Path of the Magi (Tales of Tiberius)

by Stuart, Richard J

  At least the queen had a warning. She stood in the great hall when the first messengers came in and reported the disaster to all.

  The messenger gave the sad tale. “Our army marched right into a trap! There were almost no survivors.”

  “A great victory,” the queen said.

  “Victory? Didn’t you hear me?” the messenger asked.

  “Squamata and his followers are dead. So what?” the queen said with a straight face. “There is more for us this way. It was time to weed out the traitors and the disloyal. Squamata was a danger to me. Now he isn’t.”

  “But the Rangers?!”

  “Can be dealt with in time. For now we have plenty of food and drink for the winter. We’ll see about some reinforcements in the spring. Hopefully the next army I summon will prove more loyal.”

  In the shadows a young goblin named Baserra had listened to the queen with growing skepticism.

  “It’s time to go,” she said to a goblin companion of hers.

  “Go? Why? You heard her, we’ve got plenty to eat here.”

  “Oh, she’s got nerve; I admire that. She can lie with the best of them, and I certainly believe she’d let any rival of hers walk into a trap. But she’s losing control here.”

  “If we desert she’ll kill us.”

  “If we don’t desert the Rangers will kill us. I’m heading out across the river. There are opportunities to the south. The Rangers aren’t everywhere.”

  Chapter XI

  The Goblin Queen

  The next morning Lord Brandon called the captains for a quick council of war.

  “What is our next move? That’s the question, gentlemen.”

  “Isn’t that obvious?” Captain Stephan proclaimed. “Let’s head north into her caves and finish her.”

  “I agree; it’s our best chance in years,” Captain Walker said.

  “Now hold on,” Colonel Brice said, shaking his head. “Let's not get carried away with our success. Ambushing her army is one thing. Driving her out of her caves, that’s something else.”

  “What can she have left in her caves after this?” Stephan protested.

  “Do you know? Does anyone really know? Even if it’s only five hundred goblins, in those caves they’d be more like fifty thousand,” Lord Brandon replied.

  “Oh, come now, let's not exaggerate her strength,” Stephan said.

  “I would not underestimate her either,” Lord Gillyian said. “These dark fairies are a blot upon the landscape. No one is more eager to be rid of them than I. But one victory should not go to our heads. Attacking her in her own fortress will not be easy. She will not have sent all of her goblins, and she has not yet played her last card. There is some evil force in those mountains. Something terrible beyond description. If we charge into there now I fear we will meet far more than we’ve bargained for.”

  “The militia can’t stay in any case,” Lord Brandon said. “They need to get back now to finish the harvest.”

  “I’m not keen on fleeing from nameless horrors,” Lord Darras said. “What does the magus think? Can we take the fight to the enemy with a reasonable chance of success?”

  “I think there is something to the words of Lord Gillyian,” Tiberius answered. “I think there is something worse than goblins in those hills. What exactly, well, I have a guess, but its only a guess. I’ve spoken with the gnomes about those hills, though. Those caverns are more extensive than we think. Likely if we drove into them we’d find nothing. The goblins could run before us and ambush us at their leisure.”

  “Are we stuck with this lot forever then?” grumbled Stephan.

  “Have patience, Captain Stephan,” Gillyian answered. “Prince Essenhart is forming a powerful army of dwarves. Already to the south he drives goblins out of their strongholds. Another couple of years, I think he will be only too eager to join you on this crusade. A grand alliance of the free peoples could clear these hills of shadows once and for all.”

  “I’ve been ordered not to assault the hills without proper authorization,” Lord Brandon said. “I can stretch the point to an extent for hot pursuit, but I don’t see as that will get us anywhere. I think any assault on the Black Hills is going to need planning and a lot of it.”

  “Well, what’s the point of this council if you’ve already made up your mind?” Stephan asked.

  “If you can make a case for hot pursuit, I’m listening. But it sounds to me like rushing in isn’t the answer,” Lord Brandon replied.

  “If we all pack up and go home, what’s to stop her raiding again?” Colonel Brice asked.

  “Raiding in force is dangerous for her. I think we’ve demonstrated that,” Lord Brandon said. “I think we’ll put a closer eye to her all the same. She assembled her army here between the scorpion’s arms. We can build a watchtower there at the base of the arms. She’ll know she’s being watched. That will make her think twice.”

  “Yes, if we can’t assault now, then we should tighten the noose,” Darras suggested. “We’ll keep patrols of Rangers in Ruelshire, Secondtown, Lychester, and Stapleshire. When spring comes we can start probing the hills, looking for her doorways.”

  “I think this is wise,” Lord Gillyian said. “Opportunity may yet favor us. Goblins do not love failure. The queen will be desperate and may yet do something else rash and beyond her power. She’s bound to have desertions over the winter.”

  ∴

  The conference came to an end, and a tense quiet came over the border lands. The Rangers tightened the noose around the Black Hills, but it was still not nearly tight enough. Tiberius could feel something about to happen as the spring equinox closed in. At his urging, reinforcements from Fort Marion and Walsingham put on extra patrols as the solstice approached. On the day of the equinox, Tiberius spent the day scouting the edges of the Black Hills. There had been a few minor incidents. Goblin raiding parties had been out, but without much luck. The noose was too tight. He was beginning to think they’d get though the equinox without incident, when he saw the woman approaching.

  Tiberius had been sitting with Welby and Darras in front of the inn at Secondtown, when they saw a woman frantically riding towards them on an old plough horse. She looked very much the worse for wear. Her horse was near dead from riding hard and she practically fell off the poor creature as she staggered towards anyone who would listen.

  “My baby…” she sobbed, throwing herself at the feet of the nearest soldier. “They’ve got my baby! You’ve got to help me. You’ve got to get her back…”

  “What happened? Who took her?” Welby asked.

  “The goblins. I only left her for a second and those things, those horrible creatures, snatched her away and were running towards the hills.

  “How long ago?”

  “A … a couple of hours, I think… I couldn’t catch them; I don’t run fast enough. But someone said there were soldiers here. Please … please, I need your help…”

  Welby looked down on the woman with deep pity, but his eyes met those of his commander and he shook his head.

  “They’ll have her at the gates by now, inside the caves. There is nothing we can do.”

  The words struck the woman as hard as iron. “There must! There must be something you can do…. They won’t kill her till midnight, will they? Can’t you catch them on horseback?”

  Darras gave a deep sigh. It went against his soul to council against hope, but he knew the numbers were against him.

  “By the time we ride out there they will be in the caves,” Darras said. “We don’t have the strength to fight our way in there. Madam, it burns my heart to refuse you, but I don’t see how we can help.”

  Tiberius stood up and his staff flew into his hand. He started walking toward the horses.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Darras challenged.

  “To get the kid back,” he said.

  Welby jumped up and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Weren’t you listening?! It’s suicide!”

  “I�
�m not going to fight them all. I’m just going to get the kid back. I’m tired of this. They think they can sneak into our camps and homes whenever they feel like it? I think it’s time to return the favor. I can do this. I can walk past their guards. It’s about time we started mapping the place out anyway.”

  “Alone?!” Darras asked.

  “If need be. Better a small group. One or two others, but no more. And anyone going with me had better be prepared to have magic cast on them. It’s our only chance of success,” Tiberius said. “Welby’s right, though; this is dangerous. I don’t ask anyone to come with me.”

  “You’re mad! It’s impossible, even for you,” Welby said.

  “A knight doesn’t recoil from the enemy,” Tiberius answered.

  “You really think you can do this?” Darras asked.

  “I don’t know if I can find the child, or even if she’s still alive. But I can get past her guards and have a look,” Tiberius answered.

  “Then I’m coming with you,” Darras said.

  Tiberius gave him a hard look. “Darras, I know you don’t like my methods. This has got to be my show. Are you really prepared to do what’s necessary to bring the baby back alive?”

  “Just don’t ask me to make a pact with the devil. Short of that…”

  “I’m casting the magic, and whatever sins are involved in that are on my own head. Let’s go. Time is wasting. Short sword and buckler only, those caves twist a lot.

  Darras went to grab the right weapons. As he did so, he gave orders.

  “Tiberius and I go ahead, alone. Welby, follow their tracks as best you can. Who knows, maybe the damn fools didn’t reach the caves. You might get lucky. Anyway, you can cover our retreat.”

  Welby looked around. The woman’s screams had alerted half the town already.

  “I’ll put the word out; we’ll give the local militia a walk. It won’t hurt them any. If you get out alive, we’ll give you cover.”

  Darras and Tiberius took two horses. Welby followed.

  “You’re both madmen, you know. We’ll never see you again alive.”

  “Don’t count on that,” Darras said.

  Tiberius spoke and pointed his staff towards Darras’ horse. A moment later the two of them were off down the road, sparks flying from the hooves of their horses. Welby wished them luck but feared the worst.

  ∴

  It was about 11 P.M. when the two horses came up to the edge of the woods near the goblin caves. Ti & Darras tied up their horses and looked out towards the entrance. Even from this distance they could see the guards watching for anyone approaching.

  “What’s your plan?” Darras asked.

  “I’ll make us both invisible and silent. Also I’ll cast a spell of true seeing on you so you can see me. If I say wait, wait. I can disable some of their alarms, too. We’ll do our best to rescue any kids we can.”

  “Very well. Do what you have to,” Darras said.

  Tiberius spoke the words. Darras didn’t feel any different, but he looked down and his hands were now translucent, as was Tiberius. He realized that he could only see the ghostly forms because of the see invisibility spell. Tiberius waved him forward. He stopped after a few feet.

  “Almost forgot, it will be dark in there.”

  There were a few more spells. Darras noted the night became noticeably brighter. Then they went forwards again.

  “You think there will be other kids there too?” he asked.

  “Like as not, goblins like slaves. They need kids to sacrifice so they can breed,” Tiberius replied.

  There was a walk of about two hundred yards from the woods to the Black Hills. The two of them crossed in silence, all the time watching the entrance as they walked. The opening they were headed for didn’t look like much. From a distance it was a dark crack in side of the hill, just a small gap between a couple of large rocks. As they drew closer they could see the gap was some four feet wide and went off into darkness.

  Two guards were out in front of the crack. They were alert and watching for any sign of the Rangers. The day’s activities had made them wary and they turned to glance at each sound. Tiberius didn’t hesitate, but walked right up to the guards at the entrance. They stood with long spears at the ready, but neither of them saw Darras or Tiberius. They walked right past the guards into the black crevasse.

  A dark, slippery, stone path lead down into the hill, curving down and around about forty feet into the hillside. The cave had a foul smell, like the abode of some diseased bear. Darras thought if one of his men kept sanitation in this state, he’d have their hide. Goblins were not known for their cleanliness or tidy habits, however.

  The passage opened into a long wide chamber with a wide corridor off to the side that ran deeper into the hillside. Many goblins were laying about here, but not as many as Tiberius expected. They moved to the side out of the way for a moment while they took in the situation. The goblins gathered about were gambling, drinking, or otherwise amusing themselves in unpleasant ways. There were female goblins about and Tiberius caught the smell of drugs in the air. He wondered where most of the goblins had got to. The answer to that came in a moment, when a particularly large and fierce looking goblin poked his head into the room.

  “Get on you slackers! You’se what ain’t on duty come to the Grand Hall for the sacrifice.”

  One goblin gave an annoyed glance as he reached for the dice.

  “Tain’t till midnight. What do we 'ave to go now for?”

  That brought a crack of the whip in answer. “Cause the queen said so, didn’t she? Lazy roundabout. Think she wants to sit and wait while you lot stagger in? Get a move on!”

  Goblins started heading towards the main passage. Darras took a step to follow, but Tiberius pointed towards the back and a side passage curling around the hillside. They had to move carefully, avoiding the goblins, but the goblins weren’t thinking of intruders and were mostly arguing with each other.

  Towards the back of the passage, Tiberius suddenly stopped. There was a curious rock with a jeweled eye set into the center of it. Darras felt a sudden taste of fear. Clearly it was some device of the enemy, cleverly placed at the back of the chamber to detect and reveal any sort of invisible intruders such as Darras was. Revealed, they would be surrounded at once by goblins.

  “Ne remarku nin,” Tiberius whispered. Then he led Darras on past the device. Tiberius breathed a silent prayer of thanks to his mentors who’d shown him more than one way to be invisible. The goblin magic might see beyond the visible spectrum, but it had no willpower to match Ti’s spell of distraction.

  The stones were damp here and the air was less foul, though still bad smelling. An occasional torch gave a dim flickering light to the caverns. Mostly these appeared to be natural caves, but goblins had at times crudely hammered out wider passages, or even whole new chambers to suit their whim.

  They came to a slightly larger chamber which was a “T” intersection, again with a passage going off to their right deeper into the caverns. As they arrived, Tiberius again held up a hand for Darras to halt. From off to the right they saw a goblin guard, another goblin, and a young human boy. Ti guessed the boy was about eleven years old. The boy was dressed in rags and carrying a large load for the goblin, who prodded him along with a whip. They were coming down the passage toward them.

  Tiberius pointed at the guard and Darras nodded, understanding and raising his short sword.

  Tiberius signaled when he saw Darras was in position, standing next to the guard. Darras took the closer goblin. He stepped up and put his short sword into goblins’ throat. At the same instant he heard Tiberius softly cry, “Ŝtalo frapu.” He just saw a disk of elemental metal slice off the other goblin’s head. The boy heard two soft thuds behind him and paused to glance back. Tiberius put his hand over the boy’s mouth.

  “Silentu! Kvietiĝu!” Tiberius said. “Be calm. Answer my questions.” The boy was wide eyed at first, seeing the dead bodies of his tormentors, and feeling the
strong hand at his throat. Darras had to quickly grab the tray to keep it from clattering to the floor. He saw a strange relaxation take over the boy as Tiberius’ spell took effect. When he felt the boy relax, Tiberius slowly lifted his hand from the boy’s mouth. He let his invisibility drop for a moment, so the boy could see him.

  “He’s only a boy, Tiberius,” Darras said, wondering what magic he was casting on the boy and why.

  “I know, but he’s been under their control a long time,” Tiberius said over his shoulder.

  “Where is the baby they brought in tonight?” Tiberius said to the boy.

  “I don’t know. With the others, I suppose?” said the boy.

  “Others?” Darras asked.

  “The rest of the slaves,” the boy said.

  “Show us,” Tiberius said.

  “There are more guards,” the boy said.

  “You think we care?” Darras asked.

  “One moment,” Tiberius said. “Help me with these bodies.” They sent one body on top of the other, off to the side of the path. Then Tiberius cast a simple illusion spell, and bodies changed in appearance to that of another rock.

  “That will hold for a while; let’s go,” he said.

  The boy led the way; Tiberius resumed his invisibility. It wasn’t far. The tray had been meant for the guards in the slave pens.

  In front of the slave cells was a torch lit clearing. Here a dozen or so guards were sitting around, playing dice and drinking.

  “Why do we have to guard the slaves?” one of them asked. “They ain’t going nowhere.”

  “Queen’s orders. Someone’s got to be watching,” another grunted as he threw the dice.

  “Hey, it’s about time you got’s here, scum,” another said, noting the arrival of the boy. “Where’s our food?”

  He tossed the dice and then noticed something very odd. The dice had gone silent. He tossed them again and again there was no sound. He turned to his companion to ask what was up with the dice but found that his voice was gone. He noticed his companion signal that he also could not speak. No one was making any sound. It was all very strange.