Goblin Apprentice

by Gerhard Gehrke

  “For the capture of a creature that might not be real.” Harold tugged on the bay doors but they were padlocked. “Blast it, where did that man go?”

  Alma went to one of the guards. “Your master—where is he?”

  “Said he was summoning help,” the man said.

  Vine stood back and kept an eye on both the warehouse’s front and the side alley. Blades sat on the edge of the loading dock. Alma watched the street, wondering what sort of help the slaver might summon, as they hadn’t made any kind of plan on what to do now that he had locked the warehouse up.

  Her question was answered some thirty minutes later with the arrival of several soldiers, with Commander Zane at the front of the column. The long sword on his belt bounced against his legs. His face was sweating and his eyes were bleary.

  The slaver trotted along beside him. “That’s them and that’s the woman. She had me seal up my entire warehouse with her mad story.”

  “What’s going on here?” Zane asked.

  Harold stepped forward. “We’re conducting business here, Commander, nothing more.”

  “They let something in!” the slaver said. “I heard my animals screaming. My livestock is being murdered! Arrest her and Harold and help me save my property.”

  “Commander,” Harold said, “nothing untoward is happening. We’re just controlling an escaped animal, which might not even be inside the warehouse. I’m sure you have more pressing duties to perform.”

  Zane dabbed his brow with a handkerchief. “Harold, if you’re here, there’s a reason that involves money. Now is when your business becomes my business. I don’t come out on calls like this without compensation.”

  Harold sighed. “Commander, this might be a bust. Nothing to be had for any of us. Let me compensate you with a couple of bottles from my own stash. White mule. Clean. Won’t make you blind like the bad batch going around down at Flinty’s.” He tried to put an arm around Zane, but the commander nudged him aside.

  Zane nodded at Alma. “If she’s here, it’s trouble. But it also might mean you have something worthy of my attention.”

  “We could use your men,” Alma said. “We have something trapped in there that’s worth plenty. But it’s dangerous.”

  “It’s a dragon,” Blades said with a smirk.

  “See, Commander?” the slaver said with a helpless gesture. “They came here with this story and then ordered me to close it up. I would have sent them packing but then I heard my livestock having a fit.”

  “And so you came to get me,” Zane said. “And how do you know it’s not just a dog in there? You have your guards.”

  “She was very convincing.”

  Zane shook his head. “A dragon? What nonsense. And I guess you didn’t actually see it?”

  The slaver didn’t have an answer.

  From inside, the goats continued to protest, but the animals had quieted some since the warehouse had been sealed up.

  “Well, something has your livestock upset,” Zane said. “A dragon, you say? I’ll send my men inside, but I’m extracting a toll from all of you for wasting my time. Let’s go.”

  Alma got in his way. “Commander, you have to believe me when I say you don’t want to go in there. If you could summon some crossbowmen—”

  “Right now I’m reconsidering arresting you. How you’re involved in this farce is beyond me. Step aside.”

  The slaver led the way down to the side entrance. Alma readied her bow and kept towards the rear.

  Only Blades trailed behind her. “Let’s get out of here,” he mouthed.

  “Wait. Just wait.”

  The wide alleyway was shared with a brewer. Empty kegs were stacked against the neighboring building. The entrance to the warehouse was up a raised loading platform. Using a flat piece of steel, the slaver pried a piece of wood away that had been hammered in place to seal the door.

  As the door opened, Harold stepped out of the way so Zane and his men could pass.

  The nearest guards had their spears pointed at the entrance but none wanted to be the first to enter. They had two crossbowmen with them. Both fumbled as they cocked their weapons.

  The commander marched to the door without hesitation.

  The slaver crouched and examined the ramp leading to the platform. There were gouges in the wood.

  “I didn’t notice these before.”

  “Don’t be afraid,” Commander Zane said. “My men are with you. See to your livestock.”

  The slaver and his two guards went in and the soldiers filed in after them. Zane stepped aside to allow his men to pass.

  “Commander,” Harold said. “Maybe it would be best to call your men back.”

  “Why Harold, you’re going to get me to believe you care,” Zane said. He drew his sword and positioned himself in the doorway, muttering something about dragons.

  Harold backed down the ramp and murmured, “How dangerous is this thing?”

  “If it makes it out, it will kill all of us,” Alma said. She remained at the bottom of the ramp and made sure she had a clear view of the entrance. At such a close range, she would only have time to fire a single arrow if the creature came bursting forth as it had from its cave.

  “And what of the soldiers inside? That’s a lot of men. Maybe they’ll kill it.”

  “Why don’t you see for yourself how it goes?” Blades asked.

  “If we close the door now, we might keep it inside and have a chance to do it my way,” Alma said. “But this is going to have to play itself out, isn’t it?”

  Harold got behind the two mercenaries and waited.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Spicy didn’t believe in prayers. Sure, the village elders would say them, intoning blessings upon the tribe and the village and a hunt or a harvest. Some spoke specifically to the moon or stars or the sun. His mother never bothered, and his father had only spoken them in an undertone, except when he believed no one was watching.

  But the moon, stars, and sun, while magnificent wonders, never inspired Spicy to try to talk to them or ask them for anything. Yet at that moment, listening to the frightened children whimper, he was prepared to beg anything that might listen for help.

  And what would Fath say when it saw him on his knees, beseeching a higher power that wasn’t him?

  “Please…” was all Spicy could manage before he realized he didn’t know what else to say.

  Perhaps thirty minutes had passed since the humans had sealed up the warehouse when a prying sound came from the sliding side door. It squeaked open. There were voices as men entered, their boots heavy.

  The slaver rounded the corner. He still clutched his clipboard. The keys were on his belt. He scanned the cages and the spaces beyond. “The animal pens are just past here. Looks like the goblins haven’t gotten out.”

  “What’s happening?” Spicy asked.

  “Be quiet,” the man said.

  His two burly guards followed and moved towards the animal pens. More men came after them holding spears and crossbows. The goats renewed their urgent bleats.

  “See anything?” a man called from the doorway.

  With the main doors closed, the warehouse still had many shadows. None of the men were spending much time looking up.

  Spicy whispered to the other cage. “Domino, Dill, the rest of you, listen. I want you to do something for me. I want you to close your eyes. Can you do that?”

  Rime nodded at Spicy. He gathered the children close. “Listen to what Spicy says. We’re going to huddle up now.”

  “That’s it. Close your eyes. Think about blackberry season. And pie. And going swimming when it gets hot. We’re going to do all those things again. But you have to think hard on it and try not to even see this place. Imagine for a moment that it doesn’t even exist.”

  The children huddled around Rime. Domino was trembling.

  “Domino, remember the words to ‘Ganjo the Goat’?” Spicy asked.

  She shook her head. Spicy licked his lips. But
the words to the song he had known since infancy weren’t coming to him. He managed to hum the tune. Domino closed her eyes and pressed her head against one of her sisters.

  Spicy stood on his toes to see.

  Fath made no sound as he slid down a support beam. The men beneath him filtered among the pigpens and goat corrals. He dropped, landing on top of a group of spearmen. Screams followed, along with the rending of leather and flesh.

  Other men in the warehouse began shouting in panic.

  The dragon vaulted across a pen and landed on top of a hutch. He spun and his tail lashed out. Something crunched. A man screamed in pain. Several more crashes followed. A man cried for help, while another shouted, “It’s here! I’ve got it! Someone—” before being cut off.

  The slaver ran past the cages, with one of his guards almost overtaking him as he tried to flee. The dragon launched past over the tops of the cages. The guard went down in a flurry of claws.

  Fath then pounced at the slaver.

  He caught the man just as he had almost made it out the sliding door. They vanished behind a partition near the exit. There came a wet slashing sound and a sickening series of snapping bones. Several parts were flung away, which mercifully landed in the shadows. Fath stuck his head over the partition, a belt in his mouth, which he flung. It landed on top of the bars of Spicy’s cage. It was covered in blood. The keys were still attached.

  Spicy grabbed for the keys but the belt and the ring holding them wouldn’t pass through the bars. Inch by inch, he pulled the keys along until he got them down to the keyhole.

  “Hurry,” Rime hissed.

  The dragon was on the move again, darting past and smashing into another soldier. Then Fath vanished. The sliding door to the outside remained open. Two guards made it out the door and he could hear their boots running down a wooden ramp.

  From his angle, Spicy couldn’t get the key into the lock. “Rime, help me with this.”

  Rime reached over but couldn’t get more than fingers through his own door.

  One of the soldiers came crawling past. He was panting and dragging badly mangled legs behind him. “Help me,” he gasped.

  “Hey!” Spicy called. “Open this cage and I’ll help you get out.”

  The soldier paused to stare at Spicy in disbelief. From somewhere in the darkness came the sound of movement. Talons clacking on the wood. It was coming closer.

  “This is your only chance. Turn this key and I’ll protect you. Otherwise, the dragon will kill you.”

  The soldier clawed his way to the cage. “Promise me. Promise you’ll keep that thing away from me.”

  The floor creaked. Fath was somewhere on the opposite side of the cage. The goblin children began to whimper. The man froze, his lips trembling.

  “It won’t hurt you if I’m with you,” Spicy said. “It’s here for me. If you let me out, you get to live.”

  The soldier turned the key and the lock clicked. Spicy shoved at the door, but there was a dragon in the way. Fath had slithered around the cage and settled down near the man. He studied the soldier. The hapless man scrambled away but his legs prevented him from moving far. Fath extended a long talon and stabbed the man in the thigh, pinning him to the floor. The soldier shrieked.

  “Fath, he helped us,” Spicy said. “I said I’d protect him.”

  A low grumble rose through the dragon’s body. Heat radiated from his skin. “You make too many promises.” Fath pulled the man towards him. The soldier scratched at the wood as he was drawn across the floor. The dragon pressed a palm on the man’s head and crushed it like an egg.

  Spicy stifled a scream. He felt his stomach churn and forced himself not to look at the dead soldier. With both hands against the cage door, he pushed it open. As he grabbed the keys and was trying to open the other cage, Fath knocked him to the floor.

  “You promised me a map.”

  “I’m going to get it. First I have to get them out.”

  The dragon lifted the keys from Spicy’s hand. “And then you’ll have your mewling pups to serve as an excuse. You’ve wasted time and my patience, apprentice.”

  A distant bell began ringing. It reminded Spicy of the village bells used to sound gatherings or warnings. Eel Port had a dragon in her midst.

  “There’s going to be more humans coming,” Spicy said. “I won’t leave my friends.”

  Fath lowered his face to Spicy and bared his teeth. His ruined eye was a messy hole still glistening with blood. The stench was suffocating. But then Fath let out a long sigh. The dragon moved past and headed towards the sliding door.

  “Where are you going?” Spicy asked.

  “It’s time I had a word with the humans. Because I’ve been wasting my breath with you.”

  “You can’t talk to them. They’ll lie, assuming they don’t just try to kill you.”

  “I’ve had my share of man words and goblin words—enough to know they all come out the same. Now be silent and come with me. You may still have a use in all this.”

  Spicy could only watch helplessly as the dragon slithered towards the exit, the keys dangling around one long talon. The others were still trapped in their cage with no way to get out.

  So he followed.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Two of the soldiers came scrambling out the sliding door and almost collided with Harold and Commander Zane. From inside came a great clamor, along with screaming and confused shouts.

  “What are you men doing?” Zane bellowed. “Get back in there! That’s an order!”

  Both men dropped their weapons as they fled. One shoved Harold aside. Alma saw the panic in the men’s eyes and stepped back as the two fled down the alley.

  “Want me to stop them?” Vine asked.

  “They’re not our men,” Alma said. “Be on your guard.”

  Blades started laughing. The more crashes and howls that echoed from within the warehouse, the louder he became. Soon he was in tears and barely able to stand.

  “Get it together,” Alma said.

  He paused to catch his breath. “You…you brought us here to catch that thing? You think another arrow, or another fifty arrows, will hurt it?”

  “I’ve taken an eye. Once I take the other one, it’ll be over.”

  “You’re crazy. What if it heals like a troll? What if you miss? What if you never hit it in the first place and only managed to piss it off? You’re just as bad as Lord, and I can’t believe you’ve brought me here just to die like we almost did at the cave. I’m done. I’m out.”

  Her attention was fixed on the doorway. “Walk away from me now and I’ll kill you.”

  “What, you believe we still owe it to you or any sense of military decorum to obey orders?”

  “Believe whatever you want. I’m done talking.”

  The warehouse fell silent. Only the animals were still in an uproar. Commander Zane had descended the ramp and he stared slack-jawed at the warehouse.

  “We need more men,” Zane said. He fidgeted with his sword. “There’s something in there.”

  “I need you to pick up that crossbow,” Alma said, nodding towards one of the abandoned weapons. “If this creature slips past us, we won’t have another chance to catch it.”

  Zane didn’t move. Harold studied Alma for a second before grabbing the weapon. He worked the top lever expertly and readied the bolt, which had fallen out when the weapon was dropped. “I thought you said we’d need more men.”

  “Everyone’s dead,” Commander Zane said in a stunned voice. “They’re all gone. What kind of animal is in there?”

  “Is this now worthy of your attention, Commander?” Alma asked.

  “I have to get more guards. Find hunters who know how to take down a bear.”

  “Dragon,” Blades corrected. “You’re not big on paying attention, are you? It’s not like anyone snuck a bear into town. Someone would have noticed that.”

  “Then how did it get here?”

  “On a boat which had a goblin on board
being dragged here by a troll. Right under the nose of your guards and through the harbor.”

  Commander Zane nodded as if the story was making sense. “It must be in the warehouse for the livestock.”

  “Perhaps,” Alma said. “But it goes where the goblin goes. And it won’t leave without it. If it gets out, there’s no knowing how many it will kill.”

  “We need…” Zane hesitated and looked at Alma hopefully.

  “You need to bring men here and put them under my command. And before that thing breaks out. But first, one of us has to close that door.”

  “I’ll do it,” Vine said.

  Alma almost stopped him. But none of the others appeared willing to move.

  Vine held his sword poised, ready to strike. He crept up the ramp. With one hand, he pushed the sliding door. It rolled noisily along its track. Just as the door had almost closed, a spear lying in the way blocked it. Vine bent to nudge the spear aside and a blast of steam erupted from the opening, engulfing the man.

  He let loose a hoarse cry and staggered and fell over the railing. A claw slammed the door back open. A dark shadow moved within but didn’t emerge. Vine was groaning in agony. Alma drew her bow back but there was no shot. The monster in the warehouse still wasn’t visible.

  The shadow let out a long growl. Commander Zane broke off and ran.

  “I see you, monster,” Alma said. “Surrender now, and we don’t burn the warehouse down with you inside.”

  The last thing Alma expected was laughter.

  The hard chuckle sent a shiver down her spine. Her arm holding the bowstring back began to tremble. She relaxed the bow. She knew the monster was intelligent. Lord must have known all along, even as he had been prepared to blow the dragon to bits with his bombs. During their final confrontation back at its cave, she had even heard it speak, though the logical part of her wanted to dismiss what she had heard as a trick of mimicry.

  “Archer,” the creature said. “Your men are lost and you stand alone. You think you can best me?”

  Alma realized Blades and Harold had run off. “Come through the door and find out. I took your one eye. You want to gamble that I can’t take the other?”