The Goblin and the Empire

by JD Cole

  Using his weight and momentum, and tugging her trapped arm backward at an angle he assumed it was not meant to bend in, he forced the zerivade down. As they hit the ground he was too slow in forcing her into a full-blown grapple. She rolled and twisted herself free from his grip, managing to kick him onto his back in the process. They each came up on one knee, hands raised and ready to defend or attack as needed. Jezrimeli knelt there frozen, staring daggers at the Hood. Then she grinned and stood up, relaxed and nodding. “Very well, you’ll do.” She turned and walked back into the middle of the others, waving back at him. “You may stay here observing, if you wish.”

  “Don’t get cocky, lad,” Nim called over to him. “You have no idea how much she was holding back just now.”

  Derek noted that every faery in the room was nodding in agreement. So was Lumina. The Hood’s armor hid that fact that he gulped down just a little bit of fear.

  Jezrimeli’s gorgeous eyes sparkled as she gestured at her new companions. “Come!”

  The rangers had fought and trained together for years, and it wasn’t surprising that they fought brilliantly as a single unit. Likewise, Julian and Lumina fought well as a pair, though as a dedicated soldier Julian had undergone more specialized training than Lumina, and it showed. Together, they managed to compliment the elves’ assaults, even learning how to silently coordinate with them against the zerivade. Samantha was the most disadvantaged, having never experienced faery battle styles. She worked mainly to distract Jezrimeli, teleporting rapidly around the sprye but somehow never able land a hit on her despite taking several bone-jarring blows herself.

  The fight was over in less than three minutes.

  Most of the rescue team laid flat on their backs, chests heaving with shortness of breath. Nim was sitting cross-legged, nursing his left arm. Jezrimeli knelt next to Samantha. “That’s some impressive use of ethergates, I’ve never seen anyone create so many so casually. But you were holding back. The rangers and Paladins were enough of a handful that you might have actually managed hit me if you’d tried.”

  “Bugger me, I tried! Where’d you learn to move like that?” Samantha raised her arm over her eyes, wanting nothing more than a hot soak and a nap. “I’m not used to… well, it’s just been kind of drilled into me to hold back in training. I don’t wanna kill my teammates, luv.”

  “That I completely understand. But you’ve never had a teammate like me. Next time, come at me like you mean it.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  Taryn was finishing up a healing spell on Nim’s arm, and he stopped next at Samantha. “That was indeed exciting,” he said, looking at both women. “I don’t know what’s more impressive, zerivade, your skills, or the way these few held out so long against you.” He looked down at Samantha. “Are you injured at all, my lady?”

  Samantha giggled at being called a lady.

  Jezrimeli smiled and left them to join Nim. “You’re still moving well for an elder, that was fun.”

  “Bite a wyrm nipple, Jezzy. I ain’t old yet.”

  “Prove it to me later,” she winked. The not-old-yet elf did not smile, but couldn’t hide the twinkle in his eyes.

  She made her way to the Hood. One of the nearby human soldiers, not really talking to her, said, “Man, can we get that kind of hand-to-hand training?”

  The sprye grinned. “Sure. Do you have two hundred years to dedicate to the arts of battle?”

  The human’s eyes widened looking up at her. “Two hundred years?”

  Jezrimeli ignored him. “So, Master Hood. Your observations?”

  “You first. Did you learn what you wanted from this little tournament?”

  “I did. They’re a strong bunch. I already knew that about the elves, but I needed to gauge the humans. The Paladins are good fighters. They also respected my battlerank and did not hesitate to try and kill me. But Flashback needed to learn, maybe still needs to learn. She doesn’t know the fae, doesn’t understand how things are done here. Maybe the same could be said of you?”

  “It definitely should be said of me,” he replied. “But at the moment I only need to understand as much as it takes to rescue Kelli’s dad. The rest can wait until they’re both safe.” Jezrimeli shrugged, and he continued. “Anyway, it goes without saying I’m glad you aren’t my enemy. That’s some crazy epic skill you have.

  “But I got several glimpses of what the rest of the team can do, and I’m amazed at how quickly they adapted to each other.”

  “Aye,” Jezrimeli nodded, “proof all of them have had proper training. I think the elves and I should be forward of everyone. If you’re hiding us with your magic, we can make a go of quietly removing obstacles we can’t sneak past. You humans and Taryn can be our pritom,” the translation spell helped Derek understand that term was a vulgar euphemism that equated to surprise finishing technique, “if we get detected, and we’ll need one or two of you on stretcher duty in case the Queen’s father is immobile.”

  “Your insight is sound, except that Flashback will be our pritom. She has some extra valuable skills I plan to make use of. At first I really didn’t want to have so many people doing the infiltration. Now I’m understanding we can’t just have two or three rescuers walking blindly into the unknown. Maybe after you hear some of our capabilities you can help me revise our formation. I’ll outline some thoughts later after everyone recovers from the smackdown you gave them.”

  “I barely touched them!” she protested.

  “Plus, this was only hand-to-hand. We’ve got tons more options with the gear and weapons everyone’s bringing.”

  “Yes,” Jezrimeli’s eyes lit up. “I am looking forward to seeing Paladins in real battle. If the stories are even half accurate, this will be a show for the ages!”

  “I don’t know that I’d livestream this,” Derek mumbled.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kelli looked with pity at Ercianodhon as he held a fake image of her, which she was using to converse with him. Whatever his necromancy was supposed to be doing, it was doing it much more slowly than he believed. Kelli could feel the magic’s decaying affects within her, but she refused to believe it was irreversible.

  Sorvir had passed control of the shi’un to her just before being evicted by Ercianodhon, and his plea to her about remembering her lessons had resonated. She had quickly elevated the shi’un world into Lifishi’un. The spell she had desperately wanted to learn in order to create a dreamworld with memories of Ben, she was now using to create a dreamworld shared with a creature that wanted to murder her and her father.

  The curse he was weaving was incredibly powerful, but it was not focused, directed as it was at dream-Kelli. Ercianodhon was also not fully drawing on his own power, he only believed that he was. Real-Kelli was being very subtle with the Lifishi’un, allowing it to show the Goblin King exactly what he expected to see.

  She almost lost control of it all when he attacked her with that mindblast, somehow forcing decades of his pain to wash over her in an instant. The fact that his spell was misdirected spared her from the full effect, but what had hit her was enough to frighten her. Now, she almost lost control again as she listened to him speak to dream-Kelli: “You’re no sprite. You’re lying. Humans lie.”

  Despite the horrors he was responsible for, and despite the fact that he was trying to kill her by hurting her father, Kelli felt nothing but remorse towards him. Even now, this hate-filled creature was so lonely that he craved the touch of a person he despised. And while she knew how foolish it was for her to feel this way, she found herself regretting that she was deceiving him now, proving him right.

  “This… cannot be…”

  Shaken by the revelation that he was inviting the wrath of a Dragon on himself, Ercianodhon’s concentration blurred just enough that Kelli was able to spy and grab hold of the threads of blood element he had used to find her. Quickly tracing them back to the source, she found her father’s life force, but he was unconscious and unresponsive to her cries. At th
at moment, Kelli felt another presence.

  “You’re wielding the Birthright… you’re the Queen!” A red sprite-child suddenly appeared before her. “Highness!” she quickly bowed. “How did you find this place? How are you avoiding the King?”

  “Who are you?”

  “I am Kirama, Incerra’s guardian. Please forgive me, I beg you! The Goblin King has cursed me, I cannot disobey his commands! He forced me to give him power over your father’s blood so he could curse you!”

  “What is Incerra? I’m confused. Is my dad okay?”

  The elemental quickly summarized who and what she was, and what had happened with Kelli’s father, minus any graphic descriptions.

  “So, you saved him after… trying to kill him?”

  “It was unnecessary barbarism, my Queen. I could have taken control of his blood without violence, but the King would not allow anything but what I told you.” The sprite was crying now. “Please, please forgive me.”

  “But you’ve protected him, too, right?”

  “Yes and no. His body is fully healed, and will continue healing from further injury for several more days at least. But for humans, a side-effect of that-”

  “He’ll be asleep, maybe for years.”

  “For many, many years.”

  Kelli had gained considerable experience in healing during her time in shi’un, but she now remembered Krin’s warning when he had healed Derek’s nearly fatal-injuries. Humans were allergic to blood magic. Exposed to too much of it all at once, they fell into a slumber that could last centuries. Rip Van Winkle was based on an actual man unfortunate enough to get involved with one of Krin Ahgl’s adventures.

  “I need to get him back. Can you help me?”

  “As I am now, I am powerless to refuse Ercianodhon.”

  “How do we change that?”

  “I need a new master. Incerra’s power is nearly drained, so if I could bond with someone else before he manages to feed more dark element to it, I could break the curse and escape.”

  “Undine is bound to my friend Derek. Can you bind with me now the same way?”

  “Undine is free?” The sprite shook her head clear of the surprise. “We have to be in physical contact, Highness. But I will bond with anyone to break this curse. Unfortunately, no one in this castle will dare try to steal me from the King.”

  Kelli chewed her lip. “I wish Ben were here. But I know Derek has to be planning something.” She growled in frustration. “How can I talk to anyone outside of my Lifishi’un?”

  “I am sorry, Highness, I cannot help with that.”

  The Sprite Queen looked away. “Please, Derek, Devon. You have to help us.” Then she looked back at Kirama, thinking. “You’re in a castle?”

  “Yes, Gedaschen. The Goblin King’s castle.”

  “Geh-da-shin?” Kelli recognized the name literally meant your torment. “If we can manage to get someone to you, friends, allies, would you be able to help them find you and my dad?”

  “If they can cast a spell of blood element near me... yes, I believe I could track them that way. There is little enough healing magic happening here that I would notice it immediately. I am not truly bound to Ercianodhon, so I can move around on my own, but I am limited in how far I can be from Incerra.”

  “If I can find a way to get help to you, I will. Please, do what you can for my father.”

  “I will, my Queen! I will resist Ercianodhon in every way I can!”

  Fleeing back the way she came, Kelli resumed standing guard over the Goblin King. He had laid her dream-form down to begin pacing the empty shi’un space. She knew it was likely only a matter of time before he discovered the ruse, but for the moment he was consumed with fear at her revelation. He stopped every few moments to look down at her dying form before resuming his nervous pacing.

  Kelli decided to try her luck, speaking through her dream-form. The words came out weakly, just as Ercianodhon would expect them to. “We… could make a truce, Ercianodhon. Things don’t… don’t have to be like this.”

  The King stared at her, frowning. “Things can be no other way, child. You expect me to grovel before you because of who you chose to marry?”

  “I don’t want anything… but peace… and for my dad to be okay.”

  Ercianodhon placed his hands on his hips, standing silently for several long moments. “There is no saving you,” he said finally. “My curse will end your life. You should be dead already, but you have proved much stronger than I gave you credit for.

  “But it is possible to spare your father. I will need to unlink your life force from his before you die in order to save him, so you have until your last breath to convince me why sparing him will keep your husband from seeking revenge on me.”

  Real-Kelli closed her eyes in silent relief. “When you unlink us, would I… would I have enough time to wake up and dictate my will to my advisors? To write a letter to Ben? No matter his rage, he would never go against my wishes. If I told him to foster a truce with you, if I told him that is exactly what I want out of all this, he would do it.”

  The Goblin moved back to her dream-form and sat beside her, helping her roll over onto her back to look up at him. He stared into her dull green eyes, and Kelli made sure to make her own true eyes visible behind them. He was gauging her sincerity and her soul, and she wanted him to see it all, to see her genuine desire for peace.

  “I cannot imagine that your physical form is not already unreachable. In your condition, you cannot wake on your own. However…” he looked away, lost in thought. Kelli could see by the way his eyes darted from one direction to another that his mind was working out a solution. “I could force you to wake, and whatever time you have left —a half day, or a few breaths— would be yours to do as you need.”

  “And my dad?”

  He took a contemplative breath, looking away for a long moment before meeting her eyes again. “I will hand him over to the sprites. Alive and uninjured.” Dream-Kelli and Real-Kelli both close their eyes, her hope dying a quick death. The Goblin King was lying.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Derek was naturally fascinated by the battle platforms. “What kind of powerplant is driving these things? And what fuel?”

  “That’s all classified,” Valentine replied.

  “Come on, are you really gonna’ make me hack your networks to find out?”

  “You’d have to find them, first,” Sean rumbled.

  “Oh-ho, challenge accepted! But at least tell me these things have a cooler nickname than ‘VT-4’?”

  Valentine followed the vigilante closely as he moved around inspecting the tank like a gearhead popping engine hoods at a carshow. She ran her fingers through her hair, sighing. “We designated this model the ‘SENTRY’, but the troops prefer to call them ‘ValianTs’, after robots in some board game-”

  “Warhammer 40k is not ‘some board game’, ma’am,” one of the soldiers called over indignantly.

  “You guys are tabletop players? That is awesome,” Derek replied to the soldier. “If you can talk your bosses into letting me reverse-engineer this thing, I can design you some legit Space-Marine Knight armors-”

  “Please no,” Valentine groaned.

  Suddenly a voice shouted from backstage. “Dufangen!” Sorvir sprinted through the hallways onto the stage where everyone was gathered. “It has begun! The Goblin King has trapped the Queen’s spirit! I could not stop him!”

  The Hood’s eyes flared red, and he fought the urge to run to Kelli’s side. He couldn’t do anything for her here. He looked at Lumina. “It’s time to go.”

  “I agree,” the Paladin said, looking to Meshra, who nodded at the mystics.

  “Can the gates be opened now?” asked the vampyre.

  “We can send you and the humans into Matari now, but be warned it may be days before we have the strength to overcome the necromancers’ wards to open another gate there, at least one large enough to move this many troops. Whatever supplies you need, you must take them a
ll now, or go without until we recover.” The mystic looked at Lumina. “But getting you to Tirapan will be easier. We will open that gate as soon as you are ready and your government grants us permission.”

  Lumina nodded and walked away, weaving his illusion spell as he opened a radio link to Tirapan.

  Both teams showed their training and professionalism, gathering into formations they hadn’t even practiced, but arranging themselves and their equipment for rapid movement. One of the mystics began walking among everyone, refreshing and reinforcing the language spell that enabled everyone to understand each other.

  Derek quickly jogged to Sean and Marc before joining his team. He looked up at both of them. “Kelli’s important to the faeries, but more than that she’s a good, caring person. Please, do whatever you have to to get the Goblin King’s attention away from his castle so we can get her dad out.”

  “We’ll do what we can,” Sean replied. “Just make sure you move as quick as you can, too. I don’t like the idea of holding back against unfamiliar enemies. Especially enemies who cast magic spells. I’m not interested in being turned into a frog.”

  The rescue team departed first, entering Tirapan through an ethergate. The mages held the gate open to allow more Paladins to travel back through. Derek and his team took a moment to look around. Several Paladins wearing suits similar in nature to the ValianTs stood nearby, but Second-Mark Ennis was waving them off.

  “Disembark, men, we will not be deploying the Clavedrunes, after all! The humans have brought their own, leave these for the city’s defense!”

  Simultaneously, the Calvedrune armors popped open at the front, letting the Paladins within jump out. They quickly joined the group of Paladins moving equipment and weapons through the ethergate, which closed when everyone had gone through.

  Some kind of warehouse area with a concrete landing pad sat nearby. Paladins were running back and forth, moving boxes and crates near a large transport parked on the pad. Jezrimeli and Taryn were frozen for several heartbeats, taking in the wonder and strangeness of the city around them. Derek and Samantha were only slightly less awestruck, along with the elves who had first visited several weeks ago. Men ran over to the empty Clavedrunes and climbed into them. Closing up the hatches, the Clavedrunes began walking towards one of the warehouses, presumably to be stored until needed.