Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (10 page)

"I remember," the goblin
growled with growing dislike for the human.

"Really? Even if you do
remember them all, you'd have to track them down. I don't think you've got it
in you to find each one."

"Don't care what you
think."

"It's not what I think that
matters. It's what you do. You've just told a human that you're going to kill
every goblin that followed you. If you don't, you will have proved you're not
the leader you think you are. How do you think that's going to go over in the
forest? Think anyone will worry about your threats again if you can't meet a
boast you made to a human?"

"Not a boast," Okyiq
sneered. "Goblins dead because I want them dead, not because I boasted to
a stupid human."

Believing he had goaded Okyiq into
a deal he could not break, Sy made his final offer.

"Well, Okyiq, you won't kill
any goblins if I don't let you go. Like I said before, I want you to answer my
questions. You satisfy me with the truth, and I'll make sure you get to the
hills safely. What happens after that is up to you."

Okyiq sneered, but then nodded.

Ryson couldn't believe it. As much
as he wanted to hear the answers, to learn about the details of the raid, he
saw that Sy was turning Okyiq into a tool of death, an assassin to kill hapless
creatures.

"You said you wouldn't let
him go," the delver asserted.

"I said I wouldn't let him go
to take control of those goblins for another raid. He's not going to do
that."

"You're going to believe
him?"

"He means it."

Okyiq confirmed it.

"Always mean it when I say
someone going to die."

The delver was about to object
again, but Sy cut him off, and directed pointed questions at the brawny
monster.

"Did you send the
rogues?"

"Didn't even know about
rogues."

"Rather convenient they were
in town right when you attacked."

"Lucky."

"I'm not sure I believe in
that much luck."

"You believe river rogue
would listen to goblin?"

"No, but someone or something
else could be controlling you both," Sy offered.

"Then why are you wasting
time with Okyiq?"

It was a valid question, but only
to a degree. Sy didn't think he was wasting any time at all. The goblin before
him was stronger and craftier than any goblin he had ever met. He left the
topic of the rogues and focused on the purpose of the goblins.

"Why did you attack?"

"Wanted human food and
supplies."

"So you came here to
steal?"

"Not steal... take what is
mine. Forest is mine. Human town is part of forest, so
human town belongs to me. I take what I want."

Sy found the main thrust of
Okyiq's argument rather curious. It wasn't so much that the creature claimed
Burbon, but that it would stake a claim to the forest. That was a very large
assertion. Even a goblin as ferocious as the one before him would have a hard
time claiming rights to Dark Spruce. Sy decided to press that issue.

"Why do you think this is
your
forest?"

"I'm the biggest and
strongest."

"I think a shag might argue
that claim."

"Shag's too stupid."

"What about the elves?"

"Elves gone."

A very simple statement, but one
that brought surprise to both the captain and the delver.

"What do you mean 'gone'?"
Sy demanded.

"Simple word," Okyiq
noted with scorn. "Elves gone."

"Gone where?"

"Don't know, don't care.
Disappeared. Didn't come back. Elves gone, forest mine."

"That's not good enough. I
told you I would let you go only if I was satisfied with your answers."

Surprisingly, Okyiq kept calm, did
not argue the semantics of the bargain. Instead, the goblin responded with near
brutal indifference toward the captain's dissatisfaction.

"You said you wanted truth.
You have truth. Don't know where elves went. Just know they're gone."

Ryson entered the interrogation
out of driving curiosity. He wanted no part of the deal between Sy and Okyiq,
but he could not ignore the goblin's contention. He posed the question in a
different manner.

"Do you mean they moved out
of the forest? Did they head south or west?"

"Not move...
disappeared."

"You're not making
sense," Sy asserted.

"Making sense. Human—and
delver—just too stupid to understand. Elves disappeared. Gone! What so hard
about that?"

"Because elves don't just
disappear," Ryson argued.

"This time they did."

As for Sy, he was done with the
goblin. He believed the monster actually told the truth. There was no reason to
trust the creature, but it never wavered in its conviction. The captain
actually gained more information than he expected. Contact with the elves had
ceased. Why? Because, as Okyiq stated, they were gone. River rogues set their
attention upon Burbon. Why? Because the elves were gone.

Regarding the goblin raid, Okyiq
admitted it himself. The large goblin was able to gather a small army of
goblins together in the eastern portion of Dark
Spruce Forest.
It was hardly a horde, but enough to cause problems. Okyiq believed the forest
was his, because in his own words, the elves were gone.

Sy nodded at the goblin and
revealed his intentions.

"Alright, Okyiq, you're free
to go." The captain decided to give one added incentive to the goblin.
"You go out and kill all those goblins that abandoned you... if you can,
but to be perfectly honest, I think you'll be lucky to find half of them. I
just don't think you're that good."

"Will kill them all,"
Okyiq snarled.

"Good luck."

The captain turned to the tower
guards. Without much else to gain in questioning Okyiq, he very much wanted to
set the goblin loose. Anything that reduced the number of goblins in the forest
was a benefit to Burbon.

"Cover him, see that he makes
it to the hills."

"You're really going to let
him go?" Ryson asked in disbelief.

Sy frowned but declared a very
simple truth.

"You offered to let him go if
he answered your questions. I didn't do anything different."

"But I didn't know he was
going to kill every goblin that followed him."

Sy didn't answer immediately. He
simply watched as Okyiq rambled to the open gate and then disappeared beyond
the wall. The captain turned his attention to the surrounding grounds and saw a
few of his soldiers injured from the goblin crossbow attack. Luckily, there
were no fatalities, the goblins were never very accurate, but they were
extremely poor shots in the rain.

The captain moved his gaze to the
front of the Spruce View Tavern. He stepped slowly toward the broken door and
gazed upon the two dead bodies laying on the floor. It seemed as if luck had a
limit. Sy's annoyance with the delver began to turn to anger, and when he
spoke, he did so in obvious hostility.

"Before, I said we had to
talk. Well, we're not going to wait until tomorrow. We're going to talk now,
but not here. Come with me."

Sy didn't say a word as he led
Ryson through the streets lined with deep puddles. Even as the downpour
continued, the captain pressed forward through the storm as if it did not
exist. He dismissed the heavy raindrops that pelted his stern face and ignored
the stiff wind that pushed against his resolute body. A few flashes of
lightning to the south preceded several rumbles of thunder, but they only
reminded him of the goblin assault and the failures of his defenses. He stomped
defiantly over muddy grounds toward the center of town like an irate bear
stirred from its slumber. He might not have growled, but he offered up a series
of disjointed grumbles and heavy, frustrated grunts.

Upon reaching the headquarters of
the town guard, he entered the post that contained his office. He threw open
the solid oak door with a heavy shove and didn't bother to hold it open for Ryson.

Once inside, he wiped the rain
from his face, but then completely disregarded the water dripping off his
clothes that formed a puddle on the floor. He also overlooked the mud sliding
off his boots as he turned toward Sergeant Klusac and a number of messengers
waiting within the building. He almost shouted, almost let his fury out in a
burst of angry orders, but he caught himself. The soldiers within the post
followed their orders. He wasn't going to take out his anger on them. He
restrained his emotions as he gave his instructions.

"Sergeant, the cavalry is out
in the hills to the west. They should be returning soon with prisoners. See to
their disposition. Call for a cleanup at the southern gate. There were a couple
of civilian casualties. Make sure the guards in the towers and on the wall
continue to watch for those two rogues on the outside. Keep a watch on all the
drainage gates as well, but you can remove all the alerts within the town. The
people can return to their business."

Sy waved a dismissing hand to the
remaining soldiers in the room.

"The rest of you need to
leave us alone. Thank you."

"I think they should
stay," Ryson requested before anyone could move.

Sy glared at the delver. A tense
silence gripped the room, but only for a moment. Through gritted teeth, the
guard captain demanded an explanation with one word.

"Why?" he growled with a
dubious expression and a growing annoyance at having yet another of his orders
questioned by the delver.

Ryson noted the hostile emotion of
the town's captain. He didn't fear being left alone with Sy, wasn't worried
about being admonished or reprimanded, but Sy was his friend—one of his very
few close friends—and the delver believed that the situation had simply grown
too tense. He wished to avoid an angry confrontation.

"Because I don't think this
should be a private conversation. You've obviously got a problem with me about
what happened tonight. Personally, I think this is a bad time to discuss it. We
should take some time to think about what happened, but it's clear you're not
going to wait. If we have to have this out tonight... alone... both of us may
say something we regret, and I don't want that to happen. If you want to talk
privately, it should wait until tomorrow."

"Last I checked, this was my
office. If I want privacy, I think I'm entitled."

"And last I checked, I'm not
one of your soldiers. You can't order me to stay. You want privacy? I'll leave
as well."

Sy shook his head. The delver was
doing it again; inserting his independence in a way that contradicted the
captain's authority. He didn't like it, but short of having Ryson arrested—and
that would have been a grave mistake under the circumstances—there was little
he could do about it. He glared at the delver, but only for a moment. He would
not be goaded into an outburst, especially in front of his soldiers.

He accepted the situation as it
was, but he would not relinquish his authority. He was going to take control of
the situation whether the delver accepted it or not. He called out to the
sergeant that was making his way through the front door.

"Fine," Sy offered with
a resolute nod. "Klusac, stay here. This shouldn't take long. You can
handle my orders when we're done here. The rest of you can leave. Again, thank
you. Your service tonight is greatly appreciated." He placed heavy
emphasis on the word 'service' and made it obvious he did not hold the delver's
actions in the same high regard. He made it a point to give them the credit he
believed they deserved and that others, namely Ryson, did not. "You may
not get the recognition others do, but I am grateful for
your
loyalty."

Sy waited for the messengers to
depart and then turned a frustrated expression back to Ryson.

"You wanted soldiers here,
you get
one
. That's it, no more. I'm
not going to have this out with you in front of an entire audience. You want a
witness, it's going to be Klusac." The captain paused out of respect to
ask a question of the man he knew would follow his orders. "Is that
alright with you, sergeant?"

Klusac simply nodded and took a
position off to Sy's side, making his loyalties obvious.

The captain turned back to Ryson
and decided to make his own position quite clear.

"If you don't like this,
you're free to leave, but when we talk again, it
will
be in private and I can guarantee you I won't be any less
angry than I am right now. If anything, I'm going to be more annoyed that you
made me wait to deal with a problem that I feel is critical to the safety of
this town."

Ryson decided the sergeant was
sufficient. As he said, he didn't want to have the conversation in complete
private. People often said things they regretted when there was no one else
around. The presence of Klusac was enough to keep things civil, or so he
believed.

"I'll stay." Ryson
acknowledged. "What is it you want to say to me?"

Sy almost blurted out every angry
curse he could recall, but he held his temper in check. He didn't want to admit
it, even to himself, but he was actually very thankful Ryson requested someone
to remain. Having the sergeant present forced him to address the issue with a
greater degree of control.

He decided to cut right to the
most important aspect of what he believed was more than just a valid concern,
but a matter that could no longer be ignored. He focused not on what he saw as
the delver's near insubordinate behavior, but on the consequences of Ryson's
actions.

"You put my soldiers in
unnecessary danger tonight."

It was a rather broad accusation,
and to the delver, an unfair one. Still, he understood the underlying cause.
Ryson knew that Sy was referring to his refusal to allow the soldiers to simply
kill the rogues. Rather than argue the complicated ethics of his decision, he
offered what he felt was a more diplomatic response.