Liars
2265 Words
None of their weapons can penetrate their tough skin, but they have the advantage because they can't climb up the stairs of wood and the sun is high. The trolls will turn into solid stones if they walk directly into the sunlight. It seems the goblins have forgotten about that little detail and so did the trolls. Trolls aren't the smartest beings either or maybe it's because of the same blind rage that sends the goblins towards the knights like waves.
The trolls try to advance, the light hits their skin and as expected they become solid stone in seconds. That shocks the goblins, waking them up from their bloodlust.
It's good that Leon and the others attacked at noon, with a clear sky, otherwise, the story would have been different.
"Push forward!" Leon commands and they move down the stairs, firmly, removing from the way the corpses of the fallen. The small beasts still think they can win because they are more than two hundred. They still try to overwhelm the knights, but Leon and his men resist.
In the chaos, Leon identifies the patriarch. They are two.
Big and muscular they are behind a group of older goblins. They are a bit smarter, a bit stronger, a bit more annoying. The thing is that they are in perfect formation for a beautiful... fireball.
"You can't win, humans, surrender, and we will give you a quick death," the goblin patriarch declares.
Leon hates the fact that these lesser beings can speak. It makes him want to crush them all under his heel.
Leon doesn't answer. He doesn't care about their pity or the reason why they exist. He only knows that they must be eradicated.
"Get ready, my lord!" Dominic warns from the top of the small tower he is on.
The goblins look at the wizard and then at Leon. In their red pupils, the holy knight can see their surprise. They fear magic and they do well.
"Stop, human! We are not the enemy! You will doom us all!" the goblin patriarch declares. All happens in an instant. Dominic shoots.
The ball hits the patriarch and devours him next to his fifty superior goblins and most of his army formed around him. They end up reduced to ashes and the explosion kills most of the others and sends body parts in all directions. It seems that Dominic added his two explosive rods to the attack, otherwise it wouldn't have been that powerful.
The goblins have died, but not all of them. The knights hunt and spend the rest of the day killing the survivors that can't escape. Many escape.
The count of deaths reaches five hundred goblins with two leaders. Three hundred goblins try to escape, but Dominic reduces them to at least fifty. The knight of the rose has succeeded in his mission.
The sunset is beautiful and after a few minutes more the day is gone. The night arrives, the mosquitoes, vampires, fly to get food.
The knights find three of the missing soldiers in a pit, under the troll's stalls. The men look pretty bad and there is something around them that makes Leon feel uncomfortable and threatened. It's something that he's forgotten, something very important.
We are not the enemy, the goblin leader had said.
They burn the corpses on the small fort and then they watch it burn as we return to the tunnels.
The next day both men look better and stronger. Together they walk through the tunnels, but instead of returning to the garrison, they spend the day searching for clues in the tunnel, clues about the fate of the other soldiers.
Their names are Ronald and Sergei, good-looking men, strong and smart. Blond and brunette, medium height, and brown eyes.
They say that they had fifty comrades, but Leon knew about it. His men leave him the talking part.
They find the equipment of the missing warrior in the cave, but there are no corpses. They assume they were eaten.
The unit abandons the tunnels when the night has fallen. They return to the same spot they used before and there they take a rest.
The next day Ronald and Sergei look even more strong and vigorous, unlike Sam and Paul who Victor sees as a bit paler and sleepy. They aren't like that.
"What's going on?" he asks them.
"Oh! We are fine, lord Leon," Paul says, he's sharpening a sword he found in the tunnel. Leon doesn't believe him, but Paul is not lying to him. Sam says something similar. They don't notice their change.
What is this? Leon thinks.
After three days the two survivors, well equipped in full plate armor now, are working as their guides through the mountains. They know the area, the roads, and the shortcuts, and that makes Leon wonder about the trick that those goblins used to outsmart these men. He quickly concludes that the goblins didn't use anything. They didn't outsmart the soldiers. Something else happened, something that it's still going on and he doesn't like at all.
"Be prepared for anything, I think that our guests are planning something," he tells his warriors, one by one, in secret. They have been with him since the beginning of their training in the capital, except for Paul. He is the new one.
They all have trained together, they know each other and that's why they are a great team. They are his friends and Leon trusts them.
They reach the small town, Coral, earlier than expected. The local magistrate who works as the governor of it receives them with seven men, armed with spears and wooden shields. Leon sees that the rest of the community is working, building what seems to be a trench and a wall around the town.
"Greetings, lord Leon," the magistrate begins. His name comes to Leon. Phillip has come with him.
"My lord," Phillip says.
"Greetings, magistrate Marco, Phillip," Leon answers. The magistrate is big, red-bearded, fat and old, at least sixty years old. He looks agitated, with sweat rolling down his bald head, and his nose and cheeks are red because of the cold weather Leon assumes, then he sees the blushed young lady next to him, nineteen he guesses. Her curly hair a little chaotic, her shirtwaist is new yet it has a couple of missing buttons, showing her generous attributes a little more than she should. She is agitated too. Leon can recognize the subtle humidity of sweating on her skin, but unlike the old man who seems about to fall unconscious, she looks radiant, beautiful and in her eyes, he recognizes a fire that he knows very well. Lust.
"Oh! Let me introduce you to Mary," he says. "She is the daughter of my dear friend Joe."
Mary? Leon smiles, thinking that it is a joke from the insane god that made all that disaster called Oria.
"Nice to meet you, lord Leon," she says. Her voice transmits sensuality. She's truly beautiful, but it doesn't affect him, it only reminds him that he needs to see his Maria pretty soon. Then he learns that the people of Lowry have moved there. They will live there from now on. After that, another group of people approaches, and Leon is introduced to the wife of the magistrate, the aunt of Mary.
This judge is banging his young niece. Leon thinks. Or is it the other way?
He sighs. He only needs his Maria. The rest of the twisted world could go to hell.
He begins explaining what they found in the tunnels and the goblin camp. He sees tears rolling in Mary's blue eyes. It seems her fiance was one of the victims, and yet she's been banging the magistrate all this time.
Who am I to judge? Leon thinks.
He continues with his tale and after he ends he leaves them to digest the news and goes straight to the house where Maria has been waiting for him since the day they left. He left her with Sarah and Phillip as bodyguards. Phillip has been supporting the magistrate, reinforcing the town. Leon bets he suggested the idea of the trench around it, and Sarah is probably with Maria.
Leon ignores all the people who salute him and show respect on his way to the house. They start muttering things, some are good and some others are not. Leon doesn't care about them.
"He's good, my child, he's a knight of Titania," the woman with her child in her arms says. Her words stab Leon like a knife because of the name. She mentioned her name.
"Titania…" Leon whispers as he keeps moving forward.
He feels that he's betraying someone, that he's betraying Titania. Her image appears in my mind.
How? Why? I'm just a being from the underworld. Why do I have memories of a goddess? Why does it feel like I need her more than I need living? He thinks.
"Titania…" Leon whispers. Someone stops him, Leon, and discovers himself looking at Paul. He has been walking while looking at the sky and has been about to fall four meters down the stairs of the main square.
"Sir? Is everything going well?" Paul asks.
Leon remains silent.
Who are these humans? Who do they think they are to speak to me? But who am I? Leon thinks.
He's so close, at one step of finding out the hidden truth. It's like opening an ajar door. He just needs to push a little, just a little and-
"Leon!" Maria lets out, excited, running toward him. Leon turns around and receives the happy girl who wraps her arms around him. She is just a mortal, just another woman with flaws and peculiarities, but he encloses her, delicately, lovingly, with all his strength, between his arms. His little precious treasure.
"I think I'm leaving," Paul adds.
"Bye Paul," Maria answers, Leon just makes a gesture with the hand, and the knight leaves them alone.
The gates of the truth in his mind get closed as he kisses Maria. And he kisses his woman desperately, then he lifts her in his arms and they enter the house, straight to the bedroom. Sarah is there.
"Maria you- my lord!" she lets out, but doesn't say anything else, she just leaves right after they enter and closes the door behind her.
Leon's armor quickly falls. It's not enough to protect him from Maria, and her armor is no more either. She is naked in front of him, and in the second so is him. Both naked, skin to skin.
An idea comes to his mind, the windows are open. He doesn't want anybody else to see his perfect little witch. He closes all the windows.
"You fool, I don't know where the matches are to turn on the candles," she complains.
"You don't need to turn on the candles," he tells her, his hands grabbing her. "Only turn ME on," he whispers, kissing her ear lobe.
"I like… to see… And you know it…" she replies, grabbing his manhood. She is in charge there… for the moment.
Leon snaps his fingers and the fireplace is ignited. Suddenly, the atmosphere has become pretty romantic.
She gasps for air as his hands advance over her soft skin, memorizing every little detail, every perfect and generous shape. His lips following his touch as her pretty hands caress his hair.
"Ahm… I missed you so much, my Leon…" she says.
"Me too… my love," he answers.
"Tell me more…" she says and he tells her more.
Their connection is strong, like no other.
Two words come to his mind, as Maria's tiny body convulses in pleasure, scratching his back with her sharp nails. He just keeps going on, adoring her centimeter by centimeter of her tender skin. Those two words are the name of the art that he is sharing with her, the art that his people used to get power now used to adore the creature he loves, the source of his life. Maria is his life.
It's dinner time when they finish and they end in the bath. She is very comfortable, sitting on his lap while he caresses her smooth, delicate and shiny skin.
I love this girl so much that it hurts. Leon thinks. "I love you," he tells her. She turns around and kisses him.
"I love you more," she responds.
After that, they don't eat, they just return to bed, to eat each other and they don't sleep until the next day. Sarah doesn't let anyone interrupt her lord and her lady.
And the next night Leon feels even stronger. This time he is confident he can use his magic even more. They join the others in the dining room and they have a delicious dinner together.
"How's that the goblins defeated you? I mean, look at us, we are less than fifty men and yet we defeated your enemies…" Leon asks the two survivors. Their skins have become paler than before, the movements seem more precise and elegant, and they are drinking very expensive wine. They said they weren't rich.
They look at each other before answering, and then they laugh. They say that it was a mistake from their captain.
Leon knows that it's a lie. He analyzed the tower, and the wooden walls, and the gates. Someone opened it for the goblins from inside, and someone taught them how to fight.
- Writer
