Spirit Past (Book 8) (25 page)

Shantree considered the news. She normally left battle commands to the elf guard, but Ansas insisted she take control of the two elf spell casters. She was also not comfortable standing in the streets of a human city, even if they were mostly empty.

The citizens of Connel had been warned of a pending attack and were asked to keep their excursions to a minimum. Most honored the request, and those who had ventured outside returned quickly to their homes the moment they saw fire in the sky.

As the elf elder scanned their surroundings, she noted the dwarves of the city remained active. The fires briefly grasped their attention, but most quickly returned to their duties constructing one structure or another. They knew magic when they saw it, but even energy of pure evil could not dent their stoic nature. They abhorred magic in any form and felt such displays should be left to the concerns of wizards and sorcerers.

Shantree, however, was not so lucky. The fires required her attention, as well as a decision.

"Should we act?" Haven finally asked.

Shantree believed they could deal with the closest wall of fire. Scheff could probably douse the flames with minimal damage to the city. The fireball was another matter, but that particular disturbance was just beyond their reach.

In the end, she deferred to the directive given to her by Ansas.

"Not at this moment. We were told to monitor this section of Connel and only act if the city was in jeopardy. The flames closest to us serve as a display of power, but I see no one at risk. We will wait for further instructions or for a change in the severity of the attack."

Scheff heard the words, even obliged himself to obey the command, but he could not agree with the sentiment. He knew the city was under siege. They would have to act eventually, and when they did, a choking storm of gloom would descend upon them all.

#

"Why would inferns become willing targets?" Jure demanded.

Ansas did not answer. He frowned, rubbed his chin, and finally moved to a window in Enin's study to stare down the streets.

Jure's sudden appearance irritated him. He knew the wizard had teleported to Enin's home to question him, and he didn't like questions. He realized both Enin and Jure were waiting impatiently for an answer, but he took long moments to consider the inferns' actions.

"I asked you a question," Jure finally demanded of the sorcerer, unwilling to wait for further musings.

Ansas avoided the issue by asking a question of his own.

"What do you make of the fireball?"

The response annoyed the wizard, but he answered to place greater emphasis on the issues at hand.

"That's not an infern's magic. That's Reiculf's. Gnafil cast that spell using the daokiln's energy."

"I agree, but they are all connected."

"Obviously! But why send two inferns into the city to basically send out flares? They're not destroying anything. They're just sending up flames in the air. It's not a distraction. It's something else. It's also interesting that they appeared near positions covered by our forces. It's like they want to be destroyed. You seem to know what Reiculf is doing. Explain this one!"

"I need more information."

"No, you don't!" Jure countered. "If I can see the problem with this, so can you. I could crush both inferns in moments. Enin could do it in the blink of an eye, barely using any of his energy. Even Scheff could end the flares with little effort. The purpose is clear. We are being baited. Reiculf wants us to snuff out these inferns. Why?"

"To cause the death of a half-demon within the city," Ansas finally replied as he turned from the window and faced Jure directly.

"And how would that help Reiculf? I understand inferns are low level demons, not even full demons. Reiculf could lose hundreds and replace them with ease, but why make it easy?"

"The fireball is the key. It's not simply a light in the sky."

"I know that. I told you it was Reiculf's magic."

"Not completely. The fireball is creating a dimensional gateway, but it's something beyond an ordinary portal. It is like a window that is currently closed, but certain entities can now look into our realm."

Enin immediately understood and offered an answer to Jure's question.

"Darowks. Smoldering demons. They're watching through the fireball. Reiculf has power over all the demons, but he can't force them to leave Demonspawn. They have to leave of their own accord. If darowks see half-demons die, they will open the window themselves."

"And what will that mean to us?" Jure questioned.

"It's an ingenious move," Ansas replied.

"I don't want to hear about Reiculf's brilliance. I want to know what it means!"

"To understand the meaning requires appreciating the genius of the tactic. Darowks breed like roaches, but are difficult to control. It's as Enin said. Reiculf cannot force them out of Demonspawn. But watching a half-demon die in a human city will send them into a frenzy. Their rage will be so great, they will ignore the consequences of their actions. They will swoop down of their own accord. They will use the dimensional gateway within the fireball and invade the entire city."

"That puts us in a perilous position," Enin added. "If Reiculf wishes to sacrifice the half-demons, he will be willing to go to any length to force our hand. If we don't attack the inferns, he will make the inferns do more than simply send up waves of fire. The half-demons will threaten to set the entire city aflame. We will have no choice. The moment we strike them down, the darowks will enter. They will engulf the city."

Jure needed no further explanation. He knew what would happen if the smoldering demons assaulted Connel. It would take enormous amounts of magical energy to fight them off. Gnafil could simply stand back and wait for an opening. With such a prospect before them, Jure questioned why the half-demons chose to be so passive in their initial attack.

"Then why don't the inferns start burning the city now? Why are they just sending out fire waves?"

"Reicu
lf would rather not risk an all out fire," Ansas answered. "He will order them to burn buildings if it becomes necessary, but that creates certain hazards to individuals he hopes to capture. Demon fire raging through Connel is unpredictable, and though I'm certain he is after Enin, he also hopes to eventually take Shantree and regain control of Scheff as well. He would not want to risk losing them in a city ablaze with demon flames."

"Can't we just teleport the inferns away, back to the dark realm?"

"Gnafil would just recall them, and perhaps bring others as well. That would make things worse."

"Then what do we do?"

"We keep the inferns from dying," Ansas answered as if there was no other alternative.

"And once they start burning the city?" Enin pressed, unhappy with the solution. "You know they will."

"Then we will contain the flames. It will be easier to manage fires than to face an assault of darowks. We can keep the damage to a minimum, but we cannot have the half-demons perish."

"That is not the only answer," Enin replied.

"And what am I missing?" the sorcerer challenged.

"Gnafil. He will eventually force the issue."

"Of that I am sure, but let him make the mistake. Frustration comes easily to an infern, especially one pressed into service by the daokiln."

"I can not allow that," Enin stated firmly. "If he uses Reiculf's power to strike out at Connel, many will die."

"Many more will die if Reiculf gains control of
your
powers," Ansas warned.

Enin, however, examined the struggle from a different perspective.

"But Gnafil is already using Reiculf's power. The fireball. Think of the energy that is required to keep a transitional gateway open indefinitely."

"Child's play for Reiculf."

"But this isn't Reiculf. It's Gnafil. There are limits to the energy that can pass through a half-demon."

"I'm well aware of the limitations."

Enin ignored the sorcerer. He began to consider the implications of magical connections and dimensional gateways. His mind raced with energy computations and interactions between dimensions. He could not speak entirely of his thoughts, as words could not fully express or define his understanding of magic, but he began to mumble his rambling considerations.

"If Reiculf could extend his full power through these pawns, he would have no need for such games. The limits exist, but they are also complicated. The magic is transitioning... not only through physical barriers but also dimensional paths. A connection between a daokiln and a half-demon has to create its own restraints. The half-demon would simply explode without a regulation of power. An infern could reach certain potency, but the strain of an existing spell would be its own drain."

Enin stopped suddenly. He looked up at both Jure and Ansas. It was clear he had made his own decision.

"This is our chance! If I attack Gnafil now, I can defeat him or force him to shut down the gateway. We must not waste the opportunity."

"No," Ansas replied staunchly. "We must wait."

"We don't have to wait. This is the mistake! Gnafil has already made it. He is vulnerable."

Enin said nothing further. He teleported from his study to the southern section of the city where Gnafil waited.

"Protect the infern?" Ryson questioned in disbelief. "Protect it from what?"

"From anything that might endanger it," Jure explained. "We need to take care of the one closest to us. Holli was sent to Shantree's position to advise her to do the same for the one in the east."

"What about the fireball? What's the story with that?"

"It was cast by Gnafil, but it's not just a fireball. It's a dimensional gateway. It's closed, for now. It's like a window. Darowks are watching us. If the inferns die, the darowks will come through on their own and destroy the city."

"Can we shut it down before they get through?"

"I'm not sure. I think that's what Enin's planning on doing, but when he left, Ansas exploded. He was in no mood to explain. He said he had to go save Enin. He gave orders to Holli and me to protect the inferns and then he teleported after Enin."

The delver's curious mind erupted with a flood of questions. Protecting inferns sending flames high over Connel was enough of a mystery. Ansas' actions only added to his confusion. He couldn't imagine how Ansas could possibly protect Enin. The sorcerer was indeed powerful, but even his pure ebony magic was a thin shadow compared to Enin's vast energy.

"How does Ansas save Enin?" Ryson asked, obviously amazed by the notion.

"I'm not sure," Jure answered. "And like I said, Ansas wasn't offering any explanations."

"So how do we handle this?"

"Let's move in on the infern casting the fire wave. We can make sure no one gets close to it. With regular citizens remaining indoors, we'll only have to worry about the dwarves and the town guard. The dwarves won't want to get mixed up in magic, and the soldiers know we're patrolling the city and watching for something like this. If we don't attack, I doubt anyone else is going to get involved. We just have to make sure the infern doesn't alter its spell. As long as it keeps sending flames into the air, we leave it be. If it starts to burn the city, we'll have to put out the fires and try to restrain it. We just can't destroy it, no matter what it does."

"I guess that will work," Ryson offered without gaining any greater understanding of the absurd situation. "I'll move ahead first, scout the area and the surrounding streets, and make sure everything is clear. If I don't run into any problems, I'll take a position on a rooftop to the southeast of the infern."

"I'll move straight in with Dzeb from here," the elder wizard offered. "We'll meet you there."

Ryson nodded and raced down a narrow alley. He kept to the side streets, always listening for the roar of the flames which gave away the infern's position. Using merchant shops as cover, he circled the area without ever being seen by the half-demon.

All shops had been closed. Not a single citizen of Connel ventured near the wide crossroads where the infern stood. Ryson noted quite a few dwarves working at different sites scattered around the edges of the city, but none were close enough to present a real concern.

Moving back toward the wave of flames, Ryson climbed to the rooftops and leapt from building to building. From the higher elevation, he could easily see the wall of fire that still burned to the east—good news, for it meant that the infern under the elves watch was still alive.

The fireball also remained active, and before making his final rush toward the rooftop near the infern he meant to guard, the delver paused to take a long look at the sphere of fire. He shielded his eyes from the center and instead focused on the spiraling smoke circling the edges of flame.

His keen vision fixed on certain movements, and he immediately realized the gray soot was not natural. It did not move as ordinary smoke; did not rise up and slowly dissipate into the cooler air above. Instead, the dark swirls remained intact and even churned in circular patterns that defied all logic. The motion was almost hypnotizing, but Ryson soon started to make out distinct shapes.

As he began to discern one form from another, the delver isolated individual darowks from within the swirling mass. He could not compare them to any animal he had ever seen for they had no solid form, but each individual creature was no larger than an ordinary rat. They rushed about in frenzied circles, but they had no legs on which to run or wings to soar. Instead, they dashed about the flames, their movements powered by nothing more than a force of will. Together, they appeared like one massive school of agitated fish, darting to the left and then the right as if hoping to avoid some large predator.

Even as the demons continued their mad dance around the fireball, Ryson knew they were not within Uton's realm of existence. A thin, blurring film rotated around the flames in direct coordination with the movements of the wispy creatures. It was not a strong barrier by any means, but Ryson could not discount its existence. It was almost like a twisting soap bubble that refused to pop, and it contained the entire mass of swirling smoke.

Ryson could not help but wonder what might happen if the barrier broke. He knew the darowks would no longer contain themselves to the hot winds around the fireball. He imagined the scene of them descending upon the city in one massive wave. He knew enough about the darowks to realize that such an invasion would bring far more than a drifting shadow to Connel. It would invite choking death to all of its people.

Determined to keep the hazy demons at bay, Ryson refocused on his main goal. He was not completely certain why the infern needed to be guarded, but he understood that the death of a half-demon would enrage the demon sprites. Hoping to reach the infern as quickly as possible, he sprinted toward the flames shooting up from the crossroads ahead of him. With bounding leaps, he jumped from one rooftop to another and quickly reached his destination.

Looking down upon the street leading eastward, he immediately noticed Dzeb moving cautiously ahead of Jure toward the building he stood upon. The delver called out and revealed everything he had observed. He recommended the wizard and giant remain a safe distance so they wouldn't provoke the infern.

When he finished, Ryson heard movement to the south. Looking down the wide road that led directly to the half-demon, he spied a contingent of soldiers marching almost recklessly to the scene of the fire.

"Jure!" Ryson shouted. "The town guard is moving up from the south, directly to your left. They're headed right for the infern."

"I'll handle it!" Jure advised, and then turned to Dzeb. "Stay here and keep watch. Don't let anything get near the infern."

After the behemoth nodded and set his calm sights on the roads and alleys nearby, Jure rushed down a side street. He intercepted the soldiers before they were in range of the half-demon. He spotted a sergeant leading the small platoon and directed his instructions to the tall and muscular guard holding a long spear.

"Sergeant! You have to hold."

The soldier halted, but appeared unhappy about the delay. He stared at the wizard and said nothing.

"The infern ahead isn't causing any damage," Jure explained. "It's here as a sacrifice. If we harm it, it will open us up to a far worse attack."

Still, the guard refused to speak. The soldiers behind him grunted angrily, some wished to shove past the wizard, but the sergeant held them back, though somewhat reluctantly.

"It would be safer if you pulled back," Jure continued. "Actually, if you could relay a message to your captain, that would be a great help. Inform him that Enin is handling the situation and the guard must not engage any of the inferns."

"The inferns must die," the sergeant finally responded with the cold edge of determination.

Jure was taken aback by the rage within the response and by the grunts of agreement from the entire platoon. There was anger within them, and the wizard attributed it to the method of the half-demon's attack. He knew Connel had suffered losses to their food supplies by inferns burning crops. It was not beyond reason to expect a level of resentment against a display of demon fire. Still, Jure could not allow the soldiers to make an emotionally charged and critical mistake. He remained calm in the face of obvious fury as he tried to explain the extent of the peril Connel faced.

"Killing them won't help. Do you see the fireball? Demons are in the smoke. If one infern is harmed, they'll attack."

"Let them!"

The ignorance of the challenge surprised the wizard further. Jure believed he was dealing with nothing more than simple arrogance. The soldiers were agitated and spoiling for a fight. They probably had no idea of the darkness that waited to fall upon them.

"You don't understand, if this..."

The sergeant didn't allow the wizard to continue. He struck Jure across the chest with the stout wooden handle of his spear. With the wizard stunned and prone on the ground, the soldier towered over him.

"It's you who doesn't understand," the guard growled. "We are here to kill the infern, and nothing will stand in our way!"

Jure gasped for breath. His chest ached with every heave. He struggled to bring in air as he fought to maintain consciousness. Confused and hurt, he reached out to the magic to gather his wits and his strength, As he did, he sensed something wrong with the soldiers before him.

He stared up at the sergeant but looked beyond the guard's face. He gazed deep into the magical aura and noted a strong flow of blurred energy. There was no color, but the surge of magic could not be denied.

"Macheve," the wizard whispered.

Jure knew the soldier was under the influence of the serp. The colorless magic came from Reiculf, but the intent to influence was undoubtedly serp in nature.

The sergeant heard the wizard's murmur, and thus, so did Macheve. The serp, hiding somewhere in the city, could not allow Jure to live, and she gave new instructions to the tall soldier.

The sergeant raised his spear and prepared to jam the sharp point into Jure's heart. The soldier's eyes rolled over white. He let out a scream of pure hate as he readied the weapon for a downward plunge.

Jure was caught unprepared. He still fought for every breath and his chest burned from the pain of the sergeant's initial strike. He never imagined he would be assaulted and had no defensive spell at the ready. He was no match physically for the muscular guard, and even as he tried to roll away, he knew he moved too slowly to avoid the attack. All he managed was to roll over on to his hands and knees. Rather than skewering his heart, he believed the spear would probably sever his spine.

Right when he expected a stab of searing pain, the magic within him exploded of its own accord. He cast no spell, placed no directive within the energy. A blast of power deflected the spear and sent every guard sprawling, but the energy unleashed itself without any conscious instruction from the wizard.

Jure finally struggled to his feet even as the soldiers remained momentarily stunned by the blast. He looked over the jumbled mass of guards in complete bewilderment. He knew the force blast came from within him, but he also knew he cast no spell.

Unwilling to accept the outcome as simple luck or some unconscious reflex, he remained near the area of conflict. He probed the remnants of the spell which saved him, searched for clues for its origin and purpose.

Only a portion of the magic was his own, with unmistakable links to his magical core. The remainder of the energy was clean, untainted by any individual's desire or inherent ability. He could not trace its origins back to any previous spell or even to any natural flow across the land. It did not come from the billowing winds above the city or from the clouds rolling across the horizon, nor did it flow in from the fields surrounding Connel or from the forest far in the distance.

The more he tried to grasp the energy, the more it eluded him. He could only follow it back to the discharge that saved his life. Beyond that one clear line, it offered no distinct trail. Every shred of magic somehow came from within him, but he remained certain that most of it was never his to shape in any deliberate spell. It was a power beyond his control. It saved his life, but not by his own resolve.

"That's twice," Jure muttered, as he recalled the first time his life was spared by a power he could not explain.

He would have liked to analyze the magic with greater care, but the soldiers were quickly regaining their focus. They would soon all be on their feet, and the wizard remained convinced that Macheve was in control of their actions. Running back toward Dzeb, he called out to the giant.

"Soldiers are coming. They're going to attack the infern. We can't let that happen!"

Ryson had seen the confrontation and heard the wizard's warning. He climbed down to the street and met with the wizard and giant.

"You're sure it's Macheve?" the delver questioned.

"It's more than just Macheve. She's using Reiculf's power to influence the soldiers."

"Which means she probably can influence more."

"Much more," Jure agreed. "Maybe the whole city." 

#

Enin teleported to a spot directly in front of Gnafil. They both stood in the center of a wide street. Gnafil appeared at first to be completely focused on the fireball in the sky, but slowly he turned his gaze upon the wizard and smiled.

"That was almost too easy," Gnafil snarled, but the voice was not his. It was Reiculf's.