Jeff Inlo - Nightmare's Shad

Ryson frowned as he came to his decision and revealed it with blunt honesty.

"That's no longer your decision to make. I'm not going to follow you based on what you've told me so far. In fact, I'm going to ask you to leave Burbon. Beyond that, once you're on your way, I'll be in Connel before you get deep in Dark Spruce or wherever it is you're going. I'll tell Enin what happened here. He's going to want to talk to you. If you really want to speak to him, you won't have to worry. You can bet he'll find you."

Ryson could see the fear explode in the sorceress.

"You can't speak to the wizard until you know the truth!" Heteera implored.

The outburst was surprising, but it did not sway the delver.

"I'm waiting for the truth."

The stranger covered her face with her hands, as if hoping to hide despair. She brought them down to her chin and pressed them together as if praying.

Ryson remained alert. He watched for any sign of white magic to appear, but the sorceress would cast no spell at this point. Instead, she blurted out the truth.

"The sphere is a threat again."

Ryson said nothing, but Linda demanded clarification.

"You mean Ingar's sphere?"

"Yes."

Ryson stiffened. The woman was lying, she had to be. He thought this was all some kind of twisted game, or something worse. The battle at SanctumMountain over the sphere would always remain fresh in his mind. He knew on that day that the magic could never be erased again from the land, that the sphere would never return.

"No, that's not possible," Ryson responded.

The sorceress could not mistake the look in the delver's eyes. She knew even the curiosity of a delver would not allow him to accept her story.

"You see!" Heteera shot back. "This is why I didn't want to try and explain it to you. I knew you wouldn't believe it."

"I don't believe it because I destroyed the sphere."

"I know you did, but you did not destroy the idea."

To Ryson, the idea and the sphere were one and the same. The sphere was magic contained, and that idea was just no longer possible.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I know that Ingar is gone and so is his sphere. The magic is free."

"Yes, it is, but not all of it. Part of it is being captured again."

"Are you saying there's another sphere?"

"Not exactly. It's difficult…" and her voice trailed off, unable to explain anything further.

"You're not making sense. If the magic was being captured, Enin would know about it. You wouldn't need to warn him."

As Heteera understood much about the magical energy, she found her voice once more to explain Enin's lack of awareness.

"Enin thinks the reversal of magic is due to his battle with Baannat."

"Baannat?" Ryson asked.

"Yes, Baannat was extremely powerful. He could store enormous amounts of energy. That energy was released in a battle with Enin, a battle in a dimension outside of this land."

"I know what happened. I was there. It was my sword that cleaved Baannat in two."

"I was there, too," Linda added. "Baannat was destroyed and the magic was taken from him."

"Taken where?" Heteera demanded.

Both Ryson and Linda thought of the dimension where dark creatures bred and lived until they could walk upon the lands of Uton. They thought of the monsters that ultimately tore Baannat apart after Ryson defeated the wicked slink ghoul, monsters that eagerly ripped the magical energy from Baannat before they returned to their own realm.

"I'm not sure where it went," Ryson finally answered, "but what does that have to do with Ingar's sphere?"

"Not the original sphere, not a sphere at all!" Heteera claimed, "But the idea behind the sphere. Remove the magic-that's the concept-but this time remove it from the monsters, remove it from their realm. Enin would not notice this unless he was told."

"And that's the threat?"

"That's only part of it. You have to see the rest."

That was enough for the delver. Ryson was convinced this was no trick, no manipulation of magic. He could not believe the sphere had returned, but there was something to the sorceress' words. His instincts could lead him now and they spoke loudly within him. He needed to follow Heteera.

Unfortunately, he needed to convince his wife as well. And by looking at her, he knew she remained skeptical. She would not want him to go on such little information.

"I need to speak to my wife alone."

Heteera asked for a different approach.

"Use the sword," she said.

The Sword of Decree held a strange power after the elves gave it to the delver and Ryson explained it simply.

"It won't really tell me if you're lying, if that's what you're hoping. It doesn't reveal intentions. It will only give me direction and I have no idea to what point."

"That's all I'm asking now, for you to take direction, not from me, but from the sword."

Ryson moved his hand to the sword cast from elf magic. Before he pulled it from its sheath, Heteera called out one last request.

"Before you take hold of the sword, I want you to know it's not just you who has to follow me. Your wife must come with us."

Ryson dropped his hand away from the hilt as if it were suddenly poisoned.

"I'm not going to put her in danger!"

The delver's outburst drew an equally emotional response from his wife.

"But you'd put yourself in danger?" Linda demanded.

"I don't want to put anyone in danger," Ryson remarked almost harshly.

"I'm not asking you to debate this among yourselves," Heteera intervened. "Leave it to the sword."

"I'm not going to base a decision like that on the sword," Ryson declared.

"Why not?" Heteera asked. She was so close, and now appeared desperate to get her way.

"Because I don't understand why she would even have to go in the first place."

"I need another to witness this. You'll understand when you see what it is I have to show you. You have to come with me, there's no doubt in my mind about that, but when it comes to convincing Enin of what you will see, we'll need another voice."

"Then we can bring someone from the guard. I can even get Sy to go with us."

"The Captain of the Guard will not help. I need it to be Linda."

"Why?"

"Because the magic can't touch her. It's the only way I can be sure to get the message across to Enin. And he's the only one with the power to stop this."

"Forget it," Ryson stated.

"Then maybe you have doomed us all."

"I haven't doomed anyone."

Linda was watching Heteera. She saw the truth in her eyes and heard it in her words, and it was she who would break through Ryson's concern.

"Ry, I appreciate what you're saying, what you're doing, but I don't think it's up to you."

"Who's it up to? Her?"

"No, and if you listened to her you'd know that. She's leaving it up to the sword. She's putting it all on that. How many times did the sword point you in the right direction? Is it suddenly going to let you down?"

"But we don't have any idea what's out there."

"But you're willing to go. You want to go now. I've seen that look before. I'm not going to try and talk you out of it. I'm willing to accept what you're willing to risk. You might have to do the same."

"But I'm a delver."

"And I'm immune to magic. Leave it to the sword."

Ryson knew he could not win this argument. Linda was right, the magic could not harm her, not directly. She might be vulnerable to a shag's fangs or a goblin's crossbow, but he could protect her from those threats. The true danger near the Lacobian was the magical energy and how it was being used. Truth be told, he would be in greater danger than his wife.

As for the sword, he could not deny its power. It was as he said. It did not so much point to the truth as it pointed the way. It decreed what needed to be done. How it would be done was up to the holder.