I could scarcely believe it when I heard the order.
“I want you to gather about eighty percent of my troops. Leave behind only the bare minimum needed to maintain our defenses and public order. The objective is the so-called ‘Queen of the Grimwood,’ a small feminine creature that doesn’t even come up to a grown man’s waist. I’ve enlisted a group of mercenaries to guide you to the tower she lives in. I’d like you to bring her peacefully if possible, but you’re free to use force if you must. Failure is not an option; my plans have suffered far too many setbacks already.”
Duke Finlaud made it clear he wasn’t interested in hearing any objections, but this was sheer lunacy. The Grimwood region was bursting with monsters no normal human had a hope of defeating. Even with these numbers, I still expected casualties. The creatures would steer clear of the main force and strike at stragglers or the fringes of the flanks. They’d whittle our numbers down as much as they could. Not only that, but we’d also have to bring carts and horses to carry our supplies. What were we supposed to do with them once we got to the forest? We’d have no choice but to waste time cutting a path through. Even a small one for the horses would take weeks, and while people were cutting down trees, they were at risk of being attacked by monsters.
The stress of this trip threatened to wear a hole in my stomach. It took nearly two weeks just to reach the edge of the forest. Morale was absolutely horrible. When we sent scouts to look for a good path, though, they returned with a surprising discovery: a pair of small towers connected together to form a sort of gatehouse. These towers were in turn connected to a series of other small towers leading deep into the forest. Nobody had ever heard of these structures being here before, but the mercenaries seemed to know something.
“That’s Miss Lilac’s handiwork all right,” their scout said. I didn’t remember his name. “I bet this is a path that goes straight through to the main tower.”
“Even if there are monsters,” added their leader, “it’ll probably just be those little squishy things. Even green recruits could beat the weaker ones. Much safer to go through here than through the wood itself.”
“Unless Miss Grimwood is holding a grudge,” one of his men pointed out. “If she’s angry, she might have booby-trapped the whole thing.”
“I still think it’s safer in there than outside.”
In the end, I decided to enter the gatehouse. If it was dangerous, we could simply turn around and leave. Unfortunately, it took days to get the entire army inside. On the bright side, it really was quite safe. There were even privies and water fountains placed along the route at set intervals, as well as places to prepare and eat meals. There was no sign of the “squishy things” Hegram and his men had mentioned, but that wasn’t exactly a bad thing.
“If I had known it was going to be like this, I would have suggested sending in a smaller team,” Hegram said, a few days later. “The numbers are really slowing us down.”
He was right. We’d been traveling for three days now along these corridors—which even had beds available in some spots—but the pace was always slower leading an army than with just a handful of people.
“At least we didn’t have to abandon the carts or the animals.” I was trying to see the bright side, but this trip was already taxing my nerves.
“It’s tough to reckon from indoors, but I think our scouts will report a change sometime tomorrow,” said Hegram, trying to raise morale. “We’ve got to be close by now.”
“I hope you’re right, for all our sakes,” I replied.
Hegram really did have the air of an old military man, even though he and I were close in age. At least I thought he wasn’t that much older than me; it was kind of tough to figure out. It just felt like he had a ton of experience, and I found myself wanting to learn from him. If we made it back alive, I wanted to buy him a drink and ask if he’d like to spar sometime.
The next day, his prediction really did come true. The scouts reported that in the hall up ahead there was a large door with some armed humanoid creatures positioned in front of it.
I moved forward, unsure what I was about to encounter. Hegram and his men came with me, for which I was eternally grateful. At the end of the hall was a mob of goblin-like creatures who seemed to be guarding a door. Most of them had chubby, round little bodies, and didn’t seem all that tough, but there were four of them that set off alarm bells in my head even though they were barely taller than my waist. Their weapons and armor were on another level, and the way they carried themselves indicated they knew their way around a battle.
Hegram volunteered to speak with them, and when he stepped forward, one of the four intimidating ones did the same.
He was slender, with green skin and hair, and he wore black armor with spiked pauldrons. The sword on his back would have been a standard broadsword for a human, but for him, it was more like a great sword. His expression was fierce, fixing us in place with a sharp glare. This was much more than a naturally intimidating aura; he seemed furious. Despite the hostile reception, though, Hegram addressed him politely.
“Pardon me, but might you be the same four who were guarding Miss Grimwood last time we met?” he asked.
That greeting was perfect. He mentioned their master’s name, so even if they couldn’t understand, it was less likely they’d attack us.
“She sent.” He gestured toward himself. “Warn human.” His hands motioned toward us in broad, noticeable gestures. “Danger,” he said emphatically, turning to point at the imposing door, “here. No fight, go back.”
From what I could tell, he seemed to be indicating that he was here to warn us. Did that mean he wasn’t here to protect the door, but to protect us from what was beyond it? It was unlikely that a conversation was going to get us anywhere, but that was far more than I’d been led to think we’d get out of him.
“Thank you,” Hegram said with a bow.
The messenger grinned in a way that was at once mischievous and menacing. He and the rest of the little armed band turned and departed through the door, leaving us as it closed behind them.
“It seems as though the path won’t remain peaceful once we pass through this door,” I observed. “It was kind of them to warn us.”
“I get the feeling that little fellow really doesn’t like us,” said Hegram. “If not for his mistress, I think he’d have no problem killing every last person here.”