by Jeff Inlo
"I see no harm in explaining," the swallit replied casually. Its large buffalo shaped head swung back and forth as it sniffed the air. The stringy, dark green vines that made up the bulk of its hide swayed gently with the movement. It appeared quite pleased with what it could smell, or rather with what it couldn't. "Effective spells. Even I can't detect a natural scent, and I cast it."
"That means it works, that doesn't tell me why you cast it."
"I suppose being a delver makes you impatient for answers, I can understand that."
The swallit stood upright and it slowly stepped across the camp using only its hind legs to walk. It suddenly looked more human than buffalo as its front legs became more like arms. It studied the ground in all directions.
"Tell me first, can you see these fresh tracks that I make?"
Ryson looked down where the swallit had walked. There was not a single hoof print to be seen, despite the fact the swallit had stepped heavily through soft dirt.
"I don't see anything," the delver replied honestly, then looked back up into the dark creature's eyes, "so your illusions covered your tracks. Seems they still are."
"Does that give you an idea of why I cast the spell?"
"I can only guess, and since you're here, I'd rather not. Why don't you just tell me?"
"Come now. Humor me. Use those delver instincts of yours and tell me what you think."
"I think you're avoiding the question."
The swallit grunted heavily and glared at the delver. The creature grew annoyed, but not to the point of charging the delver in fury, as swallits are known to do. Instead, it made a threat it clearly intended on carrying out if the delver did not cooperate.
"Would you rather I just leave and tell you nothing? I do not have to explain anything to you. I owe you nothing."
"No, I don't want you to leave, but I'm trying to find out what happened to the elves and I don't want to play any games," Ryson shot back, growing somewhat frustrated himself.
"I assure you, my spells had nothing to do with the elves disappearance. In fact, I had nothing to do with it at all. It happened well before I arrived here. That's one of the reasons I cast the spells. Does that help you?"
Realizing the creature offered a hint, Ryson decided to make a gesture of his own and he offered his own theory.
"I think you were covering your presence. You clearly didn't want me to know you were here, but I already know you're not responsible."
"You know?"
"Yes, I'm certain of it," Ryson acknowledged, but he did not reveal that the information came from his sword. "I'm sure you're not a threat to me, and I'm positive you didn't cause the elves to disappear. While I know you wanted to hide from me, what I'm not sure of is... why. I think—and this is a guess—that you cast those spells so I wouldn't blame you. Right?"
The swallit was impressed with how much the delver understood and confirmed the delver's theory.
"For the most part, you are correct. I didn't want you to get the wrong idea. I was hoping to keep your mind on the elves and not on a possible intruder."
Ryson considered everything he sensed, as well as those things he could not, and decided to reveal even more of his assumptions to the swallit.
"I can't see any of your trails, but I can still see the elves' paths, as well as a few goblin tracks. All of the scents in the area are masked by some kind of illusion as are all of the sounds. There's not a single natural scent in the air. What I smell is being created by magic, not by what's around us. As for what I can hear, there's an echo of a stream in the distance, but that's not real, either. I think it's magic creating that as well."
"Very good," the swallit congratulated. "I'm impressed to see that you have learned to pierce the magic of illusion. You were not always so gifted. "
The delver ignored the comment and continued revealing his perceptions.
"You didn't want me to know you were here, but you wanted me to follow the signs of the elves, at least the visible signs. You said it yourself, you wanted me to concentrate on the elves, but I think covering the scents and the sounds hampered me. That has me a bit confused. Why would you want me to see certain things, but not smell or hear anything beyond what you created with your spells?"
"Because, as we have both now confirmed, I didn't want you to know I was here. I focused the visual illusions on hiding my tracks. I didn't believe that would interfere with your investigation. I was not happy with covering up all the scents, but I wasn't sure if I could separate them as easily. If you noticed even a trace of swallit scent, you would have concentrated on me and not the elves. As for the sounds of the forest, what you can hear is irrelevant. While the spell does not affect my voice, it was meant to keep you focused on more important matters. What has caused the elves to disappear is long gone, and any sound you would have heard, such as my breathing, would have just led you to me, not to the answer of what happened here."
"So you want to know what happened here, too?"
"I do."
"Can I ask why?"
"It will become evident."
"Are we back to playing games again?"
"Not at all, but I don't want my information to influence your findings. I'd rather have you tell me what you sense, and then I will tell you what I know."
"So I have to go first?"
"Or I could simply leave."
"Then we'd both lose."
The swallit grunted with renewed frustration. It dropped down to all fours, but again, did not charge the delver. It paced around in a circle shaking its head; the long, twisted vines of its coat rustled from the agitated movement.
"Why must you be so difficult?"
"Difficult? I'm just trying to find a solution. Sure, I could tell you everything I know, but then you might just run off and leave me with nothing."
"I don't expect you to trust me," the swallit allowed, "but you must know by now that I am more than simply curious about what happened here. I am no delver on a pointless exploration."
"I'm not on a pointless exploration, either. I knew these elves and something's very wrong here, and that's aside from your spell."
"And that's why I must know what you sense before I tell you anything. Untainted information is important. You must realize this."
"Maybe, but I just want some assurance you'll tell me everything."
At that, the swallit snorted even louder and turned to face the delver directly. Once again it looked like a hulking buffalo, and for the first time that day, it appeared almost eager to charge.
"You are trying my patience again," the swallit said through several heavy grunts. "Understand this, delver, just as you know I did not cause whatever happened here, I know far more than you, but in order to understand it, I must hear your discoveries. If for some reason I am wrong, I will be in your debt. If, however, I am right, you will owe me, for I will be able to point you in a direction you would not find on your own. The more I reveal to you, the greater your debt to me. That should be sufficient as an assurance. Now do not waste any more of my time and tell me what you sense."
Since the swallit made its position quite clear, the delver decided to reveal everything he was able to uncover from his inspections of the elf camp, but he was not quite finished with his assessment of the area.
"Your illusion spell, the one that hides your tracks, can you cancel it so I can be sure about everything I see? I also need you to cancel the spell that hides the scent trails. I need to follow them for a while. You want to know what I sense, well, I have to be sure about everything, and your illusions could be distorting something. I don't want to miss anything."
"Very well."
The swallit stood up again on its hind legs and reached outward with its front hooves. After grunting words that made no sense to the delver, a yellow pentagon formed around the body of the swallit. The five sided shape expanded outward, and as it did, sparks of golden energy flared both through the air and into the ground. It continued to spread and broke thr
ough the trees, passing harmlessly through trunks both thick and thin. Soon, the rim of yellow magic faded out of sight.
Just as the spell ended, a wave of enticements swept through the delver's senses. Ryson immediately smelled the natural aromas of the forest and the scent of the swallit before him. He heard all the sounds of the forest, both near and far. The forest became brighter, the shadows crisper. He looked to the ground and he saw the hoof prints of the swallit that had been previously hidden from him. The cover of illusion had been broken and he moved about with renewed interest in everything about him.
With the illusions dismissed, he refocused his attention on the signs offered by the elf camp. He darted about checking the trails of the elves and smelling the ground and the tree branches where the tracks simply ended. He looked closer at several imprints in the dirt, measured them against each other. He felt the ground as well as the tree limbs that served as the pathways for the missing elves, pressed his fingers against the bark and dirt.
Growing more and more curious over what he found, he began to almost dance around the camp with both enthusiasm and concern. At times, he was a blur of motion, barely pausing to review some track or trail, but in a heartbeat, he would stop all movement and drop to his knees to intently examine one small patch of ground.
He took several opportunities to pause and take deep breaths through his nose. As he gauged the scents, some times he closed his eyes and other times he peered about the forest floor. He said nothing after each breath, but he appeared uneasy with what he discovered, as if the different aspects he could detect would not come together as they should.
His investigation completed, Ryson returned to the swallit.
"Well?" the dark creature demanded.
"It's very strange," Ryson acknowledged as he considered what he had observed. "Every elf path just ends. There was no apparent struggle, no battle or any conflict. It looks as if the elves were just carrying out their daily routines, and then they were gone. And it's not like they even had a chance to react. There's no indication they came to an abrupt halt, or made a quick turn. There's no sign of a reaction at all. They were not physically attacked and nothing knocked them to the ground. One step they were here, and the next step they were gone. And it all seemed to happen at once, at the same time."
"How can you tell?"
"Mostly because there's no indication of a surprised reaction. If you saw me just disappear, wouldn't you react?"
"Probably."
"Well, there's no reaction evident in any of the tracks, even the trails of the guards in the trees. Like I said, no turns and no stops. Just walking along... and then nothing. If elves started disappearing one by one, at least a few of the trails would indicate some level of surprise. The ones that didn't go first would run over to where an elf vanished, wouldn't you think?"
"Perhaps," the swallit allowed, "but then again, they might have been too fearful."
"An elf guard wouldn't have been afraid. They would have investigated."
"Maybe they went first."
"Wouldn't the other elves still react? Maybe run, or just freeze? They wouldn't just act as if nothing happened... go about their business like nothing was wrong. The only explanation is that they all went at exactly the same time. That way, none of them would have had the chance to react."
"I see your point. So they all disappeared at once. What else?"
"There was no conflict. Not only are there no signs of a struggle, there aren't any tracks—other than yours and mine... and a few goblin scavengers—that don't belong here. No invading force came in to take them away. There's not a single sign of battle, or even commotion. There's nothing out of place. Well, almost nothing."
"Explain."
"At the center of the camp, in the clearing over there, there's some strange markings in the dirt. On its own, it's not that unusual. It's really just wind sweeping across the ground and swirling some dirt."
"Why does it bother you?"
"Because it's not consistent. It doesn't break across the camp naturally. Wind doesn't blow evenly—I know that—but I still can't understand the pattern. It's too localized and uneven. It's almost as if a hot breeze rushed over a part of the camp, but left the rest of the ground completely alone. I've never seen a wind pattern like that before, even in the desert."
The swallit nodded.
"I understand."
Ryson didn't, and he pressed for an explanation.
"Do you know what caused it?"
"I believe so, but continue with everything else you know first."
The delver glared unhappily at the swallit, but finished the explanation of his findings.
"That's most of it. They didn't move their camp. Even you can see that. It's not just the trails. It's the condition of everything around us. They wouldn't have just left their food and weapon stores like this... easily found and an open invitation for goblins."
"Obviously. Any thing else?"
"There's a strange scent lingering at the center of the camp. Nothing I can identify specifically, but it's there. I'm pretty certain it's the scent of dark creatures, but it's not the goblin thieves. I have their scent and it doesn't match. This isn't one particular creature. More like a mix. That's why I'm unsure."
"Wouldn't that indicate a possible incursion into the camp?"
"No, you don't understand. The creatures weren't here, their scents got blown into the camp from a distance. It might have been a larger pack of goblins and maybe some shags, and even some river rogues that were able to get close to the camp due to the elf disappearance, but they never entered the camp. For some reason their scents just got trapped here. It's unusual, but it's definitely there."
"That's everything you sense?"
"You think I'm missing something?"
"Quite the opposite. You discovered more than I expected. Now tell me, what is it that really bothers you about all of this?"
Ryson looked to the swallit with surprise.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Answer the question," the swallit responded gruffly.
"It's pretty obvious. The elves just disappeared. One moment they were here and the next moment they were gone. No intruder, no raid or attack. No sign of a struggle of any kind, no indication of surprise or concern. Even the elf guard trails in the trees around the perimeter show the same thing. That's probably what has me the most concerned. Whatever it was that happened, it caught them all off guard. Even the elf guards had no idea it was coming. Something that can catch an entire camp and its elf guards by surprise has to be dangerous."
The swallit nodded again, but said nothing. It began to pace around the camp on its hind legs, looking about from one section of the camp to the next, appearing somewhat like a human going through a market and trying to decide what to purchase.
"Are you going to say anything?" Ryson finally wondered aloud. He offered everything he had discovered and he waited impatiently for information from the swallit.
The dark creature, however, was caught up in its own considerations.
"Be quiet," it demanded.
The swallit continued its walk for a few moments more and then stepped up to the delver. It made one definitive statement, followed by a simple admission.
"I know what happened, but I don't know why."
"How about telling me what happened?"
"That's the easy part," the swallit grunted. "A portal was opened at the center of this camp, an extremely large portal to the dark realm. That is why you saw the strange markings of a hot wind on the dirt. The wind came from out of the portal and so it only affected the ground at the opening. But this was no ordinary portal. As I said, it was extremely large and it only existed for a scant moment in time."
"So it was a quick, hot breeze from the dark realm through a large rift!" Ryson acknowledged.
"Yes, such a blast of restricted hot air would certainly make strange markings on the ground. It also helps explain the scent of the dark creatures you noticed. W
hile there are more rogues, shags and goblins now near this emptied camp, additional scents came from beings on the other side of the portal. They never entered the camp, but the portal offered a trail to their scent. It's not a surprise your delver senses noticed this."
"You think the elves opened a portal?"
"No, the portal was opened from the other side, from the dark realm. Every elf was teleported into the mouth of the portal when it was opened. That is why their trails simply ended."
Despite offering an explanation that answered most of his questions, the swallit's words surprised the delver.
"And you're sure about this?"
The swallit was very certain, for portals had become almost an obsession to the creature.
"The very first time we met, it was in this forest. Do you remember the circumstances?" the swallit asked.
"Actually, I do. You were running through the trees and you didn't want to stop."
"I was running from danger. It was because a portal opened up that connected this land with the dark realm... my home. That portal allowed a twisted creation to move back and forth between the two planes of existence as it hunted beings of all types."
"I remember. A slink ghoul named Baannat created an animated vessel to capture magic. The vessel was made out of the skins of dark creatures."
Ryson also recalled his personal dealings with the slink ghoul. They were not pleasant. He had fought Baannat on two different occasions, and though he defeated the ghoul each time, Baannat avoided complete destruction. He believed the ghoul to be trapped in a shadowed realm of nonexistence.
"I knew that portal was a danger to every dark creature, including me," the swallit explained. "Since then, I have been not only concerned by the opening of portals, I have trained myself to sense them. It is not difficult for a dark creature, certainly not difficult for me, for it is a link back to the land of my origin. When one is created, I can sense it, if I'm not too far off. When this portal initially opened, I was much further away, but it was very powerful. This made me... curious. You should understand that."
"So you came here to investigate?"
"Of course. And I have been here for some time. I wondered if the portal might reappear. It hasn't."