King of the Goblins 2—Chapter 1

The air was cool against my sweat-slicked skin as I held the sword in front of me. My grip on the leather hilt was tight, but not overly so. I kept my eyes on my opponent, watching for any signs of attack. Of course, he gave none. He never did.

Althidon was suddenly right in front of me, sword swinging straight for my arm. I brought mine up just in time, with a loud clack as the blades of the practice swords slammed together. He struck like a viper and I barely managed to deflect two more blows before a third caught me in the chest. 

“Ah, shit,” I said, grounding the tip of my practice sword and leaning on it. I rubbed my chest and winced. I wore a thick leather vest to protect from that sort of thing, but it still felt like I had been punched. My shoulders and arms already bore several bruises.

“Don’t worry, you’re doing great,” Althidon said, leaning on his sword as well. “Truth be told, I’ve never seen anyone progress as quickly as you, especially in only six months.”

“Yeah, I’m just impatient, I guess,” I replied. 

“The sword takes a lifetime to learn, unlike the spear,” Althidon said. “We’re done for the day, though. I know you have plenty of other things to take care of.”

I tugged at the laces on the side of my leather vest and began pulling it off. A servant came up and took both of our practice swords and my leather vest from me, and another handed me and Althidon towels to wipe ourselves off. I thanked them, then used blood magic to heal the fresh bruises on my body.

“Still enjoying life as king?” Althidon asked with a smile as he handed his sword to the same servant. “Not tiring of this world yet?”

“You know, sometimes I wonder if I will,” I replied. “Like I almost expect it. There were some awesome things back in my world. Cars, video games, skydiving, the list goes on. Life is simple here, but so much better. Now, I’m king, with the best wives possible and a life that’s surprisingly low stress, except when I have to suffer through you kicking my ass with a practice sword.”

“Speaking of that, have you given any thought to children?” Althidon asked as he took a step closer to me. Another servant brought us our shirts, and we both pulled them on.

“Silvy is pregnant,” I told him. “Just a few months along. We’re still trying to think of a name.” Together, Althidon and I walked away from the training area and through the elven city of Caelora.

“You know what I mean,” Althidon said.

“Ah, of course,” I replied. “I don’t think she’s ready for that, yet. We’ll both have nice, long lives so we’re in no rush.”

No need to remind him that I was raw-dogging his daughter on a nightly basis, or that she wasn’t pregnant because she preferred to swallow. 

“Trade is going well,” I said as we walked across a bridge magically grown from the branches of one of the great trees. We stepped onto the next island in Caelora and continued. “The women have figured out how to use magic down in the mines. It cuts the hard labor down to a tenth of what it once was, maybe less.”

“Fantastic,” Althidon said. “We’ll both benefit from more iron and gold and whatever else you find down there.”

“We should figure out a faster way to travel between our cities,” I said. “They’re close enough. It’s a shame there isn’t more of a direct path.”

“We’re growing stairs on the nearest great tree,” Althidon said. “That’ll be a big help.”

“Yeah, but walking up all those stairs sucks ass,” I replied. “And goblin women are four feet tall. Even with their thigh muscles, that’s a lot of work.” I sighed. “But, you’re right. For now, that’s probably the best option.” I couldn’t help but wish there were some magical way we could transport ourselves between the elven and goblin cities. Anything to reduce the amount of walking through the forest. Especially since harpy and gnoll sightings had been on the rise.

My thoughts went wild. “What if we cut a new tunnel down in my city? One that spiraled up, and exited the side of the cliff a hundred feet in the air. You could have one of the great trees grow a bridge that connected to it.”

Althidon frowned and nodded as I spoke. “Something like that might work,” he said after a moment. “Although that would certainly take time.”

“With what you’ve already done with the great trees, I feel like it would be easy to do,” I said as I reached a set of stairs on one of the trees. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out. We have all the time in the world to do this.” I offered him my hand. “Good to see you, as always.”

Althidon firmly shook my hand. “You too. Give everyone my blessings.”

He was a stoic man, and him saying that was about as warm as he got. I was grateful for him. Althidon was my father-in-law, one of my primary points of contact in the elven kingdom, and the man that had trained me on the spear. He had also helped kill my predecessor, Ralcor, in a nasty fight six months ago, and barely survived. I owed a lot to Althidon.

Once I was on the throne, he told me he wanted to teach me the sword. The spear was a soldier’s weapon, a common man’s weapon, he said. A king needed a sword, and he needed to be good with it. And so began our training. Three times a week I went to the treetop city of Caelora, both to talk with the locals and help with trade, and to spend two hours training with Althidon.

Both of our nations prospered once trade and relations were restored. For the first month after I became king both cities were practically flooded with tourists, as goblins and elves flocked to explore each other’s cities for the first time in more than a hundred years. We learned each other’s languages and shared with each other food and culture.

As expected, some of the elven men immediately fell in love with goblin women. One look at their petite bodies topped with massive tits and round bottoms and it was hard not to be drawn to them. 

A few of the elven women found themselves with goblin men as well, especially once Ralcor’s influence was gone and they calmed down a bit. Some of the calm, soft-spoken elven women seemed to enjoy the tough, muscular goblin men. It would take some time for the first half-goblin, half-elf children to be born, but plenty of people were excited for that. It was just another sign of how well our people got along.

I continued through the forest on my familiar path that I had taken for half a year. My steps had worn the grass over the months, making a clear trail. Many of the goblins and elves took the same path, enough that I joked about making a sidewalk there. Of course, no one knew what a sidewalk was.

I smiled as I walked through the forest. I had great memories of meeting with Zia and Tressi in this very forest when I first arrived in this world. It was always after my sparring with Althidon, so I was tired, but we met up and talked and fooled around. It was in these very woods that I got to know two of my wives.

Very few goblins foraged in these woods now. One of the first things I had done was put an end to the dangerous foraging, and instead used magic to grow our crops in the city itself. Of course it took a lot of work—once Silvy found several women capable of elemental magic, she had to train them enough so that they could help. Then, a new district in the city was carved into the mountain. 

I wanted to make it reasonable, but it had to be large—after all, it took a lot of food to feed thousands of goblins. Once the massive cave itself had been created, an army of workers brought fresh soil in from the forest, until it was two feet deep on the floor of the new farm district. In that soil went row after row of all the things we loved so much, from those strange orange potatoes to herbs to small fruit trees. 

Silvy helped create more of that strange glowing moss and we covered the ceiling with it, making the farming district the brightest place in the goblin city. She was even able to make the moss automatically dim at night, so the circadian rhythm of the plants wouldn’t be thrown off.

“Good afternoon,” I said to the single guard posted in the mouth of the tunnel.

“Your Majesty,” he said, saluting with his fist over his heart.

I returned the salute and continued into the tunnel. Discipline had to be kept strict with the soldiers, but once Ralcor was out of the picture they calmed down a bit. They became less like crooked cops and more like actual peacekeepers.

Walking down the tunnel always brought back memories of me trying to sneak through it with the shadow stone in my mouth. I still kept the shadow stone with me—there was no telling when I’d need it again. I mean, I once saw a troll in the forest. That shadow stone was the only thing that kept me alive.

Once I exited the tunnel and came into the Tunnel District, I glanced over at the path that led to Silvy’s old house. Dust covered the path now, as it hadn’t been used in months. She had a better life, now.

I continued through that district and made my way to the hot springs. Of course once I was there I got an eyeful. Not just because it was filled with gorgeous, naked goblin women, but because many of them liked to show off when I was near. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I believed some of them hoped to catch my eye so they could be one of my queens.

Well, as beautiful as they were, four wives was enough for me. Even that was a struggle sometimes—and not because of any negative reason. I was just plain worn out, trying to keep up with so many women. But things had evolved into one big, happy family and I wouldn’t ask for anything else.

After saluting the guard at the entrance to the tunnel that led to the Royal District, I made my way up the long, sloping tunnel. Once at the top, I walked down the arrow-straight path that led to the royal palace. Soldiers greeted me the entire way; really, once the negative influence of Ralcor had been scrubbed from the goblin society, everyone was much more pleasant. Especially the men. 

“Can I get you anything, Your Majesty?” an older woman in servant’s livery asked as I walked up the stairs to the throne room.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you though,” I replied. 

I continued across the throne room and pulled open a door in the back, then entered the royal palace. Although it was sized for goblins, it was still a large place. Being carved from stone never ceased to impress me. It had every creature comfort I would expect of a place meant for a king.

“Aaron!” a familiar voice called out.

I turned and saw Tressi hurrying towards me. 

At four feet tall with double-handful breasts and hips to match, she was breathtaking. Her hair was auburn in color and her eyes brown, both of which a rarity among goblins. A faint scar ran from just above her right eye and disappeared into her hairline, where it turned into a white streak. Her face was about as flawless as a face could be; every day I saw her, I never tired of her beauty. Her full lips curved into a smile and she stretched up onto her toes to kiss me once she came near.

“You really should start dressing more like a king,” she said, picking at my shirt. “You look like a well-dressed commoner.”

“Clothes don’t make the man,” I told her.

“Be that as it may, you have an image to uphold,” she said. “When your people see you, they should see a king, not a simple man.”

“Wait,” I said, stopping in my tracks. “Did you just call me simple?”

She slapped my arm. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

“Did anything crazy happen while I was gone?”

“Come on,” she said, holding my hand. “Let me show you.”