. "Two foolish individuals of substantial power brought before me by their own idiocy. One believes he can actually withstand my wrath, and the other stupidly promised something he is incapable of delivering."
"But I can deliver the delver and his wife," Baannat insisted. "You may not want Enin, but I can use him to gain an advantage over those who care about his welfare. They are all connected. You know that."
"I know you would have fallen to them. As we speak, they have already arrived on your bridge to the dark realm. They stand upon your rock tower sanctuary. Had I not taken you, you would have been at their mercy."
"I could have defeated them."
"You? You have lost to the delver before, and he is accompanied by an elf guard and two powerful spell casters. They would have beaten you with ease."
"Not as long as I had Enin in danger. They would have surrendered before they allowed their friend to be injured."
"You do not learn from your mistakes, do you slink ghoul? But the past is my domain. Your previous failures are more clear to me than the details of this very moment."
The daokiln grunted in disgust as he glanced back at the dark mass which encased the sorcerer's body. Reiculf waved his hand and the hardened smoke shell exploded, leaving Ansas battered and broken once more. The daokiln watched with only slight interest as the sorcerer called to the heavy ebony magic within Demonspawn to restore his health. The lord of demons laughed in minor amusement.
"You still do not understand, do you sorcerer?" the giant beast of hate questioned with a half-smile and a shake of his head. "You continue to struggle against me even as your destiny becomes inevitably linked to my own."
"I understand you continue to fail," Ansas sneered in sheer contempt. "I have survived every one of your onslaughts."
"These are not my failures, they are yours. You should have struggled to free yourself through death. Instead, you remain here as a source of my amusement."
"You've said that before. You also said you wanted me here, that I served you as an opportunity."
"And so you have... an opportunity that must now be grasped in full."
"What opportunity?" Ansas questioned. "The slink ghoul's plan has failed."
"Did you think I cared about this wretched creature's pathetic plan?"
"Are you going to deny you wanted Ryson Acumen and his wife delivered to you?"
"I deny nothing. I still want them, but I never believed it would occur. What I actually wanted was the slink ghoul himself. And he has delivered himself to me. More to the point, the ghoul made a bargain. Above all else, he wanted you returned to his realm. It was that desire which led him to me. Had I not kept you within my grasp, he never would have been so foolish. Unfortunately for both of you, he was foolish beyond measure."
"What are you talking about?" Baannat demanded, nearly forgetting whom it was he questioned. "We have an agreement."
"Yes, we do." Reiculf answered as he turned his massive head and brought his hateful gaze down upon the slink ghoul. "Where is Ryson Acumen and his mate?"
"I don't have them yet."
"But you have lost control of the doppelganger. It was revealed to your adversaries by the crimson spell caster. The doppelganger had to flee."
"But I have Enin!"
"Enin was not part of the deal."
"But I'm not finished yet."
"Yes, you are."
"I need more time."
"Time is something I understand very well. You are looking toward possible futures. I am looking at definitive pasts. Your past is now checkered with failure. You have fought the delver before and lost on each occasion."
"You knew that before we entered our bargain. That doesn't have any bearing on the current situation."
"You might wish that to
be the case, but it is not. Ryson Acumen has entered the portal you left open to your domain. He stands within your realm of nonexistence. With each moment he remains there, his dominance over you becomes part of history. If I had not brought you before me, you would have fallen to him again. There is no argument in that regard."
"But it didn't happen. I didn't fail, not yet."
"Only because I prevented it. Which means you are even further in my debt. You have made a promise you cannot fulfill and your rescue from the delver was at the expense of my action."
"But I can still get the delver and his wife."
"I no longer need you in that regard. If I wish to have them, I will obtain them on my own."
Baannat did not wish to dispute the daokiln, but he could not ignore the obvious. He knew barriers existed which kept Reiculf from extending his will beyond Demonspawn. And the past might have been the demon master's domain, but the slink ghoul was well aware of the daokiln's own failure regarding Ryson Acumen.
"You can't. Even I know that. I'm aware of what happened between you and the delver. You speak of my past, let us speak of yours. The delver came here to save his wife. He allowed Ansas to take part of his magic and put it inside you. It's the magic of a delver that contains you."
"It will contain me no more."
"That's not possible. It's part of your history."
"Indeed it is, but I will now change that history."
"How?"
"By changing what I am."
It was a statement of profound importance, a determination which would alter many aspects of existence. It was Ansas who fully understood the ramifications of Reiculf's assertion, but the decision was so monumental, the sorcerer was not ready to believe the daokiln's claim.
"You would never take such a step," Ansas declared. "To alter your state of existence would change the very fabric of this realm, and you would cease to be what you are. That is no inconsequential matter. You have stated yourself; the past is your domain, and the past cannot be changed. You would never give up dominion over such a force."
"There was a time I would have agreed with you. I never wished to be more or less than what it has taken me ages beyond knowledge to become. But as a sorcerer of ebony magic, you should appreciate the concept of change."