Goblin Queen's Plan Ch. 04

Peace-Keeper

As usual, we ate lunch on the go - trying to put as many miles into the day as possible.

Around mid-afternoon, we crossed a stone bridge and came to a small city. Zora found a half-orc armorer who didn't care that she was a female - or that he was making armor for a half-elf. Zora traded him the rest of the wolf pelts, some jewels, and a little gold. The crafter said he would have my gear ready the following day.

There was a notice on the public message board that there was a reward for removing a troublesome wolf den nearby. Zora glanced at Dera - to see if she had any insights. She said she hadn't dreamed anything about wolves lately.

Zora got directions and we headed off to check it out. We'd traveled several minutes when Twirp informed us that we were being followed. Zora stopped and we waited for the person to arrive.

They came into view and then stopped. Finally, Zora and Bish went to see what the deal was. As it turned out, it was the local peace-keeper. He was pretty sure we were going to get killed, trying to mess with the wolves. On the off-chance that we succeeded, he was going to confirm that we actually did the job.

Zora informed him that he was welcome to watch - as long as he stayed out of the way. He assured her that he had no intention of being close enough to the battle to cause the wolves to come after him.

Zora and Bish returned to our group and we moved on. The goblin constable maintained a constant distance between himself and our party.

Kia used the wagon for cover, transformed into a falcon, and went with Twirp to see how far away the wolves were. When they found the cave, she changed to an eagle and circled the entrance until we saw her - then she returned.

Reav begged us not to have to stay with the wagon. Zora gave Egla a bow and a quiver full of thorn-arrows. Since we didn't yet know her abilities, Awka was asked to stay on the wagon with Dera and Egla. We collected our gear and then Zora raised a fence around the wagon and the oxen. The fence was to keep the oxen hemmed in - and prevent them from seeing any wolves that might slip past us to harass them. The outside of the fence was covered in thick thorns - angled down - to keep anything from trying to climb the barricade.

We moved up until Imka was close enough. Nothing had moved so we moved in a little farther until Zora was pretty sure her arrows would reach the cave as well. At that point, she began raising the defense that had worked for us last time - a briar barrier and raised shooting platforms.

Imka and Zora would have their bows. Zora had already made extra arrows. The estimate, on the reward notice, was that we were dealing with at least two dozen wolves. I would be throwing poison and keeping everyone healed.

Reav volunteered to be the bait but none of us were going for that idea - that job would come down to Kia or Bish. Since Bish could ward off any damage for a given amount of time, she was chosen as the rabbit.

For some reason, I had the strangest urge to shout, "... that's no ordinary rabbit." At the same time, I wondered whether Twirp was an African or European swallow.

We tried to figure out how we were going to get Bish back - inside the enclosure - when she returned. We talked about gates but - if we couldn't get those closed for some reason - we'd be in trouble.

In the end, we decided that she would run around the back of the briar-fort and - if she was still in trouble - if her skill was running out - she would dive onto the ground and Zora would raise a briar-shield over her.

Since Kia was staying inside the barrier as well, Zora made a small pile of briar-wood throwing knives for her to use. Reav was unhappy that he didn't have a role. Zora told him to pick a bow or knives. He chose to apprentice under Kia and Zora made several more blades for him to throw.

As Zora opened the barrier for Bish to head out, Kia started giving Reav lessons. Zora made a target at ground level for him to practice on while we waited for Bish to lure the wolves back to us.

Bish jogged over to the cave and peered inside. Nothing immediately appeared. She made a sound like a stranded goat and we all laughed as she started jogging back our way with a couple wolves behind her.

Imka called out that they were gaining on her and she kicked in the speed-boost, easily out-distancing them. She ran around behind the enclosure and took a break. Imka took out both of the canines before Zora could line up her shot. We were ready for Bish again.

She enticed two more pairs of overly-eager predators from the lair but then our luck dried up. We lost sight of her as she ventured into the darkness.

She returned a couple minutes later with three more wolves - which the archers dispatched. Bish told Zora that there were no more wolves in the first room. We were going to have to move inside.

Bish transformed to her original form; Kia changed into a warg. Zora left the first enclosure but pulled the briars back so that we could pass through. Bish and Kia were waiting at the mouth of the cave, keeping watch, as we made our way up to their position.

The first room was huge - easily a hundred feet square - and three stories tall - with a shadowed ledge near the top.

Zora raised a barrier across the three tunnels that led off from the room; she also sent briars up the wall to block off the ledge. We picked a tunnel and started working our way forward - with Zora raising a new barrier several feet ahead - and then dropping the original one - so that we could move up.

We slowly made our way down the first tunnel until we came to another large area. As we moved into the room, three wolves leapt down from a ledge above us. Bish, Kia, and Reav dealt with the attackers. Bish took almost no damage; I mended Reav's broken leg from getting pounced on, and Kia needed a bite cleaned and healed. Zora blocked off the ledge and we started moving forward again.

Thankfully, the new attackers snarled as they ran at us from behind or we would've never heard them. Somehow, they had exited the cave by another route and had followed us in. We hadn't thought of maintaining a rear-facing wall.

We dealt with the half-dozen wolves and then Zora raised a barricade behind us. I patched up a few more injuries and we moved into the last tunnel. This one had ramps leading up. Zora blocked those off immediately. Nothing appeared there - so we assumed that was how they had slipped out of the cave to get around behind us.

We moved down this passage - making sure to keep a barrier behind us - until we got to the true lair. Here we found a huge alpha - as well as the rest of the pack. There were at least two dozen here. The work came down to Kia, Reav, and Imka. I threw a few poison bolts but, otherwise, I just made sure nobody was getting hurt. Bish stood, twiddling her thumbs. Zora spent her time rebuilding the barrier as the wolves fought to break through.

Finally, we were down to the alpha and his mate. I tossed a poison blast at him, just to start wearing him down. Imka's shots were not able to pierce his hide. When she shot at his eyes, he turned his head before the bolt could find its target.

Zora ordered everyone to target the female and she went down without too much trouble. This seemed to incense the leader. He started tearing into the barrier and it was all Zora could do to rebuild it as fast as he was shredding it.

Desperate to try something we hadn't already attempted, Kia gave Reav her magically-sharp dagger. He teleported in - between the alpha's front legs - and stabbed the blade up, into his chest. It went in - but not far. Reav didn't have the strength to shove it through the monster's hide far enough to reach the heart. He teleported back to safety as the beast snapped at him.

We decided to try something else. Bish and Imka got ready. Zora opened a window in the briar-wall, large enough for only the wolf's head to reach in. With her damage-retarding skill running, Bish reached out and smacked the wolf on the snout. When it opened its maw to snap at her, Imka fired her shot. It collided with the monster's teeth and the arrow disintegrated.

Bish grabbed the beast's snout and started prying it open. It tried to back out of her grip. Zora built a hedge behind it to pin it in place. As soon as Bish succeeded in getting its mouth open, Imka fired an arrow down its throat.

The wolf howled in pain - but she didn't hit anything vital. Bish let go and stepped back. Imka fired at its eye again, but it flinched the shot away once more. I told Bish to shove its head up. As soon as she pushed, I dropped to my knees in front of it, put my hands on its throat, and went to work. I shoved poison at its head and chest, but it resisted it. I started growing a bone-spur from its forehead into its brain. It was shaking back and forth - trying to get us off. Bish hung on and I eventually pushed hard enough to override the beast's magical resistance. The bone dagger - made from its own skull - rammed into its brain - and it finally died.

Zora stored the corpse in her ring, and we started dragging bodies out. Imka and Reav watched over us, Zora moved and removed barriers, and the rest of us moved corpses. You know what they say, "A friend will help you move, but a good friend will help you move a body."

We double-checked the two tunnels that we hadn't already gone through - but they were clear. As soon as we were back out to the front - and hadn't faced any counter-attacks - we started moving things a little faster.

Zora removed the first fort and dumped a load of corpses out of her ring next to the wagon. We jogged back into the cave and she stored the next batch. Bish escorted her out, she dumped those off, and then they returned. This time, Bish picked her up and hit "turbo" to carry her at top-speed. Zora giggled like a little kid. After two more trips, the cave was clear.

As Zora took the fence down from around the wagon, Twirp informed us that the peace-keeper was moving up. Zora brought the alpha's body out, Bish changed to half-troll, and Kia went to her goblin form.

"You used magic," the goblin man said.

"Considering the battle we just had with the alpha, you weren't going to kill him without it," Zora replied.

"How do you have magic?" he asked.

"Why does it matter?" she asked in return.

"You're some kind of mutt," he sneered.

"You telling me that you're not going to pay the reward?"

He pondered her question a lot longer than any of us thought was necessary - but we remained quiet.

"We'll pay the reward, but I want you out of town by nightfall."

"We're supposed to pick up some armor we ordered tomorrow," Zora told him.

"Nightfall tomorrow then, no longer," he said gruffly.

He eyeballed the alpha and said, "Burn the corpses. All of them."

"The reward isn't enough for the work we had to do. I'll burn the alpha's body, but we get the pelts from the others."

"The reward was listed on the notice," he said. "It didn't say anything about the pelts."

"Which means they're not part of the deal."

"You'll burn them, or you'll get no reward," he said firmly.

Zora chewed her tongue, trying to figure out a compromise.

Conceding that she had no leverage, she spat, "Fine. You'd better hope you never need us for anything else. If you had any clue what it took for us to remove your problem, you might be a little less quick to end our friendship."

"We're all friends here," the man said. "You did the job and you'll get your reward. You'll leave town quietly and I won't have to deal with whispers about mutts."

"You're taking money from me," Zora told the man, "and I'm not very happy about it. I'm not your friend. Friends don't do shit like that."

Apparently deciding the discussion was over, he turned to leave. He stood at his preferred distance away and waited until we burned the corpses. Actually, we didn't burn them - we lit them on fire, loaded up, and headed back to town. If he wanted to babysit the smoldering pile of furry corpses, we would let him; he didn't. He stayed in front of us all the way back to town.

Reav wanted to teleport up and scare the shit out of him; Bish wanted to turbo up and do the same. Kia wanted to change into a giant eagle, pick his ass up and drop him from a height that guaranteed he wouldn't bounce. Zora shot down all of those suggestions. Everyone could see her seething, so we finished the trip in silence.

We followed the peace-keeper to his office and stood there until he came out with the money-pouch. Zora counted it in front of him. He never said a word.

The sun was going down, so we found a nice, quiet place on the far side of town - slightly farther off the road than we normally chose - and set up camp. Zora raised a bramble-briar fence, five feet high, all the way around us. One corner stretched a few feet into the stream so I could carry water.

We ate, she raised a structure big enough for all of us to sleep together and we laid down for the night.

~~~

The next morning, the peace-keeper was waiting at the fence when we started breakfast. Zora went to talk to him. She came back to report that the armorer would be bringing our stuff out later and - after that - we were to depart.

Over breakfast, Dera told Zora that she had had a dream. The opposition that we were getting here was going to show up again when we got to Zora's old kingdom. There would be many that would go with us, but we wouldn't be allowed to remain. Public opinion would be too strong. Fighting it would cause a schism among the people.

Zora said that she had no problem fighting her sister, but she didn't want to tear the kingdom apart just to take the throne. I went to her, knelt down on the ground in front of her, and apologized for tainting her blood and denying her the throne - her birthright.

She made me get up, she hugged me, and she kissed me. She told me - in front of the whole group - that she wouldn't trade what we had for anything in the world. She said we would return to the valley and build our own kingdom, with our own laws, and the rest of them could go fuck themselves.

She asked the group if anybody had anything to add - or comments to make.

Kia asked - since we were, basically, all outcasts at this point anyway, if there was any reason that Kia and Bish shouldn't share gifts with Zora.

The rest of the goblins were happy with the gifts they had - and didn't want to mess with it - but they thought that Zora learning Troll-speak and Demon-speak would be worth doing - and there was always a chance that she'd gain another skill.

She looked at Dera, but the goblin woman reported that she hadn't dreamed anything about this conversation.

The armorer arrived. I tried on my new suit, which fit like a second skin. We thanked him and Zora threw him an extra gold for his trouble. We cleaned up and broke camp.

As we traveled, Awka made it clear that she wanted her gift. We told her she'd have to wait until after dinner.

Kia asked Zora if she'd made a decision, yet, on sharing with her and Bish. Zora asked if Bish was willing and she said she was. Kia teased Zora that - if she was worried about rubbing their titties together - Kia would wear a chest-wrap. Zora replied that - even if they didn't share gifts - she might be up for a little titty-rubbing and the group howled in laughter. Conversation became less strained after that.

~~~

We came upon a flat open area - with access to water - as the afternoon was wearing on - and Zora called for us to make camp.

After dinner, everyone gathered around as Awka needlessly peeled off her chest-wrap to lie on top of me. I chided her for trying to use her stiff nipples to get a rise out of my cock. She gave me a kiss and got serious as I started connecting our blood-streams.

An hour later, she had survived the usual symptoms associated with the sharing and was waking up from her recovery-period.

I had already told the group that I hadn't gotten any new skills - so they were all just waiting to see what (and if anything) Awka got.

Her blue eyes were glowing when they opened. She smiled at me and gave me a lust-filled kiss. "Oh, my king," she purred. "Such gifts!" She sat up on my stomach and then climbed to her feet. She stepped over to Zora, dropped to her knees and said, "My queen!"

Zora laughed and pulled her up for a hug. "What is it, my beautiful girl?"

"Can you grow a wash tub big enough to hold us all?"

Zora nodded and went to work.

Approaching Bish, Awka said, "I will make you something to throw. I will start small and make them larger and larger until you tell me it's the perfect balance between destructive power and your ability to throw it well and accurately."

Bish nodded.

"Hold out the hand you throw with. I'm going to make you a spear."

Bish looked around until she found a target. She moved to the spot from which she would throw.

Awka stood beside her and held her palms down, towards Bish's open hand. A three-foot-long spear appeared.

"Twice that," Bish said, throwing it at the target.

Awka made her another spear - this one was six feet long.

"It's weighty. These will be powerful," Bish said, before throwing it at the boulder. It exploded in a cascade of ice-shards.

"Let's stick with that," the troll-girl said.

"How about a boulder?"

"We can try. I may need a glove with a grip in order to control it."

Awka made a sphere of ice - about the size of a person's head. Bish had her bump the size up a little and threw three more of them at the huge rock. The last throw knocked a big chunk of the stone loose.

Bish laughed and said, "I like the spears better but my hand's freezing. I'll need some kind of glove. Having a big, ranged weapon I can throw is awesome, though. How many can you make?"

"My mana's not depleted much."

Turning to Zora, who had just walked up, she said, "It's bathtime!"

"For everyone?" Zora asked.

Awka nodded.

Looking around at the group, Zora announced, "Everyone wear your chest-wraps and waist-wraps."

There was a little grumbling from those who didn't usually wear them under their clothes, but everyone moved to comply.

Awka led Zora to the massive pool. The floor was wooden, and the walls were about two feet tall. She held a hand over the pool and water started pouring out of her down-turned palm.

"Check the temperature," she told Zora.

Zora stuck her hand under it and her eyes widened, "By the Gods! This will be amazing! Maybe just a little warmer?"

Awka nodded and the water got a little hotter. Zora hurried off to get changed, calling out for someone to find wraps for our new water-mage.

The complaints about the temperature being too hot faded quickly as everyone relaxed in the giant washtub and let the blessed heat permeate their tired bodies. Bish complained that the water was still too cold and the rest of us laughed.

"Looks like you're stuck helping Egla with the cooking," Imka said, snickering.

"Oh!" Egla replied. "This will be amazing! No more heating water for cleaning up."

Awka sighed dramatically and said, "Everybody else gets cool gifts. Now I'm stuck doing the dishes."

Everyone laughed - and then sighed again - once again feeling their bodies simmer in the delightfully warm water.

I'd finally had more heat than I could stand. I scrubbed myself a little and climbed out of the steamy pool. Awka hurried over, gave me a kiss, and ran her hands over my body. Suddenly, my skin and my waist-wrap were dry.

"Holy shit!" I gasped as she giggled.

As the others finished up, she dried them as well, earning herself grateful hugs from everyone - for the soothing bath - as well as the quick dry. Once the tub was vacant, she evaporated the water from the tub and Zora took the thing apart, breaking it into scraps that we could use for the campfire and cook-fire.