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

me sleep any better,” Ryson admitted, “but at least it gives me an idea of why you’re as careful as you are.”

“I am very happy to hear that,” Enin reflected with a smile and then thought of a way to reward the delver. “I also want to share something with you I know that is important to you. I will give you the answer to a question that has plagued you for some time now. You have wondered why Dzeb and the other cliff behemoths came to your aid in the tunnels of Dunop. You even asked him why he came to help and he ignored your question. You tried to push it aside, but you are a delver and such a task is not truly possible.

“The truth of the matter is that Dzeb and the other cliff behemoths were vehemently opposed to intruding in the affairs of other races. It was not their place and they knew it. They have faith, and in their faith they believe that it is Godson’s will that will determine the fates of other beings. Even with their grand power, they would not dare to impose what they thought is right or wrong on other beings. In the end, however, they did intercede, and the question is why?

“They did so because of you my friend. Not because of your pleas or your arguments, but simply because they see something in you, something that I see as well. You, whether your like it or not, are a person of destiny. Do not feel embarrassed by this or even be surprised by it. It is rare, though it is not completely unheard of to say the least. There have always been and always will be a handful of individuals in this land that always seem to be in the thick of important events. Of course there are individuals that only have one moment of historical significance and then fade in to the background. Then again, there are others that make important contributions over and over again, and they never tend to fade away. They keep reappearing. Some say that they do so because they insist on thrusting themselves into important events even when they do not belong. They live for fame and power. Sadly, this is true for many such people.

“There are others, however, that do not seek such a position, but neither can they escape it. They are continuously pressed into service whether they like it or not. They are people of destiny, and you are such a person.

“Remember, the cliff behemoths always remained true to their faith. They entered Dunop to stop the sand giants, but ultimately it was you that saved the city from the shadow trees and stopped the war. Thus, the cliff behemoths did not truly intervene in the actions or choices of other creatures. They simply gave you the opportunity to do what you were destined to do and nothing else.

“I won’t ask you if you understand and I don’t wish to try and debate the details. The only thing I want you to know is that the cliff behemoths entered Dunop to give you a chance to do what you had to do. Whether you failed or succeeded in the challenges you faced then, or for that matter in the challenges you still must face, that always remains up to you.”

Enin looked deeply into the delver and though he still sensed a great deal of confusion in Ryson, he did not wish to explain any further. “Now, do me a favor and take the dogs out to play, they are getting impatient.”

#

As if she simply faded in from the darkness and took form where there was none before, a woman in a long black cloak appeared off to the side of the road where Sazar and several goblins stood watching and waiting. Her cloak billowed at the bottom and appeared to have no true end as if she was an extension of the darkness around her. Her appearance so stunned one goblin that he fired off a crossbow bolt before he knew what he was shooting at. The woman stepped forward and leaned into the incoming bolt, allowing it to plunge deep into her shoulder. Without even a gasp of pain, she pulled the protruding bolt from her flesh and threw it to the ground.

“Hold,” Sazar commanded to the other goblins. He would not step forward, but he turned slightly to face the woman.

“You are the serp in control of these creatures,” she stated as a simple fact.

“Indeed I am,” Sazar answered as he stared into the eyes of the woman before him. He did not like what he saw and for the first time since he gained his new powers from Tabris, he felt a chill whisk through his very bones.

“Do not try to work your will on me, serp. I understand the strength of will as well as you do, and though my power to control an army would never match yours, your influence over me dies in my veins.”

“Vampire?” he questioned.

She said nothing, but the dancing shadow in her eyes made the answer clear.

The serp gritted his teeth. “What is it I should call you?”

“You may call me Janindise”

“Very well, Janindise, how did you find me?”

“For me, I can taste the vibrations of your controlling thoughts. The outflow of your will is like a guide. I had no trouble following it back to its source.”

“Do you guard this city?” Sazar asked somewhat concerned about what the answer might be.

“I hate this city,” the woman answered. “Do to it what you will.”

“I plan to,” the serp responded simply. “What is it you want?”

“I have extremely little time before the sun rises, thus I shall waste none. There are two things you must be made aware of. One is that I am bound to attack goblins, shags and the like in order to satisfy my thirst. Normally, I would travel into the hills or the forest to hunt what I need. Now that you bring so many here to me, I find it absurd to waste time hunting them down in the wild. If it is any solace to you, I will not kill what I feed upon, thus you will not lose any of your followers. I tell you this out of a courtesy.”

“I appreciate your advanced warning,” Sazar noted. “What confuses me, however, is why can’t you attack the humans of this town?”

“I will not discuss that.”

Her tone made it very clear that pressing her would be a waste of time and Sazar did not wish to make an enemy of this woman, certainly not at this point in time.

“Very well. You did say there were two things you wished to advise me of, what is the second?”

“I have a friend that dwells in this city,” the vampire explained. “I plan to return to him now. I will not let you hurt him, thus I suggest you advise your goblins, your shags, your hook hawks, and whatever other monsters you plan to unleash on these other mortals, to leave us be if they happen to stumble upon us.”

“Does your friend have a name?”

“Edward Consprite. I have already informed him of your arrival here and of the horde this city faces. He believes he might be of some assistance to you. He has very in-depth knowledge of this place and its inhabitants. It seems he used to lead them once. He has been replaced and now also has nothing but contempt for this city as well. I can not imagine how he might be of help to a serp that wishes to plunder a city, but he has surprised me on many occasions and so he might surprise you as well. Eventually, he will come to you on his own. Whether you listen to him or not, that is your business. If you kill him, then it will become my business.”

“It is not my intention to make anything your business. I will leave you and your friend be, and I will listen to this human if he does seek me out. I do, however, have a question. If both you and this Consprite hate this city, why do you stay here?”

“He has no where else to go and I have come to enjoy his company.”

“I see,” Sazar responded simply.

“The sun is rising and I have only moments left. Remember my warning, do not harm Consprite.”

She took one step back and simply faded into the swirling snow and waning darkness.

#

“We have to surrender,” the mayor stated with a tone of desperation.

“Surrender? To Goblins?” Captain Tevor found this solution to be no solution at all.

“We have no choice,” Mayer Flisher responded while casting a frantic look out to the goblin horde that surrounded the city. “What can we do against this? We can’t run; they have us surrounded. We can’t hold them off; we have no walls, they would be on us in moments.”

“We can fight,” Tevor offered stubbornly.

The mayor pointed out to the throng of goblins. “Against that?”

“The cavalry is ready and my infantry is entrenched. We’ve been training the civilians in case of another attack by the dwarves, we might as well call them in now. It may be enough.”

“It’ll be enough to start a panic and make things a hundred times worse.”

“With all due respect, you’re wrong about the panic. Most of the people already know we’re surrounded. It’s not like the goblins are making themselves hard to notice any more. We sound out the alarm just as we planned to do under another dwarf attack. Some people will go to where they’re supposed to go and be ready to fight, some will hide. At least we’ll know what we’ve got. The sun is starting to rise, so even with the snow, it’s getting lighter. The snow is in our favor, too. It will slow them down.”

“And with all due respect to you,” the mayor responded, “how much do you think it’s going to matter if they have to march through ankle deep snow? They’re already on us. They’ve even moved shags, spiders and small goblin raiding parties almost up to our doorstep. They’ve got those strange hawks flying over our heads right now and those crows waiting right above the goblins. We didn’t train our people to fight against that. How many experienced soldiers do you really have left? The dwarves decimated our forces. Look at the number of goblins out there. Do you honestly think we have even the slightest chance of avoiding annihilation? Tell me with all honesty you think the forces under your command can possibly find a victory and I’ll pick up a sword and join you, but it can’t be a suicide charge.”

“Surrendering may be the same as suicide,” Tevor offered with a dark expression. “They might not take prisoners, and even if they do, we have no idea how they might treat them. Godson, they might eat us, we just don’t know what they will do. Look, I appreciate what you’re thinking. You’ve already saved most of my men. I would have sent out the cavalry when they started raiding the farms. They would have all been slaughtered and I probably would have marched out there to die with them, but if it’s a choice between fighting and surrendering, I think all of them would rather fight.”

“Do you think there is any kind of chance we can stop them if they attacked?” the mayor asked flatly.

“There’s always a chance,” Tevor stated stubbornly.

“Yes, there’s always a chance for a miracle,” the mayor allowed, “but there also has to be time for realism. This time I’m not going to ask you if