"Actually, it depends," Jure answered. "Mass teleportation can be very efficient. As long as the spell caster can track each elf, there is no wasted magic. A portal is opened, the elves are instantly teleported into the dimensional breach, and the portal is closed. The process can be completed in the blink of an eye."
"But you seem surprised by the amount of magic used," Ryson noted.
"I am. It would take a great deal of energy, but it would be an instantaneous use, not a continuous flow."
"Is that kind of spell difficult to cast?"
"Absolutely. Tracking every elf before hand would take a great deal of patience and concentration. The caster would have to have a very organized mind, very deliberate. It would also take a great deal of control to teleport to an exact spot, especially so many elves all at once. If the caster had that kind of control, then it would be possible, as long as a generous supply of magic was available for one instantaneous disbursement of spells targeted at each elf."
Holli offered an explanation of her own.
"That may be why the magic is eluding you," she noted. "If the teleportation energy was focused on each particular elf, it might reject you because it was meant to be used on someone else."
The wizard did not like to contradict the elf guard, but he sensed something in the magic beyond the remnants of a particular spell.
"Maybe," he allowed, but he also needed to express what he believed, "but I really think it goes beyond that. It's the magic itself, not so much the spell that molded it. I think the magic almost wants to return to its original caster, as if it belongs to that individual."
"You believe the magic is not pure?"
"Actually, quite the opposite. It seems very pure. If anything, I sense it views me as a possible taint to its purity."
Holli nodded as she began to recognize a common thread forming. She believed it was time for them to move forward to confront the individual responsible for the insidious assault on the elves of Dark Spruce.
"As there is now too much evidence to dismiss the swallit's story, we must accept the probability that the elves have been abducted against their will." She then turned to the wizard. "You said you could follow the path of the dimensional rift. Can you match the portal… create one that would lead us to a similar point in the dark realm?"
"I can, if that's what you wish. It won't be exact, but the entrance into the dark realm will be close enough for our delver friend to locate the elves, if they're still near the area where the portal led."
"So we're going to the dark realm?" Ryson asked.
"That is where we will find the individual responsible," Holli answered.
"Blast," Ryson muttered.
Chapter 10
Under a gray sky which never altered between day and night, an entire encampment of elves from Dark Spruce Forest struggled against the hostile environment. The rocky ground was near devoid of life. The scent of decay lingered in every crevice, and the pungent odor was fanned by a hot and heavy wind that brought neither comfort nor relief. The landscape appeared unnatural, something forced from a confused and harrowing dream. Shadows bent across barren rock and seemed to move with a life of their own.
The dim, burnt amber glow that created the long, menacing silhouettes did not come from some bright orb in the heavens. It was spit out of fiery pools fed by the burning core of an angry, twisted land. It was the blazing flame of hate, not the spark of hope, the illumination of warped desires, not the breaking rays of a new dawn. Sadly, it was the only source of radiance in an otherwise dismal existence.
Along with offering the only ambient light, the enormous lakes of smoldering rock exuded a sulfurous stench that would smother a normal bird in flight, but in that realm, there were no normal birds.
The creatures that soared through the grim skies were hatched in blood soaked nests and abandoned early in their bleak infancy. They sang no comforting song, offered no lyrical whistle. Instead, they shrieked and screeched with ravenous hunger and vicious intent. When they flew, they cut across the gray horizon high above the jagged cliffs only to plummet in chaotic dives and fall upon some hapless creature of equally dire existence.
The elves trapped in that unforgiving environment never got used to the smell of burning rock that surrounded them or the shrieks of the twisted birds that soared overhead. The noise and the stench created a hardship that added to their misery, but the burden of surviving was so great, that they forced the anguish from their minds. They had no choice, for if they were to live, they needed to place all of their attention upon overcoming the harsh conditions of the dark realm.
Even as the thick air choked their every breath, they managed to coax water from the ground and purify it with magical spells. They employed emerald energy to quickly grow edible plants from the putrid soil. They managed to do just enough to stay alive. Still, they focused on more than just survival. They yearned for escape, clung to hope that they would find their way back to their lush forest home.
Some, however, felt that their path back to Dark Spruce would be one they would have to forge themselves. One such elf, Birk Grund, understood that the elves he was charged to protect would only be safe when they fled that plane of tortured existence.
As the elf guard captain, he positioned his guards around the bleak terrain and guided them in tactics that would increase their safety, optimize their resources, and offer a small degree of hope. Despite his actions, he knew that more than a burning stench hung in the thick, humid air. Desperation and ultimate surrender waited to claim them all, and both were far too near for his comfort.
Shantree Wispon yearned to return to Dark Spruce with equal desire. Whereas Birk was in charge of security, she was the final word in all matters. As the council elder and leader, the entire camp's well-being fell upon her shoulders. She was the decider of the elves' present course and the director of the camp's future; a task that often fatigued her aged frame, even when they stood upon the much more inviting lands of the large western forest of Uton.
Despite the weariness that gnawed at her consciousness, she remained attentive to every last detail. She folded her hands patiently behind her back as she listened carefully to the report from the elf captain.
"The guard continues to patrol the region," Birk offered. "The trees, if you can call them that, offer little in the way of cover, but they serve to mark the limits of the barrier that holds us to this place. Everything remains fixed. The obstructing field neither contracts nor expands. It has held constant since we marked its borders."
Shantree knew that the field of magic that blocked their escape also served as a shield against the horrors that abounded in the dark realm, but as her focus remained on details, she always requested confirmation.
"Contact with other creatures?" Shantree asked.
"Also remains constant. We cannot get out, but they cannot get in. I surmise the birds of prey above can see us, but they cannot reach us. As for dark creatures on the ground, we have spotted several of various sizes in the distance, but they do not get as close as the birds. I believe they can see us. I cannot imagine how they would miss us, and yet they show no desire to test the barrier. At least they have not come close to it. I have found that… interesting."
"Why?"
The captain pointed to the skies above, to the birds that circled and soared wildly overhead even at that very moment.
"The birds maintain a constant presence above us while the creatures on the ground ignore us almost completely. Shags and rogues pass us with regularity, but they do not linger near the barrier's edge. They continue on their travels as if seeking new territories to claim without giving us a second look. We are trapped and apparently easy prey, yet even the giant monstrosities move quickly past. They do not even approach the barrier wall." Birk then gave another quick glimpse to the darkened skies. "But the razor crows and hook hawks have shown a more patient tendency. The birds may be there for a reason beyond their unending hunger."