Chain of Bargains dm-5

by Jeff Inlo

  Enin had taught her that utilizing magic was about finding the right state of mind, about building upon an abstract concept and using the magical energy to stimulate thought into action and imagination into reality. Control and depth of energy were important, but Enin advised her that it was creativity and open-mindedness that molded magic into its greatest power. She had to avoid casting doubt upon her skills and placing limitations on the energy within her.

  Building upon her idea of light and nature, she let the concept flow through her perception of reality and placed it upon the state of the demon. She focused on turning light into something more, something of substance, and a new spell crystallized in her mind.

  She quickly slipped the bow over her shoulder and threw her hands together. A green octagon formed about her fingers. She whispered words that brought clarity to her fledgling idea and then she cast the energy at the creature.

  The emerald magic expanded as it flew through the air. It turned into a great sheet of yellowish green as it rose above the fiend's head. It collapsed down upon the monster and covered it in full. It fused to the monsters body, turning its bright white form into a lime green shadow.

  The spell caused the creature no pain and the fiend remained indifferent to the activity around it. It showed no care or concern to the elf's actions, as if Holli was nothing more than some small, irritating child trying to call for attention.

  Holli took hold of her bow and removed another arrow from her quill. Once more, she fired at the center of the creature, but this time she aimed for its back and she also expected different results. She was not disappointed.

  The arrow plunged into the center of the demon and held fast as if it embedded into flesh. The creature howled in unexpected pain just as Holli smiled with satisfaction.

  The draevol finally turned about, the arrow still sticking in its back.

  "What have you done, elf?"

  "Found a way to hurt you."

  "Hurt me? No, you have annoyed me, nothing more. You think this magical shell that partially solidifies my substance is a true threat?"

  "That shriek of pain was no mere annoyance," Holli noted.

  She fired another arrow in a blur of motion that almost rivaled a delver, and a second arrow sank into the demon, this time into its chest. While the creature screamed again in both pain and fury, Holli ran across the cellar floor, steadied herself against a thick root and fired a third and fourth arrow. Both found their mark at the creature's side just below its arm.

  The creature screamed again, but it also raged with anger. Its pale form blazed and the demon fire within it burned across its entire body. The flames devoured the emerald energy that surrounded it and the green tint of its body died away. The arrows that had once stuck in its form disintegrated into dust.

  Holli ceased firing arrows as she knew her spell had been eliminated, but she took hope in the fact she had indeed found a way to hurt the demon. She had to build on that hope, discover something the demon could not fight.

  The draevol turned to face Holli, acknowledging that it would no longer leave its back to the elf.

  "I will give you a small amount of credit in becoming more of a pest than I imagined, but that is all you have done. That, and convinced me that I will be able to use you for far greater purposes once I have your service bound to me. You were a great fool to make that bargain and many will suffer because of it."

  That would not happen, whether she could defeat the demon or not, but with the demon fully prepared to defend itself, Holli began to wonder if her death was the only way to ensure the creature's defeat. She placed that path in the back of her mind as a last resort, and continued to search for weaknesses.

  "What is it you hope to gain from me if you win our agreement?" Holli asked, trying to distract the draevol as she began to wonder if there was some way she could use the creature's own demon fire against itself.

  "You have surprised me with your cunning," the fiend admitted. "When you are fully within my service, I will demand you use it for my benefit. Do not fool yourself into thinking you can hold back. The bargain will guarantee that you use all your strengths to aid me in whatever cause I deem appropriate."

  "That is only if you win."

  "How can I not? You proved that you can sting me, but you are still nothing more than an insect. You cannot flee and you cannot accept the assistance of others. The only way I lose the bargain is if you destroy me or convince me to leave. Neither will happen."

  "But I certainly have your attention."

  "What does that prove? Prilgrat had my attention and look at what happened to him."

  The thought of the steward sparked another consideration for the elf. Prilgrat had feared death, she did not, but she also began to see that the steward was short-sighted in his bargain, and in doing so, left himself open to a future of eternal suffering. In an ironic twist, he wanted endless life, but found only permanent torment.

  She began to see her situation as a reversal of that twist. She was holding to a belief that death was her last resort, a path she could travel to avoid defeat. In doing so, she was failing to see the way to victory. She did not wish to die, but holding to it as some trump card was a way for her to avoid a more difficult path.

  She was hiding from a truth. She saw the battle with the demon as vindication, perhaps even vengeance. When the fiend threatened to obliterate her with magic, her concerns matched Prilgrat's fear of death. She had the means to defeat the demon, but she doubted herself. She might have gone into battle determined to use all her talents, but deep down, she viewed them as inadequate against the demon.

  She was wrong.

  When she placed her magical talents in perspective, she focused on her connection to nature, but that line of thinking restricted her abilities. The physical aspects of her power shaped her concentration as well as the limits she placed upon herself. The emerald energy, however, represented far more as it encompassed life beyond the mortal existence. She realized she needed to reach deeper into the concept of life. The time had come for her to immerse herself into the depth of the spirit and invoke the power that could conquer disease, sickness and even death. That was the true strength of eternal life and the force of her magic.

  It wasn't enough to simply accept what she had become-an elf guard and a sorceress-she also had to believe in herself, believe she had the power to overcome a demon. She shed the doubt, cast aside her fears of weaknesses compared to the draevol and turned her attention toward finding a way to overcome the fiend.

  The image of Prilgrat showed her the way. She saw the steward in two lights. When she first met him, he was jovial and confident, full of life. He was brazen and garish, but he knew how to reach his goals, misguided as they might have been. His fault was in both his fear and his selfishness. He traded the lives of many for an escape from his fear, but his selfishness damned him.

  Holli was neither fearful nor selfish, but she had been short-sighted. She believed in the demons self-proclaimed superiority. It was a lie, just like the lie that ultimately led to Prilgrat's ruin.

  The sickness of the steward didn't mean the end for the valley. The people had been saved, they would regroup. The steward would be replaced and life would be restored to the valley. Prilgrat was the personification of the plague. He was doubt and fear, the very emotions that led to weakness and destruction.

  Yes, plague and disease could destroy life, but not all life. The spirit would endure. Trees and plants succumbed to sickness, but new life always returned. Even people managed to overcome the worst of the plagues. Life persevered. That was in Holli's magic, and it was stronger than the draevol's.

  She counted the arrows in her quiver. She still had over two dozen, more than enough. It was time to use all her skills and force the demon back into its dark realm.

  She took an arrow in her hand, but before stringing it to her bow, she focused her magical energy into the tip and shaft. The arrow glowed a healthy green, and she fired it right bet
ween the eyes of the demon.

  The arrow found its mark and plunged into the face of the creature. It did not pass through, but rather exploded in a cloud of emerald passion. The green energy pulsated through the demon and it fought against the plague magic.

  The draevol did more than shriek. It threw its hands over its pale face and writhed in agony. It was suddenly confronted with a power it did not expect, an energy of life.

  Holli fired several more enchanted arrows and all of them hit their target. She moved with swiftness all around the basement, firing from every angle.

  After eight arrows exploded within the demon's essence, she changed her tactics once more. She pulled the dagger from its small sheath and placed a similar enchantment on its blade.

  She focused on the perseverance of life, the will to overcome, the desire to heal. The strength of nature was in its ability to regenerate. She couldn't deny the strength of the plague, it could weaken and kill, end many lives, but only individual life, not life as a whole. Life was a gift from a power greater than sickness and disease.

  The enchantment of the blade was not meant to heal the demon, but to oppose it. It held the strength of life, the essence of true hope, the true gift of eternity.

  With the blink of an eye, she slipped through the roots that formed the cage around the demon. She thrust the dagger into the demon's form again and again. Emerald magic burst through the draevol, forced it to the ground.

  Realizing the elf was within reach, the demon struck out with a gasp of rage. It erupted in demon fire, emitting nearly all of its energy in one massive blast. It dismissed the bargain as irrelevant, decided destroying the elf was the best strategy. It would have to flee and hide from the wizard, but at least it had a chance to survive. Against the pulsating attack of life, it had no chance. It strengthened the flames with the rest of its diseased magic as well, hoping to end the conflict in one swell of hate, which was exactly what Holli expected it to do, even wanted it to do.

  Holli called on her speed and all of her remaining magical energy as well. She quickly placed a shield of life around her and held to the belief that her magic was the stronger. The world around her turned bright white. She felt nothing.

  When her vision cleared, she saw that almost everything around her had been obliterated. The roots and branches were gone, not even meager ashes remained. The shelves and cabinets were reduced to nothing and a huge hole opened overhead all the way to the night sky. There were no flames, but most of the town hall had been washed away by the demon's flame. Only charred edges of the structure and the brick foundation remained.

  The demon knelt upon the ground before Holli, its face pointed toward the dirty stone. It would not look up and lacked the strength to stand.

  Holli still held to her dagger and it continued to glow green with the enchantment she placed in the blade. She waved it in front of the face of the draevol to get its attention.

  "You have no energy left to fight me," the elf stated with certainty, "but it is always in your power to return to the dark realm. Leave now or I will end your existence."

  "You don't understand. I have made my own agreement. To return to the dark realm means banishment to non-existence. I will be forced into nothingness."

  "Face the consequences of your decisions or face my blade. That is your choice."

  The demon howled as it faded away. No portal opened and no spell of teleportation whisked it to safety. An abyss of emptiness claimed the demon. Just as the draevol had forced the consequences of its bargains on others, it was forced to face its own deserved fate.

  Holli climbed out of the burnt cellar and looked to the city. To the east there was darkness, but in that darkness she sensed safety and calm. The west, however, glowed with the fires born of inferns. She knew Ryson was fighting the half-demons. Despite being exhausted and nearly devoid of magical energy, she wouldn't abandon him to fight off the inferns alone. She ran off to find him.

  Chapter 30

  Scouting near fires burning across the western edge of Ashlan, Holli located Ryson just as it appeared he was ready to take off toward the center of the city.

  "Ryson!" Holli called out, not wanting to have to chase the delver through the streets.

  "I was just about to go to the town hall," the delver announced, as he greeted the elf. "I thought you might need help."

  "The town hall has been destroyed."

  "The draevol?" the delver asked.

  "Gone… for good. What about the inferns?"

  "All of them are gone as well." Ryson turned to look at the blazes burning around them. "It's the fires, though. I can't do anything about them. What about you? Some magic maybe?"

  "I have very little energy left. Defeating the draevol took most of it, but I can try."

  The elf managed to conjure a small storm, but it amounted to little more than a shower over the city. It could not douse the existing flames, but it helped slow their progress.

  "That is all I can do, for the moment."

  "It's better than nothing. I could try to get buckets of water on the fire. What do you think?"

  Holli looked to the blazes that engulfed several buildings.

  "I think you will be wasting your time."

  "Yeah, not much good I can do against that." The delver looked back at Holli and revealed an embarrassing truth. "I'm happy to see you, but I have to tell you, I thought you made a mistake fighting the draevol alone."

  "It almost was a mistake," Holli agreed, "but just as it was necessary for you to face the inferns, I had to face my own demon."

  After spending many days with the elf following the paths the valleys offered, Ryson believed he understood. They had struggled to find answers, and he saw the frustration Holli faced. Every trail led to another question and they often had to double back to get past the deceit. It was a greater challenge than he expected-simply to get to the truth-but Holli seemed to view it as a personal affront.

  It was good for him to face the inferns and to realize the magic within him was not there to put him in harm's way. He guessed Holli found the same measure of fulfillment in defeating the draevol, facing the demon that challenged her.

  As he contemplated the extent of what they accomplished, he realized the goblins, the inferns, the draevol, and even to some degree Prilgrat had all been defeated. The valleys had been spared, just as it was indicated by the prophecy revealed to them. Still, there appeared to be a small inconsistency and the delver made one more admission as he considered the events in full.

  "I'm thinking about the prophecy… the way Rachael told it. I still find it a little unsettling that all of this was some how predicted. Makes me wonder about what else we might have to face, and even why, but I guess it missed a few details."

  Holli appeared surprised by the declaration.

  "How so?"

  "I thought the wizards of white magic were going to defeat the twins. Turns out it was an elf guard who cast green magic that defeated at least one of the draevols."

  Holli smiled, but then corrected the delver.

  "The prophecy stated the wizards would defeat the twins' plans, not the twins themselves. At least that is what I recall. Jure sent the goblins back to the dark realm and Enin stopped the plague."

  Ryson didn't doubt the elf, or Enin's ability to defeat the other draevol, but he wanted to confirm the good news.

  "You know that for sure?"

  "Yes, I do. I also believe that Jure is meeting with success, but I base that on nothing more than a feeling."

  "Then it looks like we really did win." Ryson then looked back at the fires. "Well, at least we saved most of the valleys. I'm not sure how much we can do for Ashlan now."

  They rested for a while and as Holli's magical energy slowly recovered she continued to feed the small squall overhead. The clouds remained fixed above them, blocking out the stars and adding to the darkness beyond the glow of the flames, but eventually, the sky began to glow in the east.

  "Looks like it
's almost dawn," the delver noted.

  With that, the storms above strengthened and the showers turned into a great deluge of rain. The water poured down from the sky and rushed directly into the largest fires.

  "Enin?" Ryson asked.

  "Yes," Holli acknowledged. "He just teleported back. He saw my storm and added his power to it."

  "I guess Ashlan won't burn to the ground after all."

  The wizard flew toward them, encased in a small shield that blocked out the rain. When he reached them, he expanded the magical field to extend over the elf and the delver.

  "You shouldn't stand out in the rain," he exclaimed with a smile.

  "It was only a small shower before you arrived," Ryson noted.

  The wizard looked back and forth between the two of them.

  "Everything handled?" he asked.

  "As much as I can tell," Holli reported. "The draevol is gone."

  "As is the one in Huntston," Enin added.

  "The inferns have been defeated, thanks to Ryson. I am not certain as to the extent of Jure's success, but I do not believe the valleys are in any further danger."

  "I checked on that before I returned here," Enin offered. "He has the situation in control. I imagine he will be here shortly."

  "Then I guess everything has been handled," Ryson acknowledged.

  As if to punctuate that sentiment, the last of the fires flickered out under the heavy rains. Both Enin and Holli ended their spells and the storm clouds overhead disappeared.

  Just as the sun began to rise, Jure walked toward them, coming from the center of town.

  "I'm glad to see you're all alright," the elder wizard exclaimed. "I just saw the town hall. I was worried."

  "Nothing to worry about," Holli proclaimed. "The demon's last gasp. Nothing more."

  "The inferns around the valleys have been removed," Jure acknowledged. "I assume everything else has been taken care of?"