by Inlo, Jeff
"We have. I have also sent battle squads down in the tunnels to assist in passage. They will guide the soldiers to a secure spot. We have been communicating with our warriors through light signals. I can assure you that the human soldiers are safe." Therese hesitated for but a moment, and then decided that she should be completely honest with the delver. "I have to inform you, due to security risks, they will not be allowed in the city."
"Security risks?"
"Much has happened since we last spoke."
The delver was not pleased with the response, and he saw the restrictions placed on Burbon's soldiers as a direct impediment to what he viewed as a moral obligation. Sy would not have allowed his guards to be treated as prisoners, and it was up to Ryson to see to their well-being.
"And a lot has happened to me... and those soldiers! Burbon was overrun."
"Not a surprise."
"Is it a surprise that the captain of the guard is dead?!" Ryson responded rather harshly. The emotions he curtailed began to seep out in his words. "Don't tell me about security risks! Nothing is secure any more."
Therese was not accustomed to being spoken to in such a manner, but she finally understood the delver's outburst. She spoke in a deferential tone for she knew of Sy Fenden.
"I'm very sorry to hear that. Your captain had the respect of every dwarf warrior in Dunop. His leadership will be missed. He was a friend of yours, wasn't he?"
"One of my very few friends, one of my best friends." Ryson swallowed hard and then turned his focus back to where he believed it mattered. "Sy Fenden wouldn't be pleased to hear his soldiers were being treated as a security threat, especially when he surrendered himself to help save them. He counted on me to make sure they reached Dunop safely."
Therese saw both the pain and the determination in the delver's eyes. She knew he was acting on behalf of the slain commander, and she immediately offered more than her condolences. She found it necessary to adjust her orders.
"The soldiers of Burbon will be allowed proper shelter in Dunop. They will be allowed to rest here for as long as needed, and we will assist them in any way we can. Give me a moment and I will take the proper measures to see that those orders are carried out."
For a brief instant, Ryson felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He knew he would not fail Sy... in at least that one regard. Before Therese could reach the door and speak to her advisors, he made the full request of what he believed the captain would have wanted.
"I know they can't stay here indefinitely, but they can't go back to Burbon. If you can eventually help them get to Connel, that would be a big help. They'll be safe there."
"I will see that the proper accommodations are made."
"Thank you,"
Therese bowed her head in acknowledgement. She opened the door, spoke softly to several aids, and then returned to Ryson's side. She decided it was time to explain her own misgivings over what had happened.
"It is not my intention to argue with you, Ryson Acumen, but there are other considerations of which you must be made aware. As you know, Petiole has not been recaptured. In fact, Enin's response regarding the elf was wholly unacceptable."
Ryson was not surprised. He wasn't sure what Enin had finally said to Therese regarding the escaped elf, but he had doubted it would satisfy the dwarf queen. After the queen had shown him so much respect, he knew she deserved more, but he didn't know where to begin.
"There's a lot going on," he said with frustration over a situation that seemed to get worse with each passing day.
"Yes, there is, and while Enin did not see fit to explain what happened in Portsans, I will try to be more forthright with you."
The delver could sense the disappointment in the dwarf queen's voice. He wanted to explain everything, but there was no path of clarity through the mist of confusion. He could still see the serps sitting at the large table in the mansion in Portsans, twisting and turning every little action to gain an upper hand.
"Enin was put in a difficult situation," he finally admitted.
"Really?" Therese questioned. "And would that situation explain why Petiole appeared in Pinesway and issued a proclamation to end all logging in Dark Spruce as well as all illegal trade with the dwarves? Would it also explain why Petiole is being guarded by dieruhnes, and why they appeared outside the very same entrance you used to enter our city? They issued another proclamation there... one that they nailed to the face of one of my sentries with an elf arrow."
The revelations shocked the delver.
"Petiole was in Dark Spruce?"
"According to reliable dwarf witnesses, he was sent to Pinesway via magical teleportation. We assume he reached the entrance to Dunop in the same manner. Would you like to know what the second proclamation entailed?"
Despite the dreadful news, Ryson could not help himself. He needed to know what kind of order would be delivered in such a coldhearted manner.
"Yes."
The queen stepped to a desk and pulled a bloodstained parchment off the top shelf. She read the contents aloud.
"Dark Spruce Forest has, and always shall be, the proper domain of the elves. Right of passage through the forest must be officially tendered for travel to be legally recognized. Any previous consent for dwarves to pass through the forest is hereby revoked. Dwarves shall be expected to remain in their underground passages. Any embarkation to the surface will be viewed as a hostile act of trespass."
Therese looked back up to the delver and continued with a flush of fury. She did not wish to take out her anger upon Ryson, but she knew he was with Enin in Portsans. She needed to impress upon him the significance of Petiole's actions.
"Trespass! He is stating we are trespassing by simply setting foot in Dark Spruce! The words themselves are bad enough, but the order was signed by Petiole and delivered, as I said previously, nailed to the face of a dwarf guard with an elf arrow! Petiole is acting as if he is authorized to speak for all the elves."
Ryson didn't know what to say. He knew Therese expected something more from him. She wanted a complete explanation, a reasonable justification that Enin had apparently refused to offer. The delver was willing to oblige, but everything was becoming so tortuously complex. Ryson viewed the truth as the only path he could take.
"It's a group of serps," the delver finally responded. "They're the ones responsible. They helped Petiole escape, took him to Portsans. They're behind it all, manipulating everything."
"A group?"
"At least five that I saw, and also the large goblin, Okyiq... the one that led the army of dark creatures through the forest. They've formed some kind of council."
"A council of serps? This is what put Petiole beyond Enin's reach?"
"They have magic casters at their disposal, as well as that whole army of dark creatures."
Therese eyed the delver carefully. She was unwilling to accuse Ryson of anything close to treachery, but certain aspects of his story did not reflect rational thought. They were talking about Enin. Dwarves may have never been able to harness the power of magic with anything even resembling success, but despite living in underground cities constructed to dampen the energy, they were not completely blind to its astounding potential. If any one magic caster had ever come close to fully utilizing the capacity inherent in the energy, it was the wizard from Connel.
"Ryson Acumen, I know you would not lie to me, but there is something very wrong in your explanation. I don't care if the serps had forty spell casters in their service and an army twice as large as the force that crossed Dark Spruce; Enin could deal with them all. What is it you're not telling me?"
"The serps manipulated Enin," Ryson offered without hesitation. "Everything they did, including freeing Petiole, was to bring Enin to Portsans. They forced him to accept a deal that would keep Connel safe and prevent a war. He had to agree to give some of his magic to another wizard. It's created a link he can't break. They're watching everything he does."
The delver had hoped
revealing the truth would open some window of light into his soul, offer a way toward ending the madness, but then he thought of Sy's death, and realized how empty of an excuse it all sounded. No matter what he did, it wouldn't change Sy's fate, and any optimism he previously held to simply crumbled.
For her part, Therese found the explanation lacking. She could still not establish the logic in Enin accepting any such deal with serps. And the fact that Petiole had been allowed to roam free and cause continued pain and suffering for the dwarves only added to her dissatisfaction.
"Why would Enin do such a thing?" the dwarf queen asked, unable to fathom such a response by the wizard. "He is powerful enough to protect Connel without having to make some bargain. And to prevent a war? It appears the serps have already started one, or does Enin not know about the attack on Burbon?"
"I'm pretty sure he's aware by now, but that's not the war Enin wanted to avoid. The serps threatened him with another conflict, one that would be more devastating."
Ryson realized he was only walking down one half the path of honesty. He was clinging to the side, hoping to avoid the more difficult ground. It was time to reveal it all. He might not have wanted to discuss any more painful truths, but there was no other avenue to follow.
"It was a war between the algors and the dwarves," Ryson finally stated. "That's the war Enin was afraid of... that's the conflict he wanted to avoid."
If Therese found any insult hidden in the revelation, she hid it well, and she quickly proclaimed her own simple truth.
"Hostilities between the algors and the dwarves have ceased."
"But they could start up again. The algors haven't forgiven the dwarves."
"Such forgiveness is not required. Perhaps there has not been an official treaty of peace between our races, but there has been no reason for conflict. I must say, I'm disappointed in Enin for not bringing this to my attention. This could have been worked out between us. Much of this could have been avoided, and Petiole could have been returned to our custody."
Ryson realized he had to explain it all. Leaving out the details was only adding to the dwarf queen's confusion.
"You don't understand. The serps know where Bol Folarok is hiding."
That detail did not alter Therese's outlook in the least. If anything, she corrected Ryson's revelation.
"He's not hiding. He has chosen a place of exile. I know exactly where Bol Folarok is. He is in the city of SandsFine."
"SandsFine?"
"It is an underground city near the coast, almost directly beneath Portsans, or at least it was. SandsFine is no longer a true dwarf city. It is nothing more than a vast cavern and a landmark for the dwarves to utilize in our travels."
"What happened?"
"You mean to SandsFine?" Therese asked with a perplexed expression. "Does it matter?"
"It might."
"A very long time ago, during the period of separation between the races, SandsFine was developed as a potential outpost for dwarves to utilize resources nearer the great sea. Unfortunately, humans discovered gold in the hills above the burgeoning city. Their mining efforts proved too unwavering. They could not be deterred. Rather than risk revealing our presence, we wiped the city clean. The humans have still not discovered the cavern, but they have come close on several occasions. But all of this has very little to do with serps and Petiole."
"Not if Bol is hiding in that cavern."
"How many times must I say he is not hiding?" Therese shot back, growing more than a bit frustrated.
"Okay, he's in exile, but the serps said they know where he is. If we demanded Petiole back from the serps, they threatened to take Bol and turn him over to the algors."
Without the slightest delay, the dwarf queen revealed her expectations of such a simple matter.
"Then the algors would have to turn him back over to us and we would allow him to return to SandsFine. I cannot believe that this is the only thing that prevented Enin from returning Petiole to us."
"You don't see it, do you?" Ryson asked, keenly aware of just how shrewdly the serps developed their schemes.
The delver, however, saw it all in Therese's eyes. Every threat the serps made, not one was a bluff. They knew exactly how to manipulate others, and they had done so with incredible skill..
"See what?" the queen demanded.
All Ryson could do was hope to make her realize how her reactions would be used by the calculating serps.
"The algors blame Bol for what happened to them. They were attacked in their sandstone caves. They were slaughtered by dwarf warriors."
"Those were dwarf separatists. They were not under the command of Bol Folarok. Every separatist leader involved in that battle has been punished and removed from authority."
"They were still dwarves."
"If you're looking for regret from me over the incident, you have it, but this is not recent activity."
"It's not me that's looking for anything. It's the algors. Look, it's hard to explain, but the algors have, in a way, adopted me as part of their community. I have an idea of what they're thinking. You may not want to accept it, but they blame Bol for what happened, just like you blame Petiole."
"There is a vast difference!" Therese responded harshly. "Petiole dropped shadow tree seeds on Dunop."
"I'm not arguing that. I'm talking about Bol. He walked away, left Dunop in the hands of the separatists. If he didn't just quit, the separatists wouldn't have taken over."
"There is a great deal of blame to go around. I do not deny Bol's failures as a leader, but to hold him responsible for the separatists in the same way we hold Petiole responsible for actually dropping shadow tree seeds on Dunop is absurd!"
"So what would happen if the algors refused to give up Bol and imprisoned him as punishment for his failures?" Ryson asked.
"We could not allow for such an action. If we learned the algors were holding Bol Folarok against his will, we would view it as an act of aggression that would have to be condemned."
"And then what?" Ryson asked, but he didn't allow the queen to respond. "You don't have to tell me. You'd go to free him. You would do whatever it would take. Even if it meant war."
And there it was, the very consequences the serps threatened. Nothing the serp council did was an accident or some random act of violence. Everything, even Sy's death, was part of a well coordinated plan to create mistrust, confusion, and especially conflict. Even he and Therese were being played, the tension between them purposely fashioned to keep them from finding a way through the maze of deceit.
"We can't allow innocent dwarves to be taken prisoners," Therese responded calmly, but with a tone of absolute authority.
"I guess 'innocent' is the important word here." Ryson shook his head sadly. "I know, you're only doing what you think would be right, and maybe you are right..., but so was Enin. He saw all of this before you said anything to me. He knew what would happen. You shouldn't be disappointed with him. Not at all. If he returned Petiole, then the serps would have used Bol to start a war between the algors and the dwarves."
Therese frowned, but did not admonish the delver. Instead, she pointed to the true criminals.
"It is as you said; the serps are causing a great deal of conflict, and that angers me. They still have Petiole and I want him back before he creates even greater harm."
"That shouldn't happen... not now anyway, now that you know what's going on. You can see that they're trying to get you into some kind of war with the elves. That seems to be their main goal. You can keep the serps from manipulating you."
"Is that what you think?" Therese questioned with her annoyance returning. "That we are allowing ourselves to be manipulated? We are not idiots. We make our own decisions based on facts. I admit, at first I suspected elves might have been behind Petiole's escape, but I am not blind. As for the ridiculous ploy with the elf arrow, did you honestly think I would believe the elves attacked our warriors? We have listening posts all over the forest. We can determine if
an arrow was shot from a bow, even which type of a bow. We knew the dieruhnes killed our sentries. We are not stupid."
"But you didn't know about the serps."
"No, I did not, but that changes little. It could have just as easily been some human magic caster or some demon from the dark realm behind all of this. Petiole is being used to antagonize us. We understand that, and we are not being manipulated."
"Alright, but I just want to make sure you don't blame the elves."
"But I do blame the elves. If the elves weren't in the trees, this wouldn't have happened. You tell me the dwarves are being manipulated, and I say it is the elves that are being manipulated. They are the ones showing mistrust. Do not throw the blame for this on us."
Ryson wanted to scream. No matter how clearly he saw serp exploitation, he couldn't stop it from twisting the lives of everyone around him. He had revealed everything to the dwarf queen, and still she appeared ready to go to war with the algors, the elves, perhaps both, and she spoke with a logic he could not easily rebuke. He wondered if anything he said or did would ever matter again.
"So what are you going to do?" the delver finally asked.
"We will protect ourselves and we will ignore the proclamations given by Petiole. I have already sent an emissary to the leader of the elf camp. Shantree Wispon has been informed of what has happened. In light of Petiole's dangerous claims, I requested that she cease the reconnaissance details of her elf guards."
"And if she refuses?"
"Then tensions shall remain high."
Chapter 23
After allowing Burbon's soldiers substantial rest, Ryson prepared to lead a portion of the guard back to Connel. It was too dangerous for the entire force to travel together, as they would certainly attract attention they could not afford.
The soldiers broke into smaller groups and readied themselves for the journey. Though thankful for the shelter within Dunop, they all wished to leave the dwarf city as soon as possible. The dark caverns offered protection, but the gray walls of stone reminded them of their bleak situation. They could not return to their homes in Burbon, but at least they could be reunited with friends and family that waited for them under Enin's protections.
