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

“I am grateful for your willingness to forgive, but you are not like many others. Know this Delver Acumen, you showed us true honor when you saved Dunop from the shadow trees. You did not have to do this. You were aware the dwarves of Dunop had attacked humans in Connel. You were aware we were about to attack the town of Burbon. You were thrown in the dungeon as a reward for trying to stop that madness, and still, you found it within yourself to put those transgressions aside and save our city. In that moment, you proved yourself far more worthy of admiration than any dwarf in Dunop. That is not only a credit to you, it is a credit to those who serve with you, those you call friend, whether they be elf or human. When we consider what we have done in the face of such honor, we are humbled.”

Therese’s face suddenly brightened and she spoke with renewed vitality. “But now you give us an opportunity, a chance to remove the stain on our honor and possibly allow us to gain your friendship and respect. If so, we can then respect ourselves once more. It is our intention, all of the dwarves of Dunop, to rid the city above of those despicable creatures. Now please, I understand your curious nature, but any further questions must wait. As I said, we wish to complete this task before the sun rises, and I need your assistance.”

“What do you require?” Holli asked.

The dwarf queen nodded in appreciation to the elf guard. “The evacuation is no longer necessary since we shall free this city, however, the humans above must be informed of our intentions. The last time dwarves rose up to the streets of Connel, we did so to attack, we did so to our shame. The three of you must inform them that we mean them no further harm. We will dispatch these dark creatures that plague them, and then, we will return home. While I would understand their apprehension, I do not wish the sight of dwarves returning to their streets to incite further panic. Understand this, these dwarves that follow me are under strict orders not to harm a single human, even if we are attacked by them. You cooperation is most needed in this regard.”

Ryson considered what was said to him, and quickly welcomed the plan. It was obvious that Connel could no longer simply be evacuated and here before him was the perfect solution to their problem. Sy and all the soldiers surrounding Connel would face unparalleled difficulties in pressing the goblins out of the city, but these dwarves were much better suited for the task.

With the thought of Sy in his mind, the delver paused and listened intently to everything about him. While he heard the movements of the small dwarf groups pursuing the rock beetles, he could no longer hear the charging hooves of horses overhead.

“Alright, and thank you. This is more than I can ask, and I’ll do everything I can to help. From what I can hear, Sy must have his forces in place around the city. The charge is over. If we’re going to do this, then we need to go now.”

Holli spoke up to the delver. “You and Lief can return to your initial passages you planned to use before. I will not have to wait here to guide the humans, thus I can take the center path now.”

Ryson shook his head strenuously. “No, you take my passage. I need to go more to the southwest. I have to get to the Church of Godson.”

#

The slow trot of the horses drew to a close. The soldiers of Fort Nebran along with the cavalry of Connel and the guard of Burbon now surrounded Connel. The edge of the circle remained well out of crossbow fire from any structure within the city. The soldiers sat patiently on their mounts in the encroaching dark of early evening. The air grew ever colder as any faint glow of light completely disappeared behind the gray wall of mountains to the west.

Colonel Haravin eyed the city and his soldiers that surrounded it as he considered the next phase of the attack. He spoke to Sy openly of what they had to do.

“I have six squads mopping up both to the west and east and securing those farmlands. We will not need them in our initial attack, but we now deal with our biggest challenge. I do not want to risk casualties, but we must make Sazar believe that we are focused on entering the city and not acting as a diversion.”

“Agreed,” Sy said. “At this point, things have gone better than I would have dared hope. I’m guessing that Ryson knows we have the city surrounded.”

“How sure are you of this?”

“It’s amazing what that delver can hear. Even below ground, he had to hear the charge of the horses. Even the elves probably heard that.”

“That is assuming the dwarves did as the delver asked and cleared the tunnels. If they did not, then the delver and elves may be no where near the city.”

“He would have gotten word to me if he wasn’t there. In fact, he’d probably be right here now ready to scout the city for the openings.”

“Unless the dwarves threw him in their prison.”

Sy frowned, but then stopped himself. “Can’t think like that.”

The colonel nodded, “You are right. We can’t. We must believe that the evacuation is about to start, so we should begin with our initial assault plans.” Colonel Haravin turned to the flag bearer to prepare the next set of signals. “Fore and back, every other solider!”

The aide next to Haravin raised two red flags. He kept the first one still as he thrust the other forward. He quickly pulled it back and then kept that one still as he waved the first one forward. He did this several times in quick succession.

Once the signal was called, the soldiers carried out the orders. In the large circle that surrounded Connel, every other rider urged his mount forward at full speed. Those that remained stationary prepared their bows and waited for the first rush to conclude. From a hook hawk’s perspective high in the sky, the original circle now looked more like a dotted line that lost small segments of its mass as half of the formation members broke from its ranks. The soldiers that rushed forward now created a second circle which appeared to be collapsing inward with Connel as its central focal point.

Those that charged forward strung arrows in their bows. In the thickening dark, it was difficult for them to locate their targets. They had been instructed earlier to first look for the bloat spiders nestled in the webs that sealed off the city. In some cases the riders spotted dark masses in the center of a spun web. These made easy targets, but in other areas, the spiders had moved to dark corners or clung closely to the shadowed walls of buildings. For these creatures, the soldiers would have to take their best guess and hope at least some of their arrows might find their mark.

The riders also knew the goblins would be waiting with their crossbows. Again, the night assisted the defenders for their positions were cloaked in dark and shadow. Still, the riders knew a barrage of crossbow fire would welcome them the moment they came in range. At the moment they believed the exchange would occur, they urged their mounts on faster in hopes of racing beneath the arc of fire. The tactic worked with amazing success and as the hail of crossbow fire sailed over their heads, the soldiers released their own arrows.

All around the city, the barrage of shafts split the night air. The bloat spiders centered in their webs died instantly from numerous impacts. Even those monsters clinging to the shadows did not escape the accuracy of the first volley. So many arrows littered their webs that well over three quarters of the bloat spiders were either killed or mortally wounded. Those that survived were now trapped where they hid. Their webs remained intact, but the cascade of arrows plunged into the threads made them impassable for the spiders’ movements.

Those riders making up the first assault turned about and headed back to the outer circle before the goblins could reload. As they returned to the perimeter, those soldiers that had held steady now moved forward with hopes of matching the success of the first attack. Again, a second inner circle formed and tightened about the outskirts of the city. As this group reached the ground marked by the goblins’ bolts, they prepared for the next volley of crossbow fire.

The goblins anticipated a similar tactic from this second assault. They believed the riders would increase their speed to avoid casualties. The diminutive monsters had lowered their aim in hopes of turning the tactics against the human riders. They fired with glee, but this soon turned to curses of hate spawned anger.

The second wave of riders did not urge their mounts forward. Instead, they pulled up their horses to a near halt and allowed the bolts to fall upon the ground before them. They fired their own arrows into the darkness, letting them rain down on the heads of where they believed the goblins would be hiding. They quickly turned about and returned to the circular formation that surrounded the city.

“Call for a hold!” Colonel Haravin ordered and the signal caller raised a solid yellow flag that he held firm above his head. The colonel turned to Sy. “Let them think on that for a while.”

Sy pulled a spyscope from his pocket and peered into the edges of the city before him. He reported his findings of obviously dead bloat spiders to the colonel and informed him as well as to the condition of their webs. He could not venture a guess as to the casualties of the goblins and wishing to remain conservative he stated that most probably escaped injury.

With the break in movement before him, he urged his horse slightly to the left and then back to the right. He tried to get a clean view down one of the wider roads that led further into Connel. He didn’t expect he would see anything, but he hoped he might get a glimpse of humans moving toward cover. That would at least give him an indication that Ryson had begun the evacuation.

As his horse sidestepped further to the left at Sy’s urging, Burbon’s captain let out a grunt of surprise. He pulled the horse to a halt, and peered deeper into the dark streets, then pulled the spyscope away from his face. He looked at the city in absolute bewilderment and then returned the scope to his eye.

“What is it?” the colonel commanded.

Sy shook his head and at first said nothing. He quickly handed the spyscope to the Colonel. “Take a look down the wide street straight ahead of me” Sy then pointed in front of him.

Colonel Haravin took the eyepiece and moved his own horse into a better position. “What in blazes is that?!”

“Those are dwarves,” Sy said.

“Are you sure?”

“Beyond sure, I’ve seen them before, I’ve fought them before. I know what a dwarf formation moving down a street looks like.”

“What in blazes are they doing here now?” the colonel barked. “They attacked Connel before.”

“Yes, right before they attacked Burbon,” Sy confirmed.

The colonel urged his horse further off to the left and looked down another street. “There’s more of them. Good Godson, a great many more!” He handed the eyepiece back to Sy for him to take another look. “Could they have used this as an