Pure Choice dm-6

by Jeff Inlo

  The decision was no longer difficult. Ryson would leave Ansas to his fate and the delver would continue to choose his own path. As he sheathed the war blades and turned away, he felt the hole in his soul being filled, the guilt removed.

  As if in response to the delver's decision, the dark oval began to swirl faster. The shadows of its inner core began to shimmer and a ghostly presence stepped from out of the shadowed portal and onto the dark plateau.

  Enin recognized the slink ghoul immediately.

  "Baannat? What do you have to do with this?"

  "Nothing… and everything."

  Baannat's form was a mix of the material and immaterial. The slink ghoul did not completely exist on a physical plane. The cat-like features of his face were clear to all those that looked upon him, but they did not take solid form. In a previous battle with Enin and the delver, Baannat had cheated death and created a new realm. The ghoul was the ruler of a damned existence, and he arrived to claim his prize.

  Ryson found the monster's appearance beyond troubling.

  "How did he get here?" The delver glanced toward Enin as he looked for an explanation. "I thought he couldn't open portals to this realm."

  "He can't, and he didn't." Enin explained. "Ansas ultimately did this all to himself. He brought Baannat's magic into this existence and that's what allowed the portal to open."

  "So you understand," Baannat nodded to the wizard. "I am impressed."

  "It was Dzeb who saw it first," the wizard acknowledged. "The energy inside of Ansas wasn't ebony magic, it wasn't pure, it wasn't even energy of this existence. His misguided quest for purity and perfection led him to the strands of energy that actually defied existence."

  "Strands from my realm," Baannat hissed.

  "Apparently so," Enin agreed. "Ansas believed himself superior to all things. He shut out the truth, and you replaced his ebony magic with the energy of your shadowed existence."

  "Me? Do not place the blame where it does not belong. I could not have done so by myself. You know that. He put the wheels in motion. He kept reaching for more, and in doing so, he kept opening windows to my domain. He fed himself with pride, and his conceit led him beyond the truth. He ignored every sign, came up with an abundance of justifications for what he disregarded. He convinced himself of his own greatness even as I let him feed on the shadows of empty magic."

  "Empty magic?" Ryson questioned. "That's not possible. He was able to fly."

  "Are you suddenly an expert on magic, delver?" Baannat chided. "Ansas was always a powerful sorcerer with black magic. He could pull ebony energy from the very air to assist him in certain spells, but the magic at his core was the source of his power. When it began to dwindle from his use, it was replaced with magic that would not truly serve him as he wished. The spells he used to capture and fight the elves of Dark Spruce was very near the last of his own ebony energy. The energy within him after that was mostly from a hollow existence, my realm. In some ways, he could use it to manipulate the dark realm, but it did not completely bend to his will as he imagined. The magic also appeared to be incapable of harming you in any significant way. Shame."

  "The magic of emptiness can harm no soul touched by Godson," Dzeb replied serenely.

  The slink ghoul snarled at the comment, but could not argue the contention.

  "What about the magic placed in the spell casters he tried to strengthen?" Enin wondered aloud.

  "A combination of his magic and mine; a small remnant of his original energy that allowed those fools to tap deeper into their own cores and kept them all connected. It gave them greater power, but it was never truly theirs to control. They thought they were stronger, and in some ways they were, but not where it really mattered."

  "So that's why I was unable to grasp the magic," Jure added. "It was tainted by energy from your realm. And that's why we were unable to trace it back to you… because there was enough of Ansas' black magic to conceal its source. The spells were linked back to the sorcerer, but the magic of your realm was always hidden underneath."

  "But how did that portal open for him to get here?" Ryson demanded. "I thought he was trapped in his own realm."

  "Is it so difficult for you to understand, delver? The sorcerer brought my magic into this realm. That allows for a door to be opened… only temporarily, but I can enter this realm to take what is rightfully mine. The sorcerer belongs to me now. It was his actions that led to this. He tried to kill you with magic that could not touch you," Baannat scornfully but reluctantly admitted. "When the spell failed to kill you, the game was over."

  Ryson had nothing but disdain for the sorcerer, but he also did not trust the slink ghoul.

  "Is that what this all was? Some kind of game to you?"

  "Everything is a game to me now."

  "What in Godson does that mean?"

  The slink ghoul sneered at the delver.

  "It means I can only do so much," Baannat growled. "There was a time I could have plucked Ansas from his own sanctuary and used him as I wished, but that is no longer possible. My participation is limited, so why should it be anything more than a game? The sorcerer placed himself above all things. He believed he was evolving into a god, he will discover he has not."

  "And where does this all ultimately lead?" Enin asked.

  "I intend to reclaim what is mine. The energy he fed upon belongs to my realm, and now so does he. I was hoping the delver would kill him. That would have made things easier. Another shame. What happens now is not his destiny… or the result of my intervention. It was his choice. You can not argue with me, can you Enin? You above all understand. You know why my realm was created. There was a higher purpose."

  "Yes, that purpose was to hold abominations like yourself. It was never meant to feed the ignorant desires of misguided individuals."

  "How it is used is not up to you… or me. The sorcerer became obsessed with proving his own superiority. He ignored the truth, blinded himself to it and then tried to influence others to accept his narrow views on ascension and superiority. He willingly reached into my realm and took what he should have never touched. Now he will pay the price. This is no surprise."

  "The only surprise is that you're not calling me brother."

  "We are no longer brothers."

  "We never were," Enin stated flatly.

  Baannat, unwilling to argue his connection to the wizard, dismissed the conversation. The slink ghoul pointed to the spell casters that remained unconscious. They did not wake, but the three previous allies to Ansas rose to their feet. Moving not by their own will but by the influence of the ghoul, they took hold of the sorcerer.

  Ansas screamed when they picked him up. He struggled against them, but each thrash of resistance reminded him of his broken bones. He could not break free, and as he saw he was brought to the very maw of the portal, his eyes widened in absolute terror.

  "Why was it all taken from me?!" Ansas shrieked..

  "Why? You think it was yours?! You were wrong."

  The three spell casters tossed Ansas into the portal and then immediately collapsed, their assistance no longer needed by the slink ghoul. Neltus, Rivira, and Gnafil crumpled back into unconscious heaps.

  Ansas shrieked once more as he entered the portal. His body, however, went limp as it passed through the shadowy mass and ended up back on the barren plateau. There was no movement, barely a sign of life.

  Ryson moved carefully to the prone form. He checked Ansas over quickly.

  "He's still alive."

  "That's why I would have preferred it if you killed him," Baannat snarled. "This makes it so much more complicated. His body can't exist in my realm, but I am unable to kill him. But in the end, it is irrelevant. He is still mine and I will not wait."

  "So he's just going to stay here… alive… forever?" the delver asked.

  "His true being is already in my realm. That is nothing but his shell. Nothing can reach it here and the small amount of magic still in his body will probably keep hi
m alive for eons."

  "What about the others?"

  "They were his lackeys not mine. What do I care what happens to them? Do with them what you wish. There is no reason for me to stay. The sorcerer's spirit is waiting for me and I have so many things to show him."

  Baannat released a cackle unsettling for them all to hear and then disappeared through the portal. The dark gray mass, however, lingered in its place.

  Unwilling to allow the portal to remain-to allow Baannat an open invitation to enter the dark realm in the future-Ryson knew he had to destroy it. He could not cast a spell to disperse the magic, but he also knew the energy that created the rift belonged in Baannat's realm. It was an echo of emptiness and the delver intended to fill it with his own purpose.

  Stepping within arm's reach of the swirling, pulsating oval, Ryson pulled the Sword of Decree from the sheath across his back. Though exposed, the blade did not radiate with great brilliance, for it only reflected the natural light of the delver's home, not the hostile glow from the dark realm's fire pits. While a portion of the blade's enchantment might have been somewhat muted, the weapon still revealed a clear direction to the delver, one he already intended on following.

  With one great swing, he sliced the dark mass open. The portal dissolved in a flash of bitter darkness as all of the hollow magic trapped within the oval collapsed back into Baannat's realm.

  In that same instant, the gray that enveloped the skies of the dark realm dissipated, and for the first time, the light of stars filled the heavens. Ryson's blade blazed with new brilliance and the radiance filled the shadows of the plateau.

  The weapon in his hand revealed another answer. The breaking of the portal and the release of the hollow magic helped to bring the dark realm slightly out of its shadow of despair. It remained a barren land of nightmare and horror, but an act of conviction and trust opened a potential path to new light… new understanding.

  Filled with optimism, Ryson raced back to his wife. Linda remained unconscious in the arms of the cliff behemoth, but with the Sword of Decree in his hand, the delver knew she would recover.

  Dzeb looked down upon Ryson with a gentle smile and then looked up to the stars above.

  "You have brought hope to this land," Dzeb acknowledged.

  Ryson knew it wasn't just him that brought out the stars. It was all of them. They had come together to help one another. From Dzeb looking after his wife to Jure trying to reach a renegade elf, they all followed what was in their hearts. The path might not have been as clear as he hoped, but they did not turn away from it.

  "I also figured something else out," Ryson admitted. "You came to help Linda because it was what you believed you had to do. You can't explain it, you just knew. I'm starting to understand that myself."

  "I know you are," Dzeb replied.

  "Indeed he is," Enin added, eminently proud of the delver's display of faith. He placed a hand upon Ryson's shoulder. "You did everything you needed to do. That's why I told you to focus on saving Linda. Ansas was only concerned with himself, not with all that was around him. You were never like that, and I wanted to make sure you remained so."

  Before he could respond, Ryson heard the other spell casters stirring from unconsciousness. He made no move to confront them, but watched carefully as they rose to their feet.

  It was Neltus who first realized that Ansas had been defeated. The sorcerer's body was limp on the ground. More importantly, Neltus knew the dark magic that once allowed him to cast spells of enormous power was gone. He looked across the plateau and saw foes he knew he had no chance of defeating. In a fit of fear, he cast his own portal and leapt into its center.

  The sorceress, Rivira, and the infern also created portals for their escape. They retreated with the same urgency as Neltus.

  "Should we follow them?" Jure asked.

  "No," Enin answered. "They are back to what they were, but hopefully somewhat wiser. Let's hope they don't waste this second chance."

  Ryson turned to Enin.

  "What do we do with Ansas' body?"

  "There's nothing we can do for him," Enin disclosed. "It will remain here, perhaps for an eternity. This plateau will become a tomb for his soulless body. In all honesty, I think it's somewhat fitting."

  "There is one other we have to consider," Holli added as she nodded to Scheff who was slowly rising to his feet.

  The elf had not seen everything that had transpired, but he knew the dark magic was no longer within his core. He looked at Ansas' limp body and somehow understood the sorcerer had come to an empty end. It was all a misguided waste, until he considered the outcome of his battle with Jure.

  Scheff had been defeated, but he was still alive. As Ansas once said, it was important to learn from defeat. The elf realized the sorcerer had been wrong about many things, but not that.

  The elf thought back on his initial decision, his desire to become legendary in skill and power. He was told to focus only on the natural hue of his magic and to ignore everything else. That portion of advice was ill-conceived, and Scheff understood he had to carefully consider everything that had happened in order to find his way.

  Attempting to place the proper perspective on his experience, the elf remembered how Ansas spoke of good and evil. The sorcerer appeared to understand each, yet chose no clear path to either. Instead, Ansas tried to raise himself above both, to make his own enlightenment the ultimate quest. It might not have been intended evil, but it was selfish and arrogant, and eventually led the sorcerer to corruption.

  Scheff had taken a similar course, and it was a path the elf no longer wished to travel. It was time for him to change directions, to consider something besides himself, something bigger.

  Walking humbly toward Birk Grund and Shantree Wispon, he spoke in an apologetic tone.

  "I am sorry, and I wish to return to the camp."

  "We will be happy to have you," Shantree responded without hesitation.

  "We should all leave this place," Enin advised. "Holli, please take the elves back to their camp. I will take everyone else back with me to Connel… the Church of Godson. I think that would be best."

  Epilogue 1

  Two days after the encounter on the plateau, Ryson traveled alone to Burbon in order to pick up a few essential items for himself and Linda. Before he left to return to Connel, he decided to stop at the guard headquarters in the center of town.

  He asked to see Sy, but he did not go inside. He didn't want to speak to the captain in the confines of his office. He wanted to do it out in the street, out in the open. The delver didn't care if people passing by heard what he had to say. He had nothing to hide.

  Sy came out and actually smiled. He did not bury the fact that he was thrilled to see his friend. He had been worried… greatly worried about both Ryson and Linda.

  The captain asked how Ryson had fared. He did so not as a commander seeking a report, but as an anxious friend genuinely concerned about Ryson and Linda's welfare. Sy stood quietly as the delver revealed to him everything that had happened.

  "Is Linda okay?" the captain asked when Ryson completed the tale of events.

  "She's conscious, but still a bit tired. She doesn't remember everything, but probably more than she wants to. I've got a few things that I'm bringing back to her… to make her more comfortable."

  Sy hesitated, but only for a moment. As was his way, he decided to face the delicate issue head on.

  "So are you staying in Connel permanently?"

  The question caught the delver off guard.

  "Permanently? No. Enin just wants to keep an eye on her for a while longer. He believes she's fine, but he wants to be certain there aren't any complications."

  "So you're coming back," Sy said without even trying to conceal his relief.

  "This is our home," Ryson stated.

  "I'm happy to hear that. It wouldn't be the same without you."

  The delver then decided to bring up an issue of his own, one that he knew needed to be address
ed.

  "Before I go, I want to talk to you about the river rogues that got into town."

  Sy was not so sure that was the best of ideas. He didn't like sweeping issues under the rug, didn't want to simply pretend that nothing had happened, but he didn't want to renew any conflict between them.

  "Maybe this isn't the best time," Sy offered. "I don't think either one of us is looking to have another argument right now."

  "Actually, it is a good time, because I don't think we were ever arguing about the same thing, and if we both realize that, then there wasn't really an argument between us at all."

  "I think it's pretty clear we had a disagreement," Sy stated.

  "Maybe it is, but I still want you to hear me out. I believe I owe you an explanation."

  To the captain, it sounded as if the delver was prepared to make an apology. Sy wouldn't have rejected it, but he didn't quite understand it, either.

  "Are you saying you were wrong?" Sy asked, revealing his confusion.

  "Not really, not about everything. This was never about whether you were right and I was wrong, or even about killing or not killing. It was about sticking to what you believe in. You had your opinion and I had mine."

  "Differing opinions is usually what causes arguments."

  "Maybe," Ryson allowed, "but not when you see both sides. For what it's worth, I give you credit for doing what you thought you had to do. It has to be tough to be in that situation, trying to decide between life or death-not only for river rogues or even a sorcerer-but for an entire town. That's what's on your shoulders, and I get it. You believe in what you do and you stick to that belief."

  The guard captain nodded in appreciation. The delver appeared sincere. More importantly, Ryson seemed to understand that every decision Sy made was with the best interests of the town in mind. Still, he recalled that it was Ryson's open defiance that got under his own skin. If they were going to resolve the issue, that had to be addressed.

  "Then why did you fight me?"

  "I didn't. I just didn't want to be a part of it. I knew you had your own perspective, one that other people valued. I guess it's why the people of Burbon put you in charge. They trust your judgment. I realize that when I go against you, I'm pretty much going against all of them as well. I'm making a tough situation that much tougher for you, and I don't want to do that."