Conqueror

by Isaac Hooke

  Yes, Ziatrice chimed in. I could sense the rising terror in you. It woke me up. I thought we might be under attack at first.

  He sighed. Can’t hide anything from you three, can I? I dreamt of my father, when he took a stand against Banvil, outside Magenta. It’s not something I’ve ever witnessed, so I’m sure my mind made it up, based on the bits and pieces I learned about the incident in later years, and from what my uncle revealed. But still, it was one of the most vivid things… it literally felt like I was there, watching him die. I’m still in a bit of a daze…

  Aww, you poor thing, Ziatrice broadcast. You just need to calm down, and forget. Nothing a quick roll in the hay can’t fix.

  You would offer yourself to him like that, Abigail sent.

  I’m kidding, Ziatrice told her. Or am I?

  I could use a dose of pleasure right about now, given the negative vibes he’s sending out, Gwen commented.

  Malem did his best to send out positive vibes. Better?

  Somewhat, Gwen told him.

  So how about it? Ziatrice said. Which of us do you want to get with?

  I’m out, Abigail sent. That said, if either of you want to ‘roll in the hay,’ as it were, I wouldn’t complain.

  Not tonight, Malem said. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We all need to rest. No distractions. Besides, if we have sex here in the forest, your screams of rapture will attract monsters from miles around.

  I’ll be very quiet, Ziatrice said.

  Thanks, but no, he sent. Get some rest.

  He could feel the night elf pouting via her energy bundle.

  Well, I’m on watch soon, g’night y’all, Gwen said.

  Malem disconnected the three of them so that he could have some quietude, and then shut his eyes. Sleep was a long time coming. But when it finally arrived, at least no further nightmares came with it.

  11

  Malem woke up refreshed with the dawn. Monsters hadn’t attacked. Gwen reported that she heard something roaming near the perimeter, but otherwise no assaults came.

  She brought him to where she heard the sounds. “There’s some broken branches, but otherwise nothing else to indicate what it was. Could have been a bear, for all I know.”

  “Maybe,” Malem agreed. “Or perhaps it was a scout.”

  “A scout?”

  “Many monsters hunt in packs,” he said. “Sometimes when the pickings are slim, they’ll send out scouts to search the surrounding forest. Oftentimes those scouts will travel many miles before they find any suitable prey, and when they do, they usually return for the rest of the pack, especially if they know they won’t be able to handle the prey in question on their own.”

  “How do you know so much about monsters?” Gwen asked him. “I thought you could only Break animals until you met me.”

  “Yes.” He glanced at the others nearby and lowered his voice for Gwen alone. “But a long time ago I came here to these monster-infested woods to die. The Darkness brought me to the brink, and I could endure it no further. So I decided rather than giving myself to the Balor, I would make a noble end of myself here, fighting his minions to the death. I came in the night and lit a fire to act as a beacon, summoning monsters from miles around.

  “As I watched those flames burning, with sword in hand, waiting for the death I thought would certainly come, I imagined what it would be like to be inside those flames, and to feel my own flesh burning. Everything that I was, my vigorous flesh and bones, my strong heart and lungs, all otherwise perfectly healthy, seared away in a few minutes of agony—though it would seem an eternity to me, no doubt—until I could feel no more, nor see, nor hear, and I was left to my own thoughts, until they too subsided as my mind inevitably basted inside the kiln of my skull.

  “I realized that throwing myself into those flames was little different from what I was doing by summoning those monsters. It was not noble, not in any way. I had made a grave mistake. So when the crunch of footsteps filled the air, and the forest came alive with hoots and howls, I hid rather than face them. I spent that entire night, and the following day, running from them. Evading. Just as I had always run from the Darkness. Running, ever running. What I was good at. I learned quite a bit about the monsters of this place then. And that is how I know many of them hunt in packs.” He couldn’t help the accusatory tone that slipped into his voice next; “It would have been better if you had killed whatever it was you heard prowling along the perimeter last night.”

  “I’m sorry,” Gwen said. “I didn’t know.”

  “Of course, you couldn’t have,” he said, immediately regretting his tone. “It probably wasn’t a scout. We’ll probably be fine.”

  “And if not?” she asked.

  He smiled gloomily and gestured toward the other women and monsters. “We have a small army to protect us.”

  They broke fast on the rations he had packed. He missed having Felipe and Bounder with him to hunt for fresh food, but Gwen and her magic bow, Wasp, were probably just as good. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to dally for food, not while they were in the heart of monster territory, where they were just as likely to serve as the food themselves. No, salted meat would have to do.

  The small portions weren’t enough for the monsters, so he took them and Rathamias out for a short walk into the woods. He reached out with his beast sense, and shortly picked up a nest of bog spiders. He instructed the four creatures to invade that nest, and went back to camp to wait for them. He was surprised when Rathamias joined them—apparently the orak mage had a particular liking for spider meat.

  The monsters returned with spider hairs lodged between their teeth, or in the case of the ghrips, beaks. The bull, Hansel, wasn’t sated in the least, and its stomach growled audibly, but Malem planned to send the creature out to attack any more beasts or smaller monsters he detected along the way. That was also a plus side to any attack: he’d keep the monsters well fed.

  The party set out shortly thereafter. Malem had Abigail and Weyanna ride Eddy and Frank as before, with the ghrips leading the way, leaving a trail of trampled branches in their wake. Hansel knocked over a tree one time, and Malem cringed as the loud sound of cracking wood echoed throughout the woods.

  Can you try to avoid the trees? he sent the creature.

  Grupppuurran.

  Despite the fact the creature had a strong will, that didn’t mean it was very intelligent. Then again, some creatures of the animal kingdom had to be guided by images, rather than words. The same might be true of these entities.

  So he concentrated, creating an image of the forest in his mind, and tried to represent it from the point of view of the ghrip. Then he had the forest advance, as if the bull were walking, and had the trees swerve around it, hoping Hansel would understand what he was trying to convey.

  Sure enough, the bull steered around all trees in its paths going forward.

  Maybe not so dumb, then.

  There was enough room between the trees for the eagle to fly. He named it Garibaldi, and it weaved between the trees, staying underneath the branches as it scouted ahead. Malem kept an eye on the surrounding trees as he walked, wary of potential ambush, not trusting his beast sense to warn him in time. He also occasionally glanced at the branches above, remembering that the smaller ghrips liked to lurk in the boughs.

  Malem picked up a bear and moose about an hour in, and sent the monsters for another meal. He had to release the smaller ghrip, Gretel, and Break the two animals so that they wouldn’t flee. Before doing so he ordered Gretel well away from the main party, as well as the other monsters—Abigail and Weyanna still rode atop the ettin and ogre. He re-Broke the ghrip immediately after the animals went down, and set it to dine on whatever was left.

  The monsters rejoined them with fresh blood on their mouths and beaks.

  “Please, next time let us dismount, first,” Abigail said. “That was disgusting. They tore the animals apart among themselves, spraying blood everywhere.”

  Ziatrice shrugge
d. “It’s no different than how you dragons feed.”

  “Oh, please,” Abigail said. “At least we cook our food.”

  They had traveled for maybe another hour east when Malem picked up creatures on his beast sense, fast closing ahead.

  “Stop, everyone,” he said, raising a hand. He instructed his monsters to halt as well. “I’m picking up a pack of monsters, due east. They’re mostly smaller variants… maybe oraks. But there’s also something bigger and more powerful in their midst. I can’t tell what it is, but it’s a higher level creature for sure.”

  “A random occurrence?” Xaxia said. “Or are they hunting us?”

  “The latter, I’m thinking,” Ziatrice said.

  “I’d tend to agree.” Malem glanced at the half gobling. “Gwen heard something prowling the perimeters of our camp last night. It could have been a scout from this group.”

  “They’re coming straight for us?” Abigail asked. “On an intercept course?”

  “They are,” he said.

  Abigail rubbed her chin in thought. “The scout wouldn’t have had any problems figuring out our direction, thanks to the trail of broken branches left by the ghrips.”

  “I’m starting to wonder if it was a mistake to Break them,” he said. “Then again, there are monsters with tracking abilities that would put most rangers to shame.” He glanced at the ettin and the ogre. “Eddy, Frank, kneel. Let the women off.”

  The two obeyed, and Abigail and Weyanna lowered themselves. Weyanna was a bit wobbly on her feet and nearly collapsed when she touched the ground; Malem caught her.

  “Thanks,” Weyanna said, straightening. Her face was almost directly in front of his. Close enough to kiss. She stared with longing into his eyes. For a brief moment he forgot about everything else. The forest fell away, and only he and this beautiful woman existed in that microcosm of time.

  But it was gone, all too soon.

  “Nice feint,” Ziatrice said. “Pretending you’re weak so you can get him to hold you. You’re so transparent, we can see right through you.”

  Weyanna quickly looked away, as did Malem. He considered defending the half dragon, but the way he saw it, that would only piss off Ziatrice further.

  He instructed Garibaldi to alight upon an upper branch of a tree in the path of the incoming beasts. “We’re going to march out of the way and hunker down. It’s time to see who’s hunting us.”

  He led the party three hundred yards to the south, and then the humans took cover behind the different trees. Rathamias obediently crouched near Ziatrice, while Malem kept close to Abigail and Weyanna.

  Eddy and Frank were too big to hide behind the trees, so they simply lay flat on the ground behind different trunks, doing their best to imitate natural features of the landscape.

  Hansel was also able to blend in relatively well just by crouching in place. The bull looked like a mossy mound when it folded up all its tentacles, directed its beak downward, and closed its eyes.

  Gretel meanwhile scampered up one of the trees and hid in the upper branches. It positioned its green body next to the trunk so that it appeared to be just another bough, albeit one covered in green lichen, and flung out its tentacles at different angles in mimicry of branches. He understood now why the smaller ghrips were able to avoid detection by the naked eye so easily.

  He shared the viewpoint of Garibaldi with Abigail, Gwen, and Ziatrice. He considered sending it to the monsters, too, but that would only confuse them.

  In moments he saw small humanoids marching into the eagle’s view. They were green like Gwen, but about two heads shorter than an ordinary human being, at least in relation to the surrounding trees, whose trunks he was able to use as a guide. They wore leather armor wrapped around their torsos, and leather leggings, black boots and gloves. Some of them had metal helmets, but most of their heads were free of armor. They were bald, and had long, thin ears that thrust upward from either side. Their eyes were small and beady, their noses long and beaklike, similar to ogres, and their mouths thin lines that when cracked open revealed razor sharp teeth.

  “Goblings,” Malem said. “Distant relatives of oraks. They hunt in packs.”

  They walked spread out in a long line, as members of a hunting party did when searching for prey. They carried small wooden bucklers in their left hands and either a short sword or a one-handed crossbow in their right, though occasionally the weapon hand was reversed. The number of those wielding a sword outnumbered those with a crossbow, but otherwise they were all armed. Wait… scratch that, not all: he spotted two weaponless goblings. They held their hands calmly folded together in front of their leather armor.

  Malem guessed the latter two were mages, judging from the intelligence he felt when he hovered his beast sense over them. They weren’t wearing robes, which seemed strange for units that hadn’t been to the front lines. At least, he’d never seen goblings on the battlefront, but he hadn’t actually traveled along the entire length of it. Or maybe it was just some freak synchronicity, with the goblings in the forest deciding that it was a good idea to hide their mages at the same time the oraks on the front lines had independently made the same choice.

  Some had ferak dogs with them: hunting animals that sported a rim of red fur around the base of their black necks, thick collars that broadcast their deadly bite to anyone that sought to run from them: those jaws could exert a thousand pounds of pressure.

  “Well, at least we know what was scouting our perimeter last night,” Malem said.

  Ziatrice shot Gwen a suspicious glance. “Funny how she just happened to be on watch when the gobling scout visited out camp. Coincidence or collusion?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Gwen said. “When have I ever had a chance to communicate with goblings?”

  “Uh, last night?” Ziatrice said. “When we were all asleep.”

  “I wouldn’t do that!” Gwen said. “I have no reason to.”

  “She’s not lying,” Malem said, trying to sooth tensions. Ziatrice knew he could see into Gwen’s heart, thanks to their link.

  “Then why did she let it go?” Ziatrice pressed.

  “I fired into the dark with Wasp,” Gwen said. “I’m what scared the scout away.”

  Ziatrice snorted. “More likely you gave away our position. And if that wasn’t on purpose, then it was certainly stupid.”

  “It would’ve known we were there anyway!” Gwen said. “No thanks to your loud snoring!”

  “Okay, play nice ladies,” Malem said. “We’re all on the same side here. Gwen isn’t going to side with goblings.”

  “But they are her kin,” Ziatrice insisted.

  “She sounds like me when I first met you,” Xaxia quipped.

  Gwen ignored her and told the night elf. “Not my kin. I’m a half gobling. They don’t even look anything like me. You have access to his vision. You see how ugly they are compared to me…”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Malem said. “She has no reason to side with the goblings. I can see into her heart.” He decided to state the latter outright, in case the night elf had forgotten.

  Ziatrice’s eyes lingered skeptically on Gwen a moment longer, then finally she nodded and looked away.

  He watched the advance in silence for a moment, and considered his options.

  “I can’t imagine a human ever mating with one of these,” Abigail said into the silence. Her voice was thick with disgust.

  “No, it would have been forced,” Weyanna agreed. “I’ve seen the aftermath of gobling raids upon border villages. They rape and pillage. It’s not pretty.”

  “I suddenly hate all goblings,” Xaxia said, stroking her hilt. She glanced at Gwen. “Except you of course.”

  “If it’s any consolation, I hate them too,” Gwen said. “But not as much as oraks.” She didn’t bother to look at Rathamias.

  But the orak mage didn’t miss its cue.

  “Goblings,” Rathamias said. “Wretched, smelly things.”

  Gw
en laughed. There was a dangerous edge to it. “If you weren’t under the Breaker’s protection, I’d personally gut you and get it over with.”

  Rathamias flashed a toothy smile, which made that twisted face seem even more distorted. “As would I, you.”

  “Let’s have some quiet,” Malem said. “Goblings have sensitive ears…”

  Though it was impossible for the goblings to hear them from that far away, he wanted the bickering to end. Thankfully, everyone remained quiet after that.

  Eddy, I’m going to set you free, he told the ettin.

  What? Eddy sent. Thank you master!

  You are to remain where you are, Malem sent.

  No master, when I am free, I run!

  Then I’ll drain your stamina to the bone, Malem sent. Would you like me to do that? You remember how it felt when I gave you vitality, yes? And healed your wounds? Well, Weyanna had done the healing, but he figured the ettin was probably too dumb to figure that out. Can you imagine what it would be like if I took it away?

  Not like… Eddy sent. I stay.

  Malem tentatively released the ettin. Perhaps not surprisingly, Eddy tried to get up immediately, despite promising to stay.

  Malem Broke Eddy again, and drained its stamina to restore the vitality he spent to reassert himself. I warned you, Eddy…

  Sorry, Master, the ettin sent. No run this time.

  Good.

  He released Eddy once more, and this time the ettin stayed put.

  Malem began Breaking the ferak dogs immediately. They were animals, and thus were easy to Break, even at this distance. They also only required one slot each. The Breaking still weakened him, however, so Malem only took control of half of them—five. He considered turning them upon one another to get rid of the dogs entirely, but thought of a better purpose.

  He directed four of the dogs to emit rapid barks, and then break into the characteristic run when they scented something. They tore free of the grips of their owners, leashes trailing along the ground. The remaining dogs pulled at their leashes as well, wanting to follow the others when they realized what was happening, but the goblings held on fast this time. They let the dogs lead them north, however. The remaining goblings turned north as well.