King of the Goblins 2—Chapter 17

Well, luck wasn’t always on my side.

As it turned out, I wasn’t able to use the elven method of sending messages on the wind. It required a special type of magic that only elves tended to have. As it turned out, my talents with magic basically revolved around killing and healing.

“Can you send messages to Leena?” I asked. 

“Usually,” Althidon said. “I can’t explain exactly how it works; the elders probably could. But her being underground makes it difficult at times. Couldn’t say why.”

“Bad signal, maybe?” I said.

“Huh?”

“Nothing. I was hoping we could use that to keep in touch when the trolls come,” I said. “Looks like that isn’t an option.”

“Is there any alternate path up here, in case you need to get a message to me or anyone else?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Nope. Leena said she has to go to the mouth of the tunnel sometimes to send you a message. That won’t be an option once the trolls get here. Although I guess when they’re in your neck of the woods, she could wait at the end of the tunnel in case you need to communicate, then flee back into the city if the trolls get near.”

Althidon pressed his lips in a tight line. “I don’t like the thought of my girl risking her life for anything. But it seems that’s the only way.” He gave me a firm look. “Just make sure when the trolls come anywhere near, she gets out of sight. She’s a stubborn one and will want to stay until the last minute.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep her safe. You have my word.” I grounded the tip of my sword and leaned on it for a moment. “Hey, I imagine you guys are fine up here, but is there any way I can help you prepare?”

“No, we’re good,” Althidon said. “Our fletchers are working day and night, as are our bowyers. We have enough for a thousand archers. The trolls won’t stand a chance.”

“I don’t want to be overconfident, but I really feel like the trolls are walking into a slaughter,” I said.

Althidon harrumphed. “That’s because you haven’t seen how tough they are, boy. The trolls aren’t going to make it, that’s a fact. It’s still going to be a nasty fight, though. I would prepare for the worst, if I were you. Better to be ready for anything than to get caught underprepared.”

“Good point,” I said. I offered him my hand. “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get going.”

Althidon shook my hand firmly. “I’ll stay in touch. Stay safe down there.”

“Don’t worry, I plan on it,” I said with a grin.

After removing my padded leather vest, I grabbed my things and left. I took my time leaving Caelora, as I enjoyed how pleasant the elves were. I even stopped by to say hi to Elasha, the grumpy seamstress. She was slightly less grumpy these days.

It concerned me a bit that I felt so at ease when trolls would be attacking in the next day or two. I figured it was just confidence in our defenses.

I mean, sure, they were ten feet tall with thick skin and apparently armor. But they were walking into a death trap.

“Heading back home, King Aaron?” a man asked as I strolled by. I noticed he held a longbow and had a full quiver peeking above one shoulder

“Yeah, gotta prepare,” I said, giving him a friendly smile. “Stay safe. Maybe save some trolls for us.”

“Ha!” he laughed. “Me and my best friend have a wager on how long it’ll last. He says two hours. I say less than one.”

“Gods be good, it’ll be over soon,” I said.

As I walked across Caelora, I remembered how quickly things could go wrong. We had laid thorough plans to overthrow Ralcor, and they all fell to pieces a day early when he kidnapped my wives.

With that in mind, I vowed to take this attack seriously and treat it as if the trolls were indestructible. 

When I reached the top of the stairs, I paused for a moment to look down. The hundred-foot-drop was a deadly fall, for sure. I could only think that gravity would help the arrows, though. With the elves firing nearly straight down, the trolls would get absolutely pummeled. 

I wasn’t the best judge of distance, but the next great tree was probably seventy or eighty feet away. At the midpoint between the two, the trolls might have a slightly easier time passing through.

Nah, they wouldn’t. There would be a thousand elven archers waiting for them. They were fucked.

Several men holding armfuls of bows arrived and began arranging them on hastily constructed weapons racks. 

I hurried down the stairs, feeling almost eager for the fight. I was halfway tempted to go back and see Althidon for some more sparring, but I knew we both had more important things to do.

When I reached the ground, I set out at a fast walk. I needed to invent cars or something. This half-hour walk in each direction was getting old. Well, if my miners found enough iron ore, we could smelt it into steel and make a railroad system one day. That would be a huge improvement.

By this time my wives had taught me enough about the local foliage that I was able to pick a few things and snack on them as I walked. I tried to tell myself that I wasn’t stress eating.

As I approached the tunnel, I noticed the pile of loose stone had grown considerably. Whatever Zia had said to motivate them, they were certainly working hard. As I passed by, two men with a wooden cart unloaded fist-size chunks of stone onto the ground. The pile of rocks was already the size of a van. At this point, they’d have enough stone to start on the foundation soon.

When I got to the mouth of the tunnel, I noticed that the amount of posted guards had greatly increased. Four guards now stood there instead of a lone soldier, and I had suspicions that more were inside.

“Your Majesty,” they said as I came closer.

“Everyone ready?” I asked.

They all seemed confident. “I’m looking forward to my turn in the tunnel,” said the soldier closest to me. “We’ll be working in shifts. I just hope I’m there when those frog-skinned bastards show up.” I noticed they still had their customary iron-banded clubs on, not spears.

“I’ve heard a rumor that you’re going to be fighting with us, King Aaron,” another soldier said. That got their attention.

I nodded. “I will. I’m the only person around that knows blood magic, so it’s important that I’m here for the fight. Trolls are naturally resistant to magic, but I’m hoping that if I can’t kill one, I can at least slow it enough that you guys can finish it off.”

That earned nods of approval. 

“We’ll save you a spear, Your Majesty,” a soldier said, grinning.

I clapped the nearest man on the shoulder. “I’m looking forward to it. Remember, I may look different, but you’re all my people. I plan on fighting right beside you all.”

They saluted me again and I entered the tunnel. Sure enough, thirty feet inside I found a man arranging a dozen spears along the bottom edge of the tunnel. When needed, any soldier could grab one in a heartbeat. Upon seeing me, the man bowed, and then hurried away.

I expected to see more spears waiting in the tunnel, but I didn’t. Those were probably spares, or extras. I thought about an armored troll pushing his way into the tunnel and couldn’t see any way that spears wouldn’t get broken. I did, however, see more workers pushing carts filled with stone.

When I got to the end of the tunnel, I found two large benches with more than a dozen soldiers around them. When they saw me they hastily saluted and greeted me.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Just preparing for the attack, Your Majesty,” one of them said as he hurried to stand before me. Two chevrons on his sleeve marked him as some form of leader; a corporal, I thought. “Starting tomorrow, we’re going to start rotating men through here, ensuring we always have enough soldiers ready.”

“Is someone going to bring you guys food and water?” I asked.

He nodded. “Food, water, and we’ll have some blankets and cots nearby so we can get some sleep as well. We’ll have shifts here overnight, just in case.”

“Good thinking,” I said. “If the elves leave us anything, we’ll be ready. You boys stay safe.”

They saluted me and I turned to my right and approached the beginnings of the new tunnel. Considerable progress had been made in the few hours I had been sparring, but they still had a long way to go. I kept my distance so I wouldn’t interrupt their work with my presence. Some of them noticed me watching and offered curtseys and bows. I gave them some words of encouragement, then left the Tunnel District.

The hot springs were full; I supposed with the impending battle, people wanted to be clean in case they didn’t get the opportunity to bathe for a while. That meant plenty of beautiful women.

“Hi King Aaron!” A gorgeous woman with midnight blue hair said, waving in a manner that made her large breasts sway back and forth. Her friends in the same pool pushed themselves up so they could bow their heads slightly out of respect, and of course so I could see more of their bodies. The smoldering looks in their eyes told me that much.

I replied with a smile and wave and tried not to laugh. The way these women flirted with me was a bit over the top. I certainly wasn’t complaining, but sometimes it almost didn’t feel real. If I wanted to, I could probably have a hundred wives and completely change the genetic makeup of the goblin people. The inner workings of my mind, my lizard brain, would leap at the opportunity to do that. I was happy with my wives, though.

“Ah, jeeze,” I muttered to myself as a beautiful young goblin woman accidentally dropped her towel as she got out of one of the pools. She turned and bent over, giving me a clear view of her goods. I was going to have to start using the shadow stone just to make it through the hot springs at this rate.

I hurried away from there so I could focus. The guards waiting at the entrance to the tunnel to the Royal District saluted me. I could tell they were excited.

“Are you guys gonna get in on the fun?” I asked.

“Nah, we’re stuck here,” one of them said. “The only way we’ll see any action is on the off chance one of those things makes it through the tunnel.” He barked a laugh. “Which means we aren’t going to see any action.”

“Better for all of us that way,” I said. “If you really want, ask your superiors if you can get sent to train with Althidon, the elven Sword-Master.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You mean that, Your Majesty?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I mean, you guys guard the entrance to the Royal District, so you should be the best-trained soldiers I have. Tell your superior officer I recommended it.”

“Oh, thank you, King Aaron,” he said. Both of the men were excited after that.

I left after that and hurried up the tunnel. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to get into for the rest of the day, but I was thinking lunch sounded like a good first step.