Delver Magic III: Balance of Fate by Jeff Inlo (thriller books to read txt) 📕

“Yes, I believe I can. As long as I don’t worry about the mechanics of how it’s being done, I believe I can call on the magic to bring me to your side. All I have to do is focus on your magical essence, as long as you keep it open to me.”

“I will indeed,” Enin allowed. “Are you ready to give this a try?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. I will transport myself to Baannat. Once I am gone, you can cast your spell and you should immediately appear in Baannat’s realm. If for some reason you fail, do not worry. I will give you a few moments and if you don’t appear, I will summon you to my side. I don’t think that will be necessary because looking at you now, I believe you know what you have to do.”

“I believe so as well,” Holli stated confidently.

“Before we go, let me warn you not to speak to Baannat. Listen to everything he says, but say nothing. Ok?”

“Will I be able to speak to you if necessary?”

“Absolutely. If you have something you need, or a question, don’t hesitate to ask. I just would prefer if you didn’t speak to Baannat.”

“Very well.”

“Then let us get this over with.”

Enin raised his hands above his head and two circles of white quickly encased his entire body and he disappeared.

Holli immediately focused on Enin’s magical essence. She could feel his power but could not place it in any particular location. It was almost as if he was in the air over her very head. She ceased trying to put a known location on Enin’s presence and simply focused on appearing at his side, as if she wanted to send her own shadow next to his with a bright flash of magic. She mouthed a few whispers and she disappeared in a mist of green.

Holli appeared in a space of bland white with no other color. She could see, but other then herself, Enin and a shadowy figure off in the distance in front of them, there was nothing else to focus on. It felt as if her feet stood on solid ground, but she could perceive no floor. There appeared to be walls, but she could not gauge how far the walls were from her current position. She considered pulling an arrow from her quiver and firing it off into any direction simply to see where it might stop, or if it stopped at all before it flew out of her range of vision. She decided quickly against the action, for she could not be certain of how the magic of this space would affect the path of her arrow. She wondered if it might end up coming right back at her.

Holli’s contemplations over this strange place were brought to an end by the first words she heard from Baannat. These words did more than echo through this magical space, they vibrated, and she could feel them to her very bones.

“Hello, Brother. I didn’t expect you to visit again so soon. And how are you this day?”

Enin wanted to ignore Baannat as he concentrated on what he could sense around Baannat. He filled his being with the magic that made up the place. He felt for any whispers of deeds that might link Baannat to Tabris. Still, he responded for he knew Baannat would only continue to harass him.

“I’m fine, Baannat.”

“You bring a new visitor with you. An elf, how wonderful. And you are teaching her. Splendid. Of course you know that doing so will only make you weaker by your own theory. If balance must exist and you strengthen this elf, then you would have to become weaker, or there would be no balance. Or perhaps instead of you getting weaker, I would get stronger. That is what you believe and that is a pleasing thought, is it not?”

Enin answered with near disregard, as if he was talking to nothing more than empty space. “She has always had the power to cast spells and she has always been on the side of virtue in the balance of things. Yes, she will grow in power but not so much to make a true difference in the scales.”

“Has he spoken to you yet of balance, my dear?” Baannat’s words were clearly directed at Holli now, and they were both hot with desire and cold with hate at the moment he spoke them. “He loves to speak of balance. One might say it even consumes him.”

“She is not here for your amusement,” Enin intervened.

“Then why is she here?!” This time Baannat’s words carried nothing but anger.

“Because I want her to see this place, to know it.”

“And why is that?!”

“Does it really matter?” Enin asked.

There was complete silence for just a moment that was quickly shattered by Baannat’s nearly uncontrollable laughter. The bubbling howls of mirth rumbled through the air like rolling thunder from incessant lightning strikes.

“No, it doesn’t matter at all,” Baannat finally said through his slowly dying giggles. “And why are you here again so soon?”

“Events continue to occur that make me suspect you are up to something, Baannat.”

“Checking up on me again, making sure I’m being good. Isn’t that wonderful? Or perhaps maybe you’re trying to provoke me into interfering in your activities so you can do some interfering of your own? What are the events you speak of this time?”

“If you are involved, you would already know. If you are not involved, then it is none of your concern.”

“You think you can keep secrets from me?!” Baannat shouted.

“I simply have no desire to tell you anything.”

“But you tell me everything by just being here.”

Enin brushed aside the comment with his own understanding of reality. “You can see into the land as easy as I can come here. If it is truly important for you to know, look into it yourself. I won’t bother to stop you.”

“Perhaps I don’t need to look, perhaps I already know,” Baannat offered deviously. “And now that you are here, do you sense anything that gives me away.”

“No, I do not,” Enin admitted.

Baannat waited. “It seems you are done with your task which means it is time for you to leave, and yet you make no attempt to exit. Normally, you are quick to try and go before I make my request for our game. Not this time, eh?”

“If you wish to play, I’m ready. I always humor you.”

“Humor me?” Baannat growled. “It is not humor that makes you stay this time. No, you are worried because you think that by teaching this pathetic elf you have given away too much of your power. You want to play this time to see if you can still win, but now you worry you can’t. You think you have changed the balance.”

“The balance has most definitely changed, but not in the way you think,” Enin stated confidently.

“Has it?” Baannat suddenly giggled. “Then let’s truly test this. You will cast black magic, the aspect of death. And I will cast white magic, the constant of all magic combined. I admit I am giving myself an advantage. I will cast what is my natural gift, and you will cast that which you oppose the most.”

“I do not oppose the black aspect of magic,” Enin countered. “It is not just death. Death is only a part of it. It is change.”

“And I am well aware that you dislike change,” Baannat shot back. “Change upsets you. Change brings turmoil and takes away that which you like most, consistency.”

“Not all change is bad. Learning is change. Teaching is causing change. Helping is creating change. I’ve never opposed these things.”

“Then let us put this to the test,” Baannat demanded.

Baannat brought his hands together to two tight fists in front of his chest. Two rings of white hot power encircled his shadowed figure. They revolved about him in opposite directions until they met at his fists. When they did, they formed a glowing white axe, massive in size. The blade shone sickly pale as if covered in angels’ blood. It began to swing back and forth, then up and down. With each pass, it left a trail of white energy that gleamed brighter then the rest of the pale space.

Enin nodded and quickly cast his own spell. The wizard’s own circles of white energy quickly turned black and melded together to form a large block. The rectangular shape swam out into the empty paleness of space that surrounded them and headed for the axe.

The axe head swung through the black shape, cleaving it in half. The two now separate shapes quickly ballooned in size, each now matching the width and height of the original block. Both blocks again moved through space following the white hatchet. When the blade swung again it sliced through two blocks instead of just one, and thus, there were now four black pieces. Again, all four grew back to the size of the original block. The process went on for long moments and countless swings of the blade. The number of blocks grew exponentially and began to erase the bright whiteness left behind by each swing of the Baannat’s magical weapon. Before the cleaver completed its final swing it was clear that Enin’s dark blocks overpowered the white remnants of Baannat’s blade swings by an obvious margin.

“This can’t be!” Baannat wailed. “You should be weaker, not stronger!”

Enin shrugged. “It is rather appropriate you asked me to cast the magic of change, for that is what has truly happened. The balance between you and I has been altered to offset the new evil that now resides in Uton. It is nothing less than I expected.”

“But what of your elf witch beside you?” Baannat protested. “She should have swayed the balance to me!”

“As I said before, she was always on the side of righteousness. Her increased strength did little to alter the scales.”

Enin turned to Holli. “I have learned what I wish to know here. I will take us back.”

The wizard placed an arm around Holli’s shoulder and with a simple step of will he guided her back to their home in Burbon. He looked her in the face as he tested her awareness.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Holli answered.

“Very good. I am happy to see you were able to cast the spell. Your power is growing.”

Holli ignored the compliment and instead focused on the wizard’s expression as she asked a question of her own.

“Why did you bring me to see Baannat?”

“Because I believe it was important for you to see him for yourself, to know that there is evil out there. You can never be blind to that fact. Awareness of it will allow you to defend yourself against it.”

Enin said nothing further.

Holli realized it would be futile to press him for greater details. Instead, she asked a new set of questions

“Why does he call you brother?”

“Because he knows it irritates me. I am not his brother. I am not related to him in anyway. He just likes to point out that we have similar powers.”

“Do you think he’s involved in Tabris joining Sazaar?”

“No, I do not think so. I scanned the magical energy that was in the room when we entered. I could find no echo, no whisper of a link between Tabris and Baannat. I also sensed nothing when we visited the sorceress. If he had intervened in some way, I believe I would have sensed something, a trail of his magic. I did not and so it appears as if she made the decision on her own. It is also as