Delver Magic I: Sanctum's Breach, Jeff Inlo [buy e reader .txt] 📗

alert, but obviously uneasy at being confined within the stone walls of the church as well as the bricked walls of this smaller room. He moved about at small intervals to check each corner as if concerned with every shadow. After each pass, he returned to Mappel’s side, and stood quietly.

The elder elf rested his weight against his long wooden staff. The long travel tired him only slightly. He showed less signs of agitation with being confined within the small room than his counterpart. Other than taking a moment to feel the heavy bricks of the wall and the oak panels which formed the door frame upon entering, Mappel stood with his attention focused squarely upon the reader.

As he continued to speak, he coughed momentarily, an expulsion of road dust. He accepted a cup of wine produced from a cabinet behind the reader’s desk. He sipped it gently and allowed the weight of the goblet to rest against the side of his staff.

With their identities revealed, Mappel included every detail from Lief’s early warning to his return with the delver. In his explanations, Mappel spoke of Ryson Acumen with high regard. He reported the appearance of the spirit of Shayed and of her message to Lief and Ryson. He told the reader of Ryson’s wishes to explain all the events which had unfolded.

It was thus that the reader now faced the unveiled truth behind the earthquake which unsettled him so many days ago.

“I do not doubt your word, Mappel; it is just that you must understand none of us were prepared for this.” Reader Matthew tried to explain his position as his own thoughts lay scrambled. “Please do not mistake my words. It is not that I don’t believe in what you say, or even in your very existence. It’s part of my faith to believe in what many call the legends, which includes elves. I’ve believed all along that elves exist. I know that the sphere was buried long ago, and the captured magic with it. That is all part of the Book of Godson. That is the foundation of my religion. I accept it. But your presence here, at this time, does come as yet another surprise, and surprises are something I am not used to.”

The reader paused to regroup his thoughts. It was his great desire to make his position very clear to the elder elf. “It’s not that I thought the separation of elves and humans would continue forever. That’s not true at all. I believe it’s inevitable that the land will someday revert back to the time of legends, when humans would again have to accept the existence of the other races. In truth, that has been prophesied for us, and until now I have learned to trust, even depend, on these prophesies. It is part of our faith, but the return of the magic was not foretold. Nothing of our prophesies spoke of the sphere returning as a threat. To be sure, there is always the shadow of great powers and forces beyond our recognition, playing a role in our future. I always assumed, however, that those forces would be beyond our reach. Never have I read or heard of the sphere freeing itself from Sanctum. It is this lone fact that causes me great concern and, yes, even great doubts.”

“Do not apologize for such concerns,” Mappel replied, showing a deep understanding and appreciation for the reader’s plight. “I find no insult in your words or your actions. In fact, I share them. Our own elflore also leaves us without guidance during this trying time. It seems the prophets have left us to our own designs in this matter.”

“Your people were also not prepared for this event?” The reader did not know whether to feel relief or greater despair at this possibility. It was a comfort to see he was not alone, but he wondered if this revelation truly held anything to be thankful for.

“No,” Mappel replied firmly, yet sadly. “The elves have had their share of prophets. Elflore is as much a guide for the future as it is a map of the past, but we enter this day without the grace of their foresight.”

Reader Matthew bent his head with a grunt of frustration. He eyed the aged, cloth-bound cover of the Book of Godson which always remained upon his simple desk. His hand brushed over the top of the worn cover, seemingly reaching for comfort and wisdom. He found little. “I wish I could be of more help to you. Less than a season ago, I would have believed this church and its followers were prepared for everything, that we were blessed with knowledge of all things to come. How naive. To think, we were so full of pride, even scorn for nonbelievers. We secretly laughed at their ignorance. Now, I find we face true danger without any such blessing. I wonder who is laughing now.”

Matthew chuckled sarcastically at himself. His eyes revealed the pain he felt in his soul. He looked to the two elves that watched him with obvious interest. He felt no embarrassment at his own remarks. He repeated his heartfelt apology. “I am sorry I could not have been more help to you.”

Mappel smiled and exuded a warmth which indicated a personal understanding to Matthew’s plight. “Again, I will tell you not to apologize. I comprehend your dissatisfaction, greater than you might realize. You and I are looked upon as spiritual leaders. There are great expectations of us, yet we are not prophets and we are not gods. We are both limited by the failings which are inherent of all our people. We must, however, look beyond that now. From what I have learned, we face a great struggle. We must set aside our shortcomings, rise above them. The truth be told, I am very grateful to have found you. You have been more open-minded to our cause then I might have hoped. Certainly, you are more willing to listen to us than any other member of this town, and we do need the help of the humans. We need the help of all the races. The fact that I was directed to you, the reader in this church, I take that as a sign of hope. I also find strength in the fact that Connel finds itself at the center of our struggle. The simple arrival of a purebred delver in our forest has brought us back to the ancient wall that allowed the races to survive so long ago. It is this hope I now carry.”

“Speaking of Ryson, where is the good delver now?” Matthew asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ryson Acumen walks the Lacobian desert in search of the algors. As I have said, we need the help of all the races.”

Upon what the reader had already seen and heard, the prospect of dealing with algors seemed as ordinary as dealing with the merchant across the street. He thought more of the sphere, the return of the magic, and the danger they all faced.

“Will the algors assist in this matter?” the reader wondered aloud.

“I can only hope they will,” Mappel responded with simple confidence. “I believe in such. According to elflore, I imagine they would find such a cause most interesting. They might remain skeptical of our reasons, but certainly no more dubious than the dwarves.”

“The true problem will be finding them,” Lief noted.

“I would not be too concerned of that,” the reader came quickly to the defense of the delver. “Ryson Acumen is full-bred delver. I don’t know how long it will take, but I know the power of these people. If it is there to be found, Ryson will find it.”

Lief cleared his throat. “I meant no disrespect to Ryson Acumen. His assistance has already proven to be priceless. It is just that the algor has not been seen by elf nor dwarf since the entombing of the sphere. I can’t help but wonder if they even still exist. The desert, after all is a harsh place.”

“Harsh to an elf, but not to an algor,” Mappel reminded his escort. “The algors still exist. The reunion of all the races is spoken of in elflore. There is no mention of the loss of a single race.”

Matthew took a moment to reflect upon Mappel’s reasoning. Something within those words sparked an idea, a hope of his own. He leapt upon it, grasped it with obvious enthusiasm. “Is it possible …, I can’t believe I haven’t thought of that. If it’s true, it could mean that it was foretold. A connection, but maybe out of place. Sequences are important, but not always. It’s possible.”

Mappel watched the reader carefully. He wished for an explanation. “You feel you have discovered something?”

The elf’s voice startled Matthew, brought a realization he was jabbering as he attempted to organize his thoughts. He brought his hand away from his face to turn a questioning glance to Mappel. “I don’t know. Let me ask you this first. Your elflore, does it explain the reunion of the races? I mean, you just said that elflore refers to a reunion. Does it explain how that is to be accomplished?”

“No, it does not. It simply states that the age of separation shall end. It does not explain how.”

“That’s what brings a question to my mind,” Matthew presented. “I’ve spent all this time going over the prophesies to find something to connect to this event and I’ve missed the most obvious. You state that elflore speaks of a reunion. I have already indicated that the prophesies within the Book of Godson refer to a time when the other races would return to make their presence known. Don’t you think that the return of the sphere may be the very cause of this prophesy? We have been worried because this most significant event has not been forecasted by our prophets. Maybe it has, just not as clearly as we would have liked.” The statement faded off as more of a question of hope held out to the elder elf, and Matthew waited for a response.

Mappel glided his hand along his staff. This skin on his forehead crinkled into long deep lines as he considered the thought. “Interesting. Foretold, but not foretold. It is strange that neither prophesies mention how the separation is to end.”

Matthew’s eyes lit up with a spark of increasing hope. “But it was specified in both that the races would be united. From what you have told me so far, such a reunion is now necessary. In a way, this event has been foretold to us.”

Mappel’s assurance came more grudgingly. He could not simply accept such a loose connection. “Who is to say? That interpretation may very well be correct. The re-emergence of the sphere does indeed force us into such a situation. But can we infer so much? While I do not wish to dampen your hopes, I must point out other significant factors. It does not explain as to why we were not warned of the sphere. It is clear to me that such an event is of major importance. I merely need to point to the reappearance of Shayed. We now face a battle where all life hangs in the balance. We must enter Sanctum. Such an undertaking is without question the most significant action that any people might employ during this time. There is more here than the simple re-unification of the races. In its own way, Sanctum has been a landmark to the era created when the magic was removed from the land. Destroying the sphere will mean more than the re-unification of the races. It signifies the very end of an accepted way of life. I can not believe that such an event could have been overlooked by our prophets, or