King of the Goblins—Chapter 49

The goblin soldiers each took a few steps forward, not at all intimidated by my elven friends. On the contrary, they shouted a few curses, mocking the elves for being “fairies” and “weak girly-men.”

Althidon just ignored that, but Taranath immediately nocked an arrow and sent it into the soldier on the left. The arrow struck him in the center of the face, right through his nose. He screamed as he fell to the ground, making sucking noises as his sinuses filled with blood.

The other soldier lowered his eyebrows and rushed us. I reached out with magic and pulled the blood from his legs to stop him. He only made it four steps before falling to the ground. He shouted curses at us and tried crawling closer, still with the spear in his hand.

“Bastards are persistent, I’ll give them that much,” Althidon muttered.

I had to get used to killing with a spear, so I decided it was best to get it over with. I walked up to the soldier, kicking his spear aside when he tried to thrust it at me. I stomped on the haft of his spear so he couldn’t use it anymore, then rammed the point of mine right into the base of his neck.

It wasn’t a clean kill. My spear went along the side of his neck, certainly severing a bunch of arteries in the process, but he laid there crying out in pain for quite some time. I finally couldn’t take it any longer and simply stopped his heart with blood magic. The other soldier died around the same time. He drowned in his own blood.

“What a way to start,” I said, suddenly grateful I hadn’t eaten any breakfast that morning. Althidon really knew what he was talking about.

“Keep it moving,” Althidon said. His voice was all business now. He kept his sword in front of him as we walked down the tunnel.

I kept my eyes sharp, but I didn’t see any more goblins until we were almost at the end of the tunnel. A group of three women were suddenly in front of us, looking shocked when they finally saw us.

“It’s okay, we’re not here to hurt you!” I called out. They looked like they were about to scream. “Today is Ralcor’s last day as king. You won’t have to deal with his tyranny any longer.”

The women looked at each other, clearly terrified but trying to process what I was telling them.

“Wow,” Taranath said, lowering his bow. “So that’s what goblin women look like? Impressive.” His face was a mask of pure amazement. Was he smitten with goblin women after a single glance? I couldn’t blame him.

“Oh, you have no idea,” I said, then raised my voice again. “Please, pass by us. We mean you no harm. I come for Ralcor, that is all.”

We moved to one side of the tunnel and after a moment the women came closer. They were afraid of us, but I assured them again that they had nothing to fear from us. I also warned them about the two bodies at the end of the tunnel.

“My goodness, the back is just as amazing as the front,” Taranath said, watching the three women walk away. One of them looked over her shoulder and met his eyes. He flashed her a charming smile, but that was not the best time to be flirting. She hurried away with her friends.

“Thinking of taking a goblin mate, now?” I asked.

Taranath just kept watching them as they walked away. “Wow,” he said again, quietly. “I’m glad I know a bit of the goblin language.”

“They’d probably like you,” I said. “Come on, let’s keep moving. They’ll be here tomorrow. And plenty of goblin women would be eager for a guy like you to just treat them right.”

“Is that so?” Taranath asked, but at least he grabbed another arrow from his quiver.

“This place is fascinating,” Althidon said as we walked down the tunnel. “I’m glad there aren’t more soldiers here. Assaulting this place would be a nightmare.”

“I would almost believe Ralcor would tell them all to stand down,” I said. “Just to make it easier for me to get to him. I think he’s eager to fight me.”

“Hate to disappoint him, but he’ll have to fight me instead,” Althidon said.

When we came near the end of the tunnel, I saw one soldier in the distance. I didn’t want to cause a panic, and Taranath shooting them in the face could lead to screams. Instead, I reached out with magic and stopped his heart. The soldier staggered to his knees, clutching at his chest and tugging at the neck of his armor, then fell facedown on the stone floor.

Next to me, Althidon shook his head. “Absolutely devastating, blood magic.”

We reached the end of the tunnel and it opened up into Tunnel City. I let Althidon and Taranath marvel at the large underground cave, with all the beautiful houses in the center. A hundred feet tall, five hundred feet in diameter, it really was a sight to behold.

“That moss in the ceiling,” Althidon said, pointing up. “The stuff that lights this place. It’s magical. I thought goblins didn’t trust magic.”

“Ralcor has spread a distrust of magic, but he will still use it when it benefits him,” I said. “The lights are a perfect example, although they were created a long time ago.”

Several goblins noticed us and gasped in shock. There wasn’t much I could do to calm them down. I tried calling out to them, explaining that we meant no harm, but I didn’t think that did any good.

“Might as well just push forward,” I said. As we walked to the tunnel that led to the hot springs, I caught a glimpse down one of the streets—I didn’t know if they were called streets here, but that’s what it looked like—and saw a patrol of four goblin soldiers. 

“Let’s get moving,” I said. “Soldiers back there, I’d rather they not see us.”

Together, we hurried along the side of Tunnel City and towards the next room. Each time we came across a group of goblins, I assured them we were not there to hurt them. I think they were so surprised at seeing a foreign race speak their language that they forgot to be terrified. As it was, most of them were still scared and ran away. Taranath had a habit of turning and watching the women run.

“I think Tressi has an older sister,” I said to him. “I can introduce you two after this.”

“Please,” Taranath said.

I chuckled to myself. After a century of slender elven women, he was surrounded by more tits and ass than he probably thought existed.

We exited the tunnel and came to the cave where the hot springs were located. It was busy in there, but most people were too focused on their own tasks to notice us.

“Look to your left,” I said to Taranath.

All three of us looked to the left, right as a pair of young goblin women were stepping into one of the pools. They were fully nude, of course.

“Wow,” Taranath said again. “I don’t even have words for that.”

“Well, let’s get moving before you wind up wielding a boner along with your bow.”

The three of us laughed and we continued. I tried smiling at every goblin I passed, but they were still frightened of us, and for good reason. I made sure to look over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure no soldiers were following us, so when I saw that party of four enter the cave, I wasn’t surprised.

“We have soldiers behind us,” I said. “It’s only four, but killing them in front of everyone would cause a panic. Let’s keep moving.”

“Good thinking,” Althidon said. 

They were far enough behind us that they weren’t a concern, at least at the moment. I knew they saw us though, considering we were much taller than any of the goblins. It was impossible to hide in that crowd.

“Does that lead to the throne room?” Althidon said, pointing in front of us.

I had been scanning the sides of the room, so I turned and followed where Althidon was pointing. Sure enough, he had found the tunnel that led to Royal City. 

I was used to there being two guards posted there at all times. Now there were six, and each of them was wearing plate armor and wielding a long spear. Not only that, each one had a shield on their other arm. That was a problem.

“I don’t think there’s any way around it,” I said. “I’m going to have to kill them. At least if I do it, that probably won’t cause as much chaos as if either of you do.”

“Good point,” Taranath said. He turned and looked behind us, then frowned. “There are more of them.”

I glanced over my shoulder and bit off a curse. I didn’t have the time to count them, but the group of four guards was now twice that size. When I looked back in front, the guards had also noticed us, and leveled their spears.

“Take them alive, boys,” one of them said. He had several golden braids hanging from one shoulder, so I assumed he had superior rank to the others.

“Shit,” I said, looking back and forth. There were nearly a dozen guards coming behind us, now. When I turned again, the four armored guards were still there, but another group of four had come down the tunnel and joined them. We needed to get out of this situation, and fast.

Taranath nocked an arrow, then raised his bow halfway but I stopped him. “No, let me start it,” I said. “Remember, I’m trying to avoid a panic. I don’t want to get crushed by the crowd.”

“There will be more soldiers up that tunnel, if that’s the way to the king,” Althidon said, pointing with his sword.

He was right. I needed to clear the way behind us so we wouldn’t get surrounded. Easier said than done.

“Come on,” I said, moving to my right. There were a handful of buildings in there, things that reminded me of utility companies back home. Public service buildings of some sort. I tried to keep us between them and watched as the dozen guards behind us turned and approached. 

They swaggered as they walked towards us, for they knew they had us surrounded. We couldn’t get out without a fight. 

“Well, I guess it’s time to start the slaughter,” I said.

There was no way I could take that many men at once; even attacking two at the same time was a struggle. I had to work quickly. Plus, I couldn’t do something simple like stop their hearts; I had to maintain that, and while I could do it for one or two, I couldn’t maintain that for a dozen men. I had to kill them, and quickly.

Using my blood magic, I reached out to the nearest soldier. I felt my way through his veins until I got to his brain, then increased his blood pressure until several blood vessels exploded. He screamed and clutched at his head with wobbly arms, then fell to his knees. Wasting no time, I reached out to the next soldier and did the same.

They knew their time was limited, so at that point they rushed us. I worked as quickly as I could, but it wasn’t enough. 

Next to me, Taranath fired arrows almost as quickly as he could nock them, barely taking the time to aim. Each one struck true though, and four soldiers dropped dead with arrows through their faces. Althidon stepped up, his sword ready. I raised my spear, in case I had to join the melee.

At that point, only three soldiers remained. They rushed us, waving their iron-banded clubs overhead, ready to break our bones and smash our heads. I kept my shield in front of me and gripped my spear tightly. Now was my first real test.

Taranath nocked another arrow, but the soldiers were close to us now and it was risky. Althidon moved forward, flowing like water. His sword easily redirected a club strike from one of the soldiers, then removed his head from his neck. Before that soldier’s head had even fallen to the ground, Althidon sliced through another man’s arm, removing his hand at the wrist.

I thrust forward with my spear, aiming for his face, but my aim was slightly off. Instead, the point of my spear took him in the throat, which was probably a better target, to be honest. I twisted the blade and yanked my spear out right as Taranath fired an arrow point-blank into the side of the last soldier’s head.

And just like that, nearly a dozen men were dead. It took a few seconds for my heart to stop pounding, and I tried my best not to look at the gaping wounds in their bodies. Blood was already gathering in pools on the stone floor. At least when I killed with magic it didn’t leave bloody heads and hands on the ground.

“More coming,” Althidon said, his voice grim. He raised his sword again.

I turned and saw two dozen soldiers marching towards us in a tight formation, shields up and spears out. 

“My sword isn’t much good against that many spears,” Althidon said. “And the bit of magic I know wouldn’t do much either. I know my limitations.”

“With that armor and their helmets, only a lucky shot would do much,” Taranath said. He suddenly laughed. “Well, this took a turn for the worse.”

“I don’t want to have to explain to your wife why you got hurt,” I said to Althidon. 

We all backed up a few steps and my mind raced, searching for a way out or something I could use to fight these soldiers. The truth was, we were overwhelmed.

There was a time to fight and a time to flee. This was the latter.

I turned in a circle as I thought, hoping something would give me an idea. It was then that my eyes caught the entrance to a tunnel on what I thought was the northern side of the cave. It was dark, darker than most of the tunnels were.

“I have an idea,” I said. 

“Is it a good idea?” Taranath asked.

“Not really,” I replied. “But if it works, this will be done before you know it.”