Delver Magic: Book 05 - Chain of Bargains (43 page)

"I'm doing nothing! It's
being taken from me."

"That's the whole point. You
had to collect it first. You had to become this immense reservoir of energy.
You had to seal it inside you, but deep down, you knew. You wanted to give the
magic purpose,
you
wanted to have
purpose. You wanted to believe there was a point to your existence, an
existence that made no sense to you, but it makes perfect sense to me. You are
as much responsible for stopping a massacre as Jure. Don't you understand? The
very conditions of your being—factors you considered torture—are the components
necessary for saving Uton. That is your purpose!"

She almost did understand, but at
that same moment, Jure took hold of even more magic to seize the goblins with
his spell of binding light. The amount of energy pulled from her essence
doubled and the mound in her mind retreated significantly. More of her
consciousness was exposed to the outside world.

The light in her mind took shape.
She saw the figures of Ryson Acumen and Holli Brances. She saw Jure standing
before a gaping hole in a room she did not recognize. Magic was pouring out of
him and into the skies.

Placing herself in the current of
energy, she could see the bright ball of fire high over their heads, and she
could follow the energy of his spells across the valleys. She saw the goblins
scattered across the lands near the systematic damage they had caused, but that
destruction had ceased. The dark creatures had been seized by strands of light
and the lives of a multitude had been spared.

Hopefulness filled her spirit. She
could not deny the vast numbers of goblins bent on annihilating the human race.
Even Enin with his vast power would not have been able to stop them in one effort.
Only the massive outpouring of magic trapped within her could have altered the
outcome of the goblin assault. She realized that, though it was Jure who cast
the spell, he needed to use
her
magic. She had a part to play in the events unfolding around her.

Purpose.

Unfortunately, the suffering did
not end with the binding of the goblins. She felt the rage of the humans that
struck back at the helpless creatures. She saw them turn and attack the
monsters that chased them from their homes. She felt their anger. Their thirst
for vengeance swelled back upon her. Just as it sickened the elder wizard, the
sensation of violence chewed at the sorceress' optimism.

Though she could not cut off the
magic to Jure, she found the strength to pull her awareness back into her own
body. She viewed the broken walls of the strange room once more and she tried
to identify her surroundings.

In doing so, she noticed another
figure... a man—or what was left of one—riddled with disease and barely able to
move. It was more than a spell that left him debilitated. She sensed the
remnants of an agreement born of evil. His selfish desires opened his soul to
the plague that consumed him. Worse, he allowed others to suffer for his own
benefit. She held no sympathy for the diseased wreck of a man, but it left her
cold and empty inside. Any pride in stemming the goblin assault evaporated, and
her optimism died.

In a fit of sorrow, she drew in
even more magic, tried to erase what she had lost. She wished to wipe the
memory of destruction from her memory, she wanted to erase the knowledge of a
man so despicable he would thrust others into misery for his own pitiful gain.
Her desire was so great that the influx of magic began to match what Jure was
taking from her.

Enin didn't know what to say. The
situation was obvious to him. The flood of magic going both in and out of
Heteera was beyond staggering. He knew there would be no way for her to control
it.

He pressed his awareness into the
current of the magic, and he saw Jure's success. He knew the goblins had been
neutralized. It was a brilliant tactic, using the light to bind the goblins.
All that was left was to open several portals to the dark realm and sweep the
goblins through.

Unfortunately, he also knew it
would not end there. Despite Jure's control over the magic, he would not be
able to simply disconnect himself from the flow of energy. The current had
become too vast, too strong. It would be like trying to plug a crumbling dam
with a pebble. It wouldn't hold and the magic would continue to wash through
him.

He knew what would ultimately
happen. Once the goblins had been removed from the land and the portals closed,
Jure would have no further spells to cast. The elder wizard would try to break
his link from Heteera, but the magic itself would rebuff all attempts. Without
an outlet, the energy would swell up in both of them until it swept them both
away.

Enin did not worry about an
explosion of power, as the reservoir within Heteera was already greatly
depleted. It was the unbreakable current that was now the problem, not the
total mass of energy.

#

With every goblin in the Great
Valleys completely subdued, Jure
turned his focus on eliminating them as a threat. It was not sufficient to
simply bind them. They had to be removed from the land and placed where they
could cause no further harm.

Across the countryside, Jure began
to open one portal after another. The gateways led into the dark realm, the
breeding grounds and homeland of the goblins. The dimensional doorways sprung
up in cornfields, on dusty dirt roads, in empty town squares, and on lonely
hilltops. He constructed them tall and wide, for he knew that once he began to
push the goblins through, he would need considerable space for the masses that
he would heave across dimensions.

At first, he worried he might be
sending an invitation for a mass invasion of other dark creatures. That was
something no one needed, but the dark realms were filled with horrifying
monsters searching for ways to escape. A host of open portals would surely gain
their attention, and such large gateways would offer potentially disastrous
consequences. The return of magic to Uton meant portals could be opened between
realms, and they often were, but some of the largest walking nightmares of the
dark realm were unable to utilize the smaller gates. Opening the valleys to
titans of misery would counteract Jure's desire to end the conflict.

He originally hoped the massive
tide of goblins forced back through the portal would discourage any other
fiends from trying to pass through. He would do his best to generate a constant
flow of goblins through the dimensional rifts. Hopefully, he would create a
massive torrent that would serve as a shield, but he knew there would be ample
breaks. Dark creatures were nothing if not opportunists, and it was their
inherent nature to capitalize on the misfortune of others.

He would have liked a more
reassuring solution, and in the flow of magic, he believed he found one. The
surge of magical energy was actually growing. He imagined it was Heteera's
doing, but he brushed aside his concerns over the sorceress' intentions. He
would let Enin focus on that problem. Instead, he opened himself up to even
more of the energy.

As he opened the portals, he
directed waves of ample magic through each one. He placed a directive into the
flow that ensured it would move in but one direction. Even as the gateways
waited for the goblin masses, no creature could enter into Uton from the dark
realm. The pressing magic would force retreat from even the largest monster
trying to force its way across.

Thrilled with the progress, Jure
turned his attention to the bound goblins. He focused his mind on yet another
massive spell. It would utilize the power of a storm, and winds of force and
fury would sweep across the valleys.

Just as the magical light sought
out the goblins, the rush of air followed the same paths. The wind soared down
across the grounds and took hold of the binding light that captured the
loathsome monsters. It hooked into the magical bonds and lifted the dark
creatures high into the air.

Across the valleys, goblins—and
only goblins—were gathered up in whirlwinds and carried across the skies in
great throngs. The forceful breezes moved with clear intentions. They did not
damage a single building or fall one tree. The powerful rush of air created
such a roar that many people were forced to cover their ears, but it was their
eyes that found the spectacle so unbelievable.

Whereas the goblins once poured
across the land in a gray wave of their own evil intent, they were suddenly and
unceremoniously yanked into the air and thrust high over towns and fields. Just
as they had tried to herd the humans into heading west, the goblins were driven
in great flocks toward gleaming portals. They fought and struggled, but they
could not break the bonds of light that tied them or free themselves from the
winds that carried them.

Every portal across the land
became a receptacle for a colossal wave of snarling, angry monsters. The rifts
swallowed them all and once the goblins passed back into the dark realm, the
binds of light that held them disappeared. Their sudden freedom, however, meant
nothing. As they landed on the barren ground in heaps, they were pressed away
from the gateway by the continuous flow of other goblins discarded from Uton by
Jure's powerful spell.

When the last goblin passed
through, Jure used the tremendous wave of magical energy that continued surging
into him to close each and every portal instantaneously. It was as if he blew
them out like flames on a great array of candles.

The orb of white fire still hung
in the sky and he used it to inspect the surrounding lands. His vision followed
the beams of light, and the rays of magic revealed both the good and the bad.
The goblins had been eradicated from the valleys, but he saw the great damage
they had left behind. While he took pride in accomplishing his goals, he found
emptiness in a victory that left so much destruction.

With the energy still pouring into
him, he decided to do more. Jure could do nothing for the dead, but he could
still save thousands. With spells of healing, he tended to wounds of all types.
He revived all that held to the smallest spark of life. He disregarded not a
single injury, no matter how small. He would do everything in his power to wipe
away as much pain as possible.

After tending to every wounded
human and animal, he turned his attention to the damage within towns and
cities. He used the magic to put out every fire, but still he wasn't satisfied.
He rebuilt shops and homes, restored as much property to its original state
that he could. He knew he couldn't erase the memory of what happened, but he
hoped to wipe away as many reminders as possible.

#

Before trying to stem the tide of
magic flowing into Heteera, Enin made one last attempt to reach her. He doubted
he would be successful... on either front. He knew he could siphon off a great
deal of energy, but it wouldn't be enough. The magic was roaring in so fast
that anything he absorbed would be replaced almost instantaneously. As for
Heteera, she had shifted from indifferent to incensed. She didn't want to
listen. She craved the abyss of isolation, but the magic wouldn't allow it.

Enin came up with but one hope. He
believed if they worked together, they could alter the structure of the
barrier. They would need to do more than just strengthen it to hold the
enormous surge. They would have to create spillways and outlets to control the
monumental flow. It would lead to additional risks—the magic wouldn't be
completely contained and the instability would increase—but at least Jure and
Heteera would have a chance to survive. When the time came, he didn't want to
struggle against both the magic and the sorceress.

"You realize we have an
opportunity," Enin began. "The reservoir of magic within you has been
dramatically diminished."

"I know that," Heteera
responded, "but there's no opportunity for me. I'm still the same as I
was. I don't have any control of the magic. The barrier will just reform."

"No, it won't."

"What do you mean?"

"Can't you sense the amount
of magic surging through you? You won't be able to stop it. Trying to free
yourself from the current will be like hoping to swim out of a waterfall after
going over the edge. You're more than just a magnet for the energy. You've become
major conduit. Energy from across the land is caught in the swell. You don't
believe me? Try to reduce it, even by a small amount. It's not a trick. It's
the truth."

The sorceress didn't want to
reduce the magic, she wanted to refill the barrier and return to the isolation
where she found comfort. She also, however, wanted to prove the wizard wrong.
She wanted to be rid of him, and so, she tried to remove her essence ever so
slightly from the incoming magic. Her efforts were shoved aside harshly.

"What's going on?" she
cried.

"I tried to warn you. Magic
was being directed into the city of Ashlan
to offer cover to a draevol. That's where you are... in Ashlan... where your
magic needed to be. When you sensed the barrier retreating, you used all of
your will to bring in as much magic as possible, but there was far more here
than you—or the barrier—could handle. You created a massive tide that might be
unstoppable if we don't work together."

"That doesn't make any sense.
Why is it just flowing through me? Why isn't the barrier reforming?"

"Because Jure is still using
the energy. He's removing the goblins from the land as we speak. Unfortunately,
he will soon have to close the portals he created and he will have no further
need for the magic on such an enormous scale. When he stops casting his spells,
the magic will have no outlet. It won't fill the barrier. It will just rip
through the two of you, killing you both."

Heteera would not believe it.

"No, that's not
possible."