Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice

by Jeff Inlo

  Ryson decided to break the momentary stalemate. He ignored the surrounding goblins. They were never a threat to him. Even with so many around him, what could they do? They carried short swords, not bows. They would have to get within arm's length to use their weapons. Even had they not carried sacks heavily loaded with plunder, they lacked the physical ability to match the delver's speed and quickness. No, the goblins throughout the streets posed no real danger.

  Okyiq was the one real threat to Ryson's home. The large goblin orchestrated the attack, used his unnatural strength to its fullest potential. It was not the frantic call of the horde that urged the goblins forward, but rather the harsh voice of their leader. It was not the furious stampede of the dark gray host that pressed the goblin storm onward, but rather the raised fist of one titanic monster. If Ryson wished to end the conflict, he needed to neutralize the leader of the raid.

  With surgical precision, Ryson stabbed at the monstrous goblin's shoulder. The tip of the Sword of Decree broke through the skin, but only by the smallest of margins. It was just enough to invoke the enchantment of the blade, a blade which was capable of burning the spirit, no matter how decrepit in nature.

  Okyiq howled in indescribable pain. His eyes shot open wide as every fiber of his being felt as if it was being consumed by the fire of a white hot star. He tried to pull away from the sword, but the cursed delver could counteract his every retreat. Desperate, he swung a free hand at the glowing blade, hoping to knock it away.

  Ryson countered by pulling the blade away at the last instant and then stabbing at another vulnerable section of the goblin's body. He danced about the monster's form, twirling about like a whirlwind constrained to a localized area. He stabbed with deft accuracy, always slicing the goblin's hide just enough to engulf the creature's soul with enchanted fury but never thrusting the blade to cause an egregious wound to its body.

  As Okyiq wailed in absolute anguish, the surrounding goblins stared in disbelief. It appeared as if their leader was being consumed by magical fire, a flame of glory that caused the enormous goblin unimaginable pain. If their formidable leader could suffer in such a manner, they could only envision what they might endure if the blazing blade fell upon their own vulnerable bodies.

  Unwilling to face such a fate, every goblin within Burbon raced toward the gate. They rushed forward, dropping their sacks, many even dropping their simple weapons. They wished only for the sanctuary of the forest and to free their ears of the horrible screams of their suddenly abandoned leader.

  When the last goblin fled through the gate, Ryson pulled his sword from Okyiq's skin but held the sharpened tip menacingly toward the large goblin's face. The delver had a prisoner, one of great value.

  With the raid over, Ryson's curious nature bubbled to life. Questions erupted upon his consciousness. He considered everything he faced on that turbulent evening, and he wanted answers.

  "Why did you attack?"

  Okyiq looked with grave misgivings at the point of the glowing blade, but he found the inner strength to ignore the question. He turned his stare to the delver and remained in stony silence. He did not wish to face the searing pain of the sword again. He would rather slit his own throat, but he despised the delver and would not submit to the demand.

  Ryson ignored the monster's resolve. He realized the first question was too obvious. He saw the sacks, many lying around the large goblin, dropped by nearly a dozen goblins that decided to retreat without their leader. The delver could smell the contents, and so, he knew the creature was there to steal food. With questions still feeding his curiosity, Ryson turned his attention to the rest of the night's commotion.

  "Did you send the rogues?" Ryson demanded in a voice just above a whisper, and he watched the monster carefully.

  Okyiq had not known about the river rogues, but it did not surprise him. He was well aware that something had invoked the fear of the humans, something pressed them into greater concern. From the delver's question, he finally knew what forced the odd human behavior even before his raid began.

  Ryson immediately noticed the goblin's sinister smile, but it only confused him further. It was not surprise or denial he sensed within the expression of the monster, but something more akin to sly satisfaction, as if Ryson had unwillingly revealed a secret. The reaction served to elevate the delver's curiosity.

  "What do you know about the rogues?!"

  Okyiq said nothing. He held up his chin in pure defiance, stared into the eyes of the delver with pure hatred.

  Ryson feigned a light jab, but never touched the goblin with his glowing blade. He made the threat of his sword clear as he stared back with equal determination to learn the truth.

  The bulky goblin did not even flinch. Okyiq inflated his chest as he snarled in total defiance. He would not answer.

  Frustration exploded in the delver's mind. He knew he couldn't force the goblin to speak, but he wanted answers, needed answers. He decided if he could not compel the monster to respond to threats, perhaps he could persuade it... with the right incentive.

  "Answer my questions and I'll release you into the forest," Ryson offered.

  At that very moment, Sy appeared as he turned the corner of a nearby street. Despite the rain splattering in his face and the mud slowing his step, he moved with obvious authority to the delver's side.

  "You have no right to make that offer!"

  The delver did not take his eyes off the monster, but he recognized the voice. His expression revealed surprise at the rebuke. The goblin was his prisoner, and he felt he could do with it as he wished.

  Sy did not even wait for Ryson to debate the issue. He made his point clear.

  "That's a prisoner of Burbon. What happens to him is not up to you."

  Okyiq kept his face turned to Ryson—still daring the quick handed delver to pierce him with the dreaded sword—but he took several quick glances toward the approaching soldier. He didn't care for the tone of the human, disliked the words even more. The delver had offered a chance at freedom, something Okyiq might have accepted, but that offer had been quickly withdrawn. Still, the goblin was smart enough to sense a conflict he could possibly manipulate for his own benefit.

  "The offer has been made and I accept!" the hulking goblin declared.

  "There is no offer!" Sy growled. He shouted an order up to the nearest tower. "Signal the cavalry at the western gate. Send them out into the hills to disburse those goblin archers. Have them cut off as many of the raiders as they can. I want prisoners."

  The signal guard immediately sent the message, but then followed with a report from what he could see on his elevated platform.

  "Most of the goblins have already passed through the hills. Only a few of their archers are still firing at the wall. They must think the raid is over."

  Sy nodded and turned his attention to the large goblin still facing Ryson's glowing sword.

  "They won't all get away. I'll get the information I need from the prisoners I capture. You're staying here."

  Realizing that he faced the human with unmistakable authority, Okyiq decided to make one last grasp for freedom.

  "You can ask them all you want, human, but they don't know what I know. I lead. They follow."

  "Which is exactly why I'm not letting you go. You think I'm going to let you back out there and lead them on another raid? Not going to happen."

  And then, Okyiq made a declaration that stunned both Sy and Ryson.

  "You don't have to worry about that, human. Not going to lead them again. Going to kill them all, everyone that left me here. They're all dead."

  The delver responded first.

  "You're not going to kill anyone. You had your chance. You're staying here."

  Sy, however, turned a more perceptive eye toward the large goblin.

  "You'd kill them all? I don't believe that. You wouldn't have anyone to follow you."

  "What good are goblins that follow if they run?" Okyiq grunted. "They didn't listen, didn't follow my
orders. They're dead."

  "But you wouldn't have to kill all of them. You'd only have to take care of a few to get your point across."

  "Wrong, stupid human doesn't understand. They all ran, so they all need to die. You let any live and then they think they can do it again. Do it once... die."

  "You're not going to listen to him, are you?" Ryson asked of the captain.

  Sy ignored the delver and placed his complete attention on the goblin. He saw an opportunity, one that might give him both the information he desired as well as a chance to put a goblin to work for his own cause.

  "You got a name?"

  "Okyiq."

  "Alright, Okyiq, here's my deal. You answer my questions first—all of them—if I'm satisfied, I'll actually let you go. I want you to go after those goblins. I'm not going to ask for your word, because I know what that's worth. Nothing. But I'm curious about you. You say you're going to kill all the ones you led. How many was that? A hundred? Two hundred? I doubt you can even remember."

  "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."

  Ch
apter 5

  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.