Delver Magic: Book 05 - Chain of Bargains (9 page)

"What if I feel threatened by
them?"

"If they meant us harm, they
would have simply fired upon us. They are hoping to capture us, that is
obvious."

It was indeed clear to the delver
that the guards were moving in a fashion to take prisoners—and to take them
alive—but that didn't alleviate his fears. He didn't wish to become a prisoner.
It was not something any delver aspired to become. He considered what would
happen further down the line once they were in the hands of the guards, and
that thought did even less to comfort him.

"What if they ask us
questions and we don't have the right answers? That might be enough to change
their opinion of us. And what if they decide to kill us
after
they capture us?"

"We have our skills and
talents," Holli replied without bluster. She was an elf guard... and a
magic caster learning from one of the most powerful wizards in the full history
of elflore. Ryson was a purebred delver who could move with the speed of a gale
force wind. She did not fear the human guards.

The delver, however, wanted to use
their abilities
before
they were captured,
not after, but it seemed Holli remained intent on allowing the town guard to
dictate the encounter. She held her ground, and so Ryson complied. He stood
still and silent, allowing the soldiers to initiate the first contact.

In the alleys, around corners, and
up on the rooftops, the guards became hesitant, as if they expected something
different from the two strangers in their midst. A few whispered to each other,
but most remained quiet. Long pauses filled the night air until shuffling
noises scratched out upon street surfaces exposed further commotion—only to be
followed by more stillness.

Whereas the soldiers previously
moved with a mind to surround and corral Ryson and Holli, their new direction
revealed uncertainty. The reluctance to advance suggested more than just care
on the part of the soldiers, it began to take on the unmistakable air of
indecision. Even as guards waiting in the outer perimeter held their ground,
soldiers in nearby alleys repositioned themselves, but the maneuvers lacked strategic
advantage. If anything, the action served to create more confusion. Several
guards decided to circle around in an attempt to outflank Ryson and Holli, but
there was clearly no need.

The elf and delver left their
weapons sheathed or shouldered, kept their hands empty and at their sides. They
made no move to escape. They stood still upon open ground like harmless statues
waiting for birds to perch upon their shoulders. Short of waving a white flag
or holding up their hands in surrender, Holli and Ryson could not have appeared
any less threatening.

Finally, a half dozen heavily
armed soldiers stepped out of an alley and moved toward the delver and elf to
meet them head on. They carried broadswords and axes, but they stopped well out
of weapon range despite the fact that their blades were at the ready and Holli
and Ryson remained as passive as possible. The guards that had circled in from
behind were woefully out of position as well, and Holli almost shook her head
at the apparent carelessness of those that confronted her.

She thought of the human guards
she trained at Burbon and Connel, and she wondered how Burbon's captain of the
guard would view the tactics of the soldiers in Huntston. Without question, she
already knew the answer. Sy Fenden would have been disgusted had he witnessed
the display of negligence by soldiers that were entrusted to guard the town.

The scene confused the elf even
further. Nothing made sense. Goblins entered the town openly, but kept out of
sight. Soldiers acted woefully inadequate in their duties, yet quiet and
control remained intact throughout the town. Adding it all together, the
results should have been quite the opposite. Dark creatures and erratic guards
should have equaled terror and chaos, but it didn't. For some reason, order
ruled.

Even as the soldiers surrounded
her, she discarded their importance. Perhaps order did not come from the guard,
and with that thought, Holli began to consider other explanations. Goblins
could be subdued by brute force, but only when they feared that force. These
soldiers projected little authority. Some other power must have kept the
goblins in check.

Magic.

The abnormality in the flow of the
energy was one of the reasons she chose to explore Huntston, and she still had
not found an explanation for the bending of the magic. The presence of a
powerful mage would explain many things. Such a sorcerer could temporarily
shield his existence—even from the perceptions of the elf—and would find little
difficulty in maintaining control over a few dozen goblins.

She considered the flow of the
magic once more, even as the guards stumbled into position around her. It
flooded into Huntston from all angles. The surge inward was unmistakable, but
so was its escape. Nothing absorbed the magic, nothing held it within the
boundaries of the town. It was much like the rivers that bordered Huntston on
both sides. The magic rushed in, swept across the streets, and then dashed
away.

The flow was so overpowering, it
was difficult to focus on a single vibration, but as a whole, the magic
remained pure to her. She could not find any diabolical purpose for the
onslaught of energy.

She thought again of the goblins.
The rush of magic did not diminish the possibility of a sorcerer guiding the
movements of the insipid creatures. It might, in fact, offer cover for the
mage. It was only a theory, but it would explain certain mysteries that
continued to elude her.

If a sorcerer was at the heart of
the goblins strange behavior, then Holli would have to reassess her opinion of the
town guard. Perhaps Ryson was correct, the soldiers that surrounded them might
have just been extraordinarily incompetent, which meant they were also possibly
very dangerous.

"You're to come with
us," one of the guards finally spoke up.

Holli nodded, but remained quiet.
She did not regret her decision for refusing to escape the predicament, but she
also began to lose faith that she would speak to anyone of credible authority
within the ranks of those that stood before her. The guards didn't even disarm their
prisoners, even as they turned their backs upon them to guide them through the
city. Incompetence quickly began to appear as pure foolishness.

Ryson also did not speak. He
simply stepped cautiously along with the group when the soldiers turned and started
marching further up the street. He kept a watchful eye on their movements and
their surroundings. He mapped out their path in his mind and committed several
landmarks to memory. He made absolutely certain that if escape became
necessary, he would have several routes at the ready.

Holli kept track of their
movements as well, but she also watched the reactions of other humans that
passed them in the streets. Night had taken hold, but it was not so late that
the streets were deserted. The town was active enough for Holli to gain a true
perspective of the citizen reaction to armed activity, and it surprised her.
Not one resident who passed paused to gawk at the parade of guards escorting
apparent prisoners through the town.

That fact seemed almost incomprehensible
to her. In living among humans, she learned that they were a curious race. Such
spectacles should have brought much more attention, but the townspeople
actually shied away from their approach. Shutters remained closed on all
windows as did the doors of many homes. The residents of Huntston clearly
wished to distance themselves from such incidents.

Bizarre.

Humans simply did not act in such
a manner. Some might keep to themselves, might seek the shelter of obscurity
and avoid spectacles, but not an entire town. Many, if not most, would seek to
view the commotion, not shield their eyes from it. Yet, there were no crowd of
onlookers, and those that walked the streets deliberately avoided the parade of
soldiers escorting two strangers.

Turning her mind once more to the
goblins and how they entered Huntston earlier that evening, Holli wondered if
the residents acted in a similar fashion. Did they ignore dark creatures
roaming the streets? Did they simply look away and mind their own business? Did
they hope that any potential threat would simply dissolve away?

Extremely Bizarre.

The soldiers escorted Holli and
Ryson on a fairly long walk. They led them to an ominous building just
northeast of the center of town. The entire structure was built from rock. Only
a few very narrow windows lined the front exterior wall. Bright lanterns lit up
the streets and alleys surrounding the building, but the stone walls themselves
were bathed in shadows. There were no adjacent structures, as the nearest
building stood several paces away across a very wide side alley.

A brick walkway led from the
street to two massive doors that served as the front entrance and appeared to
be made of iron. Holli believed that assessment to be true when she watched one
of the soldiers struggle to open the door. A soldier waiting within gave quick
instructions once they were all inside and the heavy doors were closed.

"We're bringing them to the
back, follow me," he stated in the fashion of an order he expected to be
followed without question or delay. This particular soldier had at least some
level of authority, but Holli didn't expect it extended beyond the stone walls.

She believed he was a station
commander, nothing more. He didn't create the orders. He simply issued them to
the guards under his command. The true decision to take Holli and Ryson captive
came from someone further up the chain of command. If she was going to get any
answers, she wasn't going to obtain them from any of the soldiers they had
encountered so far.

Ryson's discomfort continued to
grow. He reviewed their surroundings and realized they had been brought to a
guard station that also served as a jail. He and Holli were led down a narrow
hall and through another set of heavy iron doors. The entire back half of the
building was a wide expanse—very much like a storehouse— but with several areas
squared off with metal bars. The cells were more like isolated cages, as
sections of iron bars completed four walls and containment ceilings for each
individual holding area.

Ryson expected the interior of the
facility to be dark and dreary, but the jail area was exceedingly bright. Far
more lanterns than were needed hung along each wall. Though the unpolished iron
bars offered little solace, the white stone floor actually sparkled under the
dancing flames of the lamps.

Holli peered curiously into each
cell they passed. Most remained empty, but a few housed an occupant. No cage
held more than one prisoner and each one was human. Once more, she found no
sign of the goblins.

The human prisoners did not look
up at the new arrivals. Most rested on thin mattresses thrown on the floor.
Blankets were pulled up high and covered the faces of the inmates. Holli wasn't
sure if these prisoners were shielding their eyes from the bright light of the
jail or burying their shame, and perhaps even their consciousness, in the
darkness of covers.

The guards separated Ryson and
Holli as they reached a block of cages in the back corner far away from any
other prisoners. They were not, however, removed far from each other. Holli was
brought to a halt before one sliding cell door just as Ryson was guided to the
front of the neighboring cage.

"Leave them dressed, but
remove their weapons, bags, and any other possessions," the soldier in
charge commanded. "Throw everything they have in the cell behind me. The
captain will want to go through it when he gets here."

Before the other guards could
move, he tapped the sheath of the Sword of Decree that hung across Ryson's
back.

"Except for this. Don't touch
this sword handle. Take it by the sheath only. Store it in that cabinet and
lock it after you close it. I want the key when you're done."

Before leaving, the station
commander pulled the forester's cap off Holli's head and took a long look at
the pointed ears of the elf guard. He appeared to make a mental note of their
long, thin characteristics before turning away and tossing the cap in an empty
cell. Without another word, he marched back to the front of the station.

The other guards followed their
orders. They quickly relieved Ryson and Holli of their weapons and pouches,
checked their pockets and removed all possessions they found. They placed the
items on the floor of the cell with Holli's forester cap and then shut and
locked the door.

The soldier who took hold of the
Sword of Decree did so with great care so as not to allow the handle to even
brush his person. As he carried it to the storage cupboard, he held it far from
his body as if it were a venomous snake that might strike if disturbed. He
placed the weapon in the wooden cabinet and quickly shut the door. He locked it
with a key that he took with him as he left.

The other guards directed both
Holli and Ryson into their cells. They didn't shove them with any force or
malice. They simply pointed and expected the prisoners to follow the order.
Both the elf and the delver offered no resistance. They stepped into their
respective cages and watched as the guards locked the cell doors.

Holli watched the soldiers as each
one filed down the long corridor and exited the room. Not one guard remained
behind as the heavy iron doors were pulled to a thumping close. She heard the
latch lock with the twist of a key. Scanning the expansive space of the jail,
she could see through the bars of each cell and across the entire room. Only
prisoners remained in the jail area and all of them were hiding from their own
insecurities.

"I have seen enough,"
the elf declared in a hushed voice, but not as low as a whisper. Her disgust
with the carelessness of the guards painted her tone as well as her expression.
She no longer believed she would gain anything of value from those that
captured her. She was even sorry she allowed the inept soldiers to take them
prisoner.