Grump & Rose

by Aaron Burdett

  "Please," Grump bellowed, more as a sad moan than an angry roar. "You can't ... you can't...."

  "Men, we ride." The knight kicked the fire. Hot embers sprayed Grump's face and singed his chest. Blood from the wound in his shoulder pooled around his knuckles.

  The humans rushed downhill, whistling for horses that came trotting from the ruins. Once they mounted their rides, they galloped toward Alberlilly. Just at the edge of earshot, Dain paused, the others gaining distance. He turned and flashed a smile as he snapped his fingers. "I do hope you suffer for what you've done, troll."

  Each link around Grump tightened. They squeezed him like a mighty boa would crush a field mouse. They jerked him to the ground, and there he lay, unable to move, barely able to breathe, only a single eye exposed through the coils to watch as the humans vanished into the woods.

  In the sky, the moon slowly dipped toward the horizon. A tear spilled from Grump's eye and dripped onto the ground.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Into the Woods

  "That's a nasty little cut in your shoulder," Boil whispered.

  Grump's eye shot open, frantically searching the ruins, each breath racked with pain from the chains crushing his ribs. The moon had dimmed and sky paled. Stars died beneath the light of a sun threatening its daily rise.

  Boil's big head melted into Grump's line of sight. The goblin's lips puckered as he looked Grump up and down. "Looks like you're in a bind. Get it? Chains? Bind?"

  "Not ... funny," he growled through the chains. His exposed eye widened. "Rose—where is Rose?"

  "Shhh!" Boil hissed, his little fingers prodding Grump's stony chains. "She's nearby. Nearly broke my back getting her from the barn to the ruins, but when I heard you roar I figured something awful went down and you needed my help. I've got her hidden in the ruins, but we've to get out of here fast. That howl of yours spooked the fair folk in town. I'm sure they've already got a patrol getting on horseback."

  Grump slumped with a sigh. "Safe. She's safe. I thought...."

  "I'd just abandon you? What kind of emperor would I make if I just abandoned my people all willy-nilly?" He folded his arms and shook his head. "Are these chains made of marble? That's odd."

  "The Order found me. The one who burned my garden. The one who destroyed my home. All my things. My things."

  He winced as his bulging muscles burned beneath the tightening chains. Boil put a finger to his lips and patted Grump's good shoulder. "Calm down! I should've known the Order would catch up to us, those sneaky little bog imps. They really want Rose, don't they?"

  "Of course they do. Everyone does."

  "True enough. Now let's see about these chains—"

  "Don't be such a fool, Boil! Just leave me. Save her. That's all that matters. Get to the Hordelands and get your wish."

  Boil's ears drooped. "You really do care about her, don't you?"

  "Why don't you ever listen? You can't save me. Go!"

  Boil rolled his eyes. He prodded one of the links, an enormous, milky square as big as his hand. He bent and sniffed it. "Yep, it's marble. Good stock, too."

  "They've blessed it in the fountains of—"

  Boil chomped down on the link, and it shattered into dusty pieces that flaked over his clothes and drifted around his feet. The constricting force coiling around Grump's arms and legs vanished as the chain loosened and sloughed to the ground.

  Grump shrugged the stone links off, wincing as the oozing cut in his shoulder blazed with pain each time he moved. He pressed a hand against the gash and kicked the chains away. "You just ate it? Just like that? How in the hells?"

  Boil shrugged. "I think they exaggerated on the purest marble bit. I've had better. This was a little too oaky for me."

  "You never told me you could eat rocks. Don't think I've ever heard of a goblin who could do that. The wizard enchant your teeth or something?"

  "Hah! I wish. Goblins like me just don't get out much, but we're not as rare as you'd think. You think we use shovels to dig our tunnels? No sir! We use our teeth." He wiped his lips and bowed toward the ruins. "Or at least we did. My goblin clan—"

  Grump grabbed Boil's hand and yanked him downhill. "You can tell me about your clan later. Where is Rose?"

  Boil grumbled a little protest before bouncing into the ruins of Old Carrika. "Not far! I didn't want to carry her uphill in case the humans were there or you were already dead. Seemed like too much work when I could just hide her, you know?"

  They came to the collapsed statue Grump remembered, an enormous pedestal holding two broken fee t surrounded by shattered bricks. Boil scampered into the rubble, slipping into a dark crevice. Grump passed his tongue across a tusk. He shifted on his feet and rubbed his knuckles. He waited.

  An ooph and an ugh escaped the rubble. Grump leaned forward. "Boil?"

  "Emperor give me strength because this girl is fat!"

  Boil tumbled from the stones, lugging Rose in his arms, his cheeks swelling with the effort. Grump bounded forward, crashing to his knees. "She's alive. Thank you. Thank you."

  "Here you go, buddy. All safe and sound. Just like I promised."

  Gingerly Grump lifted her from Boil's arms and pressed his sweaty cheek against hers. "Looks like Boil kept both of us safe tonight," he whispered.

  "Grump, we've got to go." The greenskin tugged on Grump's overalls and looked nervously toward Alberlilly. "There's a place we can hide in the forest for a few days until those hunters lose our trail. It'll give Rose a chance to get better, too."

  "Will we be safe?"

  Boil twisted around and winked. "Grump, with me you're always safe. Didn't I tell you that back at your garden?"

  "You did ... buddy." He closed his eyes and squeezed Rose. It felt so good to feel her warmth and the gentle thumping of her tiny heart.

  The pain in his shoulder faded to an echo. Boil darted through the ruins, leading them farther southwest. Once they passed out of the ruinous valley, the forest closed around them. A distant horn blared behind them, a hunting horn. Dain Shilayle would never give up the hunt, and next time they met, he wouldn't leave Grump for the sun. No, the next time they met, one of them would die.

  Grump and Boil searched for a cave at the bottom of a serpentine ravine surrounded by the dripping tentacles of oaks braiding in and out of the muddy slopes. Lichen hung from roots like thin emerald veils. Ferns dotted the slick sides walling the quiet brook from the rest of the world.

  Boil insisted the stream hid their tracks from Dain and his men, but Grump had his doubts. "It's almost morning, Boil." Grump winced as the paling sky began burning against his flesh. "They'll know I don't have much time to hide. They'll search here!"

  "Emperor save me, you're a bigger baby than Rose sometimes, you know that?"

  "I'm the one who's met this Dain. He won't give up, and he isn't stupid. This'll be the first place they look."

  "Fine, fine." Boil mumbled something, shoving his hand deep in a pocket. "I was gonna save this for an emergency, but you might be right. Any ordinary cave just won't do. We'll have to be a little smarter about where we stay the day."

  "This is an emergency, you daft goblin! Hurry up!"

  Boil pulled out a black bead. It glistened in the pale light. Something swirled within it, moved like a storm shrunk and trapped that desperately wanted freedom. He turned to a group of boulders clustered along the ravine wall, and with the flick of a wrist, tossed the bead at them.

  It shattered against the mossy stones and wind blasted from the rock. A swirling ring of black burst around them like the mouth of a thunderhead exploding from the horizon. Within it, a cave appeared. Boil motioned into the vortex. "After you."

  "Where is this taking us?"

  "Nowhere but here. We're just in a place ... between spaces, if I remember the wizard right."

  "I don't trust it," he said.

  The humans' hunting horn blasted the morning sky. The faintest horse's whiny tickled Grump's ears. Boil danced inside the vortex and spun
around. "Well, I'm staying in here. If you'll be so kind as to toss Rose in so we can wait it out, that would be wonderful. You're more than welcome to trust the humans will overlook you, but I'm not too keen on meeting them, no sir."

  Grump glowered at his friend and stomped through the portal. His ears popped, and his skin tingled. He shook off the feeling by rolling his shoulders and wriggling his fingers, then turned to the goblin. "I'm not a fan of all this mojo."

  Boil waved his hand, and the vortex stilled. The ravine beyond the portal remained, although it fluctuated and shifted like it was underwater.

  "It'll last a few days," Boil said. "Probably long enough to get them off our trail."

  Grump scratched his head and peered out the portal. "Can they see us? I can still see outside and everything."

  "See us? Hope not. That would kinda defeat the purpose."

  Yet another horn blast rocketed through the ravine. Grump edged back from the portal and tightened his grip on Rose. "That was close. Too close."

  Water splashed from beyond their sanctuary, just out of sight. Hooves clopped on smooth river stones.

  Boil grabbed Grump's hand, and together, they edged into the shadows. "They're here," Boil whispered.

  A horse appeared, a painted mare with a long, auburn mane plastered to its neck. Mud caked its legs from hooves to thighs. Dain sat upon its saddle wearing a hard look, his drenched beard plopping raindrops on his breastplate. He brandished two glistening swords and scowled at the forest with a dark rage seething in his eyes.

  Hunger thrashed in Grump's chest, and his heart slammed against his ribs. He growled low and licked a tusk, the veins in his forearm bulging from creeks to mighty rivers.

  The knight raised a hand. The horse stopped.

  Boil backhanded Grump's arm. "Keep quiet! They can't see, but they might hear."

  Grump fought his anger down, although his world was still tinged red. A second horse trotted into view, black as tar and just as shiny, ridden by the mage named Egan, who paused beside his master Dain. Together, they dismounted.

  "Boil, are you sure about this?" Grump whispered.

  "Sure is such an interesting word, don't you think?"

  Grump turned to the goblin, lips squished into a frustrated point. He pulled his hand from the goblin and grabbed his shovel.

  Dain kneeled in the brook. Water broke around his knees as he inspected the frigid, flowing bed. He lifted his gaze to the forest above and sniffed the air. "They were here. They're close."

  Egan rolled up his sleeve and revealed the shimmering gold patterns on his arms. He whispered soft words of magic that flowed from his lips like serpents through a field. His low notes slid into the cave and caressed Grump's ears. He grimaced, tensing as the magic swirled around him.

  "His magic will find me, Boil." Grump stepped toward the portal. "We'll be caught. I've got to surprise them while I can still control my mind."

  "No, Grump, trust me," he said, clawing for the shovel.

  Grump yanked it from his grasp and took another step closer to the fair folk. "I've got to save us. They'll find me. They always do."

  "Trust me, Grump. Stop. Please."

  He reached the vortex and pulled the shovel back. One mighty throw, and the blade would rip through the magical barrier and smash against the mage's skull. It was Grump's only chance.

  "I've got to do this," Grump repeated, his thoughts clouded by the Hunger's song.

  "No you don't. Listen to me. Be more than troll. Be Grump. I know you can do it."

  Grump squeezed the shovel. He swallowed. And then, he lowered the blade to the ground. "Be more than troll."

  "Thank the emperor," Boil sighed.

  The portal shifted, shimmering black. Egan's magic evaporated from the cave as his words faded, and the man lowered his hand.

  Grump stood barely a mouse's whisker from the shimmering gateway. The mage unrolled his sleeve and shook his head. "They were here, but no longer. I've lost the trail. Forgive me, Master."

  Dain turned toward the portal wearing a deep frown framed by his straw whiskers. He paused just before the vortex, so close that had the barrier not been there Grump would have smelled the human's sweat.

  Grump stared into the knight's eyes. He saw the scarlet veins ringing the human's bright pupils, the dirt layered over the man's nose, the scar slicing his brow from a battle long ago. Grump drove his shovel into the ground and lifted his palm to the portal. So close. He was so very close to the man who destroyed his home and all that was his.

  "You're just like them," Grump murmured. "You're human, but I see my brothers in your eyes, and I hate you for it."

  Dain's jaw tightened. A vein along his temple bulged. He straightened and turned to his horse. "Very well. The monster couldn't have gotten far. We must pick up the trail before nightfall. I smell another storm coming, and it will be worse than this."

  He mounted his steed and kicked its sides. The horse neighed and charged down the ravine. Other steeds mounted by the rest of his men pounded behind him, splashing mud and water in their wake. Soon, their hooves were nothing more than a fading thumping.

  Grump relaxed, expelling a heavy breath. He kissed Rose's brow and backed away from the portal. "Don't worry about him. I won't let him have you. Ever."

  "We're in the Hordelands now, Grump. We're too close to die at the wizard's doorstep."

  "Then I guess we'll have to make sure we get Rose to the wizard before I settle things with this knight." He patted his chest pocket. "Let's build a fire. I've got enough blossoms for Rose's sickness and I want her fever gone by tomorrow evening."

  Grump trudged to the back of the cave. He took a seat and went to work tearing petals from the wraith blooms. As Boil dug a pit for a fire, Grump couldn't help but remember the words Dain spoke on Temple Hill.

  There are no wizards in Oya.

  "Lying human," Grump murmured, smiling at Rose. "You'll be safe in the wizard's arms soon enough, and then I'll make sure this Dain never hurts anybody ever again."

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  Thimbleweed Among Friends

  For the next few days, Grump recovered from his wounds while the wraith blooms sapped the illness from Rose and cooled her raging fever. On the third day, Grump woke to a thick, itchy scab plastered over his gash. He rolled his shoulder, testing its stiffness.

  "You sure heal fast," Boil said. "I'm jealous."

  "Hunger's a curse but has its benefits. Trolls heal much faster than other greenskins and the fair folk." He squinted at the thin shimmering portal of night between their hidden cave and the world beyond. Three days passed since they fled to the cave, and no sign of Dain and his men ever disturbed them.

  Grump frowned at the portal. "This is a long time to stay so close to Carrika. The knight has a mage. He might be setting a trap for us, waiting for us to leave like a bowman sits in a tree and waits for the doe to wander by."

  "Not a chance. The creek covered our tracks, so even if they had hounds they'd lose our trail in the water." Boil tasted the air, smacking his lips like he was judging the flavor of a meal. "Air's wetter than it should be. A storm'll roll in tonight, and storms in the Hordeland forests are death traps for men on horses. They'll be forced on foot, confused, and alone. We'll be fine. I told you to trust me!"

  "Dain will find a way to find me. He will follow me until one of us is dead."

  "Humans are so dramatic. Not like us greenskins, no sir. We learn to forgive and forget. Why can't they?"

  "Because they're never satisfied and won't be until all of Oya bends to them. It's their own kind of Hunger."

  A bellicose thunderhead punctuated his words with distant, grumbling thunder. Shortly thereafter, rain hissed and battered the rocky creek bed. The trickling trail of water swelled into a swift, serpentine stream.

  Grump sat before the enchanted gateway, elbows on his legs and hands cradling his chin. Rain pounded the dark canopy beyond their sanctuary and streamed through spaces between the leaves. Lightn
ing cracked and lit the ravine in white, leaving rolling thunder in its wake.

  He turned, smiling at Rose. The infant slept on a bed of dried grass, her once sweaty, paled skin now fresh and tinted pink.

  "I used to love the storms when I was younger," Grump said. "I would climb the cypresses and leap into the sky and roar at the thunder. There's nothing like flying into the rain and embracing the wind. It's true freedom."

  Boil fed their fire with a little log. "I didn't even know storms existed until I was older. Not sure how I feel about them now. They hide the sun."

  "They also feed the plants that feed the livestock that feed us. After the sun, storms are the reason you and I walk the land."

  "Annoying though. I don't like getting wet and I...." He clenched his jaw and looked to the side. "I've never had much luck with water."

  "Was there water under your mountain?"

  Boil smirked and leaned against the cave wall, hands propping up the crown of his bald head. "Lakes and rivers and all that. Diggers didn't go near those much. They invited trouble. We were supposed to dig. That's all."

  "And trolls were supposed to kill." Grump stared into the flames. "What made you want to stop digging?"

  "I just stopped one day. Got fed up with it."

  Grump glanced at his friend from the corner of his eye. "I don't believe that for a second. But if you don't want to tell me, that's your business."

  "I don't."

  "Even after all we've been through?" Grump clenched and unclenched his fist. Why would a lowly digger just up and leave the safety of his mountain? Unless, of course, Boil was more than he implied.

  Dain's words haunted Grump. There are no wizards in Oya. There most certainly was a goblin horde.

  Boil sighed and looked to the ceiling. "I found a book. Well, maybe it found me. I haven't figured that out yet. But the book showed me a glimpse of the world beyond mine, of the sun and moon and the starry sky, of the creatures that walk on land instead of beneath it, of the miracles of what could be and not the ... awful of what is. I'd never dreamed before I found that book. That's all I did after."