Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice (4 page)

"Archers," the scout
added with a note of foreboding, hoping to accentuate its concern without
sounding as if it was admonishing its leader.

"So?" the commander
repeated with a growing sneer. His eyes fixed upon what he began to view as an
irritating subordinate, like a fly that kept landing on his face and didn't
realize it was time to give up and annoy someone else.

"More archers means humans
ready."

If it was the scout's intention to
raise the level of its commanders concern, it failed to provoke the proper
response. Okyiq brushed aside the activity as if it was nothing more than
routine behavior. He knew of the human guards. They always appeared
worried—moving around the gates, watching in towers—but it was all quite ordinary.

"Humans are never ready for
goblins." Okyiq offered with a half grumble. "They are just afraid of
the dark. They run around like ants in rotted wood."

The scout didn't quite see it that
way.

"Not running. Watching.
Arrows ready. Standing to fight. Different tonight."

Growing slightly more troubled by
the news, Okyiq finally took the warning seriously.

"How many near us?"

The scout, lacking the ability to
count, did its best to offer an accurate projection.

"Small group in tower, but
more than usual. Walls have lots more. Uhmmm... size of goblin raiding party
standing on wall supports."

"None moving?"

The smaller goblin shook its head.

Revealing a twisted and unpleasant
frown, Okyiq almost called off the raid, but then a light breeze brought
another whiff of cooking meat to his large nostrils. His stomach growled just
as he waved off any reluctance to attack.

"Fah, not enough to stop
us."

"We still raid?" the
scout wondered aloud.

"The forest belongs to
me!" the larger goblin roared, then added what he saw as an important
detail. "With the elves gone, this part is mine!"

The scout decided, perhaps against
its better judgment, to add an important detail of its own.

"Human town outside the
forest."

The goblin scout did not wish to
correct Okyiq, or point out such an obvious fact that would make its leader
appear somewhat dimwitted, but the smaller creature clearly did not want to be
part of a raid with so many human archers in position to offer significant
resistance.

The hesitancy of the creature was
almost understandable. Courage was not a resounding trait of the diminutive
beasts, though they weren't complete cowards, either. Despite their lack of
valor, they often threw themselves into violent and perilous situations,
especially when the call of the horde overwhelmed and stifled their desire for
self-preservation. While they might have joined gleefully in unrestrained acts
of brutality, they also endured the insecurity of inadequacy, and they often
chose to flee in the face of stout opposition.

It was a constant struggle for
such small creatures that originated from a realm that demanded both aggression
and caution just to survive, and it wasn't surprising that Okyiq would have to
deal with at least some small sliver of reluctance. The bloodlust of battle had
not yet taken hold, and a couple hundred goblins spread across the eastern
border of Dark Spruce hardly characterized a sizable pack, let alone a horde.

As if to punctuate its sentiment,
the scout pointed back over its shoulder.

"Forest
back there!"

Okyiq's eyes shot open at what he
saw as not only open defiance of his will but a mocking gesture of disrespect.
He ascended to command because he was larger and stronger than the other
goblins... and he did not take kindly to dissension. He struck with a closed
fist at the top of the scout's head and sent the smaller creature sprawling
into the dirt.

"You don't tell me what's
mine and what's not! Humans cleared forest for their town. Forest here first.
That makes them part of forest... part of
my
forest. I take what is mine. Humans have supplies I want. We raid
tonight!"

The large goblin, however, would
not completely disregard the anxiety of his followers. Certainly, the monster
understood how to maintain discipline through terror. Okyiq's bulk gave him a natural
advantage over those that followed him, but even with meager intelligence,
Okyiq knew how to lead, at least to a degree. Too much fear of repercussions
and too little regard for authority led to desertion.

As a few of his lieutenants
cringed at the angry display, Okyiq used his scant wisdom just enough to follow
the display of strength with minor appeasement.

"So you fear the human
archers on the wall?" Okyiq demanded of the goblins near enough to hear.
"You think they will shoot us all down? Do arrows fly only one way?"

The other goblins tilted their
heads in apparent confusion.

The goblin leader continued with a
devious smile.

"If they're on the wall, then
they are open to us. What keeps us from firing at them?"

A few of the goblins began to nod,
but not the majority.

"We have short bows,
crossbows, and plenty of bolts and arrows. Should we forget what we have?"

Without waiting for an answer, the
large monster picked up a stick and drew a small circle in the dirt and then a
curve just below it. He called his lieutenants to gather around. He sneered but
with slightly less hostility than he offered the scout. He demanded that those
nearby try to pay attention—something difficult for any goblin, but not
impossible.

"This is wall around human
town. We raid here!" Okyiq used the end of the stick to point to a section
of the circle which corresponded to Burbon's southern gate. "Door here is
closed, but we climb wall, kill guards, open gate."

The hulking creature paused and
waited to see if any of the surrounding goblins dared to object. His eyes
narrowed and his fists clenched tighter. He allowed his expression to
communicate his intentions if any decided to oppose him.

Knowing they would receive the
same treatment dished out to the still dazed scout, the subordinate goblins
held their tongues. They might not have wanted to face human archers, but they
had no desire to face Okyiq's fury, either.

Pleased with the silence, Okyiq
then threw out the only bone he would offer, the one adjustment to help ease
his followers concerns, but he knew it would suffice.

"But... not all of us will go
to gate. Only part of us will go here." Okyiq jabbed the stick further
into the dirt. He continued to direct the goblins' attention to the bottom of
the circle that represented the southwestern portion of Burbon's contiguous
wall. He then pulled the stick back and pointed to the curve he drew below.
"This the hill rest of us can hide behind. We have enough short bows and
crossbows. Stay behind hill until I say, then go to top of hill and fire at
humans on wall! They will die and not see what we really want."

With a grunt of satisfaction, the
leader jabbed the stick into the ground back at the point of the circle that
represented the southern gate.

"This is where small party
goes first. We climb wall, open gate, get more of us inside, take supplies,
leave. Humans die, we live. We get food and weapons."

Certainly it wasn't a grand
strategy, just a simple diversion added to a basic raid, but for the group of
goblins, it radiated with pure brilliance. Okyiq added one more tactical aspect
of goblin genius.

"We wait for rain. Coming
soon. When rain starts, I give signal. Harder for archers to see us."

In a downpour, it would also be
harder for the goblins to target the archers on the wall, but even had they
thought of it, none of the lieutenants dared to make the claim. It was safer to
simply nod and snicker.

#

Ryson moved eastward to the
location where a second river rogue had been spotted. Again, he found the
creature's scent quickly. He tracked the monster as he moved along a rather
straight path. The rogue must not have been concerned by its surroundings as
its trail passed through the center of a wide road.

The delver still traveled near the
northern gate, but the streets and alleys were darker in that particular
region. The area contained the large storehouses for food supplies brought in
from the farms that covered the lands to the northeast. Lantern posts were not
as common and most of the buildings were dark.

The second river rogue was easier
to spot than the first, actually standing out in the open, banging against a
locked warehouse door. It probably smelled the food stored within the confines
of the structure and decided to force its way inside.

Ryson pulled to a stop and waved his
sword high above his head to signal the towers. He remained a safe distance
from the building which held the river rogue's attention while he scanned the
area for any security personnel. Other than the rogue's poundings, the streets
remained quiet and empty.

Unfortunately, his movement
created a flashing beacon that caught the rogue's attention. The delver knew
the guard towers would signal foot patrols to move into the area, but he
couldn't be sure from which direction they would arrive. Not wanting them to
unwittingly step into a dangerous situation, he decided to remain the new focal
point for the beast.

Ryson raced forward and came to a
halt about three arm lengths away from the rogue. He twirled his blazing weapon
and leapt to his right and left. He kept calling out to ensure any arriving
guards would hear him, though he knew they would not miss the flashing display
of his sword.

The rogue found the delver's
actions first distracting and then enraging. Like an angered bull, it charged
at the sparkling blade. It slashed as it snarled and spit, but its claws found
only empty air.

Ryson continued moving the sword
in nearly every direction as he carefully danced backwards, coaxing the monster
away from the building and out into the open street. The rogue was deceptively
quick, even on dry land, but Ryson found no difficulty in avoiding every swipe.
Once he managed to direct the beast into the center of a wide crossroad, the
delver took quick glimpses in each direction and spied a group of oncoming
soldiers.

Before the rogue could spot the
guards, Ryson sidestepped to his left. By coaxing the creature to follow, he
turned the monster's back to the soldiers' approach. He shouted louder at the
rogue, making sufficient noise to block out any sounds that might alert it to
approaching danger from behind.

To their credit, the guards
understood the delver's intentions, quieted their movements, and prepared the
iron net to swoop down upon the rogue from behind. They spread the strands of
chain across the road, and once in position, they darted forward catching the
creature in the center of the net.

Ryson leapt to the side and
allowed the soldiers to wrap the mesh around the rogue with a sweeping motion.
He helped secure the chains to ensure the rogue's arms could not break free.
With the monster no longer a threat, he turned to the squad leader.

"Nicely done."

"You set it up for us,"
the squad leader offered.

"Any further sightings?"
the delver asked.

"Last information I received
was just three sightings of rogues inside—including this one—and two outside
the wall."

"This is the second we've
secured," Ryson offered. "That means only one left. If there was a
fourth inside, it probably would have been seen by now. What do you
think?"

The soldier considered the
assumption, but found a small flaw in the logic.

"Probably, but the captain
ordered all foot patrols to stand fast at crossroads. Everyone else is inside.
You're the only one actively searching. If there were more, you'd know about it
first."

Ryson considered the patience of
the first rogue that had been hiding behind the candle maker's barrels. If
there was a fourth rogue, it might have found similar refuge. One might be
hiding behind some warehouse or in some dank drainage ditch. He realized he
could not simply assume that there were only three. He would have to search the
entire town after he located the third river rogue.

"You're right," the
delver conceded. "All citizens were ordered inside, so I can't be sure of
anything. After I locate the third, I'll keep searching. Well... if there is a
fourth one, I should be able to find the scent pretty easily."

The soldier didn't doubt the
delver's words, didn't view them as boasts, but wondered about the effect of
the elements.

"Can you still locate scents
in the rain?"

As if on cue, the first raindrop
hit the ground between the guard and the delver.

"It's going to make it more
difficult," Ryson admitted, "but these things smell pretty bad."

The guard took a big whiff, and
though he lacked the delver's keen senses, he could not argue the assertion.

"They do stink," the
soldier admitted.

"This one's not going to
smell any better if it gets wet, and moving it in the rain is just going to
make things more difficult. You probably want to get it off the streets before
it really starts to pour."

"There's a guard post with a
holding cell a couple blocks of here. We'll take it there."

"You'll signal the towers to
let them know?"

"Absolutely. Captain wants to
keep informed."

"Good. Please signal that I'm
going after the third rogue and then I'll sweep the town to make sure there
aren't any more."

"Will do."

#

"The rain is here," one
of the goblin lieutenants boldly stated.

A steady sprinkle of raindrops hit
the ground all around them, but Okyiq found the amount unsatisfactory.

"Not rain, not yet. This just
spittle." The goblin leader looked up at the skies. He could see thicker
clouds rolling in from the west, even in the dark of night. "Real rain
coming soon."