Delver Magic Book VII: Altered Messages

by Inlo, Jeff

  "Sometimes a delay is all you need," Sy counseled. "Yeah, they take Burbon, and any supplies they can get their hands on, but then what? They can't attack Connel, not with Enin there. We have our own base. We can use that. We can bring forces together from Fort Nebran, and even further east. Maybe even soldiers from Connel will be willing to sign on. Pinesway too. No one is going to feel comfortable with this many goblins in one place."

  "It's going to be harder to push them out once they get behind the wall."

  "I realize that, but I know this town and its defenses. They'll be fighting on my turf. I just need to get the right force together. Maybe Enin can't help us, but there are other wizards, like Jure. Holli can cast some spells as well, and maybe we can get some help from the elves."

  "You're a lot more optimistic than I am," Ryson admitted.

  "Optimistic? That's not the word I'd use right now, but if you think once we get out of here that I'm done with Okyiq, you're wrong. Eventually, I'm going to take this town back, but I'm going to have to give it up first. I'm not happy about it, but there's just nothing else I can do."

  The captain's words actually allowed some optimism to seep into Ryson's spirit. They were facing a fight they were going to lose, but Sy was right. There would be another chance, another time when they were better prepared. That one thought lit a spark within the delver and brought out a bit of his impatience.

  "So do we just wait for them to attack?"

  Sy had been making his own calculations. There were times that patiently waiting was the only course of action that made sense, but eventually, doing nothing reached a limit, and the captain had reached his.

  "No, I've been weighing a few options. I was considering going out and harassing the spiders with archers, just to stir them up. But I don't think it's necessary anymore. I think it's time we just left."

  "We start evacuating now? Before they attack?"

  "Why not? There's nothing more to be gained by waiting. Besides, we only have two tunnels. That's a potential restriction. I don't want my soldiers stuck at an opening, all of them trying to pile in at once. If we get..."

  The captain did not get a chance to finish his thought.

  "Get down," Ryson yelled.

  Arrows from short bows and bolts from crossbows came down upon the wall like a deluge of rain. In all his life, Sy had never seen such a barrage. If a soldier so much as peaked over the top of the wall, his life would be ended in an instant as the projectiles filled the air like a wall of their own.

  Just as the torrent of arrows hit the wall in a thunderous crash, the hook hawks took flight from the trees. Over a dozen beat their massive wings as they rose high into the air. Once they began to soar over the town, they cut back and forth in twisted patterns of tortuous, disordered flight. They did not swoop down to attack but stayed high in the air to monitor the movements of the town guard.

  Sy barked commands to signal guards in protected locations on the towers.

  "Signal all forces. Do not attempt to return fire! Stay under cover."

  Sy peered through a small and protected loophole at the base of the tower platform that allowed him to see through the wall without making himself vulnerable. It was exceedingly difficult to see beyond the barrage. The constant crash of impact nearly shattered his concentration, but the spectacle was impossible to miss. As he watched the enemy army advance, he almost wished he couldn't see it.

  The goblins marched slowly toward the clearing that surrounded Burbon's wall, and there were far more than he originally estimated. As the dark creatures advanced, they reloaded their bows and fired over and over again. More and more stepped forward from around the hills and out of the forest. The separate groups converged together. What moved toward the town's edge appeared like one solid mass of gray hostility, and it seemed to have no end. The horde stretched back beyond the boundaries of Dark Spruce and deep into the trees.

  As a flood of goblins marched beneath the blanket of bolts and arrows cutting through the sky, the captain could not even estimate their numbers. He wondered if every goblin in all of Uton had come to assault his town.

  "Godson!" he gasped. It was all he could say. Even if every arrow from every archer found its mark in a goblin's dark heart, his forces would still be overrun.

  As if to accentuate the hopelessness of his cause, yet another revelation of pure calamity appeared within the ranks of the goblins. Two groups of shags pressed through the horde and quickly broke out ahead of the slowly advancing force. Each group contained thirty of the fur-laden monsters clustered closely together. They rushed forward, their intentions clear. One pack was headed toward the south gate, the second would smash headlong into the west entrance.

  In that very instant, Sy understood what he faced. The defenses would not hold, not for a single moment. His archers would not be able to fire upon the shags. To rise up against the hail of arrows would have meant instant death. The shags would break through. He shouted a desperate command to the signal guard.

  "All forces fall back to the escape tunnels."

  The message was sent immediately, but it was too late for soldiers by the south and west entrances. The wooden frames that held the gates in place exploded the moment each shag cluster crashed into them. Guards tried to fight off the hairy beasts, but they were overwhelmed by the sheer strength and number of their foes. Several soldiers lay wounded, trapped under the debris. In a display of sheer brutality, the shags stomped them to death.

  The soldiers retreated without panic but gave ground quickly. Arrows from the advancing goblins began to arch over the wall and into the town streets. The town guard could not put up the slightest resistance as the wall was quickly overwhelmed. Goblins rushed through the openings at the crushed gates and scaled the walls without having to face any resistance.

  Ryson stayed at Sy's side, but he kept an eye on the hook hawks above. During the outset of the assault, they remained out of reach, shifting back and forth high in the sky. He was prepared to use his speed and his agility to fight them off if they began to dive, but they showed no such inclination.

  Sy's forces pulled back behind the first set of bulwarks. He instructed the retreat to continue all the way back to the center of town, but he paused to monitor the goblins' movements.

  The shags remained at the front of the lines, but they no longer sprinted forward. They moved in concert with the horde. The goblins were actually forced to slow their advance simply due to the number of obstructions in their path. Before they even reached the barricades constructed by the guards, the buildings themselves constricted the passages available to the great horde. It was like sand being slowed to fall through the thin neck of a timepiece. The goblins in the rear were forced to come to a complete halt and wait their turn.

  "This is bad," Sy confessed to the delver. "We've got no communications, we're too low on the ground, and they broke over the wall without us being able to take a single shot at them."

  "Everyone knows to retreat," Ryson offered.

  Sy didn't want to destroy the delver's hopes, but he had to accept undeniable truths.

  "Look at them! There are so many they're getting clogged in the streets. What's worse is we're going to have the same problem they're having right now. We only have two tunnel entrances. We won't be able to fit more than two men in at a time. If they realize we're trying to escape and pick up the pace, half of us we'll get caught topside. The ones lucky enough to get in the tunnels probably won't even make it to Dunop."

  As if to compound his troubles, a messenger from the eastern edge of town reached Sy with more discouraging news. The soldier didn't even bother to try to collect himself before wheezing out a report.

  "The bloat spiders left their webs the moment the goblins attacked. We were about to fire on them but then received the order to fall back. We saw them crawling over the tops of the wall. They're moving fast and right over everything in their way. A few guards decided to try an hold them back..."

  "Everyone w
as supposed to retreat!" Sy barked.

  "If they didn't, the spiders would be here right now," the messenger advised through heavy breaths. "They're just crawling over the roofs of buildings... ignoring the fortifications. Someone had to slow them down."

  Sy couldn't be angry with his guards. They weren't disobeying orders. They were right. He realized they had no choice, and if any of his soldiers were going to make it out of Burbon alive, he had to accomplish the very same task.

  He gazed down one street after another. The goblins were flooding every road, every alley. If he ordered his soldiers to stand fast and return fire in an attempt to slow the enemy's advance, they would be cut off, surrounded with no hope of escape.

  "This is not going to work!" he announced as much to himself as he did to Ryson and the messenger. "There's too many. We're being outflanked and they're going to reach the tunnel entrances before half of the guard can escape."

  Sy made one quick decision, one he held in the back of his mind the moment he first saw the goblin horde. It was desperate, but it was all he had left. He just needed to communicate the message. He turned to Ryson to confirm what he already knew. He could see it in how Okyiq's army moved, but he wanted to make certain he was right.

  "They're somehow all connected... through the serps, right? That's how Okyiq is keeping them in formation. Right?"

  "Yes," Ryson confirmed. "The serps have a link to the creatures they control. They see what they see. Okyiq has to be using those same links."

  "So if I yell out, Okyiq should hear what I'm saying, no matter where he is, as long as one of these creatures hears it."

  "I would guess."

  Sy was almost sure of it, but there was only one way to prove it. He shouted at the top of his voice. It was going to be difficult to be heard over the clamor, but lives would depend on his success.

  "Okyiq! This is the captain of the guard! Stop your advance now and I'll talk to you personally about the terms of our surrender!"

  After one long and stressful moment, the horde suddenly stopped. Every goblin that Sy could see appeared angered by the halt, but also slightly confused. He knew they wished to continue, but they were being told to hold their ground. Okyiq had heard his offer and accepted it.

  The captain responded immediately with yet another shout.

  "I'm going to come alone to the southern gate and wait there! My soldiers will not engage or interfere in any way. They will all fall back to the center of town."

  Ryson finally broke through his shock and grabbed hold of the captain's arm.

  "You can't do this! You can't just surrender."

  "I'm not," Sy said quietly. "I'm buying time. They have to be slowed down. It gives us a chance."

  "It doesn't give you a chance!"

  Sy didn't agree.

  "You think I'm just sacrificing myself here... going to throw myself on a sword?

  "Aren't you? You just said you were going to buy us time. I know what that means. You're giving everyone else a chance to escape while you keep them occupied."

  "That's only part of it. The truth is, I'm looking to survive." Sy then pointed to the throng of goblins filling the streets in every direction. "Look out there. How do we escape that? If they keep moving, they'll be at the center of the town in moments. There's no way we'll even make it into the tunnels now. The ones that do make it will be chased down. If I don't do something, we all die... every one of us, including me. There's no escape. If I go out and talk to Okyiq, maybe I have a chance."

  Ryson took another look across the roads of Burbon. He also heard and smelled monsters beyond what he could see. He realized Sy was right. Spiders, shags, goblins and hook hawks; there were just too many. He also realized that if something wasn't done, there was no hope in the tunnels, not for any of them. He would probably die as well. He understood what Sy was offering, but he believed he was the better choice. He wasn't sacrificing himself, wasn't taking a greater risk than he normally would, he was only reaching for the best alternative for all involved.

  "Then I should go," the delver offered. "I can move faster. I can..."

  Sy cut him off.

  "That's very noble and also not very smart. Okyiq knows who's in charge. He sees you go out to meet him... a delver... and he knows we're trying to stall. That defeats the whole purpose. He sees me and he has to talk to me. I give the orders. He knows that. It gives us the time we need."

  "But what can you do against that?" Ryson asked, as it was his turn to point to the massive army waiting restlessly for the captain's appearance in the streets. "You're going to have to walk through them all just to get to the gate. Do you really think Okyiq is going to let you walk away? You'll be trapped. You are sacrificing yourself."

  And here, Sy revealed his one true hope.

  "No, I still have a chance. Believe it or not, I think he might let me walk away. I can try to make a deal. When we captured him after his first raid on Burbon, we made a deal then. Remember? I let him go. I just let him walk out the gate. Maybe I can convince him to do the same for me. Better that than die in the tunnel... or waiting to even get underground. You know I'll be the last one down. Is there really time for me to do anything else?"

  Ryson didn't know what to say. It was a very brave thing the captain was doing, but it was also the only option that offered any chance of survival. The delver thought it should have been him. He had the speed and the agility to possibly escape if Okyiq didn't wish to deal or if the massive goblin felt he owed the captain nothing more than a sword strike to the head.

  And yet at the same time, he felt relieved. It embarrassed him, but he couldn't deny it. He thought of Linda, and of Stomps. He didn't want to leave them. He didn't wish to be selfish, but he simply couldn't deny being thankful it wasn't going to be him.

  "No more arguing," Sy declared as he looked to both Ryson and the messenger who waited for further orders. "We've wasted too much time already. If they start moving forward again, nothing I say is going to stop them. Tell Sergeant Klusac he's in charge. Get everyone to Dunop as fast as possible and then find safe passage back to Connel. That's the only place that's safe."

  The captain didn't wait for a response. He stepped out from behind a barricade and into the open street. He was an easy target for any goblin with a bow, but he knew he wouldn't be shot down in the street by a hail of arrows. Okyiq held sway over every monster before him. Sy could see it in their eyes. The thought terrified him, he couldn't deny it. To think one violent and hostile goblin could control so many dark creatures was beyond terrifying. It was sanity rendering. Such a thing simply should not be possible, or at least not allowed by any benevolent power overseeing the land.

  "See you in Connel," Ryson whispered loud enough for Sy to hear before the captain got too far away.

  Sy slowed for just one more moment and whispered his response.

  "Tell Enin he should have fried the serp scum."

  With that, Ryson's heart sank. It sounded as if the captain was making a final request, and the delver didn't want to end their conversation that way.

  "You can tell him when you get there," the delver replied, but he knew Sy didn't hear him. The captain had already picked up his pace and was heading right into the folds of the massive horde.

  Chapter 18

  Sy gazed across the huge mass of goblins that stood between him and the south gate. He wanted to treat them as nothing more than worthless debris blown into the street from some passing storm. To regard them as anything more would be giving them far too much respect. They had made it beyond Burbon's wall because of one reason and one reason alone, Okyiq had led them there. On their own, they were nothing. Only by coming together did they form a credible enemy, and they managed that by Okyiq's will, not by their own.

  Unfortunately, the horde before him remained pressed together like too many gray and rotten grapes cast into too small of a bucket. As he approached the first line of dark creatures, there was no clear passage and most of the goblins showed lit
tle willingness to allow room for the captain. Realizing he would have to force his way to the southern edge of town, he decided to use the obstacle to its greatest advantage, and he began to shove his way through the mob.

  Every goblin he pushed was more than happy to strike back. While they didn't thrust the blade of their crude short swords into the annoying human—they knew they would be killed horribly for disobeying Okyiq's orders—they saw nothing wrong with jabbing the blunt handle into the enemy's ribs or back after he passed. Others tried to kick him or trip him up. Those that stood too far out of range to strike showered the despised captain with spit.

  Sy felt as if he was making no progress, but it fit his plans. As long as they were jostling him, delaying him, his soldiers received more time to escape. He even paused on several occasions to strike back at an overzealous goblin and challenge the minor pest to a more serious exchange. Nothing came of it, but it lengthened his journey.

  After a brutal and tiring crossing through the gauntlet of dark creatures, Sy broke into a clearing directly in front of the shattered southern gate. His spirit sank as he looked upon the fallen soldiers who had died in the initial assault. He was bruised and covered in goblin saliva, but the sight of such savagery kindled a rage that washed away his pain and discomfort. He scanned the long line of goblins surrounding him and quickly found the object of his fury.

  Okyiq was already at the gate, waiting for the captain with a huge smirk on his large, round face. Obviously, the goblins had allowed clear passage for their massive leader, and the commander of the dark army appeared fresh and full of energy.

  "Finally made it, did you?" Okyiq snickered.

  "I would have been here faster if your goblins didn't get in the way."