The Goblin and the Empire

by JD Cole

  “General! Sir!”

  “Maxillion,” Dragonheart mindspoke for security’s sake, “I thought you should know. Your rangers fulfilled their quest. The queen has been brought safely from the human world.”

  “I never had any doubt in them. I expect they will be joining our little party soon, then?”

  “Hold on,” Dragonheart warned aloud. A huge monster loomed at the edge of the fight. “Let me attend this first, ranger.”

  Maxillion turned and saw the frightening sight of a minotaur, swinging its massive hammer into a crowd of pashryk and dulumin. The minotaur was slowly making its way toward Khun Rhee. The elf ranger swallowed. “Be my guest, General, I would not want to horde all the glory, myself.”

  Most of the soldiers evaded the hammer, but one unfortunate dwarf was caught in his side by the massive weapon, and silently flew through the air, dead. The dwarf’s body disappeared in a flash of little winking lights as Dragonheart’s enchantment teleported it to Jenshire. The general himself ran to meet this deadly foe. Dulumin —gnomes— sent magic explosives and poisoned darts at the creature, but neither the blasts or the blades could penetrate its hide. Pashryk —dwarves— took axes to its thick legs, but only managed to nick and irritate it. A vampyre sorcerer appeared from nowhere, surfing a wind spell across the battlefield, and waving a sword enchanted with fire element. Dragonheart, slowing his run to a furious walk, called out to his flying ally.

  “Ralwun! You take the hammer, I’ll take the bull!” The gray-skinned vampyre smiled and nodded, sheathing his fire sword. The amazing little tornado he rode upon carried him swiftly before the minotaur. The monstrous horned-warrior swung its hammer and snaked its claws out in futility, frustrated at the nimble vampyre who taunted it with words and gestures that might have made even Dragonheart blush, had they not been in the middle of a battle.

  The vampyre slowed his flight and led the minotaur’s movements, daring it to try and kill him with its weapon. The hammer swung once more, and Ralwun grabbed hold of it for just a moment. The tornado at his feet traveled across his body and onto the hammer. The vampyre dropped to the ground and leapt acrobatically to the side as the tornado intensified in strength, spinning the hammer with such force and so suddenly that it tore the flesh from the minotaur’s hands as the enormous weapon was sent flying back toward Matari’s walls, where it left a large crack in the bricks.

  The beast roared and stared at its empty, bloody hands in disbelief. It stumbled and turned distraughtly, seeking the gray sorcerer and screaming vengeance. Then it saw the general and dropped onto its fists. With a loud, wet snort it let out a huge steamy breath from its nostrils, then charged. As it lowered its head to skewer Khun with its enormous horns, the general calmly stepped aside. The minotaur never saw the golden claymore rise and set like the sun, cleaving its great head from its shoulders.

  Ralwun reappeared above Dragonheart, standing atop a fresh tornado chariot as the battle continued to rage around them. Several arrows from Matari’s battlements soared at him, but he nimbly plucked them from the air and dropped them to the ground. “I call claim on that carcass!”

  Dragonheart looked at the headless minotaur in disgust, then up at the vampyre. “Uck. It’s all yours, my friend.”

  Ralwun shrugged. “My wife made me promise to bring her something back from the war. Fresh minotaur is more valuable than jewelry.”

  “Your marriage is expensive.”

  Ralwun grunted. “You have no idea.”

  There was a roar, then, and a shadow, and both warriors looked up. General Dragonheart shook his head, allowing the tip of his heavy sword to fall to the ground. “It can’t be.”

  ~

  The Goblin King beat his leathery wings, swinging around to flank the elves and dwarves. There were wolves and vampyres present, as well. Even gnomes had thrown their support to this wasteful endeavor. It was not long before they all spotted him, and the fighting on the battlefield ceased. Irenak and goblin-led forces began to cheer, while elves and dwarves looked on in dread. Arrows and lightning spells were hurled at the Goblin King, but he evaded them, twisting and curling gracefully. As he approached, faeries began to drop dead on the ground below him.

  Ercianodhon tried to block out the euphoria of their life force sweeping into him, concentrating on keeping himself from injury. Scores of faeries fell as he zoomed overhead, and finally Ercianodhon gave in to the ecstasy of their deaths, losing some of his caution. Jetting lower, his jaws snapped around an elf, tossing the hapless faery high in the sky. The Goblin King banked then climbed up, catching the elf again and snapping the corpse into chunks he could swallow.

  He swung around again, this time drawing Incerra from the sheath on his forearm. Faeries scattered as he dove through their ranks, the red blade cleaving and slashing at everything within reach. His own claws and fangs tore at anything that presented itself, regardless of whether a creature was dying or already dead. Even as the soldiers fell back, however, Ercianodhon spotted a single warrior standing his ground, a large sword held ready and waiting for the King to come within striking distance.

  Ercianodhon pulled up and beat his powerful wings in a hover, staring at the general of his hated enemies. Khun Rhee stood tall and strong like a human, but had the ears and frizzled hair of a mystic. Spells and arrows screamed in his direction, but his sorcerers on the walls shielded him. “Dragonheart! Tell me, how long can even you stand against me?” Ercianodhon dodged an arrow, then quickly zoomed in a wide circle around Dragonheart to kill any faery who might interfere, then hovered again before him.

  General Dragonheart was obviously weakening, but he would not drop his weapon or fall to his knees. Neither did he answer the king; Ercianodhon guessed he did not have the strength to reply. “I will spare you for now,” the king bellowed. “My generals have orders to take you alive. Rest easy, Khun Rhee,” Ercianodhon taunted as he turned to fly away. “I have great plans for you. Unless you wish to run home now, like the coward you proved to be the last time you attacked us. In the meantime, give father my regards!”

  With that, Ercianodhon climbed to a height that kept him safe from the war below, and began chanting.

  ~

  “Dufangen, Sorvir, she must be taken into custody immediately!”

  This was the first time Kelli had seen Grenem Jennir, and she immediately disliked him. At his suggestion, several guards had separated her from her family, and Erica and Kim. Now he was demanding that Kelli be thrown into prison, and she still didn’t know why.

  “So what if I killed a bunch of mosquitoes?” she protested. Dufangen and Brevha were trying to mediate between everyone, and only Sorvir stood side by side with Kelli. She barely noticed his arm around her as she demanded answers. “Somebody tell me what’s going on!”

  “Queen Kelli,” Sorvir said, then lifted a finger to the other sprites. “Please, my family, my friends. She does not understand. At least let us set this straight before you continue scaring her with accusations and threats.”

  Kelli was shaking now. “Threats? Sorvir, was Dufangen right? I couldn’t… no, I can’t have killed off every mosquito on Earth! That’s crazy!”

  “Highness,” Sorvir knelt down to face her more easily. “It is true. Every one of us felt it. Destruction on that scale is unmistakable. There are none left.”

  Kelli almost began to ask why it mattered, when mosquitoes were bothersome at best, and disease vectors at worst. Getting rid of them all actually sounded like a good thing to her. But she stopped when the gravity of what she’d done finally hit her: an entire species was now extinct. Because I lost my temper. “How is that possible?” She looked at the sprites. “How can anybody kill a whole species? That’s insane! How could you create that kind of magic?”

  “And now she attempts to shift blame,” Grenem shook his head.

  “That is not fair,” Sorvir stood.

  “No, it is not,” Grenem agreed. “Neither was it fair for our Birthright to fall into human hands.”<
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  “What she did, she did in ignorance,” Dufangen added. “The fault is mine alone. Allow me to finish training her-”

  “But what of the meantime?” another sprite argued. “What else might she accidentally destroy while you train her?”

  Tears ran down Kelli’s face. “Could I… could I accidentally kill people?”

  “No!” Sorvir immediately answered. “No, not like that, Highness! Insects, yes. Those are life forms that are too weak to withstand your power. But you could not eradicate the faeries, or the humans, or the higher animals of the world.”

  “In small groups, she could,” Grenem accused.

  “You are not helping anything,” Trennh hissed sharply.

  “It seems to me, everyone,” Brevha said, stepping forward, “there is something important we haven’t even considered yet.” She walked to the queen. “Highness, what sparked your anger? Surely a simple bite would not send you into a fit?”

  “No. I-I guess I was still upset about Derek. And then the stupid mosquitoes wouldn’t quit biting me. At least four or five, and a bunch of them were… it was like, like they were lining up to bite me. I just wanted them to leave me alone, I wasn’t trying to destroy anything!”

  Brevha looked around. “I was not bitten once. What of the other humans?” The guards turned to allow Kelli’s parents through.

  “No,” Tom said. “I wasn’t bitten.” Vanessa, Erica, and Kim all denied being bitten.

  “Neither was I,” Sorvir finished.

  Dufangen’s eyes widened. “Ercianodhon! He knows!”

  The sprites all quickly forgot about Kelli’s crime as they realized Dufangen was right. When the magic assault against their barrier began moments later, each of them felt it. “He is here!” Grenem shouted. The guards all took flight, while the civilian sprites and mystics immediately began weaving reinforcements to the section of the barrier that was weakening under Ercianodhon’s attack. But it was too late.

  Like glass, the invisible barrier shattered, and the magic energy that composed it vaporized in blue and green flashes. The barrier could now be seen only by the huge hole that had just been made. A beam like sunlight shot through the hole, and an ethergate ripped open the air above the balcony. The Goblin King flew through, and the faeries all around fell, gasping for breath as their life force was pulled from their bodies. Most of them crawled for the safety of the castle interior while gasping a myriad of spells, but several sprites quickly expired, so close were they in proximity to the King. Their dead bodies rose as zombie-like goblins, and began moving to form a defensive line between the sprites and the king. Kelli screamed and fell in agony, and her parents rushed to her, crying her name.

  Ercianodhon landed heavily, towering over the Sprite Queen and knocking her parents away. He used a clawed foot to force Kelli onto her back. Then he drew Incerra and held it above his head, pointed downward at Kelli’s chest. “For crimes committed and yet to come, you must die, child!”

  “No!” Dufangen screamed, raising her staff. But it fell from her hands even as she toppled over, weakening as her life force left her.

  A beam of energy tore into Ercianodhon’s shoulder, followed by another into his chest. The Goblin King lurched backward, searching for the strength to scream. He fell to his knees, and only then noticed the white-garbed human striding toward him, carrying two glowing weapons in his hands. Sprite-goblins ran to intercept him, but the Paladin crippled them, dismembering two with his weapons, and shattering the bones of others using martial prowess.

  Lumina aimed his mevets at the King and fired over and over again. Shaped like an oval ring with a straightened edge for the grip, mevets fired concentrated vissin, a destructive class of magic energy Lumina’s people were adept at harnessing. The trigger was the length of the grip, requiring the entire hand to squeeze. The trigger also had a binary setting, allowing Lumina to fire the weapon both as he pulled the trigger and again when he released it. Coupled with the gentle recoil, this rapid rate of fire gave Lumina the power he needed to force the King away from the Queen.

  The Goblin King scrambled back, his wings knocking Kelli’s parents over once more as they tried to reach their daughter. Glowing, orange-red blood pumped from his wounds, giving off an orange steam as he bled, and his shaky claws touched the gory, scalding flesh, unbelieving. Another blast tore at the King’s arm, and he howled in horror and agony. Gripping Incerra, he held the blade up with one of its pearl “eyes” staring at the Paladin. A sudden sense of fatigue gripped Lumina, and he struggled to hold his mevets steady. He fired several more times, all of them missing his target.

  One of the mevets clicked empty, and Lumina discarded it, holding the remaining weapon two-handed. Shaking his head clear, he fired once more, scoring a hit on Ercianodhon’s left wing. The Goblin King managed to get to his feet and roared, rushing toward Lumina. He used one of his wings to knock the mevet from Lumina’s hands, earning another painful blast wound in the process, then whipped his tail around to trip the Paladin. But Lumina leapt over the attack, pulling a collapsible rod from a pocket on his hip. He snapped his wrist and the rigid weapon telescoped to its full three foot-length. Lumina spun the rod before him and swung it to block the King’s claws and the small blade he wielded; no easy task as the King had twice the reach of the human, and the King’s long neck gave him a third angle of attack for Lumina to guard against.

  “Paladin demon!” Ercianodhon roared. His monstrous jaws opened to take Lumina’s head off, but the Paladin ducked away and cast a telekinetic spell to pull his mevet into his hand. He trained the weapon on Ercianodhon, but the King had swiftly leapt away, grabbing Kelli’s father and holding him up as a shield. More sprite goblins ran toward Lumina, four of them in all. One broke ranks to get at Kelli, who was curled into a ball on the ground, dying as Ercianodhon stole her life force. The goblin stooped to pick her up, then inexplicably fell over in four pieces, halved at the waist and both its arms severed at the elbow.

  Ercianodhon turned to see a curious girl, dressed in a white, hooded outfit, standing between him and the queen. She’d appeared from nowhere, was armed with two watery, wakizashi-style blades, and had long, fiery hair flowing behind her. She made a stiff cutting motion with one of her swords, and the three goblins racing toward the Paladin also fell over in pieces. The Goblin King’s eyes widened with recognition. “Undine!”

  Undine stared at Ercianodhon, her sapphire eyes crackling with magic above the mask that covered her nose and mouth. “My master will not allow you to harm the queen, Goblin.”

  Storm clouds began gathering over the castle –actual clouds, not the illusions of the Ythsimerin— and Ercianodhon turned to see that every sprite in Windham, nearly eight-thousand of them, had taken flight, surrounding the balcony and armed to the teeth. They dared not approach him, but their sorcerers were no doubt summoning fire and lightning to cripple him. Another ethergate opened below him, and he fell through, taking Tom Ingram screaming with him into the Shadowlands, where no sprite would follow. The gate closed, and they were gone.

  Lumina stood, shaking off his fear and recovering from whatever spell the King had cast on him. The girl in white had vanished, and he ran to the queen, lifting her head gently. “Highness! Highness, are you all right?”

  Kelli sucked in a deep, shuddering breath, and let out a cry. “Is it over? Is it gone? It hurts! Lumina, it hurts!”

  Sprites and mystics who survived the initial encounter immediately began filing back onto the balcony, though the sprites in flight took to patrolling the entire mountainside. Too little, too late they all knew, but they searched against a new attack, anyway.

  “No!” Sorvir cried, running to the lifeless goblins. He fell to his knees and lifted the upper half of Trennh’s body, scooping the dead sprite’s entrails back up into his abdomen in futility.

  “Don’t touch it!” Lumina warned. “They’re goblins now!”

  “He’s my brother!” Sorvir screamed, hugging the corpse tight, soi
ling his clothes with Trennh’s blood.

  “The barrier is restored,” Dufangen said sadly. “Necromancy no longer defiles this place.”

  Sorvir curled over, weeping, and was soon joined by the other sprites on the balcony. All of them had lost family and friends in the attack.

  Dufangen knelt beside Kelli. “Forgive us, my Queen. There was nothing we could do. It is a wonder any of us survived.” The mystic looked at Lumina. “Thank you, Paladin. I have been overly harsh with you these last weeks, and now I owe you a debt I can never repay.”

  “Counselor,” Lumina used his eyes to indicate for Dufangen to look at the railing. She did, and saw Vanessa Ingram, safe and sound, but scratching at the ground as if she was looking for something. Erica and Kim were consoling her…

  “Oh, no. No, Paladin, please say it is not-”

  “He took her father.”

  Kelli looked up, fighting through the pain. “What? Why? What was that thing? Where’s my dad?”

  “We must get her inside,” Dufangen advised. The other mystics agreed. Lumina nodded and scooped the weakened Queen into his arms, following the mystics and trying, but failing to ignore the cries of anguish that filled the balcony. Erica and Kim forcefully picked a frantic Vanessa up, and quickly followed them.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Derek awoke with a groan, sitting up and palming his head. His last thoughts came back to him as he realized he was in Hood guise, his hand pressing against his helmet instead of his forehead.

  Undine. Did he beat her? Or did she really bond with him all over again? A noise off to the side answered his question. Sitting in an ornate chair beside his bed —it was obvious he was back in Windham Castle— was Undine. She sat casually with her legs crossed, dressed in that same cool white outfit. Her hood and mask were pulled away to display her beauty, framed by that fantastic, flaming hair. She looked at him with something between mirth and concern.