King of the Goblins—Chapter 44

The cold knot in my gut slowly warmed up until it was a ball of fire. I stood there for a moment, glaring at the room, letting my anger give me strength. My forehead broke out in a cold sweat. 

Still with the spear and shield in my hands, I turned and left Silvy’s place. I kept my grip tight on my weapon to keep my hand from shaking, but my anger threatened to overwhelm me. 

Good. Let it.

Knowing they had taken my women made me blind with rage, and I reveled in it. I let those feelings flow through me. I needed that for what I was planning on doing.

I hurried down the narrow path from Silvy’s place and approached the tunnel right as a soldier entered the area. No one else came in with him; he looked to be alone. 

I pulled the shadow stone from my mouth and walked towards him. He noticed me immediately.

“So, you’re the one that’s been doing this,” he growled as he drew his iron-banded club. “We’ve got your women, you know. Came and got the bitches this morning. Oh, they put up such a fight, but we managed to calm them. Shame, King Ralcor wouldn’t let us have any real fun with them.” He slapped the club on his palm a few times. “But after I beat you senseless, I’m gonna enjoy the looks on their faces when the king skins you in front of them.”

“Are they in the Royal City?” I asked, hefting my spear.

“Where else would they be? Are you a fucking idiot or something?” He squinted his eyes, looking at my spear. “Is that a fucking training spear? Ah ha ha ha!” He laughed quite hard at that. “What do you think you’re going to do, give me a little bruise? Gods be damned, you’re a stupid bastard!”

I reached out with blood magic and stopped his heart. His laughing stopped immediately, and he clutched at his chest.

As he sank to his knees, gasping for breath, I calmly set my shield down, then got a two-handed grip on my spear. I looked him right in the eye, then swung it like a baseball bat, striking him right in the face. His jaw shattered and he fell to his side, choking on blood as he died.

“Thanks for the info,” I said, and stepped over him.

I put the shadow stone back in my mouth and continued. Time was of the essence, so I jogged through the rest of Tunnel City and made my way to the hot springs. A quick dip in there would calm my nerves, but at that moment I didn’t want to be calm. I wanted to rage-kill everyone in my way until I got to Ralcor. I wanted to save my future wives.

The tunnel was filled with goblins of all ages, and some of them blinked in confusion as a human-sized blur moved by them, but I didn’t care. It looked like this whole thing was going to happen right now, which meant I’d be their king in a day. 

Still, I was careful not to interact with anyone as I rushed by them. The springs were busy that evening with goblins wanting to wash the day from their skin, so I skirted around them. I didn’t even take a moment to admire the beauty of the goblin women. I did, however, notice a tunnel far to my right that I hadn’t seen before, as I had always been focused on the springs themselves, which were all on one side of this city-cave. 

“The cemetery,” I muttered to myself. I didn’t have time for that, though. I had to save my women.

I rushed through the crowd of people coming from one of the other cities and finally found myself at the entrance to the tunnel that led to the Royal City. Two guards stood there, wearing steel armor instead of the leather gambesons like the other soldiers. These men held shields and long spears, too. Ralcor had clearly stepped up his security in light of what had happened. 

But they died like the rest. I took a knee and concentrated on them, reaching out with magic. I could feel through their bodies at the same time, but when it came to affecting them, it was like trying to make my eyes move in different directions. 

One of the guards looked at the other, clearly feeling something was wrong. A few words passed between them, and they lowered their spears and began scanning the area in front of them. If they found me, they’d make short work of me.

I reminded myself that my future wives had been kidnapped and probably beaten. The anger I felt helped me concentrate, and I managed to touch both of their hearts. Not only did I stop them, but I was pretty sure I tore one of them nearly in half.

The soldiers gasped and dropped their weapons, clutching at their chest. One of them cursed loudly through clenched teeth, growling that I’d be dead soon and the women with me.

Well, that did it. I walked up to him and swung my spear like a club, taking him in the side of his head. He wore a steel helmet, but I still rang his bell. His heart had already stopped, but at least I added some pain to his death. 

Several goblins walking by noticed the dying soldiers, and two women screamed. That created a bit of panic, and they hurried away from the entrance to the Royal City.

I turned back to the tunnel and made my way through it. After I had gone only thirty feet and the tunnel started to curve upwards and to the left, another heavily armored guard came walking towards me.

While I didn’t have the time to dwell on it, I tried to think of the quickest and most efficient way to kill someone with blood magic. Stopping their hearts worked well, but they still had a few seconds, and if I let up too soon they could recover. Pulling the blood from their arms or legs would incapacitate them, allowing me to kill them if I had a real weapon.

I attacked him in the same manner I had lashed out at the guard in the tunnel earlier: I pulled all the blood from his brain. It only took a matter of seconds for him to collapse, and I stopped his heart for good measure.

Once he was dead I continued up the tunnel. It gently continued curving upwards and to my left, until we were on top of the cave where the hot springs were located. 

Two guards stood at the end of the tunnel, just as I expected. Now that I knew I could attack two people at once, I reached out and took hold of their brains. I had to grit my teeth with the amount of effort it took, but they soon dropped to the ground. Stopping their hearts ensured they wouldn’t rise again.

I could already feel fatigue setting in. Never before had I used this much magic in such a short period of time. At that moment I knew I couldn’t fight my way to Ralcor. I needed to save my strength for him.

A wide path began right at the exit of the tunnel and went straight to the stairs that led to the royal palace. Or throne room, or whatever the hell it was called. The place where Ralcor was most likely waiting for me.

Soldiers patrolled that path in groups of two and three. I knew that wasn’t an option. I kept myself low and hurried from the end of the tunnel, then immediately moved to my right. I skirted around the outside of a large building—I still hadn’t figured out what it was—and peered around the back. 

That area was only patrolled by a lone soldier. I guess they assumed I would go straight down that path. As much as I wanted to, that couldn’t happen. Once he got closer I used blood magic to stop his heart—that seemed to take less strength than cutting off the blood to his brain, and it was important for me to save my strength.

He grunted, then collapsed to his knees. Realizing my practice spear was basically useless, I cast it aside. His eyes jerked to the spear as it suddenly appeared and clanged against the stone floor, and he tried to call out, but his voice was weak. 

I walked up to him, still invisible, and examined him. Here, close to the throne room, some of the soldiers had swords instead of those iron-banded clubs. I reached down and grabbed the hilt of his sword and pulled it from the scabbard. He glared and tried to reach out for me, but I clumsily swung the blade and lopped off two of his fingers. He grunted in pain and I set the tip of the blade right between his collarbones, then pushed hard until it sank into the base of his neck.

“Some of you bastards don’t like to die,” I muttered as I pulled the sword free. Usually, that would make me sick, but my mind was only on my women. I didn’t even bother wiping the blood from the end of the blade. Not that anyone could see it; since I was using the shadow stone, the sword was just as invisible as me.

Of course the big downside was that I had almost no idea how to use a sword. I was tempted to go back and grab a spear from one of the earlier soldiers, but instead I pressed forward.

I stayed behind the buildings until I got to the last one, then turned left and followed the side of it. In front of me loomed the royal palace. Light spilled from the open windows on both sides. I found it a little strange that it would have so many windows, but I assumed it helped with airflow. But then again, they were underground. Well, the arched window openings certainly looked nice, so that was enough for me.

As I moved closer, I saw a rank of soldiers standing at the base of the stairs. There was no way I would get by them, so I avoided that entirely. I moved slightly to my right, a few feet behind them. Placing a hand on the stairs in front of me, I hopped up on them, thankful for the silence my running shoes offered. The guards never even heard me climb onto the stairs, and I was only about five feet away.

I inched my way up the stairs, my eyes searching for anything and everything. I took them one step at a time, until my line of sight crested the top stair. From there, I looked inside the throne room.

As I had seen before, Ralcor sat on the throne. This time he wore armor, a leather gambeson like some of the other soldiers, but trimmed with gold. A sword leaned against the arm of the throne, right within reach. He leaned on an elbow, talking with a robed man next to him. I couldn’t make out their words, but I didn’t care, for I saw the women.

Behind the throne and to the left sat Silvy, Tressi, and Zia. All three of them had their hands tied behind their backs, and dark clothes covered the top halves of their heads, ensuring they couldn’t see. A rope was tied to each of their ankles, as well. 

Even from that distance, I saw the discoloration on Tressi’s face. A nasty bruise marred her otherwise flawless face. My already fiery rage turned white-hot.

I stayed low and walked into the entrance of the throne room. Fortunately, Ralcor’s attention was on the man he spoke with. As soon as I got inside I saw two guards flanking the door. They were probably waiting for me.

I reached out with magic, then took a step back to stay out of their line of sight. After a few seconds they collapsed to the floor, their steel armor clanging loudly as they twitched in their final moments.

“It’s about time you showed up!” Ralcor called out, still sitting casually on his throne. “I was beginning to think you were going to abandon these lovely women.”

I darted through the door opening and quickly moved to the side. Enough candles and mirrored sconces kept this room brightly lit, so I knew he would be able to at least an outline of me if he looked hard enough. Sure enough, Ralcor’s eyebrows lowered and he scanned the front of the room, trying to find me.

I slipped further to the right, until I was in the corner of the room. It was a tiny bit darker there, so I stayed there for a moment and reached out with magic, trying to feel Tressi. While I wasn’t used to working from that distance, I was still able to feel the bruise in her face. I increased the blood flow to the injured area and forced her body to heal the bruise. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw a faint smile on her face after I healed her.

“Where are you, stranger?” Ralcor called out, pushing himself to his feet. He bent over and snatched his sword from its scabbard, then held it by his side. “You’ve killed so many of my soldiers. I was hoping you’d grace me with a fight. Gods know it’s been decades since I’ve had a real fight.”

He twirled the sword in a few lazy circles as he glanced around the room, still trying to find me. When he was looking to my left, I used that moment to hurry down the side of the throne room. When I passed him, he looked back at the corner where I had just been and took a few steps towards it.

“Are you glad I kept the women alive?” Ralcor called out as he took another few slow steps forward. “I want them to watch as I kill you. I can’t wait to stick my blade in you, stranger. I want to look in your eyes and see what happens when I twist it.”

I wanted to tell him he was a sick bastard, but I couldn’t give my position away. Instead, I reached out with magic, using all my strength, and tried to touch Ralcor.

All of my magic except the slightest thread evaporated the moment I touched him. I used that tiny amount that reached him and tried to affect his blood flow. I went right for his brain, the most vulnerable target.

Ralcor shook his head, then turned in a circle, looking for me. “I can feel you in my head, stranger. You know your magic can’t affect me, right?” He slowly walked towards Silvy and I felt my pulse quicken. “Tell me, are you still here? Can you see this?” And with that, he drew back his boot and kicked Silvy, right in the stomach.

“You fucking bastard!” I shouted, immediately realizing my mistake.

Ralcor rushed to the sound of my voice, moving impossibly fast. I quickly dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding a swipe from his sword. 

Holy shit, I was damn near invisible and this guy could still kick my ass.

“That was a close one, stranger. Why don’t you show yourself?” He suddenly lowered his sword. “Oh, this is no use. You’re too much of a coward to fight me.”

And with that, he walked right back to his throne as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Once he was settled on the throne, he pulled out a long dagger and began picking at his fingernails with it.

“I was really looking forward to this,” he said. “Silvy has been praying for a hundred years for revenge. It seems the gods answered her prayers and sent you. But they clearly underestimated me.” He sighed. “Well, if you’re afraid of fighting me, I understand. Everyone is. But, if that’s the case, then I’ll just have to kill them. I’ll make sure to have my fun with them first.”

I had to do something, to protect the women. I couldn’t take this guy in a fight, but I couldn’t just hide here. As angry as I was, I was likely to make fatal mistakes. Ralcor was probably counting on that. I moved closer to him and took a slow, calming breath.

“Tomorrow,” I said.

Before I was even done speaking the word, Ralcor twisted on his throne, fast as lighting, and threw the dagger towards the sound of my voice. I managed to keep quiet as the blade scored a deep line across the side of my face, then continued its flight and struck the stone wall.

Ralcor was on his feet again, sword in hand. I hadn’t even seen him grab it. Holy shit, how could someone be so fast? He paced around, his narrowed eyes scanning for me. I had to move quickly to put the throne between us to help block his view of me.

“Tomorrow, you say?” he asked. “If that’s you challenging me, then I accept. I hope you’re ready. If you disappoint me, I’m going to take it out on the brown-haired one.” He chuckled, a low, raspy growl. “Oh, stranger. The past few decades have been so dull, just ruling from this throne. You have brought excitement back into my life. I must thank you.”

I kept silent. This guy could practically find me by the sound of my voice. I moved back, closer to the entrance to the throne room, putting some distance between us.

“I’ll be waiting,” Ralcor said, still looking for me.

“I’ll be here,” I said, anger seething in my voice.

Ralcor slowly turned and faced my general direction. His eyes finally found me, and he focused on me. My heart pounded as he took a few steps towards me, but he lowered his sword.

“You had better be here,” Ralcor said, his voice quietly threatening. “I enjoy skinning people, you know. Make a little cut, then grab the skin with tongs and just puuulllll.” He made a pulling motion with his off hand. “Oh, the screams people make. I don’t do it to innocents, of course. Only those that deserve it. I mean, I’m not a monster.”

He took another step towards me and his voice grew iron-hard.

“If you don’t show up tomorrow, I will have my way with each of them for a week, then pull the skin from their flesh while they still live. That is not a threat, stranger. That is a promise.”

From the back of the room, I heard Zia whimper.

I reached up and took the shadow stone from my mouth. Let him see that I wasn’t afraid of him, even though the honest truth was that I was absolutely fucking terrified.

“Tomorrow,” I said again, meeting his hard gaze. It wasn’t easy. He had the eyes of a serial killer. “I’ll be here tomorrow, and I’ll kill you.” I used blood magic to heal the cut on my face, so he could get an idea of my capabilities.

“I look forward to it,” Ralcor said, his face slowly twisting into a cruel smile.

I slipped the shadow stone back into my mouth and moved towards the entrance to the palace. Ralcor walked behind me, although he didn’t seem interested in attacking me. 

I moved halfway down the stairs, then got ready to jump over the edge. Ralcor stopped at the top step.

“Let him pass!” he called out.

The soldiers at the base of the stairs turned, clearly confused. 

“I said let him fucking pass!” Ralcor shouted.

The soldiers hurriedly moved out of the way, and I ran through the gap between them.

My thoughts raced as I continued running down the wide path. Ralcor’s shouted orders passed quickly, and all the soldiers moved to the sides of the path. I left the Royal City, completely unhindered.

What the fuck had I gotten myself into? My entire plan centered on having three additional magic users helping me. What was I going to do, now?