Delver Magic: Book 05 - Chain of Bargains (38 page)

Prilgrat grew accustomed to the
voice in his head. The words were icy in tone, but the steward always felt a
warm sensation deep in his bowels whenever the fiend spoke to him
telepathically. It wasn't necessarily a pleasant feeling, not like eating a
warm bowl of soup, but it didn't make him sick, either. It was kind of like
drinking lukewarm water after fasting for several days.

Still, he was happier to converse
with the creature in that manner as opposed to speaking with it in person.
Despite communicating over magical waves that the regional steward did not
understand, he could cope with the minor anxiety. The magic made the steward
uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as standing in the overwhelming
presence of a being capable of great devastation. Prilgrat felt weak and
inconsequential whenever he directly addressed the fiend, not something he
enjoyed.

He imagined the creature was using
the same method of communication to spread the attack orders to all the goblin
minions. The message itself, however, was a bit of a shock. So many seasons had
passed with the goblins becoming a fixture in the city, a common sight
throughout the Great Valleys,
the thought of a goblin uprising was suddenly difficult to envision. He also
had no warning, not that he expected one from the fiend, but he couldn't hide
his surprise.

"I didn't expect it to happen
so soon," the steward admitted, knowing that the creature could hear him
but not comprehending how.

"I am surprised the dwarves
were as patient as they were," the voice countered.

"What's going to happen here?
What about Ashlan?"

"Did you think it was going
to be spared?"

"Not really, but I'm curious
about the plan."

"The plan is simple. The
humans are completely unprepared. The goblins will tear them from their homes
and businesses and remove them from the city. I expect very little resistance.
They will be sent west. They will be pushed completely out of the valleys and
into the central plains."

"What about the
inferns?"

"The inferns will not
interfere."

"What do you need me to
do?" the steward asked

"Nothing. Nothing at all. It
is best if you stay out of the way. Stay home."

"I can do that."

Prilgrat, however, was not a man who
enjoyed placidly standing by and letting others take all the action, and all
the spoils that went with it. He stepped to the window of his bedroom and
looked down upon the street.

"Will I be able to see
anything?"

"Very little. The goblins know
to leave your home untouched. They will usher any humans out of the area, but
my orders are to keep the destruction near your house to a minimum."

The mayhem unfolded quickly. The
diminutive monsters acted much more viciously than the steward expected.
Watching goblins crash into his neighbors' homes and violently remove them
kicking and screaming out into the streets left him uneasy, not about his
neighbors' well-being, but about his own safety.

"Are they going to enter my
house?"

"I said your home would be
untouched
. Does that word confuse
you?"

"No, but I wondered about my
servants. I don't want to get caught up in some scuffle. I'm also going to
require their services when all this is finished."

"When I say untouched, I mean
it. Your servants will be spared, as long as they remain inside."

"Maybe I should tell
them."

"That is your decision."

Prilgrat showed no urgency to warn
anyone, and instead, monitored the activity he could see from his window. He
saw some smoke in the distance and heard several more screams. He wanted to
know more of what was happening.

"Will the city be
destroyed?"

"Partially damaged."

"Are you going to let any
humans, besides me and those that serve me, remain in Ashlan?"

"Quite a few, actually. Not
enough so they can stir up any trouble, but just as you require servants, so
will I."

The steward realized what that
meant. The creature was taking over... not just Ashlan, but the entire region.
The majority of humans would be dispatched. Goblins would become the main
inhabitants—creatures that would not honor his authority. His rule as regional
steward would be over.

"You know, I'm giving up a
lot," Prilgrat announced rather sadly.

"What is it you are giving
up?"

"Control. Influence. Almost
everything I have."

The creature laughed.

"Would you have been able to
keep it if I decided not to include you?"

"Maybe."

"Do not delude yourself. You
have seen the power I possess. Would you have really wished to fight me?"

"No, I wouldn't,"
Prilgrat admitted, "but others might have been able to stop you."

"Who? The dwarves conceived
the plan. The goblins were already making inroads when I contacted you
personally. My brother was already deeply rooted under Huntston. He knew the
captain of the guard was weak. That was why I told you to work with him, and I
knew you would work with me. I could tell. If you chose not to, I would have
found someone else. No one could have stopped this. It was a wise choice to
join us."

The steward did not quite agree.
He was often underestimated and he had always found a way to overcome seemingly
terrible odds. Still, he reached the position of steward because he knew what
was important. He always focused on the true prize. Power over people of the
valleys was not power at all if it was fleeting, and to humans, power is always
fleeting because their time is always limited. Prilgrat, however, had other
ideas.

"You remember our full
bargain, right?" the steward asked.

"Of course I do. I am
thrilled to see you remember it as well."

#

The fire mage Brenn was in his
basement when he heard the crash at his door. He couldn't believe it. Ever
since the elf entered his home, he had been much more careful about his spell
casting. He did not wish to bring attention to himself, but it seemed as if he
couldn't avoid it. He wondered if an infern had simply walked too close to his
home at the wrong time and noted the light residue of a minor spell he cast.

Resigned to face the consequences
of his actions, he walked up the basement stairs to give himself up for
questioning. He believed he could explain the situation. Spell casting had been
restricted, not abolished. He could say he was being careful and kept the
spells limited in scope and power. He also restricted the energy to his
basement where no one might be harmed, and that was at least partially the
truth. He also didn't wish to be noticed, but he didn't have to make that
admission.

He was prepared to meet human
guards—perhaps even a group of inferns—when he opened the basement door and
stepped into his living room. He found neither. Disbelief struck him first, and
then anger. What he saw defied explanation, and as he looked out his front
window, he realized that the invasion of his home was also occurring everywhere
he could see.

"Get out of my house!"
he shouted.

Nearly a dozen goblins appeared
stunned by the forceful admonishment, but only for a moment. Their expressions
of surprise quickly dissolved into masks of giddy belligerence. They sprang
upon the mage, intending to take hold of him and throw him into the street.

Brenn reacted out of total
instinct. His hands rose out of a reflexive need to hold off the goblins, and
the words of the spell spilled from his lips without much conscious desire. A
fireball that would have consumed a large shag burst from his open palms and
incinerated the goblins.

Most of the tiny monsters simply
turned to ash, but a few in the back managed to stay alive long enough to race
about shrieking in agony. As the fire from their bodies quickly spread across
the bottom floor of Brenn's house, the remaining goblins quickly collapsed into
the flames.

Brenn ran across the floor,
holding his arms across his face. He leapt through the broken remains of his
front door and out onto the front porch. At first, he looked back at his house
in dismay as the flames shot up to the second floor in an instant. He knew
there would be nothing to save, but then he worried about the entire block. He
was about to call out for help when he remembered the goblins had not just
targeted his home.

Turning about, Brenn witnessed the
horrors of the goblin uprising in full. He saw neighbors and friends dying in
the streets, goblins looting corpses and destroying anything and everything
within their reach. He found more than despair, he found fury, and just as the
goblins had released their hostilities upon the humans, Brenn decided to let
loose the magical abilities he kept guarded for so long.

He threw spell after spell at each
goblin he saw. He singled them out from the people they attacked and used his
fire with great skill to focus his anger on goblins alone. He never scorched
another human, and other than his own home, never set another building to burn.
Arrow flames shot from his fingers, and fireballs exploded from his palms.

The goblins nearby recognized the
threat and turned their attention toward the fire mage with a rage of their
own. They did not appreciate the interruption to their plans, and so they
collapsed upon him from all sides.

Disregarding the staggering
numbers that surrounded him, Brenn unleashed the full fury of his power. After
burying his talents, he released them with a roar of flame. A ring of fire
erupted from his midsection, incinerating goblins in every direction that dared
stagger too close.

Many of the goblins realized the
folly of their attack, but it was too late. The horde behind them pushed them
forward and forced them into the flames of their death. As they kept flinging
themselves at the mage in hopeless rage, the stench of burning goblin flesh
rose high above the street.

"Enough!" a voice from
deep behind the goblins shouted. "Make way!"

The goblins halted their assault,
fell back, and made a clear path for three inferns that marched toward Brenn
with their eyes blazing red.

"You wish to fight with fire?
Very well, but you will not fight goblins."

Brenn did not fear fire, for it
was a part of him, but his control over the flame allowed him to see deep into
the core of the infern's blazing essence. Despite being only half-demon, the
heart of the creature was pure evil. The fire mage saw malevolence in the fiery
depths and he realized how demon fire could burn the soul. He did not wish to
battle such creatures of hate, but he had no other choice. The goblins had the
street blocked, and he was well aware of the inferns speed.

Without considering the consequences,
Brenn unleashed his most powerful spell. He knew he could not outmaneuver the
half-demons, or outlast them. His only hope was to surprise them. He did so
with raw power.

Choosing to go beyond the flames
of fire, he focused his energy on reaching into the cores of the inferns and
stoking their very essence into a self-feeding storm. The half-demons never had
the opportunity to fight back as the fire within them turned into pure boiling
plasma and consumed their entire beings. The heat became so intense that the
three inferns collapsed into each other. The burning winds that pulled them
together were so strong that they actually became one glowing mass until there
was nothing left.

With no energy left to defend
himself, Brenn fell to his knees. He was given only a momentary reprieve as the
goblins stared dumbfounded at the small pile of infern residue
 
in the center of the street. Their shock
lasted but a few heartbeats, long enough for the mage to appreciate the true
power of the spell he cast. It would be his last. He prayed his end would be
quick, and since the goblins were ferocious with the desire for immediate
revenge, it actually was.

Before Holli revealed much detail
regarding the events in the valleys, Enin brought both her and Ryson to
Heteera's bedroom where Jure kept watch over the dormant sorceress.

"Any change?" Enin
asked, as he peered into the room but did not enter, deciding it was best to
remain outside so as not to risk disturbing the sorceress.

Jure got up from his chair and met
the threesome just beyond the doorway.

"No, she hasn't moved on her
own. No real reactions at all, not even a cough, but at least the magic appears
completely stable."

Jure nodded a greeting to both
Ryson and Holli. He was surprised to see them and wondered what news they
brought back from the Great Valleys.

"They just returned,"
Enin explained. "I wanted you to hear what they said. No sense in them
repeating things."

Enin finally allowed Holli to
recite all that she and Ryson had learned. Both wizards remained silent
throughout. Neither asked any questions until the elf guard concluded her
findings with the prophecy as explained by Reader Rachael.

"Rachael was certain about
the two wizards casting white magic?" Enin wondered.

"She had extreme confidence
in the prophecies," Holli admitted.

"Not too many spell casters
can cast in pure white," Jure noted. "Doubtful that there would be
two others so close to the crisis that would be willing to work together."

"I doubt there are any in the
valleys," Holli added. "The regional steward put harsh restrictions
on the use of magic. I even asked him about it. The magic was the one area
where he showed uncertainty. I do not think he is comfortable around it. I
believe the inferns are enforcing the casting restrictions. A wizard with the
ability to cast white magic would have found such restrictions unacceptable and
would have left long ago."