Jeff Inlo - Pure Choice

"You're the one that is wrong, and that's why you are unable to cast in pure black magic!" Ansas shot back. "You may believe you can cast in ebony power, but it is only a darkened shade of gray. The magic I cast is not touched by the other hues. It is totally pure, and in that form, it is beyond transformation. It is the path to infinity. While there is a limit to what you can cast, I face no such limits. That's because I removed them. I understand the absolute truth of what casting magic is all about. It is the process by which I will reach absolute perfection."

"How sad for you."

The voice was not of the wizard, and the tone was not of sarcasm. It contained sincere sorrow. The response was brief, but those few words echoed the true sentiment of the mighty cliff behemoth.

Unwilling to back down from anyone, Ansas defied the giant's sympathy.

"You have something to say to me, cliff dweller?"

"You have placed yourself in a dark place," Dzeb continued. "You have isolated yourself from the truth."

"The behemoth wishes to talk about truth?" Ansas scoffed. "That's almost funny. What could you possibly understand about the magic?"

"More than you might guess."

"Then enlighten me," the sorcerer challenged, believing there was little the cliff behemoth could comprehend about a practice that allowed humans to reach beyond the limits with which they were born.

"I understand that you no longer cast ebony energy," Dzeb revealed. "If you know anything about cliff behemoths, you would know I do not lie. I have no need to deceive you. It is actually very plain. If you look, you can see it."

The revelation was a surprise, one that struck at many upon the plateau.

"What are you saying, cliff behemoth?" the sorcerer demanded before anyone else could speak.

"You have lost your way."

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you're going to give me some sermon. That's worse than a lecture."

"Not a sermon, just an observation. Your magic is that of emptiness, of the abyss, of a soul turned to its own appreciation. That is not ebony magic. It is the energy of a lie. It is in direct opposition of Godson. That means your power is useless on me. If you do not believe me, then try it."

It was a bold declaration, even from a cliff behemoth, and Enin wondered what would make Dzeb issue such a challenge. The wizard knew cliff behemoths did not boastfully pit their immense physical attributes against others for the sake of pointless bravado. Though they were graced with vast might and near invulnerability to physical attack, the giants steered away from any such tests of strength. Their focus had always been on their faith, and their humility was a blessed example to other inhabitants of the land.

The wizard realized that Dzeb was not trying to provoke Ansas. The titan was attempting to reach the sorcerer, to point out what the cliff behemoth saw as an obvious truth… a truth that started to crystallize before Enin as well.

Enin considered everything that was happening around him and he saw an unmistakable sequence of extraordinary events. While he blinded himself from seeing an individual's destiny, he never lost sight of the larger forces at work, and he always acknowledged the presence of divine influence. It seemed inevitable that the events at the near zenith of the dark realm would direct the fate of many on that day.

Unable to shake a sense of interlocked fortunes and fates, Enin looked deep into the sorcerer. Just as Dzeb had claimed, he could see the magic within the sorcerer, but it was no longer ebony energy. The black magic Ansas once yielded with both instinct and skill had been replaced by a true colorless power. It was not the vast magic of alteration or the ultimate bond that connected the layers of existence. It was the absence of hope and the emptiness of nonexistence.

While Enin began to see a pattern of necessity take shape within the conflict, Ansas reacted to the challenge of the cliff behemoth. The sorcerer eyed the giant suspiciously. He believed his dark magic could easily overcome Dzeb, for the sorcerer considered his abilities a testament to true advancement. The behemoth was nothing more than a clumsy mistake of nature, a powerful entity, but one with limited potential and even less insight. Still, the sorcerer had no intention of casting out his energy unless it advanced his own cause, and Ansas refused to directly assault the giant.

"I have no desire to waste my time. I plan to use my ebony energy against the great Enin, but that is for later. There are others that must be tested. Your side might have won the first battle, but that was an obvious mismatch. The elder wizard is second in power only to Enin, and the elf was a waste. I have three much more capable spell casters waiting their turn."

"That's what you hope to do here?" Jure called out. "To have some kind of contest? Absurd."

"And what of the elf witch? Does she think it is absurd as well? She is a warrior, she understands the challenges of battle. She has grown more powerful in emerald magic. Wouldn't she be slightly interested in knowing if she has grown enough to defeat someone like Neltus?"

Neltus grinned widely.

"Oh, yes," the pudgy spell caster delighted at the offering. He had always wanted to face the elf guard and apprentice of Enin.

Neltus wielded crimson magic and he did so with skill even before he met Ansas. The sorcerer added to his power, and Neltus believed Holli would be no match for his advanced talents.

He knew she cast in emerald magic, but his red power was grounded in the small slice of ebony magic that Ansas placed in his core. He had become even closer to the land and he believed the green energy of the elf witch was vulnerable to his greatest attributes. The land was the foundation for nature's strength. Without crimson energy, emerald magic was anchorless.

"Let's have a real test of wills," Neltus exclaimed. "No more amateurs squandering their energy."

"What do you say, Holli Brances, ex — elf guard?" Ansas questioned. "You are now more a sorceress than a soldier. Care to test how far you have really come?"

Holli disregarded both the sorcerer and his lackey.

"I have nothing to prove… to you or anyone else. I have defeated a draevol, accepted banishment from my camp, helped win a war against a dwarf army, and I am an apprentice to the most powerful wizard I have ever seen, present company included. And yes, I am no longer an official guard to my camp, but I have never forgotten my training. I will always be an elf guard. I direct my service where it is needed. If my memory serves me, it was in that service that I helped to defeat you and an army of dark creatures at Pinesway. You speak often of not wasting time or energy. Why should I waste either on you or your pompous companion?"

"Very well spoken, and with that in mind, it is time I put an end to this," Enin declared. "I don't know what you intended here, Ansas, but unless you're totally blind, you have to realize this is beyond some ridiculous wizard battle."

"And what do you think it is?" Ansas scoffed. "Some struggle between the forces of light and darkness? Don't make me laugh about your concepts of evil."

"No," Enin remarked. "This is not at all what it appears to be on the surface. Jure was right about Scheff and it applies to you as well. He has been misguided, but it wasn't his desire to commit malicious acts. He was just filled with a sense of self importance. I doubt that evil is your intention, either, but your path of self-serving manipulations is no less dangerous to yourself and those that might fall prey to your ambitions."

"Spare me the lecture about good and evil. I understand evil. I always have, but I have no use for some mythical conflict that was created only to limit true potential. Good versus evil… it is nothing more than a game created by those desiring to manipulate one group or another. I serve neither. I serve myself."