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

His own frame was haggard and his gate uneven, but he stalked toward the elf with evil intentions. The sight was almost humorous until another arrow from Lief’s bow pierced his heart as well. Consprite crumpled to the floor with a low groan and died right there in this Church of Godson.

Ryson dropped down out of the rafters and on to the floor. He inspected the granular remains of the vampire as he picked up his sword and returned it to its place on his back. He then moved to the corpse of the ex-mayor. He looked upon the body with a shake of his head. Finally, he looked up at Lief.

“Thank you,” the delver said surprisingly.

“Are you not going to argue with me over necessity of the death of these two?” Lief asked almost too perplexed to offer the question.

Ryson looked about the room, looked into the hollow faces of those that spent the last few days trapped in this church. Though there were traces of joy in being freed, it did little to chase away their extreme exhaustion.

“No, I’m not going to argue about it. I would have let the sun take care of her. Your way was quicker. As for him, you only get so many chances. He more than abused his.”

“I am pleased to hear that.”

Ryson nodded to Holli who was now standing next to him. “Is everything going alright outside?”

Holli answered without hesitation. “The dwarves have the situation well in hand. They have dispatched the shags and are now closely engaged with the goblins at the outer limits of the city. Lief and I met not far from here. We agreed it would be futile to try to explain the situation to the humans here any further. If they do not believe their own eyes, they would not believe the word of an elf. I do not expect there to be any conflict between human and dwarf, at least not on this night.”

“What about the cavalry outside the city?”

“They have Connel surrounded. They have already dispatched nearly every bloat spider. I doubt they will allow any of the goblins to escape. Eventually they will make it through the webs and enter the city to assist the dwarves.”

“I guess that takes care of that. That means there’s just Sazar to deal with now.”

Holli did not answer but looked to Lief. Her expression was not lost on the delver.

“What is it?” Ryson asked.

Lief became almost rigid as he began to explain. “I believe Sazar can be left to the dwarves or the human soldiers that enter the city. He is not the true threat here anyway. Instead, I now have another proposal that Holli has forced me to discuss with you. She and I have conferred about it briefly, but she demands that you be included in this decision.”

“What decision?” Ryson pressed with greater curiosity.

“It is the sorceress Tabris that is truly responsible for what has happened here. She must be dealt with and I believe she must be dealt with before she learns of what has happened here. Holli has told me that she knows where Tabris is in the Lacobian Desert. Not only that, she has the ability to bring us there utilizing her own magic powers. That may give us the opportunity we need.”

“You want to go right now?” Ryson asked with slight amazement.

“We may never have such an opportunity,” Lief stated grimly. “Very soon she will learn that the goblins have been defeated here in Connel. Once that occurs, she will realize that many will connect her to the crimes that have been committed here. If she does, at the very least she will make stronger preparations for those that may seek her out for justice. She may even decide to leave the area she is at now. If she does that, we will not have the same ability to reach her with such ease.”

“So exactly what is it you want to do?” Ryson questioned.

“I would have Holli transport us to a point immediately outside her oasis. I would then move upon her with as much speed as possible in hopes of catching her unaware. I would strike with the same speed and end her as a threat.”

“So you want to kill her,” Ryson stated as his voice died off.

Lief controlled any rising anger. He would not argue with the delver openly, but he decided to ask simple questions instead. “Do you think we have the power to capture her?”

“No.”

“Do you think she’s a danger to this land?”

“Yes,” Ryson admitted after a long pause.

In his own mind, Lief believed that was enough to justify his intended actions. The delver, however, would need more. “More importantly, because I know you don’t wish to act based solely on what someone is capable of doing—which is what you once told me—do you believe she should be held accountable for what she has done?”

Ryson looked around once more and wondered how many of the people in this church had lost a friend or a family member to satisfy the trials of Tabris. He thought about how many had suffered in Connel beyond these walls over the past few days. He knew Sazar brought the plague of goblins on this city, but ultimately he was enabled by Tabris’ power. If she had not chosen to assist him for her own benefit, he would not be here today. He knew she was as responsible as the serp for all the misfortune that was caused in this place, and yet he was not certain what to say. The delver, however, did not get the opportunity to answer at that moment.

Enin stepped into the center room as if he walked through a doorway that materialized for his own personal benefit and then faded at his whim. He walked up to the two elves and the delver. “You have done well here. Connel is now free. Sy is well and already within the city limits. The soldiers that ride with him are hunting down the stragglers of goblins, razor crows, and hook hawks. The dwarves are even now returning to their home.”

Holli could not contain her surprise. “You’ve been watching us all?”

“Watching and listening,” Enin admitted.

“Then you heard what Lief just said?” the elf guard asked with a questioning glance.

“I did.”

“And what is your opinion of this idea?”

“It is not for me to say.”

Lief spoke in a disgusted tone. “Then say nothing and stay out of our way.”

Enin looked upon the elf with a puzzled expression. “I am not standing in you way. Do what you think you must.”

Holli could not leave it at that. “And what if I say I must do more than simply bring them to Tabris? What if I say I feel I have to help them in this cause, that I have to do whatever is in my power to stop this sorceress?”

This caught Enin somewhat off guard. “You wish to battle Tabris? Do you understand the consequences of such a decision? No matter what happens, there will be a shift in the balance. There is great weight in what you intend to do, it will affect many things. You can’t simply do this on a whim.”

Holli shook her head. “It is not a whim. And as to the balance and the effect, that is how you see it. I have never been able to accept that. What I do is based on what I think is the best course of action. Though I am no longer allowed to protect my camp, I am still an elf guard. That is what I am. I look at this situation and realize that it’s not about the balance of magic power. It’s about what should be done, what needs to be done. You wish to try to break everything down to some kind of philosophical question regarding interference and people’s choice. It is indeed about choice, but it is not as complicated as you wish to make it. It’s about my choice and what I think I should do. Tabris has done great harm here and she will do it again. Even if she doesn’t do it again, she has to be held accountable for what she has done here. She has to be stopped.”

“You are not powerful enough to defeat her on your own,” Enin said in a warning tone.

Here Holli became resolute. “Sometimes you don’t need to be more powerful to do what needs to be done. There is more to any battle than that. I will also not be on my own. I will be with Lief and Ryson, if indeed the delver agrees to accompany us.”

Ryson, instead of answering the questioning glance of Holli, turned a plea to the wizard. “You can stop this right now, Enin. I know you have the power.”

Enin looked into the delver’s eyes, and though he found it extremely difficult to deny Ryson’s request, he made it clear he could not bring himself to intervene. “Yes, I have the power, but do I have the right? You wanted me to remove the goblins from Connel. And yet, you all seemed to handle that quite well on your own. In fact, the way I see it, much good has come from me not interfering. The dwarves choose to use this opportunity to come to the aide of Connel. The people of this city once believed the dwarves to be their enemies, now they think differently. The dwarves now feel they have restored their honor and have let go of their collective guilt. It seems to me that my decision to stay out of the way was the correct one, but you quickly forget this. Now, you want me to go to the Lacobian and deal with Tabris.”

Ryson did not give up so easily in the face of Enin’s argument. “But this is different. This isn’t freeing a city, this is just one person, a powerful sorceress. You’re the best equipped to deal with her. You don’t even have to kill Tabris. You can contain her, place her in a magical prison or something. Why can’t you do this?”

Lief turned on the Enin as well. “What say you wizard? You really can not hope to argue with his logic. You of all people know how much a threat this sorceress can be. Are you going to just stand by and let her empower another serp just so she can gain more test subjects for her spells? Or will you finally act?”

Holli added her own thoughts. “You yourself said Tabris turned to evil. Those were your own words. She has done a terrible thing here and she must not be allowed to simply walk away.”

Enin felt as if he was being unfairly outnumbered, that those he called friend were now completely disregarding his own understanding of the situation. He appeared shocked and sounded more than angry. A fury was growing in him and it became apparent in his words. “How many times do I have to tell you people? Am I speaking some strange language? Is it so very difficult to understand? Really, I want to know? For the love of Godson, it is not that complicated! Why is it you wish me to insert myself into the paths of others. I am not some god that you can come to in order to solve every problem that comes into existence. There are certain things we all must face—events, circumstances, people, life paths that we can not escape. We will face them whether we want to or not. That is destiny. How we deal with these events is our choice. No one dictates these decisions. We make them on our own. We can meet our challenges