Jeff Inlo - Chain of Bargains

The guard in charge shook his head, but then signaled to his companions. Two of the soldiers on horseback immediately took off in the direction of the tracks. More guards appeared and they quickly disbursed the crowd.

Sy reached the gate where he mounted a waiting horse. Sergeant Klusac was already on his horse and had the gate open. The captain took the lead as he trotted his mount over to the soldiers at the tent. After receiving a concise report, Sy and the sergeant rode after the guards on horseback that went after the missing man.

Before Sy and his companion reached the first hillside, the two guards guided their horses toward them with a man walking on the ground between.

"Any sign of the goblins?" Sy asked of the soldiers.

"None."

Sy nodded.

"Leave him with us. Make a quick patrol of the south road just to let them know we're looking for them. Don't go into the trees. Keep a fast pace. Don't stop for anything. I don't want you risking crossbow fire. Report back to me at the western gate when you're done."

After the soldiers acknowledged the order and pressed their mounts to a full gallop, Sy turned his attention to the farmer standing in the road. The captain dismounted and stepped up to the man. The farmer appeared slightly winded, a bit embarrassed, but mostly annoyed. Sy didn't let that stop him from issuing his own assessment of the matter.

"That was rather foolish."

"Yeah, maybe… but I'm tired of them taking everything I have."

"And you didn't want to let them get away with it."

"No, I didn't," the farmer responded with a sense of appreciation, as if he knew the captain understood why he did what he did.

It was true. Sy saw the anguish in the man's face when he said that he was tired of the goblins taking everything, He looked upon a farmer with no land. The man before him had nothing but a tent and the few possessions inside that tent. The goblins had forced him from his farm, or so that's what most of the farmers said. The man didn't want to give up anything more. The captain believed he understood… most of it anyway, but there were a few things that didn't add up.

"So you were willing to chase goblins into the dark… alone?"

"There were only two of them."

"There could have been a thousand behind the first hill."

The farmer looked over his shoulder into the rolling hillsides covered in the shadows of night. He just grunted as he turned back to face the town's captain.

Sy decided it was time to get a few more answers, and maybe he finally found someone willing to talk.

"Why'd you leave your farm?"

The man responded quickly, as if the answer had been rehearsed.

"You people know that. It's the same for everyone. The goblins…"

"You're right," Sy interrupted. "I do know that. The goblins were all over. And you wanted to keep your family safe. I understand that, too, but I don't understand why you'd run after them in the dead of night if you were really afraid of them. It wasn't just the goblins that made you leave the valleys. It was something else. What was it?"

The man looked away from the captain of the guard. The appreciation for finding someone that might comprehend his desperate actions quickly evaporated.

"You wouldn't understand," he finally offered.

Sy wouldn't allow that to stand as the final word.

"I understood why you ran off after the little thieves that took your food. I understand that you reached your limit. Try me."

The farmer decided to do just that. He had previously spoken freely of the goblins back near his home in the valleys. He used them as the reason for the abandonment of his farm. He almost made himself believe that was why he left. He was just protecting his daughter, but there was indeed more than the goblins. He didn't like to speak of the feelings that truly made him run. In a moment of pure honesty-both with himself and to a soldier he chose to trust-the farmer said more than he ever had before.

"Something was wrong… more than just the goblins."

"People have said that already. Rumblings across the land."

"That's not what I mean. You could hear, even feel the rumblings, but you couldn't really hear or feel this. It was something that just started rubbing you the wrong way. It's like when you know there are wolves nearby and you haven't even heard 'em howl. And I'm not talking about some black cloud over the land or some crazy magician casting spells. It was something deeper. You got monsters out here. We all know that, but there was something else back in the valley."

"I'm still listening."

"It was something with the land. Crops just died-not of insects, disease, or draught, but something else. That's what I meant when I said you wouldn't understand. You're not a farmer. You think crops die all the time, and they do, but not like this. And there was more to it than just dead crops."

"You haven't lost me yet," Sy noted, urging the farmer to continue.

"Whatever was killing the crops wasn't going to go away. It took hold, like a hand that makes a fist and starts to crush the life out of you and won't let go. That's really why I came here. You got that wizard that protects you."

Sy knew the farmer was speaking of Enin. It was the main reason most of the refugees came to Burbon, why they camped out under dirty canvas outside the town's wall.

"And you think he can stop it," Sy acknowledged.

"I don't know what else can."

"Anyone else talk about this to you? I mean the reason behind the dying crops?"

"I don't want to speak for anyone but me."

Sy respected that, but the anguish he saw in the man's face, he saw it before. He saw it in many of the expressions of the refugees when he pressed them for answers. They were afraid of something out in the valleys, but all they seemed willing to talk about were the goblins.

While that might have explained why many of the refugees left the Great Valleys, it did not go far in alleviating Sy's true problem. The people that camped outside his wall created danger for themselves and for Burbon as a whole.

"The wizard's name is Enin," Sy offered, "but he's not in Burbon now. Hasn't been here for quite some time."

"This is still his home. We know he watches over this place."

"Maybe, but if you're really looking for his protection, wouldn't it make sense to go where he is? He spends most of his time in Connel. They're building it up. There's room for you there… more room than here anyway. You ever think of going to there?"

"Connel's a city."

"Won't argue that."

"I'm a farmer."

"You're not doing any farming now."

"I haven't figured out what I'm doing yet, but it won't be in no city, especially a city that was once taken over by goblins."

There was no logic to that last response. Burbon sat within sight of Dark Spruce Forest, and goblins roamed that region in great numbers. The man knew that. Living in a tent outside Burbon's wall put him at far greater risk for a goblin encounter than living in Connel. His latest experience with two goblin thieves should have reinforced that truth.

Unfortunately, logic didn't always win the day. Sy saw nothing further to be gained by arguing the point.

"Head on back to your tent. We'll make sure your food supplies are restored, but do me a favor, don't go running into the dark after goblins again."

"No guarantees… but thanks."

The farmer walked solemnly back to the crowd of people at Burbon's wall, and as Sy watched him leave, he made a not so surprising announcement to the sergeant who remained on his horse.

"We have to get these people inside."

Sergeant Klusac didn't wish to argue with his commander, but he had to point out certain truths.

"Where can we put them? This is the third time the camp has grown this large outside the wall. The ones we've already let in are blocking half the streets. And don't tell me we can block the other half. No one will be able to move. We can't keep the town secure that way."