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

a sorceress. I’m still not seeing the connection.”

Holli offered her own view point. “It may be that he lost much of his forces to Ryson’s attack and he had no other alternative but to find an ally. It may not be something he wanted to do, but perhaps he felt it was necessary. Or perhaps it was the sorceress that pressed the alliance and the serp truly had no choice. How could he fight her if she is as powerful as Enin says and he had just lost the majority of his own forces?”

Sy raised an eyebrow at the point. Quickly, he came up with a question to test the theory. “Enin, do you know where they are now?”

“Yes, they are in the desert.”

“This is where Tabris created her home, so to speak, so she could practice, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I don’t think Tabris forced the issue.”

Enin displayed puzzlement and questioned the conclusion even as Holli appeared accepting of it.

“Why do you think that?” the wizard asked.

Sy answered rather matter-of-factly. “Well, if they are at Tabris’ home, then we have to assume that Sazar sought out the sorceress and not the other way around. Otherwise, how would Sazar have gotten all the way to the Lacobian Desert so fast?”

“I see,” Enin agreed. “Yes, it makes sense. If Tabris sought out Sazar they would be in Dark Spruce right now.”

“Anyway,” Sy continued, “what we have so far is that Sazar probably ventured out to the Lacobian and met up with Tabris. He might have been looking for any magic-caster or he might have been searching for her in particular. We can’t be sure of which. Sazar met Tabris who is a very powerful sorceress in her own right. Something happened which led to Tabris making a decision to turn from being a neutral practicing magic-caster to being an ally of a serp we know we can’t trust and we know wants to cause some serious trouble. At this point, we really don’t know why he joined with the sorceress or what they might be up to at this very moment. That’s how I understand the situation. Am I missing anything?”

“That sums it up very well,” Enin responded.

Ryson perked up as he considered everything Sy just said. “Enin, when we were in Dark Spruce, you cast a spell that would allow you to see into Pinesway. When I came to your house this morning, Holli had just cast a spell to see me at the door while she was in another room. If you can do that, why don’t you cast a spell that would let you see into the Lacobian Desert right now and maybe we can get an idea of what those two are up to.”

Sy looked to Enin expectantly. “Can you do that?”

Enin frowned. “Not as of yet. I am still trying to figure out the proper way to bend light without an anchor point as well as avoiding detection.”

Sy shook his head. “I have no idea what you just said. You seem to be able to cast some spells to let you look into other places, why not now?”

“Previously,” Enin began to explain, “when I saw into Pinesway, and even when Holli watched Ryson from a distance, we both used a sight spell that requires an anchor. My sight spell into Pinesway used my web spell as the point of contact, thus I had already established a magical connection with certain aspects of the ground at Pinesway. When Holli cast her spell, she used me as the contact and I allowed her to use my sight. For me to look into Tabris at this moment, I would have to utilize a similar anchor, but I have no connection point. I could try to make one with a long ranged energy spell such as striking a point near her with wind or lightning. Unfortunately, she would immediately sense my spell. What good is spying on someone if they know you are watching? It would be better if I could actually see into that part of the desert without casting another spell first. What I am hoping to do one day is to bend light toward me so that I can actually see with my own eyes by simply capturing light from a great distance. The spell needs more work at the moment, but I am getting closer.”

Sy looked intently at the wizard as he seemed to be playing with another thought in his mind. Enin wondered what the captain of the guard was contemplating.

“What is it?” Enin asked.

“You just said you could shoot a long ranged spell into the Lacobian to make some kind of magical connection. You said you could cast a wind spell or maybe lightning.”

“That is correct, but Tabris would notice it immediately.”

“What I have in mind wouldn’t matter. If you know where they are and can hit them with some kind of lightning blast, then why don’t you and we can stop worrying about this matter?”

Enin’s expression turned to a gray mask of bitter disappointment. “You want me to just wave my hand and snuff them out like putting out a candle?”

“If you can, yes. That’s exactly what I have in mind,” Sy admitted.

Enin looked at Sy and then shook his head. “You know I get a bit tired of this,” he said with a huff. “Just because I know where Sazar is right now, I suppose you think I should send a massive bolt of energy at that spot. It doesn’t matter that I can’t pinpoint it exactly. All I need to do is make the bolt large enough to make sure it kills him and hopefully Tabris, too.”

Enin paused to look into Sy’s eyes. When he saw agreement in the Captain’s expression, the wizard continued explaining his own disappointment.

“Do you really think I can do that? Well, I probably could, but I won’t. I won’t because I would destroy everything around them as well, the innocent and the guilty. There is life in the desert, just like there is life in Dark Spruce and just like there is life right here. An act like that has great consequences, and I’m not ready to take that step, that’s a step toward disregard, power without responsibility. Do you really want me to be like that? And if so, why stop there? I can protect every person in Burbon right now by simply sending out a destructive force that will kill every shag, river rouge, vampire and goblin within sight of the town limits. It would also kill every bird, every fox, every deer and every traveling merchant that happens to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Beyond that, there’s the whole concept of balance that you seem to be forgetting. What happens when I start indiscriminately removing creatures because of their choices? Do I become the ultimate slayer of all things that don’t choose the path we want them to choose? And where do you think this evil will go, just disappear? I can tell you it doesn’t work like that. For every evil creature I destroy, that evil will find a new home, most likely a more diabolical one. No, it’s not a matter of can or can’t. I won’t do this.”

The mood became somewhat uncomfortable as Enin folded his arms across his chest and continued to look at Sy with something less than defiance but something more than disappointment. The captain acknowledged the moment with a will to move on.

“Very well, I’m sorry I asked. I’ll try not to do it again.”

“I would appreciate that.”

“I guess then there’s not much we do about this,” Sy stated. “Sazar and Tabris are out in the desert and we can hope they stay there. I’ll start planning the new bulwark and inform all the guards of what we know. Other than that, we just have to hope we don’t see any trouble from them.”

Holli agreed with the assessment. “It is a sound decision. If we do not go looking for trouble, we have a better chance of avoiding it. It is also best to remain prepared in case it comes looking for us.”

Ryson jumped in quickly to shift the focus to a point of his own. “There’s something that’s been bothering me about all this and I realize now what it is. I remember that when I was in Pinesway, Lief showed up as I told everyone. Problem is he said he was going to be hunting the dark creatures. I guess he thinks that’s going to keep him occupied now that he’s been banished from his camp. But basically, he’s taking just the opposite approach we’ve decided on, he’s out looking for trouble. Anyway, he said if he ran into Sazar he would take care of him. He had the kind of look in his eye that indicated he might not just wait to run into him accidentally, that he might go out of his way looking for him. If he does that now, he’s going to run into not only Sazar but Tabris as well. He has to be warned about that. I don’t think I would sleep well if I knew something happened to Lief because of Sazar and Tabris, especially if I knew I could prevent it.”

“So you’re going to take off after the elf and try and find him and warn him?” Sy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s the plan,” Ryson said, but then realized Sy looked more than slightly apprehensive. “You don’t seem happy with this, what’s up?”

Sy continued to press with a suspicious tone. “You’re not using this as an excuse to scout out the Lacobian and to find out what Tabris and Sazar are up to now, are you?”

Ryson answered firmly without a hint of anything but sincerity. “That’s not my intention at all. In fact, the truth is I have no desire to go anywhere near the Lacobian. The only way I’m going to end up there is if Lief is somehow tracking Sazar and has gotten that far, but I really don’t want that to be the case. I’m hoping he’s still in Dark Spruce somewhere. Even if Lief is in the Lacobian, I’ll try to get to him before he gets anywhere near Tabris and Sazar. That way, I won’t have to go near them, either. I have no intention of getting involved with this sorceress.”

“Let’s hope none of us have to get involved with her.” Sy added. “Are you going to leave now?”

“In a moment,” the delver replied. “I have to go tell Linda what I’m up to first, I promised I would. And Enin, the dogs will have to wait for that run.”