"Your view of control is vastly different than mine. I needed time and opportunity. That's how plagues take hold. I was hoping to spread disease across the land and gain strength from the decay. I might have even been able to challenge you directly, given enough time."
"Time is up for you now," Holli proclaimed.
"That may be true… then again, perhaps not. Time is always important. That is why I have been so willing to discuss these matters with you. I wanted additional time."
"What do you mean?" Enin demanded.
"I told you of many of my deals. I also had one with my brother. What you are probably not aware of is a new deal I made with him before you entered. We were going to split the lands and the power that came from it once our plagues spread. We would not fight, as we are sometimes prone to do."
"All of your bargains are over," Holli growled.
"Not quite, elf. My brother is aware of the goblins removal, but he cannot conceive of how it happened. His magic was in Huntston, not here. I told him a little white lie. I explained the magic in Ashlan was distorted by a chaotic sorceress… a fluke spell that got out of hand and did more than she could imagine. Not altogether false. My brother could probably sense the upheaval in the magic. Like I said, a little white lie."
"So you lied to your brother. That does not change anything."
"In my lie, I altered our bargain. You see, he never wanted to wait for the goblins. He didn't think we needed to waste time with mayhem caused by lesser beings. We were always able to cause enough on our own. Still, he agreed to wait in order to take advantage of the dwarf plan. Before you arrived, I told him I no longer held him to that. I advised him to absorb the magic that flowed into Huntston. You know how much that is. Once he gathers it all, I told him to let loose his plagues. He was happy to do it. Of course he doesn't know about you."
The demon paused just long enough to let the situation sink in entirely. He then spelled it out.
"You could destroy me now. I have to accept that, but I will fight you if I have to. I believe I will survive long enough to allow my brother sufficient time to let loose his plague. Once he does, will you have the time and power to stop it? Perhaps not… not if you waste both on fighting me. Or, you could simply leave me and let me flee. I will do nothing to delay you. I will let you deal with my brother as you see fit. I understand it's a difficult choice, but I have to be concerned with saving myself."
The draevol did not smile, but he allowed his essence to grow brighter to accentuate the confidence he placed within his plan.
"We do not have to make a choice," Holli announced with pure determination. "Enin, go to Huntston and stop the other draevol."
"But…"
"No, do not argue with me. There is no time. We can deal with the demon. You have to stop the plague and you are the only one with the power to transport to Huntston and still defeat the draevol."
Enin realized that any delay could be catastrophic. He did not wish to leave, but the elf guard's strategy was sound. He was the best suited for stopping the twin. His control over magic was so great, that he created a simple portal that would allow him to step out of the cellar where they stood and directly to Huntston. The rift dissolved as he disappeared.
"You dispatched the most powerful among you," the fiend noted. "You must be very confident in your abilities, or perhaps you are not too concerned with mine. Aren't you worried you might have made a mistake?"
"You are a demon," Holli declared without hesitation or apparent concern. "You can see any fear within me. Why don't you tell me how worried I really am?"
"I see you're not," the demon allowed, but then decided to alter the circumstances. "You believe you divided your forces wisely to deal with the most pressing needs, but are you aware of all the threats? I don't think so. I also took the liberty of releasing my inferns. They are now free to destroy the city they once protected. You thought you saved Ashlan, but you will see it burn. I have also ordered the inferns that guard the edges of the valleys to set fire to everything in their path. If I can't spread disease across the land, I will let them turn it to ash. The result will be nearly the same."
Holli did not hesitate for an instant.
"Jure, take care of the inferns surrounding the valley. Ryson, go back into the streets and stop the ones in the city. Leave this draevol to me."
Chapter 28
"I should thank you," Holli declared, her focus narrowed on the draevol. "You actually did me a favor. I wanted to be the one to face you."
If she harbored any concern about standing alone before the demon colossus, her desire to meet the creature in battle overshadowed it. The elf crouched ever so slightly, kept her weight on the balls of her feet. Her bow was in her right hand, but she had not yet removed any arrows from her quiver. The magical energy within her was at its peak, and she had many spells in the forefront of her mind. She was not lying. In every way, she wanted to defeat the fiend, and defeat it without the help of others.
The resentment and bitterness, even the self reproach, had all dissolved away. She immersed herself in the moment, a moment she viewed as a gift, a chance for redemption. She fully intended on washing away every mistake she made since entering the valleys.
She did not, however, fool herself into misinterpreting the full aspect of the encounter. The draevol was more than a worthy opponent. The demon possessed great powers, and its weaknesses were few. In regards to magic, the demon could cast spells of substantial magnitude and pull from a vast pool of energy. As for physical combat, draevols did not often succumb to swords or arrows.
Her own disadvantages were many. She understood that she was vulnerable to her foe's capabilities. The draevol could successfully attack her in different ways, use a variety of methods to end her life. It could rely on magic or utilize demon fire. It could even summon additional inferns.
While the options of attack open to the demon remained wide, Holli's path to victory was thin. As an elf guard, she learned the principles of battle long ago. Direct combat was not usually the desired course of action under such circumstances. She was taught to attack when she held the advantage, and utilize strategic retreat when the odds were heavily against her. Every aspect of the confrontation pointed to withdrawal, but despite the conditions, she believed she retained the advantage.
Encounters were not always won by the strongest. Powerful armies were often defeated because they could not match their opponents will. Though she believed the demon certainly possessed the desire to survive, it could not possibly surpass the need for her to acknowledge her own identity.
"I wanted to fight you alone," the elf continued, "without the help of the others. Enin would have just sent you back to where you belong. I want you to crawl back and never want to return."
The draevol nearly disregarded the elf. The words were pointless bravado, nothing more. Of the four that once confronted it, it feared the elf the least. As a demon, it could see into her heart and inspect the essence of her power. Her magic was puny, especially compared to the two wizards that had left to deal with other dilemmas.
The demon's own magical prowess was superior to the elf's as well, and it felt no peril from emerald energy-the power of nature. Disease could overcome field after field and forest after forest. The monster possessed the power to wither the entire valley, and there was nothing the elf could do to stop it.
The demon also viewed the elf as a minor annoyance in comparison to the delver. The elf lacked the physical talents of Ryson Acumen, who was immensely dangerous with his speed and quickness. The threat of the delver went far beyond his physical abilities. Any demon could sense the pureness of his heart. The magic that was deep inside that particular delver was endowed with a grace of its own, the kind of benevolence that could shatter a demon's diseased existence with but a wave of the hand.