King of the Goblins—Chapter 51

Althidon and Taranath walked on my left. Truk was on my right. I strode down the tunnel, filled with confidence. The fight was as good as done, and Ralcor would be dead soon. I’d be king, and have three beautiful wives. Wait, four. 

“I know just enough of the goblin tongue to follow what’s going on,” Althidon said. “With every other word, I’m questioning myself. Did they really say that? Did I remember that phrase correctly?”

“It’s hard for me to believe and I’m the one doing it,” I replied.

I looked over and caught Taranath staring at several spirits of goblin women. At least he was smart enough not to flirt with these.

When we exited the tunnel, I paused for a moment to look around. The cave seemed mostly empty; people had probably fled when we killed those soldiers. 

I saw a lone soldier ahead and to my right. He noticed us, and his eyes widened when he saw the spirits behind me. He turned to flee, but I reached out with blood magic and stopped his heart.

“You kill as easily as we do,” Truk said. He didn’t sound particularly pleased.

“I don’t like it, but I have no choice,” I said. “These men serve Ralcor, and they would gladly kill me and my companions to keep Ralcor on the throne. Your gods gave me the ability to kill, and I’m using it to fight tyranny.”

That seemed a good enough explanation for Truk. He simply nodded and we continued moving forward.

We turned and made our way to the tunnel that led to the Royal City. A group of a dozen soldiers stood there, although they didn’t look particularly concerned. They probably expected me to be dead or incapacitated at the hands of that other group of soldiers.

So, imagine their shock when I stepped in front of them along with my elven friends. The spirits? They just disappeared. I panicked for a moment, until one of the guards suddenly clutched at his face and screamed. That spread, all of the guards holding their face or a limb, screaming as they died.

We stood there for a moment, waiting for the screams to stop echoing across the stone walls. It was, to be honest, horrifying.

“I’m glad they’re on our side,” Taranath said quietly. Althidon merely grunted in agreement.

“Truk?” I called out.

“I am here,” his voice said.

“Good. I was hoping you didn’t go out too soon,” I said.

“No,” he replied. “I have spoken with the others about this. Since you called for me by name, many of them defer to me now. And we agreed that it should be me that kills Ralcor. I have promised them that I will do it, which helps them be at peace, even though they won’t be able to see it.”

I nodded. “Perfect. I was thinking the same thing. Let’s keep moving.”

The spirits faded back into view as we ascended the wide tunnel. On two more occasions goblin soldiers rushed us, but the spirits took care of them before Taranath could even get an arrow off. They were, in a word, absolutely fucking devastating. Okay, so that was three words, but you get the point.

“Hey Truk,” I asked. “Can you touch one of us without killing us?”

“Yes,” he said after a moment. “But it won’t be pleasant. It will leave a scar.”

“Damn,” I said. “You guys are just weapons, through and through.”

“We are death, and we long for death. Anyone we touch will join us in the endless sleep of the afterlife.”

I shivered. I had never before thought about how awful it would be to be touched by a ghost, but then again, ghosts didn’t exist on Earth. Sure, there were some dumb TV shows, but none of that shit was even remotely real.

“Let me take the first ones, then you guys kill the rest,” I said. “I know you have limited numbers. I want to make sure as many of you as possible at least make it far enough to see that we’re going into the throne room.”

Truk just nodded. Taranath nocked another arrow.

As we slowly continued up the curving path, I began to feel hope. I had a small army of deadly spirits behind me, and the best archer and swordsman around. Everything was going to be okay, and I’d be with my women soon. 

It was at that moment that two archers stepped around the corner. We all reacted quickly, but not quickly enough. 

The only thing that saved me was my shield. An arrow slammed into it, right over my chest, and splintered into fragments against the hardened surface of my shield. My heart pounded as I realized how quickly I had come to dying.

Taranath didn’t fare as well. An arrow took him in the upper stomach, piercing deep enough that the broadhead punched through his back. He screamed and fell to the floor.

Althidon rushed forwards, his blade a blur, but I had already reached out with magic. I did the fastest thing I could, which was to drain the blood from the goblin’s arms so they immediately dropped their bows. Althidon was there in a matter of seconds, and removed both of their heads with quick, calculated strikes.

“Ahh, that hurts,” Taranath said, somehow making it sound like a joke as he clutched at the arrow protruding from his stomach. “By the gods, I have never felt anything like this. Definitely not enjoyable. Do not recommend.”

I didn’t know anything about arrow wounds, other than the fact that it looked like a killing wound. I couldn’t even imagine an arrow punching straight through my gut.

Fortunately, Althidon was there, and he was clearly experienced with such things. He sheathed his sword and bent down, pulling Taranath’s hands away so he could examine the wound. He glanced around the back of the other man, noting that the arrow had gone through him.

“This isn’t so bad,” he said, looking up at me. “I’m going to pull the arrow through, and then you’re going to heal him.”

“I’m ready,” I said as I reached out with blood magic, feeling my way through Taranath’s body.

“Hold on, what are you going to do?” Taranath said, sitting up with the help of the older elven man.

“I have to remove the arrow so you can be healed,” Althidon explained. “If I were to grab it by this end and pull it out, that broadhead would tear you up as it passed back through you. Best to just pull it out the back.”

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” Taranath said, shaking his head. His face looked slightly pale. “I suppose I don’t have a choice.”

“You do have a choice,” Althidon said, grabbing onto the end of the arrow sticking out of Taranath’s back. “We can do this, or you die.”

“Introduce me to that woman’s sister,” Taranath said, looking up at me.

“I promise,” I said. I could tell he was masking his pain by joking. He must have been in absolute agony.

“Good, because—” Taranath was interrupted by Althidon pulling the arrow out of his back. Althidon was not gentle about it, and pulled hard. The arrow was out in less than two bloody seconds, leaving Taranath screaming in pain. I immediately directed his body to heal itself, closing up the wounds as quickly as I could.

Taranath laid on the floor of the tunnel for a moment, his breath coming in gasps. He looked at Althidon, then at me, then finally spoke.

“Aaron, when you introduce me to her, make sure you tell her what I went through,” Taranath said.

I laughed, then reached down and offered him a hand. I pulled him to his feet and he immediately hugged me tightly.

“Thank you, my friend. I owe you a life debt,” he said.

The way he said those words made them sound much more serious than just words. I tucked it away in the back of my mind, mostly so I could tell him no if he ever tried to risk his life for mine in the future to make up for this.

“We need to keep moving,” I said.

“I can’t believe I just took an arrow to the chest,” Taranath muttered as he picked up his bow. He fitted an arrow to the string and held it ready. “I need to be more careful, I suppose.”

“Just stay behind me,” I said. 

We slowly progressed up the tunnel as it turned sharply to the left. Ralcor was waiting for me, that much I knew, but there was still a pile of soldiers to work through. I just hoped some of them would surrender. Killing them all and starting fresh was probably the safest idea—there was no need for me to have soldiers in my employment that were loyal to Ralcor, after all—but I wanted to minimize the amount of death, if possible.

I stayed in front since I had the shield. I peeked around the edge of the corner so that I was able to see the end of the tunnel.

“Well,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Looks like they’re taking our attack seriously.”

“How many?” Althidon asked.

“Probably three dozen,” I said. “Ready to fight. I can probably take two or three. Truk, you guys will have to take the rest. They have too much armor for you, Taranath.”

I peeked my head around the corner again, just enough to see them, and reached out with blood magic. I selected a man in the front rank and drained his legs of blood, causing him to collapse. After that, I stopped his heart.

The benefit of that was that he was right in the way of the others. I did the same to the man next to him before they had time to react.

“I have never seen or even heard of anyone learning magic as quickly as you,” Althidon said, looking at me in wonder. “The gods truly must have sent you.”

I just shrugged. It felt easy, I assumed because I had a more modern understanding of basic anatomy.

The goblin soldiers shouted and lowered their spears, then began advancing. It was clear they intended on killing the elves, although I heard one of them shout a reminder to take me alive.

I reached out and killed another soldier, forcing others to move around him, and suddenly the spirits were there. 

The screams of the dying echoed off the walls, and they were something that would haunt my nightmares for weeks to come. Never before had I heard such horrifying sounds, not even moments earlier when Taranath had been shot with an arrow, and he had been close to ugly crying. I was grateful the spirits were on our side.

And then, as quickly as we started our attack, a pile of dead goblin soldiers littered the path in front of us. We advanced to the mouth of the tunnel and I saw dozens more goblin soldiers standing in front of us. They had heard the screams as well, and they looked shaken to their cores.

Truk was suddenly next to me. “We only have a couple left,” he said quietly. “You will have to handle the majority of the killing. I must save myself for Ralcor.”

“Noted,” I said. “Taranath, time to make use of that bow of yours.”

We stepped over the pile of bodies—not the easiest thing, I tell you—and I faced down the dozens of soldiers in front of us. I gave them all my hardest glare, which probably wasn’t too impressive.

“Truk, just work with me here,” I said quietly.

“Okay,” he replied.

I raised my voice so all the goblin soldiers could hear me. “You, who serve the tyrant Ralcor. I come for his head, and I bring with me the spirits of the fallen. You have heard the dying screams of those who have tried to stop us. Lay down your arms, work with me to establish a peaceful monarchy, or die in pain.”

The remaining spirits faded into view, faded out, then reappeared a few feet away, making it look like there were more of them than there actually were. I saw the truth, though. There were only two spirits left.

“You’re getting better at speeches,” Taranath said.

“Thanks,” I replied.

It didn’t take long for the soldiers to make their decisions. First one, then a few, then all of them threw their weapons to the ground and stepped back, giving us a clear path to the royal palace.

“Well, shit,” I said. “That was easier than I thought. I probably should have tried that a while ago.”

“At least it’s done, now,” Althidon said. “Although I wouldn’t trust any of them.”

“Good point,” I said. “Truk, watch our backs, please.”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe,” he said.

We walked down the arrow-straight path that led from the mouth of the tunnel to the stairs at the front of the royal palace. I kept my eyes straight in front, showing no fear, my back straight as an iron bar. I trusted that Truk and the other remaining spirits would keep us safe.

My trust was well placed. Halfway there, a goblin soldier suddenly pulled a knife and rushed at us. He was damn fast, and would have stabbed Taranath if a spirit hadn’t caught him first. Being in the center of Royal City, his screams echoed loud and strong for some time. I looked around and saw the other soldiers shiver in fear. I didn’t blame them. It was a horrible way to die.

But now we only had one spirit left. Truk. Well, we only needed one to kill Ralcor, so that was fine.

The goblin soldiers watched us with terror in their eyes as we passed by. Word had certainly spread of an invisible person able to kill with magic over the past few days. Now they had a face to put to that. Now they had something to fear. For at that moment I realized that if I was to ever rule over these men, they absolutely, undoubtedly would have to fear me.

Four soldiers stood at the base of the stairs that led into the royal palace and into the throne room. Even through their helmets, I could see their nervousness and hesitation. 

“Let them pass,” a voice called out.

Ralcor.

The soldiers all moved to the left, clearly grateful they didn’t have to sacrifice their lives on that day. I walked up the stairs with Taranath, Althidon, and Truk behind me.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I stood there for a moment, glaring at the man I had to kill.