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

for a moment. “That is unfortunate. When one runs, others that might have held often join in flight.”

“I’m sorry, but there’s just no way I can tell for sure. I can make some guesses, but that’s all.”

“I will ask you to do that. Those that you feel are prone to run in the face of battle must be given other tasks.”

Holli turned from Sy. She inspected the town again, this time she took long, discriminating studies of many of the buildings. Her eyes followed the length of the wall. Only for a brief moment did she inspect the clearing between the hills and the barrier. She revealed little as she quickly focused back on the heart of the town. She looked at the crossing patterns of the roads and alleys, the differing heights of the many structures. It would not be like fighting the dwarves in the forest, but it held many advantages. She quickly played out several scenarios in her mind.

Sy and Enin left her to her study. They watched her carefully, but said nothing.

Holli repaid their consideration by speaking her thoughts aloud. “If we do this right, if we’re lucky, this may just be the perfect place to hold out against the dwarves. A good deal will depend on how many they send at us. I’m sure it will be a large complement of warriors, but we can make that work to our advantage. Dwarves are stubbornly proud and easily taunted into breaking ranks. It will help us if they send several hundred soldiers as opposed to small strike teams. The commanders will have trouble keeping their warriors in formation. It is in confusion which we can overcome their strength.”

The warrior elf turned to the ladder which led down from the platform. “I’ve seen all I need to from this point. I need to see things from ground level now.”

Sy and Enin shrugged at each other. They simply followed her.

Holli stepped lively through the streets. At times she would stop in the middle of intersections. She gauged the distance between opposing rooftops, judged the height of several buildings. Many times she crouched as she walked, assuming the height of a dwarf. She took a perspective of seeking cover. She sought out narrow alleys and covered porches. In each tight place, she knelt and looked to the heights surrounding her. She nodded or frowned, but she said nothing.

As she passed many of the humans that watched her, she did not ignore them. She watched how they moved, how they stood. She looked for signs of impatience. She looked into their eyes, watched for focus and concentration. She seemed neither pleased nor disappointed with what she saw.

Finally, she made a request of Sy.

“I would like to see your supply of arms.”

Sy guided her to the main armory, another brick building located next to the command post. He waved to the guards as he led her inside. Well organized rows of crates lined most of the available space. Some were open and revealed their contents, mostly swords and spears.

Holli ignored these. She turned her attention to the slings, crossbows, and long bows. She picked up a crossbow first, then a sling.

“Excellent,” she murmured.

Both Enin and Sy watched her carefully. Sy was curious about her attention to certain weapons. The spears were effective against the dwarves in their first battle, but she was as indifferent to these as she was to the short swords.

Enin focused on her ability to deal with this enclosed place. He remembered how uncomfortable Lief appeared within the walls of Sy’s office. She appeared calmer with her surroundings than her male counterpart. If these brick walls invoked a sense of discomfort, she hid it well.

Holli noticed their attention, but she disregarded it. Her concentration remained squarely upon the stock of weapons. “These boxes? They contain more of these bows? And these? More slings?”

“Yes,” Sy answered simply.

“You are well supplied.”

Sy revealed more truth. “It’s not like we really had a choice. After the first goblin attack, we made sure we were capable of defending ourselves. This isn’t even all we have, either. I wouldn’t keep all my eggs in one basket. I have more stored at command HQ. Those are ready for immediate use, no unpacking is necessary. I also have stores hidden in certain buildings throughout the town.”

“You have more?” Holli questioned with a note of appreciation.

“Buying this stuff cost the town plenty, but it was a cost we were all willing to pay.”

“It was wise. It may save your life.”

“You seem most interested with the bows. I have to tell you, the spears worked well for us last time.”

Holli did not reply immediately. She weighed what she wanted to say and how she would say it. She respected this man, and she would not callously disregard his opinions or his input. His actions, as told to her, in the previous battle with the dwarves saved many lives. She would not offend him. Still, this was his only encounter with the dwarves, and it was only a small attack force. He had no experience fighting a full-fledged dwarf army. No human did. There was no knowledge for him to draw on. It was her responsibility to give him that knowledge, for her to draw on elflore and her own training to impress upon him what they face, but she would do so with absolute respect for him as a soldier and as a leader.

“Do not take lightly what I will tell you, for I will never take lightly what you have to say to me. You have already accomplished much more than any other living human commander can claim. You have faced a dwarf attack and forced their retreat. There is no question in my mind as to your ability to lead, but there is a need for you to instill what I can teach beyond your own experience.

“You must forget what you think you know about war. I can say this because over the many cycles of the seasons, I have watched how humans have fought against each other. I have learned a good deal about how your commanders think in battle, and I have seen what guides their decisions. While these maneuvers would work well against almost any other race in our land, they will not work against the dwarves.

“There are no battle lines, no points of defense. There is no safe haven, there is no place which is more secure than another, and there is never a clear border between you and the enemy. The entire area is the battlefield. No matter what is going on in another section of this town, there is always the threat that a hundred or even a thousand dwarves may surface right in front of you in an instant. You can never be sure where their army is, or how large they are. Just when you think you have found the main body of their army, a larger force will break through the ground behind you. I say this because you show some confidence in the use of spears. I tell you in all honesty, if our lives become dependent on spears, we are lost.”

Sy grasped for the knowledge she offered, grasped for hope. “Can we depend on those? Can we depend on bows and slings?”

“We have to depend on how well we can use them,” Holli replied. “Remember our goal will not to be to defeat the dwarves, but for us to survive. It is not the same thing.”

“I know. It’s the difference between attack and defense.”

“Very true, and we will defend this town with but one goal in mind, to allow everyone the greatest chance to live to see tomorrow.”

She did not press the issue at this point. Instead, she began inspecting more of the crates. “My advice at this point is for you to begin handing out these bows and slings. Have your people train with these.”

She turned from the crates and moved back outside. Again, she looked to the rooftops. As Sy followed her out the door, she made her final requests for preparation. “You will need ropes and ladders. Have them in place as soon as possible. Hang the ropes from the rooftops to the ground. Place the ladders against the sturdiest of your structures. As an elf I know this, the way to escape a dwarf is to climb out of his reach. We would climb the trees of our forest, you will have to climb these structures you have built. It does not guarantee survival. A band of angry dwarves could collapse these houses, just as they can fell a tree in a single swing, but it is a needed escape route. You will also need bells in the towers, an alarm.”

“We use signal fires,” Sy advised.

“That is even better, but we will also need a general alarm that can be heard. Dwarves normally attack right after sunset when most of your citizens will be in their homes.”

Enin spoke up, unable to curb his own desire to offer his unique service. “What is there that I can do to help offer warning? Is there any thing you can think of that I can try? I know the dwarves are resistant to magic, but there must be something I can do. Elves know a good deal of magic, don’t they? Is there a spell which might locate the tunnels as they are being dug?”

Holli cast a doubtful glance at the wizard. “I doubt at this time elves know anymore than you in the way of casting spells.”

Enin could not contain his surprise. “Really? I thought elves were very prone to using magic.”

“As a race in whole, elves are more inclined to magic than humans, but that is not the case when it comes to comparing individuals. Throughout the legends, throughout elflore, the most powerful of the wizards and sorcerers have been of human descent. Do not underestimate your power.”

“You think I have great power?”

Holli did not want to answer that question. She narrowed her words to his original question. “I am uncertain of the extent of your power. I also do not know any spells which may help us. Magic is a powerful tool, but at this time, too much knowledge has been lost for it to serve us with any reliability.”

Enin felt the need to defend his new found craft. “I don’t know about that. I’ve already been able to come up with a small web spell. I know that won’t help with dwarves that can tunnel underneath it, but there may be an offshoot of that spell. It may be just a case of finding a variant, something that would sense the movement underground.” Enin’s eyes lit brighter as he carried the proposal even farther. “Maybe I can do even better. Maybe there’s a way I can stop them from digging under us all together. I can try to find a way to collapse the tunnels, like an earthquake, small in scale of course.”

Holli replied coarsely. “I would strongly advise against experimenting with such spells. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you could cause great damage.”

“I would be careful,” Enin protested.

“I’m sure you would, but it is still too risky to attempt. Dwarves are very resistant to magic. Anything you try may have dangerous consequences to us, and may do nothing to stop the dwarves. I will also suggest that during battle you refrain from attacking the dwarves directly with any spells you have not previously cast with certainty.”

Enin looked at Holli with bewilderment. “What would you have me do? Should I just sit on my hands?”

“I would simply ask that you remain careful. Experimenting with spells may be more dangerous than