by Inlo, Jeff
"Stupid human thinks I'm just as stupid. Why did you take so long?"
Sy saw each question as an opportunity to waste more time, so he answered willingly.
"Look around. Was I suppose to fly here? Are you that dumb?"
"Me? Dumb? Don't think so. You made trip as hard as you wanted it."
"Yeah, sure, I'm the one that brought all the goblins here. Makes perfect sense to me."
"Stupid human says same thing over again. Human trying to waste more time?"
Indeed he was, but the captain saw no point in admitting the fact.
"You're actually blaming me? I got here as soon as I could."
"Lucky I don't kill you for lying."
Sy didn't believe Okyiq would make it that simple. He still hoped to survive, and he pointed out what he saw as an obvious truth.
"If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have ordered your army to stop their attack."
"Oh, I want to kill you. I just want to do it a certain way."
"I guess that's what we'll have to talk about."
"I guess we will," Okyiq said with a twisted grin that continued to expand until he broke out into nearly convulsive laughter. Eventually, he brought himself under control and revealed what he could see and hear with the aid of so many dark creatures. "You think you stalled me? You think I care about soldiers? I know they're in tunnels. I have rock beetles. I know where every one is. I could stop them, use beetles to collapse tunnels. Squish them in the ground. But I'm going to let them go to dwarf city. I don't care about soldiers. I wanted you... and the delver."
Despite his courage, Sy felt a knot forming in his stomach. Okyiq had been playing with him the entire time. The beating he took from the goblins was essentially meaningless. He accepted it because he believed it would save lives, that it allowed his soldiers time to escape. As it turned out, it was Okyiq who determined if his soldiers would live or die.
Sy had also hoped to bargain for his own freedom. He suddenly wondered if such a goal was even possible. Okyiq had essentially traded every soldier in Burbon for a chance to confront the captain, and Sy couldn't imagine anything he could offer that would satisfy the hostile monster. Still, he would not give up, and he made one last gasp at finding a way to survive.
"Well, you have me, just like I had you. Do you remember? Not too long ago you raided Burbon... and you were captured. I questioned you. We were near the wall, right by this same gate. I let you go free."
"Stupid human let me go because you didn't think I could kill all the goblins that followed me. I did. Left their fingers to prove it."
"I know. I saw your message, and that's my point. We made a bargain and I kept my end."
"Now human wants to make another bargain?"
"That's why I'm here... to discuss terms."
"What terms? You're my prisoner. Town is mine. Your soldiers have all left. What else is there? What can you offer?"
"Offer? I'm asking for the same chance I gave you. I let you go. Now, you let me go."
"Didn't just let me go. You made a bargain with me. Difference."
"That's right. I said I would let you go if you answered my questions. You want information about the town? Go ahead and ask me."
"Town already mine. Have everything I need to know. And answering questions was only part of bargain. You wanted me to kill goblins. That's why you let me go. You think I'm stupid like you? You wanted goblins dead. If you want bargain, it would have to be same. You promise to kill all human guards that abandoned you?"
It was a horrible thought to the captain, one he would not even lie about for his freedom.
"No, I won't do that."
"What about delver? Promise to kill delver? He may be worth the same as all the soldiers."
"I won't do that, either."
"You're not offering anything," Okyiq scoffed. The big goblin leered at the captain and revealed his original plans. "I was going to make you eat bugs, live bugs, then slit you open and let everyone watch them climb out your guts. But no one left to watch, no one but the delver, and I think he'd like to see something else."
Sy tried to mask both his annoyance and his surprise at the revelation. He wanted everyone out of Burbon, including Ryson. He said nothing, simply stared at the goblin as he struggled for another direction that might lead to his escape.
Okyiq, however, noticed the captain's reaction.
"That's a surprise, isn't it?" the goblin leader asked, "You thought delver left. He didn't. I can see him. He's over there."
Okyiq pointed toward the northeast. The goblin couldn't really see the delver from where he stood, but his hook hawks could, and that meant Okyiq knew right where the delver was hiding.
In exactly the direction the goblin pointed, Ryson knelt low on the back side of a pitched roof. The height of his position allowed him to see over the goblin horde without exposing himself to danger, and his delver ears allowed him to hear what Okyiq was saying. He knew he had been discovered, but it wasn't surprising. He kept a wary eye on the hook hawks that continued to cut across the sky above him. There was no place he could hide from them and still see the south gate, so he just accepted it.
Back at the south wall, Okyiq disregarded the delver, at least for the time being.
"You can't see him from here," the large goblin explained to Burbon's captain. "Your eyes not as sharp as his, but he sees us. Like I said, delver wants to watch, so we should give him something more interesting than making you eat bugs. But don't worry, when I'm done with you, I'll put him on a leash."
Sy didn't bother to look, didn't even slightly turn his head. He realized he couldn't worry about Ryson. The delver decided to take a chance and stay behind, probably thought there was something he could do to help. It wasn't smart, but it was Ryson's decision to make. All Sy could do was focus on his own situation and hope they both found the means to survive.
"So you're just going to forget the time I let you go free?" the captain asked. "I could have thrown you in a jail cell and none of this would have happened."
"Sounds like you made mistake. I don't need to make same mistake."
"Are you saying you're afraid of me? I wasn't afraid of you. Are you going to let all these goblins know that I'm braver than you?"
"Not braver, just stupid."
"You think that's what they'll believe?"
"They believe what I tell them to believe. They know..."
But Okyiq stopped in mid-sentence. He glanced at all the goblins silently watching the encounter between their leader and the captain of a human town. Deep in his own consciousness, the massive monster could sense a small shred of doubt take root in the horde. They wondered if the human was braver than they expected, perhaps even braver than their leader. It was a consideration Okyiq wouldn't allow to fester. He decided it was time to make another important imprint on their very small minds.
"You want to make bargain with me?" Okyiq asked, his face masked in determination. He had already made his decision, but he wanted it to play out in a certain way. He wanted the goblins that followed him to understand the strength of his will.
"That's why I'm here," Sy replied quickly, hoping he finally created a chance for his escape.
"You want to see if you're better than me? We find out now. You let me go to kill goblins. You kill the same amount and I'll let you go."
Okyiq didn't wait for Sy to respond. He signaled to a group of two dozen goblins and immediately ordered them to raise their bows. He then called out in a much louder voice.
"Delver! You watch! Don't move. You move, human dies. You stay, and he has chance."
Ryson heard the goblin's demand clearly. He had no idea what Okyiq was scheming, but he knew if he so much as turned away, the arrows pointed at Sy would fly, and the captain would surely die. All he could do was watch the spectacle the goblin leader created.
Okyiq turned his attention back to the town captain.
"Don't want delver to get involved. You understand?"
&nbs
p; The captain understood... and agreed. Sy didn't even want Ryson in Burbon. Anything the delver did would probably only get them both killed. His only chance was to continue to play on Okyiq's pride.
"That's fine by me. I don't need his help to kill goblins. He probably wouldn't let me."
Okyiq snickered.
"True. Delver doesn't like to kill. Maybe he won't like to watch. Too bad."
Sy had not disarmed when he approached the horde, but he kept all of his weapons sheathed. He didn't reach for them immediately, but if he was going to kill goblins, he'd have to at least draw a sword.
"So how's this going to work?" Sy questioned. "You said you were going to give me a chance. If I just wade out into the horde, I'll be dead just as quick as if you ordered the goblins to fire their bows."
"No fun in that. Won't do. You stay in clearing. I'll send goblins to you."
"Can I draw a sword?"
"You're going to need to."
Sy pulled a curved saber from the scabbard at his hip as well as his long knife from its sheath. If he was going to fight through the horde, he decided to have a weapon in each hand. Most of the goblins had short swords, and his knife was sturdy enough to hold its own against their blades.
Without any further warning, Okyiq used his magical links to influence one of the goblins near Sy's position. The serps on the council had taken control of the lesser minded creatures with their powers of manipulation, and they turned that control over to the massive goblin through Neltus' magic. Okyiq did not completely immerse himself into the minds of those that followed his orders. He simply gave them commands as he saw fit, placed a single-minded focus into their consciousness to keep them in line without having his own mind overwhelmed by their stray thoughts. He focused on a single goblin near the edge of the clearing and commanded it to strike.
The goblin felt a wave of immediate aggression erupt through its body. The creature couldn't control itself, and it leapt toward the captain of the guard with its short sword held high. It snarled with spit as it raced forward, its eyes bulging in pure hate.
Sy easily sidestepped the initial attack, allowed the goblin to stumble past. He swung his saber at the back of the frantic creature. His blade sliced through the back of the goblin's neck, nearly decapitating the monster. Immediately disregarding the first attacker, he looked to his left and right, then veered about, but no other goblins made a move towards him.
"Too fast," Okyiq grumbled. The horde leader then motioned to several goblins by his side. "Get it out of there."
The minions rushed out into the clearing, but without their weapons drawn. They took hold of the goblin corpse and dragged it off to the side.
Sy was thankful he wouldn't have to worry about tripping over the dead goblin, but he wondered just how many creatures he would have to dispatch to meet Okyiq's demand. There wouldn't be enough space for the bodies if he had to kill them all, and he wanted to ensure he really had a chance.
"You said I only had to kill the same amount of goblins that you killed. What was that? About two hundred?"
"I'll say when you killed enough."
"That's not very comforting, and not the deal you made."
"I'll stick to deal and keep my promise. You kill what I killed and you get to leave, but I didn't kill them one at a time. Neither will you."
With that said, two goblins shot out of the crowd instead of just one. They frothed at the mouth and screamed something totally unintelligible. They raced toward the captain as if their bodies were on fire. The savagery of their movements was overwhelming, but both attackers were easily thwarted.
Sy moved with efficiency, stepping in between the two fiends. He blocked one short sword with his saber and avoided the other completely. He moved in quickly toward the goblin he engaged and slit its throat with his knife. When the first attacker crumbled to the ground, Sy's saber came free from its short sword, and he swung it at the head of the second goblin that tried to leap on his back. Sy stepped deftly away from the two corpses and took a long, deep breath.
"Still too easy," Okyiq mumbled.
Immediately after the two additional goblin corpses were removed, the big goblin directed four goblins to attack.
Sy remain unfazed by the odds even as the violent creatures surged toward him. They came at him in a line as opposed to circling him, which made it all too easy to reduce their advantage. He immediately leapt to the side of the goblin to his far right and then swung around to use it as a shield against the others that were lined up behind it. He cut through them one at a time with four simple swings of his sword.
"That's seven dead," Sy noted.
"Try seven more," Okyiq countered and seven goblins shot out of the horde from different angles.
Sy wasn't surprised the large goblin could count, but he didn't have time to congratulate the monster. In an instant, the captain analyzed the attack and took action to counter the vicious assault. He steadied himself and lifted both blades high, prepared to swing rapidly at his attackers' heads.
The goblins rushed at him from every direction, but they decided to stay low and go for his knees. They had seen what happened to their comrades and noted the high position of the human's blades. Not wishing to lose their heads, they remained crouched as they moved in simultaneously to cut the cursed human's legs out from under him.
Sy expected the tactic, counted on it. With one quick lunge, he jumped over the nearest goblin and let the vicious creatures crash into each other. The result was better than he expected, as two attackers suffered mortal wounds from errant weapon thrusts of their fellow goblins. With his foes confused and twisted together in one pile, Sy swiftly turned about and finished off the remaining five before they could regroup.
"Better, but you got lucky that time," Okyiq surmised. "They were stupid. Seven again, but not so angry."
Seven more goblins came out of the horde, but they stepped forward carefully as opposed to rushing forward with violent intentions. They circled around the captain and forced him toward the center of the clearing.
On his position from the rooftop, Ryson watched the new and slowly developing battle in complete frustration. At least five hook hawks maintained their pattern of flight directly overhead. Another three had perched upon neighboring rooftops and watched him intently. The delver knew Okyiq had not forgotten about him. Despite his desire to assist his friend, one misstep would almost certainly lead to Sy's death.
He believed Sy could handle the seven goblins. Ryson had seen the captain in battle on several occasions and trained with him often. Sy had asked the delver to use his speed against him in those sessions. The captain could never match the delver's near incalculable swiftness, but even seven goblins couldn't equal the attack speed of a purebred delver. Ryson knew his friend was more than capable of winning.
Despite's Sy's skills, the problem for the captain was simple fatigue. Sy had to battle through a gauntlet of the belligerent creatures just to reach Okyiq, and the challenge the large goblin offered involved one battle after another.
While Ryson was gifted with the stamina of a delver, there was a limit to Sy's endurance. Unfortunately, there was nothing Ryson could do. If he intervened, Sy would have no chance whatsoever. All he could do was wait and hope his friend found some inner strength that would see him through to the end.
Completely on his own and surrounded by the hostile horde, Sy relied on all of his experience and training. He shut out the mass of goblins around him and buried his emotions. He focused on one battle at a time and quickly developed a strategy to deal with the seven foes that utilized a more restrained pattern of attack.
Sy allowed the goblins to control the flow of movement, but only initially, for they were giving him the room he needed. While the goblins slowly circled, he moved with them as they tried to place him in the center of the clearing where they could spread out and hopefully force him into an error.
The captain was more than willing to give ground, but he had no intention o
f allowing his assailants any advantage. When he reached the middle of the open space in the midst of the goblin throng, he switched tactics and became the immediate aggressor.
With one fluid motion, he tossed his long knife toward the goblin in front of him and then rushed directly at the creature to its immediate right. The knife blade plunged into the goblin just above its metal chest guard and sunk deep into the monster's flesh.
Before the stricken creature fell to the ground, the captain was upon the second goblin. He sliced quickly at the beast's throat with his saber and grabbed its arm with his free hand. Sy slipped around the diminutive monster's left side and his fingers slid down the goblin's arm until he had a firm grip of the hand that still held the short sword.
Pushing the slumping creature forward before it collapsed, he used the dying goblin's sword to skewer a third victim. He threw the body on top of the mortally wounded fiend to keep it from thrashing at him in its death throes.
With the number of his enemies down to four, Sy regrouped. Holding just his saber, he carefully stepped to his left and managed to maneuver the remaining goblins into yet another line. Once again, he attacked from the far end and went through them swiftly without allowing them to outflank him. Before the last goblin fell, the captain jerked the short sword out of its hands.
Sy took one deep breath and moved back to the center of the clearing to await the next wave of attackers. As the corpses were cleared, he wondered if Okyiq would increase the number again or keep it at seven. The captain believed he could handle about a dozen at one time and survive. More than that, and he was probably finished.
Okyiq, however, focused on something other than the number of goblins.
"Get rid of goblin sword," the huge beast demanded of the captain.
"Why?"
"Not your weapon."
"It is now."
"You can't steal weapons."
"Then give me back my knife."
"You threw it away."
"I threw it because I knew I could take a sword. I wouldn't give up one without knowing I could get another."
"You cheat."
"Seems to me you're the one making up rules."