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

met in Pinesway, I told you about Sazar the serp. It seemed to me you might go out of your way to hunt him down. After I returned to Burbon, we learned that he has teamed with a sorceress and I wanted you to know that. If you started hunting the serp, you might have stumbled on a dangerous situation.”

Lief frowned then glared at Ryson. “You see what happens when you don’t act? You let evil get away and it only gets stronger. Perhaps I shouldn’t have wasted so much time on the rogue or perhaps I should have taken care of the serp first while I was still in Pinesway. The rogue would have waited. Blast all of this!”

Ryson did not know what to say, and thus, said nothing. Lief, on the other hand, just seemed to get angrier.

“Why is it that evil is allowed to prosper? Why must it be that creatures like Sazar can not only get away with directing the death of innocents, but can then benefit by the help of a sorceress. Where is the justice in this?” Lief bit down hard in frustration but then turned his questions directly to Ryson. “Does anyone know the power of this sorceress, who she is?” Lief demanded.

Ryson, knowing the answer, was now even more hesitant in responding, but he eventually spoke honestly.

“Actually we both know her,” the delver finally admitted. “It is Lauren, the one that was with us at Sanctum. Remember? She changed her name to Tabris when she left us.”

“Yes, I remember well and I’m not happy about this, either.” Lief then shook his head in absolute disgust. “It seems every time I turn around I am reminded how things tend to only get worse. If I remember correctly, she began at the outset with a great capacity to utilize the magic. How much of a danger is this sorceress now?”

“Enin says she’s not in his class, but that she is quite powerful, powerful enough to cause a great deal of damage if she put a mind to it. Beyond that, I can’t say.”

Lief’s hands clenched into tight fists. “Well, at least I know what I must do now.”

“What’s that?” Ryson asked quickly, and then wondered if he really wanted to hear the answer.

Lief spoke as if his next actions would be as simple and as obvious as crossing a road in the deserted town of Pinesway. “I will track this serp and this sorceress and I will put an end to their evil before too much damage is done.”

“Well, they really haven’t caused any damage yet. I’m not sure if it’s the best idea to go looking for trouble.”

“Looking for trouble?” Lief appeared nearly baffled. “Is that what you think I’m doing is looking for trouble? Who caused the trouble in Pinesway?”

Ryson decided to be forthright and pointed out what he saw to be the truth. “I won’t argue that Sazar and the goblins started it, but you didn’t have a problem with finishing it. It seems to me both you and the goblins caused your share amount of death there.”

Lief’s eyes narrowed. “What would you have had me done, Ryson Acumen? Perhaps I should have just swatted them on the back side as they raced back into the woods after killing a dozen or so humans. Would that have been a fair punishment?”

This time Ryson could not find the words to answer the elf, but Lief continued without waiting for an answer. “And what do you think I should do now that I know this serp that controlled these goblins is now in league with a powerful sorceress? Would you have me just sit back and wait for them to destroy everything in Dark Spruce before someone does something to stop them?”

“But we don’t know if they’re going to destroy Dark Spruce,” Ryson finally protested. “In fact, the last I heard, they were still out in the Lacobian.”

“Then I will go to the Lacobian.”

“Do you think that’s really necessary?”

Lief’s frown grew deeper as he could not fathom why he had to explain this to the delver. “The magic has only returned for a few short seasons and already this serp has caused nothing but evil. This Sazar creature threatened your own home town of Burbon to gain access to the tunnels dug by the dwarves. It plundered Dunop when it had the chance, then it moved on to try and take over the town of Pinesway. Its minions left many dead in the streets, or did you already forget?”

The image of the dead became even clearer in Ryson’s mind. “I didn’t forget.”

“Should the serp not pay for his crimes? Should he be allowed to simply do whatever he likes without consequences?”

These words struck Ryson rather hard. He clearly remembered what the serp did at Pinesway. It was Sazar’s orders that led to many killings, killings that were barbaric in nature. Ryson certainly believed Sazar should face repercussions for his actions, he just wasn’t sure if Lief running off to the Lacobian was the right way to go about it.

“That’s not what I said,” Ryson finally spoke out. “I didn’t mean the serp shouldn’t be dealt with. Sazar is a threat and he does have to answer for what he’s done.”

“Then why are you trying to stop me?”

“Because it just sounds wrong how you’re going to go about doing it.”

“Then tell me your answer as to how it should be done. Will this wizard of yours, this Enin, will he handle the situation?”

Ryson looked down to the ground becoming more frustrated by the moment. “No, he doesn’t think he should get involved.”

Lief almost laughed. “Not get involved? That’s what Tun said when the sphere first freed itself. He didn’t want the dwarves to get involved. He would have had all the denizens of Uton destroyed by the dark magic if he had his way. Not get involved? That’s what the elders of my camp insisted when I wanted them to intervene in Petiole’s absurd behavior. And so they did nothing. So do not tell me that that’s your answer, that you think I shouldn’t get involved.”

“Look, Lief, I don’t know what the answer is. I just came out here to warn you of what’s happening. I didn’t want you to get caught by surprise. I guess I’ve done that. As to what you do next, I guess that’s up to you.”

“Indeed it is up to me.” Lief exhaled heavily and then seemed to lighten in mood ever so slightly. “I appreciate what you have done for me here. You have done so out of friendship. I realize that, and I thank you. What I do now, I do because I feel I must. It has nothing more to do with you. Do you understand that?”

“I guess so, though, I don’t understand much of anything anymore.”

The elf looked about the forest, momentarily stared at the corpse of the tree raker, and then cast a wary eye toward the river rogue. “These are complex times for us all. Still, I can not simply do nothing now. I had a chance to deal with this Sazar and I missed that opportunity. I now feel it is my obligation to keep him from doing as little damage as possible. I assure you I will act with care and hopefully I will succeed in doing what must be done.”

Ryson looked across the forest at nothing in particular. He felt almost ashamed of what he was about to say, but he knew he had to say it. “I can’t go with you, you know. I don’t know how to argue with what you’re doing, but something about it just doesn’t seem right.”

“I am not asking you to join me,” Lief said with almost a shrug. “I will track these villains in the Lacobian on my own. I am not sure how I will deal with them as of yet, but I must at least try. First, I must dispatch this rogue.”

Ryson’s gaze quickly shot toward Lief in utter dismay. “You’re going to kill it?”

“I’m responsible for leading it out here into the forest,” Lief responded flatly. “I won’t leave it here to wreak havoc.”

“Wreaking havoc? What are you talking about?”

“A river rogue is a dangerous creature with the ability to kill many innocents. It must be dealt with.”

“Why? Because it has the potential to kill? You can’t kill it just because it might do something in the future.”

“What else will it do? You think it has the ability to offer any thing constructive to this land?”

Ryson would not give up this time. He believed killing the creature would be a dastardly act and made his feeling evident. “You worked together with that creature. Dark creature or not, it does not deserve to be killed so callously. You call these things monsters, fine, but they have their place here just as the rest of us. It was hard for me to argue about Sazar because he has committed crimes, but tell me what this creature has done that you haven’t. It has hunted to survive. In its last few days, it hasn’t even killed. It has left that task up to you. If you want to send it to its death simply because it’s dangerous, then maybe you should save an arrow for yourself.”

Lief stood with eyes blazing, but said nothing.

“Here’s what I think, Lief. I’m not exactly sure why you’re so angry at the land. You want to be angry at the elves in your camp, that’s one thing. From everything I’ve heard, it sounds you have the right to be more than just a little annoyed. Godson, I was furious with your camp when they allowed Petiole to drop the seeds. Still, I don’t see how that gives you a free hand to become a cold blooded killer. If you kill this river rogue, that’s what you will become.”

Lief’s voice was cold and any glimmer of friendship in his eye vanished as if blown away by a bitter wind. “And when this rogue ventures back to Pinesway and maybe all the way to Burbon and kills some child, who will be the cold blooded killer then? The monster for one, but what about you for defending this thing when I could have dealt with it appropriately?”

“Did you hear what you just said?” Ryson asked nearly overwhelmed by Lief’s reasoning. “You think this creature is somehow going to travel all the way back to Burbon just to kill a child. That’s more than a stretch, that’s an outright fairy tale.”

“Fine, it stays here and kills a traveling merchant. Does that please your sense of reality?”

“It might be more realistic, but it might never happen either. You seem to want to damn this creature to an act just so you can justify your wanting to kill it. You know as well as I do this creature may do nothing more than hunt goblins and tree rakers like the one you just shot. You can’t punish something just for what it’s capable of. We’re all capable of doing terrible things, that doesn’t mean we’re going to actually do them.”

“Rogues are killers and thus deserve to be treated as such,” Lief stated with near disdain.

“Are you becoming a killer?”

“You think I take some kind of joy out of doing this?” Lief shot back quickly. “That I am doing it for a thrill? I hate each time I have to fire my bow, but I would hate it more if I did not. I didn’t ask for these creatures to return to the land, but they have, and so they must be dealt with. In truth, I am as much responsible for anyone for