The Goblin Reign Boxed Set

by Gerhard Gehrke

  “You men can survive this if you drop your weapons,” Alma said.

  Blades feinted, and the sailor holding the oar swung at him but was caught off-balance as Blades sidestepped the clumsy blow. With a snarl, Blades cut him down.

  The last two sailors had nothing but fear in their eyes, as they had nowhere to go.

  “Martin, wait,” Alma said.

  But Blades kept moving. He freed his sword from the dead sailor and attacked the two men, knocking their knives aside and hacking at them. He then pitched their still-quivering forms over the side of the boat. Blood streaked his face. With perfect calm, he went to the rest of the crew and finished them off.

  Alma just watched. “We could have used them. We need rowers.”

  “Did you miss the part where they were talking about burning?”

  “It was just their leader. He was a true believer.”

  “And what was all that ‘bind me, pray for me’ nonsense? You’ve really lost your marbles out here.”

  “I was getting him to drop his guard. We didn’t have to kill all of them.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “You think everyone who lives in the delta bows to the fish god? The Divine Mother is down there too. It’s like an infection. I had to put up with it as a child.”

  Blades smirked. His white teeth contrasted with the spattered red on his cheeks. “You had an infection when you were young. Congratulations. I hope it’s cleared up, for all the men’s sake.”

  “Why your mother didn’t drown you when you were born is beyond me.”

  Vine was wiping his sword clean on the shirt of one of the dead sailors. “This burning thing he mentioned—what about Billy and Elias?”

  “They’ll be fine,” Alma said. “Take anything of worth off those bodies and dump them.”

  As the last of the sailors went into the sea, Alma scanned the water. There was still no sign of the troll. If blood didn’t draw the creature up, she didn’t know what would. But there, hovering just inches under the waves, was her bow. She used an oar to retrieve it.

  “Now what?” Blades asked.

  She removed the wet string and shook the water from the bow. “Nothing’s changed. We kill the beast and the goblin.”

  “And go back for Billy and Elias, right?” Vine asked.

  She didn’t answer. Instead she scanned the haze around them. This time she let loose a string of curses.

  The other boat had vanished.

  Chapter Twenty

  The sky around them grew dark.

  The humans hadn’t come for them but seemed to be waiting for something. And then the air carried the sounds of men arguing. Cries of pain followed.

  What was going on? Spicy raised himself erect to see, but the other boat was completely obscured by the ever-present mist. The breeze had picked up. There was a second bundled sail in the back of the boat where the dragon continued to hide, but with the mast ruined, it would be useless.

  Then the boat jerked. The bow line snapped against the water and went taut.

  “Hog?” he whispered.

  She didn’t answer but must have been lingering somewhere underneath the waves. Their boat was once again underway as the rope jerked them along. Spicy stifled a wild laugh. The sea had a current to it and they were moving along with it.

  The voices of the humans fell away. Their own boat’s passage was silent. Spicy could hardly believe they were escaping with their lives. He wanted to howl wildly, to scream in defiance of the sick gray waves and the humans who knew only murder. He thought of his sister and even for a moment imagined the possibility, no matter how remote, that he might rescue Rime and the children and somehow, someway, return everyone to Boarhead.

  He watched the evening fall until it was pitch black. He found himself dozing with his head on his arms, leaning against the bow as the boat ran through the night.

  Their boat continued onward until the fog thinned and stars appeared both above and ahead.

  Beautiful. It reminded him of his earliest lesson with his father when stalking game in the forest. The stillness of the wilds broken only by distant bird calls had been frightening that first time. But his father had talked him through the fear, let him know that the world could be both cruel and kind, could give and take, and once Spicy accepted that, he could go anywhere he ever desired if he took care and watched his step.

  The sea was no different than a dark forest. It too could be understood. It only required knowledge and maybe a little bit of luck.

  It was only the humans that didn’t fit into his father’s word-picture of the world. They were as unnatural as a second sun and as random as a bolt of lightning. They had set his world on fire and there had been no way to prepare for it.

  And here he was, in the company of creatures he had never known existed and further from home than perhaps any goblin had ever traveled not in the captivity of men.

  He stood to get a better view of the stars. Then he realized the stars ahead weren’t stars at all, but small fires on the distant shore.

  Campfires.

  Men.

  Morning wasn’t far off and Spicy didn’t want to be seen by anyone on shore. Hog had responded to his tugs at the rope and stopped pulling. Once again they were adrift. Sounds carried from the shore. Shouts. Horses. The chopping of wood and the clang of metal. Someone was hammering, and soon came more noises. Whatever the humans were up to, they were busy.

  A town came into view. Bliss had felt large to Spicy, but this new settlement dwarfed the one across the water. Dark smoke hung around the rooftops. The buildings were huddled closer together and taller, but there were no lights burning. The place looked dead. The only illumination came from the campfires outside the walls.

  Perhaps it was a festival or holiday.

  Eel Port possessed a large harbor. Much like Bliss, the walls extended into the water on either side. A long series of nets hung from a chain strung between piers. Only a single gap allowed entrance to the harbor, wide enough for one boat at a time.

  Seeing the town filled Spicy with a new dread. But Rime and the other goblin children were inside somewhere, so that was where he had to go.

  The dragon continued his labored breathing, but he showed no signs of stirring. Spicy didn’t dare get close. So much blood stained the deck.

  The boat bumped into a rotted pier that looked like a branchless tree trunk. A large cluster of stinking weeds grew around it. Spicy pulled up the bow rope and did his best to tie the boat off. Other debris floated nearby, but nothing as large as the boat. The seaweed served as a makeshift blanket of camouflage but wouldn’t help much if any humans sailed past.

  Hog pulled herself up. She ejected water from her mouth several times and looked about warily. “Fire gone?”

  “Yes, Hog, it’s gone. No more fire. We’re okay.”

  But before Spicy could say anything else, she slipped back under the waves. Her ripples headed towards the harbor.

  “Fath?” Spicy hissed. “I need to leave. I’m going ashore into town. I don’t know where Hog went. Keep an eye out, but you should be safe here. The boat looks like just another piece of trash out on the water.”

  Fath didn’t reply. Spicy went to the side of the boat. The closest harbor net was only a few yards away. But there was no telling how deep the water was. He felt his courage crumble. Perhaps if he could get closer to the nets, he might climb along to where he could clamber up a dock.

  There were noises as the town woke up. A lone man was visible out on the dock working at his boat. A pair of guards were now patrolling. As morning brightened the waterfront, he saw others: women, children, men, dogs. Sneaking in wouldn’t even be possible. He felt selfish relief. He got back into the boat and sat huddled with his knees drawn up to his chest.

  “We came all this way so you could cower?” Fath said. The dragon remained coiled at the stern, his one eye watching.

  “It’s light out. Someone will see me.”

 
“You promised a map. Whatever your own agenda, you gave your word.”

  “I can’t. I’ll sink into the water.”

  “Then walk along the sea floor until you make land. If you don’t leave this boat, I’ll cast you into the waves myself.”

  Spicy got up. “Okay. I’m going. Just give me a chance.”

  “This disaster has all been because of my giving you a chance. This is your last one. Find the map. Or I’ll find you no matter where you hide.”

  Spicy nodded. He turned to jump in time to see a rowboat heading their way. On board were three men in leather armor. One man rowed. The other two had crossbows aimed and pointed in his direction.

  He raised his hands. Behind him he heard a soft splash. Fath was gone. The rowboat was momentarily out of view as it cleared the gap between the harbor nets.

  “Anyone else on board?” one of the soldiers shouted as they drew closer.

  “No, sir. It’s just me.”

  “And who are you?”

  “I’m Spicy. I’m a humble slave of my master. He’s a book trader named Somni. He perished while crossing the water.”

  “All right. Shut up.”

  The rower pulled their boat over and it bumped into Spicy’s boat. Spicy winced, waiting for either troll or dragon to attack, but the water was still. The men grabbed him and hauled him onto the rowboat.

  “Care to tell us why you’re dressed in a bathrobe?” the soldier asked.

  Spicy looked down at the robe. It was filthy. “Can’t escape when wearing this, my master always said.”

  This got a laugh out of the soldiers. A hand clamped down on him and forced him to sit. Their full attention was on him. Spicy was about to enter Eel Port, and he could only wonder where the dragon and troll were now.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  One soldier made a cursory search of Spicy’s boat before tying off its bow line to a ring on the stern of their rowboat. Then they towed it back into the harbor. They didn’t appear particularly concerned about Spicy.

  Had they seen the troll? Surely not, for they wouldn’t have chanced even boarding the boat if that were the case.

  One of the soldiers, who was wearing a large gold hoop earring, took the bolt from his crossbow and dry fired it before slinging the weapon around his shoulder. “So who’s your master again, gob? Or more accurately, who was your master?”

  “Book trader named Somni. He was old.”

  “Was he now? Never heard of him. And what exactly happened?”

  “It was his heart. It gave out while crossing.”

  The rowboat passed into the harbor and finally bumped into a floating dock, where the men tied it off and hauled the boat from Bliss in to be secured.

  Spicy almost lost his footing as he was shoved off the rowboat and up a gangplank.

  More humans were moving about at their work, some fishing from the dock while others dumped buckets of refuse and filth into the very same water. No one paid the goblin or the soldiers any attention. But other soldiers patrolled the waterfront and the walls.

  The soldier with the gold earring shoved Spicy against the brick wall of a shuttered building. The man patted Spicy down and went through his pockets.

  “A book trader, you say?” Gold Earring asked.

  Spicy nodded. “Books, yes, and hides. Deer leather and goat. Bear skin, too.”

  The other two soldiers came over and appeared impatient. “What did you think the gob would have on him?” one asked. “Cut his throat and dump him in the water.”

  The second nodded. “Just another mouth to feed.”

  “Hold on,” Gold Earring said. “There’s something not right here. You say you and your master crossed the sea on your own? In that boat? Why is the mast burned?”

  “A cookfire got out of control.”

  “Did it now? And your master’s body? Did you eat it or throw it over the side after you poisoned him?”

  “I didn’t murder him! I served him loyally. I kept his books and ledger in order.”

  Gold Earring laughed. “So we have a learned gob, then, do we?” He grabbed Spicy’s hands. “Looks like you’ve seen some work. Not just a napkin-folding pillow fluffer, then, are you?”

  Spicy didn’t know what that was. He remained silent.

  The men took a moment to deliberate.

  “He might be worth something,” one soldier said. He had long sideburns that crept below his jawline.

  “I don’t know. What’s the point, if no one’s buying? Let’s finish him and be done with it and go scrape up some breakfast.”

  Spicy knew this was his opportunity to run. But he was tired and his legs were wobbly from his time on the water. It was as if the ground was moving beneath his feet. Just as he had geared up to try for an escape, Gold Earring seized his arm.

  “Wait!” Spicy said. “What if I have information about some of your soldiers who might have gone off and left their post?”

  Gold Earring looked at him skeptically.

  Spicy swallowed. All the spit had vanished from his mouth. “A man named Lord. He had at least twenty men with him. He was raiding the Monster Lands, and we ran into him and his company up on the north shore of the Inland Sea.”

  “Lord’s gone and deserted along with half the company from the North Fort, eh? And this is news? That rumor’s older than the mold on the ration bread. Maybe you missed the fact that the Zealot’s right outside our front gate.”

  Sideburns smirked while drumming his fingers on the hilt of his dagger.

  “That’s not all,” Spicy said, trying not to stumble over his words. “Lord’s dead. Before we crossed, a few of his men came to the village of Bliss. They had been attacked. Ambushed by a dragon.”

  The soldiers laughed.

  “A dragon, you say,” Gold Earring said.

  Spicy nodded. “And a troll. They might be crossing the water right now and heading here.”

  “A dragon. Well, boys, we might as well take our own lives because we’re truly doomed. A dragon is here.”

  “Don’t forget the troll,” Sideburns said.

  “Oh, yes. Trolls, dragons, goblins, zealots. What’s next? Gryphons?”

  Gold Earring yanked Spicy and led him down a crowded lane. The other two soldiers fell in behind, Sideburns never taking his hand from the dagger.

  “Don’t kill me,” Spicy said.

  “Kill you? Nah. You’re far too amusing for that.”

  Whereas Bliss had streets of mud and wood, Eel Port had stone cobbles. Everything was much louder, as shoes clomped and carts clattered. Even the voices of the men and women shouting and conducting their business carried further until the noise blended into a cloud of overwhelming sound.

  The first goblins Spicy saw were all engaged in menial tasks. He saw no outward signs that they were slaves. They were as dirty as the humans.

  Spicy tried to make sense of the situation. Despite the soldiers on alert and the mention of a scarcity of food, the humans of the city appeared to be conducting their daily activities without alarm. But Gold Earring had mentioned the Zealot and the army outside the walls. That explained the campfires.

  Gold Earring stopped at a large square where a few merchants had stalls with items of produce for sale. The selection was slim and the fruits and vegetables looked sickly.

  “All right, lads, I’ll take him from here,” Gold Earring said.

  Sideburns snorted. “What, you actually think you’ll get a price for him? Not a chance we’re letting you go alone, then.”

  “Yeah, well, all three of us will be a bit suspicious, don’t you think? You’ll get your cut. I’ve never shorted you on anything.”

  Sideburns looked at the third soldier, but the man was distracted by the stalls. The closest one had a tray with a few scraps of curled and dried bread for sale.

  “A few minutes ago, you wanted to kill him,” Gold Earring said. “Now off with you. You’ll get a few pennies out of this by doing absolutely nothing.”

  Sideburns g
ave Spicy a push. Gold Earring yanked the goblin along and walked quickly away from his fellows.

  “News about Lord, eh?” the man said in a hushed tone. “We’re going to talk, you and I, and you’re going to tell me everything else you know. But first we have to go see someone.”

  They went down a side street where lines of laundry hung between windows. A stray dog fell in, barking at Spicy, but Gold Earring kicked it away. It yelped and vanished down an alley. Finally, they arrived in a doorway where a young boy wearing a cap and a shiny red velvet vest blocked the door.

  “Is he in?” Gold Earring asked.

  “Who wants to know?” the boy said.

  “Announce us or so help me, I’ll box your ear.”

  The boy opened the door and Gold Earring pushed Spicy along inside.

  The house smelled strongly of cloying smoke and spices. Several candles burned next to shutters that kept out most of the daylight. In the large front room several men were lounging on legless couches propped up on wooden blocks. One man smoked a long pipe and exhaled the smoke from his nose while suppressing a cough. Another had two young girls under his arms and ignored the newcomers.

  A lanky old man wearing spectacles had his boots up on the arm of a couch he had to himself. The man was older than the others. Greasy strands of unkempt hair ran down to his shoulders. He wore a frilly shirt with billowy sleeves. In his hand was a small book that he snapped shut when he saw the two enter.

  “Brought you something, Harold,” Gold Earring said. He shoved Spicy forward.

  Harold sat up and looked Spicy over. “A goblin. How novel. Does it defecate gold or do any tricks? And why’s he dressed up in a bathrobe?”

  “He has news about Lord and his platoon.”

  “Does he?” Harold leaned closer. “Tell me what you know.”

  Gold Earring put a hand on Spicy’s shoulder. “Hold on. What’s this worth?”

  “Right now, very little,” Harold said. “Let the goblin speak. Don’t worry, Chui. Depending on what I hear, I’ll cut it out of your debt.”