Spirit Past (Book 8) (37 page)

"Haven, end your spell and conserve your strength. You will be needed again soon."

The elf sorceress did as she was instructed. She also began to pull upon energy from Uton. With part of her essence remaining in the physical realm of elves and humans, she could refresh her pool of magic without contaminating her core with the corrupt energy of Demonspawn.

Holli pulled the bow from her shoulder, and she called to both Dzeb and Jure.

"Dzeb, the remaining dieruhnes will rush her. Do not let any through."

The giant stepped in front of Linda and glared intensely at any demon that ventured near. Dzeb said nothing, but by his expression, Holli knew he would not be moved.

"Jure!" the elf guard continued. "Use concentrated force blasts. Break up the groups and keep them from attacking in numbers."

Jure understood the strategy. Two or three dieruhnes would not have a chance at getting past Dzeb. They were slow and ponderous, and though each demon was strong enough to cast off a dozen dwarves at a time, they were no match for the sheer power of a determined cliff behemoth. Jure simply had to ensure they did not reach Linda by using superior numbers to distract the giant.

His spells would require more precision than power, and thus, he would also conserve energy. Pinpointing several large groups closing in on Linda's position, Jure targeted numerous demons and hit them with blasts of sheer force. He kept hammering away at one dieruhne after another, breaking up packs and leaving them to rush into the cliff behemoth in substantially smaller numbers.

While dieruhnes stood tall in their own right, they appeared almost dwarfish compared to the mighty giant. They held to magically enchanted tridents, but the lightning of their spears could not scratch the thick hide of the behemoth. With their minds warped by the commands of the serp, they ran into the titan with mass abandon and the results were all too predictable.

Dzeb met each demon with a defiant swat of a mighty hand. He sent dieruhnes flying backward. Some fell into the chasms opened by Jure's spell. Others hit the barren ground with such force they continued to roll far off into the grayness that encompassed the region.

Stepping to the left and then his right, Dzeb revealed amazing quickness, moved far faster than the demons expected. He found no joy in punishing the beasts, but he did not hesitate in unleashing the full extent of his strength. As far as he was concerned, he stood in a land removed from Godson and filled by creatures who opposed His word. To Dzeb, it was an obvious battle of righteousness against the wicked, and he would perish before he allowed the demons to prevail.

Just as Jure continued to harass the demon packs,  Holli dispatched several dieruhnes with her bow. She chose creatures disoriented by the force spells or knocked to the ground by Dzeb's thunderous strikes. She targeted the vulnerable areas around their necks. Those that were mortally wounded did not die immediately, but they chose to disregard Linda and focus their attacks on the elf guard, seeking revenge before they died. Holli was forced into evasive maneuvers, but each demon that chased her was one less that would hunt Linda.

Once she had a sizable number of wounded demons following her, she led them to the edge of a chasm, leapt over the crevice and allowed Jure to force them over the ledge with a spell of irresistible force.

With every dieruhne eliminated from the field, Holli reassessed the battle. Ryson continued to hound the darowks and forced them all to a safe perimeter. Dzeb remained steadfast in guarding Linda while Haven and Jure revitalized their magical pools with energy from Uton.

The first defense was successful. She knew additional demons were on their way, but hopefully Ansas would achieve his own aims before further battle was necessary. As she looked back to the sorcerer to determine his progress, her eyes filled with fury.

The sorcerer had allowed a darowk to engulf the head of Scheff. Though the animated corpse no longer needed air, Holli could not imagine why Ansas would be so careless. Scheff was almost as important as Linda.

"What are you doing?" Holli demanded as she raced over to the sorcerer and prepared to fight the darowk with her own emerald magic.

"Be still!" the sorcerer commanded.

"I will not be still! It was you who pointed out the significance of Scheff's corpse. How can you allow a darowk to attack him?"

"I'm not simply allowing it. I am forcing the issue. I isolated the darowk from the pack and pulled it toward me before the delver, or you, noticed. It is the tool I need."

"Tool?"

"This is not the time!" Ansas shouted.

At that same moment, Ryson rushed forward. The appearance of the darowk shocked him. He could not imagine how he missed one, but the darowks were no longer his main concern.

"This is about to get worse," he warned. "The darowks are regrouping, but there's more. There are winged demons just beyond that gray mist. I can't really see them, but I can hear them. There's something else under them, something big. I have no idea what it might be. There may be more than one. I can hold off the darowks, but I don't know what to do about the others."

"Ansas!" Holli roared. "What are you..."

"I told you to be still! If I'm right, you will not have to worry about any of these demons in a moment. If I'm wrong, none of it will matter."

Before Holli could protest further, the sorcerer issued a command to Jure.

"You have the ability to follow magical flows. This darowk is under the influence of the serp Macheve. Do not use your perception, but rather cast a spell and allow your magic to flow over those lines of influence."

With so much at stake, Jure was not ready to simply follow Ansas blindly.

"Why?"

Ansas almost erupted with impatience, but he could not afford to argue with the wizard.

"Because we are here to trap Macheve! Your spell will isolate her."

Still, Jure would not act on the sorcerer's orders alone. The wizard looked to Holli. Only when the elf guard nodded did he cast the spell.

When Jure's white magic entered the darowk, the demon of smoke began to quiver. It seemed to lift itself slightly away from Scheff's head only to be forcibly shoved back down.

"What's happening?" Holli demanded.

"Macheve senses the magic," Ansas explained. "She is trying to cut off the darowk. She has released control of it, and it has tried to flee. I am containing it and using Jure's spell to reestablish contact with the serp. There! I have her!"

Ansas cast one more spell. A ring of ebony energy encircled Scheff and the darowk. The smoke demon was pushed further inside the elf corpse and eventually disappeared from sight completely.

Once Ansas forced the merging of the darowk with the remnants of magic at Scheff's core, he was able to use the very fabric of Demonspawn to obtain the victory he sought. The winds of the realm carried hate, fear and sadness, but they all existed on the basis of previous conduct. The currents of ebony magic which ran so strong in the sorcerer were not only based on the means of alteration. They also thrived in the shadows of the past. While he could not change the course of the prevalent deeds cascading through Demonspawn, he could emphasize them. In essence, he accentuated the influence between serp and demon.

Macheve could not erase the influence she had used upon the darowk, nor could she deny her greed and perverse desire for control. Her connection to both Reiculf and the smoke demon would prove to be her undoing.

Using Scheff's core with its overlapping links and Jure's spell as a map to Macheve,  Ansas tied the mass of energy together. Altering the magic that allowed the serp to control the darowk, Ansas yanked at Macheve's essence and turned the darowk's powers back upon her.

The serp could feel the invasion of magic, but she was unable to stop it. Reiculf's energy remained woven tightly into her own core. Though the incursion did not come from Reiculf himself but rather the remnants of magic trapped within Scheff, the passage could not be blocked. She could not control herself.

Her hands raised to her own neck. Her clawed fingers gripped her throat tightly. She began to squeeze with all her might.

The sharp tips of her claws cut into her scaled skin. She gasped painfully for air even as she continued to crush her own airway. The realm around her turned a darker gray. Losing consciousness, she began to collapse but her hands would still not loosen their grip.

Before the serp's body hit the ground, a dozen lesser demons leapt upon her and feasted on the flesh. After every last scrap was devoured, Macheve's empty bones sank into the powdery ash of Demonspawn.

"Ryson," Holli ordered. "Ensure the demons have retreated and are not massing for another attack."

The delver did as he was asked and rushed off to scout the forward grounds.

"They
will
disperse," Ansas offered with far more confidence than the others wished to allow, "at least for now. When Macheve perished, her influence over the demons ended. Reiculf will eventually reestablish control over them, but we have earned a reprieve."

"Macheve is dead?" Holli wished to confirm.

"Definitely."

For the most part, it was welcome news, though Dzeb shook his head with obvious sadness. The others appeared more confused than troubled over what had actually transpired.

"You want to tell us what just happened?" Jure questioned.

"Isn't it obvious? No?" Ansas sighed. "Very well, I suppose I will have to explain. When the demons attacked, I realized Macheve was influencing their actions. Reiculf was making it difficult for me to find any link between Scheff and the serp, but he couldn't hide the serp's influence over the darowks. I chose one lurking off to the side and encouraged the demon to attack Scheff. I knew that destroying  the elf corpse would be a priority, but before it could do any damage, I managed to use my magic to its full potential. I altered the connection between the smoke demon and serp, reversed the influence. Instead of Macheve controlling the demon, the darowk's natural tendencies were turned back on the serp. Macheve choked herself to death, just as a darowk would have wanted."

"And why was my spell necessary?" the wizard challenged.

"Once I forced the darowk into Scheff's core, its demonic presence was awash in Reiculf's magic. As I said, Reiculf was making it difficult for me to follow the magic. He was flooding Scheff with waves of energy. I needed to maintain a clear path to Macheve to keep the serp from breaking the link she had established. I followed the path your spell created."

Ryson returned from his scout with additional good news.

"The demons are retreating. The larger ones seemed to have vanished, and the winged beasts have flown off. The darowks broke up, too. Some smaller creatures are still lurking about in the outskirts. They seem to be looking to return to this region, but I don't think they're a real threat to us."

"I told you," Ansas bragged. "Once the serp was extinguished, the demons had lost their direction."

"So Macheve is really dead?" Ryson asked.

"It appears that way," Holli advised.

"So that's it then, right? We've cut off Reiculf."

"We have removed all his slaves," Ansas confirmed, "but there is more to be done."

Before anyone could object, the sorcerer ended the spell that animated Scheff's corpse. When the body of the elf collapsed, he called out a message to Uton, back to Enin who was still monitoring their progress through his teleportation spell.

"Enin!" the sorcerer shouted into the air. "Withdraw the dead elf!"

Instantly Scheff disappeared from Demonspawn.

"All the links Reiculf might have utilized have now been removed," Ansas announced.

"Then let's get out of here before Reiculf takes control of the demons and sends them back after us," Ryson advised.

"Leave?" Ansas remarked. "No, we can't leave. It is time for us to face Reiculf."

The declaration stunned them all, especially Ryson who wished to remove his vulnerable wife from any possible harm.

"Are you insane?" the delver asked.

"I am many things," Ansas declared, "but I assure you, I maintain my sanity."

"We're done here!" Ryson stated firmly. "We've done everything we needed to do. All Reiculf's pawns are dead. He's contained again. We don't need to face him. We leave him here!"

"Do we? And what of your wife?"

Ryson's eyes narrowed with both mistrust and anger.

"What about her?"

"Do you think Reiculf will let her live?"

"If we get out of here, he won't have a choice."

"You don't understand, do you?" Ansas looked around and was surprised at their lack of foresight. "None of you do. Reiculf's magic may be contained once more in Demonspawn, but what about the demons? Do not forget what he is. He is the master of all demons. He may not be able to reach out of this realm and kill Linda himself, but there are many creatures that will do his bidding, hunt her down."

"Why would he do that?" the delver questioned harshly.

"The woman is a threat to him. She has stood upon the grounds of Demonspawn and survived. Reiculf will order any demon in Uton to find her and kill her."

The revelation struck them all, and it could not be denied. Demons had left their breeding grounds before; some still lurked in the shadows of other realms. Others would leave in the future. While Reiculf could not reach out with his magic, he retained his authority over every creature with demonic blood.

The pronouncement hit Ryson the hardest and he stalked menacingly over to the sorcerer.

"You knew this from the beginning, didn't you?" Ryson wanted to reach out and strangle the sorcerer, but his mind raced with one detail after another. "This is what you planned all along. You set us up. It wasn't just Macheve you came here for, you wanted to face Reiculf. It's your ultimate challenge."

"Of course it is."

"You filthy...  why didn't you tell us this from the beginning?!"

"As I told the elf before, it would be pure foolishness to reveal all my plans at once. If I explained every step of my plan, every intention, do you think Reiculf would have sent Macheve here, to the outskirts of Demonspawn to face us? Of course not. He would have kept her close and we would have been forced to venture into his sanctuary to face them both. Now, we only have to face him. You see? There are things that have to be kept secret."

"And are there more secrets you're keeping from us?" Jure demanded as he entered the argument clearly disgusted by Ansas' ploy.

"If there are, it doesn't change the circumstances we face. We are here in Demonspawn, and we must deal with Reiculf."

"No, not like this," Holli stated with the edge of authority. "This is not the time or the place for this discussion. We can always return here."

"No, you can't," Ansas replied with surprising confidence. "Have you forgotten? I have removed the animation spell from Scheff, and Enin has pulled the corpse back to Uton. If you leave, you cannot return without my help, and I assure you, I will not be willing to assist you again."

"I knew we couldn't trust you," Jure growled.

"Congratulations, but now you must all settle on a harsh reality, and I advise you to do so quickly. And before you get any absurd ideas, remember there is nothing you can do to me which will alter my plans. I was trapped in a realm of nonexistence with Baannat before I was released into your care. The slink ghoul expects to retrieve me once this is over. In Baannat's realm, I am separated from my magic and he can torture me endlessly. I have already faced that, so I assure you, there is not a single threat you can make which will alter my plans."

"You would force us all to face Reiculf in Demonspawn?" Holli asked, hoping to determine just how far the sorcerer was willing to go.

"Of course not. I am here to win, and that would be a foolish move."

The elf guard needed to understand the full scope of their predicament. Even as they stood within the breeding grounds of demons, it seemed the sorcerer had manipulated them into a trap to suit his own desires. Before she could determine their next move, she needed to know the extent of Ansas' deception.

"Then explain your intentions, and as you advised, do it quickly!"

"The delver and I will travel to the center of this realm. Reiculf has not only used my understanding of energy to his own benefit, he has also used pathways created by the remnants of my magic. He has, in effect, stolen from me. I will take back what is mine."

"And why must the delver travel with you?" Holli demanded.

"Because only his connection is strong enough to his wife to allow us to reach the center while the rest of you remain here. I would take the woman, but Reiculf would kill her on sight. No, it must be the delver. The rest of you will stay here and protect her in case the daokiln makes another attempt to attack her."

"And we're just supposed to go right along with this plan of yours?" Jure challenged with growing frustration and fury. He then turned to Holli. "I say we leave him here and the rest of us go back to Uton. If he wants to face Reiculf, let him do it alone."

The threat did nothing to change Ansas' stand.

"I can accept that," the sorcerer stated calmly, "but can the delver? Will he leave knowing his wife will always be in danger?"

"And how can he trust you to do anything to save her?" Jure countered. "For all we know, you may be working with Reiculf!"

"Come now, even you can't believe that by now. I just destroyed his last pawn. How would that endear me to the daokiln?" Ansas turned his attention back to the elf guard. "It seems you have assumed authority over this endeavor. The situation you face is very simple, allow me to go forward to the daokiln's sanctuary. I will confront Reiculf. While the delver is needed for me to reach the center of this realm, it will suit his purposes as well. He will wish to witness the conflict so he can be certain any future danger to his wife is ended."

"And if I refuse?" Holli challenged.

"Then return to Uton this instant. Even though Reiculf will be contained, our victory will be a hollow one. Baannat will demand the return of my essence, and the delver's wife will live in constant jeopardy."

Before Holli could weigh the choice any further, Ansas attempted to sway the argument to his own advantage.

"There is one more thing to consider; Enin has not teleported us out of here. He knows what is happening. Scheff's removal is proof of that. If he felt I was a threat to you, he would have recalled us all to Uton."

Holli would not give such a claim more importance than it was worth.

"That does not mean he approves of your plan. He is allowing us to make our own decision. That has always been his way."

"Then I suggest you make that decision. Will you leave here, or will you send Ryson with me to face Reiculf?"

"That is not my decision to make," Holli stated.

"It's mine," Ryson responded immediately, before the elf could even look toward him.

"Very well, then make it." the sorcerer pressed.

"I'm going to talk to Linda first."

"We do not have time for sentimental..."

"Be quiet, Ansas," Ryson stated softly but with a glare so intense the sorcerer stopped in mid-sentence.

Ryson led Linda away from the group, but before he could speak, she already knew the answer.

"You're going to do this, aren't you?"

"You know me too well," he replied, "but there's something else I need to say."

He knew he didn't have the time to explain everything completely. He wanted to describe his feelings and emotions in detail, but that would have to wait as well. All he could do was focus on the hope that was within him, a hope in an existence beyond the reach of demons... even a daokiln.

"I saw something here... I actually saw my own soul. It was more than seeing a ghost, or even being separated from my body. I saw what it really was. It's impossible to explain, but it's my future... our future... everyone's future."

The revelation shocked Linda and she wasn't sure what it meant. For a brief moment, it took her mind off what Ryson was about to do.

"You saw this here? Are you sure?"

"Actually, I am. It sounds absurd, but I'm starting to understand most of this. We don't have to be afraid of this place."

"If that's true, maybe we should do what Jure said... just leave."

"No, that's the one thing we can't do. We can't run from it and we can't ignore it. I think Ansas is being truthful about some things, not everything, but the demons
are
a threat to you. We don't want to live with that over our heads, and I don't think we have to. I'm pretty sure I know how to stop this."

"Can you tell me?" Linda asked, not sure if she would understand, or even wanted to know.

"No, not here, and we don't have time. Just don't worry. Trust me. You kept us safe while we were here. Now, you have to let me keep
you
safe."

"What can I say? You let me make my decision. I have to let you make yours."

She hugged him just as she did before they left the Borderline Inn. Again, she didn't wish to let him go, but she knew she had to.

Ryson and Linda walked back to the others. Instead of speaking to Ansas, the delver gave his answer directly to Holli.

"I'm going with him. You need to keep Linda safe."

"We will not let anything happen to he
r," Holli answered with a nod, accepting the delver's decision without debate. "Enin will also be able to monitor what happens to you no matter where you go. When you are finished with Reiculf, he will bring us all back to Uton."