The Goblin and the Empire

by JD Cole

  Derek turned to Samantha. “Unfortunately, you probably shouldn’t use your teleporting either, then. There’s no way of knowing whether or not it might set off those wards.”

  Samantha pointed at her ammo pack and her VEC-9s in the corner of the bay. “Nothing magic about those.”

  “What caliber are they?” Derek asked.

  “Seven-six-two NATO.”

  “You shoot that out of a pistol?”

  “I’m a force-multiplier, mate,” she raised an eyebrow at his questioning. “Close-range firepower pairs well with someone who can pop in’n’out of enemy territ’ry. Some of the ValianTs have these built into their forearms, but since I can handle the recoil, I got a portable version.”

  “Okay, well, I guess the next question,” the Hood looked around at everyone, “is how do we kill two minotaur without using any magic or technomancy?” He pointed at Samantha’s kit. “Those guns will be noisy, but can definitely do some damage. But will it be enough? How thick are those thing’s skulls? Should she just shoot them in the eyes?”

  “Minotaur don’t have many weakspots,” Jezrimeli shook her head.

  Julian nodded. “The zerivade is right. They have poor eyesight, but that’s because their skulls grow completely under the eyesocket. There’s just enough room for some of their optic nerves to connect to the brain. Arrows, knives, any other projectiles, they’d destroy the eyes but wouldn’t make it past the bone. And like I stated, they’re practically blind to begin with, they rely more on smell and hearing.”

  “Their vital organs are all protected by thick bone, as well,” Jezrimeli added. “There are a few openings you can take advantage of, but they wear armor to cover those bits up.”

  “The one brewing dinner is not wearing armor, so that at least is something,” Taryn said.

  “You’ve gone up against these before?” Samantha asked Jezrimeli.

  “A few times,” she grimaced. “Never on my own. It’s not that they’re terrifying… I’d rather face five minotaur than one sorcerer! But they have unbelievable stamina and strength. They can be cunning, too. They know they’re slow, and they try to make up for it by leading you into some position where they have an advantage.”

  “What about their throats?” Kassak asked. “Or the arteries at the groin?”

  Jezrimeli reached down to the trinigar sword at her feet, pulling it from the sheath just enough to expose part of the golden blade. “Their hide is tougher than most armor, and their muscles may as well be cords of iron,” she said, studying the sword. “These might just be sharp enough to bite their flesh… if you could get your blade under its jaw at the throat and shove it all the way up to the brain, maybe… but I’ll be honest, there are not many warriors I know of who could cut down one minotaur, let alone two. I might be able to defeat two minotaur on my own if I absolutely had to, but this will be a team effort, we’ll need to wear the beasts down. These swords will make all the difference.”

  “Well,” Derek said, thinking a few commands into his suit, “I can’t have my armor triggering those wards, so if you’ll excuse me a moment.” Stepping away from the group and turning his back, he willed his uniform to melt off of his armor. With the hi-tech clothing piled beside him, he began quickly undoing the locks at his neck, arms, waist, and legs. Everyone watched as the Hood removed his armor with careful efficiency, leaving himself dressed in nothing but spandex shorts and one of his gauntlets.

  Jezrimeli whistled her approval.

  With his back still turned to everyone, Derek reached down to grab his uniform with his gloved hand, awkwardly crossing his fingers to activate a brief radio signal for his uniform. The nanomachines immediately responded and crawled over his entire body, dressing him in a faery-inspired outfit of his own design that managed to be both rugged and regal at once. A mask covered most of his face up to his hairline as he turned around, leaving a wide opening for his eyes. The clothing melted away from his arm so he could remove the gauntlet, then flowed back into place.

  As always, a deep black hood covered his head, stitched into a shoulder cloak with a tall, wide collar that completely ringed the hood itself. The black shoulder-cloak, hi-tech in appearance with a faint honeycomb-lattice pattern and metallic edges, covered the top of a bluish-black rogue’s jacket, unbuttoned to reveal the blood-red lining inside, and with the sleeves rolled up to his biceps. The long-sleeved shirt underneath was a dark-yellow, rich in appearance but fit for blending into shadows. His fingerless gloves were earthen with dark patterns of black and gray. His pants matched the gloves, containing various pouches and pockets down each leg. His black boots were rolled down his calves like a pirate’s, but lined and edged in the same high-tech manner as the cloak. Finally, his thick brown belt had a cross-strap that went over his right shoulder, under the jacket. His trinigar dagger was firmly latched to the strap on his chest.

  “Very dashing,” Jezrimeli said. “I hope your fighting skills weren’t tied to that magic armor?”

  “My armor’s a tool,” he said, addressing everyone with his real voice for the first time. “Going without it just means I have to put more effort in.”

  “Spoken like a true warrior,” she nodded.

  “Though if I’m being honest, I kinda wish I’d picked a sword now,” he lightly thumbed the dagger’s hilt. “Could I get one of those earpieces?” Lumina handed him a radio.

  “Aren’t your magic clothes also a risk for setting off the wards?” Graon asked.

  “No,” the Hood shook his head. “The clothes aren’t magic, the… um, spell, gets cast using the armor. So, before we settle on a plan to get past these guards, we first need to decide on when we take action. Do we attack them now? Or do we find somewhere on the ground to hide and wait? Or, do we stay up here in the Ripwinger until we get word from Matari?”

  Graon looked at Taryn. “Is there any possibility of using Undine —sorry, Lady Mae’s concealment to get into that cave?”

  The vampyre shook his head. “The ward is very narrow and only covers a small space, but it is well-placed. Entering the cave with any spell or enchantments active will trigger it.”

  “Then we need to get rid of the minotaur,” Julian said, “and the sooner we start, the sooner we’ll have an open path to the waygate when we get the call.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Kassak.

  Derek looked to the dissenting ranger. “Kassak?”

  “I’m just wondering how often the guards rotate?”

  “We have time,” Jezrimeli said, thumbing out the open bay door. “They’ve got a week’s worth of supplies sitting in their camp, easy.” She began tying her short snowy hair in a tight ponytail, leaving her long bangs to frame the sides of her face.

  Lumina patted Kassak’s shoulder in support of his observation, and the two of them stepped to the edge and looked down. “Indeed,” Lumina observed. The minotaur kept sealed crates neatly stacked along with piles of food sacks next to each of their lean-tos, while over on the slope near the cave, he could see they’d casually piled just a few empty crates and sacks.

  Kassak looked back to Derek. “The zerivade has put to rest my only concern, but I have another question for Taryn.”

  “Yes?” the vampyre said.

  “If the Paladins can deliver us further away, and The Lady conceals us on foot, how close can we get to the camp before she would need to cancel the spell?”

  Taryn thought for a moment. “I could signal her when we got too close. But understand, we would not be able to even get near the edge of the camp while concealed.”

  “But close enough for a surprise rush attack when they are not looking?”

  “Possibly… yes, I think that could work.”

  “Lumina,” one of the pilots came over the radio. “We have Bartley Ja’Hellet online for you.”

  “Put him through.”

  “Lumina!” Bartley’s voice came through. “We have news from Windham, the Sprite Queen is awake and meeting with her advisers.�
��

  “Awright, Kelli!” Derek fist-pumped his relief. No one else could understand, and Derek realized language spells did not transfer over the radio. Good to know, he thought, and it made sense. Radios could only convert electrical signals, not telepathic magic. But his mind began generating scenarios for testing ways to meld magic with technology, especially now that he had an elemental who could assist…

  “That is great news, Bartley!” Lumina acknowledged.

  “She had a message for all of you. First, it looks like the Goblin King is taking the bait, she says he is preparing to join the war in person. Also she is apparently in contact with Incerra’s elemental guardian. Kirama, I believe? Kirama told the queen that if you get into the castle and cast small healing spells as you go, she’ll detect it when you’re close enough to her and she can guide you the rest of the way.”

  “Fantastic. Is there any chance she gave us a good place to start looking?”

  “Kirama confirmed Gedaschen’s layout perfectly mirrors Windham. She says that she and the queen’s father are both being held where Windham’s Arrok Theater would be located.”

  “That is one of the two locations the war council decided would be the best places to search,” Julian said. Several council members had suggested that the queen’s father was far too valuable for the dungeons, that he’d probably be put on display in the theater, if one existed. “We’ll have to congratulate them on their insight.”

  “How are matters on your end, Fourth-Mark?” Bartley asked.

  “We are about to assault a pair of minotaur.”

  “Nothing the Ripwinger’s cannons cannot handle.”

  “The area is warded against magic, so we cannot use our cannons or rifles.”

  “So you did not bring any kinetics like I suggested?”

  “I’m afraid not, space was limited and we opted for silent weapons. We will manage.”

  “As you say, but you’d best protect that boy until we can determine his origin.” Derek raised an eyebrow at Julian, who made an apologetic face. “Well, that is all I have for the moment, keep us informed of your progress.” Bartley’s radio link clicked off.

  “Three more years until he earns his procternship,” Julian shook his head. “Then he’ll really be insufferable.”

  “It is not his place to dictate military matters,” Lumina said. “Though his ego does seem to dictate control of his mouth sometimes. He brought welcome news, though. Now we have all the reason we need to defeat those minotaur as soon as possible.”

  Derek raised his hand. “Wait, we have one more item to settle before we commit. It sounds like the Goblin King is leaving the dagger behind for some reason. If things get crazy in Gedaschen and we have to get out in a hurry, then somebody, anybody, has to grab that dagger and give Kirama the boost she needs to break away from the Goblin King. But if we get a choice in the matter when the time comes, it should be decided now so we’re not standing around discussing it inside the castle.”

  The faeries all looked at each other, with Taryn and the elves all focusing on Jezrimeli.

  “Forget it,” the zerivade said. “I want nothing to do with sprite enchantments. It has to be one of you.” She crossed her arms as a finalizing gesture, daring them to challenge her.

  “It would piss off the royals,” Nim goaded her.

  “That’s not gonna work, you divit,” she rolled her eyes.

  “If there’s no other way, though, zerivade-” Derek said.

  “Fiiine,” the sprye groaned. “If you’re all dead, I’ll grab the stupid knife. But only then!”

  “Okay guys,” the Hood looked at the remaining faeries. “It’s up to you.”

  As one, the elves all looked up at Taryn. The vampyre snorted a laugh. “No fair!” he raised his hands in surrender. “I suppose it will be me, then, Master Hood.”

  Derek looked at Samantha and the Paladins. “The same goes for you guys in an emergency, though.”

  “And yourself?” Lumina asked. “Can you bind with another elemental?”

  Derek looked sideways at Samantha, irritated at that extra little bit of intel being confirmed for her. He stalled, but finally nodded. “I’m with Jezrimeli. I want nothing to do with it, but if it’s the only way, I’ll bond with Kirama.”

  “You’d like her,” Mae whispered in his mind. “She is a sweet child.”

  “Stop it,” he shot back.

  Jezrimeli picked up her armor and began looping part of it over herself. The armor was small and did not look all that protective; the largest pieces did not entirely cover the sprye’s torso. Connecting the very worn chest- and back-pieces were several straps composed of squares with toothy connections in the appearance of a conveyor belt. Each strap had a fist-sized pair of octagonal pieces of metal that tugged at the conveyor belt-like links.

  “Is that a Veppis?” Kassak asked.

  Jezrimeli smiled. “King Jenor commissioned it for me after I rescued his nephew from one of the southern wolf clans. He even had it shipped from Windham for me so I would not have to put up with any self-righteous sprite nonsense.”

  “You’ve met the Gnome King?” Kassak asked.

  Jezrimeli finished hooking and latching her upper armor into place, then started working on the small pieces for her thighs and groin. “His Majesty and Master Veppis both. The legendary smith delivered this armor to me personally. It was a great honor.” There was a strap for each of her arms, which got looped around them in a spiral, and ended in a pair of thick, fingerless gloves with diamond knuckles.

  “May I?” the Hood asked, stepping next to the zerivade and pointing at one of the metal strap pieces. Jezrimeli lifted her arm for him while using her other hand to adjust a flat knob at her shoulder. Derek pressed the octagon, discovering that the straps were tracks that could move the metal pieces around. A moment of observation later, he deduced that the pieces could all move independently to cover several vital spots on the zerivade’s body. “I’m guessing this design is aimed at protecting you without hampering your agility? How’s it work?”

  “I have no idea,” Jezrimeli admitted. “But I was assured it is done without magic. I had to train quite a bit to learn how to use this, but the armor reads my muscles somehow. These mythrill plates,” she flicked one at her hip, “can be moved into place where I want them to.” She flexed her arms and demonstrated moving the protective plates from her shoulders to her wrists, then began moving the other plates across her body with subtle movements.

  Derek recalled the impressive engineering he’d seen inside Windham castle. “Is this Veppis a dwarf?” Derek asked.

  “Yes, Resso Veppis, from a long line of renowned blacksmiths and armorers.”

  “His great-grandfather invented the hyru,” Kassak added, lifting his curious bow that had large blades above and below the grip. He cocked his wrist, a motion that somehow released the blades to swing out on a multi-hinged mechanism. Kassak stood back from everyone and swung the weapon in an impressive demonstration of the hyru’s fearsome capability, then performed another stiff-wrist motion that locked the blades back into place.

  “I seriously have to meet these people,” the Hood said.

  Lumina radioed the cockpit. “Pilot, we are ready to disembark. Bring us down next to where the stream is fed from the slopes. We do not want to set off those detection wards, but if things get out of hand with those minotaur…”

  “We come in with cannons blazing and turn them into a vampyre buffet.”

  “I would not object to this,” Taryn raised his finger.

  “And then you immediately pick us up,” Lumina answered the pilots, “because a flood of nightmares will likely come pouring through that waygate shortly afterward.”

  ~

  Everything magical that could set off the wards had been left in the Ripwinger, save for Mae herself. High on the rocky slope, the rescue team waited, concealed by Derek’s spell with Mae’s magic. They were over a half-mile from the minotaur camp, watching as one of the
beasts busied himself by preparing a stew, while the other patrolled the treeline, lifting his nose to sniff for anything amiss.

  “What do they eat?” Derek whispered.

  “Their diet is almost entirely vegetarian,” Lumina said. “But it is supplemented with an occasional ore.”

  “They eat metal?”

  “They have several stomachs, one of which is dedicated to breaking down metals and minerals,” the scholar answered. “I believe consuming ore is connected to how they grow so powerful.”

  “Well, we’re about to feed them some refined trinigar, whether they want it or not,” Jezrimeli growled. There was a feral look in her beautiful orange eyes now that a battle was imminent. The mythrill octagons on her armor began floating across her body on their tracks as she shifted impatiently.

  “Do you have any strategic recommendations, zerivade?” Graon asked.

  “That second minotaur has just started his patrol. If his goal is to inspect the entire treeline, we should attack his partner when he reaches that patch,” she pointed straight ahead, where the clearing extended out the farthest from the camp. “Can we defeat one minotaur in the time it takes the other one to notice and run back to help? I cannot say. But to my eyes that is our best bet.”

  “What if the patroller doesn’t travel out that far?”

  Jezrimeli shrugged.

  “Flashback, how much ammo did you say you’re carrying?” Derek asked.

  “I have a sustained rate of two minutes. But I can ‘port back to reload, I have one other kit identical to this one ready to go.”

  “No teleporting once you’ve moved beyond this point,” he pointed at the ground, “remember.”

  “Right. If I use up my ammo out there, I can run back here and then teleport back for resupply.”

  “How about teleporting back now and getting us some rocket launchers or something?”

  “I can’t just walk into the armory and grab whatever I want. General Vox may have a spare weapon or two with him at Matari I could borrow, but he won’t release them for anyone to use but me, for the same reason the Paladins don’t hand out their firearms.”