Heir of the Blood King

by W.O. Cassity

  ***

  Talia felt a satisfying cinch in the rope as she managed to hook it when it came close enough to her. Fear once again consumed her as she realized the rope was going to pull her from her perch. There was no time to think, only to react. This rope had to break now while they were still clear to land on the ground. She threw all of her weight down onto the pole and the rope by lunging herself back, leaping off the perch she was standing on.

  She felt a brisk snap and release, then saw gravity had once again gained its hold on Donadeir and Adam as the two came crashing down. Donadeir was falling face down with Adam still hanging below him. The ground rushed up fast as the two of them slammed hard into the edge of the ridge.

  Talia grimaced when she heard Adam grunt as all of Donadeir’s weight came down upon his head. She was just grateful Adam had grabbed for Dona’s waist instead of his chest or shoulders, or it would have been more than just Donadeir’s legs coming down on top of him.

  Struggling to get to his feet, Donadeir slipped and started to roll over the edge, just as she caught his hand, shifting his balance and avoiding the fall. She glanced over at Adam who was now sitting up and checking himself for injury.

  “Adam, help me get him up,” Talia begged. “The tree limbs we used to block the path up here won’t slow them down for very long.”

  “Who’s Adam?” Donadeir inquired.

  “River Rat’s name is Adam, Dona,” Talia replied.

  “After five years of teasing me, you never even knew my name?” Adam shouted with disbelief, while helping Donadeir to his feet.

  “We don’t have time for this now,” Talia commanded. “We gotta move. Our only chance is to head to the higher ground, up the mountain.”

  She saw it would be difficult to work their way back down into the lower forest with the sheer number of goblins bent on revenge on the people who stole their dinner. Although Donadeir may have a harder time in the rough terrain, the goblins would be less inclined to pursue them if they felt exposed or vulnerable. They would have to use the moon’s light as best as they could to make their way until daybreak.

  “Well, it could have been worse,” Donadeir said with a sheepish grin.

  “You shouldn’t speak so soon,” Talia reminded Dona.

  After a quick once over, Talia sighed heavily. Donadeir appeared to be ok, but he was slightly off balance, which was nothing new. Adam quickly hooked Donadeir’s arm around his neck at the same time she did, lending his strength to help steady the larger boy. Talia let Adam assist Donadeir alone as she handed Adam the leather sack. She stood behind Donadeir and helped to keep him steady with her free hand as they walked across the small clearing toward the rockier mountain path. As the midnight beams of light danced across the surface of the pale rocks, the illuminated path appeared to be powered by its own inner light.

  She knew as they made their way across the clearing, Adam and Donadeir could not hear the approach of the attacker over all the noise of the awakened valley of goblin marauders. A large goblin had made it to the top of the ridge and was bearing down on them. Talia was keenly aware of its approach, and she turned to face the creature at the last minute. Grabbing the large goblin around its neck with both hands, she threw herself onto her back and launched it into a somersault. Talia held on as the two of them rolled over together until the goblin was flat on its back. Quickly reaching out with her left hand, she grabbed a small rock and smashed the goblin in the temple, rendering it unconscious.

  She stood, and unsheathed her sword right before two more goblins came crashing through the limb barriers she had set on the western side.

  “Move!” Talia ordered the boys.

  She needed to give Adam a head start up the rocky incline with Donadeir still reeling from all the excitement. Adam had proven his bravery, getting to the valley floor and buying Donadeir time, it was now Talia’s turn to show her bravery in a different way.

  The wretched goblin’s eyes danced with madness under the pale moon light as the pair came rushing toward her. Talia quickly assessed each of her opponent’s dispositions to determine where she should focus her attacks. The goblin on the left had a bandage on his arm and held his club at a lazy angle. He was the weaker of the two even if he was slightly larger than the other was.

  Talia shifted forward with her left foot, feigning an overextension of her sword arm, to cause the injured goblin to sidestep her, believing he was her intended target. As expected, the goblin to her right saw this as a mistaken opportunity, and he raised his club over his head, meaning to land a fatal attack with one single blow. She knew in combat, it was important to strike the harmonious balance between offense and defense, ensuring her guard was up after the execution of an attack. The goblin left himself wide open when he raised his club high overhead, in an attempt to bring it down with as much strength as he could muster, and so he had no time to contemplate his terrible mistake. Talia revealed her true intent when she brought the hilt of her sword swinging backward into the goblin’s throat.

  Seeing his brother reel back with Talia’s surprise attack, the injured goblin tried to regain his footing by stepping away from Talia’s feint. She kept the advantage by moving her body forward and pivoting on her left foot and stepping into the injured goblin’s reverse charge. As she did so, Talia brought up her blade, defensively slashing the air with side-to-side uppercuts and pushing the injured goblin into further retreat. It gave her ample space to press her finishing attack against the other goblin still grasping at its injured windpipe.

  Talia pivoted on her right foot, stopped her forward momentum, and reversed her direction as she adjusted her left foot into the lead. She quickly returned her sword on her right side and brought it into a ready position. She did not linger on her thrust into the first goblin. It would give her other opponent an unwanted advantage. Talia stepped forward, aiming between the goblin’s ribs, piercing the creature in its heart. When she felt her blade break through the goblin’s skin, she shifted her weight to her left leg and brought her right foot up dislodging her blade from the goblin’s sternum and shoved his lifeless body to the ground.

  Talia twisted her head and looked over her left shoulder as she turned her focus once more to the bewildered goblin, whose face made her feel almost amused. She quickly swapped her sword from her right hand into her left and allowed her left arm to flow freely around her, gashing the injured goblin’s neck as her fluid semicircle attack connected, deftly cleaving the goblin’s head from his shoulders.

  Talia looked back over her shoulder to check on Adam and Donadeir’s progress. They were still in her line of sight, struggling to make their ascent. She had to give them more time. Talia knew she would need to be careful not to fully immerse herself into the next confrontation. She could quickly become outnumbered and overpowered. Taking down two opponents, one of which was already injured, was easy enough, but she didn’t want to try her odds with greater numbers.

  Talia surveyed the ridge, east and west, seeing goblins coming from both directions. She paused, letting all of her enemies see not only her readied presence and awareness, but also her victory over three of their fallen comrades. Just as she quickly as she had surmised the strength of her three defeated adversaries, Talia assessed the two directions where enemies were pouring in. The enemies coming from the eastern side were fewer in number, with only five visible opponents in her line of sight, compared to more than ten coming from the western side.

  Her enemies knew they had strength in numbers, and although she had successfully dispatched three of them with ease, the goblins knew her only real choices were to fight and die or flee and hope to get away. Talia felt so much gratitude for her father’s countless days of training, since most people would have panicked and lost control of the situation. Her father had reminded her time and again combat was just as much about technique, as it was games of the mind. A warrior’s true power lies in wielding their skills with a cool head, while undermining the enemy’s expectations. Tali
a’s stance was neither threatening nor afraid as she observed the two groups once more. She realized the smaller group seemed almost gleeful and overconfident, this confirmed her initial assessment.

  The goblins must have read Talia’s disposition as preparing to fight, with the smaller group thinking the larger group would overtake her first. She plucked the severed head of their dead companion up from the ground as she rushed toward the smaller group on the east side. Both group’s battle cries resounded loudly as she tossed the decapitated head wildly at the larger group on the western side. The move caused them to hesitate briefly and prevented the two groups from immediately cutting off any means of escape.

  She could see the smaller group shudder and pull away as they began to lose confidence when she charged toward them. Just as her father had taught her, she was in the head of her enemies, gauging their reactions. She knew the small group was panicked because the larger group of goblins had stopped dead in their tracks, dropping their pursuit for some unknown reason. They probably couldn’t believe this girl would be attacking them instead of running in fear. She watched the smaller band scatter as two of the goblins even chose to leap over the cliff’s edge rather than face her in direct combat.

  Talia knew she had no real advantage, for she had merely played on their overconfidence, assumptions, and fears. When she looked back to the ascent, she felt relief when she no longer saw her friends in her line of sight. She knew it was time for her to retreat before the goblins realized she was bluffing. She turned and followed an alternate path which would lead her to where she had last seen her friends. She hoped the steeper incline would slow any pursuers, praying the goblins were simply too stupid to go up the easy way, like Adam and Donadeir had.

  When she reached the summit of the small hill, Talia turned to see her enemies were just as dumb as she had expected. She smiled to herself and turned back to the path before her. Now it was time to catch up with her boys again.