Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (46 page)

"Used? I am doing this
because I desire to do so. Why are you?"

"I wish I knew. Like I said,
I think this is rather pointless."

"Yet, you stepped forward
anyway," Scheff remarked.

"Because I think I'm
supposed
to, not because I
want
to. Big difference."

"Then it is you who is being
used."

"Maybe, but we've all got our
orders."

"Then that is the difference
between you and me. I no longer take orders." Scheff glanced quickly
toward Birk Grund and Shantree Wispon. "Not from a captain of the elf
guard, and not from a camp elder."

"What about that guy behind
you? Aren't you here because he called you?"

"He offered me an
opportunity, an opportunity to do what I wish to do... to test my abilities.
And it is time I do just that. Prepare yourself."

Scheff brought his hands together.
A dark purple ring formed around his wrists. Pointing his arms to the gray
skies, he willed the energy up over Jure. The dark violet circle took a
position high over the elder wizard's head. It swirled about as it flashed
several bolts of lightning at its target.

Jure moved with equal speed. A
circle of white magic formed around his body and remained there as it absorbed
each fiery flash of violet mayhem. The power of each impact jolted the wizard,
but when the purple ring finally dissolved, Jure was still standing.

"You're strong," Jure
remarked, "I'll give you that, but I think your bolts would have been even
stronger if you mixed in a little yellow or orange magic."

"You are mistaken."

"I don't think so."

"Then cast the same at me,
and let us see."

"I don't want to hurt you. I
think you're just being misguided."

"Then prove me wrong!"
demanded the elf.

Jure shrugged but decided to do
exactly that. He cast a ring of power of his own that combined purple, orange
and yellow magic. He placed it over the elf and willed it to strike.

The elf reacted by casting a small
violet cloud over his head to absorb the energy, but when the bolts of
lightning hit the cloud, flames burned through the folds and surges of light
erased the purples shadows. The sheer force staggered the elf. Scheff managed
to remain on his feet, but the power of Jure's magic shattered his confidence.

In near panic, the elf looked
toward Ansas, but the sorcerer provided no encouragement.

"And like that you're going
to give up?" Ansas asked with obvious disgust. "One spell and you
crumble. I was obviously wrong about you."

Scheff steadied himself. He said
nothing to the sorcerer, made no request for assistance. Instead, he returned
his attention to Jure.

"I was not prepared."

"Son, that wasn't even my
best shot."

"And you have not received
mine."

Scheff placed the full force of
the storm into one compact spell. High winds, driving rain, flashes of
lightning, and crashes of thunder fell upon Jure in one massive wave. The fury
was as magnificent as it was devastating.

Jure had just enough time to cast
a shield spell composed of every color. The magical field surrounded him
completely, and though it buckled and wavered at the intense assault, it held.
Still, the elder wizard had to catch his breath as the storm finally dissolved.

"You see," Scheff
declared to Jure, as he also gave a quick glance to Ansas, "I am far more
now that I am pure. I have shed my weaknesses."

"I never said you weren't
powerful," Jure conceded. "I said you were misguided. I still think
so."

"Misguided? Misguided?! No!
If anything, I finally see the truth. My spells are far more powerful than they
have ever been before. I have proved that already."

"Prove? What did you prove?
More importantly, who did you prove it to? Me? Yourself? Or the sorcerer over
there?"

"I do not have to prove
myself to anyone. I only seek to challenge myself."

"Now your starting to sound
like the sorcerer. That's what he's all about. I know. I've dealt with him
before. He thinks he's the only thing that matters. He disregards everything
else. Is that what you want? Is that how you want to think?"

"What I want is to progress!
I want to advance to a state of being beyond your limited aspirations. I will
become the very power of the pure storm. I will be the wind, rain, and
lightning combined into absolute perfection."

Jure couldn't bring himself to
dislike the elf, not completely. The elder wizard didn't like Scheff's tone or
the selfishness in the elf's ambitions, but that was youthful pride speaking.
He had no idea how old the elf was, but immaturity could be cured. Despite the
arrogance of his words, Scheff revealed a desire to grow and that desire might
eventually lead to greater wisdom. The elder wizard couldn't fault the elf for
that.

Scheff, however, was looking in
the wrong direction, accepting guidance that was potentially harmful. The elf
bought into Ansas' belief that everything came from within and the ridiculous
notion that purity led to absolute power. Scheff was considering his abilities
not as a gift but as a demonstration of pure individual development, and the
elf clearly viewed the magic as nothing more than an inconsequential tool to
manipulate.

Jure felt such a self-serving view
would ultimately limit the elf. Scheff was blinding himself to influences that
were far more important than the magic itself. Disregarding such concepts as
sacrifice would lead to an empty journey.

Comparing Scheff's abilities to
his own, Jure believed his own growth was based on a dedication to both
discipline and faith. Even when he practiced his spells in the desert, he left
room for guidance... not just direction from some experienced magic caster or
advice from a well-meaning wizard, but a desire to follow the path placed
before him. Even at that moment, he was willing to accept a higher calling as
opposed to simply forging a direction based on his own desires.

Wondering if he might see a way to
reach Scheff, the elder wizard tried to establish what he believed was a fallacy
in the elf's logic.

"If you're trying to be the
full storm, then you have to include the hues of water and light. You might
want to think about that when considering this concept of pure magic. The storm
isn't just dark clouds and wind. You said it yourself. It's rain and lightning
as well."

"You are twisting my
words."

"No, I'm just repeating
them."

"You think your storm spells
would be more powerful than mine?" Scheff asked, but then answered the
question himself. "That is what you are implying and that is why this
challenge is necessary."

"Maybe it is," Jure
conceded. "Maybe you'll learn something more important than you
think."

"I will learn how to defeat
you."

"Actually, maybe you'll learn
there's more to life than your own narrow point of view. And by the way, I'm
still standing here."

It was a defiant declaration, a
near taunt that enraged the elf.

"Old fool! You brought this
on yourself!"

Scheff cast another storm spell,
but this one dwarfed the first. It was meant to do more than simply defeat the
elder wizard; it was cast with the pure intention to annihilate him.

Thrown into the air by the elf, a
purple ring of power compacted itself into a flat disk no larger than the size
of a small dinner plate. It hovered high above Jure's head, spinning at
incomprehensible speeds. It pulsated with both fury and intensity, a dark
purple shadow throbbing with a massive potential to unleash absolute
devastation. Despite its meager size, it cast a great darkness over the entire
plateau.

Realizing the elf unleashed all of
his energy into one compact spell, Jure doubted he could survive the onslaught.
If he tried to absorb all of the power, the force of the individual elements
would crush him or the overwhelming energy would tear through him. He didn't
believe he was strong enough to block every lightning bolt as well as the
deluge of rain and blasts of wind, but in an instant of comprehension, he knew
he didn't have to.

Jure cast several spells at once.
He used a wind shield to deflect the gale burst that would rip him apart and a
water bridge to divert the surge of water that was meant to drown him. He cast
a land spell that brought the ground up around him to draw away the lightning,
and a light spell that speared through the darkness. In every spell he cast, he
focused on redirecting the energy rather than attempting to meet it head-on. He
would not try to overpower Scheff's fury, but simply repel it into the lifeless
rock around him.

The barren ground of the dark
realm would serve as the receptacle for nearly all of Scheff's magical
onslaught. Since the existence was—as Enin explained—a physical representation
of the darkest corners of imagination, it could easily absorb Scheff's
ferocious outburst of anger. Jure didn't have to match Scheff's power, he simply
had to avoid it and use the advantages of his surroundings.

By the time Scheff realized what
was happening, it was too late. He had committed himself to the one spell,
believing there was no way the elder wizard could survive. He could not retract
the casting or immediately reabsorb the energy that was flowing out of his
core. Just as when he cast the cyclone against the half-demon's flaming twister
in the desert, he had lost control of his spell.

The wind swirled about the two
spell casters in a deafening roar, interrupted by mind shattering cracks of
thunder. The pouring rain rushed down over the plateau, but directed its sheer
volume entirely on the elder wizard. Streaking bolts of lightning struck near
Jure again and again.

Each element had the strength to
obliterate the wizard, but not the will to overcome Jure's manipulations. The
magical shields redirected each strike and sent the wind, rain, and lightning
into the very fabric of the dark existence. They stood at the very edge of that
realm, at its connection to a surrounding void. The very nature of the
connecting planes fully accepted—even desired—the conceit inherent in the dark
violet storm. The selfish desires intertwined into the elements of Scheff's
spell forged a path that would not touch the noble wizard.

Scheff could feel the spell
pulling the last remnants of magic from his core. He had exhausted his magical
reservoir and it would take time to recharge. In that time, he would be
vulnerable to the wizard who was using only a portion of his energy to survive
the storm. The elf had made yet another mistake, but he still did not quite see
the truth or uncover the error in his judgment.

When the spell ceased, Scheff
would not look to Ansas for assistance. He had been defeated and he had to
accept his fate. He waited for Jure to cast the spell that would destroy him in
bitter silence. The spell, however, never came.

The elder wizard had no desire to
end the elf's life. He believed Scheff had certainly been foolish, and though
foolishness sometimes led to senseless deaths, it wasn't mandatory. If it was,
Uton would have been a very empty place, and he himself would have died long
ago.

In some ways, he saw himself in
the elf's desire to embrace the energy of the storm. When Jure was first able
to cast magic, the overwhelming sense of power confused him, even frightened
him. As he practiced and grew, he soon reveled in his newfound abilities. It
would have been easy to let the idea of grandeur swallow him in unshackled
pride. Fortunately for him, he looked for purpose, not glory. That was the key
to both his survival and growth, and it would also serve him in his dealings
with Scheff.

Jure searched for the purpose of
that moment. He remained uncertain as to what was happening on the plateau. He
had defeated the elf, but nothing had really changed. Then again, maybe it had.
He wondered if he could reach the elf.

"You made a lot of mistakes
there, son."

"Spare me the lecture,"
Scheff finally responded.

"I don't have one for you,
just a question. Do you still believe in this nonsense of purity?"

"I believe in the power of
the storm,
my
storm."

"If that's the case, then you
have to admit it wasn't enough."

"I admit to nothing. I simply
have not had enough time to grow stronger. The purity in me is still new."

"Sounds like an excuse to me,
a bad one."

"I only needed more time and
I would have defeated you."

"More time for what? That
always seems to be the reason when things don't work out. You think you would
have grown stronger? Maybe, but that's not why you lost. You lost because you
looked only to yourself. You think it all revolves around what you can do. It
doesn't. You want too believe that you're in complete control. You're
not."

"Control comes with
experience. That is what I lack."

"I don't care how much experience
you have. You're going to have to realize that there are some things you just
can't control. You think I'm here because I want to be? You think I controlled
this? When are you going to give up this notion that everything revolves around
you?"

"I thought you were not going
to lecture me," Scheff grumbled.

"It's not a lecture. It's the
answer to the question. Your belief in purity is nothing more than conceit.
That's why it's nonsense and that's why you lost. All the time in the land
wouldn't have changed that."

With that said, Ansas became
annoyed at the conversation and wanted it ended.

"Just kill him and be done
with it. It wasn't his purity that failed him. He failed himself."

"I have no intention of
killing him," Jure revealed. "I don't think he was being malicious,
but I do think he was acting terribly stupid. He listened to the wrong voice in
his head. Maybe he'll learn to listen to a different one and find a new
lesson."