Delver Magic: Book 05 - Chain of Bargains (8 page)

Once they were out of earshot,
Holli whispered to the delver.

"We can use this. Follow
me."

The elf dropped out of the tree
and quickly chose a path that led toward the town but away from the goblins
that continued to stumble carelessly ahead. She crouched low and motioned for
the delver to do the same.

"Keep to the shadows, but
move low to the ground, as if you are just another goblin walking toward the
town."

"Won't that be dangerous?
What if a guard gets lucky and spots us. If they mistake us for a goblin, they
might fire an arrow or two in our direction."

Holli looked across the river at
the group of goblins that were now in sight. They continued singing and walked
brazenly forward toward the sentries that waited at one of the bridges.

"I do not think that will be
the case."

Ryson wasn't so sure he agreed
with the assessment, but he played along. He crouched low and hunched his
shoulders. He bent his knees and pulled his chin into the top of his chest. He
kept his arms close to his body to keep their length concealed. If someone
spotted his outline in the distance, the delver would appear much like one of
the goblins that carelessly ambled forward ahead of him.

That thought offered little
solace. He moved carefully among the shadows and did his best to stay silent
and out of sight. If he was seen by one of the guards—and thought to be a
goblin—he didn't think it would turn out well for him.

As an additional precaution, he
kept his eyes on the goblins that had wandered out of the forest before him and
were staggering up to the town limits just ahead. He also
 
watched the guards on the roof tops.

The goblins showed no concern.
They stumbled forward with the town their clear objective. They moved through
the light of several lanterns without care. They did nothing to hide their
approach. They also showed no sign of aggression. Their crossbows dangled over
their backs and their short swords remained sheathed at their hips. If it was
their intention to attack the town, it was the absolute worst display Ryson had
ever witnessed.

As for the guards, they clearly
spotted the incoming goblins. They would have had to have been blind to miss
them. To Ryson's amazement, they took no defensive position or action. No
arrows were fired and no alarms were issued. The guards simply remained at
their posts and watched the goblins with a dismissive nature.

Ryson turned to Holli to express
his disbelief when he noticed she was watching the goblins on the road. He
watched as well and his amazement grew.

The goblins crossed the bridge
without a care to the number of human sentries posted at the far side. Again,
it was clear that Huntston was their ultimate destination. Thankfully, they
stopped singing, but they did not cease their snorting and twisted giggles.
They sauntered past the guards as if they did not exist and entered the town
like nothing more than loggers returning home.

Even more surprising, the sentries
made no attempt to keep the goblins from entering Huntston. They did not even
stop them for questioning, as they had done to numerous human travelers that
attempted to enter the town in daylight. The sentries simply stepped aside,
though with obvious disgust to the creatures that filed past.

"Do you believe that?"
Ryson whispered to Holli.

Her answer was short and
punctuated with a tone of anger.

"No."

"What in Godson's name is
going on in these towns?"

"We will find out soon
enough. Let us reach the empty alleys and then we can adopt a plan for further
investigation."

Ryson agreed and the two figures
slipped silently through the night. They crossed the clearing without incident.
If anyone had seen them, which was doubtful even in the open space, it didn't
seem to matter. No alarm had been signaled and no patrols had been sent out into
the streets to investigate intruders.

In a narrow alley between two
closed merchant shops, Holli and Ryson reviewed the immediate area with a mind
toward remaining out of sight.

"Not many people on the
streets at night," Holli observed, "but enough for us to avoid
attention."

Ryson agreed. Scattered groups of
humans marched somewhat hurriedly down the avenues. Most turned into inns and
taverns, while others just moved through the gloom until they turned some
corner and continued forward out of sight.

Holli made no immediate move to
step out of the alley. She watched those that passed intently and tried to
ascertain the overall sense of those that lived within Huntston. She noted that
most kept their heads down and their eyes forward. They did not seek attention,
nor did they care to closely examine their surroundings. They moved onward with
focused determination.

The elf then looked up and down
the streets trying to locate any of the goblins that entered the town. She
could not find a single one, and the magical flow continued to disrupt her
senses. She believed she caught remote vibrations, but it was like smelling
smoke from a very distant chimney. She turned to the delver with a request for
his unique abilities.

"Without venturing out into
the streets, can you detect any signs of the goblins nearby?"

Ryson concentrated on everything
he could see, hear, and smell. He revealed what he sensed as he focused on
catching any lingering indications of the dark creatures' presence.

"They're definitely in town,
but we already know that. I can catch faint scents of their trails, but they're
not nearby. I can tell you this; they've been in this town for a while, at
least it smells that way. It's kind of like the scent is beaten into the
ground. The thing is, it's not real strong. I don't think they hang around in
this area, or even in the streets. I can't see them anywhere, and I can't even
hear them. Still, it's like..." He paused for long moments trying to find
the words to explain what he sensed. "It's not like they're hiding, but
they're not out in the open. Maybe they're all holed up in some tavern."

"A large group... all in one
tavern?" Holli offered. "I would think you would hear them. Even if
they were across town."

Thinking about how drunken goblins
would act if dozens had gathered in a single establishment, Ryson realized the
night was much too quiet for such a possibility.

"Yeah, I probably would, but
I don't. I really don't know where they might be, but they're not out in the
open, and they're not close by."

Holli frowned. She did not like
any of the information they were discovering.

"We have to be careful,"
she finally said. "This feels beyond strange. Obviously, something is very
wrong here. Goblins enter the town, and then disappear. The humans allow them
to enter, and do nothing to guard themselves against the incursion."

"So what do we do now?"

"Let us walk these streets
and alleys with a careful eye. We will walk as the other residents. We will
seem as if we have a certain destination and move with little delay. We will
mask our attention to details as we travel, but we will both watch for
indications of what is really going on here."

Ryson agreed and followed Holli
out of the alley. He let her set the direction and pace and he did everything
in his power to appear detached from his surroundings, but nothing could have
been further from the truth.

He soaked in everything around him
with all of his senses. In mere moments, he was flooded with tension. Holli was
right, something was very wrong in Huntston and the delver could sense it with
every fiber of his being.

The people that moved past him did
so with both fatigue and suspicion, not focused directly upon him or his elf
companion, but at every dark corner. They did not appear to shrink from some
perceived physical presence lurking in the shadows, but rather an undefined
terror that could drift out of any concealed gloom, as if madness would take
hold of them if they allowed their guard to fall. It was like they expected
disaster at every turn and their constant alarm exhausted them.

Beyond the anxiety that seemed to
smother each human inhabitant of the town, Ryson continued to sense the faint
traces of dark creatures. It was almost as if every road led to a pack of
goblins waiting behind some lonely corner, yet they never encountered a single
creature.

Both Holli and Ryson peered into
many inns and taverns, but they never entered any of the establishments. Holli
slowed the pace sufficiently to allow for brief glances through windows, but
then pressed forward as if stopping would be a mistake.

Their glimpses into each tavern
and pub yielded little more information than they gained on the streets. The
patrons appeared tense, almost frustrated, as if they hoped a glass of wine or
mug of ale would alleviate their concerns, but found only failure in the
attempt. There was little talk and absolutely no cheer. Depression had set into
Huntston.

"Pretty bleak," Ryson
whispered.

"Indeed."

"No wonder they're leaving
the valleys. I wouldn't stay here, either."

"But some are choosing to
stay."

"Maybe they can't
leave."

Holli considered the assertion.

"Do you think that is why
dark creatures watch the passes out of the valley?"

"Maybe."

"But then why are so many
allowed to leave at Pride Gap? Humans have been crossing the plains in droves
and many have entered Connel. Why were they allowed to leave and others
not?"

It was an inconsistency Ryson
could not explain and he just shrugged.

"Have you sensed anything
more in the magic?" the delver asked.

"The anomaly in the energy
remains. It bends into the town, but it is quickly released. I cannot pinpoint
an exact location or focal point of the disturbance. It is as if the magic is
being drawn into the entire town as opposed to one specific area, and then it
is disbursed back into the air."

"This all just keeps getting
stranger and stranger," Ryson admitted. "I still can't pinpoint the
goblins, either. I know they're around. I just couldn't begin to tell you
where."

They turned a corner and Ryson
immediately sensed a wave of danger flush through his senses.

"Something's wrong," he
whispered, but in a harsh tone.

"I hear it as well,"
Holli acknowledged.

Ryson looked down at markings on
the road and then down several alleys. He then looked up to the rooftops of
several stores and warehouses.

"We're being
surrounded."

"So much for remaining
inconspicuous," the elf acknowledged. She quickly gauged her surroundings.
Although she lacked the keen senses of a delver, she was still a trained elf
guard and she knew how to assess danger. As she reviewed the events that
brought them there, their current circumstances, and the options before her,
even more questions developed in her mind. What she was lacking was answers,
and it began to irritate her.

Ryson had placed his attention on
the more immediate problem. He knew several guards were taking positions all
around them. He focused on finding an escape route.

"I think we should..."

Holli cut him off before he could
complete his suggestion. She knew he was planning to make a dash forward or a sudden
retreat, but she had another alternative in mind.

"No, we will let them take
us," she said with more than a simple hint of determination.

"Are you sure?"

"We need information."

"But do we want to be
captured?"

"Yes, I think we do."

"Are you sure you don't want
to get out of here?" Ryson whispered, as he and Holli stood still upon the
streets of Huntston.

"I am sure. We need
information. They can provide it to us... if we approach this properly."

"I don't know about this.
They're pretty sloppy for town guards. I see a lot of ways that we can escape
without really trying."

"I am taking that into
account. I do not believe we are in any real danger. If they considered us a
true threat, they would have shown more care in their preparations."

"Maybe they're just
incompetent."

Holli couldn't accept that
possibility. Yes, she had seen deficiencies in the town defenses, but she had
also witnessed bizarre behavior that could not be explained by simple
incompetence. The town guard secured bridges entering the town, but allowed
goblins to enter Huntston freely. Despite that fact, the town remained under
human control and had not been overrun. That had to stand for something.

She might not have understood it,
but goblins simply did not subdue their loathsome behavior for the sake of good
manners. The soldiers must have found some way to keep the goblins in line,
even if she couldn't imagine why they would let the despicable creatures enter
Huntston in the first place. Incompetent soldiers would have lost control long
ago.

"Escape is not part of the
plan," the elf guard finally replied.

It might not have been part of the
plan, but the delver felt uneasy simply waiting to be captured. Watching the
shifting shadows on the rooftops and listening to the quick step of boots in
the distance, Ryson followed the movements of the town guard. The soldiers
might not have been quiet, or even efficient in their actions, but their motive
remained clear. As the guards around them began to close in, the delver focused
on questions of his own.

"How'd they know we were here
anyway? We haven't done anything to give ourselves away."

"That is what I wish to find
out."

"You think they're going to
tell us?"

"Not directly, but no one
else has the answer. We have gained very little information on our own. We need
to talk to someone in authority, and it may be best to allow them to dictate
the circumstances of the meeting so they do not feel threatened by our
presence."