"It would be too easy," Grump said.
He grabbed Dain's hand with his free one. And if I kill him, then troll is all I'll ever be.
Grump squeezed the human's wrist and pulled Dain onto the bridge. "The way of things is wrong, and I am more than troll."
"No, you aren't. Kill the troll!" Dain released the shovel and ripped a dagger from his belt, slashing it across Grump's forearm before he could react. Grump bellowed as his grip on the human vanished under the flash of pain.
Dain reeled backwards. One boot slipped into the open, followed by the other, and Dain Shilayle tumbled screaming into the canyon.
Grump pivoted on his heel, bending low as his foot pummeled the bridge with all the vicious strength he could muster. He bounded toward the tower waiting on the other side.
Arrows flew. Bolts whirred. One thudded in his thigh. The pain was dull, numbed by his Hunger and adrenaline. He leapt, soaring the last of the distance amidst a maelstrom of wood and steel.
Grump crashed onto the other side. He tucked Rose's satchel against his chest and rolled over the rough stones that cut and scraped his flesh. Palms slamming on the rocks, he vaulted to his feet and dove behind a boulder while steely death raced around him.
"They won't follow," Boil said.
Grump cursed, nearly leaping back into the open. The little greenskin blinked at him from the boulder's shadow, flicking blood from his dagger onto the rocks.
"Ancestors alive you nearly scared the skin right off me!" Grump wiped his bloody palm along his overalls and took a deep breath. "How do you know they won't follow?"
"Because they can't. They're from the Order, and no one who's loyal to them can come onto the mountain. My wizard made sure of it." His words were soft and low, barely audible even to Grump's ears. "We're safe here now. Just a little closer, and we'll be out of range of their arrows."
They waited in the shadows until the arrows died, watching the sky pale. Morning would come soon. Very soon. His wounds were deep, his strength fading, but with some rest, he would heal.
"Sun's up soon," he said. "Don't want to turn to stone at the tower's doorstep. Let's summon this wizard okay, buddy?"
Boil swallowed. He looked to Grump while he wrung his hands. "You saved my life once. I think you would save it many more times if you had to make the choice."
"You've done the same for me. Don't forget. It's what friends do."
"You're not a monster, Grump, no matter what they say."
"Can we hug it out later? We're at the tower. We've done it, Boil! We really did it!"
"I mean it. Even at your worst, you've always been better than everyone else."
Boil smiled and bowed, backing toward the tower with one small step after another. Grump trailed behind him, ducking to avoid any arrows the knights might send their way.
"I did it, Teacher," Grump whispered. "I made it. This time, I didn't fail you. This time, I was more than troll."
As the tower's chill shadow swallowed him, his scar itched so fiercely he slowed to scratch it. She would have been proud of him that night. If only she could have been there to see it.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
The Wizard of Grand Mountain
The twisted, broken spire of the wizard's tower loomed before Grump. He swallowed, gently pulling Rose from her satchel and placing her softly into the crook of his arm. He squeezed her caterpillar fingers a little tighter than usual and kissed her brow. This might very well be goodbye, so he took a minute to commit every curve, color, and crease of her to memory.
Boil paused before the tower and turned. "Grump?"
He nodded, pressing Rose against his chest. "I'm coming, buddy."
Chill sweat rolled in lines down his shoulders, down his back, and stung the bleeding gashes crisscrossing his flesh. The world was oily at the edges of his vision. Now that Dain was dead, now that the wizard's tower waited before him, all the pain, exhaustion, and soreness buried in every fiber of his being came leaking out like the slow roll of sap from deep within an ancient aspen's heart.
He looked to the sky. Already stars died before the rising sun.
Despite it all, Grump managed a smile. Rose would be in a better place soon, with a better teacher than he could ever be. Boil would have his wish. And Grump would never, ever harm another. Tonight was more than a goodbye to Rose. It was a goodbye to the him he hated. The Grump that woke tomorrow night would be wholly changed from the one who went to sleep at sunrise. Forgive me, Teacher, because I know my wish is selfish. You told me once that I was more than my Hunger. I want to be more, and this is the only way.
"Grump, what was your first wish?" Boil asked.
Grump shook his head and looked to his little friend. "It doesn't matter. It's not the wish I'm making. Besides, I think she wouldn't like it if I made the wish now. I feel like she'd be angry."
"So it was for someone you loved, to bring her back?"
He took a deep breath. "Yes," he said with the slightest nod. "But I can't—I just can't. It was her time back then, the end of her story the night she told me goodbye. When you told me the wizard could grant my wish, I wanted to use it to bring her back because I blamed myself for—I blamed myself for everything. The wish you offered, I thought maybe it could fix my mistake, but now I don't think it would. She's moved on. It's time I moved on, too."
"But you said yourself we'd always be hunted. Men, elves, dwarves, even the fae will hate greenskins like us. If you can't defend yourself, they'll kill you. You know it's true."
"Then let my garden be my grave, because I'm damned tired of this trollish rage. I'm tired of the thirst for blood. I'm tired of the song of violence. I want peace. I want silence."
Boil stared at Grump a moment longer. "You'll always be my friend, Grump. Always."
"Thank you." Grump laughed and shoved his chin toward the tower's empty doorway. "Now bring that wizard here."
The goblin steeled himself, a lump traveling down his throat. "Right."
He stuck his fingers to his lips and whistled. A tiny whine rolled into the night and curled lazily through the air in tranquil rolling notes. The sound filled the gorge. It echoed up the mountain and through the dark forest.
All the world was silence as it listened to the flowing tune. Even the wind bowed before the goblin's enchanting melody.
Warmth washed over Grump. He rocked on his heels and closed his eyes, humming the little song—the only song—he remembered, the one his mother sang so long ago before she joined their ancestors in the starry sky. As Grump's humming grew into that song, Boil's notes matched his, and for a blessed moment, the forest flowed with the harmony of a greenskin lullaby.
"What a beautiful song," a woman whispered, her voice carried on wind coming from the tower. No—it was the wind, soft and deep and low, but from fair folk lips. There was power in the words, vast like the deepest blue of a sea where the sun could never shine.
Boil's whistling quieted, and Grump's song faded. His eyes opened. Before him, the wizard of Grand Mountain appeared.
Hair spun from moonlight flowed over her shoulders. Her skin was pale and softly glowing, and her round eyes sparkled like sapphires set before holy candles.
Lips like wet rose petals parted in a smile, and she lifted a hand in greeting so gracefully an elvish princess would blush with envy. The wizard surveyed Grump and Boil with the kind of pleasant grin a mother gives her children to let them know how much she cares. "Welcome to Grand Mountain, oh weary travelers. I am the wizard of this indomitable peak, Sahdira."
"Hello, Master," Boil murmured, falling to a knee.
Sahdira's smile widened, displaying a row of immaculate porcelain teeth framed by her ruby lips. "My loyal servant. I knew above all others dwelling within the mountain, you alone would succeed. You will make a great emperor of clans one day soon, Boil of the Under Mountain."
Boil blushed and stood. "Thank you."
"And who might your companion be?"
The warmth, the radianc
e washing from each word she spoke embraced Grump. His bleeding wounds sealed, becoming itchy scabs instead of gashes. Grump raised his once torn wrist and flexed his stiff fingers. "My name is Grump Bulderbag from the Russet Woods."
She chuckled, and the sound was a thousand silver bells playing a beautiful chorus. "Grump. Such simple names, the greenskins give their children. I enjoy simplicity. There is a certain beauty in it."
"My wounds were bleeding? Now—"
"I healed them. It is the very least I can do to one who risked so much to bring me what is rightfully mine."
What is mine.
The words lingered in his thoughts like sticky honey. Sahdira's gaze drifted to Rose. "But healing wounds is the least of the gifts I can bestow upon you, child of moon and stars. Should you desire it, I will craft a crown of bones for you that will rise above all others. You, Grump Bulderbag, shall be Chief of Chiefs, if you so desire it, and your tribe will rule eternal."
She opened her palm, and above it moonlight coalesced into a spinning crown of palest bones carved into sharp tips like the fangs of an ancient dragon. A ruby the size of Grump's fist glimmered in the crown, and he knew in his heart that gem would crush the free will of all his kin.
"I could end their violence," he whispered, reaching for it.
"You could make them yours. Yours."
Mine.
"They will hang on your every word," Sahdira sighed. "They will obey, and you will command. Give me the child, and become the troll you were always meant to be."
"The troll I was meant to be...." Grump's hand lingered just before the floating crown. "But I was never meant to be that troll."
He lowered his hand. He failed Teacher once. He would not fail her again. "I won't enslave my own kind. I don't want to become Chief of Chiefs, and I will not wear a crown of bones that chains free wills to mine."
Sahdira snapped, and the crown burst into a rabble of silvery moths flitting toward the fading moon. The wizard's smile flattened, and while it was just the barest of dipping, the air chilled around them. "This is not the gift you desire?"
Grump took a step back from the tower. "Why do you want Rose, mighty wizard?"
Boil bit his lip and wrung his hands, staring at Grump with pleading eyes. Grump ignored his friend and waited for her answer.
"She and I are linked, not just through our power, but through our past, and through our future. Together we mean to protect Oya from the other wizards of the world. The Torn Ocean heals, but perhaps with this child I can tear it again and keep all of us safe."
"But what will you do with her?" he asked.
She cocked her head ever so slightly and slowly rolled a perfect tongue across her lips. "Does it matter? The Ebon Robes and the Amber Circle will return if the ocean heals, and the child is key to stopping them. I must mark her with my power, make her my own, and make Oya safe for eternity."
"Ruled by Sahdira of Grand Mountain, no doubt."
"So?" Irritation edged into her voice. "Long ago I sacrificed my body to keep this land safe. I waited, buried in the chamber of this mountain's heart, my will keeping greenskins like you safe from the dangers beyond Oya's shores. Rule is my right. I have paid the price more than you can ever imagine."
"You sacrificed your power to tear the ocean?" Grump tightened his hold on Rose. "And what sacrifice will keep it torn this time, I wonder?"
"Troll, you may think yourself clever, but you know nothing of magic. Give her to me. Dawn approaches, and your time grows short. Trust me in this."
"I just don't want her to get hurt," he said.
"Do you think a troll could offer the child the life you imagine for her? You stand before my doorstep, half dead, soaked in blood and staining her skin with it. Your life is violence, and that is all it will ever be. How many have you killed? How many who loved you died because of you? Your family? Your friends?"
Grump closed his eyes and swallowed. Sahdira spoke true. His life would always dwell in the shadow of violence, and if he did love Rose, he would let her go, just like he had to let Teacher go. Just like he had to let everything go.
"Goodbye," he whispered. "I'll always remember you."
Boil watched Grump extend his hand toward Sahdira, the infant curled in his massive, mottled palm so insignificant compared to the brawny troll. He bit hard on his lip and dug his heel into the ground.
This is how it should be. We've won. We did it, Boil told himself.
He would have Ember back. Sahdira would grant his wish, and together Boil and his love would start their own goblin clan. Yet, there was a voice inside him that spoke different words, whispered different truths. Strangely, it wasn't his voice that made the whispers, but Urt's, that crabby old greenskin who hated all of Boil's dreams and fanciful ambitions.
The wizard denied will rise again.
The story might have been nothing but the ravings of a mad goblin, and up until now Boil had completely forgotten the story Urt told them in the cavern so long ago.
And in her wake, the world will burn.
Sahdira reached for Rose. Tears rolled down Grump's wide cheeks.
Boil was suddenly back before the mine masters as they emptied their bladders on his head. Useless. Mocked. And like that first lance of lightning that heralds the storm, Boil realized that a digger was all he'd ever been, from his birth to that very moment at the foot of the wizard's tower, nothing more than a worthless tool for someone else's pleasure. The mine masters might have changed from goblins to wizards, but they were masters nonetheless.
There were only two people in Oya who ever treated him like anything more than a lowly digger—Ember and Grump. In that instant, Boil knew there was only one way to ever rid himself of masters.
He slipped a hand into his pocket. His fingers clasped the hilt of his dagger. You'll do great things, Grump.
Boil's gaze hardened, shifting toward Sahdira. His knife tasted the mountain air. See you soon, Ember.
"It's a trick!" Boil shouted. "Run, Grump. RUN!"
Grump snarled, jerking Rose to his chest. He looked to his friend as Sahdira did the same, poison in her sapphire eyes. Boil's steel shimmered like a shard of starlight. He slashed his blade through the wizard's flowing gown and glanced her leg. Crimson bloomed on the ivory robe as her wail pierced the night and nearly sent Grump crashing to his knees.
"Insolent, filthy goblin!" Sahdira shrieked, raising her hand.
"My friend will stop you. He always does what's best!" Boil flashed his toothy grin at Grump. "Tell them about me, buddy."
In a single, terrifyingly powerful swipe, Sahdira's hand smashed down on the goblin.
Her knuckles cracked his jaw, sending him flying back. Boil's head spun, and his neck snapped. He landed at Grump's feet, two lifeless red eyes staring at the troll towering over him.
The blood drained from Grump's face as he stumbled back. "Boil? Boil!"
Sahdira's form writhed and twisted like ribbons in the wind. Her flowing gown and silken hair burned and peeled away.
Grump roared, tearing the shovel from his back. He scooped up Boil's body and edged from the tower, shovel's tip aimed at the wizard's heart. "Illusions fade when blood's spilled. You wanted to hurt Rose." Tears of mourning turned hot. "You're an evil wizard!"
The wizard's hair melted from moonlit wax to oily black. And while her skin was still pale as a daisy's petal, her bright eyes now became pools of terrifying onyx. Gold and gems hung in heavy chains around her slender neck, and the glittering jewels reflected starlight from the rings weighing her thin fingers. The robe of moonlight she wore become one of a starless night, its hem writhing over the ground like tentacles searching for a meal.
She laughed, and there was poison in the notes. Sahdira placed a hand over her chest, puckering her lips. "And why should you care, troll? Your kind served mine. You fought for the Ebon Robes. We are the same, you and I. You are a child of the darkness, and I your mother. Come to me. Come."
"You murdered my friend." Hunger i
gnited his blood, and his muscles bulged. His freshly-scabbed wounds oozed blood. "You'll pay for killing him."
"That pathetic goblin was worthless! The poor creature actually thought I would make him an emperor," she laughed. "No one follows a goblin!"
"I'll never let you have her!" Grump backed into the boulder where he and Boil took shelter from the human arrows and bolts only moments ago.
Sahdira straightened, growing in height until she lorded over Grump. "You could have been great, Grump Bulderbag. Instead, you'll be forgotten."
The wizard casually swiped the air. Grump's wounds reopened, blood gushing from the parting gashes. He cried out, buckling over as he crashed to his knees. He drove the shovel's blade into the ground and gripped the handle for support, its strong wood keeping his great weight upright.
"You are nothing, troll. My hand made you what you are. My will lit the fire of your Hunger. You think you can stand before me, your goddess, and defy my command? Give me the child. She is my right. Mine!"
Grump heaved great breaths. He clenched the wood of the shovel, pressing the handle against its brow. "I am failing, Teacher. I cannot fight a wizard. I can't!"
His vision faded. Blood trickled down his chest. It dripped from his elbows and pooled at his knees.
The Hunger begged for freedom. It painted his world red. Kill. Break. Rend. Bleed.
He could give in. It was his only chance. He must give in, just like last time, just like that night in the cages, when he said goodbye to Teacher forever. He pressed the shovel harder onto his brow, the memories of their corpses assaulting his thoughts.
Sahdira shrieked a chilling laugh. "Your life has been a failure, Grump Bulderbag, one pitiful defeat piled upon another. You can go to your grave knowing it was you who snuffed the light of amber from Oya. It was you who finally freed Sahdirathrashan Elionrathwalaea, Empress of the Void and Daughter of Flame."
Grump struggled to straighten. He stared up at the enormous specter of a wizard lording over him. Her eyes were wells of black power, her hair a writhing mass of shadow framing the full moon of her face.
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