Delver Magic: Book 05 - Chain of Bargains (47 page)

Taking the shape of a colossal
multi-legged creature—something between a long-legged spider and a giant
squid—the enormous accumulation of water began its defense of the land and its
assault on the inferns. It kept its core high above the ground as several legs
or tentacles stretched downward onto the forest floor. It was completely immune
to the demon fire as its form became so dense it cooled itself before any part
of it boiled away into steam.

The liquid titan struck out at the
inferns first. Its fluid appendages stretched out far quicker than the inferns
could move. Even those that attempted to fly out of its reach were plucked from
the sky. It took hold of each infern within its vast range and ended their wave
of flaming destruction.

The magical entity did not treat
the half-demons with the same care it had shown Jure. It engulfed the monsters
in its appendages, overwhelmed them with the fluid of its body. When the
inferns opened their mouths to spit out flames, the water pressed the fire back
down their throats. Dousing the half-demons internal flame was only the start.
Jure's creation applied extreme force upon the monsters it held within its
form. It tightened its grip and exerted great pressure, as if the inferns were
sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean's depths. The force became so
overwhelming that the half-demons caved-in upon themselves until they imploded
into wet cinders.

With the inferns destroyed, the
magical creature of water turned its concentration onto the fires spreading
across the forest. The flames burned white hot, for they were born of demons'
blaze, but even demon fire could be extinguished by sufficient force. The
entity of water could focus its watery essence with frightening efficiency and
engulf each flaming tree or clamp down upon every burning blade of grass. It
moved swiftly across the wall of fire, directed onward by Jure's will until
every flame was extinguished.

The size and the great speed of
the liquid creature allowed it to complete the task in mere moments. The peril
in that one area had been faced and defeated, but many other inferns waited all
around the Great Valleys,
and there was little time for celebration. The watery entity lowered Jure to
the damp forest floor, and then, at the wizard's command, sailed back across
the lands until it returned to the river banks from which it came.

Turning his attention to the
neighboring hills, Jure spotted another bright orange glow burning through the
trees to the northwest. He called upon another teleportation spell. Compacting
space through a tunnel of magic, he placed himself back in the sky over the new
fire. He spotted another grouping of inferns setting the trees around them
ablaze.

He repeated the entire process;
summoning a water entity of great power and unleashing it against the inferns
and the demon fire that burned through the forest

When he was done, he teleported to
the next blazing glow and attacked once more. Each assault was frighteningly
efficient, ensuring that every infern was eliminated and each smoldering ember
was extinguished.

He traveled all around the Great
Valleys, covering the vast region
with the power of teleportation. It required vast amounts of energy, but each
time he called upon some great river in the distance, he requested additional
support. He connected with the intrinsic magical energy within each drop of
water. The rivers willingly obliged, eager to help the wizard save the valleys
it had helped construct ages ago. After every conflict, the flowing waters
rewarded Jure with a renewing surge of magic.

The effort continued throughout
the night, but became more difficult as morning drew near. The fires he reached
at the later stages of the conflict had much more time to burn and consume the
lands. The final two blazes were titanic struggles and Jure was forced to call
on multiple rivers. He created several water entities to battle both fires and
inferns, and despite the reenergizing power of the magic he received, he almost
collapsed from exhaustion. He fought the last handful of inferns on pure will
alone, but before the sun rose, he had defeated them all.

#

Huntston suffered more than any
other town in the valleys, even worse than Ashlan. The concentration of goblins
was the greatest in the mines under the town between the Twin Rivers. When the
dark creatures were released to create havoc, they raged with a fury that
surpassed anywhere else. Every soldier was killed, every shop ransacked, and
every home overrun. While many of the citizens were forced out into the
wilderness to the west, nearly half were killed within the town's borders.

Of course, there was no warning.
When Strog Grandhammer realized the delver and the elf had escaped, he issued
the order to begin the uprising. He communicated that directive to goblins in
the mines and word spread quickly through the horde. While the draevols used
telepathic spells to broadcast the message to goblins across the region, the
multitude under Huntston reacted immediately.

When Enin reached Huntston, he
quickly reviewed the damage, or rather the lack of it. Even for a wizard
capable of extravagant spells of immense power, the initial scene surprised
him. A bizarre outlook of inconsistency filled every street corner. An eerie
silence prevailed, and a lonely calm pressed itself across the empty roads.
Though the goblins had delivered severe destruction when they first released
their rage, most of it had been washed away by powerful magic.

Enin knew that Jure had cast
potent spells to undue the devastation, but seeing it in front of him left the
wizard stunned. There were small traces of damaged property, but they were few
and immaterial, unnoticeable in the dark of night. It was almost as if a crew
of highly skilled dwarves had rushed into the town and reconstructed every
building. Still, Enin knew that the goblin horde had raged through Huntston,
for though most of the structural damage had been undone, there were other
signs of ruin that could not be ignored.

While Jure did a great deal to
restore and repair the buildings and to heal the wounded, he could do nothing
for the dead, and many had died there. The corpses remained in the
streets—unmoving shadows littering paths in every direction—the one clear
reminder of the carnage that had taken place. Huntston was structurally
repaired, but spiritually decimated, the lives of so many cut short by goblin
crossbows and short swords.

There were very few survivors to
attend to the dead, though a few bodies had been covered by blankets, and some
were held tightly by loved ones. For the most part, the town remained empty.
The goblins had been defeated, but the darkness of night reclaimed the land
once Jure's spell of light ended. Only a few residents had ventured back to
their homes, most remained scattered far to the west, uncertain of what to do.

With a simple sight spell, Enin
raised his perception over the region. He could see the people had stopped
fleeing. Some were even trekking through the darkness, hoping to return to the
town, but they were doing so carefully, almost grudgingly. When the wizard put
it all in perspective, it was not hard to understand.

The citizens of Huntston had spent
many seasons learning to ignore the presence of the goblins. They were told it
was for the best and received orders to accept the situation. These orders came
from people that were supposed to protect all of the residents, that were
charged with doing what was right for the entire town. Unfortunately, the
majority of the people had come to realize much too late that those in charge
were far more concerned with their own well-being. Their own captain of the
guard cared as little for them as he did for a handful of weeds growing in a
patch of dirt behind an abandoned home.

There would be many abandoned
homes after the goblin uprising, and Huntston would struggle for many cycles of
the seasons. Few would ever forget that it was there that the unrest began. The
story would spread of the dwarf mines below the town of the Twin Rivers, where
wealth was used to purchase the assistance of corrupt humans. The blood that
flowed from Huntston washed over all the valleys, and created a wound that
would take the longest to heal.

Enin felt for the town. He had
seen much of the same back in Burbon, Pinesway, and Connel. When the magic
first returned to Uton, the people of those towns suffered greatly. He helped
save Burbon, helped rebuild Connel, and finally brought Pinesway back from
extinction. He hoped the same could be done for Huntston, but before it could
be salvaged, it needed to be spared.

Turning his focus to the threat
that remained, Enin considered what the draevol in Ashlan had told him. The
demon's twin was planning on releasing a great sickness across the valleys. The
wizard noted the number of dead on the streets, and though there were only a
few living occupants of Huntston within its borders, he recognized the danger.
The elements for a plague were ideal. All that was necessary was the spark of
the disease. He knew that in the tunnels below ground, the draevol twin was
working on that spark.

Holli had previously told him
about the warehouse that served as the goblin entrance to the mine. Rather than
walk past the dead and disturb the few that grieved in the streets, the wizard
rose up into the sky and flew westward. He soon spotted the bridge that crossed
the western half of the Twin Rivers. He moved to it directly in order to gain the
proper perspective. He turned back to the town center and immediately spotted
his objective.

From the edge of the river, he saw
the flattened remains of the warehouse. Several goblin corpses remained covered
in the debris. It appeared as if Jure decided not to repair that particular
building, probably out of contempt for what was allowed to happen there, or
perhaps out of a sense of justice.

Shaking his head with sadness over
the human losses he could see scattered across the nearest streets, Enin willed
himself higher into the air and flew over the top of the collapsed building. He
directed a tight whirlwind spell downward upon the shattered roof that
stretched across most of the foundation. The powerful winds pushed the wood and
shingles aside and revealed the opening to the tunnels below.

With a simple reflection of
desire, he drifted downward and into the dwarf mine. He landed softly on the
platform where Holli and Ryson once stood and gazed down the long shaft.
Lacking an elf or a delver's superior night vision, he cast another spell that
sent a wave of light down the lonely passage. He didn't care if the draevol
twin knew he was coming. It would not matter.

Just as Holli could sense dark
creatures in the distance, the wizard enhanced his own perception to reach down
the tunnel. He did not wish to waste time on a useless hunt. His magical
awareness took hold of the evil surrounding the demon further down the mine
shaft, and Enin stepped willfully down the passage to end the calamity before
it began.

Enin allowed the brilliance from
his light spell to continue even as he noted a strong white radiance emanating
up from the tunnel. The draevol was near and the illumination of its malevolent
presence filled the lower shafts with a pale light.

At first, the draevol did not
notice the wizard. Its back was turned as it bent over what appeared to be a
human corpse lying on the rocky ground in front of it. It looked almost as if
the demon was transferring the pale light of its own essence into the core of
the dead body.

"Do not waste anymore of your
energy," Enin commanded.

The demon seemed to flinch, as if
startled, but it did not turn around. The transfer of light continued, but the
stream dimmed ever so slightly. Even as the fiend addressed the wizard, it made
no move to face him.

"I did not expect you here so
soon," the twin admitted, as if it could not think of anything else to
say.

"Your brother sent me."

"Not a surprise."

"You know who I am?"
Enin wished to confirm.

"I do."

"Then you know I won't let
you succeed."

Without another word, the wizard
placed one arm out in front of him and the other behind. Two perfect circles
swayed around his shoulders until he flung them in opposite directions. The
ring that shot forward sailed passed the draevol and erupted in a flash of
white fire further down the mine shaft. The second ring sparked in the same
manner but behind the wizard in the passage that led back up to the platform.
White energy crackled all along the walls, ceiling, and floor of the shaft,
connecting the two points.

The demon would still not turn to
face the wizard, but it raised its head slightly as if to sniff the air.

"You sealed us off. Quite a
powerful barrier. Completely solid. Impressive," the twin grumbled.

"And efficient. Even magic
itself can't penetrate it. We are locked in here together until I drop the
barrier or one of us opens a dimensional portal."

"And what is it you
recommend?"

"Leave this land... this
realm, completely."

"And what of the plague I
have already prepared?"

"Take it with you."

"A waste."

"Consume the magic as you
will in your dark lands, but it will not be unleashed here."

"And if I told you it already
was unleashed."

"I would not believe you. I
can sense where the energy lies. It hasn't left this chamber."

"True, but it's no longer
completely within me, either."

"I'm aware of that, but now
you're aware that nothing will leave this space without my approval."

"And what's to stop me from
returning to my realm and then coming back here again?"

"Give me a little credit. You
are a
full
demon, as is your brother.
Your entrance into this world is not as easy as other dark creatures. You can
open portals, but passing through them is another matter. It can be done, but
not without cost. As a demon, you can wait at the edges of existence, even in
the space between life and death, but once you pass through into the physical
plane and force your will upon this existence—as you have already done—your
reality changes. You won't be able to come back. You know that as well as I
do."