by Pirateaba
“Tell me, young…man. Are all of Magnolia Reinhart’s servants like you?”
Reynold grinned a bit manically at the traveler. He laughed, which was a serious breach of etiquette, but given the circumstances, understandable and worth it.
“Only the best of us, sir. Only the best. Shall we go?”
“I suppose. Yes, I supposed there’s no backing out of it now, is there?”
The traveler hesitated at the doors, but eventually stepped in. Reynold heard the carriage doors shut, and turned the carriage. Guardsmen shouted at him, trying to get him to stop. Reynold brushed hands away and flicked the reins. The carriage shot into motion, leaving the shouting people behind.
“I regret to say that our journey may be delayed by an hour or two, sir. Damage to the carriage has reduced our speed, and I must drive out of the way of the Goblin Lord’s army.”
“You mean you’ve seen them?”
“I believe parts of them are still stuck to the undercarriage, sir. May I take this moment to inform you of our wine selection?”
There was no response. Reynold laughed to himself. He was—was a bit disoriented himself. As he sped away from Celum he saw little black spots swimming in his vision, and felt his body swaying. He was…tired.
But he kept driving. He was a [Butler]. And a butler never abandoned his post. He owed Magnolia Reinhart too much for that.
Slowly, one of the wounds that hadn’t completely healed opened up again and spattered blood onto the front of the carriage, mixing with the rest. After a while, Reynold sipped more of the healing potion and the wound closed.
“Dear me. My attire is ruined. I should get that cleaned…as soon as I stop to rest.”
He sighed, and kept his eyes on the road. The last of the daylight burned away, and Reynold felt his body freezing. He was cold. It was dark. He reached for more energy, more fire, and felt himself drifting lower. But that was just his body. At the moment Reynold was full of life. He’d rest when it was over. For now he drove.
And inside the carriage, the traveler watched the driver through the panel. He stared anxiously at the man, but saw Reynold driving without faltering. And perhaps it was the unfamiliar sensation of riding in the carriage, or the instinctual understanding that Reynold wouldn’t stop until he’d completed his duty, but the traveler soon felt himself growing tired.
He slept. And then he dreamed.
—-
It was the past the traveler dreamed of. It was a memory that surfaced in his mind, an old conversation between him and a friend. It was ancient history, decades old, but it came to mind because of what he was about to do. He recalled a tent, the smell of wine, a slightly rough chair, and—company. He sat down, not remembering what the joke he’d just laughed at was, and saw his friend sitting across from him.
His friend. A long-dead face swam into focus in the traveler’s dream, and a voice spoke.
“I think I met a monster today.”
“Oh, really? What kind?”
“Hah. Not a real monster. I was speaking metaphorically. I met a Human girl. A young one. You might know of her. Magnolia Reinhart.”
“I don’t know the first name, but I recognize the last one. Well, well. One of the scions of the Five Families has come to our aid?”
“It seems like it. She’s responsible for that army. And this is the scary part—I’d swear she’s not even seventeen years of age. Maybe less; I don’t know Humans that well.”
“What, all of it? Is she some kind of [Commander]?”
“Hardly. She’s a [Lady]. And she’s certainly no warrior—I caught her throwing up after battle.”
“Why’s she come, then?”
“Because no one else would come to our aid otherwise. She came herself and brought an army capable of ending this war with her.”
“I’ll drink to her, then. Why’d you say you met a monster? Surely she’s not that hideous—”
“Don’t be a hatchling. I was being serious. I thought she was a monster when I met her. Now…I’m convinced.”
“You’ve lost me.”
“Let me say it another way. She’s a…Demon. You know, the ones from Rhir? Or maybe she’s something else. What I’m saying is that she scares me. She’s not like other Humans.”
“So? She must be outstanding to lead an army so young. She’s high level…so what? I’m not following you.”
“Hm. Perhaps I could say it like this. She’s like…a god.”
“The gods are dead.”
“Yes, but you know what I mean, don’t you? She’s like a god, or the opposite of one. Does that make sense?”
“Perhaps…she frightens you and she’s that different from her kind, is she?”
“Yes. Perhaps that’s the easiest way of saying it. It was the look in her eyes. I won’t forget it. She was throwing up when I saw her, but when she finished and turned—she was the one who rallied the Humans. All by herself, I’m sure of it. And they followed her. A coalition army of Humans to rescue we, the Drakes. Do you understand?”
“I think I do. But surely that’s not—”
“Just listen. I had a chance to talk with her. Just a short moment—you know how politics are. But it was when we had a chance that she really frightened me. I asked her what had prompted her to come to our aid when our species have been enemies for so long. And you know what she said?”
“What?”
“Just guess.”
“You know I’m no good at guessing. Tell me.”
“It was the same thing they said long ago. The same thing that the Five Families, the original Five Families said that they wanted as they were invading us, driving us back the first time. The same word, and I’ll wager, the same look of conviction.”
“I don’t know that word. So you’re saying she’s some kind of leader? A dangerous one for the future?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that I’m as wary of her as I am of the Antinium. That look in her eye, the way she speaks—it’s not that she’s not charismatic or a natural leader. Other people are—you and I lead. But it was the look, you see? The look and the conviction. She believes wholeheartedly in what she’s doing, and that’s what scares me.”
“Just tell me the damned word already, will you? What does she want?”
“Peace.”
“Peace?”
Zel Shivertail paused as he sipped from his cup and raised his head incredulously.
“That’s what I said.”
The Drake sitting across from him nodded. General Sserys, hero of the First Antinium War, smiled crookedly.
“A little girl leading an army to fight the Antinium. For peace. To save the world, she said. And you know what? She looked like a child then, with vomit dripping off her chin, but when I asked if it was possible, she just smiled. And then she looked like…I don’t know. Not a [Queen] or a [Lady], but something more. Like the opposite of a god, if they were alive. She stuck out her hand and said that I should join her. Together we could end the war and save the world.”
“And what, did you take it?”
Zel waited. Sserys shook his head.
“I didn’t get the chance. We were interrupted by some other Humans—[Lords], you know. But it stuck with me. Her offer. I felt like she was sucking me in, that she could see something I didn’t. I was afraid, Shivertail, and I won’t ever admit that to anyone else. I was afraid of her peace, of what she saw.”
“Afraid of a little Human girl. General Sserys, [Spear of the Drakes]. Afraid of peace.”
“That’s right.”
General Sserys looked at him, and Zel Shivertail paused for a second before bursting out laughing. The other Drake grinned in acknowledgement of the joke, and then he filled Zel’s cup. The two Drakes raised their cups in a silent toast and Zel raised it to his lips—
—-
“Reynold? My goodness. Ressa! Get him healing potions and help him off of the carriage, quickly!”
A voice woke Zel Shivertail from his slumber
s. He jerked awake in the carriage and realized he’d stopped. And then he realized who was speaking and froze. He sensed people rushing towards the carriage, and heard a sharp voice.
“Was it [Assassins]? How badly are you injured? Is the guest safe?”
“No attack—just Goblins. I do apologize Lady Reinhart—I made a decision to protect a group of travelers—I have also bloodied my uniform Ressa, for which I apologize.”
“Never mind that. Ressa, get the man inside. He’s frozen! Why is he so cold? Are the heating spells on the carriage broken again? And what about—”
The voice stopped as Zel opened the carriage door. The Drake [General] stared out into a dark world illuminated by bright mage lights and blinked down at the figures clustered around the [Butler] who was being held up by two servants. They were all Humans—well, all save for one of the [Maids] who was a Gnoll. And they stared at him with a mixture of awe and fear.
They knew him as a legend. One of the [Maids], a tall woman, moved slowly backwards towards a shorter woman, keeping her eyes on him. It was too dark for Zel to make out details, but the way she held herself, and her voice—he had never met her, and she had never met him.
But they knew each other. Zel Shivertail lowered his head slightly as he stepped from the carriage. Magnolia Reinhart moved past Ressa’s protective body and smiled.
“General Shivertail. I’m glad you decided to come. My apologies for the delay.”
Zel paused and nodded to Reynold. The [Butler] was still on his feet, being fussed over by two [Maids].
“Your man looked like he’d driven through a war and back to get to me. I commend his spirit.”
“Happy to serve.”
Reynold mumbled. Magnolia glanced at him, and then at Zel. Cautiously, slowly, she held out her hand.
“We have never met, but I hope we can speak freely, Zel Shivertail. I have long wanted to meet you, as you are no doubt aware. I hope we can set the issues you put forward in your letter right.”
“I have no doubt we can. But I have one question to ask you first. Something I have to know.”
Zel didn’t take Magnolia’s offered hand. He looked her in the eye and sensed Ressa staring at him warily, felt the prickles on his spines that told him the other servants were dangerous. But it was only Magnolia’s face he searched.
“Tell me why.”
“Why…what, precisely?”
“Why you’ve gone to all this trouble. Why you’re willing to help. Why all the things you promised me. What’s in it for you?”
Magnolia lowered her hands and tapped her lips.
“Nothing, perhaps. But it is my mission, shall we say? My ambition, most definitely. I have one dream, General Shivertail.”
“Which is?”
Zel held his breath. The world did. Magnolia Reinhart smiled, and in her eyes was a bright light. She held out her hand once more.
“Peace. To save the world. I will do anything for that goal. Will you help me?”
Zel Shivertail looked into her eyes. For a second he saw what Sserys had, decades ago. That light, that certainty. The other Drake had called it the look of a devil, a monster, or a god. And then he blinked, and saw something different. He hesitated, and then his claws rose. Gingerly, somewhere in the past of what might have been, the Drake [General] shook the Human girl’s hands.
And then they were back in the present, in the now. Zel looked into Magnolia’s eyes and smiled.
“Let’s save the world then, Miss Reinhart. Tell me, where should we begin?”
She laughed lightly, in relief, as Ressa let out a huge breath behind her and Reynold fainted.
“With the Goblins, my dear Zel. With the Goblin Lord first. And then Az’kerash. And then the Antinium.”
“And then?”
She smiled wider.
“We’ll see. Now, shall we discuss this inside? Say, over a cup of tea?”
4.39 G
“Fools!”
The instant Garen Redfang heard about the failed attack on Lady Rie’s mansion, he stormed into the feasting hall where Tremborag sat. The self-styled Great Chieftain of Goblins looked up as he clutched an entire roast sheep in his claws. Garen snarled as he strode down the length of the messy hall towards him.
“Garen Redfang. What has you so angry this time?”
Tremborag’s voice was huge and surprisingly intellectual, but tinged with the same irritation Garen had been feeling lately. The few Hobs and other Goblins accompanying him at this moment—many of them female—eyed the Goblins behind Garen.
The Redfang Tribe had largely abandoned Garen when Rags had fled the mountain. But many was not all, and already more Hobs and competent warriors had joined Garen Redfang’s faction within the mountain. He was the pinnacle of martial ability to aspire to, and if his new ‘tribe’ was not as well-trained as his old one, they were a fighting force Garen had led on many raids.
And it was the raids that were the issue. Garen glared at Tremborag and spat.
“The Goblins who went to attack the [Lady] are dead.”
The huge Hobgoblin paused. A bit of grease dripped from his hands. The Goblins around him froze.
“All?”
Over twenty Hobs had been chosen to assault the mansion, as well as one of the [Shamans]. It had been considered overkill for such a small town and even a [Lady]’s personal residence. Unlike the Five Families, most of the minor nobility lacked huge arsenals of magical defenses.
And yet, the attackers had been destroyed. Garen spoke sharply.
“They were slaughtered by a Human alliance! They are gathering as I said! And you provoke them with more raids. No more. No Goblins will go to that place; none return anymore. I forbid it.”
His command of the common tongue had increased markedly since he had stayed in the mountain. Or rather, he was having to speak more often. As he had in the past with his friends. Garen pushed the memory back. Tremborag dropped the sheep and stood.
“You forbid? I am Great Chieftain under the mountain.”
“And I am Garen Redfang, who knows raiding and Humans ways. Continue to send more raids and they will die. Fool.”
The hall had gone silent. The Goblins around Tremborag had retreated and Garen’s Redfang warriors were eying Tremborag uneasily. The Great Chieftain’s crimson eyes flared with fury. He and Garen growled at each other, drawing closer.
The air was hot with bloodlust. Garen felt his hand tightening on the hilt of his famous red sword and Tremborag suddenly looked taller, less fat and more like the monster he could become. But both Goblins forced themselves back. They were allies.
“Hah! You have not dulled your fangs since coming here.”
Tremborag broke the stalemate first. He sat and picked up the sheep and ripped into it with one hand. Breathing hard, Garen sat at a table, facing him.
There was a reason for the irritation between them, and not just because of Rags’ escape. What had she taken? Some of the magical items? Most of the truly powerful artifacts had been spread across the Hob lieutenants and other warriors in Tremborag’s tribe. Goblins didn’t hoard practical treasures. And food? Again, not an issue. The Human women—
No. Garen ground his teeth together. There was only one true reason for their anger.
“The Goblin Lord comes.”
“Yes.”
Tremborag ate savagely, crunching bones in his mouth. He spat a fragment onto the ground.
“I feel him coming. He comes for you and I, Redfang. We are the only ones who could oppose him. But there are others he calls.”
“Others?”
Garen was surprised. Tremborag laughed.
“You think you are the only famous Chieftain, Redfang? Far to the north there are other tribes who make Humans tremble, just as there are ones to the south and on other continents. Two I think of. A pyromaniac witch and a brute who loves combat.”
“Would they join us? Or would they join the Goblin Lord?”
Again the Great Chieftain laughe
d.
“I have asked, and they have refused me. They would refuse him too, I think. The witch, she refused the Goblin King as I did. As for the brute, he accepts no one as his master. No, they will wait, I think. The Goblin Lord comes for only we.”
“Unless the Humans come first. You provoke them.”
The Hob crossed his arms. Tremborag nodded.
“They have forgotten why they fear us. Let them come to the mountain. We will break them in the tunnels, lure them in and crush them. And in their fury, they will hunt that wretch, that thief, the Goblin who takes a Human name!”
Rags. Angry as he was, Tremborag still refused to speak her name. Garen stared at him and turned.
“And when the Goblin Lord comes? Then what? Will you sit and eat until he comes to your doorstep with a host far vaster than yours?”
“Let him. I am the Great Chieftain of the mountain. I will bow to no Lord, no King. And one last thing.”
Tremborag’s voice boomed as Garen strode out of the hall. The Hob turned. Now Tremborag was serious.
“Go to the mansion and destroy it, Redfang. If the [Lady] remains, slaughter her people and bring her back to the mountain.”
Garen stared at him. Vengeance, retribution. An eye for an eye. Tremborag was very Human in that regard.
“And if they are not there? If they are under the protection of the one who builds those wooden markers, who calls himself an [Emperor]?”
The whispers had reached the Goblin ears as they skulked around the edges of that strange land. Tremborag grinned and his eyes were fury.
“In that case, we will destroy every village, town, and city in that place until all is gore and ash. After the Goblin Lord or perhaps—before? Go.”
For the moment he was Garen’s Chieftain, so Garen went. He took a massive force of Hobs and Goblins to the home of the Valerund House and found the mansion deserted. He burned the mansion and determined that there was no point riding after the lady.
Garen had Skills from the [Raider] class that allowed him to appraise targets. And so he destroyed a town many miles to the north instead, robbing it of many lumps of gold recently acquired from a mine. And as he rode back to the mountain Garen wondered what Rags was doing. The Humans would not suffer the Goblins much longer.