Grump & Rose

by Aaron Burdett

  He sprayed blood as the tentacles tensed, dragging him toward the frigid disc still held by Grump's shaking hand.

  Grump's arm strained with the force radiating from the necklace. The haunt whimpered.

  Grump stared in horror as the tentacles dragged Rahl to the disc. "I don't know how to stop it. I can't stop it!"

  A terrible heart-wrenching shriek ripped through the passage. The tentacles shot inside the disc, yanking Rahl with them.

  Grump lay on the floor in an empty hall. His chest heaved with his heavy breaths. His green skin was slick and glimmered with his sweat. He turned the necklace toward him. The rune on its face faded before his eyes.

  "What in the hells!" He chunked the jewelry like it carried a plague and vaulted to his feet.

  For a long while, he gawked at the disc, listening to his thunderous heartbeat. It wasn't until his pulse calmed to a roar that he heard the muffled shouting coming from the chief's room.

  "Elyse." Grump blinked the shock from his eyes. He wiped his palms on his overalls and checked on Rose. She was safe in the satchel and unaffected by the magic. "Thank the ancestors," Grump sighed, kicking up his shovel and snatching it midair.

  He ran to the doors and bashed them open. Inside, furs carpeted a circular room. Piles of gold coins and polished gems glittered in the flickering pink firelight shining from hanging skulls. At the back, nearly lost in shadow, stood a tall spiked column. Elyse was on her knees before it. Chains bound her bloodied wrists to the floor. Tear stains drew snaking lines down her sooty cheeks.

  "I killed him, Elyse. I don't kill. I...." He looked at his hands. "That power. It was a nightmare, but it was alive. He was afraid. He was my enemy, but he was afraid. What did I do?"

  "Gods be damned, who cares? What you did is brave, you fool of a troll!" Elyse looked over his shoulder. "Did no one else come with you?"

  "No." He saw the disappointment in Elyse's eyes, and his heart twisted. "I told them not to follow. It was too dangerous. They're freeing the other prisoners and waiting on us."

  The pained look faded from her stare, replaced by a practiced smile. "Oh, that makes sense. Of course. Now get over here and untie me before every haunt in Getshabal comes down on us. If we're quick, we can take the slave tunnels out and collapse the exit before they notice. Free me, and I'll show the way."

  Grump bolted to her. He didn't have the key, so he sheared the links with his bare hands. She ripped her arms free and cried out in relief. "Thank you. Oh gods, thank you!"

  Elyse fell into his arms and squeezed his chest. Grump instinctively pulled away, nearly tripping on a pile of rubies. "You're not ... afraid of me? But I'm a—"

  "Troll? Yes, I am quite aware. You were also brave enough to save me and my people when you could have slipped Rahl the draught and fled without us. Why would I fear a hero with such a pure heart? Now for the love of all that's holy, let's get out of this cursed place!"

  He nodded and slung his shovel onto his back. She stood and stumbled, falling into him once again.

  Grump caught her, holding her until she steadied. "Rahl was smarter and more paranoid than he looked, Elyse. I drugged a false chief."

  The color drained from her face. "And the real one? My people are in danger!"

  "They're safe. The real one is much worse than asleep. He's dead. At least I think he is. I hope he is."

  Her brows pinched together. "Grump, what did you do?"

  "I don't want to talk about it." He angrily shoved a finger at her chest. "You humans and your loose tongues. You nearly ruined our plan. So many people depended on you, but you just had to talk ill about Rahl. He told me he was about to cut that tongue of yours out and hang it around your neck. He wanted you to be an example."

  "You know nothing of who—" She held her words and marched ahead. "You know nothing of me. I will not bow to Rahl. I will not be his slave. I would rather die defiant than broken, and nothing will ever change that."

  Grump rolled his eyes. She marched into the hallway but paused beyond the door. "Grump?"

  "What?"

  "Why did you save me? You could've escaped without me. Easily."

  Grump sidestepped the necklace and followed Elyse up the passage. "I am troll. But I want to be more than troll. No troll would save the fair folk. That much is true. If I left you here, I'd know I'll never be more than troll. But if I saved you, maybe that means I could be something more. In a way, saving you saves me."

  "Your wisdom disarms me. I owe you a debt, tro—Grump." Elyse slowed just where the torchlight faded to black and looked him square in the eyes. "When I say I owe you a debt, I mean it. I will repay you one day. This is a solemn vow."

  Grump followed her into the shadows with a smirk on his face. "And what could a simple human do for me?"

  "Strange, I wondered the same thing about a troll a few days ago when one wandered into my prison looking for his goblin friend. Maybe we're more allies than we thought."

  "I have no allies. Don't need 'em."

  "Perhaps it's time you reconsider that position. This world has no shortage of enemies for a troll. When you gain an ally, treat them as preciously as a gem. Or perhaps in your case, treat them like, I don't know, a prize-winning radish."

  He chuckled at her words as they skidded into the feast hall. The haunts still slept soundly in various stages of crumpled comfort. At the far end, Boil danced on his heels as he rubbed his knuckles, his sweaty gaze fixed on the tunnel entrance.

  When he saw Grump, he groaned and clapped his hands. "You're alive! Is she…?"

  "I'm fine," Elyse said, walking calmly toward the false chief.

  Boil flashed a smile, but his eyes went to the satchel. Grump gave a slight nod to let his companion know Rose was fine.

  Elyse lingered over the haunt disguised as Rahl. The look in her eyes chilled Grump.

  "We must go, Elyse," he said. "The draught won't last forever. Your people will meet us in the tunnels near the exit."

  She whipped a serrated knife from the table and grabbed the haunt's jaw, jerking it toward the ceiling. The movement must have jarred the creature from his sleep, because his lids slowly peeled apart, his good eye a bleary and unfocused orb. "Troll ... You...."

  Metal glinted in the firelight as Elyse ripped the blade across his throat. The haunt gagged and rasped above a fan of wet crimson spewing from his throat.

  She kicked the gurgling haunt to the floor and spat. "He may not have been the real Rahl, but he looked close enough for me. This is the least I could do for everything they've done to us."

  Elyse threw the blade aside and strolled to the exit. As she passed Grump, she narrowed her eyes and placed a hand on his chest. "Monsters come in many forms, Grump. Even the fair folk have their share. If I thought you one, I could've made sure you suffered a similar fate as that haunt. Think about that the next time you think yourself a wicked creature."

  Grump and Boil shared a glance. The goblin smiled nervously and trailed after the woman. "She certainly is something."

  They flooded into narrow, filthy passages barely large enough to fit Grump's trollish frame. Just as Elyse said, the slave tunnels skirted the city and spilled into the vineyard, where they rejoined the humans.

  Slaves rushed around them like frightened trout. Their jittery group squeezed into the long tunnel, then finally, achingly to the chamber rising to the surface.

  "Is it safe up there?" a slave asked.

  "I'll figure it out," Boil squeaked, bounding onto the wall. "Gimme two whiffs of an elf's fart."

  The goblin disappeared up the tunnel. He returned with good news a few moments later. Night had just fallen, and there were no haunts in sight. Grump watched as the humans scurried up the jagged rock.

  He found himself rocking Rose. A silly thing to do, considering sleeping was the least of her problems. Nonetheless, there was a rightness to it, a warmth that soothed his nerves and calmed his Hunger almost as well as thimbleweed.

  Boil's familiar pitter-patter jar
red him from his thoughts. The greenskin beamed a toothy smile. "Grump, it's a nice, clear sky, and the moon looks so good I could kiss her. The humans need help collapsing the tunnel. Think you could lend a hand?"

  "Gladly."

  Together, they clambered toward the surface.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Poxes

  "Goodbye, Grump, and good luck in your endeavors." Elyse's gaze drifted to Rose's satchel. "Whatever they may be."

  Her people crowded behind her on the Ridge's steep western slope. Grump saw the anxiousness in their darting eyes and in their shuffling feet. Beyond Getshabal, they no longer had a common enemy in the haunts. Grump and Boil were the monsters now, and the crisp mountain winds peeled old hatreds open like the torn skin of an orange.

  "Where will you go now?" Grump asked.

  She stepped back, brushing a knotted strand behind her ear. Even as pathetically underfed, bruised, and beaten as she was, her shoulders never once drooped. "I have ... allies in Wren. The outer hamlets are just a few days north of here. If we hurry, we can reach Banwil-on-Estervale in three days or so. We'll be safe once we get there."

  He nodded and leaned against his shovel. "Boil says we head south."

  Boil flicked Grump's shin, shooting daggers with his scarlet eyes. "Grump!"

  "We can trust this one. I'm half a mind to trust her more than you, even."

  Elyse smirked and headed toward the other fair folk. "To the south, the Sighing Marshes border the Hordelands. You'll find a few free cities of miners and treasure hunters brave enough to dig through greenskin territory looking for gold or artifacts from the old ages. Keep on your guard. The people who live there will be far less kind than us. Many of them have lost loved ones to your hordes."

  "Then maybe they should stay away from our lands?" Boil suggested, slapping his arms on his chest.

  Grump nudged Boil with his leg. It was a light nudge for a troll. Nevertheless, the goblin nearly tumbled down the mountain. Grump caught his squealing companion and gave Elyse a nod of respect. "Good luck to you, Elyse. I hope you'll remember that not all of the greenskin are monsters at heart. I..." He sighed through his nostrils. "I'm sorry your mission to the East failed. I wish there was no war there. Believe me. I really, truly do."

  "It's better to have learned now than when we reached it. Now that I know both sides of the Ridge are in flames, perhaps we can do something about it. Mark my words, there is a calamity coming to Oya. Never have both East and West been so embroiled in war. I am even beginning to suspect the gate's destruction was more than an accident. Something wants us divided. Something wants us weak."

  He took a deep breath. The truth of his journey was on his lips. He wanted so badly to tell her of the wizard and Rose, but the look the goblin gave him stuffed those words right back down his throat. "Greenskins don't dabble in fair folk affairs, but I hope your war is short and your people safe."

  "Thank you." Elyse eyed him and Boil once again. She knew they weren't completely forthcoming. Then again, they were greenskins, and she was a human. It couldn't be expected they would sit and spill their secrets over tea.

  Elyse rejoined her people. She stiffened and thrust her shoulders back. She placed her hand on her chest and bowed deeply while her companions gasped at the sight.

  The woman straightened and lowered her arm. "We crossed paths for a reason, Grump. There is a part you and I will play together in whatever the future brings."

  "It was just an accident," Boil said, swatting the air.

  "There are no accidents, little greenskin." She nodded once again and turned her back, leaving them in the dusty winds high above the tree line.

  Grump chuckled. "Strange she should say that. I knew someone once who believed the same."

  "Humans overthink things too much if you ask me. You ready? Journey should be much easier now that we're across the Ridge."

  Unlike the dull, featureless rock of the Ridge's high peaks, mighty pines and aromatic firs carpeted the western slope, sweeping in a flowing blanket toward a distant marshland. Thin clouds rolled in casual coils through the starry sky. Even the moon shone in a tranquil silver, its eye half open to Oya.

  "She called it the Sighing Marshes," Grump said.

  Boil hopped to a lower ledge. "The last of the human territory before we reach friendly forests. These lands used to be wizard strongholds back in the days before their war. Now it's mostly wasteland and ruin."

  "At least until we get to the Hordelands, right?"

  "Of course! We're almost there, Grump. Can you believe it?"

  "It'll be dawn soon enough. There caves around these parts?"

  "Plenty to choose from. We get down to the trees and I'll find us a good one big enough for you, me, and a fire."

  True to his word, Boil found a decent cave nestled at the base of the slope. Grump took a heavy seat while the goblin lit tinder. Once the flames flickered and danced to life, Grump allowed himself his first, deep breath of the old kingdom air. When he noticed Boil staring, he frowned, his muscles tensing. "What?"

  "You didn't have to save me back there. Thank you for that."

  "Don't thank me for nothing." He rolled his shoulders and leaned against the cave wall. "But you do owe me. You're a goblin who's supposed to know the ins and outs of Oya. Yet there you went, knocking over an obvious trap like that damned cairn and nearly getting us both killed in the process."

  Boil flashed a toothy grin. "Hey, we're okay now, aren't we? I promise I'll pay you back. Greenskin's honor!"

  "Is greenskin honor a thing? I don't think it's a thing."

  "Oh look, Grump's got his infamous humor back! Good to see the tunnels didn't dampen it. But since you asked, yes, some of us greenskins do have a little honor. The other digger goblins—ones like me, mind you, not the ones you've probably heard about—now, some of them are good at heart." Boil mashed his lips together and stared into the fire. "Some of them. Kind of like humans and trolls, I guess. We've all got monsters in our dens. But we've all got friends who make us better than we are, too."

  Grump pulled Rose from the satchel and cradled the infant. The campfire rolled warmth in gentle waves over his knees, stirring memories of the gorge in Farlain. He very nearly took out his pipe and smoked his bowl of thimbleweed, but reconsidered. It didn't feel right—not yet. "Why're you doing all this? What made you want to dig out of your mountain and leave your horde?"

  "You know why. I've got a wish I need granting, and I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen. I've got a debt to pay."

  "That can't be the only reason. C'mon. Spill it."

  Boil interlaced his fingers and buried them in his lap. He scooted toward the fire, eyes still locked onto flames that hissed and whipped with the intermittent breeze. "Back home, we don't call it underground. We call it the under mountain, and that's where they stick us from when we're born until the day we die. In the under mountain, gold's the only thing that matters. But we don't get any of it, you see. That's all for them, for the high clans. Diggers dig. Then, they die. I wanted more."

  "Don't we all."

  "More than most!" His eyes darted up, locking on Grump. "I'm gonna make a new goblin kingdom. What the high clans have done is wrong. I know it in my heart. I'm going to start a new clan, a new empire for all the goblins. Dig if you want gold, but live if you want to live! We deserve to see the sky. We deserve to see the sun!"

  Grump stroked one of his tusks and looked beyond the cave mouth. The stars faded against the paling sky. "Don't we all," he repeated, glancing back to the fire.

  Boil pursed his lips to a side. "You want to see the sun too?"

  "I'm a gardener, Boil. It's my curse." He ran his fingers along the scar on his chest. "One of them, anyway. Do you know how hard it is to grow something when you have no idea where the sun shines? When I came to the Russet Woods, it was years of one failure after another until I finally grew something I could be proud of, mostly because I'd never know where the damned sun shined."

&nb
sp; He laughed at the memories of those early years in the woods, bumbling around like a fool from one failed plot to the next. "Those were the days," he said with a grin.

  "How much of the sun have you seen?"

  "I dunno. Some nights, I would climb a redwood near my cave and watch the horizon over the plains. The sky is so dark at first. Then, it pales and purples like a bruise. I've stayed up long enough to see the purple smolder to orange and red, but ... it hurts then. I can feel my skin harden, my muscles stiffen like they were wood and not flesh."

  "I passed a stoned troll once. He didn't look too happy to see the sun."

  "What does it look like?"

  Boil leaned back on his palms. "It looks like a troll, but all rocky and with moss and bird poop."

  "No, not a stoned troll, you ninny. The sun. Tell me about the sun."

  A little grin turned Boil's lips into a crescent, and his eyes lit up. "Oh, Grump, it's the most wonderful thing! Imagine a fire, but it's not a fire. Imagine gold, but it's not gold. Imagine a gem, but it's not a gem. It's all those things and so much more. It turns the black sky blue and drowns the stars. It makes your skin warm all over and gives you a smile on a bad day."

  Grump frowned and dipped his chin. The sun sounded beautiful, and he hated it because he could never see it.

  "It melts the winter snows and makes flowers bloom. It's everything. It's—" Boil cut his words short, his ears drooping. "I'm sorry. I know you want to see it. Maybe you will one day if you try hard enough."

  "Try hard enough?" Grump bellowed a laugh and slapped the ground. "You're a funny greenskin."

  "There's always a way. Maybe the wizard can help?"

  "That's not my wish," Grump said flatly.

  "Fine, fine."

  They sat in silence for a moment. Boil threw a twig into the fire and watched it curl into a blazing shepherd's crook. He huffed and looked up. "So you know I want to start a new goblin empire. What do you want when this is all said and done?"

  "I want a garden that no filthy human will ever destroy. And then I want everyone to leave me alone."

  It wasn't the truth, but the goblin would never know the one thing above all else his soul desired, the one terrible regret he would give anything to undo.