Temporal Locum

by Wendie Nordgren

  “Draw it. Keep it in your hand. Listen. I want you to get to the other side. Then, ride as hard and fast as you can. Do you see that ridge? There, under the setting sun?”

  The rocky ledge looked very steep from their current distance. It had to be several dozen miles away. “I see it.”

  “If we’re separated, I’ll wait for you there, but I’ll look for you. If you get there and a fire is burning, I haven’t left you. Understand?” His horse was taking him away from her.

  “Yes, but why?”

  Then, she heard a sound. It was a sound which she’d never be able to forget and one which she’d prayed she’d never hear again. Their animalistic guttural cries were unmistakable, and they were coming from a not too distant mountain.

  “Goblins,” Eurig said.

  His horse was now swimming with powerful kicks across the river. Bym could tell the moment when Donkey’s hooves no longer touched the riverbed. Water-soaked Bym up to her knees and formed a ripple against her left thigh where the current hit it. Donkey was an excellent swimmer, but the current was strong and fast. It began pushing her hindquarters downstream which gave both of them a view of the mountain. The rushing water muted their cries from her ears, and she could no longer see them spilling from the mountain’s side. The goblins were nowhere to be seen which was very bad indeed.

  “Swim, Donkey! Swim! You can do it!” She lowered herself to Donkey’s back and lifted her heavy boots up out of the water which drained from them as she put their soles together behind her on Donkey’s rump. It wasn’t much, but lightening the load by a few pounds seemed to encourage her. She swam with a renewed fervor.

  Ahead of them, Eurig and his horse had almost made it across. Bym looked behind them and immediately wished she hadn’t. The goblins were fast. Along the opposite bank, trees and brush shook where they passed.

  “Hurry, Donkey! Hurry!” Bym desperately pleaded.

  Eurig made it across. He’d drawn his bow and had an arrow knocked. He was prepared to defend them if the monsters caught up to them. Finally, Donkey made it out of the river and onto the bank. She ran toward Eurig.

  “Come on!” he yelled. His horse charged away along the bank and kicked up a steady spray of mud in his wake. Eurig stayed low to his horse’s neck, so Bym did the same.

  She and Donkey could sense each other’s terror. It was an innate fear to survive. They’d gone maybe a mile when the first goblins made it across the river. They could hear them but could no longer see them. It had gone from afternoon to midnight in a matter of minutes. She hoped they had put enough distance between them for the monsters to give up. There was a rushing sound behind them. Then, Donkey screamed and reared. Bym clung to her neck and kicked out with as much force as she could, connecting with something solid.

  “Eurig!” she screamed.

  Sharp pointed teeth nipped at Donkey. Bym slashed out with her knife. The monster yelped and hissed. Donkey’s eyes rolled with fear. Stomping her hooves and jumping nervously, she burst forward in a panic. Bym wasn’t able to hold on. She fell from Donkey’s back to the muddy bank where she scrambled to get to her feet. From within the night, yellow eyes moved closer. The goblin had gone down onto all fours. Coming slowly toward her, its claws sank into the mud and then made a sucking sound when they lifted free. Bym took a step back and then another before turning and running.

  Running was a mistake. Goblins were fast and loved nothing so much as chasing down prey, and the one she now faced was the fastest of his littermates. The monster sprang forward, driving into Bym’s back, and knocking her face-first into the ground. She rolled to her side as it slashed down at her with razor-sharp claws. Terrified, she clamored back to her feet. Unable to run, it was fight or die for Bym, and a cold fury filled her with rage. She expected to die, but she’d die fighting. The goblin opened its maw of sharp teeth and lunged. Spinning away, Bym jabbed her knife forward and into one of its glowing-yellow eyes. It burst, sending warm sticky fluid over Bym’s hand before she could jerk it free. Keeping a tight grip on her knife, she slashed and jabbed.

  More of them were coming. She could hear them getting closer, hear their cries in answer to those of their wounded brother. Bym knew she would die, and she refused to die alone. She was taking some of them with her. With a grunt of exertion, she sliced with the knife. Hot greasy blood squirted across her face and chest. The moon broke free from behind a cloud to illuminate the startled goblin before her, staring at her through its remaining eye. It clutched at its throat in a vain attempt to staunch the flow of its blood. Then, it crumpled to the ground at her feet as another goblin appeared to take its place.

  Behind her, hooves thundered against the ground. She could feel tremors through her feet and up into her knees strengthening as Eurig charged closer. While she used her knife to swipe at the claws with which a goblin grabbed for her, Eurig swung his sword at another. She heard one thud and then another, but she couldn’t worry about him, not with a growling slobbering monster in front of her. It slashed long dirty claws at her unprotected belly. Bym stumbled backwards slipping in the fallen goblin’s blood and falling onto her butt. She pushed away with the heels of her boots to put distance between them. However, the goblin lurched for her and landed heavily on her stomach and thighs. Its clawed feet gripped her legs while it snapped its teeth at her face.

  With her eyes squeezed shut, Bym drove her knife up. It sank to the hilt in flesh. Pulling it out, she drove it up again. Screaming in fury, the monster opened its mouth wide and dropped forward to eat her face. With a terrified scream of her own, she lifted her blade up and in front of her face. Its butt hit her hard between the eyes. Above her, the goblin made a gagging noise and then collapsed on top of her. Teeth scraped at Bym’s knife hand which was wrist-deep in the monster’s mouth. The goblin wasn’t moving. It was a heavy, unshakable weight on top of her. Lifting the elbow of her trapped hand, she tried to shift her weight and scoot out from under it. Hot goblin blood coursed over her skin.

  She wished more than anything that day would come and send the nocturnal beasts running. Would she live through the next attack? The sounds of fighting had moved away from her. The heavy weight was making it hard to breathe. Determined to survive, she groaned as she shoved and pushed with both of her weary, shaking arms. In a last burst of strength, she rolled the goblin off of her. Getting to her knees, she sucked in the air which her lungs had so desperately needed.

  She dragged herself to her feet and scanned for her next attacker. She could see once more and was sickened by it. Oily green blood covered her. She stood amidst three dead goblins. Two she had killed. One Eurig had killed, but where was he now? Someone was striking fear into the goblins, and she knew it wasn’t her. They screamed and cried out. She could hear them running, not toward her but away. Was some worse terror coming, or was her farm boy already the warrior he aspired to be?

  As if pulled to her by the questioning thought, he rode into sight. He held his bloody sword at his side and stared behind her at something in disbelief. Fearing what it might be, Bym turned and saw the rising sun. The goblins shrieked and cried shrilly in agony, hiding their sensitive eyes and flesh from the morning light. They hastened to hide themselves in caves and holes where they would remain trapped so long as the sun burned bright.

  “You survived. Good. You might make a soldier yet.” His horse had a spray of green blood across its breast. It coated Eurig’s arm and leg.

  “What the fuck? Did we fight them all night?” Bym held her sides and tried to calm her breathing.

  “No, this is why our new Goddess must be found. Until she comes into her powers, there will be no rhyme or reason to day and night. Our lands depend on day and night, spring, summer, fall, and winter. We grow the food for the land. Surely, you are not too young to have heard all of this.” He gave Bym a disbelieving look. “You are in shock, but you handled your fear well. Wait here. I’m going to collect the heads I took. They are worth a gold coin each, or so I’ve heard. Won’t
arriving in town with proof of our valor be grand?”

  Bym stared blankly at him. “I’m going to rinse off in the river.” She turned and started walking.

  After washing goblin blood and gore from her knife, she left it and her feed bag hanging from a fallen log and waded into the cold river. After giving her already wet boots a scrub, she tossed them toward the log, waded deeper, and then completely submerged herself. She scrubbed at her butchered hair until her scalp and fingers were sore. Then, she removed her shirt and scrubbed the fabric against itself to clean it before using it as a washcloth for her face, neck, and ears. Hearing a splash, she turned her head, the only part of her which was above water. Eurig had decided on a bath, too. The sunlight glistened over his wet skin. She hadn’t realized that it was possible for a man to have so many muscles.

  “I know I said we should travel at night, but we need to put as much distance between us and them as we can. We don’t know how long the day will last.” He lifted his arm and splashed water on his hairy armpit.

  Turning away, she rinsed her shirt out again. The goblin blood had almost washed out, but she could still see the pale-green stains and shuddered. Keeping her back to Eurig, she moved to shallower water, wrung out her shirt, and put it on. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be able to see through it. She feared her nipples, hard from the cold, would give her away. She walked from the river and to the log while trying not to get her feet too dirty. Sitting on it, she tried ineffectively to wring water from her pants. She was putting on her boots when Eurig strode from the river in all of his glorious nudity. He had an impressive dick, thick, long, and resting along his inner thigh.

  “Jealous?” He laughed. “You don’t need to be ashamed if your worm is little.” He wiggled his pinky at her. “It’ll grow.”

  Looking at the ground, she shook her head and doubted that he’d ever had a little worm. Worms didn’t grow into anacondas. He turned and pulled clean pants from his pack. Bym stared at his firm butt, trim hips, and fantasized about wrapping her legs around him. Yum.

  Then, he spoke. “I severed your goblin heads for you and tied them together with some twine. You’ll be able to sling them over your mount.”

  “Goblin heads? We’re taking them with us?” She gagged.

  “Child, you killed two goblins. The proof is worth coin in which you appear to be in dire need.” He hid his glorious anaconda in his pants. It was a grand snake.

  Bym started thinking about flutes and snake charmers.

  Eurig asked, “What are you thinking about?”

  Lifting her eyes from his pants to his brown eyes, she said, “Buying a flute.” He scoffed at the notion. She didn’t dare explain that she wanted a flute so she could watch the giant reptile lift up from his pants.

  “Be practical. You need a sword, a horse, and boots which fit.”

  Bym said, “Oh, I need a sword alright, a big, long, hard one.”

  Eurig nodded, having no idea what a lewd, dirty mind she really had. Shoving his feet into his boots, he walked over to his horse. Near it was a pile of goblin heads, and the flies had found them.

  “Gross.”

  “We’ll see worse on the battlefield. If you don’t have the balls for it, figure it out now before you’re pissing in your pants and staring down the point of a sword.”

  “Fuck me,” she grumbled.

  Eurig laughed and tied the heads he’d taken to his saddle.

  Bym recognized hers. One was missing his left eyeball. The other had a mutilated tongue and green blood covering his fangs. “Nasty fucking shit,” she said as she took hold of the twine, lugged the heads over to the water, and dipped them several times.

  “That’s not a bad idea.” Unfastening his, Eurig copied her actions. Then, he scooped up handfuls of river mud and dribbled them over the severed necks and vacant eyes.

  “What will the mud do?”

  “Keep away the bugs.”

  That was all she needed to know. The thought of a bug biting one of the goblin heads and then biting her made her flesh crawl. Once they’d finished their gruesome task, they scrubbed their hands clean once more and carried on with their journey.

  The sun was bright and quickly dried her clothing. However, noticing Bym’s shivers, Eurig pulled a brown knitted cap from his pack and told her to wear it. Pushing her hair back, she slipped it on and pulled it down over her ears. She was still cold, but it helped. Eurig had secured their goblin heads to his saddle. He kept his horse at a slow walk since Bym had to walk. The only signs of Donkey were the hoofprints she’d left behind along the muddy bank. The farther Bym walked, the more her leg troubled her. Up ahead, Eurig stopped and waited. Eventually, Bym caught up with him.

  “Stay here and rest. I’ll follow your donkey’s tracks, find her, and bring her back to you.”

  “Alright. Thank you.” She watched as he galloped away.

  Taking advantage of the privacy, she went behind a bush and saw to her needs. Then, she took out the jar of salve and smeared the contents over the claw marks on the back of her thigh. They had become an angry red and would probably scar. She’d try to buy a strong ointment once they got to town or find an inexpensive doctor. Venturing back to the riverbank, she washed her hands in the current. It formed ripples against her fingers. The closer they got to the mountains, the stronger it became. It would have been almost impossible to cross if they’d waited. Bym cupped her hands and drank of the cold clear water. Then, she found a dry place to sit and waited.

  “What if he doesn’t come back? What if he’s decided I’m too much trouble? He could find Donkey, take my goblin heads, and leave me here.” She felt the need to pace, but the soreness in her leg dissuaded her from it. Looking up toward the sun, she said, “Please, please, keep shining. Please, keep shining.”

  She pulled her knife from her feed bag. Panic began to form itself into a hard knot in her stomach. If he had abandoned her, staying here alone would be suicide. Alone with only a knife, the goblins would quickly kill and eat her. Then, she saw him. Eurig was a small speck up the bank which steadily grew larger. He had Donkey by her reins. An involuntary cry of relief burst from her. He’d kept his word and come back. Putting her knife away, she tried to ignore the pain and jogged toward him.

  “You found her! Thank you, Eurig!” Bym threw her arms around Donkey’s mud-splattered neck. Then, she gave her the last bit of dried apple. “She’s filthy.” Donkey had dried mud caked all over her.

  “She got goblin scratched and rolled in mud. She’ll be okay until we get to town.”

  Bym took Donkey’s reins and after a few tries got onto her back. It took most of what strength she had remaining to her. Eurig turned his horse back around to face the way from which he’d ridden and waited for Bym. Their mounts were as eager as they were to put distance between themselves and the goblins. Then, they rode as fast as they could, never knowing when the light would vanish to leave them at the mercy of what hunted in the night.

  Chapter Six

  The day dragged on, and Eurig rarely stopped except to forage for berries and nuts. It left Bym with equivocal feelings. Having her feed bag replenished had filled her stomach and improved her spirits, but she was sore and tired from riding all day, fighting goblins to the death, and crossing the river. Not only all of that, but Eurig worried her. She’d often seen him gazing up at the sun and lifting his hands in horizontal positions to gauge the time of day.

  After he’d done it for the sixth time, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s been hours, and the sun hasn’t moved.”

  “Good. It will keep the goblins away.” It was also doing a little to keep Bym warm, but she wished she had a jacket, blanket, or something more than only Eurig’s hat to protect her from the cold.

  He said no more on the topic.

  As the elevation increased, the way became more difficult. Even Eurig’s horse was tired by the time they made it to the ridge he’d pointed out to her before they’d been attacked.

&n
bsp; Eurig threw a leg over his horse and dismounted. “It’s too rocky to ride. We’ll lead them around to the north of the ridge so our fire won’t be visible to the goblins if they track us.”

  Bym slid wearily from Donkey’s back. She rubbed her donkey’s nose and followed after Eurig and his horse. He led them to a rock shelter, a cave-like opening at the base of the ridge. It was large enough to provide shelter for all of them.

  “Start a fire. I’ll hunt.” Leaving his horse with Donkey to graze, he took his bow and quiver and vanished.

  “Start a fire? How?”

  Hee-haw. Hee-haw.

  “You’re no help.” Bym put her hands on her hips. “Um… wood and sticks. Yup.”

  She ventured out of their shelter which looked to her like a big rock slab porch of sorts and started collecting sticks. It didn’t take long for her to collect a big pile. It wasn’t as if anyone ever came out here and cleaned up fallen limbs.

  “Now what?”

  Digging from her bag her knife and the stone she’d found with it, she sat and tried to make sparks. All she managed was to make her knife sharper. Realizing that she wasn’t getting anywhere, she abandoned those efforts and started banging random rocks together. After smashing her fingers to death, she abandoned the rock banging and tried scraping her knife against a smooth rock that looked like solidified muddy water. Finally, she started making progress. A spark caught on some of the moss stuck to one of her sticks. She held her breath and kept trying to make more sparks. A dry leaf started to catch and smoke. Her tiny flame began to grow along with a pride in herself. Starting a fucking fire was harder than killing goblins.

  By the time Eurig returned with a skinned rabbit, it had become a happy blaze. “Needs more wood,” he said.

  She sat still for a moment. She’d been expecting some praise. Deciding to keep her comments to herself, she left to gather more wood. She climbed over a few rocks and higher up the ridge. Leaves and branches had collected in crevices having fallen and blown there from the surrounding forest. She wiped her brow on her sleeve. Bending, she picked up sticks, moved a few steps, and repeated the process until she had filled her arms. Then, she made her way back. Her leg ached, and she longed for sleep. In the shelter, she found Eurig. He had spitted the rabbit and had it cooking above the flames. He pointed where to put the firewood. Easing herself down, she tried to get comfortable.