by J. P. Rice
“If that’s an option, then I vote for that,” Justinian said, raising his hand.
I sat down, looking for the flattest spot for sleeping. “Unless you want to pick up five thousand-pound blocks of stone, you may want to lower your hand. We need to use deadly finesse on this one. But if it comes down to it, we can always go with the Morrigan’s plan of utter destruction.”
“I need to relieve myself, if you will excuse me,” Justinian said with a slight bow and trampled off into the woods.
Titania’s mission hadn’t yielded great results. Knowing the dagger was attached to a giant goblin meant that it could be anywhere at any time. Since Titania hadn’t located Ezzeki’s quarters, the dragonfly couldn’t sneak in while he slept.
With the Goblin Queen’s castle shrouded in secrecy, we hadn’t created a solid plan of attack. Trying to piece this together on the fly was proving to be quite the undertaking. It was almost as if the situation had handcuffed the Goddess of Death and her incredible magic powers were rendered inactive.
The Morrigan and I were a dangerous combination because our impatience fed off each other’s and usually ended with mass mayhem. I had to resist that and stick to the plan of finesse instead of utter destruction. But hot damn, it was hard to be this close and not go on the offensive.
I conjured two pillows and two blankets. I set a pillow and blanket next to me and wondered what was taking Justinian so long. Then again, maybe I didn’t want to know.
Titania flew down onto a fallen branch and pulled some leaves up over her thorax and abdomen. The Morrigan plopped down and cleared all the rocks and twigs away from her sleeping area. Then, she conjured a blanket and set it over the clean area.
As I waited for the werewolf to get back, crippling doubt attacked me and I wondered if we could pull off this suicide mission.
Chapter 16
“HOLY SHIT, WHAT IS that?” Titania squeaked.
I jumped up out of my slumber, eyes glazed over with sleep. “What? Who? Why did you just yell?”
The dragonfly gestured with her head to the left. I rubbed my eyes and turned my head. Instantly, my pulse raced as I saw an alligator only a few feet away. Luckily, the Morrigan was already up and on it. In a crouched stance, she was about a foot away from the gator’s massive mouth.
The Morrigan backed up and slapped the ground, “Come on, you lil fucker. You wanna play?”
I backed up several steps to give the Morrigan enough room to operate on the slight incline. Peeking around, I didn’t see Justinian anywhere and wondered if he had gotten up early to relieve himself again. At any rate, he’d avoided this reptile that I could only imagine had escaped from the swamp.
The alligator’s jaw opened, and it hissed. No coffee necessary. My heart pumped out of control, as a mouthful of sharp, but crooked fangs lunged at the Morrigan’s outstretched hand. She yanked it back as the jaw snapped closed, missing her fingertips by only inches. I couldn’t see her face, but I was rather certain the Morrigan had a big smile on her face.
“Why don’t you just blast it with magic?” I asked.
She didn’t turn around. Feeling out the alligator, she responded, “That’s no fun. There’s a little spot right at the back of their head. It’s one of the few ways to kill them. Most do it with a gun, but I’m gonna use a knife.” She pulled a knife from a sheath on her hip and put the blade in her mouth. She bit down, freeing her hands and crouched into position again.
“Well, do you think you can keep it down, so we don’t attract all the guards?” I whispered over the hissing alligator. This crazy bitch was going to mess around and get us busted.
The Morrigan nodded with the flat of the blade stuck between her teeth and dangled her left hand in front of the alligator’s face, tempting the beast to make the first move. The gator took the bait and snapped at her hand. She jerked it back, narrowly avoiding amputation, and at the same time, she reached out with her right hand.
The gator’s jaw clapped shut, and she grabbed the side of its mouth with her thumb over the top and her fingers on the underside. My heart pounded against my ribcage as the reptile thrashed around, attempting to break loose. Face to face with the angry gator, the Goddess maintained her firm grip.
She moved in with her other hand and grabbed the other side of its mouth. The gator whipped its tail around, and it headed straight for the Morrigan’s face. She ducked at the last moment and avoided the pain. Mo chuckled, as the tail recoiled and slapped her on the upper arm. The gator scurried from side to side swinging its tail wildly.
I searched through the low-hanging branches for guards but found no goblins in the area. When I turned back around, the Morrigan was removing the knife from her mouth. Her powerful left hand kept the alligator’s jaw closed as she firmed her grip on the knife, moving her thumb flush against the golden guard.
She dug the heel of her boot in the dirt and slid over next to the gator. The beast whipped its long tail around and it smacked the Morrigan in the hip, sending a sonorous echo through the forest. I jerked my head left and right, searching for the inevitable guard. Maybe it was nap time for the goblins because that slap was loud.
The Morrigan absorbed the blow and let out a light groan. Then she trapped the gator’s tail between her feet. The gator tried to trash around, but the Morrigan held it steady as she lined up the kill shot. Calmly, a flash of silver struck down near the back of the gator’s head.
A spurt of dark blood fountained up over the Morrigan’s hand, covering her white knuckles. Smiling, the crazy Goddess jammed the blade in further and twisted it. The gator’s spastic movements slowed gradually, finally going completely still. She looked up at Titania and me with a proud smile and a slow nod as she rose to her knees.
“Anyone hungry? Boots? A jacket?” she asked, removing the weapon from of the gator’s head. She wiped the blade clean with her cloak, the raven feathers drinking in the dark blood greedily. It was almost as if she was feeding the cloak. Perhaps that was how it got heavier and lighter magically. She checked both sides of the blade and sheathed the knife.
Glad we hadn’t attracted any guards, I said, “Are you done playing around? You were just lecturing us last night about respecting the dead. Besides, we can’t eat that thing anyway. It probably eats those nasty bugs from the swamp. You should get away from it.”
The Morrigan rolled her eyes and sighed. “Sheesh. You’re going soft.”
I argued, “Not soft. Smart. I’m trying to keep us alive. We all know you have a different agenda in that area.”
“You’re still soft,” she said as she stood up. She punched me in the shoulder and asked, “Where’s the young wolf?”
“In all the excitement, I forgot about him. Hmm.” I looked around for a moment and uncovered the mystery. “His blanket and pillow never got used. I fell asleep before he got back. Do either of you remember him coming back last night?”
Titania and Mo looked at each other, but no one said a word.
The Morrigan buried her hand into her obsidian locks and shook it around, trying to work out her bedhead. Without her secret beauty products, her hair lost its frizzy, ‘blow dried for hours’ effect. She shivered in the chilly morning air, her cloak growing thicker and longer in reaction. “I fell asleep before he came back from pissing, I think,” the Morrigan said, breaking the long silence.
“Me too,” Titania chimed in.
“So then where the fook did he go?” I looked down at the dragonfly. “Titania. You think you could take a cruise around and see if you can spot him?”
Titania yawned and beat her wings. She rose quickly and hovered in front of the Morrigan and me. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned again and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
Titania flew higher to get a better look but remained just below the low branches for a clear view.
“So who is the God of the alligators?” I asked, staring at the fallen reptile.
“No one in our pantheon. Cecrops is half-snake and half-man. Pretty sur
e this is his territory if he cares to send a guide out here.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that weirdo. I keep thinking he died at Machu Picchu,” I said.
The Morrigan hooked her forearm around her other elbow and stretched out. “Can’t blame you. More Gods died in that battle than any other time in history. Thirteen went down on the same day. I wish that ill-faced snake boy Cecrops hadn’t been put back together.”
I reminisced nostalgically about the battle in Machu Picchu. The one and only time I’d fought alongside my father. It was my proudest moment outlasting Gods and Goddesses. It was when I’d earned the true respect of most of the Gods including Zeus, but most importantly, my father, King Nuada.
The Gods had seen firsthand that I was one bad bitch and not to be taken lightly. It had also resulted in outing myself as a legitimate threat and placing a permanent bull’s eye on my back. The Morrigan had acted like a proud (mad) scientist when an experiment goes better than expected. She’d deemed her experiment of pumping me full of dark and pure magic a rousing success.
Perhaps I could write a story about it someday.
Titania flew back and hovered in front of us. Breathing heavily, she said, “They got him. Those bastards got him.”
“They’ve got Justinian?” I asked, eyes wide.
Titania’s head rocked up and down. “Yeah. They got him in a noose on one of those barrels.”
Oh, shit. Why had I brought him along? “Like they did with the dwarf? Were they poking him?”
“Yeah,” she said, nodding rapidly. “We need to hurry.”
Titania shot off down the hillside, leading the way. The Morrigan and I hustled after her. My foot hit a patch of leaves and slid down the hill, taking the rest of my body with it. My right leg kicked out and I nearly performed a full split.
I coasted to a stop on the loose soil and scrambled to get back over to Titania. As I crab-walked sideways to get back on track, the lack of security around the castle surprised me. Then I remembered the scene with the dwarf from yesterday.
The goblins didn’t want to stray too far from the feeding frenzy. That was probably why that guard had been muttering under his breath yesterday. We could get much closer to the courtyard and plan our attack.
No way the goblins were going to get Justinian. We wouldn’t allow that shit. At least, I wouldn’t.
We scurried down the hillside and I saw Justinian in wolf form. Standing on top of the wine barrel. His camo sweats were in scraps around the barrel. My heart sank. I’d dragged him on this mission against his will. He had that noose around his neck because of me.
Without caffeine fueling my brain and the natural high of the gator experience wearing off, I struggled to come up with a plan. When the giant goblin started poking Justinian with his crooked hickory stick, I knew we had to hurry.
The wolf slapped the stick aside, chasing it away from his midsection. The goblin came right back and swatted Justinian in the left leg. The wolf wobbled to the left and his long, hairy toes curled over the edge of the wooden barrel. Justinian held his arms at his sides and staggered back to his left as the goblin whacked him again.
The young wolf bit his hairy bottom lip and took the pain but remained steady.
Titania asked, “What are we going to do?”
The Morrigan answered, “Worse comes to worst, if he falls, we can burn that rope away.”
I whispered, “I think we might have to jump in before that. What if we miss the rope? Or what if they have some protective magic around it?”
The Morrigan turned to me with intensity running through her eyes, fire building in her red pupils and the bridge of her nose wrinkling. Her nostrils flared and she snarled, “First. I don’t miss. Second. I’ll make it strong enough to blast through a protection spell. Why would they have a spell on it anyway?”
She asked rhetorically, but I answered anyway, “Why would they eat the flesh of beings? I doubt much they do makes sense. But what if they have a protective spell around the castle? Anyway, we’re missing the point. Even if we get him out of the rope, we still need to get in there and save him.”
The Morrigan cracked her neck. “The Goblin Queen isn’t out there yet, so now might be best to strike. We catch them off guard and escape with the kid. Problem is that we’ll have to hide in the tunnel or go back to the other side because they’ll surely lock down the surrounding woods.”
Staring down the hillside, I said, “We’ll deal with that when we get there. You ready, Titania?”
“As ready as I can be.” Titania gulped and asked, “What exactly is the plan, sisters?”
The Morrigan shrugged her shoulders. “Kick ass first and ask questions later if there are any survivors.”
Her cloak sensed the impending battle and morphed into a tight suit that hugged her body but didn’t restrict any movement. I turned to Titania and stared at her special burgundy shirt with the big gold T. Now we had two superheroes on the squad. I wanted a cool outfit.
Titania said, “That sounds motivating. I was thinking more along tactical lines. Maybe I should burn the rope away from Justinian and you two can do that thing you just said. You know, kick ass and harass the survivors later. Is that right?”
“Close enough. That sounds good.” I watched Justinian teeter to the side, and the goblins held their collective breath, hoping he would fall. To their dismay, Justinian waved his arms around in little circles and caught his footing. He could use that balance for his Broadway performances. But we needed to save his ass first, or he was destined for the dance of the dead.
“Let’s move in closer and get ready for action,” the Morrigan suggested and led the way.
We worked our way down the incline and closer to the stone courtyard with the maple tree growing from the center of it. I counted twenty, forty, oh, it looked like about fifty goblins surrounding Justinian. The giant threw his stick to the side, and another goblin handed him a club.
With both hands, the one who stood head and shoulders above the rest thrust the wooden weapon above his head, and the goblins went wild with glee. The giant rapped it on the side of the barrel, sending an empty echo through the courtyard and knocking it a few inches to the left. Justinian scrambled to stay on top as his hips swerved from side to side, then his lanky werewolf body finally straightened.
The giant crouched down and lined up a swing against the bottom of the barrel. It would surely sweep it out from under Justinian’s feet, hanging him. The giant’s toned green arms drew back the club.
“We need to move. Now,” I said, tapping the Morrigan on the hip.
We hustled down the hillside as a shrill voice cut through the air. “Stop.”
Chapter 17
WE STOPPED. I PEERED up and saw the Goblin Queen walking down the enormous staircase of the castle that connected to the courtyard. She had an enormous goblin guard on each side and as they hit the bottom, the queen emerged by herself.
What a hideous mess! My first impression of the Goblin Queen was that someone had switched her with a strung-out rocker from the 80s. Her hair was an incredible combination of a hairspray fro and mullet with bangs. Like a female David Bowie. Her face had so much makeup caked onto it, her natural features were almost unrecognizable from this distance.
Yikes. The clowns at the carnival had better makeup artists. Dressed in a glimmering emerald gown, she stepped forward, strutting awkwardly because of her red high heels.
“Fookin’ Carl,” I mumbled.
“What’s that, now?” Titania asked.
I kept my eyes on the Goblin Queen. “Nothing. Just a saying from this book series that I love.”
Titania shrugged it off.
“Where did you find him?” the queen’s sonorous voice rang out, dancing around the courtyard and rushing up the hillside to hit our ears.
“Up in area twenty-three.” The goblin covered his mouth with the back of his hand and looked away, embarrassed. “Caught him with his pants down,” the guard said and snigg
ered.
“Why would a werewolf invade my land? Wolf, what were you thinking?” the queen asked and bounced up and down as she pranced up to Justinian, her heels clicking in a strange staccato pattern.
He stared down at the queen, and said, “Just wanted to steal your riches.”
“How did you get inside here?” she asked, circling the barrel.
Justinian didn’t spin around to follow the queen. He stood still, and his head barely moved when he spoke, “Through the swamp. It’s not as bad as the rumors make it out to be.”
The Goblin Queen stopped and raised her voice, “You speak with false confidence. It is a sign of fear. There isn’t a chance you went through the swamp. Tell your tale. Now.”
His lips smashed together and then his mouth and nose trembled. I thought he was about to break.
“I. Went. Through. The. Swamp,” Justinian said defiantly with his head held high.
Wow. I couldn’t believe he was holding up under the pressure. Initially, I hadn’t wanted the queen to come out, but now we could accomplish all our goals. I could see the dagger on the hip of the giant goblin, the Goblin Queen was only a few feet away and we could rescue Justinian in the process.
Everything was falling into place.
“Let’s hang him,” screamed the giant goblin as he drew back the club, trying to play to the crowd.
The queen yelled, “Wait.” Her guard stopped but still had the club cocked back. She continued, “Why don’t we have some fun with this? I have an idea. Why don’t we throw him in the swamp and see what kills him first? We can bet on it and we’ll find out if this wolf is lying about his adventures in the swamp.”
The audience grumbled for a moment until the queen spun around and silenced them without speaking a word. She turned and almost fell, grabbing onto the huge bicep of her trusty guard. The man cupped his hand around her elbow and his other hand landed on the small of her back. The queen clutched his forearm and pulled herself straight. Then she marched toward the castle steps.
