by Jeff Inlo
#
Ryson reached the walls of Burbon to find it safe in Sy's hands. The guard at the gate informed the delver of the dwarf attack. There were casualties among the soldiers, but no civilians were hurt.
Torn between relief and dread, Ryson first went to the Borderline Inn. His fears would not be completely quelled until he saw Linda safe and well.
The inn was empty, not a single patron. As he shut the door behind him, the click of the latch snapped the silence like the crack of a whip, but only for a heartbeat. The quiet rushed back upon him. The tavern area, which was normally full of life, welcomed him with only ghosts of memories. The floor boards creaked ever so slightly under his feet. Normally, such a sound would easily have been drowned out by conversation, music, even laughter. Not today. The creak of the wood played like a symphony. Ryson looked to the bar, now just a silent and lonely block of intricately designed architecture. The stools waited like sleeping sentinels or dead soldiers. A grave yard.
Ryson's heart raced. No civilians had been hurt, but where was Linda? "Hello? Linda?"
He heard her call from the back, from the kitchen.
"Ryson?"
The door to the back swung open with the force of a hurricane. Her eyes fell upon him, swelling instantly with tears of relief. She ran to him. She threw her arms around him, held him with every force of her being.
"Oh Ryson! I was so scared. I didn't know ..." the rest of her words were muffled, her face pressed in his chest.
Ryson returned her hold. He stroked her hair. He wanted to comfort her, but he was overcome with the same sense of relief. He did not know what he would have done if she was not there to greet him. He breathed heavily, freeing the tightness in his body.
"It's alright. Everything's alright."
They stayed together for long moments. Neither of them spoke. Finally, Linda released her iron strong hold. She stepped back and she wiped the tears from her eyes. She quickly moved around the bar and got a towel to wipe her face. She laughed a little, embarrassed by her own emotional outburst. The relief of seeing Ryson fueled her joy, and she laughed a little harder.
Ryson smiled. "I guess we both have stories to tell, huh?"
"Are you hungry?" she was finally able to get out.
"No, I'm alright. Maybe just some water."
Linda got two cups. They both took long gulps, trying to swallow the remnants of their emotions.
Ryson took another look around the inn. His delver curiosity began to chew at him. "What happened here? Why is this place so empty?"
Linda appeared to shiver. "We were attacked again, but not by goblins."
Ryson helped her out. "I know. It was dwarves. I was afraid of that. What have you heard?"
"They dug tunnels under us. They attacked the command post. They killed a lot of men." Linda shuddered. She had to stop, take another drink.
"That's alright. Don't go into that. I'll get that from Sy. What's happening now? Why's the place so empty?"
"They're training," Linda forced out.
"Who's training?"
"Most everyone. Sy put out a request. He said he needed volunteers to help fight. It was either that or leave for the protection of Connel. No one wants to leave their homes. Everyone agrees we have to stay and fight. Even I wanted to join. Sy wouldn't let me. He said it would interfere with your thinking. He couldn't have that. He said the people of this town would need you thinking straight more than they would need me."
Ryson did not know how to respond. He was thankful for what Sy had done. He did not want to worry about Linda. He spoke his thoughts openly. "I'd rather you didn't put yourself at risk. In all honesty, I don't know what's going to happen next."
"That's what scares all of us," Linda admitted.
"Can you leave," Ryson pressed, "can you lock this place up for a while? I want you to come with me. I'm going to see Sy. I want you to hear what's going on."
Linda waved to the empty room. "I don't think that's a problem."
Linda and Ryson moved quickly to the command post, past hundreds of civilians training in the streets. Sergeants of the guard spoke respectfully but forcefully to them all, whether they were merchant or mid-wife. This was no game. Their lives were at stake and each face showed it. Grim and determined, fearful but angry; the townspeople followed the training without objection.
The scene was powerful. Men and women of all ages, learning to use weapons of death and destruction, willing to cast aside their normal lives to protect their homes. They disregarded their status as civilians, there were no more civilians. They were all soldiers, soldiers that had to learn quickly. They made mistakes, and when they did they cursed. There was no joking, no playful laughter. This was life, and death. They came together under the watchful eyes of the sergeants; they put aside any past differences. For this moment, there was unity in purpose and in spirit.
Ryson guided Linda into the guard headquarters, into Sy's office. He offered greeting to Sy and Enin.
Sy could not have been happier, and he made no attempt to hide it. "Thank Godson."
"Godson?" Ryson quickly responded with a smile. "I didn't know you followed that faith."
Sy smiled broadly. "I'll believe anything that brings you back to us. Do you know what's going on here?"
Ryson's own smile evaporated. "Most of it. I know the dwarves attacked. Tell me about the particulars."
Sy revealed each detail, hoping the delver might find some understanding in this madness. Upon finishing his description, he asked for enlightenment. "Do you know what's going on here?"
Ryson gritted his teeth. "I'm afraid I do. It seems you were right. You yourself said that wars often spread. I guess you can say that most of this is my fault. The elves and I stumbled across a dwarf war party in the desert. They called us spies and attacked us. We beat them off but they must think we have allied with the algors. They also attacked the elf camp in Dark Spruce."
Sy did not want Ryson to assume any fault in this matter. He wanted the delver's head clear. "You can't blame yourself. You said you had a responsibility to warn the algors. No man can be faulted for living up to his responsibilities and nothing can justify the attack on my men."
Ryson revealed the full merit of his own disappointment. "I'm afraid I failed with the algors as well. I was too late in getting there. The dwarves had already attacked. The algors suffered heavy losses."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Sy offered.
Ryson did not know what else to say.
Sy turned to his obligation of protecting the people. He focused on obtaining more information. "I need your help. I need to know what you think is going to happen next. In all honesty, I have no idea what to do. The way these dwarves can tunnel leaves us with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of blind spots. The wall is useless. They can attack any part of the city at any moment. I have my soldiers spread so thin I had to ask for volunteers."
"I saw. Quite impressive."
Sy nodded with respect for the people it was his duty to protect. "Not surprising. These people really have no other place to go. None of us do. It helps, but only to a degree. I can't say what they'll do if they face a real battle. I need more experienced soldiers. I sent a messenger to Connel. She hasn't returned yet. I can't count on it until I know for sure. For now, I have to rely on what I've got. Anyway, you've told me why they've attacked, I need to know if they'll attack again."
Ryson considered the point. The thought was not pleasant. "I don't know. If I had to guess, I would probably say yes. You defeated them. I doubt that is sitting well with them. They seem to be such a proud race. Any loss is just going to make them angry. I would think they would try again."
Sy frowned, but revealed his agreement. "That's my thought, but there is still so much I don't know. How large of a force will they send against us? What kind of weapons will they use? Will they tunnel again? And most importantly, when will they attack?"
"I can't answer any o
f those questions. The only thing I can say is that I don't think dwarves are very patient. If Yave is attacking us out of anger, she'll probably waste little time, but I can't guarantee that she won't wait."
"Damn," Sy grumbled. He looked at Ryson with fading hope. "There are other problems as well. Enin here can't detect them. For some reason, they can get close and if he closed his eyes he wouldn't be able to tell them apart from our regular citizens."
"It bothers me greatly," Enin confirmed what Sy was saying. "I have spent much of the past day trying to figure out why. Even now, I don't understand it."
"The dwarves are very resistant to the magic," Ryson explained. "Holli, the elf guard, explained that to me before. That's probably why you didn't sense them."
"Resistant?"
"They don't store it, they have a hard time using it, and apparently, spells are not very effective against them."
Enin filled with relief. "It wasn't me? There wasn't something happening to me?"
"No."
"That doesn't really help us, Enin." Sy sounded upset with the wizard's show of solace. "We still won't get any early warning on them." The captain turned back to the delver. "I've put men at posts at different intersections around the town. I'm using them as early warning. I've also had some miners dig some warning traps. They tell me if the dwarves dig underneath them, they'll collapse. I don't know how much faith to put into that, though. They seem like they would work, but these dwarves can dig like nothing else I've ever seen. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Not really? I..."
Enin did not let him finish. "Something's approaching the wall." He ran from the office, ran outside into the open air.
"Great," Sy grumbled. "What now?"
He, Ryson and Linda followed the wizard. They looked to him expectantly.
Enin faced the south gate. A smile crossed his lips. "Elves. Two of them. They are approaching the wall."
Understanding washed over the delver.
"It's probably Lief and Holli. I left them rather abruptly," Ryson admitted.
Sy turned to a soldier keeping guard at the door. "Signal the south gate. There are two, uh, individuals approaching. Let them enter and instruct them to come here."
"Should I go meet them?" Ryson questioned.
"I'd rather you didn't," Sy confessed. "I'd like to hear everything they have to say for myself. If you go off on your own, I might miss something important."
"Fair enough, but we should meet them here, outside. They probably won't like being cramped up in your office."
Sy frowned with uncertainty. He spoke to the delver almost guardedly. "Before they get here, I have some questions. You said the elves were attacked as well as us. What did they say about the attack?"
Ryson offered the little information he had overheard. "It was a small raiding force, about twenty dwarves. They had some casualties, not as bad as here, but they did take some supplies."
Sy pressed for more detail about a possible elf response. "What did they say they were going to do about it?"
"They were arguing that point when I left. I think some of them wanted to attack Dunop. It's just like you said, this war is spreading, and I don't know where it's going to end." Ryson paused to look down the main street that led to the south. His sharp eyes picked up the elves being escorted by two guards before anyone else could see them. "Here they come now."
Sy called for Ryson's undivided attention. "One more thing before they get here. I'm going to talk openly to these two. If I say anything which bothers you in any way, speak up. I have no idea of what I'm dealing with here. I'm going on instinct alone. I need any help you can give me."
"I don't know much more than you," Ryson warned.
Sy shook his head. "That's nonsense and you know it. You've dealt with elves before. You've fought alongside them. I can't say that. Don't worry about hurting my feelings and don't be damned humble. I'm nearly in the dark here."
"Alright." Ryson could not ignore his plea, and could say nothing else.
The elves approached. Holli surveyed the area, summed up each human guard that stood near. She showed no sign of agitation, only careful analysis of her surroundings.
Lief did not appear happy.
"That was not wise," the elf admonished the delver. "You ran out of our camp without a thought to the threats in the forest. You ran off before you could voice your own experiences in the desert."
Ryson spoke out defensively. "I thought Burbon might have been attacked. It was. I had to get back here as soon as possible. You would have done the same."
"Without escort? Alone? I don't think so."
"There was no time for that. I had to move fast."
"Fire upon your impatience," Lief cursed.
Holli spoke softly but firmly. "There is no cause for that, Lief. What's done is done."
Ryson thanked the elf guard and quickly introduced her to those around them.
Holli found each individual interesting in their own right. She could sense the strong magic in Enin. She recalled Lief's description of the wizard. It did not surprise her now that he cast white magic. One day he would be a powerful wizard, perhaps stronger than any other, this she could not deny. Had it not been for the aura of pureness around him, this encounter would have given her nightmares.
Linda had no magic in her, none whatsoever, and that was also fascinating. It went beyond normalcy for resistant humans, even beyond the dwarves resistance to the energy. Even most dwarves Holli met touched the magic to at least some degree, but this human woman seemed to almost repel it, to shed it from her as if it was an unwanted and weak virus.
As for Sy, he sparked the most curiosity in the elf guard. He was obviously a soldier, a leader of this human army that was even now training in the streets. She wondered about his skills, his experiences. She would have liked to speak with him alone, to learn everything he could teach her. She was not so arrogant to believe that only the elf guards knew proper battle tactics. She need only look around to see the walls and towers as well as the placement of guards to know that this man had wisdom in the ways of war and defense. She asked openly of the training exercises.
"You have many learning to fight and Ryson spoke of a dwarf raid. Have you been attacked?"
Sy spoke without hesitation. He spoke openly and with all honesty. "We were attacked by dwarves that tunneled under the wall. We weren't ready for that. We lost about thirty soldiers. Our forces were deployed for other threats. I have these people training because I don’t have enough experienced men to cover the town. The truth of the matter is I’m spread too thin, not something I would like to admit. I'm telling you this because I accept you as an ally, a friend. In all honesty, we need all the friends we can get. It's been hard enough for us to deal with the constant threat of goblin raids. I have to tell you, I'm afraid this town is under the threat of extinction. If I can't count on you to treat us as an ally, I don't think there is any hope for us."
He looked to Holli, looked to her for a soldiers promise, a word of good will that would go beyond negotiated treaties. She did not disappoint him.
"The elves do not feel threatened by the humans. We have no animosity to you or your town. We can be friends and allies, we need to be friends."
"That's good to hear, because another enemy I don't need."
Sy looked to Ryson, looked to see if he said anything he would later regret. The delver simply nodded and smiled.
Lief, however, returned his wrath to the delver. "And as friends, we should not run out on each other. Your word was needed."
"I thought I was needed here."
The response did little to alleviate the elf's anger. Ryson saw this clearly, and he attempted to assuage his friend's anger.
"Maybe I can go back," he replied somewhat apologetically.
"It is too late for that. Holli and I recounted our experiences. Still, your words might have swayed Petiole. Whether you like to accept it or not,
you are a part of elflore now. Your opinion would have been highly regarded."
Sy forced the conversation back to his own needs. "I'm not sure what's going on with your camp, but I can tell you that I need the delver here. Of that I'm sure. That may be the only thing that I'm really sure of. I'm worried the dwarves may come back at any moment. For the most part, we were lucky."
"What do you mean you were lucky?" Holli asked with interest.
Sy detailed the battle and the retreat of the dwarves. "We were lucky Enin was here. I don't now how many of my soldiers would have died if we had to battle them without him." Sy could not help but notice the expression on Holli's face. It exposed her reservations with the victory. Sy narrowed on this, demanded an explanation. "That's not the expression of someone that's just heard good news. Something about what I said is bothering you. What is it?"
"Your victory in that battle may cost you much in the future," Holli responded like one steel nerved officer speaking to another. "If our suspicions our correct, the dwarf war party was sent here to punish you. You did not let them succeed."
"Was I supposed to?"
"No. You were put in a no-win scenario. No soldier would allow an invader to attack without attempting to defend. You acted as any true leader would. But that won't change what will probably happen next. Not only were you not punished, you forced a retreat and inflicted casualties. The dwarves will find this an embarrassment. They will most likely attack again, but next time they will come in greater numbers and they will spread themselves in formations which will keep your wizard from trapping them again."
"Damn!" Sy quickly looked out across the streets, looked to the civilians now training to be soldiers. "They won't be enough, will they?"
"I don't think so," Holli responded with honesty that would befit an ally. "But do not yet lose your faith. There are other aspects of this war to consider. The dwarf army may never reach you."
Both Ryson and Sy spoke at the same time. "Why not?"
Holli hesitated at first. There was something immediately upon her lips, but she did not speak of it. Instead, she referred to knowledge that was already Ryson's. "Ryson knows of the sand giants. The algors intend to send them upon the dwarves. Such an event may forestall any attack upon you."
"Wait a minute," Ryson interrupted. "I thought it would take time for the algors to prepare the stone and to capture the magical energy needed to cast the spells. I didn't think the sand giants would be ready for another several days."
"That is probably true, "Holli admitted, "but we also don't know when the dwarves will plan a second attack against this town."
"Hold on. Hold on," Sy demanded. "You're going way beyond my comprehension here."
Ryson explained as quickly as possible.
Sy knew not to doubt, even if the thought of giants carved from sandstone and animated by magic seemed beyond sane thinking. He simply accepted the facts as revealed by the delver. The algors intended to send an army of sand giants against Dunop. If so, that would certainly occupy the dwarves if not destroy them completely. Still, Sy had to speak of his own interpretations. "If I understand what you're saying, it's possible that these sand giants may take care of the dwarves for us. If that's the case, our town may yet be safe. But I have to offer you two possibilities. What if the dwarves return to the desert and defeat the algors before these sand giants are created?"
"That is certainly a consideration," Holli conceded.
Sy continued. "That means the dwarves may still show up here. It'll just take them longer to regroup their army. The other possibility is that the sand giants don't reach Dunop until after the dwarf army attacks us. You said the sand giants will use the tunnels constructed by the dwarves as the means for them to reach Dunop. If the dwarves did a good job destroying those tunnels, it may take the sand giants days even weeks before they reach their target, plenty of time for them to deal with us."
"That is also possible."
Sy pointed out the obvious. "Then, in all honesty, the odds remain high that the dwarves will still attack here, and I don't know if I can stop them."
"There is one other factor you are overlooking," Lief said abruptly. He paused for a moment as everyone turned to look at him. Holi grimaced briefly but then nodded her head. Lief would have made the announcement with or without her approval, but he was glad to have it. "You are unaware of what Petiole, the leader of my camp, has decided. This decision makes an attack against your town very unlikely.” He exhaled deeply as if the next words were not welcome to his lips. “He plans to unleash shadow trees upon Dunop."
The mere mention of shadow trees caused Ryson to shiver. He recalled the power of these mutated creations, how they thrived in darkness and consumed all living things. He had dealt with them in Sanctum and he still recalled their nightmare. Shadow trees were beyond horror, they were living darkness and the thought of their existence in Dunop was stifling. He thought of the lifeless evils growing in the dark caverns of the dwarf city. The hideous creations would overwhelm the city, consume every inhabitant. Dunop would be destroyed, of that there was no question. He then considered the sand giants. They would clear tunnels as they sought the dwarves, make paths for the shadow trees to grow and reproduce. They would thrive in the darkness and they would spread, perhaps through every underground city in the land. Maybe it was not Burbon that faced extinction, but the dwarves.
