by Jeff Inlo
Chapter 3
At the guard headquarters, Ryson moved past two soldiers with Lief at his side. The guards let them pass into Sy's office, each nodding in recognition at Ryson and taking long glances at the tall, thin stranger that walked with him.
Sy Fenden, captain of the guard, just dismissed a subordinate with new duties. He looked toward Ryson with an expression of welcome, unlike the first time he met the delver. But he, like everyone else in Burbon, had gained a new appreciation for Ryson now that the magic seeped through the land.
"Good day, Ryson." He made a quick nod to the stranger. "Friend of yours?"
The tone was pleasant and accommodating, but also somewhat demanding. Sy had maintained the duties of mayor and chief officer ever since the first goblin attack on Burbon. When the people no longer trusted the duly elected officials, they had turned to the town guard for protection, as well as leadership. This newcomer was unknown to him, and it was his duty to check all strangers.
"Hey, Sy!" Ryson greeted the captain as he stepped in the office, allowed Lief to move past, and then shut the door. "Yes, this is definitely a friend."
Friend or not, Lief immediately struggled with the environment. It was hard enough for an elf that lived in the wilderness of Dark Spruce to be surrounded by the fortified wall and the myriad of buildings of Burbon. Now, he stood in a room with no windows and only one door, which was now closed. He could deal with the caves of the dwarves easier than he could deal with this. This environment was manufactured, unnatural. Straight even lines, squared corners, perfectly aligned patterns of bricks; it was so different from the creative, nearly whimsical pattern of the intertwined branches of his true home. When the trees grew together, they did so with a strange balance between confusion and harmony. The construction of the humans tossed aside this balance and accented the straight, level and organized. It was disorienting to the elf.
Ryson sensed Lief's displeasure. One glance at the elf revealed the taut muscles, the eyes searching for an opening to the sky. If Ryson yelled out suddenly, he imagined Lief might jump to the ceiling. The delver took no pleasure in this and spoke quickly to hasten to the point of the meeting. He made introductions first.
"This is Lief Woodson. Lief, this is Sy Fenden."
Lief bowed in greeting.
Sy's eyes fell upon the elf with great interest. "Lief Woodson? The elf? The one from Sanctum?"
"The same," Ryson acknowledged.
Sy immediately threw out a firm hand. He was meeting an elf, a member of a race he never knew existed until a few seasons ago, but he was also meeting what he considered a soldier, a good soldier. Ryson reported every event which occurred within Sanctum. Lief performed beyond the call of duty, acted heroically in the face of true danger. That kind of bravery immediately earned Sy's respect, and he felt no hesitation in offering his praises.
"Ryson told us what happened in Sanctum. I can't say that I understand it all, but I've learned to trust what he says. You were one of the first to recognize the danger. You knew something had to be done. Everyone here is in your debt."
Again, Lief bowed. "Thank you, but there are no debts."
Sy would not allow his praise to be revoked. "Be that as it may, I know I want to thank you."
Once more, Ryson spoke quickly. "There are some new problems. It seems there are repercussions from our endeavor at Sanctum." Ryson searched for the words to explain. They were not easy to find. "It's difficult to explain, but it seems the dwarves ..., remember what I told you about Tun, the dwarf who died? Well, the dwarves aren't happy with the algors. They're apparently going to start a war."
To his credit, Sy showed no sign of doubt and did not ask for lengthy explanations. He immediately focused on his primary responsibility.
"What threat does it have upon Burbon?"
Ryson shrugged. "As far as I can tell, none."
"Wars often spread," Sy said with a knowing tone.
"But the dwarves live underground and the algors live in the desert. I think, at least for now, it's not a threat to us. Not to you anyway."
Sy picked up on the reference. "But it is to you?"
Ryson grudgingly nodded acceptance. "Lief and I are going to warn the algors. We'll be gone for a few days."
Now it was clear, clear why the delver was so uneasy. Sy considered the thought of defending Burbon without the delver's services. He knew there would be times when the delver wouldn't be available, but he was as wary of the coming dormant season as anyone else. At first, he grasped for options.
"Is this something that can wait?"
"No, the algors have to be warned as soon as possible."
"I was hoping that you might be able to wait until I get another delver from Connel."
"Too long," Ryson replied sadly.
Like a true strategist, a true commander, a true soldier, Sy accepted the situation. He nodded his head, punctuating his acceptance. "We'll be fine. We'll put men on horseback, send them out in patrols of four, armed to the teeth. I'll have to assume the goblins will know you're gone. They'll look to take advantage, I'll make sure there isn't any. I can put lookouts on the walls as well as the towers."
Ryson was about to explain the presence of the goblins in the hills when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Sy did not even glance toward the entrance. "Come on in, Enin." And Enin opened the door and stepped through.
Sy felt the need to explain his apparent supersensory perception to the elf. "I know his knock."
"He has very good hearing," Ryson added. "Almost as good as mine."
Before Ryson could make an introduction, Enin's attention centered directly upon Lief. "This is an elf. Am I correct, am I correct?"
"Yes, Enin. You're correct. This is Lief Woodson, an elf."
Enin was delighted, not at meeting an elf for the first time, but for his own perceptions. "I knew I felt something strange. You came in earlier, right? Around noon time, right?"
Lief looked to Ryson with confusion.
"He's a practicing wizard," Ryson answered the unasked question. "He's been focusing on sensing races other than humans, kind of acting like an alarm system. He's been experimenting with spells so we can be prepared for goblin raids."
"It's not really a spell, not really," Enin interjected. "More of an aura I allow to surround myself. The magic seems to bend differently around different races, especially the ones that need the magic to walk on the land. You didn't bend the magic like that, but you were different, different like our delver friend, not the same as humans."
"He's like a spider. If something other than a human walks in his web, he'll know." Ryson then turned to Enin. "By the way, I came across a serp in the hills today. He was with six goblins and a shag. Did you sense any of that?"
Enin displayed unhappiness. "No, not at all."
"They probably didn't come close enough to the wall, but they were out there."
"Missed them, huh?" Enin rubbed his chin as his concentration seemed to fade out of the very room. He began to chatter, talking to Ryson at first but then only to himself, ignoring everyone around him. "I don't seem to have great range. I know when they get close to the wall, and certainly when they're inside, but not too far beyond. I wonder why? I guess I couldn't sense things forever. I'd go crazy. I'd sense every creature in the land, and then what good would I be? I'd just be confused. But I'd like to increase my range. I should be able to sense the hills. I wonder if I could come up with a spell which would energize me, give my senses a boost. No, that wouldn't be any good. Spells take energy. I would only be able to boost it for short periods. That might be helpful if we had an idea when they were coming, but it wouldn't be any good for general surveillance. Still, I should consider this, a spell which would increase the range of my senses. Even for a brief period, that might be a very useful spell. How would it go? Wind and earth? Air might even be better. Mix of a sight spell, expansion, and energy? I don't know. I better b
e careful with this one. I might accidentally send out a force wave."
"That would be helpful," Sy said sarcastically.
Enin heard Sy's voice but not his words. He snapped back to the here and now with a confused expression.
Ryson noted the scrutinizing stare of the elf upon the wizard. "You'll have to excuse him. He does that sometimes. He starts thinking of spells, and he just goes off into space."
"He should be careful," Lief replied with an edge. "Speaking out loud of possible spells, spells with power, is a dangerous thing."
Enin looked quizzically at the elf. Lief was tense. Was he tense at the presence of a wizard? No. He was tense at being in such a small room. Still, the elf was wary of him, Enin could sense that much. The elf apparently didn't like wizards, certainly not human wizards. Perhaps 'like' was too strong a word, but the elf certainly didn't trust Enin.
Enin faced a good deal of that from his human neighbors within Burbon, at least at first. Now, after he proved to be helpful, he earned their trust. But this was an elf. In Enin's studies, he learned that the elf was the most capable of seizing the magical energy. Why would an elf mistrust him? It hurt him, and he spoke openly of it.
"You don't trust me." A simple statement that revealed a hint of pain.
Lief frowned, irritated at being exposed by a novice magic caster. He responded sullenly. "The magic is new to you. It is dangerous to stumble about blindly trying to find new uses."
Enin felt no insult. Instead, he considered the possibility. Again, his attention slipped from the room. He spoke to himself, not to Lief, or anyone else. "Am I stumbling about? I don't think so, not really. I build from spell to spell. Each new one is a key to another and another. There is knowledge in that. Taking small steps on what is known. But what if I simply threw the keys away, or ignored them for once, simply began to alter the magic in some new untried way? That would be stumbling. I might make a major breakthrough. Then again, I might destroy myself or the entire town. I guess that's what they're doing in the desert, away from everyone else."
Sy shook his head. He allowed Enin's attention to remain on his personal questions as he spoke to Ryson of a more immediate danger. "You came across a serp in the hills? With goblins and a shag?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Scouting out the wall?" Sy demanded.
"Probably."
Sy grumbled, almost like the light growl of a panther.
Ryson tried to ease his worries. "I scattered the goblins. Disarmed a few and sent them running."
"They'll be back."
"Maybe, maybe not. I called out a warning to the serp before I left. I told him we'd double the guard and be ready for any raid."
"And we will," Sy accented. "What happened with the shag?"
"I can't take out a shag on my own," Ryson admitted slightly embarrassed.
"I never expected you to, but I still need to know what it was up to."
"It was with the serp."
"Not attacking?"
"Only me."
Sy folded his hands behind his back as he scanned the maps of the surrounding hills. "So the serp's got a shag on its side now."
"It seems."
"That's not very comforting."
"It's a big one though. It'll be easy to spot in the clearing."
"Well, if Enin didn't sense them, they didn't get too close. I still don't like it."
Ryson finally struck on the true point of his visit. "I think they were looking for a blind spot. And I think they might have found one. One of the reasons I came here was to warn you to build another tower."
"Where?" Sy asked firmly.
"Southeast corner of town."
"Really? I can't remember them ever coming from the east?"
"The blind spot is more to the south. We need the angle to cover it."
Sy rubbed his chin, considered the whole of the news brought by the delver. "I'll have to take a look at that. I don't think there'll be a problem with building another tower, especially if it helps keep the goblins away, but what bothers me is that shag. What's a shag doing with a serp and a pack of goblins? I though shags ate goblins. And even if we build a sixth tower, a shag might not care if we see it coming or not. If it wants to attack, it may run right up to the gate."
"I don't think it was there to attack. It looked like it was just guarding the serp."
"Maybe, maybe not. Dealing with goblins is one thing; dealing with a hoard of shags is another."
"I only saw one." Ryson countered.
Sy remained wary. "That may just be the first of many. The serp may be tired of being beaten back from the wall. It may have decided it's time to bring in a bigger weapon. I want to take a look. If you're not going to be here the next few days, I need to be extra careful. You don't mind do you? You can point out where they were, and you can tell me anything else I need to know about this dwarf-algor war."
These words seemed to snap Enin to attention. "A war? Between the algors and the dwarves?"
"That's what Ryson tells me," Sy answered then turned his attention back to the delver. "You have a quick moment before you leave? I just want to go up on a tower and you can point out where they were."
Ryson looked to Lief. "It's the least I should do. I'm not going to be able to scout for them for the next few days. Do you mind?"
Lief showed no reservation. In fact, the thought of leaving the room for a tower appealed to him. It would not be exactly like climbing the trees of Dark Spruce, but it would be close.
The four quickly exited the office and the command post all together. Lief breathed deeply the open air. The buildings that lined the streets they walked still seemed to close upon him, but he was at last free of the tiny enclosed room.
They spoke of the algors and the dwarves as they walked briskly to the southwestern tower. Sy allowed the guard to remain as the four made the climb to the elevated platform. He did not always openly offer information to his soldiers, but he never deliberately hid things from them, either. He spoke of the dilemmas forthrightly, unconcerned that the lookout would overhear.
"Where did you come across the serp?"
Ryson pointed deep into to the hills. "There, just beyond the third hilltop from the clearing."
It was a good distance away. Sy nodded to the budding wizard. "That's why you didn't sense them Enin."
"Yes, that is rather far."
Sy gazed out over the rolling hills.
"And the shag was with the serp?"
"Not the whole time," Ryson admitted. "I found shag tracks on the top of that third hill. I believe it was acting like a lookout."
"So the serp is using some of our own methods."
"It would seem. Anyway, when I first spotted the serp, the goblins were with it, but not the shag. I chased the goblins away. When I came back to get the serp, the shag was ready to defend."
"It does sound like a personal guard. And you saw no signs of another shag?"
"None."
"That makes me feel a little better. Now, where's this blind spot?"
Ryson pointed to the edge of the clearing directly south of Burbon. "See the base of that hill, the one that extends furthest into the clearing? What if they crouched below it? At what point would they be visible to this tower?"
"They wouldn't, but the tower over the south gate would have a direct view of them."
Ryson shook his head. "It's too high. The lookout would have to lean out over the railing to see below him at that close range."
"And if he did, he'd take an arrow between the eyes," Sy acknowledged.
"Exactly."
Sy tapped his fingers together. "They'd get right to the gate. It's surprising it took so long for them to find it."
"Maybe this is a new serp. I haven't seen one with a shag guard before."
"Not a good time for you to be leaving."
"I can't do much about that."
"I know, I'm just reminding
myself of what I'm up against." Sy looked over to the southeast corner of the wall. "You're right about the new tower. That'll cutoff the blind spot, but it's going to take a few days to build. I'm going to have to keep guards outside the gate until then. I don't like it, but I have no choice."
"A spider!" Enin blurted out.
The rest of the men upon the tower gazed at him questioningly. Enin ignored them, whispered confusing words, until Sy called for his attention.
"Enin? Enin!"
"Huh? Oh sorry, I was just thinking out loud."
"I know. What were you thinking?"
"Ryson compared me to a big spider. That's the answer."
Sy shook his head. "Your senses are always helpful, but it won't be enough in this case. You won't feel them until they get close to the wall, by then it'll be too late. I have to be warned when they get close to the clearing, not the wall."
"They won't get to the wall," Enin asserted. He stopped his explanation and again stared out to the edge of the clearing. He spoke as if he were alone on the tower platform. "Spider's web, spider's trap, spider's warning. It's all the same. Make the trap where the flies are, or where the flies can be caught. A binding spell, like a force field. I've done that before. I need to alter it slightly, not a shield but a trap, a web. Think of a spider. How to focus the energy? Yes, that's it, that's definitely it."
Without another word, Enin raised his hands. He looked first to the sky then to the blind spot as defined by Ryson. His fingers curled, pulling in the magical energies that flowed freely in the very air that surrounded them all. He tapped into his inner power as well, the energy he allowed to fill his core. He became a siphon and a conduit, mixing the power of himself with the free flowing magic. Two intertwining circles of a pale white hue formed around his wrists.
Ryson watched with great interest. He had seen wizards cast spells before; after all he had battled Ingar upon Sanctum. Still, this scene filled him with wonder. A seemingly normal human was pulling power from the very air. When he was young, he thought of magicians as entertainers that shuffled cards with extraordinary skill. Now, now they were powerful men and women with the ability to control energy of an unknown magnitude.
The sight was awe-inspiring, perhaps even more so for the elf that noted the scene with guarded amazement. The white light and the spheres indicated a skill he could not have expected. He said nothing, but the significance of such power was not lost upon him.
Enin kept his attention focused upon his spell. He ignored those that watched even as he could sense their growing amazement. As the circles of energy swirled, he redirected his hands at the base of the hill to the south. The rings of power flew from him, flipping over and over as they danced through the sky. They hit the ground at the point of the blind spot. Hundreds of long strands exploded from the circles, forming a giant web of glowing white. It remained visible as its whiteness clashed with the green and brown hill grass.
Enin nodded in approval. "It's visible in the day, maybe even at night. I don't know how much it will glow. It won't matter. If they see it, they'll know their blind spot is no longer feasible. If they don't, we'll have a few more prisoners."
"They won't be able to break through it?" Sy questioned.
"They could. It's not the strongest spell in the land. They'd be able to cut through it with their short swords, but not while crouching down and hiding from this tower. It will take a little more effort than that."
"What about the shag? If a goblin can cut through it, it won't stop a shag for a moment."
Ryson offered his own understanding. "A shag won't be able to hide behind the slope of that hill. It's too big."
Sy nodded. A shag would be too big to utilize the blind spot. The lookout from this tower would spot it. Only the slight goblin could truly use the edge of the hill for cover. The web would work. He reveled in the victory. It was not always the actual physical struggle which turned the advantage. More often, it was the battle of strategy, the deployment of forces, obstacles, and resources. Confident in the overall approach of the web, Sy focused on the details.
"How long will it last?"
Enin closed his eyes. He could feel the web; it was still part of him. "Half a day. I can cast another spell tonight and again tomorrow morning."
"It won't tire you out?"
"It doesn't require a great deal of energy to cast."
Sy turned to Ryson with a greater sense of comfort. "It appears as if we have solved our blind spot problem. They might even see the web if they make another scout of the wall. Actually, I hope they do. It'll let them know we're aware of their plans. If they had just seen us constructing the tower, they might have attacked to press their advantage. Now, they'll find out they've lost that edge."
"You'll still send out scouts?" Ryson questioned, but he already knew the answer. Sy was too careful, too attentive to subtle changes to rest upon a single solution.
"Absolutely. I'm not worried about the blind spot anymore, but there's still a serp out there with a shag doing its bidding. That still makes me nervous. I'll send out scouts at random intervals."
"Tell them to scatter their formation if they go in the high grass," Ryson advised. "The shag was covered with grass to blend in. I didn't see it until it stood up. If your scouts cluster together, it might surprise them all at once. They've got to leave room so they can cover each other. And it was hard to gain its scent, the serp’s own sorcery I think."
"Amazing. Camouflage magic," Sy gave his adversary its due credit. "We're going to have to come up with a way to defeat that."
"I'll learn to smell them," Ryson stated with determination. "But for now, tell them to look for thicker than usual clumps in the grass. That's what I'll be doing."
Lief ignored the continued conversation of strategy. After the wizard's display, such considerations seemed irrelevant. The glowing white light from Enin's web consumed his thoughts. Such power. If used properly, it would be enough to stop an army of goblins. If underestimated, it could wipe out the town as well as the landscape before him.
From the tower platform, the elf could also see over the rolling hills to the south and beyond the Fuge River. Dark Spruce Forest was clear in his sights. He felt the trees call to him, but he also remembered the pressing need of the algors. He would have to serve them before returning to the forest.
"Ryson? It is time for us to go," the elf professed lightly.
The delver nodded grimly. A pang of guilt bit at his core. From the tower he could see the roof of his home, as well as the peaked second story of the Borderline Inn. Was Linda back at work, worrying about when he'd return? He was already worrying about her. He made a final request of Sy.
"Keep an eye on Linda for me, would you Sy? I know she can take care of herself, but it'd make me feel better. Thinking about that shag has me as worried as you."
"Not a problem. I'll see to it, but you keep your mind on yourself. If you're going out into the desert, you need to stay alert. I can spare you for a few days, but this town needs you back."
"You needn't fear too much," Lief replied with almost too much confidence for Sy's liking, but then again the captain of the guard had never met Holli Brances. Lief explained. "Another elf will be accompanying Ryson and myself, an elf guard. There are few that can match her talents."
"That's no boast," Ryson echoed. "Holli's going with us."
"Another that was with you at Sanctum?" Sy now understood Lief's confidence. "Very well. Then all I can say is hurry back."