Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (30 page)

Teleportation was a strange
sensation for the delver. Ryson normally relied on his instincts and abilities
as he traveled, utilizing the thinnest whispers of a trail to overcome the most
difficult terrain. Teleportation, however, involved travel based on magical
passages, and the experience varied greatly from one spell caster to another.

Enin tried to explain it to the
delver on different occasions, told him how the magic could create a
dimensional path and how it could condense space between a point of origin and
a final destination. The certainty of the path in the spell caster's mind and
the strength of his or her magic would affect the sensation of travel.

Enin could cast spells where a
single step could take Ryson from one side of Uton to another. Other teleporting
experiences felt more like soaring over a compressed landscape, as if he had
been shot up into the sky by a catapult only to land softly at some spot far
off in the distance.

Jure's magic was very powerful and
it seemed as if the delver had been pushed through a blurred tunnel in a single
heartbeat. Ryson did not see the treetops of the forest as he traveled, nor did
he feel the rush of wind on his face. For but a brief moment, existence swirled
around him into curved walls, as if he was in a long tube that connected the
elf camp with the boundary of Burbon. Through very little effort of his own,
Ryson was out of the woods and crossing the clearing that surrounded his
hometown.

Thankful for the immediate return,
he rushed through Burbon's southern gate. The sun hung high in the sky but had
begun its slow descent into the west. It was early afternoon, and since Linda
normally worked evenings at the Borderline Inn, Ryson believed he would find
her at their home.

He raced there without delay,
without stopping at the guard headquarters. He decided not to seek out Sy and
not to offer any information on the elf disappearance or the encounter with
Ansas. It wasn't his duty to make such reports. Ryson was no longer authorized
to act on behalf of the town. Since Sy had sent out Holli for answers, the
guard captain could get the information from her when she and Jure returned to
Burbon. Perhaps it was out of spite that Ryson ignored his friend, but it was
also out of a desire to see his wife, for he had not left her under the best of
circumstances, either.

Usually when Ryson returned from a
scout, Linda would greet him with a joyful smile and a welcoming embrace. When
he broke through the door, he hoped she would be there and happy to see him,
the uneasiness of their previous departing forgotten. He would tell her about
his journey and why it was fortunate he had set off to find the elves. She
would understand and the distance that had opened between them would be
removed.

To his dismay, he was met with
only silence. He called to her, but there was no answer. His keen senses
revealed the truth, and he knew she was home. He just couldn't understand her
uncaring response to his return. He found Linda resting in bed staring at the
blank ceiling.

"Are you alright?" Ryson
asked, disregarding everything that had happened to him and focusing entirely
on his wife.

"So you're back," Linda
acknowledged but with no expression of joy at seeing her husband return.

"Yeah, we made out okay, but
what about you?"

"What about me?" Linda
responded, continuing to avoid Ryson's eyes. She kept her gaze on the ceiling.
"I guess I'm just the same as I was when you left. And I'll be this way
when you leave again."

The harsh charge stunned the
delver. Despite the indifference in both her tone and expression, she made it
sound as if Ryson was already planning to abandon her.

"I'm not looking to
leave."

"Not this instant, but you
will."

"Why are you already worried
about that? I just got back."

"Because I can see it,"
she replied, and her blank expression turned to a slight scowl. She continued
to stare at the ceiling, but her eyes narrowed and a small crevice formed
between her eyebrows. It certainly wasn't an emotional outburst, but at least
the response broke through the previous coldness. "You come back, you
leave, you come back, you leave. It's what you do."

Ryson wasn't sure how to respond.
In a way, Linda's description was accurate. He did leave her, time and again.
He went out on scouts, went out to explore the lands. And he didn't just leave
as if going to work for an afternoon. His journeys kept him away from home for
many days at a time. He also knew he would leave again, maybe not soon, but
eventually, he would. He was a delver. It was what he did, but then again, he
always returned home.

"We try not to look at it
that way," he finally said. "I don't leave because I'm trying to get
away from you. You go off to work at the inn, not just because you have to, but
because you like to. It's what you do. Going out to explore is what I do."

"That's true. You go off to
find missing elves and I tend bar."

"I don't always find missing
elves. Most of the time I don't find anything at all."

"And most of the time I stand
behind a bar and pour drinks to strangers."

Ryson wondered if that was a clue
to her depressed state, if she had become dissatisfied and saw her life as a
monotonous routine. He didn't want that for his wife. He wanted her to enjoy
her life, as he enjoyed his. Hoping to share that pleasure, he quickly offered
what he saw as a potential solution.

"Do you want to come with me
on my scouts? I've offered before."

"I would only slow you
down."

"Who cares? We would be
together."

"Together doing what you want
to do, not what I want to do."

"What is it you want to
do?"

"I want to be happy."

To be happy.

It was a revealing statement. To a
very real extent, it meant she was unhappy, and that was a revelation that
stung the delver. He had believed he belonged with Linda, that in her he found
someone willing to accept him as he was, but if she was not happy, that belief
quickly became tainted.

Uncertain of what her rather vague
response really meant, Ryson proposed the only other solution he could see. He
didn't want to give up his life, didn't want to try to be something he wasn't,
but he knew Linda was facing something more than just loneliness. He wanted to
make her happy. Hoping to demonstrate how far he was willing to go to help her,
he offered to fight off every urge he felt as a delver.

"You want me to promise to
stay here? If that's what you need, I will."

It wasn't an empty vow, nor a
simple one. Despite all of the distractions he faced while searching for the
elves, he never took his thoughts completely off his wife. Whether talking with
the swallit or exploring the dark realm, Linda always remained in the back of
his mind. He considered what he would give up for her, and he believed it would
be anything. Holding to that belief, he made his offer, and it was as genuine
as it was monumental.

"I want you to be
happy," Ryson continued, "and I'll stay here... if that's what it
takes. I won't go on another scout unless you want me to."

Linda responded without hesitation
and without acknowledgment to the sincere sacrifice Ryson was willing to make.

"What a hero you are. That
way you can blame me. No, I don't need your promises. We've talked about this
before."

With that caustic response, Ryson
began to reach his limit.

"Yes, we have," he
responded with a hint of annoyance and a growing frustration, "and I
thought we settled it."

"I can't argue that. Many things
have been settled... whether I like it or not. Don't feel bad about having to
leave again at some point. To tell you the truth, I'm looking forward to
it."

Ryson quickly swallowed any anger
as his concern began to grow. He pressed his emotions aside, which was no
simple task, and began to seriously consider what he sensed. She was speaking
in a tone and with an expression that was foreign to him. He almost believed
she was under some spell, but he knew that was impossible. She was immune to
magic. He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and tried once more to
get some idea of what was wrong.

"This isn't like you. I know
you don't like me leaving. I don't like it, either. But we've dealt with this
before and it never came to this. What's different now?"

"I just feel
differently," Linda declared, though she certainly didn't reveal any great
distress over the admission. She said it as if she was remarking about the calm
weather outside.

"Are you sick?"

"No, I'm not sick."

"Then what is it? What's making
you feel different?"

"Maybe nothing. Maybe I've
been like this the whole time and just didn't realize it."

"But you're not acting like
you usually do."

"Am I supposed to be doing
something different?"

At a loss, Ryson explained that
even her current position was out of the ordinary.

"You don't usually lie down
in the afternoon. You have to go to work soon."

"I suppose."

Her indifference left the delver
unsure of what to say or do. He held back his frustration, but he admitted a
simple truth.

"This isn't normal."

"When is it normal to be
married to a delver?"

And once again, the delver felt a
painful sting in the pit of his soul. Unable to mask his apprehension, he spoke
out the truth.

"That's what I'm talking
about. You're making it sound like you made a mistake."

"Maybe we both made a
mistake."

The statement struck even harder
at Ryson and he fought for understanding.

"Why would you say
that?" He finally approached a subject he did not wish to address, felt it
might make matters worse, but since Linda crossed a threshold, he felt it was
necessary. "Is this all because you think we can't have children?"

"I don't
think
, I
know
."

She seemed so certain, and that in
itself caused Ryson unease. The basis for her conclusion came from some
conjecture about magic, yet neither of them had any true grasp of the matter.
They weren't spell casters, didn't study the magic as did wizards and
sorcerers.

"How can either of us know
for sure?" Ryson submitted.

"You're a delver and I'm a
human. It's not hard to guess."

"That hasn't stopped any one
before," Ryson insisted. "Humans and delvers have had children
together. Actually, purebred delvers are somewhat rare."

"And getting rarer,"
Linda added.

"That's not the point. Humans
and delvers mixed in the past and they'll mix again in the future. Most of the
delvers I know have some human heritage in them."

"But I'm a human that's
immune to magic."

"So you think you're immune
to having children?"

"Immune to having
your
children." She paused to
finally look at him. Her eyes were devoid of any passion. She gazed upon him as
if he was nothing more than one more patron arriving at an otherwise crowded
tavern. "As a delver, the magic is part of you. It's inside you and makes
you what you are. You really wouldn't exist without it, but that same magic
can't touch me. That means a part of
you
can never touch me. Don't you get that?"

It finally hit him solid, a deep
understanding of what she was talking about. His own appreciation of being a
delver was growing. He didn't cast spells or absorb magical energy, but the
energy made him different, gave him his abilities. He would pass on the magic
to any child of his. Whether it be pure delver, or part human, the magic would
have to exist, but it couldn't exist within Linda.

He stood up from the bed and
walked to a window. As he looked outside, he believed he knew what she was
saying. It went deeper than not having children. It had to do with them, about
their lives together. They weren't just a human and a delver trying to work
through a difficult time together. There was something that now stood between
them, a barrier, just like the barrier that kept the elves imprisoned in the
dark land. She was immune to that part of him which made him a delver.

It was a revelation far too bleak
to consider. The implications were staggering. It meant more than just not
having children. It struck at the very core of their existence together. If he
dwelled on it, it could break them apart. He didn't want that, not for one
moment. He decided to concentrate on the aspect of children, something they
could investigate... together. He turned to face her with renewed
determination.

"I know you're immune to
magic, but neither of us really understand it. We can talk to someone, find out
what it really means."

"Why bother? Just face it.
We're incompatible."

Another dagger to Ryson's soul;
she came out and very plainly stated that which he did not want to accept, the
very fear that twisted his insides. And she did so with continued indifference,
as if she was talking about some napkin that might not match a decorative
tablecloth.

"You can't mean that... and I
don't believe it!" Ryson exclaimed with enough emotion to offset Linda's
apparent apathy. "We talked about this before, too. It wasn't just chance
that we met. Of all the things that happened to me after the magic returned,
meeting you made the most sense. It probably kept me sane."

"Maybe neither of us is
sane."

"No, I won't accept any of
that. I've seen too much. Things happen for a reason. If we weren't supposed to
be together, I never would have made it this far. We were supposed to be
together."

Linda sighed as she revealed her
full view.

"I tried to convince myself
of that, but now we know the truth. When we met, I had no idea I was immune to
magic, and I sure didn't know delvers had magic in them. Think about it. All
this time, I've been worrying about what might happen to you when you were out
on some scout or fighting some monster that shouldn't even exist. It's absurd
when you think about it... absurd because I should have been worrying about
something else, worrying about the truth."