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

gain. He has used the goblins not to kill the inhabitants but to control them. He has herded them into Connel’s center. Bloat spiders encircle the city at its very edges. They have spun vast webs to block access to the city. Those few roads that are clear are guarded carefully. I have heard his orders as they were delivered to the people that live there. They are to toil for the serp’s behalf. For the most part, they will be allowed to resume their daily lives, as long as what they do serves the better good of Sazar. Just call them slaves.”

Ryson grew more enraged by the moment. “He’s just going to take over Connel and work the people to a slow death?”

“I’m afraid for some death will come much quicker,” Lief continued with what he knew of Sazar’s plans. “While most will be allowed to live in order to benefit Sazar, the followers of Godson, they are another matter entirely. Sazar needs to send humans to Tabris so that she may test her spells upon them. I assume it is payment for the power she has granted him. The human that was mayor of Connel when we were dealing with Ingar’s sphere—the one named Consprite—he has somehow joined the ranks of Sazar. He has convinced the serp that this group of Godson followers would be the best to send to Tabris. Of this, I am sure. I heard it myself and saw them take the first prisoners from the church to be brought to the Lacobian Desert. This included their leader, the Reader Matthew. They left before I did and are therefore already on their way to Tabris. And when those followers are no more, you can bet he will send another group and another group, and on and on.”

“We can’t let this happen!” Ryson demanded.

“No, we can’t,” the elf answered bluntly. “That’s why I’m here. I could do nothing alone. In fact there is little that anyone could do except…”

Lief turned to Enin. He was about to continue until he looked deeply at the expression on the wizard’s face. He then looked at Holli and his suspicion was confirmed.

“You knew this!” Lief accused. “You knew Connel had fallen to Sazar.”

“Yes, I did,” Enin admitted sadly.

“And you did nothing to stop it?!”

“No, it is not my place.”

Lief’s eyes opened in wide shock. “I came here to gain your assistance. I thought once you knew of what was going on you would be more than willing to put an end to this. You have the power to wipe the city clean of Sazar’s filth.”

“Power?” Enin questioned. “People say I have been blessed with power. That is only partially true. What I really have been blessed with is a true and complete understanding of that power. That is the true gift I have received. I understand what I can and can’t do; what I should and shouldn’t do. I understand the gift can be changed at any time or taken away completely. I always act within the boundaries of that understanding.”

“What in the name of Godson does that mean?” Lief demanded.

“It means I can’t interfere.”

Rage filled the elf. “Interfere?! This is not interference. It is your responsibility, your duty! Fire upon your soul if you do nothing! You alone have the power to destroy this dark army and you would stand there and tell me you won’t because you think it would be interfering?!”

Enin held to his position. “It would be.”

At this point even Ryson regarded Enin’s words with bewilderment, and he made as such known. “Enin, this isn’t interference. Sazar attacked Connel. We can’t just stand here and do nothing about it. At some point, you have to accept that this serp can’t be allowed to get away with anything he wants. People, good people, are going to die. You can stop it.”

“And when I do and free Connel, where does it end?” Enin asked. “Tomorrow I hear that goblins are raiding an outpost near the Colad Mountains, do I go there and destroy them or is an outpost too small to care about? The next day I find that river rogues are attacking a small elf camp, do I assist them or should I just worry about humans? The day after that I hear that razor crows are swarming over an algor desert community, do I wipe the air clear of them, or should I simply keep my attention on these surrounding lands?”

He paused only for a moment to look around the room at the faces that revealed more surprise than understanding. He continued with his own concerns of the consequences to his actions.

“And when I’m done providing my assistance to all those I deem worthy, what happens next? I have opened the door for every spell-caster in the land to do the same. The problem is that each spell caster may not be of like mind. Perhaps there are sorcerers out there that wish to help the dark creatures. Would that be just as acceptable?”

“Help the dark creatures?” Lief asked in absolute disgust. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you there are consequences to my decisions, consequences you don’t understand.”

“What I don’t understand is how you will allow an army of dark creatures to run free and cause great harm to others. You have the ability to save these people and yet you deny them that aid!”

“I can’t tell you how much I feel for the people of Connel,” Enin replied with great empathy. “I wish I could help them, but I can not act solely on sympathy.”

Sy stepped in between the elf and the wizard just as Lief was about to explode with anger. The captain, however, turned his attention to the wizard.

“Enin, this isn’t just about Connel. What’s going on has put everyone here in danger. The elf is more right than probably he even understands. It’s not simply just a matter of saving the people of Connel. We also have to save ourselves. We face all kinds of threats, some of them direct, some of them indirect. I swore to protect the people of this town. Keeping them safe also means keeping them alive. No one is going to be left living here for long with Connel in Sazar’s hands”

“If Sazar is foolish enough to attack here, I will defend my home.” Enin stated simply. “If it comes to that, then it is not interfering. If I am brought into the conflict, then I am free to act. There is a difference, however, between defending and attacking.”

Sy stood silent as if trying to comprehend what the wizard just said to him. He revealed that he could not.

“I have to admit, I don’t understand your logic at all,” Sy stated firmly. “You’re not making any sense whatsoever, but that doesn’t even matter. If you’re telling me you can defend your home, then you best start thinking about doing it now. I was serious when I said we were in danger. I meant all of us, everyone in Burbon.”

Holli presented a question of her own at this point. “You think Sazar would attack Burbon in greater numbers to offset the wizard’s power?”

Sy looked at Holli only for a moment. He looked back at the wizard with a discerning eye. He spoke of Enin with brutal honesty.

“I’m not even sure how to answer that right now. I’ve got the feeling Sazar could increase his numbers a hundredfold and he still wouldn’t be a true threat to Enin. Truth is, I wonder if anything could offset his power, if he’s willing to use it. But it seems like he’s unwilling unless he’s attacked directly. The problem is Sazar doesn’t have to attack us directly. He doesn’t have to come to Burbon’s walls, he can starve us out. We depend on Connel’s farms for food and supplies. With those cut off from us, we don’t have many options. I mean really, what can we do? How long can we last? Maybe we can start farming the surrounding fields and hope to protect them, but how long will that take? Maybe we can even hunt in Dark Spruce, but that’s going to be tough going during the dormant season. What then, Enin? Will you help us destroy Sazar’s army when we start to starve?”

Enin said nothing.

Sy simply turned away from the wizard. “Well, I’m not going to wait for an answer from you because I already know enough of what’s going on out there.” Sy then pointed to the map on his wall. “Even before the dormant season began, I’ve had my scouts go on long patrols. I’ve sent Ryson out dozens of times to cover areas throughout Dark Spruce and up to the Colad Mountains. Each time I ask them to report on the number of goblin raiding parties they come across. I’ve been keeping track of their movements and numbers for some time and the information is anything but encouraging news. Their numbers are swelling by leaps and bounds. I have no idea how they end up appearing in this land, but I know more come each day. Before today I thought they were broken up, splintered in hundreds, maybe thousands of small groups all over Dark Spruce, the Colad Mountains, and Godson knows where else. But now it seems like Sazar is bringing them together. He’s apparently brought enough together to take Connel, but the thing is, I don’t think he’s done yet. I think he’s only got a fraction of what’s out there.

“Now, think for a moment what happens when all these goblin packs that are spread over the forest, the mountains, and maybe even the desert hear that a serp has taken a human town the size of Connel. You don’t think for a moment they’re not going to seize on this and head for Connel? How many will end up there? Would anyone have the time to count that high? And once they’re there, what do they do? They storm every surrounding farm and take everything they can lay their hands on. And what do we do?

“The simple point is we are not in an enviable position anymore. I don’t care how powerful Enin is. We now sit with Connel controlled by Sazar. He’s got Godson knows how many goblins and who knows what other creatures. Our supply lines are now in very grave danger. We have Pinesway abandoned, so no help there. Dark Spruce is right on our doorstep, past that to the Northwest is the Colad Mountains and more dangerous creatures. To the southwest is the Lacobian Desert and I don’t even want to think what might be waiting for us out there. Yes, we had it good for a while thinking that none of these creatures would dare anger our good wizard, but those days ended when Sazar took Connel.”

Sy paused then turned to the delver. “Ryson you told me about what you saw at Pinesway, when that sword of yours gave you a vision of what Sazar wanted then. He wanted to make Pinesway a breeding ground for goblins to grow his army. Do you think he wants any thing different now? Problem is it’s not an abandoned little town at the edge of Dark Spruce. It’s Connel on the edge of some of the richest farmland around. He’s going to make humans work on those farms for him. Put this all together and it’s not a good story for anyone, especially us.”

“So what do we do?” Ryson asked.

Sy looked one last time at Enin, but when the wizard offered nothing further, the captain took control. “We need to hit the serp now. We hit him with whatever we can muster. We either drive him and his forces out of Connel, or