Enji, Lord of the Goblins

Chapter XXV

Enji, Lord of the Goblins

Kasus stiffened. Slowly, he reached for the daggers on his coat’s inner lining. There were still people who wanted him dead, even though he had eliminated the majority of them. The sound of footsteps grew closer; whoever they were, they were either extremely confident or deliberately making excessive noise to announce their approach.

“Oi! Are you from Lord Enji’s group?”

Kasus recognized the man. He was the mercenary hired by the domain’s ex-lord, whom the king pardoned by Enji’s plea.

“May Gon guide you,” Kasus greeted the man; his hand still inside his coat.

“May your blade never rust. Speaking of blades, I’m a friend.” With both hands up, Simier gestured with his chin, letting Kasus know that he was aware of his hidden weapons.

“You’re Simier...” Kasus pulled his hand out of the coat. “...and there are other people with you.”

“Nothing escapes the keen senses of the crown’s ‘Swift Blade’.” Yes, four of my associates are over there.” Simier pointed with his chin again. “We found someone wearing the guild’s robes. She’s injured.”

“One of the five?”

“I suspect so. But that’s not all. We found two Tilek priests; they killed themselves with poison to avoid being captured alive.”

“Tileks!” That was worrying news. The Tilek Theocracy and Whitewall were not on friendly terms; their relations had soured two generations before, when Tilek’s spies were suspected of assassinating the king’s grandfather. The two kingdoms had a few skirmishes against each other on the frontier, but never escalated into a full war. “What are they doing here so far from the border?”

“Come with me. Whatever it is, it has something to do with the labyrinth. The mage shows wounds inflicted by a long, narrow blade, the same carried by those priests. I’m guessing they tried to silence her when she happened upon them.”

“This labyrinth doesn’t have any value.” Kasus frowned.

The two men arrived at a small clearing near the maze’s entrance: a warrior woman and a tall man stood guard. Kneeling next to someone lying on the ground was another woman, more a girl than a woman, and a young boy tended to the horses.

Kasus shot a cursory look at the two Tilek’s priest bodies, but his attention was on the injured young girl. “How is she?”

The mercenary mage girl replied, “We got to her in time; any longer, she may be talking to her ancestors.”

Kasus squatted to look at the girl on the ground. She had a distinctive brooch on her robe that placed her in the guild’s fire mage class—a high mage, not someone easily caught unaware and eliminated.

“How long have you been here?” Kasus rose and faced Simier.

“That long.” Simier pointed to the sky behind Helam to indicate how long the moon had moved. “We came because I wanted to be of use to Lord Enji and his friends, but they were already inside, and a few moments later, we discovered those.” He pointed to the assassin priests.

“We need to warn the kingdom.” Kasus looked at the girl. “And get her some help.”

“We sent a message bird to the domain lord’s mansion at Deepford. We don’t have birds trained to home in on the capital.”

“Even if you had sent one out, the Royal Guard needs to pull some troops from the outskirts because the current forces at the capital are required to maintain order.”

“Why did the kingdom have to rely on those kids to rescue the mages?” Simier inquired.

“The king had his hands tied; each of the nobles’ factions quarreled over who would foot the cost of sending rescuers to the labyrinth, and they kept dragging out the rescue. The guild washed their hands, stating that the lost mages had undertaken the maze training on their own, and that the guild didn’t have enough mages to spare for their rescue.”

“Bunch of idiots!”

“My Mistress was the one who wanted the kids to gain experience. The Grand Mage was not opposed. But if they had asked me, I would have said it was premature for their level of expertise. Kasus glanced toward the maze’s entrance, barely visible through the trees. “Let’s hope those kids are alright!”

***

“Are you fine?” Skia asked when Enji walked out of the temple

“Yeah. I feel nothing strange.”

“The heaviness disappeared when you took that.” Silma pointed to the book in Enji’s hand.

“I guess I broke the spell.” Enji smiled while scratching the back of his head.

“I’m going in.” Pol had buckled the belt with the rope around in waist and stepped inside the temple. He wandered around for a few moments and returned. “It seems safe now.”

“Just in case, don’t go in without taking precautions,” Skia ordered.

“How are they?” Enji asked after Silma began casting a healing spell on the mages.

“No apparent injuries. If I have to guess, I would venture that their magical strength has been depleted.”

“Worm, let me touch that grimoire!” Skia commanded. Enji handed it to her. After a few moments, she returned it. “I didn’t feel anything. Did something happen when you touched it?”

Did I really hear it? Enji didn’t want to lie, but telling them about what could have been only his imagination seemed premature. “I’m not sure.”

“Maybe Chief is now cursed,” Sol joked.

“Sol, don’t say that!” Nilsei reprimanded him.

“Quit the nonsense. We need to figure out how to get them out of this place.” Skia pointed to the mages. “Worm, any ideas?”

“Huh? Why ask me?” Enji tried to remember what he had seen in movies or anime. All that came to mind were modern conveniences, such as wheelbarrows and stretchers. He shook his head.

“Back on the farm, we use two long straight poles tied together on one end and a net across to support the load,” Nilsei explained. “We pulled them by the narrow ends. The other ends, which are spread apart, prevent the load from tilting and falling.

Yeah! That’s right. I read a manga in which the MC made an A-frame wheel-less barrow. It had a French name that sounded like ‘travis’ or ‘travos.’

“Can you make it?” Skia asked.

“We have plenty of wood. As for what to use for the webbing...”

“We can use their robes,” Popa suggested.

“Let’s get to it!” Skia was the first one to climb down the stairs.

***

After several hours of working, they had completed four travoises. It took longer than expected due to the hardness of the tree branches. To facilitate pulling, an additional branch was tied to the frame apex, allowing two persons—one on each side—to pull it. Counting the goblin, they amounted to eight people, two for each travois.

By Enji’s calculation, daybreak was almost upon them. After getting the mages in the stretchers, they sat to rest and ate the travel crackers before starting their way back. As for water, Pol’s magic let him conjure fresh water out of the air.

They were merrily talking when Popa’s ears perked up. Sol stood, and Oma let out a muted grunt.

“Several unknowns are approaching fast from those two paths,” Sol pointed out.

“Get the mages inside the temple! Sol, Pol, get your arrows ready!”

Skia stood at the front with the twins at her sides, while Nilsei, Silma, Popa, Oma, and Enji dragged the travoises into the temple. They finished just as the monster burst out of the pathways.

“Silma, start chanting! I don’t care if we burn the whole forest!” Skia moved back. Anyone could have done the same when confronted with the nightmare before them.

Hundreds of monsters, screeching and screaming, charged at them.

Enji wanted to scream and run, but neither his throat nor his legs cooperated. Some of the monsters were the tripods he had twice encountered. The others were something completely different. They were bipedal, humanoid in shape, but not human at all.

Their skin, black as charcoal, undulated and flowed as if it were molten lava.

“Shoot at the [gleths], leave the other to magic,” Skia commanded when the ineffectiveness of the arrows on the black monsters was made apparent.

Enji looked surprised at Oma, who now stood in front of him, hissing at the monsters with her knife ready.

Enji felt ashamed; she must have seen how afraid he was and had jumped up front to defend him.

Enji, with trembling knees, stepped to the entrance. He touched one of the stones in his arm brace. “Run Flame5! 0, 12, 1; 0, 10, 1; 0, 13, 1.” Every time he chanted a set of coordinates, he looked at a different group of monsters.

Flames burst, obliterating several monsters. Silma’s fireballs also burned many of them.

He needed something more powerful, with a broader area of effect. Silma would soon get tired, and his supply of crystal gemstones would dry up, too.

He glanced at his arm brace, expecting to see the spellstone cracked. It’s still intact. He chanted the same spell again, using the same stone and adding more locations. The gemstone survived.

Enji was afraid of setting too many fires; they would burn or suffocate if the fire ran out of control. Suffocate? If he could envelop each monster in a toxic gas or liquid, there would be no need for fire spells. Spreading too much gas, like a cloud or a curtain, would also affect them. “What are those black things called?” he shouted.

Several of his party members replied with ‘I don’t know’ or ‘It is an unknown monster.’

Oma was the one with an answer. “[Guja]! [Guja] kill Raaera!” Enji could see her hatred, terror, and sadness in her words.

“Load guja!” The command had no effect. “Peek guja!”

Enji saw a double image form around the monsters. I need to retain that. “Yes! I can save it to an array!” The ‘dim’ command was used in Basic to store values in an array.

“Peek guja0, print guja0.”

[5, 12, .75]

That was what he needed. Enji would ask for the location of each monster; the number would depend on how much memory the crystal provided, and by storing the coordinates in a ‘dim’ array, he could recall them within an executable program.

What he had in mind was to use cyanide gas. The formula was HCN; hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen.

Enji chanted the formula. Circles appeared around several of the black monsters, who immediately succumbed to the poisonous gas. As they were enveloped in the gas cloud, a few exploded in flames due to the gas’s high flammability.

Enji kept repeating the spell that targeted and killed ten monsters at a time. That was the limit of the spellstone memory.

The black monsters at the rear turned round and fled, leaving the few of their own that remained at the forefront together with the tripods.

When all the black monsters were eliminated, Enji changed the spell to target the tripods.

After a while, all that was left of the monsters were their inert bodies.

“Enji, that was wonderful. Your magic stones came really handy! Silma sat on the floor, tiredness visible on her face.

Enji looked at his spellstones. None had cracked, and it seems like they still retained the ‘sug’ in them. It’s like when I’m connected with Skia. Am I finally using the sug?

“I believe we should make a run for it now,” Skia proposed. “I know that Silma and Enji would be tired after using so much magic, but waiting any longer will diminish our chances of survival.”

Enji glanced at the exhausted Silma on the floor; he didn’t feel tired at all, even after casting so many spells. He looked up, the sky had turned blue without him noticing, so absorbed were they in the battle for survival. They had been in the labyrinth from dusk to past dawn. Fourteen hours, perhaps?

Skia was right; if they fled now, the monsters would still be too shocked to follow. It would be easier to defend in the narrow paths. The only downside was that the monsters could attack from two fronts, pinning them in between.

“I wish we could take one of those.” Sol kicked the leg of one of the black monsters.

“Why?” Enji enquired.

“It seems like a new type. The guild will want one to study it.”

Enji stared at the dead monster. “As long as it is for identification, I can provide a means.” He pulled his smartphone from his pants pocket and snapped a few pictures of the Gujas and the Gleths.

“Alright, everyone, let’s get moving! Silma, pair with me. I will carry most of the load, while you recuperate.”

“Yes!”

Enji ended up paired with the goblin woman in pulling the travois with a mage. She proved to be much stronger than her small stature suggested. Am I the only weak one here?

***

“People are coming,” Kasus said, rising from the log he was sitting on.

“It was sooner than I expected.” Simier looked in the direction Kasus had pointed.

A few minutes later, a caravan of several carts and horses arrived at where they stood.

“You are Simier?” a burly wolf-eared man asked. “Lady Aslei sent us as soon as she received the message.”

After greetings and introductions, the newcomers set camp at the labyrinth entrance.

The wolf-eared man, who identified himself as Gamo, the expedition’s leader, was brought up to date on what the mercenaries had discovered.

“We have two excellent healers who will take care of the mage girl,” Gamo said. He called for the healers, who immediately took the girl to one of the carts.

“Do you think there could be more of the Tileks?” Gamo asked.

“I suspect those two were their lookouts for another group inside the labyrinth. I don’t know the motives behind their presence,” Kasus replied. “My only concern is the kids who ventured in there.”

“Soon, we shall receive additional reinforcements.”

“May I ask who else is coming? You told us that your group was the only one sent from Deepford. If Whitewall had sent people, they wouldn’t be here until the day after tomorrow.” Kasus furrowed his brow.

“They are not from the kingdom’s capital, at least they are not now. They are retired knights whom Lady Aslei had contracted and who reside at Deepford.”

“Knights?” Simier asked. “They usually retire at an old age. What would a bunch of old men be able to accomplish?” He glanced at Kasus, whose hair was white and whose face showed the passage of time. “No offence to you.”

Kasus only chuckled.

“Those knights used to be part of the ‘Red Lizard Force. They were the best of the best,” Gamo stated.

“Were they good?” Simier’s question was directed at Kasus.”

“They are the only people in history who have defeated a horde of graks only with swords and lances,” Kasus replied.

Simier stared at the two men in front of him, astonished.

***

By the time Enji’s party reached the goblin village, two of the mages began to regain consciousness. One of them was the older male mage, and the other was the young girl. At first, they panicked, thinking that the monsters had captured them. When everything was explained to them, they were shocked by what they had always thought were monsters. After witnessing the behavior exhibited by the goblins, which was not unlike their own, they questioned many of the things they had learned.

While the goblin women fed the two mages, Enji sat to eat with the members of his party. “I’m about to ask for something that might cause problems for all of you if you agree.”

“What is it?” Skia asked.

“I want to save them! I am asking that all of you support me.”

All the party members looked at each other.

“I’m with you,” Silma was the first one to agree.

“Whatever my worm desires.”

“I’m at your service, my lord.”

“Enji Lo, I agree.

Pol and Sol agreed too.

“Alright, let me talk with the village chief.”

“All of you finish eating and get ready! Now we have two fewer people to carry.” Skia nodded in the direction of the two mages who were surrounded by a bunch of goblin kids. Skia glanced at Enji’s back as he walked away from them. “I’ll follow my worm to the end of the world,” Skia whispered to no one.

***

It was late afternoon when the party reached the entrance of the labyrinth. The people assembled outside were surprised; they were getting ready to go in to look for them.

Skia was the first to exit, followed by Silma.

Kasus, Simier, Gamo, and the knights’ captain, named Astakan, approached her.

“Are you alright?” Kasus asked.

“Yes. We rescued four of the five mages; there was no trace of the fifth one. I’m afraid she perished.”

“Don’t worry about her, she was found outside and she’s been taken care of,” Kasus informed.

At the moment, the rest of the party, the two mages who had woken, and the ones on stretchers began to march out.

“Where is the young lad?” Kasus asked when Enji had not come out.

“He should be here shortly.”

They didn’t wait long. Enji, accompanied by the entire goblin tribe, emerged from the labyrinth.

“Who is that boy?” the knights’ captain asked.

“That’s Enji, lord of the goblins!” Skia smiled.