Delver Magic I: Sanctum's Breach by Jeff Inlo (ebook reader 8 inch .TXT) 📖

“What are you talking about?” he questioned.

“I’m talking about what happened here. I stepped right into a trap. You talk of how Mappel trusts me. Now you see how I repay that trust.”

“Hey, ease up. I barely noticed the hole and I’m a delver. I should have seen it long before you fell in.”

“I am an elf guard. I can not afford to make such mistakes.” Her voice was cold and bitter.

Ryson shook his head vehemently. “That’s ridiculous.”

“It is not ridiculous. What if you had fallen? If I had lost you to this thing, how could I have explained it to my captain, to Mappel?”

Ryson could not accept the harsh self judgment. He pointed to the remains of the creature with near ferocity. “Do you even know what that thing is?” he demanded. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I doubt you have either.”

“I do not know what it is,” Holli answered with a near lifeless tone.

His pressing eyes bore down upon her. “Then how could you have been prepared for it?”

“I must be prepared for everything,” Holli responded quickly. “I was warned to watch for the unknown, the unexpected. I did not fulfill my duty.”

Ryson heaved a heavy breath. He was determined not to allow the elf to hold on to such a perception. “What is your duty?”

Holli answered swiftly, and with more than a hint of self-disdain. “To protect you, to see to the safe conclusion of your mission.”

“Was I hurt?” The delver’s simple question echoed through the tunnel.

Holli remained silent.

“Was I hurt?” he asked again. His expression demanded she speak the obvious answer.

“No,” she allowed.

“Then you have not failed in your duty. You were told to watch for the unexpected. That’s a very vague instruction. You dealt with this monster better than I could have. And neither of us got hurt. I can’t ask for more than that.”

For a moment, Holli appeared slightly relieved. Her sternness, however, returned quickly. “Be that as it may, I can not allow such a thing to happen again. As you have said before, yours is a mission of great importance. If we must face such unexpected obstacles, then I must heighten my awareness.”

She checked her ire long enough to apologize for what she felt was previously inappropriate behavior. It was the duty of an elf guard to remain watchful over those they escorted. They would give orders when safety was at risk, take command when danger presented itself, but they were to always remain in control. They were also to give continuous respect.

“By the way, forgive me for shouting orders at you, but I needed my right hand. I could not free my left. I believed that the sword was my only hope.”

Ryson waved aside the apology. He took no offense at the time, and none now. “I would have yelled, too. As for the sword, it looks like you thought right.” Ryson’s gaze locked upon the shimmering blade of the sword. Strangely, it did not hurt his eyes to stare directly into the glowing metal that brought near daylight to this dark tunnel.

“That sword seems pretty special,” he remarked with obvious interest. “It even gives off its own light.”

“It is not a source of light,” Holli confessed, “it simply magnifies the light around it. That is part of its enchantment. Do not underestimate that power. It can catch the faintest gleam and offer enough light for travel into the darkest of caves. For example, it can catch the light which flows through the hole in this tunnel from a great distance. We could walk far and deep. We could turn corners and descend steep banks. We could reach a length where are own eyes would sense no light at all. The sword, however, would still capture the light which flows from that opening. It is only in an enclosed place where light is completely blocked will the sword fail to offer illumination.”

“I see.” Ryson took a moment to glance down the long tunnel. The light from the sword lit the passage way with greater depth than the brightest of lanterns. It allowed Ryson to inspect the walls and to follow the path. The tunnel twisted and turned for a great distance before the path curved out of sight. “I wonder how far this thing goes.”

Holli showed no interest in the tunnel. “It is of no concern to us.”

She stepped back to the opening and passed an expectant glance at the delver. She obviously wished to exit the tunnel and continue with their original quest.

Ryson’s curiosity would not be so easily contained. He meandered within the walls of the tunnel, taking deep longing stares down the enclosed corridor. He offered his own opinion. “I don’t know about that. We don’t know what that creature was. You said so yourself. Maybe this tunnel holds the answer.”

Holli’s response was coldly logical. “The creature must be a result of the tainted magic which now swells over the land. The sphere emits energies which can alter creatures in unthinkable ways. It might have been nothing more than the egg of an ordinary spider that somehow became mutated. It’s a surprise we haven’t come across something like this sooner.”

Ryson’s growing desire to explore the tunnel exuded from him like smoke from a fire. “But look at how long this tunnel goes. Who knows what we might find.”

“And you wish to explore it?” Holli’s expression was harsh.

“Of course. If the magic created this creature, it might have created something else.”

She frowned dubiously. “Yes, something more terrible and more deadly. I do not see the point in taking such a risk.”

“We shouldn’t just leave without inspecting at least a little further,” Ryson requested. “We may never have an opportunity like this again.”

Holli stared sternly at the delver. “How will this help us in our quest to find the algors?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what may be down there. That’s why I think it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.”

“This will not help our cause,” Holli spoke angrily.

Her tone finally caught Ryson’s attention. He stood confused over her adamant stance.

“What’s wrong?”

“You have been given a task,” she replied forcefully. “That task was to find the algors, or have you forgotten? We must find them and explain to them of what is happening. According to Mappel, even according to you, there are important decisions to be made involving the sphere. We have not the time to explore this irrelevant tunnel dug by some monster. We must return to this objective.”

“It won’t take long just to have a look around,” Ryson persisted.

“It will not help us.” Her hardened stare did not ease. “I know what is causing this. It is your natural instincts as a delver to explore that which is new to you. I must ask you to contain these feelings until we have accomplished what we have set out to do. Now, I can not find the algors on my own. That is your responsibility. But I also know that I can’t force you to do anything. I know enough about you that if you wanted to leave me behind you could do so in an instant. I can’t capture you or even keep up with you. I can only ask you to remember your pledge to Mappel, and to Shayed. Remember your responsibilities as I remember mine. We need to find the algors.”

Ryson grimaced at acknowledging the truth. He knew his desire to explore the tunnel failed to hold any true rewards other than satisfying his own curiosity. He cursed lightly under his breath before accepting the only true course of action. He looked to Holli requesting forgiveness with his eyes.

“Of course you’re right. This kind of thing just happens to me sometimes. It’s hard for me keep my attention focused with so much going on. I hope you can understand.”

“You do not have to explain further. Let us forget this matter and exit this tunnel. I will need a moment to clean my wounds. Then, we will return to what we must do.”