Delver Magic: Book 05 - Chain of Bargains (25 page)

"That's a good girl,"
Prilgrat acknowledged. "Now, I'm willing to forget all of this... this
time. I will not be so accommodating in the future. Still, to show that there
are no hard feelings, you are both welcome to remain Ashlan. Mr. Acumen doesn't
even have to register. I'll make sure the inferns are informed. They won't
bother him again. I will also rescind my order to have either of you held in
any town throughout the valleys."

As if to indulge Holli with a
parting gift, the steward offered his willingness to answer additional
inquiries.

"Do you have any other
questions?"

"Just one," Holli
revealed. "Why do you restrict the use of magic in Ashlan."

For the first time, Prilgrat
seemed unsure of what to say, but his indecision lasted only for a moment.

"Magic is dangerous. People
realize that. If it's not used wisely, it should not be used at all."

Holli noted the steward's
discomfort, but decided against pursuing the matter any further. He was too
heady a politician to be caught unaware twice. She believed it was time for her
and Ryson to leave.

"I see. Thank you."

Holli turned toward the door and
motioned Ryson to follow her. They moved quickly out of the house and onto the
streets. No longer worried about the inferns, they stood out in the open as the
elf considered their next move.

"That was interesting,"
Ryson offered.

"I have another word for
it," Holli replied. "Infuriating."

"Well, we did get some
answers."

"And many more
questions." Holli looked to the grand house they exited and considered
Prilgrat's power. As regional steward, he held great influence, but he held
that position without the goblins or the inferns at his side. As far as she
could tell, the dark creatures did not expand his authority in any way, and
that perplexed her. "Tell me this, why would a regional steward really go
to all this trouble to allow goblins into his valleys? What does he stand to
gain?"

"He said he was trying to
avoid conflict. Maybe that's all it is."

"He lets people abandon their
homes and farms to become refugees to accommodate goblins? No, that can not be all
there is to it."

Considering the full extent of the
encounter, Holli focused on one clear point of vulnerability. Prilgrat was only
truly unsure of himself at one moment, and that was at the mention of the
magic. There was something there, but she couldn't quite figure out the
connection. She frowned as she thought back to the first time the magic
appeared as an anomaly, and she realized she would have to correct one of her
own misjudgments.

"We are missing
something," she announced, "and that was my fault. You were right and
I was impatient."

"I don't understand?"
Ryson admitted.

"At Huntston, you asked if we
should check on the goblins. I was in too much of a hurry to get to Prilgrat.
It was a mistake. One I intend to correct. We are going back."

"She just... I'm not sure how
to explain it. She just turned off."

Jure stood beside a bed where,
aside from shallow breathing and an occasional blink of the eyes, Heteera
rested motionless. He watched her closely as she stared up toward the ceiling
and paid no mind to the entrance of the wizard. Jure had hoped that Enin's
appearance might spur some reaction, some hint of recognition within the
sorceress, but his hopes were quickly dashed.

"What exactly happened?"
Enin asked, as he moved to the side of the bed.

"She collapsed. It's not like
she fainted. As far as I can tell, she never lost consciousness, but she
couldn't stand up. She didn't say anything or wince in pain. She just seemed to
lose the ability to remain upright. Never stopped breathing, didn't make a
sound, not even a groan. She just... buckled."

"What was she doing at the
time?"

"She was walking beside me.
We were headed for breakfast."

"Has she missed any other
meals?"

"No. She ate last night. I'm
sure of it. I was with her."

"And she made no complaints
before the incident?"

"No, but you know she doesn't
complain about anything, not since I placed the barrier in her mind. Every time
I ask her how she feels, she just says that she's fine. I think we could have
jabbed her in the eye and she'd say she was fine, but at least she responded.
Now, she won't say anything at all. She hasn't said a word since she
collapsed."

Enin attempted to see if his voice
might stir some response.

"Heteera, can you hear
me?"

The sorceress said nothing.

Enin clapped his hands forcefully
by the side of her head, but Heteera didn't even blink. It was as if she could
not hear.

"That's exactly what I'm
talking about," Jure explained. "After she fell, I picked her up and
brought her to her bed. She's just been lying there and staring off into space.
She can't hold her arms up or her head. She can drink and swallow. I tried
that, but you have to hold her head up for her and pour the water into her
mouth. I thought it might revive her a bit, but it hasn't. I called for you. I
was worried about what you said before... about what might happen to the magic
inside of her if anything were to happen to her."

Enin examined Heteera more
thoroughly. She remained totally unresponsive to his calls and his touch. She
would breathe and blink when needed, but beyond that, she was as lifeless as a
rock. With nothing noticeable in the physical realm to cause the paralysis,
Enin turned his attention toward the magic.

"Did you sense any spells
around her before or at the time she collapsed?"

"Nothing. And I haven't cast
any... either at the time or since."

"Do you sense anything around
her now.. any type of spell?"

"No, not a spell, but there's
a lot more magic flowing into her now. I'm not sure if she's trying to use it
to heal, but I can feel the flow. It's really rather strong."

Enin inhaled deeply, but he took
in more than just air. He purposefully concentrated on any energy surrounding
Heteera, and he absorbed even the slightest vibration of magic. He could sense
it flowing into her—a fairly substantial current. In itself, it did not cause
him great concern. She always had the capacity to attract magic across the
spectrum. She had retained that ability even after Jure cast the barrier spell.
The flow of magic was strong, but that might have been nothing more than an
instinctive response, a call for additional energy to revitalize her. Enin
initially took that as a positive sign. He sensed no adverse spell from an
external source and admitted as much.

"You're right. There's
nothing there. Whatever is wrong with her must be internal. I thought she had
stabilized, but something is not right. I'm going to have to look inside
her."

Before the wizard forced his own
cognizance deep into the folds of Heteera's essence, he pressed lightly against
her most peripheral thoughts. He simply wanted to check the state of her most
basic awareness. He was nearly tossed to the ground as he was forced back
several steps.

The near violent reaction
surprised Jure almost as much as Enin himself.

"What happened?" Jure
asked.

"I'm not sure," Enin
replied, obviously taken aback by the incident.

"Is she blocking you?"

Enin shook his head. "No,
it's not a shield or even a buffer. It was more like a surge of power."

"Did she cast some spell at
you?"

Enin grimaced, not in pain, but in
confusion.

"No, definitely not a
spell," he finally said, as he stared intently at Heteera, but kept his
distance. "It was almost as if I popped a bubble of pure energy in her
mind, but at the most outer regions of her consciousness."

"Maybe it's a good
sign," Jure offered. "Maybe she's finally trying to communicate with
you."

"It's possible, but there was
nothing like that in the surge—no hopeful desire to reach out to me—there was
just... intense power. I can't imagine what might have summoned such a
response. Her conscious thought was nearly void the last time I checked."

Enin remained several steps away
from the sorceress and showed no desire to move any nearer. He had sensed no
magical disruption until he attempted to reach beyond Heteera's blank stare.
His effort was nothing more than a simple whisper into her consciousness, yet
it invoked what appeared to be a harsh rebuke. The incident confounded the
wizard for it appeared purely reactionary and totally in contrast to his
understandings of Heteera's mind.

Previously, Heteera had attempted
to force the wizard out of her consciousness, but only when he reached deep
into the twisted paths of her essence. She never tried to prevent him from
reaching out to the cognizant yet dormant sections of her mind. It was only
when he walked through the maze of unconscious mayhem, when he raised the fears
deep within her, did she lash out at him.

Still, he was convinced that it
was not a deliberate shield placed by the sorceress to keep him from entering
her mind. It was nothing more than a rush of power, a surge for which he was
unprepared, and while it contained no clear message, it seemed to want
something from him. Unfortunately, he could not comprehend what that might be.

Jure could not help but notice the
reluctance in Enin's desire to return to the sorceress' side. He might not have
been equal to the wizard in magical power, but he had seen enough years to
develop a perception of people. For whatever reason, Enin had grown extremely
cautious, and that in itself concerned the older spell caster.

"Is there anything I can do
to help?"

Enin quickly considered Jure's
ability to access the magic within Heteera, and that offered a sensible
alternative.

"Actually, yes. I wish to
check the magic."

"You usually do that after
you enter her essence."

"I know, but that surge has
me worried. I don't think she caused it."

"You think something else is
in there with her?"

"No, I don't. I believe she
is very much alone, but something is... different."

Jure nodded, and without any
reluctance, he opened his link to the magical reservoir that resided within the
sorceress. For him, it was very much like opening a spigot. He held a direct
connection to the barrier that held the magical energy, and he simply pressed
his will upon the obstruction which would allow him to pass.

Before he could invite Enin to
probe the energy, before Jure could even say a word, the flow of magic
overwhelmed him. It flooded his being like an immense wave of water flooding
through a narrow basin. It threatened to overcome him in an instant, and it
would have had he not removed himself from the flow. Almost instantly, Jure
shut down the paths of access he had opened, and broke away from the massive
rush of power.

Even as the magic was once again sealed
within Heteera, Jure fought with a surging current of energy caught inside
himself. Without a spell at the ready to utilize the energy, he found himself
near bursting with magic. Only his control avoided a catastrophe, but the
situation remained critical. The power within him pulsed like the racing
heartbeat of a snow ogre in a full sprint. It raged against containment, fought
against Jure's will. It did not simply press for release. It needed to be cast
out in the form of a spell, to be given a purpose beyond being released back
into the air.

"Cover your eyes!" Jure
shouted.

Enin sensed the raw power building
up within the elder wizard. He jammed his eyelids closed and buried his face
into the crook of his elbow.

Jure placed one hand over
Heteera's face to shield her eyes and wielded his other hand high up in the
air. He closed his own eyes and bent his face downward towards the floor. In an
instant, a flash of light exploded through the room as if a dozen stars came
together in the palm of his hand. There was no heat, no wind, no force
whatsoever. The light, however, burned for long moments. It would have blinded
anyone who looked into it, but there was no one else in the room.

Eventually, the light burned out
and Jure opened his eyes. A few spots momentarily filled his vision, but they
quickly disappeared and his sight cleared. He lifted his hand from Heteera's
face, and though she could not respond, he believed her vision also remained
unharmed.

"Are you alright?" Jure
asked of Enin.

"I'm fine," the powerful
wizard responded, and though he believed he understood the situation, he
required confirmation. "What happened?"

Jure appeared flushed—his eyes
wide, his face red with color.

"A giant wave of magic flowed
out of her. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. I couldn't maintain
control. I had to let go, but I couldn't just release it. The magic... it
wasn't just fighting against containment. It was like it wanted something...
wanted to be used."

"I understand. I sensed the
same thing," Enin answered with a nod.

"I had to actually cast it
out. The only thing I could think of that wouldn't destroy the building was a
light spell."

"The best choice," Enin
agreed.

"I don't want to try that
again," Jure admitted. "I'm too old for that. I'm lucky it didn't
kill me."

Enin, understanding that it meant
he could not check the integrity of the magic, agreed.

"No, that would be unwise.
Still, I have to ask, did you sense anything else within the magic, anything
beyond the desire for purpose? Any impurities, any hidden spells, anything at
all that would give you an indication the magic was being manipulated in any
way, even by Heteera herself?"

"No. It seemed so pure. It
just wanted to be utilized... actually,
demanded
would be a better word."