Chapter 20: A Growing Threat

Chapter 20: A Growing Threat

As the new chieftain of the larger tribe, Grod immediately went on a rampage in every direction. He knew the meaning of neither caution nor restraint. Under his bloody leadership, it might have seemed to the surrounding tribes that the only thing that changed was the pace of the killing and the body count.

That was only true on the surface, though.

Everything had changed when the Gold Skulls had defeated and absorbed the Dog Eaters. That boost in size and capability gave their brutality a crucial new element it had never had before: speed. After so much fighting, the dog boys that rode their hounds were too few in number to turn the tide in any direct confrontation, but as scouts and messengers they were critical. They could also pick off, or at least distract, the most troublesome elements of other tribes, like archers and shamans.

Suddenly, his three war bands could be practically everywhere at once. Nowhere was safe anymore. Every prime watering hole and hunting ground became the exclusive property of the Golden Skulls, and any tribe that chose to test those boundaries quickly suffered for it.

Grod had been infected by the darkness. Not just by its strength and inhuman healing either by this point. The greed had infected him too. In time, that would make him an ineffective leader. The swamp knew that, but for now it was a perfect combination. He not only coveted everything of any value, but he had the strength to take it from whoever was keeping it from him.

Just like that, being a neighbor to the Gold Skulls became a death sentence as they expanded relentlessly, in almost all directions. Only the Burning Skulls were inexplicably spared after they’d been neutered so violently, and that minor miracle was all thanks to the guidance of the swamp. N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

Pieces that the goblins could never understand were slowly falling into place. It would need human help to capture the angry fire god of that tribe, who fascinated the Lich at the center of that dark whirlpool so much. The last thing it wanted was for his pet goblins to snuff it out before it could study the rival spirit. So they were left to suffer and lick their wounds in their few remaining warrens while Grod’s minions focused on the rest of the hinterlands.

They responded to that order with glee, cutting a wide swath across the hills with their nightly raids and wars. The blood soaked land felt almost as much like home now, as the swamp. Sped along by the constant death and the totems that its tribe put up obsessively now, the red clay and rocky outcroppings had become a place of power, and it would walk them at night, gazing off into the distance, always hungering for more.

After the Dog Eaters fell, the Sharp Spears lasted less than two weeks. It was almost anticlimactic. Even with their superior weapons, they simply had no answer to the Gold Skulls' unrelenting bloodlust. Their territory abutted the western hills, where the boulder fields gave way to scrubby trees that eventually became a primeval pine forest. That darkness was outside the swamp’s domain, but it would add to it eventually. From the towering pines in the west to the distant mountains in the north, it would allow nothing to exist beyond its reach.

Finally, one night at dinner, he relented. “Alright, lad - I hear you. I’ll fund your little expedition on two conditions.”

“Thank you, father,” Kelvun said sweetly. At this distance, the swamp was forced to watch the exchange through his father's eyes because of his weak hold on the boy, but it found it interesting that Lord Garvin could see none of his son’s vicious nature that was so obvious to the swamp.

Did that mean that the young viscount was an excellent actor, or merely that the father was oblivious? The swamp couldn’t say, but it was an interesting detail worth exploring more.

“You know those lands are infested with goblins, and while they may not be much in the daytime, when night falls they can swarm by the hundreds,” the Lord cautioned. “I’ll let you go, but only with two score of knights at your back, and your solemn word that you will return as soon as there is trouble.

The swamp took a sick pleasure in how far this man had fallen. There was a time, only a few years ago, when he’d thrown caution to the wind, only to have all his fearlessness and bravado smashed against the undead of the swamps. Now he was afraid of a few goblins. The irony was delicious, especially since he had every reason to be afraid, even if he was only jumping at shadows now.

“Of course father,” Kelvun lied smoothly enough that his father couldn’t see it, but the swamp knew who the boy’s true master was. “I want to expand our lands and help the kingdom grow. You and Leo are welcome to keep all the adventure to yourself.”

“One day you’ll learn that there’s more to life than books, son,” Lord Gavin laughed, even though the only part of the whole thing that was funny was the idea that none of it was true.

Kelvun’s eldest brother Leo the second might pretend to emulate his father during his glory days, but they were almost a decade behind him now. The man would never pick up a sword in anger again, and it was only because of his power that everyone around him continued to humor him.

Eventually plans were set and a few weeks later the boy started west along with a cook, a cartographer, two surveyors, three servants, four wagons, six teamsters, nine horses, and two dozen knights under his command. It was an extravagant, and ostensibly very safe expedition. After all, who would trouble the boy when he had his own personal army? They had a simple mission: travel west, update the maps, and if they encountered anything dangerous, they were to come home immediately.

The swamp didn’t care about any of that, though. Even Kelvun, as useful a tool as he was, was utterly disposable. All the swamp wanted now was that fire spirit, its gold, and as much bloodshed as possible. This expedition promised to give it all that and so much more. It had to wait only a little longer until everything was in place.