Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice Read Online Free Page B

to control his army. Goblins enjoyed mayhem and
chaos, but they also responded well to the orders of a disciplined leader. In
order to maintain control, he found it necessary to utilize certain strategies,
such as sending out scouts rather than blindly assaulting a target.
    "More of what?" Okyiq demanded.
    "Humans."
    Despite his intended efforts to
reveal the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, Okyiq only sent scouts to explore
the southern portion of his target. He knew nothing about the river rogues at
the northern edge of Burbon and beyond. He only knew he was hungry for human
food. He could smell it—far more appetizing than anything the goblins could
scrounge from the forest dirt—and additional humans at the top of the wall
would not keep him from his intended prize.
    "So?" was Okyiq's rather
apathetic and somewhat annoyed response.
    "Archers," the scout
added with a note of foreboding, hoping to accentuate its concern without
sounding as if it was admonishing its leader.
    "So?" the commander
repeated with a growing sneer. His eyes fixed upon what he began to view as an
irritating subordinate, like a fly that kept landing on his face and didn't
realize it was time to give up and annoy someone else.
    "More archers means humans
ready."
    If it was the scout's intention to
raise the level of its commanders concern, it failed to provoke the proper
response. Okyiq brushed aside the activity as if it was nothing more than
routine behavior. He knew of the human guards. They always appeared
worried—moving around the gates, watching in towers—but it was all quite ordinary.
    "Humans are never ready for
goblins." Okyiq offered with a half grumble. "They are just afraid of
the dark. They run around like ants in rotted wood."
    The scout didn't quite see it that
way.
    "Not running. Watching.
Arrows ready. Standing to fight. Different tonight."
    Growing slightly more troubled by
the news, Okyiq finally took the warning seriously.
    "How many near us?"
    The scout, lacking the ability to
count, did its best to offer an accurate projection.
    "Small group in tower, but
more than usual. Walls have lots more. Uhmmm... size of goblin raiding party
standing on wall supports."
    "None moving?"
    The smaller goblin shook its head.
    Revealing a twisted and unpleasant
frown, Okyiq almost called off the raid, but then a light breeze brought
another whiff of cooking meat to his large nostrils. His stomach growled just
as he waved off any reluctance to attack.
    "Fah, not enough to stop
us."
    "We still raid?" the
scout wondered aloud.
    "The forest belongs to
me!" the larger goblin roared, then added what he saw as an important
detail. "With the elves gone, this part is mine!"
    The scout decided, perhaps against
its better judgment, to add an important detail of its own.
    "Human town outside the
forest."
    The goblin scout did not wish to
correct Okyiq, or point out such an obvious fact that would make its leader
appear somewhat dimwitted, but the smaller creature clearly did not want to be
part of a raid with so many human archers in position to offer significant
resistance.
    The hesitancy of the creature was
almost understandable. Courage was not a resounding trait of the diminutive
beasts, though they weren't complete cowards, either. Despite their lack of
valor, they often threw themselves into violent and perilous situations,
especially when the call of the horde overwhelmed and stifled their desire for
self-preservation. While they might have joined gleefully in unrestrained acts
of brutality, they also endured the insecurity of inadequacy, and they often
chose to flee in the face of stout opposition.
    It was a constant struggle for
such small creatures that originated from a realm that demanded both aggression
and caution just to survive, and it wasn't surprising that Okyiq would have to
deal with at least some small sliver of reluctance. The bloodlust of battle had
not yet taken hold, and a couple hundred goblins spread across the eastern
border