by Joe Kuster
His blood turned to ice as he realized he missed, but surprisingly, the goblin didn’t wake. It only smacked its jaws softly, then continued napping away.
TJ hurriedly slipped his foot into the stirrup and prepared another bolt. Adjusting his aim slightly, he fired again. This time the bolt ended up squarely inside the thing’s brainpan. It twitched twice, then stilled.
Blowing out a held breath, Rachel patted his shoulder, then stood guard while he fetched his bolts. The shaft slid free with a sickening sound, but he was able to successfully retrieve it. He wiped off the simple point of iron that served as an arrowhead on the goblin’s sack dress and reloaded it. The shop hadn’t had a lot of quarrels, and the guard’s quartermaster had purchased all the hunting broadheads before leaving town.
Moving further down the path, the gray stone of the bluffs came into view. TJ started forward, but Rachel’s hand snagged his shoulder. She pointed down to the trail.
It took him a moment to spot the small branch positioned a foot off the ground. His eyes followed it to a funny looking V-shaped stick embedded in the dirt. He followed another limb upward, and his eyes went wide. What he’d taken as a partially fallen tree was a log positioned to flatten anything that tripped that mechanism.
Releasing a shuddering breath, TJ nodded, then stepped over the deadfall’s trigger. They entered the rocky clearing that led to the bluffs, then slunk into a nearby bush that gave dense cover.
Their eyes searched the cliff, trying to spot any more lookouts lurking about. Rachel nudged his shoulder and pointed to a moss-covered area covered with rubble. It took TJ a moment to realize that a goblin was nestled among the greenery, making it practically invisible.
TJ whispered, “You know… I just realized that we’re the assholes here. We’re swooping in to murder a tribe just because a divine being told us to.”
Rachel scrunched up her face, then shook her head. “Goblins are a kill on sight species. If we’d have known they were here, they’d have been cleared out.”
TJ frowned. “That just means we’re assholes sent by two different factions.”
Rachel asked, “Would it help that they eat human children if they catch them? Because that happens a few times a year. I lost a cousin that way.”
“Really?” TJ asked.
She nodded. “That and the bastards love fire; they burn down any houses they can. They also tend to poison our wells. Humans and goblins don’t mix.”
His eyes grew wide. “Damn, that’s hard to process. Most of the weird species back home can at least get along. Even the werewolves and catfolk learned to work together after a while. They can’t have children, but they sure like to try. Loudly. But if goblins are that bad, I guess I retract my objection.”
Rachel winked. “It’s ok, dear. I know you’re new here.”
“Dear?” he asked.
“The papers went off today. We’re, well, intended is the correct term. It’s a bit like a contract to properly seek marriage, barring various acceptable exit conditions. I’ll still have to sleep separately, but it means no one will fuss over us traveling together. Although, I probably need to get you a book on courtship and nobility, don’t I?” she asked.
“Please. I really have no idea what the rules are. If I were back home, we’d be trying to knock the stuffing out of my bed. I’m trying really hard not to just kiss you every time you get close,” he admitted.
“Oh? Then let me correct that,” she said with a grin.
She leaned over, grabbed him by the back of his neck, and smashed her lips hard to his. His hands reached around her and pulled her close.
His magic swished and swirled. It reached out over their bond to the reservoir inside her body. They both gave a low moan as their essence wells pulsed in a hungry response. Rachel gasped and gave an excited whimper. Slowly, they eased apart.
Blinking rapidly, Rachel seemed to be having trouble getting her breathing under control and fanned her face.
After taking a moment, she panted, “Damn… just… What did you do to me? It’s like my chest is on fire. Well… lower too, but…”
“We need to figure out our bond. Because touching your magic feels amazing,” TJ replied.
Rachel gaped in confusion. “Wait… hold up. I have magic?”
TJ shrugged. “You’ve got a reservoir of divine essence now. I tapped into it to save your life. It’s possible you could use it for something other than magic. I doubt Serina made us both warlocks. She’s the type to diversify if she can.”
“So… I might have powers?” Rachel asked excitedly.
TJ rubbed at his chin, thinking back to how he’d first thought about healing her. “For me, it’s this warm spot in my chest. I can look inward and feel it. When I was thinking about helping you, it got my attention, trying to help. So… maybe if you think through what you want to do, yours might react.”
Rachel’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment, then jolted open. “I… I see a golden glowy thing.”
“That’d be it,” TJ said.
Rachel’s breathing sped up, and she seemed to be steeling herself. “Ok… I can do this.”
She closed her eyes again.
TJ watched as her hand tightened on her sword until it shook. Retrying, she switched to her bow and nocked an arrow. She angled her weapon as though she were going to take a shot at the goblin on the cliff. A soft trickle of golden glow began to surround her hands.
She swallowed hard, then opened her eyes. “It’s confusing, but I think it wants me to try to shoot the goblin.”
TJ scrunched up his face. “That’s at least a hundred yards. Are you that good?”
She chewed on her lip. “Maybe one out of twenty times I could make that shot. But… it’s like my magic is trying to tell me I can use it to make sure I hit. I tried thinking about spells, but it didn’t seem to like that.”
“Well… what’s the worst that could happen?” TJ asked.
She replied, “The arrow falls short, catches their attention, and we get mobbed.”
“I guess you’d better not miss,” TJ said dryly.
Rachel pulled back her arrow and aimed up at a high angle. “Here goes nothing.”
Her eyes began to glitter with power as she exhaled half a breath. Her bowstring thwacked the air, and her arrow was sent soaring overhead in an arc. It looked for a moment like it was drifting off course, but it seemed to shift in the wind at the last second. The goblin didn’t even flinch as the arrow lodged in its head.
Rachel gawped slack-jawed and eyes wide. “I… I did that. I have magic. This is…” She shook her head in disbelief. “Magic is fucking awesome!”
“Welcome to the club. Now let’s see who else we can take down before they catch us,” TJ replied.
Chapter 15
Seven.
That was how many sentries they were able to hunt down. Seven goblins fell to either Rachel’s arrows or TJ’s bolts. There was always the possibility they’d missed some, but they’d just have to take the risk.
TJ had been annoyed on the climb up the cliff. They were trying to be quiet, but the rocky approach made far more noise than he’d have liked. He tripped twice, sending rocks clattering down the path. He could have just flown up, but he wasn’t sure if he could carry Rachel and their equipment. Instead, she’d just taken the loose rocky path without complaint and avoided two poorly-disguised feather-spear traps that even TJ couldn’t miss.
Reaching the bluff’s edge, TJ peered over. It was perhaps two hundred feet up, and the bottom was all sharp scree and shattered gray rock. Around them, the worn rockface was dotted with moss, a few clumps of grass, and one incredibly resilient pine tree whose roots were clinging for dear life.
The narrow ledge had numerous muddy footsteps and was barely wide enough to walk upon. It snaked around several sharp curves, then disappeared into a crevice.
Frowning, TJ whispered, “How do we do this? If they are all inside, there might be a bunch. Fighting in close quarters sounds
messy when we’re outnumbered.”
“Grease fires work well. If the cave doesn’t have ventilation, we can smoke them out. If they stay in, they’ll suffocate if we find stuff to keep it going,” she replied.
TJ shook his head. “That’s fucking brutal, and if the air becomes toxic, I couldn’t go in and get the map case. I don’t think I’ve got days to let the air clear.”
Glancing down at the numerous small rocks around their feet and to the narrow walkway, TJ got an idea. “You brought grease?”
Rachel nodded. “Yeah. I picked it up for the wagon, but I’ve seen the guard use it when they want thick black smoke. I thought we might need it as a diversion or something, but I didn’t think you wanted to use fire.”
TJ eyed the downward slope of the rock around the opening and grinned deviously. “I think I’ve got a better idea.”
After a bit of sweeping the loose rocks clear and slathering on a thick layer across the smooth slope, he motioned for them both to go back to the corner where they couldn’t easily be seen. TJ then worked at finding rocks of the right sizes to place around them in a pile.
Getting the idea, Rachel looked skeptical. “They’re bound to start screaming on the way down. They might just bunch up around the opening, and my magic is already complaining about being low.”
“It really depends on how smart these things are. You said they like to rush their enemies, right?” TJ asked.
She nodded.
“Ok, that’s what we’ll assume they are going to do. Just be ready to back me up,” he said.
Tossing the rock, he let it clatter around the opening of the cave. Hunkering around the corner, he waited, then threw another. It took a few minutes before some raspy grunting began to close in.
Grabbing a rock the size of his fist, TJ hurled it as hard as he could at the goblin’s head just as it stepped on the slippery slope. Clipping it hard, the goblin’s feet shot out from under it. It fell on its ass, then tumbled off the cliff. It barely managed more than a muffled shriek before it smashed into the rocks below.
Impressed, TJ prepared another few projectiles. It took several tries, but eventually, a second goblin came out. His throw managed to clip it in the shoulder and spin it around. It nearly managed to cling to the edge for a moment, but its fingers slipped free. It made a surprised grunt, and its eyes went impossibly wide as it disappeared into the void.
His ploy worked another two times before sounds like angry cursing bubbled up from the opening of the cave, and it was apparent he’d kicked over the hornet’s nest. Keeping a rock in one hand and preparing his magic in the other, he waited.
A cautious eye peered out, then the creature jumped onto the ledge with a vicious growl. Not even needing to hit it with a rock, the goblin lost its footing and cartwheeled off the edge, screaming the whole way down.
It sounded like murmuring from just inside the lip of the cave, and he could see the tip of a spear peeking around the corner, but TJ waited silently.
Without warning, the goblins rushed out of the opening in a deafening wail of shrieks, squeaks, and grunts.
Typically, this tactic would have worked, allowing them to quickly overwhelm their attackers, but the slick ledge sent about half sprawling toward their doom, and the narrow shelf necked all the attackers into a tight line. Those that managed to stay upright howled their challenge and rushed in.
Putting a massive amount of kinetic force behind his rock, he launched it into the leading scrum of the armed goblin horde. The concussive power nearly blew TJ to the ground as the projectile detonated and smeared the bluff with gore. The entire front row of attackers simply was no longer there. The row behind them had been torn apart and pushed nearly every remaining goblin off the ledge.
“Holy crap, that spell packs a punch!” Rachel yelled as she likewise began lobbing melon-sized rocks at the remaining attackers. The stones were big enough that they were knocking several opponents off the narrow lip with each toss.
TJ did likewise, hurling stones at the disoriented mob as fast as he could. “I honestly didn’t think it’d work as well as it did.”
He’d been prepared to fire off a kinetic scooping motion with his telekinetic talent as a follow-up, but it hadn’t been needed. Doing something that complex would have taken a lot of power, but throwing something hard enough to make it a bomb wasn’t too bad. It also stunned them in their tracks, and in the chaos, they were able to smack every one of them off the cliff before they got within striking range.
As the last of goblin fell to their doom, there were low grunts and a resounding chorus of growls inside the cave. Preparing for the next wave, TJ grabbed another stone.
In a riotous cacophony of clanking weapons, twenty of the beasts rushed out flailing wildly. This time only a third of them fell to the grease trap. Seeing that they were much better prepared, TJ wound up his rock, put about half of his mana pool behind the kinetic force attack, and then cut it loose.
The explosion was deafening.
Deafening and chunky.
Limbs and innards rained down with fragmented rock for a disturbingly long time, but the blast had either blown them apart or off the narrow ledge. Blood and guts painted the rock wall in a ghastly testament to the force of the spell.
The grunting at the opening of the cave quieted as stomping feet backed off from the gap. The silence bore down on them, making them edgy, but nothing happened. After several minutes, it became apparent they had sunk back into their cave. TJ assumed that meant that someone had ordered a retreat.
TJ rubbed at the frozen spot in his chest while he fought off the cold shivers. The feeling surged, and he had to fight off a powerful wave of chills. It was like he’d been dipped in ice, despite the warm day. He suspected he didn’t have a lot of time left to get his bond to Serina stabilized.
Rachel looked at him with concern.
He hissed under his breath, “Fucking Timarat.” Trying to focus on the problem at hand, TJ asked, “Just how big are their fucking nests? This seems like a lot of goblins.”
Rachel shook her head. “I’ve never heard of one this big.”
“There’s not a standing bounty on them, is there?” TJ asked.
Rachel pinched her lips tight, then eventually nodded regretfully. “Yes, but after the dogs, we’ll beggar the defense coffers with this. They’ll have to send collectors around to all the citizens to cover something this large. If you feel we need it, I’ll understand, but…”
He couldn’t help but notice her using we, as though they were already joined. Thinking on that, he supposed they were after what Serina had done. Both of their souls resided in the little phylactery in his body. They were as tightly bound as any two living beings could be. The rest was just a formality.
He’d be spending the rest of his days with her along for the ride. Surprisingly, he rather liked that idea.
Marriage was banned in his world, but newcomers to the village had discussed the tradition. It might not have held much sway with him when it was mere idle chit-chat, but he couldn’t say he opposed the idea. They hadn’t known each other long, but he already couldn’t picture himself in this realm without her by his side.
Rachel was attractive and surprisingly complicated. She would go from drinking whiskey straight from the bottle and killing pests in a field for fun to having the poise and demeanor of a refined lady that would file paperwork before being seen in public holding a man’s hand. The noblewoman also seemed to legitimately have his best interests in mind. While restrained by her world’s customs, she was bending her society’s rules just to be with him.
Possibly more importantly, she also put up with his antics. Despite his fears, she hadn’t been upset about waking in his bed while he was being serviced by two prostitutes. He didn’t think he would find many women willing to be so accommodating in this realm. Even in his old village, that’d have been something that would have him being hit repeatedly with a frying pan.
That and every time she loo
ked at him, she made him feel warm inside. She might be capable on her own, but he was still a hero to her. Just being around her made him want to be more than the simple creature of vices that he used to be back home.
Deciding on his path, TJ nudged her shoulder with his. “I was only curious. I won’t cause your village problems. It sounds like we’re not hard up on money, so maybe we could get this as a favor owed or something instead. What’d you do with my gold, anyway? In the mess of it all, I forgot to ask. I made sure it was in your satchel when I brought you to the Red Briar, but I forgot to grab it before you left. Last night was kind of hectic.”
“My family has access to the treasury vault. It’s in a box with my family seal on it. It’s as safe as anything I could do, and it didn’t feel wise to bring it with us today. I hope that’s acceptable.” She had a look of uncertainty in her eyes, as though she feared she’d overstepped.
Seeing a chance to reassure her, he gave her a playful smile. “Good thinking. I’ll just have to trust in my future wife to ensure our house’s future.”
Immediately, he knew that’d been the correct thing to say as Rachel’s smile grew radiant.
Her blue eyes practically glowed as she placed a hand on his cheek. “Very well, my intended. Now, how about we slay the remainder before we both die a terrible death? You feel cold to the touch, and I sense I’m not far behind.”
“Eh, I guess now is as good of a time as any. I think that was all the easy ones we’re gonna get,” TJ replied.
TJ looked inward and frowned. After seeing their sheer numbers, he had overcooked that last attack. He had enough left for some magic, but he’d need to be more judicious with what he was throwing around.
Figuring it would be of little use inside the confines of their nest, he stowed his crossbow and drew the long dagger Rachel had procured for him. He glanced over to see Rachel had her sword in one hand but seemed to be debating if her dagger was a better option.
Grabbing handholds on the rockface, he carefully avoided the grease as he eased up the lip. TJ risked a glance and spied two goblins about ten feet into the tunnel. Immediately jerking back, an arrow whizzed where his face had been.