The Common King

by Brian Olsen

Mrs. Deng frowns. “No. And I’m all right with that. I like who I am now.”

  “Then you don’t remember that we met before. When your name was Welk. And your husband was Bil.”

  Mrs. Deng pushes her glasses up with her finger. “I don’t want to hear this, young man. And it has nothing to do with our daughter rushing to her death.”

  “You encouraged Lily – Trah, she was called – you encouraged her to join the war. She was young, then. Much younger than she is now. She was one of the first to answer King Yar’s call for logomancers to join the fight against the armies of the Common King.”

  Lily furrows her brow. “I remember.” She looks back to her mother. “I wanted to help. You were afraid for me, but proud of me, too.”

  “We let you go to war?” Mrs. Deng shakes her head. “As a child? We must have been very different people.”

  Lily smiles. “Not so different. You loved me, but you cared about others, too. Our town was entirely human, except for one family of elves who lived a few doors down from us. They had twin daughters a little younger than me. We used to play together. You and Dad became friends with the parents.” She hugs herself. “After the Common King began his campaign, humans’ attitudes towards non-humans changed. The town turned on the elves. Wouldn’t sell goods to them, wouldn’t serve them in the tavern, wouldn’t buy anything from the fruit and vegetable stand they ran. They were going to move, even though they didn’t have enough money to start over somewhere else. We convinced them to stay. Told them our neighbors were good people at heart. That this would pass.” She rubs her eyes. “Then a little human boy drowned in the river. It was obviously an accident. That river was dangerous and he was far from the first kid to go swimming alone when he shouldn’t have. But the town blamed the elves. It made no sense, but it was the excuse they were waiting for. They burned their house, with them in it. All four of them died, parents and daughters.”

  Mrs. Deng covers her mouth with her hands. “Oh, that’s horrible.” She cups her daughter’s chin. “I’m sorry you remember that.”

  “I’m not.” Lily stands up tall. “We agreed, after that. You and me and Dad. I went to the capital and offered my help. Because sometimes we have to put ourselves on the line for what’s right. You taught me that. In both worlds.”

  Her mother is silent for a moment, then looks away. “No. I understand what you’re saying, Lily, and you’re probably right. But still. You’re my daughter. If he has to be fought, then I’ll do the fighting. Not you.”

  “It’s settled, then.” Mrs. Green puts the tablet down. “I’m sorry, Alisa. We love you and we’re so proud of how far you’ve brought us. But it’s over now. This is a step too far.”

  Alisa doesn’t look at her mother. “Nate. You have the picture?”

  “Huh? Oh, no.”

  “I’ve got it.” Mrs. Wollard stands and passes the framed photo she’s been holding to Nate. “Here. Please be careful with it.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll keep it safe.”

  “You don’t need to keep it safe,” Mr. Montgomery says, “because it’s not going anywhere, and neither are you.”

  “Exactly.” Mr. Green gestures towards the kitchen. “I’ll whip up a good lunch for us, how does that sound? And we’ll come up with another plan. All together. One that doesn’t involve anyone facing the Common King head-on.”

  “There’s no other plan, Dad,” Alisa says. “This is it.”

  Mrs. Green slaps the table. “No, Alisa! You are still our daughter. Still a minor. If the adults want to go off and get themselves killed, that’s their decision. But you.” She points at each one of us in turn. “Nate. Lily. Kenny. Chris. Zane. You’re staying here, and that’s final.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom. Dad.” She swallows. “I love you both. I hope you’ll be proud of me, when you’re done being angry.”

  “I love you, Dad.” Nate cradles the picture to his chest. “Tell Mom and Davey I love them, too.”

  Lily steps away from her mother. “Love you. And Dad.”

  “No.” Mrs. Green grabs her daughter’s arm. “Alisa Green, don’t you dare!”

  Alisa pulls away roughly. “Mr. Liefer, now, please.”

  “Liefer!” Mr. Montgomery pushes past his son and rushes our ex-headmaster. “Liefer, you son of a bitch, don’t you—”

  “Space.”

  I jolt as the ground under my feet switches from carpet to concrete, and have to shade my eyes from the sudden change in light. We’re outdoors now, and the sun is bright overhead.

  Times Square is a war zone. We’ve arrived about a block north of where the map said Jasmine was, right by the big M&M store. It’s on fire and the air is weirdly delicious from the smell of melted chocolate. A couple other buildings are on fire, too. Windows are smashed. People are screaming. There are bodies in the streets. Not all of them human.

  “All right,” Alisa says. “Let’s get to work.”

  Thirty-one

  The creatures attacking New York haven’t noticed us yet, but it’s only a matter of time. We already knew what to expect, from the news. The Common King let two different species loose in Manhattan.

  One I’ve seen before. In the burning M&M store a band of little green men and women are gorging themselves on chocolate. The goblins are wide-eyed, with sharp teeth, dressed in animal skins, wielding short spears and long knives. They’re only a few feet away from us, past a big smashed window, and are bound to notice us before long. Goblins are intelligent, so they may or may not be hostile, but it’s probably better not to find out.

  The other species is one we most definitely want to avoid. Chimeras are animals. Literally, they are animals, plural. Head and forelegs of a lion. Instead of a tail, there’s a giant snake which spits venom. And the middle section and back legs are a goat with, and this is where it gets really weird, a full goat neck and head sticking up in the middle. Oh, and the goat head breathes fire, because why not. Chimeras are angry all the time, but I’d probably be angry too if I had three heads from three different species. There are only a few hundred in existence, but all of those few hundred are currently tearing up midtown Manhattan. Hence all the burning buildings.

  Luckily there aren’t too many people on the streets. The chimeras and goblins were loose in the city yesterday too, when the Common King released all the magical species the first time. Most of the human survivors from this part of the city fled and haven’t returned yet.

  One of the goblins looks up from its gooey feast. His yellow eyes widen and he shrieks, “More humans!”

  His fellow goblins spot us. Chocolate drips from their hands as they ready their weapons. “They did this!” a goblin woman yells. “Revenge! Revenge!”

  All of them chant, “Revenge! Revenge!” One throws a spear, but it falls short. The rest start climbing through the shattered window.

  Alisa puts her arms out, as if she could protect our whole group from them. “Zane. Get us to the roof.”

  Zane opens a portal on the wall of the building behind us. We run through, emerging on a rooftop. I lean over the edge and see the goblins about three stories below. They stop, wary of the magical darkness, and before they can get their courage up to pursue, Zane closes his shadow. I step back before they can spot me.

  From here we can see more of the city. No sign of the Common King or any of his followers to our south, but Dante is probably hiding them from view. A whole lot of goblins are running wild, smashing anything not already smashed and trying to avoid the chimeras, a handful of whom are galloping around trying to roast and catch themselves some little green lunches.

  There are more humans than I first thought. Most are on upper levels of buildings, or on rooftops like us, looking out on the carnage below. A lot of upper story windows are as smashed as the ground-level ones, but there aren’t any people at those. I guess the survivors managed to barricade their staircases from the goblins and chimeras.

  There are still people on the streets, though. A couple dozen that I can see
, but none in groups, for some reason. They’re all on their own, stumbling around. And stumbling is right, they look like they might be drunk or sick or something. Weirdly, one tall lady is chasing some goblins, who run from her in a panic.

  Alisa claps her hands. “Everybody gather round.”

  I wasn’t the only one checking out the city, but at her word we form a circle in the center of the rooftop. Looks like Mr. Liefer brought everybody he was supposed to. Himself, Alisa, me, Nate, Zane, Lily, Kenny, Mr. Ambrose, Mrs. Wollard, and Emmet. Ten against the world. Well, ten for the moment. There’ll be a lot more of us soon, if everything goes to plan.

  “Rahk?” Emmet says. “Are you all right?”

  Mr. Liefer, pale and sweating, cradles his bandaged hands to his chest. “I’m managing. I just need a moment to rest.”

  Mr. Ambrose comes to his friend’s side. “Do you need help with the pain again, Ronald?”

  Liefer shakes his head. “I can’t keep relying on you, Darryl. I need to push through this if I’m going to be of any use today.”

  Motion across the roof catches my eye. The door in the stairway bulkhead leading into the building swings open, revealing a young woman.

  Nate spots her too. “Hey. Company.”

  She’s dressed strangely. All in black, in a minidress with garters, and a bowler hat.

  “Not Company,” I say. “Chicago.”

  Alisa looks the new arrival up and down. “What?”

  “The musical Chicago. She’s dressed like she’s in it.”

  “If you say so. She looks sick.”

  She does. She’s leaning a little off-center and I think she’s drooling. Doesn’t look like she’s noticed us yet. She’s just staring at the door.

  “Are you okay?” I call out.

  At the sound of my voice she gives a start of surprise and steps back. She’s right at the top of the interior stairwell and has to grab the door to keep from falling.

  “Watch it!” I run over to help her.

  “Chris!” Emmet shouts. “Don’t!”

  I stop short, but it’s too late. The woman sees me and groans. It’s a horrible sound, low and rumbling from deep in her chest. She bares her teeth and lunges for me. I jump back but she grabs me, knocking us both to the ground. She’s snapping her teeth at my face! I get my arm under her chin and just manage to hold her back but she keeps biting. She’s incredibly strong, much stronger than she should be.

  Just before she gets a chunk of my nose there’s a blur above me. Fur brushes across my face and then the cannibal chorus girl is gone. Mrs. Wollard, in full giant wolf form, pins her to the ground and tears out her throat.

  “Jeez!” Nate yells. “Gross!”

  The woman stops thrashing. Mrs. Wollard steps back. Her muzzle is stained with what I guess is blood, although it’s a dark rust color.

  Emmet helps me to my feet. “Did a zombie just try to eat me?” I ask him.

  “Close.” He walks over to the dead whatever-she-was and gives her a light kick. “A ghoul, I think. They eat human flesh and take on the form of whoever they last ate. Dumb, but strong and fast. Prefer corpses, but if they come across the living they’re happy to eat them too.”

  Mrs. Wollard shifts back to human form. She takes a lace hanky from the sleeve of her cardigan and dabs at the undead blood around her mouth. “Foul things. Taste terrible.”

  “Thanks for the help,” I say. “She was about to eat my face.”

  The elderly logomancer sniffs. “Yes. Well. All in this together, I suppose.”

  Nate swallows hard and turns away from the gory remains. “Awesome. How come we only saw goblins and goat-lion-snake things on the news and not the walking dead?”

  I shudder. “Probably nobody got close enough to see that these weren’t regular people without getting eaten.”

  “We know there are a couple hundred thousand goblins, spread out through New York,” Alisa says. “And a few hundred chimeras. Chimerae? Whatever. How many ghouls do you think, Emmet?”

  He shrugs. “I’ve no idea. They’re solitary creatures and they don’t fill out census forms.”

  “Terrific.” Alisa sighs. “We’d better get started, then. Mr. Ambrose? Mr. Liefer? Are you ready?”

  Mr. Ambrose wipes his forehead with his sleeve. “You’re sure about this? I can’t predict how this will go. Kenny can boost me, but I’m not very precise without Ihsan.”

  Alisa furrows her brow, and Mr. Ambrose frowns. I’m sure she’s talking to him in his head. Reminding him not to mention Ihsan. For all we know, the Common King is on this roof with us, hidden, listening to everything we say.

  “Well, Ihsan isn’t here,” Alisa says aloud. “But Mr. Liefer will handle the precision.”

  Emmet puts a steadying hand on Mr. Liefer’s back. “Are you up for this? It’s an awfully strenuous piece of logomancy.”

  Liefer gives him a smile, maybe the warmest smile I’ve ever seen on his usually smarmy face. “Thank you, Emmet. Yes. I’ll manage, with Kenny’s help. I have to.”

  Alisa says to him, “You remember where to send them? You have all those locations fixed?”

  His smile drops. “It’s my hands that are injured, Alisa,” he snaps. “Not my mind.”

  And there’s the Mr. Liefer we know and love.

  Mr. Ambrose shakes out his fingers and jumps up and down a few times, psyching himself up. “Better give it some height. Some distance away from us. Just to be safe.”

  Zane holds out his hand. “I got it.”

  Alisa takes the tree necklace from around her neck and drops it into his palm.

  “Head’s up, teachers.” Zane opens a tiny shadow portal in the roof and drops the necklace through.

  Mr. Ambrose and Mr. Liefer shade their eyes from the sun and look up. A ways up in the sky, directly above our heads, a little dot, gleaming in the light, falls towards us.

  Kenny puts one hand on Mr. Ambrose’s shoulder and the other on Mr. Liefer’s. “Amplify.”

  Mr. Ambrose reaches his arms up towards the falling necklace. “Disrupt.”

  For a second the sun and sky are blotted from view by the blossoming of a dark curtain shooting out from the point in the air where the necklace was. It spreads like a circular canopy of muddy earth tones before dividing into individual strands separated by streaks of blue sky. The strands shoot out and out, curving down towards the ground.

  Mr. Liefer takes a deep breath and raises his arms. “Space!”

  The strands vanish. Not all at once. It’s like chunks are carved out of the widening circle, one after the other. As gaps appear, more strands shoot out from the necklace, which then vanish and are replaced in turn.

  “Space!”

  Sweat pours down Mr. Liefer’s face. He trembles, but Emmet is there, putting his arm around Liefer’s back to support him.

  “Space!”

  More and more strands shoot out from the necklace and vanish. The central point from which they’re emerging keeps moving, not just downward but jolting widely in every direction as the force of its magic ejections toss the tiny necklace around the sky.

  “Space!” One last grouping of strands vanishes. Mr. Liefer drops his arms and leans fully on Emmet. “That’s it.” He gasps for air. “That’s all of them.”

  “Good work.” Emmet lowers him to the roof. “Here, sit. Rest.”

  There are still a few hundred strands left. They curve down towards the ground, their paths uninterrupted by Liefer’s teleportation, striking at locations all over New York. Several of them bend and hit the roof we’re standing on. They shimmer and bulge and quickly resolve into the form of about a dozen elves.

  Among them is our buddy Tannyl. He spots us and smiles. “It worked, then.”

  Alisa grins. “Hey, you.” She hurries over and kisses him quickly. “I wasn’t sure we’d see you.”

  Mr. Ambrose bends over, breathing heavily, his hands on his thighs. He waves a hand. “I managed to find them in the crowd, thanks to Kenny’s pick-me-up.
”

  “Them?” Alisa says.

  An elf woman stands a little further off. Like the rest of the elves, she’s staring in wonder at the cityscape around them, but she quickly gets herself in check and strides towards us. I recognize her immediately from the glittering green dress that complements her deep dark brown skin so perfectly, and from the hair flowing down past her waist in tight kinky curls. It’s Dyllic, Queen of Queens of all the elf tribes.

  “Alisa.” Dyllic gives her a quick embrace. “It is good to see you again. The elven nation has been transported, as discussed?”

  “They have. All three million elves, give or take a couple hundred thousand. Spread out around the world, wherever other magical species have been released, to help keep the peace. You managed to get word to your people, tell them what to do?”

  “It was not easy, time was short, but I believe word reached all the tribal leaders. But even if specific instructions did not reach all elven ears, we have the advantage of understanding what has happened to the world, while the other intelligent species do not. We will do what must be done.”

  I join them. “It’ll be good for people to see some magical creatures acting to protect humans.”

  Dyllic raises an eyebrow. “Chris Armstrong. Greetings to you. I’d prefer you not refer to elves as ‘creatures,’ if it’s all the same.”

  I blush. “Sorry. Language we picked up from the title of the book, I guess. Very humanist. I’ll try to do better.”

  She nods. “When last we spoke, you said you would keep the Common King in check, inside your head. It seems you failed.”

  I start to speak, but stop. What can I say? She’s right.

  She turns away from me. I feel dismissed, but I stay put.

  “I am in the city you—” She catches sight of Nate, who’s been inching closer. “Nate Montgomery. You’re looking well.”

  Nate swallows and smiles an excruciatingly dopey smile. “Hey. Um. Your Majesty. ‘Sup? You look, uh. Yeah. So great. Hey.”

  She winks at him, then returns her attention to Alisa. “This is the city you called New York?”

  “Yes. Here we’re dealing with goblins, chimeras, and ghouls.”