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

if you do
remember them all, you'd have to track them down. I don't think you've got it
in you to find each one."
    "Don't care what you
think."
    "It's not what I think that
matters. It's what you do. You've just told a human that you're going to kill
every goblin that followed you. If you don't, you will have proved you're not
the leader you think you are. How do you think that's going to go over in the
forest? Think anyone will worry about your threats again if you can't meet a
boast you made to a human?"
    "Not a boast," Okyiq
sneered. "Goblins dead because I want them dead, not because I boasted to
a stupid human."
    Believing he had goaded Okyiq into
a deal he could not break, Sy made his final offer.
    "Well, Okyiq, you won't kill
any goblins if I don't let you go. Like I said before, I want you to answer my
questions. You satisfy me with the truth, and I'll make sure you get to the
hills safely. What happens after that is up to you."
    Okyiq sneered, but then nodded.
    Ryson couldn't believe it. As much
as he wanted to hear the answers, to learn about the details of the raid, he
saw that Sy was turning Okyiq into a tool of death, an assassin to kill hapless
creatures.
    "You said you wouldn't let
him go," the delver asserted.
    "I said I wouldn't let him go
to take control of those goblins for another raid. He's not going to do
that."
    "You're going to believe
him?"
    "He means it."
    Okyiq confirmed it.
    "Always mean it when I say
someone going to die."
    The delver was about to object
again, but Sy cut him off, and directed pointed questions at the brawny
monster.
    "Did you send the
rogues?"
    "Didn't even know about
rogues."
    "Rather convenient they were
in town right when you attacked."
    "Lucky."
    "I'm not sure I believe in
that much luck."
    "You believe river rogue
would listen to goblin?"
    "No, but someone or something
else could be controlling you both," Sy offered.
    "Then why are you wasting
time with Okyiq?"
    It was a valid question, but only
to a degree. Sy didn't think he was wasting any time at all. The goblin before
him was stronger and craftier than any goblin he had ever met. He left the
topic of the rogues and focused on the purpose of the goblins.
    "Why did you attack?"
    "Wanted human food and
supplies."
    "So you came here to
steal?"
    "Not steal... take what is
mine. Forest is mine. Human town is part of forest, so
human town belongs to me. I take what I want."
    Sy found the main thrust of
Okyiq's argument rather curious. It wasn't so much that the creature claimed
Burbon, but that it would stake a claim to the forest. That was a very large
assertion. Even a goblin as ferocious as the one before him would have a hard
time claiming rights to Dark Spruce. Sy decided to press that issue.
    "Why do you think this is your forest?"
    "I'm the biggest and
strongest."
    "I think a shag might argue
that claim."
    "Shag's too stupid."
    "What about the elves?"
    "Elves gone."
    A very simple statement, but one
that brought surprise to both the captain and the delver.
    "What do you mean 'gone'?"
Sy demanded.
    "Simple word," Okyiq
noted with scorn. "Elves gone."
    "Gone where?"
    "Don't know, don't care.
Disappeared. Didn't come back. Elves gone, forest mine."
    "That's not good enough. I
told you I would let you go only if I was satisfied with your answers."
    Surprisingly, Okyiq kept calm, did
not argue the semantics of the bargain. Instead, the goblin responded with near
brutal indifference toward the captain's dissatisfaction.
    "You said you wanted truth.
You have truth. Don't know where elves went. Just know they're gone."
    Ryson entered the interrogation
out of driving curiosity. He wanted no part of the deal between Sy and Okyiq,
but he could not ignore the goblin's contention. He posed the question in a
different manner.
    "Do you mean they moved out
of the forest? Did they head south or west?"
    "Not move...
disappeared."
    "You're not making
sense," Sy asserted.
    "Making sense. Human—and
delver—just too stupid to understand.