Jeff Inlo - Chain of Bargains

"I am taking that into account. I do not believe we are in any real danger. If they considered us a true threat, they would have shown more care in their preparations."

"Maybe they're just incompetent."

Holli couldn't accept that possibility. Yes, she had seen deficiencies in the town defenses, but she had also witnessed bizarre behavior that could not be explained by simple incompetence. The town guard secured bridges entering the town, but allowed goblins to enter Huntston freely. Despite that fact, the town remained under human control and had not been overrun. That had to stand for something.

She might not have understood it, but goblins simply did not subdue their loathsome behavior for the sake of good manners. The soldiers must have found some way to keep the goblins in line, even if she couldn't imagine why they would let the despicable creatures enter Huntston in the first place. Incompetent soldiers would have lost control long ago.

"Escape is not part of the plan," the elf guard finally replied.

It might not have been part of the plan, but the delver felt uneasy simply waiting to be captured. Watching the shifting shadows on the rooftops and listening to the quick step of boots in the distance, Ryson followed the movements of the town guard. The soldiers might not have been quiet, or even efficient in their actions, but their motive remained clear. As the guards around them began to close in, the delver focused on questions of his own.

"How'd they know we were here anyway? We haven't done anything to give ourselves away."

"That is what I wish to find out."

"You think they're going to tell us?"

"Not directly, but no one else has the answer. We have gained very little information on our own. We need to talk to someone in authority, and it may be best to allow them to dictate the circumstances of the meeting so they do not feel threatened by our presence."

"What if I feel threatened by them?"

"If they meant us harm, they would have simply fired upon us. They are hoping to capture us, that is obvious."

It was indeed clear to the delver that the guards were moving in a fashion to take prisoners-and to take them alive-but that didn't alleviate his fears. He didn't wish to become a prisoner. It was not something any delver aspired to become. He considered what would happen further down the line once they were in the hands of the guards, and that thought did even less to comfort him.

"What if they ask us questions and we don't have the right answers? That might be enough to change their opinion of us. And what if they decide to kill us after they capture us?"

"We have our skills and talents," Holli replied without bluster. She was an elf guard… and a magic caster learning from one of the most powerful wizards in the full history of elflore. Ryson was a purebred delver who could move with the speed of a gale force wind. She did not fear the human guards.

The delver, however, wanted to use their abilities before they were captured, not after, but it seemed Holli remained intent on allowing the town guard to dictate the encounter. She held her ground, and so Ryson complied. He stood still and silent, allowing the soldiers to initiate the first contact.

In the alleys, around corners, and up on the rooftops, the guards became hesitant, as if they expected something different from the two strangers in their midst. A few whispered to each other, but most remained quiet. Long pauses filled the night air until shuffling noises scratched out upon street surfaces exposed further commotion-only to be followed by more stillness.

Whereas the soldiers previously moved with a mind to surround and corral Ryson and Holli, their new direction revealed uncertainty. The reluctance to advance suggested more than just care on the part of the soldiers, it began to take on the unmistakable air of indecision. Even as guards waiting in the outer perimeter held their ground, soldiers in nearby alleys repositioned themselves, but the maneuvers lacked strategic advantage. If anything, the action served to create more confusion. Several guards decided to circle around in an attempt to outflank Ryson and Holli, but there was clearly no need.

The elf and delver left their weapons sheathed or shouldered, kept their hands empty and at their sides. They made no move to escape. They stood still upon open ground like harmless statues waiting for birds to perch upon their shoulders. Short of waving a white flag or holding up their hands in surrender, Holli and Ryson could not have appeared any less threatening.

Finally, a half dozen heavily armed soldiers stepped out of an alley and moved toward the delver and elf to meet them head on. They carried broadswords and axes, but they stopped well out of weapon range despite the fact that their blades were at the ready and Holli and Ryson remained as passive as possible. The guards that had circled in from behind were woefully out of position as well, and Holli almost shook her head at the apparent carelessness of those that confronted her.

She thought of the human guards she trained at Burbon and Connel, and she wondered how Burbon's captain of the guard would view the tactics of the soldiers in Huntston. Without question, she already knew the answer. Sy Fenden would have been disgusted had he witnessed the display of negligence by soldiers that were entrusted to guard the town.

The scene confused the elf even further. Nothing made sense. Goblins entered the town openly, but kept out of sight. Soldiers acted woefully inadequate in their duties, yet quiet and control remained intact throughout the town. Adding it all together, the results should have been quite the opposite. Dark creatures and erratic guards should have equaled terror and chaos, but it didn't. For some reason, order ruled.

Even as the soldiers surrounded her, she discarded their importance. Perhaps order did not come from the guard, and with that thought, Holli began to consider other explanations. Goblins could be subdued by brute force, but only when they feared that force. These soldiers projected little authority. Some other power must have kept the goblins in check.

Magic.

The abnormality in the flow of the energy was one of the reasons she chose to explore Huntston, and she still had not found an explanation for the bending of the magic. The presence of a powerful mage would explain many things. Such a sorcerer could temporarily shield his existence-even from the perceptions of the elf-and would find little difficulty in maintaining control over a few dozen goblins.

She considered the flow of the magic once more, even as the guards stumbled into position around her. It flooded into Huntston from all angles. The surge inward was unmistakable, but so was its escape. Nothing absorbed the magic, nothing held it within the boundaries of the town. It was much like the rivers that bordered Huntston on both sides. The magic rushed in, swept across the streets, and then dashed away.

The flow was so overpowering, it was difficult to focus on a single vibration, but as a whole, the magic remained pure to her. She could not find any diabolical purpose for the onslaught of energy.

She thought again of the goblins. The rush of magic did not diminish the possibility of a sorcerer guiding the movements of the insipid creatures. It might, in fact, offer cover for the mage. It was only a theory, but it would explain certain mysteries that continued to elude her.

If a sorcerer was at the heart of the goblins strange behavior, then Holli would have to reassess her opinion of the town guard. Perhaps Ryson was correct, the soldiers that surrounded them might have just been extraordinarily incompetent, which meant they were also possibly very dangerous.

"You're to come with us," one of the guards finally spoke up.