Delver Magic III: Balance of Fate, Jeff Inlo [most popular ebook readers .txt] 📗

did not really want Chal’s advice. He simply used Chal as a way to talk to himself. By explaining to Chal the basic principles of his approach, Sazar often found potential flaws that might be so obvious that they were earlier overlooked.

“So you feel I have wasted too much time and placed too much effort in keeping my forces concealed. I have enough raw power to simply march into Connel and destroy the city. That is probably true, but I would lose more goblins that way.”

“They can be replaced.”

“It is good to see that you have such love for you fellow goblins. Still, you mustn’t be short sighted. Yes, I can find replacements, but I want this army to grow not to shrink or to remain stagnate. I plan to control far more than this city. The land occupied by the humans extends far to the east, very far indeed, most likely beyond your wildest imagination. There are countless towns and cities that extend through the farmlands and grasslands. Uton is only a small region of an even larger expanse. There is another ocean to the east and cities of massive size on its coast. One day, I may wish to take these cities as well. To do that, I must grow in power, not lose power out of impatience.”

Sazar clicked his long sharp nails on the desktop. The desk wobbled momentarily and Sazar sighed as he sat back in his chair away from the unsteady table.

“Also, by concealing my forces the humans were never alerted and given a chance to escape. It is not enough to simply take an empty city. That was my objective when I attacked that pathetic town of Pinesway. I will no longer think so small.

“The second mistake you make is in wanting to kill all the human inhabitants. That is just plain foolishness. I have told you of my bargain with Tabris. I am bound to honor that bargain and fully intend on doing so. If I kill everyone in the city, what will that leave me to send to Tabris? Goblins? I doubt that would make her happy, to say nothing of my goblin army. No, it would not do to simply march in and kill them all. I must control them. To do that, I must show them that I am more than a marauding army. The battle must not only be won, it must be won in such a way that they understand I am not to be underestimated.

“I also have to think about supplying my forces,” Sazar continued. “I am no longer interested in simply raiding and stealing what I can get my hands on. I will conquer this city and I will hold it. Once I am in control, I will need food for my forces as well as metals to make new weapons. I certainly can not depend on the goblins or any other of my minions to farm or to mine. I will need the humans to do that. I will offer them life in exchange for their servitude. In order for that bargain to work, they must remain alive after I take the city.”

Sazar nodded his head with a degree of satisfaction. “No, I believe the initial designs of my plan are sound. I don’t want the inhabitants of Connel to escape and I don’t want them all killed. I simply need to make sure their ability to fight is extinguished. I will do that by coaxing a large portion of their forces out into the open and destroying them. The ordinary inhabitants of the city will then be more willing to accept their fate.”

Chal shrugged. “Goblins don’t like the open land. When the sun comes up, we will look for cover from the light.”

“The storm clouds will keep it fairly dark for a while,” Sazar hummed. “I believe it will also snow for some time. The sun will not be too much of a problem.”

“We do not like snow, either.”

“Goblins don’t like much of anything,” Sazar responded with a weary sigh. “But I must say I should consider that. I can not allow the battle to drag on for long. A heavy snow might slow my army’s forward movement into the city. If the humans can regroup with archers, it might allow them to cause heavy casualties, not enough to change the ultimate outcome, but as I said, I wish to minimize my losses. It is best if I begin the first raids as soon as possible.”

#

“Humans always cut down the trees,” Lief grumbled to himself with disgust.

Watching from a small grove of trees that long ago used to be part of sprawling Dark Spruce Forest but was now nothing more than an isolated patch, Lief’s sharp elf eyes could peer though the distance as well as the darkness to make out the movements of several goblin packs. He stayed within the safety of the trees as razor crows continued to fly overhead. The cold air became still as the night grew darker. The elf could smell the snow in the air, waiting to fall and cover the tracks of the moving horde.

The goblin packs had moved past the trees just as night fell and their numbers had swelled to alarming proportions. They continued their eastward movements and it became all too clear to the elf that Connel must be their ultimate destination. Scurrying over hills, darting down dark dirt roads, and skulking through dormant farm fields, the goblins moved in an orderly fashion with that one apparent destination in mind. The number of goblins in each pack increased ten fold, and the number of these packs grew at the same staggering rate. They did not yet combine into one massive throng, but as they closed upon Connel, they did less to spread their numbers across the vast land. With their raids on outposts and mines now obviously complete, they now moved with a bigger goal in mind.

During his previous travels through Dark Spruce, Lief had kept a casual eye on the trail of the marching monsters. He stayed alert, high in the trees, and was spotted on numerous occasions, both by goblins below and flying beasts above. When spotted, he remained calm as he followed a pack for a short distance and then eventually turned and moved off to find another band. He acted like nothing more than an elf guard keeping tabs on a goblin threat invading the lands too near an elf camp. Such encounters had to be common to these creatures as they traveled by so many other elf camps. As long as his sightings remained consistent and revealed nothing beyond causal forest reconnaissance, he believed he would be disregarded by the dark creatures, and so far, he was.

With the goblins now out of the forest, however, Lief’s options dwindled. An elf spied out in the open farmlands would now be looked upon with much greater suspicion. He could not yet afford to bring that kind of attention upon himself. As of yet, he was unable to get a fix on the serp that he knew was behind all of this activity. He believed Sazar was close, but the outlying farms of Connel spread over great distances. There was little else he could do but wait.

“This is as close as I can get… for now.”

#

The new mayor of Connel was very tired, but seldom was able to sleep. When a strong knock came on her bedroom door, she was already awake considering more rebuilding plans for the next few days.

“Give me a moment,” Helen Flisher responded. She rose from her bed and pulled on her clothes. She knew she would not sleep any further this night, so there was no need to pretend she would return to bed. When she opened her door, she found her assistant waiting for her with a look that revealed more fear than concern.

“What’s wrong?” Helen asked firmly.

“Guard Captain Tevor is here to see you. He says it’s urgent.”

“Where is he?”

“At the door, he wouldn’t come in.”

Mayor Flisher moved past her assistant and toward the front of the house. The door was open and a cold wind greeted her. She grabbed a coat that hung crumpled over a chair, threw it over her shoulders, and stepped outside.

A heavyset man with a sour face only glanced at her and then returned his gaze toward the south of the city. “Sorry to disturb you, mayor, but I’m following your orders.” The career soldier’s voice was thick as if the words from his mouth weighed more than those from other men. “We have reports that goblins are raiding farms to the south. More than one farm family has made the report so I believe the claims are legitimate. I have no scouts at that position at this time so I can not verify beyond these reports. Based on what I have heard, I believe three farms have been attacked. I have no reports of casualties at this time. These farms are beyond the city limits, so I have executed your standing orders for all goblin raids outside the city. I have placed all interior guard posts on alert, recalled all outer patrols and placed them at watch within the city’s main quadrants, dispatched additional watch to the roofs of our tallest structures, and placed the cavalry at the ready.”

His initial report complete, Captain Tevor turned and awaited the mayor’s response.

Helen Tevor stepped carefully down the front steps of her house and looked to the south and then up at the sky. She pulled her coat more tightly around her as she inhaled heavily the cold air.

“It’s going to snow,” she remarked.

“Probably,” the soldier agreed.

The mayor played out the possibilities in her mind. “Goblins are small, they probably don’t like the snow. They would move like children, struggling through it if it got too deep. They’re probably hungry and worried the snow might prevent them from scavenging food in the forest. If I were them, I might try a quick strike on a farm to get what food I could.”

“I could send out a patrol on horseback, find out what they’re up to and clear them out,” the captain offered.

The mayor looked up at the sky again and shook her head. “No, it’s still dark and a storm can be unpredictable. Dawn will be here soon, let’s wait for more light. If the farmers protest, let them know they will be compensated for their losses. The dwarves never hit the farms so we have more food then we have people now. We can afford to lose a few barrels of grain to a handful of goblins, but I don’t want to lose any more soldiers to goblin crossbows. It’s just not worth the risk.”

The captain found the concern for his soldiers quite refreshing and nodded in acceptance. “Will you be remaining here in case I have to send you updated reports?”

“No, I’m going to head over to town hall—well the temporary town hall—to my office. I’m not going to get anymore sleep tonight, so I might as well make good use of the time.”

“Very well. I will keep you updated.”

“Thanks.”

#

Sazar sat quietly with his mind focused on the sensations he received from the half dozen rock beetles that were now under the town. Through them, he could feel the movement of the human troops, sense their alarm, but none of it matched what he expected.

“The farmers reached several guard posts within the city limits quite a while ago,” the serp said more to himself than to Chal, but he wanted the goblin to listen as well. “They’ve had plenty of time to rouse their forward scouts. Indeed they have already recalled their outer patrols and have mounted several