Chapter Forty-One
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We glared at each other for several moments without speakin’. Johanson broke the silence first. “You look a mess, ogre.” He stuck his hand in a pocket and withdrew a handkerchief, soaked it with a canteen hangin’ off his horse’s tack, and threw it to me. “Keep it.”
An unexpected, gentlemanly act. I remembered the red flowin’ in the creek for twenty minutes, cleanin’ up after smackin’ Faeylin. Didn’t really appreciate havin’ that little memory in my head.
I wiped at my face. Not that it would accomplish much. Needed a soak in the creek.
“You take the better or the worse of it?” Johanson asked.
Faeylin’s, then the face of the goblin’s youngling, flashed through my mind. How long would it take to flush these memories?
“I was nearly back to camp when I realized what you did,” Johanson continued. “I guess I owe you my thanks.”
“Not here for that,” I answered.
“Guess not. I have to admit I’m also more than a bit impressed by the army you all put together. Funny how I always looked down on your little hamlet as— Well, never mind. Maybe you can keep your own lands safe after all.”
“Ya’ll leave then.”
“You are an ogre of few words. They’re stickin’ around, aren’t they?”
I nodded. “In the southland, where we offered to help them settle.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe they have any right to be anywhere in the Range. But—”
“Ya suppose yar ancestors ever killed durin’ the wars?” I asked.
“Yeah, but maybe we best not start a new debate.”
I took a deep breath. Recognized I groused, ready to battle the human. “Wise words.”
The human nodded slowly. “You can trade all you want with them, but suggest to them it would be unhealthy to travel north.”
“Ya don’t get it do ya?” I said, strugglin’ with a renewed sense of anger.
“We weren’t going to start a new debate.”
“Yar kind are more likely to settle too close to the goblins, than the other way around. Ya feel it would be fair for the goblins to cut their throats for the insult?”
The human tensed, opened his mouth to answer, but perhaps thought better. His eyes narrowed as he considered my statement. Couldn’t be too much a stretch to understand why the Black Lake community swelled. The newcomers came from the west, east, south, and north. All the races. To live together in peace.
“Regardless, I don’t speak for everyone north of your borders. Your problems may not be over.”
I laughed harshly. The deep rumble startled the human for a moment. The man needed to spend more time around the giant races. Had he ever met a daemon? Yes. No doubt durin’ the last peace negotiation, when the last pact replacin’ the Covenant was signed.
The goblin elder stepped forward. I had literally forgotten about him in the heat of the short conversation. The human’s head tilted back to look up into his face, so he prolly didn’t notice the goblin’s extended hand for a moment. When he did, he jerked. His face reddened. He slowly reached and took the bull’s hand. A handshake not bein’ a goblin custom, the elder just stood holdin’ the human’s hand. He looked down at me with a funny expression, as though to ask, “Is this ritual completed?”
I nodded, and the elder unwrapped his grip from around the human’s much smaller hand. They both quickly retrieved their mitts. Johanson cleared his throat, and turned even redder.
A dragon trumpet high above filtered through the forest canopy, and the other dragons carried it on. The three of us stood quietly for a full minute, listenin’ to the drama that was the dragons’ celebration.
“Tell that nosy young man, I forget his name, that I missed admiring his golden dragon. That should irritate him good. He’s most jealous of that queen.” Johanson grinned and the red washed from his face. “I missed debating with Ike as well. The lad needs to learn, a little like you—maybe it’s an ogre thing, that some words are just intended to— Well, never mind.”
I managed to stop the growl that threatened to emerge from my chest. I nodded and turned, glad I didn’t have to shake the human’s hand. The man’s past irritatin’. The goblin followed close at my side.
Weeks of dealin’ with the giant, and I didn’t know his name. That was a bit embarrassin’. But I’d just killed his eldest youngling. Prolly not the time to act overly friendly, and struggle through a difficult introduction.
The goblin was likely to lead his clan for decades to come. We’d have more opportunities to— On the other hand, I doubted he could ever embrace as a friend the bull who killed his offspring.
What was I thinkin’?
The sooner we parted company, the healthier the relationship would be between goblins and those of us from the Valley.
We cleared the trees and the dragons trumpeted again. The din made the head vibrate. Dragons landed in the valley, stood with extended wings and necks, continuin’ their ear-splittin’ song. The voice of three-hundred plus ogres linin’ the two ridges could just be heard under the bellow. I had never heard such a racket, could never have imagined it.
I looked for Ike in the crowd. The broad-shouldered, tall ogre wasn’t hard to find. Our eyes met, and I could swear the young ogre winked. Prolly imagination. Too far to see that. But would fit the bull’s character.
Time to get back to Delia, and heal.
The opposite tree line slowly filled with goblins, thankfully empty handed, their bows hangin’ from their backs. Remembered one of ’em still has my bow. Need to get Lucas to look for it. My eyes flitted across the breadth of goblins. They stood quietly, stoically. How much of that was due to the death of the elder son? How much was from fear, or at least disappointment for acceptin’ less than they might have had, at least hoped for?
I wanted to reassure the clan leader. One step at a time. Then again, I wasn’t the one best to do that. In the middle of the open field I did my best to tell the goblin goodbye. The bull looked at me blankly, but managed a nod, before continuin’ on to his people. I trotted toward Tir. I had to learn the status of the plague.
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