Delver Magic I: Sanctum's Breach, Jeff Inlo [buy e reader .txt] 📗

more until he guided Lief and Holli to privacy. They spoke for long moments in guarded whispers.

Lief and Holli made no reaction. They listened intently with focus and concentration. The woods themselves seemed to grow still, and even the wind appeared to silence during this moment of revelation.

Ryson returned from his mission. He immediately noted the overtones of silence. He did not disturb the conference of the elves. He remained in the midst of the others and quietly whispered that all appeared calm.

The three elves turned as Mappel ended his instruction. Lief and Holli moved with the same resolve that brought them to this point, but a thread of gloom hung ever so slightly upon their faces. Some of their spark had faded, and even Holli’s eyes revealed a hint of weariness. She attempted to swallow this gloom and fatigue when she again faced the entire group. She was only marginally successful.

“We must move at once,” she ordered. “We have done well to reach this point with so much light left in the day. We have been lucky the rain has held to a drizzle. I will not push this luck. Ryson, what is the situation surrounding us?”

“No sign of trouble,” he announced.

“Lauren, do you sense anything in these woods?”

The young, budding sorceress cringed, stiffened herself as if she expected pain to erupt through her body. She closed her eyes and stood motionless. Her forehead wrinkled with tension. “There is nothing I sense in the woods, but something waits for us above. It isn’t alive but it isn’t dead either.” She opened her eyes with a start. “I can’t tell you what it is.”

“It is probably Shayed,” Lief noted.

“Probably, but not certainly,” Holli said with her usual caution. “We shall remain prepared for something worse. As for those that remain here, leave guards during the night at each direction. You will not have the delver here to alert you, but a poor set of eyes is better than no sight at all.”

She examined the own bag at her waist and ordered the others to do the same. “Check your supplies for water and food, we have no idea how long we will be inside.” Upon completion of this check, she gave Ryson the sign to begin the climb. “Choose a wise path, Ryson. Remember those that follow do not have your skills and the stone grows slick with the rain. Lief and I carry long strands of rope as well do you. Let us use them.”

“Understood.”

“Do you believe we can make the top before nightfall? Keep in mind the thickening clouds will limit the light after sunset. There will be little dusk.”

Ryson shot a glance up the slope. He spoke as he analyzed the mountainside. “I think so. With the extra rope, I should be able to leave a fairly easy path.” He checked the sky, but the clouds blocked the true location of the sun. “I’m just not certain how much useful light we have left.”

“Then let us not waste any of it,” Holli stated firmly and she began moving towards the first incline ahead of them.

Ryson acknowledged the need for urgency and bounded past her. In mere moments, he was scampering far up the mountainside. He anchored his first rope roughly a quarter of the distance up. After securing one end, he unfurled it and brought the opposite end down to Holli. He relieved her of the second rope and darted back up the mountain as if running on a level plane.

At an additional third of the way towards the summit, Ryson prepared the second rope. It covered the most difficult portion of the mountain. The inclines were steepest at the center, and there were fewer footholds. The rope would allow even the humans to climb without hesitation. After obtaining the third rope from Lief, Ryson moved ahead to set the last stage of the climb. Darkness began to spread as the invisible sun drifted lower behind the clouds. The rain increased to a steady drizzle. The dark and wet ground would slow travel for all but the delver, whose eyes were even now adjusting to the dim light.

As he hastened past Holli for the final leg of the journey, she called out a warning.

“Remember Lauren’s sight. Something awaits us at the top. Do not foolishly move into a trap. Wait for us before you proceed to the point where you met Shayed.”

Ryson accepted the order without disagreement. He moved swiftly but alertly toward the top of the mountain. He chose a platform just below the summit. He stood quietly with a watchful eye. He unfurled the final rope and swung it down to the waiting party. Near total darkness enveloped them as the final member reached the platform where the delver waited.

“Just up that pass and right above us is the leveling where we met Shayed,” Ryson whispered.

“I want you to move up first, but move swiftly,” Holli requested. She then turned to the giant cliff behemoth. “If you will Dzeb, I would like you to follow the delver. You are the least vulnerable of us. The delver’s speed and your size might catch any would-be attacker off guard, if indeed such an ambush awaits. I would guess it is simply Shayed’s presence that Lauren senses, but I wish to take no chances.”

“Understood,” Dzeb said warmly. The giant’s lips curled upwards, the rock hard skin softening around his mouth to form a light smile. It was a wonder to see. “I will move forward with care, but with the grace of Godson, I am sure that nothing will keep us from His will.”

Holli acknowledged Dzeb’s cooperation with a respectful bow of the head. “I will follow behind, but I will remain under the cover of this ledge until I can assess any threat.”

Without further word, the three moved. Ryson’s figure cut through the darkness of night. He scrambled up the rambling path and was soon far beyond the cliff behemoth. His eyes captured even the slightest glimmer of light as he rushed onward. He broke over the pass at full speed and darted across the leveling, taking in everything at once.

Dzeb climbed more deliberately. He handled the rocky slope with agility which seemed impossible for his size and physical structure. His powerful, thick legs moved as effortlessly over the incline as the delver’s, although at a much slower pace. In truth, he was at home in these surroundings, as all cliff behemoths sought the lonely sanctuary of desolate ridges and sharp rocky terrain. It allowed them the solitude to reflect upon the teachings of their faith. It allowed them a peaceful and tranquil setting away from those that have forgotten the word and the way.

He continued moving without pause. If he worried over what might wait overhead, he showed no sign. Dzeb’s height almost allowed him to see over the ledge that beckoned them. With but a few paces upon the incline, his head was over the precipice and all the flat clearing was now available to him.

Holli moved up close behind the giant. She lifted her ear to catch sounds of a skirmish. Nothing which indicated an ambush broke through the angry rushes of the blowing wind. Her elfin eyes also allowed her greater sight at night, though not to the extent of the delver’s. As soon as possible, she lifted her head beyond the limit of the ledge and peered upon the summit.

Ryson caught the sight of Shayed first. Her white transparent form appeared dimmer to him. He would have expected her to glow with greater brilliance in this darkness, but he was not of the knowledge of spirits to know how they might appear in any circumstance. He said nothing to her at first. Even as the spirit’s eyes fixed upon him, he continued moving about the leveled peak. He examined everything at once, looking for signs of any new danger. Aware now of such things as mountain shags and vampires, he scoured the ground and behind every boulder large enough to hide the smallest of goblins. He found nothing unusual or out of place. As he turned toward the translucent form of Shayed, he noted the upcoming presence of Dzeb as well as the top of Holli’s head peaking over the ledge.

“It’s safe,” he called to the elf guard. “Bring everyone up.”

Nothing was said further until the last of the party reached the summit. They all stood about Shayed with wondering eyes, save Ryson and Lief who had spoken with the spirit before. Like a smoldering, glowing white ember, the ghostly figure stood out from the darkness.

Lief announced their arrival in hushed respectful tones. “We have returned, Shayed, and we have brought those who must enter Sanctum.” He introduced them one by one as the spiritual figure of Shayed remained silent.

The spirit finally spoke after the last member of the party came forward.

“I have little energy to help you,” the ghostly apparition began. “The magic is draining my own ability to remain with you. I have little power to speak so I will tell you but one thing. You must not destroy the sphere within the mountain. To do so would guarantee your own deaths. The mountain would surely crumble upon you and the release of so much energy within the mountain may damage the land irreparably. You must bring it back to me, here at the top of Sanctum. Only in this free space will we see to the destruction of the sphere. I wish you luck in your journey. I only wish I could have been of greater service. Time is short, you must enter in all haste.”

Ryson noted her voice was harsher than their first meeting. Even her eyes lacked the warmth of when they last spoke. They seemed to burn with the hint of red fire, a glow he did not recall upon their first meeting. He could not surmise that the true eyes of Shayed watched in anguish behind an invisible prison.

The elfin sorceress stood right beside them, but though she tried mightily, all attempts to gain their attention failed. Only the human female seemed to catch a faint whisper in the wind, but the sight of the disguised spirit pulled at Lauren’s attention. Shayed fought against the chains, fought against the prison, fought against the spell that hid and silenced her. No one would see her struggle, no one would hear her pleas.

It was the prince dwarf Jon Folarok that immediately took heed of the imposter’s request and began to work. “The dwarf tier awaits us first, but first we must gain entry. I will handle that, if that is alright with you my brother.”

“No one is better suited,” Tun responded, showing a far greater degree of respect for his brother than normal. Tun was well aware of Jon’s abilities in the art of tunneling and even the elder prince’s own defiant will couldn’t blind him to this truth.

Jon looked about the ground for a moment. “I am normally accustomed to low light, but a torch would be helpful for what I must do,” he looked expectantly toward Holli.

“A torch would be of little use to us with so much rain. There is also a better solution close at hand. I would ask that you become accustomed to another source first. Ryson?” She looked to the delver as if it was truly his choice over what would be done next.

Ryson immediately understood her questioning glance. Her eyes remained upon his face and not upon the sheathed weapon at his side, but he was well aware it was the sword which she now wished to bring into use.

“Of course,” he said simply as if the issue was not even in question.

His hand grasped the hilt of