A Mercenary for the North

Continued adventures in Evengale.

They rolled past him like a boulder falling down a mountain. He wondered if they'd even seen him as he leaned against the walls of the tower, as to avoid the goblins now rolling down the towers spiral staircase. The two goblins rolling down the stairs hadn't noticed him, but the goblin running down after the other two had. The goblin let out a loud, "YEEEEK!". The man raised his sword ready to strike then the goblin feel to the floor on his knees. The goblin clasped his hands together and shook them at the man indicating that he wished for mercy. The man stared at him then lowered his sword. Just then a shout was heard at the bottom of the tower stairs, "Grent! Where are you? We need to get moving!". The man motioned to the goblin to respond, which he did by letting out a loud grunt. Presumably the only sound the goblin was capable of creating. The man then beckoned Grent to walk down the stairs in front of him. As Grent reached the bottom of the stairs one of the goblins said, "There you are Grent. You really need to lay off the food if it takes you that long to get down those stairs.". The goblin making the comments was going to continue insulting Grent until he saw the man with his sword trailing behind Grent. "I see you picked up a friend while you were messing around up there", said one of the goblins. Then the goblin who looked to be in charge of the group said, "Who are you and what do you want with us?". "My name is Dellren.", the man proclaimed. "I really don't want anything to do with you. I was merely looking for shelter last night when I saw you at the top of the tower.", stated Dellren. "Why didn't you just leave us be then?", said the goblin. "I am a mercenary. I have been hired to help the men in the north fight against their enemies and it looks like goblins have shifted their alliance against that of the north.", Dellren replied. The goblin smiled, "Ah, so you assumed we are like all the other goblins did you. Well surprise. We aren't. We are outcasts, failures, deserters. We left the goblin army when their alliance shifted. We don't want to be involved in pointless wars.", said the goblin. Dellren was surprised by what he had heard, but he didn't believe any of it. The goblin saw the look on his face and said, "My name is Jrent. Perhaps you've heard of me.". Dellren had heard stories of a goblin named Jrent, once the king of the Goblins he sought to maintain peace with man in order to work together so that both society's could strive. Jrent was removed from power by goblin merchants whose profits had taken a hit when he decreed that prices on common goods should be lowered so that all goblins could afford basic necessities. Drent said, "Here maybe this will persuade you of who I really am.". Drent pulled out dagger from his coat pocket and handed it to Dellren. The dagger was covered in a leather case with words engraved on it. It read, "Peace, prosperity, and advancement". Dellren knew this was the blade given to Jrent after he had signed the goblin-man treaty 20 years ago.

Author's Note

Let me know what you think of this chapter or the book as a whole.