Jeff Inlo - Pure Choice

Ryson checked first on Linda. She showed no further signs of hostility and remained uncaring to her situation and her surroundings. The delver found such an attitude as unimaginable, but hopefully he would get answers when Enin arrived. While he waited, he decided to address his curiosity regarding other matters.

"Why are you here?" Ryson asked of the cliff behemoth.

"You, and Godson, guided us here," Dzeb remarked as if the answer was obvious.

"No, sorry, I didn't mean why are you in Connel. What brought you into the forest? I found your tracks. You came out of the north. I assume from the mountains?"

"Yes."

"Well, why?"

"To help your Linda."

"But how did you know she needed help?"

"How did you?"

"Because she's been acting strange," a slightly frustrated Ryson replied, "and I knew she ran off into the forest. I couldn't find her at home and asked the guards. How could you have possibly known she was out in the forest?"

"It is Godson's will she be protected," Dzeb answered with total candor and an acceptance of the situation based on pure faith.

It might have been sincere, but the answer lacked substance for the delver.

"That doesn't answer the question"

"Yes, it does."

Ryson tried to make the connection between his question and Dzeb's answer. He couldn't. All he could imagine was that Dzeb received some kind of divine communication, but how the giant might have received that message defied his understanding. Needing to know, he pressed for greater detail.

"So what happened, did you get some kind of message from above? Was there a voice from the sky, a bolt of lightning, did an angel whisper in your ear?"

Dzeb shook his head and laughed lightly.

"I understand you are a delver and you want answers," the giant allowed, "but some things defy explanation."

"So you're not going to tell me?"

"I have told you."

Ryson held back a groan but admitted an honest annoyance with the behemoth's reply.

"I hate it when you do this."

"Do not make room in your heart for hate," the behemoth advised.

"Okay, bad choice of words, but I still don't understand it. Linda just takes off, which is a surprise to everyone, and yet you show up in the forest right when she needs you. We haven't seen you in some time. It's obviously not a coincidence. You didn't go to Burbon. You were clearly following her as if you knew right where to find her. All I'm asking is how did you know to go looking for her in the forest?"

"What does an apple taste like?" Dzeb asked.

Ryson was stunned by the question.

"Excuse me?"

"You have eaten apples before, yes?"

"Of course, but…"

"What do they taste like?"

"They taste like apples, some are sweet, some are sour. What's this…"

"Aren't some berries sweet and others tart?"

"Yeah," Ryson allowed, but he still couldn't imagine what the giant was talking about.

"Do berries taste like apples?"

"No, berries taste like berries and apples taste like apples."

"But you still haven't explained to me what an apple tastes like."

Ryson began to understand where Dzeb was headed but needed to confirm it.

"So you're trying to make a point about how you can't explain how you knew to go into the forest?"

"I'm trying to show you how some things are difficult to explain. An apple tastes like an apple because it does. I knew to go into the forest because it was Godson's will. I can't explain what it's like to know His will. I didn't hear some voice from the clouds, I didn't get struck by lighting, and I didn't hear whispers from angels. I know because I just do… just as you know what an apple tastes like when you eat one."

Ryson almost debated the contention further, but he saw the large oak doors swing open. Enin entered the church with Holli and Jure by his side.

Enin was about to greet those assembled when his gaze fell harshly upon Linda. He held out his arms to keep Jure and Holli from moving forward and issued an immediate warning.

"Will you all please move away from Linda!"

Everyone gathered in the church hesitated. Ryson would not leave his wife and Dzeb held fast to his belief that Linda required his protection. Even the members of the church, those that knew Enin's vast power, chose to defy the request. They were reluctant to step away from the woman that had been brought into their care.

"I understand your hesitancy," Enin allowed, "but I must insist."

"What are you talking about?!" Ryson demanded. "I'm not leaving my wife."

"I'm not asking you to leave her, but a safe distance is necessary."

"Why?"

"There are arasaps inside of her. Now please, for your safety and hers, just take a few steps back."

Ryson and Dzeb would still not heed the wizard's warning.

"What?!" the delver cried.

He turned to look upon his wife. She sat still and quiet, looking down at her hands with no apparent concern for the wizard or his accusation. Ryson thought there might have been something wrong with her, but he never imagined what Enin professed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ryson, please. She's in no immediate danger, but you might be. You are much too close to her."

"I'm not walking away from her!"

"There is no danger to me," Dzeb added as if to reinforce the choice Ryson had just made. "My charge is to keep her safe, and so I shall until she is better."

"I see," Enin acknowledged.

The wizard knew if he could not persuade the mighty cliff behemoth to take precautions, it would be useless to ask the delver to step away. He did insist the members of the church move to the side of the large room. Once they reluctantly agreed and allowed a clear path between Linda and those who just arrived, Enin consulted with Jure.

"Do you sense them?"

"Four of them," Jure responded in the affirmative, "but I don't understand."

"I don't, either!" Ryson implored. "How can something be inside of her? Are you saying she's possessed?"

"Infiltrated would be a better description. Do you know what an arasap is?" Enin asked of the delver.

"Vaguely," the delver admitted with growing frustration and alarm. "I read about them in the legends. They're like jelly monsters. They feed on magic."

"A common misconception. They are not made of jelly, and they do not feed on magic. They feed on spell residue."

"Magic… spells… what's the difference?! She's immune to magic!"

"I know, but you are not. That's why I believe you are in greater danger than Linda. I know you won't step away, but at least allow me to deal with this."

"You can help her?" Ryson hoped.

"I have to understand it first," Enin explained. "Now, please, give me a moment."

Enin looked ever deeper into Linda, but her immunity to magic made seeing the arasaps extremely difficult. Still, he could sense them and their unyielding hunger. They were a great danger to unsuspecting magic casters and the wizard knew enough of their abilities to comprehend some of the situation, but not the full scope.

"You are correct, Jure," Enin declared to the elder wizard. "There are definitely four within her. It's strange, though. I would have guessed they would have been more difficult to isolate as separate entities, but somehow they are each very unique in a fashion I cannot fathom."

"I know," Jure agreed. "It's almost as if they're four completely different species, but I always thought arasaps were nearly identical in nature."

"They have been in the past."

"Maybe that explains why they're inside her," Jure offered. "Maybe she provides them a unique feeding experience."

"They shouldn't be able to feed off of her at all," Enin stated. "They should be starving inside of her, and yet, all four seem exceedingly strong. That's why we can sense them despite Linda's immunity."