King of the Goblins—Chapter 29

I took turns hugging and kissing Zia and Tressi after that. They were both such beautiful women; I was sad to see them go, even though I would see them tomorrow. Maybe if I was lucky, I’d get to spend a few minutes alone with Zia or Tressi in the woods. 

Once they had left, I turned to Silvy. She was watching me with an odd smile on her face.

“What?” I asked.

“I get the feeling you’re not used to women,” she said.

“Well, my last girlfriend dumped me for some shitty reasons,” I said dryly. “And to be honest, she wasn’t that good to me. I think I understand what you’re asking though, and no, I’m not used to women being so nice and simple.”

“Simple?” Silvy asked. One eyebrow was arched in a way that suggested I needed to choose my next words very carefully.

“Yeah, like no drama,” I added quickly. “No problems. You’re all just so nice. Even you; I know you try to push people away, but you’re really great, Silvy.” Really great? Wow, certainly I could do better than that.

“Thanks, I think,” Silvy said, turning away. I caught a hint of a blush on her cheeks, but by the time she turned back to me she had recovered. “So, tonight. You’re going to see the royal city.”

“Yes,” I said, clapping my hands and rubbing them together. “Let’s do this. So, where do I go?”

“Do you remember how to get to the hot springs, where we bathed?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s pretty easy,” I said. “Just the next cave over.”

“City,” Silvy corrected. “I know they seem like caves to you, but we call them cities. For example, we are in Tunnel City right now.”

“Okay, the next city over,” I said with a smile.

Silvy nodded. “Yes, go there and keep walking. On the other side, opposite the entrance tunnel, you will see a path that gently turns as it takes you up to the Royal City. It’s a good bit of climbing, as the Royal City is above the springs. When you get there, you’ll see plenty of guards, although at night there are less.”

“And when I get there, where do I go?” I asked.

“It’s very straightforward,” Silvy said. “In fact, that was the perfect word to use. When you get to the Royal City, just keep going straight. As you cross the city, you will see Ralcor’s palace on the other side. The closer you can get the more you’ll see, but you need to be very careful there. If anyone sees you, this will all end.”

“Understood,” I said. “Well, I guess there’s no point in putting things off.” I looked down at my mismatched clothes; a pseudo-medieval shirt with jeans and running shoes. At least the shoes would be quiet.

“Please be careful,” Silvy said. I detected a hint of nervousness in her voice. 

I pulled her in for a tight hug. “Don’t worry, I’ll be safe. I promise,” I said. I held her tightly for another moment, then went to the door. As I pulled it open, I slipped the shadow stone into my mouth and disappeared.

Silvy followed me out the door, watching as if she could see me. I bent down and kissed her on the cheek, drawing a surprised gasp from her. She gave me a devilish smile and closed the door, but not before whispering once again to be safe.

I hurried down the path along the outside of the cave—or city, Tunnel City that was—and slowed down after a moment. I was excited to explore this underground city more, but I needed to be slow and careful, calm and collected. Any extra noises would likely get me caught.

At least I didn’t smell like sex. Heh.

It only took me a short time to reach the entrance tunnel. From there, I continued around the outskirts of the city until I came to another tunnel, the one that led to the hot springs. I paused at the mouth of the tunnel, waiting on a family to pass by. Once they were out of earshot, I hurried through the tunnel.

As soon as I got on the other side, I stepped to the side, off the main path. Fortunately, sticking to the sides had the extra advantage of keeping me in shadows, guaranteeing I wouldn’t be seen.

The springs were surprisingly busy that night. The gentle glow of the lights was more than enough to see but dim enough that the shadow stone could do its job. I found myself concerned as a crowd of people walked in front of me, towards the springs themselves. I frowned and turned back, then crossed the tunnel and continued on the other side of the city.

The other side was blessedly empty. I kept glancing to my left, watching as people went in and out of the springs. The constant flow of water kept each pool clean, but I found myself wondering where the water eventually wound up. 

Being late in the evening and on the side away from the springs themselves, I had an easy journey across this city. Everyone was focused on the hot pools, so no one saw the faint shadow moving against the wall. Although to be honest I looked more like Predator, with his light-bending camouflage.

I came to a tunnel and almost entered, but caught myself. First, it was too brightly illuminated and two people were crossing it. And second, this tunnel gently sloped down, not up. Wrong one. I looked back in the direction from which I had come and saw that I was probably in the wrong place.

A few minutes of quick walking found me at another tunnel. The entrance to this one was twice as wide as the rest, and immediately I saw that the smooth path gently rose and curved to the left. Bingo.

Of course, there was a guard standing there at the mouth of the tunnel, wearing armor and looking like he’d rather be fighting someone. While he was alert, he also looked slightly bored, standing there with his arms crossed, frowning at anyone and anything he could. 

I waited until he was looking away from where I was, then hurried past him into the tunnel. Thankfully, my running shoes were just as quiet on the stone floor as I had hoped they would be. That helped calm my nerves a bit.

I made sure to be careful and kept my eyes and ears alert as I made my way up the tunnel. I stayed against one of the walls, following it as it rose in elevation. It was surprisingly long, and its curve was gradual; by the time the tunnel had turned a hundred eighty degrees, we had already risen at least fifty feet. 

The tunnel exited into another large chamber, or city. My wits told me there would be guards at the mouth of the tunnel, and I was correct. Two guards stood there, still as statues, wearing armor and holding spears. Great, the last thing I wanted was to fight someone that actually knew how to use a spear. 

I kept myself low to the ground and stayed in the middle of the tunnel, then exited quickly and silently, hoping I would be out of their line of sight. To my amazement, they didn’t see me. Perhaps I needed to give the shadow stone more credit.

As soon as I was clear of the tunnel, I hurried towards the first building I saw. It was large and square, almost monolithic in its construction. I had no clue what the building was for, but it had the look of something important. Old banks and government buildings always had a certain look that said they mattered, and this building reminded me of that, even though the style was different.

I stayed there, crouching down at the corner of the large building for a moment as I looked all around me. Soldiers walked all around the Royal City, either on errands or guarding the area. My heart sank a bit as I counted the amount of goblin soldiers I saw. Sure, I could kill them with magic, but there were a lot of them and I knew from experience those bastards were fast.

My sudden fear was that as soon as I exited the tunnel, killing with magic, they would swarm me. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to find a way to slow them down, or just sneak in without them seeing me.

Us, I reminded myself. It wouldn’t just be me. I would be accompanied by the three women I planned on marrying. That thought sobered me up right away.

I glanced to my right and saw exactly what Silvy was talking about. The path from the mouth of the tunnel was a straight line towards the royal palace. That made this a lot easier, although I would have to worry about attacks from both sides. So on second thought, perhaps not.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult process to make my way to the royal palace itself. I crept along the front of the building until I reached the far corner, then waited for the path to be clear before moving to the next building.

The way soldiers were constantly walking in and out of one of the buildings clued me in that it was military-related. Perhaps barracks or something. Whatever it was, I took a mental note of the building as that was where soldiers would come from when we attacked.

After moving from building to building, I finally found myself on the other side of the Royal City. The royal palace loomed just to my right. The front was a set of massive stairs, with two guards posted in front of it. Unlike the rest of the city, that area was brightly illuminated, enough that the shadow stone wouldn’t be sufficient in keeping me hidden.

I got an idea, and decided to run with it.

Slowly moving around to the side of the stairs, I kept myself low to avoid being detected by the guards. My heart pounded in my chest but I made sure to control my breathing so they wouldn’t hear me.

The guards stood there like statues, clearly taking their jobs seriously even though they knew no one would come up here to attack. I crept past one of the guards to the side of the massive stone stairs. Fortunately, he didn’t see me. I placed both hands on the stairs and pushed myself up, smiling as I silently placed my feet on the stairs only a short distance behind the guard.

I realized I was holding my breath and slowly let it out as I climbed the stairs. My heart was racing with excitement, but I managed to stay calm as I slowly ascended.

At the top of the stairs stood a set of massive double doors that were currently open. Light spilled from the opening, enough that I knew I couldn’t go in there. I had to look, though. 

I crawled on my belly up the stairs so that I could peek through the entrance. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but I held myself there for a moment so I could see.

The throne room was massive, especially considering this entire place was carved inside a mountain. Upon a raised dais sat a sturdy throne, and on that sat Ralcor.

Truth be told, he didn’t look that much different than the goblin soldiers I had seen thus far. Even in his kingly raiment, I could tell he was a muscular man. His face had that same harsh look that all goblin men had, but there was a cruelness in Ralcor’s gaze that made him stand out. One look at him and it was clear that the only life that mattered was his own. 

A red gem hung from his neck, catching the light. I would have to find a way to deal with that in order to kill him. Somehow, some way. A crown sat snugly on his head, but not one made of gold or silver. It looked to be made of steel. So, something practical and strong instead of something gaudy. That told me something about him as well.

Two other goblins stood in front of him, delivering what sounded like financial reports. At that distance I could only make out a few words, but it sounded like they were discussing the economy. Ralcor gave a few curt nods and ordered them to continue, but he didn’t like what they said.

After another few moments of them reporting to him, Ralcor suddenly shouted at them. The echoes made it hard to understand, but he ordered them to find more money, no matter what it took. Both men bowed their heads, and one said something quietly. Ralcor leaped up from his throne and struck the man in the face, knocking him to the floor.

“I didn’t ask for excuses, I asked for results!” Ralcor shouted, standing over the man with both fists clenched. After a moment, he went back to his throne and sat down.

I wanted so badly to reach out with blood magic and end it all right there. It would be so simple to just stop Ralcor’s heart from where I was. Except, I reminded myself, that damn pendant. Somehow, I had to get that thing off of him.

Even then, I knew things weren’t that simple. If I were to try, he would probably shout for his guards and they would find me in a heartbeat. No, the only way to do this was to kill everyone.

Althidon had told me that the streets ran red with blood when Ralcor took power. It looked like they would be red again when I got rid of him.