Delver Magic III: Balance of Fate by Jeff Inlo (best free e reader TXT) đź“–
- Author: Jeff Inlo
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“You can start over because you made it through this. If you were going to give up, you’d be dead already. What makes you think you can’t make it in a new town?”
“Don’t want to.”
“Don’t want to? What is it you want? To stay here and keep fighting off one monster after another? What happens if a shag comes back or that hook hawk? What then?”
“What then? I’ll tell you what then. I fight them off or I die. What’s the problem?’
“The problem is dying for nothing makes no sense.”
“And who says it dying for nothing?” Joel demanded to know. “My wife and I came here to live out the rest of our lives. You know what that means, delver boy? It means we came here to die. Same thing, different words. She held up her part of the bargain. Blast it if I’m not going to hold up my end.”
Ryson looked into Joel’s dark eyes and he remembered Enin’s words before he left Burbon, sometimes you really can’t save people from themselves. And sometimes people don’t want, or even more importantly, don’t need saving. Sometimes people do what they have to do and you just have to let it go.
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Sazar skulked away through the trees of Dark Spruce with the path of Pinesway to his back. He remained attuned to the rock beetle that tunneled underground ahead of him. Remaining cautious of ambushes, he commanded the insect to remain on guard for any trembles of motion. The large shag walked in step directly behind the serp while the second and smaller shag brought up the rear with only a few dozen goblins in between.
Looking over his shoulder in disgust at the remnants of his forces, he cursed to himself over his losses.
“Where there were once hundreds, I now have but a meager few. Where I had the opportunity to grow beyond measure, I now have to struggle to prevent further losses. I have already lost far too much on this day. The goblins have scattered and now run in fear of this place. I don’t have the power to overcome this and the cursed delver knows it. He did this on purpose, striking directly at what I could not control.”
The serp hissed in anger as his tail shredded weeds in uncontrolled waves of anger.
“I don’t think the wizard was even here. Probably felt I was not worth his time. Look at me now, no longer even worth the delver’s time, or the human guard from Burbon. They let me creep away in retreat.”
Sazar shook his head and hissed again, this time in disgust. “And so much is true. I am no longer worth their efforts. It will take all my attention to keep these few that still follow me from wandering off as well. My hope of Pinesway is gone, my hope of power is gone.”
Sazar stopped. He turned and looked over the meager group of goblins that moved in his wake. He grew angry.
“No, I will not allow this day to be a loss. I must accept what happened, and use it as well. This day has taught me that I can raid, but I can not conquer. Thus, I must choose. If I am to be a raider, then these forces I have now are more than sufficient. I do not need to grow in numbers to obtain what I need. If I am to be a conqueror, then I must change.”
Sazar looked back down the path toward Pinesway, unable to even make out the outline of a single building through the shadows and trees. He had ran from that town, ran so far he could no longer see it. This realization did not make him happy.
“To be a raider is to retreat, to be a conqueror is to make your enemy retreat. I will raid no more, thus I will change.”
A decision made in his mind, albeit a dangerous one, Sazar walked with confidence in his step once more. He hissed a happy consideration as he turned to the southwest.
“Perhaps one day I will be able to thank the delver in person.”
Holli appeared quite at ease standing in Enin’s home. When a large, shaggy-haired mutt romped up to her side, she confidently dropped a hand down to scratch its head.
“The dogs, they all seem to like you,” Enin smiled.
“I’ve always liked dogs,” Holli replied. “In some ways, I’ve tried to match what they do. They use their senses in a very positive way and they don’t just rely on one. Even though many use scent heavily, they also watch and listen.”
“They also have a natural sense of what they like and what they don’t like.” Enin added. “They are happy when they are around things they like, and they are very tense when they are concerned.”
As if on cue, another two dogs bounded into to the room. They ran up to the elf, gave her a sniff with wagging tails, and then leapt over to Enin to say hello. After he acknowledged them both, they ran over to the large mutt and coaxed him to run out of the room with them.
“Well, these three seem very happy here.” Holli noted as she watched them gain speed as they turned a corner and ran out of sight.
“Yes, they are, and it’s funny actually. At first, I hated this house. Too big, too much room for what I needed. It originally belonged to some well-to-do merchant. Of course that was before the magic was released. The merchant took off for one of the coastal towns, Alamatos I think, but I’m not really sure. Anyway, he left when the dark creatures began appearing. There was a lot of that, people abandoning their homes. Well, not much here in Burbon really. Most people stayed put here. Probably because of Sy and the delver. It’s been a blessing that Ryson decided to stay here. We should all probably thank Linda for that. Uhmmm, where was I?”
“You were telling me how you hated this house,” the elf reminded him.
“Ah, yes. It’s not really my house, well I guess it is now. Anyway, I used to live on the far side of town and Sy didn’t think that was such a good idea. He wanted me to be closer to the center. I told him it really didn’t matter, that if my assistance was needed the distance was quite immaterial. He said it didn’t have anything to do with my powers, but with the perception of the townspeople. Most of them saw what I did when the dwarves of Dunop attacked us. Sy said that if people were going to feel safe here, they needed to have me just about in the middle of everything. If I stayed in the corner of town, eventually everyone would move to that corner as well. If I came to the center, for the most part, people would stay put. I asked him how the people that lived at the edges of town would feel, and he told me that those folks didn’t mind as much. That’s why they chose to live there in the first place. Made sense to me.”
“The strategy has its logic,” Holli agreed.
“Well, it might have been logical, but that doesn’t mean I liked it. As I said, I hated this house at first. Much too much space for my needs. I felt lost here. I complained about that constantly to Sy. I think he got tired of hearing it and it gave him an idea. He told me the town needed a place to keep stray dogs. There weren’t many strays, of course. Dogs have become quite popular these days. Did you know that?”
“I know that dogs have a strong ability to sense danger and they naturally sense dark creatures.”
“You are quite right. And people around here realized that darn quickly. If the family dog was happy then the other family members knew they didn’t have to worry about a goblin raid. Thus, not too many strays left running through town. Still, there were a few and they needed to a place to live, so Sy said they would stay here. Every now and then things get a bit crazy with the running around and all, but the house doesn’t seem as big anymore.”
The three dogs that had left re-entered the room with a fourth four-legged friend. All four ran about the room, excitedly re-inspecting the elf and saying hello once more to the wizard.
With the dogs leaping at his hands and face, Enin tried valiantly to pet all four at once, but he was short two hands. He looked back at the elf with a large smile. “In fact, sometimes now this house actually feels a bit small.”
Holli dropped to one knee, putting her head at the dogs’ level. Two of the four noticed this immediately and charged her with haste. They began licking both sides of her face.
“They welcome you here.” Enin stated. “That’s very important you know. It’s not good when someone is suspicious of you when they first meet, sort of like how you were suspicious of me when we first met.”
Holli stood up but kept both hands available for the two dogs. “At the time, I did not know you, nor did I know how talented you are with…”
“No, no, no, not talented,” Enin stopped her in mid sentence, “gifted. There’s a huge difference. Talent comes from within, and there are many that are quite talented at casting spells. I am not so arrogant that I believe for an instant that my abilities come from within, or that I should receive credit for what I can do. No, my magical abilities are a gift from a greater power. I didn’t earn them, didn’t work long hours to perfect them. They were simply given to me at the outset. I don’t know why, I simply accept it and take no praise for it.”
“Very well, when I first met you I did not know how gifted you were.” Holli tilted her head expectantly toward the wizard as if to determine if this choice of words was more suitable to his liking. When he nodded happily, she continued. “Magic was new to this world, especially new to humans that had little reference to it in their known history, and you must admit your manner did not, nor does it now, match that of a wizened spell-caster.”
“I see, so because I did not walk around like a brooding, introspective, aloof human with very little to say, I appeared somewhat dangerous to you.”
“That is not what I said.” Holli responded in a rather short tone.
“Now, now, if you can’t take a bit of fun, then how are you and I going to get along, and that will be very important if I agree to what you want.”
Holli frowned at this, and her tone turned slightly colder. “How do you know what it is I want?”
Enin immediately held his hands up in front of his chest as if pressing away any hurled accusations. The two dogs at his sides did not sit patiently for this and romped out of the room, followed by the other two.
Enin’s voice held a very conciliatory note. “Please do not get suspicious of me. I did not read your mind if that’s what you are worried about. I’ve learned that someone’s thoughts are very private, but it goes beyond even that. Over time, I’ve discovered that reading minds is simply not worth the effort. There’s too much chance for error. The mind is the great cabinet of
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