Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (27 page)

Scheff noticed the sorcerer's
gaze. He didn't avoid it, but he said nothing. He still considered what he
would ultimately choose. As he moved away from the sorcerer and toward the
gathering of elves, he could not dismiss a feeling of regret. He wondered if
refusing the sorcerer's offer might be the biggest mistake of his life. He
trudged forward with the other elves, struggling with a decision that would
determine his future.

Once the elves passed back into
the fold of the others, Holli questioned the elf captain.

"Is that all of them?"

Birk nodded.

"Get everyone out. Do not
leave anyone behind... even elf guards. We shall handle this ourselves."

"Very well."

Birk guided Shantree Wispon back
toward the center of the lowland clearing. A portal was quickly opened and the
elves began to cross back to their home.

An uneasy silence gripped the four
individuals that stood apart from the elves waiting to escape. Ansas watched
the three companions with marginal interest. He disregarded the delver, but he
took sweeping glances at the wizard and the elf. After a few moments, it
sounded as if he chuckled to himself.

Jure stood stone still with his
arms to his side. He kept his gaze locked upon the sorcerer and he prepared
several spells in his mind. If Ansas so much as gestured, Jure would bring the
full force of his own magic against him.

As the elves continued to cross
through the portal, it was Holli who broke the uncomfortable quiet.

"You wanted us here, for what
reason?"

"Come now, elf witch. You're
not that dense. I wish to rectify a previous mistake. You have grown in power,
but we both know you're still no match for me. Your associate found a way to
beat me last time. He will not have the same success."

"So you are determined to
engage in some pointless battle?"

"Pointless to you, not to
me."

"And if we simply refuse...
just leave this place and you?"

"I will abduct the elves
again, but next time, I will kill half of them. I will have my way."

Jure wished to strike at that
moment. In light of the elves' abduction, the additional threat was enough to
justify any means to subdue the sorcerer, but he would not act without Holli's
consent.

"So we have no choice,"
Holli announced.

"You never did."

Holli turned to the delver.

"Ryson, go to the elves.
Assist them in their departure. Wait for us at the portal. If something happens
to us, return to Connel and advise Enin of what happened here."

"But I..."

"Do not argue. Please, trust
me."

It was the last two words that
forced Ryson's decision. He did as he was asked and rushed off toward the
portal.

"What if I objected to
that?" Ansas asked.

"You and I both know you do
not wish to face the delver. Only a complete fool would, and though you are
many things, you are not that."

"And do you think your threat
to tell Enin of my actions might frighten me?"

"I do think you should
consider it."

"Of course I've considered
it."

"And you still wish to
continue?"

"There is nothing that will
stop what I have planned."

Holli shook her head in disgust.

"This is so childish. What
should we do now? Should we face opposite directions, march twenty paces, turn
and begin casting spells at each other?"

"It does seem rather
uncomfortable, doesn't it?" Ansas admitted. "But I believe I have an
answer. Your companion is waiting for me to strike and then he believes he can
contain me. Why don't I make the first move and we can finish this
quickly?"

Ansas stepped back calmly. With
deliberate steadiness, he cast his first spell. It was of no great consequence,
a simple shadow strike that was meant to dull the perceptions of his opponents.

Jure watched with growing
surprise. He was prepared to launch a defensive spell of immense power, but he
knew immediately that such a response was unnecessary. He expected the sorcerer
to move quickly, viciously, but the slow and steady movements of his foe allowed
Jure to analyze the spell before it was even cast. It was so weak it was almost
pathetic.

Adjusting his own spell, Jure cast
a very simple light shield that disbursed the shadow before it could strike. He
had much more magical energy at the ready and he decided to use it to end the
conflict with limited consequences. He believed he understood Ansas' one
weakness and attempted to exploit it before the sorcerer could utilize whatever
plan he concealed.

A pure white circle of energy
formed around Jure's hands. With but a few words, he cast the magic directly
upon the sorcerer. The white magic turned blue and formed a sheer wall of
water, a magical shell that would surround Ansas, a barrier somewhat similar to
the shadowed dome which imprisoned the elves.

Ansas did not smile, but he
reveled in the wizard's error. It was exactly the spell he expected, the very
reaction he wanted from Jure. During his first encounter with the old wizard
and the elf, he had been trapped in the same manner, encircled by a wall of water
that opposed his ebony magic. He was trapped because he wouldn't cast spells of
fire or storm to disburse the water; he refused to stain the purity of his
castings with a hue inferior to ebony energy. Since that defeat, however, he
learned he did not have to stoop to such actions. He could destroy the barrier
and remain pure.

"I was hoping you would do
that," Ansas revealed.

"Why?" Jure asked, still
somewhat uncomfortable with Ansas' seemingly apathetic approach. He could still
see the sorcerer through the translucent blue shell and found the unconcerned
expression on his foe's face slightly unnerving. "Do you think I lack the
power to hold the shield? You're wrong. I've learned to tap into great pools of
energy. I can outlast you if I have to."

"That's almost
laughable."

"I don't see you trying to
escape."

"Would you like me to?
Fine."

As Ansas pressed his hands
together in front of his face, a ring of pure black energy, darker than any
night sky ever produced in Uton, formed around the sorcerer's waist. It
expanded outward and brushed against the blue shell of magic. At contact, there
was no blast of fury, no explosion of opposing wills. The dark ring simply
seeped into the shell, flowed outward, and engulfed the entire watery prison.

Ansas slowly pulled his hands
apart. As he did, the shell around him changed from transparent blue into a
darker, almost navy color. He used the dark magic to change the composition of
the imprisoning shell. It turned from fluid water into a thin solid, similar to
that of charcoal wafers. With a flick of his fingers, the shell shattered into
a fine, black dust.

"Your containment shield
worked once on me, but never again. I don't have to directly counter your
spells... use fire against water or light against shadow. I simply have to
alter their nature, not an easy task, but the purity of my magic makes it
possible."

The ease with which the sorcerer
altered the imprisoning spell left Jure uneasy but not defeated. He still cast
white magic in a perfect circle and he did not doubt his own abilities.

"You've only proven that you
can escape a simple water shield. You've hardly won."

"But I have. I've proven that
I can defeat your shield. I wanted you to cast that spell of yours. I think
it's why I trapped the elves the way I did. I wanted to put that thought in
your head."

"You also wanted to bring
me
here," Holli added.

"Absolutely," Ansas
admitted. "My banishment to this place was your demand, and I agreed to it
based on the circumstances of a single battle. You had defeated me and offered
me a choice... accept banishment or die. While I might have stayed here based
on that choice, the banishment existed only as long as my defeat remained
clear. That is no longer the case. Now, I have beaten you."

"Beaten us?" Jure
objected. "You countered one simple spell."

"I have done more than that.
I have illustrated how I can overcome any hue. That was the purpose of this
encounter."

Holli cast a doubtful glance upon
the sorcerer.

"You abducted an entire elf
camp simply to prove you learned a new application of your magic? I find that
difficult to believe."

"Why are all of you so narrow
minded? I abducted the camp to bring you here. I could destroy you at will.
Despite what this old man believes, he is no longer a match for me. I think you
know that, but I choose to do for you what you once did for me. Return to your
land. We are even, elf witch, and any agreements forced upon me are now
irrelevant. I go where I want, when I want."

"What if I'm not done with
you?" Jure intervened.

"You would be a greater
challenge than the elf witch, but you are still at my mercy, especially here.
As far as you being able to tap into pools of energy, you have no idea of what
I can do. You were smart enough to notice the instability inside the dome
barrier, but were you aware that I could teleport in and out of the barrier
with ease?"

"It was your spell. Why
wouldn't you be able to manipulate it?"

"Idiot. It has nothing to do
with the barrier's origin. It has everything to do with my control of ebony
magic. Teleportation is the very essence of alteration. Although any hue can
cast the spell, it is black energy that is best suited for shifting space, and
I am the master of that magic. I can reach across and through dimensions. I
have found ebony energy that is more pure than I have ever seen. It is darker
than even that which exists in this realm. It comes from a place where there is
no light, none at all."

"Good for you. Seems to me
I'm still standing in front of you. You wanted me here to prove something. I
don't think you've proved anything."

"I've already explained why I
wanted you here," Ansas sighed. "I have vindicated myself. Whether I
stay in this realm or not is now my concern. The banishment I vowed to accept
is no longer relevant."

"That is all you
wanted?" Holli questioned. "You would let us leave?"

"I have no further need of
you."

With that said, Ansas turned and
walked away.

"He's just turning his back
on us, like we're not here," Jure exclaimed.

The entire altercation defied
reason. There was no grand battle, no cataclysmic spell, no spent and exhausted
magic caster unable to continue and forced to concede. Jure knew he had not
been defeated, and yet the conceited sorcerer turned his back as if the elder
wizard did not even exist.

Holli also expected more, but she
wondered if it might have been their good fortune that the sorcerer decided to
limit the confrontation.

"Should I let him go?"
Jure asked.

Holli watched Ansas' back as the
sorcerer slowly marched away. He was not innocent, not by any measure. He had
abducted elves and made it clear he discarded his self-imposed banishment. None
of it sat well with her, and allowing such a dangerous sorcerer to simply walk
away bothered her beyond measure.

There were, however, certain
measures of success she could not ignore. They had found the elves and freed
them. All of them could return to Dark Spruce. Rather than press for further
conflict, she decided to accept the uncertain outcome.

"This is not the time for a
battle with him. We have achieved our ends. The elves are safe."

"And he is free to return to
Uton," Jure noted as he nodded toward Ansas.

"The only thing that kept him
here was his own word. He could have broken that at any time. We need..."

Before she could say any more,
Holli caught a glimpse of an unexpected commotion down near the portal. Her elf
guard instincts took over and she turned to face the disturbance. A single elf
refused to enter the rift. Rather than return home, the elf in question rushed
away from the gateway and toward where Holli and Jure stood.

Holli cut off the dashing elf,
grabbed him by the shoulder and twisted him to the ground before he could get
away.

"What are you doing?"
she demanded.

"I am staying here... with
him," Scheff gestured toward Ansas, but as he did, he threw both hands up
and cast a spell of blinding lightning.

By the time Holli and Jure's
vision cleared, Scheff was back on his feet and racing toward the sorcerer.

"Are you both alright?"
Ryson asked as he rushed to their side.

"What is going on?"
Holli demanded as she struggled to assess the situation.

"He wouldn't go back,"
Ryson explained. "He argued with Birk and then he just took off. Do you
want me to go after him?"

Holli said nothing at first. She
watched the renegade elf close upon the sorcerer. She wondered what Ansas might
do if he felt threatened. When the sorcerer turned to see the elf confront him,
she was surprised to see Ansas simply nod and return to his path. Scheff fell
in behind like a loyal servant following his master.

"That can't be good,"
Jure remarked.

"We need more
information," Holli cautioned.

Birk reached them and explained
what Scheff had told them, why he refused to return to Uton, and what Haven
Wellseed had further clarified about the discussion in Ansas' study.

"Should we try to bring him
back?" Ryson pressed.

"I do not believe a fight
against the two of them would be advisable," Holli answered.

"He would not listen to
reason," Birk offered. "He dismissed Shantree Wispon as if she meant
nothing to him."

"He refused to take direction
from the camp elder?" Holli asked with obvious surprise.

"Blatantly," Birk
affirmed.

"Maybe he's not in his right
mind?" Ryson wondered.