Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (2 page)

The soldier nodded, pulled a small
red flag from his belt, and moved directly beneath a street lantern to be seen
easily in the night. He waved the flag to gain the attention of the guards
standing watch in the towers and then offered the signals to communicate the
captain's orders.

Just as the soldier was finishing
the first communication, Sy added to the message.

"Expand the alert to all
guard posts and call for a security sweep of the entire town by foot soldiers
only. No horses. All horseback patrols are to stand fast. I want both rogues
accounted for as soon as possible."

Just as Sy finished the additional
orders, Sergeant Klusac arrived. He directed his mount across the town street
and to the captain's side.

"More bad news,
captain," the sergeant offered with both sympathy for his leader's dilemma
and concern for the growing problem. "A third sighting within the town... not
even close to the other two. This one is to the east. There's definitely at
least three rogues inside the wall. Tower watch reports additional sightings
beyond the town borders as well. Another two were spotted outside the wall to
the northwest."

"What the blazes is going
on?" Sy demanded, not of the sergeant or of the guard finishing the signals,
but of the dark skies above, hoping to get some stroke of clarity. "Five
river rogues in the same area. What is this... some kind of conference I didn't
know about?"

It was not meant to be a joke. The
words were spoken with both frustration and bewilderment.

"I don't understand it,
either," the sergeant admitted. "I thought they kept clear of each
other."

Sy quickly turned his attention to
addressing the calamity.

"Keep all gates closed. No
one exits to deal with the two on the outside. I don't want anyone going
outside the wall until we know what's going on. Get additional archers up in
the towers and on the walls over every drainage ditch. I don't want any more of
these things getting inside."

The sergeant motioned for the
guard to signal the new orders to the towers and then updated his captain on
what he knew.

"I just came from the
northern section of town. I checked out both sighting locations, but the
creatures have moved on. Third sighting occurred closer to the eastern gate. If
I had to guess, I'd say they got in under the wall to the northeast."

Sy nodded. "There's a
drainage ditch there that leads out to a nearby farm, but we have to cover them
all until we know for sure."

"I won't argue," the
sergeant agreed. "As for the rest of the town, all gates are closed and I
told the gatekeepers to wait for additional orders. We'll keep the other two
rogues out—and any others that might be skulking around out there—but there may
be more than three inside." He paused as he took a sweeping glance at the
dark skies. "Still cloudy, I think more rain is on the way... a lot more.
Visibility is already poor, could get worse."

Sy gave another look to the
blackened heavens. It seemed as if the skies were willing to add to his
troubles.

"Blast," the captain
cursed again, and then gave additional messages for the signal guard.
"Alert the towers to switch to covered torches. We're not going to be able
to see flags in the rain."

"It's also going to be harder
to spot the rogues," Klusac noted.

Realizing his options were
dwindling, Sy looked back up to his sergeant.

"Get Ryson for me."

The sergeant didn't wish to delay
or question his superior's orders, but he had to point out the truth.

"If these things are inside,
they're going to have to be killed. He won't be a part of that."

The captain sighed heavily.
"I know. He's going to want to try and capture them. It's not the way to
deal with the situation, but he can sense them without seeing them. Without
Enin here, we don't have many choices." Sy paused only for a moment, and
then revealed his expectations. "Maybe he'll listen to reason this time,
but I doubt it. If we have to, we'll play it his way."

The captain knew that ended the
discussion, but Sy offered more advice before the sergeant could turn away.

"Be careful on the streets.
Rogues spook horses something fierce. You're the only one I want riding through
the streets, but I don't want you getting thrown. Go to the tavern first. My
bet is he's there waiting to walk Linda home."

Klusac nodded and directed his
mount away without another word.

After peering down several streets
and alleys to ensure the citizens of Burbon had taken the warning to find
immediate shelter seriously, Sy moved back to the soldier who had signaled the
towers.

"Signal the towers again.
Cancel the order for the sweep. Have the foot patrols take positions at major
crossroads and wait for further orders. Stay here and keep note of the tower
communications. I'm going to the nearest barracks. I'll dispatch messengers
back to you as soon as I get there. Use them to keep me apprised of what's
happening here. When Klusac and Acumen return, send them to the barracks."

After the soldier acknowledged his
order, Sy moved quickly across the darkened streets, stepping through dancing
shadows created by the flickering flames of the street lamps. The wind picked
up, and he could smell the rain in the distance. Nothing was going to be easy.

Tactical approaches to deal with
the incursion flashed through his mind. The thick scales of the river rogues
were durable, but not resistant to arrows. If he could find them, his archers
could bring them down. Unfortunately, he knew the delver wouldn't allow the
obvious approach.

Still, the delver was the best
suited to quickly scout the town and locate any river rogues within their
walls. He'd try to convince Ryson, but he wouldn't waste time arguing. Heavier
rains were coming, and that would hinder his efforts and work to the monsters'
advantage. The river rogues had to be neutralized as quickly as possible, even
if he had to give into the delver's passive nature.

Fairly confident he could address
the river rogues without casualties, he ceased isolating the problem and
considered it with regard to his other worries. Five river rogues—three already
inside the wall and two outside—were far beyond any rogue encounter they had
previously experienced in Burbon.

With the Fuge River nearby, there
was always the threat of one or two wandering in too close, enticed by the
scents of food and hopes of easy prey, but three actually breaching the walls
was a little too extreme for the captain to dismiss as mere chance. He faced
the prospect of finding a connection between the incursion of river rogues with
other occurrences happening around Burbon.

He considered all the activity at
Pinesway. The neighboring town had once been abandoned and became a haven for
bandits and thugs, but that was no longer the case. It was being rebuilt by
dwarves and humans. The criminal element had been forced out, and settlers
continued to repopulate the area. Humans were even logging again just beyond
the outskirts of the town.

Sy believed it was possible a
handful of rogues might have been alarmed at the increased activity... and
especially the presence of dwarves above ground. River rogues might have been
willing to hunt down humans, but the sturdy underground dwellers were another
matter. Sy assumed that previous contact between rogues and dwarves had been
limited at best. River rogues preferred hiding in the tall grass by the sides
of waterways and dwarves remained below ground.

The captain pondered river rogue
activity and their more likely adversaries. With that thought, he mulled over
another prospect that troubled him, gave him an uneasy feeling like listening
to an out of tune instrument played by an intense amateur musician. It had been
several days since he had received any reports from the elves of Dark Spruce,
and elves and river rogues were natural enemies.

When the magic first returned to
Uton, elves and humans appeared to have the easiest time in reestablishing
relations. Communication between his town and the elves of Dark
Spruce Forest
started out sporadically, but it had become more constant over the past few
seasons. There wasn't any official treaty between them, but a casual agreement
to share information had burgeoned into a fairly stable structure of
cooperation. He believed the elves, and certainly his own forces, benefited
from the shared intelligence.

For some reason, however, all
contact with the elves had ceased. He had sent scouts out into Dark Spruce, but
he knew that elves could avoid detection if they chose to remain hidden. They
had done so for countless cycles of the seasons when the magic was absent from
the land. Avoiding human scouts in the deepest sections of Dark Spruce would be
a simple task.

The question was, why? Why would
the elves break off all communication? To Sy's knowledge, there had been no
hostilities between them, not even a minor misunderstanding.

The loss of reports from the elves
was more than a slight inconvenience, it quickly became a substantial concern.
He wondered if the situation with the elves had anything to do with the
appearance of so many rogues. To his dismay, he had very little information
about any dark creature activity in Dark Spruce and his town was suddenly
inundated with monsters. He didn't like the implications.

When he reached the barracks, he
ordered several messengers to different outposts across the town. The guard
station would serve as a temporary command post, and he would ensure he received
sufficient information. He also placed a signal guard on the roof to establish
immediate communications with each tower. He quickly reviewed the contents of
the adjoining armory and then waited for the return of his sergeant and the
delver. They arrived quicker than he expected.

"I found him outside the door
of the tavern," Klusac explained. "He was guiding people inside while
guarding the entrance."

Ryson Acumen moved lightly into
the barracks with ease in his step, like a light breeze flowing down a mountainside.
There was no stress in his eyes, no tension in his body, and no apprehension in
his movements. Still, anyone who knew the delver recognized a raised level of
vigilance.

"I heard the disturbance and
I saw the signals," Ryson acknowledged. "The sergeant told me about
the rogues. How do you want to handle it?"

Sy looked dead in the face of the
delver and offered what he felt was the best way to approach the situation,
though he already knew Ryson would object.

"I want you to use your
senses to locate every rogue within the walls. Once you pinpoint them, I'll
have archers dispatch them as quickly as possible. You can..."

Ryson didn't let him continue.

"No, I won't find them so you
can kill them."

Sy made one last effort.

"They're already inside the walls...
on the streets. They're dangerous and they're here to kill our citizens."

"We can handle it without
killing them. The people have already been warned. No one is going to get
killed tonight."

Eyeing the delver with
frustration, Sy realized further argument was not only futile, but a waste of
critical time.

"Fine, we don't kill them.
We'll capture them. I'll send guards to different points of the town with iron
chain nets. Rogues are strong, but they can't rip through iron. You hunt them
down. Keep that sword of yours out in the open. I want the tower guards to keep
track of your progress. When you pinpoint a rogue, stop and wave the sword
three times over your head. The tower guards will signal your position to my
soldiers, and they'll take it from there."

"Maybe you should just let me
take care of it. I can lead them out of the town. I would just need your guards
to open a gate once..."

It was Sy's turn to cut off the
delver.

"No. You won't let me
dispatch them, as I should—and I'll live with that—but I'm not going to let you
lead some kind of parade through town. I'm also not going to open the gates at
night. There are more rogues outside the wall. We net those that are already
inside, secure them so they can't get loose, and I'll have them released
very
far down river tomorrow."

"I have your word you won't
have them killed?"

"You have my word." Sy
frowned. He didn't feel it was necessary to affirm his order. He meant what he
said, and the delver asking for some kind of confirmation added to his annoyance.
He was already compromising with the delver—adding risk he did not think was
necessary—and Ryson's apparent lack of faith was a jab he did not need... or
like. He wouldn't waste time debating the issue at that moment, but he also
decided that wouldn't be the end of the conversation.

"You and I are going to have
to have a talk."

"Tomorrow," Ryson
offered.

"That'll be fine."

Ryson was sorry the tone had
become so unfriendly. He wished he could have cleared the air before he left,
but he had rogues to find.

Turning about with a flash of
grace, Ryson quickly exited the barracks with Sergeant Klusac and Sy following
close behind. The delver pulled the Sword of Decree from the sheath on his
back.

The blade glowed brightly as it
magnified and reflected the surrounding light. Even with a night sky blanketed
in clouds, the land was never completely dark. Light always managed to find its
way through the land of Uton
and the Sword of Decree enhanced that light with its enchantment.

"Not as bright as it would
glow in the day," Ryson admitted, "but in this darkness, I doubt the
tower guards will have any trouble seeing me."

"We
think
there's only three," Sy reminded the delver, "but
there could be more. Find them all, and do it quickly."

Ryson nodded and sped off toward
the northern section of town.