I pointed at the enemy soldiers with two fingers and waved my other hand over the back of them. The weave of magic coursed through my veins as a tower of fire came down on them. They screamed as they burned. I laughed joyfully. I felt power! I felt the power of magic!
The fire faded away. Most of the soldiers were dead. The living ones were badly burned and looked at me with a murderous glean in their eyes.
"Charge in!" said Kevyn. He led his own soldiers, sword and shield in hand, as the enemy soldiers stumbled and coughed. They hacked the survivors to pieces as I provided covering fire with simple cantrips.
"Let me try and understand you correctly, Tiffany," said Robin, rubbing her forehead as she paced around the table. "We all
know
the Empire is building up an army of eldritch soldiers. We
know
they're going to bore up below the Underground to get into our Haven. And you somehow believe our solution to this needs to be... following an old legend to find a mystical amulet that none of us have any reason to believe is real?"
"Yes," I said, putting my feet up on the table.
"By the gods, Tiffany, you are never going to change."
I smiled. The Council tittered.
We were a ragtag group of misfits, I must admit. We were the leaders of the city of Haven, the final group of rebels against that large and villainous Lucasian Empire. We were holed up in an old castle left to Robin's family, deep in the Sarlacian Mountains; those mountains were the only thing protecting us and the only reason the Lucasians couldn't find us.
"Tiffany has been right before," said Aaron. We'd been on many heists in our career, and he was the one who helped me recruit Kait - a sorcerer, like me, but one with the potential to be even greater. Kait was in the back of the room, nervously watching.
"So we have to defer to every insane plan she comes up with?" asked Robin incredulously.
I was delighted. I love Robin. This would not have been fun if I hadn't gotten some pushback from her. She's one of those people who needs to be reasonable. I push her to do things truly worth doing.
"What's your issue?" I said.
"It's a waste of time. We need to be building up our forces, not diverting our few resources to a fucking wild goose chase."
"I fully believe the Oracle. He has never led us wrong."
"These fucking prophecies! Ghost stories and dreams should drive us next?"
"These stories always have a grain of truth. I don't know precisely what the Amulet will bring us. But we have to move fast if we want to find out what it is. The Empire could be here in weeks."
Isabel laughed. "Your cockiness borders on hubris sometimes, Tiffany. Forever will it amuse me. Hells, I'll give you some support. If you win, we all win. If you lose, I get to say 'I told you so' at your funeral."
"None of us will have a funeral if we indulge this," said Robin. "We'll be bodies in a mass grave."
"You've said your peace," said Kait, quivering but brave. I was so proud of her. "Perhaps you ought to let others speak."
"Insolent child!" said Robin. "You're still the rookie of this group, and you expect to order about its leaders like that?"
"She's right," said Aaron. "You're overstepping yourself."
I loved it. Robin looked the fool. She had to allow dissent to save face, and she knew it. "Very well. Does anyone else want to support Tiffany on her suicidal plan through goblin territory?"
Fifteen of us rode through the plains. I was at the front, with Kait beside me.
"Many of us follow you, Tiffany," said Kait.
"You led the pack," I said to her. "My pride for you runs deep."
She blushed and went quiet. I enjoyed the sense of power I felt. I enjoyed that I was the most powerful being she knew.
We were in a bar. A band was playing music - a lute, a piano, and two fiddles. I downed a shot of whisky. The locals roared with joy.
"So many drinks in one little girl!" cried out one of them - a bald man with a big grey beard. His clothes were dirty and brown. Most of the men in here looked like him.
"Bah!" I said. "I am no mere little girl."
"You are thin!" he said. "You are beautiful! Where do you store the liquor you have put in yourself?"
"I simply have a strong constitution! More than any of you little pansies!"
"How amusing," said the bartender, cocking an eyebrow as he scrubbed a glass with a cloth.
"Tom!" said the bald man, turning to the bartender. "We shall have a drinking contest, this young lass and I!"
"Psst! Tiffany!" said Aaron. He pulled me aside. "What are you doing? This is no time to be getting into drinking contests!"
I leaned into his ear and whispered: "Oh, it's fine. You and I both know I have a sorceress's constitution. This local swill is close to water. I'll beat them all in a contest and be fine tomorrow."
My arms and knees felt sore. I felt as if I were falling through blackness. There was some fuzzy sound. No, two. One was deep and the other was high and reedy. They started clearing up. I felt like someone was holding the sides of my head.
"... I think she's a sorceress. So you'll want to be careful."
"What is sorceress? Is human word.
Hakka
."
The first voice sounded exasperated. "She has magic in her blood. It'll make her a good, tough ponygirl but she can also do magic."
"Magic? Eek!"
The world felt like it was fading into existence. I opened my eyes, and the world was blurry. There was a shapeless brown smudge standing next to a shapeless green smudge that was shaking.
"Calm down! As long as you keep a focus away from her, there's nothing she can do."
My vision cleared. I was lying on the ground. I realised I was lying on straw. The shapeless brown mass was the bartender's legs. The green was... a goblin? He was little and boney and green. He wore a loincloth. He had a big nose that filled half his face. I tried to move. That's when I realised my arms and legs were tied back. There was a gag around my mouth! I struggled to pull myself free.
"Boss!
Gritz ver dana!"
I looked around. There were goblins all around me! They were carrying little spears. Dread came over me.
"Alright, you've got what you wanted," said the bartender. "Give me my money and I'll go. She's your problem now."
"Yes, yes," said the goblin with his horrible little voice. He gave the bartender a sack of gold. I tried to yell through the gag. I wanted to say "Let me go, you little monsters!" But what actually came out was "Mmmm mmm mmm mmm!" I was enraged more than anything else. Who did they think they were? Who did they think
I
was?! I'm not some slave girl. I'm Tiffany, powerful sorceress and leader of a rebellion! As the bartender shuffled out, the Boss walked over to me.
"
Kree foan, Aynran!"
he said. The goblins around me moved. Two of them grabbed my left arm, two grabbed my right, and five seized my legs. The Boss pulled out a dagger. My gods, was he about to slit my throat?! He climbed up onto my legs - his dirty little feet climbing all over my nice clothes! His jagged nails digging into my body! - and started cutting the rope binding my arms and feet together. I shook as best as I could, trying to break free, but the goblins all over my body pinned me down. How were they so fucking heavy?
Snap! The rope was cut. The goblins held tight onto my limbs. I tried fighting them but they were impossibly strong. They held my arms and legs out straight by sitting on them. I wasn't strong enough to fight back!
I felt the Boss's dagger in my dress's neckhole. Was he going to kill me? RI-I-I-I-I-IP! Oh no! He was cutting my dress! I screamed, though of course it was muffled by the gag. I struggled, though of course I was crushed under goblins. I felt air hit my bare back. I felt my shoes being ripped off my feet. No! No! This wasn't right! I was furious. I was frightened. What were these goblins doing to me? Where were my friends?
What was happening?
The goblins started tearing at my clothes with their bare hands. By the gods, I was naked! My flesh exposed to the air! I felt one goblin sitting on my bare butt. It didn't feel real. It felt like some horrible dream. I deflated. I felt all my dignity float out of my body. I was humiliated and defeated.
