Delver Magic: Book 05 - Chain of Bargains (5 page)

"We have the reports from the
settlers that left the valleys, but what exactly should we be focusing
on?" the delver requested.

"We are here to determine the
extent of the infestation, its purpose, its influence, and hopefully, its
origin. We will focus on the farmlands first. Better to understand what is
happening out on the edges before we enter the center."

"Okay, so a concealed scout
of the outlying farms. Will you use any sight spells?"

"Not at this time. I do not
want to alert anyone to our presence, and a sight spell that would go
measurably beyond your senses might reveal us to a powerful mage in the
area."

Ryson looked back over his
shoulder to the west, but this time he did so to gauge the dying light. The sun
had disappeared behind the hills and dusk had begun. The sky remained dark blue
overhead, but the far edges in the east were already tinged with gray.

"Well, soon we should be able
to set out under cover of darkness, but until then, I suggest we move around
the surrounding woods to get a better look at what's going on here before we
hit the farmlands. We might be able to pick up a few trails and check on some
of the dark creatures that were watching the borders of the valley."

Holli nodded and the two set off
to explore the area in greater detail. They quickly located another group of
inferns in the distance. They were easy to spot as they did, in fact, glow. The
heated nature of their bodies radiated through their pale skin, and their faces
lit up the night like round lanterns held on armor pedestals. Their iron javelins
appeared as long red staffs encased in molten metal. They stood as silent
sentinels in a clearing on a nearby hillside—demon imps offering themselves as
beacons to light up the night, perhaps warning the curious to stay away.

As a deeper darkness spread across
the valley and the night advanced with a moonless sky, Ryson and Holli expanded
the scope of their scout. They leapt from the sanctuary of the trees and moved
through the fields at ground level.

Carefully, they spied into
farmhouses and barns and examined the roads to determine the level of activity
that occurred throughout the outlying regions. They noted the location of a few
towns, but never got close enough for any detailed inspection of the activity
in pubs, taverns and inns.

They traveled quickly and quietly,
covering huge distances. Despite the lack of sleep, neither tired and they
never paused. Blending into the night, they stayed in shadow and kept away from
large clearings where their movements might be detected. They went unspotted despite
the tense nature they sensed.

Moving carefully through fields,
along fences, and down gullies, Ryson and Holli noted the apprehension of all
those they crossed. It seemed every farmhouse remained well lit, and several
armed soldiers on horseback moved along roads far from the outskirts of nearby
towns.

The guards remained cautious and
alert throughout their patrols, and they rode in groups of larger numbers than
seemed necessary for the region. Even their mounts revealed a skittish nature,
as the horses stepped across gravel and dirt roads with a cautious gait and a
wary eye. The guards stopped often and peered for long moments into the
darkness. Even sentries at the gates of small towns appeared tense and
apprehensive. The night was not a friend to any of those on patrol.

Holli and Ryson kept silent, but
knowing glances between them revealed their awareness to the tension. They also
observed oddities within the farm fields they could not explain. It was the
height of the growing season, and most fields were carefully planted and
yielding great quantities of crops, but some appeared disheveled and
disorganized. These fields lacked clean planted lines, as crops and weeds mixed
together across swaths in haphazard fashion. The ground was packed hard under
foot, not the softer mounds of recently plowed fields.

Once the night passed, they
returned to the trees in outlying areas and continued their reconnaissance from
afar. They watched the roads and noted the pace and direction of wayward
travelers and merchants. There were far fewer than they expected.

There were, however, a great
number of other travelers on the roads—travelers they did not expect to see out
in the open in broad daylight, but they were there nonetheless. Goblins moved
along roads without hiding their numbers and with little regard to humans they
passed. They acted as if they belonged there, and even more surprising, the
humans that spotted them simply passed as quickly as they could. No one called
for help, no one shouted an alarm. The presence of goblins seemed to be
accepted.

After several days of careful
reconnaissance, Holli decided to approach a farmer working in the fields. She
hid her pointed ears under a forester's cap and counseled Ryson to appear as
nothing more than a human logger surveying the land.

The farmer eyed them suspiciously.
When the two strangers stepped off the road and onto his land, he abruptly
ended his chores and intercepted them. He held a pitch fork loosely in one
hand. He was big, but agile enough to use the tool effectively as a weapon.
With more defiance than curiosity, he demanded the reason for the trespass.

"You need something?"

Holli nodded.

"Information," she said
quickly. She appeared confused, as if they were lost. "We were out
surveying the hills to the southwest for potential logging fields and we lost
track of time... and our position. We saw some creatures that we decided to
avoid, so we came down into the valley."

The farmer appeared to respect
their caution, but then decided to question what they might have seen.

"The glowing ones or the big
spiders?"

Holli and Ryson had located the
presence of bloat spiders, so the farmer's inquiry was not a surprise.

"Actually, both," she
replied.

The farmer expected as much, but
then considered how common the appearance of such dark creatures had become
around the foothills that bordered the valley. He could see the inferns every
night. They were impossible to miss.

"And they surprised
you?"

"Yes."

"You been around here
long?"

"No, we are not from the
valley." Holli answered with absolute honesty that rang clear in her
voice.

"Where
do
you come from?"

Here, the elf was forced to bend
the truth. She did not wish to lie, but her directive and intentions called for
a level of secrecy.

"We usually stay in the
logging camps in the woods. We just took this surveying job..." She let
her voice trail off, as if to reveal the decision was a mistake.

It seemed a simple enough
explanation, but the farmer remained cautious. Just because the two loggers got
separated from their camp, that was no excuse for them to come on to his
property. He had enough problems without worrying about lost loggers.

"So what information do you
need? The hills are that way." The farmer pointed to the west, away from
his land.

Ryson decided to enter the
conversation and added more than a hint of confusion to his tone. He spoke with
guarded apprehension, as if to convince the farmer they were truly unnerved by
the appearance of so many dark creatures.

"If you don't mind, we'd like
to know what's going on here. I mean, I've seen my fair share of strange things
in the woods, but not like this. Is it like this all over the valley or is it
just near the foothills?"

Ryson already knew the answer to
that
 
question. During their
reconnaissance of the surrounding lands, they had already spotted the
unmistakable signs of goblin parties. He knew the dark creatures were running
wild through the area, he just wanted to hear the farmers viewpoint.

The farmer eyed Ryson and then
Holli. He saw what he believed was genuine concern etched on their faces, and
so, decided to speak openly.

"It's goin' on all over the
place. And none of us are too happy about it. We got those little creepy
things... what do they call them? Yeah, goblins. They've been taken over farms.
I got 'em for neighbors now. Unbelievable."

The farmer's disclosure was no
surprise to either Ryson or Holli. They spotted goblins occupying several
farmhouses. The next revelation, however, was a surprise.

"Were many lives lost?"
Holli asked.

"What do you mean?"

"When the goblins attacked
the farms, were many hurt?"

"They didn't attack."

"How did they get inside the
farmhouses, how did they gain control of the land?"

The farmer frowned. Holli could
tell the subject did more than annoy him.

"It was given to them,"
he finally grumbled.

"By the previous
owners?"

"No, most of the owners just
abandon the land, and that's what I don't understand. My neighbors, they just
up and left, and they didn't want to talk about it. I thought they could have
sold their farm, but they just wanted to get out... as quickly as
possible."

"So your neighbors abandon
their land, but you said it was
given
to
the goblins."

"It was," the man
replied, as if he was spitting out a bad taste.

"Who gave them the
land?"

"Land councils in the town that
keeps track of ownership."

"You're kidding?" Ryson
said, his shock apparent. He would have expected the goblins were nothing more
than squatters. That he could understand, but land councils willingly handing
over valuable farms to goblins was beyond lunacy.

"You think I'd kid about
that?" the farmer shot back. "I would have taken over the land
myself, but I never got the chance."

"Why in the name of Godson
would the land councils hand over farms to goblins?"

"'Cause they're
jackasses!"

"There has to be more to it
than that," Holli pressed.

"Oh, they give a lot of
reasons, all of 'em garbage. They say we should try to work with the goblins,
give 'em a chance, let them farm the land instead of tryin' to steal from us.
It's a joke."

"The goblins are farming?!"
Holli's level of surprise leapt to near staggering proportions.

"I don't call it farming.
It's pathetic. They have no idea what they're doing. They don't prepare the
land. I don't think they know what a plow is, let alone how to use one. I've
seen them just throw seeds in fields that have been fallow for three or four
growing seasons. And when I say throw, I mean throw. They scatter seeds around
like they're having snowball fights. It's ridiculous."

"Does anything ever
grow?"

"Some of it does, but they're
not getting close to a quarter of what their fields should yield. It's a waste.
A waste of seed, a waste of land... I'd say it's a waste of their time, but
they don't seem to do anything productive. They're about the most disgusting
things I've ever seen. Thankfully, the farmers that left either took their
animals or turned them over to neighbors. These goblins just took over empty
land... and the barns and houses. I wouldn't want to see how they care for
livestock."

Holli considered the farmer's
answers. She compared the information to what they had obtained from
questioning settlers that arrived in Connel as well as from their scouts of the
surrounding lands. A few questions were answered about what they had heard and
seen, but more mysteries arose.

"And you have no idea why the
original farmers just abandon their lands?"

"They said they didn't want
to keep their families around so many monsters. That's the only answer they'd
give."

"And what about you?"

The farmer stiffened, as if being
challenged.

"You mean why am I
staying?"

"Yes."

"This is my land. I'm not
just going to give it up. Yeah, those things worry me, but I can't just walk
away."

Holli saw strength and defiance in
the man's eyes, but she wondered how long that would last if the man's farm came
under siege by a horde of goblins. Then again, it seemed as if the goblins
didn't need to take the lands by force. Someone was handing it over to them
freely.

There was still the question of
why some of the farmers were abandoning their lands. Even when Enin questioned
many of those that reached Connel, he never got them to give a clear response.
Many did indeed state it was for the safety of their families, but others spoke
of strange rumblings from the land itself—not tremors, but almost groans of dismay.
The escaping settlers couldn't explain what it was, but it unnerved them, left
them feeling the land had become their enemy, and that was the worst feeling a
farmer could have.

Holli believed there was little
else she could learn from the farmer. It was time to turn her attention to the
towns and look in on the land councils. Answers might be found there.

"Well, thank you for your
time," she bowed her head slightly to the farmer. "We will be on our
way."

"Good luck to you, and stay
safe."

The farmer didn't go directly back
to his chores. He remained at the edge of his property as he watched the two
strangers turn around and apparently head back to the western hills. Not
knowing that Holli and Ryson had no intention of leaving the valleys, he
believed they were returning to their logging camp. He wondered if they would
make it through. To his knowledge, the strange creatures stalking the rim of
the valley had not attacked anyone... yet, but he knew they were there for some
reason. Whatever that reason was, he didn't believe it was compassionate or
benign.

A shriek broke the relative
silence of the evening. Curses followed. Shouts and calls rumbled across the
motley collection of tents outside Burbon's wall. Men with staffs, pick axes,
shovels—anything that could be used as a weapon—cautiously stalked away from
their campfires and makeshift shelters. They headed toward the scream with a
mix of hesitancy derived of concern for their safety and determination born
from a desire to help a neighbor in need.