The Goblarian III

Gheehae disappeared into the rafters after his short speech to the children he saved with a giant spring and was out of the dungeon before he even gaged the children's reaction. He was back upon the tower in enough time for dawn to take hold. Sensing the human and goblin army approaching from leagues away while the Smiggs formed their ranks without his intended war-horn call, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Something was off. Something still didn't feel right. Not from the human army, the goblin thralls, or the Smigg forces either. The rescued children gave Gheehae a horrid feeling that a new wave of trepidation was coming, and they, the kids, were the key to its ending. A long period of wars, fighting, killing, and deceit were looming. This worried the ancient wizard as he knew the hardships it would take to stop this plague before it went out of control.

Sensing the approaching army within range, once again, he muttered a spell in the old Zubian tongue. And with one fast exhale, he thrust his hand forward and a great shimmering light leaped forth.

It exploded with thousands of dazzling flashes in an array of colors in front of the goblin conscripts positioned in front of the Majoran soldiers at the head of the march. Intense fear struck the goblins as the explosions of the bright flashing lights punished their ears. They closed their enormous ear flaps and fled away in terrified haste. The Majorans stood still, mesmerized with shock and wonder at the magnificent sight of the lights. Soon, as their army's enslaved thralls ran off, the commander called the troops to a halt and sounded the retreating horn.

The leading goblins made up a greater portion of the fighting force for Majoran on this day. They were to engage the Smiggs and keep them occupied in battle, long enough for the Majoran archers to shoot as many of the beasts as possible before finishing them with their cavalry. With the goblins now gone, there was no chance for a victory, and the Majoran general did what he loathed; withdrew.

As the Majoran army turned and began to march away from the battlefield, the Smiggs became stunned and disappointed of the idea of no fighting, calling the Majorans cowards while spitting on the ground. To pursue was not possible, as the Smiggs did not run and walked at a snail's pace to the point that even a marching army would be out of reach. Many of the beasts scuffled amongst themselves, cursing as they smashed their lucerne hammers on their allies' shields and heads.

Cursing at the Majorans, and cursing at each one another, the brutes began a battle that intensified between themselves. No sides were taken. Each of the monstrous maniacs acted alone trying to kill whoever was nearest. As sickening of a display as it was, it wasn't uncharacteristic for this to happen when the Smiggs appetite for warfare was at its highest point.

Gheehae stood mortified with the foul beasts' disapproval and disappointment of no war to be fought. It was loathsome to the ancient goblin that these monsters would tear their own kind into shreds simply because they wanted to fight. They had no sense of decency and didn't even hold respect and honor enough for their own kind.

Holding nothing but loathing for the heartless creatures, he gathered up the strength he had left and uncharacteristically released a giant fire shower upon the Smigg army. A spell of powerful and destructive magic he had used just once before to frighten away an assault from mercenaries on a simple village of farmers and peasants. And even in that incident, no one was killed.

Gheehae had vowed after the Zubians, the original settlers of the land, and a magical group of beings who held no malice for any were senselessly slaughtered, to never use his power to kill again. This lasted him for eons, and he was able to keep blood from spilling by his own hands while still helping the innocent. He had just faced Smiggs a couple of times in the past, yet never on this level. Their disgusting presence always worried him about releasing his destruction power, and it just happened.

The blazing storm was so large and powerful it even surprised Gheehae himself as he watched the screaming and burning fiends' blaze into ash. The feeling of such intense hate and reacting in this awful manner was not characteristic of Gheehae, and he wondered what made him display such power of annihilation even if it was Smiggs who were the target.

Weeks of living with the beasts, hearing the way in which they addressed their friends and family, and seeing them behave crudely and dishonorably in such a ghastly manner finally boiled Gheehae's blood beyond reason. Also, after considering the saved children's storied eyes which caused him to remember the years of callous attacks and murders of the monsters and recalling the Smiggs' slaughter of the peaceful and reverent Zubians, Gheehae's own life mentors and the teachers of his magical abilities, completely cooked his mind and washed away his patience.

As the Smiggs scurried while squawking in pain after their genocidal ways, cindering into simple ash; Gheehae leaped up into the mighty trees behind and almost missed the jump as his fatigued head spun with dizziness. Concealing himself in the branches, he wept ever so slightly. Gheehae killed no creature, no matter how ghastly they were, in over a hundred years. Now he slaughtered thousands with a few words after slaughtering two to save the captured humans. It was an unthinkably strange act for him since he never held much respect for humankind.

However, he felt an aura around the children and knew they mustn't be harmed for they had a great purpose for creature-kind one day. As the horrendous shrieks of suffering from the burning Smiggs in the field reigned out, his weakened body fell into a deep sleep, where dreadful nightmares awaited him.

When he awoke the next day, the fields smoldered in ash, and the children's presence he felt so keenly the day before had vanished. His pride was wounded and he knew what this all meant. The relatively peaceful existence of Zubyan had come to an end. New villains and new evil nemeses would rise. And a new way of life for all citizens would be had from here until an unknown date of the end of the brutality.