King of the Goblins 2—Chapter 9

“Give him some food and water,” I told the guard on my way out. “He gave me plenty of good information, so try to be nice. Watch your fingers, though.”

The guard grunted, but saluted me. “Your Majesty,” he said.

With everything being so localized in the Royal District, it was easy for me to find General Rolf. Most of the officers operated out of a single building. The goblin military wasn’t particularly large, so it was sufficient. 

“Good day, Your Majesty,” a young soldier said, saluting as I entered. 

“Hey, is the general in?” I asked.

“Yes sir. He’s in his office, sir, the soldier said.

“Thanks,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. The goblins sometimes found that gesture strange, but it was natural to me. 

Making my way through the halls of this building bordered on being a nightmare. Every soldier had to salute me, greet me, wish me a good day. I nearly pulled the hood of my cloak up and tried to sneak through. Finally, though, I made it to the general’s office.

I knocked twice and pushed the door open a few inches. “Hey, general. Got a minute?” I asked.

“Yes, please come in, Your Majesty,” he said.

I pushed the door open the rest of the way and entered, then closed the door behind me. General Rolf had his jacket off and was seated behind his desk. Several neat stacks of papers sat on it, including one I suspected was Kord’s doing.

“Is that for a squad to accompany the exploratory team?” I asked.

He nodded. “They’re leaving as we speak, Your Majesty,” he said. “I sent eight of my best soldiers with them, so they’ll be safe. We should hear back from them tomorrow. The day after, at the very latest.”

I frowned. That was cutting it close. “I spoke with our gnoll prisoner,” I said.

His mouth curved into a frown. “A foul beast. I hope he at least told you something useful.”

“He did, actually.” I took a deep breath. “In two or three days, trolls will attack the city. I think they might attack Caelora as well.”

General Rolf stared at me for a moment. “Are you certain, Your Majesty?”

“That’s what Orkec—the gnoll—told me, and I believe him. The trolls destroyed the gnoll settlement, and the harpies as well. Now they’re coming for us.”

“Miserable bastards,” the general muttered. “Honestly I’m not even sure who I’m referring to. Well, our enemies killing our enemies would be a good thing, but now they’re coming for us, it seems. Do you know how many trolls are coming?”

“He said he wasn’t good with numbers, but it was around a dozen,” I said. “From what I understood, Orkec fled the gnoll settlement as it was being destroyed and overheard a few things when he returned to fetch some of his stuff.”

“Yes, that makes sense,” General Rolf said. “The gnolls and trolls speak each other’s languages, seeing as they’re so close. Simply being in the right place at the right time could yield some good intel, especially if you’re a troll and don’t think a gnoll is worth paying attention to.”

“The important thing is we have two or three days to prepare for this,” I said. “Although I’m not so certain we have a lot to prepare for. There’s only one way into the city; the tunnel. A troll would have to crawl through there, but if he’s wearing good armor, he’d still be damn hard to kill. I figured our best bet is for me to use my magic to kill them. A single dead troll will block the tunnel, after all.”

The general nodded. “We’ll have to get word to the elves as well. They are unparalleled archers, and can rain arrows down upon the trolls.”

“Good call. Do you have a messenger? Uh, a runner?”

He nodded. “I do.” He picked up a bell, of all things, and rang it once. 

A moment later, a young goblin man entered the room. His eyes widened upon seeing me in the room, but the general gave him no chance to react.

“You are to take a message to both Althidon and the elven king, do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” the runner said, saluting with his fist over his heart. “I’m ready, sir.”

“Good. Tell them that a dozen trolls will be attacking our city as well as Caelora in two or three days. We wish to work together to ensure our survival.”

The young soldier gasped. “Trolls?”

“Don’t think about it,” the general said firmly. “Just deliver the message.”

“Yes, sir,” he said, and saluted again. With that, he hurried from the room.

“How long does it take him to get a message to the elves?” I asked.

“He’ll run the entire way there,” General Rolf said. “They’ll get the message in about half an hour. He’s made a round trip in an hour before, but was pretty out of breath after that. He’s a good kid. Shows promise.”

Surely there had to be some magical way for us to communicate with the elves without such a delay. Still, a fast runner was what we had, so I moved on.

Wait, didn’t Althidon have some magical way of sending messages? He had done so months ago, the night I stayed at his place. He sent a message to Taranath, somehow. I made a mental note to ask him about that. I had been so busy as king that I had forgotten about it.

“I’ll leave the fighting to you, general,” I said. “You know more about it than I do. Just make sure we’re prepared.”

He nodded, then pushed himself to his feet. “We’ll start preparing immediately, sir.” With that, he saluted me.

“I’m going to be leaving with Taranath and some of your soldiers in a few minutes to do a patrol of the forest,” I said. “Although to be honest, I’m not sure what else we can learn, after I spoke to Orkec. Hopefully we’ll come across some other survivors that have seen something.”

“Hopefully so, Your Majesty,” he said. “We’ll be ready for whatever comes our way, don’t you worry.”

“Thanks,” I told him. “I’m glad I have you in charge. I know I can count on you.”

That comment left him beaming. Nothing like a bit of positive reinforcement when death was marching for our front gate.

After that I left his office, suffered through a hundred other salutes, then left the building. Taranath would be waiting for me, probably at the entrance. I decided to walk straight there.

I smiled as I remembered my shadow stone. Out of habit, I still kept it in my pocket wherever I went. Well, with that, I wouldn’t have to constantly salute and greet people. Problem solved.

I popped the stone into my mouth and immediately became invisible, or close enough. Finally able to move unhindered, I hurried down the tunnel that spiraled down from the Royal District, then moved quickly through the hot springs. 

Of course I took a moment to admire the beauty of the goblin women. At that moment, a beautiful goblin woman was splashing water onto her friend. Both of them were naked, and I grinned like a kid as I watched their massive breasts bouncing around as they frolicked.

Okay, enough tits for the day. I had work to do. I walked away from the springs and made my way towards the entrance tunnel.

As I strode down the tunnel, I hoped my presence wouldn’t bring back any bad memories for any guards I might run into. Before I became king, I had a habit of messing with the guards so I could pass. Of course, I had killed a few of them as well. Hey, I did whatever it took to survive.

The early afternoon sun made the end of the tunnel practically glow. I removed the shadow stone from my mouth and slipped it back into my pocket so I wouldn’t freak anyone out.

A tall man was silhouetted against the bright daylight at the mouth of the tunnel. As I walked closer, I recognized him as my elven friend Taranath. He was speaking with the goblin guard posted there, probably telling him bad jokes.

“Good to see you, Taranath,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder.

“Well, King Aaron,” he replied with a smile. “How are you today?”

“Ready to get this done,” I said. “I was able to speak to a captured gnoll earlier, so I have some information to run by you.”

“A squad of men should be here soon to accompany you, Your Majesty,” the posted guard told me. He glanced up at the position of the sun in the sky. “Yeah, should be any minute, now.”

I walked a few steps away with Taranath. “We’ll be heading straight east,” I said.

“You sound like you know something I want to know,” he said.

“That’s one way to put it,” I told him. “I’ll wait until the soldiers arrive so I don’t have to repeat myself.”

“Ah, the life of a king,” he quipped. “Filled with such intense struggles such as having to repeat one’s self. You truly were sent by the gods, for no regular man could make it through that unaided.”

“Oh, shut up,” I told him. His jokes always lifted my mood, though. It was good to have him around. I noticed his bow was slung across his back, and he had a quiver of arrows at his hip. Good. Hopefully we wouldn’t need them.

“Hey, have you ever come across any harpies?” I asked.

“Oh, no. I avoid them at all costs,” he said. “Any man with half a brain would do the same. You know their magic only affects men, right?”

“Yeah, good point,” I said. Zia had mentioned that earlier, when we talked with the general. “Well, without a woman here, we’ll just have to be careful, I guess. If we see any harpies, we’ll avoid them.”

“Are you expecting to come across any harpies?” Taranath asked, suddenly sounding concerned.

“Possibly,” I said. “Them and some gnolls. If my guess is correct, today is one of the last days we’ll see them moving through the forest. After that, they’ll be gone. They’re relocating.” I shrugged. “Well, kinda. I’ll explain when the other soldiers get here.”

“Well, if you see a harpy, be careful not to make eye contact,” Taranath said. “And try to block out their song. Stick your fingers in your ears if you have to. I haven’t seen it, but I’ve been told about it before. They’ll sing to you, call to you, and you’ll be powerless to resist. You’ll walk right to them, thinking you’re going to have the time of your life, right up to the point where they tear you apart with their talons and beaks.”

“Jesus, that sounds horrible,” I said. “Maybe I should go get Silvy.”

But at that moment, a squad of goblin soldiers emerged from the mouth of the tunnel, each wielding a long spear. And, walking in the middle of them, was Queen Zia.

While her elaborately embroidered dress wasn’t appropriate for walking around in the woods, at least her tall boots were. She had a hooded cloak on as well, which hid some of her curves. That was probably for the best; no one would be able to concentrate with her around otherwise, especially considering how she liked to flaunt her beauty at times.

“I was just thinking about how nice it would be to have one of my wives here,” I said, bending down to kiss her as she walked up to me.

“Well, you’re lucky,” she said. “You get me. Tressi went with the exploratory team, since she’s stronger with moving stone and delving through rock. Silvy and Leena will run the place while we’re gone. Hi Taranath.”

“Hello, dear,” he said with a smile. “I’m glad you’re coming with us, since King Aaron seems to think we might run into harpies.”

“Uh, what?” she asked.

“Everyone gather around,” I called out. “Alright, let’s get ready.”