Spirit Past (Book 8) (38 page)

"That works for me," the delver agreed.

Once more, Ryson ignored Ansas. He stepped over to the cliff behemoth and looked up into the giant's serene eyes.

"I give you a lot of credit. You accept things without having to see them. That's almost impossible for me, but I saw something here, something that reminded me of our talk back in Burbon. It probably won't surprise you, but I need to ask your advice. You came to Burbon to keep me from Reiculf. That's how this all started. Now, I'm about to walk into the daokiln's den. Am I making a mistake?"

Dzeb did not question what the delver saw. Instead, the giant offered exactly what was asked of him.

"A mistake? No. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge have always been your goal. You have searched for truth, and that is wise in itself. That which you seek is of greater profit than silver or gold. It is a testament to your worthiness. But that is only half the battle. You have always looked for truth in your own eyes, your own senses. Even if you have been offered the gift of proof, that will not always be the way. Eventually, you will have to believe in something beyond what you can sense."

"Maybe that's true," Ryson allowed, "but I don't think I have to deal with that today. I believe I know what to do, but I'm worried what might happen if I'm wrong."

"If you make a wrong turn, Godson will correct you."

"I was hoping for something a bit more specific. If I'm going to face Reiculf, I was looking for anything you might have to suggest on what to do."

Dzeb paused, but only for a moment. He offered what he believed was necessary for the delver to hear.

"You seem to already have a plan."

"I do," Ryson admitted.

"And is this an idea of your own making or is it a blessing of knowledge from Godson?"

At first, Ryson believed the answer was obvious, but as he considered it, he found himself in a quandary. He stood in a realm of demons, but he had seen something which offered hope beyond the eternal despair surrounding them all. Were the thoughts that followed of his own making or were they a miracle of insight? The consideration stunned the delver and left him without a clear answer.

"How would I be able to tell the difference?"

Dzeb smiled broadly.

"The fact you are unsure is enough. Go. While I first came to your home to save you from the daokiln, it is not for me to save you from yourself."

Ansas did not teleport himself and Ryson directly into the heart of the daokiln's lair. Instead, he rode the waves of hostility pouring across every layer of the dimension. The sorcerer's control over ebony magic allowed him to fly. He called on the strength of alteration, and by constantly switching and reversing the tendencies of natural movement, the sorcerer defied the prevalent forces of the realm.

He used his magic to take hold of the delver, and the two of them flew across the hazy layers of Demonspawn. With the intention of reaching its center as quickly as possible, Ansas soared across the gray sky almost as fast as Ryson could run.

Teleportation might have been faster, but the sorcerer did not wish to create an abrupt disruption that might affect Enin's spell, the one which kept them somewhat protected from Reiculf's magic. Retaining a state of magical transition remained essential until the sorcerer could carve out his own haven within the daokiln's realm.

Ryson was not prepared for what he faced; not for Reiculf's overwhelming presence and not for the prevailing sense of doom at the heart of the grim existence. He might have previously stood upon the loose and shifting soil of Demonspawn and battled pure demons in frantic conflict, but that was at the very edge of the nightmare. The differences between the outer regions and the daokiln's inner sanctuary were vast, but much more so in feeling than in appearance.

In many ways, the innermost core of Demonspawn appeared much like the region they had left. The dingy light was nearly identical, though it pulsed with an unsteady beat closer to the daokiln. The ground looked the same—dusty and dark, like finely ground coal. Beyond Reiculf, there was no sign of life, and there was no beauty in the stark existence, just an emptiness bereft of hope and dignity. The surrounding landscape was completely desolate with no grand or even gloomy castle to mark the home of the realm's master.

While it might have looked similar to the outer regions, the space surrounding the daokiln was noticeably different in nature. The air felt thick and heavy as they broke through the final screens that separated Reiculf's den from the rest of the realm. When they landed, the ground seemed hard but also unstable. Ryson wondered if it would break beneath them, just as it had when Jure's spell opened chasms to swallow the dieruhnes.

Though Ryson finally stood at the center of Demonspawn, the gray shadows of incompleteness that defined the realm appeared more prevalent than they had in the outer lands. The surging banks of gloom billowed like sheets of linen caught in unsteady winds, and they restricted his view in every direction. The gray walls flowed with great agitation, and they reacted to the intruders with a desire to close upon them from every angle.

The delver felt trapped, and a looming sense of calamity strangled out any shred of hopefulness. With the darkness dancing all about him, he sensed desperation reaching toward him, choking off any escape, and threatening to eventually crush him in despair.

The one thing the shadows could not block was the form of Reiculf. While the surging gloom and gritty soil yearned to swallow the delver, make him part of the desolation, the daokiln stood apart as a distinct entity. The demon master was the focal point of that dismal existence, and all the obscurity of the realm could not diminish his wicked standing.

In a manner with which Ryson could not comprehend, Reiculf's gray exterior contrasted sharply with the surrounding shadows. Though the colossal beast's presence flooded the entire region with scornful hate and angry retribution, he stood out as a separate malady. Despite the grayness which filled both the realm and the daokiln's massive form, they did not overlap. Reiculf was a creature so devoid of concepts such as home and refuge that his very essence rejected his own sanctuary.

Ryson found the daokiln frighteningly overpowering. While he had seen and battled demons and beasts of all shapes and sizes, he never encountered a creature of such profound malignance. Reiculf's sheer animosity made the delver sick, but Ryson could not shut off the curiosity that made him a scout and an explorer. He stepped up to the vast entity comprised of every harsh emotion, and he scanned the beast with a delver's eyes.

What he saw was astounding, and while the existence of such a complete horror crushed his soul, it also allowed him to hold to the shred of hope that brought him to the daokiln's asylum. The budding truth was becoming more apparent, and Ryson believed he had not placed his life in the confines of false confidence.

Reiculf vibrated with fury before the delver, but it was more than just anger and hate that resonated through the daokiln. The delver's quick eyes caught glimpses of the past within each tremor. Reiculf did not exist in time as Ryson once understood it. The beast was not part of the present, but rather an ever growing representation of the past. Just like hearing an echo across a wide canyon, Ryson could see images of the creature's recent history flowing within the gray mass of what was the daokiln's body.

It was very similar to when he witnessed the past image of himself in his trail across the outer regions of Demonspawn. But for Reiculf, the past silhouettes were much more pronounced, and some of the shadows were actually sharper than his form appeared in the present light of his lair.

Ryson would have examined the daokiln further, but the booming voice of loathing shook him from his trance.

"I expected you both," the daokiln growled, but he kept his attention squarely upon the delver. "The decision to come here was made before you even entered my realm. The moment your mate agreed to the sorcerer's plan was the moment your fate was sealed. You are much too predictable."

"And Ansas? Was he predictable, too?" Ryson dared to ask, his curiosity again pressing him forward with questions he could not avoid.

"The sorcerer has wanted to enter my domain all along. Each of his steps was in that direction."

The delver found even greater assurance in that acknowledgment. Every element was pointing to the same conclusion. The unmistakable pattern taking shape before him gave him the strength to actually challenge the daokiln.

"You're right," Ryson shot back. "We already figured that out ourselves. He's kept to his own ambitions from the beginning. I'm just amazed that you let us come here. If you knew what we were doing, I thought you would have tried harder to stop us."

"Why would I want to stop you? I
want
you here, but for different reasons than the sorcerer. I need you alive, but the sorcerer wishes to kill you."

Ryson revealed his own understanding without hesitation.

"I expected as much. I didn't believe he needed me just to get to your den. I think he could have come here by himself. It's what he would have done if we decided to leave him here."

The delver's assertion and apparent confidence stirred obvious doubt in the daokiln. The beast believed there was a contradiction in the delver's words, and he always strove to raise mistrust and anxiety.

"You expected he wanted to kill you, but you came anyway... alone?"

"You make it sound like it was a mistake. It wasn't. He tried to kill me once before, the first time we met. It didn't work then, and it won't work here."

"You are certain?"

The question was as simple as it was asked, and the delver recognized it was meant to create his own doubts. Ryson, however, had been blessed with knowledge that erased the greatest of uncertainties. In witnessing the existence of his own spirit, he knew, beyond doubt, that there was more to him than his mortal body. He decided to confront the daokiln with the newfound conviction such insight generated.

"Actually, yes, I am."

"And what makes you so sure of this?" the daokiln questioned with a diabolical grin, as if he was setting a trap for the delver.

"Because of what I've already seen here. I see it even in you... right now. The past has a big influence on things here, doesn't it?"

Reiculf would not answer.

"I think it does," Ryson continued. "Ansas' past with me is one of failure. In order to kill me, he would have to overcome that failure, but he won't be able to do that... not here."

"Really? Your concept intrigues me. Maybe we should test your theory right now?"

"Test it? I didn't come here to test Ansas. You know that."

Reiculf ignored the delver's remark. The colossal beast turned and scowled at the sorcerer, and then offered a surprising suggestion.

"Why don't you kill the delver now?" the daokiln asked with a malicious grin. "You've managed to obtain everything else you've wanted. You have removed my slaves and now you've entered the center of my existence. Baannat can't reach you here. The last thing for you to do is eliminate the delver. We all seem to agree that's why you brought him here. Complete your last task, and claim total victory."

Ryson tried to keep his attention on the daokiln, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't help but glance toward the sorcerer.

Ansas appeared deep in thought as if he was playing through a dozen scenarios in his mind. Initially, he did not act against either Reiculf or Ryson. He remained silent and unmoving, waiting for someone else to make the first move.

"You hesitate?" Reiculf questioned.

"I act on my own will, not yours," Ansas finally stated in the face of the daokiln.

"And yet you have done for me exactly what I wanted."

The insinuation infuriated the sorcerer.

"I am not your slave. I have done what
I
wanted."

"What
you
wanted? The delver is within my reach. That is what I wanted. As for your desires, you wish to end his life. He doesn't believe you can, and I have already stated I wanted the delver brought here... alive. If you are in control, then kill the delver."

Ryson could no longer hold back his curiosity, but he directed his burning question toward the sorcerer.

"Why do you want to kill me?"

Ansas found no disgrace in explaining himself. He seemed to enjoy revealing the purpose behind his actions.

"Because I do not like to lose. You beat me once. Not by your own talent, but because I overextended my reach. In looking for the purest of ebony energy, I once filled my core with the magic from Baannat's realm. It was empty magic and unable to harm you. Because of that, I failed to destroy you and ended up a prisoner to Baannat. When he released me to battle the daokiln, I had my own plans. I wanted to prove that I was better than you."

"You did this for revenge?"

"Do not be naive. I did it because I wished to erase a mistake. You only defeated me in the past because I made an error in judgment. It had nothing to do with your ability."

"That may be, but then you've just made another error."

"I am aware of your quick instincts, but fast talk will not help you here."

"It's not fast talk. It's the truth. That's why I came here with you. I meant what I said before. You can't kill me here, and now you've just confirmed that."

"Whether I kill you or not is up to me," Ansas said defiantly, as if he was in complete control. "It has nothing to do with where you or I stand."

"Then why would the daokiln give you this chance? He said he wants me alive, but then he tells you to kill me. You think that makes sense?"

"I do not listen to him. He is the heart of deception."

"I won't argue that, but I can see what's going on here, even if you can't. You came here because you're consumed by your mistakes, even though you won't admit them. You're letting the past define you. This place is more than just a reflection of the past, it feeds on it, it grows because of it. It won't let you undo the mistakes you've already made."

Ansas' expression grew stern. He sighed as he looked to the delver with annoyance.

"I will no longer argue with you. It is not worth my time. I have managed to defeat the ruler of Demonspawn. I have reestablished my superiority. You are an insignificant insect, and it is time to swat you away."

A ring of pure ebony magic rolled about the sorcerer's wrists. Ansas saw no need for bravado. He created a simple spell of pure alteration, one that would simply reverse the delver's existence. He flung it at Ryson with near disregard and absolute certainty in the results. It did not work as he planned.

Ryson made no move to avoid the spell. Before it even left the sorcerer's wrists, he looked deep within the magic, used the traits of Demonspawn to see the outcome before it occurred. He knew he couldn't see the future of undetermined events, but certain actions were tied to the past. For those, the outcome was already established. His delver eyes saw the echoes of history in Ansas' spell, and he knew it could not harm him.

Ansas, however, was flustered and enraged by the failure of his spell. The ebony ring tightened around Ryson's neck, but then it simply disappeared. The sorcerer stared at the delver, first in disbelief and then in frustration.

"This is impossible! You're not immune to magic, and my energy is not tainted in any way. My ebony magic is pure!"

"Your magic isn't the problem," the delver explained. "It's your intentions. You're trying to erase a mistake. You can't do that, not here. This is a place where errors and mistakes rule."