The growing level of indecision and lack of direction worried the elf captain and he decided the issue needed to be addressed before they speculated further about the sorcerer's ultimate intentions.
"We can discuss that in short time and in private. For now, I would like to tend to our most immediate needs. With your consent, I will redeploy the guards and set the monitors back to studying the barrier. We will attempt no further spells, for a while at least, and I will have the remaining spell casters recharge with what energy they can coax from this realm."
Shantree offered a weary smile.
"It is really all we can do," she agreed. "That and hope that someone of necessary power might yet still find us."
Chapter 13
Scheff Rutlan stood beside his fellow elf magic casters in the modest study of a seemingly small house. He had been transported to that spot against his will, as had the others. A cloud of ebony magic fell upon them, dissolved their presence from under the barrier in the dark realm. There was no pain, no sensation of being broken apart. They saw blackness for but a moment, and then found themselves in new surroundings. Reality reformed around them in the contour of an ordinary room with no windows and one door that remained mostly open.
As they peered through the doorway, they noted a common hall. The passage was simple and without decoration. They saw three other doors similar in nature to the one that marked the entrance to the study where they stood. These were all closed, as was a fourth larger door, the apparent main entrance that waited at the far end of the hallway.
Both the study and the hall were of simple construction. The walls and floors appeared to be formed out of sturdy wood slats with no elaborate designs or exotic architecture. An ordinary desk with a plain and empty chair stood as the only welcoming elements, but everything around them lacked warmth or character. There were several shelves along the walls, but they held only a few books. Numerous stacks of paper with lines and lines of handwritten notes filled most of the open spaces.
Scheff, feeling no ill effects himself, looked to the other elves.
"Is everyone alright?"
They all nodded, but their confusion was obvious.
Only one aspect of their dilemma seemed apparent, and possibly advantageous. They had been removed from under the barrier that held them hostage in the dark realm, taken from the other elves of their camp. In essence, they had achieved their goal, but not by their own doing. Still, if obtaining freedom from the barrier was the initial stage of their escape, perhaps their current condition offered them the opportunity to complete their plans.
Scheff almost called to the magic within him, actually began forming the spell in his mind to create a path back home. While constructing the spell, however, he was immediately forced to cancel it. Opening a portal or creating a path for teleportation required two points of focus; a destination was obvious, but he also needed a point of departure. How could he open a portal back to Dark Spruce Forest if he couldn't be sure of his location?
As far as the magic was concerned, no path could be traced. He didn't have to know his exact position, but he needed at least some tangible point of origin. Without even knowing what realm he occupied, the path could collapse upon itself due to the instability, like trying to dig a tunnel through water. Opening a portal under such circumstances would be risky at best, but more likely devastatingly foolish. Bridging dimensions with a guess might send a magic caster hurling through an endless void.
While Scheff considered their plight, Haven Wellseed, the elf gifted in casting yellow magic, found the dim light of the room much too gloomy for her liking. With a casual thought, her own body began to glow, casting a much needed radiance on the space around them.
"What happened to us?" Haven asked of Scheff.
"I am not sure," Scheff admitted. "The spell was unique. I could not tell if it was complete teleportation or if some type of abstract portal was infused into the incantation. We might still be in the dark realm, or we might be in between dimensions."
"This room seems real enough," one of the other elves offered.
Scheff agreed as he placed his hands on the surface of the desk and felt the hard wood. He then asked the question that was on all of their lips.
"Can anyone tell exactly where we are?" Scheff asked.
There were nine of them all together, but none of the elves could place their position in any absolute point of existence.
"Should we check the other doors?" another elf asked.
"Not until we have a better idea of where we are," Scheff warned.
"But what could it hurt?" Haven asked.
Scheff wondered that himself.
"We seem to be alone here," Haven continued. "This may be our chance to escape."
Her words echoed Scheff's previous sentiments, but just as he chose to cancel his spell, another consideration raised his resistance against any optimism.
"That is exactly why I would be reluctant to try. Think of how we got here, who sent us. You saw what the sorcerer could do. Do you really think he would send us to a place where we could escape so easily?"
That consideration shattered any hope of returning to Dark Spruce Forest like a hammer falling on glass.
"No," Haven confessed.
Scheff exposed another fact.
"Without windows, we have no idea what is beyond these walls. If we open a door not knowing what is on the outside, we risk letting anything inside."
"Do we just stand here and wait?" another elf questioned.
Scheff looked about the room. The desk had no drawers, nothing to search, but the papers about the room seemed available for their attention, almost as an open invitation.
"Perhaps we may still learn something of importance. Let us see what these papers reveal."
Scheff walked over to the nearest wall and took hold of one of the piles. He began to read through the writings as he flipped through one page after another.
The other elves followed suit. They were all engrossed in their reading when the sorcerer walked through the half open door. They were never sure exactly how he entered the small house.
"I hope you find my personal musings interesting," Ansas announced as he moved past the elves and took a seat in the chair before his desk. His muscular frame barely fit into the confines of the seat. It appeared made to fit him exactly, with little room to spare.
The elves looked up in surprise, but said nothing. Most returned the stacks of paper to their previous spots on the shelves. A few, however, continued to hold on to what they had taken.
Scheff, with papers still in hand, finally broke the silence.
"Will you tell us where we are?"
"You're still in the dark realm, I assure you."
"And what is this place?"
"It is my home," Ansas replied freely as he looked deeper into the elf and noticed obvious surprise.
"What did you expect?" the sorcerer questioned with a bit of an amused tone. "Some dark, foreboding castle with grand spires rising up into the shadows? Or maybe some palace of pure marble shining so brightly it rivals the stars that do not even exist in this realm? Totally unnecessary. I simply need a space of my own where I can rest and study without interruptions. This fills my needs, but that surprises you. Why?"
"You are a sorcerer of great power," Scheff replied.
"And you think I need to make some display of my home to prove my ability?"
"I doubt anyone that knows you would doubt your ability. You cast black magic in a perfect circle."