Delver Magic II: Throne of Vengeance, Jeff Inlo [graded readers .TXT] 📗

like sleeping sentinels or dead soldiers. A grave yard.

Ryson’s heart raced. No civilians had been hurt, but where was Linda? “Hello? Linda?”

He heard her call from the back, from the kitchen.

“Ryson?”

The door to the back swung open with the force of a hurricane. Her eyes fell upon him, swelling instantly with tears of relief. She ran to him. She threw her arms around him, held him with every force of her being.

“Oh Ryson! I was so scared. I didn’t know …” the rest of her words were muffled, her face pressed in his chest.

Ryson returned her hold. He stroked her hair. He wanted to comfort her, but he was overcome with the same sense of relief. He did not know what he would have done if she was not there to greet him. He breathed heavily, freeing the tightness in his body.

“It’s alright. Everything’s alright.”

They stayed together for long moments. Neither of them spoke. Finally, Linda released her iron strong hold. She stepped back and she wiped the tears from her eyes. She quickly moved around the bar and got a towel to wipe her face. She laughed a little, embarrassed by her own emotional outburst. The relief of seeing Ryson fueled her joy, and she laughed a little harder.

Ryson smiled. “I guess we both have stories to tell, huh?”

“Are you hungry?” she was finally able to get out.

“No, I’m alright. Maybe just some water.”

Linda got two cups. They both took long gulps, trying to swallow the remnants of their emotions.

Ryson took another look around the inn. His delver curiosity began to chew at him. “What happened here? Why is this place so empty?”

Linda appeared to shiver. “We were attacked again, but not by goblins.”

Ryson helped her out. “I know. It was dwarves. I was afraid of that. What have you heard?”

“They dug tunnels under us. They attacked the command post. They killed a lot of men.” Linda shuddered. She had to stop, take another drink.

“That’s alright. Don’t go into that. I’ll get that from Sy. What’s happening now? Why’s the place so empty?”

“They’re training,” Linda forced out.

“Who’s training?”

“Most everyone. Sy put out a request. He said he needed volunteers to help fight. It was either that or leave for the protection of Connel. No one wants to leave their homes. Everyone agrees we have to stay and fight. Even I wanted to join. Sy wouldn’t let me. He said it would interfere with your thinking. He couldn’t have that. He said the people of this town would need you thinking straight more than they would need me.”

Ryson did not know how to respond. He was thankful for what Sy had done. He did not want to worry about Linda. He spoke his thoughts openly. “I’d rather you didn’t put yourself at risk. In all honesty, I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

“That’s what scares all of us,” Linda admitted.

“Can you leave,” Ryson pressed, “can you lock this place up for a while? I want you to come with me. I’m going to see Sy. I want you to hear what’s going on.”

Linda waved to the empty room. “I don’t think that’s a problem.”

Linda and Ryson moved quickly to the command post, past hundreds of civilians training in the streets. Sergeants of the guard spoke respectfully but forcefully to them all, whether they were merchant or mid-wife. This was no game. Their lives were at stake and each face showed it. Grim and determined, fearful but angry; the townspeople followed the training without objection.

The scene was powerful. Men and women of all ages, learning to use weapons of death and destruction, willing to cast aside their normal lives to protect their homes. They disregarded their status as civilians, there were no more civilians. They were all soldiers, soldiers that had to learn quickly. They made mistakes, and when they did they cursed. There was no joking, no playful laughter. This was life, and death. They came together under the watchful eyes of the sergeants; they put aside any past differences. For this moment, there was unity in purpose and in spirit.

Ryson guided Linda into the guard headquarters, into Sy’s office. He offered greeting to Sy and Enin.

Sy could not have been happier, and he made no attempt to hide it. “Thank Godson.”

“Godson?” Ryson quickly responded with a smile. “I didn’t know you followed that faith.”

Sy smiled broadly. “I’ll believe anything that brings you back to us. Do you know what’s going on here?”

Ryson’s own smile evaporated. “Most of it. I know the dwarves attacked. Tell me about the particulars.”

Sy revealed each detail, hoping the delver might find some understanding in this madness. Upon finishing his description, he asked for enlightenment. “Do you know what’s going on here?”

Ryson gritted his teeth. “I’m afraid I do. It seems you were right. You yourself said that wars often spread. I guess you can say that most of this is my fault. The elves and I stumbled across a dwarf war party in the desert. They called us spies and attacked us. We beat them off but they must think we have allied with the algors. They also attacked the elf camp in Dark Spruce.”

Sy did not want Ryson to assume any fault in this matter. He wanted the delver’s head clear. “You can’t blame yourself. You said you had a responsibility to warn the algors. No man can be faulted for living up to his responsibilities and nothing can justify the attack on my men.”

Ryson revealed the full merit of his own disappointment. “I’m afraid I failed with the algors as well. I was too late in getting there. The dwarves had already attacked. The algors suffered heavy losses.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sy offered.

Ryson did not know what else to say.

Sy turned to his obligation of protecting the people. He focused on obtaining more information. “I need your help. I need to know what you think is going to happen next. In all honesty, I have no idea what to do. The way these dwarves can tunnel leaves us with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of blind spots. The wall is useless. They can attack any part of the city at any moment. I have my soldiers spread so thin I had to ask for volunteers.”

“I saw. Quite impressive.”

Sy nodded with respect for the people it was his duty to protect. “Not surprising. These people really have no other place to go. None of us do. It helps, but only to a degree. I can’t say what they’ll do if they face a real battle. I need more experienced soldiers. I sent a messenger to Connel. She hasn’t returned yet. I can’t count on it until I know for sure. For now, I have to rely on what I’ve got. Anyway, you’ve told me why they’ve attacked, I need to know if they’ll attack again.”

Ryson considered the point. The thought was not pleasant. “I don’t know. If I had to guess, I would probably say yes. You defeated them. I doubt that is sitting well with them. They seem to be such a proud race. Any loss is just going to make them angry. I would think they would try again.”

Sy frowned, but revealed his agreement. “That’s my thought, but there is still so much I don’t know. How large of a force will they send against us? What kind of weapons will they use? Will they tunnel again? And most importantly, when will they attack?”

“I can’t answer any of those questions. The only thing I can say is that I don’t think dwarves are very patient. If Yave is attacking us out of anger, she’ll probably waste little time, but I can’t guarantee that she won’t wait.”

“Damn,” Sy grumbled. He looked at Ryson with fading hope. “There are other problems as well. Enin here can’t detect them. For some reason, they can get close and if he closed his eyes he wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from our regular citizens.”

“It bothers me greatly,” Enin confirmed what Sy was saying. “I have spent much of the past day trying to figure out why. Even now, I don’t understand it.”

“The dwarves are very resistant to the magic,” Ryson explained. “Holli, the elf guard, explained that to me before. That’s probably why you didn’t sense them.”

“Resistant?”

“They don’t store it, they have a hard time using it, and apparently, spells are not very effective against them.”

Enin filled with relief. “It wasn’t me? There wasn’t something happening to me?”

“No.”

“That doesn’t really help us, Enin.” Sy sounded upset with the wizard’s show of solace. “We still won’t get any early warning on them.” The captain turned back to the delver. “I’ve put men at posts at different intersections around the town. I’m using them as early warning. I’ve also had some miners dig some warning traps. They tell me if the dwarves dig underneath them, they’ll collapse. I don’t know how much faith to put into that, though. They seem like they would work, but these dwarves can dig like nothing else I’ve ever seen. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Not really? I…”

Enin did not let him finish. “Something’s approaching the wall.” He ran from the office, ran outside into the open air.

“Great,” Sy grumbled. “What now?”

He, Ryson and Linda followed the wizard. They looked to him expectantly.

Enin faced the south gate. A smile crossed his lips. “Elves. Two of them. They are approaching the wall.”

Understanding washed over the delver.

“It’s probably Lief and Holli. I left them rather abruptly,” Ryson admitted.

Sy turned to a soldier keeping guard at the door. “Signal the south gate. There are two, uh, individuals approaching. Let them enter and instruct them to come here.”

“Should I go meet them?” Ryson questioned.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Sy confessed. “I’d like to hear everything they have to say for myself. If you go off on your own, I might miss something important.”

“Fair enough, but we should meet them here, outside. They probably won’t like being cramped up in your office.”

Sy frowned with uncertainty. He spoke to the delver almost guardedly. “Before they get here, I have some questions. You said the elves were attacked as well as us. What did they say about the attack?”

Ryson offered the little information he had overheard. “It was a small raiding force, about twenty dwarves. They had some casualties, not as bad as here, but they did take some supplies.”

Sy pressed for more detail about a possible elf response. “What did they say they were going to do about it?”

“They were arguing that point when I left. I think some of them wanted to attack Dunop. It’s just like you said, this war is spreading, and I don’t know where it’s going to end.” Ryson paused to look down the main street that led to the south. His sharp eyes picked up the elves being escorted by two guards before anyone else could see them. “Here they come now.”

Sy called for Ryson’s undivided attention. “One more thing before they get here. I’m going to talk openly to these two. If I say anything which bothers you in any way, speak up. I have no idea of what I’m dealing with here. I’m going on instinct alone. I need any help you can give me.”

“I don’t know much more than you,” Ryson warned.

Sy shook his head. “That’s nonsense and you know it. You’ve dealt with elves before. You’ve fought alongside them. I can’t say that. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings and don’t be damned humble. I’m nearly in the dark here.”

“Alright.” Ryson could not ignore his plea, and could