He received mostly blank looks before they all rolled over to get some sleep, though Jimmy flashed a wry grin in appreciation of his joke.
The goblin raised an eyebrow at the odd exchange and then shrugged. “Sleep I will too. Watch I can take as well. Wake me.”
Chuck shook his head. “Nah, I got this. Enjoy your first night out of the clink. I slept on feathers last night.”
As snores began to rise from his companions one by one, Chuck sat and thought about the shinies the goblins had assured them they would receive. Patting the pouch of gemstones tucked inside his satchel, he thought that even if the promised reward turned out to be nothing more than mere trinkets, he’d be coming out of the deal pretty far ahead. Pretty far ahead indeed.
CHAPTER 24
The group rose with the sun the next morning, battered and bruised but optimistic for the first time since before Simon had been killed. Chuck had let them sleep through the night, and while he was a little groggy, it made a huge difference in everyone else’s outlook. They were eager to get a move on, so breakfast was short. They marched in silence until Stu, still limping, spoke.
“I owe you an apology, Chuck. I thought the worst of you, and I was wrong.” He lapsed back into silence.
After a time, the thief responded. “Nah, don’t sweat it. You had every right to think as you did. I sure would have if I were you.” His brow furrowed. “I’m not going to lie; it was a tough call. Part of me—I think the same part that made me hide before—kept trying to convince me to forget you and go make a life for myself. I’m glad I didn’t follow his advice.”
“Not nearly as much as we are,” Allison said, smiling.
“I know exactly what you mean, little guy,” replied Jimmy. “Back at the bandit camp I thought I was just caught up in the newness of everything. But back in the cell it was like there was another person trying to bust out of me. And bust some heads. As much as I like to be the big man who keeps an eye on everyone else, I’m not too sure I’m so happy about this change.”
“Well, from my perspective, it’s pretty sweet.” All heads turned toward TJ. “I mean, let’s face it, Galphalon is me, just more so. Bookish, not terribly athletic . . . I’ve even gained phenomenal cosmic powers, like a djinn, but without the downside of the itty-bitty living space à la Disney’s Aladdin. All the knowledge rolling around in my head right now? Not a bad deal, if you ask me.” Seeing the looks of surprise on his friends faces, he added, “Not that I want to stay here, of course. But it could be a lot worse.”
Eggelbert looked confused but held his tongue.
“Well, I don’t really feel any different,” said Allison as she trudged along. “Still just little old me. And I definitely don’t want to stay here.”
It took two more days of traveling to get to the goblins’ home. While Allison’s healing ability was great for closing wounds or mending broken bones, it didn’t help with aches and pains, much to everyone’s disappointment. They continued to limp along for most of the journey. It wasn’t until they had gotten all the way to Eggelbert’s town that everyone felt back to normal.
After a time, their path crossed a dirt road with wagon ruts worn into it, and they gratefully turned to follow this easier terrain. Allison reflected that it hadn’t been so long ago that their journey had started in much the same manner. As they rounded a bend in the road, the forest around them abruptly fell away, and a wooden palisade came into view at the base of some low mountains. Each of the logs that made up the wall was sharpened into a spike, and thin pennants flew at towers at regular intervals.
At this point Eggelbert stepped forward and said, “First I should be now, so known to my tribe we will be.”
When they got closer, it became clear that the logs in the palisade were actually fifty-foot tree trunks, and the pennants they had spied from afar were enormous banners.
“Wow,” TJ managed to say at the sight. Despite being constructed only of wood, the fortress was an architectural marvel.
“Someone built this with siege in mind,” added Jimmy with a nod. A span of a hundred yards had been clear-cut between the woods and the walls, giving the goblins a good field of vision for the catapults almost certainly hidden behind the walls. The cleared area had been planted with corn, which was ready to be harvested. Movement between the spikes indicated that there was a platform running along the top that would allow archers to fire from behind cover. “Given their neighbors, can’t say that I’m surprised.”
“Indeed, to survive, adapt we must, my people have found. The days of huts and caves and peace—gone they are. Instead, to the Bonecrushers, war and strife have come. From kobolds has it come. And from humans. From many. So adapt we have.” Eggelbert sounded resigned. Being almost two hundred years old, he could probably remember better times.
“So tell me,” Allison said as they approached the gate. “Why are you called the Bonecrushers? That doesn’t sound particularly peaceful. Sounds to me like we’ve got as much to fear from you as you do from us.”
Eggelbert giggled. “The Bonecrushers we are because soup we like, and the best soup stock from crushed bones comes, yes?” With a twinkle in his eye, he continued. “A good name for times like these it is too. No?”
Allison chuckled along with the rest of the group. “A very good name for times like these, I agree!”
A sentry upon the wall called out a challenge in the goblin’s vowel-heavy language, but when he saw Eggelbert was in the lead, the tone of his voice changed. The guard turned and shouted toward the interior of the palisade, waving his arms in excitement. After a few moments, the heavy wooden gate was raised from the inside.
As they passed through the portal, the goblin said, “As friends you come. Promise not to spy you must. Yes?”
Everyone nodded.
Once they were inside the palisade walls, the gate slowly closed, groaning as the ropes passed through a series of pulleys. The goblins had dug holes along the bottom and reinforced them with stone so that the logs acted like a portcullis on a human castle. Turning around, they could see a series of reinforcing beams that could be placed across the gate in case a ram was used against it. In all, it looked to be a solid structure.
Behind the wall was a town of considerable size. The streets were not cobbled, and the buildings were no more than a single story, but otherwise it looked very much like a human settlement. Businesses and craftsmen had signs hanging above their doorways advertising their wares. Laughing children chased chickens, never quite catching their elusive prey. Parents kept a watchful eye on their children as they went about their business—sweeping, or baking, or working at the forge.
“My home this is. Welcome you are,” Eggelbert said with a flourish.
Some of the guards seemed to know their guide, if not his mission, and they looked expectantly toward him for some sign. When he returned their inquisitive looks with a toothy grin and a nod, relief spread across their faces and they broke out into grins of their own. The information traveled quickly, and while children were shooed behind skirts at the sight of the humans, there were many happy faces looking toward Eggelbert as he walked down the street. He good-naturedly returned smiles to all he saw.
At the base of the mountainside were Greek-like pillars flanking an exquisitely carved tunnel entrance. Across the top were depictions of what appeared to be the goblin pantheon. Along the sides were much more terrestrial goblins engaged in farming and trades, as well as other tasks that hardly looked worthy of capturing in stone.
TJ said, “I recognize the gods Tahooah and Gahrauah, and their children, but the images over there”—he gestured to the sides—“are not familiar to me. I would have expected carvings of heroes defeating dragons and the like.”