Delver Magic Book I: Sanctum's Breach

by Jeff Ianniello

  Ryson stood in no condition to consider the question. The heaviness of the moment drowned out nearly all consciousness. He slouched, but remained on his feet, and continued staring into the emerald eyes.

  She was on him. She held him with the same grip as she held the tracker, pulled him toward her with the same force. Her eyes remained locked with his as she pulled him closer, and he could not resist her.

  Ryson was not even certain what was happening. The fog rolled through his mind even when her nails cut into his own shoulder, just as they broke the skin of the tracker. He did not feel the pain. He did not feel fear, until she turned her eyes to his bare throat. With the break in the stare, a small degree of the confusion and the fog lifted. He knew where he was and what was about to happen. He felt the piercing pain in his upper arms from her grip.

  The small hole in the blanketing fog gave way at first to a scream of fear. Then, miraculously, his delver instincts rushed through the gap. He was aware he was in great danger. He needed to save himself.

  Instinctively, his fingers found the handle of the Sword of Decree. As his hand encircled the hilt, all confusion and doubt evaporated, cast away like the outgoing tide. A certainty - a sharp purpose and understanding filled his mind. This was no dream and he was not insane. He could feel the energies of the sword rise through his arm. He even felt the energies that filled the air. He sensed their impurities, the taint given to them by the sphere, but he acknowledged their presence. The sphere was real, the goblins were real, the shag was real, even this vampire was real. And he knew now how to deal with her.

  It was at that moment that delver swiftness saved his life, saved his soul. His right arm free, except for at the shoulder, he pulled at the hilt with all the speed he could muster. The blade came free of its sheath and stood boldly out in the night air.

  Just as the vampire was about to sink her teeth into her second victim, she howled in pain. She released her hold on the delver and stumbled away.

  Ryson Acumen held the sword proudly and showed not the slightest sign of surprise. The firelight, as well as the distant starlight, radiated off the sword with magnified brilliance. The campsite was as bright as noon day, and the beams of light burned the revealed skin of the vampire.

  "Vampires hate the light, don't they?" Ryson growled with anger. In this one encounter, he would learn to hate vampires over all the other creatures of the dark. He loathed having his mind controlled, despised the powers to confuse and entice with false hopes. He cursed them. He cursed the vampire and would never forget what she had been able to do to him. In that moment, he wanted revenge. "Fire can't harm you, but this light can. It's not just fire, it's the starlight magnified. It's as harmful to you as the sun."

  The woman, now hunched over but still on her feet, did not reply. She made a quick break for the darkness and the safety of the trees. Her speed was surprising, but no match for the delver's.

  He cut her off with ease and again held the sword to her face. "You're not getting away."

  She hissed. Her face was now clear to him, revealed by the light of the sword. Pasty grey skin clung closely to her skull. The eyes, which were now more grey than green, retracted into her sockets. Long eyelashes, a petite nose, and blood red lips gave the sorrowful feeling that she attempted to appear more feminine than the rest of her face would allow. That same face now contained two scorch marks, one on each cheek.

  Ryson looked back into her eyes. He bore down into them as he challenged her to take control of his thoughts once more. Whether with this sword or without it, he vowed never to lose such a battle of wills in the future. He was unprepared for this first meeting. It would never, ever happen again.

  The woman still wished only to escape. She tried to turn and run in the opposite direction. Again, she found the delver swooping down in her path.

  Angered further by the vampires attempts to run, Ryson jabbed at her arm with the point of his sword. It barely touched her, did not even break the skin, but she screamed in agony. The brown coat smoked at the point of contact. She dropped to the ground in a heap, rolled to her knees and pleaded for him to let her alone.

  Ryson did not hesitate in his reply. "I can only do that if you swear on what is left of your soul that you will not harm another living creature again."

  Her head shot up in anguish, surprise. "I can not do that!" If she had been able, tears would have been streaming down her burnt cheeks, but she had lost that ability. "I have no control over what I am!"

  "But you must honor such a promise." Ryson did not know how he knew that, but he did. "You will swear to me by the last remnants of your soul, or I will not let you go."

  "You would kill me? I know you delver, I have felt your thoughts. You can not kill me." It was more of a plea than a statement.

  "It won't be me that ends your life, I will let the sun take care of that. I will only keep you here until you swear."

  "But I must do what I must do. I could no more cease tasting blood than you could stop taking breaths of the air."

  "I'm not giving you a choice. Swear or face the sun."

  The vampire's words screeched from her mouth fast and wailing. "Let me at least stalk the animals. I will avoid humans and delvers."

  "No! Absolutely not! You will harm neither man nor animal, not even the smallest of rodents."

  "I will not survive. You give me no choice."

  "Then take the sun," Ryson stated with cold indifference to the vampire's plight.

  The woman shook uncontrollably. She searched the night, but found no hope. She made one last plea. "Give me at least the creatures that would also prey upon your kind. Allow me to stalk the shags, the river rogues, the goblins."

  Ryson hesitated. He did not respond.

  The woman took this as a sign of hope and seized upon it. "You must allow me at least that. These are creatures that are aligned against delvers. They would not think twice in slaughtering the helpless. I would be doing you a service." She paused but for a second, then spoke up in a clear voice before Ryson could deny her. "I swear by my soul I will only stalk shags, goblins and river rogues. The rest I will leave unharmed."

  She waited.

  Ryson heaved a heavy breath and finally nodded. He returned his blade to his sheath.

  She rose with a contemptuous expression. She showed no gratitude. She grimaced with anger and disgust. "May the wicked feed on your bones, and may your soul be cast into the void." She spat.

  Ryson shrugged. Then, he remembered the tracker. He looked to his pale lifeless body.

  "What of him?"

  "His fate is sealed." Satisfaction pursed her lips. "If I'm lucky, he will see to your end."

  Ryson ignored her. "He's not turned yet. He's just a corpse."

  "That will change in three nights from now."

  "No, it won't," Ryson answered with a determined edge.

  The vampire eyed him suspiciously as he walked over to the prone body. She hissed as the blade of the Sword of Decree was again free from its sheath. She held her hand up to her face to block the light but peered through her fingers to witness the delver's movements.

  Ryson took a deep breath, steadied himself, and with one thrust, pierced the still heart of the tracker. He removed the blade as quickly as he plunged it downward, wiped it clean on the clothes of the tracker and returned it to it sheath.

  "You killed him!" the woman condemned as she lowered her hands.

  "No, you killed him," Ryson said flatly. "I saved his soul. Now he will remain nothing more than a corpse. I would have asked him to do the same for me."

  The woman hissed and then fled.

  Ryson took the time to bury the tracker. Evan Chase would not rise again.

  Chapter 19

  "What's your business here?" Surliness and suspicion filled the guard’s voice. He stood in front of Ryson, menacingly blocking passage of the main road into Burbon. He was only slightly taller than the delver, but much thicker. The density of his biceps, forearms and wrists g
ave his arms a short and stubby appearance, a dimension that contrasted sharply with the long, narrow spear held tightly in his hand. His nose was large, puffy, and bent slightly to one side, the obvious result of one too many breaks. His eyes narrowed as he glared, but he could not hide the blood shot corners.

  The guard’s position of challenge did more to provoke the delver than frighten him. Ryson wanted to know why he was being questioned. There had been no guards at this post during his first trip into Burbon back when he was just investigating damage done by the quake. He didn't appreciate the guards tone or the disapproving stare. And he didn't like having his passage blocked. No delver would. Impeding his freedom of passage was like removing his right to think. As to the guards hulking physique, such attributes meant little to a delver. Ryson could run circles around him, turn him into a plodding buffoon grasping at air if he so desired.

  As Ryson was about to protest, probably vehemently, he noted other guards closing upon him. He immediately sensed their fear and mistrust. Two joined the first guard's side and formed a semicircle around him. Three others took strategic positions farther back and along the side of the road. They all appeared weary as well as suspicious, and they all carried long sharp spears that they were prepared to use.

  The jagged edges glistened of polished metal, but the points were smudged with a damp greasy substance. Ryson had heard of dreadful wars where men carried spears greased at the point with tar coated poisons. These guards were obviously also familiar with such tactics, for there was no other reason to grease a spear tip if not to hold poison fast to its razor sharp blade.

  He didn't believe the guards were skilled enough to hit him, but one might just get lucky. In truth, the odds against such a strike were astronomical. With a poison tipped spear, however, the slightest graze against his skin might be fatal.

  He felt the pull of the Sword of Decree at his side. It reminded him not of the existence of a weapon so close to his hand but of its importance as stated by Mappel. It also reminded him of what was still left to accomplish. His mission was near complete. He needed only to return the sword to the elder elf, a deed he could complete with near mindless ease. Such a revelation narrowed his own options. It would be foolish to take even the smallest risk at this point, so he bit down on his anger and swallowed it like loose spit. He appeared to cooperate, giving a smile rather than a sneer. He rubbed his hands together then clasped them up by his chest, keeping them well away from the hilt of the sword.

  "My name's Ryson Acumen. I was here several days ago. I'm from Connel. I was sent to check on the damage done by the quake and to see if you needed any assistance from our town. Maybe you remember me?"

  "I don't." The guard continued to glower. "That explains what you were doing here then. It doesn't tell me what you want now."

  Ryson raised an eyebrow. "Now? Now, I'm back to see how things are going. I spoke to your Mayor Stevens last time, a tall thin man, brown hair, grey around the edges. I wanted to check with him again, make sure that he received everything he needed."

  Ryson had hoped if he described the mayor it might reduce the strain still apparent in the guard's tight jaw. It did not. If anything, the guard's scowl deepened.

  "The mayor's no longer in charge here. The captain of the guard is." The guard spoke bluntly as if he didn't care how his statement sounded. "If that's the extent of your business, you may as well head back to Connel right now."

  The last was given in the clear tone of an order.

  Ryson held up his hand asking for another moment. This turn of events immediately interested the delver. He wondered what might have transpired to cause such an event as the guard taking control of the town. Rather than turn away and make an immediate heading toward Connel, Ryson persisted with his hopes to gain entry into Burbon. "I am also here to take a rest from my travels. I've been as far as Pinesway these past few days."

  Eager curiosity filled the face of the guard to Ryson's left. He could not keep himself from interrupting.

  "You've been to Pinesway? What is the news there?"

  The head guard spoke sternly and rebuked his subordinate. "Keep it quiet. That's not our concern."

  "But I have a brother stationed there."

  "It's all right," Ryson stated quietly. He was carefully piecing together the most obvious of the clues. He turned them into an image of what he was facing and how he might turn the encounter to his advantage. The existence of guards at the town's main road, as well as their poisoned tips spears, indicated they were at least slightly aware of the changes taking place around them. Little else would justify the unseating of the mayor and the need for stationed guards.

  By their own faces, he was certain they must have experienced something of this madness first hand. Their bloodshot eyes and obvious weariness indicated little sleep over the past two or three days. Perhaps, mountain shags or goblins had ransacked part of their town, or perhaps they were hunting a vampire or a river rogue. It was difficult to distinguish which might have installed their apprehension to wayward travelers, but it was a safe bet it was connected to the magic.

  Ryson decided to deal with their anxieties directly, although somewhat discreetly, and he lowered his voice to a whisper. "I understand your caution. Like I said, I've been traveling these past few days. I've seen many strange things. Things I can't understand, or even wish to."

  "What is it you saw?" the head guard demanded sternly, more interested in the stranger's sightings than in the state of Pinesway.

  Ryson could not as of yet determine what exactly had the guards, the whole town, so unnerved. Thus, he did not wish to speak in detail. If the guards had a run in with shags, they might interpret the description of the undead as the ramblings of a lunatic. He played out his hand cautiously, acting as if speaking too much might bring a return of the insanity. "I really don't like to talk about it. I even wonder about my own eyes, hoped that it was the fading sun playing tricks on me. But whatever it was, it left me wanting to return to the safety of a town as soon as possible."

  The head guard continued to size up the delver. He frowned, unsatisfied with Ryson's response.

  Ryson sensed his growing impatience. He spoke with as much detail as possible without alluding to one particular monster. "What I saw, I saw in the shadows. It did not appear human. It left me cold and I do not like to talk about it." He felt that would suffice whether the town suffered at the hands of the goblins, the shags or any other dark creature. He then turned his attention to the guard with a brother in Pinesway. "I can assure you, however, that when I left Pinesway, it remained intact with the townspeople still in charge. There was no sign of any damage other than the quake, and I heard nothing of casualties to the town guard."

  The news appeared to settle all of the guards, but they still made no sign of allowing Ryson to pass. He decided to press the issue.

  "I've told you all I know, even things I didn't wish to. For now, I hope you will let me visit one of your fine taverns. I was hoping to obtain an ale and some food before returning to Connel. Surely, you would not deny me that. I only hope to add to the pockets of your own merchants; yours as well for keeping this town, and myself for that matter, safe while I'm here." He carefully pulled coins from his right front pocket. He did so slowly, allowing the guards to watch his every move. He handed gold to the guard in his path, silver to those on his sides. He even flipped coppers to the guards in the back.

  "Hopefully, you'll see that as my thanks for keeping this town safe. I will eat easier and I'll leave as soon as I have eaten."

  The guard in front of him looked at the coin in his hand. His face softened. "Stay the night. It's not friends from Connel that worries us," he said surprisingly. "If you wish to return to Connel, you can leave in the morning. That way you'll reach it before night falls. No sense in traveling at night if you don't have to."

  Ryson was about to reveal that he was a delver and his speed would allow him reach Connel before this day ended. Before he muttered a single
word, though, he changed his mind. He wasn't certain how they would react. He had come across many humans that mistrusted delvers. The guards were somewhat friendly to him at this juncture. Right now, he was nothing more than a traveler from Connel, not a delver out poking around. No sense in changing that, and perhaps invoking a change of heart as well.

  "Very well then, thank you. I need the rest."

  Ryson had no real intention of resting. Once he obtained entry into Burbon, he would look around with a curious eye, try and determine the problems which led to stationing guards on the roads and relieving the mayor of his duty. Before, he could take a step, however, the head guard addressed him with more than a hint of authority, as if a captain speaking to a private.

  "I suggest you keep that handy." The guard nodded to the jeweled handled sword at Ryson's side. "The nights have gotten pretty strange around here. We're doing the best we can, but we can always use extra help. If we call for you, we'll expect you to lend a hand."

  "Certainly." It now became clear why the guard was allowing Ryson to enter as well as stay the night. He was as anxious as the others, worried that their numbers were too small to handle whatever it was they faced. He saw Ryson as another man to be drafted into his army.

  "Don't disappoint us," he said sternly. "And don't go bothering the Captain about anything. He has enough to worry about. Remember, the mayor's gone. If you had any business with him, it's finished now."

  "Understood," Ryson said plainly.

  He stepped around the head guard, who did not move, and walked deliberately but slowly toward the collection of buildings and houses which made up the heart of Burbon. He felt their eyes on his back, but he did not turn. He stepped as if nothing more than the burdens of travel wore upon his shoulders. He heard one of the guards mutter, but could not make out the words. He sensed another following, but again he showed no concern or even acknowledgment. The guard would remain far behind, but within view to see which inn Ryson would select. It seemed obvious they were intent on knowing where he would be if and when they wanted him to lend a hand.