Jeff Inlo - Pure Choice

The others upon the plateau, all save Linda, watched the mauling in dumbfounded amazement. Ansas' spell casters stood very near to the assault, could even feel the wind from the force of many of the blows, but they remained too stunned to assist in any way. The two figures became a twisted mass of confusion, and even if they could manage to stifle their shock, they wouldn't have had a clear target.

Those across the plateau were startled by Ryson's pure aggression. Most knew Ryson very well, and the viciousness of the attack bristled against their understanding of the delver's nature. In that moment of pure violence, they did not see the individual who cared deeply about life-the delver that would avoid bringing pain and injury even to goblins that wanted to slay him. They saw something very different. They saw the unhinged fury of an individual pushed to the limit of his tolerance. To their astonishment, they saw a ruthless delver using his gifts in a savage attack against a foe who chose to strike at the person Ryson cherished the most.

Even if she knew that Ryson was attacking the sorcerer for her sake, Linda ignored the entire scene. She stared at the lifeless rocks by her feet. She showed not the slightest interest in the conflict that would decide her own fate. She felt nothing inside, her emotions cut off from her consciousness by the arasaps that invaded her body.

As Ryson continued to batter the helpless sorcerer, he allowed himself one glance toward Linda. He saw the emptiness of her expression, and though it only compounded his anger, he finally heeded Enin's initial advice. He placed all of his attention on saving his wife.

The delver stopped striking at Ansas. With the last two flashes of movement, he grabbed hold of the sorcerer's hands just above the wrists and turned them at angles that would create sufficient pain with the proper pressure.

Ansas, though more muscular and stronger than the delver, could not break the hold without risking severe injury. He was, however, finally able to clear his head. He eyed the delver with clear hostility, but with surprising patience, he waited for Ryson to make the next move.

Ryson twisted one of the sorcerer's wrists just enough to get his point across.

"You're going to remove the arasaps. Now!"

Ansas let out a heavy gasp, grunted at the pain that continued to remind him of the beating he had taken. He cast a defiant stare into the delver's eyes.

"And if I don't? What? You will break my wrists? Do you somehow believe I will not be able to cast any spells in that condition? You don't understand anything. That might hinder inferior spell casters, but that will not stop me. You could cut off my arms and I could still cast spells. Concentration is all that is required. The movement of the arms simply assists in focus for someone like me."

"It's you who doesn't understand. This is about the pain I can cause you. Breaking your wrists would just be the start."

"I see," Ansas offered and he paused to consider the situation. He inhaled again and flinched at another stab of pain. As if the throbbing aches helped convince him, he capitulated without further argument. "Then I will cast the spell that will remove the arasaps. You don't even have to release my arms."

Ansas looked toward Linda and quickly whispered several words. He never raised his hands, never needed to. A circle of dark magic rotated around his body. As it did, it began to carry him off the ground.

Caught off guard, Ryson tried to gain a better grip of the sorcerer. He released Ansas' hands and tried to throw his arms around the sorcerer's waist. The delver struggled to steady himself, but he lost his balance as his feet were pulled from the ground. Without a firm footing, he could not keep the sorcerer from taking flight.

Unwilling to leave himself vulnerable in the air and unable to restrain Ansas, Ryson released his hold and dropped back to the hard ground of the plateau. He kept his eyes on Ansas as he darted toward the center of the high plain. There was plenty of room to maneuver and few obstacles, but he was stuck on open ground without cover whereas the sorcerer could obviously fly and remain out of reach.

The sorcerer took the opportunity to scan the entire reaches of his sanctuary. He was free of the delver and believed he had Ryson Acumen at his mercy, but he remained wary of the wizard. He could not believe that Enin would allow the delver to be annihilated, which was exactly what Ansas planned to do. He looked over to the wizard, but saw that Enin made no move to interfere.

Holli realized the full danger of the moment. She attempted to act. She pulled the bow from her shoulder and was about to take an arrow from her quiver when she felt Enin's hand on her back.

"There is no need for that," Enin whispered.

"You are going to stop this?" the elf questioned.

"I couldn't stop it if I wanted to," the wizard revealed, "but I assure you, Ryson is in no danger."

Holli couldn't understand. To her, the delver's peril was clear.

"No danger? The sorcerer remains out of reach and can dispose of Ryson at will."

"No, he can't. Dzeb was right. Ansas no longer casts ebony magic. The power within him cannot harm Ryson any more than it can harm the cliff behemoth… and as Dzeb stated, cliff behemoths do not lie."

"What should we do?"

"Allow Ryson to save his wife."

And that was exactly what the delver intended to do. He had made a mistake and allowed the sorcerer to connive his way from the delver's hold. Ryson was at a clear disadvantage, but he would not fail Linda.

With a delver's quick eye, he considered his surroundings. Danger lurked overhead and on the ground to his right. Though Ansas was the main threat, he could not discount a possible attack from the other three magic casters that had sided with the sorcerer. They were all dangerous, but none of them could match his speed, and just as he had always done, he prepared to use it to survive.

Ansas, however, announced his own truth.

"You've earned your death, delver. I would have made it quick, but you seemed to take too much pleasure in striking me. You almost had me, and if you weren't so weak, you might have actually defeated me. If it gives you comfort, you can take that to your grave, but the last thing I want you to remember is that your wife is mine to use as I please."

Ansas didn't even bother to lift his arms, as if to prove he could cast a spell of devastation on sheer will alone. A shadowy circle formed around him and then slowly drifted down his body. Once the ring of dark magic broke free of the sorcerer, it floated toward Ryson Acumen.

"I know you think you can dodge this," Ansas declared, "but you can't. You have no where to run and it will follow you wherever you go. You can leap off the ledge, and if you somehow survive the fall, it will still find you. When it does, it will engulf you and slowly suffocate you. You won't die quickly, not by any means. Each breath you take will grow smaller and smaller. You will struggle but remain conscious. Your head will pound and your chest will burn. Even as you try to run from your own death-which the magic will make you want to do-you will realize you can't escape. That won't stop you. You will be a delver to the end, and you will run and run even as you take your last shallow breath. That is what will kill you."

Ryson listened to every word, and though the last thing he wished to do was submit to the sorcerer, he could not deny the fear that began to reach its way deep into his spirit. To any delver, it was a horrible end, but one he had no intention of meeting. He had outraced death before, he would do so again. He prepared himself, thought of Linda, and almost broke into a delver run. Only the voice of the cliff behemoth held him in place.

"It can't hurt you," Dzeb announced with a gentle voice. "Let it strike you."