Relics and Runes Anthology

by Heather Marie Adkins

  “You’re all ready to storm the castle,” she says.

  “If I have the choice between saving Cornelius and killing the goblin king, I am killing the goblin king. He can’t be allowed to live.”

  She hugs him tightly. “Be careful.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “You want me to come?” Noah asks.

  “You’ll definitely get me killed with your sarcastic mouth.”

  Noah shrugs as if acknowledging that Wesley is right.

  “You better hurry up because the guards will be here soon to lay their weapons to rest for the day.”

  Andrea and Noah see Wesley off right outside her kingdom.

  “I doubt your honesty here,” Noah says.

  “Do you see me following him?”

  “Not yet.”

  She grins as she walks away. Noah leans against a tree, eager to see if he is right.

  Wesley marches right into the goblin city. He slashes as he walks. He kicks open the doors to the throne room. He kicks the doors closed. He stands before the goblin king. His sword and dagger ready. “Release Cornelius.”

  “Why don’t you just take up his place?”

  The doors open. Goblins move in to make their attack.

  Wesley throws the dagger to the side, stabbing one of the goblin’s neck. “I will kill every single goblin in here if I must.”

  “You’re definitely the stronger half. Cornelius isn’t this tenacious.” He signals to the other goblins to prepare. “But I don’t have time to make conversation with you. And I am not making any deals either. I’ve had enough of deals made with you.” He jerks his head and the goblins attack.

  Wesley brings his sword around and chops away. He rolls off the back of the general and grabs his dagger from the throat he threw it into. He slices at the general’s arm. Spears clash with the sword and dagger. Wesley has the advantage of being almost four feet taller. But the goblins are quick on their stubby legs and can roll in between Wesley’s legs.

  Jegorgon walks out of the throne room and down into a passageway at the back.

  Wesley jumps onto the throne chair. He plunges the sword into a few chests, chops the arms off others. A spear flies right for him and grazes his cheek. “Too close.” He throws the dagger out and it lands in the face of the one who nearly ended him.

  The general smashes down his goblins to get to Wesley.

  Wesley swings his sword fast and precisely. Disarming is not an option. Death strikes only matter. The goblins begin to retreat seeing that Wesley has killed half of the army. But the general is not easily defeated or scared off.

  The general brings his mace to the test.

  Wesley acknowledges him. “So, because you are the taller of them and maybe a better fighter, you think I shall let myself be cut down by a goblin?”

  “I don’t care what you think.” The general lunges forward.

  The clanging is heard all the way through the court and through the passageways around it.

  The general’s mace smashes into the throne chair.

  “That is poorly made,” Wesley says.

  The general uses his body weight to toss Wesley into the splintered chair. Wesley is pricked in several places on his arm.

  The general stomps down on Wesley’s arm. It’s a surprise move. Wesley drops his dagger. The general rolls the dagger across his knuckles and then goes to stab Wesley. He moves out of the way, but it was only a feint. The general rolls to the side and throws the dagger, hitting Wesley in the back.

  Wesley is off balance.

  “Too weak to make a final attempt?”

  Wesley reaches around trying to grab the dagger. The general pulls the dagger out and shows it to him. The blood has covered the entire blade. He is feeling dizzy seeing that there is a large pool of blood underneath him.

  “You have little time left.”

  Wesley stumbles and hits the floor.

  The general drops the dagger and raises his mace. Just as he is about to lower it onto Wesley’s skull, he feels something strange. Pain. He looks down and sees Wesley’s sword through his stomach. He shakes pulling the sword from his gut. Wesley finds the strength to stand and grabs his dagger. The general falls down dead. Wesley staggers around the throne room. The wound on his back impairing his breathing. He crawls to the passageway that Jegorgon left from.

  The passageway is lit well and very narrow. He pulls himself along the stone floor. “Shit.” He has no more strength. He comes to a break in the tunnel. The human army is fighting outside. He sees Noah searching under the bodies. He can’t scream out, can’t crawl out. He raises his hand and waves like crazy. Hopes that Noah notices.

  Noah walks more towards the throne room. Then he sees him. “Wesley.” He runs over.

  “About time.”

  “Wesley, how bad are the wounds?”

  “Roll me over and find out.”

  “Andrea has gone down to the dungeon to free Cornelius.” He rolls Wesley over. He rubs his hands together.

  “Wait. Have you mastered the healing?”

  “No. But what is the worst that could happen?”

  “Carry on.”

  Noah takes out a crystal vial with clear liquid in it. He wraps his hands around it and concentrates. “Good thing you gave me this to hold onto.”

  “Hurry up.”

  “You never want to hurry healing. Good thing Cornelius left this for you to find.”

  “You’re not bleeding. Hurry up.”

  The vial glows a bright orange. “I think orange will work.” He opens the vial.

  “You think?”

  He brings Wesley to his lap and opens his mouth. He empties the vial. Wesley swallows and coughs. He sits up. The bleeding stops. The pain is subsiding. Noah smiles, proud of himself.

  “Good work.”

  Noah checks the wound.

  “Got a bit of a twinge but the wound is closed, right?”

  “It looks all right to me.” He helps Wesley stand. “Let us get you to the human general.”

  Human soldiers are attacking the goblins all around them.

  “I am going to the dungeon.”

  “I will go.”

  “You are not a match for whatever Jegorgon might have waiting.”

  “And you need to recover.”

  “Let me help,” a woman says.

  Noah looks up. “Emily?”

  Emily is a far cry from the woman he last saw. She is decked out in leather, looking like an assassin should with her dual daggers strapped to her sides. Her black hood and partial face mask giving her a strange allure.

  “Where have you been?” Noah asks.

  “Training. Granted it’s only been a few days but I can do it. Let me save our friend.”

  “Emily, don’t be fooled by anything you find. You have to be sure of what you see,” Wesley says.

  “Okay.” She pats Noah’s shoulder. “Good job on the healing. There’s promise yet for you.” She makes her way down into the passageway.

  “I think I am in love.”

  “Will you just get me to the human general?”

  Noah helps Wesley walk. “I never did find you a horse.”

  “Thinking that you’re in love.”

  “What? Don’t pretend to not be in love with Andrea.”

  Wesley hobbles to the human army.

  Emily climbs up the side of the wall and fits nicely into the gap between the wall and ceiling. She maintains her stealth by walking along the dark. She takes her crossbow off her back and readies an arrow. She comes to a four-way crossing. Two lead further down into the ground. The other two lead straight along flat ground. At least as far as she can see.

  “Damn. Come on, one of you idiots give it away.”

  Two goblins come up from the center passageway that leads further down. “The brew gets better every time,” the one goblin says.

  “I’d rather be drunk than dead. They will never make it down here. The fairy magic will keep up the illusion that the
se passageways lead to nothing.”

  “Oh, you think so?” she whispers to herself.

  Emily is sure of that destination now. It’s still a choice of three other passageways. “Process of elimination it is.” The goblins head down one of the flat passageways. She decides to follow them.

  As she enters she finds nothing but rooms on both sides. Simple accommodations. A basin on a concrete block for cleaning. A small room for a bathroom with a hole in the ground. A small wooden bed with a brown fleece blanket. Armor hanging on the wall.

  “What the heck is this? There’s hardly enough rooms here to house even half of the goblin army.” Then it dawns on her. “Wesley said that I shouldn’t believe what I see. Damn. I can’t see through this magic.”

  She hears footsteps and grunts. She goes into the first room she can. She looks around for a place to hide. There is a closet full of food. She sniffs and almost throws up. Goblin food is not the tastiest or the best smelling of food. They eat rotten food. There are flies around the meat and bread. Mold everywhere. The bed is big enough for a child to hide under. She holds her breath and goes into the closet full of rotten food. “Why am I hiding? If I can’t see them, they can’t see me.”

  “They broke the fairy magic. Goblins, to the courtyard!”

  “I don’t want to die. We are all that is left!”

  She lets out a breath. The stench makes her gag. She turns and throws up on the rotten food.

  The footsteps and grunting move away from her. She takes advantage and gets out of the closet. She peeks around the corner and it looks clear. Now she can see hundreds of rooms. She makes her way down the passageway, careful to check each room before proceeding. She gets to the end of the passageway and almost trips.

  “Hello there,” a goblin says.

  She grabs him and puts a dagger to his throat. “Tell me where the dungeon is and I may only take a finger?”

  The goblin laughs. “You’re feisty. I like that in a human. The dungeon is two over from this one. You want me to get you in there?”

  “Why would you help me?” She presses her dagger into his throat more.

  “You’re here to free the fairy prince?”

  “I’m here to get my friend back. Whether or not Prince Cornelius is saved, I don’t care.”

  “You only care for your own?”

  “Yes.”

  He smiles. It’s a horrific, monstrous smile, but he is pleased with what she’s said. “I am going to help you then. Take the dagger away.”

  She hesitates.

  “Please.”

  She pulls it away a little. “Why should I trust you?”

  “Because I believe we should help our own. Come with me.”

  He leads her over to the passageway that goes down further. She almost wants to hit herself for not choosing this one. She should have known that one of the passageways leading down further would be the dungeon.

  “What is your name?” she asks.

  “Krill.”

  “I’m Emily.”

  “You’re one of the prettier humans.”

  She remains on guard, her hands on her daggers just in case this is a trap. Goblins are among the most untrustworthy of beasts. They may even be at the top. Krill motions for her to stop.

  “What?”

  “At the bottom, there is protective magic keeping the dungeon safe. You see, we can’t risk a breakout. We don’t station guards down here. We rely on fairy magic to keep the prisoners locked up. If they should escape, the magic will either kill them or hurt them enough to where they stop trying to escape.”

  “But the fairy magic on this place has been deactivated. The illusion wore off.”

  “Not down here. You need to actually be in the room to deactivate the magic.”

  “And can you disarm the magic down here?”

  “Perhaps.” He starts moving, waving her to follow.

  “If you trap me down here, I’ll take your life before mine is.”

  He laughs. “Deception makes fools of us all.”

  She observes everything around her. That’s one of the important lessons she learned in the few days she was doing combat training. Must be observant of everything around you. She had two career paths to choose from when she signed up for service to the crown. Either be a guard for the city or be an assassin for the kingdom. Both came with their complications. But seeing that most of the burly types went for guard and the more lean and agile went for assassin, she chose assassin. She was surprised that so many women were assassins. The trainers accredited it with women being more agile than men and being more careful with their steps. Also their power of seduction rendered them superior to men.

  Krill stops her again. “This is where the magic begins. Now, it is set to recognize our body heat and weight. I will attempt to disarm it for a short time. You will be tasked in setting the prince free or whoever your friend is. Don’t waste the time given.” He walks across the dungeon floor.

  She doesn’t see anything but empty space. And the smell is like a thousand bodies all sweating at once. Assassins are trained to detect magic barriers but she hasn’t gone through the entire training process yet. Learning to see through the veil of magic is a dangerous lesson. She will be exposed to many different magical beings that are conjured with the assistance of a witch.

  Krill stops at a lever attached to a far corner wall. He pulls it down. A loud bang. Then he places his hand on the wall and moves his fingers around in different directions. Another loud bang with a sharp pop at the end. “Should see it now.”

  The dungeon comes into full view. It’s laid out with individual cages that hang from hefty chains attached to the tall ceiling. The entire room is made of shiny metal. Impregnable to be sure. Most of the prisoners are asleep or are so hopeless that they can’t be bothered moving about. She tries to get a good look as to who is in what cage. She doubts that Andrea would be taken captive. The goblin king would not have her down here.

  Krill joins her. “You’ve got maybe two minutes. The magic isn’t cooperating much.”

  “Let’s go then. You know what Princess Andrea looks like?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then help me find her.”

  They start searching the cages. The prisoners wake up and then fall back asleep.

  “Andrea?”

  Krill spins the cages around to torment the prisoners.

  “Krill, help.”

  He tickles one of their feet. He turns a cage around and sees Cornelius. “Hey, fairy prince, where is your little lover?”

  Cornelius opens his eyes. Emily pushes Krill out of the way. “Cornelius? Where is Andrea?”

  “Andrea isn’t here. She chased after Jegorgon.”

  “Don’t worry, Cornelius. The human army is here. I have to go though.”

  “You can’t leave me here.”

  Krill hisses at Cornelius. “At least she is worthy of my notice.”

  “Let’s go, Krill.”

  “You can’t leave me here!”

  Krill and Emily walk out of the dungeon and a wave of bright light comes over the dungeon. “The magic is back.”

  “Noah Brittlewaters is with the human army.”

  “I know of his family.”

  “He can disarm the magic, can’t he?”

  “He’s a fairy.”

  “Why can’t Cornelius then?”

  “Ask Wesley about that.”

  “Come, Krill.”

  “Where?”

  “I will save you from the humans.”

  “No. You said you only wish to save your own. Saving me would be betraying your own. I will stay and die.”

  “Don’t be an idiot.”

  “I am staying.”

  Fighting sounds off from above. “They are here. Krill, come with me.”

  “I respect you, Emily, but don’t make me dishonor my own.”

  The humans flood the passageway. They come upon Emily and Krill.

  “We’ll dispatch this one, as
sassin,” a guard says.

  “No!” She grabs Krill by the back of the neck. “He is being taken prisoner. We need to question him. Andrea isn’t down there. Only Cornelius is. This goblin may have information for us. Surely killing them all is nonsensible.”

  “Then bring this one to the king and queen. And take care, assassin, they cannot be trusted.”

  The humans enter the dungeon. The alarm goes off. A screeching. A fairy woman is mixed in with them. She works her magic and the alarm ends. The dungeon’s illusion breaks.

  Emily takes Krill to the surface. It’s a frightening sight. Goblins lay dead everywhere. “I am sure others escaped.”

  “Why did you save me?”

  “Because I respect you. You could have turned and killed me.”

  “You must be a skilled assassin to be on this mission.”

  “No. I am just skilled with using my womanly ways to get what I want.”

  “Nah. If you were, you would have tried to seduce me.”

  “I will have to bind your hands. But I will say that you escaped on the road and I won’t get into trouble for it. Even Linus has had one or two prisoners slip away.”

  Krill bows before her. She takes out two stone circles from a pouch on her belt. She puts them on his hands and they magically open and close around his wrists.

  Andrea catches up to Jegorgon. He is about to mount a red dragon. “Jegorgon!”

  He brings the dragon around to face her. Their faces get very close. “When I have returned from my journey, you shall sit at my side as my queen.”

  Andrea has nothing to fight him with. The dragon snarls at her. He backs up and then takes off.

  Cornelius looks for Emily. He searches the human soldiers.

  “Prince Cornelius. We have sent word to your family. We shall have you home before night.”

  “Where is the assassin that came with you?”

  “The assassins do not work with us. But there was one that took a goblin prisoner and is heading back to Kell.”

  “May I borrow a horse? I am too tired to fly.”