Goblin Queen's Plan Ch. 03

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The next day was largely uneventful. We drew closer and closer to Zora's old home. She had grown more pensive. She didn't chat with the rest of us as she had before. She took Egla's place on the seat, driving the team. Without anyone saying anything to one another, we each took turns walking beside her at the front of the wagon.

Every hour or so, one of us would walk up and relieve Zora's companion - who would join the rest of us in and around the rear. We visited quietly, remarking on the changes in the terrain and engaging in other small-talk.

Kia had decided that being Imka's twin was too confusing. She altered her form to be a mixture of the other four females - borrowing attributes from each of them - like some goblin amalgam. Even Egla smiled at the fact that the dark elf considered herself such a member of our weird little family that she made herself to look like us. It was nice to see the young woman starting to get over some of her resentful animosity.

Egla was a beautiful girl and - as a warm-blooded male - it was easy to appreciate her physical attributes. Nothing would happen between us - however - until she decided she was ready. If my guess was correct, she was angry because she was considered too young to share in a relationship with me the way the others were - and she would throw off those fetters as soon as she was able. There was a chance, though, that she'd turn those affections elsewhere - or suppress them. With the way she'd been behaving, though, I didn't think those other possibilities were very likely.

As we worked to set up camp, that night, Kia offered to change into a large wolf and let Reav ride her around like some orc rider on a warg (an especially nasty war-wolf). The boy cackled in glee as he held on, waving his knife in the air like he was part of a orc hunting party

When Kia brought my adoptive son to me, I asked her if she'd ever seen a warg. Her body changed and Reav leapt into my arms, squeaking in fright. I tentatively reached out to rub Kia between her ears. She was fearsome-looking. It was like a huge half-demon, half-wolf.

Seeing the fear in our eyes, she changed back to normal and was soon hugging Reav and me as she whispered soothing words to the goblin lad. My heart was still racing.

"Gods!" I exclaimed. "That's the scariest form I've seen you take so far. Even knowing it was you, I was afraid for my life."

"Sorry," she whispered, rubbing Reav's arm gently. "Are you okay, little one?"

He puffed out his chest like he hadn't been cowering in fear moments before and said, "I would like to see what those thieves would have done."

"Would you ride me into battle, my wild little orc?" she asked, smiling tentatively.

After a thought, he said, "Can you make yourself into the warg but less evil - like the wolf?"

I laughed and said, "Look at my little warrior - no fear of wolves at all!"

He snickered and hugged my neck.

Kia stepped back and transformed. Reav climbed down to the ground. Kia laid down and the boy climbed onto her back. As soon as she was back on her feet, he had his knife out again.

They raced back and forth, around the camp, with Reav waving his blade and yelling, "Death to all who oppose Zora!" Honestly, it was a little terrifying to behold. Peals of laughter rang out from around the campfire. I looked over to see the girls holding their sides as they laughed at Kia and Reav's antics. Egla was rolling on the ground with tears in her eyes.

When they quieted, I walked over and said, "I had no idea I'd signed on with such a blood-thirsty bunch of goblins!"

"My war-band is fearsome!" Zora said, smiling. Hugging my side, she said, "But we love our gentle king."

"And his mighty royal scepter," Dera said just loud enough for everyone to hear.

They were all back to holding their sides in laughter again - including Kia - who had changed back to her true form. I just shook my head and went to fill the water bucket.

At bedtime, Zora built a shelter for the others and one for me and her. I spent quite a while worshipping my queen. I gave her several climaxes before I presented her with my offering. We weren't that far from the others so she tried to be quiet. The envious looks, over the breakfast fire, the following morning, suggested that we were only somewhat successful.

Bish

We'd already had lunch and were still traveling when Dera looked around and called out for us to stop. We gathered around to see what the matter was.

"I had a dream about this place," she said, waving her hand around the area.

To the left of the road, there was a dead elm tree and a boulder. There was a smaller path - not quite a road - that led that direction.

"There's a troll - her name is Bish - this way. She will be the next to join us," Dera stated. Looking at Kia, she said, "You'll need to change to her form in order to tell her that we're here to help. I'm not sure about the sequence of events but there will be a fight with a dozen wolves and another fight with two trolls."

"And you're sure she joins us?" Zora asked.

Dera nodded and said, "She's an outcast. Her gift to Zack will help us all."

"Death to all who oppose Zora!" Reav yelled, pulling out his dagger.

I jumped.

The others looked from Reav to me before laughing at his antics - and my jumpiness.

We turned the oxen to the left and followed the narrow path.

"Wolves and trolls?" Zora asked Dera. "Do we need to leave the oxen somewhere?"

"Sorry, my queen," she said, "I'm not sure. They weren't in my dream."

Zora nodded - and then turned to Egla.

"Twirp hasn't seen anything yet."

"Can you take over the wagon and stay with the oxen?"

Egla looked like she wanted to say 'no' but said, "Yes" instead.

"I'll stay in the wagon," Dera told Zora. "I think you all will need to focus without worrying about me."

"Thanks, Dera," you're being super helpful but that will eliminate one of my big worries. I don't want anything happening to any of you.

"Thank you, my queen," she said, climbing up next to Egla.

"Reav," Zora began.

"Zora! No! I want to fight!"

"I need you to protect the girls. We don't know how the wolves and trolls will come into play."

He nodded grumpily - before teleporting into the back of the wagon to sulk.

We rode for almost an hour before Twirp came rocketing back towards the group. Egla reported that there were more than a dozen wolves. Bish had taken shelter in a cave with a narrow entrance and was holding them off - but was tired and bloodied.

Kia transformed into an eagle and flew ahead.

As soon as the rest of us could hear the wolves clearly, we slowed. When Zora caught sight of the battle, she called for the wagon to halt. Reav appeared, standing proudly on the wagon seat, between Egla and Dera. Zora nodded to him affectionately.

Zora planted a briar-bush and grew thorn-armor for Imka, me, and herself. I moved around in it to get a feel for how restrictive it was. My dagger was already in my hand.

Kia landed beside Zora, transformed to tell her that she planned to fly into the cave, behind Bish, shift to troll-form, and then tell her that we were coming. After that, she would either fight side-by-side with Bish - or transform to a wolf to sow confusion among the attackers. Zora agreed to the plan and Kia changed herself into a falcon - before taking off again.

As soon as Bish saw us engaging the rear of the wolf-pack, Kia flew across the wolves and over Bish's head. The troll was too busy defending herself to worry about the falcon, but she glanced back for a second anyway.

Imka put a briar-arrow through the heart of the largest wolf and Bish hazarded a look at us. We fell upon the wolves - some of whom had now turned to face us.

Zora and I targeted the ones nearby while Imka worked to thin the ranks in front of the cave. I casted poison bolts at some of those on the flanks and worked to defend and heal Zora as she took more and more of them down.

Kia appeared next to Bish, punching a wolf in the face - staying clear of Bish's club - as she told her what was going on. I saw her looking from Kia to us. We couldn't hear what was said but Bish didn't react when Kia changed to wolf-form and started snarling and howling at the attackers.

When a wolf would try to dart in, Kia would bark at it, distracting its attention, and Bish would club it in the head.

Imka continued to remove the wolves closest to the cave until the pack decided that we were the easier targets.

As one, they turned on us. I stood between the girls and the attackers and slashed with my blade as I threw poison bolts at those nearby but outside of my reach. Zora fired until she ran out of arrows.

She laid her hand on the ground and a wall of thick briars grew up around us, protecting our rear and flanks. A platform formed beneath Imka's feet and it grew upwards, raising her up until her feet were at my head. Zora started growing thorn-arrows and handing them to me. I refilled her quiver and handed it to Imka - trading for her empty one - which Zora and I started filling.

I glanced over at the cave. A fearsome warg was guarding the entrance as Bish sat, assessing her wounds.

Within another 10 minutes, Imka had removed the last of the wolves. Zora started taking down our defenses. As soon as the path was clear, I headed to check on Bish. Kia transformed to troll-form as I approached.

Kia told Bish that I was there to heal her. The troll female nodded. I raised my hand, sensed her injuries, and started mending her open wounds first, lacerations next, bruises after that, and finally fatigue. I offered her my canteen - which she accepted. After she'd drank it all, she returned it - and then collapsed back to rest.

The only other troll I'd seen had been at the slave auction. He was much larger than this female. Bish was still a lot taller than me. The rest of our group was around five feet tall. Bish was closer to seven or eight.

Her skin was bumpy - like the graveled bottom of a mountain stream. Her skin was light grey and leathery. Her head was bare; you could only tell she was female because of her wide hips and her large breasts - each of which were easily the size of my head.

Her only clothing was a wide chest-wrap and a short skirt that I assumed also served as a waist-wrap, preserving her dignity.

I looked into her eyes and she looked up at me. She was tired, obviously, and still learning about who we were - but she had kind, gentle eyes. I immediately trusted and liked her.

I checked over Kia for injuries - healing her bruised knuckles from punching a few of the wolves. She gave me a quick kiss as I turned to check on the others.

I arrived back at the wagon to discover that Reav had killed two wolves that had left the main group to go after the oxen. Egla was standing by the yoked pair, whispering to them. I don't know if they understood what she was saying but they seemed to be calming down.

Though we were already nearly sick to death of wolf-meat, Zora was loathe to waste it. We began the laborious process of cutting and removing the best cuts of meat, hanging it to smoke, and storing it in the wagon.

Each wolf was skinned and butchered. The refuse was added to a carrion pile some distance away.

An eagle came winging in. Kia changed to her normal form almost as soon as she landed on the ground. "Bish has been taken!" she exclaimed. "Two trolls came and grabbed her. She says the smaller one is her brother. Her father sold her to the larger one to be his wife. She was running away from him when the wolves chased her into the cave."

Zora raised a hedge of briars in a circle around the wagon. Reav immediately clung to me, begging to come with us. I looked at Egla and she shrugged. Dera did as well.

"Fine!" I said, "but you have to promise to only do what Zora tells you - or you're sitting with the wagon from now on."

He, of course, readily promised he would do only as he was told.

Kia said, "C'mon, squirt." She dropped to the ground and changed into what I can only guess was a small griffin. It had the face and wings of an eagle and the body and tail of a lion. Its front feet were eagle's talons; the rear ones were the paws of a lion. Each foot looked almost as dangerous as its sharp beak. This beast scared me almost as much as the warg.

As Kia crouched down, however, Reav leapt up to sit between her wings - his blade already out, howling "Death to all who oppose Zora!"

"Gods, have mercy," Zora said, laughing.

Reav squealed in glee as Kia launched herself into the air, carrying her passenger aloft.

"Be careful with him," I yelled out.

They hovered twenty feet above us - Kia's wings beating slowly - and she looked me in the eyes and nodded. I shivered. She darted off with Reav - who was cackling maniacally - like some kind of serial killer.

We jogged to the cave and Imka picked up the trolls' trail. I could have probably followed their footprints easily enough, but she was gathering information about them that I didn't have access to.

"She's fighting them," she told Zora. "She's definitely not going with them willingly."

Zora nodded and we moved a little faster.

"She falls to the ground here," she said, pointing. "Her toes drag for a bit before they get her walking again."

She touched a dark wet spot and brought it to her nose. "They hit her or stabbed her to get her moving," she reported. "She's still moving reluctantly but she's walking on her own. The prints are still side-by-side so they're, obviously, holding her by her shoulders."

Finally, we caught up to Kia and Reav. At least, I assumed the troll giving Reav a piggy-back ride had to be the shapeshifter.

When we jogged up, Kia said, "They're just up ahead. Bish is crying. The big one is belligerent. I think Bish's brother might be more reasonable once the other one is removed."

Zora nodded and said, "Reav, come here. Kia, take flight as a griffin again. I want to see if he can teleport onto your back."

Kia transformed.

Zora bent down to look at Reav, "If you miss and find yourself falling, teleport back to the ground. Be careful - but I'm giving you a chance to fight."

He nodded, looked up at Kia, and teleported onto her back.

"Down again," Zora ordered loudly.

Reav appeared next to her.

"Up again," she told him.

He reappeared on Kia's back.

"Okay," she said, looking up at them, "when we get close enough, Imka will give you a sign when she's in range. Get the big one to look back this way. Imka will target his eye socket and take him out. Everybody clear?"

"Death to all who oppose Zora!" Reav howled.

I giggled in spite of my churning anxiety - or maybe because of it.

We set off at a jog. We were closer to the trio than I wanted to be when Imka gave Kia the sign. The griffin buzzed the trolls but they just swung their clubs at her. After two tries, she hovered just behind them and Reav went on the offensive.

He teleported down, stabbed his knife at the larger troll's calf, and teleported back up. The monster's skin must have been tougher than we thought because he didn't even flinch. Reav popped back down again and stabbed at the back of his leg several times. When the troll turned to look down at his leg, the goblin boy returned to his flying mount.

"Reav," Zora yelled. "Stay there."

She waited until he nodded his understanding before putting the next phase in motion.

"Imka and I will target his calves; Zack hit him with a poison bolt. Let's see if we can get the brute's attention. Go!"

I held out my hand and it glowed green for a second. The troll's pace faltered and Zora's arrow hit him in the thigh - instead of the calf. Imka's bolt pierced the back of his leg for a moment before it wiggled loose.

Thankfully, she already had her next shot ready. He turned his head just enough for her to target his right eye - and she let fly with a briar-arrow. I swear the arrow veered to the right before it leapt in to punch through his eye and stop in his brain.

His body narrowly missed landing on Bish as he fell onto his face, dead.

Kia landed on the other side of the body, changed to a troll and helped Bish argue with her brother. He was now facing the two of them. He glanced at the dead troll and started screaming at his sister. She and Kia screamed back.

He lunged for Bish and Kia intervened. He tried to shove her out of the way but she fought him, keeping Bish behind her. He raised his fist and punched her in the head and I lost my shit. As I raced forward, I threw a poison bolt at his eyes. He howled and rubbed at his face. I threw myself to the ground at his ankles and - pressing my hands to his calf - fought to put him to sleep. He finally staggered and then fell back.

I heard troll-speak behind me and then Bish picked me up, off of the ground, and hugged me. I think she was trying to be gentle but it was the roughest bear-hug I'd ever received. Troll-Kia laughed and said, "I told her that you put him to sleep."

I couldn't speak Trollish but I would have sworn that Bish's next two words were "want" and "fuck". Kia cackled in laughter and pulled out her dagger, telling Zora that she was going to see if she could skin the big fucker that Imka had killed.

She returned to do introductions and informed our queen that it would be slow-going but that her knife - with its magically sharp blade - would gain us another pelt to sell off. Zora was excited. Troll hides were valuable, it seemed.

Bish told Kia that she wanted to return to her ex-husband's cave to get her things. The girls left Reav and me to guard Bish's brother. Zora showed us how she wanted the hide cut and Kia left us with her knife.

As sharp as the blade was, Reav and I were only about halfway through with our task when the girls returned with armloads of treasure they had claimed as Bish's property. The thing Zora was the most proud of was a magical ring that allowed her to store items "inside" of it. Its value became immediately obvious when Kia finished skinning the dead troll and Zora stored away the huge, messy pelt. She also stored some of the larger items that Bish had claimed.

I had no clue how the magic worked but the ability to store and retrieve items - especially large items - was a game-changer.

As we got ready to leave, I put my hands on Bish's brother one last time. I did a little creative surgery - shortening his left leg an inch - leaving him to limp the rest of his life.

Bish nodded when Kia translated my words to her. We headed back towards the wagon and - for the first time - I realized the sky was black. It was the middle of the night.

Egla had food waiting for us. It was cold but we were starving. After we ate, Kia told Bish that - if she wanted to join with us - she needed to pledge herself to Zora.

The huge, gray-skinned woman knelt on both knees - which still made her taller than any of us. She took my queen's hand in hers and pledged herself to Zora and the group. I swear (when she was done) I heard the two words repeated from earlier. Kia snickered as she whispered something to Zora. Zora's eyes flickered over to me and back to Bish - who nodded, grinning.

"Gods above!" I gasped. "You'd better hope I can heal my dick after she's done breaking it in half!"

Even Egla was belly-laughing as the huge gray woman came over to pick me up and raise my lips to hers. She held me in her arms like I was a child's toy.

Imka brought us blankets. Zora walked us back to the cave and then raised a briar-barrier across the entrance - before heading back to settle in with the rest of the group.

I wasn't really sure how this was going to work but Bish started undressing so I did as well. She spread out a blanket and pointed for me to lie down. She eyed my prick appreciatively before kneeling down, between my legs, to take my cock into her mouth.