Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice by Jeff Inlo Page A

incentive.
    "Answer my questions and I'll
release you into the forest," Ryson offered.
    At that very moment, Sy appeared
as he turned the corner of a nearby street. Despite the rain splattering in his
face and the mud slowing his step, he moved with obvious authority to the
delver's side.
    "You have no right to make
that offer!"
    The delver did not take his eyes
off the monster, but he recognized the voice. His expression revealed surprise
at the rebuke. The goblin was his prisoner, and he felt he could do with it as
he wished.
    Sy did not even wait for Ryson to
debate the issue. He made his point clear.
    "That's a prisoner of Burbon.
What happens to him is not up to you."
    Okyiq kept his face turned to
Ryson—still daring the quick handed delver to pierce him with the dreaded
sword—but he took several quick glances toward the approaching soldier. He
didn't care for the tone of the human, disliked the words even more. The delver
had offered a chance at freedom, something Okyiq might have accepted, but that
offer had been quickly withdrawn. Still, the goblin was smart enough to sense a
conflict he could possibly manipulate for his own benefit.
    "The offer has been made and
I accept!" the hulking goblin declared.
    "There is no offer!" Sy
growled. He shouted an order up to the nearest tower. "Signal the cavalry
at the western gate. Send them out into the hills to disburse those goblin
archers. Have them cut off as many of the raiders as they can. I want
prisoners."
    The signal guard immediately sent
the message, but then followed with a report from what he could see on his
elevated platform.
    "Most of the goblins have already
passed through the hills. Only a few of their archers are still firing at the
wall. They must think the raid is over."
    Sy nodded and turned his attention
to the large goblin still facing Ryson's glowing sword.
    "They won't all get away.
I'll get the information I need from the prisoners I capture. You're staying
here."
    Realizing that he faced the human
with unmistakable authority, Okyiq decided to make one last grasp for freedom.
    "You can ask them all you
want, human, but they don't know what I know. I lead. They follow."
    "Which is exactly why I'm not
letting you go. You think I'm going to let you back out there and lead them on
another raid? Not going to happen."
    And then, Okyiq made a declaration
that stunned both Sy and Ryson.
    "You don't have to worry
about that, human. Not going to lead them again. Going to kill them all,
everyone that left me here. They're all dead."
    The delver responded first.
    "You're not going to kill
anyone. You had your chance. You're staying here."
    Sy, however, turned a more perceptive
eye toward the large goblin.
    "You'd kill them all? I don't
believe that. You wouldn't have anyone to follow you."
    "What good are goblins that
follow if they run?" Okyiq grunted. "They didn't listen, didn't
follow my orders. They're dead."
    "But you wouldn't have to
kill all of them. You'd only have to take care of a few to get your point
across."
    "Wrong, stupid human doesn't
understand. They all ran, so they all
need to die. You let any live and then they think they can do it again. Do it
once... die."
    "You're not going to listen
to him, are you?" Ryson asked of the captain.
    Sy ignored the delver and placed
his complete attention on the goblin. He saw an opportunity, one that might
give him both the information he desired as well as a chance to put a goblin to
work for his own cause.
    "You got a name?"
    "Okyiq."
    "Alright, Okyiq, here's my deal. You answer my questions
first—all of them—if I'm satisfied, I'll actually let you go. I want you to go
after those goblins. I'm not going to ask for your word, because I know what
that's worth. Nothing. But I'm curious about you. You say you're going to kill
all the ones you led. How many was that? A hundred? Two hundred? I doubt you
can even remember."
    "I remember," the goblin
growled with growing dislike for the human.
    "Really? Even