Joint Intentions (Book 9) (42 page)

Rul stared at the delver in disbelief, but his rage was quickly quelled by a tremble felt under his feet. Red power raged within Neltus' body and threatened to tear Demonsheol apart.

Ryson proudly revealed what the demon lord suddenly faced.

"Things just went from bad to worse for you, Rul. Not only are you surrounded by spirits willing and able to destroy your army of demons, but you also face this; Neltus' crimson magic enhanced by the strength of a spirit you know you can't defeat. Do you really want to fight this war now?"

To emphasize the delver's point, the ring of spirits drew in closer. Those still in the sky glowed brighter. Neltus' form also took one small step toward the demon lord with crimson power glowing red hot in his eyes.

Rul could see the spirit of Sy Fenden had taken complete control of the wizard. With the mix of soil from Burbon and the ghost captain's essence spread across Demonsheol, the spirit warrior could bring all of his strength into the demon lord's domain. They might as well have been standing in the middle of Burbon itself.

Ryson could see capitulation in the eyes of the demon master, and he made his demands abundantly clear.

"You
will
release Sy's spirit from Neltus' core and you will allow us to leave here. And if you ever think about coming after my wife, remember this; Sy Fenden doesn't only protect Burbon, he protects its people. He may not be able to leave the confines of Burbon, but your mistakes have created a haven for him right here in your realm. If we have to, we'll come back for you. Don't make us do that."

Rul Saattan refused to speak. The only acknowledgment he would make of his defeat was to wave his hand toward Neltus. After that, he turned his back upon those gathered around him and waited for them to leave.

The ghostly form of Sy Fenden stepped out of Neltus' body. He nodded to Ryson, but also remained silent. He waited for the delver to lead them.

Neltus fell over, but he had regained consciousness. He was confused at first, clearly frightened, as if waking from a horrible dream. But as he looked up at the towering form of Rul Saattan, he knew it was no nightmare.

"Godson, no..." the crimson wizard's voice cracked barely above a whisper.

Neltus struggled to rise up from the ground and staggered away from the demon lord. He would have run, but when he turned, he saw the ring of demons waiting on the slopes of the crater. He also saw the circle of light further back near the very edge. He had no idea what the light was, but it scared him almost as much as the demons. He had no where to run.

Ryson stepped up to the crimson wizard, barely concealing his rage.

"Listen carefully. Sy is here and he has as much power in this place as he does in Burbon. Fail to follow just one of my orders and I'll ask him to deal with you... harshly."

Neltus turned his gaze from the delver to the spirit. He knew Sy had been inside him, knew the strength of the ghost captain. He did not wish to face it.

"I'll do whatever you say," the wizard stammered.

Ryson looked to Vraya and Jure.

"Can either of you construct a portal to bring us back to Burbon, or do you need more time?"

"I don't have enough magic," Jure revealed. "I gave it all to you."

"I can do it," Vraya claimed. "I can use the ebony magic flowing through this crater. It's very strong here."

"Please do," Ryson requested.

Vraya cast the spell. The portal appeared and Ryson peered into its center. He could see the clearing around Burbon's walls. It would be a relief to return to his home, but before he stepped into the rift, he looked back to the edge of the crater.

The spirits around the rim flickered once as if to acknowledge the delver's actions. They knew they were no longer needed. The individual lights flew back up into the sky, joined momentarily with the all-encompassing glow of the heavens. The mass of illumination began to break up, turned back into specs of individual light, and then withdrew from sight completely.

The light of Ryson's sword grew dim. The gray emptiness returned to the space overhead, but everyone there, including Rul Saattan, knew the door remained opened... knew the spirits would return if called.

Ryson didn't bother to say anything further to the demon lord. Nothing more needed to be said. He directed Jure and Vraya to enter the portal. Sy followed, and Ryson pushed Neltus through. The delver sheathed his sword and leapt through the rift, leaving Demonsheol to its defeated ruler.

Enin and Captain Klusac had waited at Burbon's northern gate for their friends to return. The sun had not yet risen in the east, and they stood in the clearing with torches along the wall lighting the grounds. After the last pit demon had been removed, the town remained quiet. No other demons appeared, and no dark creatures ventured out from Dark Spruce Forest.

When the portal first appeared, it shimmered with a rich blackness, like ink spilling into the open air. It took greater shape, formed a wide black ring with a faint mist at its center. Both men could see into the center of Demonsheol, and they watched their friends return to Uton.

After Ryson stepped forward from the portal, the two men were relieved to see everyone back safely. Once Vraya closed the rift, they knew no further surprises would arrive on Burbon's doorstep. Neither would admit it, but both had their doubts regarding any possible success, but complete victory seemed apparent. 

Before either could ask any questions, Sy looked expectantly to Ryson. Out of respect for what the delver had accomplished, the ghost captain would not act until the delver directed him.

Ryson knew what had to be done.

"Take his core," the delver instructed.

Sy moved swiftly upon the crimson wizard. His ethereal arms speared into Neltus' chest. He removed the magical core roughly with one quick heave. Sy ignored the wizard's pleas, and he pulled away cleanly. As Neltus crumpled to the ground in pain and despair, the apparition bore down upon the ball of energy. Once free of the wizard's body, the crimson core dissolved into Sy's ghostly hands.

With the deed complete, Sy turned once more to the delver.

"Save her!"

Ryson was shocked to hear Sy's voice in his head. He stared at the ghost, almost unwilling to accept what he had clearly heard, but he could not ignore it. He had heard Sy's voice, and he knew beyond question the meaning within the message. The delver nearly exploded with joy, even as a hundred questions erupted in his mind. Despite his overwhelming delight and his boundless curiosity, he would not waste any more time. There was more work to be done.

"I intend to," Ryson acknowledged.

"You heard him?" Klusac asked of the delver, as he had also perceived the message from the ghost captain.

"I did."

Before either could say anything else, the spirit of Sy Fenden disappeared. There was no chance for Ryson to talk further with the apparition, no opportunity to seek confirmation or direction. All the delver could do was hope that sometime in the future he would hear his friend's voice again.

Upon the clearing where Sy's spirit departed, Neltus clawed at the ground, once more feeling hollow inside, a sensation he could not endure. He made no attempt to rise. He only wept into the cold dirt.

"No... no... no! It's gone! It can't be. Not again. I can't live without it."

"Get up Neltus," Ryson commanded with scorn.

The empty wizard refused. He wallowed upon the ground like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

"It's not fair! I shouldn't have lost it again. I didn't do anything wrong."

The pathetic whines disturbed the delver to the point where he would not listen to them any longer, and he would not tolerate the lies.

"Nothing wrong? You tried to kill us all! Do you remember what Holli sacrificed? Do you?!"

Neltus would not answer. He just moaned and cried.

Captain Klusac had also reached his limit. He had enough of Neltus' incessant whining. He moved brusquely to the wizard and lifted him up off the ground.

"On your feet!" the soldier ordered.

The captain stared into Neltus' teary eyes. He kept the tone of his voice low and certain. There was anger to be sure, but it was controlled fury, the kind that offered absolute certainty in purpose. Klusac intended for the moaning wizard to understand the severity of the situation, as well as the captain's conviction.

"It's time for you to leave, and you are
never
to return. I don't care how much you miss your magic, you will not be allowed within these walls again. Keep in mind, you have been a thorn in this town's side before. Every soldier knows your face. If you're spotted anywhere near Burbon, you'll be killed on sight."

Klusac pulled the sniffling, mewling wizard roughly across the clearing and into the broken and withered corn stalks of the farm field to the north. He threw Neltus deep into the crisp, yellow stalks with one great heave.

"Go where you will, but I meant what I said. From this point on, you will be treated no better than a goblin raiding party."

The captain of the guard turned away with disgust, leaving Neltus to whimper in the dark. He returned to Ryson's side, hoping to gain news of the events in Demonsheol.

Enin had questions as well, but Ryson made it clear they would both have to wait.

"Enin, you have to come with me," the delver commanded. "We're going back to get Holli. Sy told me to save her, and that's exactly what we're going to do. We're not just going to allow her to survive as a tree in the badlands. We're going to bring her back."

Ryson's unyielding attitude surprised the coreless wizard. Enin believed they could keep the tree from dying, but bringing Holli back was a hope and task beyond their capabilities.

"I would do anything to help her, but I can't..."

"Yes, you can... with my help. And as soon as Vraya is ready to teleport us back to the badlands, that's exactly what we're going to do."

"I can take us there now if you want. I have sufficient magic."

"Then please do so, but leave Captain Klusac here to guard Burbon. He's needed here."

The captain agreed and backed away to give the sorceress room. When a black circular shadow burst from the sorceress, he felt a tinge of uncertainty and a slight chill to his spine. He could never quite get used to watching people disappear in a wave of magic. When he witnessed such things, he wondered if anything about time and space mattered anymore.

The use of such power made him uncomfortable, left him feeling vulnerable, but then he thought of Sy. The ghost warrior had returned, and the full power of Burbon's defenses had been restored. They had survived an attack by three immense demons even after Sy had been taken. With the ghost captain back and ready to defend the town, Klusac knew Burbon would continue to endure.

Through twisting shadows of black energy, Vraya guided her companions through an alteration of space, turning a long and challenging journey into a single instant of travel. Unlike Captain Klusac, altering time and space felt natural to the sorceress. Changing the rules allowed for new beginnings, and she felt as if a great opportunity was suddenly before them.

She could see it in the delver's movements. She knew he wanted to save Holli, and the sorceress watched him with growing appreciation as he shed the gloomy disposition which previously haunted his steps.

No longer did he walk as if an anvil of disappointment was chained around his neck. He directed others with absolute certainty. He carried himself with an air of triumph.

When they arrived at the badlands in a flash of black energy, Ryson moved immediately to the single tree rising from the barren plain. He placed his hands on the trunk as if he was trying to reach for something deep within the living wood.

Enin, Jure, and Vraya followed the delver and stood beside him. They all waited for instruction, but Enin was clearly the most eager to hear the delver's plans.

"What is it you're hoping to do here?" the coreless wizard finally asked.

"You're going to call her back," Ryson said, as he continued to peer up into the branches of the tree.

"But I told you, I can't reach her."

"On your own that would be true, but you're not going to do it alone. I'm going to help you. But I warn you, it's going to hurt."

"I'm not afraid of pain, especially if it would help Holli, but how can I help her if I don't understand you?"

"It's not me you have to understand. It's your own conception of existence. You have to lift the limitations you yourself have created. I've heard you speak enough that I know you accept spiritual existence, but you're treating borders and boundaries as if they're unbreakable. Rul proved they're not."

"You're using Rul Saattan as a guide?"

"No, trust me on that, I'm not, but I am looking at the opportunity his mistakes created. You can thank Vraya for that."

The sorceress smiled but took no further credit.

"What kind of opportunity?" Enin questioned.

Ryson didn't want to waste precious time explaining, but he needed Enin to grasp the concept, otherwise he would fail to make the proper connection.

"Reiculf wanted to free himself of certain barriers. That's why he combined himself with Ansas and Baannat. He weakened himself when he did that, but he did manage to remove a number of restrictions. Demons are able to travel to other realms, but it also opened the door for spirits to enter Demonsheol. That's how we beat Rul. We found a positive outlook hidden in a potential tragedy. That's what Vraya told me to look for."

"I still don't understand what this has to do with Holli," Enin confessed.

"Back in Burbon, you told Rul that you weren't an empty vessel, that even without your magical core you still had your soul. Do you really believe that?"

"Of course."

"Then you should believe Holli's soul is still within this tree."

"I do, but that's not the problem. She chose to make this transformation. She was able to maintain a single purpose when she completed her change. That purpose was to save us. That's all she could risk. If she tried to hold to additional intentions—like the thought of reversing the transformation—she might have changed back before she defeated Neltus. She didn't want that to happen. It worked. She saved us, but now she no longer has the awareness to turn herself back."

"She does if we can reach her," Ryson contended. "And I know we can. You can use the magic I send into you to reopen the links you once had with Holli. You used to be connected, remember?"

"Of course I remember."

"And I've heard you and Jure talk about echoes of magic. Those links still exist. You just have to find them."

"I can find them within me, but there's no magic to power them. And there's no way I can make the connection to what's left of Holli's magical awareness."

"My sword is going to power those links," Ryson claimed, and he once again unsheathed the Sword of Decree. "This blade has the power to burn the essence of any being it touches. That means it reaches beyond magical cores. It can send energy into your soul, enough magic that it will allow you to rekindle all of the previous connections you once had with Holli. But you have to direct it once it's there. You have to turn the enchanted flames into a purpose."

Enin finally began to see what the delver intended. He found the concept intriguing.

"Basically, you want to light a fire in my soul," Enin acknowledged.

"Exactly. Like I said before, it's going to hurt... a lot, but you have to do this."

"How can you be so sure this is going to work?" Jure questioned, curious about the delver's insight.

"Because I did basically the same thing with the pit demon outside Burbon and with Rul in Demonsheol. I'm not sure if the pit demon has a soul, but I used this sword to force it to see what was inside Burbon's guards. I made it see what I once saw in myself. It saw the souls of the soldiers. When it did, it knew it couldn't win."

"The same way the demons in Demonsheol knew they couldn't defeat the army of angels that came down against them," Jure concluded.

"Now you understand." Ryson then turned back to Enin. "And you have to understand as well. If you're not an empty vessel, then neither is Holli. Her spirit still exists within that tree. We just have to reach it. My sword can help you do just that. It can stimulate the essence of your soul, allow it to reach through those magical echoes of the connections you once had with her. The enchantment will bring your souls together. When it does, you can help her shape the magic that's still within her, help her to change back to what she should be... an elf guard."

Enin went silent. He examined the tree and considered Ryson's words. When his core was within him and filled with magic, he could sense so many things. He was well aware of the different stages of existence. He accepted them, took joy in having the knowledge. He knew Ryson's idea held merit.

He also knew it held pain. The Sword of Decree burned the very essence of anyone it touched. The blade had set inferns—half-demons filled with fiery magic—into an uncontrollable blaze. Enin knew the scorching flames of the enchantment would bring fire to his own soul, but in order to reach Holli, he would have to embrace the inferno. It would be worse than setting himself aflame. It would be like swallowing lava and feeling the enormous heat burn its way from the inside out.

Still, there was never any real chance he would decline. He remembered how he had wanted to regain his magical core. Sy wouldn't allow it. He had to accept life without a core, but at least he could let magic from other sources pass through his being. He could still shape the energy, even if it burned.