Delver Magic III: Balance of Fate, Jeff Inlo [most popular ebook readers .txt] 📗

the mind of the bird. When he saw the second shag meandering west through sparse trees, he commanded it to return as well. The shag obeyed.

Gleefully, Sazar announced his success. “It is working!”

The sorceress appeared less impressed. “Of course.”

With swift calculation of his newfound powers, Sazar considered one last effort to test. He had been able to reestablish his will on minions he previously controlled, but what of creatures with which he had no previous contact. He returned his focus to the hook hawk. Images of the forest returned to the forefront of his mind and he noticed two gremplings stalking together through the trees. Gremplings, small but agile creatures covered in fur with long tails were mischievous in nature and lacked any true power to be an asset to him, but for now they would serve as an excellent test. Beyond their nimbleness, they were also fairly intelligent, much more so than the common goblin. They also had stronger wills and lower levels of fear. With such characteristics, gremplings were often difficult for serps to control, and because they lacked the horde traits of the goblin or the sheer natural power of a shag, they were usually not worth the effort.

It was not, however, Sazar’s desire to add these two to his army for their prowess. It was his wish to determine just how strong he had become. It would normally take a fair amount of concentration to bend the will of just one grempling when it was right in front of him. How would he succeed with two and at this far distance?

He focused his will upon the image of the gremplings in his mind. He reached out to them and ordered them to hold their position. In his mind, he could see them freeze. He then sent them an order to circle twenty paces about their current position and scout for any other creatures in the area. Again, he watched them in his mind as they followed out his orders.

The sensation was intoxicating to the serp. Not only could he now regain control of his previous minions with very little effort, he could add to his army without ever having to venturing out in the wild. The links he could create were far more powerful, the images in his mind forcibly more vibrant. He could fix his concentration on a group of minions in one area while still reaping the benefits of incoming sensations of creatures under his control far off in the distance.

As he expanded his mind to incorporate the links with all his creatures, his own perspective of the land around him grew with leaps and bounds. In essence, his awareness of sights, sounds, and scents expanded beyond his own normal capabilities a hundredfold.

For one brief moment, the enormous flow of stimulus from outside forces into his mind nearly overwhelmed him to the brink of unconsciousness or perhaps even insanity. If he drank in too much of the inflowing information, he might lose his own place in reality. He quickly seized on his own surroundings, anchored his physical being to the actual point of his own existence. Then, he allowed the sensations from his minions to take their place in his consciousness where he could utilize them but where they would not overwhelm his own awareness.

“You have done me a great service, sorceress,” Sazar admitted. “And in the process you have opened great opportunities for us both. I will utilize what you have given me to its greatest extent, and in return, I will send you whatever it is you need.”

“I expect you shall,” Tabris replied.

#

“You know, I woke up this morning with a bad feeling that I just couldn’t shake,” Sy Fenden said as he gazed out into the rolling hills just outside the walls that surrounded Burbon. Standing in the tower, he could see the edges of Dark Spruce Forest and he wondered what new problems his town would now face. “You say this Tabris is a powerful sorceress. Is she as powerful as you?”

Enin stood between Ryson and Holli and he answered Sy directly. “No, but do not misunderstand. I am somewhat of an anomaly. I don’t wish to sound as if I’m boasting about myself, but my abilities with magic are on a different scale. You should never use them in gauging the strength of a potential threat.”

“I’m not.” Sy stated flatly. “I’ve always listened to everything you said and I understand you’re in a different league, but the first thing I need to know is if this Tabris is also an anomaly. Now, that I know she isn’t, I still have to get a better idea of what we’re facing. Does she have the power to destroy this town on her own? I mean, if you weren’t here protecting us.”

Enin took a moment to consider the question against what he knew of the town’s defenses. “She could cause considerable damage. She has a natural ability with wind and storm, and thus she would be difficult for you to fight. She has a great reserve of magical energy and she has been practicing for many days now. Still, she would have to overcome much to destroy the whole town. She could destroy the walls and towers with wind spins and tornados. Many of the buildings she could obliterate or set afire with lightning. She would be difficult to strike from a distance with bows or slings since she could deflect many with a wind shield. Your forces, however, would now be prepared for such and onslaught. If you accepted the losses to the structures and simply remained patient, you could wait her out. She would eventually tire and then your men would indeed be able to take her. She could not hold out against you indefinitely.”

“Alright so she can’t just waltz in here and flatten us with a wave of her hand. That’s somewhat good news.” Sy took another moment to gaze out over the wall and across the lands that surrounded Burbon. “Considering what you know of her powers, is there anything that immediately comes to mind that we can do to better our defenses against her?”

“I honestly do not think she would attempt a frontal assault. She would waste much of her energy and she would stand to gain very little.”

The news was welcome, but Sy wanted to make sure there was nothing overlooked. “I appreciate that, but I’d still like to cover my bets. What do you think, anything else we can do or not?”

Enin joined Sy in looking out across the land. “The best thing to do is remember that for the most part you would see her coming. Her power is not in shadow or illusion. It is doubtful she would try to cloak herself. The strength of her magic is force, not deception. Understanding that a woman walking alone toward the town would not necessarily be a woman in distress would be the first step in guarding against her. Also, she would have difficulty with barriers. Well, difficulty in passing them without using magic. With the magic she can pretty much break through any section of the wall, but it’s not like she can fly over them like I can. That takes a skill she will not have yet obtained. Nor can she slip past them in secret, as her power is not in shadow.”

“You’re telling me she can get through our wall, but she’d have to blast through it.”

“Exactly,” Enin said.

“So if she does show up with malice in mind, she’ll have to expel magical energy to get around any type of barriers we put up. She has—how did you put it?—‘great reserves of magical energy’ I think is what you said, but you also said we can wear her out. The more barriers she has to bust through, the sooner she’s going to run out of energy.”

“Correct.”

Sy nodded and again looked to the surround hills. “I was thinking of putting up a new set of bulwarks. Now might be a good time. The traders aren’t going to like another obstacle to deal with, but that’s the way it goes.”

Sy took a moment to calculate in his mind where the best position for a new barricade would be and how long it might take to construct it. He grunted a few unintelligible words to himself about work details and wood from Dark Spruce.

“There are a few other things that I need to know,” Sy continued as he turned back to face Enin, Holli and Ryson. “You say that just this morning you sensed this Tabris had joined Sazar and, as you put it, turned down a path toward evil.”

“Yes, that is what I said,” Enin admitted.

“Well, I have to admit this has me somewhat confused, so I need a bit of clarification here. If I’m not mistaken you said that Tabris was the one that made Yave into that storm. That didn’t sound like a right benevolent action. In fact, if you weren’t here when that happened, Yave would have killed Ryson here and maybe destroyed the whole town. I would have thought that action would have basically been considered an evil act on its own. Why is it you think that this morning there’s something different about her?”

“When she turned Yave into a storm, she did so with indifference,” Enin explained. “It was not her intention to cause harm to anyone. It certainly wasn’t a decision that showed compassion or kindness, but it was truly Yave that was dictating the path of wickedness in that situation. For all intents and purpose, Tabris has been, to this point, neutral. She was not good, nor was she evil. She simply studied her craft in the desert. When she converted Yave to a storm she did so solely for the purposes of experimentation with her own power. Today, however, she made a decision that altered her neutrality. Of that, I am certain.”

“Well, I can’t say I follow you on that one. You’ve talked to me about this balance stuff on several occasions and I think you’re seeing things way beyond my comprehension. Still, I will never dismiss your judgment on these types of situations.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I do, however, have another question that regards are friend Sazar. This serp I know is trouble. He’s been bad news since the first time we encountered him. He led a fairly significant goblin force into Pinesway just a few days ago. Now, he’s joined forces with a powerful sorceress. This I know isn’t good news for anyone. Still, he doesn’t come across as one that would want a partner. From what I know of him, he seems to like being in charge. I’m guessing the sorceress is far more powerful than he is. Why would he risk joining up with someone who could order him around and there would be nothing he could do about it?”

Enin shrugged. “That, I can not say. I have never been very good at understanding what motivates those that choose a path of evil.”

“Not even a guess?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“How about either of you?” Sy asked as he looked to Holli and Ryson.

Ryson spoke out first. “I just know what I learned from the sword when I was in Pinesway. He wanted to take over the town to turn it into some kind of breeding ground for his minions. The sword made it pretty clear to me though that if I put the scare into the goblins, Sazar would lose out. I honestly believe I did exactly what I had to in order to kill that plan. I don’t think the goblins are going back to Pinesway anytime soon.”

“Alright, he wanted to expand his army by taking over an abandoned town. That failed so he joined up with