Joint Intentions (Book 9) (20 page)

Ryson reacted almost totally on reflex. Before the arrow could find its mark, the delver deflected it to the ground by smacking the shaft with the palm of his hand.

The speed with which Ryson moved actually surprised the innkeeper.

"You must be full bred," Ott noted. "I knew you were a delver when I saw you first come in my place. Humans don't move the way you do, not with that much ease. I figured you had some delver in you, but knocking an arrow out of the air like that... with your hand, that's impressive."

Ryson ignored the compliment and raised a different issue with the tavern owner.

"You could have killed her!"

"Nope. Not a chance."

"Of course there was a chance. That arrow could have hit her anywhere."

The innkeeper shook his head.

"You don't understand what's going on here," Ott noted. "I don't think any of you do. The elf there, she wants to question me, wants to take control of the situation and force me to comply. That's just not going to happen. She went for my leg, so the arrow turned back on her in the same way. It would have forced the fight out of her instead of me."

Jure heard what he believed was a careless admission. He surmised Ott was being protected by a more complicated spell than he originally assumed. Based on the innkeeper's words and the reaction of the arrow, the elder wizard thought he finally found a way to neutralize their opponent.

Though Holli had ordered him to hold his power in reserve, she had also told him to look for an opportunity. He believed he had found one and that he could end the conflict before anyone was severely injured.

A white circle of magic rose off of Jure's hands. He hoped it would drain Ott of all his energy, but that was not how he cast his spell. He cast it on himself, directed it in such a way that the magic would be pulled from his own core.

He believed the protective spell utilized by the innkeeper served to redirect the effects of any attack. By targeting himself, he was ultimately hoping to use Ott's defenses as a means of an assault. He anticipated the focus of his spell would be altered by Ott's own protection. The target of the incantation would be switched. It would turn from Jure to Ott, and the innkeeper would be left powerless.

Just like Holli, Jure also miscalculated the force and purpose behind Ott's defenses. The elder wizard's spell did exactly what it was supposed to do, and that was the last thing Jure expected... or wanted.

Jure felt the magic race out of his core as if he had cast a thousand spells at once. Since it was his own incantation focused on his own core, it worked far more efficiently than he ever imagined. In the snap of a finger, all of the energy within him vanished, and he was left virtually defenseless.

Ott stepped up to the surprised wizard and shook his head once more.

"Cute, but not too smart, old man. You see, it's not reflection or even redirection. It's complete reversal. Looks like you might have figured that part out, but it's not based on actions, it's based on intention. You can't hide that from me."

"Intention?" Jure asked, growing more concerned as he contemplated the meaning behind the assertion.

"Yup. Tricks don't work with me. See, I knew what you were doing. More importantly, I knew what you intended. Despite where you targeted the spell, you really
wanted
to remove
my
magic, and that's what gets reversed, not the actual spell. There was no need to change anything."

Ott noticed the expression of apprehension and alarm on the wizard's face.

"Do you get it now?" the innkeeper questioned. "I work on a totally different level. I don't cast spells. I just turn people's own intentions against them. You wanted me to reverse your spell. You hoped by casting it against yourself, it would turn against me. But like I said, I don't work that way. I reverse intentions, not spells, so I did exactly what you didn't want. I let the spell work exactly as it was cast."

Ott then looked at Ryson.

"And don't you get any ideas either. It's not just spells. I can reverse anything, just like I did with the arrow. You try to come at me with all your speed and I'll have you tripping over yourself. Whatever any of you want, the opposite will come back at you, and it's based on your
true
intentions, not some fake acting."

With his powers revealed, the elf guard knew what they faced.

"A contrarian," Holli stated.

"Do they really exist?" Ryson asked.

"You're looking at one, delver," Ott replied. "I had no idea what a contrarian even was before the magic came back and turned everything upside down. But when some people started casting spells, I figured out I was different too. Not only could I see people's intentions just by looking at them, I could turn their plans completely in the opposite direction."

Ott could see Ryson's curiosity rising. He saw no danger in explaining his abilities. In the past, it always ended any argument, so the innkeeper freely offered even more details to the curious delver.

"Someone once told me I was like a serp, but I didn't like the comparison. They don't cast spells either. They just use the magic to enhance their influence, but they still don't work on my level. I've had serps come into my place. Like you, they tried to cause trouble. I don't stand for it. They tried to control my mind with their willpower. They only ended up turning control of their own minds over to me. It was kind of fun, making them dance around the room. Serps still come into my place, swallits too, but they know to behave. That's something the three of you are going to have to learn."

Fighting a contrarian was a dangerous proposition. All of the magical energy in the land would not help Holli and her companions find victory. Ott's abilities allowed him to turn his adversary's actions against their intent. For Holli to salvage victory, she needed to keep the innkeeper from altering her own objectives, which meant she had to end the conflict without surrendering.

"Then as a contrarian you should understand my intention is to save the land," Holli stated firmly, hoping to find some common ground for agreement. "That is in everyone's interest and you should wish to help."

"That's not what I see. I see an elf determined to make me talk whether I want to or not. I don't like that kind of thinking."

"Then you are not looking deep enough. I am not your enemy."

"You are when you think you can tell me what I have to do. You made a mistake when you came into my place with that attitude of yours. People who know me know what I can do, that's why they behave in my bar."

"You would continue to resist assisting us?" the elf asked.

"Assist? When did you ask for my help? You came into my place and questioned me as if I had no say in the matter. That's not asking for help."

"I did not know what you were."

"That shouldn't have mattered."

"Caution is necessary when dealing with one such as Neltus. You should know this."

"That's another thing. I know you intend on finding Neltus. You also intended to kill him. I saw that the moment I first saw you."

"Would you rather I endangered every person in your tavern?"

"Neltus knew to behave himself when he was in my place. You were the only danger."

Holli's frustration grew. The innkeeper remained focused on the initial confrontation. She knew she was partially responsible. She could not conceal her zeal from the contrarian. Though she could control her passions to avoid carelessness, she could not simply erase her determination. As a trained elf guard, fortitude was a trait to nourish, and her resolve would remain clearly visible to the innkeeper.

In understanding the depth of her own character, however, Holli ultimately saw a path to success. Ott's abilities allowed him to see the deepest desires of those he faced, and while the innkeeper could alter those intentions, there was one desire he would be foolish to reverse.

With a drastic plan in mind, Holli offered Ott one last chance to avoid disaster.

"I have no time for this debate," the elf stated severely. "If you are a contrarian, you would understand my intention. I do not wish to hurt you, but I must know your connection to Neltus."

"I do understand what you want. And I could care less about it."

"Then you leave me no choice."

Once more, Ott could see Holli's intention of forcing the issue, and he laughed at the elf's ignorance.

"Aren't you paying attention?" Ott asked. "I'm not going to answer any of your questions. Your wizard is out of magic, and you and the delver are no threat to me."

"That is where you are wrong," Holli stated with absolute confidence. She then turned to Ryson and issued a surprising order. "Ryson, kill the innkeeper."

The delver could not believe what he heard.

"What?"

"You heard me, attack the innkeeper and kill him."

"I can't do that!"

Holli smiled as she stared defiantly back at the barkeep and made a simple pronouncement of an undeniable truth.

"I know that, and now... so does he."

"What are you doing?" Ott demanded.

"Revealing to you just what a threat this delver can be. He is against taking a life, any life. He would actually sacrifice a great deal just to save a goblin. Look at him. Read his intentions and tell me if this is not true."

Ott looked deeply at the delver, and for the first time since he discovered his new powers, he tasted genuine fear.

"You see it now, do you not?" Holli questioned. "Your ability will reverse the strongest intention of your adversary. My overriding intention is to force you to answer my questions. I could struggle against you for days and you would turn every effort I made in that regard against me, but what of the delver? What is his priority?"

Ott did not have to look very deep into the delver's being to see what Holli already understood.

"You wouldn't," the innkeeper whispered.

"Yes, I would," Holli declared. "Because I put the thought in his head, he can not ignore it. What will happen if he strikes? His intention would be to subdue you, and normally you would reverse those intentions and force him to subdue himself. Unfortunately for you, he now has an even greater purpose. He would do anything to ensure he does not take your life, and that one consideration is more important to him than any other objective. He would rather let you escape, let you win, than for him to do anything which might lead to your death. Your power would force his hand, reverse his intentions. By your will, he would do the exact opposite of what he wishes to avoid the most. He would kill you."

Ott knew the extent of his own abilities. He could force bitter enemies to commit acts of kindness to each other and make the best of friends attack one another. More importantly, he could see Ryson's intentions. The delver remained horrified by the position in which the elf guard had placed him. The innkeeper knew if the struggle continued, he would most likely die at the delver's hands.

"This isn't right! If I'm dead, I can't answer your questions."

"And thus, my intentions are reversed as well," Holli confirmed. "I have left nothing to chance. A contrarian has always been able to win because he has the ability to focus on intention as opposed to action. I want your compliance, but the delver places a value on life beyond anything I have ever experienced. You can defy me and refuse giving me the information I need, but if you try to deny the delver, you will only cause your own demise."

"You would actually do this?" Ott questioned, stunned by the elf's decision.

"No, you would do it. What happens next is completely up to you. That has always been the case for a contrarian."

The innkeeper grimaced, as if he felt a stabbing pain in his guts. Since the magic had returned and he discovered his latent talents, he had never lost a battle. He had faced down serps, swallits, and even dangerous human spell casters, but none of them could escape their own selfish intentions. If he faced just the elf and the human wizard, he could have used their desires against them as well. He would have been guaranteed victory.

The delver was another matter entirely. The delver's overriding concern became a contradiction the innkeeper could not resolve. Ott knew, beyond any doubt, that if he did not surrender, he would die. As upsetting as it might be, there was only one course of action he could take.

"Okay, you win," Ott finally allowed. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want," Holli replied. "I want my questions answered. I want to know about you and Neltus."

"I've told you most of it," Ott confessed.

"But not all of it."

"What's left isn't really that important."

"Do not play games with me. I have little time for such nonsense. I understand now how you were able to control Neltus, but I need greater detail about your encounters. I must know why he wanted us to come here."

"Neltus came here because he liked to eat and drink," Ott explained, "but he also liked to be safe. He was one of the most powerful wizards in Portsans, but he could be careless, especially when he drank too much. He also liked to show off, and he made quite a few enemies."