It was hard to distinguish them by scent, but Ryson could hear their not so subtle movements. They were careless in the tunnels, believing they were safe.
"Only two."
Holli took two arrows from her quiver and gave a stern warning to the delver.
"No arguments. Do not interfere."
Ryson fought back the hesitancy in taking a life, any life, even a goblin life, and focused on the bitter truth. The goblins were going to kill thousands of innocents. They might have been the pawns of Strog Grandhammer's plan, but they were willing participants. The first assault had not yet taken place, but the invasion had already started. They were at war, and so, he said nothing.
Holli stalked forward with an elf guard's skill. The goblins never knew she was in the tunnel until they heard the bowstring release. By then, it was too late. Two arrows streaked through the tunnel, and the goblins were no longer a threat.
Holli turned and waved Ryson to follow. She raced further up the passage sensing greater light and fresher air. Reaching a crossed path, she turned to the delver.
"Which way to open ground?"
Ryson sniffed the air and pointed to the elf's right.
"That way. Not far."
They raced ahead and soon reached the foot of a steep incline. They both could see the light at the end of the passage ahead and felt warmer air brush across their skin. Holli stopped and issued one last command.
"We should still be in the hills and the entrance will more than likely be hidden in a heavily wooded section. There will be guards, definitely dwarves. Perhaps goblins as well, but that is doubtful. Fighting them at this point is not the best course of action. We will race out of the tunnel and take to the trees. We will use speed and surprise. Escape and avoiding conflict is now our priority."
Ryson nodded in approval.
"I'm going to lead. Once in the trees, I will head west, at least two hilltops away. When we clear the second hilltop, use your senses and find a secure spot. Inform me of where we should go. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
Holli then remembered the dwarves had taken the delver's war blades.
"You are unarmed. It is time to take back your sword."
Ryson looked past Holli to the light ahead, nearly ignoring her, but ultimately responded by refusing.
"Not yet," he said.
"This is not the time to argue."
Ryson still would not look at the elf.
"You're right, it's not. We have to get going."
Holli wanted to remove the sword from her own back and place it in the delver's hands, but she wondered if he would just drop it where he stood. Something was keeping him from reclaiming the sword, but debating the issue in the narrow pass would only lead to a larger predicament. She gave in reluctantly, mostly because conflict was no longer part of her plan. She didn't want either one of them to use a weapon, and allowing the delver to move unencumbered was a benefit she could not ignore. She placed her bow over her shoulder, checked her gear, and took one heavy breath.
"Very well, are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Now," she said, and she bolted with an elf's speed up the last leg of the access tunnel.
Ryson followed close behind. Holli was faster than any other human Ryson ever encountered, but he could match her speed with marginal effort. He stayed close, but allowed enough room for her to maneuver once they broke through the entrance. He did not wish to crash into her if she slowed to make a quick turn.
Holli broke into the light and swiveled her head to take in her entire surroundings. She spotted two dwarves at opposite sides of the tunnel entrance, but their attention was focused on the woods surrounding the cave, not what was coming out. The opening sat within the cover of several trees, and the elf scampered up the closest one without slowing down. Her climb was so fluid it almost appeared as if she simply ran up the trunk.
Once in the branches, she knew they were out of dwarf reach but not yet entirely safe. An angry dwarf could drop a fully mature oak with one swipe of an axe. She would not give them the opportunity. She didn't have to gaze at the sun to gain her directional perspective-she already knew by the shadows at the cave opening. She darted westward across branches, ignoring the shouts of the bewildered dwarves.
Ryson climbed up the same tree as Holli and maintained his distance from the fleeing elf. He allowed her to choose the path as he drank in his surroundings. He saw the dwarves at the tunnel, heard a few more behind them around the curve of a hill, but sensed nothing ahead of them. Holli had picked the right direction.
Once they passed the second hilltop, Ryson pointed to a cluster of heavy pines.
"Over there!"
Holli liked what she saw and made a direct path to the spruce trees. She moved deep into the center of the cluster and stopped in the middle of heavy branches.
"This will do," she exclaimed, and then turned to Ryson.
"How close is the nearest dwarf?"
"Well behind us, just a few paces from the cave. They didn't chase us for long."
Pleased with the report, Holli turned to other factors.
"Are you injured?"
"A little late in asking, aren't you?"
"It would not have mattered in the tunnels. Injured or not, you had to move. Now, do you have injuries I am unaware of or not?"
"Just sore… my back hurts."
"From Strog's kick?"
Ryson was surprised by the question.
"You know about that?"
"I saw it."
"How?" Ryson asked, recalling he was alone with the dwarves in a locked room at the time.
"A sight spell. Before I left you in Sterling, I placed an anchor on you."
"An anchor? What are you talking about?"
"It is a spell that creates a point of energy, a reference point, somewhat like the beacon stones, but it does not send out a signal in the same way. It allows me to link a spell to you so that…"
Ryson erupted.
"You put a beacon on me?"
"Not a beacon, an anchor."
"I don't care! Is it still on me… this spell, is it still there?"
"Yes."
"Take it off!"
"It can't hurt you."
"Now!"
Holli did not understand the delver's outburst, but his outrage was clear. She focused on a spell of removal and withdrew the anchor from the delver.
"It is gone."
"Are you sure?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
Ryson's anger, as out of character as it was, actually swelled. His voice was almost trembling as his outburst grew in intensity.
"Why would you cast it in the first place? What were you thinking?!"
"I had to keep track of you."
"You wouldn't have had to keep track of me if you didn't just run off. I can't believe this!"
"Something was not right…," Holli explained, as she thought she might have understood the delver's fury, though only slightly. She did leave him, but she felt it was the best strategy. She tried to explain. "…not right in Sterling, I mean. There was no reason for Ulet to meet us with the goblin scent bag unless she was trying to hide something. Then, there was the mine itself back in Huntston. We both saw that it was relatively new, but still dug by dwarves. Why would dwarves build a mine shaft under a human town so recently… and then abandon it? I was concerned the goblins might be a threat to the dwarves, but I realized that was ridiculous. Regardless the size of the horde, goblins would never raise the courage to attack a dwarf city. If anything, I should have questioned why goblins would risk entering dwarf mines, not worried about warning dwarves."
Ryson looked past the explanation and focused on the results.
"So you knew something was wrong and you didn't tell me? And then you put some kind of spell on me?!"
"I only suspected something was wrong. No matter what I did to try to force everything together, it wouldn't fit. I could not be sure of anything."