Delver Magic III: Balance of Fate - Jeff Inlo (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

light? What is green but a combination of blue and yellow? Nature is water and light working together to give life. So, yes your true strength is in the druidic spells of nature, but you also have natural abilities for spells dealing with water and light. Casting green magic is a great gift and you should be thankful for it.”

Holli smiled as she looked to the delver. “Hello, Ryson. It is good to see you again.”

“It’s great to see you. Is Enin teaching you how to cast spells?”

“Yes, he wants to help me with spells that would enhance my abilities as a guard. We both agreed that a sight spell would be a good start.”

“I guess that will come in handy when you return to your camp. An elf guard that can increase her sight can only be a benefit.”

Holli said nothing at first. She looked to Enin for possible direction. When he nodded his head without saying a word, she returned her gaze to the delver.

“I am not returning to my camp. My service there has come to an end. With his approval, I have now turned my service over to him. As I once supported my camp, I now avail my abilities as an elf guard to serve Enin, as well as this town.”

Ryson did not appear shocked, but he did take long moments before responding. He looked back and forth from the elf to the wizard and then stared at the ground as if considering other details and trying to put them all in perspective.

“Holli, does this have anything to do with Lief?” Ryson finally asked.

“Yes and no,” Holli responded. “Yes in that both Lief and I were asked by the elders to leave our camp. No in that Lief went his way and I went mine. I never got a chance to speak to him after he left. He did not leave under the best of circumstances.”

Holli went on to explain all the details she could on what led to Lief’s banishment and her own departure from the elf camp.

“I met Lief at Pinesway,” Ryson stated after the elf was done. “I know he’s not happy. He’s actually quite angry. That’s why when I heard you were here, I came over to find out what was going on. I wanted to…”

Ryson went silent. He said nothing as he stared into empty space. He brought a hand to his forehead as he tried to get a better feel of what he was sensing. He could not.

Enin had seen this look before.

“The dryness—that was how you put it last time—are you feeling it again?” the wizard asked curiously.

“Yes,” Ryson admitted. “This is such a strange sensation. The real problem with it is I can’t even get a hold of where it’s coming from. It just basically appears out of no where. It’s fairly subtle actually, but when it happens, I can’t miss it. That might not make sense either, but it’s how it is.”

Enin spoke out loud as he considered his own thoughts. “I wonder if I could trace it. What spell would it be? It’s not light, but perhaps it’s instinct. An animal spell might follow it, but then I would have the difficulty of trying to determine which animal. Is it prey that can sense a predator, or the other way around? It may not even be instinct. I don’t think it’s elemental so I can discount wind, water, earth and fire. Illusionary also seems doubtful, but it could be using dryness to hide its true qualities. That might actually make some sense. What about shadow? But would a shadow feel dry? Maybe. Then the question becomes how to detect shadow and trace it to an origin. My guess is the feeling is from within you, so it might build on emotion, but dry emotions would be no emotions. There are things I could try, but at the moment they would be guesses and I don’t wish to experiment until I know more. I think perhaps we…”

Just like in Dark Spruce Forest, Enin’s focus on Ryson’s feeling was torn away by a feeling of his own. The wizard quickly gained an awareness that made him regretfully cast aside any consideration of the delver’s own sensations.

The wizard’s expression became as serious as his tone. He looked to both Holli and Ryson with a somber understanding of how the land had just changed. “I am afraid something has just happened of enormous consequence. I can not explain fully how I know this, but you must accept that I do. It has much to do with the balance of things and I am very aware of elements of this nature. The sorceress Tabris, the one both of you went into Sanctum Mountain with to obtain Ingar’s sphere, has made an alliance with Sazar. In one form or another, she is now linked with him and thus she has chosen her path. I can not say where this will lead, I only know that I feel the weight of her power on the side of evil and malevolence. Her power is great enough and her decision momentous enough for me to sense this.”

“Do you know where they are now?” Ryson asked.

“Near her new home in the Lacobian desert.”

Ryson looked about as if trying to decide what to do next. “I don’t understand how you know this, but I’m not going to question it. Is Burbon in any immediate danger?”

“No,” Enin answered with certainty.

“Well, that’s something at least.” Ryson then considered the power Tabris displayed when she assisted those that entered Sanctum Mountain to retrieve the Sphere of Ingar. The thought of someone that powerful teaming up with Sazar did not leave pleasant thoughts in his mind. “The two of them coming together is not a good thing. You have any idea of what they might be planning?”

“No, only that it will not be in the best interest of the land, but in their own selfish interests.”

Holli turned to her own training and immediately put the situation in perspective. “If there is no immediate threat, then there is no need for immediate decisions. We should, however, inform your captain of this turn of events. He needs to know without delay.”

“I agree,” Ryson added.

“Very well.” Enin turned to Ryson. “I regret we must for the moment forget your feeling of dryness and address it at another time.”

“It’s ok, it’s gone now anyway. It only lasts for a few moments. We should all go to talk to Sy. If this is as big as you make it out to be, we all need to figure out the best way to handle this.”

Ryson looked down at the four dogs that remained nearby. “I’ll have to run with them later. Sorry guys.”

Enin looked to the animals briefly and then began to walk to the door. “They are disappointed, but they understand.”

Ryson allowed Holli to follow first but called out to the wizard as they moved down the hall together. “Are you talking to them now?”

“If I answer that, you might think I was crazy.”

#

Tabris took long moments of consideration before casting her two spells. A violet colored diamond appeared around her wrists as she mouthed words in a whisper. The diamond spun about her hands as it lifted from her hands. With a thrust of her arms the purple diamond flew into the air. It maintained its shape, but it grew ever larger, its boundaries expanding in all directions. As its edges rolled out of sight toward each point of the compass, it left behind a faint shadow of itself. Eventually, this too disappeared.

Tabris looked upon Sazar and again mouthed words the serp could not understand, words he could barely hear. Another diamond appeared near her hands, a smaller one. This one held its tight size as she flung it at Sazar.

The serp’s first instinct was to recoil at the motion, but he held his ground and the diamond caused him no pain when it entered his chest.

“It is done,” Tabris said. “Your will is now connected to the drifting breeze that can no longer be seen or felt, but still exists. It will carry your power to bend the will of others for greater distances then you would have hoped. Your will is also now enhanced with the constant pressure of breath. Those that fall under your control will be reminded of your orders with every breath they take. Both spells are continuous in their own nature. The drifting breeze has no end and only death would stop the continuity of breath. They are fed with my own energy, thus I can cancel them at will. Give me no reason to and you will find that the creatures you place under your control will remain under your control no matter how far you send them from you or how long they are away from your presence.”

“There will be no need to cancel them,” the serp insisted as he stood unmoving while trying to sense a difference within himself. At first he felt nothing. “You are certain the magical energy is linked to my thoughts?”

“As certain as I am standing here. Test your new powers now. No doubt you left creatures with some last orders other than the large shag that stands far out in the desert.”

“Yes, a few.”

“Establish a link with them now. Follow the shadows of your last contact with them in your mind.”

Sazar focused on the rock beetle. He sifted through the lingering thoughts of his last contact. As it became clearer in his mind, he seized it and attempted to recreate it. Instantly, he connected to the rock beetle that was burrowing right where he left it in Dark Spruce Forest. The beetle became still as it waited for a command. Sazar felt the presence of the rock beetle as if it stood at his side.

With this connection still strong and vital, he reached out his thoughts to the hook hawk. Immediately, he linked his mind to that of the bird beast. The hawk perched quietly in the trees and Sazar could see what the bird saw. Only a dozen or so goblins remained in the area, and even a few of these were beginning to shy away from the area.

“You are now linked with a few of your minions?” Tabris asked.

“Yes. It is extraordinary that the link is so strong at this distance.”

“You realize that you can use these links to acquire contact with other creatures?”

“No, I did not,” Sazar admitted.

“The drifting breeze is now your vessel. Where it goes, your thoughts can go. You simply need to focus on the target and your will can reach it. If the minions in your control allow you to establish the location of a new target, you can flow your will through them to that exact point. You no longer need to be in the exact presence of a creature to bend its will to yours.”

That consideration went beyond Sazar’s furthest hopes. Without delay, he tested this new found power. Rather than attempting to reestablish a link with the goblins using a past thought from his memory, he concentrated on their location using the images given to him by the hook hawk. His mind sent out a command to the goblins trying to sneak away.

Return to your positions and await my instructions.

He watched with glee as the goblins stiffened with fear and quickly returned to the fold of the other creatures. He then bade the hook hawk to take flight, which it did without hesitation. The beast circled about at higher and higher elevations. All the time Sazar focused upon the images of the forest that came back to him through