assistance that would have been more easily obtained through the use of light or shadow.
Despite the difficulty she faced, it was not a futile effort. She had already cast a screen of water that allowed her to move through the forest without leaving a trail the half-delver might discover. Her scent and her tracks were flushed away immediately by her casting. The half-delver would never find a trace of her in the brush, but the spell did nothing to hide their appearance from dwarf eyes.
To complete their task, they needed to become invisible, only for a brief moment, but it remained a necessary component to achieve their objective. Casting such an illusion would have been easier utilizing yellow or gray magic, but with the proper concentration, she could shape a similar spell with blue energy. The properties of water included the ability to absorb, disperse and reflect light.
Just beyond the sight of the dwarf sentries, she summoned a curtain of mist, shaped it to fully encircle her and the enormous goblin. With supreme focus, the light fog came together and formed a solid canvas that moved as they moved. She commanded the sheet of moisture to create false images on all sides that would match their surroundings. The illusion was almost perfect, but she was not overly concerned with minor faults. In the harsh light of day, dwarf eyes that were more accustomed to underground shadows would never notice the slight aberrations.
As they closed upon the dwarf guards, Rivira instructed the magical canopy to suppress all scent and sound coming from the goblin. She was already masked, but Okyiq's heavy odor might alert the sentries.
With one last wave of her hand, she also cast a spell of levitation. She lacked the ability to fly across the skies at will, but slightly suspending herself and another while maintaining a forward motion was within her power. She could lift both herself and Okyiq far enough above the ground to avoid leaving tracks upon the soft dirt. They became undetectable as they passed the dwarf sentries and into the darkened tunnel.
Once beyond the mouth of the cave, the sorceress adjusted the canvas of mist that surrounded them to become more of a dark shadowy pool than a surface reflection. She knew the dwarves would be able to detect them if they drew too close to guards further down the passage, but that was never her intention. She needed only to get Okyiq through the entrance and into the cave. The serps never wanted them to actually enter Dunop.
"This is far enough," Rivira announced.
"I can see that," Okyiq growled, but he considered his circumstances. Great riches waited further down the passage... if he could get to them. "Maybe you should keep your spell up. We could raid the dwarves and they would not see us."
"I have no desire to raid Dunop," Rivira responded with disgust.
"I do."
"We are not here to steal from the dwarves. We are here to create confusion."
"You don't think stealing gems would add to confusion? I can think like a serp... when I need to. Shouldn't be just about elves and dwarves. Snake faces thinking too small, thinking only about stupid old elf leader. Elf prisoner gets freed. So what? Who cares? But we take gems and dwarves start to wonder just how many made it inside their city. They start to think maybe human thieves decided to use magic to get rich. Humans not above getting rich. Isn't that the way dwarves... and humans think?"
It was indeed, and the sorceress almost gave Okyiq credit for the idea. Dwarves did not take kindly to thieves, and they always mistrusted human miners, but she quickly dismissed the idea.
"It's not part of the serps' plan. If we start acting on our own, we could cause problems. You have no idea how the serps want to use the humans against the dwarves. The one that's following us is part human. That should be enough to add to the mistrust. Besides, we would never get past the dwarf guards at the city's edge. All we've done is entered the access
Despite the difficulty she faced, it was not a futile effort. She had already cast a screen of water that allowed her to move through the forest without leaving a trail the half-delver might discover. Her scent and her tracks were flushed away immediately by her casting. The half-delver would never find a trace of her in the brush, but the spell did nothing to hide their appearance from dwarf eyes.
To complete their task, they needed to become invisible, only for a brief moment, but it remained a necessary component to achieve their objective. Casting such an illusion would have been easier utilizing yellow or gray magic, but with the proper concentration, she could shape a similar spell with blue energy. The properties of water included the ability to absorb, disperse and reflect light.
Just beyond the sight of the dwarf sentries, she summoned a curtain of mist, shaped it to fully encircle her and the enormous goblin. With supreme focus, the light fog came together and formed a solid canvas that moved as they moved. She commanded the sheet of moisture to create false images on all sides that would match their surroundings. The illusion was almost perfect, but she was not overly concerned with minor faults. In the harsh light of day, dwarf eyes that were more accustomed to underground shadows would never notice the slight aberrations.
As they closed upon the dwarf guards, Rivira instructed the magical canopy to suppress all scent and sound coming from the goblin. She was already masked, but Okyiq's heavy odor might alert the sentries.
With one last wave of her hand, she also cast a spell of levitation. She lacked the ability to fly across the skies at will, but slightly suspending herself and another while maintaining a forward motion was within her power. She could lift both herself and Okyiq far enough above the ground to avoid leaving tracks upon the soft dirt. They became undetectable as they passed the dwarf sentries and into the darkened tunnel.
Once beyond the mouth of the cave, the sorceress adjusted the canvas of mist that surrounded them to become more of a dark shadowy pool than a surface reflection. She knew the dwarves would be able to detect them if they drew too close to guards further down the passage, but that was never her intention. She needed only to get Okyiq through the entrance and into the cave. The serps never wanted them to actually enter Dunop.
"This is far enough," Rivira announced.
"I can see that," Okyiq growled, but he considered his circumstances. Great riches waited further down the passage... if he could get to them. "Maybe you should keep your spell up. We could raid the dwarves and they would not see us."
"I have no desire to raid Dunop," Rivira responded with disgust.
"I do."
"We are not here to steal from the dwarves. We are here to create confusion."
"You don't think stealing gems would add to confusion? I can think like a serp... when I need to. Shouldn't be just about elves and dwarves. Snake faces thinking too small, thinking only about stupid old elf leader. Elf prisoner gets freed. So what? Who cares? But we take gems and dwarves start to wonder just how many made it inside their city. They start to think maybe human thieves decided to use magic to get rich. Humans not above getting rich. Isn't that the way dwarves... and humans think?"
It was indeed, and the sorceress almost gave Okyiq credit for the idea. Dwarves did not take kindly to thieves, and they always mistrusted human miners, but she quickly dismissed the idea.
"It's not part of the serps' plan. If we start acting on our own, we could cause problems. You have no idea how the serps want to use the humans against the dwarves. The one that's following us is part human. That should be enough to add to the mistrust. Besides, we would never get past the dwarf guards at the city's edge. All we've done is entered the access
Similar Books
