Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (26 page)

"Do you note any signs of
distress in what you can hear?" Holli asked.

"No. They're not moving, at
least not running or fighting. There's nothing that would indicate any kind of
conflict."

"The strong magic concerns
me," the elf admitted and she turned her attention back to the wizard.
"Anything you can sense from the magic? Its purpose?"

"It's constant and powerful.
It's also unique in certain properties. It matches the sensations I received
from the elf camp."

Holli looked across the barren
land. She knew the delver was well suited for the job she had in mind, but
based on the circumstances, she believed he would require additional security.
She decided Jure's talents were needed again as well.

"Can you place a defensive
shield over the delver that would protect him from any magical traps?" she
asked of the wizard.

"Traps?" Jure noted with
a hint of surprise. The energy aura was so strong that he doubted hidden
magical snares were the true danger. Still, he deferred to Holli's tactical
plans and offered what he could. "Well, I could place a spell of
deflection around him. Any magical energy would be disbursed away from him, but
it would only be temporary, a very short duration."

"I believe that is all we
will need." Holli turned to Ryson. "I do not want to stumble forward
without greater information. I would consider a sight spell, but a sorcerer of
great power could potentially distort it. I need something I can depend on. I
need you."

"What do you want me to
do?" Ryson asked.

"A fast scout. I want you to
rely on your speed as well as your senses. Do not try to observe every last
detail, but gain an overall view of what is ahead of us."

"I can do that," Ryson
agreed. Not out of fear but out of caution, he wanted to understand Holli's
concerns. "You think there are magical traps waiting for us? Because if
there are, I won't be able to sense them."

"I believe it is doubtful. I
think whoever has done this has far too much power to bother with traps, but I
would rather take the precaution. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Holli nodded to Jure.

The wizard conceived a spell of
deflection, one that would disburse magic as opposed to absorb it. It was the
most efficient way to ensure the delver's safety against any traps. A perfect
circle of white magic appeared around Jure's wrists. When he gently pressed his
hands toward the delver, the magic spun off his hands and encircled Ryson's
body. After but a moment, it disappeared.

"It won't last long,"
Jure warned, "but it's a fairly solid defense. You will be shielded
against any magical attack, but only magic. It won't do any good against arrows
and swords, or even claws and teeth."

"Don't worry about it. I
don't sense any dark creatures nearby, other than those razor crows, and I'm
not really worried about them. All I can sense are the elves, and they're
fairly close."

"I know it will be
difficult," Holli acknowledged, "but open your senses to everything.
Do not try to analyze any of it. Simply obtain what you can. Trust me on that.
Run in and run out. That is all we will need."

"This won't take long,"
Ryson responded.

The delver wasted no further time
on words. He turned toward the scent and sound of the elves and dashed toward
them in a blur of motion. Trusting completely in Jure's spell, he moved almost without
care. He sensed no danger in the form of dark creatures, so he did not have to
worry about any physical attack. It was only the magic that could harm him, but
not while under the protection of Jure's incantation.

His delver eyes scanned the ground
before him, charted the safest path across the rocky terrain. His legs carried
him fluidly over the harsh ground, and his perfect balance allowed him to
adjust to the uneven land. He raced across a small hill, then leapt over a
ravine and finally rushed up to the top of the rocky bluff.

Upon reaching the high ledge,
Ryson turned hard to his right. The ground in front of him declined quickly
into a much lower clearing that stretched out for a great distance. Though he
spotted the elves instantly, he could not see them clearly, and the cause
snatched his attention.

The enormous dome that appeared
like a translucent, overturned bowl defied Ryson's expectations of reality even
as he rushed across the tortured terrain of a nightmare realm. The walls forged
a shadowed but transparent curtain that flowed down from the sky. While he
could see through the entire barrier, he could not dismiss its overwhelming
presence. Its immense size astonished the delver and he could not imagine the
force of will necessary to create such a magical fortification.

Taking hold of his senses and
forcing any astonishment clear of his intended purpose, Ryson continued to run
toward the magical wonder. His eyes scanned the whole of the barrier just as he
took several great breaths through his nostrils. He opened his ears to every
sound. He did just as Holli asked. He didn't pause to consider what he saw,
smelled or heard. He simply took it all in as he raced along the open grounds
of the lowland clearing.

He decided not to touch the
translucent wall that surrounded the gathering of elves. He wasn't sure what
the reaction might be between it and the magical shield Jure placed around him.
Instead, he rushed entirely around the large dome in order to ensure it was
complete. He found no breaks in the wall.

For all the elves he could see, he
did not observe any injuries. They all seemed in good health, though their
spirits seemed bleak. It was not a surprise. He could not imagine what it would
be like to be held captive in such an oppressive prison. The dark realm was
desolate enough on its own. To be trapped for long under a massive and unmoving
shadow would likely have driven the delver mad.

There were no dark creatures near
the dome, other than the few razor crows flying overhead, but they were outside
the shaded wall. It was the one shred of optimism he could find. He could not
imagine why the elves had been corralled in such a manner, but at least he saw
no imminent danger to their well-being.

After completing his dash around
the barrier, Ryson rushed back to Holli and Jure.

"I found them. They look
alright, but they're under some kind of barrier. I'm not sure..."

Holli cut him off.

"Do not try to explain it.
Just keep your mind focused upon everything you sensed." She then turned
to Jure. "Please remove your spell."

Jure did so with a wave of his
hand.

Without another word, Holli cast a
spell of her own. A green octagon emerged from her fingertips. It expanded as
she spread her arms outward. It engulfed the three of them as she placed one
hand on Ryson's shoulder and the other on Jure's.

Instantly, they shared the full
sensations of Ryson's memory. Ryson himself found the recollection
strengthening in his own mind just as it passed to Holli and Jure. He saw the
overwhelming dome, even relived the sense of awe he felt when he first saw it.
Deep in his mind, he recalled his inspection of the elves, heard their mumbled
discussions with enhanced clarity. He even smelled the smoke of their small
fires as if they were burning right next to him. The crispness of the memory
surprised him, surpassed his recollection of the actual event.

Holli removed her hands from her
companions once the memory was passed in full. Both she and Jure had been able
to experience every sensation Ryson acquired during his scout and with the same
vivid recollection.

Holli engaged them both with her
considerations, disregarding any fascination with the results of her spell.

"No visible threats,"
she concluded. "Razor crows, but not enough to pose any true danger. The
grounds are clear of dark creatures both inside the dome and across the lowland
clearing. The elves have secured a camp. They have guards in the trees and at
the perimeter. They also seem to have obtained significant supplies of food and
water."

"The barrier is remarkable,"
Jure added. "It's stable but translucent, and apparently uniform and
unbroken. It appears to have been in place for some time. Amazing."

"There did not seem to be any
magical traps," Holli noted. She then looked to Ryson. "Do you feel
it is safe to approach?"

"I didn't see anything that
might be a problem, other than the barrier."

"That does appear to be the
main obstacle, but you were able to hear the elves, which means they can hear
us. We can communicate with them, and that should be our next objective."

"I would like to get a closer
look at that barrier," Jure requested.

"Then let us proceed."

Ryson took the lead and guided the
elf and wizard over the few obstacles before them and to the very edge of the
barrier. The delver's earlier scout had already gained the attention of the elf
guards at the perimeter, and two figures moved toward them from the center of
the camp.

With the barrier between them, the
elf guard captain, Birk Grund, and the camp elder, Shantree Wispon, greeted the
newcomers with growing optimism. They had been found... and by Holli Brances no
less. Though the powerful wizard of Connel was not with them, the two trapped
elves could not deny the hope that rescue was near.

After a brief discussion revealing
the extent of their capture and the identity of their captor, the two elf
leaders allowed Holli and Jure to consider the implications of the additional
information and to devise a plan of liberation.

Considering the full extent of
what they learned, Holli could not avoid the obvious conclusion.

"Ansas wanted to bring me
here," she declared.

"Maybe the both of us,"
Jure added.

"That is true. Together we
defeated him in Pinesway, and I forced him to accept banishment in the dark
realm. He has been here ever since, perfecting his abilities and perhaps
planning his revenge."

"Maybe we shouldn't be
hanging around here waiting for him to notice us," Ryson offered.

"Also true," Holli
agreed. "We need to get everyone back to Dark Spruce as soon as
possible."

Though her abilities as a magic caster
were growing, she knew she could not break through the magical barrier. Jure,
however, was blessed with greater skills.

"Can you free them?" she
asked of the wizard.

"I've been analyzing the
barrier," Jure admitted. "It doesn't require additional energy to
maintain its existence, just the magic it was given at the initial casting.
It's also blocking all teleportation and portal spells by slightly
destabilizing the space within the dome. Portals can't be opened, and space for
teleportation can't be condensed because of the unstable conditions. A clean
path can't be created."

"But can you break
through?" the elf pressed.

"I think so."

"We have tried," the elf
guard captain revealed. Birk explained the attempts made to destroy the wall
and how they failed.

Jure considered everything he was
told but did not lose faith in his ability to conquer the barrier. He didn't
wish to seem boastful, but his power and his circumstances allowed for a
different approach. He quickly described his intentions.

"You were limited on what you
could do because you were trapped on the inside," Jure noted. "I'm
not. The instability of the space inside the dome in relation to the stability
of the barrier itself is the key. I can't teleport us in or anyone out, but I
can cast a teleportation spell on the exterior of the wall itself. That should
create enough disturbance to shatter it."

"You're going to try to
teleport the barrier?" Ryson asked, curious about the technique.
"Where are you going to send it?"

"I'm not really going to send
it anywhere. I just want to compress the space that the barrier itself
occupies. In essence, I will teleport the outer shell back upon itself. When I
do, the instability within the barrier should shift and press against the wall.
If that happens, I believe the whole thing will collapse."

"There will be no need for
that," a firm voice announced. "That would take too much of your
magic, and I don't want you blaming your defeat on any loss of energy. I want
you to know that I bested you when you were at full power."

Ansas walked up to the group
following the same trail Ryson had used to reach the edge of the barrier. The
sorcerer revealed no emotion as he faced the elf guard and the wizard who had
once defeated him and forced him into exile.

"I give you credit,
though," the sorcerer continued. "Your idea was sound. It would have
worked, but as you will see, it's not necessary."

For but a moment, he disregarded
them all and concentrated on the barrier he created. Ansas showed no concern
for his safety, even as he stood before those he viewed as enemies. With a wave
of his hand, the barrier dissolved.

"The elves are free to leave
as they wish. They may construct a portal back to their forest at their
leisure. I won't stop them..." he paused and refocused his attention upon
Holli and Jure, "...that is as long as you two don't try to escape with
them."

Despite the presence of an elf
elder and the captain of the elf guard, Holli took command. She was no longer
an official member of the camp, and thus, she held to no traditional role as a
subordinate.

"Begin evacuating
immediately," she stated to Birk Grund.

"He still has several members
of our camp," the guard captain noted. "I will not leave without
them."

"I have no intention of
holding them against their will," Ansas responded. "You see? They
travel behind me. They can go as they please."

Ansas glared over his shoulder at
the column of elves cautiously making their way back toward the other elves. As
they passed, the sorcerer eyed Scheff, but only for a brief moment. He had not
yet received an answer regarding the elf's intentions, but such a matter was
trivial at best. The sorcerer was far more interested in the inevitable
confrontation he would initiate with Holli and Jure.