The Desperate Queen

Jack was thinking of how he could distract the two guards in charge of the entrance while keeping himself hidden. It was a difficult task and was taking him a moment to think.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the large door from the other side. While the two guards grabbed the door handles and slowly opened the passage, Jack crept closely toward the right of the swinging door. Jack saw a pair of goblin captains exiting the inner palace with an entourage of a dozen guards each.

They were speaking in goblin to their messaging crystals, making it impossible for Jack to understand. Either way, Jack stepped carefully through the gap between the captains and the guard holding the door open.

One of the captains turned around and faced Jack while he slid past. The captain took a few sniffs from its long, protruding nose as it stepped forward.

Not daring to speed up and make noise, Jack kept his pace and stepped further away from the goblin captain. Jack held his breath as he saw the captain extend its hand and grab hold of the guard holding the door open.

Unaware that the captain was telling the guard to take advantage of the outer palace's bathhouse to bathe more regularly, Jack steadied his nerves and made a left towards the dungeon stairs that Rydel had mentioned.

*****

"What do you mean, you won't help personally!?" shouted the goblin queen in Common, still hidden within the canopy of her throne.

Across from the canopied throne stood a towering figure with purple-blue skin. This troll was fatter than the one Jack saw exit the place, but its strength was obvious. Besides its loincloth, it wore a necklace made from the bones of various creatures. Looking carefully, one would notice that a couple of human bones were among those of wild beasts.

"I've already sent orders to both of the men I have available. You think I'm crazy enough to face hell's flames personally? I'll grab a few trophies before leaving this place and returning to my brethren. There, at least we won't worry about a Hell-flame Fox," stated the troll, declaring his fear of the many tales of Hell-flame foxes.

"We had an agreement! I built this place so that you and your brethren could live here without worry and this is how you repay me?" argued the queen.

"You may be powerful compared to your subjects, but you're barely my equal queenie," said the troll. "I'm ditching this hazard zone and I don't think you're capable of stopping me. Be grateful I offered the other two trolls as distractions so I could escape."

"And what about my people?" yelled the queen in anger.

"I don't know about your people, but I'm sure I could take care of you," said the troll with a twisted grin.

"Begone already, if you're betraying me now then just get out while you still can," yelled the queen in disgust.

"Fine, but you know us trolls can offer more protection than these pitiful goblin masses," persuaded the troll.

"Get out!"

Not daring to say more to the now livid goblin queen, the troll laughed as he turned and smashed his way through the closed doors of the main hall.

Busy worrying about other things, the queen ignored the trolls barbaric exit and took out a message crystal. "Split up, one of you go to the samurais and the other to the fox. If it's not as large as the legends say, maybe we're lucky and it's just a young one. If so, capture it and bring it to me."

"Yes, my queen. We will do as you commanded," two goblin captains responded at once.

Hoping that this crisis would be survivable the queen sat down on her throne. She leaned deeply into the back support, trying to sink away from the troubles her goblin city was facing. Then her head twitched and looked into the corner of the room, where it was the most shaded and the walls were blackened from the queen's outburst of anger towards her guards.

"You've come far for a human," said the queen, keeping her lullaby voice.

Stepping out of the dark corners, Rydel replied, "And you're pretty sharp for a goblin."

"What is it you want? That girl? The other humans?" asked the queen.

"For the most part, yeah that's what we want. But we'd prefer that this goblin city not be here. If we only took back the survivors, what happens when you and your people just keep capturing others?"

"That won't be happening any longer," answered the queen.

"Oh? And why's that?" asked Rydel.

"Because capturing you humans wasn't for the benefit of my people. I assume you heard my conversation with that oversized oaf, correct?" Rydel nodded and the queen continued, "We only began taking captives to get on the good side of the trolls, but you already know that we no longer have an agreement."

"And the Royal Court?"

The queen showed an intriguing smile. "What about them? Surely you wouldn't dare act against them, would you?"

"And what if I might?"

"Who are you with?" asked the queen, intrigued by Rydel's confidence.

"We're all with the association; those samurai, that girl, myself, and the other kid you tried to capture. You've already gotten us extremely mad from what you've done to us so far, and that doesn't even include what you've done previously."

"Well, I'm willing to overlook your invasion of my city and my palace if you're really with the association. We can part as acquaintances even." The queen kept her calm even though she had accidentally made enemies with the Adventurers Association. "Take the prisoners and leave, my city has a different crisis that we must face."

"Actually, that crisis isn't any different." Rydel's words caused the queen to shut up and listen carefully. "First off, I already know your big friend is on the way to claim a few trophies before he leaves. We can't have him taking any of those prisoners, especially that girl. If he takes that girl, I'm afraid you'd be invoking the wrath of the association."

"Why so? She's only lv. 13 and can't be worth the sacrifices to face the trolls and me," argued the queen, hoping that Rydel wasn't speaking the truth.

"To you, she's not worth it. But to our latest member, she's more than worth it."

"Latest member? Who is he?" asked the queen. She was hoping that this latest member had a recognizable name that would carry enough influence for her to stop the greedy troll.

"You've never heard of him, but you will soon enough. We got lucky and recruited a summoned hero, and he's unlike anything you've ever heard of, that I can guarantee," stated Rydel as he confidently stepped up towards the raised throne.

Hesitant to accept Rydel's words, the queen asked, "And what else are you saying? You said the crisis we face isn't any different from your threat, why?"

Rydel laughed as he approached the throne. "Because that Hell-flame Fox attacking your city is that same hero's beast companion."

Terror instantly invaded the queen's muscles, locking them up as she realized the weight of Rydel's statement. Facing the Adventurers Association directly was already like declaring suicide for her city and facing a Hell-flame Fox wasn't any different. If the Adventurers Association got their hands on a summoned hero, the association's strength would only grow as the hero grew.

The most frightening thing was if that same hero somehow got his hands on a Hell-flame Fox as a beast companion. If that statement were true, that hero would eventually become the most feared existence on the continent; only the Chaos Syndicate itself could fight for the title of being the most feared.

"Is what you say true?" There was a trace of fear in her voice as the queen asked the adventurer just outside of her canopy.

"Yes, in fact, he's the same boy you tried to capture along with the girl." Rydel chuckled as he ripped the canopy open, exposing the queen to the light of the many azure crystals within the main hall.

She swallowed some saliva as she realized she had already made enemies of such a potential threat. "Surely he's too weak to do anything right now. What's stopping us from killing that boy now?"

"That would be me, those samurai, and that same Hell-flame Fox destroying your city. And if you somehow managed to kill him despite our efforts, the association would act out revenge for destroying their member with the greatest potential. If you go that far, there's nowhere on this continent you could hide."

"Then what should I do next, what say you?" asked the queen.

"That depends, what outcome do you wish for your city to have?" clarified Rydel.

She thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I want my goblin city to remain intact and I want a guarantee that the association will bring us no further harm or investigation."

"Those are some high demands," replied Rydel. "That's going to be hard to guarantee without your cooperation."