King of the Goblins—Chapter 45

I kept running down the tunnel that left the Royal City. Several goblin citizens surrounded the dead soldiers, checking them for any wounds and trying to figure out what had happened.

I ignored them and kept moving. By the time I made my way through the hot springs, I finally realized I still had the goblin sword in my hand. Well, it was time to use it. My future was at stake. Silvy, Tressi, and Zia were going to be tortured if I failed.

When I reached the tunnel that led out of the city, I turned and continued running. I ran halfway down the hallway before I came across a guard. 

“I hear you!” he shouted, his eyes scanning the dimly lit tunnel for me.

Since I was still running, I used my momentum and put it all into a double-handed swing, right at the soldier’s neck. His head toppled to the ground. I barely even slowed.

I was breathing hard by the time I reached the end of the tunnel, but I ignored it. Adrenaline gave me strength. A single guard was posted at the mouth of the tunnel, and I removed his head just as I had the other goblin.

I walked for a few minutes to catch my breath and gather my thoughts. My options were bad and worse: I had no choice but to fight Ralcor or he would kill my future wives. But, there was no way I could take him in a fight. Not even with a spear. Probably not even with Taranath shooting arrows over my shoulder. I had never seen anyone move nearly as quickly as Ralcor. He almost seemed to defy the laws of physics.

Magic didn’t work against him, and my plan of the ladies using magic to make the stone grab him or create a hole beneath him was now moot. I was basically out of options, with the exception of actually facing Ralcor, which was an option that guaranteed death.

I turned and started walking towards the tree I used to access the elven city of Caelora. It was getting late, but certainly Althidon would be able to give me some advice. I had no one else to turn to. His brain was my only hope.

I continued walking until my heart rate went down to something near normal. Stress still made my heart pound, but at least I wasn’t out of breath.

There was always a way around things. I just needed to think. Taranath was a skilled archer, which would be a huge help. In a short amount of time I had reached the throne room by myself. With Taranath aiding me, it would be even easier.

But Taranath couldn’t turn himself invisible like I could. He would be a target, and if five goblin soldiers decided to rush us, I wouldn’t be able to defend him. 

I refused to accept the truth; that I was absolutely fucked. No, there was a way to do this. I did my best to stay positive.

All that positive thought lasted until I heard an odd grunting noise from just behind me and to my right. I turned and was immediately grateful I was invisible.

When I had first arrived here, several people had described the other races that sometimes roamed these woods. Things like harpies, orcs, uhhh gnolls I think? And of course, trolls.

The creature that stood dangerously close to me could only be described as terrifying. Standing more than ten feet tall, it was covered with stringy muscle and gray-green skin that reminded me of a frog’s. Shoulder muscles thick enough to conceal its neck held a vaguely humanoid head with a main of matted hair growing from the top. Its ribcage almost seemed too big, giving it a blocky appearance. 

I was looking at a troll. A fucking troll. 

Thankful for my shadow stone, I carefully moved back, trying to put some distance between me and the monster. 

Of course the worst thing possible happened and it suddenly stopped, sniffing loudly. With another grunt, it turned towards me, still smelling for me.

“Shit,” I muttered. That turned out to be a mistake.

Moving surprisingly fast for something so large, it reached out for me. It would have gotten me had I not clumsily raised the sword. I managed an overhead swipe right as the troll reached in my general direction. The sword carved a deep line across the troll’s palm and it recoiled, growling in pain. The troll, that is. Swords don’t growl.

I wasted no time and ran. I hurried north, towards the elven city. If I could just get there, I’d be fine, I told myself. Only a matter of seconds later, I heard the troll crashing through bushes as it followed me, its lumbering stride easily catching up to me.

The only advantage I had was that it couldn’t see me. As soon as I reached a tree of decent size, I dashed to the side and hid behind it. It felt like an amateur move, but it was all I had at that moment.

The troll ran a dozen steps past the tree before stopping. It sniffed at the air again, looking in front of it. An overwhelming sense of relief filled me as the troll took a few careful steps forward, away from me. It still searched for me, but in the wrong direction. I remained behind the tree, peeking out every few seconds, until the troll was far enough away that I felt relatively safe.

Well, as safe as I could feel with a troll nearby.

The sun was setting and the shadows long, but there was little I could do to speed up my journey to Caelora. I had to wait on the stupid troll to get the hell out of the way, and he certainly took his time. After perhaps twenty minutes, he finally gave up and kept walking through the forest. 

He walked in the same direction I was moving, but at least his long stride meant he easily outpaced me. After another few minutes, I felt safe to walk normally.

When I finally reached the tree I used to access the elven city, I took a moment to just breathe and relax. My heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of my chest. Climbing those wooden stairs didn’t help, but eventually I was in Caelora.

I removed the shadow stone when I reached the top of the stairs. It took me a moment to remember I was holding a shield and a blood sword. The last thing I needed to do was make anyone panic. I held the sword and shield together in a way that showed I clearly wasn’t planning on using them, and set off for Althidon.

Truth be told, I didn’t know where to go. I just knew the training area was where I usually found him. I set off for that part of the city, hoping I could find him. Several people gasped when they saw me, most likely due to the bloody sword in my grip.

It didn’t take me long to reach that training area, but as I feared, when I got there it was empty. A sudden wave of helplessness washed over me, but I forced it down and simply walked to the nearest house. I knocked on the door, and a moment later it opened.

An elven man opened the door, eyeing me suspiciously. That look deepened when he saw my sword and shield.

“What do you want?” he asked, closing the door halfway.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” I said. “I need to find Althidon, the Sword-Master. It’s an emergency.”

“I can’t help you much,” the man said, his eyes going to my bloody sword again. “All I know is he lives that way.” He pointed to his left, my right.

“Thank you. That’s a big help,” I said, and hurried away. 

Instead of knocking on every door, I walked until I crossed a wooden bridge and reached the next island. There, I selected a house at random and asked the same question. It took me a dozen houses, everyone looking at me with fear or suspicion or both, but I finally found Althidon’s house.

It was larger than most, from being a Sword-Master, I suppose, but still small by Earth standards. Of course, elves didn’t have to worry about man caves and big-screen TVs, so that made sense. I couldn’t tell how many rooms it had from a glance. I knocked on the door and waited.

A moment later, Althidon opened the door. He looked shocked to see me. “Aaron?” he asked, looking me up and down. Over his shoulder, I saw Leena glance at me. She looked surprised as well. “What are you doing here? What’s wrong?” His eyes focused on the bloody sword in my hand.

“Everything,” I said.