The Goblin Queen and the Sigil of Altazan (The League of Sinister Means Book 2)

by H. K. MacTavish

  “Too drunk?”

  “No! Men kept hitting on Cassandra. She’s used to it. One of them, I thought he was winking at me but Cassandra said I was just making it up. She said it was just the wine talking. So we continued to sit in that tavern for, hours I think. Drinking, gambling, and getting to know the locals. That was when a man burst in on hearing that some strangers were in town. He had hoped that we were heroes and he began to tell us the tale of a large group of goblins sneaking into the town and kidnapping two people, a young man and a young woman. Leo said we would gladly take on the task to return them and make the villain that took them suffer but Katie asked about payment. Leo didn’t like it, but how else are we to afford our meals and our beds? The man said that he would take us to the mayor the next day.”

  “And you were allowed to keep whatever you found?”

  “Yes, plus fifty gold coins a piece. They are a poor village so we agreed to the terms.”

  These peasants have no right to allow heroes to take my things!

  “That must not have sat well with Leo.”

  “Oh, there are ways around that. If we find enough loot, and the people we are helping are poor enough, we can convince Katie to let the fee go.”

  “Things aren’t working out the way you had planned, are they?” I ask.

  “The day isn’t over yet,” Gerald says. “I look forward to telling the people of that village that we rescued one and we have in custody the villainess responsible for the death of the other.”

  “I already said, I didn’t kill him. And any of your courts would agree with me. My soldiers, not acting on my orders, are not my responsibility.”

  “Did you discipline them?”

  “I’m sure I did. I have to keep these goblins in line. Isn’t that right?” I ask the goblins around me.

  “We live to serve the queen, highness!”

  “See? They love me.”

  “They fear you,” Gerald says.

  “Same thing.”

  “Not even close.”

  “They obey me. They are loyal to me. The reason is not important,” I say. “But tell me, what happened to that vampire in Balmoria?”

  “Oh. Well he had been taking people from the town of Gnectsburg, and killing some that got in his way. We didn’t know why.”

  “Well, he’s a vampire.”

  “Yes,” Gerald says.

  He doesn’t know what vampires do with their victims, does he?

  “So you know why he was taking them,” I say.

  “To feed on,” Gerald says.

  “Some. Others he turns. Vampires aren’t always the solitary creatures they are depicted as. Without the ability to reproduce they try to make their own children.”

  “Then why aren’t there more vampire families living together?”

  “Vampires can’t charm other vampires. So many make the mistake of charming their victims, turning them into a vampire that is suddenly freed from their charm and the new vampires sometimes rebel. They know they were tricked. Guess who wins that fight?”

  “The experienced vampire?”

  I nod.

  “So, half are blood bags and the other half are family members. Usually the more attractive ones are the family members,” I say.

  “We did find a man and three women that were attractive, but they were these thralls. They had this deathly pallor, but they were still alive.”

  “Vampires in the making. It takes time. They were still under the control of the vampire. How does it feel to know that you killed innocents?”

  Oh, I can’t wait to see Gerald’s face when he realizes he killed innocent people charmed by a vampire!

  “We freed them, actually,” Gerald says.

  “What?”

  “When we killed the vampire they just woke up.”

  “But you had to battle your way to them.”

  “And we did.”

  “So, you battled the innocents taken?”

  “Most of his minions were wolves with a few skeletal warriors. The four thralls stood out and Katie recognized one of them as a missing family member we were looking for. So we lured them into a room and sealed them in.”

  Of course they did.

  “How nice of you,” I say without any sincerity.

  “All four are alive and well to this day,” Gerald says. He is so proud it makes me sick!

  “You said you were lucky in defeating him?”

  I have to hear how lucky they were.

  “Earlier Cassandra was taken in the night by the vampire while we were resting in one of his rooms. He appeared through a secret passage while the rest of us slept. He used his charms on her to seduce her.”

  Vampires gain innate abilities similar to seduction magic.

  “I bet he did. But I’m not hearing how this is you being lucky. Having Cassandra taken sounds unlucky.”

  “The luck came to us when we found him in the middle of the day. We saw Cassandra loitering around in a hall. Leo and I led her away and while trying to figure out what to do Katie accidentally discovered a secret door. Through that was a room with a coffin right in the middle of the room. We hurried into the secret door and closed it, leaving Cassandra out in the hall. With only a few minutes before Cassandra tore her way in we battled the weakened vampire and drove a stake into his heart!”

  “Defeating a vampire is hard to do. Well done.”

  “Thanks,” Gerald says.

  Did I just congratulate him? Why the fuck did I do that? I’m tired. That must be it. I can’t wait for this endeavor to be over with!

  Deep Waters

  The last thing I want to do is encourage this hero by congratulating him on his past exploits. Up ahead I can see the tunnel widening. It is opening up into a larger area. Hopefully this isn’t a den of some beast. Wait. What is that on the floor? More dead goblins? How many is that peasant going to kill! For fucks sake it is just, one, peasant! Just one! Why is she killing my goblins like this? This is the opposite of what should be happening!

  By the gods...

  “Wait,” I whisper to the goblins.

  Those goblins…they didn’t die to a spear. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. What killed them? What’s living here? They…they look like they’ve been gnawed on. These goblins were eaten? What ate one of my patrols?

  “What is it?” Gerald whispers.

  “There is something here,” I whisper back. “And don’t get any ideas about running.”

  “I’m not running,” Gerald whispers. “But why are we whispering?”

  “Because that peasant we’re tracking didn’t kill all those goblins.”

  “How can you tell?” Gerald asks.

  “Because they’ve been eaten!” I whisper, pointing to a goblin carcass that is close enough for Gerald so he can see the truth of how these goblins died. “A peasant, with a goblin spear, is incapable of doing that.”

  Oh. Oh, this is even better. And by better I mean worse. I see a red sash on one of the goblins. I point to the goblin cadaver that has a red sash around the bones and organs that remain on the ground. “See that sash on that dead goblin?”

  “Yes. Those are your elite goblins?”

  “Yes. No peasant woman killed one alone.”

  “You are underestimating her.”

  “You’ve fought them. You know what my red sashed goblins are capable of. You are going to sit here and bullshit me that a peasant woman you came to rescue killed one of them alone? Maybe she should be the one rescuing you.”

  “That would be a twist of fate,” Gerald whispers. “And no, I know it wasn’t her that killed this group. I was merely commenting on your belief that this woman…”

  “Not interested in debated the martial skills of a peasant right now!” I whisper back.

  By the gods! She couldn’t take out one of my elite goblins. Whatever did this to a goblin with a red sash could do the same to a peasant! Could she be dead? No, no. Please, don’t be dead. I need your warm blood! Gods, that sou
nded creepy. But it’s true! I look around and try to see if there is anything that doesn’t look like a goblin. And…nope. I don’t see anything resembling a human woman. Good.

  “She must have sneaked past. I suggest we do the same,” I whisper. I look to my goblins and get their attention waving my arm at them. “You heard me, right?”

  “Sneaking now! Yes highness!” they say, a bit too loudly.

  There is a grumbling sound from the corner of the room. If my goblins just woke up whatever is living here I will make them suffer!

  I can’t see what it is that is living in the corner of this chamber but I’m not interesting in finding out. And I don’t want to sacrifice my goblins if I can avoid it. Whatever it is, how did it get into my domain without me being aware of it? I’m leaning towards blaming my goblin patrols for this.

  At this point, that is not relevant. I will discipline the goblins later for letting this, thing, in and not telling me about it. And that will be after I discipline the goblins for extending their warrens without consulting me or even notifying me about it first! I wouldn’t be in this situation now! I could be upstairs, in my room, changing out of this dirty and now almost dry dress, four heroes as prisoners or corpses, enjoying a hot supper with some brandy or whiskey. Not with my lair trashed, everything smashed or taken, and me sneaking down in these caves! In damp and dirty clothes!

  The goblins creep forward and I dim my glowing light a little with a wave of my hand. We continue to creep forward along the edge of the wall. To my left are the remains of more goblins. They look torn to shreds. One is missing his head and one appears to have been ripped in half!

  I can see the beast in the corner! It is large, but I figured that much already. It doesn’t look hairy so it isn’t a bear. Is it a troll or ogre? I hope not. I’m not sure I could tame one with the power I have. Ogres respect power, especially magic. If you know what you are doing you can beat one nearly to death with magic and they will worship you for it. And trolls, I just offer it food in the form of a goblin and gods willing it will let us go. For obvious reasons trolls and goblins don’t mix and ogres are too destructive if they are bored, which is nearly all the time. If ogres aren’t smashing things they want to go out smashing things. I can’t keep either if I want to be the Goblin Queen.

  We continue creeping along. I glance at Gerald and he looks nervous. Good. He isn’t planning on running! This might be a good opportunity for him. If he tries I’ll make sure he gets eaten first. Or perhaps I’ll use him as a shield. I should have enough power to do that with a tied up priest!

  The beast grumbles again! It is shifting and I can see…scales? Did it crawl up from the underground river? Why would it do that? You don’t belong here! Why are you here?

  I need to just continue on. We are halfway through this natural chamber. I am grateful for the goblins understanding the meaning of the work sneaking. And for Gerald not trying to escape. If we get past this room with the beast still in it I can rest easier; Gerald won’t try and escape back to his friends if he has to try and outrun whatever that beast is.

  We are close to the end of this cavern. The beast is sleeping and I can’t see anything but its backside. Could it be a deep trawler? I hope not. They are poisonous, large, carnivorous, and beyond me in my current state. But they are large and scaled and brown and live in and around rivers. I would be able to determine for sure if this thing was one or not if it moved around.

  But I am happy to live in ignorance so long as it stays where it is!

  This is taking forever! My heart is pounding and I really just want to be on the other side of this cavern. The beast isn’t grumbling anymore. I hope it is asleep. Stay asleep!

  It is getting up! It is taking a couple of steps! It is a deep trawler! Fuck me!

  I freeze and I don’t even realize it. It looks away from us before slumping down again. Was it sleepwalking? Fuck, I don’t care; let’s just get out of here!

  I step forward once again and I can see the tunnel entrance just beyond! The goblins ahead of me enter the new tunnel and they are still sneaking. This is going great!

  “Ow!” a goblin cries out as the last goblin tumbles to the ground.

  The deep trawler raises its head and looks at the goblin and then at the rest of us!

  Oh fucking nine hells...

  “Run!” I yell.

  The last goblin scrambles to his feet as the lean deep trawler leaps across the room in just two bounds and bites him in half, spitting the top part away.

  Two other goblins near him hesitate and one pees himself; the trickle of urine running down his leg is unmistakable.

  I grab Gerald and toss him down the cave tunnel and bring my plate of books beside me. I quickly cast a spell, an illusion and I pray it works! I make this tunnel look like a solid rock wall.

  I back up as I hear the sounds of the massacre on the other side. It is entirely one sided. Deep trawlers are not pleasant creatures and this one is going to cost me a lot of goblins to take down…unless the heroes kill it while trying to follow me! That would be splendid.

  “Are you okay?” I ask Gerald as I pick him up.

  “I am. Thanks,” he says.

  “Let’s hurry,” I say.

  “You summoned a rock wall…just like that?” Gerald asks as we run down the hall.

  “It is just an illusion. If the deep trawler doesn’t believe it is there it can easily fit in this tunnel,” I say.

  “That was a deep trawler?” Gerald asks.

  “It was,” I say.

  “We can’t beat it, can we?”

  “Did you hear me yell run or fight?” I ask.

  “No need to be snappy,” Gerald says.

  Then stop asking stupid questions!

  We run down the hall and I hear something behind me. Something scraping against stone. Claws? Teeth? Dead goblins being tossed aside? That all sounds horrible and in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter.

  I can hear water rushing up ahead. This must be where it crawled up from. We enter an enormous cavern with a natural bridge over a rushing river. The roar of the water is deafening! Water is spraying up and once again I am wet, but I don’t even care right now. If that deep trawler is chasing after us we are in trouble.

  With all this water, perhaps a lightning rune will be enough to give the creature pause. It doesn’t know how runes work. It is just a dumb creature. If I am lucky it might think that every time it steps near this bridge it will get zapped.

  If I’m not quick the rune will zap me just as easily. I am not that dry anymore with the mist of the river crashing against the rocky banks, covering me in water.

  “Go on ahead!” I say to Gerald and the goblins.

  “What are you going to do?” Gerald asks.

  “Try and convince this monster to not chase us,” I say. Where is a rock? No loose rocks? There has to be one! Where is a rock?

  Come on! There! I run and snatch it in my fingers and run back to the bridge. I bend down at the base of the bridge and begin carving a rune of lightning on the floor. I’ve forgotten everything else going on around me; my books getting wet, me getting wet, wherever Gerald and the goblins are…I just need to get this rune down!

  There is a deep growl from the tunnel we just left. I pause, partly out of fear. My heart is beating faster. My hand is starting to shake. I don’t want to die. Not as a quick meal to a deep trawler.

  I can’t see the creature but I can hear it, the claws scampering along the stony floor, its voice echoing towards us. It has this deep rumbling growl that makes me shiver.

  I have to finish. Where was I?

  I continue scratching out the lightning rune at the base of the bridge. I need to finish before the deep trawler gets here! I’m almost done. Just give me a little bit more time!

  “Come on!” Gerald yells.

  “Let me finish!” I say. I’m almost done. I’m almost there!

  The creature growls again! My eyes peer up from the rune to th
e dark tunnel. In that darkness I know the deep trawler is there, running towards me. It is getting closer with every second.

  “Are you almost done?”

  Almost. Just one little bit and…it is finished!

  “There!” I say as I back away. As I do the deep trawler comes into view, the light from my orb illuminating the long twisted features, the long snake like appendages growing out of its chin and out the back of the skull. The horn filled frill along the sides of the head, the long snout, the large narrow eyes of a killer, the lean and long limbs, narrow and incredibly sharp teeth, claws as long as my forearm scraping against the cavern floor while padded paws keep the four legged creature from slipping.

  I back up into Gerald as the creature charges, one bound then another.

  There is a bright flash and I lose my footing. I almost fall in…

  “Help!” Gerald yells as he falls in. I reach out and grab his bound hands but I’m not steady enough. Wait, I have him.

  No. No, I don’t. Not even close. My foot slips and I fall in!

  I am completely submerged. I’m still holding onto Gerald’s bound hands as we are tossed together against the rocky edges of the river. The water pushes us further and further away from where we were. I can’t hear anything but the roaring of the water and I can feel the rocks as we slide along them.

  At last we slow down enough that I can poke my head up above the water. I take a deep breath and some water gets into my mouth. I start to cough as I try to find the edge of the river.

  Is Gerald alive? I can’t hear him at all. Where is the edge of this fucking river?

  There it is. The edge of the river is close. I think I can reach it. No. I have to reach it. I stretch my fingers and the tips of my fingers barely grab the rough shore, but it isn’t enough and I slip away. Come on, reach! I’m almost there. I kick my feet along the bottom of the river and reach out again.

  Got it! I pull myself in with Gerald beside me. He raises his head above water and begins coughing. I help him to shore.

  “Highness!” I hear behind me. Oh what the…did they follow me into the river?

  I see some goblins floating down the river behind me. I reach out in the water and grab one goblin, then another. One flies past me but there isn’t anything I can do for him. I catch another. One grabs another goblin and I grab him pulling them all in.