Don Bassingthwaite - The Grieving Tree

Dandra caught a fleeting glimpse of Geth sleeping curled up in a corner, but no more than that-the opening door wrenched the shifter out of slumber. He uncoiled in an explosion of muscle and hair, leaping up and landing in a crouch, arms raised and crossed, ready to block or to strike.

Singe didn’t even hesitate before striding into the room. The wizard and the shifter locked gazes. Dandra saw Geth’s lips pull back from his teeth in a snarl of anger-and maybe even fear. She moved forward quickly, putting herself between the two men. “Geth, we have a problem.”

His lips seemed to peel back even further. “Whatever Singe told you-”

“No,” Dandra said. “A real problem.” She told him about the goblins without waiting for him to relax-though strangely, he seemed less tense once she had, as if grateful for an enemy to fight. Orshok had brought his sword up from downstairs. Geth crept up to the edge of the balcony and peered over, into the fog. He grunted, then slid back and returned to take the weapon and buckle it on.

“They’ve got us too well covered,” he said. “If we try to pinpoint where they all are, they’re going to spot us and they’ll know we’ve seen them.”

“What do you think they’re waiting for?” asked Bava. “Are they going to attack?” There was a fierceness in her voice, a rage that promised swift retribution for any threat to her children.

Singe shook his head. “If they were going to attack, they would have done it before dawn. I think they’re waiting to try and take us when we leave.”

“Goblins usually follow a strong leader,” said Natrac. “Take the leader out and they fall apart.” The half-orc had a deadly serious look on his face. Out of the corner of her eye, Dandra saw Geth and Singe share a glance-their first without overt hostility.

“Good idea,” Geth said. “We still have the problem of spotting the leader, though.”

The doors onto the studio’s balcony stood open. Through them, Dandra could see the flat rooftop of the building across the street. “I can spot the leader,” she said. She pointed through the doors. “The goblins are all watching Bava’s house. If I’m over there, they won’t be looking for me, but I’ll have a clear view of them. I can use my powers to reach it and to call back to you.”

Singe’s eyes narrowed. “The long step and kesh?”

“It’s a long way to reach back with kesh,” she said. “Someone may need to stand close to the doors-it will make contact easier, but you’ll risk exposing yourself to the goblins.”

“I’ll do it,” said Singe. He glanced at the others. No one spoke against the idea. The wizard nodded to Dandra. “Be careful.” He stepped back.

Dandra tightened her grip on her spear and took a deep breath, then reached out to Tetkashtai. Help me , she said.

She could have done this herself, but Tetkashtai’s aid made it easier. The presence extended her light, wrapping herself around Dandra. She drew on the power of their union, bending it to her will, sliding it through the fabric of the world. She took a step forward and the air rippled around her.

When she put her foot down, she stood on the rooftop across the street. Just as at Natrac’s house, a wooden platform had been laid down on the roof. Unlike Natrac’s roof, however, no one had taken care of this platform for some time. Her sudden weight brought a sharp cracking out of the wood.

Dandra bit back a curse and dropped immediately to one knee, freezing in place and listening. A few harsh mumbles drifted up from the street below, but nothing more. She let out her breath and rose cautiously to a crouch. Picking her footing carefully, she crept closer to the edge of the roof. If this platform had ever had a railing to keep people from falling off, it was gone now. Dandra stretched out and looked over the edge.

The mist of early morning was slowly burning away as the sun climbed higher above the horizon. It wouldn’t be long before it was gone entirely. It was already thinner at ground level than it had been. Dandra picked out the goblins hiding behind the cistern easily. Two more were hidden inside an abandoned barrel. Three stood in the shadows of a doorway. More crouched in an alley that ran between Bava’s house and its neighbor. More still lurked on the far side of the house, peering around the corner onto the street.

All of the goblins had weapons at hand-knives, short swords, and spiked maces. And there were more of the creatures than there had been in the webs. The goblin with the torn ear had brought friends-but while he had been in charge in the webs, it didn’t look to Dandra like he was the leader now. None of the other goblins were looking to him. Diad had said some goblins were watching the back of the house as well. It was possible that their real leader was back there, but she doubted it. It seemed more likely that he would be with the largest number of goblins. The leader had to be at the front of the house-she just couldn’t spot him.

She looked across the street and into Bava’s studio. Singe stood just inside the doors to the balcony, carefully out of sight of any goblins below. Dandra reached out to him with kesh , stretching her thoughts across the distance to brush at his mind. He opened himself to her. Do you see the leader? he asked.

No . Dandra wove an image of her view from the roof and sent it to him through the mental link.

Singe let out a silent grunt at the goblins’ numbers and positions. That doesn’t look good .

I have an idea , Dandra said. We might be able to draw the leader out if you show yourself .

The wizard’s thoughts were skeptical. That could be dangerous. We might be giving ourselves away .

Then you’d better make it look casual .

Across the street, Singe looked up and gave her a grimace-but when he stepped out onto the balcony, yawning and stretching as if just rising, he didn’t show any sign that he knew either she or the goblins were there. He stood still for a moment and scratched at his chest, then turned around and went back inside. The reaction among the goblins was immediate. Dandra watched a flurry of activity sweep through them as they readied weapons and sat up a little straighter. From the far side of the house, one goblin detached himself from the others and darted across the street. She had to lean out from the roof and crane her neck to watch, but she saw him run into an alley alongside the very building on which she perched-somewhere from which a leader could watch unseen and protected. There we go , she thought to Singe with satisfaction. She passed the glimpse of the running goblin along to him.

And felt surprise shoot through Singe’s thoughts. I recognize that goblin , he said. That was Preesh-the goblin that was with Chain yesterday!

Chain? asked Dandra. She twisted her neck again to peer down at the mouth of the alley-

— just in time to see Preesh emerge from it with confusion on his round face, as if he had gone into the alley looking for someone but had not found them.

No one had come out of the alley since she’d been watching. At least not onto the street.

Dandra stiffened. Singe! she called as she pushed herself back from the edge of the roof. The alley across the street-ask Bava if it goes anywhere .

It took a moment for the wizard to reply. She says it’s a blind alley. It doesn’t go anywhere, but there’s an old ladder-

The weathered wood of the rooftop platform creaked behind Dandra. Heavy footsteps pounded in a sudden rush. Dandra twisted, throwing herself blindly to the side, catching a glimpse of a polished black cudgel as it flashed down where her head had been. Tetkashtai shrieked in fear.