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"Bah!" Tun released.
"Alright, that's enough." Ryson turned aside the cold stare from the
dwarf and placed his attention upon the sorceress. He sheathed his sword so
the brilliant radiance would not be centered upon her. The level of light
dropped significantly as only the strategically placed light gems offered any
illumination. Many of the walls which surrounded them appeared to shift in
size and shape. New paths emerged. Different traps became revealed, some real,
some illusion; the change all due to the shift in light.
Ryson ignored the alterations. He spoke softly to Lauren, in words that
revealed his understanding. "Ignore him, and for a moment, ignore everything
else. Stop worrying about what's happening to you. It's not helping you. You
can wish with all your might that it would stop, but I don't think it's going
to help. You're probably telling yourself over and over again that you didn't
ask for this, didn't want it. All you want is to go back to the way things
were, when you were no different than everybody else you knew."
A gleam of hope rose in Lauren's eyes. "You know what I'm trying to say.
You see what I'm going through."
"Not completely," Ryson responded truthfully. "But I know the look you've
had since I met you. Most delvers share that look. When we learn of our
abilities, it fills us with as much fear as it does excitement. It is not a
pleasant thought to be so different from those around you. Some try to hide
their abilities, even forget them. For them, it's a better alternative than
feeling isolated and alone. But that's their choice. Being a delver gives me
some understanding, but it doesn't give me all the answers to your problem. I
know very little about this magic, but I think I see in you the same confusion
I once saw in myself."
Lauren waited impatiently for him to reveal the secret of dealing with
this dilemma. She wanted to hear the words that would lessen the tension in
her stomach and remove the doubts and fears from her mind.
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Ryson could only offer words which bluntly explained the truth.
"You may not want to hear this, but I'm going to tell you what I think
you should do. I think you should help us proceed. Basically, it's because
your problem won't matter to anyone, not even you, if we let the sphere kill
us all."
He bent his head slightly to get a clear view of her face. "You're going
to decide in the end whether you want to use these powers or not. You're going
to decide now, and you're going to have to decide again after this is all
over. You may want to return to life the way it was for you and never cast a
spell again. But you know what; you can only do that if you help us now. The
sphere's going to kill us, kill us all. It's going to kill everyone in Connel.
There'll be no normal life for you to return to. That's why I'm telling you
what I think you should do. It'll always be your choice, though, no matter
what you do now. If in the future you wish to hide your power, a decision to
help here won't change that. Those that are here aren't going to be revealing
your secret to anyone. But a decision not to help, well, that'll make your
problem meaningless because we'll all be dead, including you."
He straightened up, pulled his sword again from its sheath. The light
returned to its previous state, as did the walls surrounding them. "If you
want to place the responsibility of your choice upon me, go right ahead. But I
don't believe any of us have a choice any longer."
Lauren stiffened at these last words. She wiped the remaining tears from
her eyes as if their presence insulted her. She threw her hands down to her
sides, and again, they formed tight fists. She glowered at the darkness in the
distance as she swallowed the last hint of her despair.
"Fine," she remarked simply but coldly, a single word which signaled a
transformation. While not taking a step, she leaned away from them all.
Flinging her hands open, as if releasing the fears which previously bound her,
she swept loose hairs from her face. She would not look at the delver, she
turned to Stephen instead. "We can all go. Tell me when you want me to cast
the damn spell."
"Ummh," he stammered at first. He looked about as everyone now watched
him. "I guess we should go now."
"Very well." Her reply was just as cold, but slightly more biting. The
blotches on her face were quickly disappearing, her pallor returned quickly to
a healthy pink. She closed her eyes for but an instant. When they reopened,
they burned with dark purple flames. She said nothing.
She focused first on the floor at her feet. Her eyes bulged ever so
slightly, and the violet shadows of her pupils grew and threatened to reach
out with unbounded fury. She turned and arched her neck, slowly but surely
scanning the entire floor under each member. She then passed her view beyond
the edges of where they stood. The air hardened with each passing glance. The
shell of the barrier became visible. It was transparent, like a growing shield
of glass. She turned about and the path of her sight encircled them. The shell
grew with each wave of her focus and soon it surrounded them. Finally, she
pressed her vision upon the area over their heads. She scanned the black open
space from side to side and front to back. With these last glances the barrier
was complete.
With a final pass, her eyes returned to normal and she set them back upon
the interpreter. "The field is set. We are completely surrounded and shall not
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be harmed by any of the dangers you mentioned."
Stephen rubbed his hands together nervously. With nothing to say to
Lauren, and uncomfortable with her gaze, he turned instead to Tun. "If you
would, you may open the door now."
From near the back, Holli called out one last warning. "Won't his arm be
singed if he passes it through the barrier?"
"The barrier will move with him as it will move with us all," Lauren
stated with calculated confidence. "Any flame will no more hurt the dwarf than
it would the cliff behemoth behind me."
Tun did not wait for further explanation. His hand speared downward to
the ground, and indeed, the violet hardened shell stretched with his
movements, revealing its own flexibility. His fingers disappeared to those
that watched as he groped for the handle which remained hidden by the illusion
of a gem. As he probed, the barrier expanded to encase areas where his fingers
pressed upon. A grunt of satisfaction revealed he found that for which he
searched. With a savage pull upon an iron ring, he hoisted a stone cover on
its hinge and opened wide the passage to the next level.
Instinctively, he had shielded his eyes from the bright flare which he
expected, but no such flame appeared. The opening was as quiet as church
rafters. There was no ignition of the air which even now flowed freely into
the next level, no sign of explosion or even the smallest spark appeared. The
first barrier as explained by the interpreter had failed.
Stephen looked into the newly created hole with befuddlement. "I don't
understand."
Tun returned the statement with a doubting, accusing stare, but said
nothing.
Stephen felt the need to explain. "I assure you, the opening of this hole
should have released a wave of flame."
"It did not," Tun stated the obvious.
"Has the passage been opened before?" Holli asked.
Tun took but a moment to inspect the rock cover which was in his hand.
"No. The break in the seal is fresh. This stone has not been moved in ages."
"I don't understand." Stephen agonized over the mystery. The culmination
of events was quickly taking their toll on his youthful enthusiasm. Being
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