Jeff Inlo - Pure Choice

None of the lieutenants answered, but a few nodded their heads in agreement with Okyiq's sentiment. The rain beat down upon them, splashed against their armored breastplates and substantially diminished what they could see. If they peeked over the top of the hill, they could still make out the outline of the wall in the darkness and rain, but just barely. The exact position of the humans was, at best, a guess, but that was all they needed. The same advantage did not hold true for the human archers. Even when the goblins finally began to fire, the dark creatures would remain quite hidden in the tall grass and the teaming downpour.

"We attack now!" Okyiq ordered. "When I tell you to fire, all goblins with bows must attack and continue to fire at wall and towers until raid is over."

The commanding goblin pointed to two of his lieutenants.

"You two stay here. You are in charge of all goblins at this hill. Make sure goblins keep firing. If they stop, you die."

The order was a double edged sword for the lieutenants. They were happy to stay behind as opposed to being part of the raid that would cross the clearing that surrounded the town. It also pleased them not to have to climb the wall, but the order was flush with other potential hazards.

They were given the responsibility of maintaining discipline among the goblin ranks in the hills, not a simple task. Both lieutenants knew that if the human guards charged the hill with cavalry, no goblin would stay at its post. Raid or no raid, the bow fire would cease entirely as every goblin archer would scatter and head to the safety of the forest.

Goblins hated humans on horseback. A single guard mounted on a large steed was a frightful sight to the meager-sized monsters. A charging horse was a vision of terror, a snorting and galloping colossus. Goblins did not fight cavalry on open ground. They would run in absolute horror or drop prone into the mud paralyzed with fear.

Thus, the lieutenants understood the risk attached to their duty. They could order the goblins under their command to continue to fire, but only for as long as the hills remained clear. They lacked the force of Okyiq's stature and will. If the humans attacked, the goblin archers would certainly flee and leave the raiders to face their own daunting task without cover or diversion. If that were the case, the lieutenants themselves would run as fast and as far as possible as well, knowing that when Okyiq returned, he would rip them to shreds.

As for the goblin leader, he made his own intentions quite clear.

"I go with first raiders. I will make sure goblins climb the wall fast. Gate will be opened and all goblins not firing at wall must come into town. We will take much tonight. We will let the humans know this is my forest!"

It wasn't much of an inspirational speech, but it established Okyiq's desires as well as his resolve. He would lead the initial assault, putting himself in the greatest danger. He would be the biggest target, but the heavy rain worked in his favor. He believed it would be more than enough to protect him. He also believed that fortune remained on his side. The night belonged to him, the storm a generous gift. He would not accept he might die. He was too strong, and too smart… at least for a goblin.

Two groups of soldiers moved into position around the third rogue. One squad came from the eastern gate. The other band moved in from behind Ryson. It was the same group that had helped capture the first rogue.

In order to return to the fray, they had imprisoned the first rogue and obtained a new iron net. They were eager to be part of another encounter, especially the corporal. Leading the squad responsible for capturing two of the rogues would bring him that much closer to a promotion.

Ryson, however, was not thrilled at the prospect of dealing with the outspoken corporal again. He decided to address the first group, soldiers that clearly came from the east, to see if they might allow for a change in tactics.

"Is the eastern gate still closed?" the delver asked, but he already knew the answer. He was just testing the waters, trying to gauge their willingness to agree to an alternative plan.

"Yes," the squad leader replied with no true emotion that Ryson could read.

"Any chance of getting it open to let this thing out?"

"Town's sealed. All gates remain closed."

And that shut down Ryson's hopes for allowing the rogue to escape on its own.

"We have to be careful with this one," Ryson warned. "It's already spooked."

At that instant, the corporal decided to inject his own authority.

"We have two squads here and the creature is on the run… in the open. We can take it from here."

"What are you going to do?" Ryson demanded, not appreciating being dismissed so callously.

The corporal ignored the delver completely. He turned his attention to the other squad leader who arrived from the east. He outranked his counterpart and took command.

"Take your squad and circle around the block. Cut it off from the far end of this street. Once we have it between us, we can come at it from both sides with nets open. It won't be able to get away."

The eastern squad leader simply nodded and directed the soldiers under his authority down a side street. With one quick turn, they were moving to outflank the rogue.

Before the corporal could turn away, Ryson made his own concerns clear.

"That rogue is in a panic," the delver repeated.

"Irrelevant," the corporal replied, then swerved about-again dismissing the delver-to coordinate his own guards.

Ryson cursed as he looked down the street toward the rogue that was shuffling hesitantly from one hiding spot to the next. The squad circling around would have no difficulty in cutting off the monster, but he worried what might happen when the creature was caught in the middle of the street between two groups of soldiers and no path of escape.

Regrettably, he knew the corporal would not listen to reason, so he did not bother trying to recommend safer tactics. The rain had become quite heavy, and though there were no further reported sightings of rogues within the walls, he still had to search the entire town to ensure that there were none in hiding. He was about to take off to continue his scout when he heard several shouts in the distance.

Immediately, he issued a warning to the soldiers nearby.

"Something's wrong!"

"There's nothing wrong," the corporal dismissed. "I know what I'm doing. We can handle the rogue without further assistance from you."

"No, there's something going on to the south… near the southern gate."

At that very moment, warnings and alarms erupted across all guard towers. Signal torches revealed the outbreak of another attack.

"Someone is firing at the wall!" one of the soldiers announced after reading the signals.

There was not much more Ryson could determine from the tower messages. There were requests for reinforcements, estimates as to the number of enemy archers, but there was nothing to indicate who or what might be behind the attack.

Standing far from the center of conflict, Ryson drank in all the information available to him. His senses were tremendously powerful, but in the heavy rain, he still couldn't smell the goblins or hear the full extent of the clash. He was only able to pick up miniscule traces, meager bits of activity-an odd scent in the air, a yell or grunt echoing off a wall. He placed the details in context with the tower signals, and his experience pointed to one conclusion.

"Goblin raid," Ryson declared.

The corporal could read the signals, but that was all the information available to him. He lacked the senses of a delver and his viewpoint narrowed on his experiences within Burbon. Nothing in the tower messages revealed anything about goblins.