Delver Magic I: Sanctum's Breach by Jeff Inlo (read novels website .TXT) 📕

“Mother of bastards!” Consprite exclaimed, yet he revealed more despair than disbelief. He did not question what he saw; he did not stare with gaping silence. Instead, he dropped himself back into his chair as if capitulating. His large bottom hit the seat with a resounding thump. He placed his left hand over his eyes as if trying to block out a nightmare.

Matthew looked back and forth from the elder elf to the mayor. He could not fathom Consprite’s reaction. “You’re not shocked?”

“Nothing can shock me anymore,” Consprite moaned.

“What are you talking about?” Matthew beseeched. Nothing had gone even close to his expectations. The reader imagined difficulty in gaining an audience with any of the council, he anticipated outright dismissal of his story, and he expected downright astonishment at the revelation of elves in their midst. The actual turn of events was beyond his imagination. He stared dumbly at the mayor, waiting and hoping for a shred of reason.

Consprite offered nothing. He grunted, he cursed, but he remained in his chair with his hand over his face.

Mappel stepped forward ahead of the reader. He raised a hand from his staff requesting Matthew refrain from further questions. He spoke with an explanation he garnered from his own observations of the mayor. “It is the inevitable I fear. I expect this man has already seen and heard of things far more surprising than the presence of elves. He is the leader of this camp of humans as I am the leader of my camp of elves. Just as I received reports as to the occurrences after the quake, I expect he has received the same. The magic has returned, and no camp or town is safe from the effects. It is not so surprising that this man already knows of the changes taking place.”

“At first I didn’t believe what I was hearing,” Consprite mumbled. He dropped his hand to his lap, stared at it rather than return Mappel’s knowing gaze. “I thought the reports were made by crackpots out in the wilderness too long. That’s where they came from at first. Stories from strangers coming in from the hills and the mountains up north. Then more stories came in from the outlying farms. I had to send people out to investigate. I lost two men to some kind of monster they couldn’t even describe. It surprised them at the river and ripped them apart with claws and teeth.”

“It was a river rogue,” Lief spoke for the first time since entering the office. “They move as quickly on land as in the water. They have attacked my people as well.”

Consprite glanced up with a look of desperation. “River rogue, huh? It’s good to know the names of creatures which shouldn’t exist.” He placed an inquisitive eye upon Lief. “I guess you’re an elf, too?”

Lief pulled off his cap in acknowledgment.

“That’s just great.” Consprite shook his head. “River rogues, elves. What do you call the short, swollen-headed things that walk around the forests with crossbows?”

“They are goblins,” Mappel answered softly.

“Well, I haven’t seen one of those yet but the mayor from Burbon sent me a message this morning. They’ve attacked Burbon twice in as many days.” He shook his head as if to expel the images of things he could not comprehend. Upon recalling a sight he could bring to mind, his voice rattled with anguish. “I’ll tell you what I did see with my own eyes, a corpse, a moving corpse. It killed a farmer and two of his boys before my men trapped it in a barn. I tell you that thing should not have been walking around. It was half rotted. I could see bone, yet it kept banging at the doors to get out.”

“Another of the undead,” Lief muttered as he shook his head sadly.

Consprite boiled over with anger and frustration. He shot a wild stare at Lief. His eyes remained wide and bloodshot. “What do you mean another? I had the one in the barn destroyed! It took five men with axes to do it. They chopped it to pieces before it finally stopped moving! We burned what was left. Then burned everything that touched it. Blazes, I had my own clothes burned. Now you tell me there are more of these things. How many more?”

“No one can tell,” Lief answered simply.

“But you’re sure there’s more, aren’t you?!” The mayor’s nostrils flared as his eyes made wild accusations toward the elf.

“No one can be sure of anything during these times,” Mappel counseled coolly. “Our own people are at a loss to understand everything which has happened or might happen.”

“Loss? Loss?!” a crazed expression rippled across the cheeks of the mayor. He glowered at the three men that stood before him. “Everything is out of control here and you stand there telling me you’re at a loss to understand what’s happening? There’s no way to understand it! The dead are walking around killing people! There are monsters doing the same near the rivers! And that’s only the half of it. All these reports on my desk … unheard of things. I thought the town was going nuts. Maybe it is. Maybe we all are. One woman said her son was able to levitate. I laughed until I went over to see her. The kid was floating around in the air! She thinks her son is possessed by demons. I didn’t want to believe any of this, but I can’t shut my eyes to it!”

Mappel stood firm with his weight pressed against his staff. He listened carefully to the words and the tone of the mayor. He watched even closer. Even as he stood within a whirlwind of an emotional tirade, he found it near impossible to develop a true assessment of this man.

The elder elf could read nothing beyond the mayor’s immediate concerns. His worthiness as a person, his tendencies toward righteousness or malevolence, remained well disguised by a veneer of self-importance. The arrogance of the man drew clear by the objects in which he surrounded himself. The desire for control became evident by his outbursts. Unfortunately, neither characteristic assisted Mappel in making a moral judgment. Such characteristics are present in almost every leader of every race.

“What you face, we all now face,” Mappel spoke in earnest. “The humans are not alone in this plight. Every creature that lives in the land faces the same danger. It is not madness that overtakes you or your people. It is a challenge to all, to human, to elf, to dwarf, to algor, to even the great cliff behemoth.”

The mayor nearly laughed with exhaustion. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? That’s just great. I can go out and tell my people that everything is fine because we’re not alone. The elves and dwarves are facing the same problems.”

“I don’t think that is what he meant,” Matthew offered.

“I know what he meant!” Consprite shouted. His expression turned cold as the crimson hue ran from his face like water from a tap. His fists tightened to stop their trembling and he took hold of the situation with all the resolve left within him. He would no longer allow anyone but himself to dictate the subject of this meeting. He narrowed upon their presence in his office and his focus turned upon their reasons. “Now listen to what I have to say and know that I mean it. I want to know why you’re here. As far as I’m concerned you may be responsible for all that’s going on. You came here with something to say, and you’ll say it to me now. If you don’t, I’ll lock you up and you’ll never see the light of day again. I don’t know your two friends here, but I know you and your place in this community. No one, other than your own followers, is going to even notice if you drop off the face of the land. As for these two elves,” he said the word with near disdain, as if it were a foreign virus that had no business in the land of Uton. “I doubt if anyone around here will miss them if they disappeared. People around here don’t believe in elves and dwarves.”

At that threat, Lief moved forward with an agile step. His hand disappeared beneath his cloak where it found the hilt of his two edged sword. He side stepped Mappel with casual grace, the folds of his cloak barely rustling. He bore down upon the mayor with a fiery anger of his own.

The elf’s intentions were not lost upon the mayor, and Consprite’s cold calculating confidence took flight as his pallor turned gray. He sank back deep in his chair, searching for protection and a retreat. His feet dug into the floor as he propelled the chair back away from the oncoming elf. Beads of sweat rolled down his temples. The only noise which erupted from his mouth was a low groan.

Matthew called out for Lief to contain his actions, but it was Mappel who stopped him. He merely lifted an arm from his staff and swung it out like a gate which crossed Lief’s path. By itself, the thin aged arm could not have held back the younger, more powerful elf. Lief would have plowed through that arm as if it were a thin rotted pine branch, if it belonged to anyone else.

It belonged to Mappel, however, and Lief submitted to its authority. The angered elf left his sword sheathed under his cloak. He even stepped back away from the mayor in acceptance of Mappel’s silent request.

The mayor coughed in uneasy relief, but maintained a watchful eye on the younger elf. He pulled his chair back to his desk before wiping his head with a clammy hand. The room now felt much too small for Consprite. He now felt trapped, the only exit blocked. He rubbed his hands together, hoping to warm them and dry the perspiration he had wiped from his temples. He gathered himself, drawing upon all his experience. In his best fashion, he flushed signs of weakness from his expression. He continued to remain watchful of Lief, but he finally set his attention back on Matthew.

“Now you look here,” he mumbled, somewhat unsteady but not lacking in bitterness, “I have had enough of this. You will speak now.”

Matthew shook his head almost apologetically. He remained firm upon his earlier stance. “I would rather speak to the whole council.”

“Are you deaf man?” Consprite bellowed. “The council can not convene today. I’ve already said that.”

“Why not?”

“Because there is no council anymore.” The mayor dropped his forehead into his left hand. “Elizabeth Bent was killed by that thing in the barn. I had to inform the entire council of what was going on, didn’t want to face it by myself. She wouldn’t believe me. I took her out to see it for herself to convince her. Samuel Cofort went with us. Pig headed woman, she wouldn’t listen. She just about laughed at me when she threw open the barn door, told me it was a spooked horse. It ripped her throat open. That’s when I ordered the men to destroy it. I had Bent’s body burned. I didn’t want to see her rise up like that other thing. Cofort didn’t stick around. He got sick right there and took off. I’ve sent people to get him back here, but they can’t find him. He’s left town for sure. When I finally told the other two council members of what happened they walked out. Last I heard, they locked themselves in their houses. So there is no council. I’m in charge here. Me, alone! Got it?”

Matthew stared at the mayor vacantly before finding his voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Well,