"He fed me with his magic. That is all I can tell. I do not believe there are any malicious intentions within the energy, other than a limit to its potential use. As he said, he wants to keep us alive. That is what the magic is for. I cannot deny that, in some ways, I am helping him, but I would do no less with any energy available to me."
"You do not believe he is controlling you in any way?"
"No, he retains a certain level of control over the magic, but he has not altered my conscience."
"Can you be certain?"
Shantree frowned, but then took a deep breath and examined the power within her. It was available for her use, but it remained separate from the small amount of magical energy that she contained as an elf. Like a storm cloud that took distinct shape in an otherwise blue sky, the energy from Ansas staked out a space of its own.
"Actually, yes, I am certain. It is not mixing with what I am. It is totally separate. I can sense that. It is almost as if it wants nothing to do with me, but it is there for me to use… to keep the camp alive. If it had evil intent, it would try to become part of me, and it is not. It is difficult to explain how I sense this, but I do."
Birk did not wish to be skeptical of the camp elder, but he could not dismiss his own responsibilities.
"That may be true, and it is not my desire to doubt you, but I must remain suspicious of the sorcerer and his intentions. If he has taken control of you, that is exactly what you might say in order to calm my fears."
"I understand… far better than you can imagine. I say hold to your fears, remain suspicious of me. If I do something that lacks reason, by all means, stop me… destroy me if you must."
"You mean kill you?"
"I do. It is also an order of your camp elder. Do not hesitate."
But it was an order that was not so easily followed. The duty of the elf guard was to protect the camp, and the elder above all else. Without a leader, the camp would fall into disarray. Killing the elder, even to protect the camp, was a contradiction in elf guard duty, and yet, the order was given by the elder herself. Birk struggled to find the proper response.
"To kill you would be to break my duty, my oath. That would be beyond my last resort."
"I do not believe it will be necessary, but I must insist you follow my directive. If you do not, then I hold no true authority. If you are an elf guard and desire to hold to your oath, you must respect my authority. "
"Very well," Birk agreed, but then turned quickly from the topic in hopes the situation would never arise. He revealed his concern as well as his curiosity over the elder's well-being. "How do you feel? I must admit, I have not seen you move with such youthful energy in many seasons."
"Youthful?" Shantree responded with obvious opposition. "No, far from youthful. I feel powerful but not rejuvenated. I know I am stronger, but if anything, I feel older. Just as the energy seems to fuel my physical abilities, it strangles my inner vitality. No, I do not feel young. I may not look it, but I am weary… on the inside."
"Is there anything that can be done?"
"I do not believe so. I tried to resist the flood of power. I could not. I can relinquish the energy by casting it for the camp's needs, but beyond that, I cannot dispel it any further."
"Perhaps some of the others might be able to remove it from you. If you allow them to probe the energy, they might be able to siphon…"
"No," Shantree interrupted. "I will not put others at risk. I also have no idea how much magic may be necessary to keep us alive. If we can use it for our own good, even if it matches the will of our captor, we must do so. To disperse it for selfish reasons would be beyond foolish. I will survive this."
Birk nodded in acceptance. He then looked over to the well and the water it produced just as he reviewed the invigorated plants yielding fruits and nuts. "At least, you have solved our temporary concerns. Despite the loss of magic on the ill-fated assault, we now have plenty of food and water, for a while at least."
"There is enough of his magic within me to ensure we do not starve. Of that, I'm sure. He wanted it that way."
Birk understood the deeper meaning behind the action. It was not out of simple kindness that the sorcerer offered his magic.
"So he is not done with us."
"No."
And while the elf guard captain held no doubts regarding Ansas' ill will, he was surprised at the elder's tone in her simple response.
"You seem sure."
"I am. It goes beyond what he said to me. Again, the desire is within the magic itself. It is available for me to utilize in order to keep the camp alive, but it goes even beyond that. As he said, if he wanted us dead, the task would already be done. I think we both would agree on that point."
Birk considered the sheer force of will and magic displayed by the human sorcerer. He could not argue the assertion.
"Do you have any idea of what he ultimately wants with us?"
Shantree frowned again. She also wanted to know Ansas' plans for the camp, to discover his intentions. She believed there might be some clue in the energy he bestowed within her, but if there was some hint hidden in the folds of magic, it repulsed any attempt to discover any such deeper meaning.
"The magic has intention," Shantree admitted, "but I am shielded from gaining any greater insight. It will not let me probe beyond its most apparent essence. I can use the magic to the benefit of the camp, but I think it would resist me if I tried to use it against the sorcerer, or even if I tried to direct it against the wall."
"Unfortunate, for that was going to be my next request." Birk shook his head in disgust as he looked to the translucent field of energy. "We accomplished so little. The barrier holds and we have lost our most proficient spell casters."
He thought of those that were taken, and he exclaimed what he believed was an obvious assumption.
"He spoke of two reasons for bringing us here. He has now taken fifteen of our elves, all of them adept in the ways of utilizing magic. We can no longer deny that fact. One of the reasons must relate to the abduction of those elves."
"He did not take them all," Shantree noted.
"No, he did not," Birk agreed as he looked upon the elves that waited for further direction. "Flower remains with us, and she is powerful with crimson magic. He did take Haven and Scheff, two of the more gifted elves, but he also took elves that were talented in transferring their energy to others. Why take some and not others?"
"I wish I could say."
Birk then revealed one conclusion that seemed obvious.
"The sorcerer also spoke of an elf with which he had previous contact. At the time, I could not be certain, but it can only be one."
"Holli Brances," Shantree announced before Birk could reveal the name.
"It is obvious, is it not?" Birk agreed. "Who else could it be? Every elf of our camp has been brought to this place, even scouts and guards that were quite a distance away at the instant of our abduction. There is no one missing, yet none could identify the sorcerer. He spoke of an elf that was once a member of this camp. There are only a meager few possibilities. The previous camp leaders before your ascension are still alive. One was turned over to the dwarves of Dunop and the other accepted self-imposed banishment. They, however, are both males, and the sorcerer proclaimed the elf was a 'she.' Since Holli left our camp, she has been in the service of Enin and faced battles with other wizards. It seems the likely answer."
"Which only brings us to the question of why the sorcerer would want to gain the attention of an elf guard that serves the most powerful wizard in all of Uton?"
Before considering the question, Birk noticed the fading spirits of the elves around them. Nearly every elf stood confused and downhearted, uncertain of what to do next. The monitors at the barrier made no call to resume the assault. They had lost their most gifted spell casters. If another attempt was to be made, the command would have to come from Birk or Shantree, and they would have to restructure the spell casting as well as the pool of casters.