63

  Rufi and Pug arrived back at the Pool Hall just as the storm reached its heaviest. The rain buffeted down on Valderia drowning the streets and bending the buildings, bowing them under the relentless downpour. They hadn't spoken much. After ascertaining that the Gnomes had treated Pug right, Rufi had fallen into a brooding silence. Rufi knew Pug was bursting with questions but the young Goblin was too anxious to start questioning him. Poor Pug. In the space of a couple of hours, he’d seen Rufi torture a Gnome Warlock, asking questions he couldn't even fathom, and then they were whisked away so Rufi could a face-to-face with the Yano, while Pug sat in a cold cell alone, expecting torture if not death, only for them both to leave completely unharmed a short time later. And he still felt he couldn’t question his Shoya.

  Rufi didn’t have time to explain to him. He wasn't even sure what he would say or how to explain this whole mess. The Yano told them they had less than two hours to hit the rebel Gnomes and in the middle of the night under a heavy storm, Rufi had no idea how he would gather the muscle necessary to get the job done. He wanted to go it alone. He didn’t want to drag his friends into his madness again, but there were at least two dozen rebel Gnomes and the Yano had only offered him half a dozen of his Triad. Rufi would need to find at least twenty more goblins just to make it a fair fight and that was assuming the Yano's information was correct.

  They stepped out of the cab and waded through ankle deep puddles back into the hall. It was completely empty as it had been the last few nights. The further Rufi’s name was dragged through the mud, the quieter the pool hall had become. Villains were great at riding a wave to its crest and then abandoning it before it washed out. Rufi kicked the door open and stomped in trying to hide how gingerly he was limping on his bad leg. The pain was nauseating, winding its way up his side to the back of his neck and deep into his skull. Every breath was an agonising experience. Chuch, Mikkel, and Pauli were the only creatures in the bar. A nearly empty bottle of spirit sat between, surrounded by thimble sized shot glasses.

  “Rufi! Where have you been?” Pauli said, jumping up as they entered.

  “Triads,” Rufi grunted, accepting a drink from Mikkel and downing it. Pug slopped in soaking wet behind him.

  “You took Pug with you!” Mikkel exclaimed. “Why would you take Pug to see the Triad?”

  “Why were you seeing the Triads?” Chuch growled.

  “I didn't go to see the Triad,” Rufi replied, taking another shot to try to dull the pain. “I went to go see that little Warlock fucker Shabaaz in the Foundries.”

  “Oh,” Pauli said, sitting down and pouring them all shots. “And what did he have to say?”

  “That this whole thing, all of it has been some Gnome political shitshow from back home,” Rufi said.

  “I could have told you that,” Chuch said.

  “It’s all about some rebel Gnomes,” Rufi said and then recounted his conversation with the Yano while the others sat shaking their heads and cursing under their breaths in Kittei. Once he had finished they sat there staring into their glasses.

  “Shit, now we’re doing wet work for the fucking Triad? Mikkel said. “Rufi, I’m down for business, but I don’t know about risking my neck so Yano can keep his fucking seat.”

  “It doesn't sound smart,” Pauli agreed. “What would your uncle say if he found out?”

  Chuch remained silent, his eyes narrowing to thin slits.

  “We don't have a choice," Rufi sighed, staring into his glass. “This is how we fix all of this. We kill the rebel Gnomes and we expose what they've been doing in the city. They take the heat for the Bad Batch, and all the shit that comes with it, and we fix the relationship between Green and the Gnomes. Then we get back to business.”

  “Business?” Mikkel snapped looking around at Rufi. “There is no business! I ain’t made a coin in days! People ain’t paying what they owe and nobody wants to sell us even a scrap of lettuce. Even our own don’t want anything to do with us! The business is done! We’re fucked!”

  “He's right, Ruf,” Pauli said. “Half our suppliers have taken deals off the table and most of our buyers are too scared to work with us.”

  Chuch slammed his glass down the table so hard it shattered, making Pug flinch. He swung his feet down from the chair they'd been on, placed both his hands on the table, and glared at Pauli and Mikkel.

  “Business? Gold? They tried to kill Shoya!” he growled the words with so much venom they felt like a physical slap across the face. “They tried to kill Rufi more than once! Fuck business! Fuck gold! This is blood! And blood only washes blood, you understand?” Chuch stared daggers at Mikkel. “If your scales are too soft for it, you can sit here and count your fucking coins like a plump little HobGoblin. But there ain’t a fucking creature alive that tries to kill one of ours and gets to breathes on these cobbles!”

  “Don't give me that shit, Chuch!” Mikkel stabbed his finger in Chuch's direction. “Just because you got a death wish don’t mean the rest of us are cowards because we wanna think before we go charging off to face fuck knows who or what or how many of them. I got kids to think about!”

  “Fuck your kids!” Chuch snarled.

  Mikkel leapt to his feet, the table flipping over between them. Chuch was only half a second behind him and Rufi half a second behind him. He threw himself between the two Goblins. He knew that Mikkel wasn’t suicidal enough to have a pop at Chuch but such an insult couldn't go unanswered.

  “You’re out of line there Chuch,” Rufi said, placing a hand on Mikkel's chest.

  Chuch and Mikkle stared each other down. Chuch’s yellow, bloodshot eyes, were maddeningly wide.

  “Chuch,” Rufi warned.

  Chuch made a low growling sound in the back of his throat. He visibly fought to control himself. He had unfurled, growing like a King Cobra flaring its hood and now he slowly deflated. He closed his eyes for a moment and stretched his taut neck until it clicked and then he relented. He held up a hand in an apologetic gesture. That was as much of an apology as Chuch would ever give. Mikkel eyed him for a second longer before bending down and picking up his chair and sitting back down. Pug righted the table and picked up the bottle which thankfully hadn't smashed and poured another round of drinks.

  “Mik, I understand what I’m asking is too much,” Rufi said, sitting down himself. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s all too fucking much. I’ve dragged all of you into this bullshit and it was all my own doing. I shouldn’t be asking you to help me clean it up.”

  “You ain’t gotta ask me nothing,” Chuch said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Of course he doesn’t,” Pauli said, patting Rufi’s arm and shooting a glacial look at Chuch. “We just have to do this properly, Ruf.”

  “It's not like I’m gonna let you go there alone,” Mikkel muttered, looking into his glass.

  “We’re with you Shoya,” Pug said.

  “Shut up, Pug!” Chuch snapped.

  “No,” Rufi said sternly. “Pug has the right to speak in this circle. He had the choice to leave when the Triad snatched me up and he came with me. He was ready to fight.” Rufi patted Pug on the shoulder, and the young Goblin practically beamed with pride. “But Pug, you don’t have to come on this one. This is serious work. All of us might not make it back. IT would be better if you sat this one out.”

  “No way!” Pug said. “I'm coming with you Shoya.”

  “Pug…” Rufi said.

  “Being loyal is easy until it’s not,” Pug said, jutting his chin out defiantly and Chuch chuckled quietly. “We’re brothers.”

  Rufi patted him on the back and then Chuch pulled a chair to the circle for the young Goblin next to him. Pug hesitated and then sat down next to Chuch, who tousled his hair and grinned proudly at him.

  “We gotta plan this properly,” Pauli said, trying to get them back on topic. “We'll need a couple days at least to get muscle together, and the weapons, and then scope the place out…”

  “We go in two hours," Rufi said, cutting him off. “Yano's information won’t be good for long. He's given us half a dozen Triad and we gotta take whatever else we get between us.”

  “Two hours?” Pug said in disbelief, “It’s the middle of the night and there’s a thunderstorm out there. Who can we get in two hours?

  “Well more like one hour. We need to get across town to the Landlord’s side of the river.”

  “Oh great, so not only are we going behind The Jung’s back but we're also stepping on the Landlord's toes?” Mikkel said sourly. “I’ll give it to you Rufi, when you try and get yourself killed you sure did go hard at it.”

  Rufi grinned and looked at Chuch.

  “There's a lot of them,” he said to him.

  “How many?”

  “At least two dozen.”

  “Yeah?” Chuch grinned wolfishly showing too many teeth. “We can get a couple boys together at least,” he said, nodding his head. “Pug, go down to Cindy's Tavern. Graco should be there. Whoever she’s got with her, tell ‘em to drag themselves here on the double and come heavy.”

  Pug nodded and then stood up and shot away. Rufi looked round at them and sighed.

  “Either way boys, this all ends tonight I promise. No more Triad, no more Bad Batch, no more Kings, and no more sneaking around. We do this tonight, we do it properly, we put things right, and we get back to business. I promise.”

  “We’ll see,” Mikkel said, pouring them fresh drinks and holding his up. “Let’s go kill some fucking Gnomes.”

  Rufi grinned. They touched glasses and downed their drinks and he quietly hoped that he wasn’t about to get any of his friends killed.

  Within an hour Graco and her pack arrived and they were only halfway pissed. They'd come heavy and armed, baying for blood ready to go and commit violence for no reason that they could discern. They were just happy to make themselves useful to Sam’Sun Chaw’Drak’s nephew and Chuch. Graco was a warrior maiden who was a bit long in the tusk to still be described as a maiden. She had wild orange hair and light green and yellow scales. She had long been a fixture among the Kith of Valderia, but owing to her advancing age, her proclivity to be drunk anytime she awake, and her general dimwittedness, she had never really risen above common thug. That was good for Rufi, a thug with experience was exactly what he needed right now.

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  Rufi, with ample help from Pauli, had managed to get himself into his black outfit once again. He clipped on a heavy mesh tunic underneath and then strapped on a thick breastplate and backplate to defend against the rapiers of the Gnomes. With that came leg guards, shin guards, and forearm guards. Gnomes were tricky fighters as they didn't always stab to kill, especially against opponents as big as Goblins. They were just as likely to try and stab anything that they could reach in hopes of laming an opponent or finding an artery. As many who warred with Gnomes over the generations had learned, fighting enemies less than half your size was actually more difficult than it sounded. Especially when those enemies came armed with potentially poisoned rapiers. Rufi chose a simple scimitar and hatchet combo, arming himself with as many throwing daggers as he could clip-on and a few special surprises that he had left.

  Pauli looked particularly comical in his heavy iron breastplate and an axe that was almost as tall as he was. But Rufi knew that what Pauli lacked in height he made up for in brute strength and he could easily cleave a Gnome in half with that axe. Mikkel had chosen to arm himself with as many one shot crossbows as possible. They dangled from his body and he was covered with arrows and quivers secreted all around him. Mikkel wasn’t a warrior like Rufi and Chuch. He didn’t relish the thought of combat but he was a crack shot with a crossbow. When it came to combat, business, or women, Mikkle always made damn sure that he had every advantage possible. They had to scrounge around to find armour for Pug being that he was short but not as broad as Pauli. Rufi had promised him that after tonight he would get him actual fitted armour, but for now he had to make do with cobbled together bits of iron taped to his body and two short broadswords that Rufi had found stashed in the back of his closet. Chuch on the other hand chose to remain light and lithe. He wore a thin mesh tunic that went to just over mid thigh. The mesh would protect from most slashes but wouldn't turn away a full-blooded thrust from a rapier. But what his armour lacked in sheer stopping power, it made up for with speed and movement. He had a hatchet and a scimitar similar to Rufi's but his blade was longer and thinner, with a whippy design that could behead from a distance of at least four feet. He also had a heavy crossbow strapped to his back, a quiver at his hip, and metal guards on his tuks making them razor-sharp and able to punch through armour.

  Graco’s boys came similarly armed and armoured. There were only seven of them which meant, plus Rufi’s circle, he would have twelve goblins and six Triads meaning that even if Yano's information was accurate they would still be outnumbered.

  “Right, you boys know the mission?” Chuch growled at Graco’s boys..

  “Yeah!” Graco snarled in return. She was a thick, meat headed Goblin that was all shoulders, no neck, and a face like a frying pan. “ We’re ready to kill some little Gnome fuckers!”

  Graco's boys snarled and rattled their weapons, the bloodlust already building in them.

  “This ain't gonna be easy,” Rufi said to them as he walked into the room. “The enemy don't know we’re coming but they outnumber us and we’re invading their stronghold. We’ve got little info about what's waiting us, and you all know Gnomes, they’re tricky fuckers with a lot of nasty surprises. We need to fight smart and we need to keep our heads. Graco you’re leading your boys and Chuch you’re leading ours. When we get there we’ll link up with the Triad.”

  “What?” Greco said, confused. “I thought we was killing Gnomes?”

  “Not Triad, these are other Gnomes,” Chuch said.

  “There’s other Gnomes?” Graco said, scratching her head. “Ain’t all the Gnomes in the Triad?”

  Chuch walked up to Graco staring her in the eyes.

  “That's too many questions,” he growled. “Follow orders and fall in line.”

  Graco nodded suddenly unsure of herself and she stepped back into the line with her men.

  “Right, listen up! We’re heading across the river,” Rufi barked. “I need you sharp, I need you listening, and I need you following orders. We need to position ourselves and get a better scope of the battlefield before we engage. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Shoya!” the amassed goblins barked in return.

  “Mission objective is to kill!” Rufi continued. “No prisoners, no mercy, we get in and clear the entire place. I want them surrounded and I want them taken out down to the last Gnome! Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Shoya!” they chorused more enthusiastically.

  “Then let’s go!” Rufi roared. “May you meet your ancestors bathed in the blood of your enemies!”

  *

  Rain buffeted the streets drowning the empty dockyards of Valderia. The river swirled and frothed with venomous energy. They had been given the exact location of the warehouse as they made their approach and now the Goblins were hunkered down on the banks of the River watching the warehouse for signs of life. Having followed these Gnomes back and forth across the city, Rufi got an idea of how they operated. They liked to work under the cover of absolute darkness and the rain would not deter them. However, the river was churning too hard for any boat to safely navigate. That meant there would be no escape this time.

  Chuch suddenly appeared next to Rufi, flitting across the darkened streets and then down the riverbank sliding in the mud and coming to a halt next to Rufi.

  “There’s definitely someone in there,” Chuch said, his voice a calm whisper. “They got the lights low and there’s no one in and out but I could definitely see some movement.”

  “Did you manage to get a count?” Rufi asked.

  “I saw half a dozen on guard but no idea how many are in there.”

  From across the street short dark shapes began forming, too diminutive to be Humans but not the right proportions to be children. Hands suddenly flew to weapons as the dozen Goblins turned peering through the darkness until Rufi held his hand up for them to be steady. Rufi stood up in a half crouch and waved his hand at the small shapes. They quickly covered the cobbles and made their way down the bank. They were dressed completely in black from head to toe, only the slits of their eyes were visible. These were the Gnome warriors the Yano had promised. Each one of them carried a rapier at their hip and another curved sword on their back and from the muffled jangling Rufi assumed there were quite a few other hidden weapons around their bodies.

  “Ruf’Gar?” The lead Gnome asked.

  He had a thick accent. Rufi guessed this one wasn't from the city and had been shipped in as special reinforcement from the Empire.

  Rufi nodded

  “Yano sent you?” he asked

  The Gnome paused and then nodded once.

  A second Gnome to his left spoke this time in perfect Forreste.

  “We have scoped out the warehouse." This Gnome had a higher pitched voice and Rufi guessed she was a female, but it was hard to tell under all the black robes. “We ascertained there's at least twenty three of the enemy inside.”

  Rufi nodded and the lead Gnome spoke in clipped Gnommish to his second while she nodded.

  “They are heavily armed,” the Gnome continued. “But they don't seem to be behaving in a way that suggests they suspect an attack is imminent. Knowing the rebels as we do, the warehouse is more than likely covered in traps.”

  Rufi thought back to his desperate battle with the scorpion monster and repressed a shudder.

  “We think their only means of escape will be a carriage they have ready for a quick exit and the boat at the back.”

  “No way anybody is making an escape on the river,” Chuch said from the darkness. “It’ll swallow ‘em whole.”

  “Then we can assume that their leaders will try to bolt using the horses. Other than that, the only escape would be by foot into the darkness,” the Gnome said.

  “We don't have enough men to surround the warehouse,” Rufi said. “We need to go in hard, cut off their escape, and wipe ‘em out in the warehouse.”

  The Gnome warrior translated Rufi’s words to her leader and he grunted and shook his head disapprovingly before giving her a terse response.

  “We will slip in silently,” The Gnome said to Rufi. “We know who needs to be killed. You Goblins wait outside and set up a perimeter to ensure no one escapes.”

  “No chance,” Rufi snorted. “I need these dead as bad as you do and I’m not having my men sitting with their thumbs up their arses while you sneak around playing assassin.”

  The Gnome narrowed her eyes at Rufi and then relayed what he had said to her leader who made a tutting noise.

  “We need to go in heavy and hard,” Rufi said firmly. “There's no way you can catch them off guard. We need to break them as quickly as possible and scatter them within the warehouse.” Rufi held up his hand as the Gnome tried to speak. “Your people might be good at killing in the darkness, but there’s nothing more destructive than a dozen red-blooded goblins in an enclosed space. We need your people to take out any guards and lookouts so they don't have any warning when we breach the gates.”

  The Gnome relayed Rufi's words to her leader again. The lead Gnome looked pensively at the warehouse before turning back and nodding. He said something back in the Gnommish tongue and their translator listened intently before looking at Rufi.

  “We will kill the guards and lookouts. Then we will unlock the gate for your Goblins and let you do what your people do best. We will leave a rear guard to cut off any trying to escape.”

  The lead Gnome spoke again.

  “None must leave here alive," she said emphatically to Rufi and he nodded.

  “We will get into position across the street and await your signal,” Rufi said.

  They nodded and then the Gnomes melted away into the darkness again.

  Rufi turned to the Goblins, made a fist, and then pointed down the street. A dozen Goblins suddenly moved in perfect unison. They formed an arrowhead with Rufi at the head and poured across the street, using the cover of buildings and darkness to line up just across the road from the warehouse. They hunkered down behind the natural break in the line of sight behind a wall and Rufi could just make out some guards watching over the wall in the heavy black cloaks he had seen the rebel Gnomes in previously. He took a couple of steadying breaths and motioned for Graco and Chuch to come to his side.

  “The Triad are going to take out the guards and lookouts, then open the gate for us.” Rufi said to them. “Once the gates open, we bust in full blood. Graco there's a horse and carriage to the left. Kill the horses if you can’t take the carriage out but don't waste any time on it.”

  Graco nodded in understanding.

  “The layout will be like any other dockside warehouse. It’ll have one main large door at the front. We smash through that and then we split in two. We’re outnumbered but we have the element of surprise. We take the left and right and we turn the centre into a killing field. We push the Gnomes into the centre of the room and our bowmen line up at the door and take them down. There could be multiple floors in there, you can never be too sure with these old warehouses. We need two Goblins up there making sure the Gnomes don't get to take pot shots down us. Chuch I want you on that. Clear the walkways and make sure there are no nasty surprises waiting to fall on our heads. Graco, I want you on the floor and a couple of your best by the door to make sure no one escapes. The Triad will come in through the back and cut off any escape to the river. We catch them in a pincer and then we butcher them, understand?”

  Graco and Chuch nodded. Rufi could see the eagerness in Graco's eyes. The Goblin was practically frothing with bloodlust, her breathing quick and sharp, desperate to get into the action. Chuch couldn't have been more opposite. He was icy calm and still, his eyes focused but loosely as if his mind had checked out and now he was in autopilot. He nodded his head once and then slunk away to relay Rufi’s orders.

  Rufi then signalled for Mikkel and Pauli.

  “We’re going in heavy and hard,” he said to Mikkle quickly. “I want you at the back of the pack. Keep Pug close and don’t let him get too involved.”

  Mikkel nodded and checked his equipment again, licking sweat from his top lip.

  “Pauli same goes for you. Stay clear of the middle of the action and keep Pug in sight. Understand me? I need you boys to come back from this, okay?”

  Pauli cracked his neck and gripped his axe handle tightly before nodding. There wasn’t much more to say at this point. Rufi knew Pauli wanted to tell him that this was a bad idea, that they should have had more time to plan, that they had no idea what they were walking into, that it was too rushed, and too basic of a plan, but they were here now and it wouldn't do any good for him to bring up

  “Be safe, Rufi.” Pauli said instead.

  “You just make sure you come out of there Shoya,” Mikkel said to him, clapping him on the shoulder.

  Rufi nodded trying to give them a confident grin. They made their way back to their positions and Rufi looked over at the warehouse.

  His body ached even just crouching like this. His ribs screamed in protest. He felt stiff and the cold rain was only making it worse. It had been only a few days since his life-and-death struggle with the Troll and his body felt like a loose bag of bone shards. Rufi gritted his teeth despite how it made his head throb and forced away those doubts, forced away the pain, and focused on the bloody task at hand.

  There was a flash of thunder. Suddenly the two patrolling Gnome hoods disappeared in the darkness. Rufi made a quick waving gesture at the collected Goblins, instructing them to silently ready up. Rufi felt his muscles tense. The blood suddenly surged through his body, the adrenaline washing away any apprehension or fear. This is what he was built for, this was warfare and no creature did it better than Goblins. There was a rolling crash of thunder, followed by another flash of lightning. Rufi saw the gate shift and begin to open. That was the signal! Rufi held up a fist and the Goblins leapt over the low wall and charged across the street.

  “Give ‘em blood and blades!” Rufi heard Graco scream behind him and suddenly the silent pack became a baying mob. The Goblins roared and snarled as they crossed the streets and burst through the gate.

  Rufi was first through. He kicked open the gate and then looked up just in time to see a crossbow bolt flying towards him. His eyes widened as he watched it home in on his heart…