Choice

by Gary Stringer

  - I don't expect it to take more than a few hours.”

  “And then?” Drizdar prompted.

  “And then, Master, Gamaliel's agent will put it all together and we-” he paused. “--Hang on, I thought I heard something out there. I'd better put this report on hold while I go and check.”

  “No!” Drizdar ordered. “Don’t leave the communication line open! As far as I know it can't be traced by anyone else, but I don't dare take the risk!”

  “As you say, Master. I'll ring you back.”

  The device went dead - magically Dead - in Drizdar's hands. He growled in frustration. This was it, he could feel it. This was the breakthrough for which he had waited so patiently.

  “Come on! Come on! Come on!” He roared irrationally at the object in his hand.

  After an eternity, it rang again.

  “Finally!” The War Master was seething.

  “I'm sorry, Master. It was just my imagination - this place gives me the creeps but I had to be sure.”

  “Yes, yes, just get on with it,” demanded Drizdar, impatiently. Excuses just wasted time. “Well, as I was saying, Master. If we’re successful here, Eilidh will have a full picture at last, and no doubt we'll all head off together like one big happy family to the Inter-Realm Gateway that will lead us to the Well of Life.”

  His agent said that name so casually, and yet it was the most powerful and profound thing he could have said.

  “The Well of Life! That's better than anything I'd hoped for. You really believe she can find it?”

  “Eilidh is clever, resourceful and determined. I could stake my life on her success, Master.” “You just did,” Drizdar warned him. “But don't wait for her to find a way in. Contact me the instant you are at this Gateway. Then I will come and take charge. When I have the power of the Well of Life at my command, the whole world will bow to my will - Niltsiar included! I shall be Prime Magus for a very long time, perhaps forever, and as my first act I intend to sentence her to the slowest Turning in history! Well done, my agent. You will be greatly rewarded you know my plans for your future.”

  “Yes, Master. Thank you, Master. I'd better go now, then, and find this final piece of the puzzle.”

  “Yes, very well. Go,” Drizdar agreed, and the device went Dead once more.

  * * * * * The four companions – Toli, Jayne, Bunny and Granite – had exited the Corridor together - that much was certain. It was after that point that things became murky and hazy - and that wasn't merely down to the weather: the thick blanket of fog that had rolled in out of nowhere, a short distance from the Corridor. It covered everything in an unremitting swirling pattern of vapour. They couldn't even tell where the sun was in the sky. Everywhere they looked was exactly the same shade of grey. Toli and Bunny - magician and sorceress - and especially Granite as a Catalyst were grateful for their magical senses. Except for the glowing stream of high purity Life, Jayne, with barely Life Potential, was as blind as a bat.

  Toli advised the half-orc to rest one hand on her shoulder, allowing the hobbit to guide her steps. There was no point even attempting to light a torch in such damp conditions, and they were reluctant to use magic directly, in case either the light or the magic itself attracted unwanted attention. Anything could be out there. And so, they blundered onwards, following the flow of magic in the same way as one might navigate by following the bank of a river. If there was a Life Eddy around here, it made sense that this stream would flow into it at some point. So long as they remained focussed on this trail, they could avoid getting separated.

  Or so the theory went, but just then, the three magic users sensed that they had crossed some kind of threshold, Jayne lost her grip on Toli's shoulder, clutching futilely at the mist and they realised the theory was wrong.

  They were separated.

  * * * * * Granite Longbeard turned his mind to figuring out what had happened. Maybe then he could find a way to counter it. It was imperative that they complete this mission successfully. Eilidh was depending on this information. Then she could find the Well of Life and he was committed to supporting her all the way to that grand revelation. Eilidh was good in situations like this. Marina Fells and that Spirit temple crypt, being just two examples of circumstances in which she had managed to think her way out of trouble. This time he had to do it himself. He didn't have long to think about it, however, as Jayne materialised out of the fog.

  “Jayne!” he called out. “Boy am I glad tae see ye, lass!”

  “You too, Mr Granite,” she replied.

  “Are ye alright?”

  “Yeah, course. Why wouldn't I be?”

  “Och, I dunno, lassie. It's just this fog it feels kind of...somehow...menacing.”

  “You're afraid of the fog?” she wondered incredulously.

  “It's not the fog itself ye need tae worry about, lass. It's what the fog might be hidin'!”

  Jayne's response was to flip her twin curved scimitars into her hands.

  Granite nodded. “Aye, lassie, ye may be right there.” He unhooked his battle axe and readied it in his hand.

  “If ya think there might be somethin' out ‘ere wiv us, Mr Granite, it's a good fing we're gettin' outta here.”

  “What?” Granite demanded. “What are ye talking about, `gettin’ out of here`? We cannae leave without the others and we cannae leave without finding the Life Eddy.”

  Jayne looked confused. Jayne often looked confused, but this time she looked even more confused than normal.

  Granite grew impatient. “What’s the problem, lass? It's perfectly simple: I want tae find the others and I want to find the Life Eddy.

  “But--but-which one do you want to do first?” Now it was Granite's turn to be confused. She made it sound as if it were a simple matter of choice, like asking if he wanted to put the milk or the sugar in his tea first. “Since yer the one with the non-magical eyes, yer really the one who needs to see the Life Eddy. Whether I see it myself or not doesn't matter that much.”

  Jayne looked relieved, as if the dwarf had just solved all of her life's problems at a stroke.

  “Oh good,” she said. “In dat case, Mr Granite, I'll just take ya to the others.”

  “Ye know where they are?”

  “Yeah, they're waiting for ya by the Corridor entrance.”

  “What’re they doin' back there, lass?”

  “Waiting to go back to Miss Eilidh.”

  Granite didn't understand this at all. Had the other two just given up? “Well, in that case, we need tae find the Life Eddy.”

  “Oh!” Jayne groaned. “But you just said you didn't need go there cos I've seen it myself.”

  Granite was doing so many double takes, he was getting dizzy. “Ye know where it is, lassie?”

  “I'm not that stupid!” she complained. “It's right over there!” She pointed in what seemed to Granite to be some random direction. The Bard-Catalyst didn't know whether to believe her or not. If she was right then he was wasting time, and if she wasn't, then at least he'd be reunited with his other companions. He'd be better off talking to someone with some sense like Toli and Bunny. Well, Toli anyway, he reconsidered. Still, he’d feel happier if he saw it for himself just to be sure. So he allowed Jayne to lead him there.

  She proved to be quite correct. He noted the location and then turned around to head back to the others, only to find Jayne wasn't standing with him anymore. When he called out, she quickly stepped out from the other size of the Life Eddy. He opened his mouth to ask how she'd got over there so fast without him noticing, but dismissed it. It was hardly important. Instead, he just let Jayne lead the way back, Granite remaining a few steps behind so he could keep a close eye on her.

  “It'll be good tae get out of the fog,” Granite said, as they approached the boundary of this strange zone.

  “Fog, Mr Granite?” wondered Jayne. “The elf got rid of the fog earlier. It's as clear as a summer's day!” she insisted as she stepped beyond.

  “What in the abyss are
you blatherin’ about?” he demanded. “I know there's no fog out there, but in here it's-” “ -Salutations Granite,” came a new voice as he crossed that invisible threshold, stepping out of the fog. “I'd recognise that voice anywhere.” It was Revered Daughter Calandra, otherwise known as Callie the silver dragon.

  “Calandra!” He exclaimed. “I could've died of fright! I see yer better.”

  “Yes, thank you, child. I am completely healed, better than new in fact. Ready to help you if I can.” Despite all she had been through, Callie she still found herself changing her speech patterns when in elf form. She was just so used to doing it and upon reflection, she thought it suited her elf form very well.

  Granite then remembered that Jayne and Callie had never met before, so he gave the introductions.

  “Erm, Granite...Who are you talking to?” Callie asked.

  “I just told ye -this is Jayne. She's a friend of Loric's.”

  “But Granite...”

  “What?”

  “There's nobody there.”

  “Eh? Has the whole world gone daft today or what?” Granite was ready to hurt somebody if things didn't start making sense soon.

  “Mr Granite?” Jayne broached, carefully. “Why are you yelling at thin air?”

  * * * * *

  “Toli!” Bernice cried as she ran towards her friend, determined not to lose her again.

  “Bunny! What a brilliant stroke of luck! I thought I was going to be lost in here forever!” “Luck had nothing to do with it,” Bunny insisted. “A vampire can hear the blood in your veins a mile away.” The look on Toli's face told her that was too much information. Bernice sighed inwardly. It was a subtle response, but Toli noticed it all the same.

  For the first time, the hobbit realised how these kinds of reactions must affect her unique friend, despite her often seeming flip and untouched by other people’s opinions of her. Bunny was a sumorityl, magically created from a vampire and as such she had some vampiric abilities. They were a part of her that she used like any other part, Toli supposed. Nobody freaked out at an elf's superior vision or an ogre's superior strength, so why should her ability to hear the unique sound of blood be any different? It had helped Bunny to find her and Toli was grateful for that at least.

  “What happened?” Toli asked, keeping her thoughts to herself. “How did we get separated? One minute I could feel Jayne's hand on my shoulder, the next she was gone and so were you and Granite - do you know where they are, by the way? I mean they must be here somewhere, well, I presume they must be, I mean-”

  “Not sure about Granite,” Bunny interrupted, “but I found Jayne a bit ago and the best news is we've found what we came here for.”

  “The Life Eddy? It's here?”

  Bunny nodded. “Just like Eilidh said. It proves she's right.”

  “Never doubted it,” Toli stated matter-of-factly.

  “Come on then,” Bunny grabbed her hand. “I'll show you -it's right here.”

  “Where?”

  “I know you can’t really see it properly in this fog, but it’s not far.”

  They sped off together in the direction Bunny indicated.

  “You're sure it's a Life Eddy?” Toli questioned.

  “Of course. Why?” “Oh, it's probably nothing, but it's odd -the flow of magic shouldn’t be obscured by mist and fog because you don't really see magic with your eyes. We both have magical senses - senses that detect magic. The only reason we see colours is because that's the only way our brains know how to process it.”

  “What does that mean?” Bunny asked. “My sorcery studies in Avidon didn't include much magical theory, I’m afraid.” Her training had focussed almost exclusively on the application of magic - a not uncommon trait among those dedicated to Dark magic. Bernice had always found the approach to be lacking, but as a sumorityl– a borderline illegal experiment - she was hardly in a position to be choosy.

  “It means that the way we perceive a rainbow and the way we perceive a multi-coloured stream of magic is completely different, even though our brains give us a similar image,” Toli explained. “All kinds of magicological experimentshave been conducted to prove the point.”

  “And the point is?”

  “What I said at the beginning: the colours of the flow of magic should not be obscured by mist and fog.”

  Having just finished saying that, they arrived and sure enough Jayne was standing there in front of a large and impressive Life Eddy.

  “Then again, I could be wrong,” Toli admitted. “Miss Toli,” Jayne greeted her. “I'm glad to see you're safe and well.”

  “You too, Jayne.”

  “Convinced?” Bunny asked the hobbit, who shrugged and agreed that she was. The hobbit could hardly dispute the evidence of her own eyes. “In that case, I suggest we get out of here and find Granite. I've got a bet with Tanya that we'll make it back before she does. The loser buys dinner and I intend to win. I’ve never been wined and dined before. Not by someone who actually cared, anyway.”

  So the three of them turned away from the Life Eddy and headed out towards the perimeter of this strange place. When Bunny stepped out of the fog, however, she found that she was alone. Her two companions had not emerged with her.

  Well, she decided, they can't be far away. So taking a deep breath, she plunged back into the fog.

  * * * * * “Drat it!” Toli yelled at the fog. “I've lost them. Again! What's going on with this place? Oh I wish Eilidh were here - she'd figure it out. Ah well, she's there and I'm here and that's that, so I'd best stop wishing and start thinking.”

  Toli had a pretty good sense of direction, like most of her race. It was said that no matter how far a wandering hobbit roamed, she could always point unerringly in the direction of home. That was overstating it a little, but there was at least some truth to the notion. So she was pretty sure she knew the way back to the Life Eddy. It seemed a sensible place for the others to head for, too, if they got lost.

  “Think, Tolbrietta,” she muttered to herself. “What do we know about this place? Start with the facts, work it out. What is it Eilidh says? `Focus on the goal, not the task; the solution, not the problem`. If you let yourself dwell on the idea that we aren't going to get out of here, you'll freeze your brain, stop yourself from thinking, and then you really won’t get out of here.”

  She continued to talk to herself as she walked.

  “Think, think, think. Think, think, think,” became her litany. She stopped suddenly when she thought she heard something. A voice in the dark. Singing. There it was again, that same voice only now it was talking. Not just thinking aloud the way she had been a moment ago, but a conversation. Strange thing was she could only hear one side of the dialogue.

  “Why can't I hear the other person speaking?” she wondered aloud. The voice stopped abruptly - had he heard her? She heard movement and she instinctively remained absolutely still. She wasn't exactly sure why. She just had a bad feeling about this and she trusted her instincts.

  After a moment, the voice started up again - just the one voice and half a conversation.

  No, she realised as she listened further. Not a conversation - a report. And she didn't like what was being reported one little bit.

  The report was brief and then the individual moved away and the moment passed. Deeply troubled, Toli resumed walking. She was nearly there, when she glimpsed a figure in the swirling mist. From the height, it was either Bunny or Jayne. Impossible to tell which, but it didn’t really matter much. In either case, they'd both be better off than they were now, so she ran towards the shape, calling out all the while.

  It was Bunny she caught up to.

  “We've got to stop meeting like this,” Toli quipped, trying to alleviate some stress.

  “I'm sorry?” Bunny asked, sounding puzzled.

  “Er, it was a joke.”

  “Oh I see,” she replied, though it was clear that she didn't.

  “Never mind,” the hobbit said dismissively. “Let'
s get back to the Life Eddy. That seems to be an area of stability.”

  “The Life Eddy? You've found it?”

  “It's just this way,” she pointed. “I've got a good sense of direction.”

  “O…K,” Bunny accepted, uncertainty creeping into her voice. “What do you mean by `an area of stability`?”

  “I'm not sure yet, but I think I was right about what I said earlier.”

  “What was that?”

  “You know how mist shouldn't obscure the flow of magic?”

  “It shouldn’t?” Toli was exasperated. “Look, I realise you weren't trained in any magicology, but I only explained this a few minutes ago and you even seemed to be listening. Obviously I was wrong! You all treat me like some kind of faithful lapdog, running around trying to please Eilidh. Well in case you're wondering, that’s called loyalty and friendship! I happen to believe in what she's doing. I believe she's the only one who can save us and I will do anything - anything! - to help her and protect her. That's why you are going to start listening to me and helping me to find a way to get the four of us back to her so we can finish this thing!”

  Bunny stepped back and held her hands up in surrender. She'd never seen Toli get so worked up, so passionate before. Bernice thought it was kind of cute, but for once showed restraint and kept the observation to herself. “I'm sorry, Toli,” she said, genuinely. “Explain it again and I promise I'll listen this time, though I swear I don't remember ignoring you before. It's actually not like me at all. Sure, I've got things on my mind, but I'm always telling Phaer not to focus so much on what's going on in here,” she tapped her temple, “that he forgets to pay adequate attention to what's going on out there. Maybe for once I'm guilty of the same thing. Sorry.”

  Toli took a couple of deep breaths, in and out, to calm herself. “No, it's OK, Bernice. I shouldn't

  have snapped. This place has just got me on edge, that's all.” Besides, I think someone is betraying us, she worried, silently.

  “I don't blame you. I can feel my skin prickling like a thousand ants are crawling all over me.”