Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) (153 page)

“Look, find me!” Korx shouted as Gnak grew nearer.

“Give her,” Gnak demanded.

“Is mine. Is sacrifice,” Korx replied.

Gnak watched as Jen struggled, her screams tearing at him as she grasped for her attacker’s hand, trying to take the weight off of her hair. Tears streamed from her eyes, and there was nothing he could do. If he moved to attack she would be dead in an instant.

“You have troll. Troll is sacrifice.”

“Troll dead. This one better.”

That was it, there was nothing he could do. Both he and Korx had gambled and Korx had won. If he let Korx win, at least Jen would survive a few more days. Those days might give him a chance to free her. But he could not return home without a sacrifice. To make it to the end of Catunga, Korx would have to prove Jen’s magic, but Gnak knew he could torture it out of her, proving her worth. In order to be his equal at the end of the ceremony he would have to bring an equal sacrifice. His options were limited. Watch Jen die now, or delay and hope for a chance to save her in the days to come. He would not let her die.

With shoulders sagging, he looked into Korx’s eyes for a long time showing the other that he would not be dealt with so easily. Then, without a word, he turned and stalked off to the south. He needed a plan.

That entire night after losing Jen had passed without a moment of rational thought. So angered with Korx and himself was Gnak, that he stomped a path deep into desert, wading through mile after mile of sand without mind of where he was going. He hated who he had been, he hated who Korx was, he hated that his people were so caught up in their ways to see what they were missing in the world.

On and on he stomped, mile after mile through the sand over dune after dune, flies and fleas biting at his flesh as his anger and pain enveloped him in a mind-numbing fog. He would have likely stormed on forever, had it not been for the obvious sign that he had wandered somewhere that perhaps he should not have.

Before him, atop the dune he climbed, a pole was thrust deep into the sand. Atop the pole was the eyeless head of an Orc. The face was rotting, and had been in the sun for days so he did not recognize it, but assumed that it had been another, like he, that faced Catunga. Climbing the rest of the way to the summit, he peered beyond and found the reason for the head.

Just beyond the dune was a small oasis. Surrounding the oasis was a makeshift wall, and all around were small buildings made of whatever materials the owners had managed to scavenge to build them. The sounds of screams and laughter, the clank of a hammer on iron and more issued from beyond the walls, and Gnak knew he had found a goblin city.

Where there was a city, there was a king. Where there was a king there was a way to the final ceremony of Catunga, but thinking ahead, Gnak saw another opportunity.

Striding down the side of the dune he grew nearer and nearer the city, and watched as dozens of armed and armored goblins of various shade and size poured out from its gates. They waited for him to near, wanting him to come closer. But he knew goblin tricks. They had weapons that threw tiny spears, and he would not be foolish enough to come within range. Instead, when he knew they would hear him clearly, he dropped both of his weapons and shouted across the distance.

“Bring me king. We talk. If he want kill after, he kill. I no fight.”

Dozens of goblin heads turned this way and that, their mouths parting as sounds issued, but from here he could make no sense of any of it. Minutes passed and eventually a pair of the goblins retreated inside as the rest simply stood watching him, talking amongst themselves. A quarter hour later and an oddity issued out from the goblin city. A strange cart with spiked wheels pulled by two sand boars rolled into sight, a goblin wearing a crown guiding it from the city. The king was dressed in odd fabrics in more bright colors than Gnak had ever seen before. His fingers glittered with jewelry, and even the cart he rode was decorated with that which goblins considered wealth. The soldiers surrounded their strange little king and as a unit they moved towards him. He had never seen such precision from goblins before.

Before they got too close the procession stopped, and Gnak took that as his cue. Removing the pack from his back, he undid the buckles that held the flap on top secure. Reaching in, he pulled forth a fistful of the small pouches within it and threw them over the heads of the soldiers to the king’s feet.

“Hear me, king. I come, no fight. I buy you help. I pay you this,” he thrust out the entire pack. “And talk you where get much, much more.”

He watched as the king looked down to one of his soldiers who pulled open the strings on several bags and emptied their contents into the sand. Several oohs and aahs followed. Then Gnak continued.

“You hear me. We talk. You no like, I go
or
you kill. No matter. You like, you help. I talk you where get more.”

Again he raised the bag as he concluded, showing his meaning. The goblin king stared at him for a long moment, his fingers drumming on the rail of his cart, each of them sparkling in the sun.

“You come, orcsie. We talk,” the king replied, and with a pull on his reins he turned and left with half of the soldiers. The other half approached warily, surrounding him. His weapons were collected, though not returned, and he was led into the goblin city. The city gate, made of both iron and wood, slammed closed behind him. He doubted any living Orc had ever seen past its walls. But that was not what was important.

The trip through the city made him feel uneasy. Everywhere goblins bounded around to look at him and poke at him. They clung from poles and stood in shops in what seemed some sort of trade area. Items were exchanged here and there, and he watched as he walked, guided through the city. Goblin women paraded their scantily covered bodies through the streets, the men giving them the metal disks before disappearing behind the closed doors of the buildings. Goblin children ran to and fro with no thoughts of pride or honor, simply doing what they wished. Meat hung from racks, and great casks of drink were stacked under canopies, as somewhere in the distance an odd tune was played that carried through the streets.

Taking in as much as he could, he admired the goblins. They seemed to be a happy race, though he had killed dozens in the past. Probably more. Everywhere items were being sold or created, and in one tented hut he even saw something he recognized. Hanging from a rack were tiny jointed men carved from either wood or bone, he couldn’t tell. One of them was an Orc with dark skin and proud features. From its joints small strings were attached and at the other end a pair of handles kept the strings from becoming tangled. Within the shop a goblin made a pair of the small carved men fight with swords as a gathering of goblin children cheered. Gnak grinned wickedly.

Though it was obvious they paraded him around to show him off, eventually they arrived at what he presumed to be the home of the king. It was a tall building that appeared to have been built with more thought than most within the city. Its walls were made of some sort of square-ish stones, all the same earthy red tone, and they appeared to be held in place with a mud like substance that had seeped from between them in some places before drying.

Opening a great door upon the building, the guards parted and allowed Gnak entry. Even here he realized he was not going to be alone with the king. As he entered, near half a hundred of the small spear-throwing weapons were pointed at him from every available place along all four walls. At the center of the room sat the king in a tall chair covered in cushions and carvings. Before the king sat a table large enough that Gnak could not reach him across it. Beyond that was a stool for him to sit upon.

Without a word the goblin king beckoned towards the stool, and Gnak took a seat, tossing the bag of metal disks and stones onto the table as the door to the street outside closed. Still every weapon pointed at him.

“Tell me orcsie, what is it that you wish to purchase?” the gaudy king asked, staring at him intently.

“I want catch giant,” Gnat replied to a room filled with the sound of many suddenly taken breaths.

“A giant….” The Goblin king leaned forward and rested upon his elbows, his hands facing one another. Matching up his hands, finger to finger, he drummed them upon one another over and over as he pondered.

“I suppose you want it alive?” the king questioned further.

“Alive, yes.”

“A big giant?”

“Big, yes.”

“A big sand giant or a big mountain giant?” the king asked, his fingers drumming still upon each other. It was obvious the goblins were smarter than he thought.

“”Big sand. More easy.”

“So the orcsie wants me to catch him a big sand giant…”

Again the king of the goblin city was quiet, his fingers drumming a steady rhythm as his head rocked side to side. He was calculating, though what he was calculating Gnak could not be certain. Perhaps he was weighing risk against reward. Maybe he was thinking of ways to capture a giant. All that mattered to Gnak was that the king was thinking about it and he was not yet dead.

“What will you do with the giant?” the king then asked, his eyes snapping back to Gnak.

“I go home. Take giant. Kill giant.”

“Hmm…” The king pondered. “You want me to catch a giant and find a way for you to takes it home? How much more gold and silver and gems do you have?”

Gnak put the meaning together and looked the king dead in his beady eyes.

“More. Much more. Much, much more.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” the calculating goblin replied.

“I come you, no fight. I trust you, no weapons. I offer you help me or kill me, no matter. I give you trust, you not kill. You give me trust, I give gold,” Gnak replied, repeating the word he now associated with goblin wealth.”

“I’m assuming you have an idea how you want this done?” the goblin king said with a wicked smile.”

“I have idea.”

“And how long do we have to do this?”

“Ten days. No more.”

Gnak watched as the king turned his gaze past him to one of the goblins along the wall.

“Toktok, gather the troops and lots of rope. Have the boars saddled and ready to ride in an hour.”

“Yes, king,” an answer issued from behind Gnak.

It was the confirmation he needed. The king was taking his offer.

“OK, men, put down your weapons,” the king began. “Now, orcsie, let’s hear that idea.”

It took the remainder of the day and part of the night for Gnak and the goblin king to work out the details of what he wanted in exchange for the location of the gold. The king issued order after order, calling for tradesmen from his city and hammering out the details of their plan. Before night had fallen a goblin party departed the city in search of a suitable giant. They still had not returned, although the king assured him that they knew the location of multiple giant lairs. As the night progressed, Gnak was relieved of his armor as it was collected to be repaired and modified as needed. By the middle of the night the agreement was struck and Gnak, feeling familiar with the goblin after hours of speaking, was freed from the room to wander the city as he wished. A decree was given to the people that he was guest to the king, and should not be harmed. All was left for Gnak to do was wander and wait to see just what the goblins produced. So that is what he did.

The remainder of the night passed with him walking the narrow streets of the goblin city, taking in the sights. From time to time his mind would wander to Jen, but he forced the thoughts from his mind. Though she had taught him to think of the future, at present he needed to focus on the here and now. Every goblin blacksmith in the city banged out a rhythm of ringing clangs, a sound that carried on the wind and echoed off the walls of the city. Smoke rose from hundreds upon hundreds of fires, raising into the sky to be carried aloft by a slow but steady wind. Goblins were everywhere. They wandered about the streets, atop the buildings, and everywhere in between. Two goblins even rolled out of a building, their limbs in a tangle as they bashed each other’s teeth out, blow after unforgiving blow. Then without warning a female goblin stood over them issuing a scalding retort that had the pair clamoring to their feet, grinning stupidly as they sought to please her. The whole place was a surreal mystery.

How many goblins inhabited the small city? Gnak could not help but wonder, as he strode down yet another street. He dared not estimate. They never seemed to stay still long enough to get anything done, yet here was a thriving city of them, filled to the brim. For hours Gnak wandered and watched as the sky lightened yet again as another day claimed Thurr. The day brought with it not only light, but a strange clamor among the goblins as well.

No sooner did the sun break the horizon than the goblins began acting erratically, bounding up the streets shouting and hollering like they had gone mad. It was many long minutes before he realized what it was that was going on. Following the throngs of goblins who rushed the outer wall of the city, Gnak was caught up in the crowd and followed along as he was led away. Upon reaching the wall, the goblins spilled out of the city gate and beyond into the desert. Gnak followed.

Stepping free of the piecemeal city wall, he turned and witnessed as a great silhouette was backlit by the sun breaking free from the horizon. A sand giant approached the city, running as fast as its legs would carry it. Harassing it, and staying just out of reach, a great mass of roiling goblins mounted upon domesticated boars led the giant towards the city. Gnak swelled with hope. The goblins had come through for him.

Like the crowd of goblins gathered around him, he watched as the goblins crashed and bounded through the sand, the immense giant trailing behind them, a cloud of dust in their wake.

It took an hour for the goblins to lead the giant near enough they were comfortable, but far enough he could not damage the city. Then the goblins put on a show that Gnak could not believe.

Rushing this way and that, the mounted goblins paired up with one another and began stretching long ropes out between the boars. As some goblins stopped, to entice the giant to do the same, those with ropes ran their mounts around and around the giant’s feet. So many goblins there were, that boars running in opposite directions collided, sending goblins flying into the air or rolling through the sand. The giant began stomping and kicking as best he could, smashing the goblins and boars beneath his feet with spurts of blood and bodily fluids. But still the goblins sought to bind it. Screams and cheers issued from the crowd surrounding Gnak, but he watched on in silence. Goblins ran amuck beneath the giant as boars darted here and there, the whole scene was pandemonium. And then it wasn’t.