Ruler of the Realm

Ninety-two

Pyrgus had never seen a Goblin Guard before. This contingent was the traditional grouping of five – four male, one female, all dressed alike in one-piece silver jumpsuits and thick-soled silver boots. They were demons in their original unshifted form, grey-skinned, large-headed and with enormous jet-black eyes. Not one of them stood much higher than his waist, but they were by far and away the most dangerous creatures on the surface of the planet. They gambolled forward on spindly legs like playful monkeys, chittering with the sound of clacking lobster claws.

‘Don’t look at their eyes!’ Pyrgus screamed. But it was already too late. Nymphalis had set down her weapons and was walking blank-faced towards the demons.

Pyrgus hurled himself forward and struck her at an angle with his shoulder. The blow was so severe it took her off her feet and she fell heavily on the stony ground.

‘Sorry,’ Pyrgus murmured, but the move had the desired effect: Nymph rolled and sprang to her feet again, eyes clear.

And weaponless.

Woodfordi, eyes firmly fixed on the ground, was scrabbling for something in his kit and emerged with a coated short sword, one of the few effective weapons against a Goblin Guard. The blade writhed with military grade offensive spells. As it appeared, the female goblin stopped dead and closed her enormous eyes. Woodfordi began to groan.

‘What’s wrong?’ Pyrgus shouted.

‘CCs… particularly… particularly susceptible,’ Woodfordi gasped. ‘Even without… eye contact. Take… take the sword. Halek…’ He shook his head.

‘Nagel!’ Pyrgus howled, then remembered the Trinians were running away from the planned explosions. They were probably already out of earshot.

The four male goblins were closing in on Nymph. They had tiny pouting mouths and slits for noses, but there was a look of triumph on their faces. Woodfordi was pouring sweat now. The sword in his hand was turning towards his own throat.

‘Help me,’ he said weakly.

But it was Nymph Pyrgus ran to help. He met the goblins and stabbed the nearest with his Halek knife. The blade swept upwards between the creature’s ribs to pierce its heart.

The energy discharge was astonishing. Blue fire enveloped the goblin in a writhing aura so that its body jerked and twitched like a beached fish. For just the barest moment its eyes clouded, then it reached down, gripped the blade and snapped it with a single movement.

Pyrgus had no time for surprise. The backlash of pure energy lifted him off his feet and threw him backwards for several yards. He hit the ground with mind-numbing violence, but at least the pain convinced him he was still alive. Perhaps it was the discharge of energy into the goblin that had saved him. Whatever the reason, he was still in the fight.

Like a flock of birds, all five demons whirled to run towards him.

Woodfordi’s body straightened, but he was trembling so violently that he dropped his sword. Now Nymph was beside him.

‘Take it!’ Woodfordi gasped. ‘I can’t use -’

Nymph swooped on the sword and spun round in a single movement. Moving with that superhuman speed Pyrgus remembered so well from the time he’d fought her himself, she lashed out at the nearest goblin and severed its arm at the shoulder.

The creature set up a howling that issued not just from its mouth but from its mind. Woodfordi slapped his hands over his ears and sank to his knees. Pyrgus, who was climbing to his feet, jerked uncontrollably and staggered. His body felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. His own shoulder was on fire. Only Nymph seemed unaffected. She was still on her feet, still moving swiftly as she attacked the remaining demons.

But fast as she was, the demons were faster. One ran towards her and, to Pyrgus’s astonishment, jumped like an insect right over her head. The move clearly took Nymph by surprise as well, for she hesitated. The goblin landed, bounced and turned. The other four fanned out. To his horror, Pyrgus saw that the one with the missing arm was still on his feet, moving as a greenish ooze solidified to close up his wound. In an eye blink, Nymph was surrounded.

With no weapon now, Pyrgus picked up a rock and threw it at the nearest goblin. It struck the creature violently on the back of her hairless head, causing her to stagger. She turned to look accusingly at Pyrgus, who jerked his head to avoid the mesmerising eyes. It was obvious the goblin was more surprised than injured, but it was all the opportunity Nymph needed. She jumped to push the creature to one side and broke free from the circle. She still had Woodfordi’s sword.

Pyrgus had picked up another rock and was running towards the goblins now. Even the shattered Woodfordi had straightened up and seemed to be searching his kit for another weapon. Pyrgus was now beside Nymph, who seemed less pleased to see him than he’d have hoped.

‘Stay away!’ she hissed. ‘Your blade is broken.’

The goblin who lost the arm opened its lipless mouth to reveal needle teeth. The others produced short swords. The weapons had polished obsidian blades. The demons’ eyes focused on Nymph and they moved towards her in a single unit. She lashed out with her blade, but this time the goblins parried easily.

‘Nagel!’ Pyrgus shouted again in desperation.

Woodfordi tossed Pyrgus a military dagger then rolled something along the ground into the midst of the goblins. ‘Clear!’ he shouted urgently. ‘Run clear!’

Nymph swung away from the goblins, grabbed Pyrgus and hauled him away at a run. Woodfordi was running too. There was a curious clicking sound, then the familiar scent of raw spell craft. Pyrgus glanced over his shoulder in time to see the multicoloured flash. Vast quantities of smoke and dust rose up.

It was a self-limiting explosion, military magic designed for mass destruction at close range. There was no noise, no shock wave, no rolling blast. Pyrgus, Nymph and Woodfordi all stopped and turned to watch. The devastation was incredible. Where the demons had stood was a huge, blackened crater with wisps of smoke still rising towards the relentless sky.

‘Well done, Woodfordi!’ Pyrgus exclaimed admiringly.

Then, at the edge of the crater, a goblin head emerged, reddened by the dust of the desert but otherwise intact. It was the creature Nymph had injured, pulling itself up with its one remaining arm. Another head appeared, then another. The liquid eyes were filled with hate.

Beyond the crater, a second group of rocks was morphing into another Goblin Guard. Then another appeared and another. The wasteland was filled with the clack of lobster claws.

‘Good grief!’ Nymph exclaimed, eyes wide.

‘Run!’ Pyrgus shouted.

But Nymph failed to move. ‘Run where?’ she asked.

Pyrgus looked around him desperately. Behind them towered the Great Cliff, sheer, unclimbable, impassable. Before them Goblin Guards approached. Beyond them, more Guards morphed out of their disguises. The creatures were walking towards them with a terrifying, slow deliberation. This time there was no escape.

Pyrgus moved beyond all thought of consequence. He grabbed the arms of his two companions and, dragging them behind him, plunged into the nearest Hael portal.

A tightly knit three-man Goblin Guard was on their heels.