Delver Magic III: Balance of Fate by Jeff Inlo (best free e reader TXT) 📖

shallow water with ease, but he did not wish to deal with the hazards of soaking his feet and lower legs with the bitter cold water. Just because the flowing river kept ice from forming didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerously cold. He also decided to avoid the bridge crossing when he spotted a river rogue crouched low beneath the span.

The creature seemed satisfied to remain still and let the events unfold in the town without its participation. It seemed content to guard its own small territory, so Ryson decided to leave it alone.

Instead, the delver scurried up a large willow tree, scampered over leafless branches and through vines that hung down and across the flowing river, then leapt across to the thick branches of a wild cherry tree. Once he darted down the trunk of this tree, he was across the river and continued his initial scout.

The delver cared little for what he saw. The goblins he visually pinpointed numbered at least a hundred. Since he could see only the outskirts of the town and not far into the center, he believed the true number to stand at a much higher total, perhaps three or four times as many. The creatures surrounded the town’s outer boundaries, strategically covering each significant entranceway. The movements and sounds he could detect from deeper into the collection of structures indicated the devious monsters were closing in on the town square from all directions. Anyone trapped inside appeared to have little chance for escape just as he found little hope for a way to enter undetected. He knew he could bolt at top speed past the stationed guards at just about any point without risking injury, but his movement would be detected. At this point, he still did not have a precise plan, and thus, he wished to avoid being spotted.

Very early in his scout, he noticed the presence of a mammoth shag guarding a large warehouse near the southern entrance. Ryson recognized this monster. Sazar used this creature as a personal body guard, thus the delver remained certain Sazar was in that building and more likely than not directing the goblins movements.

Ryson now felt certain that Sazar was up to more than a simple raid for supplies or a blood hunt for his goblins to release their dark desires. Everything he saw pointed to the goblins securing the town. The problem remained that he could not truly know why. Sazar was not allowing anyone to escape, thus he could be targeting an individual or a group. Pinesway was now a haven for thieves and bandits, perhaps they stole something he coveted. Ryson also considered that the serp may have simply wanted to pick the town clean and his tactics kept any humans from escaping with possible treasure. The truth of the matter was that Ryson simply could not be certain of the serp’s intentions without further information.

The delver quickly took a path south through the trees further into the forest. Once past the southern edge of town, he circled back up and came to face the main entrance where he first spied the large shag standing guard outside the warehouse. Remaining hidden, he closed his eyes and focused his attention on what he could hear. Guttural shouts of goblins mixed in with an intermittent human scream and a shriek from a hook hawk off to the northeast. He tried to put a picture to the sounds and could only imagine the uncompromising forward movement of the goblins against a terrified group of humans.

Suddenly, he picked up sounds that were quite out of place. Grumbling growls of goblins were replaced by new screams of pain, screams from a goblin, not a human. Moments later, more goblin squeals of tumultuous confusion. Ryson tried to pinpoint the area but could only guess it was occurring slightly to the west of the center of town. Wherever it was, goblins were now in a fit of disorder. Adding to his curiosity over this turn of events, the shag guarding the outside of the warehouse stirred from its statue like stance and hurried off toward the direction of the commotion.

“Interesting,” Ryson stated the obvious to himself. “He’s going somewhere in a hurry. If Sazar is in that building, he just lost his guard.”

The delver considered that point only for an instant. There were two goblins circling the building, but they were frivolous in terms of protecting the serp. Ryson could enter the warehouse and be out of their sight before the goblins even knew he was in town. A clear path to the serp offered itself right before him, yet his eyes focused on another path, that of the shag.

“He’s going in the direction of the commotion. I’d bet on it. That means the goblins are having some trouble, or someone is giving them more than they can handle. The shag is going to clean up the mess. That’s the only answer that makes sense.”

In the end, the delver’s curiosity regarding the shag’s destination proved more enticing than the open path to the now unprotected Sazar. In truth, thoughts of the serp faded from his focus, washed out by the questions regarding this new turn of events. His delver instincts called for him to answer these questions.

As if to punctuate this desire, the movement of the hook hawk also caught his attention. Where it had been circling the eastern section of town, it was now curving its path to the west. It let out a spine shivering shriek when it passed the center of town, and its swooping, semi-circular flight path led it in the same direction as the shag was charging toward.

Thoughts of Sazar now disappeared completely from Ryson’s mind. He eyed the path of the shag and quickly noted how the goblins guarding the streets cast a wary glance upon the loping monster. Their natural fear of the shag overrode the serp’s order to keep a watchful eye on the entrance ways to the town. For a brief moment, their attention focused firmly upon the shag, and that was all the distraction the delver needed.

In a blur of motion, Ryson dashed across the open land that stood between the tree line of Dark Spruce Forest and the first structures of Pinesway. He darted behind one building and then around another before the goblins that guarded this area lost sight of the lumbering shag. They never saw the delver, and thus Sazar never gained an image of Ryson’s entrance into Pinesway.

#

With the goblins in disarray, Joel watched with less worry over being spotted in the merchant shop. He peered through the broken window and watched as the goblins scattered in different directions. He raised the crossbow several more times and fired bolts into their midst. He never hit his mark now that they moved in haphazard fashion. He tried to lead a target, but the goblins turned and twisted with each racing step they took. He never guessed correctly which way his target would turn and thus all his bolts ended up lodging into the walls of surrounding structures or the sides of emptied carts. Still, the continued crossbow fire added to the commotion. He noted that several more goblins began to appear in his view both further off to the north and south of his current position.

“Ok, they’re starting to take notice and they’re moving in from other directions to see what’s going on. If I’m going to find an opening, it should be soon.”

He crouched low as he tossed the crossbow back over his shoulder and made a path to the back of the store. He kicked away a loose panel that blocked his way to the rear warehouse and pushed through the litter of this larger open space. Before he leapt out into the alley, he leaned out slightly to take a quick look up and down the path. He saw nothing other than the debris of broken barrels and crates. Just as he took his first step out into the open, he heard the shriek of the hook hawk.

“Not good!” Joel shook his head. The alley was narrow, but most of the buildings in this area were only one story high and offered little cover overhead. “Can’t change it now, and can’t get caught here.”

Joel took off in a slow trot to the south, clinging to walls as best he could while still keeping a respectable pace. He needed to create some distance between himself and the point where the goblins were now congregating. He believed if he could get at least three blocks down, he might have a chance to turn out of the alley and make a break toward his home.

Another shriek of the hook hawk turned his skin cold. He braved a look up and back over his shoulder. He caught the spiraling shadow of a large winged creature. The sun was low in the southwestern sky, and with the shadow behind him, he calculated the beast to be flying very low and almost directly over his head. He stopped dead in his tracks. He believed he could actually hear the wind ruffling through twisted feathers very nearby, much too close to give him anything other then a sense of his own mortality. He flattened himself against the wall, offering as little a target to the sky as possible. A breeze struck his face and he tensed, expecting to feel the cold hard talons pierce his shoulders, but the pain never came.

The hook hawk shrieked a third time. This time the sound came further off to his right. He heard the terrified squeal of a goblin in the same area. Joel moved away from the side of the building and toward the center of the alley to risk taking a better look. Into the sights of the sun, he saw the darkened outline of the hawk swooping further up into the sky. He then saw the shadow pass along the ground in front of him and made out the outline of a small figure clasped in the talons of the bird.

“Bad luck for that goblin, good luck for me. That had to scatter the others over there. If I have a chance, it’s now. OK, just have to make it over there as fast as I can.”

Joel decided to bet the commotion of the hook hawk and his previous crossbow fire might have distracted and confused the goblins enough to offer him his best chance at a break through their lines. With the hook hawk now more interested in a meal than watching the ground, he believed there was no better time for a quick sprint out of the alley and toward his home. As he bounded out into an open street, the sight of the monstrous shag running right toward him dissolved any confidence he had gained.

#

Ryson found it almost painfully simple to follow the shag without being noticed. The shag ran with a single minded purpose, always looking forward, moving at a steady pace. It never stopped to sniff the wind or to check its flank. It only ran onward in a northern direction. The monster took to the main roads and traveled with a confidence as if it had journeyed on these streets before. In reality, it simply followed the instructions the serp had placed in its mind, and thus, it gave no care to its surroundings or worries at becoming lost.

As for the goblins that Ryson ventured near, their attention would always fall to the giant shag. Despite knowing that this horrible giant was an ally as opposed to a threat looking to make a meal of them, they could not dampen their own instincts. It was simply impossible for them to remain calm when it bounded past them. The sight of the creature demanded their attention as well as their