by Jeff Inlo
"More archers means humans ready."
If it was the scout's intention to raise the level of its commanders concern, it failed to provoke the proper response. Okyiq brushed aside the activity as if it was nothing more than routine behavior. He knew of the human guards. They always appeared worried-moving around the gates, watching in towers-but it was all quite ordinary.
"Humans are never ready for goblins." Okyiq offered with a half grumble. "They are just afraid of the dark. They run around like ants in rotted wood."
The scout didn't quite see it that way.
"Not running. Watching. Arrows ready. Standing to fight. Different tonight."
Growing slightly more troubled by the news, Okyiq finally took the warning seriously.
"How many near us?"
The scout, lacking the ability to count, did its best to offer an accurate projection.
"Small group in tower, but more than usual. Walls have lots more. Uhmmm… size of goblin raiding party standing on wall supports."
"None moving?"
The smaller goblin shook its head.
Revealing a twisted and unpleasant frown, Okyiq almost called off the raid, but then a light breeze brought another whiff of cooking meat to his large nostrils. His stomach growled just as he waved off any reluctance to attack.
"Fah, not enough to stop us."
"We still raid?" the scout wondered aloud.
"The forest belongs to me!" the larger goblin roared, then added what he saw as an important detail. "With the elves gone, this part is mine!"
The scout decided, perhaps against its better judgment, to add an important detail of its own.
"Human town outside the forest."
The goblin scout did not wish to correct Okyiq, or point out such an obvious fact that would make its leader appear somewhat dimwitted, but the smaller creature clearly did not want to be part of a raid with so many human archers in position to offer significant resistance.
The hesitancy of the creature was almost understandable. Courage was not a resounding trait of the diminutive beasts, though they weren't complete cowards, either. Despite their lack of valor, they often threw themselves into violent and perilous situations, especially when the call of the horde overwhelmed and stifled their desire for self-preservation. While they might have joined gleefully in unrestrained acts of brutality, they also endured the insecurity of inadequacy, and they often chose to flee in the face of stout opposition.
It was a constant struggle for such small creatures that originated from a realm that demanded both aggression and caution just to survive, and it wasn't surprising that Okyiq would have to deal with at least some small sliver of reluctance. The bloodlust of battle had not yet taken hold, and a couple hundred goblins spread across the eastern border of Dark Spruce hardly characterized a sizable pack, let alone a horde.
As if to punctuate its sentiment, the scout pointed back over its shoulder.
"Forest back there!"
Okyiq's eyes shot open at what he saw as not only open defiance of his will but a mocking gesture of disrespect. He ascended to command because he was larger and stronger than the other goblins… and he did not take kindly to dissension. He struck with a closed fist at the top of the scout's head and sent the smaller creature sprawling into the dirt.
"You don't tell me what's mine and what's not! Humans cleared forest for their town. Forest here first. That makes them part of forest… part of my forest. I take what is mine. Humans have supplies I want. We raid tonight!"
The large goblin, however, would not completely disregard the anxiety of his followers. Certainly, the monster understood how to maintain discipline through terror. Okyiq's bulk gave him a natural advantage over those that followed him, but even with meager intelligence, Okyiq knew how to lead, at least to a degree. Too much fear of repercussions and too little regard for authority led to desertion.
As a few of his lieutenants cringed at the angry display, Okyiq used his scant wisdom just enough to follow the display of strength with minor appeasement.
"So you fear the human archers on the wall?" Okyiq demanded of the goblins near enough to hear. "You think they will shoot us all down? Do arrows fly only one way?"
The other goblins tilted their heads in apparent confusion.
The goblin leader continued with a devious smile.
"If they're on the wall, then they are open to us. What keeps us from firing at them?"
A few of the goblins began to nod, but not the majority.
"We have short bows, crossbows, and plenty of bolts and arrows. Should we forget what we have?"
Without waiting for an answer, the large monster picked up a stick and drew a small circle in the dirt and then a curve just below it. He called his lieutenants to gather around. He sneered but with slightly less hostility than he offered the scout. He demanded that those nearby try to pay attention-something difficult for any goblin, but not impossible.
"This is wall around human town. We raid here!" Okyiq used the end of the stick to point to a section of the circle which corresponded to Burbon's southern gate. "Door here is closed, but we climb wall, kill guards, open gate."
The hulking creature paused and waited to see if any of the surrounding goblins dared to object. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched tighter. He allowed his expression to communicate his intentions if any decided to oppose him.
Knowing they would receive the same treatment dished out to the still dazed scout, the subordinate goblins held their tongues. They might not have wanted to face human archers, but they had no desire to face Okyiq's fury, either.
Pleased with the silence, Okyiq then threw out the only bone he would offer, the one adjustment to help ease his followers concerns, but he knew it would suffice.
"But… not all of us will go to gate. Only part of us will go here." Okyiq jabbed the stick further into the dirt. He continued to direct the goblins' attention to the bottom of the circle that represented the southwestern portion of Burbon's contiguous wall. He then pulled the stick back and pointed to the curve he drew below. "This the hill rest of us can hide behind. We have enough short bows and crossbows. Stay behind hill until I say, then go to top of hill and fire at humans on wall! They will die and not see what we really want."
With a grunt of satisfaction, the leader jabbed the stick into the ground back at the point of the circle that represented the southern gate.
"This is where small party goes first. We climb wall, open gate, get more of us inside, take supplies, leave. Humans die, we live. We get food and weapons."
Certainly it wasn't a grand strategy, just a simple diversion added to a basic raid, but for the group of goblins, it radiated with pure brilliance. Okyiq added one more tactical aspect of goblin genius.
"We wait for rain. Coming soon. When rain starts, I give signal. Harder for archers to see us."
In a downpour, it would also be harder for the goblins to target the archers on the wall, but even had they thought of it, none of the lieutenants dared to make the claim. It was safer to simply nod and snicker.
Ryson moved eastward to the location where a second river rogue had been spotted. Again, he found the creature's scent quickly. He tracked the monster as he moved along a rather straight path. The rogue must not have been concerned by its surroundings as its trail passed through the center of a wide road.
The delver still traveled near the northern gate, but the streets and alleys were darker in that particular region. The area contained the large storehouses for food supplies brought in from the farms that covered the lands to the northeast. Lantern posts were not as common and most of the buildings were dark.
The second river rogue was easier to spot than the first, actually standing out in the open, banging against a locked warehouse door. It probably smelled the food stored within the confines of the structure and decided to force its way inside.
Ryson pulled to a stop and waved his sword high above his head to signal the towers. He remained a safe
distance from the building which held the river rogue's attention while he scanned the area for any security personnel. Other than the rogue's poundings, the streets remained quiet and empty.
Unfortunately, his movement created a flashing beacon that caught the rogue's attention. The delver knew the guard towers would signal foot patrols to move into the area, but he couldn't be sure from which direction they would arrive. Not wanting them to unwittingly step into a dangerous situation, he decided to remain the new focal point for the beast.
Ryson raced forward and came to a halt about three arm lengths away from the rogue. He twirled his blazing weapon and leapt to his right and left. He kept calling out to ensure any arriving guards would hear him, though he knew they would not miss the flashing display of his sword.
The rogue found the delver's actions first distracting and then enraging. Like an angered bull, it charged at the sparkling blade. It slashed as it snarled and spit, but its claws found only empty air.
Ryson continued moving the sword in nearly every direction as he carefully danced backwards, coaxing the monster away from the building and out into the open street. The rogue was deceptively quick, even on dry land, but Ryson found no difficulty in avoiding every swipe. Once he managed to direct the beast into the center of a wide crossroad, the delver took quick glimpses in each direction and spied a group of oncoming soldiers.
Before the rogue could spot the guards, Ryson sidestepped to his left. By coaxing the creature to follow, he turned the monster's back to the soldiers' approach. He shouted louder at the rogue, making sufficient noise to block out any sounds that might alert it to approaching danger from behind.
To their credit, the guards understood the delver's intentions, quieted their movements, and prepared the iron net to swoop down upon the rogue from behind. They spread the strands of chain across the road, and once in position, they darted forward catching the creature in the center of the net.
Ryson leapt to the side and allowed the soldiers to wrap the mesh around the rogue with a sweeping motion. He helped secure the chains to ensure the rogue's arms could not break free. With the monster no longer a threat, he turned to the squad leader.
"Nicely done."
"You set it up for us," the squad leader offered.
"Any further sightings?" the delver asked.
"Last information I received was just three sightings of rogues inside-including this one-and two outside the wall."
"This is the second we've secured," Ryson offered. "That means only one left. If there was a fourth inside, it probably would have been seen by now. What do you think?"
The soldier considered the assumption, but found a small flaw in the logic.
"Probably, but the captain ordered all foot patrols to stand fast at crossroads. Everyone else is inside. You're the only one actively searching. If there were more, you'd know about it first."
Ryson considered the patience of the first rogue that had been hiding behind the candle maker's barrels. If there was a fourth rogue, it might have found similar refuge. One might be hiding behind some warehouse or in some dank drainage ditch. He realized he could not simply assume that there were only three. He would have to search the entire town after he located the third river rogue.
"You're right," the delver conceded. "All citizens were ordered inside, so I can't be sure of anything. After I locate the third, I'll keep searching. Well… if there is a fourth one, I should be able to find the scent pretty easily."
The soldier didn't doubt the delver's words, didn't view them as boasts, but wondered about the effect of the elements.
"Can you still locate scents in the rain?"
As if on cue, the first raindrop hit the ground between the guard and the delver.
"It's going to make it more difficult," Ryson admitted, "but these things smell pretty bad."
The guard took a big whiff, and though he lacked the delver's keen senses, he could not argue the assertion.
"They do stink," the soldier admitted.
"This one's not going to smell any better if it gets wet, and moving it in the rain is just going to make things more difficult. You probably want to get it off the streets before it really starts to pour."
"There's a guard post with a holding cell a couple blocks of here. We'll take it there."
"You'll signal the towers to let them know?"
"Absolutely. Captain wants to keep informed."
"Good. Please signal that I'm going after the third rogue and then I'll sweep the town to make sure there aren't any more."
"Will do."
"The rain is here," one of the goblin lieutenants boldly stated.
A steady sprinkle of raindrops hit the ground all around them, but Okyiq found the amount unsatisfactory.
"Not rain, not yet. This just spittle." The goblin leader looked up at the skies. He could see thicker clouds rolling in from the west, even in the dark of night. "Real rain coming soon."
"We wait?"
"We wait," the bulkier goblin grunted.
Rubbing his head, Okyiq groaned. The large goblin had spent time pondering the events of the night. Thinking was never easy for a goblin, and the consideration of tactics could produce headaches of excruciating intensity. Still, Okyiq believed the activities in the human town offered not so much of a dilemma, but a potential opportunity.
Okyiq struggled with how to utilize that opportunity based on limited information and his own restricted ability to reason. Rather than seek additional facts, he searched for possible explanations based on conjecture, not an easy task for any goblin.
The hulking monster remained certain of one thing: the humans were concerned with something at their wall. As to what it was, he could only imagine. He sensed something in the night… perhaps fortune, the same fortune that cleared the threat of the elves from the forest. Okyiq began to believe that luck was on his side and he did not wish to waste such an opportunity.
"When real rain starts, then we fire," the large goblin ordered. "Make sure goblins behind hill stay out of sight until ready to shoot. Must all shoot at once to kill as many humans as we can. For now, stay hidden… make certain all have enough arrows. We will shoot a long time."
That order confused the lieutenant.
"Won't humans run for cover?"
"Humans will hide, but will wait behind wall. We still fire at wall. Make sure all goblins understand."
The subordinate shook its head and admitted a dangerous truth.
"Don't understand."
Okyiq nearly exploded. In a fit of frustration, the bulky goblin grabbed the lieutenant by its armored breastplate. Spit showered upon the smaller goblin as the leader frothed with rage. Most of the frustration came from tactical struggles. The large goblin's head did indeed pound with pain from jumbled concentrations, and it didn't wish to waste time and effort explaining itself.
"You don't have to understand! You do as you're told! You're too dumb to understand. Why do you think humans on wall?"
The lieutenant didn't dare answer, too afraid to say the wrong thing that might lead to its death.
The release of anger seemed to ease the pain in his head, and Okyiq decided to continue his rant, even as it meant offering the explanation he felt unnecessary to offer.
"Humans react! Always react! Sometimes react to nothing, Sometimes react to something. Could be something big, could be something small, but always they react! Archers on wall means they react to something, but what?"
The commanding goblin didn't wait for a response, didn't expect one. Instead, Okyiq spelled out his own contemplations as if to clear his jumbled thoughts.
"Big wizard not there, almost never there anymore. Big wizard in big city. Big wizard wouldn't allow us this close, doesn't like goblins. Magic would find us, but humans put archers across whole wall. Why waste archers on long wall if big wizard could use magic to throw us back into trees? Magic not here.
"Maybe cursed delver behind the wall sensed us, but probably not. Delver in B
urbon. We know that. But…" Okyiq struggled with the words to explain his reasoning, to exclaim why he felt they had not been uncovered by the delver's great senses. "…doesn't make sense. Does delver know we're here? If yes, then why not send out soldiers on horseback to scatter goblins before rains start? Why just stand there and wait? Humans hate to wait almost as much as goblins. And why wait in open if they know we are here?
"No, not magic and not delver. Humans not on wall for goblins. Something else has humans' attention. Something going on inside their wall, that's what I think. And if something else going on, then humans already worried. We make them more worried."
The amount of speculation surprised the goblin subordinate. It was more "thinking" than it could have accomplished in an entire season, let alone one night. Still, its leader was offering an explanation and the threat of retribution seemed to diminish. The lieutenant's curiosity got the better of it and pressed for further understanding.
"But why waste arrows by shooting at wall if humans hide? Why not shoot and stop? Save arrows."
"Because arrows will add to worry, will keep attention off gate. We kill as many humans quickly, but we don't stop. Not a waste if it helps us open gate. Once gate open, humans can't hide behind wall."
With the strategy somewhat clearer, the lieutenant offered a sinister smile which satisfied its commander. The diminutive monster even nodded and offered praise.
"Okyiq smarter than humans."
The large goblin appeared pleased with the compliment. He released his hold on the armored breastplate and allowed the lieutenant freedom to move.
"Now, go make sure goblins have enough arrows. Real rain almost here."
Linda Acumen was alone when the first wave hit her. She stood in a back storage room of the Borderline Inn, looking for extra mugs for all the additional people in the tavern. No one was ordering drinks at the moment-they were all too occupied, wondering about the alert and watching for additional signals from the towers-but she wanted to keep busy. She didn't want to stop and think about what was happening outside, didn't want to wonder what Ryson was facing at that very moment.