Pure Choice dm-6

by Jeff Inlo

  "Very well," Shantree conceded. She nodded to Jure with another warm smile. "Let us make the most of our time together. And by the way, if I am to explode, I would like a warning."

  Jure laughed, and he knew he would enjoy his time with the elf elder. He then thought of one last issue that needed to be addressed.

  "What of the elf we left behind? Scheff, I believe was his name. To be completely honest, I think if there's a risk to the camp, it's him."

  "There is little we can do at the moment," Holli advised. "He left of his own accord, but I do not think he holds animosity toward any of us."

  "Hopefully, he will come to his senses," Shantree offered.

  "He was very skilled in magic, wasn't he?" Jure asked.

  "Yes," Birk confirmed with a grim expression. "You could tell?"

  Jure nodded.

  "He was very focused on the magic," the wizard offered. "I don't think it was interfering with his decision, I think it was the other way around. I think he intended on following the magic."

  "Maybe that is why he chose to join with Ansas," Holli acknowledged. "The thought of such power can be intoxicating."

  "It's also foolish," Jure noted. He shook his head in disgust.

  He believed that it wasn't always possible to save people from their own mistakes, but he didn't like the thought of innocents paying for the errors in judgment of others. What he liked, however, never seemed relevant. There always seemed to be innocents caught in the middle of someone else's schemes or grab for power and glory.

  He would talk to Shantree about Scheff during their time together and she would offer him insight into why the elf would make such a choice. They would discuss many of the things relating to the elf camp. It was another opportunity to learn, and Jure didn't waste it.

  Chapter 16

  After helping to free the elves from the dark realm, Ryson returned immediately to Burbon with the aid of a teleportation spell cast by Jure. Without having to trek through the woods, he found himself just outside the town's borders by the edge of the forest.

  Teleportation was a strange sensation for the delver. Ryson normally relied on his instincts and abilities as he traveled, utilizing the thinnest whispers of a trail to overcome the most difficult terrain. Teleportation, however, involved travel based on magical passages, and the experience varied greatly from one spell caster to another.

  Enin tried to explain it to the delver on different occasions, told him how the magic could create a dimensional path and how it could condense space between a point of origin and a final destination. The certainty of the path in the spell caster's mind and the strength of his or her magic would affect the sensation of travel.

  Enin could cast spells where a single step could take Ryson from one side of Uton to another. Other teleporting experiences felt more like soaring over a compressed landscape, as if he had been shot up into the sky by a catapult only to land softly at some spot far off in the distance.

  Jure's magic was very powerful and it seemed as if the delver had been pushed through a blurred tunnel in a single heartbeat. Ryson did not see the treetops of the forest as he traveled, nor did he feel the rush of wind on his face. For but a brief moment, existence swirled around him into curved walls, as if he was in a long tube that connected the elf camp with the boundary of Burbon. Through very little effort of his own, Ryson was out of the woods and crossing the clearing that surrounded his hometown.

  Thankful for the immediate return, he rushed through Burbon's southern gate. The sun hung high in the sky but had begun its slow descent into the west. It was early afternoon, and since Linda normally worked evenings at the Borderline Inn, Ryson believed he would find her at their home.

  He raced there without delay, without stopping at the guard headquarters. He decided not to seek out Sy and not to offer any information on the elf disappearance or the encounter with Ansas. It wasn't his duty to make such reports. Ryson was no longer authorized to act on behalf of the town. Since Sy had sent out Holli for answers, the guard captain could get the information from her when she and Jure returned to Burbon. Perhaps it was out of spite that Ryson ignored his friend, but it was also out of a desire to see his wife, for he had not left her under the best of circumstances, either.

  Usually when Ryson returned from a scout, Linda would greet him with a joyful smile and a welcoming embrace. When he broke through the door, he hoped she would be there and happy to see him, the uneasiness of their previous departing forgotten. He would tell her about his journey and why it was fortunate he had set off to find the elves. She would understand and the distance that had opened between them would be removed.

  To his dismay, he was met with only silence. He called to her, but there was no answer. His keen senses revealed the truth, and he knew she was home. He just couldn't understand her uncaring response to his return. He found Linda resting in bed staring at the blank ceiling.

  "Are you alright?" Ryson asked, disregarding everything that had happened to him and focusing entirely on his wife.

  "So you're back," Linda acknowledged but with no expression of joy at seeing her husband return.

  "Yeah, we made out okay, but what about you?"

  "What about me?" Linda responded, continuing to avoid Ryson's eyes. She kept her gaze on the ceiling. "I guess I'm just the same as I was when you left. And I'll be this way when you leave again."

  The harsh charge stunned the delver. Despite the indifference in both her tone and expression, she made it sound as if Ryson was already planning to abandon her.

  "I'm not looking to leave."

  "Not this instant, but you will."

  "Why are you already worried about that? I just got back."

  "Because I can see it," she replied, and her blank expression turned to a slight scowl. She continued to stare at the ceiling, but her eyes narrowed and a small crevice formed between her eyebrows. It certainly wasn't an emotional outburst, but at least the response broke through the previous coldness. "You come back, you leave, you come back, you leave. It's what you do."

  Ryson wasn't sure how to respond. In a way, Linda's description was accurate. He did leave her, time and again. He went out on scouts, went out to explore the lands. And he didn't just leave as if going to work for an afternoon. His journeys kept him away from home for many days at a time. He also knew he would leave again, maybe not soon, but eventually, he would. He was a delver. It was what he did, but then again, he always returned home.

  "We try not to look at it that way," he finally said. "I don't leave because I'm trying to get away from you. You go off to work at the inn, not just because you have to, but because you like to. It's what you do. Going out to explore is what I do."

  "That's true. You go off to find missing elves and I tend bar."

  "I don't always find missing elves. Most of the time I don't find anything at all."

  "And most of the time I stand behind a bar and pour drinks to strangers."

  Ryson wondered if that was a clue to her depressed state, if she had become dissatisfied and saw her life as a monotonous routine. He didn't want that for his wife. He wanted her to enjoy her life, as he enjoyed his. Hoping to share that pleasure, he quickly offered what he saw as a potential solution.

  "Do you want to come with me on my scouts? I've offered before."

  "I would only slow you down."

  "Who cares? We would be together."

  "Together doing what you want to do, not what I want to do."

  "What is it you want to do?"

  "I want to be happy."

  To be happy.

  It was a revealing statement. To a very real extent, it meant she was unhappy, and that was a revelation that stung the delver. He had believed he belonged with Linda, that in her he found someone willing to accept him as he was, but if she was not happy, that belief quickly became tainted.

  Uncertain of what her rather vague response really meant, Ryson proposed the only other solution he could see. He didn't want to give up
his life, didn't want to try to be something he wasn't, but he knew Linda was facing something more than just loneliness. He wanted to make her happy. Hoping to demonstrate how far he was willing to go to help her, he offered to fight off every urge he felt as a delver.

  "You want me to promise to stay here? If that's what you need, I will."

  It wasn't an empty vow, nor a simple one. Despite all of the distractions he faced while searching for the elves, he never took his thoughts completely off his wife. Whether talking with the swallit or exploring the dark realm, Linda always remained in the back of his mind. He considered what he would give up for her, and he believed it would be anything. Holding to that belief, he made his offer, and it was as genuine as it was monumental.

  "I want you to be happy," Ryson continued, "and I'll stay here… if that's what it takes. I won't go on another scout unless you want me to."

  Linda responded without hesitation and without acknowledgment to the sincere sacrifice Ryson was willing to make.

  "What a hero you are. That way you can blame me. No, I don't need your promises. We've talked about this before."

  With that caustic response, Ryson began to reach his limit.

  "Yes, we have," he responded with a hint of annoyance and a growing frustration, "and I thought we settled it."

  "I can't argue that. Many things have been settled… whether I like it or not. Don't feel bad about having to leave again at some point. To tell you the truth, I'm looking forward to it."

  Ryson quickly swallowed any anger as his concern began to grow. He pressed his emotions aside, which was no simple task, and began to seriously consider what he sensed. She was speaking in a tone and with an expression that was foreign to him. He almost believed she was under some spell, but he knew that was impossible. She was immune to magic. He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and tried once more to get some idea of what was wrong.

  "This isn't like you. I know you don't like me leaving. I don't like it, either. But we've dealt with this before and it never came to this. What's different now?"

  "I just feel differently," Linda declared, though she certainly didn't reveal any great distress over the admission. She said it as if she was remarking about the calm weather outside.

  "Are you sick?"

  "No, I'm not sick."

  "Then what is it? What's making you feel different?"

  "Maybe nothing. Maybe I've been like this the whole time and just didn't realize it."

  "But you're not acting like you usually do."

  "Am I supposed to be doing something different?"

  At a loss, Ryson explained that even her current position was out of the ordinary.

  "You don't usually lie down in the afternoon. You have to go to work soon."

  "I suppose."

  Her indifference left the delver unsure of what to say or do. He held back his frustration, but he admitted a simple truth.

  "This isn't normal."

  "When is it normal to be married to a delver?"

  And once again, the delver felt a painful sting in the pit of his soul. Unable to mask his apprehension, he spoke out the truth.

  "That's what I'm talking about. You're making it sound like you made a mistake."

  "Maybe we both made a mistake."

  The statement struck even harder at Ryson and he fought for understanding.

  "Why would you say that?" He finally approached a subject he did not wish to address, felt it might make matters worse, but since Linda crossed a threshold, he felt it was necessary. "Is this all because you think we can't have children?"

  "I don't think, I know."

  She seemed so certain, and that in itself caused Ryson unease. The basis for her conclusion came from some conjecture about magic, yet neither of them had any true grasp of the matter. They weren't spell casters, didn't study the magic as did wizards and sorcerers.

  "How can either of us know for sure?" Ryson submitted.

  "You're a delver and I'm a human. It's not hard to guess."

  "That hasn't stopped any one before," Ryson insisted. "Humans and delvers have had children together. Actually, purebred delvers are somewhat rare."

  "And getting rarer," Linda added.

  "That's not the point. Humans and delvers mixed in the past and they'll mix again in the future. Most of the delvers I know have some human heritage in them."

  "But I'm a human that's immune to magic."

  "So you think you're immune to having children?"

  "Immune to having your children." She paused to finally look at him. Her eyes were devoid of any passion. She gazed upon him as if he was nothing more than one more patron arriving at an otherwise crowded tavern. "As a delver, the magic is part of you. It's inside you and makes you what you are. You really wouldn't exist without it, but that same magic can't touch me. That means a part of you can never touch me. Don't you get that?"

  It finally hit him solid, a deep understanding of what she was talking about. His own appreciation of being a delver was growing. He didn't cast spells or absorb magical energy, but the energy made him different, gave him his abilities. He would pass on the magic to any child of his. Whether it be pure delver, or part human, the magic would have to exist, but it couldn't exist within Linda.

  He stood up from the bed and walked to a window. As he looked outside, he believed he knew what she was saying. It went deeper than not having children. It had to do with them, about their lives together. They weren't just a human and a delver trying to work through a difficult time together. There was something that now stood between them, a barrier, just like the barrier that kept the elves imprisoned in the dark land. She was immune to that part of him which made him a delver.

  It was a revelation far too bleak to consider. The implications were staggering. It meant more than just not having children. It struck at the very core of their existence together. If he dwelled on it, it could break them apart. He didn't want that, not for one moment. He decided to concentrate on the aspect of children, something they could investigate… together. He turned to face her with renewed determination.

  "I know you're immune to magic, but neither of us really understand it. We can talk to someone, find out what it really means."

  "Why bother? Just face it. We're incompatible."

  Another dagger to Ryson's soul; she came out and very plainly stated that which he did not want to accept, the very fear that twisted his insides. And she did so with continued indifference, as if she was talking about some napkin that might not match a decorative tablecloth.

  "You can't mean that… and I don't believe it!" Ryson exclaimed with enough emotion to offset Linda's apparent apathy. "We talked about this before, too. It wasn't just chance that we met. Of all the things that happened to me after the magic returned, meeting you made the most sense. It probably kept me sane."

  "Maybe neither of us is sane."

  "No, I won't accept any of that. I've seen too much. Things happen for a reason. If we weren't supposed to be together, I never would have made it this far. We were supposed to be together."

  Linda sighed as she revealed her full view.

  "I tried to convince myself of that, but now we know the truth. When we met, I had no idea I was immune to magic, and I sure didn't know delvers had magic in them. Think about it. All this time, I've been worrying about what might happen to you when you were out on some scout or fighting some monster that shouldn't even exist. It's absurd when you think about it… absurd because I should have been worrying about something else, worrying about the truth."

  "You think we were never supposed to be together in the first place," Ryson whispered, not wanting to speak what he understood from Linda's words, but not being able to ignore it, either.

  "It makes you wonder."

  But Ryson would not wonder. He would not let the smallest doubt enter his soul. He knew where he was supposed to be.

  "You're wrong," he said sternly, not wanting to be harsh to his wife, but not wavering fro
m his conviction. "You're forgetting everything that's happened to us. We've dealt with destiny. We've seen it play out. We've even dealt with the power of my sword, a power that reveals clear direction. If we weren't supposed to be together, we would know by now. The sword would have made it clear. It never has. We've survived worse than this. We've gone through things that would have crushed other people. We can make it through this."

  Linda looked at it from an opposing viewpoint, though with restrained emotions.

  "You want to talk about all the things we've been through? Fine. Maybe they were all one big sign. Somebody was trying to tell us something, but we didn't want to listen. Now I see it, and it's hard not to listen. Maybe the sword didn't try to give you some clear understanding because you already knew the truth, but refused to accept it. That's happened with the sword before. It can't make us believe the truth if we don't want to."

  "No! Now you're trying to twist things to make me believe something that's not true. We can get help for this. We're going to talk to someone that knows. Enin used to be able to see destinies. He knows the truth. He can help us."

  "Enin's not here anymore. He lives in Connel."

  "I know. We're going to talk to him."

  "I'm not going anywhere. I don't have to talk to some wizard about something I already know."

  "Then I'll go alone!"

  "So you're leaving again… already."

  Not willing to be deterred, Ryson admitted his intentions.

  "That's right. I am. But I'm not going out on some scout. I'm going to Connel and I'm going to find out about all of this. I don't want to leave you like this, but I'm not going to ignore it, either. This is too important. It's about us. If I stay, I'll just be sitting here watching it all die. I'm not going to do that."

  "You do whatever you think you have to," Linda allowed as she stared back up into the blank ceiling.

  Chapter 17

  Another arasap waited outside the back of Ryson and Linda's home. It could distinguish the discussion inside by perceiving the vibration of their voices. It knew Ryson was leaving for Connel. It simply had to be patient.