King of the Goblins 2—Chapter 12

It didn’t look like we were going to get any additional information that day, so I decided to turn around and head back home.

Home. Heh, that reminded me of something I’d been putting off.

“Hey Taranath,” I asked. “What should I name the goblin city?”

“We just call it home,” Zia muttered, as if that were good enough. 

“You could always name it after me,” he said with a grin. “Or perhaps my house name? Zylnelas City? Hmm, Zylnelasville. That might work. Taranathshire?”

“Still having trouble thinking of something?” Zia asked while Taranath continued rattling off horrible city names.

“Yeah, nothing is popping into my head,” I replied. “I’m usually pretty good at coming up with ideas right off the cuff—I did it at my old job for years. But I keep drawing a blank on this one.”

“Silvy City,” Taranath said.

“I think even she might hate that one,” Zia said.

“Eh, I’ll think of something,” I said. “I suppose naming the city isn’t very high on my current list of priorities.”

“So, what are your plans?” Zia asked after a few moments of silence.

I took a deep breath. “Well, General Rolf is already preparing for the attack. There isn’t really that much else we can do. They’ll have to come through the tunnel to get into the city, which is a major choke point. They won’t make it very far inside. And if they try to attack the elves, or the great trees, they’ll get peppered with arrows. Either way, I don’t see the trolls making it very far.”

“You make it sound like it’s going to be a slaughter,” Zia said.

“For the trolls, yeah,” I replied. “They’re going to learn the hard way that we intend on protecting what we love. Plus, we have so many women capable of magic, now.”

“Yeah, but trolls are naturally resistant to magic,” Zia said. “Well, other than their own form of magic, but I think Silvy is the only person that knows that, and she only knows a tiny bit.”

“There’s always a way,” I said, pushing a low branch out of my way. “I have some ideas in my head that’ll make it a nightmare for the trolls. Taranath, how many archers do you have in Caelora?”

“How many archers?” he asked. “Hmm. Our actual military force is rather small, albeit highly skilled. Nearly all men and most women are at least proficient with a bow, though. It helps keep us safe, in the rare instance that someone tried to attack our city. Your own wife—Leena, that is—is quite good with a bow, in fact.”

“I’m glad you guys planned ahead,” I said. “So, how many?”

He shrugged. “Enough that finding sufficient space for them will be the limiting factor. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a thousand men and women with bows.”

“Perfect,” I said. “When the trolls show up, you guys can welcome them into the area. If any even survive that, we’ll kill them in the tunnel.”

“This sounds too easy,” Zia said. 

“Well, it’s not that it’s too easy. It’s that the trolls are attacking two highly secure places.” I chuckled. “After this, I doubt any trolls will come through the area for a hundred years. That new troll king can go sulk in a corner when he realizes he won’t gain a single inch over here.”

“What about him?” Zia asked. “The new troll king, that is. What have you learned about him?”

I pieced together all that I had heard so far. “He showed up around half a year ago, so roughly the time I arrived. Several months later, he became king of the trolls, and that’s when they started getting more violent. He wears a suit of spiked armor, and seems to be capable of magic, fire magic at the least.”

“Sounds like a real charming guy,” Taranath said. 

“Do you think he’ll be a problem?” Zia asked.

I shook my head. “When none of his trolls return from this attack, he’ll wisen up. No king with two brain cells to rub together wants to just throw away valuable soldiers.”

We continued walking back towards the city. At one point, one of the soldiers suggested we alter our course slightly to the left, to get us on the right path. I was grateful for his sense of direction, as I had no clue where I was, other than far east.

An hour passed, and Zia picked a handful of berries from a bush as we passed it. She split them with me, which was a nice little snack on our walk.

“Do the great trees grow any fruit?” I asked. “Or nuts, or anything edible?”

“No,” Taranath said. “And they only produce a handful of seeds once every decade. The wood is strong and dense, though. Strong enough to make a city out of. It’s also hard to burn, in case the trolls decide to try that.”

“How quickly can you grow new sections of the city?” I asked.

Taranath pursed his lips. “Ehh, it’s not a fast process, even with magic. And the magic we use is gentle on the tree. We don’t force it to grow in a certain direction or in a certain shape. You can think of it as us talking to the tree with magic, and convincing it to do what we ask.”

“So, how long would it take to grow a new bridge?” I asked

He frowned. “A few months, probably. It’s a bit faster than the natural growth of the tree, but still very slow. Are you thinking of that new addition?”

“Yeah,” I said. “We’ll probably have to build the majority of the bridge with stone, and then just have the tree join with it.”

“I’m excited for that,” Zia said. “It’ll be so nice to have a direct path there, instead of all those damn stairs.”

Something occurred to me. “Hey Taranath. What if someone tried to climb the stairs? Like, an enemy.”

Taranath shrugged. “That’s a lot of stairs to climb, Aaron. If someone tried to climb up those stairs to attack us, we’d fill them with arrows before they made it halfway up.”

“Good,” I said. “With this impending attack, I guess my mind is on checking everything, even a city that’s not mine.”

“What about the exploratory team?” Zia asked.

“They’ll be fine,” I said. “They should be back well before the troll attack. And even if they stay out there too long, they’ll be several miles to the south, so the trolls won’t even see them.”

“And if the worst happens?” Zia asked.

“Well, then they have a dozen soldiers with spears accompanying them, as well as Tressi’s magic. They’ll be fine,” I assured her. “They’re probably safer than we are, and we’re as safe as can be.”

It took us nearly another hour to get back to the city. I had never been so grateful to see that hole in the side of the cliff as in that moment. Being in nature was nice, but walking three or four miles through a forest was not my preferred way to spend my time.

An elven man stood there at the mouth of the tunnel, conversing with the goblin guard. They seemed to be getting along well, which made me glad. Even though things were going great between our two nations, the goblin guards could be rather callous at times.

“Good afternoon, King Aaron,” the elven man said as he bowed his head. “Grand Duke Althidon was busy, so he sent me in his stead.”

“Uh oh. Must be official business if you’re using his full title,” I said.

The elven man shifted uncomfortably for a moment. “Well, Grand Duke is his title, Your Majesty, so—”

“I’m just messing with you. Relax. What’s going on?” I motioned for him to follow me as I entered the tunnel.

“Oh. Right.” He fell in on my left side and walked just a bit behind me. “Grand Duke Althidon wanted me to inform you that their fletchers are working overtime, and every man and woman capable of wielding a bow stands ready. When the trolls arrive, they’ll have to walk through a rain of arrows.” His face paled at the mention of trolls.

“That’s great news,” I told the young messenger. “Grab something to eat before you go back home.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he said with a bow of his head.

“See?” I said, looking down at Zia. “We’re going to be okay. The trolls probably won’t even make it to the tunnel.”

She looked relieved when I said that. Good. The last thing I wanted was my wives stressing out over this. Sure, it wasn’t going to be a fun time, but we were going to be just fine.