Goblin Stories XVI

Brody wondered how he’d become a sword magnet. For years he’d gone to great lengths to avoid people, and now he was face to face with his second armed man in less than a month. This sort of thing was supposed to happen to knights, heroes and wizards, people who don’t seem to mind getting beaten up and nearly killed.

“Uh, hi there,” Brody said. He backed away from the stranger and looked for an escape route. The forest road they’d met on was far from the nearest settlement, so the weeds and trees grew thick. That plus the poor lighting so late at night should be enough for him to get away.

“Hello,” the man said. He didn’t sound angry, which was rare for people meeting with goblins. Instead he sounded tired, like he’d been walking forever. That was good. Tired people give up easier. The man looked around and asked, “Is there an inn nearby, or a farmhouse? A stable would work in a pinch.”

That stopped Brody from running. It was standard goblin tactics to run like crazy from armed men, but running didn’t seem called for. True, the man looked strong and healthy, and he was wearing chain armor with a steel breastplate and shield. There were plenty of scratches and nicks on his armor, but no signs of wounds. He had an air about him of an experienced warrior who’d fought often and won.

But it was the look on his face that made Brody pause. The man wasn’t just tired. He looked beaten down, defeated without even a scratch on him. His long sword and dagger were sheathed and his footman’s mace hung off his belt, and he made no effort to grab them. Brody had occasionally seen goblins look this discouraged, and he’d felt that same way sometimes, but the man looked like he and failure were old friends.

“An abandoned house would be all right,” the man continued.

Brody needed a moment to collect his thoughts. He pointed back the way he’d come and said, “Uh, there aren’t any houses or ruins back that way. I think there are some badger dens, but they’d be kind of cramped and smelly.”

“It’s no better where I came from,” the man said. He looked behind him and then back at Brody. “I suppose it’s for the best. I wouldn’t want to get others involved in my problems again.”

Curious, Brody asked, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s a long story, but the short of it is there are knights after me. You seemed to be headed where I’m coming from, which might put you in harm’s way. I’m sorry to say the men after me aren’t particular about who they kill.”

Brody scratched his head. Trying to be tactful, a hard thing for a goblin, he said, “I’d think anyone attacking you should’ve reserve a spot in a cemetery beforehand. You have a sort of ‘catastrophically dangerous when annoyed’ feel to you.”

The man gave Brody a strange look. “I’ve been called a fool, a liar, a beggar, a disaster and a failure. Your description is a first.”

“I can’t imagine anyone calling you those things,” Brody said. His experience with armed men was they were likely to draw their weapons when insulted. If someone used such language with this man then they were either very stupid or felt very secure. Either one would likely come to a swift and brutal end.

“Happens more often than you’d think,” the man said. He continued down the road and walked by Brody. “I doubt I’ll be good company, but you’re free to join me. It should be safer than the alternative.”

Shocked, Brody asked, “You don’t mind being around goblins?”

“The goblins I’ve met have been refreshingly honest, and not one of them has tried to kill me in my sleep.”

“Honest?” Brody asked. No one had ever accused goblins of honesty. They were renowned liars and tricksters, and to hear someone contradict this fact was startling.

The man shrugged. “They fib sometimes, but that doesn’t bother me. Other races tell worse lies and can do it for years. Royalty are better than commoners, foreigners are enemies, I deserve everything and you don’t deserve my table scraps…I’ve heard them all. Sometimes they even trick themselves into believing their own lies.”

Brody looked down the road where the strange man had come from. There was no sign of the knights the man spoke of, but why would he lie? There was no advantage to it. Brody was allergic to swords and had no desire to find out firsthand if there was danger ahead, and the way back wasn’t too bad. Eager to learn more about this strange person, he turned around and followed the man.

The man studied Brody under the dying light. He pointed at the long blue antenna like growths coming from Brody’s back and head. “Do you smell with those?”

“No. They don’t move or do anything. They’re just kind of there.” Brody was used to questions like that. He was odd looking, with boyish features but blue skin and hair, and those antennas. He wore only swimming trunks and carried short wood paddles he could strap onto his hands and feet when swimming. Some people he’d met openly wondered if he was a goblin at all.

The man shook his head. “Sorry, rude question. I’m afraid the last few days have left me a worse man. I should have introduced myself when we first met. I’m Julius Craton.”

Brody’s jaw dropped and he stopped in his tracks. “The Julius Craton?”

“I pray there’s no one else with that name. It’s a lot of trouble.”

Running in front of Julius, Brody said, “The hero Julius Craton, from the Guild of Heroes. That Julius Craton?”

“Yes.”

Brody struggled for what to do, wondering if he should bow or salute. Goblins as a rule don’t really respect people, even other goblins, but this was Julius Craton! He’d saved kingdoms from terrible threats, and he showed widows the same respect as kings. He was the very definition of hero, a person loved across Other Place. “You’ve killed wyverns, griffins, bandits, necromancers and smallish armies. What are you doing running from anyone?”

“I’ve killed a wyvern flock, two griffins, a necromancer, three golems, five hags, a monkey snake infestation, more bandits than I can count and some other threats. The army was a joint effort. All that killing proved to me that there’s a point where killing doesn’t help. I could kill the men coming after me, but it would only make things worse. More would come to avenge their deaths, and more after that. Better to lose them in the wilderness.”

“But, but who in his right mind would attack you? You’re the man people call in to deal with the biggest problems there are!”

Julius continued walking. “I’m not sure how it happened this time. Yesterday I was turning in a wanted criminal named Golomak the False Knight. I’d tracked him down to a cave and found him nursing new wounds and missing a magic sword I’d been warned about. Truth be told it wasn’t much of a fight and I took him alive. I brought him to the castle of King Baldos and turned him over to the resident knights.” Sounding confused, Julius went on. “I was waiting for the bounty money when a servant said a Princess Ella wanted to see me.”

“Ella?” Brody asked nervously.

“Yes. I think she wanted to ask for help dealing with a local threat.”

Brody had heard of Princess Ella, and he figured the princess wanted Julius for an entirely different reason. The fair princess demanded her suitors prove themself in battle, and Julius had a hundred times over.

“I was going to meet her when King Baldos’ knights attacked me! They kept shouting something about me stealing her or her heart, whatever that meant. I had to fight my way out of the castle. I didn’t kill anyone, but I had to hurt two knights badly to escape.”

“Oh,” Brody said.

“I really needed that money. The Guild of Heroes is deep in debt. People don’t realize how expensive it is to save a kingdom.”

“Those are the people who called you a fool?”

Julius shook his head. “That happened years earlier. I was called in to save the city of Vashnarelk from Coslot the Conqueror. I knew it would be a hard fight and one made worse by how many people in the city were heavily in debt. Any one of them could potentially betray the city to Coslot to escape their debts.”

Brody didn’t understand why other races hungered for money. It was shiny, but so heavy! Nothing about gold of silver could justify the way people fought over it. “What did you do?”

“I took a lesson from a history book and insisted all debts be forgiven before the fighting started. The city leaders agreed and the people celebrated. The citizens of Vashnarelk fought like bears and together we drove off Coslot, a first in those terrible wars.” They walked on in silence for a few seconds before Julius said, “The assassination attempts started ten hours after our victory.”

“Coslot’s men?”

“The city leaders,” Julius corrected him. “They were the ones who had lent the money, and they weren’t going to lose it. I spent the next week fighting some of the same men I’d fought alongside until the citizens rebelled and their leaders fled. Bad times.”

Outraged, Brody yelled, “But that’s insane! I’m a goblin and even I think that’s stupid. You saved them. What good would that money do if everyone who borrowed or lent it was dead? Why couldn’t they let it go?”

There was a fallen tree across the road not far ahead of them. Julius climbed over it and said, “That should slow down the knights coming after me. I find it as baffling as you do, and I keep running into the same problems.”

Julius picked up Brody and lifted him over the tree. Setting him down, he said, “There have been times when I said a thousand words and people only hear the ten words they already agreed with. Other times I said ten words and somehow people heard a thousand that never passed my lips. I’ve had men swear loyalty and friendship, only to declare me traitor the next day. I can’t explain it.”

Brody stared up into Julius’ eyes. “Then why do you do it? Why do you keep putting yourself in danger if the people you’re helping get mad at you, hurt you, leave you broke?”

“I do it because I have to,” Julius said as he continued down the road. “If I don’t step in then men like Coslot and Golomak the False Knight will do terrible things. My victories always seem to go awry, but if I lose it would be a thousand times worse.” He laughed and said, “I must sound crazy to you.”

Brody hurried to keep up. “No, you sound like the only person I’ve met who makes sense.”

This was a terrible situation. Brody preferred to be alone and swim in quiet lakes. He rarely gave other people much thought, but this was undeniably bad and it was happening to a good person. No one should live like this.

That’s when Brody remembered a conversation he’d had with a holy man years ago. The holy man had lectured him about good deeds, which at the time seemed confusing, but now Brody understood. Julius was hurting, and without help he would go on hurting, fighting endless battles. One day he’d meet a foe he couldn’t beat or be so tired he would drop his guard for that critical second. It had to stop.

Brody decided then and there to do a good deed for Julius, and he knew exactly what he had to do.

“I can help,” Brody told Julius. “You’ve got nasty people coming after you. You don’t want to hurt them or them to hurt you. But knights have horses and you don’t, so they can catch up to you.”

“It’s possible,” Julius conceded. “I’m good at what I do, so they’ll likely they’ll never find me.”

He grabbed Julius by the hand. “Why not make it a sure thing? I know the perfect place you can hide. It’s quiet and peaceful, and you can stay there as long as you want.”

“I’ve traveled these roads before. There’s no place in twenty miles where I could take shelter for more than a day without the knights catching up to me. That’s why I have to keep moving.”

Smiling, Brody said, “You’ve walked the roads, but I’ve walked every inch of every valley, hill and hollow. I know things no one else does. I know where Sanctuary is.”

Julius looked puzzled. “What’s that?”

“It’s a place made years ago by a wizard. He took an island a hundred miles across and made it into its own little world. No one can get in or out except through a magic doorway, and only then with a key. The wizard’s long gone, but people still come looking for Sanctuary so they can hide from their enemies. You can hide there too, just for a few weeks until the knights give up. It’ll be like a vacation!”

Julius stopped walking. “You’ve been there?”

“Many times.”

Julius gave him a skeptical look. “If it’s so nice, why didn’t you stay?”

“I didn’t have a reason to,” Brody countered. “Sanctuary is where you go when your life has fallen apart. My life has been a bit buggy, but never so bad I needed to hide.”

Brody watched Julius’ face. He could see the man turning the idea over in his head. Julius was a hero and running away from it all wasn’t his style, but he was also a man so worn down that rest was as alluring as a siren’s song. He wanted it, he needed it, but he didn’t want to admit it.

“Maybe for a little while,” Julius said. “A week at most. I have responsibilities I can’t put off longer than that.”

“Sure, just a week,” Brody told him. He took Julius by the hand and led him off the road. It was getting dark, but they weren’t too far from Sanctuary. Two hours march would be enough time to get them there, and it wouldn’t take long for Brody to find the key to the doorway that he’d discovered and hidden.

And once Julius went through the doorway, Brody would lock him inside and break the key.

It was the only way to save him. Julius would spend the rest of his life in a place with no conflicts of any kind. Crazy people couldn’t drag him into their wars and then betray him. He’d be mad at Brody for a while, but in time he’d understand it was for his own good. And the crazy people with their wars, why, they could fight for themselves.

Julius stopped to light a torch so they could continue. “Who else is in Sanctuary?”

“Not as many people as you’d think,” Brody told him. “When I was there I saw a couple hundred tops. There was a nice lady there, Lady Kelsa, who was hiding from a brother who took her land and wanted to hurt her.”

“And no one helped her?” Julius demanded.

Brody could have kicked himself! Julius would run into danger to right an injustice (except the one happening to him). If he met Lady Kelsa he’d try to save her. But Brody realized that for Julius to do so he had to meet her, and that meant him going through the doorway.

“No one,” Brody said quickly, “and that’s a shame. I’m sure she’d love to meet you, and you two can talk all about it.”

“Yes, I should do that.” They walked on in silence for a while before Julius asked, “What’s she like?”

That was a hard question for Brody to answer. Most men who described Lady Kelsa started with her chest measurements. They usually smiled afterwards, which didn’t make any sense to Brody. He was pretty sure he shouldn’t follow their example. “She’s perky. You’ll like her.”

“Do they are orchards in Sanctuary?” Julius asked. Brody gave him a curious look, and the hero said, “I worked in an orchard when I was growing up. It’s something I know how to do besides fight, and I should earn my keep while I’m there.”

Brody lead Julius around a low hill covered in thick young trees. “People were growing apple, peach, pear and mango trees the last time I was there.”

“What’s a mango?”

Smiling, Brody said, “See for yourself.”

There it was, the doorway to Sanctuary. It was set into the side of a hill, like it led into an underground house. The door was made of black iron and the knocker was shaped like a hand. The doorframe was red marble with carvings of doves, olive wreaths and palm branches. Tracks led to the door, but few led away. Brody ran over to a pile of stones sunk into the ground next to the door. He flipped over the biggest rock and took out a gold key that glittered in the light of Julius’ torch.

“A week off,” Julius said. He smiled and told Brody, “It’s been a long time since I had that much time to myself. I hope I won’t inconvenience the locals by showing up. That happens sometimes.”

Brody pushed the key into the door’s lock. “Don’t worry, you’ll fit right in.”

“Julius Craton!” a voice called out in the darkness.

Julius had his sword out so fast that Brody didn’t even see him draw it. One moment it was sheathed and the next the hero was holding a razor sharp blade. Brody struggled to open the door. It must be those blasted knights! He had at best seconds to get Julius to safety before they were close enough to attack.

A man ran close enough for them to see him in the light of Julius’ torch. Sweaty, exhausted and wearing ragged clothes, the young man dropped to his knees in front of Julius. Gasping for breath, he gasped, “Sir, please, I beg you, save us!”

“Please don’t kneel,” Julius said. “It’s embarrassing.”

Still gasping, the young man said, “I’d stand if I could. Three, three days I’ve searched for you, running the whole time.”

Brody rolled his eyes and unlocked the door. Click! “This is why people own horses. I wasn’t counting on company, but there’s room for two.”

Julius sheathed his sword and put an arm around the young man’s shoulders. Helping him up, he asked, “You said save us. Who is in danger, and from what?”

“No, wait!” Brody shouted.

“The Land of the Nine Dukes is being invaded by the army of the Fallen King. The dukes are too busy fighting each other or the Overlord Joshua to resist. The dukes are falling back to their castles, leaving the towns and villages helpless. My mayor sent me to get help. Please, we’re doomed without you!”

“He can’t stop an army alone!” Brody shouted.

“No, but I can help.” Julius told the young man, “I will do everything I can to save your people, but it will take help from you and from others. Are you and your people willing to fight alongside me and the friends I can summon?”

The youth looked down. “We’re farmers and herdsmen. None of us has ever held a sword before.” He gulped and looked Julius in the eyes. “But if you lead us, we will follow.”

Panicking, Brody struggled to open the door. It was heavy and he only managed to open it a few inches, but that was enough for sparkling light to pour out. The sweet smell of apple blossoms filled the air. Brody pointed inside and said, “You’re so close, just a few more steps. You’ve earned a rest after all you’ve done. There will always be another war. You can’t fight them all.”

Julius looked at the door. For a second Brody thought he’d gotten through to him, but Julius gave the goblin a wistful smile. “I can’t fight all the wars. I can’t save everyone. But I can fight this war and save this man. It’s enough. Sanctuary will have to wait.”

With that Julius left, following the young man and headed into danger yet again. Would he survive this war? It was hard to say, but he’d lasted a long time against terrible odds.

Brody sighed and closed the door, then locked it and hid the key again. He’d lost this chance to save Julius, but there would be others. He just had to be patient. Brody gave the door one last look before leaving.

“Who would think paradise would be so hard to sell?”