A Twist of the Tale

by P R Glazier

Chapter 25. The Goblin’s Cauldron

  It took at least five days to traverse the mines of the Grûndén. Thor and his company could not tell for sure the length of time it had taken, for no cycles of sun and moon reached them below ground in the long dark of the Grûndén tunnels. They did not stop except for brief periods to eat; they wanted to get through as quickly as possible. They knew for every moment they delayed the Grûndén mercenaries could catch up with them and there would be no escaping their retribution. Thor put it to Neth’Gore that perhaps he could cause another roof fall to delay the Grûndén as they had done before, but the mage seemed reticent to repeat the tactic saying that he did not wish to risk burying them alive. He would only agree to his use of arcane energy in such confined space if there were no alternative. They would prefer that if the Grûndén did return then at least if they were out in the open they would have more of a chance in their own environment rather than in the confining dark where the Grûndén were more at home. Thor satisfied himself in the knowledge that at least they did not have to freeze in the higher mountain passes; the temperature within the tunnels at least seemed a pleasant and consistent cool. Thor did fear however that they may become lost, take a wrong turn perhaps or fall into a chasm. But the way did not have any forks or junctions it was just a straight uninterrupted route from one side right through to the other. Thor wondered at this, he was always under impression that mines followed the seams of whatever mineral the miners sought and therefore meandered around sometimes splitting into side tunnels and even leading up and down depending on where the precious minerals led. These tunnels went straight and had no fork or side tunnels to lead them astray. The only real discomfort was to suffer the darkness of the mine, but it did seem that apart from the pursuing Grûndén, they at least did not fear attack from anything else down here.

  The eventual steady slope of the path rising up also proved to be most encouraging. So it was with great relief Thor suddenly became aware of a faint glow further along the tunnel. They remained on a steady upward slope and in front of them along a lengthy part of the tunnel; far ahead they could pick out a welcoming sight, the warm glow of sunlight. The light beckoned to them, it gave them heart and seemed to refresh their very souls as they strode ever faster towards it. As they got closer their hearts leapt for joy as bright beams of sunlight shone into the tunnel and a dappled shady pattern flashed to and fro on the walls of rock, the unmistakable effect of bright sunlight shining through the leaves of a tree or bush being gently blown around by a steady breeze.

  They exited the tunnel into another of the shallow depressions, similar to the one in which the tunnel entrance had been dug out by the Grûndén. Luckily this one was clear of stones and debris, perhaps the Grûndén did not see a need to hide the tunnel at this end, that also seemed somewhat strange to Thor. They looked around them cautiously but no Grûndén or any others seemed to be about, they were alone. They had passed right through the roots of the mountains and were now upon the eastern slopes. Thor knew this for the position of the sun was a sure giveaway, it must have been early morning for the shadows of the trees were getting shorter as they watched. However, their exact geographic position along the mountain range in relation to their position north and south Thor did not yet know. They sat for some minutes just glad to be out in the open air once more, breathing in the fresh cold air of the mountains rather than the slightly stale, warmer air below ground. They were back in a familiar environment, out of the underground domain of the Grûndén.

  Orln stood after a while and un-shouldering his bow and notching an arrow he walked off to survey the way ahead. He came back moments later reporting that a clear and well-used path lay through the trees.

  After their brief rest the three entered the tree line. The trees themselves were pine trees in the main, their straight trunks stood sentinel either side of the path which wound around in between the trunks of the trees. At first they were spindly specimens clinging onto the patches of sparse soil and to the rock which remained moist due to the misty clouds that regularly hung over the land condensing into cold morning dew. But as they progressed downwards the trees became taller and stronger until they found themselves in a vast pine forest. The tree growth became ever more densely packed as they made their way along the path, soon nothing could be seen more than a few metres into the forest for within the dark density of the tree trunks there was no light shining down upon the thick carpet of dry brown pine needles that covered the forest floor. Sometimes these needles had been piled into heaps, a closer inspection was soon cut short however as these piles proved to be the homes of large wood ants, none of which seemed particularly hospitable to any visitors however large. At one point Thor stopped to inspect one such large nest, only to find that once he was discovered the wood ants became greatly agitated and the increasing noise they made from their combined passage became rather loud. Even louder was the message that his ankles got as the ants swarmed into his boots and started to bite at his skin. He ran until they were clear of the nest and he could rip his boots off and try and shake out all of the hostile insects.

  Orln laughed and even Neth’Gore smiled at his antics. After the last of the ants were shown the exit from his footwear Thor sat thinking. “I wonder who it is that will not suffer T’Iea to cross the Tolle’Fornosse’Veetri.”

  Orln shrugged, “possibly one or more of many factions with interests hereabouts.” He looked towards Neth’Gore perhaps expecting the mage to offer an opinion.

  The T’Iea battle mage looked at them both. “I have been thinking on that very subject. At first I thought that our old commander might wish his activities to remain secret. But I believe that his warped mind does not consider such things, he believes he is right and just in what actions he takes, I doubt her will believe that one or two individual travellers like ourselves will present a threat to him. The next obvious is the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran, but again I cannot think why they would bother to stop T’Iea travelling back and forth to Ter’Hadsnefel. That would only risk drawing attention to themselves, they would risk giving away their secret location. No there is some other force at work here, one that had not revealed itself as yet, but one that clearly understands what is happening here and one with greater plans than any we so far realise.”

  “Then perhaps it is us three that someone is trying to stop, not T’Iea travellers in general.”

  Neth’Gore nodded in agreement.

  Thor thought for a while, then said, “but apart from us three, only the Lady Solin, Te’Onolan’u’De’Yiun and possibly master Alonso knew of our journey. Surely none of them has a motive to prevent us travelling to the east?” He then looked questioningly towards the other two.

  “There was one other.” It was Neth’Gore who spoke. “Although this is pure speculation upon my part you understand. Our Grûndén friend, when we first met in the pub in Penitence Glade, well he was sitting at a table with a hooded figure when we first arrived.”

  “You think that figure may have been something to do with this? Surely that could have been anyone, just another customer staying at the place?” Remarked Thor.

  “Perhaps,” was the answer. “And if the figure were a human or even a T’Iea I perhaps would not thought anything unusual. But I am sure within my own mind that the hooded figure was neither of these, in fact I feel sure that this figure was in fact a keeper. But come we loiter for too long, we must move on.”

  They had no choice but to follow the path for it was the only clear way through. Thor and his companions continually listened and looked to either side as well as the path in front and behind. The feel of this place was ancient, even though Thor knew that these pine trees were not long lived but fast to reproduce and regrow. Generations of trees grew upon more generations of trees. This gave the impression that all the trees that grew were young, yet the overall feeling within the forest was of an ancient place, unchanged since the beginning of time perhaps. Here and there amongst the trees at the edge of the path t
all ferns grew, their frond-like growths reaching up to stretch to the light that shone down through the thin covering of pine needles high in the canopy above the path, this was the only place they could grow for there was little chance of any sunlight reaching the forest floor amongst the trees themselves. Sometimes these ferns were so tall their fronds joined their neighbours high over the heads of the company. Perhaps the ferns themselves had some built in biological mechanism that kept the trees at bay and the path was maintained because of this act of nature.

  As they walked Thor noticed that both Orln and Neth’Gore looked around them and above them in an increasingly nervous fashion. He didn’t think these two were admiring the view, so he asked, “what is it you seek around us? Or is that you fear something?”

  Orln looked at Neth’Gore and said, “we seek nothing. As to our fears? Well, we only hope that nothing seeks us in return.”

  “Is it likely then that something may seek us?” Asked Thor a smile on his lips as if he found the whole concept somewhat amusing.

  “There are bears and wolves in the forested slopes of the mountain foothills. Other - things live here to, not all are as friendly to the T’Iea as we may expect,” Remarked Orln.

  Then Neth’Gore spoke, “Some we made as enemies through our own ignorant and short sighted actions.”

  Thor supposed this to be directed at the T’Iea persecution of the goblin men. So he asked, “who then are these goblin men in which you seem to place so much concern?”

  It was Orln who replied, “who knows, they are a race short in stature, similar to the Pnook. We think they are men of a sort for they grow old and wither; they also die of illness and disease, which seems to spread amongst them like a curse if they may be unfortunate to contract such a thing. They are not as intelligent as the men we are used to though; they are perhaps a lesser race of men without a historic culture and without any art or design of the mind. Where they originate we do not know, what their history is we do not know. I doubt even they do, for their intellect seems limited and they have no complex language of speech, rather they seem to communicate using gestures and a series of grunting noises, they also seem not to have any art or any written word. At least none that I have witnessed.

  Thor just nodded his head at these words and pondered on what had been said.

  The path on which they trod continued to drop in altitude rapidly, sometimes they found themselves scrambling down steep inclines of rock-strewn and mossy earth. Then after about three or four hours, the path began to narrow for either side tall slopes began to rise rapidly until the three found themselves funnelled down into a ravine with almost vertical sides. The pine trees continued to grow on the upper slopes to either side of them; they could see the branches far above overhanging the ravine. The path descended downwards gathering in steepness as it went until they walked a rocky way along a path treacherous with small stones and broken pieces of rock. They started to stumble and slide in places for the path become very steep and the fall of rocks and other detritus threatened to pitch them forward. The whole place was not pleasant and not helped by the heavy moisture in the ground that found its way here until it had become a small trickle of water which made the loose stones even more treacherous to walk upon. The rock walls either side were also soaked in water as if heavy rain was continually falling.

  Before much longer the three found themselves having to negotiate short vertical slopes interspersed with short uphill climbs. Thor realised that these blockages were in fact rock falls and boulders that had fallen into the ravine and become wedged at the bottom. Other debris, sand and soil had slowly built up on the upward side where it had been washed down the slope; the opposite side remained at the original level at the foot of the boulder which acted like a dam holding the earth and other debris back. These boulders had become camouflaged over the years. But obviously the water that flowed down the ravine found its way past these obstacles for soon they found where once there was a small trickle, now they walked down the rocky bed of a shallow and steady stream that filled most of the bottom of the ravine. The water was a light brown colour and smelt of earth and rock. The going became very slow and arduous, many times one or more of the three would slip and fall, tumbling down the path until by good fortune they stopped or managed to grasp a rock or frond of leaves upon a stout branch to halt their fall. Several times the path widened out upon a flat area. The stream spread out and disappeared, but formed a wet bog where the mud sucked at their boots and made the going even more arduous, especially where the mire became knee deep in places.

  It was in one of these open areas that suddenly there was a crashing of undergrowth from behind and out of the ravine charged a number of short figures. The Grûndén mercenaries and their group of ruffians had caught them up. Thor and his companions drew weapons and stood back to back as the Grûndén charged towards them axes drawn and war cries on their lips. But immediately the short warriors became bogged down in the mud. The wet slime, knee deep to the T’Iea was much deeper to the Grûndén who suddenly found that their heavy plate armour was a distinct disadvantage in these boggy conditions. The fellows at the front sank into the mire up to their waists and became stuck fast. Amongst much cursing and shouting there compatriots were forced to hold back and try and aid their comrades floundering in the mud. Orln suddenly indicated for the two other T’Iea to follow him, they were near to the other side of the open area where the ravine continued, if they made it into the narrow ravine whilst the Grûndén were preoccupied, it should prove a far easier place to defend than out in the open. 

  They moved on as fast as possible until they reached the narrow entranceway and were safe inside, vertical rock stood by each shoulder and they turned to face their Grûndén antagonists. To their surprise however the Grûndén who had been pulled from the mud by now and the rest of their group had stopped and were smiling at them, pointing and laughing.

  One of the Grûndén stepped forward, Thor recognised him as the one that had done all the talking in Penitence Glade, at the inn that night they had first met.

  The Grûndén shouted, “aye ye swabs, ye be trapped now, fur there nat be any way outer the cauldron. Go on ye devils get ye’selves down t’ gullet there.”

  Under the instruction of their Grûndén leader several of the humans in the group got out slingshots and started pelting Thor and his fellows with round pebbles. The projectiles ricocheted off the rock walls to either side. Sharp shards of rock struck their armour and the pebbles bounced around them forcing them back down the narrow gulley. There was little defence against this onslaught so the T’Iea walked briskly backwards trying to get out of range of the slingshots and indeed as they rounded a bend they were safe from the incessant barrage. Thor kept looking round the bend in the gully, but it seemed that the Grûndén and their fellows were not intending to follow them in here, he became sure that their purpose was drive them forward into this gulley.

  Thor sighed, “take care, I have the feeling we are being driven into some kind of trap. Be ready and keep your eyes and senses alert.”

  They walked forward further into the gulley weapons drawn and ready. Thor’s heart was pumping hard; adrenaline flowed freely through his veins as he kept a watchful eye. But they were in a narrow gulley with vertical walls and not a lot could be seen. His biggest worry was if they were attacked from above, in this narrow space they wouldn’t stand a chance if missiles were thrown down upon them, they could only run in two directions forwards to an unknown destination or backwards towards where they knew the Grûndén stood their ground. But he became somewhat relieved as soon the path opened up into a large open area. They had been in such areas before, in fact they had just left one where the Grûndén had caught up with them and this one looked no different, just slightly larger than those they had seen before. This flat open area was littered with decayed tree trunks covered in bright green moss and larger platter shaped fungi. A few large boulders, perhaps a metre or more in diameter were half sunke
n into the musty bog that had formed where the stream had widened into a small pond within this flat area before it continued on its downward journey to the eastern planes below. But the pond had inevitably become a bog as it was slowly but surely filled in with the detritus of ages that was continuously washed down the slopes from above or fell down the cliff side and settled here in this area.

  They were thankful that at least the size of this open area allowed some sunlight to stream down from above warming their tired limbs and drying their sodden clothing somewhat. Its size also meant that nothing could creep up on them without a fair warning. But it seemed that the Grûndén had not followed them, they started to relax a little and look around them for the exit. There was a strange smell in the air though, it reminded them of the stench of a stables, the aroma of rotting manure. The centre of the area was obviously very wet, tufts of course grass grew amongst pools of black mud, even some surface water lingered there, but it looked fetid and green with algae. Midges and mosquitoes played above the water. In one spot in the dead centre the mud gave way to a fetid pool of water, the water looked undrinkable, rainbow coloured wisps of some horrid substance drifted slowly around in the water’s surface within the almost stationary flow. As they watched this dismal scene the mud in one pool seemed to bulge and dome as if something was pushing up from beneath and sort to escape its clammy grasp. This dome then suddenly burst with a dull plop and a hissing sound emanate from a small hole that had appeared, water and mud splattered upwards out of the hole. Their nostrils were then assaulted by a noxious stench.

  “Marsh gas.” Orln said wrinkling his nose and then covering his lower face with his gloved hand. It is poisonous, try not to breath too much of it, or this place will be your grave.

  Thor said, “we will have trouble getting across this bog. It may not be deep and have a firm rock bottom but it is going to be an unwelcome struggle never the less. Especially if we disturb the gas that forms beneath the surface of the mud.”

  Neth’Gore looked upwards to the edge of the cliffs high above, “not much chance of getting up there either without aid.”

  A branch snapped somewhere above them, all three T’Iea looked up peering into the dense tangle of branches and fallen trees. Far above and surrounding them the edge of the forest could be seen. Vertical walls of rock rose twenty of so metres upwards barring any hope of escape from the place they found themselves in. The rock was shining wet and long fronds of moss and lichen hung down. The rock surface looked treacherous to climb. At the base of the cliffs wet piles of clay and mud stood banked up against the rock face, soil had obviously been washed down the cliff face over the years and piled up at the base of the cliffs.

  Orln walked over and tried to place a foot on the mound of clay but he just sank into the mess up to just above his knee, he was forced to pull his leg back out with a sucking squelching noise. Mud and clay that had been disturbed ran around his feet as he stepped backwards. “No chance of this supporting our weight either, at least unaided.”

  Suddenly there were shouts and other odd noises coming from above and all around them, they looked up but could not see anything, whoever was up there remained well hidden. Then rocks and stones began to hurtle down around them many found there mark, but the T’Iea huddled down and were well protected by the leather and other forms of armour they wore. Thor risked a look up, he saw a number of small scrawny faces peering down at them, sharp teeth showed between thin lips. But he had to turn away as a pebble was coming straight for him, he waited the few seconds that it took to arrive and bounce off his helmet before he said, “Goblin men I presume.”

  A crash was heard from above followed by a ground-shaking rumble. The three looked up, to their horror a large boulder had been levered free of the soil and was crashing down through the ferns, gathering speed as it came. They stood unsure which way to go to dodge the lump of rock hurtling towards them, for its downward path was erratic. But before they could make a decision the boulder hit something hard, possibly another boulder more deeply set into the soil. The rock exploded into many pieces and they huddled once more as they were peppered in small and not so small pieces of rock.

  “We can’t stay here shouted Orln, they will send more rocks upon us to crush our brains.”

  Thor looked about them at the many boulders that lay half sunk in the bog, “hmmmm, they are well practiced to, they have perhaps trapped many before us here in this place.”

  Another boulder crashed downwards and splashed into the bog. Brown dirty water and earth exploded from where it landed coating them in wet slime and mud. This was followed by the strong smell of marsh gas. Neth’Gore shouted for them to back up as far as they could from the boulder that had just fallen. No sooner had they done this when a flaming fire brand fell, or was most probably thrown from above. They watched as it arced its way down following the boulders route. Then with a loud ‘woomph’ the gas that had escaped its watery prison ignited causing a wave of very hot air to envelope the T’Iea. A hot ball of flame rose vertically as the explosive gas burnt. Luckily they were sufficiently far enough away to not be set alight, but Orln did suffer some singing of his hair. Another boulder came crashing down, followed by another firebrand. A Similar thing happened, hot ignited gas slightly closer this time caused their damp leather armour to steam and the skin on the backs of their necks to get a scorching.

  Orln shouted, “we cannot stay here, this place will become our funeral pyre.” He was then forced to jump away as yet another gas bubble exploded, this time he was forced to thrash about himself with his hands to brush off burning material that stuck to his armour and clothing.

  But suddenly a clear sound rang out well above them, the sound of a horn, not just any horn, the unmistakable sound of a T’Iea horn. Thor stood, the goblin men of which there were some two dozen on the slopes above them had also stood, their many heads showing above the ferns that grew on the slopes. Thor indicated to Orln that he had a clear shot at several with his bow. But Orln shook his head. He would not fire upon the goblins. Thor was about to reissue the suggestion as an order but his attention was drawn away as a second sounding of the horn, much closer now, rang out through the forest. The goblins as one cried out and started to make a gibbering sound to one another. After looking about them with obvious fear and concern they turned and ran along paths obviously set into the slopes on which they stood and soon disappeared from sight.

  The three T’Iea strained their eyes to see where the horns had sounded from, but their attention was drawn to another sound a strange sound, it was like the thrashing of corn after harvest.

  “What now is this new annoyance?” Exclaimed Thor. 

  The ferns in which the goblins had been hiding earlier began to move in a strange way, as if something beneath their fronds was moving rapidly down the slope towards the edge of the cliff high above. Orln drew on an arrow in his bow, Thor unsheathed his broad sword. Neth’Gore had the sense not to risk igniting any arcane flames through fear of exploding any more of the marsh gas that they could still smell upon the air of this place. The three took up a stance, waiting for whatever it was that was about to leap down upon them. Suddenly something long and snake like burst forth from the ferns. It writhed down towards them thrashing about in a haphazard manner, but before either side could strike any blow, the thing stopped and hung limply down the side of the cliff.

  A voice from above shouted in T’Iea, “P’NOI.”

  The three were stunned, they stood still looking at the thick rope ladder that hung before them, a heavy stone tied to its lower end presumably to aid its passage through the ferns, the T’Iea voice sounded again, this time the single T’Iea word was followed by words in the common tongue, “P’Noi. Do you hear me? Climb, or would you rather stay within the goblins cauldron?”

  Thor encouraged Neth’Gore forward followed by Orln, once they had managed, with the aid of the rope, dragged themselves clear of the clay at the bottom of the rock wall, they started to climb up. T
hor himself then sheathed his sword and grasping the thick rope began to follow the passage of the other two clambering up hand over hand.

  At the top Thor heaved once more and found he stood at the top of the ravine upon a rocky outcrop littered with old pine needles and pinecones. Large escarpments of rock stuck up and out over the ravine up which they had just climbed. He looked up; Orln was in an embrace with another elf. Neth’Gore stood to one side shaking the hand of another, there must have been around thirty or so T’Iea warriors here in all. They all had good armour and weapons about them. Thor walked slowly over and waited. Orln eventually let go of the other elf and turned to Thor he said, “T’Thorandill please let me introduce you to R’Thy’Uln, a swordsman of great renown.”

  Thor stepped forward and shook the other elf’s hand, the elf bowed, “indeed well met R’Thy’Uln, we owe you a debt of gratitude, even our very lives, we thank you for your timely rescue.”

  “My pleasure T’Thorandill, I am thankful to the Maker we were patrolling this area today. I am sorry about the goblins.” He then dropped his gaze; anger showed upon his features as he said almost to himself, “I’m afraid that is an old legacy of others.”

  Thor couldn’t help noticing that these words, or words much like them had been said by Neth’Gore not so long ago. But he shrugged this off and noticed after glancing around that he seemed to be the highest ranking officer amongst all the T’Iea present, this he found strange as all of the soldiers here seemed to be serving and non-commissioned ranks, so he said, “now maybe you can introduce me to your commanding officer?”

  “That I am afraid will not be possible, we have none, at least not now.” was the reply.

  Orln took Thor by the elbow and drew him to one side. “You remember us telling you of the story of how we came to find ourselves back in Ter’Hadsnefel and how we were tried for desertion?”

  Thor nodded, but as he did so thoughts were forming in his mind, before Orln could say any more Thor said, “so this swordsman, R’Thy’Uln he was the sword in your Trete’Y’Thego, the one who was presumably imprisoned and you were forced to leave behind?”

  Orln nodded, “yes he is thus, we are deeply thankful that the Maker has seen fit to reunite us, it has weighed heavy on our hearts all these years that we were forced to desert him and leave him behind.”

  Thor walked back across to where R’Thy’Uln was standing, “you have a camp nearby R’Thy’Uln?”

  “Aye that we do, it is but a couple of hour’s swift march from here.”

  Thor nodded, “we were being pursued by a company of mercenaries headed by two Grûndén, they herded us into that gulley, the goblins cauldron as you call it.”

  R’Thy’Uln nodded. “The cauldron is often used to trap animals and others for the sport of the goblins. Your Grûndén friends must have known about it. Once in the cauldron there is no escape barring the same way as you entered.”

  Thor then added, “the Grûndén hinted that they had a commercial arrangement with the goblins to stop any T’Iea crossing the mountains. The Grûndén have a tunnel cut under the roots of the mountains, they led us through their plan being to capture or kill us in the dark. 

  R’Thy’Uln nodded solemnly, the Grûndén have prospected in the mountains, but they have not discovered anything of value so far. Their plans are to mine on this side of the Tolle’Fornosse’Veetri for the land here had been covered in ferns and pines for millennia and beneath the ground the old forest has turned into a sort of black rock that burns well and cleanly as a fuel. The Grûndén see this as a lucrative material to sell to the humans and perhaps others in the west to fuel their fires. The material I am told is also good for the smithies and smelters of the Grûndén. They have come to some mutual arrangement with the goblin factions who live in the area.

  Thor nodded in understanding, “what of our the Grûndén mercenary friends? They will follow us once they discover that we escaped?”

  “I doubt it. They would certainly not wish to follow you into the cauldron where they would not be able to get out without help from above and escarpment of rock through which the gulley runs into the cauldron runs for some thirty kilometres across the forest before it dips sufficiently for safe climbing. They will not risk climbing anywhere near to here for risk of falling fowl of goblins patrolling along the top of the escarpment as they almost continuously do. I doubt that all the goblins have entertained such an arrangement with the Grûndén as they are nowhere near that organised. So the Grûndén would have lost your trail long before they get the chance to catch you up. We will see to this don’t worry.”

  Thor took in a deep breath and sighed. “Then let us go there to your camp, I feel we have much to discuss.”

  R’Thy’Uln nodded, he shouted orders and the T’Iea soldiers formed ranks and the march began.

  They marched along at a fast pace, R’Thy’Uln continually sent out scouts to the fore and either side, these returned at regular intervals, normally from the rear of the column so they had obviously skirted around behind to see if they were pursued. Most times a few short words passed between R’Thy’Uln and his scouts, sometimes a longer discussion took place. On one such occasion following a scout’s return, R’Thy’Uln ordered a halt. He then ordered a change of direction and the march continued in total silence for several kilometres. Strict silence was ordered, before whispered discussion was once more allowed. Thor found out that a goblin camp had been set up in their path and they wished to circumvent it and avoid any trouble.

  They travelled in this way for a number of hours, not once did they stop, other than the time they changed direction. But eventually another stop was ordered and a young elf that Thor recognised as one of the scouts was sent forward alone. Minutes later far ahead, bird calls could be heard, a second bird responded. Thor smiled, he had heard this before, in the great forest that was his home. He recognised the bird calls as hunters calls, T’Iea communicating between each other, many times he had heard this whilst hunting with his father and sister Nar’Allia, but he had not been adept at it, hunting and forest lore was never for him, he always preferred the more direct approach of the soldier. But it was pleasant to hear once more, it reminded him of home.

  The march moved forward again. Soon they came across a more open area beneath the trees which grew further apart, here many large boulders were strewn about the ground, presumably this was also the cause of the sparseness of the trees. Thor looked about trying to find out where these rocks came from. Through the trees he could see a start of a steep slope, this was also strewn with boulders so he assumed they had rolled down from this slope over the years and settled here amongst the trees of the pine forest, thinning out the growth as they crashed down through the trees. They all marched forward into this clearing. Once they were there R’Thy’Uln gave the order to disband. Thor raised his eyebrows, were they to rest then? But he was surprised as several T’Iea soldiers appeared from nowhere, many of this new group were female, rangers most probably, one such person appeared from his right he glanced in her direction, she smiled as she released a sort of flap in one side of a boulder and it fell back looking like a complete lump of rock once again. He suddenly realised what these boulders were, he smiled at his own foolishness, the T’Iea ranger smiled back at him. He found his cheeks glowing slightly hot as he looked upon her face. She smiled even more and walked away towards the centre of the camp.

  But then R’Thy’Uln approached him, “welcome to our camp, a meal will be prepared to welcome us back, we would be honoured by your presence.”

  Thor bowed, “of course, I thank you for your generosity and the honour of your hospitality is gratefully appreciated.”

  R’Thy’Uln bid Thor follow him, they approached towards a large long boulder, “your Trete’Y’Thego is welcome to sleep here.” He opened a flap and Thor bent to look inside. The interior of the ‘tent’ was quite lavish, it had a folding desk and a number of chairs, six wooden cots lined the far end, each with a small wooden c
abinet, Thor knew these would be for the personal items of each of the soldiers that slept in here. By this he supposed that this camp was of a more permanent type for most of the furniture looked although it had been made locally rather than brought in with the soldiers of R’Thy’Uln’s small encampment. The floor was covered in a rather old worn carpet of plain green colour, but everything was clean and well kept.

  “Thank you R’Thy’Uln, I hope we are not putting anyone out by staying here?”

  R’Thy’Uln looked sadly at the ground, “no, this tent has been empty for some months, good soldiers lived here once, but they are no longer in need of such shelter.”

  “Thor was saddened, “then I feel more than honoured that I may sleep in this place. I will honour their passing in my prayers.”

  R’Thy’Uln nodded in satisfaction and said, “I need to check on a few things, please excuse me. You are free to rest or to wander the camp at your leisure, but I advise you do not leave the perimeter unless with an armed escort. I will return for you shortly, perhaps we may talk more freely then.”

  Thor bowed, then taking the tent flap from R’Thy’Uln, he entered the tent and let the flap close behind him.

  Sometime later Thor became aware of a sound outside his tent, it sounded like claws being drawn down the material of the structure as if someone with lengthy fingernails was stoking the material from which the tent was made.

  There came a hissing low sound, a voice. A voice that seemed unused to the T’Iea language and to have some difficulty in forming the words. “Ssiiirrrr? Ssiiirrrr?”

  The sound made the hairs on the back of his neck rise up and Thor slowly drew his sword from the scabbard that hung off the end of his bed. He walked carefully across to the entrance and with the tip of the sword moved the flap away. What he saw next caused him some shock. A stunted figure stood outside, a short man. All he wore was a dirty loincloth and an equally dirty piece of cloth that draped across one shoulder, the other was bare. His skin also appeared dirty, soiled patches across his body hid the true colour of his skin. A wispy form of course hair grew all over him at least the visible parts. His face was bony, two small sharp teeth protruded from both his bottom and upper jaw and the little sharp points extended over his lips. The little man looked at Thor, his head tilted to one side and then at the raised sword pointed towards him, his eyes shone, yellow cat-like eyes, large eyes. When he blinked Thor was aware that not only did his normal eyelids close down with a flick, but a second transparent eyelid also closed moments before horizontally across each eye.

  “Mmmmeeean nooooo hhhuuurrt, sssiiirrrr, wiiiill come.” The figure waved his hand in a gesture that seemed to indicate Thor should follow him. Thor noticed the hand did indeed have long fingernails on the end of each finger, somewhat cracked and broken, clods of dirt could be seen beneath. The goblin man, for goblin man he must be carried nothing, no weapon seemed to be about his person.

  Another figure stepped forward, Thor was relieved a little to see R’Thy’Uln standing there. He addressed the goblin, “thank you Niepre, I’ll take sir from here.”

  The goblin man, turned and looked at R’Thy’Uln, he clutched his hands together and said, “yeessss ssiiirrrr.” He gave a military salute, the type of salute that a T’Iea soldier would extend to his superiors but to Thor this seemed a mocking form of salute. Either the goblin was indeed mocking R’Thy’Uln or he hadn’t got to grips with the correct way to make such a gesture. Or perhaps even the anatomy of the goblin didn’t allow him to form the correct position of hand and arm. But the goblin man then dropped to all fours and started to move briskly away in the direction of the centre of the camp.

  R’Thy’Uln looked at Thor a smile on his face. I wanted to prove to you that the goblins are not all aggressive by nature, in deed their true nature I believe is a peaceful one. The ones we chased off above the cauldron, well their mistrust and aggression towards you was not of their making. Unfortunately this attitude was born more from a recent hatred towards our kind rather than any inbuilt, instinctive aggression upon their part. R’Thy’Uln nodded his head in the direction that the goblin had ran off in, then went on to explain. “We found Niepre as a baby following a raid on his camp by Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned’s renegades. His mother had received a sword wound, she was badly slashed right down her back, her spine had been badly sliced and she could not move her lower body and legs. But she lay across her baby protecting him. We took them both back here to our camp; the mother died of her wounds a couple of days later. We cared for Niepre, looked after him, he became one of us. Niepre means ‘lost’ in their simple speech. He is a willing member of the camp; he has much skill in many ways, is eager to learn and is remarkably quick to respond to teaching. He has also proven quite a diplomat for he has on occasion introduced us as friends to his kind, allowed us to meet with certain factions of the goblin race, not all mind you, for some are not so open to outsiders, some clans deeply mistrust us still, as you experienced back there in the forest. It is through Niepre that we learned of the alliance between the Grûndén mercenaries and others of his kind. Niepre however is free to go wherever he pleases, even back to join his people if he so wishes, yet he chooses to stay here with us for some reason.”

  “But who then are they, the goblin people?” Asked Thor.

  They continued to stroll through the camp as R’Thy’Uln explained. “We cannot be sure exactly. They call themselves collectively in their own language the Pixie; they have no written or verbal history, at least none that we have been able to follow. I have my suspicions though after talking to the Pixie themselves and also with the eastern clans of human men that live further east across the moor. I believe that many ages in the past, during the time this whole area was subjected to a massive flood of raw arcane power, it was released or perhaps concentrated here during a terrible war that was fought by human factions that inhabited the world long, long ago.  This arcane power was free to drift across these lands unabated. This energy became concentrated in pockets all over this land. Over time the populations of men that survived the war became changed by these pockets in various ways. I think the goblin men may have been the results of such changes, mutations of humans affected in ways that we cannot understand. Humans seem to be susceptible to such changes in both a mental and physical way. I must warn you Thor that it also affects us, the T’Iea, not so much in a physical sense for our makeup renews us continually giving us long life as with the other elder races. But it doesn’t stop the effects showing in our mental capacities.”

  Thor grew very excited. What he had just been told backed up what he had heard through other sources. He wanted R’Thy’Uln to explain further so he asked “mental capacities? How do you mean?”

  R’Thy’Uln sighed, “Many years of man in the past, soon after we arrived in the area as part of the expeditionary force led by Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned. We discovered an area further east that seemed to be hidden beneath many arcane wards. At first we could not penetrate into the area, but the race of humans could access the area via learned people, shamans in their society and the like. They called the place the Rift. Some of us went close to the Rift, too close. Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned himself was one of these. A close advisor to Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned, a ranger spy under his close direct command managed to gain access to the Rift by becoming trusted by the eastern men for they had a way into the region. We discovered that the arcane wards were made by T’Iea, the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran in fact. We discovered that the wards hid the main city of the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran, the city of R’Iggorr’Thegoran. This spy, eventually invited Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned himself to don a disguise and accompany him into the city itself. Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned leapt at the chance to spy directly upon the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran so that he could report direct back to his masters in Ter’Hadsnefel. I know this because Orln, Neth’Gore and myself were trusted to take these reports across the Tolle’Fornosse’Veetri to Ter’H
adsnefel.”

  Thor nodded in understanding for of course he had heard as much from Orln and Neth’Gore.

  “Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned seemed then to make more visits and on a regular basis he went into the R’Iggorr’Thegoran accompanying this ranger spy. We started to become suspicious for Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned seemed to change over the months following our arrival here. He seemed to become more withdrawn to us, he seemed to become captivated by his information gathering visits with his spy. We decided the three of us should start opening the secret reports that we carried across the Tolle to Ter’Hadsnefel. We became increasingly suspicious of Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned’s intent. For he started to play down the threat of the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran, in the area, he said that they were few and easily dealt with. We knew this not to be the case however, for we still fought as many skirmishes with T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran forces as we ever did since our arrival.”

  Thor nodded, “do you remember the name of the spy, the advisor to Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned?”

  “Yes, his name was Tezrin, a skilled ranger actually. Although a loner, as with many rangers, he had his own interests at heart I always felt. He was not one of us, one of the legion I mean, he had been hired as a mercenary direct from the ranger guild in Ter’Resell, why I do not know, that remains a mystery to this day for we as a regiment had our own rangers amongst our number.” He shrugged. Then added, “I have my own suspicions though, I believe this Tezrin fellow was in league with the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran, may have even been a dark elf himself. I think he was sent to infiltrate our command and upset things as best he could.”

  Thor remained quiet, but inside his thoughts were whirling around his head, he whispered to himself. “So, still we suffer from the far reaching acts of that traitorous rogue.”

  R’Thy’Uln looked at Thor, “you know of this ranger? The one called Tezrin?”

  Thor just said that he had come across the name before when associated with mischief and deceit on many levels.

  R’Thy’Uln nodded but did not ask any further questions, instead he continued, “one day Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned commanded several soldiers to go with them into the dark elf realm guided by the men of the east. They returned carrying a litter on which a statue stood. This statue was obviously T’Iea in its making. Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned said it was a peace offering from the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran to the T’Iea of Ter’Hadsnefel. Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned said he would transport it to the T’Iea city when we returned from our current tour of duty. But this never happened; from the moment that statue arrived in the camp Tezrin ordered it remain in the camp amongst the soldiers. Well our soldiers began to fall ill, not in a life threatening way, but they became short tempered, ill at ease. They suffered from an illness of the mind. I remember thinking then that they became more like our T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran cousins. Their moral code became changed, distorted. They started to skirmish with the goblins in the area. Before long we were in an all-out war with the goblins, who had not bothered us in the past. I am certain now that the statue had something to do with these perverted changes in T’Iea character. Orln, Neth’Gore and myself did not seem to be so effected, probably because we spent lengthy time away from travelling back and forth across the Tolle’s to Ter’Hadsnefel we never stayed long in the camp and in the presence of the statue. We tried on several occasions to raise the alarm with our superiors in the headquarters of the legion in Ter’Hadsnefel, but to no avail. Only one officer took any interest.”

  Before he could say more Thor said, “Te’Onolan’u’De’Yiun.”

  “Yes,” was the reply.

  “I began to have suspicions about Tezrin’s real intent and his true alliances. We started to watch him closely. One evening we followed him alone, he went to the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran city and the interesting thing was that he did not need a human guide to get there or to enter. From that day on I persuaded those I could trust to stay clear of the statue, asked them to volunteer for scouting parties, anything that would keep them away from the statue and the camp of Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned. Those of the soldiers I persuaded you see camped around you. Somehow Tezrin found out about our suspicions, I suspect that for all my careful choices I may have asked one who was already turned away to join us and he, or she, went to report my treason to Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned or perhaps to Tezrin. Anyway one evening a squad was sent to arrest us for treason. Orln and Neth’Gore managed to escape, I was caught. I had not seen either of my companions from that day to this.”

  “So how then did you escape and come to live here?”

  “Well, as I said there were others in the camp of Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned having similar suspicions. Soldiers who I had persuaded whom spent a lot of time on patrol or in outer camps on lookout, other Trete’Y’Thego. Thus they were not so affected by that accursed statue. Thus one evening we were attacked by a large goblin force, whilst the camp was in uproar, these other T’Iea freed me and together we deserted the camp of Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned. We have been hunted and killed ever since, they call us deserters, renegades, yet it is not us that have become servants to the statue.”

  “So why then does Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned now hate the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran? For it seems strange to me that at first he allied with them, yet now he fights them with vengeance?”

  “Ah, we have our rogue friend, the spy Tezrin to thank for that. Tezrin was obviously under orders to take the statue to Ter’Hadsnefel to corrupt and pervert the minds of all the T’Iea in the city, to make T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran of them all. When Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned finally refused to take the statue to Ter’Hadsnefel, preferring to claim the work of art for himself, Tezrin was incensed, they fell out and Tezrin was banished from the T’Iea encampment. Tezrin returned to his masters in the dark elf city. Soon after they attacked Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned and his forces. A terrible battle broke out, it lasted three days and many T’Iea on both sides died in the fighting. Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned already corrupted and full of hate, turned that hate upon the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran. He has sought to destroy them and their city ever since. It is his one desire; he is addicted to his revenge and will not give up the task he has set himself, even unto his own death and the total destruction of his soldiers. For I am afraid that Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned and his army, what is left of it, is now fully under the corrupted influence of that accursed statue, perhaps even beyond redemption, who knows.”

  “What is this statue like?

  “It is a fine statue of a T’Iea maiden, a ranger in fact, for she holds a longbow in one hand a quiver of arrows hanging from her belt, two short swords at her side. I overheard Tezrin saying once that he designed the statue himself, modelled it upon another ranger of the guilds, a good friend of his by all accounts. He seemed to find this most amusing for some reason.  The statue itself was carved from some glossy black mineral; I had never seen the like before. We tried to destroy it once; we raided the camp of Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned. Some caused a diversion whilst several others went to the statue and tried with heavy weapons to destroy it but the statue would not be harmed in any way, it seemed immune to physical damage even by T’Iea long swords. Sadly all those who attacked were either killed or captured, I regret sending them to their deaths.”

  Thor turned many things over in his mind, it seemed to him that so much had just been said, so many ironies sprung to mind. He felt he couldn’t even begin to explain it all, so he kept his thoughts to himself. Rather he needed to digest all this latest information in his own mind, it may even be that it no longer mattered, for the damage had been done. He just thanked the Maker that the statue had not found its way to Ter’Hadsnefel, for if it had, then he suspected that they would be in a wholly different position today than that in which they actually found themselves.