Alfred 2: And The Underworld (Alfred the Boy King)

by Ron Smorynski

  “Me?” Nubio asked, shocked.

  “Yes! You must come with us!”

  “But I am a slave. The War Chief has me do his bidding.”

  “Not anymore,” Alfred declared.

  “No one has ever defeated the ogres. Everyone submits to them.”

  “Not us! And they don't look like they are winning now, do they?” Alfred motioned.

  They paused to observe the wildly confusing scene before them.

  “Will you free my people too? The Khanifians in the cages?”

  “That's the plan.”

  Nubio reached for Alfred's helmet but panicked and suddenly pushed Alfred to the ground with great force. Alfred face planted in gooey pooey mud!

  Several goblins approached them, frantically trying to tie down sacks that had fallen when the wagons were jolted by the dragon stampede. Alfred lifted himself from a large mound of dino pooh! It was all over him and oozing off his face. Too stunned to react quickly, he got up slowly, staring at Nubio.

  “You... pooh faced gobby... lift up that sack for us! Qwikkly beforh da ogres come!”

  Alfred suddenly realized that Nubio had pushed him into the goo for a purpose. Nubio stared at him fearfully, nodding for him to comply with the small goblin atop the wagon. Alfred was wearing his goblin like armour pieces, but the pooh was needed for any up-close encounters, especially since Alfred had removed his helm. Alfred saw several sacks strewn across the ground with some of their black powder spilled. He set his helm down – no sense putting it on with a pooh-ridden face. He grabbed up a sack. It was torn and spilled more.

  “Careful, gobby!”

  Alfred tottered as he tried to fold up the torn sides. Nubio, standing close by, tried to help him.

  “Nubio, we have a plan,” Alfred whispered.

  “To free us?”

  “Yes, you must get to the cages, inside the Hall. Can you do that?”

  “Yes, I go there often to help them. The ogres allow me to. I will go there.”

  “Good – and thanks for the disguise!”

  “Sorry it was so stinky!”

  “It's perfect!” said Alfred, winking as a glop of pooh slithered down his face.

  “Stop blabbling with the master's slave! Hand up the bag!” the small goblin said, reaching down.

  Nubio hurried to the Hall, past the chaos of ogres and moaning beasts. Alfred handed up the bag but intentionally allowed more and more powder to spill.

  “You're spilling it, fool!” the goblin said. “And you stink!”

  Alfred noticed a cauldron with fire nearby. He ran over.

  “Where you goin?! There's more bags to tie up!” the goblin said, spittle spraying.

  Usually there would be several hobgoblins and some slaves around the cauldron, slowly boiling meats or old bones. But because of the dragon stampede, they had all fled and were now attending to the orders of irate ogres.

  The War Chief was pulling two large triceratops dragons back into the courtyard. He looked about at the mess and realized something was amiss. He stared at the dozen beasts being tied back up and the mess of goblins and hyenas lying about.

  “Kingzz Alfred!?” he growled. And his little black beady eyes scanned the courtyard. He saw goblins rushing to and fro. He noticed the smaller ones atop the wagons, tying down his black powder sacks. He noticed Nubio rushing into the Great Hall where the slaves were. It was typical of Nubio to go in there. The War Chief knew it helped keep the slaves alive. But at this moment, with the beasts causing such commotion, the War Chief knew something was not right.

  “Nubio...” he growled, heading to the Hall. Then his eyes spotted it. An odd-looking goblin rushed through his view with a flaming torch. It was heading over to the goblins and the black powder wagon.

  The goblins on the wagon, small and missing a limb or two, were dedicated black powder goblins. Their allotted task was to know the properties and reactions of the explosive. To see another goblin rushing up with a flaming torch was a definite concern to them.

  “Hey hey?! Whaht you doin!!?” they shouted.

  It was all they could say in stunned response as the pooh ridden goblin tossed his torch at the powder spread on the ground.

  “GRRAHHH!!” the War Chief roared, realizing too late who this strange goblin was. Alfred turned his gaze to meet the War Chief’s stare. For a moment, the two stood there realizing they were each other's nemesis.

  “Alfred!”

  But the flickering sparking fire did not care about such moments. It raced and spread along the black powder, reaching the wagon with the stunned goblin crew. “Ohy!”

  Alfred suddenly shrunk to a mouse and leapt under the rubble. The War Chief ran right at him. KAAABOOOMY!!! The wagon exploded in gushing waves of black powder inferno. It knocked the War Chief back. It shook all the stone walls and brought forth dust and soot. This in turn caused an even greater disaster of stampeding and rampaging dragons. Their panic was ferocious. Ogres were being tossed aside and stomped upon.

  The rhino beasts yanked their leather and chain shackles easily and burst past ogre groups. Goblins and hobgoblins rolled under the stomping behemoths and got crushed. Walls burst out large chunks of stone as beasts squeezed through ruined openings.

  “Oh! That's the signal!” Gib said, chuckling.

  “That's a good signal, much better than...” said Gorham.

  Gib yanked open cages. Dunther and Gorham and the rest did likewise. All were weak and stiff. The escapees were not as agile as one might hope. The Khanifians were at first reluctant, even after the quaking explosion. But as Dunther and his kin climbed out and down, the Khanifians saw their chance. Nubio rushed in, shaken from the blast but willing and able to help many down.

  Hedor and his men, Wilden and the spearboys came rushing up through the passages from the dungeons. They were ready to fight goblins, but there were none about. Hedor shrugged. It was a bit of a bummer. But he quickly advanced to help everyone. “Hurry up, this way, down here!”

  As they helped many down the stairs, Hedor peered into the opening where the dungeon was. He gaped, “Oh!”

  Loranna and her girls were plucking their arrows from the dead goblin guards. Loranna smiled and waved with an innocent look.

  Hedor nodded carefully. “Hey, can you girls come help us with the weak and injured – that is, if you’re done here?”

  “Oh, sure!” They all hustled to the passages to help guide the slaves down into the tunnels.

  Hedor blinked at the piles of goblin dead.

  “Hurry! We must hurry.” Hedor knew there wasn't much time. Even with such a distraction, ogres and goblins would be attacking soon. He felt the slow trudging pace of the weak and wounded would be for naught. He had to push them. “Quickly! You must hurry down! Do what you must, Ruig! Hurry!”

  Ruig, the men, the spearobys and the girls carried, guided and held up one slave after another. Many stumbled, slowing the process. The cold stone stairways were very narrow and rough hewn. Many slaves ran out of breath after only a few steps. Many cried or tried to hug their saviors, but Hedor could not stand for that and pushed and yelled for more progress. “Come on! Hurry! Take her down that way! Put his arm over yours and let him lean on you! Move! Down! Go!”

  Dunther and Gorham aided others. Their ability to find inner strength after being weakened was the resolve of knights. Dunther saw the gruff soldier, the leader of the mercenaries who had tried to kill him, helping others. Dunther nodded. The soldier nodded back, helping the weak and commanded his men to do likewise.

  Nubio, seeing the slow pace of their escape, came up to Dunther. “The War Chief will come soon. Save your people. He will let us Khanifians live, as his slaves.”

  Dunther grabbed Nubio a bit too harshly. “We will save everyone! Everyone!”

  Nubio nodded with wide scared eyes.

  Dunther realized he grabbed him too hard and let go gently. Nubio smiled amidst tears. Dunther swallowed. “Hurry, help them!” said Dunther, pointing to e
lder Khanifians who sat exhausted on the floor. They praised Dunther if only for a moment of freedom.

  Dunther waved to Gorham and the gruff soldier. They came to him. “We must stall the goblins and ogres who come in. We have to.”

  Gorham nodded. The gruff soldier cringed, looking defeated. “What is your name, soldier?”

  “I am Kurik of the Silver Coast.”

  “You led your men when I killed your sergeant. You must lead them now. If you value your freedom, the only escape is through those tunnels. We must keep the goblins out.”

  Kurik was near panic. It looked as if he wanted to flee. Then he shut his eyes and nodded desperately. “I will help.”

  “We need weapons,” said Dunther, seeing Hedor at the stairways. Dunther hobbled over to him. “Weapons? We must have weapons.” Gorham and Kurik followed, helping others.

  Hedor shrugged and pulled out an extra long knife and hammer. He tossed them to Dunther and Gorham. Bandits tended to carry arrays of weapons, many hidden. Ruig and the others gave Kurik and his men some pickaxes. They weren't great weapons, but at least they could feel as if they were fighting.

  “Where is Loranna?” Dunther asked.

  The War Chief rose from a pile of rubble near the inferno of his wagons. He stared at the huge plume of black smoke. Continual sparks and fire burned away the last of the black powder stowage. He growled only momentarily and then saw, coming out of the rubble, a small brown mouse. It scurried along under more rubble and wood debris.

  The War Chief grabbed a huge warhammer and stomped after the mouse. The hammer smashed down in blows of quick succession, over and over. Rock and rubble flew. The War Chief howled with each heaving crush of rubble. He stopped to look down at the destruction. Just then, to the left, he saw a quick darting blur of movement. The mouse had escaped the bombardment and was scurrying through the rubble towards the Hall.

  The War Chief bounded after it once again. He kept his eye on it as he brought his weapon down. Just then an arrow hit him, right in his fat nose. He grimaced and lost his grip on his warhammer. It fell on his big toe. He howled in pain and confusion. He tumbled to the ground, holding onto his toe and looking cross-eyed at the tiny arrow stuck in his nose. Then he focused on the Hall. He saw small archers amongst the rocks, firing at him and any nearby goblins. Most of the goblins were unaware of the attack as they tried to gather themselves after the second dragon stampede. Many fell as arrows flew from tiny humans.

  The War Chief saw the mouse in the rubble near the ruins of the Hall. It suddenly grew to be the boy King Alfred, who hurried through the rubble into the Hall.

  The War Chief, gaining renewed vigor of vengeance, stood up. “GRRRRAAAAGGGHH!!” the War Chief yelled. “Everyonez! EVERYONEZ! Ogrez! Goblenz!! Kill them all!!”

  His incredible booming voice had every ogre, inside and outside Grotham Keep, looking up and charging in. What goblins were left hurried to his side. Hobgoblins picked out choice weapons. Many carried long pole-arms with strange huge blades, gathering near the War Chief as best they could, like a small army of ragtag monsters. The War Chief commanded them forward.

  He paused a moment, seeing Dunder... err Dunther next to Loranna, even in his raggedness, directing fire and ready to fight.

  Loranna and her girls fired as quickly as they could. Even as the goblins and hobgoblins were forming, they fell. The ogres were merely annoyed by the arrows. They would slap them away or off if they stuck. After breaking up the scattered goblin groups and forcing the hobgoblin pole-arm groups to duck, she yelled, “Aim for their faces!”

  Ogres lumbered in, happily wiping away the arrows – until arrows showered into their faces. One got an arrow in the eye, and that was enough to send it screaming. Others received many arrows in the upper region causing them to cover their faces. This slowed their advance.

  Dunther and Gorham peered at the immense ogres still coming in. Alfred look very exhausted and frazzled, limping past, as Dunther gave him a thumbs up.

  “Hurry, King Alfred! We'll hold them back!”

  “We have to make the tunnels!” Alfred picked up the nearest weak Khanifian as Nubio returned from the passageways to help more. There was still a large group of Khanifians, cooks and servants huddled by the stairs, trying to go down. Alfred saw Cory holding up a goblin spear he must have found. Alfred pulled him back. “To the tunnels!”

  Gib crawled out to the girls to see what was happening. The brightness of the sun was still difficult for him to adjust to, but he could see large looming shapes in the glaring sun.

  A brazen group of large armoured hobgoblins managed to get to the girls. They began swinging their pole-arms down into the rubble. The girls ducked and scrambled, saved by protruding beams and stones.

  Kurik and his men rushed up to help, using their pickaxes. But the heavy swings of hobgoblin pole-arms killed several outright. As brave as Kurik wanted to be, he and his men fled back into the Hall.

  Dunther and Gorham raced up to meet the charge. The pole-arms were devastating. The knights had only knives and work hammers to deflect the heavy blades. Utmost skill was required, for any mistake would mean a severing in two. Gorham and Dunther wore skin-bare clothes and were weak from enslavement. The hobgoblins’ torrential pole-arm swings were wearing them down quickly.

  The girls escaped, and Loranna was able to set up a new line that began firing. The hobgolbins’ heavy armour was much better than goblin armour, and many arrows were deflected. This also gave the ogres time to recoup. They began pulling out their cannonballs.

  “We aintz got no cannonz, but we gotz iron fistz!” the War Chief yelled, lifting up his own cannon ball.

  Loranna looked to see a line of ogres all about to toss a dozen or so cannonballs right at them. “Retreat! Cannon fire!”

  The ogres seemed like big lumbering fat behemoths, but given a purpose and the lust for battle, they became ferocious. They threw cannonballs as powerfully as any cannon shot. The cannonballs flew in and blasted the area. A dozen or so exploded stones and beams as the Loranna and the girls fled through the Hall.

  Columns cracked their final supports and came crumbling down. Dunther and Gorham may have benefited as they were down on their knees defending themselves from the hobgoblin swings. As the hobgoblins reared their final deathblows, cannonballs ran through their lines. They seemed to disappear in a flurry of exploding stone. The knights blinked at the thunderous change of events and turned to crawl like mad mouses.

  The Hall shuddered as the cannonballs ricocheted, leaving crumbling stone at each bounce. The room was having its last stand. The people within panicked and threw themselves down the stairs. Hedor tried to pull them down, but many were trampling and burying each other. Ruig and the spearboys did their best. It was a frightful scene.

  “Stop pushing! Stop, you're killing each other!” Ruig tried to yell above the clanging cannonballs.

  Then the ogres came to the Hall. They stepped in to see the girls lying on the floor and the stampede of slaves stuck at the stairway to the dungeons. They saw Dunther and Gorham flee within, lifting up the girls to try to lead them away. The spearboys, helping the Khanafians, tried to form a wall of spears. Two few made it to the line with Wilden. The boys were brave, knowing their spears were no match against ogres.

  The ogres laughed at their foe’s predicament. They looked at each other and howled with guttural joy. Many belly laughed and hit each other, jostling in bravado. And this led to the next demise of their luck. The War Chief's beady eyes were scanning for Alfred. He looked back at his boisterous ogres and saw one pounding a column. He saw the shuddering of the Hall. He gritted his teeth as the Hall finally caved in. Ogres crumpled under the showering of heavy stones.

  Hedor and Ruig focused on the escapees. They managed to pull out the top ones and get the boys to lead them down. They were making quick progress in a desperate situation. The crushed ones were barely saved, as the others were quickly pulled out then down the stairs. Fortunately, they were all so
light and weak that Hedor, Ruig, his men and the boys could quickly pull them along.

  Dunther and Gorham were able to crawl from their sheltered rubble. They grabbed up the girls but couldn't get them to the stairs, as it was blocked by debris. The dungeon below them was exposed from the Hall's crushed floor. They quickly ushered the girls down into the tunnel works. Many were limping or cradling injured arms or legs, slogging over scraping rubble.

  The way was difficult and dark. Dunther's room was down here, and he knew the way to the tunnels. Now, it was a labyrinth of rubble and crushed supply crates. Still, he could see the tunnels and many of the escapees retreating through them.

  “Hurry, Loranna, get the girls in there!”

  The War Chief shook out of his stunned collapse. He lifted up and ROARED in frustration. What was once a splattering of fallen slaves was now a maze of fallen rubble. He lifted up other ogres quickly.

  “Clearz it, so we can zee! Clearz it!”

  They began quickly lifting up and tossing rubble aside, exposing the dungeons below. He could see the knights and girls scrambling to get to the tunnels.

  “Hurriez ogrez!”

  They yanked stones and beams quickly, clearing the area so they could drop down. They had to bend over to get in. An ogre could grab Setheyna and so reached for her. A pickaxe from nowhere slammed hard into his palm. He jerked it back in surprise. Gib and Setheyna scurried away.

  The War Chief growled in frustration. They were too late. He could just see all of them retreating into the tunnels. He looked to see one lone goblin at the feet of his ogre crew. He motioned for the goblin to go in. But the goblin shook his head no in fear. The War Chief ended the goblin's fear with one crushing fist. He then pulled out a cannonball.

  “I finish thiz!”

  The War Chief threw the cannonball into the tunnel. It clanged with a heavy metallic ferocity against the circumference. Loranna dropped her bow as she grabbed her ears in utter fear. Many girls dropped paralyzed at the incredible sound of the iron ball's furious pounding. It raced in and could crush anything it hit.

  Gib turned and ran past the girls and leapt to meet the cannonball. It hit him full in the gut and slammed him against the corridor. He lay there as the girls were ushered quickly through by Dunther and Gorham.