Jeff Inlo - Pure Choice

"Can we get them out?"

"I'm trying to figure a way," Enin admitted, "but I'm at a total loss. A spell would be useless. Linda serves as a total barrier to magic. I can't grab them. Can you?"

Jure shook his head.

"No, I can sense their unique impulses, but I can't touch them. They're beyond my grasp."

Enin turned to Holli.

"Can you sense them at all?"

"No," the elf revealed. "She is like a solid wall to me."

Ryson noted the contradiction and questioned the original theory.

"Maybe she's right. Maybe they aren't inside of her. Holli could always sense dark creatures. Maybe you two are sensing something else, something that's making Linda act so strange."

With that, Enin recalled Ryson's previous trip to Connel and the delver's concerns about Linda's state of mind.

"No, Ryson, we are not mistaken. There are definitely arasaps inside of Linda. Holli can't feel them because she is attuned to the magical presence of dark creatures. That presence is blocked by Linda's immunity. Jure and I can feel the arasaps on a different level. We do not simply sense the creature. We grasp the very presence of foreign entities and their energy."

"Can you help her at all?"

Enin remained silent, but only for a moment. He did not want to crush the delver's hopes, but he had to be truthful.

"At the moment, I'm at a loss. Linda makes the perfect sanctuary for the creatures. Her immunity to magic places a wall between them and anything we hope to accomplish. I believe the best thing to do is wait them out. They will eventually starve inside of her and they will be forced to come out and feed. It may take a while, but they cannot stay in her indefinitely."

Jure saw the dejected look in the delver and decided to offer an idea that was sparked by Enin's description of the situation.

"Maybe we can coax them out," the elder wizard proposed.

"Coax?" Enin asked with guarded interest. "In what way?"

"It's like you said, they're behind a wall, but that should work both ways. It's not just a defensive barrier, it's an obstruction as well. They can't get to any magic. That means they can't feed on anything. They also shouldn't even be able to sense us."

"Go on."

"My magic can't penetrate Linda, but if I press it against her, the arasaps should sense any spell residue that breaks away."

"Yes, I see."

"One or two, hopefully all of them, will seize on it and follow the trail out of her and back to me. If I drop my defenses, they shouldn't be able to resist the opportunity, but they won't know you're here until it's too late. Think about it. There's nothing inside of her for them and there has to be a mountain to feed on inside of me."

Enin followed the plan through to its ultimate conclusion.

"And once they are outside of Linda, I can deal with them appropriately. You would never be in any danger. Very good."

"You think it can work?" Ryson asked with newfound hope.

"I don't see why it wouldn't," Enin acknowledged. "It's like I said before, arasaps don't feed on magic, they feed on spell remnants. Magic in itself is pure, but the caster places his or her intentions within the energy to mold it into a spell. When the spell expires or is reflected, the intentions don't simply evaporate. Some of it falls away from the freed magic, but a small portion remains within the caster. It's like a memory, but it resides in the magical core, not in the mind."

"That feeds them?" the delver asked, bewildered by the concept.

"They are not creatures of this land," Enin reminded the delver. "They do not eat like you might imagine."

While Enin explained the situation, Jure considered the best way to entice the arasaps. He could not simply pour a small portion of his magic into Linda, for she was immune, and it would never pass into her. He believed the best way was to concentrate on the arasaps themselves. He could not link to them directly, but he could direct his magic toward their presence.

He thought of a simple wind spell, a violet based incantation focused on the flowing properties of a small breeze. He could not cast the spell on Linda, but rather on himself. He would become the source of the gentle breeze, and he could then direct it at the arasaps while keeping the flow connected back to his magical core. The magic would deflect away from Linda, and as it did, the intentions of his spell would break away. It would be enough to get the arasaps' attention.

At the same time, he would intentionally lower his natural defenses. He could use the magic to create access tunnels back to his own magical center. It would be like putting up a 'welcome' sign to any parasite that fed on magic or spell residue.

Jure did not wish to leave himself open to the creatures, but he felt it was the only way to extract them. It was a simple matter of poking them enough to get their attention and then giving them clear passage to a meal they could not refuse.

"I believe I'm ready," he announced."

"This won't hurt her, will it?" Ryson questioned almost harshly.

"She is in no danger," Enin assured the delver. "It is Jure that is most at risk. If even one gets inside of him, there's no telling the damage it can cause."

"But you can stop them, right?" Ryson demanded. With all of his heart, he wanted Linda cured, but the thought of someone else suffering caused him to question the plan. "Maybe you can direct the arasaps at me. There's magic inside of me."

"Yes, there is," Enin agreed, "but perhaps not enough spell residue to tempt the creatures to exit their sanctuary. We still aren't sure why they're in there, but we need to make this work on the first try. Jure is too tempting a target for them to ignore and he knows what he's doing. Do not worry, Ryson, the instant they pass beyond Linda's body, they will be vulnerable to my magic."

Enin looked to Jure.

"Whenever you're ready."

Without another word, the elder wizard prepared his spell. He pressed his hands together, and though he focused on the purple energy of the storm, pure white magic appeared in a circle around his fingertips. He lightly twitched his fingers toward Linda as he concentrated on the presence of the arasaps. He felt the magical energy flow from his body, and could even feel the echoing vibration as it bounced off Ryson's wife.

As Jure cast his spell, Enin prepared to act in an instant. He would know the moment any of the arasaps attempted to follow the magical flow back to Jure, and considering the elder wizard's potential, Enin believed the creatures would not hesitate. He was shocked by their reaction.

"They are not taking the bait!" Enin declared.

"Incredible," Jure agreed. "They should have jumped at it. There should be nothing inside of her and they choose to stay. It doesn't make… wait a moment. There is something inside of her. Something familiar. There is something within Linda that is defying me beyond her own immunity… Ansas!"

"Cease your spell!" Enin demanded.

Jure complied without hesitation.

Ryson could not contain himself.

"What's going on?! What happened?"

Enin ignored the delver, but only for a moment. He needed to verify Jure's finding.

"You are certain?" Enin asked of the elder wizard.

"There's no question," Jure confirmed. "It's his unique energy. The same magic that defied me when I found it at the elf camp."

Despite the great number of avenues Enin's mind traveled at that moment, he understood both Ryson's concern and curiosity. Mixed together, the delver would be beyond impatient and the wizard knew enough to address the situation with as much clarity as possible.

"Ryson, part of this is becoming clear to me. I do not believe Linda is in immediate danger, and I think I know why she has been acting the way she has. Still, I need to know everything that happened in the dark realm with the elves."