King of the Goblins—Chapter 26

With the shadow stone in my mouth, I was all but invisible as I crept behind the three soldiers. The shorter one made a few comments about the size of Zia’s breasts, and the other two laughed and then went on about how the tall one had slapped Silvy. Really put her in her place, he said.

“I’m telling you, I know she’s involved somehow,” the tall soldier said. “Ain’t nobody around here do magic except for her, and Grom was killed with magic.”

Grom. His name was Grom. I tucked that bit of information away, just in case it might come in handy later, although I couldn’t think of how it would matter.

“What makes you say that?” the shorter one asked.

“Because,” the tall soldier answered. “From what I saw, there was only one mark on the side of his head where he had been hit, and it wasn’t enough to kill him on its own. From the angle, he was already on his hands and knees when someone struck him with the club. Can you imagine Grom on his hands and knees? I don’t think there’s a man around here that could whoop him in a fight that badly. Grom was tough as coffin nails, I tell you. Magic is the only thing that could get him down like that.”

“So you think someone wounded him with magic, then hit him with his own club?” the other soldier asked.

“Right now, yes. That’s what I’m thinking,” the tall soldier replied. “At least my foot feels better. Damn thing fell asleep in there. That’s the only thing that kept me from handling Silvy differently, like she deserves. I know the king doesn’t want us too rough with people, but she needs to be taken care of proper-like.”

“She is a pretty one, I’ll say that much.”

“Yeah, and I would love to put her in her place,” the tall soldier said. “Break that spirit of hers. That would be a challenge worth accepting.”

“I dunno man, even the king couldn’t break her spirit.”

“He was too nice to her by far.”

“So, do you think she was hiding something?”

The tall soldier pondered that for a moment. “Silvy is smart. She’s been around for a while. I think she knows more than she’s letting on. I don’t know how I’m going to figure it out, but I will. Then I’ll get that promotion I been wanting for a while.”

Hearing that was enough to spur me into action. Using blood magic, I reached out and touched the tall soldier’s body again. Like before, I cut off blood flow to his foot. After only a few seconds, he stopped and stomped his foot a few times.

“Boots again?”

“Yeah,” he said, his voice filled with irritation. “I’m going to have to get them altered or something. This is unacceptable.”

I had to really think about what I was doing. Right now we were in too public of a place for me to kill them; everyone would see them. I decided to allow some blood flow back into his foot so he would keep walking.

“Tell Char he needs to work harder on boots.”

“That damn cobbler has always been a lazy bastard. Maybe he’ll fix the boot if you shove it up his ass.”

That got them laughing. The tall soldier stomped his foot a few times and they continued on, him limping slightly.

I maintained my connection to his body that blood magic had given me. Being able to stop his blood flow was an incredible power to have, but I found myself wishing I could use it to control his limbs. With that, I could really create an interesting situation. As it was, I was going to have to get creative in order to cover up what I was planning on doing.

As we drew closer to a wide tunnel that connected two of the massive underground chambers, a plan formed in my mind. Using my blood magic, I touched each of their bodies and slowed their hearts to a crawl. Not enough to kill them, but enough that they would notice within seconds.

“Ugh,” one of the soldiers said, placing his hand on his chest. “I feel…. I dunno, something’s wrong.”

“No, I feel it too,” the tall soldier said.

I found myself grateful for the running shoes I wore, as they were almost completely silent on the stone floor. The tunnel was dark, which kept me invisible. I took a few steps behind them and made my voice low and harsh, much like how the goblin men spoke.

“Hey,” I growled.

As one, they turned around and placed their hands on the handles of their clubs.

“Who the fuck was that?” the tall soldier demanded.

I carefully moved around behind them again. Their hearing was excellent so I kept my steps as light as a feather.

“It’s Grom,” I said in little more than a harsh whisper. “My spirit is still alive.”

The soldiers looked at each other, their eyes wide in shock. I took a few steps towards the next cave and immediately saw a shadowed section right outside the tunnel. That was where I’d do it.

“I knew it,” the shorter soldier said, still rubbing his chest. “That’s why I feel so cold and tired, all of a sudden. It’s Grom’s spirit!”

“Yes, it is me,” I said, glad they were dumb enough to believe my story.

The tall soldier drew his club and looked around him. “Is that really you, Grom?” He didn’t sound fully convinced.

“Of course it is,” I growled. “Who the fuck else would it be?” I felt like Grom would speak like that.

“What do you want?” the tall soldier said.

I took a few steps towards the shadowed area just beyond the tunnel. “Avenge me, my brothers. Find the bastard that murdered me and avenge my death!”

“Tell us who it was!” one of the soldiers said. 

“Come closer,” I said as I exited the tunnel.

They all took a few steps in the direction of my voice. I kept their hearts slowed down, which not only served the purpose of keeping them cold and making them believe a spirit was near, but would make them sluggish. I would have to be out of my fucking mind to fight three of these guys at once.

“Who did it?” the tall soldier demanded. “Was it that bitch Silvy? I know she’s involved.”

“I can tell you in the shadows,” I said as I stepped into the darkness. “I am stronger here.”

They followed me out of the tunnel, although they still looked suspicious. I drew my club just to be safe, and slowed their hearts further.

“Stop doing that!” the tall soldier said, holding a hand over his chest. “Look, it feels like you’re trying to kill us, man. Just tell us who fucking did it and we’ll take care of things.”

“It…was….” I waited for them to take another step closer and fully stopped their hearts.

Their eyes bulged as they realized how wrong things were. They had been double crossed.

My inner child suddenly got a great idea and I ran with it.

“Your mom,” I said, and swung my club like a baseball bat, as hard as I could. It connected with the tall soldier’s temple and sent him staggering to the ground. Without waiting, I attacked the next soldier, bashing him directly in the face. I winced as his teeth shattered.

“Must…tell….” the shortest soldier was struggling to get away, but with his blood flow completely stopped his limbs barely worked.

I calmly walked up behind him and struck him in the back of the head. He fell forwards, his face slamming into the stone floor.

Enough people came through this area to make things risky, and I knew I only had a few minutes at best. I slid my club through the loop on my belt, then grabbed each soldier by their ankles and dragged them deep into the shadows. After that I pulled each of their clubs out and placed them in their hands. 

“Wait a minute,” I muttered to myself. The tall soldier had been sharp enough to study the wound on Grom’s head and determine that a single blow hadn’t been enough to kill him. With that in mind, I raised my club high overhead and brought it down with all my might.

I felt my gorge rise as I slammed the club into them, breaking arms and faces. It was disgusting work, but it had to be done. I needed this to look like they had killed each other in a rage. After a brief though, I swapped my bloody club out for one of their clean ones. Then, made sure to rub the ends of their clubs in blood, to further reinforce the idea they had attacked each other.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was all I had. After all, the tunnel guards were known for being assholes and hotheads, so who’s to say they wouldn’t get angry and beat each other to death?

I stayed there for a few minutes longer, ensuring their hearts were completely stopped. Once I felt they were as dead as dead could be, I hurried away from the scene of the crime and went back towards Silvy’s house.

My heart raced as I walked, and I took a few minutes to calm myself down. After a few minutes my breathing slowed and the adrenaline began to wear off.

It dawned on me that I had killed again, and this time it wasn’t even really in self-defense. I clenched my hands into fists to keep them from shaking. Guys liked to boast about their toughness and it wasn’t uncommon for them to talk about how they could easily kill someone, especially if their life depended on it. I had never been one of those guys, but I had to say, beating three men to death with a club was not an easy experience. My stomach churned as I remembered the feeling of facial bones crunching beneath the club.

I finally arrived on the path to Silvy’s house, and took an extra few minutes to make sure I was calm and composed. Killing was something I would have to get used to, I reminded myself. The path to fighting Ralcor was going to be paved with blood. There was no way around that; I was going to save the goblin people, but I would have to shed a lot of blood to get there.

After one more deep breath, I pushed Silvy’s door open and entered her house.