Blood and Madness Read online

  “Let go of me,” the crimson Goblin yelled. “Or we will kill the girl!”

  Fuck that.

  I cast my Taming spell. It wrapped around the Goblin’s mind holding it tight. Then, the black lance of power plowed through his mental shields and punctured his soul.

  The Goblin screamed, as electrical shocks radiated out of his eyes.

  I pulled him close and watched the little bastard disappear. He shook and squirmed in my hand. Then, his emotions changed.

  This was the first time that I actually enjoyed using that spell.

  “Master,” Xot exclaimed.

  I set the red devil down on the stage.

  “Where is the girl?” I demanded.

  “It will be my pleasure to show you,” Xot replied.

  I pointed at Azlin and Taesa, “Free Shy. I will meet you at the Temple.”

  “Meet us at the Stone River instead,” Oba Shufen demanded.

  I nodded at her.

  Then, I tossed the money pouch to Taesa and followed my new slave into the night. If I could save Shy’s sister, she would be indebted to me.

  And, then the arm bone would be mine.

  --M--

  Xot chattered inanely as he lead me through the crowd. In my stone form, I towered over almost everyone. But, I wasn’t acting aggressive, so they gave me room, but didn’t run away.

  “Xot,” I snapped, “stop babbling.”

  The little Goblin instantly shut his mouth.

  “Who took Shy’s sister?”

  “We did,” Xot replied.

  “Who is we?” I grumbled.

  Xot stopped and puffed out his chest. “The Red Reavers,” he proudly exclaimed.

  “Who are the Reavers?” I snapped, already tired of talking to him.

  “The best gang in Redtail,” he answered, puffing up his chest.

  Redtail. I searched my memory of it and came up blank. Feeling my confusion through our link, he added, “Redtail is the name for this area,” he said, holding his arms out wide.

  Nodding, I motioned for him to continue walking.

  “How many Reavers are there?”

  Xot shrugged.

  Then, he replied, “Five, six hundred tops.”

  Fuck.

  That was way too many.

  “Where is she being held?”

  Xot smiled, happy to help me. “The Rooster.”

  When I said nothing, he began to chatter again. “It is the best clubhouse ever! Old world tech even still works inside of it… well, sometimes.”

  “Why did you take her?”

  “Her fucking mother spit on the Boss,” he growled. “Stupid bitch.”

  “Don’t talk about Oba Shufen like that,” I snapped back at him, as we left the park and started to head northward.

  “Yes, Master,” he instantly said, groveling as best as he could, while still walking.

  “Who is the boss?” he asked.

  “You, Master,” he replied.

  “No,” I said, already getting a headache. “At the Rooster.”

  Xot took that opportunity to accidentally bump into a passerby.

  “Sorry… so sorry,” he murmured.

  The man glared at us. Then he looked up at me and scurried away.

  “What did you take?” I asked.

  Xot looked up at me with huge, innocent eyes.

  Then, he grinned and showed me a money pouch. It was fat and heavy, like Mr. Shinzo’s.

  “Good,” I told him. More money was a good thing right now. I was tired of being poor. It hadn’t mattered to me in the past, but now, it was becoming relevant.

  Xot smiled and slipped it into his coat.

  “Kakx is the Boss at the Rooster, Boss,” he said, as he pulled out a cigar and lit it.

  Boss.

  I liked that title. It was time to claim territory and make a safe place for Hana and Mary, and Taesa and now Azlin. I was tired of heading to Ashmouth. If Brynn really was gone, we would need a new place.

  We walked together for about half an hour before Xot stopped and pointed at a building. “The Rooster,” he said, proudly.

  - 21 -

  The Rooster was an Old World building like the rest of the crumbling ruins in Columbia. Once it had huge windows on the outside. But now, those windows were gone. Bricks and scavaged pieces of steel had replaced them, turning the building into a makeshift fortress.

  Red Goblins sat on the roof, watching for people who wanted to cause trouble, like me, while others tinkered with arcane motorcycle engines outside the building. The Old World ran on petroleum. My world ran on magic.

  If the Goblins had motorcycles, someone was brewing Arcane Gasoline. Controlling the fuel supply would make me powerful. Smiling, I filed that fact away for later. Right now, I had a girl to grab.

  There were just too many of Reds to fight.

  So, I used my disguise spell, turning myself into… a female Red Goblin.

  “Holy shit… Boss,” Xot growled. “You look… tasty.”

  I smiled at the little shit. I didn’t like having a mind slave, but at the same time, it made things easier. And, I was sort of enjoying his company, even if he talked too much.

  “Hold my hand and lead me into the Rooster,” I ordered. “And call me… Hiz.”

  Xot took my hand like it was made of poison.

  “You’re a dude… but your hand feels so soft,” he mused.

  “Knock it off, Xot,” I growled. “Take me to Shy’s sister.”

  “The Boss… err… what do I call him now?”

  “Call him, Boss, for now,” I told him. “Call me, Hiz.”

  I gripped Xot’s hand hard, trying not to think about the fact that I was holding another guy’s hand. Then, I pulled him forward to the clubhouse.

  The other Goblins who were working on Arcane Steel-horses looked up from tinkering with the gears, vacuum tubes, and pulleys. Farther down, one of the motorcycles suddenly vented a considerable spray of steam.

  But, that didn’t distract even one Goblin from sending a catcall my way.

  “Hey Xot,” one of them instantly yelled. “Who’s the hot piece of ass?”

  A bigger Goblin stood up and adjusted his belly. Then, he gripped his dick. “Want some of this, baby?”

  Dammit.

  I should have made myself ugly.

  All the Goblins were covered in grease and blood, and they all smelled terrible. Hell, if I really was a female, I would have…

  Yep.

  “You stinky pieces of shit,” I cursed back at them, putting some Brynn into my voice. “I wouldn’t fuck your tiny, unwashed dicks if you paid me!”

  The Goblins shuddered to a halt.

  “Look at you,” I growled. “Covered in piss and shit. Go back to your toys. I’m with him.”

  I stroked Xot’s chest, trying not to nauseate myself. If any of them touched me, they’d be able to tell that I wasn’t a girl.

  Shit, they’d feel stone.

  Taking a deep breath, a let go of my stone spell. If I walked into the clubhouse while it was still active, I’d collapse the floors or slam my head against the door frame. Hell, I wouldn’t even fit through the door.

  I prayed to the Dark Lady that my disguise would hold.

  The Goblins began to bicker, while Xot’s chest puffed up.

  “Take me inside,” I ordered my little Goblin slave.

  Xot grinned and pulled me close to him. Then, the little fucker grabbed my ass.

  I let out a very feminine bleat of unhappiness.

  The fat Goblin laughed and said. “Fuck her in the ass, Buddy!”

  I wanted to kill Xot, but instead, I dragged him inside the clubhouse.

  --M--

  The inside of the Rooster was just as dirty as the Goblin’s outside. But, I could see why Xot loved it.

  Video Games.

  The room was filled with working, arcade-style games. They dinged and trilled, as dozens of Goblins cursed, jeered, and screamed in happiness--and anger--as they
fought to get the high score. Dozens of other female Goblins circulated amongst them, waiting for their lovers to get their video game fix before they could have sex or drugs.

  It was a big open room with a balcony that went all around the ceiling, connecting this level to the one above. Upstairs, I could hear a serious poker game.

  One of the sluts turned around and stared at me. Then, she poked her male, a Gray Goblin… hard.

  Dammit.

  Too sexy.

  He turned around and stared at me too. Then, he winked.

  Dammit.

  He was a big Hob.

  Then, I realized that I had just used the very term that I had always hated.

  The Gray Goblin stretched and then cracked his knuckles. He had to be Kakx. The Goblin was bigger than all the other gang members, and he was dressed better as well.

  “Who’s the piece of ass? Zit,” he said with a grin.

  “She’s…” Xot stammered, stopping before he said, she’s mine. I could feel him trembling. Xot was terrified of the bigger Goblin. And, he was letting the Hob call him, Zit.

  What was a Gray Goblin doing here? Looking around quickly, I realize that it wasn’t exclusively Reds. There were members of all the tribes, except the Blues, mixed into the Red’s majority.

  What the fuck?

  Goblin tribes didn’t work together.

  But, here they were, all banded together into one new gang.

  A gang that had taken over a whole district in the ruins.

  Well, damn.

  - 22 -

  When Zit… dammit… Xot didn’t answer, Kakx chuckled. “Bring her upstairs,” he announced, much to the annoyance of the Gobliness on his arm.

  Xot began to tremble even worse.

  Ignoring him, Kakx marched up a set of old metal stairs without even looking to see if Xot would obey, he simply assumed that we would follow his command.

  Xot looked up at me, and I nodded. I needed to find Shy’s sister. Obviously, she wasn’t on this level of the building. Time to look around upstairs.

  My Goblin led me up the steps, as all the others watched us.

  I expected more catcalls, but instead, no one said anything.

  Then, I realized why.

  They were afraid of Kakx. He had said, “Take her upstairs.”

  Shit.

  Kakx had claimed me, and no one wanted to get on his bad side.

  When we reached the top of the stairs, Xot mumbled, “His magic eats magic.”

  “What did you say?” Kakx demanded.

  The bigger Goblin was standing at the top of the steps and waiting for us.

  Xot began to tremble.

  “Nothing…” he almost moaned.

  Then… I had a plan.

  “Xot claims that you can eat magic,” I said with a sassy wiggle. “But that… is impossible.”

  Kakx puffed up his chest.

  “The little runt told you the truth,” he exclaimed.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Don’t believe me? Fine, watch this,” he grumbled.

  Turning, Kakx pointed at a female Goblin, a Yellow-Back from the marshes south of the city.

  “Clis,” he shouted. “Light me up!”

  Clis turned and stared at him with large unblinking eyes that looked like melting bronze. I had always thought that the Yellows looked a lot like bees. They had skin the color of rotting pears with black highlights here and there that matched her hair which stuck out from her head like an afro.

  Standing up, she lifted fingers that had so many red and black tattoos inked into them that it looked like she had a rash that reached up to her elbows.

  Shouting, she raised her hands over her head.

  Piss streamed up into the air out of several buckets that were strategically placed around the room. The urine swirled in the air like a swarm of angry bees. Straining, Clis twisted her hands with a grimace.

  The piss turned into jagged, razor-sharp pieces of ice.

  Then, the ice shot like a rocket towards Kakx.

  The big Hob smiled and proclaimed, “Upabhōgaṇē.”

  Human magic.

  The fucker wasn’t a Mage. He was a useless, uppity Trog.

  Shit. Just like me.

  Kakx didn’t cast spells. He used spells that someone else had created for him.

  The stream of frozen piss hit his outstretched hand and… disappeared. The frozen liquid and the stink were simply absorbed into his fingers.

  Shit.

  He could eat magic. That would make him very hard to kill.

  “Believe me now?” he taunted, as he held out his arms and motioned for applause.

  All the other Goblins hammered the table and screamed in appreciation for their Boss, while my brain worked overtime on how to kill him.

  When the acclaim died down, Kakx pointed at me and said, “Now, bitch… it’s your turn to light me up.”

  Turning, he stomped up a second circular staircase behind the gamblers. Like last time, he didn’t see if I’d comply. He just assumed that I would.

  Arrogant Bastard.

  I didn’t see any oriental human girls in the room, so I shrugged and followed him up the steps. I was halfway up before I realized that Xot wasn’t following me.

  --M--

  The room at the top of the stairs was a Goblin-made structure that I entered through a trapdoor in the floor. It reminded me of a large, elongated oval, made of a mishmash of trash. The room seemed structurally sound, but it was ugly as hell. And, it was filled with all kinds of loot and crap…

  Including a young Asian girl.

  She was tied up and lying to my right.

  Kakx grinned as he passed her. Then, he stopped and smacked her ass.

  “After I have a bit of fun,” he growled, “then, you and I will have a bit of fun as well.”

  Licking his lips, Kakx said, “Maybe… I’ll fuck you again before I kill you.”

  So, he had never planned on freeing her.

  Shy’s sister didn’t look very old; maybe seventeen tops.

  The bastard had said that he had fucked her, already.

  Before I could even think about it, I scooped up an old mace that was lying on a pile of junk.

  Kakx sensed the movement. Turning, he had just enough time to register the weapon coming down on his nose. It broke with a satisfying crack.

  The Hob looked at me with a stunned expression, as I reversed my swing and brought it up… right into his engorged privates. The already bloody tines on the mace head ripped into his equipment, crushing and tearing at his most private organ.

  His pants ripped and shredded, as blood began pouring down his legs.

  “Stop,” the bastard wheezed, as his knees crumpled and he crashed to the floor.

  Stopping would be foolish.

  And I was not a fool.

  Twisting, I put everything I had into the last blow. It connected with his ear and torqued Kakx’s head to the left. Bits and pieces of his jaw and eye splattered the wall, as the Goblin crashed to the ground.

  Breathing hard, I stopped and listened for reinforcements.

  But… no one came.

  Either they were used to loud noises coming from this room, or the roar of the video games was just too loud.

  Or, maybe they just didn’t care.

  - 23 -

  Turning around, I bolted the trapdoor shut.

  Now what?

  If I released the girl, she would scream and cause trouble. She was gasping through her gag, and her eyes were huge. There was no way that she would be quiet. Hell, I could see sweat dripping down her face in rivers.

  She looked young and terrified. And, that bastard had raped her, at least once.