The Goblin and the Empire

by JD Cole

  Marc shrugged. “I’m actually intrigued by those animals they wanna use to get us across the Badlands—what did they call them?”

  “Gherats,” the Hood replied, “and even if they have six legs, they won’t be anywhere near as quick as an aircraft. Plus, the enemy will be able to prevent any ethergates being open to extract us, so we also have to hoof it out of there the hard way, with Kelli’s dad, unless we have transport-”

  “You’re overlooking that helicopters are noisy, especially over open terrain. That blows your stealth requirement.”

  Derek made an exasperated sound through his voice modulator, pacing the edge of the room.

  Marc shook his head. “I’m not trying to be difficult, Hood, but look at this from my perspective, eh? We’re captives being blackmailed into service with the offer of maybe getting to go home in return. There’s no formal treaty or alliance between us and these faeries, and I’m not about to give up tools and tactics to a potential enemy.”

  “They’re-”

  “Not the enemy. I heard you before. And maybe you’re right. But...”

  “Wingsuits!”

  “What?”

  “Chopper takes us out, depending on the ceiling limit, and we jump. Wingsuits will take us most of the way in just a few minutes, quiet as a ninja.”

  “You keep assuming we have helicopters. And wingsuits won’t work, they don’t give you enough-”

  “We can’t carry gear, right. I got ahead of myself. So we do a HAHO jump, then. Little bit slower, but we can carry weapons and equipment into the AO, and still be there in less than a day.”

  “Kid’s ambitious,” one of the soldiers opined. “Gotta give ‘im that, sir.”

  “I’m not a kid,” Derek said sharply. They had to have photographs of him from Nanortalik, but that was no reason to confirm any of their assumptions.

  Marc shook his head again, crossing his arms. “Aerial insertions are one of the toughest things to train for.” He stood tall, intimidatingly close to the Hood. “You ever navigate with a parachute, Hood? You’ve got skills, we all know that, so maybe you could. But there’s no way those faeries,” he pointed at the door, “who’ve never flown before would be able to keep up with us, if helicopters were even an option.”

  “Okay, nevermind the choppers, then,” the Hood conceded. “The mystics open ethergates when they need to travel long distances quickly. We could just ask them to create a gate for us that opens at a high altitude and we could jump right through.”

  “We’re right back to leaving the faeries behind, because they don’t have the time to learn how to do this right! And they’re sure as heck not going to leave this mission completely up to us, and I wouldn’t agree to that anyway!”

  The Hood walked over to the table where most of the soldiers were still seated, dropping defeatedly into a chair. There was no easy solution to cut the travel time for this mission. The faeries were uneasy as it was to be working with humans, and Marc was correct in that they would never rely on the humans to perform the rescue. Marc was also right about not taking the faeries in by air, for the same reason in reverse: the human soldiers had trained in specific disciplines for years, and planning tactics with faery soldiers unfamiliar with human methods like jumping out of aircraft was a deadly liability.

  “At the very least,” the Hood finally said, “can you provide firepower? I’m talking about firepower of the ridiculously overwhelming kind.”

  “Define ridiculous,” Marc countered.

  “We can skip the cruise missiles and thermobarics,” the Hood sighed. “But apart from magic, our enemies use arrows and swords. Ridiculous here means machine guns, grenades, maybe some rockets... and hey, I wouldn’t say no to a tank.”

  “We can probably work something out... as long as we’re allowed to go get the stuff?”

  “I’m sure we can strike a deal with the sprites, something with concessions to keep both sides honest when we open a gate back to Earth to let you to kit-up. Besides, they’ll be more than happy to open talks with your folks if you help rescue Kelli’s dad from their mortal enemy. How often do you get to be diplomatic while killing bad guys?”

  “You’d be surprised,” Marc muttered.

  “Out of curiosity,” the Hood said, “if we could determine a good overlooking position, what kind of range could you guys hit targets from?”

  “Depends what we’re using,” Marc admitted. “We have anti-personnel rifles with effective reach, maybe out to three miles. But if we want be realistic about accuracy...” Marc looked over at one of his soldiers.

  The soldier shrugged. “That’s about right. Even drunk, Vlad could probably kill everything out to a mile and a half with his .338, but he’s also got the hummingbirds in .50 and any idiot can shoot those.”

  “You have hummingbirds?” the Hood perked up.

  “That’s... classified,” Marc said, looking at the Hood from the corner of his eye.

  “So’s my suit,” the Hood answered. “Guided bullets would come in real handy if we could have a sniper team covering us at a distance.”

  “I’m not even gonna ask how you know about those,” Marc shook his head. “But-”

  Just then, the conference doors opened. A pair of sprite guards entered, then halted and turned to face each other as they allowed Lumina and three elves into the room. The quartet gave quick nods of respect to each of the sprites before they departed, closing the doors behind them.

  “Greetings, Hood,” the Paladin waved. “My mission was more successful than I could have hoped for.”

  “Lumina, hey,” Derek waved, getting up to meet him. “Is that another language spell?”

  Lumina nodded. “Deschin Brevha cast it for us so that we could join you all. It should last most of the day.”

  “Great! Who are your friends?”

  “Allow me to introduce the rangers who recruited me for their quest to rescue the Queen. It would not be right to exclude them from this quest to rescue her father.”

  Graon, Nim, and Kassak each nodded as they were briefly introduced to the humans.

  “I remember you three,” Marc said. “You saved our asses during that ambush. You’ve got my belated thanks.” He pointed at Kassak. “If we end up fighting together again, I am very much hoping you have more of those explosive arrows to use.”

  Kassak grinned but looked to Graon, assuming he was still the quest-leader. Graon nodded. “On a mission this critical, I do not doubt enchanted arrows can be procured once more.”

  “It is good to meet you again, Marc,” Lumina said, gripping his forearm to shake in greeting. “I must apologize for the chaotic nature of our first encounter. Our goals were similar, but you and I had different ideas about how to evacuate the Queen.”

  “No harm done, it all looks like it worked out. Any chance you’ll be bringing your laser rifles to this fight?”

  Marc and Derek quickly summarized the faeries’ plan for the Paladin, as well as the current debates about weapons, transport and minimizing travel time.

  “I may be able to help with transport and logistics,” Lumina said. “Tirapan recognizes that we are at war. This being the case, every effort will be made to rescue the Queen’s father by any means necessary, as well as force a truce with the Goblin King to ensure he does not turn his attention to Tirapan.”

  “Is that possible?” Derek asked. “Isn’t he insane?”

  “He is consumed with hatred,” Lumina agreed, “but he retains good sense. If we are able to make war more costly than he is willing to pay, he will leave us be.”

  “So what of these logistics you mentioned?” Marc asked.

  “We can provide supplies –foodstuffs, armors, weapons and vehicles, including aircraft— as well as a limited number of soldiers. My country is small, which means our military is small. However, it is for that very reason that we are so deadly.”

  “Sounds like my kinda people,” Marc offered.

  “What kind of vehicles do you have?” Der
ek asked.

  “We have two types of all-terrain transport, several different models but some use legs to walk, climb and run, while others use rolling tracks to navigate farther distances. As for aircraft, we have transports called Ripwingers which we use to move cargo and passengers as needed.”

  “How do they fly? Are they rotary wing, or jet propulsion?”

  Lumina shook his head. “No, they are polygravitational craft.” The Paladin spoke the words as if everyone knew what he was talking about.

  Marc tilted his head. “Poly... gravitational? Like antigravity?”

  “No, antigravity is used by starships for entering and escaping a gravity field. Polygravity moves smaller craft by artificially warping space-time inside a gravity field. Think of a submerged vessel using ballasts to control not just depth, but movement in all three axes.”

  There was silence for over a full minute, as nobody was able to grasp the incredible concept Lumina had just offered.

  “Starships?!” Marc asked, frowning.

  The Hood finally let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Holy crap, I gotta learn how to build something like that! How fast do they fly?”

  “If we departed here at sunup, we could arrive at Gedaschen a little after midnight.”

  Thanks to Undine’s earlier conversions, Derek did the maddeningly unspecific math as he blinked. That was a distance of roughly six hundred-ish miles, and a time of roughly eighteen-ish hours, which put this Ripwinger’s speed at roughly 34-ish miles, or 54-ish kilometers, an hour.

  “Is it stealthy?” Marc asked.

  “To a degree,” Lumina grimaced. “It runs silently, so there is no risk of being heard. If the Goblin King had any kind of technological sensor, even radar, we would not be able to conceal ourselves. But as he does not, our worry is the keen eyesight many faeries possess. Lookouts have a good chance of seeing us even if the moon and stars were shrouded.”

  “Well, sounds like your transport could get us farther quicker, even if we can’t fly all the way,” Marc said.

  “Guys,” Derek said, “we’ve been at this for hours. Let’s take a short break, get some grub, take a leak, and come back in a bit with fresh eyes and perspective. Lumina’s involvement appears to give us extra options to consider.”

  ~

  Derek closed the door to “his” room, leaning back against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Undine appeared from thin air, lounging on the bed, resting on her side and propped up on one elbow.

  “Okay, Undine. Quick question. You said you transformed me into water to sneak me out of Boston. Can you do the same thing to sneak us into the Shadowlands?”

  Undine’s response was immediate. “No. It was reckless of me to do that, it could have killed you. I was a different person at the time, however. I cared less about your safety than I did about quickly getting to the point where you would accept my bond. I thought preserving your secret by sneaking you out of the city would do that for me. I was naïve and stupid, and I apologize.

  “But even if you were willing to risk everyone’s lives to make that attempt, the fact remains that I could not perform that spell for a whole group of people. It took all of my strength to stream you and your car a fraction of the distance you need to travel in the Shadowlands, and it left me powerless for days afterward.”

  “Okay. And I guess I forgive you. Sort of. I dunno. We’ll deal with that later. But now, you told me earlier you had some information that might be important. What is it?”

  “When Ercianodhon attacked, I saw him holding something. I am not completely certain, you understand, but I believe the Goblin King possesses one of the elemental weapons.”

  “One of the sprites’ weapons?”

  “Yes. The dagger, Incerra. And my sister, Kirama.”

  “Your sister?”

  “The fifth of the nine weapons forged by the sprites. She is the weakest of us, yet in some ways also the strongest. Kirama controls blood element. Whoever possesses her dagger, Incerra, can cast the most complex blood magic without the intense study and training that is normally required.”

  “So how is she the weakest and strongest at the same time?”

  “You recall that I told you blood magic is most often used in restoring and bolstering a person’s health?” Derek nodded. “While this is most helpful and advantageous to one skilled in blood magic, it is rare to find a way to use such magic in an offensive manner.”

  “Blood magic can’t be used to attack people,” Derek offered.

  “Correct. A skilled sorcerer can take energy from any of the other elements –elements not already being manipulated for another purpose— and use that power to feed spells to heal himself or others. This is, however, extremely complex, especially if done under stress, such as in the middle of a battle. But, if someone had Kirama bound to them, that complexity disappears. Virtually any spell that requires blood element becomes available to you. Added to that, if there is a limit to how much energy Kirama can channel from other elements, I don’t believe she has ever reached it.”

  “Hypothetically, if someone had Kirama in their possession, could they be immortal?”

  “Not quite. They would become significantly harder to kill, for sure. Severed limbs could be regenerated, drowning could be negated by water-breathing spells, poisons would be nullified. But any instantaneously fatal wound would be just as fatal as it would without Kirama’s power… say, having your skull crushed by a boulder, or something like that.”

  “So how did the Goblin King get it?”

  “I could not even speculate, but as I said, I am not even certain it is her.”

  “Why were you reluctant to mention this?”

  “Ercianodhon possessing an elemental weapon is unacceptable. If he truly has forced Kirama to bind with him, it complicates this endeavor a thousand-fold. The sprites will not allow her to remain in his grasp, and will pour all of their energy into recovering her. Energy that could instead be focused on rescuing Kelli’s father, if I am wrong.”

  “I see. Kirama makes the Goblin King that much stronger?”

  “Any one of us –the elemental weapons— would magnify his already fearsome power. But Kirama, in particular, perfectly complements his necromancy. I cannot even fathom the ways he could twist the power she is able to feed him.”

  “I thought guardians couldn’t be bound to him, though? You were created to fight him.”

  “None of us would ever choose to bind with the Goblin King, but that does not preclude him finding a way to curse us against our will.”

  “Even after we rescue Mr. Ingram, Ercianodhon would still be a major threat with Incerra.”

  “Yes.”

  “So how can we get her back? Doesn’t the weapon’s master have to die before the bond breaks?”

  “Normally yes, but Kirama is not willingly bound. She will be vigilant for a new master who wants to claim her and establish a true binding in order to escape. Ercianodhon will likely need to be weakened first, but if you could get hold of her for just a moment-”

  Undine paused, realizing what she was saying. “If we could get a faery in contact with her, I am certain they could steal her away from the Goblin King.”

  Derek thought for several moments, then, “I think we should tell Dufangen.”

  “As you wish, Hood.”

  “Oh, and one more question. I know you’d set off wards casting spells in the Shadowlands, but Nonder said we’d be safe using magic in the sky?”

  “I believe that is so. It is relatively simple to cast a detection ward in a room like this, at the doorways and windows, but the power and concentration required increases exponentially as your wards increase in size and number. Even the Goblin King with all his sorcerers would not be able to ward an area that size all the way up to the Ythsimerin.”

  “Okay. I’m giving you permission to look at the ideas in my head right now. I want you to analyze them and let me know if your magic can make any of them possible, or if
you already have some capability that would work better than any of them.”

  “I will do as you wish, Hood.”

  The two Hoods headed toward the hallway where the conference rooms were. Passing the room where the humans would soon resume their planning, he continued to where the faery advisors and planners were fine-tuning their plans. Calmly stepping inside and closing the door behind him, he held his hand up to greet Meshra.

  “Pembruh Meshra... apologies, I didn’t get the correct way to address your position. But would you be able to summon Dufangen and meet all of us in the other room? I just learned some new information that I think all of you need to hear.”

  “That sounds ominous,” the vampyre raised an eyebrow. “We will find the Royal Counselor and meet you there.”

  Not long after that, everyone was once again gathered together, this time with Kelli’s tiny cat-eared advisor in attendance.

  Fhert, the elf who had challenged the Hood, noticed the three new elves and wandered over to greet them. “Nim, of Renna village? We are most honored by your presence, weaponsmaster.” Nim was one of only six faeries in the entire realm who had earned the esteemed battlerank of weaponsmaster. He unfortunately also had the ire of the elf queen, Jiya Tszunsilmar, and had been banished from Jenshire for a tragedy no one but the queen blamed him for.

  Fhert paused at the sight of Kassak’s rare two-toned hair; blonde with fiery red bangs. “You must be Kassak?” The young elf nodded. “Good, good, Maxillion speaks incredibly well of you, specifically your sharp attention to tactical considerations.”

  Derek greeted them all after Dufangen cast her language spell.

  “Apologies, everybody, but I just learned something that sounds pretty alarming. Counselor, I think you would be the best to judge exactly how alarming, and maybe you can confirm whether it’s true or not.”