by Han Yang
Additional buildings housed my guards and the shielding casters who protected this banyou. To complete the walking command station, we installed a forward observatory so I could use a spyglass to survey the area.
With our numbers ballooning to over seven thousand goblins, I lost all hope of being a cavalry army.
On a sour note, three goblins died to aggressive orcs demanding respect. This led to Yermica rejecting all but the female orcs. The good news was that all the trolls had converted to Tribe Moonguard or returned to the jungle.
During those days, the flow of eager recruits finally slowed, and I felt when we pushed off into the plains, the increasing horde would slow.
We did as I intended, extending a day away from the jungle before heading south. Two days of watching rough terrain and fields of short grass that went as far as the eye could see finally resulted in something positive.
In the distance, we found a lake, and around that lake rested a centaur tent city.
This was a purely nomadic variation, and it became clear they spotted us at the same time because the centaurs were abuzz in activity.
The creak of the nearby rope ladder told me Asha had almost finished his ascent.
“The teams from the jungle are hauling back all sorts of prizes. Lumpy killed two more cats too,” Asha said in a positive tone. Each of his steps thudded across the wooden planking.
A stiff breeze brought a chilly air even with the cloudless bright day. An elevated fire heated a stew not far behind us, wafting a smell of something close to a gumbo.
“Excellent to hear. I’ll revive them in a bit. Do we need to change the system, or is it working well?” I asked.
He smiled and replied, “The wagons haven’t been stolen yet, the waiting goblins have not been killed, and the cats mostly stack the dead into the bed. The goblins load up the heavy stuff, and a new wagon is placed further south. I would say it’s working incredibly well. This is certainly making the best of the situation.”
I pointed to the lake and the centaurs. “They're preparing to run.”
“We can’t catch them as an army. A centaur outruns a matogator, but yeah, over time we could with the fourteen hundred or so, but you’d split our forces, and they’re going to run to allies. I’m kind of surprised this is the first sign of life,” Asha said. “I expected vast herds of animals or titan gophers that can swallow stray centaurs in a single bite.”
“Nee!” I shouted.
The troll woman came out of her hovel, her hair a mess and her robe’s belt being cinched. She wore Tarla’s old hand me down. Another issue on the list of problems - winter clothing.
I’d purchased excess in Lind, but a lot of that had gone to dwarves who fled my side, and the amount was never for a legion of troops, more like a company or three.
Based on the way the yellow eyed troll smacked her lips, I’d woken her. “Afternoon, Boss. You caught me napping. The new recruits are a handful, and I’ve been interviewing helpers.”
“How many mares do we have in the army?” I asked.
“Not many. Twenty or so,” she said, and I nodded. “Woulda been more if you didn’t convert your dead humans into knights.”
“Can’t change the past. Twenty is great and will be more than enough to entice them into a trade. Send an envoy, ask for wagons, or Zorta for our mares,” I said.
Nee folded her arm unhappily. “No fighting? We need to lose some goblins.”
I raised an eyebrow at this.
She huffed. “This is the way of the land. My first baby, the one I had when I joined you months ago, is now able to have kids of her own. The only thing keeping us alive are those cats; the blessed hunters of Caitlyn.”
I nodded and said, “We are too slow, and that is a nomadic herd. Ergo, more Zorta or wagons.”
“They’re sending someone,” Asha said, and I smiled. “When they arrive, I’ll call a rest for an hour and get some training in.”
“Let’s hope they want to trade and Nick returns with good news,” I said.
“Nick was loaded down with all the books you acquired. He is going to be slow and is on foot,” Asha said, as if I needed a reminder.
I thanked him, heading to my home to return to my studies on Nordan from before the Cataclysm.
∞∞∞
I sat around the propped-up fire pit, a bowl of stew rested in one hand while I spooned my lunch with my other hand. The sounds of our army training was a light din of noise while I waited for the centaur to arrive.
In the distance, we had seen a dozen centaurs leave the tent city while we waited for our guest. The scattered, likely heading to warn other cities or to gather their forces, or both.
The city itself packed up and readied to leave as we approached. The signs were clear; the centaurs wanted nothing to do with the undead army marching in their direction.
The clap of hooves hitting a ramp pulled me from my steaming stew.
I sat with a hood drawn, playing the role of an advisor off to the side. Yermica sat in the position of power, her makeshift throne elevating her. Two guards stood in front and behind her.
The centaur arrived on deck, a sneer etched into his face. His chiseled body displayed a half dozen knife holders devoid of weapons. The guards had properly disarmed him, but the venom in his eyes was clear.
“Are you the messenger?” Yermica asked the centaur in a haughty tone.
A confident centaur voice growled out, “The Great Herd Plains are sacred. Alpha Chieftain Torbard will be here soon to remove you from our lands.”
“We were hoping to pass peacefully to the south and trade as we go,” Yermica said, her tone swapping to calm. “We are not an enemy of the herd.”
That was a lie. The herd had literally come hunting for us, and I had originally came here to pick on a battered species from the war against the humans.
“There will be no saving you and your pathetic army. Centaurs do not assist invaders,” the centaur said harshly.
“Why send you at all, then?” Yermica asked, tapping on the arm of her throne.
He bowed, the awkward gesture unnatural with his horse torso.
His hands spread out as if bowing in respect, and in an instant a black void of magic condensed between his hands.
Boom!
The centaur ejected a dark spell. The black magic washed over the platform, some kind of pestilence spreading out. The swarm dove for Yermica, swirling around her body in confusion.
My guards didn’t hesitate, immediately reacting.
Crossbows snapped, instantly riddling the centaur with bolts.
“Kill him,” Yermica shouted a smidge too late.
The centaur toppled to the deck, his eyes glazed over in death.
“What is this spell?” Yermica demanded.
The swarm of black magic diverted to fly high. The ball condensed in the sky, leaving Yermica without a scratch on her.
I squeaked involuntarily when the spell spun until it faced me.
“Oh shit,” I said, seeing the magic rushing forward.
The small specs became larger, revealing thousands of burrowing creatures.
The swarm smashed into my body. For a blinding second, all I knew was pain.
The surface of my skin opened, and a thousand entries tore through both robes and into my flesh until they bored into my bones. I wiggled in pain until I lost consciousness.
∞∞∞
You have died. A being of black magic holds different standards when deceased. You can be revived for double the cost. If you’re not revived in 12 hours, your minions will cease to function, turn to dust, and their orbs will become lootable to all.
Enjoy your stay in hell.
My consciousness fell; to where, or from where, I had no clue. I tried to move, to walk, but nothing worked. I screamed. Nothing.
Well, shit.
The first stop resulted in me seeing my early childhood. Dad tossed an inflatable rainbow colored football with me. I smacked the ball, choosing
to play baseball with my hand.
I reached out at the tender moment as if to pick up the ball I had made my dad fetch. My hand didn’t reach out, and I realized I wasn’t here. This hell was really sweet so far. Maybe because I was -
The scene changed. I watched my parents in a car, driving down a busy northern California road. Old school Eminem blared loudly, my odd parents having a joyous time singing the lyrics that gave me a headache.
Ah, hell has Eminem, this makes more sense.
My brain connected the dots. Their age, the setting, this was...
A faceless reaper slithered out of the trunk to sit in the back seat. Where the cheeks should be, they raised, along with the jawline, revealing that creepy grin they could do.
My parents were oblivious, joyfully enjoying their road trip. This was when they had gone to visit Astoria in Oregon. The trip they -
The reaper’s hand shot forward, reaching into my father’s chest.
He swerved the car, his heart seizing and his eyes flared wide in shock.
Smash!
The Volkswagen struck the median with a jarring impact so hard the front crumpled.
The vehicle bounced away from the concrete barrier, shooting for the other side of the road where a guardrail kept cars from tumbling off a cliff. The sharp angle rendered the safety metal useless, and my parents plunged to their deaths.
Exactly as the report has said.
Something clicked in my brain.
The file I had read held redacted sections, and my vision followed their plunge to a rocky bottom. The Volkswagen saved their lives, airbags inflating then slowly deflating.
I watched them stir, alive in the car that became stuck among the rocks.
A man stood, watching my parents struggle against their trapped legs. The reaper fled in terror at his very sight.
Flames licked over the man’s fingers, and his voice seethed with anger, “I told you not to ascend. Did you think I would forget, or that I would forgive? No, no, no. I’m Yarsi the god of flame and revered by all. By all but one woman who used my gifts and then retired in her prime. Tisk, TISK!”
He screamed with unbridled rage, sending gouts of flame into the engine block. My mother shouted something, but the cries of my father and the cackle of the god drowned out her words.
The god turned, doing that villain fade away.
He muttered, “You should have done as you were told.”
I waited to see if one of the six would intervene, but none did, so I watched my parents burn to death from the flames of a god.
I fell again, the scene shifting until I came to a new resting point.
A bright sunny day darkened. Caitlyn stood against a balcony railing in front of a lavish estate. The goddess wore a light toga type garment that was see-through, her ample breasts exposed. Her hair was in a neat ponytail, and she stared up at the darkening sky with disdain.
This had to be her Florida mansion, the two story home rested on an immense lot.
The back pool connected to an acrylic seawall, and if I had to guess, she had been tanning when the darkness rolled in.
Green rippling portals spawned horizontally only a few feet off the planet’s surface. A boat coming down her canal approached the spreading magical creation.
Caitlyn sighed, not even trying to warn the confused boaters. I watched the green magic sear a melting a line into the hull. The magic cut through the material with ease as the boat cruised forwards.
A moment later, the boat began to sink. The occupants were smart enough to hop out of their craft. The portal stopped expanding. A second later, black beings with rocky exoskeletons fell into the water.
These were demons, and they sped through the water just as agile as a dolphin. The humans treaded water for a few seconds before screaming out.
One by one, the demons dragged them under.
The canal ran red with blood.
The corpses floated to the top before being dragged for the portal by the invaders.
An immense black hand, to some creature far too large to fit through the portal, plucked the dead from the water, retrieving the corpses to the other side. The view showed Caitlyn confidently striding toward another opening near her front yard.
Three demons dropped out, each towering over her with an armored exoskeleton. Their coloration was all black minus the red eyes. Large spikes adorned their body in key spots and rows of jagged teeth gleamed. Six hellhounds dropped down next to the demons, absorbing their fall with ease.
All nine of them sensed she was a threat and tried to flee as Caitlyn approached.
My goddess blasted out green and black magic, coating the demons in a glowing power that consumed them until they turned to dust. She grabbed the portal, turned it vertical, changed the color to black, and then altered the scene with a magical wave of her hand.
Her motions were as fluid as they were rapid.
The scene that materialized was an island with hut resorts over a calm bay. She stepped through, the image following her transition to a new place on Earth. The sky darkened here and she kicked the water she stood on. The spray went high, and for the first time, I saw Caitlyn become shocked.
The portal rotated until it was once again horizontal. Whatever magic had created it regained control.
She screamed in rage. When Caitlyn stopped, she cried out, “The old god have betrayed us, seek sanctuary in your -”
Hargin Moonguard & Imaria Moonguard are requesting to connect to your soul. (Fight) or (Submit for Possible Resurrection): Warning Submission may lead to a claim of your power.
The scene faded, robbing me of whatever I saw that transpired. I felt a tug on my disembodied form. The pressure was pitiful and weak, telling me it was goblins. The moment of truth rested just a few moments away.
Without much of a choice, I selected to submit. My spirit didn’t shoot down from the heavens. Instead it gushed out of a hole from below our platform. A thick black magic surged me into my repaired body. My reaper waited near my corpse, impatiently tapping a foot.
I sucked in air and glanced at my wounds that no longer littered my body. The reaper dove into my core, and a second later, I returned to the living.
“HOLY SHIT!” I exclaimed.
Tarla rushed over, crushing me in a hug. Nee shooed away the goblin healers, folding her arms with anger at me. She had to wait while I calmed Tarla. A few minutes passed, her sobbing slowing when I assured her I was fine.
“Is the church set up?” I asked immediately. Nee glanced at a goblin that could have been her double and must have been her daughter, and she nodded. “Take me there. Walk with me, everyone.”
We followed the goblin for the back ramp, Tarla clinging to my side. I… I didn’t really know what to say at that moment. Everything was such a shock. I finally had made a mistake great enough that I lost my life. My faith in the goblins had saved my life, and I was stunned.
“From now on,” Nee said, keeping pace from within my guards, “We screen magic types before they get near you. That was a leveled deviation mage. They can create a certain spell once a month that targets specific magic types. To avoid, just hide behind something, anything really.”
I glanced at her in anger, letting my hate boil inside. I was alive because of Nee, and no one but the centaurs were to blame for my death.
“How are the centaurs reacting?” I asked.
“Fleeing. They're in full retreat east,” Asha said, his voice filled with anger. “The minions are baying for blood.”
“Can you catch them?” I asked.
“We can use the knights with crossbows that will never tire. If we push them through the night, we’ll earn a few kills but not many. I expect a fight soon, and we… you have a hard choice,” Asha informed me.
“I came here looking for a fight because the Great Herd lost troops in Tarb and in the battle after. They should be licking their wounds, at least the main army should be. I was also hoping for a chance to trade so we can gain distanc
e on Bell,” I huffed, reaching the end of the ramp.
The female goblin walked straight for Caitlyn’s hovel of a church. The mud sealed it to the ground and a line of goblins waited to pay tribute. Our approach sent the faithful scattering.
“Why are you rushing here?” Tarla asked, drying her eyes with her sleeve.
“I… saw things. The gods said I would see hell, but instead I saw hell being unleashed on Earth. My… mom… I - I - I need answers before I should say more,” I told her.
I kissed her forehead, peeled her off my arm, and then strode into the church.
“Caitlyn, can you visit your church?” I asked.
“No, fucking fuck,” her disembodied voice said, panting heavily. It sounded like she was running. “I’m short on time, so I’ll be quick. Our deal is void, and we need to make a new one once this mess settles. There’s -”
“Demons on Earth,” I said.
“Wait, how do you know?”
“Caitlyn, I died and was revived. A god named Yarsi killed -”
“Your mother. I know. She was his best champion. We used to… casually date. He would…” She paused, huffing from exertion. “Look, it’s not a great time to chat. I sought you out for years because of his tales of your mother. At least you know why our deal for Earth is canceled. I thought the Six betrayed their six thousand. But no, I was given your ten thousand Zorta as recompense. The planet Leo is being connected to Earth; a new battleground for the gods. An apocalypse is happening as we speak. I used too much power trying to preserve this island to go home and now this…”
“Won’t the Zorta that was given help?”
“Yeah, I saved St. Croix, huzzah! The cost was our deal paid for in full by the Six. I won’t save it forever, though, and I’ll need to recharge before I abandon this place. I have to… Leo is a slave world where demons do horrific things to humans. I… I can’t stop the tide and the Six are about to -”
