The Goblin and the Empire

by JD Cole

  The Heron’s captain beckoned to Kelli. A messenger pigeon was perched on his shoulder and the captain was holding a note. “Highness, there is an emissary from Jenshire wishing to greet a representative from Windham.” He pointed down to one of the small ethergates at a regally-dressed elf. “I thought you might like to know.”

  Kelli looked down to Dufangen. “I wonder what that’s about? I can go talk to him.”

  “It is customary for diplomats to meet with diplomats, Highness. Not the Crown. Sorvir would be the logical choice.”

  “Would it hurt anything if I talked to him?”

  Sorvir, standing nearby, barely managed to cover his laughter. The Faery Realm was in store for an interesting age with Kelli Ingram as its Queen.

  “No,” Dufangen sighed and began to weave an ethergate of her own.

  “I’d like to fly, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course you would,” the mystic muttered under her breath. “I will meet you down there,” she said aloud.

  The Sprite Queen lit her wings and drifted down to the gate, her feet dangling in her canvas shoes and her hands shoved deep into her hoodie’s pocket.

  The elf emissary stood at attention, watching with undisguised interest as the human girl slowly floated down to meet him. Dufangen opened her mouth to caution the queen about her very unlady-like appearance and posture… but decided after everything she’d been through, the Sprite Queen could afford a bit of lax decorum.

  “Hello,” Kelli greeted as she set foot in the grass. “I’m Queen Kelli. How can I help you?”

  The elf was clearly caught off-guard. “Uh, I mean, I, um… yes, Your Highness, I am here on behalf of Queen Jiya Tszunsilmar of Jenshire. On behalf of the vyzen kingdom, I congratulate you on your decisive victory against the Goblin King, and offer the Queen’s sincere thanks for freeing the slaves of Matari-”

  “Very interesting,” came a voice from behind the nearby ethergate. The emissary turned, and immediately knelt with his head bowed as Queen Jiya stepped through the magic portal. She was a beautiful ellh with dark auburn hair, dressed in elegant riding garments that clearly marked her as someone Very Rich and Very Important, and wore a gleaming silver crown speckled with priceless jewels.

  “Queen Jiya,” Dufangen offered a slight bow of her head.

  Kelli’s eyes widened. “Q-Queen Jiya?” She looked at Dufangen, mindspeaking, “What do I do? Do I bow?”

  “You do no such thing,” Dufangen silently barked in reply. “She is your subordinate.”

  “It-it’s an honor meet you!” Kelli held out her hand, which Jiya looked at quizzically. Kelli quickly withdrew her hand. “What can I do for you? I mean, I-”

  “Nothing, my dear!” the Elf Queen said. “I traveled to the gate hoping for a chance to see the fabled jimani queen, and here you are greeting my emissary! How… gracious of you.”

  Kelli was getting some serious higher-than-thou vibes from the queen, but forced herself to ignore it. “Thank you for bringing all these supplies,” she offered instead. “The refugees have been through so much, I know this means a lot to all of us.”

  The queen opened a paper fan and began fanning herself. “Yes, of course, Your Highness. Think nothing of it. Caring for all these refugees and finding a place for them is going to be quite the headache.” She stopped fanning and looked up at Kelli. “It is a welcome headache, of course. Matari was a stain on the Realm, I don’t mind saying I’m glad you finally destroyed it. Well, we both have much to do, but I look forward to meeting you again in Windham for your coronation. Until then, Majesty.” Jiya smiled warmly, then turned and walked back through the gate.

  The emissary looked up at Kelli. “Highness, as my Queen says, thank you for freeing the slaves. We are bringing supplies through and ask for patience as our mages begin weaving the gates for the landships. We should be ready to open them by early evening at the latest.”

  “That’s great news,” Kelli smiled. “Thank you very much!”

  The emissary, surprised again by Kelli’s candor, managed to smile in return before bowing and stepping through the ethergate.

  Kelli breathed out and looked at Dufangen. “I don’t think she likes me very much.”

  “Jiya does not like anyone very much,” the mystic replied. “She will be difficult for you to manage. But she is fair-minded and can be willing to compromise, as long as we set her mind at ease with your human lineage.”

  As the emissary had promised, the large ethergates that could accommodate landships began opening in the late afternoon sun, and the weary travelers began making their way into the elf capitol, Jenshire. The Second Matari War was over.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Two days later, a small group of faeries stood before a funeral pyre in Windham. The mystic council surrounded the wooden altar, atop which laid General Khun Rhee. Dufangen stood atop the altar next to her former love, holding her staff in both hands as she looked down at the gathered mourners.

  “All of you know who this great fae was. Everyone is familiar with the legend of Dragonheart, the powerful swayeveh who fought and won countless campaigns against the goblins, the trolls, and even the humans.

  “Everyone has heard of his selflessness, his loyalty, and his compassion. But what few have heard is that he possessed these qualities long before he acquired the power of a Dragon. The Illeyark is a rare creature. A Dragon convicted by his peers of heinous crimes. We mystics have several covenants with the mighty Dragons. One of them is that we provide them a prison if ever an Illeyark is convicted. Khun Rhee was betrothed to marry, and was looking forward to a promising apprenticeship that would have eventually led to a seat on the mystic council, when Kraayek performed his evil deed and was judged by the Dragon Elders.

  “There were forty of us back then, forty mystics who could have taken the duty. Several of them offered to take Khun’s place, eager to spare him the loss of such a promising, happy future. But he denied them all. It was his turn in the lottery, and he accepted his duty without hesitation.”

  Dufangen paused, allowing herself to remember.

  “The Dragons accepted their swayeveh, and the mystic council performed the ritual that stole Khun’s heart, his emotions. A mere mortal such as any of us cannot be granted the powers of a Dragon. Anger, Lust, Greed, Impatience… Love… Passion… everything that makes a mortal… weak… had to be stripped away.”

  Dufangen took a deep breath, then gestured to the guards at the great doorway. They opened it to allow in the Paladins, humans, and other faeries who were not allowed to hear the private history of Khun Rhee. The new crowd slowly gathered around the pyre before Dufangen continued.

  “Because of this great swayeveh’s sacrifice, the new Sprite Queen,” she pointed her staff down at Kelli, “is alive and ready to assume her throne, to continue her family’s rich tradition of protecting and enriching faery life!” Dufangen was shouting now, allowing a few lonely tears to flow. The mystics below her were stamping the base of their staffs against the ground in unison. “The slaves of Matari are now the free citizens of Jenshire and Mekerjh'rn! And the Goblin King has suffered the most crushing defeat of his life! Matari is no more!”

  The gathered faeries cheered loudly, and Dufangen stepped down off of the alter, taking her place with the rest of the mystic council. Together, they chanted a fire spell that consumed the pyre. Everyone present saluted the General one final time in the manner of their own people; elves and vampyres with fist over heart, humans with hand at their brow, dwarves with raised fists. Kelli walked up to the burning pyre and knelt on one knee, bowing her head.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there in time… I won’t forget what you did for us.”

  ~

  Sean Vox and Cynthia Valentine now sat at a table in a conference room for a final talk with their faery hosts, along with Lumina Ja'Gracin and Bartley Ja’Hellett from Tirapan. Queen Kelli sat in a plush chair at the head of the table, looking very uncomfortable with her p
osition.

  “We very much look forward to continuing these talks,” Brevha was addressing everyone at the close of the meeting. “And once again, General Vox, Dr. Valentine, we express our deepest gratitude for your help in rescuing our Queen, her father, and our fellow fae enslaved by the Goblin King.” The sprye turned to Lumina and Bartley. “The same to all of you. These events are the dawn of a new era between Windham and Tirapan.” Returning her attention to Sean, she gestured at Kelli. “I believe the Queen has some closing remarks before we dismiss and return you and your people home.”

  Kelli looked to her left, in the direction of her parents’ guest room upstairs. There was so much left to figure out, but she could only tend one thing at a time; as much as she hated it, her parents had to wait just a little longer. She stood and took a deep breath. “We’ve all got a lot of questions. There are things you can’t reveal to me yet,” she held her arm out towards Sean, “and there’s things you want to know that I can’t talk about just yet, either. I want us to be allies, and I believe we are. We have a common enemy. I can tell you what they are right now — they are called the Chek’than, and if we’re going to survive their next attack, we all need to be unified. Your world,” she pointed at Sean and Cynthia, “needs to stop the petty wars and recognize you are all one people.

  “My world, at the same time, needs to get a handle on the Goblin King’s insanity and overcome our grudge against humanity. One other thing I can reveal to you is that faeries and humans have met before, in the distant past. The result was a war of misunderstanding and greed. When our peoples finally meet again, I intend for us to meet on equal ground, as friends with common goals and interests, beginning with defending our solar system.”

  Kelli scooted her chair back with her knees so she could step out and begin walking around the table. “As you probably know, I grew up in Hawaii,” she began, recalling Derek’s deceit about this place being on Mars. Trust me here, she mindspoke to the faeries and Paladins in the room. Aloud, she continued, “The north shore on Oahu is my home. I’m kind of like Superman, I was sent to another world to save me from danger in this one. I consider Earth as much my world as the Faery Realm, and I will fight to protect it. But I’m not Superman, or even Supergirl. Heck, I’m not even Zatanna or Majik. I’m going to need your help,” she gestured at Sean and Cynthia again. Their blank stares told her they’d completely missed her comic book references. “You saved me and my dad. I’m forever grateful to you for helping us. I know politics back on Earth is stupid right now, even more stupid than usual. But you have to find a way to cut through all the BS and pave the way for us start building a relationship. I don’t know when that will happen, but I also don’t know when the Chek’than will attack again.” She stopped to let that sink in, standing near Sean’s seat. Finally, she extended her hand to him.

  Nodding, Sean stood and took her tiny hand between his large fingers. “Whatever else happens, Highness, you’ve got my commitment to fight against those aliens, those Chek’than. I’m confident I also speak for the rest of Strategic Sciences… what’s left of us, anyway.”

  Beside him, Dr. Valentine stood and nodded. “I’m very much looking forward to working with all of you.”

  Kelli began walking back to her seat. “Oh, one more thing. The Hood is my friend. Leave him alone. That’s not negotiable.”

  “You have my word,” Sean promised. “The last thing I want is to alienate an ally like him.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kassak and Nim stood at the front of the stage, near their human allies. Kassak looked over at Colonel Marc Tritt, who nodded approvingly at the young elf. Kassak smiled and turned his gaze forward. Suddenly, a large ethergate unfolded in front of them all, revealing the Strategic Sciences bunker and a squad of armed guards. In front of them, Prince Monwyn Moniscii, their willing “hostage”, stepped confidently through, bowing to greet Brevha as the human soldiers who’d fought for the sprites began shuffling through the gateway back to “Earth”, including their ValianTs and remaining mule drone.

  “I hope your stay was not too uncomfortable,” Brevha frowned apologetically.

  “On the contrary,” Monwyn said. “They were gracious hosts and entertaining conversationalists. Oh, and they have this splendid dish called a ‘Thai curry’ that I hope to teach our chefs to prepare.”

  ~

  As the humans were shuffling through the ethergate, Kassak craned his neck, looking for someone. Jezrimeli stepped in front of him, moving to say her farewells to a few of the humans… and then an ellh’s violet hair came into view. She was dressed in a black uniform just like the humans, but it was sized to her body. When Gemlorry smiled at him, Kassak broke into a sprint toward the gate, running through into the human world and lifting the ellh into a tight embrace.

  “I thought you were dead,” he cried into her chest, spinning her around before lowering her to feet and kissing her.

  The kiss surprised her, but Gemlorry quickly grasped the back of his head and pulled him in deeper. “I love you,” she said.

  “And I love you, Gemlorry!” he began pulling her toward home, but she tugged back.

  “I- I have to stay, Kassak.”

  “What? Why?”

  “It’s… it’s hard to explain. The humans and faeries are going to be coming together again, soon. Because of the star traveler who kidnapped the Queen.”

  “I know! So what? The quest is complete! We did it, you can come home now!”

  “I can’t,” she said again, her eyes tearing. “Something happened to me, Kassak, after I got left behind. And I don’t blame you! I was dying, I thought I was dead! You were right to leave me behind and save the Queen! But what happened to me, it made it so I can live among the humans. I have to learn as much as I can about them, so that I can help when our worlds come back together. This is important, Kassak, please understand! I’ve already talked to the humans and they agreed to let me stay. I’ve made up my mind, Kass. I will come back to you, but I have to do this first!”

  Kassak hesitated for a moment. “Then… I’ll stay with you. It’s fine, I can just-”

  “You can’t. What happened to me, it did something… made it so I can live without earth magic. You can’t. You wouldn’t survive up here with me. Please… just promise you’ll wait for me. I love you. I love you more than anything!”

  “What happened? What is it that changed you?”

  “It doesn’t matter… please just trust me!”

  Kassak shook his head, fighting back tears. It wasn’t fair to have to process all of this so soon and so quickly. He looked at her hand in his, then into her beautiful almond eyes. “Say you’ll marry me. I won’t let you go unless you say it.”

  Gemlorry’s heart stopped, and she leapt back into his arms, hooking both of her legs behind him and kissing his face over and over again. “I will marry you. I’ll make you my husband and you’ll raise my children! So wait for me!”

  Behind them, Nim suppressed a grin. “I told you she’s a harridan.”

  ~

  General Vox was the second to last soldier at the gate. He offered his hand to Kelli, who shook it. “I look forward to meeting you again, Your Highness.”

  “And hopefully next time,” she smiled, “it’s in a conference room with coffee and donuts instead of on a battlefield!”

  “Yes, let that please be the case,” he smiled back.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Kelli said, opening an ethergate to her stables. In the distance, Orion whinnied. “Not now, buddy, in a bit!” she called to him. Then she waved to a vampen stablehand. “Ithemar, bring him over, please?” Ithemar led the captured warhorse to Kelli’s ethergate, sans the demonic looking Claw Rider armor. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want to keep him,” Kelli said, “but if you want him, he’s yours.”

  Sean reached up to pet the warhorse, who neighed in recognition. “That’s very gracious. Would it be okay if he stayed here for the next time I visit? I don’t think my world would be very comfort
able for him. I don’t have anywhere for him to stretch his legs.”

  “Not a problem,” Kelli agreed. “He’ll be here waiting for you. What should we call him?”

  Sean thought for a moment. “I’ll call him Chetan.”

  “Chi-tenn?” Kelli repeated. “That’s a cool name, what does it mean?”

  “It means full of spirit.”

  “I like that,” Kelli grinned. “That’s a great name for a beauty like this!” She reached up to scratch at the huge animal’s neck. Chetan neighed in appreciation and nuzzled her hair with his nose. Kelli giggled as she was pushed around by the huge horse.

  Orion whinnied again, and Kelli looked back at him. “Oh, quit being jealous, you big baby! You know you’re my one and only!” She looked at the stablehand. “Okay, I guess we’ll be taking care of Chetan for the time being, Ithemar.”

  “As you wish, Highness,” the vampen smiled and bowed, leading Chetan by the reigns back to her stable as Kelli closed her ethergate.

  Sean looked at his sister, sighing as she all but made googly eyes at Taryn. “Now I just need to pry those two apart so we can go home.”

  “She’s welcome to stay,” Kelli offered. “Gemlorry is doing us a favor learning how to teach us how to merge faery culture with human. Samantha could do the same here. Just a thought.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure culture is what she’s itching to merge with,” Jezrimeli twirled her silver hair in her slender fingers.

  “Oy!” Samantha growled at her. “I heard that!” She raised her fist and extended her middle claw.

  Sean shook his head, groaning. “If you don’t mind the fact that she can travel here without your help, I’m willing to make her our official ambassador to the Faery Realm. It might make things easier.” He cocked his head at Taryn and Samantha whispering to each other. “Or more difficult. Who knows with those two?”