King of the Goblins—Chapter 39

After that, I hefted my spear, ready to train more. I was ready to train until my hands were blistered, heal them with my magic, and fight some more. I needed all the training I could get.

“Taranath, why don’t you pick up a sword and have a go?” Althidon said with a grin. “Show Aaron what it’s like fighting a complete amateur.”

Taranath rolled his eyes. “Oh, sure. You know I prefer the bow for a reason.” He walked over to the weapons rack and selected a wooden practice sword. 

When he came back towards me, I noticed he didn’t hold it the same familiar way Althidon usually did. He held it slightly to the side, almost awkwardly. I began to wonder if Althidon’s joke hadn’t been a joke after all.

“Don’t hurt me, now,” I said, raising my spear and shield.

“From what Althidon has told me, I doubt I will,” Taranath said. “Should I spar as though we’re wearing armor?” he asked Althidon.

“Do the goblin soldiers wear armor?” Althidon asked me.

I nodded. “Yeah, some sort of gambeson. Hardened leather, I think.”

Taranath nodded. “Then we train as we fight.”

Althidon clapped his hands once and Taranath rushed forwards. He moved in a blur, but I focused hard and was able to keep the tip of my spear between us. He tried parrying and pushing my spear to the side, but I always brought it back in time. While not as skilled as Althidon, Taranath was quite good with a blade, that much was immediately clear.

Taranath slid forwards gracefully and I thrust my spear into him. He took the strike on the chest with a grin, then turned to one side and let the spear slide right past him. He followed that up by spinning and striking me in the shoulder with the practice sword. Hard.

“Sorry, I got a bit caught up in the moment,” Taranath said, seeing the look on my face. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice slightly strained. “Just need a moment.”

Using blood magic, I felt my way through my shoulder. Without healing, there would be a devastating bruise. I forced my body to heal, and in moments there was only the memory of pain.

“Incredible,” Taranath said, watching me. “And you’ve only been using blood magic for a few days?”

“Yeah,” I said, working my arm in a circle to ensure my shoulder wasn’t stiff. “Uhhh…. To be honest I’m not sure how many days I’ve been here. It’s all kind of a blur. Four days, maybe?”

It was then that I noticed a woman watching us.

To call her beautiful would be like calling Lake Superior a puddle. She had pale blonde hair, nearly to her waist, that was worn in several small braids to keep it from her flawless face. And flawless it was; never before had I seen such a beautiful woman. Everything about her was just right: her bone structure was perfect, her skin as clear as could be, her lips just the right thickness for her slender face. Her eyes were bright green, like gemstones. Just like….

“So, is this him, father?” the woman asked Althidon. Her voice was high-pitched and pleasant.

Her dress was mostly white, with accents of various shades of green, and cut rather low in the front. It was sleeveless as well, something I had only seen on a handful of elven women. The woman’s breasts were small and perky, in a way that fit her slender frame.

I immediately tore my eyes away. If she was Althidon’s daughter, the last thing I needed was for him to see me eye-fucking her.

“What are you doing here, Leena?” Althidon asked, placing his hands on his hips. His voice was gruff as usual, but there was a softer edge to it when he spoke to his daughter.

“We’ve all heard about this outworlder that you’ve been teaching. I wanted to see what he looked like.” She looked over at me and smiled, not in a flirtatious way but more like fascination. “He looks kind of like us. Just…thicker.”

I resisted the urge to reach up and touch my ear. Those pointed elven ears were just plain strange. I assumed that they had evolved larger ears to hear better, but it was just strange to me.

“Well, are you ready for an audience?” Althidon said to me. A hint of a grin lit up his weathered face. He knew I’d be nervous with her watching.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked.

“No,” Althidon said with a smile.

I moved back to face Taranath and raised my spear. “Ready?”

“I suppose so,” he replied, giving the practice sword a few test swings. “I must say, I don’t care for the balance of this thing.”

Althidon clapped his hands and we began. I decided to go on the offensive, instead of waiting for Taranath to attack. Althidon had once told me that the man that strikes first and strikes hardest usually wins the fight. I wanted to put that into practice.

I used the length of the spear to great advantage, thrusting immediately into Taranath. He ignored a strike to the chest, which made sense if he was pretending to be an armored goblin. The attack was enough to move him though, and I followed up by striking downwards against his wrist. That sent his sword arm to the side, and I thrust my spear right in his face. Not too hard, as I didn’t want to hurt my friend, but he toppled backwards.

Before he had even hit the ground I reached out with blood magic and healed his face. I dropped the spear and moved forwards, offering him my hand. 

Taranath blinked a few times, then accepted my hand and used it to pull himself up. “Well, that was decidedly unpleasant,” he said. 

“Sorry about that,” I replied. “If I’m fighting people with armor, though, I need to hit them in the face. Train as we fight, after all.”

“No, you’re right,” he said. “I’ve never been healed with magic before. That was an…interesting feeling.”

Behind him, Leena clapped her hands and smiled at us. “Most impressive! And what was that magic I felt you use, stranger?”

“Blood magic,” I said without thinking.

Her eyes widened and her already pale face turned a shade paler. “Blood magic? Father…” She looked at Althidon, who waved a hand as if waving away her concerns.

“It’s okay, Leena. He needs it for what he’s planning on doing.”

“What is he planning on doing?” she asked.

Althidon looked at me. “You’ll see. Everyone will see in a few days. Right, Aaron?”

“Damn right,” I said, trying my best to sound confident. It definitely took some effort; two weeks ago I was sitting at a desk and writing reports for a living. Now I could kill with magic and fight with a spear. Things had really changed, and me with them.

“Aaron,” Leena said, as if tasting my name. “That’s a strange name. It sounds like a kind of plant.” She watched me for a moment, head leaned slightly to one side. 

The way she looked at me reminded me of how a person stared at a new pet. It was slightly unnerving, but I reminded myself that I was a completely different race that she had never before seen.

“Alright, enough of that,” Althidon said, back to his usual gruff self. He took the practice sword from Taranath and gave it a few swings to warm up his arms. “You seem to be progressing quickly, so let’s give you a real test.”

“Sounds good,” I said casually. 

Althidon noticed my lack of concern. He was a far superior fighter and probably expected me to be nervous, like usual. I just hoped he didn’t think I was trying to show off for his hot daughter.

“Ready?” Althidon asked, raising the sword in both hands.

“Train as we fight?” I asked in reply.

“Yes. Train as we fight,” he said, his eyes narrowing as they focused on me.

I crouched down, holding the shield in front of me and my spear ready to thrust. It was Taranath that clapped his hands this time, and the moment he did I reached out with magic and stopped the blood flow in Althidon’s legs. In fact, I did more than just stop it; I reversed the blood flow, effectively draining his legs of blood.

He would still have a few seconds, so I had to move quickly. Althidon’s eyes widened when he realized what I had done, but he rushed forwards anyway. My spear was there, keeping him back. He managed to slip past my spear but at that moment his legs gave out. 

Althidon slashed downwards, a cut that would take an arm off had it been with a real sword. I caught it on my shield and grinned as he fell to the ground. My spear point immediately found his jaw and I held it there.

“You bastard,” Althidon growled. After a moment the anger seeped out of him and he laughed, good and hard. “Oh, I should have expected that. Well done, Aaron. Now, if you could stop that, I’d appreciate it.”

I pushed blood back into his legs, then reached down and helped Althidon to his feet.

“Train as we fight,” I said with a shrug.

“Yes, yes, you’re right,” Althidon said. “I’ve had you spar without magic so much I almost forgot how powerful you are with it. I think if you fight like that, you’ll have no troubles, even against—” he glanced over his shoulder at his daughter. “Well, you know who I’m talking about.”

Ralcor. Althidon was saying I could beat Ralcor in a fight if I used magic. My chest swelled with pride at that, until I remember Silvy telling me magic wouldn’t really work against Ralcor.

“Father?” Leena said, rushing forwards to grab Althidon’s arm. “Are you alright? How did he beat you? And why did you fall?”

“Blood magic,” Althidon said. His pride was clearly a bit bruised at having lost to a novice like me, but the fact that I used blood magic to do it helped. We both knew he would wipe the floor with me in a fight without magic.

“I don’t understand,” Leena said, looking from me to her father.

“I drained the blood from his legs,” I said. “That made it so he could only use them for a few seconds before he collapsed.”

She looked at me in shock, as if suddenly seeing a dangerous animal. “What else can you do?” she asked, her voice quiet, as if she feared the answer.

“I can stop your heart from beating,” I said. “But I can also heal wounds. Bruises are easy to heal. I haven’t tried any broken bones yet, although I assume those would be more difficult and would take longer.”

Leena took a step away from me as if subconsciously wanting to put her father between us. “Fascinating,” she said, although she still eyed me warily. “Are you alright?” she asked Althidon.

“Oh, I’m fine,” he replied. He turned to his daughter, and upon seeing the look on her face, made his voice more gentle. “Aaron is a good man, Leena. You don’t need to fear him.”

Before this was done, though, many people would fear me. And I had to learn to use that fear to keep my throne.