Monster Girl Island 12 Chapter 7

This wasn’t happening. Lezan and Nadir had just given birth to three beautiful, healthy babies in the middle of a harsh storm, and now we find out there could be orcs on this island?

“Whatever those things are that Bungal saw, we have to go after them,” I whispered as I tried not to wake up the babies or the Coonag women. “Lezan and Nadir are too tired to go anywhere, and we can’t risk just sitting here and waiting for them to find us. We need to go take these bastards down before they even know we’re here, for the sake of my children and for Lezan and Nadir.”

“You want to go orc hunting?” Ashanti grinned. “You’ll never hear me say ‘no’ to that.”

“I’m going to need some of you to hang back and protect this shelter,” I explained. “Obviously, Marella and Valea are staying, but they’re going to need people to protect them, too.”

“I’ll stay,” Kehlaan declared as he puffed out his chest. “These fair ladies need to be protected, and I’ll gladly be the one to do it.”

“With some help from me,” Shala chuckled. “I love ya, Prince Kehlaan, but if those guys are as nasty as Ben claims they are, they’d tear you to bits.”

I’ll stay, as well, Cerin offered. Just let them try to hurt my bondmate while I’m around. They’ll have a new hole in their chest before they can even raise their sword.

Thank goodness Cerin was around. The water dragon always made me feel a bit more comfortable leaving Marella alone in this scary, dangerous world.

“Alright, then,” I announced. “You five hang back with the newborns. Everybody else, follow me.”

Alvee, Ura, Pae, Erel, Ashanti, Mira, Ahwara, Jonas, Theora, and Batari all followed me out of the shelter, with Tirian and Swaer right behind. As we stepped out onto the beach my boots squelched into the damp wet sand, and my nostrils were filled with the musky, fresh scent that usually hung in the air before and after a major storm. A few rays of the sun cut through the cloudy sky like searchlights, though the sky itself was still somewhat navy in color. Tiny droplets of rain splattered against our skin and the sand around us, but at this point it was nothing more than a light sprinkle.

“What a dreary day,” Erel noted as she looked around.

“You should try living on the Morpho island,” Ahwara scoffed. “It’s like this just about every single day of the season cycle.”

“Bungal?” I asked the fat dragon telepathically. “Can you give us a lowdown on your position?”

I am unsure as to what a ‘lowdown’ is, but I am due north, my good sir, Bungal replied. It shouldn’t be difficult to find me… Just follow the pathway of fallen trees.

“Pathway of fallen--” I began, but my words were cut off by my own shocked laughter.

Sure enough, about two-hundred feet down the line of the forest, there was a spot where all of the trees had been pushed apart like a giant animal had just tried to squeeze through them. A large, rotund animal.

“Well,” Mira chuckled. “At least he made it easy for us.”

My crew and I all drew our weapons as we walked up the beach and then into the makeshift trail Bungal had made, and the ground beneath us changed from the pure white sand into a rough, uneven type of soil littered with rocks and roots jutting out from below. The air was filled with the distinct smell of pine needles, though I’d never once in my life seen any pines this shape or color.

We wandered down the pathway as the sun began to shine brighter, and the air became heavy and humid with dampness. All around us was the soothing sound of raindrops falling from the trees and splattering against the course ground.

It would have been a very soothing experience, were we not heading off to kill a bunch of deadly monsters.

Eventually, we came across Bungal.

The obese dragon was sprawled out on the ground, flat on his belly. Or at least, as flat as his circular belly would allow him to be. Nadir’s bondmate had his head pressed against the ground, and he covered it with two small branches he held between his claws.

Of course, the branches did nothing to hide his massive body, which was still on full display for the world to see.

At least he was trying.

“Bungal?” I asked the dragon telepathically. “Where did our visitors sneak off to?”

They didn’t sneak off, Bungal hissed. They are still out there. I believe by the way they were talking, they have set up a space to rest for the night not too far from here.

“Any idea where that could be?” I murmured.

I’m sure if you search this area you will find them, the dragon noted. They are anything but inconspicuous.

“That means they don’t know we’re here yet,” Mira whispered.

“Exactly,” I explained to my friends. “Which means we have a tactical advantage over them for the time being. Try to stay as quiet as we can, and stay on your toes.”

Mira and I stepped to the front of the crowd and then motioned for everyone else to follow. Thankfully, the flora of this island was mostly tall, and there wasn’t any foliage for us to step on and give ourselves away. Sure, there was the occasional fallen branch or pile of maroon pine needles, but otherwise we were able to move with the grace of a freaking jaguar stalking its prey. We pressed on for a few minutes until eventually, we heard voices from afar.

“What in the gharlum’s testicles are you talking about?” a nasally, garbled voice asked. “You really think they’re ever gonna let us set food on their island? They don’t even like to look us in the eyes when they’re bossin’ us around!”

“I’m telling ya,” another nasally voice scoffed. “When we’re the ones who finally kill that bastard dragon king and deliver his women to the orc island, they’ll let us do whatever the fuck we want!”

Mira and I exchanged a confused glance.

Those don’t sound like orcs, Mira observed telepathically.

“They sound like they’re working for the orcs, though,” I answered back via the dragonbond. “What the fuck are they?”

We all crouched down as we got closer to the mystery creatures, until we eventually came to a spot in the forest that opened up into a clearing.

Before us stood a small encampment. About a dozen crude tents had been pitched with nothing more than a long piece of fabric and a few sticks to hold them in place, and they all circled a small firepit of stone. There was fresh wood standing in the fire, which told me these creatures had just set up camp hours, if not minutes, ago.

All around the camp sat strange, little beings I thought might have been aliens at first. They were only about four feet tall, with cracked and blemish-covered gray skin that looked like an old leather bag wrapped around a skeleton. Their features were so pointed it made me wonder if they could technically kill somebody with their nose and their ears, and their black eyes were pulled back in sunken sockets. None of the beings had hair whatsoever, rather just a crinkly bald head covered with warts and moles. Each of them wore a simple black cloth tunic over their bodies, which were so skinny and frail-looking a breeze could probably knock them over.

Good lord. I thought the orcs were hideous, but these were something else.

“What are these things?” Batari hissed.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “But whatever they are, they’re disgusting.”

“Better question,” Alvee grumbled as she tightened her grip on her weapon. “Sneak attack, or head on?”

“Both,” I confirmed. “We can have Tirian, Ashanti, and Theora take out a bunch of them with arrows and fire breath, while the rest of us try to sneak up on them from behind. We can’t kill them all with one fell swoop, but we can certainly take out enough to even the odds a bit.”

“Do we even need to even the odds?” Ashanti scoffed. “I think Swaer could break all of them in two with a simple puff of his wind breath.”

“Or Bungal could simply fly out and incinerate them all,” Ura suggested.

“That would literally be playing with fire,” I chuckled. “As satisfying as it would be to watch Bungal wipe these shit stains off the face of the earth, he’d probably set the forest on fire in the process. And since our living water cannon is back in the shelter, I don’t think it’s the best idea.”

“We probably shouldn’t kill them all, anyway,” Ahwara noted. “We don’t know how many more of these things are on this island, or how they are involved with the orcs. We need to keep at least one alive so we can interrogate them.”

“Then there’s the fact it’s much more satisfying this way.” Mira grinned as she whipped her emerald locks out of her eyes.

“Let’s get into position,” I announced. “Everybody pick one of the ugly fuckers, and on my signal, go in for the kill.”

“I already have my eyes set on that one.” Ashanti closed one eye and pointed at the little creature beside the fire pit. “Something about him rubs me the wrong way… Maybe it’s the smug look on his face or maybe it’s just the fact he’s so grotesque. Either way, he’s mine.”

“That’s the spirit,” I said with a smirk.

Theora, Ashanti, and Tirian all remained behind as the rest of my crew split in two and began to circle around the encampment of strange monsters. I took aim at a little gray bastard who was relaxing against the side of his tent, with a smoking pipe in one hand and a cup of lord knows what in the other.

“Hey!” one of the pointy-eared creatures called out, and we all froze in place. “What in the bloody fuck are you doing back there?”

My heart hammered in my chest. We’d been so quiet and careful. How did he know we were back here?

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” another voice grumbled from off to our right. “I’m taking a bloody piss!”

“Really?” the first voice teased. “Cause from here it looks like you’re having a wank!”

“You wish,” the second creature goaded. “You couldn’t handle seeing my monsterous manhood.”

“I don’t think two inches is much to brag about,” the first creature cackled, and his joke caused the entire camp to erupt in laughter.

This was our chance, while the entire camp was distracted and loud.

“Now!” I hissed to both my friends around me and through the dragonbond.

In an instant, we all rushed forward in unison, like a wave of death washing across the camp.

I dashed over to the creature next to the tent, hauled back my sword, and took a hearty swing at his neck. Crimson blood spewed from his neck like a gorey waterfall as my seaglass blade tore through his artery like it was paper.

The gray-skinned creature dropped his pipe and mug before he turned around and looked at me in shock. He opened his mouth to scream as he fruitlessly fumbled at his fresh wound, but it was no use. Within seconds, his blood had painted the side of his tent, and his eyes rolled back into his skull. The scrawny monster fell to his knees and then collapsed to the ground, dead.

At the same time, I saw the chaos unfold all around the camp.

The creature beside the fire must have caught Ashanti’s arrow straight through the back of his head because he now laid on the ground twitching. A arrowhead covered with gray matter and blood jutted out through his right eye socket as the life drained from his body, and the creature beside him just glanced down in horror.

There was a flash of light as Tirian unleashed his fire breath down onto the monsters, and two of the little guys were incinerated in an instant. All around, I heard the sound of falling bodies and death knells abound.

“What the hell?” one of the creatures gasped.

“It’s him!” another one snarled. “It’s the dragon king!”

“How the fuck did he find us?” a creature demanded.

Before anyone could give an answer, I moved on the next closest monster. He began to draw his weapon from his belt, but I was too quick for the bastard. I lopped off his weapon-wielding arm at the elbow and watched him shriek in agony as his fresh stump sprayed blood onto the ground by the gallon. Then, without missing a beat, I shifted my momentum, brought up my sword, and stabbed it straight through his heart.

The nasty gray creature’s eyes went dark as my blade came out through his back, and he was dead before I could even toss him off to the side.

“Keep it up, guys!” I called out. “We’ve got them on the ropes!”

“I bet you’d like to think that, dragon king,” one of the ugly fuckers chuckled. “Let’s see how you do without your greatest weapon.”

As the creature spoke, he reached into the pocket of his tunic and produced a small vial of glowing pink liquid. Then the bastard turned toward Tirian, pulled his arm back like a baseball pitcher, and launched the vial into the air.

“Shit!” I hissed. “Tirian, watch out!”

Watch out for what? The silver dragon looked in my direction, but it was too late. Ooof!

The vial slammed into Tirian’s face, and the glass it was in shattered. A mist of pink smoke engulfed the fire-breather’s head, and he broke out into a coughing fit.

“Tirian!” I snarled as I narrowed my eyes at the perp who’d just thrown the potion.

I didn’t know what he’d just done to my friend, but I was gonna make him pay for it with his life. I charged at the gray creature as he turned back to face me, and the monster smiled a sharp grin as he drew what could only be described as a miniature iron scimitar from his belt. He twirled it in his hands and took a fighting stance as he watched me approach.

I wasn’t scared of this guy. He was a fucking string bean, and I bet I could snap every bone in his body with my bare hands.

As I got up to him, he twirled his blade, spun around, and took a slice at my right side, but I parried the blow with my seaglass blade before I threw out my fist and caught the creature with a left hook. A bit of blood and spit flew from his mouth as it jerked to the side, but he recovered quickly.

The gray creature dropped down into a “crab walk” position, lifted his feet into the air, and drove them both into my shins.

A jolt of sharp pain rocketed through my legs as I fell down to my knees and let out a growl of frustration. I tossed up my sword horizontally just in time to block the incoming scimitar, but the creature was already onto his next attack.

He brought his right foot up into my side and slammed it against my scaly skin. The blow stung like a bitch, but I was simply able to roll with the kick and then hop back up to my feet.

Damn. This guy might not have been very strong, but he was a scrappy fucker.

“What’s the matter, dragon king?” he taunted. “Can’t handle one little goblin?”

So that’s what these guys were. I guess that explained how they were so fucking ugly. I’d never once seen a goblin in fiction that didn’t look like a failed piece of Toxic Avenger concept art, and these guys were no exception.

“Maybe if you decided to fight fair,” I shot back.

“There are no ‘fair fights’ when it comes to war,” the goblin cackled. “I thought the mighty dragon king would know better.”

“Draco Rex,” I corrected the bastard as I dug my feet into the ground.

Uh, Ben? Tirian gulped. I think we’ve got a problem.

“What’s wrong?” I asked the silver-scaled dragon telepathically as I stared down my enemy.

It’s my breath… Tirian sounded terrified. It-- it’s not working.

The goblin let out a battle cry as he lurched forward and tried to stab me with his sword.

“What do you mean ‘not working?’” I demanded as I jumped to the left and knocked away the attack. “How can your fire breath ‘not work?’”

I don’t know! the adolescent dragon huffed. Whatever was in that pink cloud must have shut down my ability to make fire.

What in the hell?

I slammed my boot into the chest of the goblin and sent him flat on his ass. He tried to slash at me from below, but I swiftly blocked his attack and then stared him down.

“What did you do to my dragon?” I demanded. “Tell me now, and I might just make your death painless.”

“You aren’t so tough without your dragons, are you?” the goblin sneered with a devilish grin.

“I killed a fuck ton of orcs before I had the dragons,” I declared. “And I can definitely kill you little shits.”

The goblin attempted to do his little crab walk kick again, but this time I was more than prepared. As his feet left the ground, I hopped to the left, twirled my blade, and then swung it straight at his legs.

There was a wet shluck as the seaglass cut straight through his muscle and bones, and the goblin’s legs fell to the ground.

“You bloody fucker!” the gray bastard wailed. “Just wait till I--”

Before he could finish his sentence, I brought my boot down straight onto his throat. His bones must have been just as frail as I’d originally thought because the impact caused a wet crack, and the fucker’s tongue flopped out of his mouth as his body went limp.

So much for mister tough guy here.

I looked up to see how the rest of my crew was doing, and I couldn’t help but smile as I watched them dismantle these goblin bastards.

Theora and Ashanti were shooting arrow after arrow into these goblins with ease. The goblins were rushing the archers with their daggers drawn, but they were getting mowed down before they could even get within ten feet. Try as the little gray bastards might, they didn’t stand a chance against deer-woman Legolas and rhino Katniss over there.

Then there was Batari and Swaer, both of whom fought next to each other as bondmates. Batari fought like a traditional swordsman with her strange spear-sword weapon, and she parried blows, flipped her weapon around, and drove it into a goblin’s temple with a backwards strike.

Swaer, on the other hand, was having a bit too much fun. The wind dragon simply hovered in the air about twenty feet away from two goblins who wanted to gut him like a fish. The goblins marched toward the furry red enemy, but they weren’t going anywhere.

Swaer guffawed as he continued to blow a gust of wind right at the goblins. The attack seemed to have just enough force to push them backward, but nowhere near enough to throw them off into the woods. Instead, the goblins simply marched in place like they were characters ripped straight out of an old silent film gag.

Over on the other side of the battlefield, Ahwara was kicking ass as usual. Three goblins tried to overtake the orange-haired beauty, but she was three steps ahead of them. Ahwara ducked out of the way of one attacker’s blade before she zipped up into the sky to avoid another. As she flew upward, she held out her fanblade, and there was a spray of blood as she cut open a goblin from his abdomen to his throat.

His innards spilled from his body as he feebly attempted to push them back inside, and then the goblin collapsed onto the ground, lifeless.

Ahwara wasted no time in dispelling the other two attackers. The orange-haired beauty leapt out of the way of another jab, thrust out her fanblade, and stabbed the middle spine right into the second goblin’s eye.

He screamed as she pulled the dark orb right out of its socket and then kicked him back out of the way.

Ahwara leaned away from the final goblin’s attack before she twirled around, ducked down, and ran the spine of her weapon across the goblin’s stomach. There was a wet plop as his intestines fell out of his abdomen, and the color drained from his face as he realized his death was imminent.

Thankfully, Ahwara made it quick.

The butterfly-woman sprang to her feet and then stabbed her middle spine into the fucker’s forehead. As he collapsed to the ground, the Morpho woman spun around and sliced the final goblin’s throat with her fan blade.

Damn. I knew there was a reason we kept her around.

My battlefield survey was cut short, unfortunately, by two more goblins charging at me with their scimitars at the ready.

“Kill the dragon king!” one of the ugly bastards declared.

“For the last time,” I hissed as I parried an attack. “It’s Draco Rex!”

I slashed my sword across the first goblin’s face and sent him recoiling in agony with a spray of blood. Then, without losing my momentum, I took a swing at the second goblin’s legs, but he was too fast.

The little gray monster jumped into the air, tossed out his feet like a pro wrestler, and dropkicked me right in the face.

My head whipped back, and I temporarily saw stars as I stumbled backward and tried to retain my balance. I blindy lashed out with my sword to keep my attackers at bay, and I felt the dull thud of metal against seaglass as I somehow managed to knock away the goblin scimitar. As my vision came back into focus, I saw the second goblin was back in the mix.

He now had a giant, gnarly gash across the entirety of his face, but he was still alive. And now, he was out for blood.

This time, both of the fuckers attacked me at once.

I ducked down seconds before their blades would have connected with my neck and then took a stab at the right goblin’s belly.

He twisted his body to the left like it was made of rubber and completely avoided my blow. The next thing I knew, I felt two tiny feet slam into the side of my head.

I fell onto my hands and knees from the attack, but I knew I couldn’t sit still, so I instinctively rolled to the right and heard the sound of iron striking dirt.

That easily could have been the end for me right there.

I used my own momentum to roll up onto my knees, and then I jumped back upright just in time to see the goblin’s blades headed for my throat. I sprang backward, tossed up my translucent sword, and knocked away both of their attacks with a single blow.

The goblin on the left attempted to punch me in the face, but I was ready for him.

I lifted up my left hand and caught his feeble punch before it even got close to my face.

Then I squeezed as hard as I fucking could.

All of the bones in the goblin’s hand turned to dust under the might of my grip, and his screams just barely drowned out the sickly crunch that accompanied them.

I shoved him backward before I turned my attention on my second opponent. I swiftly tossed up my blade and blocked his scimitar with my weapon, and in one quick motion, I twisted my seaglass sword and sent the goblin’s weapon flipping into the air. Then I lashed out in a thrust like a fencer, and the tip of my blade skewered the fucker’s throat before his sword even hit the ground.

The goblin let out one short, gurgled gasp, and then his body went limp.

I pulled my blade out of the first goblin’s neck, turned to the second gray bastard, and took him down with another slash across the face. This time, my sword caught his upper jaw, and I split him open from lip to forehead.

Bits of blood, bone, and brain gushed out of the deep gash in his face, and the poor bastard didn’t even have a chance to scream before he went into shock. The goblin collapsed to the ground, and he began to convulse as his crimson lifeforce oozed out onto the ground.

Now that these two were defeated, I could focus on the rest of the battle.

The hedgehog-women fought with scarily similar timing as they twirled their double-sided sticks and lashed out with acrobatic kick-flips in near unison. I watched as Alvee snapped a goblin’s neck with nothing but her legs, and then I saw Pae skewer a gray-skinned bastard straight up through his open mouth.

Yeah, they were all doing fine.

“Tirian?” I asked as I looked at the gray dragon. “How are you feeling, buddy?”

I still can’t use my fire breath, he sighed. Great… The one thing that actually made me useful in battle, and it’s gone.

“What are you talking about?” I demanded. “You’re a flying creature with giant claws and razor-sharp teeth. Why don’t you just use those?”

Believe in yourself, Tirian, Bungal’s voice announced telepathically. Your performance begins with your own self-confidence!

Thanks for the advice, Tirian chuckled. I just hope these guys don’t taste as bad as the orcs did…

They probably tasted ten times worse, but I wasn’t going to say that to him.

Tirian swooped down toward a nearby goblin, snatched him up in his large claws, and then tossed the monster straight up into the air. He caught the poor bastard in his jaws and snarled as he shook it back and forth like a dog with a chew toy. The goblin’s body went limp in seconds, so Tirian tossed it off into the forest. The silver-scaled dragon let out a mighty roar and then stomped off in the direction of a few more goblins.

Everybody seemed to be holding their own against these little gray guys, and all of my crewmates had been accounted for.

Wait…

“Jonas!” I gasped.

I glanced around the battlefield in search of the soothsayer, and I found him and Mira all the way across the clearing.

Both of the dragonkin were surrounded by goblins, and it looked like the little fuckers were just taunting them. Several of the goblins had their scimitars raised in the air as they cheered and whistled at Jonas and Mira, and every now and again one of the goblins would jump forward and attack, only to be easily dispelled by Mira’s spear.

“Alright, fuckers,” I growled to myself. “You think this is some sort of sport? Well… Player two is about to enter the fucking game.”

I dashed across the battlefield as I drew my pink-stone dagger with my free hand. As I ran into the crowd of goblins, I lashed out with both of my weapons and stabbed two of the little gray creatures straight through the backs of their heads. I tossed their bodies to the side, spun around, blocked two more incoming blows, and then sprang back so I was next to Jonas and Mira.

“What took you so long?” Mira teased.

“I didn’t think you needed any help,” I joked. “If anyone was enough of a badass to take on a whole horde of goblins by themselves, it’d definitely be you.”

“Why would you think that?” Jonas gasped. “I barely have any fighting skills at all! And all I have to defend myself is this small little dagger!”

“I, uh, I was mostly talking about Mira,” I chuckled. “But you’re a total badass, too, Jonas. Just in a completely different way.”

“A back-handed compliment,” the soothsayer grumbled. “But I shall take it.”

Now that I was in the fray, the goblins’ cockiness seemed to disappear in a flash. They now held their scimitars at the ready as they stared us down, and I noticed a few of them were digging their feet into the dirt.

“You take the left?” I suggested to the dragonkin warrior beside me.

“Sounds good to me.” Mira nodded.

“You can take the stragglers, Jonas,” I suggested to the elder.

“Right.” Jonas’ voice was a tad shaky, yet firm.

Mira dispelled the first few goblins with a long, quick twirl of her spear, and the hilt of the weapon slammed into her attackers’ faces and sent them to the ground in an instant. While they were down, the dragonkin warrior flipped over, twirled her spear again, and stabbed it through two of the goblins’ skulls at the same time.

As much as I would have loved to keep admiring Mira’s handiwork, I had problems of my own.

Three goblins charged me at the same time, and all I could do was block as multiple scimitars tried to run me through. I knocked away blow after blow, but I barely had enough time to think before the next one came at me. I continued this macabre dance of swords with the goblins for nearly a minute before I realized what needed to be done.

I blocked one of the attacks and jumped back, and as I did so, I hurled my pink-stone dagger like it was a throwing knife and then watched with smug satisfaction as it stabbed into the goblin’s chest. He let out a yelp as he stumbled backward and clutched his chest, and then he collapsed down onto the ground, dead.

I lashed out at one of the goblins on the left, but they simply sidestepped my attack. I was forced to parry the attack of the second goblin before I could retaliate, which left my body wide open, and I just barely ducked out of the way of the incoming scimitar before it separated my head from my shoulders.

This time, I threw out my boot and slammed it into the leg of the goblin behind me. There was a gnarly crack as his leg splintered under the impact of my boot, and he fell down onto one knee.

I rolled to the left as the second goblin’s scimitar came down, and then I mounted a counter attack. As I jumped up to my feet, I slashed my sword across the fucker’s back, and there was a spray of blood as my seaglass blade severed his spinal cord.

The goblin fell face-first down into the ground and then remained there helpless and bleeding. My second attacker tried to stand up, but his leg was too far gone.

I cringed as the goblin’s bone burst through his skin with a sickly snap, and he screamed in pain as he fell over onto his side.

He tried to crawl away from the scene, but Jonas’ boot slammed down on his back and held him in place.

“I got one, Draco Rex!” Jonas declared with pride in his voice.

The soothsayer raised his dagger above his head, but I stopped him before he could deliver the finishing blow.

“Wait!” I commanded my crewmate. “Let that one live. We need somebody to interrogate, and he’s already halfway there.”

I turned back to Mira and saw she’d taken down two of her five attackers.

Though she wielded a similar weapon to the Spindrel people, the golden-scaled dragonkin warrior fought with the vigor and power of a medieval knight. Mira’s spear spun, slashed, and stabbed in short, powerful thrusts. This meant it was hard to land her blows, but when they did manage to land?

It was always a killing blow.

I pulled my pink-stone dagger from the dead goblin’s body and then ran over to aid Mira. I tackled one of the goblins to the ground, punched him in the face, and then raised my dagger up above my head.

Before I could deliver my deadly strike, the fucker bent his upper body like a whip and headbutted me.

Stars raced across my vision as my head jerked back, but I wasn’t going to let a cheap blow like that spell my doom.

I plunged the dagger downward until I heard a wet shluck and heard the goblin cry out in pain. When my vision returned a split-second later, I saw I’d stabbed the bastard right in the left shoulder.

He writhed in pain underneath my blade, but he was far from dead.

That needed to change.

I placed my seaglass sword up against the meaty flesh of the goblin’s throat, dragged it across in a quick, slashing motion, and then watched as the fucker’s eyes went wide while dark red blood squirted from his second smile.

The goblin fumbled at his neck wound as he kicked and squirmed and did everything he could to try and get me off him, but it was no use. Within seconds, the gray bastard’s eyes rolled back in his head, and his tongue flopped out of his mouth.

I stood up from my latest kill and turned around just in time to see Mira finish off her final opponent.

The dragonkin warrior jabbed her spear right through the goblin’s heart, lifted him into the air like a pole vaulter, and then tossed his corpse deep into the forest.

“Is that the last of them?” Mira asked as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

“All but those two, I think.” I pointed to the paralyzed goblin and the one with the broken leg.

“Okay,” Erel grumbled as she and the rest of my crew walked over. “I was not expecting these little guys to put up so much of a fight.”

You’re telling me, Swaer huffed. You would have thought they’d give up after the twentieth attempt to charge into the giant gust of wind, but they didn’t. I almost felt bad when I finally just blew them back onto a bunch of sharp tree limbs.

“They’re scrappy little fuckers, to say the least,” I admitted. “I didn’t know goblins were even a thing in this world.”

“We didn’t, either,” Mira sighed. “Though with all the new species we’ve met on our journeys, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“I want to know how they got in league with the orcs.” I frowned. “It seems like those jolly green bastards are finding a new ally every time we turn around.”

“Want to know?” Alvee smirked and motioned to the goblin underneath Jonas’ boot. “Let’s go ask.”

I liked the way this woman thought.

We all approached the goblin, and I moved to the front of the group. As I crouched down, I held out my pink glass dagger and aimed it right at the bastard’s face.

“Alright,” I began. “I’ll start with an easy question for you… What did you guys do to my dragon?”

“You think I’m going to talk?” The goblin shook his head profusely. “I don’t think you know what they do to goblins who talk. Fuck, we’re already disposable to them anyways. Just hurry up and kill me, because anything you do to me would be a million times less painful than what they would.”

“Don’t be so sure about that,” I warned, and then I whistled.

Mira stepped forward from the group, raised her leg, and slammed it right into the goblin’s broken femur. The impact of her boot accompanied a harsh snap, and the gray bastard screamed as his bone was pushed further through the skin.

“Fuck!” he shrieked.

“Again?” I half-asked, half-ordered. “Just tell us what we want to know, and that won’t happen again.”

The goblin’s beady eyes darted between Mira and me. They were full of agony and defeat, and I could tell he was almost at his breaking point.

Still, a bit of enticement never hurt anybody.

Mira placed her foot against the goblin’s leg once more, and this time he changed his tune.

“Okay!” he screamed. “Okay… That was what we call a breath-bomb. It’s something our alchemist cooked up to fight your dragons. I don’t know how it works or anything, I just know if a dragon breathes the dust in, they can’t breathe fire or shoot water or air at us anymore.”

“How long does it last?” I continued.

“The fuck would I know that?” the goblin scoffed. “I’m only a grunt who’s out here killing things and protecting the-- Er… yeah, out here killing things.”

“I feel like there’s something you’re not telling us…” I trailed off in a warning. “Anything you’d like to share?”

“I told ya,” the gray bastard spat. “I’m just the guy they pay to kill shit.”

I looked up at Mira, who smiled at the thought of what came next.

The dragonkin woman slammed her foot into the goblin’s leg once more, and this time the entire fucking thing bent at an awkward angle.

“Fuck!” he snarled. “Fuckfuckfuck! Why don’t you fucking kill me already?”

“Not until you tell us what I want to know.” I shrugged.

“You’re even crazier than they told us,” the goblin practically sobbed.

“Thank you.” I grinned maliciously. “I take that as a very high compliment. Now, do I need to have Mira persuade you some more?”

“Perhaps we can ask another easy question,” Erel suggested. “Why are you here? Is this your home?”

“No fucking way.” The goblin gagged. “This place is a shithole compared to our personal island.”

“Then why are you here?” Alvee demanded.

“I thought you people were supposed to be smart,” the goblin sneered.

“Watch it,” Mira growled and placed her heel against the goblin’s back. “Or the next one splits it in two.”

“We were sent here by the orcs,” the goblin conceded. “To study the properties of the flora and fauna here.”

“Why?” I prompted. “Come on, now… Simple follow up questions shouldn’t be needed.”

“They wanted us to make--” the goblin began, but he was cut off when another gray-skinned fucker sprang up out of nowhere.

The second goblin struck Jonas in the chest and knocked the soothsayer back onto his ass. He then flipped around, raised a small vial of blue liquid above his head, and threw it directly into the back of the first goblin’s head.

Mira’s spear stabbed through the attacker’s head with a wet shluck, and his body went limp in an instant.

However, the damage was already done.

The blue liquid sizzled and hissed as it began to smoke, and then it started to burn through the back of the goblin’s head. He screamed in agony as his flesh was melted by the acidic compound, until eventually it got through his skull and into his brain. The goblin let out a helpless gurgle as his gray matter was turned into mush, and then his jaw fell to the ground as his eyes rolled back in his head.

“What in Cacoo’s name?” Ahwara gasped.

“His friend was gonna talk,” I grumbled. “So, he took him out before he could spill any of the juicy details.”

“What about the limp one over there?” Ashanti suggested as she pointed to the paralyzed goblin. “Do you think he would tell us anything?”

“I’d rather lay here until I starve to death, bitch,” the paralyzed goblin mumbled.

“That’s great,” I announced. “Because that’s exactly what you’re gonna do. I hope this island doesn’t have any vultures. Or wild dogs. Or really anything that might want fresh meat. Because they’ll tear you all to shreds by sunrise.”

“I know you’re trying to scare me, dragon king,” the goblin scoffed. “It ain’t gonna work.”

“I know that.” I shrugged, and then I started to walk back toward the beach. “See ya later.”

The rest of my friends began to follow behind me, and we got about ten feet away before the goblin spoke up again.

“Wait!” he called out. “It’s the flowers. We’re studying the flowers. Now will you please just put me out of my misery?”

Now we were getting somewhere, but I knew everything I needed to know. Sure, if we left this goblin all alone out here he would probably die a very slow, very painful death.

Then again, he was working for the orcs, and I was sure if the shoe was on the other foot, he would take great pride in all of our deaths.

“That wasn’t part of the deal,” I chuckled. “Come on, guys.”

“You son of a bitch!” the goblin snarled. “G-Get back here and finish me off like a man, you pussy!”

The goblin continued to call us every single name in the book until we were far enough away for his voice to fade into oblivion.

“Very cold.” Alvee smirked. “I love it.”

“It’s what he deserves,” I reaffirmed. “If those bastards really are working with the orcs, that means they’ve probably been along for all the raping, pilaging, and murdering that goes on with their little adventures. They’re not gonna get any sympathy from me.”

“Nor should the,” Jonas agreed. “In the tales the other elders used to tell, the goblins were a force to be reckoned with, much like the orcs or the wargs. Even before they allied themselves with the orcs, the goblins were known to go around to islands wreaking as much havoc and sowing as much chaos as possible.”

“If that’s true,” I pondered aloud. “Then why are they on this island? Just to study the pretty flowers?”

“You heard what the goblin said,” Batari interjected. “They have an alchemist in their ranks.”

“What is that?” Pae questioned. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the term.”

“It is a person who can mix and change things from one material to another,” the Queen Mother explained. “Using magic. Our shaman Zamwae often dabbled in alchemy back on our home island.”

“Do you think they’re trying to turn the flowers into something more valuable?” I asked. “Like gold or more of the magical breath-removal powder stuff?”

I still can’t believe it, Tirian sighed as he floated behind us. I’m a dragon without his fire breath. I’m pretty much just a giant bird now.

I say, dear boy, Bungal scoffed. You are far too hard on yourself. First off, an oversized bird would have feathers, not scales.

Gee, thanks. Tirian rolled his eyes. That makes me feel much better.

I was not finished. Bungal frowned. Secondly, you are much more deadly than a giant bird. For what giant bird do you know of with such large claws and such deadly teeth? Or the intelligence you espouse in your day to day life?

Just about every bird has claws, the silver dragon mused. They’re called talons, right?

That is not the point, dear boy! Bungal argued. The point is you are still a valuable asset. Perhaps without your fire breath you are more of a diamond in the rough, but you are a diamond nonetheless.

Easy for you to say, Tirian chuckled. You still have your fire breath.

“You do, too,” I reminded the fire-breather. “It’s just been put on mute for a little bit until that powder stuff wears off.”

If it wears off, you mean. Tirian hung his head.

“It will,” I promised. “They made it sound like it was only temporary. Even if I don’t trust those goblins further than I can throw them, they had no reason to lie to us there.”

I hope you are right, the silver dragon muttered. I don’t know what I’ll do if I never get my fire breath back.

Maybe I could teach you how to harness the power of the wind? Swaer offered as his whiskers perked up.

“I don’t think it works that way,” Batari chuckled. “Actually, we were the protectors of the dragons, so I can confirm it doesn’t work that way.”

Suddenly, all of the Spindrel women froze dead in their tracks.

“Stop!” Pae hissed. “Everybody stop right now!”

The rest of the crew exchanged confused glances as we tried to figure out what was happening.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered as my eyes darted back and forth through the forest. “Did you see more goblins?”

“W-Worse…” Ura sputtered, and then she pointed down at the ground.

There, right at the foot of one of the mighty maroon pines, sat a strange flower. The thing itself must have been no larger than a baseball in circumference, though its bulb was bright red and shaped like an egg. There were small divots all around along the sides of the bulb, and I vaguely remembered having this thing described to me before.

“Ben,” Pae gulped. “T-That is a death-sprayer. The plant that started the virus and wiped out the Spindrel people.”

Oh. That’s where I’d heard it before.