The Gobin King

The Goblin King

This story is a sequel to The Goblin Queen, a story I once posted on Literotica and then removed to publish as an ebook. If you're new to my writings then please be aware that I'm a part-time writer and I write for fun. My stories tend to be adventures for adults, with some sex and swearing where it fits in, along with danger, death, romance and a healthy suspension of disbelief. As for background for this story: both Amy and Cormac were once human and, after having eaten elf food in the abook Holly's Winter, Amy was transformed into an elf. I've written this with enough detail, hopefully, that readers don't have to read either The Goblin Queen or Holly's Winter to understand this story. Enjoy. 60 000+ words

Prologue

A storm was raging. The goblins stood in the shelter as the wind hurled itself at the large tent and made the unsecured fabric at the entrance crack like a slaver's whip. There were eight there to guard the portal, and it was an easy job well out of the way of any supervisor's cruel eye, for there was little evidence to suggest the enemies of Queen Zenophia would once again dare to pass through the portal and trespass onto her lands. The largest of the group, by the measure of his companions, sucked on the shared pipe a little too long. He growled in response to the complaints from the others, shutting them up because they were wary of another beating from their comrade in arms. The smallest in the group glanced at the pile of spears cast carelessly on the floor a short distance away and then reconsidered the idea that had crept into his mind.

The wind carried screams from afar. The guards believed the souls of the queen's victims wailed from within these storms; at least that is what they'd been told by their satyr masters who served as Zenophia's officers. The goblins didn't really care if the stories were true. Each felt that as long as he, personally, didn't suffer too much then everything was as it should be.

A goblin rider atop a racer - a two-legged lizard known for its speed and foul temper - pushed his way through the tent's opening, cursing as he did so and spitting dust out of his mouth and shaking the sand from his leather shirt and kilt. He ignored the complaints of the eight guards at the biting sand now swirling through the interior of the tent, then he dismounted and hooked a feed bag over his racer's face. This both blinded the creature to prevent it from getting up to mischief and provided it with some much-desired food. It waved its long-taloned hands around for a few seconds then settled down.

"News from the city," he announced, sending a hopeful look at the pipe. The larger goblin glared at him and took a long puff on the pipe to emphasize its current ownership. "Fane is leading an army to the portal. Queen Zenophia has sent word that we are soon to pass through. She wants blood and prisoners."

"Through that?" demanded one of the guards, pointing at the glowing ball that floated two metres off the ground and lit the interior of the tent. "No-one survives going through that! They've blocked it off on the other side!"

The messenger took a swig from his water skin and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "The queen says otherwise. You want to argue, you argue with her." He gave the sentry an evil grin. "I don't mind watching as they peel your skin away."

"How soon?" asked one of the other goblins and he scratched an itch concealed under his kilt.

"How should I know? Fane said to ride up here and make sure you idiots were still on duty and then await further orders." The messenger pointed a finger at the guard who'd asked the question. "I do what I'm told, and I don't ask questions."

For a short while there was no speech within the tent, though the fabric billowed in and out and the howling wind threatened to pull the tent from its moorings at any second. Each of them pondered the coming action.

"I suppose..." muttered one guard, "...I suppose they've got females on the other side of the portal. It's been a long time since I've been near a proper goblin woman. Maybe I'll grab me a wife."

Some others agreed with him.

"Word was," said the messenger, "there was an entire tribe on the other side, and even an elf. We could make out very nicely if they aren't expecting us. Imagine a couple of women for each of us."

"We can cook the elf..." suggested one of the guards with a chuckle.

The messenger took a step toward the guard and back-handed him. The other guards were stunned into silence that the newcomer would be so brazen and then laughed at their companion's misfortune.

"You think the queen wants you to be eating elves? You really think that?" the messenger shouted at the guards as the one he'd struck regained his feet and sulked. "If there's an elf on the other side of the portal it will be her, the one the queen wants to get. That's the one that held Queen Zenophia back. That's the one that cast that rat Grumach through the portal. And you should remember that he'd been given special powers by Queen Zenophia herself! Troll blood! Don't you idiots know anything?"

"So," asked the biggest of the guards, "we capture the ones we want and kill the rest?"

"We'll see what Fane's orders are, won't we?" replied the messenger. "Fane should be here in a day or so..." he looked over the guards for a few seconds, allowing tension to build, "...and the queen will be right behind him."

The messenger enjoyed the looks of fear that passed across the faces of the sentries. The largest of the goblins grudgingly passed the pipe to the newcomer just in case he was a favourite of Zenophia or her satyrs.

Chapter 1

Thrallin stood atop the small hill and estimated distances to the landmarks he could see with his keen, though aged, elven eyes. Holding up the Northern Ontario road map they'd permanently borrowed from a gas station, he now had the position of his expedition determined as best he could. He closed his eyes and concentrated, confident that no-one else in this group except he could sense the null zone, an area in the midst of the wild hills, rivers and ponds of this remote and rarely travelled landscape, one that tempted the mind to search elsewhere. Something made his mind slip as he pushed it forward in search of his lost friend, and his senses screamed at him that he had gone in the wrong direction and that there was nothing of interest within his view.

A chill breeze blew across this place, making the pines and deciduous trees whisper and bend. It, too, seemed to suggest the hills and waterways ahead were unwelcoming and uninteresting to any except the most masochistic of explorers. The elf's long grey hair briefly blew across his face. Winter was but a few weeks away from showing exactly how cold and snowy this area could become, and Thrallin intended to reach their destination and find Amy before that first winter storm struck.

"What's taking so long?" complained Zoe from several metres away. She sat further down the hill, hugging her chest and staring out at, what was to her, a place that no human or elf was foolish enough to wish to see. The other elves glanced at her knowingly then delved back into their own thoughts.

Thrallin cleared his throat and began to carefully refold the map. "We cannot travel by car, Zoe," he said patiently. "We would be noticed immediately and, at best, initially thought to be human children on a joyride." He strode down the hill to join the other three elves. "If you're feeling the cold then close your coat."

Zoe self-consciously did up the zipper on her winter coat, but refrained from putting the fur-lined hood up. The other elves just did not seem to feel the cold like she did, for the obvious reason that she had been born a human and it had been her eating of elf food that had changed her body and her life. "We need to find Amy," she said, with a small amount of petulance.

Lynnetton blew warm air into her hands then tucked them into the pockets of her own coat. She shuffled her booted feet. It was an attempt to mimic Zoe's actions, done not out of teasing or dislike but merely because it was her nature to copy the movements and actions of other women.

Pucklin nudged Zoe with his elbow. "We'll find her soon enough. Thrallin knows what he's doing."

"I know..." Zoe said the words but her tone carried the opposite meaning, "it's just that you guys take so long to do anything! We should have taken a helicopter and flown to where we were going."

"You know we can't do that..." Pucklin began.

"We're here, Zoe," stated Thrallin as he joined them. "Can none of you feel it?"

Lynnetton and Pucklin raised their chins as if straining to hear a distant noise. Zoe shrugged in obliviousness.

"Feel what, exactly?" she asked. "There's nothing here! We should be looking somewhere else!"

Thrallin put the map in one of his coat's pockets. "There's an indistinctness about this place, about this whole area...everything within sight. It's been concealed. We would not have sensed it from the air, nor from any distant human road."

Pucklin and Lynnetton glanced at each other and then shared a shrug. Thrallin was disappointed in the youths accompanying him and their lack of knowledge and sensitivity.

"What do they teach you now as you grow up?" he asked. "I can understand Zoe being out of tune with the world, she's only been an elf for four years, but Lynnetton, you're at least four hundred and Pucklin, you're far older. None of you can feel the difference in this area?"

"Goblins, you think?" asked Lynnetton. Her eyes gleamed for a split second.

Zoe stared at the rest of her party. "Goblins? I don't think I've met any goblins yet. Are they just like the stories?"

Thrallin waved his hand at the sun as it hung low in the reddening western sky. "We'll continue our search in the morning. This hill will be as good a place to camp as any." Something in the back of his mind was shouting at him to camp elsewhere; that there was nothing to be found on the ground upon which he stood. To him that was all the reason he needed to resist the urges to leave and to conduct a detailed exploration of this area as soon as the sun came up.

The group sat down and each pulled out some rations and began nibbling. Zoe hated it that no-one had bothered to answer her question. Elves could be very rude at times. "What about a campfire?" she asked as she plucked a small mushroom from the grass and lichen.

"We don't need one," responded Lynnetton. "Though, if you get too cold we could pull up some moss as a make-do blanket. There's also a few spots over there, on that neighbouring hill, where we could make a comfortable lean-to, if you desire one."

"I guess I'll be fine..."

"But, you did ask about goblins," responded Pucklin. "I've heard some human tales about goblins and I have to say they're pretty close to the mark. They're ugly creatures about the same size as us, and they are part of the faerie world though they keep themselves isolated from the rest of us..."

Thrallin laid back and folded his hands behind his head. "I'm going to rest. Zoe, remember that Pucklin's tales will be coloured by his own personality and experiences. Just as humans vary considerably yet are all similar in many ways, you'll find that the faerie folk possess those qualities, too."

Lynnetton rose to her feet, found a comfortable spot on the ground a few metres away then curled up to rest, leaving only Pucklin and Zoe alert and fully awake.

"Well, all of you faerie keep to yourselves..." noted Zoe.

"We keep to ourselves but we all interact, all except goblins and some of the other fell beings who inhabit this world." Pucklin shifted until he was sitting right beside Zoe. "Goblins are often dirty and ugly beings, who frown on washing, polite conversation and sometimes even on clothing. They aren't civilized like you and I. They bar the thinning places in the world."

Zoe frowned. Then, she tossed her head making her golden hair fall to the shoulder away from Pucklin. She was beginning to feel frisky. Pucklin had coupled with her several times on their journey since they had left the North Pole. That had been some measure of entertainment while they had wandered about, following cold trails in their search for Amy. "Thinning places?"

He put his arm around her and pulled her a little closer. "There are places in the world where the barriers...the curtains...that separate this world, this plane, from others thin. Objects and beings can use these thinning places to pass from one realm to another."

"Oh, I see! You're talking about dimensions!"

"I don't think I am, Zoe." She frowned, then gave him a flirty smile. "So, the goblins find these places and prevent others from using them to travel from universe to universe," he explained further.

"Why do they do that?"

"The tales tell of the goblins wanting favours or treasures before they allow others to use the portals they've taken control over." He shrugged. "They're just being goblins. They're troublemakers by their very nature. They've fought wars against elves and other faerie over the years. They guard these thinning places and can become violent when they're not getting their own way."

"And you think they've captured Amy?" she asked. She had been worried that no-one had heard from Amy in some time, but had just figured her friend was exploring the world. She had not been overly concerned when Amy had first left the North Pole, and she had only begun to wonder where her friend might be when others had pointed out no-one had heard anything of Amy for over two years.

"It's likely. There are many stories of them kidnapping faeries and humans and holding them hostage, or just imprisoning them forever. There are darker stories about goblins sacrificing their prisoners to some weird goblin deity, or even eating their captives, though those stories are from very long ago."

"How horrible!" Zoe looked at Thrallin as the older elf lay completely immobile upon the ground. She thought of how useless the older elf had been in leading the search. "At least we have you here to protect us, Pucklin."

"Indeed...you do." He reached into his coat and withdrew a small dagger to show her. "I wasn't supposed to bring any weapons," he whispered while he drew closer to her, "but I thought it foolish not to wander the world without some means of defense."

Zoe recognized the building lust in Pucklin's eyes. Her own sexual arousal was being echoed in him, as it would be in all elves within close proximity of her. She had taken advantage of this effect to seduce as many of the male elves at the North Pole as she could, and a few of the prettier female elves, too. Lynnetton and her had been together once, though she had refrained from engaging with older elves like Thrallin for, what were to her, obvious reasons.

"Maybe we should move over to that hill over there..." she suggested.

"We won't be able to keep watch properly," he whispered as he stared into her eyes.

"Oh, fine," she said and then she leaned forward and kissed him. Her right hand slipped into his open jacket and then down his chest, over his stomach and then under his belt. He was firm and growing. As she played with him she felt his hands upon her, moving under the bottom of her jacket and lifting it above her pants. Without breaking their kiss, she felt him lift her bottom from the mossy ground and pull her pants and panties down to her shins.

"Let me get on all fours..." she gasped as she rolled over and kneeled.

Pucklin's hands grabbed her hips and pulled her back suddenly, forcing her behind against his groin. When he'd removed his own pants she had no idea, but his erection pushed against her folds, between her legs, where her own moistness had readied her. A second later and he was inside, thrusting with a wildness that she found satisfyingly passionate.

Elf sex had proven just as enjoyable as human sex, in her experience, and it had turned out that it was much easier to acquire when she wished. Her human life had seemed dull by comparison.

Chapter 2

Amy, with a towel wrapped around her and hair long red hair dripping cool water onto her shoulders and chest, strolled into the chieftain's bedroom and began sorting through the chest of her clothes. She hummed in contentment as she sought a goblin dress that would be appropriate for receiving visitors. None of them seemed quite fitting. The sound of a splash down the tunnel from which she had just come reminded her that Cormac would likely be quite happy to find her naked and in their bed once he finished his own bath.

"My king?" came a call from beyond a burlap and fur curtain that sealed off the royal quarters from the rest of the goblin caves. The voice had been gravelly and masculine, and very familiar to Amy.

"Come in, Brulek," she commanded. "Is Giska with you?" She gave up on her search, at least temporarily, and turned to face the couple as they entered.

Brulek was bare-chested and as large as Cormac, Amy's husband. One tusk on the goblin warrior's face projected above his upper lip, making him quite handsome by the opinions of the goblin women. Even Amy, being an elf, had just begun to really appreciate the standards of beauty among the goblins. Giska was a little shorter, as darkly green-skinned as her husband, and wore a dress of wool with a sunflower pattern on it. She carried a toddler that stared intently at everything and her belly was already swelling with another child on the way.

"Cormac's just finishing up in the bath," said Amy, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. "He's waiting for you, Brulek."

The goblin nodded to Amy and then strolled down the tunnel and out of sight.

"You already know, don't you?" asked Giska.

"Visitors." Amy nodded her head. "I told Cormac before you two arrived. Can you help me pick out an appropriate dress for the occasion? Something foreboding but not too cold?"

"How about your elf clothes and that black cloak?" suggested Giska. Her toddler desperately and suddenly wanted to be on her other side and she shifted him from one arm to the other.

"Why don't you just let him wander around and give yourself a break?" offered Amy. "You'd like to look around, wouldn't you, Horak?" The toddler bounced excitedly at Amy's suggestion.

"He's in the habit of thinking everything he touches becomes his and his alone, my queen. I'm keeping him within arm's reach at all times."

"Why the elf clothes? I haven't worn them since I first arrived her." She picked them out of the chest. They still were as green as spring grass and Giska's skin, and the leafy patterns across her torso would look fetching for guests who were not familiar enough to appreciate goblins styles, especially the styles that her goblins had adopted in the last year.

"Meerk informed Brulek that the visitors were elves." Amy noted the look of disgust that briefly crossed her friend's face, followed by the wary look at Amy that signaled a question as to whether Amy had been insulted.

"Elves? Damn!" Amy's own mood soured.

"Damn!" echoed the toddler.

Amy went sheepish. "Sorry, Giska. Elves mean trouble. Have they been overtly hostile?"

Giska shrugged. "They're elves."

"Cormac will be worried about what I'm thinking in this situation..." noted Amy. She had picked up her short elven dress and was eyeing it warily.

"Of course I'm concerned about what you're thinking, love!" announced Cormac as he entered the room, dripping water upon the floor as he walked toward her. He had not dried himself off before wrapping a towel about his waist. Brulek followed close behind his king.

"We should capture them and imprison them!" Amy blurted out.

Cormac froze and stared at her, though not entirely in surprise. "You're sure?"

"We guard the way," she responded.