Chapter 6
Morning came with some confusion and a bittersweet mixture of disappointment and pleasure. Part of me had expected to be unable to stay in this world if I were to fall asleep. There were plenty of Groundhog Day style movies made in my time where people relived the same day over and over again. Death and sleep always brought them back to the morning of whatever day they were to repeat. Although my newfound abilities meant I had control over when I returned in time, I assumed that I would have the same drawbacks.
And yet a much larger part of me was delighted that it hadn’t just been an epic and amazing dream. I really had killed an evil sorcerer and taken his dagger. I really had saved an entire town from a horde of kobolds. I really had sweet-talked one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen to be bound with me. This wasn’t going to be some bragging story I told around the water cooler at work. This was my life now, and I was a god.
It was surprising how little that bothered me now that I had a whole day of awesome under my belt.
Breakfast was a simple affair. Food came from small gardens instead of large farms because of all the raids. Elrin probably got the best of the best, which meant everyone else had to make do with what they could. Torya still went out of her way to make sure the soup was hot, the bread was lightly toasted, and that I had all the butter I could ever ask for. A little bit of bacon would have made it even better, but apparently the last pig had been slaughtered long before I arrived.
I was going to have to live without bacon for a while.
I collected my weapons from my room and created a new save point before heading downstairs. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon by the time I left the inn and headed for the forge. I had slept like a dead man, probably because of the thousands of battles and everything else that had happened the day before. My muscles were aching from all the exercise, so I walked through the quiet streets doing some basic stretches.
Some of the townsfolk were starting their day and greeted me as I passed. Most were probably still eating breakfast, but I imagined it wouldn’t be long before the town was filled with the noise of everyone going about their daily routines. The town had an eerie kind of echo to it with all of the empty or boarded up buildings, and I hoped that by clearing out the mine, I could bring in some new business. Maybe new settlers would travel to the town and everything would return to normal.
I arrived at Jaxtom’s forge after a few minutes of walking. Everything in the town was fairly close together, with Elrin’s house situated near the heart and all of the other important buildings circled around it. It seemed like good planning on the surface, but I had to worry about the potential for fires. If one house caught, the rest would be ablaze in a matter of seconds, and there wasn’t a lake or reservoir nearby that I knew of.
Jaxtom’s forge was the only important building that wasn’t nestled in the center of the town. It sat on the western edge, to the right from the inn, and was one of the closest buildings to the tree line in the distance. A small stream ran very close to the back of the shop which was probably one of the reasons he chose to build the forge there. Water was important for metalwork, I knew, though I had never actually smithed anything in my life.
That was going to change today.
Mahini was already at the forge and perched on one of the long tables near a big-ass anvil. She was dressed down compared to yesterday, but it didn’t diminish the fierce fighter I knew was hiding just beneath the surface. The only plate armor she wore covered her torso, and it was shaped in a way that made it look like a metal corset. A leather shirt of some kind was tucked beneath the plate with the sleeves just barely poking out at her shoulders. She wore an off-white, skin-tight, long-sleeved shirt beneath that, and her hands were bare to the wrist except for the bandage covering the wound on her left palm. Her pants were tight leather that hugged every delicious curve, and the worn leather boots she wore stopped just beneath her knees.
Jax had his back to me, and Mahini’s melodic voice floated through the air. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but her eyes were sparkling, and a radiant smile formed on her lips, so I knew it wasn’t a deep conversation.
The blacksmith’s shop would have fit perfectly in a game of Elder Scrolls. A large open hearth sat along the far end of the three-sided room, and it was already filled with glowing coals. There were three long tables, one of which Mahini was sitting on, that were covered in some tools, folds of leather, and blocks of unused metal. More tools were hanging in an organized manner on the wall over the table closest to the hearth. On one table laid a crude sword, obviously in the process of being refined.
A grinding wheel stood a few steps from the open front of the shop. It was one of those old-fashioned ones that ran by repeatedly pressing on a pedal underneath with a foot. Several barrels sat in the corner behind the grinding wheel, and an anvil dominated the center of the workshop. A hammer laid across its surface, and from the soot stains on the handle, I could see it was frequently used.
A proper house connected to the left of the workshop, and I could only imagine how warm it must have gotten in there when the forge was up and running.
“Good morning, Great One,” Mahini said when she spotted me. She slipped down from her perch and gave me a bow. “Did you rest well?”
“Very,” I said as I walked over and gently touched her shoulder as I placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “I haven’t slept so well in a long time.”
The mercenary tensed under my touch, but her sweet lips still opened for me, and her tongue briefly danced with mine. After the kiss was over, she glanced at the smith, and then she bit her lip slightly before she gave me a worried look. The beautiful warrior clearly wasn’t comfortable with me kissing her in front of Jax yet, and I figured that I was going to need to get more familiar with the townspeople so that Mahini would be more willing to do some PDA.
Chime.
“Good morning, Great One,” Mahini said once more. “Did you rest well?”
“I slept very well, thanks,” I replied.
“Mornin’ there, Bash,” Jax greeted with his signature growl. He was the first to call me by my nickname, and it made me grin. “Here to get yourself a new sword?”
“What, don’t think you can fix up the one I’ve got?” I teased.
The big man snorted. “That little sticker worked well for you in the field yesterday, but it ain’t going to work to take on the goblins. You’d be better off with a shortsword in close quarters.”
“So you heard the news?” I snickered.
“Mayor let everyone know you and Mahini here are going to save the town,” the smithy chuckled. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen you kill them kobolds yesterday. Was quite an amazing sight. You’ll still need a better weapon, even if ya are a god.”
“What about this?” I drew the sorcerer’s dagger from its sheath and held it out for the blacksmith. “I got this in the catacombs, and it worked well for me there.”
Jax took the dagger from me as if it were his firstborn son. He balanced the blade on his fingers and let out a hum of what I hoped was approval. Then he took a small hammer from his line of tools and struck the steel. The air vibrated with a clear note that seemed to hang over the shop like a wispy cloud.
“Not bad,” the blacksmith admitted as he handed it back. “Could probably do with a sharpening, but it’s nice and balanced and is obviously well-made.”
I grinned as I returned the dagger to its sheath. It might not have been the most amazing weapon in the world, but if it had Jax’s stamp of approval, I knew that I was on the right track.
“But that sword of yours…” Jax shook his head and eyed the sheath on my left with disdain. “I’ll be makin’ you a new one, whether you want it or not.”
“Actually, I was hoping I could learn how to make one for myself,” I said.
I could have been speaking in another language all together from the looks the blacksmith and Mahini both gave me.
“Why would you want to learn such a skill, Great One?” Mahini asked.
“Think I can’t do the job right or somethin’?” Jax growled.
I lifted my hands. “Whoa, hey, no, not at all! It’s quite the opposite, actually. There weren’t many chances to forge swords where I’m from, so I would love the opportunity to try my hand at it.”
Mahini glanced at Jaxtom as the big man remained silent. She sighed deeply and stepped closer to me. “A blacksmith’s trade is very sacred to him. Jax’s apprentice has been ill since the last raid, and his recovery has been slow. For him to teach you and ignore the boy is cruel.”
“Is it really asking a lot?” I figured masters would want to show off their stuff and teach people the basics at the very least. “I’m not asking for you to take me on full-time, Jax. I just want to try it once.”
Of course, my “once” had unlimited uses.
The big man crossed his arms and stared at me for a long time. It was like staring into the eyes of an angry bull. One wrong move, one wrong word, and he would charge me with his horns at the ready.
“You’ll watch first,” Jax finally growled. “And if you can keep quiet while I show you my technique, maybe I’ll show you a thing or two. Again, you might be a god and all that, but this is my temple.”
“Alright, let’s do this!” I let out a whoop and pumped my fists a few times.
Mahini’s soft chuckle at my side made my giddiness soar even higher.
The two of us sat on Jaxtom’s table as the man tied his thick apron around his middle. He gave the forge a few breaths of air from the bellows on the floor before he picked up two blocks of metal. Then he weighed them back and forth like a scale before putting the left one back down and picking up a new piece. Another quick weighing session happened before he put down the right block. He did this twice more until he was satisfied with the block in his left hand.
“Whaddya think?” he asked as he chucked the block of metal at me.
I barely caught the thing as I wasn’t expecting him to toss it. The metal block was dense, but it wasn’t as heavy as I would have expected it to be. It was about the size and shape of a brick, with just a little more weight to it. The block had a bit of tarnish to it, so it didn’t shine like I imagined a freshly made sword did.
“I dunno,” I mused and handed it to Mahini to test. “I think the sword I’ve got now might be a bit more useful than this thing.”
Jaxtom chortled and motioned for Mahini to toss the hunk of metal back at him.
She did so without a word, and the blacksmith dropped the block into the open hearth.
While the metal heated, Jax selected some of the tools from the wall. He placed each one in a line on the table except for a pair of long thick tongs that he placed in a pouch at the right side of his apron.
The blacksmith returned to the hearth and pumped the bellows a few more times to get the metal block red-hot. He then used the tongs to pluck it from the coals and carried it over to the anvil. A sharp ringing filled the air as he struck the metal numerous times with a large hammer. Every few strokes Jax would shift the metal block while also hitting the anvil with the hammer.
I gave Mahini a puzzled look at this action, but she merely shook her head and placed a finger to her lips. If I wanted to know, I would have to wait and ask afterwards.
Jax continued this process of heating the metal and hitting it with a hammer more than a dozen times. Each turn found the block just a bit more elongated than the last, until it was about the length of my forearm and about two of my thumbs thick. The whole process had taken about twenty minutes.
A new tool was added to the current roster as Jax snatched it from the table. It was a long metal wedge that couldn’t have been more than two inches in diameter. The tapered edge was like a chisel, and Jax placed it against the profile of the block of metal. He smacked the hammer against it several times until the wedge sunk in slightly.
I had no idea what he was aiming to do.
After a few more rounds of heating, Jax slammed the wedge into the metal block even further and followed along an invisible line, until the thing split clean in two. Now he had two sheets of metal that were the length of my forearm, but only half as thick as when he started.
“Daggers!” Mahini exclaimed brightly. “Are those for the Great One or do you have a commission?”
Jaxtom gave a half-smile as he inspected the two sheets of metal. “Bash can have one if he’d like, but that one he’s got should serve him just fine against the goblins. Elrin wants a fancy gift for the bastard coming to marry Lissy in a few days.”
I grinned at Jax’s statement because it was nice to know someone else didn’t care for this stranger coming in to steal Elissa away. I wasn’t much better on paper yet, but I guessed that the God of Time got a few passes for being new around these parts.
Not to mention how much of a badass everyone saw me as.
“What if I’m the bastard who’s gonna marry Lissy?” I teased.
Mahini shot me a surprised look while Jax merely barked out a laugh. “If you manage that one, Bash, you’ll need to sleep with both these daggers under your pillow.”
I laughed as the man tossed one of the daggers-to-be into the hearth.
Mahini nudged me and tilted her head. “You asked for Elissa’s hand?”
“She’s not thrilled with the idea of marrying some duke’s son,” I replied with a shrug. I watched the metal in the forge slowly turn orange. “If I’m saving the town, I may as well save everyone, right?”
Those piercing blue eyes of hers flickered in the light of the flames every time Jax pumped the bellows. It made me squirm to have her giving me such a direct stare, and I gripped the edges of the table to keep my hands from shaking.
“I’m very fond of Elissa,” she said at last as she turned back to face the flames. I let out the breath I had apparently been holding. “She is not a born fighter, but she has more heart and fire than some of the men here.”
“I agree,” I said as I shrugged again. “Worthy of a god, as are you. So, I decided that both of you will be mine.”
“Yes, Great One,” Mahini said as she bowed her head slightly to me. “It is a wise decision. We will both serve you well as your women.”
Well, shit. That worked pretty damn good the first time without me having to restart.
I had expected Mahini to throw a fit about me pledging myself to her and then asking to marry another girl just a short time later. Instead, it seemed as though she strongly approved of the match, and was even hoping that I would be better for Elissa’s flame than the duke’s son.
The clanging of Jax using the hammer filled the workshop again and cut off any potential conversation we might have had. After about half an hour more of pounding, the metal sheet was about half its former thickness and was now long enough to include my entire hand. Jax spent another five minutes or so banging on one end until it had a little finger sticking out of it.
“The tang,” the blacksmith said in answer to the question my face must have asked. “On a finished sword, it’s where the grip is. I can slide a guard through it and fit a pommel to the end.”
He demonstrated this by picking up a thin, gently curved strip of metal with a hole in the center. It didn’t quite fit on the tang he had just made, but the guard slid down an inch before it got caught.
“Mister Duke the Third will require somethin’ extra fancy, so this here won’t cut it,” Jax continued as he shimmied the guard back off. “It’ll probably need some etching in it, and probably his initials or something.”
The blacksmith sounded so eager to fill this particular order.
Jax repeated the tang work on the second dagger-to-be until he had a pair of nearly identical sheets of metal again. Both were squared off at the opposite end, but after another half hour of pounding, they both tapered to a fine point. The edges were still incredibly dull, and the metal looked like it had aged a thousand years.
“It’ll take a few more days of work to get it finished up proper, but that’s the start of it.” Jax placed the two blades into the water trough beneath the table, and the metal hissed as it cooled rapidly. “C’mere, Bash, and let’s get you measured for a proper sword.”
Jax wiped his hands clean on a cloth as I hopped down from the table. He eyed me up and down, and with the fire of the hearth casting his face in shadow, he looked more like a grizzly bear than a blacksmith.
“Right-handed?” His brown eyes studied me hard with a focus on my arms and torso. Without even waiting for my answer, he lifted my right arm straight out and poked at the muscles. He wrapped his hand around my wrist and elbow, and carefully around the muscles of the forearm and bicep. “You’ll need to bulk up a bit more, God of Time, if you want to wield a sword to match your title.”
I grinned at him and turned to look at Mahini. “Well, I’ve got a pretty good partner for that, I think.”
The mercenary woman tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows. We had never discussed her training me in any kind of combat. She had no idea that I had seen her fight before, or that I only won my fights because I could repeat them indefinitely, so of course she was confused.
That was okay, everyone could be confused. It kinda helped with the “god” motif.
“You require a sparring partner?” She thought about it and then nodded. “Yes, I would be honored, Great One. Maybe I will learn from you.”
“Perfect!” I said. “Any excuse to spend time with a beautiful woman like you.”
“Thank you.” Mahini looked away, but I saw the tint of her cheeks darken just a little bit, and I had to think it wasn’t from the light of the forge.
Jax poked and prodded me some more before he was satisfied. “It won’t be ready before you fight the goblins, but I can have the perfect sword done for you in a few days.”
“Can’t I try to make it?” I asked. “I may not be a master like you, but I would love to work with a sword I made with my own hands.”
The blacksmith laughed from deep in his belly, and the sound filled the forge just like the clanging of his hammer. “You’re more than welcome to try, O Great One, but it’ll take you years to get to my level.”
Challenge accepted.
I took a deep breath and pulled at the source of my power. The tingling filled me as a new savepoint was created, and I had to fight back the grin. I could live several years in a single moment with this power. I may not be a master standing before him right now, but I would impress the blacksmith and Mahini with my skill before the day was done.
Jax selected one of the blocks of metal and handed it over. This one was a bit heavier than the one used for the daggers, but was roughly the same size and shape. Without waiting for instruction, I tossed it into the hearth and gave the bellows a few big pumps. From the nod Jax gave me, I was doing the right thing.
“This hammer will be used the most,” he said as he pointed at the tool sitting on the anvil. “It will get the metal into the proper shape. You saw me use the wedge to split the metal in half, but you probably won’t need that for a sword.”
He took down a spare apron from the wall, and when I had tied it around my back, he handed over the tongs.
Since I already knew what they were used for, I fished the block of metal out of the fire and brought it to the anvil.
Jax made the hammering part look easy, and I quickly discovered that it was much harder in practice.
The clanging that filled the room wasn’t anywhere near as loud as when the blacksmith pounded the hammer, and the force of the blows seemed to shudder up my entire arm. I didn’t have the same rhythm that Jax did, and when I finally transferred my hunk of metal back into the flames, it was more lumpy than uniform. I chose to ignore the smug look on Jaxtom’s face as I pumped the bellows a few times.
What had taken the blacksmith twenty minutes took me nearly an hour. My hunk of metal was not a uniform thickness, although it was at least about the same length Jax’s had been. It wasn’t straight or clean or even nice to look at, and both Mahini and Jax were losing the fight against laughter at the sight of it.
Since I didn’t have to split the metal down the center, I shoved the lumpy rectangle back into the flames. I shot a glare at my audience as I pumped the bellows a few more times, and I had to bite back the smile that threatened to form as the two of them laughed.
I worked the metal for another two hours until Jax told me the length was suitable for a sword. I managed to get a tang banged out under his strict guidance, and when all was said and done, I had a long, lumpy rectangle that was supposed to end up being a sword.
Mahini and Jax filled the forge with laughter, and even I had to admit that the poor thing should be put out of its misery.
Chime.
I repeated the task of forging my pitiful sword several dozen times, until I was able to pound out the metal into a uniform thickness. The hammer still rattled my bones as I brought it down, but I found my rhythm and technique that kept everything flowing smoothly.
Jax’s surprised look was well worth the dozens of reboots when I showed him the completed plank of metal.
“How in the hell did ya manage that?” he asked as he sighted the length of the would-be blade. It probably wasn’t straight as an arrow, but I bet it was better than he anticipated my “first” attempt to be. “You sure you’ve never smithed before?”
“Nope, this is the first time I’ve ever tried it,” I said smoothly. “How well would you say I’ve done?”
“Fine,” he said as he eyed me warily. “Not the best I’ve ever seen, but pretty good for a beginner.”
Yeah, I could do better than just “pretty good.”
Chime.
With all the time in the world, I could literally become a master during my first try at everything. People would think I was some kind of prodigy, and shouldn’t the God of Time be amazing at everything? I may not know magic or how to fight properly with a sword, but both were things I could learn, at least I assumed so when it came to magic. If I could kill everything that stepped across my path, then I could forge the perfect sword on my very first go of it.
After a few dozen more tries, what had taken me two hours now took me forty-five minutes or so, and the awed looks on Jax’s and Mahini’s faces was enough to swell my head tenfold.
“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” I asked as I tried to feign ignorance. It was hard to keep my voice serious when I knew the answer already. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Jax’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I’ve never seen someone try smithing for the first time and produce something like this.”
The blade still wasn’t absolutely perfect, but even Jax’s blades had small flaws in the metal. My final attempt was much straighter than the first, and the tang was almost dead center at the end. The thickness was finally uniform, and the only issue I had with it was a small streak in the metal near the very tip.
“That’ll grind out, don’t worry,” Jax said, and he must have seen me glaring at the spot. “You’ve done a fine job here, Bash. Might put me outta business.”
“The student is only as good as the teacher.” I gave the man a flourished bow.
The man roared with laughter, and his hand on my shoulder nearly knocked me to my knees.
“So what do you know about armor? And shields?” I asked as I nodded toward a studded round shield in the corner. “Think I could try my hand at those, too?”
“You really are trying to run me outta business, boy!” Jax roared.
That didn’t stop him from showing me how to forge a sturdy shield and the beginning of a set of armor.
It felt like it had been days or weeks when we finally left the forge after all of my attempts, but the sun wasn’t even at its midway point in the sky yet.
“I cannot believe you were able to forge not just a sword, but a shield and a pair of bracers so quickly,” Mahini said. “And Jax was absolutely impressed with the quality.”
“Helps to be a god,” I shrugged and stretched out a kink in my shoulders. “I only have to be shown something once, and I can usually replicate the results.”
“But to that degree?” The mercenary shook her head. “You are always surprising me, Great One.”
Her beautiful eyes pierced me like her sword, and it was difficult for me to tear my gaze away from hers. We had other things that needed to get done if we were going to clear out the goblins before the duke’s son arrived, but I planned on taking her to bed as soon as possible.
“Elrin said he had maps of the mine and the plains around here we could look at,” I said as we turned down the street toward the man’s house. “And some of the miners might be able to tell us some things about the mine you and the other Golden Swords didn’t know before.”
“They will have no new information,” she replied in a grim tone. “Nobody has been inside those tunnels since we were paid to clear them out.”
“And you were the only one to survive,” I added when she did not, and then I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “You weren’t with a god last time. This is a chance to avenge them, and I’m looking forward to spending some quality time killing those monsters with you.”
“Yes, Great One. It does sound enjoyable.” I saw the smile on her lips just before she turned away from me. She was getting used to my constant flirting, and it warmed my heart to see her begin to heal from the deaths of her mercenary family.
I just had to get her to flirt back, and everything would be perfect.
The door to Elrin’s house opened, and several of the townsmen were milling about in front and within. They parted like the sea as Mahini and I approached, and many of them mumbled my title with a curt bow as I passed.
My reboots from the day before allowed me to refer to them each by name, and I spent some time chatting with them about their families and whatever troubles I had learned from them. They were all happy to oblige the conversations, and they seemed to delight in the special treatment I gave them.
These were my people now, and I had to do everything I could to protect them.
Elrin appeared after a few minutes of chatting and beckoned us all inside. The men filed in behind Mahini and I, and they chattered quietly as Elrin led the way into the dining hall. The table was littered with papers that I could only assume were maps of the area. Two men were studying the maps and occasionally said something that didn’t quite reach my ears. When Elrin cleared his throat, the two men looked up and stood straighter.
“Sebastian, these men here have scouted the mine entrance numerous times since the goblins drove us out.” Elrin pointed to first the man on the left, and then the one on the right. “Willihard and Niconor.”
Willihard had that stretched out sort of look that teenage boys usually got when they went through puberty. From the facial hair decorating his jaw, I guessed that he was only a little older than me. His hair was dirty-blond, and he wore a full set of leather armor. A shortsword poked out from his left hip, a full quiver of arrows dangled from his right, and a bow was slung across his back.
Niconor looked as if he was Willihard’s father. He had the same dirty-blond hair and rugged beard going, but where Willihard had hazel eyes, Niconor had dark brown. He also wore a full set of padded armor, but there was a well-made chestplate over his torso, and his right arm was encased in armor. His sword was slightly longer than Willihard’s, probably a longsword, and the hilt stuck out several inches from his left hip where his hand rested. A large shield was slung across his back, and from the angle, I couldn’t tell what it looked like aside from the fact that it was wooden.
“You can just call me Will, Great One,” the younger man said as he strode forward with his hand out. His grip was firm as he shook my hand. “And I’ll call you Bash, if that’s alright?”
“More than alright, Will,” I replied with a grin. “And this is your father, am I correct?”
Niconor didn’t even bat an eyelash. “You are correct, Great One. It is an honor to meet you.”
I knew right away he’d get pissed if I tried to call him Nico.
“These are the maps you requested, Sebastian,” Elrin said with a sweeping gesture toward the table. “And the men I assembled are all of my miners. I thought we could all sit down and help you come up with a plan of attack.”
He may not have wanted to give his daughter to me, especially if her fiancé was on his way with an army, but Elrin clearly wanted to do everything in his power to get rid of the goblins. From the looks of the other miners, it was obviously a shared sentiment. The town’s survival rested upon the destruction of the goblins.
And everyone here thought I could do it.
Of course, I could. I was a god, after all.
“Okay. What can you tell me about the mine?” I asked as I dragged one of the maps closer to me.
“It’s a copper mine,” Will said immediately, and he pulled over a piece of paper that had all kinds of numbers on it. “This was what we were mining on a daily basis, and this is how much of it went to the Duke of Bullard.”
A large amount was given to their liege lord, but it was easy to see that even with that accounted for, the town was able to sell off the rest and make a good profit. The goblins had dropped that number to zero, and I would wager my ability to reset time that this duke was starting to get pissed off that the mine had all but dried up.
“How many tunnels are there?” I asked as I turned back to my map.
“The main tunnel loops around in the first section of it,” Niconor said as he pointed to my map. “There are a few branches that lead to pockets we have already mined, but the tunnels go much deeper. We hadn’t mapped them out properly before the goblins came.”
“How much deeper?” I asked. “Is there another way in?”
Elrin shook his head. “We were all set to start another entrance when they came down from the mountains. We thought about tunneling in behind them, but they’re like a bunch of angry ants protecting their nest. We can’t get close, even during the day. They swarm and attack.”
My map showed three large pockets on either side of the main entrance to the mine, with a much larger pocket deeper inside the mountain. Niconor saw where I was looking and tapped his finger at the large room.
“That’s supposed to be a halfway point where we can keep any excess ore between shipments. There’s only one larger tunnel leading further in and maybe two or so pockets.” He looked around at the men who all nodded in agreement. “Goblins aren’t the best at mining, but there’s always a possibility of them digging further in.”
“How many of the little bastards am I going to have to deal with?” I asked as I looked at the group. “Fifty? A hundred?”
“We do not know for certain, Great One,” Mahini said in a low voice, and her troubled eyes met mine. “We know they have a leader, and that there are at least two guards inside the main tunnel only a few hundred yards from the entrance…”
“Okaaay, not the best news, but I can work with that.” I drew my eyes over every curve in the map as if it would tell me what I needed to know. “What about weapons? Did you have anything inside the mine when they took it?”
“Just picks,” Elrin replied. “And a few torches. The mercenaries had weapons when they came to help, but...”
His brown eyes flashed to Mahini. The warrior didn’t flinch, but I could see the pain swimming in her blue eyes like sharks.
“So no real headcount and the possibility of them having weapons used by the Golden Swords. That makes things a bit more difficult…” I tore my eyes away from the map and gave all of my attention to Mahini. “What do you think?”
She may not have seen as much of the inner workings of the tunnels as the miners, but she had gone in there and fought against the goblin horde. If anyone had a solid plan for me to build off of, it was Mahini.
“The first thing to do is to clear out these rooms here.” Her focus was on the leftmost side of the mine, and she traced her fingers along the path to the larger room at the far end. “The pockets would be a good place for the goblins to use for sleeping and eating or whatever else they do. This path will get us to the large room the fastest, and if we can take out their leader, the rest should just flee.”
As I expected, it was a solid plan that was flexible enough to adjust as we learned more about what we were actually facing. I doubted it would be as easy as just killing the leader, but I kept the negativity to myself. We would know for certain soon enough.
When Mahini’s fingers didn’t immediately lift from the map, I looked up. Her eyes were filled with pain and guilt, and I knew she was remembering what had happened the last time she had entered the mine.
“The Golden Swords were ambushed here,” she said as her quivering fingers pointed at a junction. It seemed like a short distance from the larger room at the back, but I doubted the map was actually to scale. “They came out of the room on the left and surrounded us.”
I covered her hand with my own, and when she managed to tear her eyes from the map, I smiled at her. “We will avenge them, Mahini.”
“Thank you, Great One.” She closed her eyes and then gave me the slightest of nods.
“How many men would you like to take, Sebastian?” Elrin asked me as a way to totally kill the mood between Mahini and I. “Every man in this room is more than capable within the mine, and I’m sure they would be honored to fight at your side.”
There was a whole chorus of agreement, and a few men even insisted I take them along. I looked around at the group and noted the strength in their arms and the fire in their eyes. I had no doubt they would fight to the last man to protect their mine and their homes, but I didn’t really need them. Between Mahini’s skill and my time manipulation, we could easily take on the goblin horde alone.
“I’m not taking any men with me,” I said, and nearly everyone in the room gasped aside from Mahini.
“But--” one of them began to say, but I waved my hand to cut him off.
“Too many of us in such a small space will just get crowded and make things unnecessarily difficult,” I snickered. “I need space to move.”
“You can’t seriously be thinking of going by yourself?” Elrin asked. “You were impressive with the kobolds, but goblins are tricky little devils.”
“I never said I was going alone,” I replied. “I told you before that I had Mahini at my side.”
“You’re going to take on the goblins… just the two of you?” Elrin asked in disbelief.
“I could probably do it alone, but she needs to avenge her family.” I shrugged. “Do you disapprove?”
“Yes,” Elrin huffed. “You can’t--”
“I don’t give a fuck if you approve or not,” I cut him off. “The question was rhetorical. I am your god, and you will do as I say. Then, when I return, we will have a feast to celebrate. Does everyone here understand?”
“Yes, Great One,” the men gathered around the table all said in unison.
“And you?” I looked to Mahini.
“Yes, Great One,” she whispered, but now only adoration swam in her eyes, instead of the pain.