Linda looked at it from an opposing viewpoint, though with restrained emotions.
"You want to talk about all the things we've been through? Fine. Maybe they were all one big sign. Somebody was trying to tell us something, but we didn't want to listen. Now I see it, and it's hard not to listen. Maybe the sword didn't try to give you some clear understanding because you already knew the truth, but refused to accept it. That's happened with the sword before. It can't make us believe the truth if we don't want to."
"No! Now you're trying to twist things to make me believe something that's not true. We can get help for this. We're going to talk to someone that knows. Enin used to be able to see destinies. He knows the truth. He can help us."
"Enin's not here anymore. He lives in Connel."
"I know. We're going to talk to him."
"I'm not going anywhere. I don't have to talk to some wizard about something I already know."
"Then I'll go alone!"
"So you're leaving again… already."
Not willing to be deterred, Ryson admitted his intentions.
"That's right. I am. But I'm not going out on some scout. I'm going to Connel and I'm going to find out about all of this. I don't want to leave you like this, but I'm not going to ignore it, either. This is too important. It's about us. If I stay, I'll just be sitting here watching it all die. I'm not going to do that."
"You do whatever you think you have to," Linda allowed as she stared back up into the blank ceiling.
Chapter 17
Another arasap waited outside the back of Ryson and Linda's home. It could distinguish the discussion inside by perceiving the vibration of their voices. It knew Ryson was leaving for Connel. It simply had to be patient.
It could not be detected by sight as it flattened itself onto the ground and appeared as nothing more than a wide puddle not yet drained into the very soaked ground. It was slightly concerned about Ryson noticing its scent as it understood the potent senses of delvers, but it believed he was much too distracted to perceive such a minor irregularity in the air.
Within but a few moments, the small hair-like protrusions on the exterior of the creature picked up the departure of the delver. It felt the force of the front door opening and closing, and then the breeze of Ryson racing up the street on his way to Connel.
The arasap knew that the delver would be gone for quite some time, much longer than necessary for it to complete its task. It knew the condition of its objective. It had been afforded that information from other arasaps. Their form of telepathy allowed them to communicate with each other over fairly long distances. It knew the woman would not struggle, and so, it did not even have to waste magic to disguise its appearance.
The greasy substance of the arasap slipped easily beneath the back door. Once inside the home, it rose up from its flattened state but took no distinguishable shape beyond a distorted, oblong mass. It slid through the house until it found its objective laying down in a back bedroom.
Linda heard the sick gurgling noise of the creature pushing its own amorphous substance across the floor. When it entered the room where she lay, she regarded the ghastly blob with only mild interest. To her, it looked like nothing more than an oversized bubble that might arise from a slimy bar of soap.
Despite its repugnant presence, she actually showed more curiosity to the floor where the arasap moved. She wondered if it left a thick ooze. Based on the disgusting noise it made while slogging across the floor, she imagined there would be an obvious trail of sludge. She was neither surprised nor grateful to see that the monster left no evidence of its path upon the surface it traveled.
The creature's grease-like body remained completely intact and it left none of its substance behind. There were no tracks at all, not a trace of its passage left upon the floor. Even when the delver returned to his home, he would have to concentrate fully to detect the slightest hint of the arasap's trail.
The creature no longer concerned itself with the delver. Its mission was directed toward Linda Acumen and it leaned over her bed with malicious intent.
Linda continued to display little concern over the invasion. She regarded the monster as a minor curiosity, but nothing more. As she looked up into the center of the thick, towering mass, she believed she heard it speak, and in a way, she did. Its voice, however, reached her through her mind, not her ears.
"I was informed you would be obedient," the arasap indicated with satisfaction.
Linda didn't believe she was being submissive in any way. She simply didn't care about the creature or its plans. Her emotions had been temporarily deadened, isolated and blocked off from her consciousness. For the most part, her mind was clear-she could think without any fog of confusion-but her thoughts lacked any passion whatsoever.
"You remind me of someone," Linda replied with barely any interest in the monster's words or its intentions.
"I am not surprised. Others have come before me. Now, turn your head."
Out of complete indifference to her well-being, Linda did comply. She turned her head away from the arasap and looked at a corner of the ceiling. She kept staring at that blank corner even as she felt a thick fluid slide up her arm toward the base of her neck. She never flinched even as the sludgy substance pressed against her skin, passed through it, and slunk deep down her spine.
Eventually, she took her gaze away from the corner and looked to where the creature had been hovering over her. It was no surprise to her that it was gone. She couldn't feel it inside of her, wasn't sure it was there, but she could not deny the thought of being infected by a foreign substance. After only a few moments, she didn't even care.
Chapter 18
"So what do you benefit from this?" Scheff asked as he walked behind the sorcerer through the dark realm.
"Still concerned with some kind of hidden price? Do you think I'm some demon? You sound like the girl that chose to leave with her camp." Ansas stopped as he considered the elf, Haven Wellseed. He looked back over his shoulder at where the elves had departed. He hoped she might be running after them, but there was nothing behind them but barren rock. "Shame. She had potential. More than you."
"She could not cast in a circle. I can."
"It's not what she is," the sorcerer noted forcefully as he turned completely about to face the elf, "but what she could be."
"That may be," Scheff replied defensively, "but she is gone and I am here."
"True, she held to her simplistic beliefs, yet you are still asking me inane questions," Ansas noted.
"I do not think so," Scheff argued. "My beliefs are based on reality. You are offering to assist me. You said you would show me how to purge myself of my impurities. You also said you would instill part of your black energy within me. I do not believe someone like you gives away power so willingly, without anything to gain in return."
"I suppose your concern is somewhat reasonable," Ansas conceded. The sorcerer then stared directly into the face of the elf with an expression almost as dark as the magic he cast. "I do this because I want to prove a point… and I hope to gain an ally. The point is that purity remains paramount. You can never be as dominant as I am, but you can become something of legendary ability. As for being my ally, I do expect some gratitude once you realize what I've done for you. You will be far more powerful than you are now, and I may want that power at my disposal."