Goblin Queen Pt. 06 - End

The scholar got some metal instruments and began peeling away the glue plugging Karul's rear opening. "Stop wriggling, this has to come off before I can get the larva out," he grumbled when Karul whined that it hurt.

Once the glue was gone, the scholar searched in a cabinet and brought out what looked like a long brown stick. "Smoked beef pizzle," he said. "The larva should like the taste of this better than your intestines."

He shoved the stick up Karul's butt. It was uncomfortably hard but not nearly as broad as most goblin cocks. Once it was mostly inside, the scholar used a metal clamp on the remaining end to hold it in place. "Can't have the little bugger dragging it into you to eat, that wouldn't help. Now we wait."

After a bit Karul felt whatever was inside moving around. Soon the stick in his rear started to vibrate a bit.

"Good, it's taken the bait," the scholar said. "We'll give it some time, the larva should just keep eating its way along the pizzle till it's at the exit. If it doesn't come out at that point I'll go fishing for the head with an extractor."

The vibration continued, and soon Karul felt his rear channel start to feel full. This built until Karul had a terrible urge to take a dump. He started to get up off the table.

"What are you doing, you brainless human?" the scholar asked.

Karul explained his need, drawing an exasperated sigh from the goblin. "Get up on your hands and knees and push it out, fool. It's the larva you feel."

Karul obeyed the instructions. At first the pushing didn't do anything except make the thing inside him squirm around in response to the pressure, but he kept trying.

There was a definite movement outward. Karul farted loudly, and was so embarrassed that he hid his head.

"Keep pushing, Princess. Push it out," the scholar urged.

Karul strained. At this point it became impossible not to push, the pressure in his rear was so intense.

"Push, push!"

Karul groaned and pushed, then cried out as his anus suddenly stretched wide and something rubbery started to emerge. Karul kept pushing and more of the thing slid out. It seemed to go on and on forever to Karul, but finally he gave a last heave and the tail end plopped out of his gaped asshole.

"An excellent specimen," the scholar said, pleased. "Take a look."

Sagging to his side on the table, Karul saw that the scholar now held a fat white grub that was more than two feet long. Its mandibles were still chewing up the last bit of stick.

Karul blinked. "That doesn't look like a scuttler."

"It won't until after the first molt," the scholar replied. "But you can rest assured it will grow up to be a nice, healthy onda. You gave it a fine start in life."

Another fart burbled out of Karul's dilated ass. His bowels were starting to remember their usual purpose, from before they were commandeered as a womb for scuttler hatchlings.

The scholar leered at Karul. "So, how does it feel to be a surrogate mother, human?"

++++++++

Karul began haunting the remote and therefore less-frequented parts of the goblin tunnels. He knew the area as well as any goblin by this point, and had time to waste due to the lessened demand for his services as a whore. He still couldn't leave, of course, the guards on the entrances ensured that. But at least he could find some quiet place where he could be alone. He'd curl up, close his eyes and think of better times, or berate himself for losing his place with Queen. Often he'd weep silent tears for himself.

One day as he was wandering the tunnels that led to one of the more distant farms he came across the shit-wagon he used to draw. It was caught on a tight bend in the passage, one Karul knew from experience was hard to pass. He'd gotten the wagon stuck there himself more than once until he learned the trick of it.

An old man was there, trying to free the wagon from its predicament and failing. Karul had always had to unhitch himself from the wagon and go to the back to shift it, because once the wagon's side was caught on the corner there you could move it forward and back all you wanted without getting it free. He was about to tell the old man this, then saw that he'd been chained to the wagon and could neither unhitch himself nor take off his harness. Instead Karul grabbed the side of the wagon and heaved it off the corner himself.

"You have to head straight for the far wall till you're almost touching it, then start to turn," he explained to the other slave. "That's the only way to get around the narrow part here."

"Thank you for the help, son. I was sure I'd be trapped here until one of those devils showed up, and probably get whipped half-dead to boot," the old man said fervently. "And double thanks for the advice. But how did you know what to do?"

"I used to pull this same wagon," Karul said. He sighed, remembering those days. The time when he was still Queen's personal bedslave.

"Used to draw this very wagon, think of that," the codger said. Then he looked Karul up and down in puzzlement, taking in his outfit and collar. He couldn't read goblin script so he didn't know what it said, but the other human slaves he'd seen were all naked and had iron collars, like his own, not to mention being laden down with manacles and chains. "But what do you do now, then?"

Karul couldn't meet his eyes. "I, uh ... well ... I ..." he stammered.

"Ah, I see." The old man cackled. "You're one of those who caught the bitch's eye, I take it."

Karul blinked. "What?"

"The goblin queen, man! I've heard the little green cunt takes any male slave that strikes her fancy back to her palace. Some she tortures and some she, well, you know! And to some she even does both! Is it true?"

"Yes, that's true," Karul said slowly. "I ... that's happened to me. Both."

"Don't get too proud about it, sonny, the trollop will soon tire of you no matter how big your cattle-prod is. Next thing you know you'll be back to dealing with goblin shit just like before," the old man said smug certainty. "I hear no man can keep that royal whore satisfied for long. She may be small but she goes through hard cocks like a glutton goes through honeycakes, always ready for another one."

Karul trembled in sudden fury, almost striking the helpless chained-up codger. Later he decided that part of his ire was indignation that the man was saying such things vile things about Queen, but another part was anger at Queen for doing things (both the sex and the torment) that she used to do only with Karul to other men.

He thought that part of what held him back from assaulting the poor old fellow was a simultaneous sense of pride. Apparently no other human had proved capable of keeping Queen happy for as long as Karul once did.

"The important thing is just to keep your head down and survive," the other slave continued, oblivious to Karul's suppressed rage. "I don't care what I have to do, I'm going to live long enough for rescue to arrive."

"Rescue? What rescue?" Karul asked.

The codger glanced around as if there were someone else in the passage to overhear. "The Duke. He's going to send his army for us, you'll see. Stands to reason, he can't let the filthy goblins keep raiding his lands and stealing his serfs and cattle."

"I thought he was at war with Count Elkan."

"You've been in here a bit, have you? Sure, that was true up till maybe four months ago, but the tale is that he's made peace and the army is coming home," the old man said. "The Duke will march on the goblins any day now, mark my words!"

He sighed. "Well, it was a good chat but I better get back to work. Don't want those damn goblins beating me for slacking off. Remember what I said, sonny. Keep your head down, don't make trouble for yourself, and you'll live to see the light of day when the Duke's soldiers arrive."

++++++++

During his roaming Karul finally found a good place to hide if he really wanted to get away for a bit. In the back of a little-used storehouse there was an opening, mostly concealed by some empty barrels. This got him to a crevice which then opened onto a narrow, unlit passageway (Karul had stolen a goblin lamp to explore it) that bent and wound but always sloped upward, until he was sure he was well above the greatest part of the tunnels. At the far end was a small chamber, and near one side of the chamber an open vertical hole in the floor that went down much farther than Karul could see, even when he lowered in the lamp as far as he could. A distant sound of running water and a faint air current came from the hole, which was too small for Karul to fit into even if he had wanted to explore it further.

Karul had no idea what the passage, which started a long winding distance in the other direction at a locked door he couldn't open, was for. It was dusty and appeared completely unused, nor was there any obvious use that could be made of it. While there might be water down in the hole, there were much more convenient sources elsewhere in the caves, sources where you wouldn't have to lower and hoist a bucket for who knows how far to bring the water up. As far as Karul was concerned it was just an especially private place he could escape to if he wanted to be alone for a while.

Which was why Karul was heading there today. Otgo and his friends had run across Karul as he was in a kitchen asking for a meal (which had involved sucking off both of the cooks first). Otgo had never forgiven the human for getting him in trouble with his boss, never mind that Karul certainly hadn't told him he wanted to be strangled nearly to unconsciousness. As a result the farmer invariably gave Karul a hard time whenever he saw him, which today consisted of a combined flogging and gang-rape. Sore and bruised after it was over, Karul wanted nothing more than to have some time as far from horny goblin males as possible.

But as Karul approached the chamber at the end of the passage he saw a light and heard voices. This was very strange, he'd never encountered a single person in all the times he'd been in this place. Hiding his own lamp he crept forward far enough to see three goblins standing in the chamber. There was a fully-armed warrior, and also a short goblin male in a loincloth. The third was Queen.

Karul felt his heart begin to beat fast. He crawled even closer, wanting to hear what was being said.

"Tell me once more before you go," Queen said. "I want to be sure you know it by heart."

"I climb down into the hole," the short goblin said. "There is a bend, and after that a drop. I do not drop on the right but let myself drop to the left where there will be deeper water. I will likely go under and should swim back up for air. Then once I'm ready go down and find the opening under the water on the left wall. I swim in and let the current carry me to the count of twelve and twelve and six."

"Make sure your count is steady, not fast or slow," Queen said. "If you wait too long you will be swept past the air pocket and must fight back upstream."

"When my count is done I swim up and find the air pocket," the goblin continued. "There is a ledge to the right side of the way the current heads. I get onto the ledge and take out my lamp. I portion out my food and wait until the lamp starts to fade, meaning the air is going stale."

"How long is that?"

"Between a day and a half to two days," he answered. "I get back in the water and let the current carry me down. There will be two more air pockets, the first at the count of twelve, twelve, twelve, three and following that at twelve, twelve, twelve. I should catch my breath at each one before going on. After the last air pocket I will come out in a small natural cave full of dripstones. I should try to catch the edge because there is a waterfall there I would go over, and the stream beneath is too shallow to break my fall."

Karul realized he knew the last place the young goblin had described. It was the cave near where he'd gotten bitten by the small scuttler, so very long ago.

"Once I get to the cave I will be back in the tunnels," the goblin said. "You will be there to meet me."

"I will be there if I can be," Queen corrected gently. "What are you to do if I am not?"

"I will go to the agencrodtza and find the red book named Resurgence. I will start following the instructions I find there." The short goblin drew a ragged breath. "But I won't have to! You will be there to meet me!"

Queen reached out and gathered the young male into her arms. His shoulders shook as if he were about to cry. Karul realized the goblin was short because he was young, a boy on the verge of adulthood.

"Be brave, child. You know everything you need to know, the scholars have taught you well," Queen said.

"You should send a scholar instead of me," the goblin begged. "They know a lot more than I do about everything."

"That would not do, and you know why," Queen said. "They will age and die before their time, as you will not. Only one whose growth was not subject to hastening medicine can go through the royal transformation."

"Then go yourself," the goblin said. "You're already Queen, you could save yourself."

"Queen does not abandon her people. If she could, she would not truly be Queen. It is something you will learn for yourself if it happens to you."

"But I don't want it to happen, Mother," he said.

Quuen hugged him tight, then gently pushed him away. "After you begin the process you will need to find a mate to continue it. If you are very lucky there might be a few goblins left alive, but I would not count on this. You may well have to leave our home to find an acceptable male, which will be very dangerous. Go slowly and take no unneeded risks."

"I was very fortunate in my own first mate," Queen added softly. "May the dark gods grant you such favor as well."

The warrior spoke for the first time. "We must proceed, Highness. Our scouts reported that the human soldiers were only hours away."

The young goblin lunged forward and embraced Queen. She let him hold for a moment, then pushed him away again. "Take off your loincloth, it can trap your legs while you swim," she said.

The young goblin did as Queen asked, his nakedness proving that he was indeed a male. He strapped a small belt around his waist which the warrior handed to him. There were pouches on it, one of which contained a small goblin lamp.

"Go now, son," Queen said.

He looked at her. "I'll see you in no more than two days, Mother." He climbed into the hole and started lowering himself into it. After a bit there was a splash.

"Let us return to the palace, I must see to its defenses," Queen said. She and the warrior turned to leave.

Karul froze. He'd been so intent on the conversation that he'd forgotten there was no other way out of the chamber. He couldn't possibly get away before they saw him.

As they approached Karul threw himself to the floor and prostrated himself.

"What is this?" Queen asked. There was a hissing sound as the guard with her drew sword.

"Me, Queen," Karul answered, not daring to look up.

"You?" Her voice was startled. "How could you be here? What were you doing?"

"I came by chance. I stayed because ... ." His voice broke. "Because I had to hear your voice again."

"Oh, my poor human," Queen said. "What an amazing kind of fool you are."

"Pardon, Highness, but we must go," the warrior reminded. "You should let me kill him and be done."

"Kill me?" Karul squeaked.

"All human slaves to be killed, lest they lend aid to the invaders," the warrior recited. "Your own orders, Highness."

"True enough, loyal one," Queen said.

"Then stand aside and I will slay him now."

Karul closed his eyes and whimpered, tensing for the stab that would end him.

"No, I think not," Queen said.

"Highness?" the warrior asked.

Queen's voice was quiet but certain. "No need to kill this slave, guard. He is no threat to our people. Not when it would mean helping his own kind murder me."

Queen lifted Karul's face with her foot so that he looked up at her. "It seems I save your life once again, human. Hide yourself well, my sweet, loving fool. It may be that your coward's ways will help you survive what is coming better than any bravery could. Indeed, you have a better chance of living through this day than I do."

With that Queen stepped directly onto Karul's prone form as he lay on the floor of the passage. She walked right over him, down the length of his body while continuing on to the exit. The warrior followed suit, his own tread considerably harsher on Karul's passive flesh.

++++++++

Karul lay there for a very long time trying to piece together and understand all he had heard. Finally he came to a conclusion, rose up and hurried down the passage back the way he'd come.

When he came out of the storehouse where the secret passage began there was no one around. Knowing this must mean the goblins were already taking their positions to defend their home against the invaders Karul began to run.

Before long he heard sounds of fighting ahead of him. He made a detour, but here too the noise of battle was in his way. Karul retraced his steps to try yet a third, much more circuitous path. In the end Karul had to hole up in one of the farms for several hours, hiding there to avoid the raging conflict.

Once it got quiet he waited even longer in the hopes it would be safe when he resumed his travels. Now as he hastened down the tunnels he passed the detritus of warfare. Corpses of goblins and human soldiers, dead scuttlers, shattered weapons. There were also many dead human slaves, killed by the goblins before the invaders arrived and left to lie where they'd fallen.

At one point Karul had to pick his way through the aftermath of a full-scale battle where scores on both sides had fallen. He briefly thought about taking a discarded spear for himself, but decided it would be a waste of time. Even if he was confronted Karul knew he would be too frightened to use a weapon.

As Karul neared his goal he came upon a familiar shit-wagon, along with the corpse of the old man who he'd met before. The codger was still chained in harness, his throat slit. Despite his stubborn resolve he hadn't survived to be rescued.

Just then Karul heard the sounds of heavy marching feet coming down the passage. There was no place to hide nearby. Desperate, Karul threw himself against the cart, using all his strength to topple it over. As it crashed onto its side many of the big jars of shit fell out and broke open, releasing a horrible stench. Karul dove into the midst of the wreckage, covering himself with shit and broken pottery. As the marchers approached he closed his eyes.

"What do you think that noise was?"

"No idea, could have come from anywhere in these tunnels."

The voices were human, as Karul had expected. He kept still.

"Here, what's this?"

"Shit-wagon from the smell of it. And another pair of dead slaves."

"Should we see if either of them is still alive? We were supposed to use them as guides, have 'em show us the goblin's secrets."

"Why check? Not one has been alive so far. You want to go digging through that stinking muck then go ahead, you're welcome to."

There were a half-dozen of them, Karul decided. Just a patrol. But then came the sound of many more feet approaching, scores of them.

"Turns out that last tunnel was a side passage, this must be the main one," a new man announced when this group arrived. Karul stiffened. He knew that voice.

"So what's the plan, sergeant?"

"Keep going this way until we hear otherwise," Lumit replied.

Karul wasn't surprised that Lumit was now a sergeant. He'd always been a bully.

"Someone's coming from deeper down the passage," the first voice warned.

"Spears up, form the line," Lumit barked.

A single pair of feet came trotting up. "It's Macob! Hoy, captain! What goes?"