Delver Magic II: Throne of Vengeance, Jeff Inlo [graded readers .TXT] 📗

not accept that answer. He shook his head with vehemence. “There has to be some chance of escape. They have to open the door at some time to feed us.”

Lief almost laughed. “They do? Why? Are we honored guests?”

“They can’t just leave us here to starve.”

“Of course they can.”

Ryson stared in disbelief at the stone door. “No one can be that evil.”

Lief breathed with a sardonic laugh. “She’s mad, insane. There’s no telling what she might do, but I seriously doubt we will ever see the surface again. Look at Jon. When do you think he had his last meal?”

“Maybe they’ll come to question us.”

“About what?” Lief posed.

“I don’t know. Godson, Lief, help me out here. There’s got to be something else we can do.”

“Unless you know of a way to break through rock, there is nothing we can do.”

Ryson’s eyes flared. “Stop it. Don’t you know what you’re saying? If we’ve failed, the dwarves will attack Burbon, and probably Connel again as well. You heard her. She wants to go after my family. She won’t stop until everyone in Burbon and Connel is dead.”

Ryson stepped closer to Lief. He didn’t care about the elf’s desire for space. The thought of Linda in danger fueled the fire of his spirit. “We can’t let that happen. I don’t care what we have to do.”

“Do not be so certain of Burbon’s destruction,” Lief attempted to assuage the delver. “It is preparing for the attack. They have a chance at survival.”

The thought did little to comfort the delver. Ryson focused on his own desire to help instead. “We don’t give up, not as long as Yave wants to continue this. Do you hear me?”

“I hear you, but I have not heard your solution to our current predicament. I would welcome any suggestion to be free of this prison.”

Ryson caught his anger. He did not apologize for his outburst, but he turned away from the elf. “They’re going to open that door. When they do, I’m going to be past them so fast they won’t know what to think.”

“I hope they do open the door,” Lief agreed.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Ryson continued to argue. “Why didn’t the sword work? It did something. You saw her face, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“When she held it, something was revealed to her. Why didn’t she see the truth?”

“Maybe she did.”

“Huh?”

Lief did not hesitate in explaining. He had been considering this ever since they were taken from the throne room. He offered his own conclusions as he constantly grappled with the enclosed space. At times his voice labored and his attention drifted to the encircling stone, but he maintained enough composure to offer the only plausible solution.

“I don’t think anyone would deny that the sword did something in Yave’s hands, but the enchantment of the sword is new and unknown. In your possession, it somehow gained the power to bestow knowledge to the holder. You once said it saved you from a vampire. When you gripped the handle, you simply knew how to deal with the monster.”

“That’s the truth,” Ryson admitted.

“I do not deny it. I also know that Tun understood the true danger of the sphere after holding the sword. He no longer argued over our course of action. He agreed to journey to Sanctum, reveal the dwarf secret, and help destroy the sphere. He did so even though he knew the magic would be free again. The sword told him what must be done.”

The delver continued to agonize over the sword’s apparent failure. “I know that, too. So why didn’t it work with Yave? Why doesn’t she realize that what she’s doing is wrong.”

“I believe it did work with Yave, but not as we hoped. We wanted the sword to remove Yave’s anger, to show her that her desire for revenge was misplaced. That may have simply been beyond the power of the sword. The enchantment does not seem to be of sheer truth, but of knowledge. In my mind, that is the only explanation. I ask that you look only to Tun’s experience and you will probably agree. After grasping the sword, Tun knew the sphere was a danger to the dwarves, but he never released his mistrust of our intentions. He doubted us to the very end. Don’t you remember?”

“Yes, but …”

“But nothing. If the sword had the power to reveal all truth, Tun would have cast aside his mistrust over our intentions. He never did. The sword simply made him understand the sphere was a true danger to all the dwarves. That is what made him agree to help us. Nothing made him trust us.”

Ryson shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. How could the sword reveal to him knowledge about the sphere, but not knowledge of our true intentions?”

“I have no idea. I am not a spell caster. I have no desire to be one. I only know that it didn’t, and you know it, too. Tun never trusted us. I don’t know why, but even though he knew the sphere had to be destroyed, he held to his suspicions. The sword’s enchantment is beyond my reckoning. I do, however believe there is consistency in its workings. Just as it did with Tun, I believe the sword imparted knowledge upon Yave. She now knows what truly happened in Sanctum. I believe that.”

“You think so? Then why doesn’t she call this off? Why did she throw us in this cell? Why does she leave her son to be nothing but a mushroom?”

“Because the sword will not change her interpretation of people’s intentions. Think of what happened in Sanctum. Can you remember Tun’s death?”

“Of course I can.”

The elf detailed his own memories as he tried to forget the surrounding rock. “If the sword allowed Yave to see that moment exactly as it happened, what would she see? She would know the sphere kept the algors from controlling the sand giants. She would also see that Tun struck upon the sand giant on his own, but what else would she see? She would see us, you and me, Holli and the algors, unable to stop the giant from crushing Tun. She would see the algors unable to heal her son. She would know all of that now. How would she interpret it?”

“We tried to help Tun. We didn’t just let him get killed,” Ryson protested.

“We both know that, but she does not. She did not know our intentions. She does not trust us. Just like Tun didn’t trust us. Tun held to his doubts even after holding the sword. Now, so does Yave. That is why we are now in this prison.”

Lief exhaled again. He rubbed his hands together still trying to ignore the stone which seemed to close upon him.

Ryson’s frustration doubled. “So we came here for nothing? We never had a chance, is that what you’re saying?”

“No, we had a chance. For a brief moment we almost succeeded. You said so yourself. You saw Yave’s face as she held the sword. The sword imparted the knowledge upon her. It did all that you could have hoped for. For one brief moment, Yave might have even understood that no one was responsible for Tun’s death. That one moment of confusion and despair on her face, that was our chance. Unfortunately, it did not last. She simply chose to cling to her anger. We could not control that. Often knowledge and emotion do not lead to the same results.”

Ryson hung his head. “So that’s it? What a waste.”

“You don’t believe that,” Lief corrected. “It was not a waste to try. Too many people agreed to help you for that to be true.”

“I don’t know what I believe anymore. I just know that people are now in danger because of me. And there’s nothing I can do about it. Maybe I should have done nothing, stayed in Burbon, helped fight off the dwarves and leave Yave to her madness.”

“And let Dunop be destroyed?”

“Better Dunop than Burbon.”

“You are speaking out of frustration and anger.”

“What else should I speak with?”

“You are taking blame for no reason. Your reason for coming here was of the highest virtue. You wished to save others.”

“And now I might have sacrificed others.”

“You came here to try and prevent further tragedy. You did all you could and more. No one will deny that.”

“Why should I care? You think we’ll be left to rot in this dungeon.”

“I doubt we will get a chance to rot.”

The ominous tone of the elf’s voice brought revelation to the delver. In an instant, he recalled what Dunop now faced, what he and Lief now faced. The words fell from his lips like recalling a nightmare. “The shadow trees.”

Lief nodded. “Petiole will drop the seeds for certain when we don’t return. That may be your consolation. Though I see no hope for ourselves, I see hope for Burbon that you are unwilling to give. Yave has only a small amount of time before the shadow trees fall upon her palace. And the algors will send their army of sand giants. The dwarf army will not have an endless opportunity to attack Burbon. Dunop will be destroyed. Unfortunately, so will we.”

Ryson considered his plight. He cared little for his own safety, though thoughts of being consumed by shadow trees left a cold shiver in his bones. He also felt sadness for leaving without seeing Linda one last time. The thought of her alone opened a gap in his spirit which led to even more chills. He took solace in only one thought, the fact that his own end would mean Burbon would be vulnerable for only a short duration, a few days. When the seeds fall upon Dunop, threats to Burbon, and to Linda, would end.

His comfort was short-lived. He recalled the faces of the dwarves he had encountered during his passage to the palace. Did they deserve the fate of the shadow trees? No. They were as innocent as the people in Burbon. Despondency seemed to bite at his heels.

A look upon Jon, however, brought fight to his spirit. He thought of Burbon, of Linda, of seeing her again. “I won’t just give up. There has to be some way out of here.”

“I am open for suggestions.”

“Well, for one thing we can hope the sand giants reach us before the shadow trees.”

Lief considered the thought. It held merit. “That may indeed give us a chance. The sand giants have the power to break through this door. They might ignore us. Their single-mindedness might keep them from viewing us as an enemy.”

“That’s what I’m hoping.”

“Of course it won’t help Jon.”

Ryson’s spirits dropped slightly. “I didn’t think of that.”

“You will have to consider it. I know you well enough to realize that you won’t just leave him here to an attacking sand giant. In his current state, he would be helpless. If we are indeed lucky enough to be freed by the giants, we must consider a way to protect Jon. Then, there is also the shadow trees. They may be dropped before the sand giants reach this place. The trees may not be able to break through rock, but their branches can slip beneath the cracks about the door. We will not be safe in here.”

“I know. I’m just hoping we don’t have to deal with that. I’m counting on the sand giants first or the dwarves themselves opening that door. After all, Petiole gave us some time. That may be what saves our lives. If we can get out of here, we still may have a chance of stopping this. I can retrieve my sword.