by Sean Oswald
The foothills of the mountains still seemed quiet and windy compared to the forest which had been his first home in Eloria, but it was peaceful in a way that he couldn’t describe. He liked these paths, the fresh scent of mountain air, and even the crispness of the air. Not cold, but certainly not the warmth of the woods. Now that the path was becoming smoother if a bit steeper, they were moving even faster, at least until they came upon a well-worn trail leading off the main path. The three of them stopped to discuss if they should keep going up the main trail further into the mountains or if they should see where the side trail left. Even Karl’s tracking couldn’t say for sure which way Sara and her goblin captor had gone now that the ground was becoming so rocky. Thus, it was decided that they would go down the trail. Perhaps there was a small village or even a hermit who might have seen the odd pair of a human child and a goblin come by.
About three hundred meters down the side trail they came around a small hill and found what could only be described as a hut. It was a crude wooden building in a circular shape with a thatched roof and a pen for animals attached to the side of it. Presumably, there had been animals in it at one point because now it was being torn apart by some large humanoid creature. A quick glance put the creature at almost twelve feet tall and six feet wide in the torso. Its legs were small tree trunks, and its long arms were thick with muscles, but the most surprising fact about it was that atop its broad shoulders sat not one but two heads. Each relatively small for the size of the creature’s body but both moving side to side as if the creature was looking for something more.
As part of a goat’s leg fell out of one of the creature’s mouths, it bellowed out, “Come out witch. Gorgor sent to find witch.” Its voice was surprisingly high pitched for such a massive creature and definitely didn’t instill any confidence in the creature’s intelligence. “Come out or Gorgor smash witch’s house. Gorgor can smell witch.” With that, the creature swung an arm and smashed into the hut and effortlessly caved in a third of the roof.
Dave could have sworn that he heard a muffled squeal of terror but couldn’t pinpoint where it had come from. So he remained hidden and watched the giant wreak havoc on the poor hut. “Gorgor promises not eat witch. Goblin King wanting talk to witch.”
That one statement changed everything about the situation for Dave. The goblins were a very real threat. They had been a threat to his family and to the town he was now responsible for. Thinking of that responsibility pushed Dave’s mind back to remembering how he had gotten to this point.
A kaleidoscope of color flashed before Dave’s eyes as the teleportation spell which Olga read from a spell took effect. One instant, Max, Olga, Duke Holstein, one of Jaselm’s men, and Jackson along with himself had been standing in the middle of Eris’ Rise. The next, the world was a tumble of vibrant color, overwhelming sound and a complete loss of up and down. Thankfully, it was only a second but still enough to have him on his knees spewing out the contents of his breakfast onto the well-worn flagstones beneath him. As he recovered, he saw that only Max and the Duke had managed to maintain their feet and everyone else besides Olga had been doing the Technicolor yawn the same as him. Looking over at Jackson, he got back a look confirming his son was okay if somewhat queasy, so there was nothing for it but to stand up.
“You could have warned me.” Dave said while glaring at Max.
A chuckle came forth followed by, “It doesn’t do any good to warn people. It just makes them scared. The only way to get used to teleporting is to experience it multiple times.”
“I don’t know about peasants, but I never reacted like that.” Said Duke Holstein with an overly confident sneer.
“Bull...” Max muttered under his breath.
“What was that Captain?” the Duke said as he rounded on Captain Smart.
“Why nothing, your grace.” Max’s face once again a flat poker expression set off
his shining pearly whites.
“Well at least the scroll worked, and we are close,” the Duke said before striding off for the only visible doorway. Max signaled for everyone else to wait as the Duke left. While waiting, Dave got a better impression of the room they were in. They were standing on a circle of white stone which had a two foot high wall of stone built around it separating it from the rest of the room. This must be the teleportation pad he thought, as he looked at the circular space which was about fifteen feet in diameter. The rest of the room was much larger, probably forty feet on each side, with purple and gold banners hanging from the walls and various training weapons in racks against one of the walls.
“This is a muster room for the purple and gold. Here is where we meet and train if the weather is too poor outside. It also serves as the teleportation arrival spot if that wasn’t clear already,” Max said.
Dave noticed how entranced Jackson was and had to admit it was kinda cool to be inside of what must be a massive stone castle just judging from the size of this room alone. This was definitely feeling a lot more like one of his games. “So where do we go now?” He asked Max.
Before Max could say anything, “I have to go and report in with the bishop,” said Jaselm’s man. Dave realized that he didn’t even know the man’s name.
“Of course, I assume you will want to return with us when we go back to Eris’ Rise?”
Nodding in the affirmative the man said, “Yes, most likely, depending upon my instructions.”
Max raised his hand in the hair and seemingly out of nowhere a young boy came running. He couldn’t have even been as old as Jackson and must have been waiting in the wings so to speak to be used as a page. Max instructed the boy to guide the church soldier out of the castle. The boy stared at Max with rapt attention and an obvious bit of hero worship. “Yes, Captain.” was all he said before ushering the soldier out.
“And what about us, Max?” Dave asked
“Well, I am duty bound to report to the king, not to mention needing to counteract whatever lies Holstein is spouting.” Even after the past few days of working side by side with Max, Dave was still a bit surprised to hear him speak bluntly about a high ranking noble. “I apologize, I can’t invite you into the rest of the castle, but I can have Olga prepare a space for you in the Purple and Gold barracks. I assume King Borstein will want to meet with you, but that will be on his schedule not yours.”
Noting the grim expression on Dave’s face, Max said, “Don’t worry my friend I will stress the urgency of getting back to the search for Sara.” With that, he left, and Olga showed them through a back doorway which was covered by a hanging tapestry depicting a battle with a dragon.
A narrow hallway branched off into individual sleeping chambers. Each was about 10’ x 10’ and sparsely appointed with a bed, small night stand, foot chest and wash basin. None of them had doors for privacy and a few that they passed clearly had people’s personal possessions inside them. When Dave commented about that, Olga explained that it was part of building trust. If they couldn’t trust each other with their possessions then how could they be expected to trust them with lives? Dave was reminded of a drill instructor in boot camp who had insisted the foot lockers didn’t need locks because locks were only to keep otherwise honest people honest and would never keep out actual thieves.
As Olga gave them a tour, it was clear that she was proud to be part of the Purple and Gold but also equally clear that she was grieving. From what little he knew, Dave assumed she was grieving for her fallen squad mates and especially for her former Master Hastert. With that in mind, he didn’t press her very much and was content with the first two empty rooms that could be found next to each other. Dave wasn’t sure how long the king would make them wait and wanted to make sure to keep Jackson close by his side.
Father and son waited until Olga took her leave to catch up with friends and family and then went back to the inside training room. They had been given strict instructions not to leave the barracks but assumed that the marshalling room was okay too. While looking at the various
weapons, Jackson started to not so subtly ask Dave to train him. Max had given Jackson some pointers but spent a lot more time with Dave and Mira since the former was a melee fighter primarily in need of some refinement. Just having levels in a skill didn’t mean that you actually knew the best ways to apply those abilities. Max had spent time with Mira because he had formed a tight connection with her. Combining the amount of time that Dave had been out looking for Sara along with his mother’s depressed state of being had resulted in Jackson feeling rather left out. It was all too obvious to Dave, but he wasn’t sure how to help his son out right now. Given enough time, Dave was sure that he could power level Jackson up, but for now, his son was stuck as a level zero. But they had time to kill right now and an area to train.
With that in mind, Dave thought about what he could train Jackson in. He didn’t feel knowledgeable enough with the sword to become an instructor, but even back on Earth he had been a black belt so he had had plenty of experience teaching students in that. Tae kwon do was something that Dave had done with Jackson as a father-son bonding activity and while there had never been enough time, the time they had had was the source of pleasant memories. So maybe that would be the way to go. Jackson was a blue belt, primarily because Dave insisted that he not be promoted quicker than his ability to practically apply what he was learning. Jackson had chaffed as some of the kids he started classes with were black belts, but Dave had always insisted that it was better to be a sharp and skilled blue belt than a sloppy and all show black belt.
The best part was that Dave could now incorporate into their practice the realities of combat learned in Elorian style. So the two of them quickly fell into an old routine. First stretching, then practicing basic movements: kicks, punches, and ways of moving. The physical activity felt good. One of his old instructors had been fond of saying that motion creates emotion, and it was certainly the case here that the exercise was resulting not only in a small amount of sweating but also in an uptick in how the two Nelsons felt. Some of the forms they ran through would be highly impractical in combat even if the individual movements might have value. But that only served to remind Dave again why he had chosen tae kwon do over some of the more specialized ‘fighting’ styles. He hadn’t done it for fitness although it was good for that. Nor had he done it for self-defense. No, the real reason was that he enjoyed it. He did it for the fun of it. Here now, in an alien world, stuck in the castle of a king who they didn’t know, with Sara kidnapped and Emily/Mira hundreds of miles away, they were able to smile, to forget for a moment their worries and lose themselves in a shared moment of fun.
After the better part of an hour, they heard someone clearing his voice loudly. It was the same page from earlier. “I have been instructed to escort you to be presented to the king.” The boy’s voice was still high pitched, clearly not having reached puberty yet.
“Very well, and what do we call you?” Dave asked while doing a cool down stretch. His new body might not have needed it, but it was still a habit.
“Outside of these walls, I am Tabor Eikhorn, heir to Baron Steffen Eikhorn, general of the king’s army on the western border.” The boy’s voice rose even further as he was clearly proud of his lineage.
“So do we bow to you or something? You will have excuse me, where we are from there are no nobles. Or at least not any real nobles.” Dave grinned a bit at the boy’s excitement.
“No, here I am just Page Eikhorn, or to most, simply ‘boy’. I am a student at the Royal Albian Academy and all of us between the ages of 11 and 14 must take turns as pages in the castle. Besides, as my pa always says, a man’s birth station is not a matter of privilege but of challenge. Either to rise up to or to rise beyond.”
Dave found himself genuinely liking this boy. “It sounds like your father is a wise man. Well lead on.”
Tabor responded, “If you really aren’t accustomed to nobles then perhaps you need to know a few things. Strange that Duke Holstein didn’t command me to instruct you about basic etiquette. Well anyway, once you are presented to the king, meaning the court steward has announced who you are, then you are to kneel on your right knee and lower your head until you are given leave to stand or in rare circumstances to raise your head. Don’t speak except to answer questions unless you are given special leave to do so, and always refer to the king as Your Majesty or King Borstein.”
The boy seemed to be thinking about if there was anything else he needed to pass on. Finally Tabor added, “That’s about it. We Albian’s don’t stand on formality that much even here at the capital. We aren’t like those silly Faelorians.”
Without bothering to ask who the Faelorians were, Dave nodded and said, “We will follow after you Page Eikhorn.”
Satisfied, Tabor led them through the halls of the castle. The place must be massive because it took half a dozen minutes of brisk walking to arrive outside of two twelve foot high curved doors which were guarded by a pair of armored soldiers. Along the way, Dave had noted the lack of soldiers but had seen that vases of flowers and beautiful paintings or tapestries adorned almost all of the open space on the walls. It was almost garish in a cluttered sort of way which struck Dave as odd for a nation that was supposed to be at war with the goblins. The guards themselves wore what appeared to be quality armor, chainmail coifs, arms and legs with a solid breastplate. Each had a short sword hanging from a scabbard and held a polearm in their hands. They did the traditional crossing of their weapons to block the entrance, and it was so stereotypical that Dave almost broke into laughter so much so that even the polite young Tabor looked back at him with a warning glare.
“I am here with the man and his son that Captain Smart brought back from the northern wilds with him. The king has called for them and they are to be presented now. Please notify the chamberlain.” Tabor was all business as he carried out his official duties.
Obviously the guards must have known Tabor because while one of them remained attentive and ordered them to stay here while the other opened a slot in the large door and spoke in whispers to someone inside. After another couple minutes of waiting, the slot opened again, this time from the inside and another whispered conversation led to guards pulling the throne room doors open.
Tabor led Dave and Jackson inside to a room that was massive in dimensions. Dave wasn’t great at estimating size especially as the space got larger, but the room had to be at least forty feet wide and nearly two hundred feet long. There were chandeliers hanging from the vaulted ceiling which towered above to what must have been fifty feet in height. Arched windows were filled with plated glass in an assortment of colors, sort of like the old stained glass windows in his grandparent’s church. Various groups of people were milling about in clusters of three or four, but one specific individual broke away from a group and walked towards them with that purposeful walk of an administrator. As Dave took the sight before him in, he realized that no amount of fighting skill was going to be important here. What would matter would be the impression he made on the king and as they say you only get one chance to make a first impression. So with that in mind, he reluctantly sank the maximum of twenty character points into Diplomacy. With the base of thirty, that brought it up to fifty and gave him a nice bonus as a journeyman in Diplomacy now.
A quickly speaking sharp voice made Dave focus on outside events rather than his own internal notifications. A shorter man of about sixty was standing in front of him. Everything from his gray hair to his official palace livery was perfectly pressed, not a hair out of place. All business. “I am Eleazor Brilin, steward to King Borstein, and in many ways, the royal gatekeeper. If you have business with the king, you will most likely go through me to get to him.” A short pause in his speech followed as he drew in a breath for the next portion or perhaps to see if they had any questions. “You are David Nelson from the same distant land that Captain Smart hails from just a different part of it as I understand?” Dave simply nodded as he felt the less said, the better, not knowing exactly what Max had
told the king. “And this is your son, Jackson, I believe is his name?” Another nod followed, and if anything, the steward seemed grateful for the lack of verbal response. “Very well, follow me and I will present you to the king. I assume that Tabor has instructed you on proper etiquette.” Then without waiting for a response the small man started to walk briskly forward towards the throne even as he dismissed Tabor.
He led Dave and Jackson to a spot approximately twenty feet in front of the throne which stood at the end of the room on a raised dais. On the throne sat a middle aged man who conveyed not only a sense of personal power but also the air of one accustomed to being obeyed. Three guards with the same ornamentation as Max’s squad stood on each side of the throne at a forty-five degree angle spreading out. Immediately next to the throne on the left side was a smaller chair set back about two feet behind the throne. It was a plush chair, ornate and padded, and upon it sat a beautiful woman likely in her early thirties. Her hair was done up into a style which Dave found to be rather severe, but there was no denying her appeal. On the right side of the throne stood an elderly man in burgundy robes. Clearly a court mage of some sort complete with a thick staff covered by golden ornamentation and a chicken’s egg sized ruby on the top of it, which he leaned upon.
The steward announced them to the throne as David Nelson and Jackson son of David before becoming immediately quiet as both Max and Duke Holstein started to speak at the same time. Dave and Jackson both dropped to their right knee as they had been instructed but it didn’t appear as if anyone noticed due to the two men trying to speak over one another.
