Delver Magic: Book 05 - Chain of Bargains (28 page)

The one soldier, to the
displeasure of his comrades, did not hold the same viewpoint.

"We aren't supposed to hold
you, but we
are
under orders to
question anyone who crosses this bridge."

Holli sighed again, but then
decided to take advantage of the apparent inconsistency in the guard's
directive.

"You do not question
goblins," she pointed out with an accusing glare.

"You're not goblins,"
the soldier stated defiantly, still hoping to regain some control.

"That is true, but why do you
have to question us when you do not question goblins?"

"We know where they're
going."

"We are going to the same
place." Holli then pointed to the warehouse just past the guard shack.

The response further shattered the
soldier's confidence. The rest of the guards found even greater dismay at
Holli's proposal.

"We're not supposed to
disturb them," the soldier said.

"And
we
do not have to follow the same orders," Holli noted.

The quandary deepened for the
soldier. The goblins had been allowed free passage in and out of the city for
as long as he had been a guard. The captain made those orders very clear. The
monsters were not to be detained, delayed, or disturbed. The people of Huntston
offered little objection to that order, and the guards' directive had been made
easy... until that moment.

"I don't think I can let you
do that."

Holli almost laughed, but she
retained her composure as she painted a clear picture that left the guard
speechless.

"If you are not authorized to
arrest us, then what will you do when I dismiss your wishes? Are you prepared
to draw your weapon? I would advise against that." Upon receiving silence
from the soldier, Holli then looked to the rest of the guards. "Anyone
else? No? Then we will be on our way."

She stepped passed the guards and
made her way to the warehouse where she knew the goblins waited.

"I think you enjoyed
that," Ryson reflected, as he smiled at his companion.

"Perhaps," Holli
admitted, "but it also confirmed my suspicions. The soldiers have all been
ordered to ignore the goblins. They really do not know what the creatures are
doing here, but we are going to answer that question... one way or the other."

Ryson looked back over his
shoulder as they made their way past the guard shack.

"They're not following
us."

"Of course not. They have
been ordered to guard the bridge, not to harass the goblins, and not to arrest
us. What choice do they have?"

"None, I guess."

With the threat of the guards
behind them, Ryson turned his full attention to the warehouse that waited about
a hundred paces before them. It appeared to serve more as a temporary holding
facility as opposed to any long term storage house. It probably allowed farmers
temporary cover for grain wagons before processing their harvest into silos.
Merchants might have also utilized it as shelter for their wagons while they
met with potential customers. Low inclined ramps offered easy access for horse
drawn carts to pass through wide archways. The larger bay doors that served
those openings, however, were bolted shut. Ryson spotted only one entrance that
appeared serviceable—a small door at the center of the building. All of the
windows had been covered with tarps from the inside.

"Doesn't appear as if they
want anyone to know what they're doing in there," Ryson pointed out.

"And the town's captain has
accommodated them," Holli added.

They circled the building
completely from a distance, both noting as much information as possible without
moving too close to the structure.

"Only one entrance and no way
to get a look at what's going on inside," the delver offered, as he
continued to analyze their objective.

"What do you hear?"
Holli asked.

"Oh, they're in there,"
Ryson stated with confidence. "I can hear them and I can smell them. Quite
a few, too. My guess would be at least two dozen. They're scattered around, but
I don't think they know we're coming. I haven't noticed any shift in their
activities. They can probably look through small slits in the tarps and get
small glimpses of what's going on out here, but there are so few windows that
they couldn't possibly get a clear view of every direction."

Holli agreed with the assessment
and offered her own.

"I doubt they are watching
the streets. I have not seen any movement of the window coverings. They have
probably become dependent on the town guard keeping away any curious outsiders,
and the townspeople showed a deep inclination to avoid such activity the last
time we visited. I do not think they are concerned with being interrupted.
Still, the door is narrow and might have at least one guard."

"We can't go
underneath," Ryson noted. "There's a wood foundation, but it's
boarded up all around right to the ground. We could try the roof... probably
move some shingles and drop down inside without having to go through the
door."

"No, our greatest asset is
speed. The door is not strong enough to hold us. We will kick it in, and subdue
any guards. We are no longer going to rely on quiet surveillance. As I said
before, I want answers... and not the deceptions and half-truths we received
from Prilgrat."

Ryson noticed the irritation in
Holli's voice but accepted the strategy. He was willing to confront the
goblins, but he hoped to do it in a particular way.

"Let me handle it,
okay?"

"No unnecessary risks in
order to save the lives of goblins," Holli responded with all due respect
to Ryson's principles, but with equal regard toward limiting the potential
dangers of facing startled goblins in an enclosed facility.

"You want answers,"
Ryson reminded her. "Dead goblins can't talk."

"Neither can dead delvers. I
will not deliver a corpse to your Linda because I was worried about harming a
goblin."

"Point taken. Still, they're
only goblins and I've been dealing with them for quite a while now."

"I know you are capable, I am
just reminding you of what's at stake. Prisoners are of great value, but you
are worth more."

"I appreciate that, and so
does Linda."

"Very well. As long as we
understand each other, I will follow you inside and provide you with cover
fire." Holli removed the bow from her shoulder and took hold of four
arrows from her quiver. "Whenever you are ready."

They were still several paces from
the front of the warehouse when Ryson drew the war blades from their sheaths.
He nodded to Holli and raced toward the door in a blur of motion. He slowed
before it with perfect balance, but utilized his forward momentum to add to the
power of a strong kick. The door burst open and he raced inside.

Holli rushed in after with the
speed and daring of an elf. Once through the doorway, she eyed stacks of old
storage boxes piled off to her left. With one graceful leap, she perched
herself at the top of the heap and surveyed the interior of the building.

Several goblins stared blankly at
the commotion, unable to grasp the sudden raid. The warehouse had been theirs
for several seasons and the humans never dared to interfere with their
activities. They looked to the front entrance bewildered by the rush of movement.

While they were unable to identify
the individual who raced through their ranks, they could not fail to recognize
the pointed ears of the female elf who violated their sanctuary. The few that
had crossbows readily available took hold of them with angry intent, but as
they fumbled through bolt pouches, they never found the opportunity to load
their weapons.

Shifting across a mostly open
warehouse floor, Ryson raced about with no apparent pattern. He moved based
entirely on instinct and allowed his keen senses to drink in the surroundings.
Other than a gaping hole in the center of the warehouse floor, there were only
minor obstacles to overcome. The goblins stood before him on open ground
without cover, an advantage he used to its fullest. He targeted goblins based
on their movements and their degree of threat. He disarmed several by swatting
away crossbows with the steel of his swords.

Utilizing both war blades, the
delver managed to eliminate every menace without placing himself in danger and
ensuring several prisoners. Rather than skewering them with the point or
slicing them into shreds with a sharpened edge, Ryson slapped them on the side
of their heads with the flats of the blades. Most dropped into unconsciousness.
Those that were only dazed managed to stumble toward the center of the
warehouse.

At the edge of the fracas, Holli
appraised the skirmish with an eye toward keeping the delver safe. Preparing to
fire arrows in quick succession, she readied her bow but never had to draw the
string. The goblins had been caught completely off guard and they were not
prepared to deal with the swift movements of a delver. Even the small monsters
at the far side of the warehouse were too confused to understand the full
measure of their plight before Ryson could reach them. In mere moments, the
battle would be over and the delver would never face any true jeopardy.

Holli found exuberant joy in
watching the delver run. It was almost intoxicating. He was not this flash of
movement like lightning across a sky. Instead, Holli viewed him as a perfectly
controlled breeze, like a blessed wind which rushed across the hills that Ryson
loved. It wasn't just speed that defined the delver. It was a combination of
speed, quickness, and ideal efficiency of motion. He wasted not a single
movement and let instinct direct his path. The fluidity of every shift, turn
and twist made the elf believe that the delver was created to be in motion—it
was what he was meant to be. The goblins never had a chance.

Satisfied her arrows were not
needed, Holli took the opportunity to gauge the conditions of the warehouse.
She could not help but notice several piles of gems and precious metals
scattered about the warehouse floor. Additional storage boxes lined the far
walls. Goblins had been crating the treasures when she and Ryson entered. She
wondered how much wealth rested within crates that had been nailed shut and
waited by the locked bay doors.

She then turned her attention to
the hole in the center of the floor. The boards had been ripped away which
allowed access to the dirt beneath the building. A large hole formed a tunnel
that led below ground and out of her sight. Several ladders poked out of the
underground passage. She couldn't believe it, but it almost appeared as if the
goblins had been mining.

While the concept seemed too
bizarre to accept as reality, she could not discount certain facts. Everything
within the warehouse pointed to accessing and extracting precious minerals.
Nothing else could explain the goblins' activities. In fact, she found no other
reasonable alternatives.

The monsters were certainly not
ready for a battle. Only a handful wore weapons. A few short swords, crossbows,
daggers and short bows rested in corners, but none of the goblins could reach
them before Ryson cut them off. Clearly, they were not preparing for a raid,
nor were they preparing to go out on any hunt. Most appeared dispatched for
manual labor, nothing more. Shovels and picks were plentiful. They were not
acting like goblins at all.

Holli redirected her focus to a
few of the stunned goblins that made an effort to reach the center of the
warehouse. She watched as some managed to scramble down ladders into the
tunnel. Escaping down a mine shaft was usually a plan of last resort, as it
often led to a dead end. She believed the fleeing goblins might have hoped to
alert others below ground. Perhaps they thought they could regroup and defend
themselves within the tunnels. It didn't matter. The warehouse itself, and thus
the entrance to the mine, was nearly secure.

When the last goblin dropped out
of sight, and Ryson had the others rendered unconscious, Holli leapt from her
perch and moved to assist the delver in tying up close to two dozen unconscious
monsters. She would force one awake soon, but first she needed to discuss her
peculiar findings with Ryson.

"Well done," the elf
congratulated the delver, "more prisoners than I hoped."

"Thanks, but this was easy.
Most of them weren't even armed."

"No, they appear to have set
themselves up as miners."

Ryson looked about and could do
nothing but concur.

"Goblins mining. This just
keeps getting stranger."

Holli had longer to contemplate
the situation, and while she agreed to the sentiment, she believed she finally
began to see some semblance of reason.

"I admit it bothers me, but
goblins taking treasure is not uncommon. It actually fits them more than
attempting to grow crops."

Ryson looked upon the piles of
gems and precious metals.

"At least they seem better
suited for mining than farming."

"Do not be fooled. Goblins do
not make farmers or miners. They are thieves, nothing more, but at least part
of this begins to make sense."

"How so?"

"I know enough of human
corruption to understand how powerful such wealth can be. There is enough here
to buy off several town leaders. It explains, at least to some extent, why the
captain of the guard here in Huntston and the council members at Ashlan agreed
to allow goblins to enter their towns."

"They're being paid
off," Ryson acknowledged.

"At least some of them
are."

"Do you think the goblins are
paying off Prilgrat?"

"In all honesty, no. As a
regional steward, he has the power to obtain riches well beyond what we see
here. He remains a mystery to me."

"So what do we do now?"

"We explore this mine
shaft."

Ryson grimaced as he looked into
the wide expanse that broke through the ground before them.