by Kevin Culp
As I finished speaking, the army reached me. The hob that had been speaking had a large sword and swung it down hard as he reached me. As much force as he put into the swing, with Archaeus’ strength I was able to slap the blade aside with the back of my bare hand and drove my sword through his stomach as he became off-balanced. Zeus had bit into a goblins shoulder, picked him up, and threw him somewhere into the crowd.
Swords and spears bounced off Zeus’ hide and couldn’t pierce my skin. Between the two of us, we blocked most of the entrance of the cave but a few individuals tried to squeeze in behind us or thrust spears past us and the girls had to evade the attacks and put in a few of their own where they could reach. As time passed, the goblins became increasingly cautious about attacking us. They weren’t giving up, but their numbers slowed more out of caution than a lack of bodies.
We had killed about thirty of them and it looked like Kreego had killed fifteen or so off in the distance that the rest still hadn’t noticed were dead. Suddenly, there was a yell, and a fist went up in the center of the pack. I had just cut into the shoulder of a goblin but noticed that those behind them had stopped moving forward. I stopped and motioned for Zeus to stop his attack as well.
The one whose fist went up was probably the largest hobgoblin among the group. He slowly walked through the crowd to the front of the pack. He ended up face to face with me and looked me up and down. He was probably only two or three inches shorter than me so nearly six feet tall. His build was powerful with a barrel-like chest. There was a large axe in his left hand and his only armor was a bear fur. The head of the bear made a pauldron on his right shoulder.
He spoke in common either out of respect or not realizing I spoke his language. “I no claim be smart goblin, but me know strength when seen. You strong man and if kill you still demon behind. Me challenge demon. If win, you let through. If lose, my men surrender.”
I looked back at Korana. I was guessing she didn’t like the idea of being called a demon. This hobgoblin not only thought she was a demon but seemed to believe she was the most powerful among us and was just staying in back as a hidden weapon. This guy had seen me fight, so it somewhat bothered me that he wanted to fight someone he believed to be stronger than me.
“What makes you think she is the most powerful among us?”
“Me know power of demons. Not want men to die foolish.”
“I am the leader of this party and the strongest among us. How about you challenge me instead?”
“I not buy lies of demon man. Demons not serve, they rule. You strong man. Me sure you kill me, but not accept fight you.”
I thought about that for a moment. “If you think I would kill you, then why would you want to challenge someone you believe to be stronger than me?”
“It be the only way my men live. If me fight you, demon not honor and kill even if me win. Me fight demon, you not stop me men. If demon not accept challenge, we all fight, we all die.”
Part of me respected this guy to no end even knowing that he was likely the one in charge of this force responsible for kidnapping many humans. It was obvious he wasn’t lying. Truthfully, he was probably a strong hobgoblin, but even he didn’t seem to think he was that special. The reason for this challenge was the slim hope of saving his men. I only wish that he would let me fight him, so we could end this bloodshed now.
“Archaeus, let me fight him,” Korana said from behind me.
I looked back at her. “You know I can’t do that, Korana. I told so many people that I would keep you safe. I can’t just let you fight a hobgoblin general in a duel to the death.”
“You are expecting us to stand back and stay hidden while you fight a true demon that can kill in an instant, yet won’t let me stand against a hobgoblin warrior. I came on this trip to take on new challenges and grow my power. I feel that this challenge is one I want to meet head-on.”
“The reason I am the one fighting the demon alone isn’t that I don’t trust you, but because I am the only one who can fight it. Even Kreego who beat me in a 1v1 acknowledges that he can’t face it without fear of instant death. I am the obvious choice.”
“You are also the one that I have already heard stories of speaking on the value of life, and here I can spare many lives by defeating this one hobgoblin which is something that you can’t do. I know you want to keep me safe, but we also want good relations with the goblins from what you have said, and I’d say keeping them alive by honoring a challenge from one of their own is a place to start.”
Man, she had sound logic. To top it off, she was using a lot of the stuff I had said against me. I know she had also heard the story of me bringing Rin back from the dead and part of that included me discussing how absurd it was that you could put a monetary price on a life. I was almost annoyed with her logic. We had to kill all these goblins for no reason if she didn’t accept his challenge. Though if she lost, that also meant I would have to be a man of my word and let them through.
The hobgoblin stood there looking confused as we spoke. I wasn’t sure if he just wasn’t sure what we were speaking about, or if he thought this was some kind of trick to make him think I was the leader. Of course, I really was the leader, but he didn’t accept that. Korana was strong. I imagined that she likely didn’t gain the levels that Christina had because her higher Racial Character Level would mean she needed more experience to gain actual levels. To be honest, I would probably be a lot more confident if I could see her character sheet to confirm everything I had assumed about her.
I looked at Korana. “Do you think you can win?”
She nodded.
“I guess I’d be a bad teacher then if I stood in your way.”
“Thank you, Archaeus.”
Korana stepped forward. “I am not a demon, but I accept your challenge. My name is Korana. May I know yours?”
“Me name Torgar, Demon Korana.”
She looked a little annoyed. She had just told him she wasn’t a demon, though it didn’t surprise me he didn’t believe her. “I told you I am not a demon. I am a dragon. Are there any rules I need to know for this duel?”
“Me only use axe. You may use whatever foul magics or means of fighting you possess, Demon Korana.”
At this point, I half expected her to murder him just for continually calling her a demon. Truthfully, I wasn’t really certainly why he was so set on the concept of her being a demon. Korana walked out into the snow, and the goblins that had been standing there made way. Clearly, they planned to honor this challenge, or maybe they also just didn’t want to cross a demon.
“I’ll stick with my claws then.”
He moved in front of her and nodded. “If that claim is a ploy to distract me from your magic, know it will not work. Me prepared to face death you bring in whatever form it come.”
Watching the two stare each other down was kind of bizarre. She was more than a foot shorter than him and super thin and weak looking. He was nearly as tall as Archaeus and even more built wielding a giant axe. That being said, I could imagine that Korana’s appearance was as intimidating as it was beautiful. With her enormous silvery bat-like wings, razor-sharp claws, and powerful tail. I would never say it, but I could understand why he thought she was a demon. Also, if I had to put money on it, she was probably the stronger of the two despite appearances.
Suddenly, Torgar’s axe was in both hands and being brought up to swing down on Korana. He was much faster than I would have expected, but Korana easily sidestepped the blow. She lunged for him claws outstretched. They dug into the bear hide that formed his armor. She twisted her outstretched arms, and he jumped back.
It looked like she had hurt him slightly, but her hands had enough gore on them from the previous fight that I couldn’t tell if there was more than before. He spread his arms and roared. The veins across his body pulsed, and it almost looked like his muscles grew. Archaeus seemed to recognize what had happened. He was a Barbarian, and he had become enraged.
A barbarian’
s enrage ability was powerful. It allowed them to complete feats of strength that wouldn’t be possible to most humans. From a game perspective, it gave the person +6 to Strength and Constitution, but it gave a -4 penalty to Armor Rating. He would be easy to hit, but he would have more hit points, and his axe would be even more deadly.
“Korana, be careful!” I yelled.
Apparently, my warning came too late. He swung his axe from the side, and rather than dodging it, Korana tried to push the axe down with her hand. She was strong, but apparently not strong enough to stop the blow of an already strong Barbarian that was now enraged. The blade was pushed down slightly but made a solid connection with her hip. It was obvious that her scales stopped some of the force. He didn’t seem to cut into the bone, but blood quickly soaked the side of her body. She pushed the axe away, gripped her side, and took a step back just in time to avoid the following swing.
From there, Korana went on the defensive. He swung at her in a relentless onslaught, but she moved carefully and only tried to use her arms to deflect the blade when she obviously couldn’t avoid it entirely. That being said, she wasn’t attacking, and the blows she deflected were obviously jarring her arms and some of them connected to make shallow cuts near their intended target. I was wondering why she wasn’t using magic. She could easily sap his strength or shock him, especially with him being enraged, but she just stayed on the defensive.
The goblins in the crowd were cheering. It was obvious that they had been skeptical at first, but now they had confidence in their general and felt that victory was within their grasp. I couldn’t argue that if Korana refused to use her magic, then it was only a matter of time before this foe got the better of her.
He swung his axe at her from all directions. All she could do is keep retreating. Blood ran down her leg since she was no longer holding her side. She seemed to be trying to focus. Almost in a state of meditation. As much as she was retreating, I noticed there was a calm coming over her face that betrayed the seemingly obvious outcome of this battle. The hobgoblin swung his axe down with all his might.
“Korana!” Christina screamed.
I could have sworn I saw a flash of bright silver come over both her eyes. She didn’t move but swung her hands upward and clapped on to the sides of the blade with an incredible amount of strength. Her nails hit the sides of the blade and actually dug into the metal slightly. Her palms squeezed on it, and she brought the blade to a stop a hair's breadth from her face.
Torgar tried to push the axe down with all his might and the veins pulsed through his muscles even more than before. Rather than push the blade to the side and away from her face, I could see Korana straining to apply an enormous amount of force. There was a creaking sound and cracks started to form in the sides of the steel axe emanating from her nails. Torgar noticed and tried to jerk the axe back but it was too late. The axe’s head shattered between Korana’s hands.
Torgar looked at the weapon for a few moments stunned. He stared back at Korana who was breathing hard and had dropped the remnants of steel. His veins recessed back into his skin, he dropped the club he now held and fell to his knees.
“Torgar concede. Please honor duel and spare men, Demon Korana.”
She looked at him, exasperated. “First of all, stop calling me a demon. I am a half-dragon. Second of all, I have no intention of killing your men. I don’t even want to kill you unless you make me. Just get rid of your weapons and armor, and you may go into the city as we said originally.”
“But Torgar lost duel. Why you not kill me?”
“Life is precious. If you want to lose yours, find someone else to take it.”
“Torgar remember this, Not-Demon Korana.”
I found it interesting he suddenly spoke of himself in the third person. I felt it was likely a sign that he felt that losing this duel caused him to lose the right to use I or me.
Korana sighed but didn’t feel the need to address his Not-Demon comment. “Bring the captives with you, but make sure they are comfortable. Grennick already knows that Archaeus will pay the families to take care of them.”
“Grennick work with you?”
“Well, I don’t know him. Grennick has been working with Archaeus there.” She pointed to me as she said it.
“Torgar trust Grennick. Not-Demon Korana, need know, King’s Demon lot stronger than, Not-Demon Korana, Torgar think.”
“Well then, it’s good that I’m not the one that will fight him. As Archaeus told you, he is the one in charge. He is one of my mentors and is far more powerful than I am.”
“Well, he definitely need be. Men throw down weapons!”
I walked up to Korana and cast Cure II on her. “You did a great job Korana. I’m proud of you, and I’m sure Gregory would be as well.”
She nodded and walked over to stand by Christina.
From there, the rest of the goblins threw down their weapons. I could see that the captives were kept in cages. They were wearing rags and looked like they were freezing. When the goblins noticed that the men that had been holding the cages were dead behind them, they just shook their heads but weren’t surprised. If anything, it killed their morale even more, which was depressing, but hopefully, meant they wouldn’t try to fight again while we were here.
A few of the people in the cages looked injured. I wanted to use my healing on them, but I knew I needed to save it for the battle to come. The people looked like they would struggle to walk at this moment just from being cramped up in cages, malnourished, and cold for the last month, so I told the goblins to carry them into the cave.
“Korana, Christina, Phillip. Take Zeus and follow them. Make sure that the slaves are seen to, then take your positions as we discussed. Send Zeus back up when you are confident that these soldiers aren’t going to turn on you.”
They all nodded in agreement. A few of the goblins took the time to gather the dead before venturing into the cave. I stood there in the entrance, as the others retreated into the cave. The now blood-soaked landscape in front of me reminded of the battle to come. I stared off in the distance in the direction the previous group had come from. Soon enough, this would all come to an end one way or another.
Chapter 19
After a short while, Zeus appeared next to me. As the sun began to set, it started to get even colder. Kreego had sat with me for a short while when I was waiting for Zeus, but we still didn’t say much. Truthfully, there was a lot we needed to talk about, but we couldn’t. It made it hard to find anything to say when you physically couldn’t say what you needed to.
I stared out over the snow and thought about what was going to happen once this fight was over. Of course, we would return to Freid, and the Royal Army would see to it that the other captives made their way home, though many weren’t from the Varnelion Kingdom and could life really just go back to how it was. I had found Kreego now, but in a way I didn’t even expect. We found Christina’s mother, which was probably even more surprising than having found Kreego. However, Dan, Kara, and Caleb were still out there somewhere. I knew with Kara and Caleb I was looking for Lyra and Kraxis, but I still didn’t know what to expect for Dan. I felt he should be a god of some kind.
“They coming boss man,” Kreego said from somewhere out in the snow.
“Is the demon with them?”
“Yes, demon there and many hobs and gobs. They must meet other group. Lots and lots of hobs and gobs.”
“Okay. Just do what we talked about. Stay out of range of the demon and try to make sure the captives stay safe. The number of hobs and gobs shouldn’t make too much of a difference, but I’ll need to keep too many of them from getting past me. I don’t think too many will try, but you never know.”
“Got it, boss.”
“Zeus, retreat to Christina’s position. Keep them safe.”
He stared at me, and I saw the worry in his big puppy dog eyes as he turned to leave.
It was getting dark, so I heard them this time before I saw them. The s
now muffled their footsteps to some extent, but the thunderous sound of marching filled the air and echoed off the mountain. Kreego wasn’t lying when he said it was a big group.
I started noticing outlines of men marching through the snow when they were a few hundred feet away. I scanned the line of soldiers, and it didn’t take long to find my target. Amongst the outline that primarily consisted of goblins that were two and a half to three feet tall with the random five feet tall hobgoblin, there was a massive individual that even from here I could tell was at least eight feet tall. When they were about three hundred feet away, a booming voice that dwarfed that of the marching army filled the air.
“I see we have a flea in our little home.”
I tried to make my voice as loud and forceful as I could. “My name is Archaeus Alexander Velnir. I do not wish for there to be bloodshed between us, only to save those that you have taken. Please release them, and you have my word I will be on my way once they have all been brought together.”
The giant figure laughed, though he was still strolling forward. “Why would I listen to a little flea? I stand here with an army, and you are alone.”
“I have already killed many men. Your army is no threat to me, and I know that the army really isn’t necessary to you. This is just between you and me, and you can prevent the unnecessary loss of life on both sides by simply sparing those that have been taken.”
“It’s obvious that you have already taken Gurknille. I assume that means you defeated that foolish rogue, so you probably aren’t completely incompetent, but why would that make you think you could challenge me?”
A few of the men stumbled when the man mentioned that I had defeated the rogue. It was obvious that he meant Kreego who I hadn’t defeated, but they didn’t know that. Obviously, they recognized Kreego as a powerful individual and had to question whether they would want to fight someone who won against him. I wasn’t going to correct them on what had actually happened.