Twisted Fate (Orc Destiny Volume I) (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) (13 page)

“A big sand giant or a big mountain giant?” the king asked,
his fingers drumming still upon each other. It was obvious the goblins were
smarter than he thought.

“”Big sand. More easy.”

“So the orcsie wants me to catch him a big sand giant…”

Again the king of the goblin city was quiet, his fingers
drumming a steady rhythm as his head rocked side to side. He was calculating,
though what he was calculating Gnak could not be certain. Perhaps he was
weighing risk against reward. Maybe he was thinking of ways to capture a giant.
All that mattered to Gnak was that the king was thinking about it and he was
not yet dead.

“What will you do with the giant?” the king then asked, his
eyes snapping back to Gnak.

“I go home. Take giant. Kill giant.”

“Hmm…” The king pondered. “You want me to catch a giant and
find a way for you to takes it home? How much more gold and silver and gems do
you have?”

Gnak put the meaning together and looked the king dead in
his beady eyes.

“More. Much more. Much, much more.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” the calculating goblin
replied.

“I come you, no fight. I trust you, no weapons. I offer you
help me or kill me, no matter. I give you trust, you not kill. You give me
trust, I give gold,” Gnak replied, repeating the word he now associated with
goblin wealth.”

“I’m assuming you have an idea how you want this done?” the
goblin king said with a wicked smile.”

“I have idea.”

“And how long do we have to do this?”

“Ten days. No more.”

Gnak watched as the king turned his gaze past him to one of
the goblins along the wall.

“Toktok, gather the troops and lots of rope. Have the boars
saddled and ready to ride in an hour.”

“Yes, king,” an answer issued from behind Gnak.

It was the confirmation he needed. The king was taking his
offer.

“OK, men, put down your weapons,” the king began. “Now, orcsie,
let’s hear that idea.”

It took the remainder of the day and part of the night for
Gnak and the goblin king to work out the details of what he wanted in exchange
for the location of the gold. The king issued order after order, calling for
tradesmen from his city and hammering out the details of their plan. Before
night had fallen a goblin party departed the city in search of a suitable
giant. They still had not returned, although the king assured him that they
knew the location of multiple giant lairs. As the night progressed, Gnak was
relieved of his armor as it was collected to be repaired and modified as
needed. By the middle of the night the agreement was struck and Gnak, feeling
familiar with the goblin after hours of speaking, was freed from the room to
wander the city as he wished. A decree was given to the people that he was
guest to the king, and should not be harmed. All was left for Gnak to do was
wander and wait to see just what the goblins produced. So that is what he did.

The remainder of the night passed with him walking the
narrow streets of the goblin city, taking in the sights. From time to time his
mind would wander to Jen, but he forced the thoughts from his mind. Though she
had taught him to think of the future, at present he needed to focus on the
here and now. Every goblin blacksmith in the city banged out a rhythm of
ringing clangs, a sound that carried on the wind and echoed off the walls of
the city. Smoke rose from hundreds upon hundreds of fires, raising into the sky
to be carried aloft by a slow but steady wind. Goblins were everywhere. They
wandered about the streets, atop the buildings, and everywhere in between. Two
goblins even rolled out of a building, their limbs in a tangle as they bashed
each other’s teeth out, blow after unforgiving blow. Then without warning a female
goblin stood over them issuing a scalding retort that had the pair clamoring to
their feet, grinning stupidly as they sought to please her. The whole place was
a surreal mystery.

How many goblins inhabited the small city? Gnak could not
help but wonder, as he strode down yet another street. He dared not estimate. They
never seemed to stay still long enough to get anything done, yet here was a
thriving city of them, filled to the brim. For hours Gnak wandered and watched
as the sky lightened yet again as another day claimed Thurr. The day brought
with it not only light, but a strange clamor among the goblins as well.

No sooner did the sun break the horizon than the goblins
began acting erratically, bounding up the streets shouting and hollering like
they had gone mad. It was many long minutes before he realized what it was that
was going on. Following the throngs of goblins who rushed the outer wall of the
city, Gnak was caught up in the crowd and followed along as he was led away. Upon
reaching the wall, the goblins spilled out of the city gate and beyond into the
desert. Gnak followed.

Stepping free of the piecemeal city wall, he turned and
witnessed as a great silhouette was backlit by the sun breaking free from the
horizon. A sand giant approached the city, running as fast as its legs would carry
it. Harassing it, and staying just out of reach, a great mass of roiling
goblins mounted upon domesticated boars led the giant towards the city. Gnak
swelled with hope. The goblins had come through for him.

Like the crowd of goblins gathered around him, he watched as
the goblins crashed and bounded through the sand, the immense giant trailing
behind them, a cloud of dust in their wake.

It took an hour for the goblins to lead the giant near
enough they were comfortable, but far enough he could not damage the city. Then
the goblins put on a show that Gnak could not believe.

Rushing this way and that, the mounted goblins paired up
with one another and began stretching long ropes out between the boars. As some
goblins stopped, to entice the giant to do the same, those with ropes ran their
mounts around and around the giant’s feet. So many goblins there were, that
boars running in opposite directions collided, sending goblins flying into the
air or rolling through the sand. The giant began stomping and kicking as best
he could, smashing the goblins and boars beneath his feet with spurts of blood
and bodily fluids. But still the goblins sought to bind it. Screams and cheers
issued from the crowd surrounding Gnak, but he watched on in silence. Goblins
ran amuck beneath the giant as boars darted here and there, the whole scene was
pandemonium. And then it wasn’t.

Gnak watched as the entire ploy was then brought to an end,
as the goblins all turned and rode out and away in all directions, seemingly
fleeing the giant. With them they pulled the ropes, and as they all pulled
together in all directions the giant leaned back precariously as the ropes
began to tighten. The crowd watching grew silent as they stood gazing with
unblinking eyes, but now it was time for Gnak to cheer. And he did. Loudly. The
goblins looked at him uncomfortably and slowly put more distance between
themselves and him.

Grinning, Gnak watched the giant topple over, the goblins
securing their lines to long poles being driven into the ground, before
swarming over the giant this way and that, again appearing to move in a chaotic
fashion. From no more than two hundred yards away, the Orc who stood among the
goblins watched as the small attackers finally relented more than an hour
later, climbing down from atop the giant’s still body, an apparent web of ropes
binding its every movement. Now came the hard part.

Seeing that the show was over, many goblins rushed out to
see the giant, or climb atop its face. Whatever made them happy. But Gnak
turned and walked back into the city and made his way back to the king’s home. There
he was welcome, and could check on progress made by the goblins on his behalf.

Day after long day passed, the goblins working ceaselessly
to fulfill his wishes. Over and over Gnak wandered about the city from
blacksmith to blacksmith, watching as they progressed. All day and night the
goblins worked to create the massive bindings that he sought. Painstakingly
they pumped the billows and heated the iron and pounded it again and again in
teams, to form it into hooks and rings and links, and all the while Gnak went
from one to the next and so on.

As segments were completed he went to the giant’s side and
watched them installed. Each piece was measured from the giant’s body and each
was made to be as precise as was possible to create a secure fit. Gnak would
watch as the pieces were clamped to and through the great giant, and he would
listen to its screams of protest. But he could not go on without rest. Catunga
approached, and he had to be physically prepared.

In a room offered to him by the goblin king, Gnak would rest
when his body required, though he rarely slept for long and did so at odd hours
when progress permitted. He ate what he wanted when he wanted, the king taking
care of his every need.

It was late the eighth day when they came to him with his
armor. The king’s own blacksmith had been working on it in private for days,
only sending his apprentices to measure Gnak with a merciless lack of shame. But
seeing the armor as they brought it to him, he decided the occasional groping
was likely worth the result.

The armor was now a wicked collection of twisted spikes and
blackened iron. Gone was the rust, and the entire surface had not only been re-formed
to fit him and then smoothed and polished. No, the goblins had gone further. The
entire surface of the black armor had been formed into the likeness of skulls
and bones, stacked here and intertwined there to create a metal tapestry of
death. The lines and detail work within the armor had been filled with a bright
silver metal, and the entire surface had been polished to a brilliant shine. Where
his helm had before been a plain cylindrical thing with horns that curved up
from either side, now the front had been reshaped into a wicked skull, the
visor making a mouth that seemed to roar, filled with pointed teeth and two
great tusks. It was a true Orc warrior’s armor and Gnak proudly accepted it and
began putting it on.

Minutes later, with the goblins’ help, Gnak slid his helm
over his head and peered out through it feeling more at home than ever. He was
meant to wear the armor. Still the goblins were not finished.

No sooner was he suited up in his armor than his blades were
brought into his chamber as well. Though they had neither been altered in shape
nor design, the blacksmith had heated the metal and blackened it to match his
armor. In the blades were etched two skulls sneering at each other. The first
was that of an Orc. The second was that of a goblin. Gnak accepted the blades
graciously, sliding them into two scabbards the goblins had built into the
backplate of his armor. If the past few days were any indication, Gnak knew the
Orcs could learn a good bit from goblins as well.

Moving and flexing, he strode out into the night to make his
rounds with the blacksmiths and see to their progress.

The ninth day came and the goblins sought him out, bringing
him to watch something they called a
coronation
. Following their lead,
he approached the secured form of the giant for what he guessed was the
hundredth time, give or take. Great bands of iron circled its four arms at
regular intervals from pits to wrists. The same on his legs. Around his neck
was another great circlet of iron, but he had seen all this already. But as he
admired the goblins’ handiwork, a cart issued forth from the city and turning,
it was led to their location. Out from the cart more than two dozen goblins
worked in unison to lift a giant iron crown.

Upon the crown hoops circled the band that rose in
progressively taller spikes towards the front. The most prominent spikes rose
up at least six feet, with a gap of two feet between them. Into the front of
the crown was a silver skull. One side of the device was split with the
workings of a clasp upon each half, and the other side was hinged. But that was
not the wicked part. Inside the hoop of the crown, where it would rest upon the
head, were spikes of iron, each two inches long all around the inner
circumference.

Placing the crown upon the giant, all the goblins worked to
position it in place before they began the process of closing the clasp. Some
of the small green and black striped men climbed atop the giant, pounding the
crown with hammers as others stomped upon it to drive the spikes into the flesh.
Others pried with bars of iron and twisted rope over and over as the two halves
of the clasp slowly came together. The giant screamed in pain, but secured as
such was unable to remove the offenders. Blood poured from the hundreds of
small wounds, but finally flesh and bone relented to the iron and the clasp was
closed before a red hot iron spike was brought and hammered into it, smashing
both ends wide so it could not be removed. Gnak did not know if the giant had
been a king to his kind before, but he certainly looked the part now.

Speaking briefly to those who installed his designs upon the
giant, he was assured that it would be completed the following day. Turning
back towards the city, Gnak strode in his black armor, passing yet another cart
on its way to the giant. This one was filled with thick chain in varying
lengths. Anticipation was beginning to set in, but Gnak did his best to remain
focused.

Day ten came, and with it Gnak found himself again speaking
to the king of the goblins. They discussed the purpose of the giant and Gnak
was truthful in his answer. Gnak was assured the giant was prepared and had
even been tested for flaws. So it was that Gnak found himself with another debt
to pay.

“Now I tell where gold,” Gnak told the king. “Go to mountains.
There path to other side. In path many,
many
dead. Dead have gold.”

“There are mountain giants in that pass,” replied the goblin
king.