"Help me… please."
It came out as a gasp, a pathetic whisper of a man crushed in body and spirit. Prilgrat's mouth hung open after his plea. He lacked the strength to close it. His gray skin hung loosely around his bones as if the tissue of his flesh dissolved into jelly. His cheeks were swollen and his eyes red, one of which seemed to roll about with a will of its own. Each breath was labored and he choked with a nauseating clicking sound each time he tried to swallow.
Enin moved up to the side of the bed and shook his head, not to refuse the request, but to reveal his sorrow at what he witnessed. He found the source of disturbance that hung heavy in the house. He could sense what was going on deep within the regional steward, the lingering essence of a debilitating spell. The sickness and disease which plagued the steward was not natural. Still, Enin needed to verify all his suspicions.
"You have bargained not only with goblins, but with a draevol as well, haven't you?"
Prilgrat's nod was barely noticeable, but it confirmed Jure's theory.
Enin could not believe the stupidity of the steward. Though Prilgrat did not repeat his request, the wizard saw the wish in his pleading eyes, but whether he wanted to or not, Enin was unable to help.
"Draevols are plague mages and their magic is both powerful and devastating, but this goes beyond sickness. The spell upon you is not the simple casting of disease. You were a willing participant. Your deal with a demon opened up your essence in a way that only could have been done with your approval."
Prilgrat struggled with each word, but he rejected the accusation.
"I didn't… approve.. of this. The draevol… it promised me… I would never… get old… never die."
Enin understood that the demon meant to keep that part of the bargain, but he pointed out something that had eluded the steward.
"But did it promise you that you would never get sick? Did it promise you good health and youthful vitality for all eternity? I can see it did not."
"You have to… help me."
"What can I do? You entered into the bargain willingly. You bargained with a demon. The infliction upon you comes as much from your own heart as it does from a magical spell. Whether I have sympathy for you or not is irrelevant. There's nothing I can do, nothing anyone can do."
"Then it… lied? I'm going to… die?"
"No, it kept its part of the bargain, otherwise you would not be in this condition. You would already be dead. The bargain is sealed. You will not age and you will not die from this disease, but you will suffer."
An understanding dawned upon the steward with greater power than he ever held. Despite all of his accomplishments and the heights of influence he had achieved, he could not imagine the weight of the truth revealed to him at that moment. He had wished with all his heart to escape his mortality. He feared death more than he feared any man or beast that ever walked the land, feared it even more than the fiend that promised him eternity. He decided to give up everything he had attained in order to gain immortality, the ability to not simply cheat death but avoid it entirely.
The cost seemed so miniscule to him. Yes, the people of the valleys would suffer and he would lose his position of influence over them. The draevols would become the new emperors, but so what? He believed he could always regain power. It was time he could not battle, time that would end his reign. That all changed, but not as he hoped.
"You mean… I'm going to be like this… forever?"
Holli whispered a portion of the prophecy told to her by Rachael.
"'…a disguised agreement to a false leader's end to no ends.' No end to his torment."
Enin did not wish to dwell on the concept of forever with a man who had dealt with a demon and paid the price. He turned his mind to those that could be saved.
"Where is the draevol?"
Prilgrat mumbled an answer, his mind reeling from the fate he faced.
"My office… the town hall… the basement. Can't you do… something… for me?"
"What has been done, you have done to yourself. If there is hope, only you can find it."
As the others watched Prilgrat, Jure moved to the far side of the room and placed Heteera in a chair. She slumped against the back with her head bowed, but she remained upright. Certain that she was stable in the chair, the elder wizard stepped to a window and looked across the city. People were dying, not just in Ashlan, but everywhere, and in great numbers. It had to be stopped. He turned back toward Enin.
"We can worry about him later," Jure announced, his sympathy for the steward dampened by what he knew was happening across the city, across all the valleys. "We have to deal with the goblins. Unless someone can think of something else, I wish to go ahead with my plan."
"Draevols are a great danger," Holli announced, "and we have to deal with them."
"I'm not debating that, but the goblins must be stopped now. There is no more time. The draevols are the ones that opened the portals and allowed the goblins to enter our lands, but they did it over many seasons. We can reverse all of that right now… in a single instant."
Enin knew time was of the essence. The shadows of his sight spell still haunted him. The longer it went on, the more innocents would die. He could not deny that Jure's plan held promise, but it also held risk.
"Are you sure about this? I don't want you to make a rash decision. Things have been happening very fast."
"Too fast," Jure responded. "Ashlan is in chaos, goblins are attacking all over the valleys, you said so yourself. They have to be stopped. I can do this."
Enin considered everything that was happening. He didn't have doubts about Jure's abilities to cast the necessary spells, but he did worry about Heteera's response.
"I know you can, but you will do it with help. Let me go in first, let me reach Heteera and guide her through what is about to happen. I can try to protect you."
"I don't think we should be worried about me right now."
"That's very noble, but we have to worry about everyone."
"Each moment we delay means that more people will die."
"You're right," Enin admitted. "Begin casting your spells immediately, but I'm still going into Heteera's mind. You will do what you have to do, and I will do what I must. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
Chapter 26
"Stand back, please," Jure insisted.
Before tapping into Heteera's reservoir of magic, the elder wizard wished to have a clear line of sight into the skies above. He focused a burst of energy in one forceful blast at the wall before him and the ceiling overhead. The charge of magic blew a gaping hole through the side of the house and part of the roof. The debris shot outward and rained down upon the empty street below.
Realizing he faced northeast, he looked over the horizon and noted the advancing darkness of night. A cloudless sky greeted him, and a handful of stars were already visible as the light of dusk quickly diminished. He couldn't have asked for better conditions.
There was but one factor that concerned him and that was the rolling tide of magic that continued to inundate the city. He knew his spells could break through the flowing waves of energy, but he wondered what Heteera might do once she realized he was draining the magic within her. If she called for more, there was a wide offering available.
He did not believe she could possibly interfere with his spells-she always lacked control-but she could draw in everything around her. That was her greatest attribute, and the greatest danger. A spike of power at the wrong time might weaken the barrier that held the large reservoir of energy. If it burst, anything could happen.