by Jeff Inlo
"So you're just going to put him out of his misery?"
"There is no one is Uton who can save him," Holli replied.
Ryson looked to Enin.
"Is that true?"
"Yes… and no." The wizard then called to Holli. "You can't kill him, you will only cause him further pain."
"I will be swift… and sure."
"You don't understand. You could slice him into a hundred pieces and scatter him across the land. He will not die. He made that bargain with the draevol. He can't break it, the draevol can't break it, and neither can you."
Holli placed the knife back in its sheath.
"There is no way to remove the curse?" Holli asked.
"Not with a knife, or with magic." Enin cast a glance at the pathetic wretch on the bed. "He has to look for salvation elsewhere."
"Then my conscience is clear." She turned to the door. "We should waste no more time. I want to find that draevol."
Prilgrat could only stare in helpless agony as the four left him alone. He tried to call out, but all he could muster was a gurgling moan. He turned his head enough to gaze out of the hole in his bedroom wall. His vision was too fuzzy to see anything specific, but he knew Ashlan had been saved. He, however, was no longer regional steward… and very far from any salvation.
Ryson was the only one who looked back upon Prilgrat. He didn't wish to see suffering on that scale, but he forced himself to take one last glimpse of futility, for that's what he saw in the pathetic, diseased body. The man tried to cheat death, and in a way, he did, but he ended up with something much worse. The steps of life were not ones that could be altered to escape fears of the inevitable.
Holli knew the way to Prilgrat's office in the town hall. It was very close and having Enin transport them there magically would only save a marginal amount of time. She chose to lead them on foot instead, so that they could evaluate their surroundings before entering the basement.
The flow of magic into the town had ceased. Heteera's death ended the overwhelming current, and Holli believed the draevol lacked the ability to restart it again so quickly after the abrupt halt. The magical cover across Ashlan dissipated, and the elf could now sense the demon. She also believed several inferns remained in the city, but they were only pawns. Enin could deal with them once they eliminated their master.
"I can feel the draevol," she announced. "It is indeed in the town hall. I sense no other threats near it."
Both Jure and Enin nodded in agreement.
Ryson wondered about the plan of attack, but with two wizards of enormous power by his side, he doubted any preparation was necessary. He did, however, consider one element that Holli seemed to ignore.
"What about the twin?" the delver wondered. "There may be a second draevol hiding somewhere nearby."
"Not here," Holli responded in a determined growl. "The other is in Huntston. We will take care of it as well, but this is the one behind it all. I can tell."
"But can't they use those transport spells?"
"They can, but it would leave a clear trail that Enin could follow."
The delver looked to Enin once more for confirmation.
The powerful wizard nodded.
"Don't worry, Ryson. Neither of them will get away," Enin advised.
"I'm not worried about them getting away. I'm more concerned about walking into a surprise."
"No more surprises," Holli stated, as if sheer will would force the entire event into a final conclusion, "and no more mysteries. The dwarves started this mess, the draevols corrupted it, and we are about to end it."
Nothing further needed to be said, and the elf quickly located not only the entrance to the town hall, but the stairs to the basement as well. She took the lead, not even waiting for Enin to offer direction or advice. She bounded down the steps and found exactly what she was looking for.
The draevol waited at the center of the cellar and its pale glowing form filled even the darkest corners with light. It looked upon the four intruders with fiery red eyes. It did not smirk or frown, but it certainly did not cast an apathetic gaze upon those before it. While it did not shrink in fear, the draevol showed proper respect to the powers of each of the individuals that confronted it.
Ryson had read descriptions of draevols, but he was still surprised by its appearance. The legends described the demons as pale apparitions fixated on sickness and disease. They glowed white hot, but not with anger. They simmered with deliberation on flaw and failing. They were the bringer of pain and weakness, and the icy hand of decay. Their white forms might have contrasted with the brown magic of rot they cast, but the pure paleness of their beings accentuated the lack of healthy color in their demon hearts.
All of that certainly matched what Ryson saw, but the overpowering presence of the demon far exceeded his conception of a creature that embraced sickness. Remembering that Holli described draevols as plague mages, he expected a twisted and decayed creature. He imagined he would find a decrepit essence, frail and feeble-not a colossus-but that is exactly what stood at the center of the enclosed space… at the center of the anguish across the valleys.
The demon was larger than Ryson expected-as tall and as massive as a cliff behemoth. There did not appear, however, to be much firm substance to the fiend. Its form carried distinct borders, and it was not so ethereal as to appear ghostly, but the creature seemed to lack true mass. It appeared like a pure white flame that had taken the contour of a large, hulking beast and suddenly congealed into that form. A near solid, pale, unflickering fire-that's how Ryson saw the demon's body.
The size and brightness of the fiend almost served as a great contradiction to its underlying nature, until Ryson remembered how truly terrifying and powerful plagues and diseases could be. They might have weakened their victims, but the sicknesses themselves could easily become tragedies of epic proportions. The overwhelming presence of the demon served to emphasize that fact. It wasn't simply a representation of the despair it could cause, but rather the depth of its peril. Plagues of the past had wiped out cities and towns, entire regions. With that thought, Ryson realized that was what the draevol had planned all along.
The demon spoke first and it focused on Jure.
"You are the one who cast the spells of power. Well played, but how was it possible? That much magic is not within you."
"Do not tell him," Holli intervened before Jure could speak. "We do not have to humor him with answers."
"I do not have to rely on you for answers," the demon scoffed. "I just did not wish to make assumptions. I know the magic I brought into the city was pulled from me by a very chaotic sorceress, but she is not here. Overwhelmed by the magic perhaps? Yes, I believe so."
Holli wondered if the fiend was just playing with them.
"If that's the case, why do you believe he cast the spell?" she asked, as she gestured to Jure.
"I understand the magic as well as you. He did not take the energy from me, but he certainly used it." The demon nodded to Jure. "I am impressed."
The draevol then cast a careful glance toward Enin.
"The mighty wizard is here as well. I actually imagined you would be the one to defeat the goblins, but I thought it would require more of your attention. It seems I was wrong. You have ended my plans much sooner than I hoped. Congratulations, but you should all go home now."
Ryson recognized the voice.
"The cahltofs!" the delver explained. "Before we got into the valleys, a cahltof told us to go home, but it was your voice. Wasn't it?"
"The delver has keen senses-no surprise."
"Why did you want us to go home?"
"Is it not obvious? Why would I want you here? You are an intrusion."
"But Strog wanted my sword."
"Strog wanted many things, ultimately none of which he was ever going to have."
"So you bargained with Strog," Holli announced, with no true surprise.
"I dealt with a great number of creatures; dwarves, goblins, bloat spide
rs, inferns, even humans. You are no doubt already aware of my dealings with the human leader of this town. He believed he could actually outwit me, thought I was underestimating him based on his appearance. I don't look at the outside. I'm much more interested in what's within. If anything, I overestimated him. I could not believe he would fall so easily."
"He was corrupt," Enin announced. "The corrupt always end up falling. It's just a matter of time."
"A rather naive point of view from such a powerful wizard. All of you are corrupt in one way or another. I would have thought you understood that."
"There is a difference between being corrupt and being imperfect," Enin shot back.
"We argue over words, not concepts," the demon allowed. "I understand many concepts, especially about humans. The most important aspect is that you don't conquer them with swords, you let them conquer themselves with apathy. That's why when I heard of the dwarf plan, I knew I had to be part of it. The goblins weren't sure of whether or not to trust the dwarves after they made their initial bargain. They came to me for advice. I offered to help them along. In fact, I helped get the plan moving."
Holli saw another piece of the puzzle fall into place.
"You cast the spells that made the people start to leave. You created the unease, the fear, the desire to run. Not in everyone, but just enough to get the exodus started."
"We had to make room for the first wave of goblins," the demon admitted. "We couldn't just take over farms that were already occupied. We had to give a few people a bit of a push."
Enin thought of what Sy Fenden had told him of a farmer who had left his land because his crops died, but they had not died normally. It was all becoming clear.
"You and your brother traveled through the underground tunnels the dwarves dug across the valleys," the wizard accused. "The dwarf tunneling made the underground rumbling that caused the first taste of fear and you built on it. You withered their crops and left a pall of disease in the air."
"It was my offering to the dwarves, my way of being kept in as part of the plan. I was able to open portals over time to bring in more and more goblins. I even cast a spell of sickness on the dwarf king and queen. I gave the dwarf leader exactly what he wanted."
"He's not their leader," Ryson corrected, "He's just a rebel who's pretending to be in charge."
"Whatever."
Holli pointed out the rest as she finally saw the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
"And you offered the services of the inferns to keep the goblins under control in Ashlan."
The draevol found no reason to deny the charge. It admitted to even more.
"Absolutely, I also ordered them to keep watch over the edges of the valleys to ensure the humans left in the right direction. The dwarf was very concerned about the mighty wizard of Connel, wanted to keep him occupied with other problems." The draevol looked cautiously over at Enin, hoping to gauge the wizard's animosity, but willing to admit certain truths. "I also hoped to keep you distracted. I believed the goblin scourge would take more of your time and energy, but they have proven to be a disappointment."
It wasn't Holli who asked the obvious question, but Enin.
"And what did you hope to gain by all of this? Even if the goblins required more of my attention, I still would have eventually defeated them. I never would have let you remain in control of the valleys."
"Your view of control is vastly different than mine. I needed time and opportunity. That's how plagues take hold. I was hoping to spread disease across the land and gain strength from the decay. I might have even been able to challenge you directly, given enough time."
"Time is up for you now," Holli proclaimed.
"That may be true… then again, perhaps not. Time is always important. That is why I have been so willing to discuss these matters with you. I wanted additional time."
"What do you mean?" Enin demanded.
"I told you of many of my deals. I also had one with my brother. What you are probably not aware of is a new deal I made with him before you entered. We were going to split the lands and the power that came from it once our plagues spread. We would not fight, as we are sometimes prone to do."
"All of your bargains are over," Holli growled.
"Not quite, elf. My brother is aware of the goblins removal, but he cannot conceive of how it happened. His magic was in Huntston, not here. I told him a little white lie. I explained the magic in Ashlan was distorted by a chaotic sorceress… a fluke spell that got out of hand and did more than she could imagine. Not altogether false. My brother could probably sense the upheaval in the magic. Like I said, a little white lie."
"So you lied to your brother. That does not change anything."
"In my lie, I altered our bargain. You see, he never wanted to wait for the goblins. He didn't think we needed to waste time with mayhem caused by lesser beings. We were always able to cause enough on our own. Still, he agreed to wait in order to take advantage of the dwarf plan. Before you arrived, I told him I no longer held him to that. I advised him to absorb the magic that flowed into Huntston. You know how much that is. Once he gathers it all, I told him to let loose his plagues. He was happy to do it. Of course he doesn't know about you."
The demon paused just long enough to let the situation sink in entirely. He then spelled it out.
"You could destroy me now. I have to accept that, but I will fight you if I have to. I believe I will survive long enough to allow my brother sufficient time to let loose his plague. Once he does, will you have the time and power to stop it? Perhaps not… not if you waste both on fighting me. Or, you could simply leave me and let me flee. I will do nothing to delay you. I will let you deal with my brother as you see fit. I understand it's a difficult choice, but I have to be concerned with saving myself."
The draevol did not smile, but he allowed his essence to grow brighter to accentuate the confidence he placed within his plan.
"We do not have to make a choice," Holli announced with pure determination. "Enin, go to Huntston and stop the other draevol."
"But…"
"No, do not argue with me. There is no time. We can deal with the demon. You have to stop the plague and you are the only one with the power to transport to Huntston and still defeat the draevol."
Enin realized that any delay could be catastrophic. He did not wish to leave, but the elf guard's strategy was sound. He was the best suited for stopping the twin. His control over magic was so great, that he created a simple portal that would allow him to step out of the cellar where they stood and directly to Huntston. The rift dissolved as he disappeared.
"You dispatched the most powerful among you," the fiend noted. "You must be very confident in your abilities, or perhaps you are not too concerned with mine. Aren't you worried you might have made a mistake?"
"You are a demon," Holli declared without hesitation or apparent concern. "You can see any fear within me. Why don't you tell me how worried I really am?"
"I see you're not," the demon allowed, but then decided to alter the circumstances. "You believe you divided your forces wisely to deal with the most pressing needs, but are you aware of all the threats? I don't think so. I also took the liberty of releasing my inferns. They are now free to destroy the city they once protected. You thought you saved Ashlan, but you will see it burn. I have also ordered the inferns that guard the edges of the valleys to set fire to everything in their path. If I can't spread disease across the land, I will let them turn it to ash. The result will be nearly the same."
Holli did not hesitate for an instant.
"Jure, take care of the inferns surrounding the valley. Ryson, go back into the streets and stop the ones in the city. Leave this draevol to me."
Chapter 28
"I should thank you," Holli declared, her focus narrowed on the draevol. "You actually did me a favor. I wanted to be the one to face you."
If she harbored any concern about standing alone before the demon colossus, her desire to meet the
creature in battle overshadowed it. The elf crouched ever so slightly, kept her weight on the balls of her feet. Her bow was in her right hand, but she had not yet removed any arrows from her quiver. The magical energy within her was at its peak, and she had many spells in the forefront of her mind. She was not lying. In every way, she wanted to defeat the fiend, and defeat it without the help of others.
The resentment and bitterness, even the self reproach, had all dissolved away. She immersed herself in the moment, a moment she viewed as a gift, a chance for redemption. She fully intended on washing away every mistake she made since entering the valleys.
She did not, however, fool herself into misinterpreting the full aspect of the encounter. The draevol was more than a worthy opponent. The demon possessed great powers, and its weaknesses were few. In regards to magic, the demon could cast spells of substantial magnitude and pull from a vast pool of energy. As for physical combat, draevols did not often succumb to swords or arrows.
Her own disadvantages were many. She understood that she was vulnerable to her foe's capabilities. The draevol could successfully attack her in different ways, use a variety of methods to end her life. It could rely on magic or utilize demon fire. It could even summon additional inferns.
While the options of attack open to the demon remained wide, Holli's path to victory was thin. As an elf guard, she learned the principles of battle long ago. Direct combat was not usually the desired course of action under such circumstances. She was taught to attack when she held the advantage, and utilize strategic retreat when the odds were heavily against her. Every aspect of the confrontation pointed to withdrawal, but despite the conditions, she believed she retained the advantage.
Encounters were not always won by the strongest. Powerful armies were often defeated because they could not match their opponents will. Though she believed the demon certainly possessed the desire to survive, it could not possibly surpass the need for her to acknowledge her own identity.
"I wanted to fight you alone," the elf continued, "without the help of the others. Enin would have just sent you back to where you belong. I want you to crawl back and never want to return."
