Jeff Inlo - Chain of Bargains

Strog removed his boot from the delver's shoulder by scraping it down Ryson's arm as if he was trying to rub some foul mess from his heel. He then disregarded his prisoner as he focused on another matter of great importance.

"Where is the delver's sword?" he asked Ulet, as the weapon was no where in sight.

"I… I don't know. I think the elf had it."

"You don't know?" Strog questioned with disbelief.

Ulet took only a moment to regain her composure.

"No, I'm sure of it. It was strapped to her back. I remember now."

"And you let her get away?"

"No! She hasn't escaped. I informed you of what happened. We will find her."

"You are incompetent!" Strog raged. His eyes went wide with fury as he clenched his hands into tight fists. "This is the second time you let it get away!"

Ulet could not understand Strog's anger, and the dwarf battle commander certainly didn't appreciate the insult.

"I told you," she responded with a fierceness that matched Strog's, "the first time the elf wouldn't come down the tunnel. If we tried to take her, she would have escaped and she would have known immediately that something was wrong. They came back because I made the right decision."

It was a weak excuse in Strog's eyes. He was only interested in results.

"And yet you still don't have the sword!"

"But we have the delver."

"Idiot! The sword has a power… a power to reveal things. What if the elf takes hold of the handle before you find her? What will happen?! She'll know that we brought the goblins into the mines, that we want them to take over the valleys. She'll know everything!"

"But she can't do anything about it."

"The elf is linked to the wizard! Pay attention to what I say. What she knows, he will discover."

Strog saw Ulet's own anger rising and he could not imagine how she could be so shortsighted. He looked to all of the other dwarves in the room with absolute amazement at what he perceived was complete stupidity.

"Is this battle commander the best of you? Is she really the one you told me I could trust? Are you all that useless? I have planned every step. I have brought you further then any of you could have dreamed! Do any of you have the slightest notion of the patience it has taken to get this far? How many seasons have passed? How close we are?!"

"We are very close," Ulet growled in response. "We are close because I am the best. I have kept order in Sterling. Every dwarf outside this room still believes that the king and queen are alive and in charge. Neither have made an appearance in more seasons than I can remember, and yet no one questions the royal edicts. We send out orders to dig mines under human towns and farms. They don't understand why, but every dwarf does so because they believe the king and queen want them to."

"A wonderful accomplishment," Strog offered with hostile sarcasm. "You managed to get dwarves to dig mines. I'm sure that's something they would never have done on their own." He paused to shake his head and then glared back at the battle commander. "Fool! The plan was not simply to dig tunnels in the valleys! The goblins must be directed to attack the humans with a strategy, a strategy that's obviously beyond you. What other dwarf could have utilized a horde of goblins to destroy, not just a human city, but the entire race? And all of that could be lost because you made a mistake you won't admit."

"Because I don't see the mistake!" Ulet shot back, unwilling to accept any missteps in her own actions.

"The sword!" Strog bellowed. "The sword is the real threat. It always has been! Not this delver or the elf. They plodded across the valleys for days and they still had no idea what was going on, but the sword has the power to reveal it all."

"Even if it does, so what? She can't escape now."

"You don't think so? She is not just an elf guard. She is an apprentice to the wizard of the west. I have managed to keep him occupied by ensuring a steady stream of humans reach the towns he watches over. The moment he understands the true threat, we will have to face him."

"Then let him come," Ulet shot back with confidence. "We are dwarves. We are resistant to the magic."

"And are we resistant to the cavern that holds Sterling collapsing on our heads? Are we resistant to breathing without air? Are we resistant to light that can blind us no matter where we look? Are we resistant to a flood of water that can wash away all of the city?"

"I think you give this wizard far too much credit."

"You really are a fool," Strong insisted.

"If I'm a fool, then how did you hope to deal with this wizard when the goblins make their ultimate attack?"

"I am dealing with the wizard. I'm keeping him out of it. Your incompetence might bring him to our doorstep."

Ryson decided to add to the argument, to keep them at each other's throats.

"Ulet's right. Don't you think Enin will be here eventually? When he hears the goblins are attacking towns and cities in the valleys, he won't just stand by. He'll come to stop it, and he won't be alone. The goblins will be defeated."

Strog pointed down at the delver, as if to accentuate his point.

"Do you see? Even the great Ryson Acumen doesn't understand." Strog bent back down to make his plans very clear to the delver. "Do you have any idea of just how many towns and cities have already been infiltrated by goblins… how many farms are now in their hands? When they attack, they will attack in unison, as a horde, as they are very capable of doing, but it won't be in one small area. It will be all across the valleys and all at once. I am prepared for the great wizard. If he intervenes, he will exhaust himself in such a battle. You think I've underestimated Enin. No! You have underestimated the extent of what I have accomplished here."

"Then why are you worried about the sword?" Ulet demanded.

Strog's eyes appeared near wild with frustration and his anger bubbled over as he looked up at the battle commander with scorn.

"We are not ready! The attack has to begin first. That is what I'm trying to say to you. You cannot possibly be that dense. Don't you see? We are only days away." Strog threw up his arms. "Why am I surrounded by incompetence?!"

"You sound a great deal like Yave," Ryson pointed out.

Strog did not even attempt to control his anger. He kicked the delver hard in the back and then shouted out his orders.

"Take him to the goblins in the mines! Have them kill him far from Sterling. We can't have any connection to his death that the wizard might be able to trace. And make sure you're not seen."

He stepped up to Ulet and placed his face right up to hers, his stout nose almost touching hers.

"Find the elf, take the sword, and then do the same to her. Be quick about it!"

Crouching in the shadows, Holli knew she had no alternatives. The goblins were getting closer, she could sense them. It wasn't a full horde, or even a sizable raiding party, but rather a small scouting patrol of two or three. They were deeper in the mines ahead, but they were definitely headed towards her.

To compound her problems, the dwarves weren't slowing. They just continued to drag Ryson through the tunnel toward the oncoming dark creatures. They kept a very quick pace, as if they wished to be rid of the delver as soon as possible. Luckily, there were only three dwarves in the passage, perhaps to follow Strog Grandhammer's order of staying out of sight.

She managed to remain hidden. She had followed the dwarves utilizing her stealth and spells of shadow. They had no idea she was tracking them and the goblins ahead were too far out of sight to spot her even if she stood in the middle of the tunnel under a blazing torch.

The drawbacks to her situation, however, were many. She could only hide for so long. Though she used spells along with her guard training to hide her presence, she had used up much of her magical energy in moving through Sterling. Eventually, a dwarf would hear her, or if they dropped the delver and turned about, they would most likely bump into her even if she used the last of her magic to turn completely invisible.