"Why are you doing this?" Haven asked.
"What is it you think I'm doing?"
"Tempting him.. tempting all of us."
"You think I'm some demon? Grow up. I am doing nothing but offering you an opportunity."
"You take us against our will to offer us an… opportunity?" Haven asked, aghast by the sorcerer's presumptuous attitude.
Ansas replied with a dismissive tone of his own.
"I took you against your will because I can. I offer you an opportunity because I can. Anything you read into it beyond that is your own imagination."
"Why will you not simply let us go?" Haven implored.
"I intend to… eventually. I still have one personal matter that needs to be addressed. I need your camp of elves for that one last matter."
"You will not hurt us?"
"I doubt that will be necessary, but I make no guarantees. If I must hurt you to gain what I need, then I will, unless you decide to take me up on the same opportunity I offer to your companion. You are powerful with yellow energy. You could become even more powerful."
"I have not said I would join you… yet," Scheff noted.
"I realize that, but that has no bearing on my offer to the others." Ansas then pointed to Haven and another elf at her side, the elf that was proficient in emerald energy. "These two have the same potential as you. I will show them how to grow in skill and power."
"Why?" Haven demanded.
"Because I was defeated once, not because I was the lesser skilled caster, but because I was unwilling to stain myself with another hue. A simple spell was cast upon me that held me in check, a spell that could have been broken easily if I allowed myself to cast a lesser spell, a spell that was not ebony in nature. I made the correct decision and I held true to myself."
"But you just said you were defeated."
"I lost a single battle. What does that mean? Those that can't learn from defeat are as weak as those that never attain victory. I have learned much." Ansas waved to the piles of pages upon the shelves all around them. "I now know I could have defeated the spell without casting another hue. I could have used the ebony power to defeat any spell, for the black magic is not just shadow, or change, or even death. It is the ultimate energy that passes between all things. When we look into the blackness of a hole, we say that we see nothing, but it is beyond that. We can see into infinity… if you know how to look. Blackness can consume anything and everything. That is the strength of my purity."
"But we do not cast in black," Haven replied.
"And you never shall, but you can augment your personal hue with its influence."
"My glow would darken."
Ansas glared at what he believed was nothing more than short-sightedness.
"Are you a servant to the magic, or does the magic serve you?"
Haven had never been questioned in such a way, but still, she responded with total honesty.
"I believe it might be both."
"Then you are a fool. You only have two directions you can take. You can either be like everyone else and aspire for nothing more than being an unfulfilled version of your true self, or you could be one of the most powerful spell casters of your race. Why be just another elf, some nameless follower? Be something more."
"I do not aspire for that kind of power."
Ansas simply shrugged.
"Then I am finished with you." The sorcerer turned to the elf proficient with emerald magic. "The emerald energy that burns within you is the strongest of any elf in your camp. Four of the six elves that I brought here before you made your doomed effort to break my barrier also cast in green, but they are weak compared to you. When I felt your magic against the barrier, I knew you were stronger. You could be stronger even still, more powerful than you can imagine. Do you wish to consider growing into something more, or do you wish to be like her, a foolish child?"
"I will not become an enemy of my camp," the elf replied."
"You are more narrow minded than the female. Fine."
"What have you done with the others," Haven interrupted, "…to the six you took before us?"
"They are here. In one of the other rooms. I questioned them, but found their powers and their will lacking."
"You haven't hurt them?"
"Why would I waste the energy?"
"Why didn't you return them?" Haven demanded.
"Again, why would I waste the energy?"
It was Scheff who started to view the whole situation in a new light.
"So we actually did help you. You were looking for the most gifted casters in each hue. We separated ourselves for you."
Ansas nodded with slight appreciation for the observation.
"You do have it within you to see more than the others. It would be a shame if you wasted that."
Haven stepped toward Scheff.
"You must not listen to him. He only wants to corrupt you."
"Does he?" Scheff wondered. "He talks about making me stronger, making me something I did not consider before this."
"He just wants to use you."
Scheff looked toward Ansas, but the sorcerer said nothing.
"You have nothing to say?" the elf asked. "No response?"
"None," the sorcerer replied.
"You see?" Haven pressed. "He will not argue because he knows it is the truth."
"And yet," Scheff added, "there is something to this. We can be more powerful than we are. We can reach heights we never considered."
"At what cost?" Haven demanded.
Again, Scheff looked toward Ansas.
"Is there a cost?"
Ansas sighed.
"Why must this all be so… wearisome? I have explained it once, but your limitations always require me to repeat myself. Cost? If you wish to reach the level I envision for you, you must remain true to your inherent hue. You must never cast in another color. You will also have to cast out all of the energy within you to purify yourself. I will show you how. Finally, you must also receive a small amount of my energy… my ebony magic. I'm not looking to corrupt you. There will be no hidden spell. The magic will be pure ebony power. It is meant to solidify the base of your color. That's it. Nothing more and nothing less. I won't explain it again."
"He is trying to change you!" Haven implored.
"Yes, but maybe for the better." Scheff answered.
"You can't be this foolish."
Before Scheff could respond, Ansas ended the conversation. The sorcerer held up his hands to demand quiet as he appeared to peer off into the distance, even though he only stared at a blank wall.
"The argument is over. You will have your chance to decide, but not now. We will all return to the other elves. Three visitors have entered the dark realm in search of your camp. Two of which I hoped would come."
Chapter 14
Jure created a portal which closely mimicked the one used to abduct the elves. He allowed for a slight variation. Matching the dimensional passage precisely would have brought them to the exact spot where the elves had been sent and that was not the most prudent approach. It would be safer to track them from a slight distance as opposed to stumbling into some unknown struggle. The rift formed quickly, becoming a stable gateway into the dark realm.
Before allowing anyone to pass through the gateway, Holli examined the portal and the lands beyond to ensure their passage would be a safe one. As she continued her own inspections, she asked Jure to check the integrity of the magic that bound the two dimensions. She also requested that the delver use his superior senses to probe the dark lands through the portal. She had no intention of stepping into an ambush.
Ryson stared into the dimensional opening. He could see no immediate danger, no colossal monsters waiting to devour them, but a growing uneasiness dominated his thoughts. He hated the dark realm. Everything about it assaulted his senses. Even before stepping through the rift, he knew he would find anguish rushing at him from every dank corner. There would be pain, not actual physical trauma, but enough mental torment to cause enormous distress in the pit of his stomach. For him, entering the dark realm was like entering a shag's den after rolling in salt. He was asking for agony.