Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (41 page)

Ryson checked first on Linda. She
showed no further signs of hostility and remained uncaring to her situation and
her surroundings. The delver found such an attitude as unimaginable, but
hopefully he would get answers when Enin arrived. While he waited, he decided
to address his curiosity regarding other matters.

"Why are you here?"
Ryson asked of the cliff behemoth.

"You, and Godson, guided us
here," Dzeb remarked as if the answer was obvious.

"No, sorry, I didn't mean why
are you in Connel. What brought you into the forest? I found your tracks. You
came out of the north. I assume from the mountains?"

"Yes."

"Well, why?"

"To help your Linda."

"But how did you know she
needed help?"

"How did you?"

"Because she's been acting
strange," a slightly frustrated Ryson replied, "and I knew she ran
off into the forest. I couldn't find her at home and asked the guards. How
could you have possibly known she was out in the forest?"

"It is Godson's will she be
protected," Dzeb answered with total candor and an acceptance of the
situation based on pure faith.

It might have been sincere, but
the answer lacked substance for the delver.

"That doesn't answer the
question"

"Yes, it does."

Ryson tried to make the connection
between his question and Dzeb's answer. He couldn't. All he could imagine was
that Dzeb received some kind of divine communication, but how the giant might
have received that message defied his understanding. Needing to know, he
pressed for greater detail.

"So what happened, did you
get some kind of message from above? Was there a voice from the sky, a bolt of
lightning, did an angel whisper in your ear?"

Dzeb shook his head and laughed
lightly.

"I understand you are a
delver and you want answers," the giant allowed, "but some things
defy explanation."

"So you're not going to tell
me?"

"I have told you."

Ryson held back a groan but
admitted an honest annoyance with the behemoth's reply.

"I hate it when you do
this."

"Do not make room in your
heart for hate," the behemoth advised.

"Okay, bad choice of words,
but I still don't understand it. Linda just takes off, which is a surprise to
everyone, and yet you show up in the forest right when she needs you. We
haven't seen you in some time. It's obviously not a coincidence. You didn't go
to Burbon. You were clearly following her as if you knew right where to find
her. All I'm asking is how did you know to go looking for her in the
forest?"

"What does an apple taste
like?" Dzeb asked.

Ryson was stunned by the question.

"Excuse me?"

"You have eaten apples
before, yes?"

"Of course, but..."

"What do they taste
like?"

"They taste like apples, some
are sweet, some are sour. What's this..."

"Aren't some berries sweet
and others tart?"

"Yeah," Ryson allowed,
but he still couldn't imagine what the giant was talking about.

"Do berries taste like
apples?"

"No, berries taste like
berries and apples taste like apples."

"But you still haven't
explained to me what an apple tastes like."

Ryson began to understand where
Dzeb was headed but needed to confirm it.

"So you're trying to make a
point about how you can't explain how you knew to go into the forest?"

"I'm trying to show you how
some things are
difficult
to explain.
An apple tastes like an apple because it does. I knew to go into the forest
because it was Godson's will. I can't explain what it's like to know His will.
I didn't hear some voice from the clouds, I didn't get struck by lighting, and
I didn't hear whispers from angels. I know because I just do... just as you
know what an apple tastes like when you eat one."

Ryson almost debated the contention
further, but he saw the large oak doors swing open. Enin entered the church
with Holli and Jure by his side.

Enin was about to greet those
assembled when his gaze fell harshly upon Linda. He held out his arms to keep
Jure and Holli from moving forward and issued an immediate warning.

"Will you all please move
away from Linda!"

Everyone gathered in the church
hesitated. Ryson would not leave his wife and Dzeb held fast to his belief that
Linda required his protection. Even the members of the church, those that knew
Enin's vast power, chose to defy the request. They were reluctant to step away
from the woman that had been brought into their care.

"I understand your
hesitancy," Enin allowed, "but I must insist."

"What are you talking
about?!" Ryson demanded. "I'm not leaving my wife."

"I'm not asking you to leave
her, but a safe distance is necessary."

"Why?"

"There are arasaps inside of
her. Now please, for your safety and hers, just take a few steps back."

Ryson and Dzeb would still not
heed the wizard's warning.

"What?!" the delver
cried.

He turned to look upon his wife.
She sat still and quiet, looking down at her hands with no apparent concern for
the wizard or his accusation. Ryson thought there might have been something
wrong with her, but he never imagined what Enin professed.

"What are you talking
about?"

"Ryson, please. She's in no
immediate danger, but you might be. You are much too close to her."

"I'm not walking away from
her!"

"There is no danger to
me," Dzeb added as if to reinforce the choice Ryson had just made.
"My charge is to keep her safe, and so I shall until she is better."

"I see," Enin
acknowledged.

The wizard knew if he could not
persuade the mighty cliff behemoth to take precautions, it would be useless to
ask the delver to step away. He did insist the members of the church move to
the side of the large room. Once they reluctantly agreed and allowed a clear
path between Linda and those who just arrived, Enin consulted with Jure.

"Do you sense them?"

"Four of them," Jure
responded in the affirmative, "but I don't understand."

"I don't, either!" Ryson
implored. "How can something be inside of her? Are you saying she's
possessed?"

"Infiltrated would be a
better description. Do you know what an arasap is?" Enin asked of the
delver.

"Vaguely," the delver
admitted with growing frustration and alarm. "I read about them in the
legends. They're like jelly monsters. They feed on magic."

"A common misconception. They
are not made of jelly, and they do not feed on magic. They feed on spell
residue."

"Magic... spells... what's
the difference?! She's immune to magic!"

"I know, but you are not.
That's why I believe you are in greater danger than Linda. I know you won't
step away, but at least allow me to deal with this."

"You can help her?"
Ryson hoped.

"I have to understand it
first," Enin explained. "Now, please, give me a moment."

Enin looked ever deeper into
Linda, but her immunity to magic made seeing the arasaps extremely difficult.
Still, he could sense them and their unyielding hunger. They were a great
danger to unsuspecting magic casters and the wizard knew enough of their
abilities to comprehend some of the situation, but not the full scope.

"You are correct, Jure,"
Enin declared to the elder wizard. "There are definitely four within her.
It's strange, though. I would have guessed they would have been more difficult
to isolate as separate entities, but somehow they are each very unique in a
fashion I cannot fathom."

"I know," Jure agreed.
"It's almost as if they're four completely different species, but I always
thought arasaps were nearly identical in nature."

"They have been in the
past."

"Maybe that explains why
they're inside her," Jure offered. "Maybe she provides them a unique
feeding experience."

"They shouldn't be able to
feed off of her at all," Enin stated. "They should be starving inside
of her, and yet, all four seem exceedingly strong. That's why we can sense them
despite Linda's immunity."

"Can we get them out?"

"I'm trying to figure a
way," Enin admitted, "but I'm at a total loss. A spell would be
useless. Linda serves as a total barrier to magic. I can't grab them. Can
you?"

Jure shook his head.

"No, I can sense their unique
impulses, but I can't touch them. They're beyond my grasp."

Enin turned to Holli.

"Can you sense them at
all?"

"No," the elf revealed.
"She is like a solid wall to me."

Ryson noted the contradiction and
questioned the original theory.

"Maybe she's right. Maybe
they aren't inside of her. Holli could always sense dark creatures. Maybe you
two are sensing something else, something that's making Linda act so
strange."

With that, Enin recalled Ryson's
previous trip to Connel and the delver's concerns about Linda's state of mind.

"No, Ryson, we are not
mistaken. There are definitely arasaps inside of Linda. Holli can't feel them
because she is attuned to the magical presence of dark creatures. That presence
is blocked by Linda's immunity. Jure and I can feel the arasaps on a different
level. We do not simply sense the creature. We grasp the very presence of
foreign entities and their energy."

"Can you help her at
all?"

Enin remained silent, but only for
a moment. He did not want to crush the delver's hopes, but he had to be
truthful.

"At the moment, I'm at a
loss. Linda makes the perfect sanctuary for the creatures. Her immunity to
magic places a wall between them and anything we hope to accomplish. I believe
the best thing to do is wait them out. They will eventually starve inside of
her and they will be forced to come out and feed. It may take a while, but they
cannot stay in her indefinitely."

Jure saw the dejected look in the
delver and decided to offer an idea that was sparked by Enin's description of
the situation.

"Maybe we can coax them
out," the elder wizard proposed.

"Coax?" Enin asked with
guarded interest. "In what way?"

"It's like you said, they're
behind a wall, but that should work both ways. It's not just a defensive
barrier, it's an obstruction as well. They can't get to any magic. That means
they can't feed on anything. They also shouldn't even be able to sense
us."

"Go on."

"My magic can't penetrate
Linda, but if I press it against her, the arasaps should sense any spell
residue that breaks away."

"Yes, I see."

"One or two, hopefully all of
them, will seize on it and follow the trail out of her and back to me. If I
drop my defenses, they shouldn't be able to resist the opportunity, but they
won't know you're here until it's too late. Think about it. There's nothing
inside of her for them and there has to be a mountain to feed on inside of
me."

Enin followed the plan through to
its ultimate conclusion.

"And once they are outside of
Linda, I can deal with them appropriately. You would never be in any danger.
Very good."

"You think it can work?"
Ryson asked with newfound hope.

"I don't see why it
wouldn't," Enin acknowledged. "It's like I said before, arasaps don't
feed on magic, they feed on spell remnants. Magic in itself is pure, but the
caster places his or her intentions within the energy to mold it into a spell.
When the spell expires or is reflected, the intentions don't simply evaporate.
Some of it falls away from the freed magic, but a small portion remains within
the caster. It's like a memory, but it resides in the magical core, not in the
mind."

"That feeds them?" the
delver asked, bewildered by the concept.

"They are not creatures of
this land," Enin reminded the delver. "They do not eat like you might
imagine."

While Enin explained the
situation, Jure considered the best way to entice the arasaps. He could not
simply pour a small portion of his magic into Linda, for she was immune, and it
would never pass into her. He believed the best way was to concentrate on the
arasaps themselves. He could not link to them directly, but he could direct his
magic toward their presence.

He thought of a simple wind spell,
a violet based incantation focused on the flowing properties of a small breeze.
He could not cast the spell on Linda, but rather on himself. He would become
the source of the gentle breeze, and he could then direct it at the arasaps
while keeping the flow connected back to his magical core. The magic would
deflect away from Linda, and as it did, the intentions of his spell would break
away. It would be enough to get the arasaps' attention.

At the same time, he would
intentionally lower his natural defenses. He could use the magic to create
access tunnels back to his own magical center. It would be like putting up a
'welcome' sign to any parasite that fed on magic or spell residue.

Jure did not wish to leave himself
open to the creatures, but he felt it was the only way to extract them. It was
a simple matter of poking them enough to get their attention and then giving
them clear passage to a meal they could not refuse.

"I believe I'm ready,"
he announced."

"This won't hurt her, will
it?" Ryson questioned almost harshly.

"She is in no danger,"
Enin assured the delver. "It is Jure that is most at risk. If even one
gets inside of him, there's no telling the damage it can cause."

"But you can stop them,
right?" Ryson demanded. With all of his heart, he wanted Linda cured, but
the thought of someone else suffering caused him to question the plan.
"Maybe you can direct the arasaps at me. There's magic inside of me."

"Yes, there is," Enin
agreed, "but perhaps not enough spell residue to tempt the creatures to
exit their sanctuary. We still aren't sure why they're in there, but we need to
make this work on the first try. Jure is too tempting a target for them to
ignore and he knows what he's doing. Do not worry, Ryson, the instant they pass
beyond Linda's body, they will be vulnerable to my magic."