Jeff Inlo - Pure Choice

"This is the second we've secured," Ryson offered. "That means only one left. If there was a fourth inside, it probably would have been seen by now. What do you think?"

The soldier considered the assumption, but found a small flaw in the logic.

"Probably, but the captain ordered all foot patrols to stand fast at crossroads. Everyone else is inside. You're the only one actively searching. If there were more, you'd know about it first."

Ryson considered the patience of the first rogue that had been hiding behind the candle maker's barrels. If there was a fourth rogue, it might have found similar refuge. One might be hiding behind some warehouse or in some dank drainage ditch. He realized he could not simply assume that there were only three. He would have to search the entire town after he located the third river rogue.

"You're right," the delver conceded. "All citizens were ordered inside, so I can't be sure of anything. After I locate the third, I'll keep searching. Well… if there is a fourth one, I should be able to find the scent pretty easily."

The soldier didn't doubt the delver's words, didn't view them as boasts, but wondered about the effect of the elements.

"Can you still locate scents in the rain?"

As if on cue, the first raindrop hit the ground between the guard and the delver.

"It's going to make it more difficult," Ryson admitted, "but these things smell pretty bad."

The guard took a big whiff, and though he lacked the delver's keen senses, he could not argue the assertion.

"They do stink," the soldier admitted.

"This one's not going to smell any better if it gets wet, and moving it in the rain is just going to make things more difficult. You probably want to get it off the streets before it really starts to pour."

"There's a guard post with a holding cell a couple blocks of here. We'll take it there."

"You'll signal the towers to let them know?"

"Absolutely. Captain wants to keep informed."

"Good. Please signal that I'm going after the third rogue and then I'll sweep the town to make sure there aren't any more."

"Will do."

"The rain is here," one of the goblin lieutenants boldly stated.

A steady sprinkle of raindrops hit the ground all around them, but Okyiq found the amount unsatisfactory.

"Not rain, not yet. This just spittle." The goblin leader looked up at the skies. He could see thicker clouds rolling in from the west, even in the dark of night. "Real rain coming soon."

"We wait?"

"We wait," the bulkier goblin grunted.

Rubbing his head, Okyiq groaned. The large goblin had spent time pondering the events of the night. Thinking was never easy for a goblin, and the consideration of tactics could produce headaches of excruciating intensity. Still, Okyiq believed the activities in the human town offered not so much of a dilemma, but a potential opportunity.

Okyiq struggled with how to utilize that opportunity based on limited information and his own restricted ability to reason. Rather than seek additional facts, he searched for possible explanations based on conjecture, not an easy task for any goblin.

The hulking monster remained certain of one thing: the humans were concerned with something at their wall. As to what it was, he could only imagine. He sensed something in the night… perhaps fortune, the same fortune that cleared the threat of the elves from the forest. Okyiq began to believe that luck was on his side and he did not wish to waste such an opportunity.

"When real rain starts, then we fire," the large goblin ordered. "Make sure goblins behind hill stay out of sight until ready to shoot. Must all shoot at once to kill as many humans as we can. For now, stay hidden… make certain all have enough arrows. We will shoot a long time."

That order confused the lieutenant.

"Won't humans run for cover?"

"Humans will hide, but will wait behind wall. We still fire at wall. Make sure all goblins understand."

The subordinate shook its head and admitted a dangerous truth.

"Don't understand."

Okyiq nearly exploded. In a fit of frustration, the bulky goblin grabbed the lieutenant by its armored breastplate. Spit showered upon the smaller goblin as the leader frothed with rage. Most of the frustration came from tactical struggles. The large goblin's head did indeed pound with pain from jumbled concentrations, and it didn't wish to waste time and effort explaining itself.

"You don't have to understand! You do as you're told! You're too dumb to understand. Why do you think humans on wall?"

The lieutenant didn't dare answer, too afraid to say the wrong thing that might lead to its death.

The release of anger seemed to ease the pain in his head, and Okyiq decided to continue his rant, even as it meant offering the explanation he felt unnecessary to offer.

"Humans react! Always react! Sometimes react to nothing, Sometimes react to something. Could be something big, could be something small, but always they react! Archers on wall means they react to something, but what?"

The commanding goblin didn't wait for a response, didn't expect one. Instead, Okyiq spelled out his own contemplations as if to clear his jumbled thoughts.

"Big wizard not there, almost never there anymore. Big wizard in big city. Big wizard wouldn't allow us this close, doesn't like goblins. Magic would find us, but humans put archers across whole wall. Why waste archers on long wall if big wizard could use magic to throw us back into trees? Magic not here.

"Maybe cursed delver behind the wall sensed us, but probably not. Delver in Burbon. We know that. But…" Okyiq struggled with the words to explain his reasoning, to exclaim why he felt they had not been uncovered by the delver's great senses. "…doesn't make sense. Does delver know we're here? If yes, then why not send out soldiers on horseback to scatter goblins before rains start? Why just stand there and wait? Humans hate to wait almost as much as goblins. And why wait in open if they know we are here?

"No, not magic and not delver. Humans not on wall for goblins. Something else has humans' attention. Something going on inside their wall, that's what I think. And if something else going on, then humans already worried. We make them more worried."

The amount of speculation surprised the goblin subordinate. It was more "thinking" than it could have accomplished in an entire season, let alone one night. Still, its leader was offering an explanation and the threat of retribution seemed to diminish. The lieutenant's curiosity got the better of it and pressed for further understanding.

"But why waste arrows by shooting at wall if humans hide? Why not shoot and stop? Save arrows."

"Because arrows will add to worry, will keep attention off gate. We kill as many humans quickly, but we don't stop. Not a waste if it helps us open gate. Once gate open, humans can't hide behind wall."

With the strategy somewhat clearer, the lieutenant offered a sinister smile which satisfied its commander. The diminutive monster even nodded and offered praise.

"Okyiq smarter than humans."

The large goblin appeared pleased with the compliment. He released his hold on the armored breastplate and allowed the lieutenant freedom to move.

"Now, go make sure goblins have enough arrows. Real rain almost here."

Linda Acumen was alone when the first wave hit her. She stood in a back storage room of the Borderline Inn, looking for extra mugs for all the additional people in the tavern. No one was ordering drinks at the moment-they were all too occupied, wondering about the alert and watching for additional signals from the towers-but she wanted to keep busy. She didn't want to stop and think about what was happening outside, didn't want to wonder what Ryson was facing at that very moment.