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

me some idea of what to expect. I learned where to find power that didn’t require me to obtain a position such as mayor.”

“Is that it?” Ryson asked with a near growl. “You suddenly pick up a book, then you turn on the people that believe in that book and you blame me for what you’ve done? I know what you’ve done to the people of this church. I know how you sent them to the desert. You can’t put one ounce of that blame on me. You are totally responsible and you will pay for it.”

“I’m not blaming you at all,” Consprite retorted haughtily. “Blame implies that I’ve done something wrong, and I’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve simply changed my perspective to be in better alignment with how things now work in the land.”

Ryson was becoming more disgusted with this man with every word he spoke, but he could not refrain from asking more questions. “And how do you think things work now? How is it that you can possibly justify what you’ve done here?”

“It doesn’t need justifying beyond me standing here as I am. I have not been affected by the goblins taking over this town. If anything, I’ve benefited from it.”

“That benefit is about to end,” Ryson stated confidently. “Right now an entire army of dwarves is rushing through the streets to remove the goblin horde. Where is that going to leave you?”

Consprite actually laughed. “It happened sooner than I expected, but it’s not a surprise. Well, that’s not completely true; the dwarf thing is a surprise. Who would have thought those little bastards would come to Connel’s aid. But it’s no surprise these goblins are going to get their turn at the stake so to speak. They couldn’t tie their shoes without help. Actually, I don’t even know if they wear shoes, never looked down that far. Their faces are bad enough to look at. That Sazar has more power than I would have expected, helped out by the witch in the desert, but I always knew his grasp exceeded his reach, or is it the other way around? I never understood that statement. Anyway, basically he seemed to want way more than he could really handle. Eventually, he was going to be taken down. That’s why this doesn’t change things for me. Whether he and his goblin horde get annihilated or not is immaterial. It leaves me in no different place than I stood before. I don’t need the goblins, just as I no longer need the pathetic people of Connel. You see, I don’t have to worry about being a politician anymore—about saying the right things, making it seem like you’re giving them something for nothing, or bailing them out of a disaster of their own making. The new inhabitants of this land understand one thing and one thing alone, power.”

Ryson shook his head. “The problem with that is you don’t have any power.”

“Power is what you make it,” Consprite said smugly, “and I know how to make alliances of power. You see I have a friend now.”

Suddenly, Ryson sensed something behind him, something that wasn’t there a moment ago. It was almost as if a very angry and evil presence simply appeared in the shadows. As if to confirm that sensation, Ryson felt a sharp tug at his back. Something sliced the belt at his shoulder that kept the Sword of Decree on his back, and the delver felt the sword and sheath pull free. He twirled around in an instant and witnessed a familiar face, a face he did not wish to see again.

“I see you remember me,” Janindise growled. “When we last met, you used this horrid sword along with the coming dawn to force me into a bargain. Do you remember that as well?”

Ryson stared angrily into the eyes of the vampire. At first he did not wish to even acknowledge this woman, but his anger was growing hotter still. He realized that somehow the ex-mayor had joined with this vampire and it disgusted him beyond reason. Now, she was here in Connel and causing pain beyond her dark powers.

“I remember it very well,” Ryson finally responded. “You promised you would only hunt dark creatures. You promised on what was left of your soul you would keep to that bargain and now you are here terrorizing these people. I can only assume you do not honor your word.”

The vampire’s eyes blazed with hate. “You vermin! I have kept to that bargain and regretted every moment of it! Do you know how long I have drunk the foul swill of rancid blood from goblins, shags, and river rogues?! But that ends tonight. There is much time before the sun rises again, and you no longer have your precious sword to help you.”

Janindise held up the sword in victorious glee, and then quickly tied it about her own waist. “It will remain sheathed at my side until I find the proper means to destroy it. You will no longer have use of it again.” She peered deep into the delver’s eyes, her own eyes becoming a mesmerizing mirror of the delver’s deepest fears and desires. She pressed all of her will upon him as she now spoke in a more soothing tone. “You no longer need the sword because you have no desire to use it against me, just as you no longer have the desire to hold me to the promise I made so long ago. You wish to release me from that promise now, don’t you?”

Ryson stared back in cold defiance. Even as the face of this monster twisted into illusions of fear and fantasy, the delver remained firmly attached to reality. “No, I do not! I hold you to that promise. Drink from an innocent at your own peril. You made that bargain to save your life and there’s nothing you can do to make me free you from it.” Ryson stared back even deeper into the cold abyss of Janindise’s eyes. He took no comfort in what he saw there, but he took strength in his own beliefs, his own faith, his own understanding of right and wrong and good and evil. He focused on the faces of his friends, his feelings for Linda and her feelings for him. He took hold of his inner strength and pressed it back against the nightmare in the vampire’s eyes. “You took my will once before. I remember what that was like and I will never, ever let that happen again. If you wish to try harder, you have my blessings. Just like you, I have all night, but unlike you I can last through the dawn.”

In a scream of rage, Janindise lashed out at the delver. “Very well, but I will not be denied. You will release me from my vow! I made my bargain with you. When I drink from your veins, I will control you despite your strong will. I will make you relieve me from that bargain even if I have to break it first.”

She reached out with the razor sharp claws of her fingernails, but she found nothing but empty air as the delver leapt clear of her swing. Revealing her own swiftness, she jumped toward him with her hands at his throat, but again she failed to take hold of her target as Ryson easily dodged around her.

Ryson turned his back to the vampire and hopped up on an empty bench. He then bounded toward a wall and used it to propel himself higher into the air where he grabbed hold of a rafter in the ceiling. He swung himself around as he perched himself far out of reach.

“You think just because I don’t have that sword that I’m defenseless?” he taunted her.

Janindise hissed. “And do you think you are safe up there?” She said no more as her body faded into a dark, inky mist. The vaporous cloud floated upward with surprising speed. As it reached the rafters, the vampire’s body solidified once more and now she had a firm hold of the wooden beams. With one quick rocking motion, she launched herself toward the delver.

The move surprised the delver, but only for a moment. A being that moved with his speed was used to reacting to an ever-changing environment nearly instantaneously. He dropped low, swinging forward on a single beam, and then released his hold to fall gracefully to the floor. He landed on his feet and bounded over three benches as if they were nothing more than blades of grass. He whirled about and leapt across the entire expanse of the open room and landed at the front door. He stopped and twirled about.

He shook his head in defiance as he faced the vampire once more. “I was going to take this outside, but I don’t have to. We can stay right here.”

“Arrogant fool, you have so much confidence in your own speed that you underestimate mine!” Janindise flew from the rafters to the back of the church and the doors where Ryson stood.

“Speed? You have no idea what speed is,” Ryson yelled and in a flash barely visible he ran up toward the front of the church and stood right by the alter.

The vampire turned with another hiss and ran wildly after the delver like the demon she was. “You will release me of my vow and you will then die at my hand!”

Ryson jumped up into the rafters once more as Janindise barreled into the front wall. As he hung over her head, he called a question down to her. “Just to make sure I understand this, I have to ask. If you ever do get a hold of me, which you won’t, but for argument’s sake, let’s say that you do. Once you feed on me, you will have broken your word. What’s left of your soul is lost. Why bother having me release you of your promise once you’ve already broken it?”

The vampire looked up and bared her teeth at the delver. The white fangs sparkled in the candlelight of the alter. “It won’t matter if the bargain is broken if you release me of it. It doesn’t matter which happens first.”

“I think it does,” Ryson countered.

“I don’t care what you think! I will feed on whatever I like once I am finished with you!”

“The only thing you’re going to feed on after this night is over is the sun.”

“You will never survive that long!”

“I don’t tire, certainly not from being chased by you,” the delver scoffed.

Janindise leapt with her arms stretched toward the delver. She never reached him. An arrow with a wooden shaft pierced her heart at its very center. The strike sent her sprawling back against the wall. Her eyes widened in disbelief. As she took her last glance of this world, she saw Lief Woodson stepping further into the church with his bow in his hand.

Edward Consprite stumbled to Janindise’s side. He tried to hold up her body to keep her from hitting the floor, but he lacked the strength. Her body was already cold to the touch as it folded through his arms and sunk to the ground. As Consprite looked down upon his fallen ally, he watched in dismay as her skin began to shrivel and fall loose around her bones. The flesh and muscle behind it decomposed at an unbelievable rate, almost as if her body was deflating. In mere moments, there was nothing but a grey leathery hide that sagged around her skeletal frame. Soon after, even these remains began to disintegrate until there was nothing left but hair and clumps of loose debris that could be easily scatted by the slightest wind.

Consprite turned to the elf with both sadness and fury in his eyes.