Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (32 page)

The command appeared to alleviate
the suspicions of the three spell casters as well as invigorate their attention
to the newcomer. It was as if Ansas was offering up the elf as a late afternoon
snack.

Scheff's discomfort grew, but he
held his tongue. It was not trust that kept him quiet, for he had none for any
that were before him. He doubted any of them would be true to their word,
regardless of the circumstances. They had their own interests to guard, as did
he. It was his own desire that kept him still, and that desire began to burn.

As he stood in that small room, he
felt an extremely distinct and very unique aura of power around each
individual. The more he probed the energy around them, the more apparent it
became. As his sight adjusted to the pulse of magic, he believed he could see a
cloud of dark red envelop the male human, while a mist of navy blue encircled
the female. The infern glowed constantly, but its white face and black armor
suddenly appeared immersed in a haze of burnt orange.

He realized he could see the
brilliance of their undiluted hues, their individual focus purified in the most
precise manner. They had also agreed to Ansas' terms and found glorified
legitimacy in the concentrated nature of their inherent abilities. Red, blue,
and orange; the color of each was deeper and darker than he had ever seen
before in any realm of existence.

Scheff reveled in his decision,
believing he would find the same vivacity in the violet essence within him. He
foresaw his individual supremacy in the sheer magnificence of a titanic storm.

He almost laughed at the three
spell casters there to assist in his transformation. What were they? Land,
water, and fire; insignificant to the potential of his path. The pure ferocity
of a storm was more than just a cataclysmic tempest raging over land and water.
The storm was the raging fury of gods. He stood at the doorstep of
transcendence, of becoming a god himself.

The consideration was intoxicating
and the perspective forced further self-examination. He thought of his previous
advancements, how proud he was to reach the skill of casting in a perfect
circle. He once thought he might reach the proficiency of white magic. A
renewed contemplation on that empty ambition caused him to shift his amusement
and laugh at his own ignorance.

What did he need with other hues?
Why should he dilute himself? To cast in white meant ignoring the very power
that was his and his alone. Just as he stated to Ansas, he grasped tightly to
the belief that he did not need to reach out to some exterior force. He only
had to develop the violet hue deep within himself and he would ascend into a
higher being, become an immortal of elemental dominance.

"I want to begin,"
Scheff stated.

"We are about to," Ansas
replied. "Do you think I would waste time?"

Scheff smiled slightly.

Ansas leaned back in his chair as
he regarded the elf with greater care than he normally allowed. With near
boredom, he described what Scheff should expect.

"Despite the fact that magic
itself is pure in form, there is always residue from past spells that cling to
both the energy and the caster. Since you have cast spells in many hues, there
is a great pool of impurity at your core. The first step of the process is to
remove this unnecessary and unwanted residue."

"What must I do?"

"I have devised a method that
will allow you to cast off your energy into what is essentially a filter. I
will create a conduit between you and another object, one that I will not
identify. You only need to know that the target will not accept magic, and that
is the key to the purging. As the magic escapes through the conduit but is not
captured, it will quickly break free. It will do so in pure form, for while the
object at the end of the conduit will not accept the magical energy, it cannot
deflect the impurities within the magic. All of the shadows, echoes and
residues of your past spells will be pulled free and absorbed. The magic itself
will facilitate the purification by pulling more and more of the residue from
you and depositing it into the opposite end of the conduit. Do you understand?"

"I believe so, but what kind
of object refuses to accept magic, or reject it, especially in pure form?"

"That is not your concern.
What you must focus on is the process. At the beginning, it will be very easy
for you. The magic will pour out of you in a normal fashion, but the
purification process will quickly accelerate. The energy within you will begin
to dwindle to levels I doubt you have ever experienced. You will feel weak and
empty. You will want to break from the transfer. You must not."

"I will hold."

"I don't doubt it, but that
won't be the true test. With the most peripheral energy depleted, the magic
held at your very core will begin to join the transfer. It is at this point I
will direct the other spell casters to link to your essence to draw out any
vestiges of energy matching their particular hues. They will feed on energy
that should not be within you in the first place. This will be quite
painful."

Scheff looked at those around him
with a greater appreciation for their eagerness. They would grow stronger at
his expense, but it was only temporary. If he wished to remove those energies
that would inhibit him, he had to accept the terms.

"I see."

"And then you will begin the
most painful process. I must remove what is left within you before I can infuse
your core with ebony energy. The black magic will become the foundation for
your new magical core. Do you know why?"

Scheff could guess, but he did not
wish to make the attempt. He knew the sorcerer had a far greater understanding
of the ebony magic, and he wanted to learn, not to expound foolish conjecture.

"No."

Ansas appeared to appreciate the
response.

"Most people believe ebony
magic is that of shadow, alteration, and death. That is true, but only to a
point. I have seen the very heart of pure blackness and it is far more than
that. In its absolute pure form, it is the absence of everything. Think about
that for a moment, think about the vastness of all existence, of every realm,
every dimension. Now, consider a force that could oppose all of that."

"I believe that is beyond my
comprehension," the elf admitted.

"I respect your honesty, but
at least grasp the depth of what I'm saying. When I pull every last bit of
magic from you—and that will be extraordinarily painful for you because you are
elf—you will be hollow inside. That emptiness will be enforced by a foundation
of complete and total nothingness. You will have discarded all of your previous
beliefs and misconceptions. It is from that point you can rebuild yourself in
the fashion you were meant to be."

"I am ready," Scheff
stated with certainty, ready to take the first step into his perceived
ascension into a greater existence.

"Very well."

Ansas did not even bother to
stand. He remained behind his desk as a circle of black energy coursed around
his left hand. With a flick of his fingers, the ring floated out to a space in
front of Scheff. It formed a hole in reality, something like a portal, but its
ultimate destination was hidden to the elf as if a veil of secrecy shielded the
other side.

"The conduit is open and it
is linked to you. Concentrate on expelling your magic into it. You are not
casting a spell, only emptying yourself of magic."

Scheff understood that part of the
process. He had recently discussed fortifying others with energy through
magical links. He saw the process at work as he and the other elves attempted
to escape Ansas' barrier. Releasing energy without casting a spell was somewhat
like exhaling smoke from a pipe.

He seized the opening of the
conduit with his magical core. He felt no pain, no discomfort at all, but the
link was undeniable. He followed the connection with his magical senses. The
established link was like a cord and he could almost touch the pitch black line
that led out of him and into the abyss of nothingness that sat between
dimensions of reality.

The connection passed through the
emptiness and Scheff could finally see that it led back to Uton. He could not,
however, follow it to its ultimate destination. The line hit what appeared to
be a blurred wall, an endpoint that would not allow the magical connection to
complete the link. The cord became somewhat of a hose pointed at its objective
but unable to attach. While he could not identify the target, he understood
that somehow it would refuse any magical energy passed towards it.

Despite being unable to follow the
connection to its end, Scheff allowed the energy to spill out of him, and it
flowed freely into the black hole. It started as a normal expulsion, an outward
thrust of magic, but almost instantly, the outpouring of magic became a flood
of escaping energy.

Scheff could not control the
current. The magic rushed out of him in great waves. It felt as if he was
vomiting out the energy in violent heaves. His body trembled and he felt a
small crater form in the pit of his belly.

As the flow continued, the crater
began to grow. Scheff felt as if his very insides were being pulled from his
body. The hollowness expanded and soon he felt as if he was nothing but an
empty shell. His knees buckled, but he managed to remain standing. He could
still see those around him and he looked to Ansas with a painful expression.

"Very good," the
sorcerer acknowledged while ignoring the elf's growing discomfort. "We
will begin the second phase."

Once Ansas nodded to the other
spell casters, they greedily cast their own spells which linked themselves to
the elf's magical core. They pulled at the energy trapped deep in Scheff's
essence. They only took magic that matched their particular hue or energy that
was completely pure in nature, energy that had not been shaped by the bias of
some color.

What started as a flood diminished
to a small stream, not because Scheff tried to restrict the outward flow, but
because there was very little magic left within him. As the other spell casters
viciously pulled at what they could, the pain of extraction magnified. Scheff
began to stumble as a great weakness washed over him. He could no longer stand
and he fell to his knees.

The three spell casters ignored
Scheff's plight. They continued their grab of power and they fought with each
other over any fragment of pure energy. As the elf coughed and retched, they
strengthened their own spells to dig deeper and deeper.

Ansas stood up to get a clear look
at the crumpled elf. He spoke, and for the first time allowed a greater passion
to shape the tone of his voice.

"Do not fight against them.
Allow them to take everything from you that they can. What they pull from you,
you do not want. It represents the mistakes you have made in the past, your
misjudgments, your decision to allow weakness to enter. Free yourself from the
past and take hold of your future, a future you make for yourself. Look to
nothing else and you will be prepared for what is to come."

Ansas peered deep into both Scheff
and the conduit that continued to accept a small trickle of magic from the
elf's essence. He examined the links to the other spell casters. When he saw
them run dry, he acted.

"Cease your spells," he
commanded, and the two humans and one infern complied immediately.

Scheff found momentary relief as
the three links to his core ended abruptly. Only the conduit pulled at him, but
it did so in a much more passive manner. As he looked about the room, he
realized he could only see in black and white. All color was absent from his
vision. He did not have to see any color at all, however, to appreciate the
complete shadow that formed around him.

Ansas had cast a new link, one of
absolute emptiness. It was the total absence of existence and it enveloped
Scheff like an avalanche of darkness. It also ripped away every last shred of
magical energy hidden within the elf's essence.

Scheff's vision was extinguished.
He could not even see shadows, but he did not have to see to feel the raging
force tear through his insides. He felt as if he was being turned inside out.
The pain was beyond monumental, it was spirit rendering. The hollowness he felt
expanding throughout his body became his reality. He muttered a simple truth.

"I am dying."

As if spawned by the very
emptiness that engulfed the elf, Ansas' face appeared within Scheff's tortured
awareness. When the sorcerer spoke, the elf could hear the words as if
implanted in his consciousness.

"Yes, you are," Ansas
replied.

"You lied to me?"

"Is that what you
think?"

Scheff did not see deceit in the
eyes of the sorcerer, but he did not wish to die. It was not the reward he
sought.

"I do not understand."

"Of course you don't. You are
facing something you have never dealt with before. The abyss. The ultimate
destiny. I brought you here so you could face death and then avoid it. Only by embracing
the emptiness of your existence can you free yourself of the chains and
barriers that limit your potential. All of the magic within you is gone. There
is nothing left. You will be dead in mere moments unless..."

"What?! What must I do?"

"Take hold of what I give to
you and understand that we make our own way. Despite this ebony magic that
creates the new foundation of your essence, you will devote yourself to the
magic you can control. Your essence will become the essence of the storm and
all other constraints will be abolished from your mind."

In the fashion of an answer,
Scheff embraced the emptiness that surrounded him and at the same time gave up
on every other aspect of his life. The hollow magic would serve as his base,
but he knew, from that moment on, he would fill himself with the violet energy
that was his to command.