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

for all of them had now arrived. None of them could afford to be weak.

“Not now!” the wizard demanded. “The two of you must face your foe! Linda clear your mind and remember what you see is not real. Ryson, if you wish to save Linda you must defeat Baannat. Otherwise, we all die here now!”

Ryson saw the look of terror on Linda’s face but also sensed an immediate danger behind him. Regardless of that danger, he wished to run toward Linda and help her, and an overwhelming instinct brought his hand to the hilt of the Sword of Decree. As he pulled the blade free, an understanding of what he faced in this place came across him with unerring force. The blade did not glow, for in this place there was no natural light of the sun or the stars. Still, the weapon remained a magical talisman and it held the power to reveal an all encompassing knowledge of a certain time or event. The sword gifted Ryson with the understanding that Baannat was causing Linda’s terror and the dark magic-caster was the true threat to them all.

Swirling about and facing the slink ghoul, Ryson growled with authority. “Leave her alone!”

Enin continued to focus on his spell that was draining the magical power from both him and Baannat. His own energy was pouring into the power of the attack just as the ghoul’s magical energy was being drained by the defensive shield. Even with that, he knew his own level of power remained very high and thus Baannat’s would be even greater still. He allowed himself a moment to yell a warning to the delver.

“He is still very powerful and very dangerous, Ryson! Be careful!”

Baannat seethed with hate and scorn. “So this is the precious delver that is so special. Tell me, brother, what should I do with him? Should I blast him into a thousand pieces or burn him into a cinder?”

Ryson said nothing, he only steadied himself for an attack. He bounced evenly on the balls of his feet as he did everything in his power to attune himself to the strange realm he now stood. He held the sword in front of him with both hands just below the hilt and he prepared to move in any and all directions.

“Neither of you answer?” Baannat screamed. “Then I will decide myself.”

Baannat mouthed a few words strange to Ryson’s ears and then threw his arms toward the delver. Two pure white rings of power erupted from the ghoul’s fingertips and shot out toward Ryson like shock waves from some massive explosion. The force blast moved with such speed it created its own rumble of thunder.

Even being prepared for any attack, Ryson was surprised with the speed of the assault. He leapt as high as he could at the very last possible instant and avoided the blast by the thinnest of hairs. The concussion of the explosion nearly sent him tumbling head over heels as he landed, but he caught his balance and danced away to Baannat’s side.

Enin found this more than unsettling. That strike was simply too close and he knew that Baannat had great reserves of power. Ryson would not be able to dodge each spell for long. It would only take a matter of time before Baannat figured out how to offset the delver’s speed. If he managed to strike Ryson with a spell, the results would be beyond cataclysmic. Linda would see Ryson fall and she herself would spiral into the chaos of Baannat’s illusions. Everything they had gained to this moment would be lost. He had to do something more to help the delver survive.

As if blessed by divine inspiration, Enin immediately thought of a way to assist the delver without tipping his strategy to the dark ghoul.

“Ryson, do you remember how to fly?” Enin yelled out quickly.

Ryson kept his focus on Baannat but shouted back his own reply. “How to what? What are you talking about?”

“To fly! Do you remember how to fly?” Enin insisted.

And in that moment, Ryson understood. “Yes!”

Enin restrained his assaulting spell just long enough to cast a new spell toward the delver. He focused on the exact spell he had cast back in Dark Spruce Forest that allowed Ryson to enjoy the sensation of flying, but this time he would make the spell last indefinitely. Just as two rings of white magical energy spun about his wrists, he threw his arms forward directly at the delver, and the two circles of power twisted outward.

Ryson saw the spell coming toward him, and unlike his reaction to Baannat’s spell, he raced toward this one. He allowed the energy to strike him at his center. As Enin’s energy hit the delver, the air shimmered about him and everything in this realm slowed to a snail’s pace to the delver’s perception. Ryson spun about and watched as the slink ghoul moved as if encased in molasses. Each turn of Baannat’s hand, every thrust of his arm appeared as if caught in a dream of slow motion.

Disregarding Enin’s spell, Baannat could not understand what had happened, and he did not care. He focused the fury of his power on the delver, knowing that if he could defeat him he could finally turn the battle in his own favor. He cast spell after spell, firing flames and bolts of sheer energy in nearly every direction. The ghoul held little back and plastered the entire area with spells of devastation. His realm shook with the ferocity of his attack as he showered every inch of space with spells of vicious intent.

Ryson, however, moved with uncanny speed, quickness well beyond that of even a full-bred delver. And it was not just speed with which he moved. He leapt and danced away from danger as if he knew ahead of time where a spell would explode. With his augmented perception, he watched the very fabric of Baannat’s spells unfold as if restrained by an unseen hand. Even as each spell exploded around him, Ryson maintained an awareness that far surpassed anything that the dark ghoul might possibly anticipate. For the delver, dodging these blasts of power was nothing more than dodging feathers being cast at him by a slow breeze.

For his part, Enin returned his focus to his own spell. The constant discharge of the black facet of magic, the power of change, began to diminish his own vast reserves. He actually began to feel empty as the energy within him began to decline. Although Baannat now exceeded him in power, the ghoul was also expending much more magical energy. Both of them would soon reach a point where they would actually face the prospect of exhausting themselves.

Baannat, however, appeared unfazed by the sheer volume of energy he was expending. Instead, he seemed bent on destroying the delver and infuriated with each failure. Frustration was growing within him and this simply spurred on the use of even more of his power. He continued to cast spell after spell as if he could not believe the delver could possibly survive another instant. When the ghoul watched in disbelief as Ryson simply dodged every assault, he raged on with even more spells.

Even as this pale realm of pure magic erupted with raging assaults, no one within it was touched by any of Baannat’s wrath. The delver outmaneuvered every spell, Linda was immune to the magic, and Enin simply was not physically there. The fury of the ghoul washed over empty space and the cast magic began to spread out into the emptiness of this place.

Realizing that vast amounts of loose magical energy was now expanding the borders of Baannat’s creation, Enin made one last gamble to end the threat of the evil magic caster. The wizard ended his own spell of attack and turned his attention to the dimensional properties of this environment. He called on his understanding of existence and cast a new spell that would open a rift in this place. A gateway to a dark plane opened at the very heart of this realm and the pale mist began to gravitate to the fissure. It seemed almost as if the very essence of Baannat’s sanctuary was now being consumed.

Enin called out one last time to Ryson. “Do not let him escape through the rift. He can not transport himself away without taking all of us with him. This place we are in is bound to him. He can, however, escape through the gateway.”

“Then why did you open it?!” Ryson shot back angrily.

“You will see,” was Enin’s only reply.

Almost as if on cue, a wave of dark creatures beyond Ryson’s imagination bounded through the hole that Enin had opened. Monsters of every size swarmed into the pale space. They ignored Ryson, Linda, and Enin, but they set upon Baannat with ravenous hunger. The tore at the ghoul—bit and clawed at every opening. With each swipe, with each bite, they stole more and more of Baannat’s power.

“No!” the ghoul screamed. The dark wizard attempted to make a path to the rift. He pushed aside those monsters that continued to crowd over him. With one massive burst of energy, he cast them aside and raced through an open path to his one hope of escape.

Ryson would not allow it. He covered the space between them in less than a heartbeat and stood defiantly between the ghoul and the gateway. He held his sword in front of him to block any attack.

Sneering and spitting, the ghoul’s eyes narrowed on the delver with hatred. “You will let me pass. I will kill you all. I will kill you, the woman, and finally the wizard.”

Ryson responded with a swing of the Sword of Decree. The enchanted weapon sliced through the air and then through Baannat’s malleable midsection. The ghoul was cleaved in half.

The dark creatures that had entered this realm fell upon the remains further tearing the ghoul into shreds and feeding on the torn pieces. When there was nothing left, they leapt back into the rift and out of sight.

Staring into the fissure, Ryson viewed a land beyond description. For the first time in his life, he witnessed something completely foreign and felt no desire whatsoever to explore. He turned away as fast as he could.

With the realm they stood in now shuttering as if ready to break apart, Enin cast two spells. One quickly closed the rift and the second spirited them all away. The three of them were instantaneously brought to the Borderline Inn where Holli awaited.

Ryson ran to Linda who had fallen to the ground in exhaustion. He held up her head and called for her attention.

Linda appeared dazed as if looking far off into the distance. Her eyes were unfocused and her body mostly limp. Ryson shook her lightly and she finally came to. She looked about the room with a dazed expression and then into the face of the delver.

“Ryson? You’re alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. What about you?”

“Tired.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I just need a moment.”

Enin stepped slowly, almost painfully, over to them both. “She will be fine. Give her a few moments and she should even be able to stand.”

“Enin…” Ryson began angrily, but then stopped to take a deep breath. When he continued, his tone remained bitter. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for this, for bringing her there, for putting her in danger.”

“She has a gift that would protect her.”

“Protect her?” Ryson questioned, his anger growing once more. He wanted to stand and face the wizard, but he would not take his attention away from Linda. “I saw for myself, she was in pain. You’re as responsible for that as Baannat was.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Linda intervened.