City of Towers_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [68]
“So do you think that we should give any weight to this?” Daine asked.
“I don’t know. She knew we were here. She knew who we were. And Uncle Jura seemed to take her seriously, for whatever reason.”
“The ogress wasn’t there when we left,” Jode said.
“Yes, I think we all noticed that,” Daine said.
“I was just wondering if you’d ever seen a female minotaur before. Is it easy to tell the genders apart?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Never mind. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Daine began to protest, then he looked down the street and the words died in his throat. Three hobgoblin warriors were spread out across the street, all wearing the spiked leather armor common to Darguun. Stealing a glance over his shoulder, he saw a bugbear and two more hobgoblins stepping out into the street behind them.
“Hold,” he said quietly. His comrades paused in mid stride, and they formed a loose circle to guard their backs. “Tsash ghaal’dar!” Daine called out, hailing them in the Goblin tongue. “Strength to your arms.”
The hobgoblins seemed slightly surprised to hear their own language. One of the warriors in front stepped for ward. Hobgoblins stood between the tiny goblins and massive bugbears in height and build. While they lacked the inhuman strength of the bugbears, hobgoblins were tough and quick. This wasn’t one of the largest hobgoblins Daine had dealt with, but he moved with a sinister grace. He had striped his black armor with streaks of crimson. An odd design, but that wasn’t what disturbed Daine. The hobgoblin carried a heavy chain studded with spikes. A chainmaster. Daine cursed under his breath. He had fought Darguul chainmasters before, and they weren’t pleasant memories.
“What brings you to this place, outsider?” said the hobgoblin.
“I could ask the same, chainmaster,” Daine said, continuing to speak in Goblin. He had served with Darguuls both before and after he’d joined the army of Cyre, and he could tell that these five were looking for a fight. But there were many ways he could make it difficult for them. “This is not the land of the Ghaal’dar. What brings you to a city of men?”
“Your failure, homeless one. With your land destroyed, the other humans have called a halt to battle. There is no war to the north, and so we have come here. Perhaps you can pay for the mistakes of your country.”
Daine felt his anger growing. “Who failed first? Our greatest mistake was trusting the honor of the Ghaal’dar. Your ancestors were paid to protect the nation of Cyre, and you turned on those who trusted you.”
The hobgoblin bared his teeth and set the end of his chain whirling. But as Daine had hoped, the other warriors held back. Daine had made this an argument between the two of them, a contest of honor. One way or another, the leader needed to prove himself against Daine before the others would support him.
“It was always our land,” the chainmaster said. “Your kind stole it long ago. Our king has reclaimed what was ours by right!”
The other warriors nodded, but Daine had anticipated this response. “My ancestors claimed this land with fire and sword, and the Ghaal’dar fled before them. Is treachery the only way you can win it back?”
The hobgoblin hissed and sent his chain spinning forward, but Daine was ready. In one move, he leaped up and over the chain and lunged for the hobgoblin, blades in hand. Stepping backward to keep Daine at a distance, the hobgoblin shifted his grip and the chain came whirling out again, catching Daine’s sword and pulling it free. But Daine had fought chainmasters before, and he’d expected this move. Sword now gone, he lashed out with his dagger, and the adamantine blade sliced through the steel links as if they were cloth. A second slash scattered spiked links across the street, leaving the warrior holding a tiny scrap of chain.
Daine raised the point of the dagger and kept it in line with the hobgoblin as he knelt to recover his longsword, pulling it free from the entangling chain.
“I hope this time you will have the honor to admit your defeat,” said Daine, smiling.
Perhaps it was the smile that did it. Perhaps