Spirit Past (Book 8) (26 page)

"Easy?" Enin question. "No, not easy. If you're going to take me, you're going to have to shut down the gateway."

"And why is that?"

"You can't fight me and feed the spell at the same time."

"Really?" the half-demon asked.

To answer his own question, the infern released a blast of orange energy meant to trap the wizard in a cage of flames.

Enin responded instantly. Two circles of white energy ripped through the flames, breaking apart the cage and dousing the fire.

"So you really wish to stand and fight?" Reiculf questioned through the half-demon's mouth.

"It won't be a fight," the wizard responded, "at least not one you can win. Creating a dimensional window suspended in the sky indefinitely takes far more energy than any infern can produce."

"I am not depending on the infern's magic."

"I realize you can feed your own energy into him," Enin answered directly to the daokiln, "but there are still limits to what you can do."

"Limits? You have no idea of the vastness of my energy. My power extends across history. I am the culmination of every transgression ever committed. I grow stronger with every day."

"But you cannot feed all that energy through a single vessel such as an infern and expect it to hold. As I said, there are limits."

"Then let us test those limits further."

Gnafil sent another wave of fire toward the wizard. The flames fell short, but the raging temperatures surrounded Enin like a glass lid. The spell was not meant to scorch the wizard, but rather to engulf him with just enough heat to burn away the air around him, force him into unconsciousness.

Rather than feed the flames with flowing winds, Enin pulled cool air from high above to fall down upon the blaze like a hammer on an anvil. The ground shook as the heat was stamped away and the flames were snuffed out from the force of the strike.

"Your attempts are weak," Enin chided the daokiln. "I understand the magic and how much can flow through the land. I've seen surges of energy as vast as the sea, but I know there are limits to containment. It is possible you wield even greater energy, but you cannot put all of it through a single infern... not in one wave and hope that Gnafil will not be torn apart."

"You understand nothing!"

Enin looked over his shoulder at the source of the warning. It did not come from the infern... or from Reiculf. It came from Ansas.

"Stay out of this," Enin cautioned. "I'm not going to allow darowks to terrorize Connel."

"At this point, that would be the least of our worries," the sorcerer scolded. "The threat of the darowks was only meant to draw you out into the open. They've already succeeded."

"No! The demons remain in Demonspawn. It is only Gnafil that we have to defeat."

"Not Gnafil... Reiculf."

The half-demon did not respond. He appeared to enjoy the conflict between the two spell casters as he silently watched them argue.

"Reiculf may be able to reach out into Uton through Gnafil," Enin insisted, "but the infern limits what he can do."

"Those limits are not enough to save you. He will take you, and through you, he will destroy Connel... and then all of Uton."

"No, he won't. You're forgetting the fireball."

"What about it?"

"We both know it's a dimensional gateway. It may be closed, but keeping such a window in existence indefinitely is a tremendous drain of energy. Reiculf can't send all of that energy through Gnafil and then send additional magic to overpower me. The infern would explode."

"You idiot!" Ansas roared. "Do you think the energy for that fireball is still coming from Gnafil?"

"Where else could it be coming from?"

"Demonspawn... directly from Reiculf! Gnafil only cast the initial spell. Once it was created, Reiculf could feed it with energy without having to use the infern!"

"That's not possible," Enin protested. "It's a closed window! It's not open."

"It doesn't have to be! All it has to do is create a connection between here and Demonspawn. Don't you think it does that?"

Enin began to see the sorcerer's point, but there remained questions he could not answer. The spells Gnafil used to try and capture him were weak at best. He was able to cast them aside with hardly an effort.

"If that's true, then why hasn't he used his full power against me?"

"He's playing with you!"

Gnafil finally decided to speak, but once again, it was Reiculf's voice that raged out from the infern's mouth.

"He's right," the monster admitted, "I enjoy playing with my prey. I like watching you squirm in vain hope. I believe you still have such hope. Why don't you try attacking me directly?"

"Don't do it!" Ansas cautioned. "He wants you to open a channel, a pathway he can use to take control of you."

"Stay out of this, sorcerer," the infern growled.

Ansas would not heed the warning. A ring of ebony power formed around his clenched fists, and he threw the spell at Enin before either the wizard or the half-demon could react.

"Don't fight it!" Ansas warned.

"What is it?" Enin demanded.

"Temporary transformation. It will alter the remnant of my magic that remains inside of you. Reiculf will not be able to link to you as long as the energy remains in flux."

Suddenly enraged, Gnafil cast a spell of his own, but rather than burnt amber energy, he called on the pure power of Reiculf. Three rings of colorless magic formed around the infern's body. He let them loose upon Enin, hoping to take hold of the wizard, but Ansas' spell disrupted the attempt.

The infern screamed in fury as he pressed harder against the spell that spoiled his grasp. Large streams of energy raged out of the half-demon like a flooded river overflowing its banks.

"I can't hold this for long," Ansas shouted. "Get us out of here!"

Enin cast a quick spell of teleportation, and the wizard and sorcerer disappeared.

Gnafil ended his attempt to invade Enin's consciousness even as Reiculf roared in frustration. The half-demon knew he could not fail his master again. He quickly scanned the residual waves of magic from Enin's spell. He cast his own incantation of teleportation and followed the trail.

"The guards are under the influence of the serp," Haven warned the elf elder. "The daokiln's magic is being unleashed upon them all."

Her own magic had revealed the truth. Even Reiculf's deceitful power could not hide from the light of the elf sorceress. Haven saw the ripples of hateful influence which urged the human soldiers toward the flames in the eastern section of Connel.

"They will try to kill the infern to incite the darowks to enter Uton," Holli added. "We must not allow that to happen, but we also must avoid injuring the humans. They are not responsible for their actions."

Both Holli and Haven looked to Shantree for instruction. They might have stood within a human city, but they could not deny their heritage. Even for Holli, who had been exiled from the elf camp, the elves would follow the lead of their elder.

Though uncomfortable with her surroundings—a maze of tall buildings, many bearing clear evidence of dwarf design and construction—Shantree willingly took command. She remained silent at first, but only to assess the full measure of the calamity they faced.

Shantree was not an elf guard, not trained in the ways of battle, but she had faced difficult decisions and trying times during her relatively short period of authority. She  pulled upon the wisdom gained during such trials as she searched for a response.

The elder glanced down several streets. She did not need the keen eyesight of an elf to see the unfolding tragedy. The city was in turmoil, no doubt the work of the daokiln, and further chaos would be unleashed by the city's own protectors.

Human soldiers were advancing upon the infern from every direction. They were heavily armed and their intentions were clear. They showed no fear of the wave of fire flaring into the
midday sky. They were going to kill the infern.

For its part, the infern ignored the approaching soldiers. It was either under the direct influence of Macheve... or the daokiln himself. It displayed no concern for its own safety and revealed no aggression toward the guards. It could have redirected the demon fire to defend its position, but it refused to send the flames in any direction other than up into the sky.

Despite the half-demon's apparent restraint, Shantree realized the benign gesture was nothing more than a ploy. The infern had no real love for the humans or their city. It had been placed within the confines of Connel to serve as a sacrifice.

The simplicity of the peril became obvious to the elf elder. She looked to the fireball hovering over the southern section of the city. Once the infern was assaulted by the town guard, a haze of shadowy demons would descend from the sky and choke the life from every inhabitant. Connel would be overrun, and Reiculf would reach through the chaos and take everything he desired.

Shantree had two very capable spell casters at her disposal. Scheff and Haven could have employed a multitude of spells to protect the infern. Unfortunately, using such magic offered its own hazards. She was not simply fighting an infern and a serp. She knew the full fury of Reiculf's power would ultimately rise against them. Squandering the energy of her most powerful spell casters would be a decision she knew she would regret, and so, the elf elder chose another path. To succeed, she needed to utilize the power of Enin's apprentice.

"Holli, you wield emerald magic," the elder acknowledged. "Use it now. Bind every human soldier advancing upon the infern."

Holli had no desire to argue, but she felt the need to alert Shantree to her limitations.

"I cannot hold them for long,"

"Hopefully, it will be long enough."

Holli accepted the elder's authority as if she was once more an elf guard responsible for the safety of her camp. She prepared her spell quickly, and let the green energy of her essence explode outward onto the streets.

Vines grew from the dirt and in between cobblestone cracks. Wisps of long, green plants climbed upwards like small geysers shooting up from boiling underground springs. Thousands of slender stems swiftly snaked outward and took hold of the soldiers by their arms and legs. The green strands pulled and twisted with ferocious tenacity and forced the guards to the ground.

The human soldiers fought against the assault, hacked against the gripping vines. They shrieked in anger and frustration as their swords and knives were ripped from their fingers. They pulled violently against the strands, trying to rip the roots from the ground like unwanted weeds. They managed to tear a few vines, but their struggles only managed to entwine them deeper into the confining grip of the magically enhanced plants.

"Excellent," Shantree offered.

"The spell will not last," Holli warned. "They are struggling against me and more soldiers will come to their aid."

"It will hold long enough," the elder advised, and then she turned to Scheff and Haven. "Conserve your magic. It may yet be needed. Keep watch while I am gone. Do not allow the infern to leave. Contain it if necessary."

"Where are you going?" Scheff asked.

"To get help."

#

Ansas looked over the grassy hills. There were no towns on the horizon. He could see the Colad Mountains to the north, but he was not sure of his exact position.

"Where are we?" he demanded.

"The foothills west of Dark Spruce and north of the badlands that lead to the Lacobian Desert," Enin answered.

"Gnafil's going to follow us," Ansas warned.

"I realize that. We're not staying."

"He won't give up, either, and you're going to leave a trail."

"I'm going to conceal it."

"You can't hide it completely. You know that."

"It will be enough to slow him down."

Enin cast two quick spells. The first was nothing more than a magical burst, a mystical disruption in the air. Waves of energy would linger, distorting the remnants of any spell cast in the area. He knew it would not completely mask his next incantation, but it would certainly make their path more difficult to isolate, even to someone as powerful as Reiculf. Satisfied with the bristling streams of static, the wizard quickly cast another spell of teleportation.

The sorcerer once more found himself in new surroundings, and he could smell and feel the spray of the ocean. Ansas looked over the cliff ledge before him and saw the great western sea. He wondered if Enin was making yet another strategic error.

"Do you think the water will help us?"

"It can't hurt. Gnafil's power is of fire."

The sorcerer knew that Enin's spell of distortion back in the hills had offered them a small reprieve. The infern would struggle to find their path, and the distraction allowed them time to formulate a new strategy. Their considerations, however, needed to be based on the reality they faced, and he believed Enin was underestimating their foe.

"It's Reiculf's magic that will take you, not Gnafil's. You won't be able to use the ocean to fight colorless magic."

"I realize that, but we're still facing an infern as well, and we have to grab any advantage we can."

"Advantage?" The concept appeared to enrage the sorcerer. "You gave away our advantage! Every teleportation spell you cast, no matter how well concealed with tricks and distractions, will create a path to your exact location. They have a map to you, and Reiculf will not let you escape. You can teleport all over Uton, even to other dimensions. It won't save you. Eventually you will exhaust your energy. You might be able to keep running for days, but Reiculf will outlast you. It is a simple equation."

"I have no intention of running any further. We will fight him here."

"Then you might as well just turn yourself over to Reiculf now and save us the trouble," Ansas fumed. "You cannot possibly be that ignorant to what we're up against."

"I know our foe. We face Gnafil, and the infern is empowered by the magic of Reiculf. I brought us here because I can draw great energy from this place... and so can you. Alteration is one of the qualities of your ebony magic. At this point, it is at its greatest. The transformation of the elements from the land, sea and sky will strengthen you as well."

"Against Reiculf? It still will not be enough!"

"We were able to beat Scheff," Enin argued.

"We had more spell casters in the forest, and I had a plan! Scheff was the easiest of the three to defeat. That's why I chose him. Gnafil will be the most difficult. He is part demon and his connection to Reiculf will be the strongest."

"Then what do you suggest? You brought us to Connel. You knew we were going to be attacked. Didn't you have a plan?"

"I did, but that was before you decided to take on Reiculf by yourself!"

"I made a mistake, I admit it, but what was your plan?"

"To force Reiculf to expand energy against Connel."

Enin finally understood Ansas' strategy. From the beginning, the sorcerer had planned to sacrifice others, just as Reiculf planned to use the half-demons.

"You were going to let Connel suffer?"

"The city was going to suffer no matter what I did. You made Connel your home. You brought Reiculf's wrath to the city, not me."

Enin shook his head in disgust, angry not only with the sorcerer, but also with himself for being so blind.

"That was your plan all along, wasn't it? You wanted us all in Connel to bring Reiculf's pawns to the city. You wanted a battle, fully expected Gnafil and Macheve to decimate the city. That's why you sent the others out into the streets. You were going to have Jure and Haven fight them from opposite sides of Connel. They probably would have died."

"Probably?" Ansas questioned. "Almost definitely. And you can blame me all you want, but I didn't invite Reiculf to Connel, you did."

"So we're back to arguing about blame? We can't do that! Not here, not now. We need to stop them."

"We won't be able to accomplish that here!" the sorcerer insisted.

Realizing that arguing would not solve their dilemma, Enin decided to accept Ansas' judgment. They could not fight Gnafil under the current circumstances, even in the place of his choosing where the elements offered their greatest advantage. Knowing that the half-demon would soon appear, he decided to make a gesture of his own.

"Alright, we don't fight him here. I'm going to move us again."

Raising his hand, Enin cast another spell of disruption and then teleported them across Uton. They ended up on a lonely road in the northern highlands. A biting wind cut across the plains and thick clouds filled the northeastern skies.

"First the sea and now the cold," Ansas remarked. "You're still acting as if we're facing just an infern."

"No, I'm trying to stay away from towns... away from the innocent."

"You can do that all you wish, but eventually you'll have to return to Connel. We both know that. Reiculf does too, but he doesn't care. He'll keep Gnafil on your trail until you go back on your own. He has a direct line to you and he won't let that go. He's going to keep following you."

"So what do we do?" questioned Enin.

"We do what we must. We go back."

"No! I won't follow your plan. I won't put the city in jeopardy."

"It already is! You think the inferns are gone... or the darowks? How long do you think it will be before the inferns decide to turn their flames on the town buildings instead of shooting them up into the air? They'll start burning homes. Jure can contain one, and Haven the other. They have the power, but Reiculf won't leave it at that. He'll send more. He'll send a whole army of inferns into Connel. Eventually one will die and the darowks will swarm into the city."

Enin imagined the terror. Swarms of vaporous demons darting down Connel's streets. The guard would have no way to fight them. Arrows and swords would be useless. The only way to fight them was with magic. Jure and Scheff might be able to hold out. Haven might have even more success. But they would weaken and then Reiculf would strike.

"If we go back, what can we do?" Enin demanded.

Ansas glared silently at the wizard. He would have liked to see Connel burn and then choke under the shadow of demons gone wild, let Enin suffer for acting so rashly. The wizard had disregarded his orders, took control from the sorcerer by heading out on his own to face Gnafil. Ansas did not want that to happen again. To win, he needed to keep them all under his command, but he also needed to remember his enemy.

"We regroup," Ansas finally relented. "We let Gnafil follow your trail and we wait for him in Connel. Hopefully, the others followed my instructions and the darowks have not yet descended upon the city. Maybe Jure and Haven will have sufficient energy to distract the infern when he reaches the city. I won't be able to break the link between Reiculf and Gnafil the way I did with Scheff. It's too strong, but our combined magic may be enough to weaken the half-demon. If so, it might make a mistake before the serp joins the battle. If we keep it isolated, we have a chance to defeat it."

#

Ryson raced down an alley and came out on the main road just behind the platoon of soldiers. He didn't want to engage them head on. It was too dangerous for all concerned. He thought of trying to distract them, instigating them into chasing him, but he realized such a tactic was pointless. Under Macheve's spell, they would hold to a single purpose. They were determined to kill the infern.