After The Rabbit (Waldo Rabbit Series) (8 page)

“Uh, darling? That might not be such a good idea. The patrols attack monsters on sight. What happens when they see an ogre?”

“I am sure being owned by a White Mage will make it all right.” Waldo began to carefully make his way toward the light. “Gronk, stay behind me until I explain things.”

“Yes, master.”

Alice let out a sigh and walked beside him.

XXX

Certain the soldiers would show the proper respect to someone in white robes, Waldo stepped directly into the clearing. “Greeting. I am Waldo Rabbit, and I…”

He stopped talking when he got a clear view of the camp.

As Alice suspected, there was a fire pit with dirt piled up around its edge. There were five children, three boys and two girls, their ages ranging from six to ten. Four of them were tied about a tree trunk, their mouths gagged. The fifth child, a pudgy boy, was bound hand and foot to a wooden pole. A pair of goblins were getting ready to put him over the flames to begin roasting.

The two creatures turned their malformed heads and stared at him, tiny coal black eyes glistened in the firelight. They wore dirty leather jerkins and bits and pieces of armor about their arms and legs. They seemed as startled as Waldo.

Then one of the goblins dropped his end of the pole and screeched. “Magi! Kill! Kill!” From the ground he, snatched up a heavy two sided axe.

The other one let go of the pole as well, and grabbed a broadsword from a sheath on its back. Both of them stomped forward as fast as their stubby legs could carry them.

To Waldo’s right came the sound of muscle tearing as Alice transformed. The goblin with the axe gave a startled, “Gra?” It did not hesitate, though, as it tried to cleave Alice in two.

Compared to humans, goblins are very strong, but they are not agile or fast.

Alice darted back to let the axe slice through the air in front of her and then dashed forward before the homely beast could bring it back around. Her right hand was a blur. Before the goblin even knew it, blood was gushing out from its throat. The dying monster dropped its weapon, stumbled back, and fell.

Waldo only saw this on the periphery as the second creature was coming at him. He drew his wand and used it. “
Pyro!
” He sent out a stream of fire right into the belly of his target.

The flames caught and spread, like with a piece of fat thrown into a cook fire. The goblin was completely alight, yet it kept running towards him, the sword held high.

“Grrrrrrooooooooooooooooo!” the monster wailed even as Waldo kept pouring fire into it.

The goblin was just about to reach him, when his ogre suddenly jumped out of the woods. The sword came down with enough force to cut a man clean in two, but the blade simply bounced off of the ogre’s thick hide.

“Gronk smash!” he roared without any hint of lisp. He brought a fist down on the goblin’s turnip shaped head. It exploded, much like a pumpkin being struck by a mallet: skin, bone, blood, and gray goo splattered. The rest of the body, still burning, shuddered and fell. The short fight was over.

XXX

“Are you all right, darling?”

“I am fine, thanks to you and Gronk.” Alice had saved his life before. Now Gronk had as well, Waldo nodded to his second familiar. “Thank you, Gronk.” Dark Mages were not supposed to say, “thank you.” He had been taught thanking others was beneath him and a sign of weakness. It was one more of the new things he had learned to do since setting out.

The ogre had a wide, tusked smile and gave him a wink. “Gronk happy save master. Maybe master punish Gronk later?”

“That seems fair.”

Alice gave a sour grunt and muttered something about “weird stuff” beneath her breath. She then began to walk towards the tree where the children were bound. “Are you dears all right? I’ll take care of you.”

As if on cue, they all began to desperately try to wriggle out of the ropes. Waldo could clearly hear muffled screams coming through their gags.

“It’s fine.” Alice held her hands out reassuringly. “The goblins are dead. There is nothing to be scared of anymore.”

“You mean except for the succubus with wings, claws, horns, fangs, and tail who just happens to be covered in goblin blood?” Waldo pointed out. “They might be terrified of seeing an ogre, as well.”

“Gronk no know why.” He casually reached down to the corpse at his feet and tore an arm off at the shoulder. Schunk! “Gronk no scary.” He took a mouthful and chewed it before swallowing it down. “Cook goblin more good than raw. Master want?”

“Maybe later.”

There were more muffled screams.

Alice quickly transformed back to her human self. Her hands, while no longer clawed, were still drenched in wet blood, as was most of her front. Grabbing a cloth rag from one of the corpses, she quickly wiped off as much as she could while trying to calm the children. “It’s all right. You’re safe now. No one is going to hurt you.” She turned to her husband. “Isn’t that so, darling?”

“Of course.” Waldo nodded. He spoke directly to the children. “I promise none of you will be harmed.”

“See? You are all safe.”

“As my new slaves, you will be fed and treated fairly so long as you obey me.”

“What?” Alice asked in disbelief.

“If you defy me, I will feed you to the ogre.”

High pitched, muffled screams continued from their little throats.

Alice waved her hands. “He is joking! He doesn’t mean it!”

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t,” Alice growled.

“Can Gronk eat fat one?”

The boy tied to the pole cried and tried his awkward best to roll away.

“You are not eating any of the children!” Alice told him.

“No eat all, just skin, fat ones always taste more good.”

“Don’t eat the slaves, Gronk,” Waldo said. “At least not until they do something to deserve it.”

Alice stared at him. “I don’t believe you.”

“What? You want me to make an example of one now?”

She stomped to him and spoke in a whisper reminding him of steel being sharpened. “You are not making slaves of these poor children.”

Waldo paused and considered. “Well, I suppose I could sell them instead. Kids aren’t worth as much as healthy adults, but I’m sure they’ll fetch a decent price. Especially the girls. There is always a demand for little girls. Do you know if there is a slave market in Norwich?”

“We don’t have slaves in this country.”

“I bought you, remember?”

“I wasn’t a slave. I was an indentured servant.”

“I don’t care what they call it so long as I get a reasonable price.”

“These children don’t belong to you!”

“Yes, they do,” Waldo insisted. “It’s called spoils of battle. When you destroy an enemy, you collect everything of value they possess. There is nothing wrong with taking spoils. I mean, are we not going to take their weapons and anything else we find?”

“Swords don’t have parents.”

“Do you mean I can keep the ones who are orphans?”

Alice glared at him.

“You’re serious about this.”

“In Cannassa’s name, of course I am!”

“If I don’t claim them, what am I supposed to do instead?”

“We take them to their families.”

Waldo quirked an eyebrow. “How does returning them help me with my quest?”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

Waldo sighed. “You know, Alice, you have far too many ridiculous morals and rules, and they’re always inconvenient. Don’t Charm… don’t steal from people unless they try to have their way with you… don’t torture as a reward… pay for things… don’t turn children into slaves. You really need to be more reasonable.”

Alice crossed her arms over her chest. “We are taking them home.”

He knew how stubborn she could be when it came to these silly rules of hers. “Fine, but I want something from you in return.”

Her cheeks blushed, and through their bond he could sense eagerness.

“You want to have your way with me again?”

“Well, yes, but we both know that will happen soon enough regardless.” Her face turned a couple shades brighter. “What I want is for you to agree to Charm someone when I ask.”

“If we take the kids back to their folks I will do it once.”

“I am giving up five slaves. Shouldn’t that be worth at least five Charms?”

Alice frowned but nodded. “Deal.”

Chapter 7

Doing the Right Thing

When Alice cut the ropes and freed the children, their immediate reaction was to make a run for it. She was forced to chase after them and return them to the camp. Fortunately, she could see through the dark while the kids could not, so it wasn’t too difficult. When they realized they couldn’t run away, the five children huddled together and wailed that they were all going to be eaten.

Despite Alice’s best efforts, she couldn’t calm them. Eventually, she asked Waldo to tell them they would be all right.

Waldo told the children they would be safe, as long as they stopped crying and annoying him.

Oddly enough, this actually worked, and the children quieted.

As Alice got them some food and Gronk continued to eat the goblins, Waldo searched the camp for anything worth taking. There were no coins, but the creatures appeared to have grab anything made of metal. He soon discovered a cast iron pot and pan, four daggers, the head of a shovel, nine rusty nails, and bits and pieces of armor including two sets of badly mangled chain mail and a dented iron helmet. Added to this were the axe and sword the goblins had used. It was not exactly an impressive haul, but they would take everything.

Once the spoils were gathered and everyone was done eating, Waldo wanted to get going. He wished to return the kids as quickly as possible.

The children, though, had no idea what direction to travel in the dark. Alice convinced him it would be best to make camp for the night and take them back come the morning. Waldo was not pleased but agreed.

XXX

The Following Morning, Gronk was sitting in the grass as Waldo took care of him.

“Feel good, Master.”

“I am glad you think so, Gronk.”

“Where Master learn do this?”

“My mother taught me, one of the many skills she felt it necessary for me to learn.”

“Master’s hands feel sooooooooo good on Gronk’s skin. Gronk like.”

“Well, my mother forced me to practice on dozens of slaves until I had the technique down.”

As Waldo worked on taking care of his ogre, Alice stood about ten feet away looking on. Her right foot was tapping away as one hand kept tugging at some of her hair.

“Why are you doing this where the children can see?” She waved at the kids who were all staring wide eyed.

“Why would I care?”