66

  Pauli had woken up after a few sharp slaps from Chuch and then he was hauled to his feet. Together, the battered band of Goblins made their way to the back of the warehouse. One side of the warehouse was almost entirely engulfed in flames and there were no more sounds of battle, just a few dying shrieks and cries of wounded creatures punctuated by the odd clang of metal on metal. They picked their way through the bodies grabbing weapons as they went. Rufi was sure he was on the brink of unconsciousness either from blood loss, exhaustion, or just sheer terror. He doggedly put one foot in front of the other, his vision blurred and he stumbled. He felt Chuch slip under his arm, pulling him up to his feet while Mikkel took his other side. Supporting him together, they limped to the back of the warehouse where the rear doors were wide open.

  They stumbled out into the rain and saw two black clad Triad Gnomes dead on the dock and four rebel Gnomes hastily untying the boat that was docked there. The small escape vehicle was being battered and thrown around by the engorged river. The Gnomes saw the Goblins and sent up a warning cry. Four more Gnomes appeared, leaping down from the boat with their blades drawn. One of them seemed to be in charge. He rattled off commands in Gnommish and the Gnomes advanced on them with their rapiers drawn. The rain was pounding down making the dock slippery and visibility was even worse here than inside.

  The two groups met in a bloody clash.

  The Goblins, barely still on their feet, formed a tight pack, trying to prop each other up as they swung and slashed at the Gnomes in the darkness. Rufi was fighting with one eye at this point as one of his eyes had swollen shut without him realising. He slashed and stabbed anything that moved in front of him. He swung the long dagger he had taken off a dead Goblin, his other arm hanging uselessly at his side. He slashed down at a Gnome, missing wildly and chopping into the wood of the dock. The Gnome reared back, the tip of his rapier glinting in the firelight of the blazing warehouse. A sabre flashed, and took the Gnome’s arm off at the elbow. The creature cried out in surprise looking down at his missing limb, spraying blood across the Rufi’s face. Rufi lashed out with his dagger and stabbed the shocked creature through his mouth, cutting off his screams. He then turned to look at Chuch, whose sabre dripped in the Gnome’s blood, and gave him a breathless nod of thanks.

  The Gnomes kept pressing forward. They had superior numbers and on the tight, rain soaked dock, the battered Goblins were penned in. The Gnomes were forcing them back to the edge of the dock when Pug suddenly appeared in front of Rufi. He smashed drunkenly into the line of Gnomes swinging two short axes wildly at them. He screamed the entire time, unintelligible words of anger and fear. He hacked and cut at the Gnomes driving them back away from his friends. Mikkel lumbered wearily behind him and Pauli stumbled forward; he seemed barely conscious but still went after the enemy. Rufi looked and saw two Gnomes had boarded the ship. The boat was beginning to pull away from the dock.

  “They’re getting away!” Rufi screamed at Chuch, pointing his bloody dagger at the boat. He didn't know how but he knew that whoever was in that boat was the leader of the rebel Gnomes and that if they escaped this whole battle would have been for nought.

  “No they fuckin’ ain’t!” Chuch barked before grabbing Rufi under the arm.

  Together, they half stumbled and half ran towards the boat just as it was beginning to clear the dock. In desperation they leapt, throwing themselves at the boat. Rufi hit the side of the boat hard, driving the breath from himself. He scrambled to throw his one good leg over the side of the boat. It was so slippery and his body just wasn’t functioning correctly anymore. For a terrifying moment, he slipped, his numb leg dangling in the air, the cold river sucking at the flailing limb. Chuch had gotten his leg over the side of the boat and was clinging to the rigging with his free hand. He saw Rufi slip, cursed, and dropped his sabre into the frothing river, before grabbing Rufi and pulling him into the boat. They landed in a heap on the deck. The current took hold of the boat, sucking it into the swirling river and throwing it madly back and forth. The boat creaked and groaned as it was buffeted by the river.

  Two Gnomes melted out of the shadows on the far side of the boat. They wore heavy black hoods, and Rufi could see the twinkling of the blades in their hands. They flung off their dark cloaks to reveal two almost identical creatures with glinting golden eyes and tattoos down one side of their bald head and face. The two Gnomes crouched, perfectly poised on the rolling ship. Chuch was on his feet first and he helped Rufi up. The four combatants faced each other, the boat throwing them side to side as rain pounded down on them. It was difficult to keep their footing let alone fight for their lives.

  Flashes of lightning illuminated the battlefield. Between them, Chuch and Rufi had a single dagger, a dozen bleeding wounds, about five good limbs, and three working eyes.

  “Why do you do this Goblin?” The Gnome on the right shouted over the roaring water. He had a thick accent but his words were clear. “Why will you die for that scum Yano and his dog Emperor?”

  “Fuck Yano…” Rufi wheezed, clutching his broken ribs. “You think you can just come to my city and take over?”

  “We have done this a hundred times before,” the other Gnome said. “And we will do it a hundred more. You have no idea what you are interfering in!”

  “Gnommish fuckin’ politics!” Rufi snarled back at him. “Fuck Yano! Fuck the Emperor! Fuck the Gnommish Kingdom! Fuck the war! Fuck your politics! And most of all fuck you, fuck your red string, fuck your rebellion, and fuck the boat you come in on! This is Valderia and I’m gonna bury you under its soil!”

  The Gnomes blinked in unison and then as if on some unspoken command, the two Gnomes began to circle away from each other, separating the Goblins. Rufi and Chuch stayed together watching them carefully and trying to ride the undulating surface of the boat.

  “Here, take the blade.” Chuch muttered to Rufi offering him the handle of the dagger.

  “No,” Rufi said, shaking his head. “You’re better with a blade than me. Besides, I’m half lame at this point. You got more of a chance here.”

  “All the more reason you need the blade,” Chuch growled.

  Rufi shook his head.

  “I’ll keep mine busy until you can finish yours.”

  Chuch cursed in Kittei and then turned his back and set his jaw resolutely.

  He swivelled the dagger and raised it to chin height. He peered through the rain. One of the Gnomes slipped into the shadows. Chuch clench his jaw and blew rain from his flared nostrils. He scanned the dark deck trying to pick up the black clad Gnome. There was a flash of lightning and the Gnome appeared only a few feet from him. Chuch’s eyes widened as he saw a rapier tip coming straight for his throat. The gangly Goblin jerked his head back and slapped the thrust aside with the flat of his dagger. The boat lurched violently as a rolling wave crashed into its hull.

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  The Gnomes were quick and agile, managing to stay on their feet despite the chaos on the water. The boat juddered and Rufi’s weight was thrown onto his injured leg. The numb limb gave out immediately and he barreled into Chuch, knocking them both down. The Gnomes seized the opportunity. They leapt at the downed Goblins, stabbing at them with their rapiers. Chuch rolled with the motion of the boat and avoided the blade meant for him. Rufi was too disoriented and badly wounded to do anything other than turn and thrust his chest plate at the rapier, hoping it would be thick enough to protect him. Rufi’s gambit paid off. The point of the rapier scratched across his breast plate and caught the Gnome wielding it by surprise. Rufi grabbed him by the front of his black armour and slammed the Gnome down into the deck. Rufi brought his tusks down at the Gnome’s neck and then reared back sharply as a dagger slashed across the face. Rufi howled as blood filled his vision.

  Chuch had scrambled to his feet and was circling his opponent again. They thrust and slashed at one another. Chuch had the reach advantage and they were about equal speed, but the Gnome was fresh and able to keep his balance on the rolling deck far better than Chuch could. Thunder crashed above them. The Gnome ducked a sweeping horizontal swipe from Chuch and stabbed down at his legs. The rapier skewered Chuch through the calf. The Gnome was clever: he realised Chuch was wearing leg armour and had gone for his unprotected calf instead. Chuch snarled and grinned maniacally through the pain. He brought the dagger handle down on the Gnome, who was trying to extract his rapier from the Goblin’s calf, cracking him across the side of the head. They stumbled as the boat rolled under another vicious wave. The Gnome, dizzy from the blow, became disoriented as the boat rocked. He blinked and searched for his fallen rapier. Chuch appeared in a flash of lightning and stabbed at his guts with the dagger. The dagger screeched across the side of the Gnome’s armour and then bit into his abdomen. The blade became tangled in the Gnome’s chainmail, and before Chuch could ram it home, the Gnome produced a dagger of his own and thrust it at Chuch’s heart. The Goblin caught his wrist and the two combatants were locked in a desperate, bloody struggle.

  Rufi, bleeding badly from a bone deep cut on his cheek, staggered to his feet and charged his opponent. He had to stay on the attack, he knew that a protracted battle would only go in the little creature’s favour. The Gnome melted into the shadows of the boat. Lightning flashed just in time for Rufi to see a dagger flying towards him. He checked his hobbling gait and slipped on the deck, the blade whistling past his face. The boat listed dramatically, buying Rufi a few precious seconds as the Gnome clung to the balustrade to prevent being thrown into the churning waters of the river. The boat heaved and Rufi lost his footing. He slid across the rain soaked deck into the darkness.

  Rufi collected himself just in time to see the Gnome lunging down at him with a dagger. Rufi caught his wrist and punched up at him. The Gnome’s head whipped back and he slumped to the deck with a crunching thud. Rufi spun on to his good knee and brought down a hammer fist at the Gnome’s head that the little creature barely avoided. Rufi’s lame leg was badly hindering his ability to trap the Gnome and again his opponent escaped Rufi’s clumsy lunges. The Gnome was on his feet swiping at Rufi with a dagger he produced from nowhere. But it was no good, the blade was nowhere near long enough to keep Rufi back. Rufi kept lunging at the Gnome, taking a nasty cut on his arm and shoulder, but still closing the distance between them. The Gnome tried to go for Rufi’s throat, but Rufi guessed it was coming. He had already thrown the punch as the Gnome started lunging. His fist was the size of the Gnome’s head and he caught the creature square in the chest, sending him flying backwards into the side of the boat. The impact splintered wood.

  Rufi’s leg was completely lame now and his left arm hung uselessly at his side. His body hadn't recovered from fighting the Troll, let alone a second round with a Carrambus, and he was now running on nothing but pure adrenaline and bloodlust. He limped forward feeling blood cascading from his various wounds as darkness began to swallow the corners of his vision. He felt so weak. His good leg trembled and his breathing was sharp and arrhythmic. He could hear the strained, rattling sound of his breath over the howling storm. Blood pounded in his ears. But still he dragged his broken body forward, searching for the Gnome in the darkness.

  Chuch was much stronger than his opponent but he was beginning to tire and the Gnome was proving to be made of iron. They tussled and snarled at each other, trying to ram their blades into the other’s guts. Just as Chuch managed to find his footing and bring his full strength to bear, the Gnome kicked him in the inside of his knee, the joint buckling under Chuch. His hold finally broke but the Gnome’s dagger was twisted from his hand as the Goblin fell. The Gnome paused for only a moment before producing another smaller throwing dagger from somewhere. He sliced Chuch's flailing hand, cutting him to the wrist bone. Chuch’s dagger clattered to the deck in a pool of bright crimson. Chuch barely acknowledged the pain. He lashed out with the claws of his other hand and slashed the Gnome across the face. More blood splattered the deck. The rain was so heavy now that it washed away the blood as soon as it landed. The Gnome stumbled backwards, blinded momentarily. He produced two more daggers, trying to blink blood from his eyes. Just as his vision cleared, he felt Chuch's hand close around his throat. He felt himself being lifted into the air. The Gnome let out a strangled cry and raised his daggers ready to stab them down into Chuch's arm but never saw the vicious Goblins tasks coming towards his face. Chuch’s right tusk skewered the Gnome just under his cheekbone, up into his eye socket, and straight into his brain. There was a disgusting crunching of bone and a squirt of blood. The Gnome couldn’t even cry out. He gurgled, his body twitched and spasmed as he died almost instantly. Chuch wrenched his tusk free of the Gnome’s skull and then tossed the creature’s carcass overboard. Blood cascaded down his chin and onto his narrow chest. He took a deep lungful of air, spitting blood as he did, and then searched around for Rufi.

  The Gnome appeared from the darkness somehow so close to Rufi he should have been able to smell him. He stabbed with his recovered rapier and Rufi threw himself backwards to avoid it. He hit the deck hard enough to drive the wind from him. Rufi wheezed on the deck, sliding across the ship as another vicious wave hit it and sent him rolling down the deck. The Gnome sprinted towards Rufi. He leapt the final few feet and brought the rapier, point down, with both hands. Rufi punched out with his good arm and grabbed the Gnome’s wrist, stopping the rapier dead a few inches from his throat. They grunted and fought for dominance over the blade. In any other circumstance, Rufi would have thrown the diminutive Gnome from his body with ease. But blood loss, pain, and fatigue had robbed him of his strength. He was so dizzy and light headed he could barely make sense of what was happening. His body was moving on pure instinct. Blood covered his face and clogged his nose in his mouth. He gagged as the Gnome pressed down on his already broken ribs. His vision had narrowed to pinpricks of consciousness. He would surely be unconscious before long.

  “We will own Valderia before long, Goblin!” The Gnome snarled, pushing harder down on the rapier. “And you will have died for nothing!

  “This is my city!” Rufi croaked back at him, his voice weak and cracking.

  His vision was almost completely black now. He could only make out the vague silhouette of the Gnome. He fought desperately. His one working arm began to shake and collapse in on itself, the blade inching closer to his throat. No, he couldn’t die like this. Not now. Rufi kicked feebly with his one functioning leg but he couldn’t dislodge the Gnome. He could hear the creature’s heavy breathing, smell the liquor on his breath, the Gnome’s weight felt impossible to move. He was going to die. Out here on the seething torrent. Fighting Yano’s fucking battle. How could he have survived so much for his body to give up on him now.

  “No…” Rufi gasped feebily.

  “Die Goblin!”

  And then suddenly the Gnome was gone. Rufi blinked up and saw the dark shape of Chuch holding the Gnome up in the air with one arm. He wrenched the rapier from his hands, and then wrapped both his hands around the Gnome’s throat and squeezed so hard that Rufi heard the bones of the Gnome’s spine splinter.

  “You wanna killed one of mine! MY FUCKING BROTHER!” Chuch roared, blood splattering the Gnome’s face.

  The Gnome gargled weakly, his face turning blue, his little feet kicking. He twisted in Chuch’s hands and clawed at him. Chuch roared again and there was a sound like a bundle of dry sticks being stepped on. The Gnome’s head lolled at an unnatural angle and his body sagged lifelessly. Chuch dropped the creature and then fell to his hands and knees gasping for air. Rufi slowly crawled towards his old friend. His broken body twitched in agony. He reached out his good arm and Chuch helped him up. Together they kneeled on the deck leaning against one another dripping blood, rain pouring down on them, and together they let out a visceral, primal howl of victory that even their dead ancestors would acknowledge. They roared into the howling wind, drenched in the blood of their enemies.

  They were alive. They were victorious. They were Goblins!