by Jeff Inlo
"But he made it difficult for us to follow his trail."
"Difficult, but not impossible. I think he counted on us being pretty resourceful. Maybe he knew Holli wasn't going to just give up on him and let him go. Look at her. I don't think that's a stretch. And even if we just asked around, someone would have eventually pointed us to this tavern. It may have taken us a while, but we would have eventually found this place. He had to know that."
"But why here?"
"That's the question, isn't it? Why bring us to this place when he hasn't been here for a while? There's nothing out of the ordinary, except for the owner."
Jure paused and noticed the growing expression of displeasure on Holli's face. He offered the only reassurance he could manage.
"I know you don't want to waste time. I don't want to see anything happen to Enin, and I want to catch Neltus as well, but there's something bigger going on here. If that pit demon wanted Enin dead, he'd already be a corpse. Someone wanted him captured and someone made sure Neltus brought us to the desert. They want Linda, too."
"You don't think they're still after her, do you?" Ryson questioned, his worry over his wife's welfare obvious.
"I don't know, but I think she's safer than the rest of us right now. Whoever's behind this wanted to get her out of Burbon... and probably away from Sy. She stayed there, so she's safe."
"So what is it you propose we do?" Holli questioned.
"We need to find out more about the man who owns this tavern. Let's answer that one, get that question out of the way. If I'm right and Neltus really did expect us to end up here, maybe we can figure out why. That may be the best way to find out where he is now, and that's really what you're hoping to accomplish, isn't it?"
"It is, but I have no intention of wasting time or playing games. If you wish to know about this innkeeper, then we must all agree that the importance of what we face requires harsh tactics. This is not the time to be cordial. If answers must be pulled from this man, I will expect cooperation from both of you."
Jure nodded without hesitation. Ryson might not have wanted to force a conflict with a complete stranger, but he thought of his wife and the danger she might face. He agreed as well, and the three reentered the tavern.
Chapter 14
"Back again?" Ott asked, as Holli, Jure and Ryson stepped up to the bar. "Changed your mind about getting something to eat?"
Jure remained silent. He knew Holli would question the innkeeper, but the elder wizard studied the tavern owner carefully. He did not sense any great magical vibration from the barkeeper, but there was something very strange about Ott. He noticed it immediately in the barkeep's attitude and expression.
Ott's words were of a casual nature, something any innkeeper would say to a returning customer, but his eyes betrayed an angry glare and his voice held the tone of a rebuke. It was almost as if Ott was warning them that the path they had chosen was not a wise one.
“Or maybe you want something to drink,” Ott suggested, “calm you down a bit.”
"What is your connection to the wizard Neltus?" Holli demanded without feigning pleasantries.
She wasn't going to order a drink, wasn't going to discuss the weather, and wasn't about to waste precious time fishing for tidbits of information through some rambling discussion. She wanted specific answers to specific questions, and she wanted them without delay.
Ott glared at the elf for a moment or two, then gave a quick glance at Ryson and Jure, almost as an afterthought. He wanted to determine their place in the confrontation. It didn't take him long to see that they both had questions but were hesitant about the tactics being employed. Ott knew who was leading the charge, and he placed his full attention on the elf guard.
"I'm not sure I like your tone," the innkeeper replied.
"My tone is irrelevant. This is an issue which goes well beyond human etiquette."
"I don't think anything excuses bad manners, especially in my inn."
"And that is exactly why we have returned. We have been led to your inn. There is something about this place which requires further examination. Neltus wanted us to come here. Why?"
"You'd have to ask him."
"We are unable to find him."
"I don't see that as my problem."
"I disagree. You clearly have a history with the wizard. You have allowed him in your establishment. You have..."
"I allow anyone in my place," the innkeeper emphasized, "as long as they don't cause trouble."
"That is at the very heart of our concern. Neltus is known to us. He cares little about what others think of him, and he enjoys irritating others. You claim to have placed restrictions on him. How is that possible?"
"It's possible because I don't stand for it, just as I'm not about to be questioned like some criminal. You're all clearly new to Portsans, otherwise you'd know better than to come into my place and talk to me like this."
"Your pride is as irrelevant as my tone," Holli stated coldly. "We are dealing with a threat far greater than your meager establishment."
"My pride? I think it's your pride that's been hurt, elf. That's why you think you can march in here and make demands. That just doesn't cut it with me."
Both Jure and Ryson were surprised by the animosity which quickly grew between the elf guard and the innkeeper. While they both understood Holli's resolve to obtain answers as quickly as possible, they found the growing confrontation unsettling.
Ryson also found the setting for the argument troubling. There were a great number of patrons in the tavern. If the strain of the quarrel continued to brew to a point of conflict, they would be caught in the midst of a large crowd and on unfamiliar ground. They were surrounded by either innocent bystanders or potential sympathizers to Ott and his establishment. Any clash would most likely lead to unfortunate consequences.
Surprisingly, however, the crowd appeared completely disinterested in the heated discussion, even as it continued to grow more hostile. It didn't require a delver's keen hearing to note the angry tones and rising tension in the conversation. Still, the patrons of the bar showed not a care toward the squabble, allowing the tavern owner to handle the situation on his own. Ryson found that reaction surprising, as well as discomforting.
While the delver continued to scan the crowd, the elder wizard tried for a more diplomatic stance.
"We're not making any progress here," Jure advised.
Ott dismissed the elder wizard's effort with near disdain.
"You might want to stay out of this old man. I saw what you can do. A circle of white magic doesn't impress me."
Jure was taken even further aback. Ott Hester's attitude raged beyond that of a surly barkeep disinterested in the concerns of his patrons. The innkeeper grew exceedingly hostile, and despite Holli's rather abrupt and somewhat demanding questions, the wizard saw little that should have provoked such an aggressive reaction.
"I'm not trying to impress you," Jure offered in hopes of reducing the tension, "but this isn't what we intended."
The innkeeper laughed.
"No? Are you kidding me? I know exactly what you intend to do. You marched in here expecting to make me talk." He then put a finger directly in the face of the elf guard. "Especially this one. She means to get answers from me even if she has to rip them from my hide. She intends to take any steps necessary to get what she wants. She may not want to resort to violence, but she will if she thinks she has no other choice. Bottom line, she doesn't much care about my welfare, or more importantly, the sanctity of my inn. Isn't that right, elf?"
Ott's all too accurate accusations were not lost on Holli. The barkeep revealed his perceptions in somewhat of a crude manner, but they were no less precise. Holli realized that such detailed insight could not have been obtained by simply assessing facial expressions and body language.
"We are clearly dealing with someone beyond an ordinary innkeeper."
"Took you that long to figure it out?"
"Another admitted error on
my part, but one I intend to correct. You are obviously not impressed by the powers you know we possess. You also have an insight which goes beyond that of any normal human, even one with vast experience operating a tavern."
"That I do."
Holli's attitude toward Ott Hester quickly adjusted from confrontationally demanding to tactically aware. Without a doubt, Jure's instincts were correct. The innkeeper was a puzzle which needed to be addressed. With so much at stake, she could not walk away from the innkeeper anymore than she could allow Neltus to run free across Uton.
"It was no accident we arrived in this tavern," the elf guard noted. "Neltus counted on us coming here. Which means your connection to him is important; not just to me, but to the safety and security of Uton."
"You obviously believe that, but you're also obviously wrong."
"Then explain it to me."
"There's nothing to explain."
"I cannot accept that."
Ott took one look into the elf's eyes and nodded.
"If that's the way you want to play it, fine with me. But it's not going to happen here. If you want to try and force answers out of me, then I suggest we go out back."
The elf never took her eyes off the innkeeper, but she took one brief moment to consider her surroundings. If there was to be any type of clash between them, a crowded tavern was not the best setting.
"Very well," the elf guard agreed, and she motioned for Ryson and Jure as she followed Ott toward a rear door.
Holli was only slightly surprised to find the alley behind Ott's tavern devoid of any hidden hazards. There were no guards waiting to rush them, no traps set to bind them, and no monsters hoping to ambush them. Even as Ott exited his tavern, she sensed a confidence in the innkeeper she could not ignore, and it had nothing to do with anything that waited in the dark and empty corridor behind the inn.
Ott walked with absolute certainty. He stepped out into the center of the alley as if he was strolling through a quiet park during broad daylight to watch the birds in the trees. He did not pull any hidden weapons out from behind his apron, and he did not begin to cast any spell utilizing critical energy.
He just turned and faced his adversaries with an almost disinterested expression. When he spoke, he did not attempt any brazen challenges. Instead, he expressed a certain level of weariness, as if he already knew the outcome of the altercation and wanted it over and done with so he could return to his bar.
"I have just one request," Ott offered. "I know you want answers from me, so you're going to try to be careful about all this. Let's dispense with that right now. I'm not going to start yammering because you make some magical display of plants growing out of the walls or throw some beam of energy that explodes at my feet. If you really want to go through with this, let's not waste any time. Give it your best shot right at the beginning. I don't intend on playing nice, and I don't expect you should either."
Holli accepted the challenge. She also wished to waste as little time as possible. She viewed Ott as an accomplice to Neltus and a key to capturing the crimson cored wizard. She could not afford to be lenient.
"Jure, subdue him! Completely! Take no chances."
The elder wizard acted immediately. He turned a ring of white magic into heavy chains of energy and sent them flying toward Ott like elongated spears. The spell contained enough raw power to constrain a dozen large shags, and the glistening shackles moved through the air as fast as Ryson could run. Jure believed they would be sufficient to bind the innkeeper, but the chains never reached Ott's body.
In midair, the white strands of energy turned abruptly about. They continued to snake through the alley with near blinding speed, but rather than restrain the innkeeper, they wrapped about the elf guard's shoulders.
Even as the magical chains enveloped Holli's entire body, Jure never took his eyes off Ott. He anticipated a spell from the innkeeper, but no such incantation ever materialized.
Jure had believed the owner of the tavern had practiced magic. It was the only explanation for Ott's willingness to tangle with a delver, an elf, and a wizard capable of casting magic in a white circle. Jure was almost eager to see the extent of Ott's wizardry. He had hoped to determine the hue of the innkeeper's core and the intensity of his magical control, but no such spell materialized to reveal Ott's abilities.
Still, Jure could not discount what he had seen. His own spell had been redirected back at Holli, and the elder wizard assumed the innkeeper had cast a defensive spell before he and his companions reentered the tavern.
"He's protected himself with some kind of reflecting shield," Jure offered. "Whatever I cast at him will be sent back at us."
Ott grinned, but appeared to shake his head in slight disappointment. Beyond that, he refused to acknowledge or refute Jure's claim.
"I can probably overpower the spell," the elder wizard continued. "I just have to find ways to drain it without causing damage to ourselves."
Holli had other plans.
"Cancel the spell which binds me," the elf guard ordered, "and then hold your power in reserve. Wait for an opportunity. It will come."
Jure did as commanded. He pulled his energy from the magical chains which had wrapped completely around the elf guard. He then stepped to the side in order to avoid any potential conflict until called upon.
Once her arms were free, Holli moved with the full swiftness of a determined elf guard. In but a heartbeat, she removed the bow from her shoulder and an arrow from her quiver. In a single graceful motion, she nocked the arrow, pulled back the string, and fired.
The arrow flew straight toward Ott's thigh. Holli had no intention of killing the tavern owner—she needed him alive—but she wasn't about to let him dictate the outcome of the conflict, even if it meant injuring him severely. She would use every means at her disposal to end any potential stalemate and force compliance. If the innkeeper was utilizing a defensive spell of reflection, she knew incantations would be rendered ineffective. Physical force, however, was another matter.
Spell reflection turned magic back at the caster, but to stop an arrow in flight, Ott would have to cast a more potent spell of defense... a dense force shield or a wind swell capable of deflecting solid objects.
Assuming they faced a capable sorcerer, Holli believed she could force the innkeeper into casting energy-intensive spells or face being struck by an arrow. Ott would eventually either burn through his magical reserve or be injured to a point where he would surrender. She was wrong.
Even as Holli fired her bow, Ott made no move to cast another spell. His hands remained at his sides as his gaze narrowed on the elf warrior. He glared at the elf guard in growing displeasure. He knew she would go to great lengths to subdue him, but her disregard for potential grievous harm had suddenly increased. He believed she would have been a bit more discerning in her attack, but her all-consuming determination became undeniably apparent.
The innkeeper, however, did not have to cast a new spell, and thus, did not have to diminish his magical energy. He never faced any real danger from the arrow. The power he utilized to protect himself allowed him to turn the attack back on the elf guard without it ever coming near him.
The arrow never halted or even slowed. It simply reversed direction in the wink of an eye. Rather than plunging into the innkeeper's thigh, it sliced through the air directly back at Holli's leg.
Ryson reacted almost totally on reflex. Before the arrow could find its mark, the delver deflected it to the ground by smacking the shaft with the palm of his hand.
The speed with which Ryson moved actually surprised the innkeeper.
"You must be full bred," Ott noted. "I knew you were a delver when I saw you first come in my place. Humans don't move the way you do, not with that much ease. I figured you had some delver in you, but knocking an arrow out of the air like that... with your hand, that's impressive."
Ryson ignored the compliment and raised a different issue with the tavern owner.
"You could have
killed her!"
"Nope. Not a chance."
"Of course there was a chance. That arrow could have hit her anywhere."
The innkeeper shook his head.
"You don't understand what's going on here," Ott noted. "I don't think any of you do. The elf there, she wants to question me, wants to take control of the situation and force me to comply. That's just not going to happen. She went for my leg, so the arrow turned back on her in the same way. It would have forced the fight out of her instead of me."
Jure heard what he believed was a careless admission. He surmised Ott was being protected by a more complicated spell than he originally assumed. Based on the innkeeper's words and the reaction of the arrow, the elder wizard thought he finally found a way to neutralize their opponent.
Though Holli had ordered him to hold his power in reserve, she had also told him to look for an opportunity. He believed he had found one and that he could end the conflict before anyone was severely injured.
A white circle of magic rose off of Jure's hands. He hoped it would drain Ott of all his energy, but that was not how he cast his spell. He cast it on himself, directed it in such a way that the magic would be pulled from his own core.
He believed the protective spell utilized by the innkeeper served to redirect the effects of any attack. By targeting himself, he was ultimately hoping to use Ott's defenses as a means of an assault. He anticipated the focus of his spell would be altered by Ott's own protection. The target of the incantation would be switched. It would turn from Jure to Ott, and the innkeeper would be left powerless.
Just like Holli, Jure also miscalculated the force and purpose behind Ott's defenses. The elder wizard's spell did exactly what it was supposed to do, and that was the last thing Jure expected... or wanted.
Jure felt the magic race out of his core as if he had cast a thousand spells at once. Since it was his own incantation focused on his own core, it worked far more efficiently than he ever imagined. In the snap of a finger, all of the energy within him vanished, and he was left virtually defenseless.
