"Even so, why didn't you at least say something?!"
Holli found the delver's rage beyond inexplicable, it was also interfering with clear thinking. She tried to point out what she saw as the obvious.
"When? Should I have said something while we walked through Sterling? I already expected Ulet was hiding something from us. Do you think she would have allowed us a private conference? What would have happened?"
"I'll tell you what wouldn't have happened. You wouldn't have had to cast that spell on me and then I wouldn't have been taken prisoner. You used me as bait!"
"No, you were never bait. You were going where you thought you should."
"Where I thought? It was you who wanted to go to Sterling, and then you abandoned me, and cast this… this spell to make a target out of me!"
"I was just keeping our options open in case my suspicions proved correct."
"And you let me walk right into Sterling Palace! How is that not bait?"
"I was protecting you at all times."
"What about when I was locked in the room with Strog?!"
"I was very near. I used a shadow spell to conceal myself as I followed you into the palace. I was right behind the door."
"The door was bolted!"
His lack of faith felt almost like an insult to the elf guard, and she found the need to defend her abilities.
"I can handle locks. You are well aware of that."
"And can you handle a room full of dwarves?"
"I could have saved you, if the need arose. I have sufficient magic."
"I don't want you to use the magic on me!"
At last, Holli began to see. Ryson's fury was not based purely on Holli's actions. Normally, he would have understood her strategy, but there was one common thread that tied together his uncharacteristic behavior.
"Is that what this is all about… the magic?"
Ryson raged with anger, and something more, but said nothing.
Holli remained quiet for long moments as well, not only to allow Ryson a chance to gather his emotions, but for her to consider the magic as he saw it. Tracing back the recent events, she recalled Ryson's incident with the inferns. Ever since that moment, he had been concerned with magic and enchanted items.
Yes, Ryson had managed to escape the demon flames, but it seemed as if they still haunted him. The elf did not think it was danger that alarmed the delver. Holli knew that Ryson had been very close to death before, but it was danger he had entered of his own will, by his own actions. He often disregarded his own safety-especially to save others-but he did so through his own talents. He used his speed and his agility. He used his abilities as a delver.
Recently, he had come to grips with the fact that being a delver meant he was something more, something special, something magical. The magic, however, was beyond his senses, and for a delver, that was near torture. Combined with the experience he encountered with the inferns, it was no wonder he wished to distance himself from energy that was instilled in the sword or from a spell cast upon him without his knowledge.
Then Holli thought of her own predicament. It wasn't exactly the same, but there were enough similarities. She was no sorceress, she was an elf guard. That was who she was, but wasn't allowed to be. The magic was becoming a part of her, a larger part than she desired. Could she blame the delver for reacting so angrily against something she herself found nearly intolerable?
"You are right," Holli finally allowed. "I should not have cast the spell on you without telling you. I am sorry. Though it does not matter, I did it in order to protect you."
The apology surprised the delver. Slowly, he began to place his anger under control.
"I know you did. It's just that…" He looked away from the elf. He didn't want to make the next admission, but Holli made it for him.
"You are afraid of the demon fire, aren't you?"
He still wouldn't look at her, but he found no anger within him. He would also not deny the truth.
"Yes," Ryson admitted in a whisper.
"I don't blame you, but you have to believe me when I tell you that the anchor spell could not have been used in the same way against you as the beacon stones. The inferns held to one stone and you held to the other. That is how they managed to sense you from a distance. Without the direct connection of the two stones, they never would have been able to target you. Magic in itself will not open you to danger, neither will the magic within you. You have to understand that the magical essence is not bound by the same principles as the body. With all my heart, I don't know of anyone's spirit that would be less endangered by demon fire than yours. It was my fault you were in jeopardy."
"I couldn't get away from the fire," the delver acknowledged as he recalled the incident with the inferns, his voice breaking at the end. "No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't get away."
"As I said, it was my mistake not yours. You need to forgive me for that. You also have to forgive me for leaving you in Sterling, but I believed it was the best choice. One of us had to get away, if we both tried to run, they would have sealed off every entrance."
Ryson broke his mind away from inferns, demon fire, and magic to recall the magnificent city of Sterling. Despite the industrious abilities of the dwarves as he understood them, the feat of closing off the entire city seemed an impossible task.
"They can do that?"
"Yes, they can. Think back to the time before the magic. How do you think they survived so long without humans, or delvers, ever finding them?"
"I guess they can. Well, I forgive you. It's mostly my own fear that was the problem. You just… got in the way."
"I have my own admission to make," Holli offered. "I have been unsettled in my position. It was always in my heart to be an elf guard, but how do I guard a wizard more powerful than any spell caster in all of elflore? I have no wish to be the sorceress he hopes I can be. It is not what I am. So it seems we both have been running from the magic."
"But you're more than just a sorceress, and you use the magic to help you. That's why you're out here with me, not because you can cast spells, but because Enin trusts you to protect me."
"That is why I was happy with this mission. That is why I wanted to succeed, probably why I looked for answers in places where I should have been asking more questions. This was a chance for me to do what I was trained to do-to do what I want to do-but no matter how I tried, I could not find the answers I wanted."
"When you saw Strog kick me in the back, did you hear what he said?" Ryson asked.
"I did."
"Well, it seems we have a lot of answers now."
That was true to a point, but Holli would not make the same mistake again. Some of the pieces fit together, but others did not. She wouldn't force it.
"To some extent." Holli agreed. "We know why the goblins are here and what they plan to do. We know they have been buying their way into favor with humans of influence. The assistance of the dwarves has been critical to them, and it is dwarf planning that has kept the goblins in check across the valleys, not just inferns."
"We also can guess how the soldiers in Huntston knew about us and about the sword's powers…," Ryson added, 'because Strog knew. Ulet found us before we even entered the valleys. She told Strog and he must have warned the goblins we were coming. He had an idea of the sword's enchantment from when I was in Dunop, but he probably told the goblins it was dangerous. He wanted it, so maybe he put a price on it. The goblins told the humans- probably told Prilgrat directly-and he sent out the notices to have us captured and the sword taken. It had nothing to do with my fame."
The logic was not forced and Holli could not argue the points. She did, however, hold to other concerns.
"Unfortunately, there are still things which do not make sense."